1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a retractable oven rack assembly for use in an oven. The invention also relates to a combination oven and retractable oven rack. More particularly, the invention relates to a retractable oven rack assembly made up of two parts, with a grid shelf supported on a slidable base which can be slid out of the oven, and the grid shelf is slidable on top of the base for being easily extended out of and retracted back into the oven cavity.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In cooking appliances such as ovens or free standing ranges which include ovens, the oven cavity is typically populated with one or more racks to support food items being cooked in the oven. The oven cavities include support slots, racks or ledges in the side walls thereof which allow the oven racks to be slidably received and retained within the oven cavity. The support slots, racks or ledges also typically include an upward or downward projection near the front of the oven cavity which serves as a stop which abuts against a corresponding projection in one or both of the front and in the back of an oven rack. The stop prevents the oven rack from being inadvertently pulled completely out of the oven when supporting food thereon, and to prevent the oven rack from being pushed too far back into the oven to avoid contact between the rear of the oven rack and the interior back wall of the oven cavity. The oven rack is easily removed from the support slots, racks or ledges for moving to another height in the oven or for removable for cleaning.
In these types of arrangements, due to the fact that the oven rack must be supported over a substantial portion thereof by the support slots or ledges of the oven cavity walls, the amount which the rack can be extended out of the oven cavity is limited. This results in difficulty in positioning food items on such racks or in removing the food items from the rack. This also creates a danger that the person removing or replacing such items on the rack may inadvertently contact the hot walls of the oven cavity.
More recently, in order to avoid these problems, there have been designed extendable rack arrangements for use in an oven cavity, which allow an oven rack to be extended well out of an oven cavity. One design involves a rack assembly, which includes a rack extendable upon a primary rack frame, which is itself mounted for sliding movement relative to the oven cavity. The rack is supported upon guides carried by the rack frame with multiple sets of rollers. While desirable from the perspective of allowing greater extension of the oven rack out of the cavity of the oven, this type of arrangement takes up a substantial amount of additional space within an oven cavity due to the fact that it is essentially a double rack arrangement, with each rack separated from each other by a space consuming roller mechanism which can easily break. As such, while desirable from the perspective of allowing the rack to be extended outside of the oven cavity, this type of rack arrangement substantially decreases the useable volume in an oven cavity, particularly when multiple rack assemblies of this type are used. Further, the complexity of the extendable rack assembly adds cost to the oven and may also cause failures due to the many moving parts of the extendable rack assembly.
In a more recent arrangement, a full extension slide is provided on a rack frame resting on the supports, such as slots, racks or ledges of the oven, with a rack coupled to the full extension slide. In this arrangement, the rack frame rests on supports of the oven with the upper portion of the rack frame holding the extension slides at essentially the same level as the rack coupled to the full extension slide.
While providing a more simplified arrangement than the afore-described double rack assembly, this design still suffers from the requirement of having a compound rack system wherein two racks are required, one being a wire frame rack and the other being the actual rack that holds the food being cooked in the oven.
In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the problems of the extendable open racks in current use are avoided, and an oven rack assembly is provided which allows full extension of an oven rack outside of an oven cavity, is simple in construction, and ensures that the oven rack is securely held by the supports of the oven cavity.
An exemplary embodiment of a retractable oven rack in accordance with the invention includes a slidable wire base of generally rectangular shape with four wire sections extending generally horizontally around the periphery thereof. A first two of the wire sections extend parallel to each other along the width of the wire base and a second two extend parallel to each other along the length thereof. By “width” it is meant the portion which extends along the front entrance of the oven cavity. By “length” is the portion that extends inwardly through the depth of the oven cavity. The wire sections are connected to each other at the ends thereof and are preferably a single continuous piece. A pair of support rods are located raised from and extend respectively parallel to the second two wire sections in proximity thereto. The support rods are connected at each end to a respective one of the first two wire sections. A grid shelf has a pair of raised wire sections extending the length of the grid shelf at a location for being slidably supported on the pair of support wire sections, for allowing the grid shelf to slide on the pair of support rods.
In another exemplary embodiment, one of the first two wire sections includes a raised section at the rear of the wire base to form respective first stops at the connections between the wire section of the first two wire sections at the rear, and the second two wire sections. The other end of the first two wire sections includes a raised section at the front of the of the wire base to form a second set of stops. In a yet still further aspect, the base includes a projection on each of the support wire sections to form a wire grid shelf stop for limiting sliding movement of the grid shelf relative to the wire base to a predetermined amount forward to prevent the grid shelf from inadvertently falling out of the oven when it is extended outward from its retracted position.
Another exemplary embodiment includes the aforementioned retractable oven rack in combination with an oven having the above-described retractable oven racks.
Having briefly described the present invention, the same will become better understood from the following detailed description, made with reference to the appended drawing, wherein:
A retractable oven rack 21 in accordance with the present invention includes two separate parts, a slidable wire base 23 and a grid shelf 25.
As shown in
As shown in
As also shown in
With respect to the materials employed, a variety of conventional metals or alloys can be used in manufacturing the retractable oven rack 21. Examples of such materials are nickel-plated carbon steel wire or nickel chrome cold rolled rod. More particularly, the materials should be capable of withstanding typical oven temperatures over long periods of time as will become readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.
Having thus generally described the invention, the same will become better understood from the appended claims in which it is set forth in a non-limiting manner.
This application is a continuation, under 35 U.S.C. §120, of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/987,634, filed Nov. 12, 2004, and incorporates by reference the entire prior application.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
1872733 | Greenwald | Aug 1932 | A |
1896307 | Hatch | Feb 1933 | A |
1974983 | Cook | Sep 1934 | A |
1995399 | Reedy et al. | Mar 1935 | A |
2008091 | Betts | Jul 1935 | A |
2015389 | Whitted | Sep 1935 | A |
2033792 | Sywert et al. | Mar 1936 | A |
2033859 | Otte | Mar 1936 | A |
2065391 | Nance | Dec 1936 | A |
2078681 | Otte | Apr 1937 | A |
2098198 | Sindelar | Nov 1937 | A |
2168172 | Rees | Aug 1939 | A |
2225991 | Hobson | Dec 1940 | A |
2376640 | Wall et al. | May 1945 | A |
2466360 | Bitney | Apr 1949 | A |
2760649 | Rataiczak | Aug 1956 | A |
3403789 | La Morte et al. | Oct 1968 | A |
3717259 | Fried et al. | Feb 1973 | A |
3977389 | Ondrasik, II | Aug 1976 | A |
4194495 | Scherer | Mar 1980 | A |
5558237 | Ancona | Sep 1996 | A |
6148813 | Barnes et al. | Nov 2000 | A |
6279467 | Tiemann | Aug 2001 | B1 |
6341704 | Michel, Jr. | Jan 2002 | B1 |
6729484 | Sparkowski | May 2004 | B2 |
D509405 | Shin | Sep 2005 | S |
6976597 | Jahrling et al. | Dec 2005 | B2 |
7347198 | Freese et al. | Mar 2008 | B2 |
20030192847 | Jahrling et al. | Oct 2003 | A1 |
20040035813 | Sparkowski | Feb 2004 | A1 |
20050204933 | Freese et al. | Sep 2005 | A1 |
20060102015 | Baker et al. | May 2006 | A1 |
20060185661 | Metcalf et al. | Aug 2006 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
0091666 | Oct 1983 | EP |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20100000514 A1 | Jan 2010 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 10987634 | Nov 2004 | US |
Child | 12560490 | US |