REFRIGERATOR SHELF
A shelf is defined by a tempered glass panel bonded to opposing flanges of a pair of metal shelf brackets carrying hooks for connection to and adjustment along vertical trackways in refrigerator compartments. Adhesive constitutes the sole means for maintaining the shelf substantially rigidly united. Each shelf bracket includes at least one abutment surface for engaging an edge of the shelf panel or a handgrip member carried thereby to assure perfect alignment between the components during curing of the adhesive. Each shelf bracket is defined by a shelf arm and a flange with the flanges having pockets housing the adhesive. The shelf arms may additionally include uppermost projections for engaging side edges of the shelf panel and/or at least one additional flange, such that side edge portions of the shelf panel can be housed between the pair of vertically spaced longitudinally offset flanges of each shelf bracket.
The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/088,895, filed on Mar. 25, 2005, which will issue on Dec. 2, 2014, as U.S. Pat. No. 8,899,704.
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSUREThis disclosure relates to shelving for refrigerators and the like, though it is equally capable of being utilized as a bookshelf or a shelf associated with most any type of furniture as a cantilevered shelf defined by a pair of shelf brackets and a shelf panel supported therebetween.
Shelves specifically designed for refrigerators are well known, and typical thereof is the cantilevered shelf of FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,145 issued on Nov. 8, 1994 to Kevin C. Bird et al. The cantilevered shelf is formed by a planar tempered glass shelf member or panel and a pair of metal support brackets which are united to each other by a molded polymeric/copolymeric synthetic resinous thermoplastic material encapsulation or rim. The rim is molded around the entire peripheral edge of the glass shelf member or panel and forms a spill dam for containing product spills occurring when the shelf or shelf assembly is in use in an associated refrigerator compartment. Such encapsulated shelves have been exclusively manufactured and sold by the assignee of the present application and are generally utilized in high-end/expensive refrigerators because of shelf rigidity, product drip/spillage protection and the extremely attractive aesthetic appearance achieved through the injection molding or encapsulation of the shelf brackets to the glass shelf panel.
In lieu of the metal shelf brackets or polygonal metal wire frame of U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,145, U.S. Pat. No. 6,488,347 issued on Dec. 3, 2002 in the name of Craig Bienick discloses a refrigerator shelf formed of but two pieces of material, namely, a glass shelf panel bounded by an integral, injection-molded, one-piece frame/encapsulation/rim of polymeric/copolymeric synthetic plastic material which includes integral shelf brackets and suspension hooks defined by the encapsulation/rim. This shelf assembly includes all of the advantages of the shelf assembly first described with respect to U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,145 and desirably excludes separate metal shelf brackets. However, the entire periphery of the encapsulation and particularly the side shelf arms must be reinforced to prevent adverse torquing characteristics which would occur if the polymeric/copolymeric shelf arms were made extremely thin. Therefore, though the shelf assembly of the latter patent excludes manual assembly costs, the latter could be offset by the added cost of the polymeric/copolymeric material utilized in the injection molding of the rim/encapsulation to effect rigidity/reinforcement thereof. Obviously, such conventional material is derived from petroleum and both availability and price stability thereof have always been a problem, particularly when quoting manufacturing costs of shelves one or more years into the future, as is customary under long-term customer purchase agreements.
A relatively simplistic refrigerator shelf is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,260 issued on May 8, 1990 to Douglas Poulsen. The refrigerator shelf includes a pair of metal cantilevered shelf supports or brackets which are rigidly interconnected to each other by a rigid rear support rod or cross member. The glass shelf is inserted into a rear shelf retainer which carries a downwardly opening U-shaped clip which engages the rear rod. A U-shaped front cross member is also rigidly secured between front or free ends of the cantilevered shelf supports. Though relatively simplistic with respect to the various parts required to form the shelf, the welding of the front and rear cross members to the shelf brackets is expensive, as is the complex nature of the extruded rear clip.
