Patent Application
20080121595
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
This invention relates generally to container dispensers for refrigerators and particularly to a plurality of gravity feed dispensers which are snap-fitted to a merchandiser rack. The prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,746 issued to True Manufacturing Co, Inc. of St. Louis, Mo.
This invention comprises a gravity feed container dispenser in which the dispenser provides longitudinally extending ribs on the defining attachments means engaging the rails of the shelf rack in snap-fitted relation to hold the dispenser in place.
It is an aspect of this invention to provide an open top container dispenser having spaced apart sidewalls to retain the containers.
This shelf organizer consists essentially of a rack 20 formed from a generally rectangular frame 22 having opposed side members 24 and front and rear members 28 and lateral intermediate support members 32 extending between the side members 24 in generally parallel relation to said front and rear members 28. The rack 20 also includes a plurality of longitudinally extending rails 34 and front and rear upper stop members 44 lying on the rails 34 and providing stop members above the front and rear members 28, respectively. The rack 20 is preferably integrally formed by welding and is held in an inclined position, sloping downwardly from the rear end by clip supports 40. The profile of the refrigerator is shown by numeral 10.
The rack 20 provides container dispensers 50, preferably of plastic, which, in the embodiment shown, seats on the rack rails 34. The dispenser 50 in the preferred embodiment is preferably molded from plastic and includes opposed sidewalls 52 connected by a floor 54. The floor 54 includes a plurality of longitudinal stringers 56 extending substantially from top to bottom of the container 50, and a plurality of connecting lateral stringers 58 which extend substantially from side to side of said dispenser. At its front end the retainer includes a short floor portion 60 integrally formed with the longitudinal stringers 56. The sidewalls 52 are of diminishing height rearwardly and are connected by arcuate strap members 62 and 64 at its front and rear ends respectively. At its front end, intermediate the strap member 62 and the floor portion 60, are opposed, arcuately formed strap members 66 which are not connected.
The rack 20 may be seated on the clips 40 such that an inclined upper plane is formed from the upper surface of the rails 34. Typically, the inclined upper plane will be at about 5 to 10 degrees which is sufficient to provide an equally sloping floor for the container dispensers 50.
Importantly, each dispenser 50 is removably attached to the rack 20 so that the dispensers can be removed to accommodate different sized containers. To this end the container dispenser 50 includes opposed longitudinally extending stringers 80, 82 and 84 at intervals constituting attachment means which depend below the floor member and are spaced to engage the rails 34 in snap-fitted relation. As shown in
Preferably, the rails 34 are equally spaced across width of the rack 20. Ideally, the distance between the outside faces of the stringers 82 is equal to the distance between the inside faces of the adjacent rail 34. With this arrangement the distance between the in-turned portion 88 of the stringers 80, 82 and 84 is slightly greater than that of the engaged rail 34 so that it is sprung below the rail 34 into overlapping engagement with the rail.
The configuration of the in-turned portion 88 of the finger, constituting upset stringer portions, is such that the retainer 50 is readily removed and replaced and yet is firmly held in position on the rack. Although bottle containers C is shown in
Typically, the container dispensers 50 are held in side-by-side relation touching, or almost touching, and the containers are slidingly received on the floor so as to be gravity fed on said floor with the angle of inclination of the container dispenser floor being adjusted by virtue of the clips 40. The containers C, which are shown in
As shown in
Also, the structure of the containers readily permits the length and width thereof to be adapted to suit the size of the cooler with which they are used by adjustment of the size and spacing of the lateral stringers.
Although the invention has been described by making detailed reference to a single preferred embodiment, such detail is to be understood in an instructive, rather than in any restrictive sense many variations being possible within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.
