U.S. patent application number 15/146419 was filed with the patent office on 2017-11-09 for retainer member.
The applicant listed for this patent is Electrolux Home Products, Inc.. Invention is credited to Brent Aaron Curtis, Jorge Luis Nino Garza, Jennifer Serino, Benjamin Paul Shrader.
Application Number | 20170321954 15/146419 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 58699294 |
Filed Date | 2017-11-09 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170321954 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Shrader; Benjamin Paul ; et
al. |
November 9, 2017 |
RETAINER MEMBER
Abstract
A retainer member is provided for retaining a food receptacle
relative to an inner liner of an appliance cabinet or door. The
retainer includes a base that is movably coupleable to the inner
liner and first and second arms that extend from the base. The
first and second arms are curved about an axis and define a
passageway extending through the first and second arms along the
axis. A free end of the first arm is spaced from a free end of the
second arm to define an opening to provide radial access to the
passageway through the opening.
Inventors: |
Shrader; Benjamin Paul;
(Charlotte, NC) ; Curtis; Brent Aaron; (Terrell,
NC) ; Garza; Jorge Luis Nino; (Anderson, SC) ;
Serino; Jennifer; (Glendale, CO) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Electrolux Home Products, Inc. |
Charlotte |
NC |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
58699294 |
Appl. No.: |
15/146419 |
Filed: |
May 4, 2016 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F25D 23/04 20130101;
A47B 77/16 20130101; A47B 97/00 20130101; A47B 73/008 20130101;
F25D 2331/803 20130101; A47B 96/067 20130101; F25D 23/066 20130101;
F25D 2331/809 20130101; F25D 23/067 20130101 |
International
Class: |
F25D 23/04 20060101
F25D023/04; A47B 97/00 20060101 A47B097/00; A47B 77/16 20060101
A47B077/16; A47B 96/06 20060101 A47B096/06; F25D 23/06 20060101
F25D023/06; F25D 23/06 20060101 F25D023/06 |
Claims
1. A retainer member for retaining a food receptacle relative to an
inner liner of an appliance cabinet or door, the retainer member
comprising: a base that is movably coupleable to the inner liner;
and first and second arms that extend from the base, wherein the
first and second arms are curved about an axis and define a
passageway extending through the first and second arms along the
axis, further wherein a free end of the first arm is spaced from a
free end of the second arm to define an opening to provide radial
access to the passageway through the opening, and wherein the first
and second arms extend from the base in a direction that is
transverse and non-orthogonal to the axis.
2. The retainer member of claim 1, wherein a distance between the
free end of the first arm and the free end of the second arm is
less than a distance between a central portion of the first arm and
a central portion of the second arm.
3. (canceled)
4. The retainer member of claim 1, wherein the base comprises a
mounting surface facing away from the axis and adapted to face the
inner liner when the base is movably coupled to the inner liner,
further wherein the base comprises a hook that extends from the
mounting surface.
5. The retainer member of claim 4, wherein the hook comprises a
first member that extends from the mounting surface and a second
member that extends from the first member, further wherein the
first member extends normal to the mounting surface and the second
member extends parallel to the mounting surface.
6. The retainer member of claim 1, further comprising a layer of
gripping material coupled to an inner side of the first and second
arms that faces the axis.
7. The retainer member of claim 1, wherein the first and second
arms comprise a resilient material.
8. An appliance comprising: a cabinet defining a storage
compartment; a door for selectively opening and closing the storage
compartment; a storage member coupled to an inner liner of the
cabinet or door; and a retainer member for retaining a food
receptacle relative to the inner liner, the retainer member
comprising: a base that is movably coupled to the inner liner above
the storage member, and first and second arms that extend from the
base, wherein the first and second arms are curved about an axis
and define a passageway extending through the first and second arms
along the axis, further wherein a free end of the first arm is
spaced from a free end of the second arm to define an opening that
provides radial access to the passageway through the opening, and
wherein the first and second arms extend from the base in a
direction that is transverse and non-orthogonal to the axis.
