US2826388A - Shelf support - Google Patents

Description

Milch 1958 A. G. JANOS ETAL SHELF SUPPORT Filed April 17, 1953 46 Inventor. Alfred GJanos, Francls M. llogg,

Tf'fieir Attorney.

United States Patent SHELF SUPPORT Alfred G. Janos, Erie, Pa., and Francis M. Hogg, Findley Lake, N. Y., assignors to General Electric (Iornpany, a corporation of New York Application April 17, 1953, Serial No. 349,364

2 Claims. (Cl. 248-239) This invention relates to shelf supports and more particularly to arrangements for removably mounting shelf supports.

Shelf supports are provided for many purposes. For example, shelf supports are widely used in connection with household refrigerators for mounting the shelves in a desired position. In order to facilitate the mass production of refrigerators and the like it is desirable that such shelf supports be easily assembled and, of course, that they be firmly held in position during use of the refrigerator. Occasionally it may be desirable to remove the shelf supports, for example, should the supports become damaged and need replacement or should it be desired to shift the shelf support to a different location for changing the position of the shelf. in accordance with this invention, a shelf support is provided which is easily assembled, which is firmly held in the assembled position, and which is easily removable when desired.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved shelf support and mounting arrangement therefor.

It is another object of this invention to provide an easily assembled and removable shelf support including an improved arrangement for insuring firm retention of the support when assembled.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize this invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming part of this specification.

In carrying out the objects of this invention, a shelf support is provided which includes a shoulder, a noncircular central boss, and one or more spaced lips for engaging opposite sides of a wall upon which the support is mounted. These lips are constructed to provide tapering passages between the shoulder and the lips so that a progressively tighter engagement with the Wall is achieved as the support is rotated. In addition, the support includes cleavable webs positioned in these passages and adapted to be severed by the wall at the end of the rotational movement of the support during assembly.

For a better understanding of this invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevation view, partly broken away, showing one embodiment of the shelf support of this invention. Fig. 2 is an exploded view showing elements employed in the assembly of the support.

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan View taken along'the line 33 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a view, partly broken away, taken generally along the line 4-4 in Fig. 1 and looking in'the direction of the arrows, this view being taken when the support has been inserted within the opening in the Wall butprior to rotation of the support to its assembled position.

Fig. 5 is a view cor esponding to Fig. 4 showing the support in a position just. prior to completion of the rotation thereof for assembly.

Patented Mar. 11, 1958 Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation view taken along the line 6-6 in Fig; 4 andlooking in the direction of the arrows, the support being. shown in its position. prior to rotation for assembly thereof.

Fig. 7 is a view corresponding to Fig. 6 and showing the support in. its position after rotation for assembly has been completed.

Fig. 8 is an end view partially in section of a modification of my invention.

Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown a portion of a refrigerator cabinet, or the like, including an inner wall or liner 1 defining a food storage compartment 2. A shelf 3 is provided for holding food within the food storage compartment. In order to mount the shelf, a plurality of shelf supports, one of which is shown at 4, are employed. The shelf support 4 is adapted to be received within an opening 5 in the wall 1 and to be rotated to an assembled position in firm engagement with the opposite faces of the wall 1. As shown in Fig. 2, the opening '5 in the wall 1 includes a central generally circular portion 6 and two generally diametrically opposite, slightly offset, laterally extending recesses 7.

The support 4 includes a shoulder 8 adapted to engage the inner surface 9 of the wall 1 and a projection to adapted to be received within the opening 5 in the wall 1. This projection 10 includes a central boss 11 which is slightly non-circular or oval in crosssection and two diametrically opposite, slightly offset lips 17; extending radially from the central boss 11 and spaced from the shoulder 8. The central boss may, if desired, be made circular in cross-section but preferably this boss is, as mentioned above, slightly non-circular with the larger dimension thereof generally in line with the lips 12. Such a cross-section makes it possible to secure an additional wedging force within the circular portions 6 of the opening 5 as the support is rotated by approximately during assembly.

The support further includes a stud 13 on which the shelf 3 is adapted to be received. In order to facilitate assembly of the support the stud 13 is provided with a plurality of flutes 14. A tool is is provided to facilitate rotation of the stud into tight engagement with the wall 1. This tool 15 includes a shaft 16, a handle 17, and a hollow stud-engaging portion '13. The interior of the portion 18 is fluted, as indicated at 19, to provide a surface adapted to engage the flutes 14 of the stud for effecting rotation of the stud.

