US2312327A - Article rack - Google Patents

Description

FIG...

March 9 s. L. c. EARLE 2,

ARTICLE RACK Original Filed Feb. 10, 1940.

' 4 INVENTOR aura/v L. c. EARLE A TTOR/VEY Patented Mar. 2, 1943 .m'rrcm anon Guyon L. C. Earle, Forest Hills, N. Y., assignor to Genevieve M. Earle, Forest Hills, N. Y.

Original application February 10, 1940, Serial No. 318,223. Divided and this application January 16, 1941, Serial No. 374,630

7 Claims.

This invention relates to racks and more specifically to racks for holding bottles and related articles, particularly in drawers for refrigerators.

This application is a division of an application Serial No. 318.223, filed February 10, 1940, by Guyon L. C. Earle. I

It is an object of this invention to provide a novel rack or supportin structure for bottles and the like.

In U. S. Patent 2,180,459, issued November 21, 1939, to Guyon L. C. Earle, there is disclosed a refrigerator having a plurality of drawers therein (instead of one large outside door). The use of drawers is advantageous as it permits more food to be stored and makes it possible to better arrange the food in the refrigerator and to take out an article without disarranging other dishes or packages, etc. The housewife needs only to pull out a drawer and then place the article to be refrigerated exactly where she wants it or take out an article, both without moving the adjacent food. Moreover, she can easily see exactly what is in the refrigerator without stooping or without squinting around articles placed at the front of the refrigerator (as in the case of the conventional single door refrigerator).

It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel article rack, particularly one which is suitable for refrigerator drawers.

In one embodiment of this invention, chosen by way of example for purposesof illustration of the principles of this invention, an article rack is provided for a refrigerator having drawers. In one form the refrigerator comprises a relatively deep (considering depth as the horizontal dimension from. front to rear) lower portion, a relatively narrow upper portion the front of which is set back from the front of the lower portion, and a table top member above the lower portion and in front of the upper portion; The lower portion comprises a plurality of drawers.

Within at least one of the drawers is the novel a front, andside walls but with no bottom. Within this rack is mounted a plurality of metal bottle supporting members, each of the latter comprising facilitates their removal. Due to the fact that the rack has no bottom, it is easier to clean and cold air circulates through it. In such a typical drawer,

two of these racks are arranged on opposite sides of a central rack (which may be supported at both front and rear from the drawer framework) which is preferably large enough to hold a medium size turkey. The other drawers may have bottle racks therein or they may each have one or more simple drawer-like racks with one or more apertures in their bottom surfaces to permit the circulation of cold air. The upper drawer may be like one of the others or it may comprise a single rack with a foraminated bottom so designed as to distribute the circulation of cold. air. For example, the

punched out or grid portions may be left attached to the bottom at one edge, thereof and thushelp to deflect the air downward.

In the upper portion of the refrigerator is arranged the evaporator unit, ice cube trays, and an upper refrigerated compartment. Above the refrigerator is placed a suitable cabinet structure, the front plane of which is preferably set out from the front plane of the upper portion of the refrigerator but which is set back from the front plane of the lower portion of the refrigerator. The compressor for the refrigerator is preferably located under a sink or other unit adapted to be placed adjacent the refrigerator unit and connection is made to-it from the evaporator by means of fiexible tubing. All drawer fronts, doors, and walls are I bottle rack of this invention containing a back, U

thickly-insulated and all drawer and door seats Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation view with portions broken away of the drawer of Fig. 2 taken through the line 3-3 of that figure.

Referring more particularly to the drawing,

Fig. 1' shows, for purposes of illustration and inperspective, a refrigerator unit 20 having in the lower drawer thereof two article racks in accordance with this invention. This refrigerator comprises alower refrigerator portion 2 I, an -u per set-back refrigerator portion'22, a table top member 23 above the lower portion 2| and in front of the upper portion 22, and a cabinet structure 24. The entire unit is preferably mounted on a recessed base 38.

The upper refrigerator portion 22, the front of which is preferably set-back from the front of the lower refrigerator portion 2|; comprises a compartment 25, containing the evaporator 26 of the refrigerator operating mechanism, and a plurality of ice cube trays 2'l and an upper refrigerated compartment 28 at the side of the compartment 25, which compartment 28 preferably contains one or more mesh shelves 32. The

compartments 2! and 28 are separated from each other at the front by the common 'door'jamb 29 for the insulated doors 30 and 3|. One or both of the doors 30 and 3| may be replaced by drawers, if desired.

The cold air from the evaporator 26 is caused to flowinto the lower refrigerator portion 2| and then back up through the upper refrigerated compartment 28 and over to the evaporator coils. The circulation 'of'the air into both front and back portions of the lower portion 2| of the refrigerator may be aided by a fixed or removable deflecting member or by any other appropriate means. For a more complete description of a from the rollers III engaging tracks 'I5I. Details of the rollers and tracks and the manner in which the downwardly inclined portion I52 of the tracks helps to close and retain closed the drawer are described in the parent application.