9. The appliance of claim 8, wherein a distance between the free
end of the first arm and the free end of the second arm is less
than a distance between a central portion of the first arm and a
central portion of the second arm.
10. (canceled)
11. The appliance of claim 8, wherein the first and second arms are
curved about a vertical axis and two horizontal axes, wherein the
horizontal axes are perpendicular to each other.
12. The appliance of claim 8, wherein the first and second arms
extend downward from the base away from the inner liner.
13. The appliance of claim 8, further comprising a rail coupled to
the inner liner, wherein the retainer member is slidably coupled to
the rail such that the base is slidable along a horizontal
direction.
14. The appliance of claim 13, wherein the rail comprises first and
second longitudinal side walls that extend parallel to each other
and define channel therebetween.
15. The appliance of claim 14, wherein the base comprises a
mounting surface facing the inner liner, further wherein the base
comprises a hook that extends from the mounting surface.
16. The appliance of claim 15, wherein the hook comprises a first
member that extends from the mounting surface and a second member
that extends from the first member, further wherein the first
member extends normal to the mounting surface and the second member
extends parallel to the mounting surface.
17. The appliance of claim 16, wherein the first member of the hook
extends over and is supported by the first side wall of the rail
and the second member extends downward into the channel of the
rail.
18. The appliance of claim 8, wherein the base comprises a mounting
surface facing the inner liner, further wherein the base comprises
a hook that extends from the mounting surface.
19. The appliance of claim 18, wherein the hook comprises a first
member that extends from the mounting surface and a second member
that extends from the first member, further wherein the first
member extends normal to the mounting surface and the second member
extends parallel to the mounting surface.
20. The appliance of claim 8, wherein the retainer member further
comprises a layer of gripping material coupled to an inner side of
the first and second arms that faces the axis.
21. The appliance of claim 8, further comprising an upper rail and
a lower rail coupled to the inner liner, wherein the retainer
member is slidably coupled to the upper rail such that the base is
slidable along a horizontal direction, and wherein the storage
member is slidably coupled to the lower rail such that the storage
member is slidable along the horizontal direction.
22. The appliance of claim 21, wherein the retainer member and
storage member are coupled independently such that the retainer
member is slidable along the upper rail independently from the
storage member and the storage member is slidable along the lower
rail independently from the retainer member.
Description
FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates generally to a retainer
member, and, more particularly, to a retainer member for retaining
a food receptacle relative to an inner liner of an appliance
cabinet or door.
BACKGROUND
[0002] An appliance such as, for example, a refrigerator can
include a cabinet defining a storage compartment and a door for
providing selective access to the storage compartment. The
appliance can further include a storage member such as a shelf or a
bin that is attached to an inner liner of the door or storage
compartment. The storage member can be used to support and store
various food receptacles such as wine bottles, milk jugs, jars, or
other containers holding food. Such food receptacles can be set
upon a support platform of the storage member in an upright
position. However, sometimes, a food receptacle can tip over from
its upright position and/or move laterally about the support
platform due to movement of the door, cabinet, and/or other objects
near the food receptacle. Accordingly, there is a need for a device
to help retain a food receptacle in its stored, upright position
and inhibit movement of the food receptacle from said position.
SUMMARY
[0003] In accordance with a first aspect, a retainer member is
provided for retaining a food receptacle relative to an inner liner
of an appliance cabinet or door. The retainer includes a base that
is movably coupleable to the inner liner and first and second arms
that extend from the base. The first and second arms are curved
about an axis and define a passageway extending through the first
and second arms along the axis. A free end of the first arm is
spaced from a free end of the second arm to define an opening to
provide radial access to the passageway through the opening.
