The present invention relates to the manufacture of refrigeration machines, such as freezers or refrigerators, inside which food, liquids, medicines, etc. are placed so as to preserve them longer.

It is well known that, when a high number of packets, various packages, bottles, etc. are kept in a domestic appliance of the abovementioned type, the result is that it can be difficult to locate a particular food, beverage or medicine, which may be hidden by other packages that have been placed on top of it. This is because the number of sections or shelves is very limited, especially in freezers in which the compartment opens via the top, and to take advantage of all the available space it is necessary to place many packets and packages of various types on top of one another, with the resulting difficulty in finding one that is at the bottom of the compartment.

This problem, although to a lesser degree, also occurs with the use of horizontal shelves in refrigerators and freezers in which the compartment has a front opening.

The inventor of the subject of the present invention has provided a solution to the abovementioned problems, designing a container for food, beverages, medicines or the like of small size, with which it is possible to see all the products it contains and quickly find and remove the one needed by the user.

The inventor has designed a container of the type described above, comprising two flat members, facing and connected to one another so as to form a quadrangular "envelope" with one open side oriented towards the compartment opening. At least one of these members is elastically deformable, so as to allow the insertion into the container, alongside one another, of articles or packages of desired thickness, and said members are connected together along the three closed sides via means (for example a rigid U-shaped frame suitably mounted according to known methods) which may advantageously be coupled with grooves or protuberances on at least two opposing walls of said compartment in order to position each container: in the most convenient position.

When one of said two facing members is rigid, by placing it above the elastically deformable member it is possible to create a traditional-type shelf which at the same time offers beneath it a space in which a high number of articles to be kept cold can be arranged.

The elastically deformable member may be made of an elastic fabric, or better still an elastic net, and both members are preferably made of transparent materials (these including, obviously, said elastic net) .

The subject of the present invention is a container for articles to be stored in the compartment of a refrigerator or a freezer, as described in the attached Claim 1.

A more detailed description of two preferred embodiments of the container of the invention will now be given, these containers being designed to be mounted inside a refrigerator and a freezer with a vertical compartment, respectively.

Said description will also refer to the attached drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a cross section through a first embodiment of the container of the invention made up of two facing members, one of which is rigid so as to form a shelf, the other, below it, being elastically deformable;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the embodiment of Figure 1, mounted horizontally in a refrigerator compartment, with product packages inserted between said members;

Figure 3 is a cross section through a second embodiment of the container of the invention in which both facing members are elastically deformable;

Figure 4 is a perspective view in partial cutaway of the example of Figure 3, mounted vertically in a freezer compartment.

Referring first to Figure 1, this shows how, in a first preferred embodiment, a container 1 according to the invention is essentially composed of two flat facing members, Im, In, placed one over the other horizontally. The member Im on top is a rigid rectangular plate of known type, preferably made of a transparent material such as glass or the like, and below it is another, facing member In consisting of a rectangular sheet of equal dimensions made of an elastically deformable material, such as an elastic fabric or a net as shown in the figure.

Along three sides of their perimeter, as can been seen more clearly in Figure 2, said two members Im, In are connected by a frame 5 of known type, made for example by gripping the edges of the two members in a plastic profile.

Said frame 5, as well as connecting the two members Im, In, may also advantageously be used to fix the whole container 1 in a desired position inside the compartment 2 of a refrigerator 3.

This can be obtained by inserting the two opposing sides of said frame 5 into horizontal grooves 6 made in the two opposing walls of said compartment 2, or by- resting them on protuberances made on said walls (this solution is not shown in the drawings) .

The side Le of the container 1, along which the members Im, In are free and not joined together, is oriented, as shown in Figure 2, towards the opening of the refrigerator 3, so as to allow the insertion of desired packages Ix of food or beverages between sa±d members Im, In.

An "envelope" is thus formed, which also acts as a horizontal shelf, inside which said food and beverages, or other products to be kept in the refrigexator, may be neatly arranged, thereby rationally occupying as little space as possible.

Figure 3 shows a second embodiment of the container 11 of the invention: in this case also it is composed essentially of two rectangular members 11m, Hn of equal dimensions, placed one over the other and facing one another, connected together along three sides of their perimeter by a frame 16 like that described in the above case.

The only difference lies in the fact that both of said members Hm, Hn are made of an elastically deformable material, preferably an elastic net with a mesh whose dimensions are suitable for holding products of average size.

Because neither of the two members Hm, Hn is rigid, the container H cannot as a rule be used as a horizontal support shelf, being suitable for use in the vertical position, as shown in Figure 4, inside the compartment 12 of a freezer 4.

Obviously, in this case the container 11 has "the two opposing parallel sides of its frame 15 inserted in two vertical grooves 16 made in two opposing walls of the freezer 4, with the free side Lg turned towards the opening of the freezer, i.e. upwards in this case.

The frame 5, 15 that connects the two members Im, In and 11m, Hn of the containers 1, 11 of the invention has been described as being U-shaped, in other words so as to grip three sides of each pair consisting of two facing members.

This type of design has the advantage of giving a container made according to the invention suitable rigidity, especially when the two members of which it is composed are both elastically pliable.

Strictly from the point of view of the functionality of the container, it would however be possible to mount a rigid frame only on two sides of the perimeter of the two members, perpendicular to the side that is turned towards the opening of the refrigerator or freezer. This case has not been shown in the drawings.

Moreover, in each container the parallel members of which it is composed may be joined by the above frame with the latter being made such as to leave a desired distance between the members, this distance varying between zero and a few centimetres.