Reference will now be made to Fig. 3 which is a cross-sectional view with portions broken away of the rack 8| taken along lines 3-3 in Fig. 2

refrigerator having an upper set-back portion, 7

reference may be made to Patent 2,149,160, issued November 21, 1939, to Guyon L. C. Earle, and to an application Serial No. 318,224, filed February 10, 1940, by the same inventor. The compressor for the refrigerator may be placed under an adjacent unit, such as a sink, and connection made to it from the evaporator 26 by flexible tubing, as disclosed in the co-pending Earle application.

The walls of the lower portion 2| of the refrigerator of this invention preferably enclose a large well into which a plurality of drawers 40, 4i, 42 and 43 are caused to slide. While'four drawers have been shown for purposes of illustration, it is to be understood that a larger or smaller number may be used, as desired. Each of the drawers is preferably slidably supported from its .Well by a telescopic extension member referred to generally by the referencecharacter 44, although it is to be understood that any other well known means for mounting the drawers may be used instead. The large well may be considered to be divided into a plurality of individual wells for the respective drawers by bands 35, 36, ll and 48 each of which forms, in front, a stop member for the drawer fronts. Gasket material (not shown) may be applied to the inner surface of the drawer fronts 53, 54, 55 and 56.

While the drawers closing the lower refrigerated portion 2| may be of the kind having .a bottom grid surface to permit air circulation therethrough, as disclosed in the co-pending Earle application mentioned above, they may be, in accordance .with this invention, of an entirely different type. As set forth in detail in the parent application one or more of the upper drawers may comprise a framework which at least partially supports one or more racks or trays 60, some or all of these racks being also supported from one or more tracks.

The bottle rack drawer 43 is preferably deeper than the others and is provided with the novel rack or racks of this invention (although it is, of course, to be understood that one or more of the upper drawers may be like drawer 43 in this respect). In Fig. 2 is shown in plan view the bottle rack drawer 43 comprising a rack III which may be supported entirely (both front and rear) from the drawer frame 43, and having a bottom, and the two side racks 80 and BI (for bottles) carrying small plates 82 and 83 at the rear thereof to which rollers I50 may be attached to engage tracks I5I having a downwardly inclined rear portion. The tracks run under the drawer the length thereof and thus partially support the two racks 80 and 8|, they also receiving partial support from the front of the drawer framework 43 by means of the flanges I53 on the upper parts of the racks. If desired, all three 'racks may be supported only at the front by the drawer framework, they receiving the rest of their. support of bottles.

(the. rack being similar). Considering this figure along with Fig. 2, it will be. clear that they show clearly the arrangement of bottle supporting members 84, each comprising a relatively large inclined piece and a turned-in piece 86, the latter having a turned-down portion 81 for stiffening and so that; there are no turned up edges to cut fingers or to engage the bottoms The angle between each of the pieces 85 and its corresponding piece 86 is a little larger than a right angle to force the bottle against the preceding inclined piece 85 for support and thus prevent the bottles from moving around. Each inclined piece preferably has waves or raised portions 88 and 89 therein to keep the bottles from rolling. The supporting members -84 are fastened to the sides 30 and M of the rack by any convenient method and are placed far enough apart to accommodate bottles 2, 2 or 3 inches in diameter. If desired, the distance between the first two supporting members 84 of the rack 80 may be greater than between the others (say, for example, 4 inches) to accommodate larger bottles as (for example) large milk bottles or cartons. It may be desired to dispense with one of the waves or raised portions in the first supporting member 84 if it is desired to support only one bottle or container. In Fig. 2, the relative size of the large bottom drawer may be observed as it can be used to carry over two dozen bottles of milk, cola drinks, beer, etc., and have enough room in the middle rack '50 for a turkey, etc.

The drawer frames 40, 4|, 42 and 43 move in a horizontal plane but due to the rear portions I52 of the tracks I5I below the drawers being sloped downwardly and rearwardly, on which tracks move rollers I50 on the trays, the downward movement of the rear portions of the outside trays or racks (as for example, trays 80 and 8| of the lowest drawer 43) helps the drawer to close and to remain closed. If desired, all three trays I0, 8|! and 8| may be integral and have only a single roller. By the arrangement of this invention, the weight of the entire drawer and its contents is distributed on the tracks and upon the telescopic side extension members 44. Because of this 3 or 4 point distribution of weight, there is no severe strain on any part and the drawer rolls easily in and out. The trays may be easily and entirely removed for cleaning. If the drawer consisted of one member (that is, without the trays) it would be hard to remove it from its extension. members. In the arrangement according to this invention only the trays or racks need be removed except for a complete cleaning of the refrigerator. For a more complete description of the drawer structure per se, as distinguished from the bottle racks 80 and SI, reference should be made to the parent application.