[0004] In accordance with a second aspect, an appliance includes a
cabinet defining a storage compartment, a door for selectively
opening and closing the storage compartment, and a storage member
coupled to an inner liner of the cabinet or door. The appliance
further includes a retainer member for retaining a food receptacle
relative to the inner liner. The retainer member includes a base
that is movably coupled to the inner liner above the storage member
and first and second arms that extend from the base. The first and
second arms are curved about an axis and define a passageway
extending through the first and second arms along the axis. A free
end of the first arm is spaced from a free end of the second arm to
define an opening that provides radial access to the passageway
through the opening.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] The foregoing and other aspects will become apparent to
those skilled in the art to which the present examples relate upon
reading the following description with reference to the
accompanying drawings, in which:
[0006] FIG. 1 is a front view of an example appliance;
[0007] FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of storage member and a retainer
member removably coupled to an inner liner of the example
appliance;
[0008] FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the retainer member;
and
[0009] FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a hook of the retainer member
being removably coupled to the inner liner.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0010] Certain terminology is used herein for convenience only and
is not to be taken as a limitation on the present invention.
Relative language used herein is best understood with reference to
the drawings, in which like numerals are used to identify like or
similar items. Further, in the drawings, certain features may be
shown in somewhat schematic form.
[0011] It is to be noted that the term "coupled" as used herein
when describing two or more features means that the features can be
integral with each other or that the features can be separate
features that are removably or non-removably attached to each other
using various means such as threads, fasteners, hooks, clips,
adhesive, snap-fittings, welds, or other means of attaching two
separate features. Moreover, the features can be attached to each
other such that the features are selectively movable relative to
each other by, for example, sliding, pivoting, or otherwise moving
one feature relative to other.
[0012] An example appliance 10 is shown in FIG. 1 that includes a
cabinet 12 that defines a storage compartment 14. The appliance 10
can further include a door 20 that is movably coupled to the
cabinet 12 for selectively opening and closing the storage
compartment 14. For example, the door 20 can be pivotally coupled
to the cabinet 12 using hinges or the door can be slidably coupled
to the cabinet 12 using slides.
[0013] In the illustrated embodiment, the appliance 10 is a
refrigerator having a fresh-food compartment and freezer
compartment, the storage compartment 14 being the fresh-food
compartment. However, in other examples, the storage compartment 14
may be the freezer compartment. Moreover, the appliance 10 may be a
single-compartment refrigerator or the appliance 10 may be a
non-refrigerator appliance. The appliance 10 can be any
cabinet-like structure including a cabinet that defines a storage
compartment.
[0014] As shown in FIG. 2, the appliance 10 can include a storage
member 24 coupled to an inner liner 26 of the appliance 10. In the
illustrated embodiment, the inner liner 26 is part of the door 20.
However, in some embodiments, the inner liner 26 can be a portion
of the cabinet 12 that defines the storage compartment 14. The
storage member 24 can be a bin having a support platform 28 and
side walls 30 that extend upward from the support platform 28 or
the storage member 24 can be a shelf that comprises a support
platform without walls extending upward from the support platform.
When the storage member 24 is coupled to the inner liner 26, a food
receptacle 32 can be supported by the support platform 28 of the
storage member 24. The food receptacle 32 can be a wine bottle,
milk jug, jar, can, or any other container that holds food. The
contained food can be a liquid, solid, or semi-solid.
[0015] In some examples, the appliance 10 can comprise one or more
rails 34 coupled to the inner liner 26. Each rail 34 can comprise
structure for movably coupling storage features to the rail 34. For
instance, in some embodiments, each rail 34 can comprise first and
second longitudinal side walls 36, 38 that extend parallel to each
other and define a channel 40 therebetween. Various storage
features such as, for example, the storage member 24, can be
movably coupled to each rail 34 using a one or more hooks that
extend over the rail's first longitudinal side wall 36 and downward
into its channel 40. Once hooked to the rail 34, the storage
feature can be selectively slid along the rail 34 in a horizontal
direction to a desired position. Furthermore, in embodiments that
comprise more than one rail 34, the storage feature can be
removably coupleable to each rail 34 such that the storage feature
can be moved from one rail to another. For example, the storage
member 24 described above can be removably coupled to a lower rail
34a, as shown in FIG. 2, or the storage member 24 can be moved and
coupled to an upper rail 34b vertically spaced above the lower rail
34a.
