REFRIGERATOR DOOR WITH BUILT-IN PIZZA POCKET

Abstract

A refrigerator includes: a drawer or door defining a freezer compartment with a front exterior face and interior face and the drawer or door having a panel cavity between the front exterior face and interior face; a pizza pocket pivotally attached to the interior face and extending into the panel cavity, the pizza pocket is movable between a locked position where access into an interior space of the pizza pocket is denied and an open position where access to the interior space of the pizza pocket is allowed. Alternatively, the pizza pocket may be located within the panel cavity and accessed via a slot located in the upper surface of the drawer/door.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention is directed to a refrigerator with a pizza pocket built-into a door, for example, a freezer compartment/section door/drawer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventional refrigeration appliances, such as domestic refrigerators, typically have both a fresh food compartment and a freezer compartment or section. The fresh food compartment is where food items such as fruits, vegetables, and beverages are stored. The freezer compartment is where food items that are to be kept in a frozen condition are stored. The refrigerators are provided with refrigeration systems that maintains the fresh food compartment at temperatures above 0° C., such as between 0.25° C. and 4.5° C. and the freezer compartments at temperatures below 0° C., such as between 0° C. and −20° C.

The arrangements of the fresh food and freezer compartments with respect to one another in such refrigerators vary. For example, in some cases, the freezer compartment is located above the fresh food compartment and in other cases the freezer compartment is located below the fresh food compartment. Additionally, many modern refrigerators have their freezer compartments and fresh food compartments arranged in a side-by-side relationship. Whatever arrangement of the freezer compartment and the fresh food compartment is employed, typically, separate access doors are provided for the compartments so that either compartment can be accessed without exposing the other compartment to the ambient air.

Currently, it is difficult to store frozen pizza boxes or any item (e.g., with a large width and small thickness) in a drawer-style freezer section of a bottom mount freezer. There is a need for a storage solution for pizza boxes (or items with a large width and small thickness).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A refrigerator includes: a drawer or door defining a freezer compartment with a front exterior face and interior face and the drawer or door having a panel cavity between the front exterior face and interior face; a pizza pocket pivotally attached to the interior face and extending into the panel cavity, the pizza pocket is movable between a locked position where access into an interior space of the pizza pocket is denied and an open position where access to the interior space of the pizza pocket is allowed. Alternatively, the pizza pocket may be located within the panel cavity and accessed via a slot located in the upper surface of the drawer/door.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings a form that is presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities and scale shown.

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a prior art household French door bottom mount refrigeration appliance showing doors of the fresh food compartment and drawer of a freezer compartment in a closed position;

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the prior art refrigeration appliance of FIG. 1 showing the doors of the fresh food compartment in opened positions and the drawer of the freezer compartment removed;

FIG. 3 illustrates the inside surface of the door/drawer with the inventive built-in pizza pocket in a closed position;

FIG. 4 illustrates the inside surface of the door/drawer with the inventive built-in pizza pocket in an open position.

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternate embodiment of the inventive built-in pizza pocket.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of a refrigerator or a component thereof now will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Whenever possible, the same reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1 and 2 show a refrigeration appliance in the form of a domestic refrigerator, indicated generally at 10. Although the detailed description that follows concerns a domestic refrigerator 10, the invention can be embodied by refrigeration appliances other than a domestic refrigerator 10. An embodiment is described in detail below, and shown in the figures as a bottom-mount configuration of a refrigerator 10, including a fresh food compartment 14 disposed vertically above a freezer compartment 12. However, the refrigerator 10 can have any desired configuration including at least a fresh food compartment 14 and/or a freezer compartment 12, such as a top mount refrigerator (freezer disposed above the fresh food compartment), a side-by-side refrigerator (fresh food compartment is laterally next to the freezer compartment), the freezer compartment is located below the fresh food compartment (i.e. a bottom mount refrigerator and French door refrigerator), a standalone refrigerator or freezer, etc.

One or more doors 16 shown in FIG. 1 are pivotably coupled to a cabinet 19 of the refrigerator 10 to restrict and grant access to the fresh food compartment 14. The door 16 can include a single door that spans the entire lateral distance across the entrance to the fresh food compartment 14, or can include a pair of French-type doors 16 as shown in FIG. 1 that collectively span the entire lateral distance of the entrance to the fresh food compartment 14 to enclose the fresh food compartment 14.

