Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02537723 2006-02-27
APPARATUS FOR ELEVATING THE INTERIOR CONTENTS
OF A FREEZER
Field of the Application
This invention relates to improvements in household refrigeration units, and
more
particularly to household refrigerators and freezers of the table top or top-
opening type.
Background
A major fault of conventional side-opening freezer and refrigerator units
(side-opening
units) is that when one of these units is opened, cold air within the unit,
being heavier
than the warm air of the surrounding room, flows out through the lower portion
of the
unit's doorway and is replaced by warm air which flows into the unit through
the upper
portion of the doorway. This necessitates a recooling of most of the interior
volume of
the unit every time the unit's door is opened. This fault is largely remedied
by top-
opening freezer and refrigerator units (top-opening units). When one of these
units is
opened, the cold air within the unit, being heavier than the air of the
surrounding room,
stays inside of the unit's compartment. The only increase in temperature is
caused by
the momentary contact between the air within the unit and the outside air.
This increase
is negligible when compared to the temperature increase caused by briefly
opening a
side-opening unit.
The disadvantage of a top-opening unit lies in the inaccessibility of goods
stored in the
bottom of the unit's well or compartment. When a top-opening unit is utilized
to capacity,
boxes and packages are piled on top of each other. To access an article at the
bottom
of a full unit, overlying articles must first be removed by hand, a distinctly
uncomfortable
and inconvenient exercise. Accessing an article at the bottom of a top-opening
unit also
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reduces the efficiency of the unit, as the unit must be kept open during the
hand sorting
of its contents.
Prior art attempts to solve the accessibility problem have included the use of
shelves in
the interior of top-opening units, said shelves capable of being raised out of
top-opening
unit by mechanical means. This art has a number of limitations. First, the
raisable
shelves are generally integrated into entirely new top-opening units. The art
does not
solve the accessibility problem in existing top-opening units Second, the
prior art often
requires a user to supply the force needed to raise the interior shelves of a
top-opening
unit. Depending on the strength of the user of such a top-opening unit, this
requirement
might well become problematic long before the unit is full. Third, when the
prior art does
disclose the use of a motor to supply lift force, the mechanical lift
mechanism is often
complicated: difficult to manufacture and difficult to maintain.
Summary
It is an object of the present application to overcome the accessibility
problem of top-
opening freezer and refrigerator units by providing a simple apparatus for
mechanically
lifting the interior contents of a top-opening unit, thus making the contents
of the unit
easily accessible.
The present application further provides a lifting apparatus that can be
easily installed
in existing top-opening units.
The present application still further provides an apparatus comprising a top-
opening unit
with a lifting apparatus built-in.
According to the present invention then, there is provided a storage insert
for a top
opening storage unit comprising an outerframe shaped to fit within said top
opening unit;
an inner frame telescopically associated with said outer frame for up and down
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movement relative to said outer frame and said top opening unit; and a lifting
assembly
operatively connected between said inner and outer frames to selectively raise
and lower
said inner frame relative to said outer frame.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a
method of
providing access to the interior of a top opening storage unit comprising the
steps of
placing one or more spaced apart horizontally aligned shelves within the
interior of said
storage unit; and operatively connecting said one or more shelves to a
selectively
operable lifting mechanism forvertically raising and lowering said shelves
relative to said
unit's interior.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Further objects and improvements incorporated in the apparatus will be
apparent from
the following specifications and accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective, partially sectional view of the apparatus of the
present
invention, and a top-opening unit where, according to an embodiment of the
present
invention, the apparatus may be installed.
Figure 2 is a perspective exploded view of the present invention.
Detailed Description
Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention,
examples
of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference
numerals
refer to like elements throughout.
As shown in Figure 1, an apparatus in the nature of a shelving insert 100
according to
an embodiment of the present invention comprises an inner frame 102 having
four walls
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101 and shelves 103, and an outer frame 104 having four walls 105 and a floor
106. In
the center of lowermost shelf 103 of inner frame 102 is an integrated threaded
base
support 107. Attached to the floor of outer frame 104 is a lifting assembly
110. The
lifting assembly 110 moves inner frame 102 either up or down relative to outer
frame
104.
With reference to Figure 2, shelving insert 100 may be installed in a top-
opening freezer
or refrigerator unit 200, comprising a main body 201 and a hinged door 202
mounted on
the main body. The door 202 covers the opening of a storage compartment 204
inside
the freezer. When inner frame 104 of insert 100 is in its lowest position, the
insert fits
inside storage compartment 204 and door 202 can be opened and closed without
interference.
As shown in Figure 2, the lifting assembly 110 comprises a motor, such as a C-
flange
motor, 112 operatively connected to an upright rotating screw actuator 114,
which turns
a 3/4 inch (or other diameter) free-standing Acme screw 116. Screw 116 has a
bottom
end 118 connected to screw actuator 114 and a top end 120 that extends through
an
aligned hole in upper shelf 103. The screw threadedly engages base support 107
on
lower shelf 103 so that rotation of the screw in one direction raises the
inner frame and
rotation in the other direction lowers the frame.
A description of the process to raise inner frame 102 of insert 100 according
to an
embodiment of the present invention follows. When a user activates motor 112
using
for example an externally mounted switch, motor 112 rotates screw actuator 114
which
rotates freestanding Acme screw 116. The rotating Acme screw causes the
threaded
base support 107, which is engaged to Acme screw 116, to move toward the upper
end
120 of the Acme screw. Innerframe 102, fixedly attached to threaded base
support 107,
moves in concert. Thus, inner frame 102 and shelves 103 and any containers or
items
on the shelves of the inner frame move upwardly for easy access. If insert 100
is in a
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top-opening unit, lowermost shelf 103 can be lifted to approximately the top
of
compartment 204. Thus, a user could easily access an article, originally at
the bottom
of the freezer, without significant bending or rooting about.
To lower inner frame 102, motor 112 is activated to rotate upright rotating
screw actuator
114 in the opposite direction until inner frame 102 is fully lowered into the
freezer.
As will be appreciated by the person skilled in the art, lifting assembly can
be
hydraulically or pneumatically actuated.
Stability for inner frame 102 when elevated is provided by the sliding
proximity of walls
101 to walls 105. As will be appreciated the insert is adaptable to both OEM
freezers
and refrigerators and to the after market. The insert also makes chest
refrigerators more
practical.
In some applications, insert 100 may have to be shaped to file around a
housing for the
freezer's compressor.
Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and
described,
it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made
in these
embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention,
the scope
of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
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