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US 11,598,577 B2Granted
U-shaped tuck shelf
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorsJulia B. Burke, Daniel Chow, Juan F. Flores, Todd Tunzi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A refrigerator cabinet including a first shelf defining a U-shape, wherein the U-shape is off-center so that a first side of the U-shape is wider than the an opposite, second side of the U-shape, a second U-shaped shelf having left, right and back portions located in a horizontal fashion above the first shelf, and a mounting structure for supporting the first and second U-shaped shelves.
Claims10
A refrigerator, comprising:
- a first shelf defining an off-center U-shape having a first side that is wider than an opposite second side of the U-shape;
- a second U-shaped shelf vertically aligned with the first shelf and having left, right and back portions, the left and right portions each defining a storage surface having a width of at least about four inches and configured for supporting food items thereon, and the left, right, and back portions defining an opening between the left and right portions and in front of the back portion with at least the left and right portions defining a first pair of grooves and a separate second pair of grooves positioned beneath the first pair of grooves;
- a removable shelf portion selectively supported within the opening of the second U-shaped shelf on the first pair of grooves and separate from the second pair of grooves such that the removable shelf portion fills a portion of the opening in the second U-shaped shelf, a major surface of the removable shelf portion being planar with the storage surfaces of the second U-shaped shelf when the removable shelf portion is supported within the opening of the second U-shaped shelf, the removable shelf portion being removable from the second U-shaped shelf by upward lifting of the removable shelf portion off of the first pair of grooves;
- a tuck shelf mounted within the opening of the second U-shaped shelf on the second pair of grooves and separate from the removable shelf portion, so as to be moveable between an extended position in front of the removable shelf portion and a tucked position adjacent the back portion of the second U-shaped shelf and beneath the removable shelf portion, when supported within the opening;
- and
- a mounting structure for supporting the first and second U-shaped shelves within an interior of the refrigerator.
3 more elements
An appliance, comprising:
- a first shelf having left, right, and back portions, each defining a storage surface having a width of at least about four inches, the left, right, and back portions being mutually arranged to define a U-shape of the first shelf;
- a second shelf having left, right and back portions including an opening between the left and right portions and in front of the back portion, the left, right and back portions being mutually arranged to define a U-shape of the second shelf, the second shelf including a ledge disposed within at least a portion of the opening and a pair of grooves respectively defined on the left and right portions within the opening, the pair of grooves being separate from and disposed beneath the ledge;
- a first removable shelf portion selectively disposed on the ledge of the second shelf, separate from the pair of grooves, and defining a major surface co-planar with the storage surfaces of the left, right, and back portions of the second shelf so as to be removable from the second shelf by lifting;
- a tuck shelf mounted within the opening on the pair of grooves, separate from the first removable shelf portion, so as to be moveable between an extended position in front of the first removable shelf portion and a tucked position adjacent the back portion of the second shelf and beneath the at first removable shelf portion, when supported within the opening;
- and
- a mounting structure for supporting the first and second U-shaped shelves in a vertically aligned manner within an interior of the appliance.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.