The latter patents and those additionally specified in U.S. Pat. No. 6,488,347 establish the state of the cantilevered shelf art over which the present disclosure is considered to be a novel and unobvious departure.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSUREIn keeping with the foregoing, a novel shelf, particularly a cantilevered shelf which is adapted to be hooked to and vertically adjusted with respect to conventional slotted trackways in a refrigerator compartment, is manufactured from a pair of metal shelf brackets, a shelf panel preferably made of tempered glass, and adhesive for uniting the latter three shelf components in a substantially rigid manner. Through the utilization of but two metal shelf brackets which are appropriately blanked or severed from a planar piece of sheet metal, contoured/bent and, if desired, painted, bonding material is utilized to rigidly adhere upper surfaces of opposing flanges of the shelf brackets to an underside of the tempered glass panel. The flanges of each shelf bracket preferably include an upwardly opening reservoir or pocket in which the adhesive or bonding material can be located such that upon assembly of the glass panel side edges to the flanges, the adhesive/bonding material will not extrude laterally inwardly or outwardly of the flanges whereby aesthetics is enhanced due to the absence of visible extruded adhesive/bonding material inboard or outboard of the flanges.
In further accordance with the present disclosure, each cantilevered shelf arm of each bracket includes at least one projection which projects upwardly beyond its associated flange such that the projections engage side edges of the tempered glass panel to rigidify the assembly along the shelf bracket length thereof thereby precluding undesired torquing of the rigidly adhesively united shelf.
In further accordance with the present disclosure, each of the shelf arms includes at least a second flange spaced above the first flange and longitudinally offset therefrom which collectively afford upper and lower support to side edge portions of the tempered glass panel housed therebetween. The shelf of the present disclosure also includes means for locating the tempered glass shelf panel relative to each of the shelf brackets to assure perfect alignment of the components as the adhesive dries/bonds which thereby assures substantially perfect parallelism between the metal shelf arms or brackets which enhances the anti-torquing characteristics and rigidity of the shelf.
With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear, the nature of the disclosure will be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description, the appended claims and the several views illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
A novel cantilevered shelf or shelf assembly constructed in accordance with this disclosure which is particularly adapted for utilization in fresh food or frozen food compartments of a refrigerator in association with slotted vertical trackways thereof is illustrated in
The shelf 10 is constructed from three primary components, namely, a shelf panel 11 and a pair of metal cantilever side shelf brackets 12, 13 and secondary components in the form of a front grip or gripping member 14 and a rear product retention member 15 carried by the shelf panel 11.
The shelf panel 11 is preferably constructed from a polygonal piece of transparent tempered glass defined by side edge portions 16, 17 having respective side edges 18, 19 in substantially parallel relationship to each other and front and rear edge portions 20, 21 having respective front and rear edges 22, 23 (
The metal shelf brackets 12, 13 are substantially identical to each other and are each cut or blanked from a sheet of planar metallic material and formed to the configurations and cross-sections best illustrated in
Each shelf bracket 12, 13 additionally includes a shelf panel support flange 40, 41, respectively, which project laterally toward each other, as is most apparent from
A plane P1 (
Each of the shelf panels support flanges 40, 41 include means 50, 51 (
The front grip member 14 and the product retention member 15 can either be injection molded upon the respective front and rear edge portions 20, 21 of the shelf panel 11 or can be manufactured and post-assembled by sliding the same upon the respective edge portions 20, 21 of the shelf panel 11. Members 14, 15 have lower transverse edges 52, 53 (
The adhesive A is preferably a structural adhesive/sealant, such as AM-47, which provides high strength and excellent adhesion while being tough, elastic and waterproof, all characteristics being requisite for utilization of the shelf 10 in refrigerator compartments, particularly in view of the moisture normally associated therewith, both by way of normal condensation and product spillage. The AM-47 adhesive can be used absent primers, is fast curing, is of extremely low shrinkage, is paint/enamel compatible and, when cured, satisfies all U.S. Federal Regulations, such as OSHA Hazardous Communication Standards.
