US2808310A - Refrigerator cabinet construction - Google Patents

Description

Oct 1957 LE ROY R. PATTERSON, JR 2,808,310

REFRIGERATOR CABINET CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 10, 1954 FIG. I

FIG. 4 2| INVEN TOR. LE ROY R. PATTERSON. JR.

HIS ATTORNEY United States Patent REFRIGERATOR CABINET CONSTRUCTION Le Roy R. Patterson, Jr., Erie, Pa., assignor to General The present invention relates to a refrigerator cabinet construction and more particularly to a door-supported container for a refrigerator cabinet.

In the modern household refrigerator, article supporting means in the form of shelves or containers are mounted both on the walls of the cabinet and on the inner wall of the door closing the access opening to the cabinet. In order to obtain maximum use of the total storage volume of the refrigerator, the shelves supported within the cabinet are ordinarily placed so close together that the upper shelf or shelves tend to block access to articles placed on the lower shelves. To avoid this difficulty with regards to the cabinet shelves, the cabinet shelving arrangement may comprise a plurality of stepped shelves mounted one above another with each shelf being less in depth than the shelf next below. Such an arrangement is described and claimed in the co-pending application of George C. Harbison Serial No. 411,463, filed February 19, 1954, now Patent No. 2,776,866, granted January 8, 1957, and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention.

While this stepped arrangement of the cabinet shelves provides greater accessibility as to articles placed on the lower cabinet shelves, it presents the additional problem of effectively using the portion of the storage volume or space made available because of the shortening of the upper cabinet shelf or shelves. In order to utilize this volume or space the article supporting members supported on the refrigerator door may also be arranged in a stepped relationship which is the reverse of that of the cabinet shelves so that, when the door is closed, each of the doormounted supporting members extend into the refrigerator cabinet to a point adjacent the edge of the cabinet shelf opposite thereto. However with such an arrangement of the door-mounted supporting members in which an upper member is of greater depth than the member next below it, articles stored on a lower article supporting member may be rendered even less accessible than would be the case if all of the door storage members were of the same depth due to the overhang of the next higher supporting member.

It is therefore a primary object of the invention to provide a refrigerator cabinet door having a plurality of article supporting members mounted thereon including means for supporting one or more of the lower containers on the door for movement from a normal storage position beneath the next higher container to an open or acces sible position.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of the novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

In carrying out the objects of this invention there is provided a refrigerator cabinet having an access opening and a door for closing the opening. Mounted on the inner wall of the door are a plurality of article supporting members or containers adapted to extend into the cabinet "ice when the door is closed. At least one of the lower doormounted containers is pivotally mounted on the inner wall of the door for movement between a normal storage position adjacent both the inner wall of the door and the next higher member to a second position spaced forwardly from the inner wall and downwardly away from the next higher member for ready access to the contents of the container.

For a better understanding of the present invention reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. l is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a refrigerator incorporating an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 33 of Fig. 2 with the container of the present invention in a storage position;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 with the container in a second position; and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 with the container titlted forwardly to a fully accessible position.

Referring now to Fig. 1, there is shown a refrigerator 1 comprising a cabinet 2 defined by an inner liner or wall 3. The cabinet 2 is thermally insulated from the surrounding room by means of insulation 4 positioned between the liner 3 and an outer panel or wall 5 of the refrigerator. The cabinet or compartment 2 is refrigerated by means of an evaporator 6 which is fed with refrigerant from a refrigerating unit (not shown). Access to the cabinet 2 is obtained through an opening 9 which is closed by means of a door 10. The door 10 is hinged to the cabinet so as to swing open and shut and has a gasket 11 mounted thereon for effectively sealing the opening 9 when the door is closed. The door, like the cabinet, comprises two spaced walls with the space between the inner wall 12 and the outer wall 13 being filled with insulation 14. To provide maximum storage space within the refrigerator, the inner wall 12 may be provided with a large center recess 15. The article supporting members in the form of shelves, drawers, containers or the like are arranged both within the cabinet 2 and on the inner wall 12 of the door in stepped arrangement as is described more fully in the above-mentioned Harbison application. For example there may be provided within the cabinet 2, one or more slidable drawers at the bottom of the cabinet and a plurality of shelves, such as shelves 17 and 18, above the drawers. The shelves are of different depth and are stepped upwardly; that is, each shelf is less in depth than the one next below it. By this arrangement a given shelf does not block or extend over the front portion of the shelf next below it so that it is much easier to remove from the lower shelf articles stored on the front portion thereof as well as articles stored somewhat rearwardly thereof.

Since the stepped shelves do not make full use of the storage volume of the cabinet 2, there are also provided article supporting members or containers mounted on the inner wall 12 of the door 1!) which preferably cooperate with the stepped shelves in the storage cabinet so that substantially no storage space is lost as a result of the stepped shelf configuration within the cabinet 2. In the embodiment shown in Fig. l of the drawing, the supporting members mounted on the door comprise a first or lower storage container 20 positioned opposite the shelf 17 and a second container 21 positioned above the first container 20 and opposite the shelf 18. These doormounted containers are stepped in the reversed direction to the shelves within the cabinet so that the upper container 21 extends into the cabinet somewhat further than the container 20 which is located next below it. In other words the corresponding door-mounted containers and cabinet shelves are complementary in that shelf 18 and container 21 form a storage level extending substantially across the storage space within the cabinet 2 while shelf 17 and the container 2 form a second level extending substantially across the storage space.

