Field of the Invention

[0001] This application relates generally to an on-door drawer in a refrigerating appliance.

Background of the Invention

[0002] Conventional refrigeration appliances, such as domestic refrigerators, typically have both a fresh food compartment and a freezer compartment or section. The fresh food compartment is where food items such as fruits, vegetables, and beverages are stored. The freezer compartment is where food items that are to be kept in a frozen condition are stored. The refrigerators are provided with refrigeration systems that maintains the fresh food compartment at temperatures above 0 °C, such as between 0.25 °C and 4.5 °C and the freezer compartments at temperatures below 0 °C, such as between 0 °C and -20 °C.

[0003] The arrangements of the fresh food and freezer compartments with respect to one another in such refrigerators vary. For example, in some cases, the freezer compartment is located above the fresh food compartment and in other cases the freezer compartment is located below the fresh food compartment. Additionally, many modern refrigerators have their freezer compartments and fresh food compartments arranged in a side-by-side relationship. Whatever arrangement of the freezer compartment and the fresh food compartment is employed, typically, separate access doors are provided for the compartments so that either compartment can be accessed without exposing the other compartment to the ambient air. [0004] These conventional refrigeration appliances have solid, insulated doors that close the respective compartment(s). The doors are heavily insulated to aid in maintaining the temperature within the compartment(s) within an acceptable temperature range. The interior surfaces of these doors are clothed in a door liner. The door liner may include lugs, pegs or other mechanisms to permit shelves to be mounted on the door liner.

[0005] Certain types of food stored in a fresh food compartment benefit from an optimized humidity. For example, a high humidity may be desirable for storing leafy or root vegetables in order to limit evaporation. In contrast, storage of fruit and packaged dry goods may benefit from a lower humidity. Likewise, different goods stored in a freezer compartment may benefit from subtle temperature variations. For example, long term storage of frozen meats may benefit from a lower freezing temperature, while storage of prepared goods, such as ice cream, may benefit from storage at a slightly higher, yet freezing, temperature.

Summary of the Invention

[0006] The instant invention is a refrigerating appliance with an assembly for an on- door drawer, the drawer functioning as a crisper when located in a fresh food compartment and further including a top mounted shelf.

[0007] In a first embodiment, the invention provides a refrigerating appliance comprising a cabinet; a door pivotally mounted onto a front of the cabinet; a crisper frame mounted to an inside surface of the door, the crisper frame comprising a back wall and two side walls and an intermediate wall forming two drawer compartments, a roof section which curves downwardly and backwardly from a front upper edge of the crisper frame, the roof section including vents over each drawer compartment, and an upper shelf lying above the roof section and connected to the crisper frame at each of the two side walls; wherein the upper shelf includes a pocket with a cover; wherein the roof section includes opening near the vertical intermediate wall and communicating with a chimney structure connecting the two drawer compartments with the pocket; and two crisper drawers, each crisper drawer configured to removably fit within one of the two drawer compartments and comprising two side walls, a back wall, a front wall and a bottom wall.

[0008] In another embodiment, the invention provides the refrigerating appliance according to any embodiment herein and further wherein the pocket houses a packet containing one or more of ethylene absorbers, anti-oxidants and odor absorbers [0009] In another embodiment, the invention provides the refrigerating appliance according to any embodiment herein and wherein the roof section includes slots forming a communication vent between the crisper drawers and a space between the roof section and a lower surface of the upper shelf.

[0010] In another embodiment, the invention provides the refrigerating appliance according to any embodiment herein and further comprising a permeable membrane on all or part of an upper surface of the roof section.

[0011] In another embodiment, the invention provides the refrigerating appliance according to any embodiment herein and further comprising a permeable membrane along all or part of an outer back surface of the crisper frame.

[0012] In another embodiment, the invention provides the refrigerating appliance according to any embodiment herein and further comprising a lift off bin configured to fit on top of the upper shelf.

[0013] In another embodiment, the invention provides the refrigerating appliance according to any embodiment herein and further comprising an upwardly extending lug located on each back corner of the upper shelf, and wherein the lift off bin comprises two side walls, back and front walls and a bottom wall, wherein each side wall includes an indentation configured to interlock with one of the upwardly extending lugs.

[0014] In another embodiment, the invention provides the refrigerating appliance according to any embodiment herein and further comprising a plurality of vertical rib pairs on the front and back walls, wherein each rib pair is configured to interlock with a removable bin divider.