Another novel cantilevered shelf or shelf assembly constructed in accordance with this disclosure which is also particularly adapted for utilization in fresh food or frozen food compartments of a refrigerator in association with slotted vertical trackways thereof is illustrated in
The most significant difference between the two shelves 10, 100 resides in the fact that while the shelf brackets 12, 13 each included a single relatively long shelf panel supporting flange 40, 41, respectively, the corresponding shelf brackets 112, 113 of the shelf 100 each include a pair of shelf panel supporting flanges 140, 140; 141, 141; respectively. The shelf panel supporting flanges 140, 141 are in opposite opposing relationship to the shelf panel supporting flanges 141, 141, as is most readily visualized by comparing
As is best illustrated in
Another novel cantilevered shelf or shelf assembly constructed in accordance with this disclosure is illustrated in
The shelf or shelf assembly 200 differs from the shelves 10, 100 in three aspects, namely, (1) each metal shelf bracket 212, 213 includes only a pair of upwardly projecting edge portions or projections 248, 249 which results in three spaced shelf panel support flanges 239, 240 and 241 along each shelf bracket 212, 213, (2) upper most edge portions 260 of the upper edge projections 248, 249 are bent inwardly in aligned opposing relationship with each other (
As is most readily apparent from
Although a preferred embodiment of the disclosure has been specifically illustrated and described herein, it is to be understood that minor variations may be made in the apparatus without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure, as defined by the appended claims.
Claims
1. A refrigerator shelf assembly for mounting to an inside wall of a refrigerator, comprising:
- a support structure consisting of a first shelf bracket for mounting to the inside wall of the refrigerator and a second shelf bracket for mounting to the inside wall of the refrigerator, the second shelf bracket being substantially parallel to the first shelf bracket;
- the assembly further comprising a shelf panel that is supported by the support structure, the shelf panel comprising a lower surface,
- wherein the support structure is located entirely below the lower surface of the shelf panel.
2. The refrigerator shelf assembly of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second shelf brackets comprises a shelf arm and a shelf panel support flange,
- wherein each shelf arm is disposed in a spaced relationship to the other shelf arm, and wherein each shelf panel support flange is disposed in a first substantially common plane that is substantially normal to its associated shelf arm, the refrigerator shelf assembly further comprising an adhesive located between an upper surface of each shelf panel support flange and the lower surface of the shelf panel for adhesively bonding the same to each other, and wherein the adhesive bonding between each shelf support flange and the shelf panel maintains the shelf substantially rigidly united.
3. The refrigerator shelf assembly of claim 1, wherein each of the first shelf bracket and the second shelf bracket is a single-piece unitary component.
4. The refrigerator shelf assembly of claim 2, wherein each shelf panel support flange comprises a reservoir opening in a direction toward the lower surface of the shelf panel, and wherein the adhesive is at least partially in the reservoir.
5. The refrigerator shelf assembly of claim 4, wherein the adhesive is one or more separate beads of adhesive along the length of the reservoir.
6. The refrigerator assembly of claim 2, wherein the shelf panel has a front edge, a rear edge, and a pair of side edges, and
- wherein each of the support flanges contacts the shelf panel at one of the pair of side edges.
7. The refrigerator shelf assembly of claim 6, further comprising a polymeric/copolymeric front gripping member, wherein the gripping member comprises a channel in which the front edge of the shelf panel is located.
