Spill containing refrigerator shelf assembly
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A shelf assembly comprising:
- a shelf panel having a generally flat top surface which is capable of supporting articles which may be placed on said shelf panel; and
a hydrophobic surface applied in a spill containment pattern on said top surface;
wherein the majority of the surface area of said top surface of the shelf panel is not hydrophobic such that the spill containment pattern of said hydrophobic surface defines a boundary of a non-hydrophobic central portion.
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Abstract
The specification discloses a method for containing spills on shelving and the like, and the resulting support members made in accordance with the method, by providing the generally flat top surface of a support with a hydrophobic surface which is arranged in a spill containment pattern and which is generally in the plane of the top surface of the support. The majority of the top surface of the support consists of one or more spill containment areas which are of a non-hydrophobic nature and which are bounded by the hydrophobic surfaces, such that spills on the shelving collect in the non-hydrophobic spill containment area or areas and are prevented from spreading by the hydrophobic surfaces.
584 Citations
65 Claims
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1. A shelf assembly comprising:
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a shelf panel having a generally flat top surface which is capable of supporting articles which may be placed on said shelf panel; and a hydrophobic surface applied in a spill containment pattern on said top surface; wherein the majority of the surface area of said top surface of the shelf panel is not hydrophobic such that the spill containment pattern of said hydrophobic surface defines a boundary of a non-hydrophobic central portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of manufacturing a shelf capable of containing liquid spills thereon comprising:
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providing a panel having a generally flat top surface which is capable of supporting articles which may be placed on said panel; applying a hydrophobic surface arranged in a spill containment pattern generally in the plane of said top surface; leaving the majority of the surface area of said top surface of the panel non-hydrophobic such that the spill containment pattern of the hydrophobic surface defines a boundary of a non-hydrophobic central portion. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A refrigerator shelf assembly, comprising:
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a generally flat shelf panel having a top surface and a bottom surface, the top surface capable of supporting articles; a hydrophobic surface applied in a spill containment pattern generally in the plane of said top surface, the hydrophobic surface comprising one or more of a right side edge containment strip, a left side edge containment strip, a rear edge containment strip, and a front edge containment strip; a non-hydrophobic central portion having a boundary defined by the hydrophobic surface for containing liquids on the top surface of the shelf panel. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65)
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Specification