Since the upper article supporting member or container 21 on the door is sufficiently accessible when the door is open, this container may be fixedly or rigidly mounted on the inner wall 12 of the refrigerator door. However as the container 20 is of a depth substantially less than the upper container 21 to provide for the greater depth of the shelf 17 opposite container 20, means are provided for mounting the container 20 on the door'recess in such a manner that it can be moved from a normal storage position beneath container 21 as shown in Fig. 3 to an accessible position in which it is free of the overhang of the upper container 21.

The supporting arrangement for the container provided in accordance with the present invention and its operational features are illustrated in greater detail in Figs. 3, 4, and 5.

In the illustrated embodiment, the container 20 is pivotally mounted at each end thereof on the inner wall 12 of the door by a pair of parallel links 25 and 26 pivotally connected at their upper ends to the end wall 27 of the container and at their lower ends to a bracket 28 extending horizontally from the inner wall 12 and secured thereto by means of a suitable fastener 29. Links 25 and 26, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, are connected to the container at some point above the center of gravity of the container. To maintain the container 20 in the storage position as shown in Fig. 3 with the rear wall 30 thereof adjacent the inner wall 12, the supporting means is so arranged that when the container 20 is in the storage position, 'the parallel links 25 and 26 extend upwardly from the bracket 28 and slightly overcenter in the direction of the inner wall 12. A suitable spring catch 32 secured to the inner wall 12 and adapted to engage the upper edge of the rear wall 30 of the container may also be employed to prevent accidental dislodgment of the container 20 from its storage position.

By means of this supporting arrangement for the container 20, the container can be moved forwardly and downwardly away from the bottom wall of the container 21 and to a position in which it is readily accessible. To limit the downward movement of the container and to support it in the accessible position, there are provided suitable stop means which in the illustrated modification include a stop 34 lanced from the bracket 28 and adapted to engage the link 25 in the horizontal position as shown in Fig. 4 and a second stop 35 similarly provided on the bracket 28 for engaging the projection 36 on the link 26 when this link is in its horizontal position. To increase the accessibility of the interior of the container 2% means may also be provided for tilting the container forwardly when in its lowered position. This tilting action may be accomplished by providing a pivotal connection between the link 25 and the end wall 27 of the container which includes a slot 37 that slidably receives the pin 38 connecting the link 25 to the side wall 27.

To avoid any tendency for the container to tilt when it is in the storage position shown in Fig. 3, the pivotal connection 41 of the link 26 to the container wall 27 is well forward of the center of gravity of the container. Thus with the center of gravity to the rear or to the left of the pivotal connection 41, the container normally tends to maintain itself in a horizontal position.

A handle extending forwardly from the upper front edge of the container 20 and terminating adjacent the forward portion of the fixed container 21 provides means for moving .the container 20 from its storage position to its access position and for tilting the container forward? If desired an apron 42 may be provided at each end of the container 20 extending outwardly from the end wall 27 and then downwardly to cover the container sup porting means.

From the above it will be seen that there has been provided for particular use with stepped cabinet shelves a door-mounted container supported beneath a much deeper door container and including pivotal supporting means which permit movement of the pivoted container from a storage position adjacent the inner wall of the refrigerator door beneath and closely adjacent the bottom of the second container to an access position spaced downwardly from the fixed container and forwardly from the inner wall with additional means whereby the container can be pivoted or tilted about an axis forward of its center of gravity further to increase its accessibility.

While there has been shown and described a specific embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular construction shown and described, and it is intended, by the appended claims, to cover all modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: i

l. A refrigerator cabinet including an access opening and a door for closing said opening and including an inner wall, a plurality of storage containers mounted on said inner wall one above another, and including a first container positioned beneath a second relatively wider container, means for pivotally supporting said first container on said inner wall for movement between a storage position adjacent said inner wall with the top of said first container beneath and closely adjacent the bottom of said second container and an access position spaced downwardly from said second container and forwardly from said inner wall, said supporting means including a bracket secured to said inner door, stop means on said bracket, a pair of parallel links pivotally connecting an end wall of said first container to said bracket, said links being connected to said first container above the center of gravity of said container and arranged so that when said first container is in said storage position said links extend upwardly from said bracket and slightly over-center in the'direction of said inner' wall, said links extending horizontally forward from said inner wall and in contact with said stop means when said first container is in the access position, one of said links being pivotally connected to said first container forward of the center of gravity of said container, the pivotal connection of the other of said links to said container including a slot in said end wall of said container to permit limited forward tilting of said first container about the pivotal connection of said one of said first links and said container end wall.

2. A refrigerator cabinet including an access opening and a door for closing said opening and including an inner wall, a plurality of storage containers mounted on said inner wall. one above another, and including afirst container positioned beneath a second relatively wider container, means for pivotally supporting said first container on said inner wall for movement between a storage position adjacent said inner wall with the top of said first container beneath and closely adjacent the bottom of said second container and an access position spaced downwardly from said second container and forwardly from said inner wall, said supporting means including a bracket secured to said inner door, a pair of parallel links pivotally connecting said first container to said bracket, said links being connected to said first container above the center of gravity of said container and arranged so that when said first container is in said storage position said links extendupwardly from said bracket and slightly over-centerin the direction of said inner wall, stop means on said bracket engaging said links for maintaining said first container in its access position with the links in a substantially horizontal position, one of said links being pivotally connected to said container forward References Cited in the file of this patent of the center of gravity of said container, the pivotal connection of the other of Slid links closest to said in- UNITED STATES PATENTS ner wall with said container including a slot in said and 9,195 Weston Sept. 22, 1908 wall of said container to permit limited forward tilting 5 6 Forsthoefel Aug. 27, 1935 of said container about the pivotal connection of said 31,693 Smith Sept. 27, 1938 One of said links and said container end wall. 94,906 Didion Nov. 23, 1954

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