[0015] In another embodiment, the invention provides the refrigerating appliance according to any embodiment herein and wherein all or part of a forward upper edge of the crisper frame further comprises a sealing material.

[0016] In another embodiment, the invention provides the refrigerating appliance according to any embodiment herein and wherein the front face of each crisper drawer further comprises a handle along a top edge of the front wall of the crisper drawer.

[0017] In another embodiment, the invention provides the refrigerating appliance according to any embodiment herein and wherein each side wall of each crisper drawer further comprises an outwardly extending dowel at a lower front portion of the side wall, each dowel configured to interlock with niches in the side walls and intermediate wall of the crisper frame.

[0018] In another embodiment, the invention provides the refrigerating appliance according to any embodiment herein and wherein each side wall of each crisper drawer further comprises an outwardly extending dowel at an upper back portion of the side wall, each dowel configured to fit and move within a track located on the side walls and intermediate wall of the crisper frame. [0019] In another embodiment, the invention provides the refrigerating appliance according to any embodiment herein and wherein the tracks are curved, thereby allowing the crisper drawer to tilt forward and backward to open and close the crisper drawer.

[0020] In another embodiment, the invention provides the refrigerating appliance according to any embodiment herein and wherein each niche in the side walls and intermediate wall of the crisper frame include an open upper surface, thereby allowing the crisper drawer to be lifted up and removed from the crisper frame.

[0021] In another embodiment, the invention provides the refrigerating appliance according to any embodiment herein and wherein the cover is configured to securely and removably house a packet.

[0022] In another embodiment, the invention provides the refrigerating appliance according to any embodiment herein and wherein the door includes a door liner with two side walls, each side wall including one or more pegs and wherein an outer surface of the crisper frame further comprises indentations configured to interlock with the pegs, thereby making the crisper frame removable from the door,

[0023] In another embodiment, the invention provides the refrigerating appliance according to any embodiment herein and wherein the side walls, front wall, back wall and bottom wall of each crisper drawer is constructed of a transparent material.

[0024] In another embodiment, the invention provides the refrigerating appliance according to any embodiment herein and wherein the handle is made of extruded aluminum.

[0025] In yet another embodiment, the invention provides a refrigerating appliance in accordance with any of the embodiments herein and wherein the refrigerating appliance is a freezer compartment. In a particular embodiment, the crisper drawer in a freezer compartment functions as a soft serve or soft freeze drawer.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0026] For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings a form that is presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities and scale shown.

[0027] FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a prior art household refrigeration appliance showing doors of the fresh food and freezer compartments in closed positions;

[0028] FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of a first embodiment of an on-door drawer used in a fresh food compartment of a refrigerating appliance;

[0029] FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of a first embodiment shown in Fig. 2 wherein the left side drawer is in an open position;

[0030] FIG. 4 is a front perspective partially exploded view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 wherein the on-door drawer is not installed in a refrigerating appliance;

[0031] FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of an embodiment of the crisper frame, uninstalled in a refrigerating appliance, with no drawer installed in one of the drawer compartments and showing the chimney and forming a communication vent between the crisper drawers and a space between the roof section and a lower surface of the upper shelf and schematically illustrating the evolution of ethylene gas into the chimney; [0032] FIG. 6 is a front perspective view of an embodiment of the crisper frame, uninstalled in a refrigerating appliance, as shown in Fig. 5 and schematically illustrating the evolution of humidity;

[0033] FIGs. 7a and 7b are rear perspective views of one embodiment of the crisper frame. Fig. 7a illustrates the presence of the permeable membrane 70 while Fig. 7b shows the top surface of roof 51 in the absence of a permeable membrane.

Detailed Description of Embodiments of the Invention

[0034] It is to be appreciated that various embodiments are disclosed herein, and that any feature(s) of a particular embodiment may be used interchangeably in any other embodiment. That is, the embodiments are not intended to be mutually exclusive and the features of each embodiment may be utilized in various combinations with some or all of the features of another embodiment.