As mentioned previously, the shelf support is adapted to be inserted in the opening 5 in the wall 1 and then rotated at approximately 90 to its final assembled position. It is thus initially assembled within the opening with the lips 12 aligned with the recesses 7, as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 6,- and is then rotated in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 4 and 5, to a position in which the 'lips 12 extend along a line transverse of a line through the recesses 7 and engage the surface 2d of the Wall 1. This final position is just beyond the position shown in Fig. 5 andcorresponds to the position shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 7.

The shelf support of this invention includes several features of construction which facilitate firm engagement of the shelf support with the wall 1 at the completionof the aforementioned 90 rotation. First, the central boss 11 is, as mentionedgpreviously, made slightly non-circular in cross-section with the longer dimension thereof extending along a line connecting recesses 7 during initial assembly and with this longer dimension extending transverselyof this line when the stud is in its final assembled .position. Since the central portion 6 of the opening 5 of the central boss 11 transversely of the opening 5 effects a firm engagement of the central boss 11 with the edges of the opening 5, these edges preferably cutting slightly into the surface of the boss or at least very tightly engaging the boss. In the particular form illustrated the edges of the opening actually bite slightly into the surface of the boss. Comparing Figs. 4 and 5, it can be seen that the surface 21 of the boss, which in Fig. 4 is shown projecting slightly into the recess 7, extends slightly beyond the edge 22 of the opening 5 after the shelf support has been rotated to the position shown in Fig. 5. This is indicated by the dotted line at 21 in Fig. 5. The edges 22, therefore, cut slightly into the surface 21 of the boss and assist in effecting tight engagement of the support with the wall 1. In the form shown, the boss is of elliptical cross-section, but it will be apparent that any other non-circular cross-section whereby the longer dimension is shifted from a position in line with the recesses 7 to a direction transverse thereto could be employed.

A second feature facilitating tight engagement of the support with the wall 1 in the assembled position is a tapered cross-sectional construction of the lips 12, best illustrated in Fig. 1. As there shown, the lips 12 are of tapered cross-section in a circumferential direction. This tapered cross-section provides a face 23 of each lip which is positioned at a slight angle relative to the face of the shoulder 8. This provides a circumferentially tapering passage 24 between the face 23 and the shoulder 8. This passage 24 flares in a direction corresponding to the direction of rotation of the shelf support during assembly (as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1) so that a flaring mouth 25 is first presented to the wall 1 during rotation and then a passage of decreasing size as the rotation continues. The end 26 of the passage is equal to or slightly smaller than the thickness of the wall 1 upon which the shelf support is mounted, so that at the end of the rotation of the shelf support the wall 1 is firmly gripped on both faces by the shelf support, the face 9 of the wall being engaged by the shoulder 8 of the shelf support and the face 2% of the wall being engaged by the face 23 of the lip 12. In order to secure the most satisfactory engagement, two opposite extending lips 12 have been shown. However, it will be seen that the support could be satisfactorily mounted even if only a single lip 12 were employed. As a final feature in facilitating the firm engagement of the shelf support with the wall or other structure upon which it is mounted, the shelf support is arranged to include one or more webs which are adapted to be severed or cleaved by the edges of the opening 5. Between the lips 12 and the shoulder 8 at one edge of each of the lips there is provided a web 27 joining the lip and the shoulder. Specifically, in the form shown, each web is located at the narrow end of the corresponding passage 24, so that the webs are cleaved at the same time that the lips most tightly engage the wall. radially beyond the surface 21 of the central boss 11 and is adapted to be engaged by a corresponding edge 28 of the opening 5 during the final rotational movement of the shelf support 4 for assembly thereof. This is best illustrated in Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7. As shown in Fig. 4, the web 27, during initial assembly of the shelf support, is received within the recess 7. As the shelf support is rotated in a counterclockwise direction, as indicated by the arrows in Figs. 4 and 5, the web 27 is ultimately moved into engagement with the edge 28 of the opening 5 in the wall 1. The final rotational movement of the shelf support then causes the edge 28 to cut into or cleave the web 27. The shelf support 4 is preferably made of some material, such as a suitable plastic, which is relatively easily cut during this final movement. This cleaving of the web 27 causes the wall 1 in the region of the edge 28 to be forced into tight engagement with the remaining material of the web 27, thereby assisting in maintaining the shelf support firmly in its final assembled position. The relationship of the edge 28 of the opening and the Bach web 27 extends web 27 is illustrated in another view thereof in Figs. 6 and 7 to further assist in showing the web-cutting action which takes place during this final rotational movement. In Fig. 6 the upper web 27 is shown as the shelf support 4 is first assembled and before any rotational movement thereof has taken place. In Fig. 7 the shelf support is shown after a movement in the direction of the arrows has taken place. In this View the web 27 shown in Fig. 6 is concealed from view. However, the diametrically opposite web 27, which connects the diametrically opposite lip l with the shoulder 3, has been brought into view in Fig. 7 and is there shown after having been severed by the corresponding edge of the opening 5. In Fig. 6 and 7 the face 23 of each of the lips 12 has been purposely shown spaced from the wall 1 in order to better illustrate the severing or cleaving effect resulting from the engagement of the web 27 with the edge of the opening 5. It will be appreciated, however, that in the preferred form this face 23 is arranged, as previously described, to engage the wall 1 toward the end of the rotation of the shelf support by virtue of the aforementioned tapering passage 24-.