For the latter configuration, a center flip mullion 21 (FIG. 2) is pivotally coupled to at least one of the doors 16 to establish a surface against which a seal provided to the other one of the doors 16 can seal the entrance to the fresh food compartment 14 at a location between opposing side surfaces 17 (FIG. 2) of the doors 16. The mullion 21 can be pivotably coupled to the door 16 to pivot between a first orientation that is substantially parallel to a planar surface of the door 16 when the door 16 is closed, and a different orientation when the door 16 is opened. The externally-exposed surface of the center mullion 21 is substantially parallel to the door 16 when the center mullion 21 is in the first orientation and forms an angle other than parallel relative to the door 16 when the center mullion 21 is in the second orientation. The seal and the externally exposed surface of the mullion 21 cooperate approximately midway between the lateral sides of the fresh food compartment 14.

A dispenser 18 (FIG. 1) for dispensing at least ice pieces, and optionally water, can be provided on an exterior of one of the doors 16 that restricts access to the fresh food compartment 14. The dispenser 18 includes an actuator (e.g., lever, switch, proximity sensor, etc.) to cause ice pieces to be dispensed from an ice bin 23 (FIG. 2) of an ice maker 25 disposed within the fresh food compartment 14. Ice pieces from the ice bin 23 can exit the ice bin 23 through an aperture 26 and be delivered to the dispenser 18 via an ice chute 22 (FIG. 2), which extends at least partially through the door 16 between the dispenser 18 and the ice bin 23.

The freezer compartment 12 is arranged vertically beneath the fresh food compartment 14. A drawer assembly (not shown) including one or more freezer baskets (not shown) can be withdrawn from the freezer compartment 12 to grant a user access to food items stored in the freezer compartment 12. The drawer assembly can be coupled to a freezer door 11 that includes a handle 15. When a user grasps the handle 15 and pulls the freezer door 11 open, at least one or more of the freezer baskets is caused to be at least partially withdrawn from the freezer compartment 12.

In alternative embodiments, the ice maker is located within the freezer compartment. In this configuration, although still disposed within the freezer compartment, at least the ice maker (and possible an ice bin) is mounted to an interior surface of the freezer door. It is contemplated that the ice mold and ice bin can be separate elements, in which one remains within the freezer compartment and the other is on the freezer door.

The freezer compartment 12 is used to freeze and/or maintain articles of food stored in the freezer compartment 12 in a frozen condition. For this purpose, the freezer compartment 12 is in thermal communication with a freezer evaporator (not shown) that removes thermal energy from the freezer compartment 12 to maintain the temperature therein at a temperature of 0° C. or less during operation of the refrigerator 10, preferably between 0° C. and −50° C., more preferably between 0° C. and −30° C. and even more preferably between 0° C. and −20° C.

The refrigerator 10 includes an interior liner 24 (FIG. 2) that defines the fresh food compartment 14. The fresh food compartment 14 is in the upper portion of the refrigerator 10 in this example and serves to minimize spoiling of articles of food stored therein. The fresh food compartment 14 accomplishes this aim by maintaining the temperature in the fresh food compartment 14 at a cool temperature that is typically above 0° C., so as not to freeze the articles of food in the fresh food compartment 14. It is contemplated that the cool temperature preferably is between 0° C. and 10° C., more preferably between 0° C. and 5° C. and even more preferably between 0.25° C. and 4.5° C.

According to some embodiments, cool air from which thermal energy has been removed by the freezer evaporator can also be blown into the fresh food compartment 14 to maintain the temperature therein greater than 0° C. preferably between 0° C. and 10° C., more preferably between 0° C. and 5° C. and even more preferably between 0.25° C. and 4.5° C. For alternate embodiments, a separate fresh food evaporator can optionally be dedicated to separately maintaining the temperature within the fresh food compartment 14 independent of the freezer compartment 12.

According to an embodiment, the temperature in the fresh food compartment 14 can be maintained at a cool temperature within a close tolerance of a range between 0° C. and 4.5° C., including any subranges and any individual temperatures falling with that range. For example, other embodiments can optionally maintain the cool temperature within the fresh food compartment 14 within a reasonably close tolerance of a temperature between 0.25° C. and 4° C.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the pizza pocket 100 will be described in further detail. In general, the refrigerator has a drawer or door 102 defining a freezer compartment with a front exterior face 104 and interior face 106 and the drawer or door 102 having a panel cavity 108 (not visible) between the front exterior face 104 and interior face 106; a pizza pocket 100 pivotally attached to the interior face 106 and extending into the panel cavity 108, the pizza pocket 100 is movable between a locked position (FIG. 3) where access into an interior space 110 of the pizza pocket 100 is denied and an open (FIG. 4) position where access to the interior space 110 of the pizza pocket 100 is allowed. While this embodiment is illustrated with access via a hinged cover 112, it will be evident to those of ordinary skill that the cover 112 may also be moved via slides or rails (not shown).