[0016] The appliance 10 can comprise a retainer member 44 for
retaining the food receptacle 32 relative to the inner liner 26
when the food receptacle 32 is being supported by the storage
member 24. The retainer member 44 includes a base 48 and first and
second arms 50, 52 that extend from the base 48. The first and
second arms 50, 52 can be curved about one or more axes to define a
passageway 56 extending through the first and second arms 50, 52.
For instance, in the illustrated embodiment, the first and second
arms 50, 52 are curved generally symmetrically about axes X, Y, and
Z to define a passageway along the axis Y. The axis Y is aligned
vertical and the axes X and Z are perpendicular to each other and
horizontally aligned such that the axes X and Z intersect at the
vertical axis Y. However, in other embodiments, the first and
second arms 50, 52 may be curved asymmetrically about the axes X,
Y, and Z or the first and second arms 50, 52 may be curved about
only one or two axes such as, for example, only axis Y.
[0017] In some examples, the first and second arms 50, 52 can be
fixed to the base 48 at one end and then connected to each other at
the opposite end to form a closed ring. In other examples, the
first and second arms 50, 52 can be fixed at one end to the base 48
and free at the other end. For instance, as shown in FIG. 2, a free
end 58 of the first arm 50 can be spaced from a free end 60 of the
second arm 52 to define an opening 62 that provides radial access
to the passageway 56 through the opening 62. (For the purposes of
this disclosure, the term "radial" refers to a direction that is
perpendicular and intersects with the axis Y and the term "axial"
refers to a direction that is parallel to the axis Y). Due to the
curvature of the first and second arms 50, 52, a horizontal
distance D1 (along a direction parallel to the axis X) between the
free end 58 of the first arm 50 and the free end 60 of the second
arm 52 will be less than a horizontal distance D2 (along a
direction parallel to the axis X) between a central portion 64 of
the first arm 50 and a central portion 66 of the second arm 52.
[0018] The base 48 of the retainer member 44 can be movably
coupleable to the inner liner 26. For example, as shown in FIG. 3,
the base 48 can include a mounting surface 68 that faces away from
the axis Y and is adapted to face the inner liner 26 when the base
48 is movably coupled to the inner liner 26. The base 48 can
further include a hook 70 that extends from the mounting surface 68
and is adapted for removable attachment to one of the rails 34 of
the appliance 10. For instance, the hook 70 can comprises a first
member 74 that extends from the mounting surface 68 and a second
member 76 that extends from the first member 74. The first member
74 can extend normal to the mounting surface 68 and the second
member 76 can extend parallel to the mounting surface 68, though
other relative directions to the mounting surface 68 are possible
in other embodiments.
[0019] The retainer member 44 can be slidably coupled to any of the
rails 34 of the appliance 10 by placing its hook 70 such that the
first member 74 of the hook 70 extends over and is supported by the
first longitudinal side wall 36 of the rail 34 and the second
member 76 of the hook 70 extends downward into the channel 40 of
the rail 34. For instance, FIGS. 2 & 4 show an example wherein
the retainer member 44 is slidably coupled to the upper rail 34b.
When slidably coupled as such, the base 48 of the retainer member
44 can be slidably moved along the rail 34b in a horizontal
direction. In particular, the base 48 can be moved in either the
right or left direction. In this manner, the base 48 can be
selectively moved along the rail 34b such that the base 48 is
positioned as desired. Preferably, the base 48 is positioned
directly above the support platform 28 of the storage member
24.