Above the refrigerator (see Fig. 1) is preferably arranged the cabinet structure 24 containing a plurality of shelves of any conviraiient form. The structure is closed by doors All walls, drawer fronts and doors of the refrigerator are insulated with any suitable matethe inclined portion of rial. If desired, portions of the refrigerator unit "may beset back into the wall of the kitchen,

as in the co-pending Earle application.

While the invention has been described in connection with a "set-back" type refrigerator, is obvious that it is not limited to that specific type as in certain of its aspects the invention is equally applicable to other types. Moreover, the invention in'some of its aspects is not limited to refrigerators as some of the features of this invention are equally applicable to other types of furniture.

Various modifications may be made in the embodiments described above without departing, from the spirit of the invention, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims. If desired, the racks may be perma- ,nently attached to the drawer framework or sides. In the claims the term "drawer" is to be construed broadly enough to cover a skeleton framework having one or more trays or racks therein.

What is claimed is:

l. A drawer rack member comprising front, back and side walls but having an open bottom, and a plurality of supporting members for bottles and similar articles, said members having portions which are disposed in generally parallel relation in the space bounded by said walls, each of some of said supporting members comprising a long inclined portion adapted to support a side of a bottle or similar article and a shorter portion integral therewith positioned to extend rearwardly at an angle to said long inclined portion and terminating short of the inclined portion of an adjacent supporting member to support the bottom of another bottle or similar article a side of which is supported by said adjacent supporting member.

a side of which is supported by the inclined portion of said adjacent supporting member, the long portion making an angle with its associated shorter portion which is slightly greater than a right angle.

4. An article rack comprising front, side and back walls, and a plurality of relatively thin supporting members each disposed between the side walls, the intersection of-the upper portion of each supporting member and a side wall making an acute. angle with respect to the plane of the front wall, each of some of said members having a lower portion which is directed downwardly at an angle with respect to the upper portion thereof and which terminates short of the adjacent supporting member, the supporting members being so arranged and spaced that a bottle or similar article has a side thereof supported by the upper portion of one supporting member and the bottom of said article supported by the lower portion of an adjacent supporting member.

5. An article rack comprising front, side and back walls, and a plurality of relatively thin sup- 2. A drawer rack member comprising'front;

back and side walls but having an open bottom,

and a plurality of supporting members for botties and similar articles, said members h'aving portions which are disposed in generally parallel relation in the space bounded by said walls, each of some of said supportingmembers comprising a long inclined portion adapted to support a side of a bottle or similar-article and a shorter portion integral therewith positioned to extend rearwardly at an angle to said long inclined portion and terminating short of the inclined portion of an adjacent supporting member to support the bottom of another bottle or similar article a side of which is supported by the inclined'portion of said adjacent supporting member, thelong portion of at. least some of the supporting members being corrugated to keep the bottles from rolling.

3. A drawer rack member comprising front, back and side walls but having an open bottom, and a plurality of supporting members for botties and similar articles, said members having portions which are disposed in generally parallel relation in the space bounded by said walls, each of some of said supporting members comprising a long inclined portion adapted to support a side of a bottle or similar article and a shorter portion integral therewith positioned to extend rearwa'rdly at an angle to said long inclined portion and terminating short of the inclined portion of an adjacent supporting member to support the bottom of another bottle or similar article porting members each disposed between the side walls, the intersection of the upper portion of each supporting member and a side wall making an acute angle with respect to the plane of the front wall, each of some of said members having a lower portion which is directed downwardly at an angle with respect to the upper portion thereof and which terminates short of the adjacent supporting member, the supporting members being so arranged and spaced that a bottle or similar article has a side thereof supported by the upper portion of one supporting member and the bottom of said article supported by the lower portion of an adjacent supporting member, the angle between the lower portion and the upper portion of a supporting member being greater each supporting member and a side wall making an acute angle with respect to the plane of the front wall, each of some of said members having alower portion which is directed downwardly at an angle with respect to the upper portion thereof and which terminates short of the adjacent supporting member, the supporting members being so arranged and spaced that a bottle or similar article has a side thereof supported by the upper portion of one supporting member and the bottom of said article supported by the lower portion of an adjacent supporting member, said lower portion having the lower edge thereof turned downward to prevent this edge from engaging the articles and for stiffening purposes.

7. An article rack for refrigerator drawers comprising front, back, and side walls, and a plurality of supporting members for bottles and similar articles disposed between said side walls,

porting member.

GUYON L. C. EARLE.

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