Drawer assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016348959-A1
Application number	US-201615234617-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 11, 2016
Priority date	Jul 17, 2014
Publication date	Dec 1, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A drawer assembly is provided for a refrigeration appliance. The drawer assembly comprises a unitary storage bin configured to move relative to the cooled compartment. The storage bin is defined by a front wall, a rear wall and opposed sidewalls that are arranged substantially parallel to the first and second interior walls of the cooled compartment. An uppermost portion of each of the opposed sidewalls comprises a projecting edge. The rear wall comprises a reinforced edge that inhibits deflection. A pair of linear motion elements is installed to enable movement of the storage bin in and out of the cooled compartment. A pair of support brackets couples the pair of linear motion elements.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A drawer assembly in a refrigeration appliance comprising:
a cooled compartment comprising opposed, first and second interior walls; a unitary storage bin configured to move relative to the cooled compartment; a pair of linear motion elements installed between the first and second interior walls of the cooled compartment and opposed sidewalls of the storage bin to enable movement of the storage bin in and out of the cooled compartment; a pair of support brackets coupling the pair of linear motion elements to the opposed sidewalls of the storage bin; and a plurality of mounting blocks configured to removably couple the storage bin to the support brackets, with at least one mounting block disposed between each support bracket and a respective sidewall of the storage bin, and each mounting block comprising:
a fixed latch arm that is insertable into to a respective support bracket; and
a resilient latch arm that removably secures said mounting block to a respective support bracket.

2 . The drawer assembly of claim 1 , wherein the resilient latch arm comprises a tapered catch that is insertable into an opening of the support bracket, and the resilient latch arm resiliently biases the catch against a side wall of said opening to lock the mounting block to the support bracket.

3 . The drawer assembly of claim 1 , wherein the mounting block comprises both of the fixed latch arm and the resilient latch arm as monolithic elements.

4 . The drawer assembly of claim 1 , wherein the resilient latch arm and fixed latch arm are located at opposite ends of each mounting block.

5 . The drawer assembly of claim 1 , wherein the resilient latch arm comprises a lip that is insertable into an opening of the support bracket and is disposed against an underside of the support bracket.

6 . The drawer assembly of claim 5 , wherein the lip of the fixed latch arm comprises a pivot point for the mounting block upon the support bracket.

7 . The drawer assembly of claim 1 , wherein each support bracket further comprises an upward projection that is received within a corresponding mounting block to support and locate said mounting block upon said support bracket.

8 . The drawer assembly of claim 1 , wherein each mounting block comprises a set of alternating teeth and grooves configured to lockingly engage with corresponding teeth and grooves of an edge of the storage bin to inhibit lateral movement of opposed sidewalls of the storage bin.

9 . The drawer assembly of claim 8 , wherein the set of alternating teeth and grooves of each mounting block are linearly aligned along a first direction that is parallel to a sliding direction of the storage bin in and out of the cooled compartment and alternate along a second direction transverse to the first direction.

10 . The drawer assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of removable fasteners that removably secure the unitary storage bin to the mounting blocks, wherein each mounting block comprises an opening permitting one of the fasteners to threadingly extend therethrough.

11 . The drawer assembly of claim 1 , further comprising at least two mounting blocks coupled to each support bracket such that each sidewall of the storage bin is supported in at least two locations.

12 . The drawer assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a drawer configured to selectively close the cooled compartment and being mounted to said pair of support brackets to operate the linear motion elements so that the storage bin and drawer can be moved as a unit.

13 . The drawer of claim 12 , further comprising a pair of door braces to attach the support brackets to the drawer, wherein each door brace comprises a vertical support coupled to an interior of the drawer and a horizontal support coupled to one support bracket.

14 . The drawer assembly of claim 1 , wherein each linear motion element comprises an outer slide member fixed to one interior wall of the cooled compartment, and an inner slide member slidable with respect to the outer slide member and fixed to one support bracket.

Assignees

• Electrolux Home Prod Inc

Inventors

• Dubina Paul
• Ellis Adam

Classifications

• F25D2400/04

  Refrigerators with a horizontal mullion · CPC title

• A47B88/14

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• F25D11/02

  with cooling compartments at different temperatures · CPC title

• F25D23/04

  with special compartments, e.g. butter conditioners · CPC title

• A47B88/0422

  Human Necessities · mapped topic