The pizza pocket 100 allows a pizza to be stored vertically (standing on an edge) within the interior space 110 of the pocket 100. In general, a pizza has a width (diameter) greater than its depth, and the interior space 110 is configured to accommodate such shapes. The interior space 110 may extend, in part or entirely, into the panel cavity so that space is efficiently used. The pocket 100 may have a covering 112 that pivotally affixed to the interior face 106, for example via a hinge 114. The covering may have a generally rectangular shape with an open side (backside facing the interior surface and/or a topside to allow the pizza to be slipped into the pocket). The pocket 110 may be lockable in the closed position by a locking mechanism 116.

Panel cavity 108 defines the space between the front exterior face 104 and interior face 106. This space may be filled with any conventional insulation material. When the pizza pocket is provided, this space 108 may be a conventional vacuum insulated panel (VIP). The VIP allows a greater amount of space to be used for pizza storage, but maintain the insulation capacity of the door/drawer.

The pocket 100 may also have a liner (not shown). The liner, made of any disposable material, for example a polyolefin plastic film, is configured to fit within the pocket. The liner may be used to facilitate cleaning of the pocket.

Hinge 114 may be any hinge. In one embodiment, hinge 114 includes a stop that limits rotation of the covering 112. The cover only needs to open enough to allow insertion and/or retrieval of the pizza. In some embodiments, that may be 5-10 degrees. The hinge may be located any where between the covering 112 and the interior face 106. In some embodiments, the hinge 114 is located along the bottom of the pizza pocket 100.

Locking mechanism 116 may be any locking mechanism that holds the covering 112 in the closed position. In some embodiments, the locking mechanism may include a pawl 118. Other mechanisms include, for example, detents and/or clips. The locking mechanism 116 may be located anywhere between the covering 112 and the interior face 106. In some embodiments, the locking mechanism 116 may be located along the top portion of the covering 112 or the uppermost side portions of the covering 112.

In FIG. 5, an alternate embodiment is shown. In this embodiment, the pizza pocket 100 is recessed within the drawer/door 102 between the front face 104 and the interior face 106, but any pizza is accessed from a slot 122 in the upper surface 120 of the drawer/door 102. Slot 122 may be covered with a lid 124 (hinged or slidable). In some embodiments, the hinge is located adjacent the interior face to reduce the chance of jamming. Any pizza stored in the cavity may be retrieved, for example, by mechanical action (e.g., spring loaded—like a toaster, or via a worm gear) or pulling a liner, such as discussed above.

The present invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit and the essential attributes thereof, and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, rather than to the foregoing specification, as indicating the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A refrigerator comprises:

a drawer or door defining a freezer compartment with a front exterior face and an interior face and the drawer or door having a panel cavity between the front exterior face and interior face;

a pizza pocket pivotally attached to the interior face and extending into the panel cavity, the pizza pocket is movable between a locked position where access into an interior space of the pizza pocket is denied and an open position where access to the interior space of the pizza pocket is allowed, wherein the refrigerator further comprises an insulation panel located within the panel cavity and adjacent to a rear side of the pizza pocket, and wherein the insulation panel is a vacuum insulated panel.

2-3. (canceled)

4. The refrigerator of claim 1 further comprising a hinge located at a bottom edge portion of the pizza pocket.

5. The refrigerator of claim 4 wherein the hinge further comprises and rotation limiting mechanism.

6. The refrigerator of claim 1 further comprising a locking mechanism adapted to hold the pizza pocket in a closed position.

7. The refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the pizza pocket further includes a removable liner.

8. The refrigerator of claim 7 wherein the liner is disposable.

9. A refrigerator comprises:

a drawer or door defining a freezer compartment with a front exterior face and an interior face and the drawer or door having a panel cavity defined inside the drawer or door between the front exterior face and the interior face; and

a pizza pocket is located in the panel cavity and contents of the pizza pocket are accessed via a slot located in the drawer or door.

10. The refrigerator of claim 9 further comprising a lid covering the slot.

11. The refrigerator of claim 10 wherein the lid is moved via a hinge or a slide.

12. The refrigerator of claim 11 wherein the hinge is adjacent the interior face.

13. The refrigerator of claim 9 wherein the slot is located on an upper surface of the drawer or door between the front exterior face and the interior face.