Shelf base for a refrigerator
A shelf base for a refrigerator, the base including a plate and an upper and a lower retaining rail, running along an upper and a lower side of the plate. The upper and lower retaining rails mounting a support to house chilled goods. The retaining rails, connected in a unit, can be shifted along the transverse direction of the plate.
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The invention relates to a shelf base for use in a cooling device, especially in a refrigerator. These shelf bases are generally loaded with items to be cooled, whose height cannot be greater than the height of a compartment which delimits the shelf base at the bottom. If the height of the items is smaller, it is difficult to efficiently utilise the cooling compartment since not all the items to be stored in a refrigerator are suitable for stacking and even if stacking is possible, stacking takes time and makes it difficult to access items lying at the bottom of the stack.
In order to improve the possibilities for utilising space in a refrigerator, a shelf base has been proposed having retaining rails located on its underside to which a container suspended from the shelf base can be attached. This type of container then makes it possible to efficiently use the volume of a compartment underneath the shelf base even when items placed on the bottom of this compartment are significantly smaller than the height of the compartment.
It is the object of the invention to further improve the diversity of the possibilities for utilising the space of such a shelf base.
The object is solved by a shelf base having the features of claim 1.
The retaining rails extending on the upper side of the plate of the shelf base allow a special support for chilled goods to be attached to the upper side of the shelf base.
Each upper retaining rail is preferably connected at at least one of its ends, preferably the front end, to one end of one of the lower retaining rails. This connection is preferably made by means of a clip spanning the front edge of the plate which is displaceable along the front edge and thus also allows the retaining rails to be displaced along the plate. Thus, the retaining rails can each be displaced to the location of the shelf base at which they are utilised most efficiently.
It is appropriate if a single clip interconnects all upper and lower retaining rails. Thus, even during a displacement the distance between the upper retaining rails and between the lower retaining rails is kept constant and the supports whose width is matched to this spacing of the rails, are held reliably independently of any displacement of the rails.
The rear ends of respectively one upper and one lower retaining rail can also be connected by a clip which spans the rear edge of the plate and is displaceable along the rear edge. If both ends of the rails are each connected by such clips, these form a unit extending around the shelf base which can only be unintentionally released from the plate in the event of break in the rails. Nevertheless, these rails can be released non-destructively from the plate by removing the shelf base from the cooling device and removing the interconnected rails in the lateral direction.
The lower and/or the upper retaining rails are preferably open at their front ends to allow a support to be attached by inserting into the rails from the front without the need to dismantle the rails. In order to avoid a support being unintentionally released from the retaining rails during withdrawal, an upwardly directed projection is formed at the front end of the bearing surface of at least one rail which supports the support, which projection can only be overcome by a support held in the rails if it is simultaneously pulled and raised, which effectively prevents any unintentional withdrawal of the support from the retaining rails.
The lower retaining rails are especially useful for attaching a dish or a bottle holder therein. The upper retaining rails can be used to attach a support for drink cans. This type of support can be simply constructed from a base plate parallel to the plate of the shelf base and is secured by ribs provided with indentations, which project from the base plate and in which a drinks can is secured against rolling away in the horizontal position.
A support which can be attached in the upper or lower retaining rails as desired is an egg holder.
This type of egg holder can be simply formed by a perforated base plate whose holes are provided to hold eggs, side flanks developed from the base plate and clips which project from the side flanks and engage in the retaining rails. Assuming that the side flanks are of sufficient height, such an egg holder can be inserted in the upper or the lower retaining rails according to the needs of the user.
Further features and advantages of the invention are obtained from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the appended figures. In the figures:
The shelf base 6 is shown in an enlarged partial view in
As can be seen in
The lower retaining rails 12 each have an L-shaped cross-section transverse to the plane of
The part of the frame 8 facing the rear wall of the cooling zone, on the left in
The can holder 13 from
The bottle holder 15 is an elongated basket open at one end, made of plastic or powder-coated metal, comprising a closed base plate 26 and wires 27 which start from this base plate 26, forming the side flanks of the bottle carrier, these wires being connected at their upper ends by two horizontal webs each engaging in one of the lower retaining rails 12. The wires 27 can have a certain flexibility so that so that by pressing together the flanks of the bottle carrier 15, it is possible to release the webs from the retaining rails 12 and remove the bottle carrier 15 without pulling this forward from the retaining rails 12.
The lower retaining rails 12 can also be fitted with a shell 36 as shown in
Claims
1-14. (canceled)
15. A shelf base for a refrigerator;
- comprising a plate;
- lower retaining rails extending along a lower side of the plate for attachment for a support for holding chilled goods; and
- upper retaining rails for another support extend along the upper side of the plate.
16. The shelf base according to claim 15, including said upper and lower retaining rails are arranged one above the other.
17. The shelf base according to claim 15, including said upper and lower retaining rails are arranged in the direction of the holder of the shelf base in retaining means used for the refrigerator.
18. The shelf base according to claim 15, including said upper retaining rails are connected at least at one of their ends to respectively one end of one of said lower retaining rails.
19. The shelf base according to claim 15, including front ends of respectively one of said upper and one of said lower retaining rails are connected by a guide profile which spans the front edge of said plate and is displaceable along said front edge.
20. The shelf base according to claim 18, including a plurality of clips interconnect all said upper and lower retaining rails.
21. (canceled)
22. The shelf base according to claim 18, including at least one of said lower and said upper retaining rails are open at their rear ends.
23. The shelf base according to claim 29 including an upwardly projecting projection formed at the front end of a bearing surface of at least one of said lower rails.
24. The shelf base according to claim 18, including one of a shell or a bottle holder is mounted in said lower retaining rails as a support.
25. The shelf base to claim 18, including a support for drinks cans mounted in said upper retaining rails.
26. The shelf base according to claim 25, including said support for drinks cans includes a base plate substantially parallel to said plate and includes ribs provided with indentations projecting from said base plate.
27. The shelf base according to claim 15, including an egg holder mounted in one of said upper or lower retaining rails.
28. The shelf base according to claim 27, including said egg holder includes a perforated base plate, a pair of side flanks bent away from said perforated base plate and webs which project from said side flanks and engage in said retaining rails.
29. The shelf base according to claim 18, including rear ends of respectively one of said upper and one of said lower retaining rails span the rear edge of said plate and are displaceably connected along said rear edge.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 30, 2004
Publication Date: Nov 16, 2006
Applicant: BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgerate GmbH (Munich)
Inventors: Ralf Grobleben (Bretten), Thomas Knoller (Karlsruhe), Petra Wustling (Karlsruhe)
Application Number: 10/567,321
International Classification: A47B 96/04 (20060101);