1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of refrigerators and, more particularly, to a combination shelf and serving tray assembly for use in a refrigerator.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
A typical household refrigerator is provided with numerous vertically spaced shelves for use in supporting food items stored in the refrigerator. In the past, various proposals have also been made to enhance the versatility of refrigerator shelving arrangements. For example, proposals have been made to support shelves at various, selected heights within a refrigerator cabinet in order to accommodate different size food items. In order to enhance access to food items placed in a back portion of a shelf, it has also been proposed in the art to slidably mount refrigerator shelves for movement between extended and retracted positions. It has also been proposed to provide a refrigerator with a planar shelf member that can be selectively supported upon a frame within a compartment of the refrigerator so as to define a shelf, while also enabling the platform to be removed from the refrigerator and used as a tray.
It is known to combine many of these features into a single overall shelving arrangement. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,032,235 discloses a refrigerator incorporating a shelf platform which is adapted to be selectively removed from the cabinet of a refrigerator and used as a tray. More specifically, the tray is adapted to be supported upon a frame including a pair of spaced support members for sliding movement into and out of the refrigerator cabinet. In addition, the tray can be completely removed from the cabinet in order to carry away food products supported thereon.
Although certain advancements have been made in this art to increase the versatility of known refrigerator shelving arrangements, there still exists a need for an improved shelf and serving tray assembly for a refrigerator. More specifically, there exists a need in the art for an assembly which can be manufactured in an economical manner and incorporates a simple and efficient support arrangement for the tray whether used inside or outside of the refrigerator.