[0035] Embodiments of a refrigerating appliance or a component thereof now will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Whenever possible, the same reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

[0036] Referring to Fig. 1 , a standard domestic refrigeration appliance is indicated generally at 10. Although the detailed description that follows concerns a domestic refrigerator 10, the invention can be embodied by refrigeration appliances other than with a domestic refrigerator 10. Further, an embodiment is described in detail below, and shown in the figures as a bottom-mount configuration of a refrigerator 10, including a fresh food compartment 14 disposed vertically above a freezer compartment 12. However, the refrigerator 10 can have any desired configuration including a top-mount refrigerator (i.e., fresh food compartment disposed vertically below the freezer compartment), a side by side refrigerator (i.e., fresh food compartment disposed laterally adjacent the freezer compartment), a single compartment refrigerator (i.e., having only a fresh food compartment or a freezer compartment), refrigerators including variable climate zone compartments, etc [0037] One or more doors 16 shown in FIG. 1 are pivotally coupled to a cabinet 19 of the refrigerator 10 to restrict and grant access to the fresh food compartment 14. The door can include a single door that spans the entire lateral distance across the entrance to the fresh food compartment 14, or can include a pair of French-type doors 16 that collectively span the entire lateral distance of the entrance to the fresh food compartment 14 to enclose the fresh food compartment 14. In the refrigerating appliance configuration shown in Fig. 1 , the freezer compartment 12 is positioned above the fresh food compartment 14. As shown in Fig. 1 , the freezer compartment 12 is enclosed in this instance by a sliding door 17.

[0038] Referring now to Fig. 2, a fully assembled and installed on-door drawer 20 is illustrated in front perspective view as installed on a fresh food compartment door of a refrigerating appliance. Fig. 3 illustrates the on-door drawer with a left hand drawer open. Fig. 4 illustrates a partially exploded view of the on-door drawer of Figs. 2 and 3. As seen in Figs. 2 and 3, the on-door drawer20 is mounted onto a refrigerator door liner 22. The refrigerator door liner 22 clads an inside surface of the refrigerator door 16. In a preferred embodiment, the on-door drawer is removably mounted onto the door liner 22. The door liner 22 includes a right side flange 24a and a left side flange 24b. Pegs 28 may be integrally molded onto the side flanges 24a and 24b. The on-door drawer further includes a left crisper drawer 26 and a right crisper drawer 25, and a lift off bin 40, [0039] As seen in Fig. 4, the on-door drawer 20 is made of a frame 30 which in turn is made of a back wall 71 (not shown in Fig. 4) and a right side wall 31 , a left side wall 33, and an intermediate wall 32 (not shown in Fig. 4). Spanned by the left side wall 33 and the intermediate wall 32 is a left side drawer compartment. Spanned by the right side wall 31 and the intermediate wall 32 is a right side drawer compartment. The left crisper drawer 26 is housed within the left side drawer compartment and the right crisper drawer 25 is housed within the right side drawer compartment.

[0040] Referring to Figs. 5 and 6, a roof 51 is shown at the top of the right side drawer compartment. The roof 51 extends across the width of frame 30 from the right side wall 31 to the left side wall 33, over intermediate wall 32. Figs. 7a and 7b show a rear view of the frame 30, including the roof 51 . In the particular embodiment shown, the roof 51 is curved. Specifically, from the upper front edge of frame 30, the curved roof 51 extends gradually downward until it joins a back wall 71 of the frame 30. An upper shelf 47 extends from right side wall 31 to left side wall 33 at a distance spaced apart and above curved roof 51 . The distance between roof 51 and a bottom surface of upper shelf 47 forms an open space 73. In other embodiments, the roof 51 is not curved but rather is planar.

[0041] Roof 51 includes vents 60 forming a fluid communication between the right side drawer compartment and open space 73. Vents 60 are also present in roof 51 in the left side drawer compartment, thereby forming a fluid communication between the left side drawer compartment and open space 73. Vents 60 allow moisture to migrate from the right side and left side drawer compartments into the open space 73. While vents 60 are illustrated as elongated ovals in Figs. 5 and 6, vents 60 may take any shape or size consistent with permitting passage of excess humidity and frame structural integrity. For example, vents 60 may be square, rectangular, circular, oval, or polygonal.

[0042] Referring to Fig. 6, roof 51 further includes at least one chimney opening 50 in each of the right side drawer compartment and the left side drawer compartment and located near the intermediate wall 32. Chimney openings 50 communicate with a chimney 52 (Figs. 7a and 7b). Chimney 52 forms an enclosed fluid passage between each of the drawer compartments and pocket 44 (Fig. 4) formed in the upper shelf 47. Chimney openings 50 and chimney 52 permit passage of ethylene gas from the right and left side drawer compartments into pocket 44. In some embodiments, pocket 44 houses a packet containing one or more of ethylene absorbers, anti-oxidants and odor absorbers, such as carbon. Such materials may be enclosed in a permeable packet or envelope. In some embodiments of the inventive on-door drawer 20, pocket 44 may include a removable cover 42.