8. The refrigerator shelf assembly of claim 1, wherein the lower surface of the shelf panel is a planar lower surface.
9. The refrigerator shelf assembly of claim 1, wherein the refrigerator shelf assembly is for mounting to an inside wall of a refrigerator,
- so that a first of the pair of shelf brackets comprises a first member for mounting the first shelf bracket to the inside wall of the refrigerator, and
- a second of the pair of shelf brackets comprises second member for mounting the second shelf bracket to the inside wall of the refrigerator, the second shelf bracket being positioned substantially parallel to and in a spaced apart relationship from the first shelf bracket, and
- wherein the shelf panel is positioned in place by the first and second shelf brackets, the shelf panel having a front edge, a rear edge and a pair of side edge portions, the side edge portions being supported in place solely by the first and second shelf brackets, the shelf panel providing the sole connection in the shelf assembly between the first and second shelf brackets.
10. A refrigerator shelf assembly, comprising:
- a pair of metal shelf brackets, wherein each of the pair of shelf brackets comprises a shelf arm and a shelf panel support flange, wherein each shelf arm is disposed in substantially parallel spaced relationship to the other shelf arm;
- a shelf panel having a planar lower surface; and
- an adhesive located between each shelf panel support flange and the lower surface of the shelf panel, so that the adhesive is the sole connection between the shelf panel and each of the pair of shelf brackets,
- wherein each of the shelf panel support flanges has an inboard flange portion adjacent to the shelf arm, and an outboard flange portion at a lateral edge of the support flange, wherein the inboard flange portion and the outboard flange portion have upper surfaces that are in a substantially common plane with the planar lower surface of the shelf panel.
11. The refrigerator shelf assembly of claim 10, wherein each of the pair of shelf brackets is a separate piece cut from a planar sheet of metallic material.
12. The refrigerator shelf assembly of claim 10, wherein each of the shelf panel support flanges comprises a reservoir between the inboard flange portion and the outboard flange portion, the reservoir opening in a direction toward the shelf panel lower surface, and wherein the adhesive is at least partially in the reservoir.
13. The refrigerator shelf assembly of claim 10, wherein the shelf panel is tempered glass.
14. The refrigerator shelf assembly of claim 1, wherein the shelf panel comprises a front edge portion and a rear edge portion, and
- wherein the refrigerator shelf assembly further comprises a polymeric/copolymeric front gripping member, and wherein the gripping member comprises a channel in which the front edge portion of the shelf panel is located.
15. A refrigerator shelf assembly, comprising:
- a pair of metal shelf brackets; and
- a shelf panel having an upper surface, a lower surface, and two side edge portions;
- wherein each of the pair of metal shelf brackets has a vertical projection and a horizontal support flange, and
- wherein an upper portion of the vertical projection is bent over the upper surface of the shelf panel, so that each of the side edge portions of the shelf panel is between one of the vertical projections and one of the horizontal support flanges.
16. The refrigerator shelf assembly of claim 15, further comprising an adhesive located between at least one of the horizontal support flanges and the lower surface of the shelf panel for directly adhesively bonding the same to each other.
17. The refrigerator shelf assembly of claim 16, wherein each of the horizontal support flanges comprises a u-shaped reservoir therein, the reservoir opening in a direction toward the lower surface of the shelf panel, and wherein the adhesive is at least partially in the reservoir.
18. The refrigerator shelf assembly of claim 15, wherein the shelf panel has a rear edge portion, and at least one of the pair of the metal shelf brackets has a locating tab thereon, that abuts up against the rear edge portion of the shelf panel.
19. The refrigerator shelf assembly of claim 15, wherein the shelf panel has a front edge portion, and the refrigerator shelf assembly further comprises a polymeric/copolymeric front gripping member, and wherein the gripping member comprises a channel in which the front edge of the shelf panel is located.
20. The refrigerator shelf assembly of claim 15, wherein each shelf bracket has two vertical projections and three horizontal support flanges, so that each of the two vertical projections of each shelf bracket is between two of the three spaced apart support flanges, and the side edge portions of the shelf panel are between the vertical projections and the horizontal support flanges.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 26, 2014
Publication Date: Oct 15, 2015
Inventor: Craig Bienick (MI)
Application Number: 14/554,152