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 and the freezer compartment is where food items that are to be kept in a frozen condition are stored. The refrigerators are provided with a refrigeration system 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.
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 may be accessed without exposing the other compartment to the ambient air.
Refrigerator appliances are also known to include a plurality of shelves within at least the fresh food compartment for storing various items thereon. Said shelves include support arms that removably engage with a ladder track or support rail attached to the rear wall of the fresh food compartment.
Many modern refrigerators use a pair of French-type doors wherein two opposing doors allow access to the fresh food compartment. Some refrigerators are designed such that said refrigerator doors present a symmetrical configuration (i.e., the two opposing doors have the same width), while others are designed such that said refrigerator doors present an asymmetrical configuration (i.e., the two opposing doors have different widths). In either configuration, a central support rail is aligned with a separation point between the two opposing doors. Thus, during manufacturing, positioning the attachment location of the central support rail to the rear wall of the fresh food compartment depends on whether the refrigerator has a symmetrical or asymmetrical configuration. As such, multiple processing lines or tool change over operations are required to manufacture said refrigerators.
There is a need in the art for a refrigerator having multiple central support rails attached to the rear wall of the fresh-food compartment in order to pre-fabricate said refrigerator to accommodate both symmetrical and asymmetrical configurations.