Amana Refrigeration, Inc.

Maytag Corporation

Amana Company, L.p.

John J Pink

Ravi Kumar Sawhney

Steven G Herndon

Forrest F Wing

Todd E Kniffen

Timothy Mark Nugent

Michael J Eveland

Richard Allan Kirchner

Jerry L Walter

John Frank Zinni

Eric S Svenby

Jeffrey L Prunty

Donald Alba

Richard D Maxwell

Greg A Scorpil

Brian S Guptill

Michael J Fitzharris

Louis R Marz

An extending vertical wall secures to the rear edge of a shelf assembly inside a refrigerator compartment. The vertical wall comprises a vertical panel with two downwardly protruding legs. The legs removably reside within sockets included in the rear edge of the refrigerator shelf assembly. When the vertical wall is attached to the refrigerator shelf assembly, the vertical wall prevents items placed on the shelf from toppling off the back edge of the shelf assembly. At the user's discretion, the vertical wall may be quickly and easily removed from the shelf assembly. In an alternative embodiment, the wall is a formed retainer having an inserted U-shape such that the legs are received in the shelf sockets.

Upright rear wall extension for refrigerator shelves

Refrigerator with upper French style doors

A multiple height package retainer for a refrigerator door and a method for adjusting an adjustable height package retainer for a refrigerator door includes a shelf body and a retainer member. The retainer member may have a first position and a second position for holding packages of varying height.

Adjustable height package retainer for a refrigerator door

A refrigerator door supports a shelf which has a shelf front. The shelf is arranged to support a package to be retained, and the shelf has first, second, third, and fourth holes. A wire is arranged to be inserted into the first and third holes so that the wire has a first height with respect to the shelf, and the wire is arranged to be inserted into the second and fourth holes so that the wire has a second height with respect to the shelf. The first and second heights are different so that the wire and the shelf front are able to retain packages of different heights.

Multiple height package retainer

Cooking grate

An air flow control mechanism for a glass top refrigerator container wherein a flexible actuator is routed from a lateral front slide in a guide slot or track that runs back along one side to a damper or shutter at the rear. Accordingly, a cold air inlet at the rear such as used in a meat keeper or crisper pan is actuated by a lateral front slide without having a mechanical linkage that passes across the middle of the frame thereby obstrucitng the view down into the container. The flexible band is coupled to an operator actuable lateral slide mechanism at the front, and the band at the back is coupled to a shutter which moves laterally in response to the motion of the slide mechanism so as to open and close the rear cold air inlet.

Air flow control for glass top refrigerator container

A refrigerator shelf for dispensing cans or thawing food. Adapted for mounting in the limited height space below a meat keeper, the shelf defines a one-legged tray which is supported by the cross members of a cantilever-suspended frame. The cross bars are substantially L-shaped and inverted such that the respective supporting short sides are at different vertical heights. When the legged end of the tray is forward, the tray is held horizontally. When the legged end of the tray is rearward, the tray functions as a front loading can dispenser because it is inclined towards the rear.

Refrigerator shelf for dispensing cans or thawing food

A refrigerator having a cold air meat keeper that is adjustable to a plurality of alternate vertical positions. The cold air is introduced into the refrigerated food compartment through a port in the back wall of the liner. The meat keeper, which is suspended below a height-adjustable cantileverly-supported shelf, has an elastic conduit extending rearwardly therefrom. The conduit has an enlarged rear chamber that seals against the liner wall around the port in a plurality of elevational positions. The conduit is compressed in an interference fit to provide a positive sealing force against the liner surface.

Vertically-adjustable meat keeper for refrigerator

A refrigerator having a crisper pan with a back passageway that is always open and a front passageway that is adjustable so that the operator can adjust the amount of flow through ventilation to control the humidity in the pan. The lid for the pan also functions as a refrigerator shelf and the back passageway is defined by a gap between the lid and the back of the pan. The front passageway is defined by a front lid plenum having a floor with a plurality of ports. A slide gate positioned in the plenum has a plurality of windows which, by sliding laterally in the plenum, can be made to respectively align with the ports to enable flow through ventilation. Full or partial sealing of the ports is provided by sliding the slide gate laterally to alter the alignment of the windows with the ports.

Crisper humidity control

Microwave oven

A freezer-refrigerator unit is provided with exterior ice service through the front of the cabinet. The unit has a panel forming a portion of the front closure of the freezer compartment and hinged at its lower edge to swing outwardly. Behind the panel is an ice tray, and the tray is supplied with ice cubes from an automatic ice maker located in the freezer compartment.

Exterior ice service for freezer-refrigerators

A power driven ice dispenser in a freezer-refrigerator or the like discharges ice down a chute through the front of the unit. The chute is closed by a spring-loaded door opened by a lever. When the lever is released, an inertia motor delays closing of the door until the chute is emptied of ice.

Growing community of inventors

Cedar Rapids, IA, United States of America

John J Pink