Patent Application
20170321954
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
An example appliance 10 is shown in
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.
As shown in
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
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.
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
The base 48 of the retainer member 44 can be movably coupleable to the inner liner 26. For example, as shown in
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,
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.
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.
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
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.