[0043] In some embodiments of the on-door drawer 20, a top surface of roof 51 is at least partially covered with a permeable membrane 70. Fig. 7a illustrates the presence of the permeable membrane 70 while Fig. 7b shows the top surface of roof 51 in the absence of a permeable membrane. Permeable membrane 70 may be any film which attracts and condenses water vapor. Such permeable membranes may be made of TYVEK, TESLIN, high-density spunbound polyethylene fibers, flash spun high density polyethylene, nonwoven polypropylene, and combinations of spun bound and melt blown polyolefins. Back wall 71 may also be covered at least partially I the permeable membrane. Fig. 7 schematically illustrates the condensation of vapor into liquid droplets 72 along back wall 71 and drainage of the droplets 72 down back wall 71 . [0044] Fig. 7 further shows indents 74 which are configured to slide over pegs 28

(Fig. 2). Indent guards 75 at least partially enclose indents 74 to securely hold pegs 28 within indents 74.

[0045] Each of the right and left side drawer compartments houses a crisper drawer 25 and 26. Each crisper drawer 25 and 26 is sized to fit removably within the right and left side drawer compartments, respectively. Each crisper drawer 25 and 26 is made of two side walls 40a, a back wall 40b, a front wall 40c and a floor 40d. In some embodiments, the front wall is formed to include a recessed handle 76.

[0046] Referring again to Fig. 4, in some embodiments, a lift off bin 40 may be housed on a top surface of upper shelf 47. Lugs 43, extending from each back corner of upper shelf 47. Lugs 43 are configured to fit within slots 45 which are formed on lower back corners of lift off bin 40. Lift off bin 40 may optionally include one or more pairs of rails 49 on an inside surface of the front wall 40c and an inside surface of a back wall 40b of the lift off bin 40. One or more bin dividers 41 may be installed over a pair of rails 49 (one rail on the back wall 40b of the lift off bin facing a rail on the front wall 40c of the lift off bin) to divide lift off bin 40 into more than one section.

[0047] As seen in Figs. 5 and 6, each side wall of each crisper drawer 25 and 26 further comprises an outwardly extending dowel 11 at a lower front portion of each side wall of each crisper drawer. Each dowel 11 is configured to interlock with niches 29 on interior surfaces of the side walls 31 and 33 and on each surface of the intermediate wall 33. Each side wall of each crisper drawer 25 and 26 further comprises an outwardly extending dowel 27 at an upper back portion of the side wall. Each dowel 27 is configured to fit and move within a track 55 located on interior surfaces of the side walls 31 and 33 and each surface of intermediate wall 32. Tracks 55 are curved, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Curved tracks allow the crisper drawer to tilt forward and backward to open and close the crisper drawer for access by a user.

[0048] In a particular embodiment, each niche 29 on intermediate wall 32 includes an open upper surface. Such open upper surface allows the crisper drawer to be lifted up and removed from the crisper frame 30.

[0049] Crisper frame 30 further includes a front face 81 running across the width of the front upper edge 80. Front face 81 may optionally include a rubber gasket, foam padding, flexible or elastomeric material, or other like material or coating to form a seal against humidity and/or air circulation when the crisper drawers when in the closed position. Alternatively, front face 81 may include a closure strip or coating, such as a magnetic coating to prevent accidental opening of the drawer.

[0050] While illustrated on a fresh food compartment door 16 in the appended drawings, the on-door drawer may be utilized in a freezing compartment which includes a pivotally mounted door. When used in a freezing compartment, the frame may include solely right and left side walls with no intermediate wall. In such embodiments, only a single drawer may be utilized to fill the single compartment formed by the crisper frame. Likewise, use of a permeable membrane would be optional as would be the use of a packet containing ethylene absorbers, antioxidants or odor absorbers. When used in a freezing compartment, the on-door drawer could serve, in some embodiments, as a soft serve drawer, wherein frozen food requiring a milder level of freezing temperatures may be stored. Such frozen foods could include, for example, ice cream, frozen yogurt, and the like.