General Electric Company

Gerhard K Losert

Richard L Stottmann

William M Webb

John M Powell

Richard A Stich

Laddie A DePas

John J Roberts

A shelf assembly including a panel forming a shelf with a back wall, bottom wall and side walls and having an elongated front shelf member and an end cap holding the shelf front member to each side wall of the shelf. The end cap has a base wall with perpendicular integrally formed rear, side and front flanges and the base wall has at the front thereof projections for securing thereto one end of the shelf front member. The end cap has a latching assembly secured to the rear flange and projecting rearwardly and receivable in an aperture in the panel side wall and includes two support legs each having a width slightly less than the distance between opposite edges of the side wall aperture. A spring member is located between the legs and attached to both support legs at one end away from the rear flange and the distal end of the spring member is free. The spring member has an inclined ramp portion extending from the attached end toward the rear flange and extends outside the diameter of the aperture in the panel. The spring member also has a panel engaging portion depending from the ramp portion in a direction of the leg at an inclined angle with the rear surface of the panel side wall of between 95 and 160 degrees. With the spring member being depressed and inserted into the aperture the rear flange abuts one side of the panel and the panel engaging portion of the spring member is biased against only the rear surface of the panel side wall to secure the end cap to the panel and the end cap is removable therefrom by depressing the spring member and withdrawing the end cap from the aperture.

Shelf assembly

A refrigerator cabinet and method of constructing the same including a storage compartment having an access opening surrounded by a face portion comprising an area composed of magnetic material. A door is hingedly mounted on the cabinet for closing the access opening and the door comprises an outer metal panel having an inwardly turned flange extending about the periphery thereof and a plastic inner panel having a flange with a peripheral edge portion overlying and joined to the flange of the outer panel, the panels having thermal insulation therebetween. A sealing gasket is mounted on the door adjacent the peripheral edge and includes a base portion overlying the peripheral edge of the inner panel and a cabinet engaging portion integrally joined to the base portion and includes a magnetic means attracted to the area of magnetic material and provides the sole means for holding the door in a closed position. The base portion of the sealing gasket has a first section secured to the door and includes a downwardly projecting front seal, a downwardly projecting rear seal spaced from the front seal, and an upwardly curved surface joining the rear and front seals. There is also included an upwardly depending hollow member above the rear seal that has rear vertical surface and a curved surface between the rear seal and the rear vertical surface of the hollow member. The base portion has a second section spaced from and joined to the first section comprising a web that is spaced from and overlies the hollow member and the second section has a downwardly extending projection contacting the inner panel. A retainer member overlying and shaped to accommodate the upwardly depending hollow member is secured to the door by fasteners through the plastic inner panel flange and the inwardly turned flange of the outer door panel.

Refrigerator cabinet and method of construction

A visual device for use in a freezer compartment of a refrigerator to indicate when water in an ice cube tray is frozen. The device includes a stationary thermal insulated base in close proximity to a portion of the ice cube tray. There is a thermometer embedded in the insulated base and having a bulb with liquid and a connecting capillary tube for a liquid column. A thermal conductive member is in thermal transfer relationship between a portion of the ice cube tray and the thermometer bulb. Visual means relative to the liquid column in the capillary tube are provided to indicate when water in the tray is frozen.

Visual device for ice cube trays

An ice maker for use in a freezer compartment of a refrigerator including a flexible tray having cavities for forming ice pieces. The front of the ice tray has a handle and the rear has a first and second spaced guide element projecting therefrom. There is provided a support structure having a front wall with a triangular-shaped opening with all three sides of the opening being outwardly curved and dimensioned to receive therein the ice tray handle in guiding rotation thereof. There is also provided a rear wall having a track with a vertical inwardly curved portion with a terminal end at the top thereof and a horizontal downwardly curved portion joining the bottom of the vertical curved portion, said track being dimensioned to receive in guiding movement said first and second spaced guide elements on the ice tray. Upon rotation of the ice tray handle in the triangular-shaped opening, the first guide element moves in the vertical curved portion of the track and abuts the terminal end thereof and the second guide element moves in the horizontal curved portion and abuts the vertical curved portion. The guide elements and track cooperate to prevent further rotational movement of the rear of the ice tray while the front of the ice tray may continue to be rotated thus twisting the tray about its longitudinal axis to effect harvesting of the ice pieces formed in the cavities of the ice tray.

Flexible tray type ice maker

A side-by-side refrigerator of the type having a single evaporator, single fan including a freezer compartment thermostat controlling operation of the evaporator and fan, and a fresh food compartment thermostat controlling the operation of the fan and an air flow control for circulating the colder freezer compartment air through the fresh food compartment. The air flow control includes an air valve mounted in a passageway that is movable between a closed set position and an open set position. When cooling of the fresh food compartment is required, the fan is energized and the valve rotated to its open position. When the cooling requirements are satisfied, the thermostat causes the fan to deenergize and the valve to be rotated to its closed position. However, the fan may continue to operate under control of the freezer compartment thermostat. The valve moves between its open and closed positions of 90.degree. by a solenoid that is momentarily energized. The energization of the solenoid effectively moves the valve 45.degree. in each direction of its armature reciprocal movement.

Refrigerator air baffle control

A refrigerator cabinet is supported at the rear corners by vertically adjustable legs and at the front by a pair of widely-spaced front wheel assemblies that are connected through a self-leveling system. Movable members associated with each of the wheel assemblies are connected by a rod that serves to cause each movable member to urge its corresponding wheel assembly downwardly with like force. When the cabinet is placed on an uneven supporting surface, the wheel assemblies move up and down until the forces supported by each are equal.

Load equalizing support system

An improved device and method for checking the adequacy of the rate of air flow in a rotating clothes dryer drum having air flow passing through a first centrally disposed set of perforations and a second set of perforations radially outward of the first set of perforations in the rear wall of the drum into the interior of the drum. The device comprises a rotatable fan and a counter assembly arranged to register the number of revolutions of the fan. There is provided a structure for removably attaching the device to the rear wall of the drum over the first set of perforations in the rear drum wall. A flexible circular skirt having a central opening is removably attached to the rear wall of the drum over and blocking air flow through the second set of perforations. With this device and method the rate of air flow to the clothes dryer drum may be tested by operating the clothes dryer and registering the number of revolutions made by the fan for a period of time and comparing that number to a number determined previously to be an adequate air flow rate.

Clothes dryer air flow test device and method

A self-locking support mechanism for leveling an appliance relative to the floor that includes a support member secured to the appliance and having at least one end wall and one side wall with the side wall having a slot therethrough. There is also provided a rotatable cam member having a pivot point, a cam surface to contact the floor for height adjustment, and a radius surface relative to the pivot point. The cam member rotates by a pin through the pivot point and the slot in the support member and the pin is slidably movable within the slot. The slot and support end wall are spaced from each other and converge toward each other in a direction away from the floor. Upon rotating the cam member the pin is moved within the slot away from the floor and the cam member radius surface abuts the support end wall to lock the cam member.

Self locking support mechanism

A laundry machine and method for washing clothes having both a wash and extraction operation. There is included in the machine a rotatable drum for tumbling the clothes and liquid introduction means are provided for introducing liquid into the drum at the average rate of 0.5 to 3 gallons per minute during the wash operation. Means are also provided for producing a vacuum or negative pressure to withdraw the liquid from the drum during the wash operation at a rate sufficient to prevent a bath type washing action, then at the end of the wash operation stop the introduction of liquid into the drum and continue the negative pressure to withdraw the liquid during the extraction operation.

Growing community of inventors

Louisville, KY, United States of America

Gerhard K Losert