[0020] When the base 48 of the retainer member 44 is coupled to the
inner liner 26 above the storage member 24 as described above, the
axis Y and passageway 56 extending through the first and second
arms 50, 52 will be vertical such that the food receptacle 32 can
be vertically aligned within the passageway 56 between the first
and second arms 50, 52 and supported by the storage member 24. To
align the food receptacle 32 within the passageway 56, the food
receptacle 32 can be lowered axially into the passageway 56 until
it rests against and is supported by the support platform 28 of the
storage member 24. Alternatively, in examples wherein the first and
second arms 50, 52 are separated at their free ends 58, 60 to
define the opening 62, the food receptacle 32 can enter the
passageway 56 radially through the opening 62. Preferably, the
first and second arms 50, 52 comprise a resilient material so that
the free ends 58, 60 of the first and second arms 50, 52 can be
flexed away from each other (e.g., in opposing directions that are
parallel to the axis X) to temporarily increase the distance D1
therebetween if the food receptacle 32 has a width greater than the
distance D1 in the un-flexed state. Using a resilient material for
the first and second arms 50, 52 can also permit the free ends 58,
60 of the first and second arms 50, 52 to be flexed away from each
other (e.g., in opposing directions that are parallel to the axis
X) to increase the distance D2 between the central portions 64, 66
of the first and second arms 50, 52 if the food receptacle 32 has a
width greater than the distance D2 in the un-flexed state.
Furthermore, because the material is resilient, the arms 50, 52
will return to their un-flexed state/distances when force is not
being applied to flex the arms 50, 52 away from each other.
Preferably, the first and second arms 50, 52 comprise a resilient
material that permits the free ends 58, 60 of the first and second
arms 50, 52 to be flexed away from each other to temporarily
increase the distances D1 and D2 by a substantial amount (e.g.,
more than 1 inch) so that the retainer member 44 can accommodate
food receptacles varying substantially in width. Some example
resilient materials that can be used for the first and second arms
50, 52 can include (but are not limited to) polymer-based materials
such as, for example, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate and
polyvinyl chloride. However, the first and second arms 50, 52 can
comprise more rigid materials in other examples.
[0021] In some examples, the first and second arms 50, 52 can
include a layer of gripping material 78 coupled to an inner side of
the arms 50, 52 that faces the axis Y. The layer of gripping
material 78 can be a separate layer that is attached to the arms
50, 52 using for example, adhesive, or the layer of gripping
material 78 can be integral with the arms 50, 52 by, for example,
injection molding the layer with the arms 50, 52. The layer of
gripping material 78 comprises a high-friction or sticky material
that can facilitate gripping of the food receptacle 32 such as, for
example, rubber.
[0022] When the food receptacle 32 is aligned vertically within the
passageway 56 between the first and second arms 50, 52, the food
receptacle 32 will be retained by the first and second arms 50, 52
relative to the inner liner 26 such that the food receptacle 32
will be inhibited from tipping out of vertical alignment and/or
moving laterally about the support platform 28 of the storage
member 24. In some examples, the first and second arms 50, 52 can
extend from the base 48 and inner liner 26 in a direction that is
perpendicular to the axis Y. However, in other examples, the first
and second arms 50, 52 can preferably extend from the base 48 in a
direction that is transverse (i.e., non-parallel) and
non-orthogonal (i.e., non-perpendicular) to the axis Y. More
specifically, the first and second arms 50, 52 can preferably
extend downward from the base 48 and away from the inner liner 26
when the retainer member 44 is coupled to the inner liner 26, as
shown in FIGS. 2 & 4. Such a downward-angled extension of the
first and second arms 50, 52 from the base 48 and inner liner 26
can permit the retainer member 44 to accommodate food receptacles
of various heights because the first and second arms 50, 52 will
have a greater presence along the vertical axis Y. Moreover, such
greater presence along the vertical axis Y can also provide more
vertical stability to a food receptacle retained within the first
and second arms 50, 52. Furthermore, as mentioned above, the first
and second arms 50, 52 can be curved generally symmetrically about
axes X, Y, and Z. Such a curved extension of the first and second
arms 50, 52 from the base 48 and inner liner 26 can permit the
retainer member 44 to accommodate food receptacles of various
widths and heights.
[0023] The invention has been described with reference to example
embodiments described above. Modifications and alterations will
occur to others upon a reading and understanding of this
specification. Example embodiments incorporating one or more
aspects described above are intended to include all such
modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope
of the appended claims.
* * * * *