Compartment assembly for a refrigerator

• US 4,798,425 A
• Filed: 02/22/1988
• Issued: 01/17/1989
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/1988
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Armstrong, William J., Stich, Richard A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Falk, Joseph
• Application Number:
  US07/158,717
• Time in Patent Office: 330 Days
• Field of Search: 312/626, 312/327, 312/328, 312/138 A, 312/308, 312/29
• US Class Current: 312/321.5
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 23/04 with special compartments, e.g. butter conditioners
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2400/04 Refrigerators with a horizontal mullion

Abstract

A compartment assembly for a refrigerator comprising a panel on the inside of a refrigerator door, the panel having a recess area with a rear wall, a top wall and at least two spaced apart vertical dikes directed outwardly from the rear wall. The recess area has at the bottom an inwardly directed lip and the dikes have a side wall and a front face with the front face having a slot. There is a tray having a bottom wall, an integrally formed rear wall, front wall, and side walls, with the side walls each having a flange projecting outwardly perpendicular to the side walls and each of the flanges have a rearwardly projecting hook shaped element parallel to the side walls. The tray has a length such that the hook shaped elements cooperate with the slots in the vertical dikes for engagement and a horizontal depth such that the front wall projects outwardly from the dikes and the rear wall extends to the rear wall of the recess and rests on the projecting lip. A cover having a body portion and end portions is pivotally secured at the end portions to the side walls of the tray.

Claims

1. A compartment assembly for a refrigerator comprising:

a panel on the inside of a refrigerator door, said panel having a recess area with a rear wall, a top wall and at least two spaced apart vertical dikes directed outwardly from the rear wall, said recess area having at the bottom thereof an inwardly projecting lip, said dikes having a side wall and a front face, said each front face having a slot,

a tray having a bottom walls and integrally formed rear wall, front wall, and side wall, said side walls each having a flange projecting outwardly perpendicular to the side walls, said flanges each having a rearwardly projecting hook shaped element parallel to the side walls, said tray having a length such that the hook shaped elements cooperate with the slots in the vertical dikes for engagement and a horizontal depth such that the front wall projects outwardly from the dikes and the rear wall extends to the rear wall of the recess and rests on the projecting lip, and

a removable cover having a body portion and end portions pivotly secured at the end portions to the side walls of the tray, said assembled tray and cover having a vertical height relative to the vertical height of the recess area between the projections lip and top wall less than the vertical distance necessity to withdraw the book shaped elements from engagement with the slots in the vertical dikes, whereby the hook shaped elements on the tray cannot be disengaged from the slots in the dike without first removing the cover from the tray.

2. The compartment assembly for a refrigerator of claim 1 wherein there are two vertically aligned spaced apart slots in the front face of each dike and there are two vertically spaced hook shaped elements on each of the flanges of said side wall.

3. The compartment assembly for a refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the cover has a lip along the front edge thereof that engages the front wall of the tray when in the closed position.

4. The compartment assembly for a refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the cover is semi-cylindrical in shape.

5. The compartment assembly for a refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the side walls of the tray have inwardly projecting pivot elements to rotatably engage the cover.

6. The compartment assembly for a refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the side walls of the tray have inwardly projecting stop elements to limit the rotation of the cover.

7. The compartment assembly for a refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the panel, tray, and cover are all molded from plastic material.

8. The compartment assembly for a refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the side walls of the tray have their center portion substantially higher vertically than the portions joining the rear wall and front wall.