In order to insure the best possible firm engagement of the shelf support with the wall, diametrically opposite webs 27 are preferably employed, one of the webs being arranged between an edge of each of the lips 12 and the shoulder 8. It will be appreciated, however, that, if desired, only one such web may be employed, the cleavage effected by engagement of one edge 28 of the opening 5 with the single web being sufficient to accomplish satisfactory firm engagement of the shelf support and the wall.

In the foregoing description a form of shelf support has been described which includes a plurality of features all directed toward securing firm engagement of the shelf support with the wall. Thus, the shelf support, in the preferred form illustrated, includes the non-circular central boss, the tapering passages 24, and the webs 27, all contributing toward the ultimate result. However, it will be understood that, as pointed out during the course of this specification, one or two of these three features may be omitted if the ultimate in firm engagement is not desired or required for a particular application. Also, although the lips 12 and the recesses 7 have been shown as slightly offset, somewhat narrower, diametrically opposite lips could be employed. Thus as shown in Fig. 8, the lips 29, corresponding to lips 12, could be terminated at the lines indicated at 30, reducing the length of the lips. However, the form shown in Figs, 1-7 inclusive is preferred because the force exerted against the lips 12 in the assembled position is distributed over a larger area and a greater mechanical advantage is achieved during assembly since a gentler slope of the faces 23 is possible with the longer lips.

While a specific embodiment of this invention has been shown and described, it is not desired that the invention be limited to the particular construction shown and described, and it is intended by the appended claims to cover all modifications within the spirit and scope of this invention.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In combination, a wall having an opening therein, said opening including a circular portion and at least one recess extending laterally therefrom, a shelf support including a shoulder engaging one face of said wall, a central boss of generally elliptical cross-section adjacent said shoulder and projecting through said circular portion of said opening with the major dimension of said ellipticalshaped cross-section of said boss being greater than the diameter of said circular portion, at least one lip extending radially from said central boss and adapted to be received within said recess, the major dimension of said generally elliptical cross-section of said boss being located in line with said lip, said lip being adapted to engage the other face of said wall, and a cleavable web extending between said lip and said shoulder adjacent the lateral portion of said lip, said self support being rotatable after insertion in said opening to cause said web to be cleaved by the edge of said opening whereby said Wall is firmly gripped on both sides by said severed web and the major dimension of said boss engages the edge of said circular portion of said opening.

2. In combination, a Wall having an opening therein, said opening including a central circular portion and two generally diametrically opposite slightly ofiset recesses extending laterally therefrom, a shelf support including a shoulder engaging one face of said wall, a central boss of generally elliptical cross-section adjacent said shoulder and projecting through said opening with the major dimension of said elliptical cross-section of said boss being greater than the diameter of said circular portion of said opening, two diametrically opposite slightly offset lips extending radially from said central boss, the larger dimension of said generally elliptical cross-section of said boss References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,157,309 Swedman May 9, 1939 2,282,360 Horrocks May 12, 1942 15 2,312,985 Bales Mar. 2, 1943 2,459,446 Meredith Jan. 18, 1949 2,626,773 Backman Jan. 27, 1953

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