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US 8,814,288 B2Granted
Variable height slide-out rack for appliance
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsAaron Matthew McDaniel, Eric Scott Johnson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus includes a shelf and a support structure for supporting the shelf, the support structure including rotation features that cause the shelf to rotationally pivot from a first height position to a second height position in response to a user-provided force. The rotation features include two pairs of wheels, wherein one of the pairs of wheels is attached to one side of the support structure and another one of the pairs of wheels is attached to another side of the support structure, each pair of wheels comprising a front wheel and a rear wheel.
Claims16
An apparatus comprising:
- a shelf;
- and
- a support structure for supporting the shelf, the support structure comprising rotation features that cause the shelf to rotationally pivot from a first height position to a second height position in response to an applied force;
- wherein the rotation features comprise two pairs of wheels, wherein one of the pairs of wheels is attached to one side of the support structure and another one of the pairs of wheels is attached to another side of the support structure, each pair of wheels comprising a front wheel and a rear wheel;
- wherein the support structure further comprises a pair of slides, wherein one slide of the pair of slides is attached to one of the pairs of wheels and another slide of the pair of slides is attached to the other one of the pairs of wheels, the shelf being supported by the pair of slides;
- wherein, upon application of the applied force, the shelf rotationally pivots around respective axes of the pair of slides as the pair of slides rotate around respective axes of the two pairs of wheels;
- and
- wherein the support structure further comprises a roller, and each of the front wheels of the two pairs of wheels comprises a set of grooves formed on respective curved outermost peripheral edges of the front wheels, and wherein the shelf is locked in either the first height position or the second height position when the roller is engaged in one of the set of grooves of the front wheels.
5 more elements
An appliance comprising:
- an appliance compartment;
- and
- an assembly mounted in the appliance compartment, the assembly comprising:
- an appliance shelf;
- and
- a support structure for supporting the appliance shelf, the support structure comprising rotation features that cause the appliance shelf to rotationally pivot from a first height position to a second height position in response to an applied force;
- wherein the rotation features of the support structure comprise two pairs of wheels, wherein one of the pairs of wheels is attached to one side of the support structure and another one of the pairs of wheels is attached to another side of the support structure, each pair of wheels comprising a front wheel and a rear wheel;
- wherein the support structure further comprises a pair of slides, wherein one slide of the pair of slides is attached to one of the pairs of wheels and another slide of the pair of slides is attached to the other one of the pairs of wheels, the appliance shelf being supported by the pair of slides;
- wherein, upon application of the applied force, the appliance shelf rotationally pivots around respective axes of the pair of slides as the pair of slides rotate around respective axes of the two pairs of wheels;
- wherein the support structure further comprises a roller, and each of the front wheels of the two pairs of wheels comprises a set of grooves formed on respective curved outermost peripheral edges of the front wheels, and wherein the appliance shelf is locked in either the first height position or the second height position when the roller is engaged in one of the set of grooves of the front wheels.
7 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- a shelf;
- and
- a support structure for supporting the shelf, the support structure comprising rotation features that cause the shelf to rotationally pivot from a first height position to a second height position in response to an applied force;
- wherein the rotation features comprise two pairs of wheels, wherein one of the pairs of wheels is attached to one side of the support structure and another one of the pairs of wheels is attached to another side of the support structure, each pair of wheels comprising a front wheel and a rear wheel;
- wherein the support structure further comprises a pair of slides, wherein one slide of the pair of slides is attached to one of the pairs of wheels and another slide of the pair of slides is attached to the other one of the pairs of wheels, the shelf being supported by the pair of slides;
- wherein, upon application of the applied force, the shelf rotationally pivots around respective axes of the pair of slides as the pair of slides rotate around respective axes of the two pairs of wheels;
- wherein the support structure further comprises a roller, and each of the front wheels of the two pairs of wheels comprises a set of grooves, and wherein the shelf is locked in either the first height position or the second height position when the roller is engaged in one of the set of grooves of the front wheels;
- wherein for each set of grooves, one of the set of grooves is 180 degrees apart from another of the set of grooves;
- wherein each of the front wheels comprises an oblong shaped axis hole that allows the front wheel to move upward when the applied force comprises an upward lifting force;
- wherein each front wheel rotates on the roller, when disengaged therefrom, when the applied force comprises a pulling force or a pushing force;
- and
- wherein the shelf and the support structure are maintained in an upward-tilted position when each front wheel rotates on the roller.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.