FORM 2

THE PATENTS ACT 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
The Patent Rules, 2003

Complete Specification

(See section 10 and rule 13)

A novel article - holding device for refrigerators and a method of using the same

Whirlpool of India Limited
Indian Company registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1956.
Plot A4 MIDC, Ranjangaon, Taluka Shirpur, Pune 419204, Maharashtra, India.

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performd.

A Novel Articles-Holding Device For Refrigerators And A Method Of Using The Same
Field of invention:
The invention generally relates to household appliances; more particularly it relates to the aspect of securely holding articles such as bottles and pouches inside refrigerators.
Background of the invention:
One of the well known annoyances associated with currently available refrigerators world over is the falling of bottles from the bottle-space provided inside of the main fridge door upon opening and shutting thereof. This causes inconvenience due to the mess created by fallen bottles and associated spillage. In some cases spillages and breakages occur, which leads to material loss and damage.
Several attempts have been made by various leading manufacturers of refrigerators to solve this problem. Some of the existing refrigerators have bottle separators that also serve to hold bottles securely in place thereby overcome this problem to some extent. Various separators are currently available in the market. However, one of the drawbacks of these products is that the separators are not effective on bottles of certain shape and size, for example bottles of excessive height. Some of these separators can be adjusted thereby providing some flexibility of usage. However one drawback associated with frequent adjusting is that the separators lose mechanical grip with the fridge door, thereby making their mechanical functioning less effective over a period of time.
Several other drawbacks of the presently available products for bottle holding/separation are listed below:
1. Bottles are at best secured only in a plane parallel to that of the fridge door. Upon opening/shutting operation of the door, the bottles are liable to
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fall over in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the door. In case the bottle space is not reasonably packed with bottles, the bottles tend to fall over in the other directions also.
2. The separators are provided in the 'bottle-bin' section. Bottles kept elsewhere in the refrigerator are not secure from falling over.
3. Items such as polyethylene bags or other such flexible items cannot be secured with ease.
4. The separators are not optional, i.e. those who do not want them are still forced to have them.
5. Frequent adjustment to the separators leads to damage (such as breakage of the separator or the door panel and/or scratches thereon) to the separator itself and also to the bottle-bin unit.
6. In case of damage to the bottle-bin or the separators, the consumers often find that the replacement is a headache.
There is therefore a need for a convenient and effective method of providing a way of securing bottles of various sizes and shapes inside a refrigerator that will:
1. reduce the risk of bottles falling over due to the refrigerator door operation
2. minimize the need for frequent adjustment of parts that can be easily damaged
3. allow the convenience of securely placing bottles or other containers inside the fridge at locations other than the refrigerator door.
4. generally make storing and securing the bottles inside the refrigerator less cumbersome.
Objects of the invention:
There are several objects of the present invention. These are:
1. to reduce the risk of bottles falling over due to the refrigerator door operation
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2. to minimize the need for frequent adjustment of parts that can be easily damaged
3. to allow the convenience of securely placing bottles or other containers inside the fridge at locations other than the Refrigerator door.
4. to generally make storage and securing the bottles inside the refrigerator less cumbersome.
There are several other objects and advantages of the present invention, which will be apparent from the discussion that follows.
Summary of the invention:
The present invention is in the form of a bottle holder that is used inside any standard refrigerator. The bottle holder of the present invention is attachable to any reasonably flat surface inside the fridge. It allows the consumers to secure bottles and other items such as flexible pouches in the refrigerator to maximize the available space inside. The bottle holder comprises a vacuum operated base for attachment and adjustable holding unit to hold/secure items such as bottles and pouches.
Brief Description of Figures:
Figures 1 and 1A show some of the existing bottle separators (prior art)
Figure 2 shows an isometric view of the bottle holder of the present invention
Figures 3 and 3A show individual parts of the bottle holder of the present
invention
Figure 4 shows operation of one of the preferred embodiments of the present
invention.
Figures 5, 5A and 6 show some of the embodiments of the present invention.
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List of parts:

1. Holder unit (1) 14
2. Attacher unit (2) 15
3. Lever (3) 16.
4. Housing (4) 17.
5. Vacuum pad (5) 18.
6. Contraption (6) 19.
7. First hole (7) 20.
8. Second hole (8) 21.
9. Third hole (9) 22.
10. Fourth hole (10) 23.
11. First link (11) 24.
12. Second link (12) 25.
13. First receptor (13)

Second receptor (14) First hollow space (15) Second hollow space (16) First connector (17) Second connector (18) First pin (19) Second pin (20) clamp claws (21) Spring (22) Clamp press (23) Flexible clamp (24) Slotted housing (25)

Detailed description of the present invention:
The present invention comprises a product to secure and hold in place bottles/pouches used to contain food, beverages and other perishable and non-perishable materials inside refrigerators. In particular the invention comprises a holder unit (1) that is used to secure bottles/pouches in place and an attacher unit (2) that attaches itself to the refrigerator wall.
The preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in Figures 2 and 3. In this embodiment, the attacher unit (2) further comprises a lever (3), a housing (4), and a vacuum pad (5). The vacuum pad (5), housing (4), and the lever (3) are rotatably connected by a first pin (19) to form the attacher unit (2). The holder unit (1) comprises a contraption (6) to hold in place the items that need securing. Both the holder unit (1) and the attacher unit (2) are rotatably connected to each other by a second pin (20) that facilitates formation of a hinge mechanism which allows a degree of freedom to the device of the invention whilst the entire assembly of the holder unit (1) and attacher unit (2) is secured on a part of the refrigerator. The housing has an optional support that comprises a hard, semi-hard, or semi-flexible ring type structure on to which the vacuum pad (5) is attached. The housing (4)
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contains air and allows formation of vacuum upon operation of the lever (3) that is attached to the housing (4).
The operation of the invention is shown in Figure 4. As shown in step 1 therein, the invention of the preferred embodiment operates by first placing the attacher unit (2) at a suitable location of the refrigerator. As shown in step 2 of the figure, the contraption (6) is then lowered onto the neck of the bottle to ensure that the location of the bottle holder is suitable for the bottle to be secured. As shown in step 3 of Figure 4, the lever (3) is operated to create vacuum inside the housing (4), whereby the bottle holder as a whole gets firmly attached to the holding surface. As shown in step 4 of Figure 4, the contraption (6) is lifted to permit 'removal of the bottle when required.
For optimal results, the effective angle between the operating positions of holder and the vacuum pad (5) is in the range of 60° to about 120° (see Figure 4 step 1). The hinge mechanism is designed so that the holder unit (1) and attacher unit (2) are easily separable from each other. An advantage of this feature is that consumers can use holders of different shapes that best suite particular bottles.
Another embodiment of the invention describes specific mechanisms by which the housing (4) is connected to the lever (3), and the holder unit (1) is connected to the attacher unit (2). In this embodiment, the vacuum pad (5) has a first connector that has a first hole (7) in it. The first connector (17) is in the form of a stub or a protrusion or any other suitable shape. The lever (3) has two first collars (13a) that together act as a first receptor (13) which has a first hollow space (15) between them, and a second hole (8) in each of the first collars (13a) of the first receptor (13).
The housing (4) has a first link (11) and a second connector (18) that has a third hole (9) in it. The holder unit (1) has a second link (12) with a second receptor
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(14). The second receptor (14) is formed by a pair of second collars (14a), each of which has a fourth hole (10). The two second collars (14a) form a second hollow space (16) between them. The attacher unit (2) is assembled by putting together the lever (3), the vacuum pad (5), and the housing (4) with the help of the first pin.
The novel device of the present invention in this embodiment is formed by rotatably connecting the attacher unit (2) to the holder unit (1) by inserting a second pin (20) through the hole formed by placing the second connector (18) into the second receptor (14).
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the shape of the annulus of the holder is selected from a group comprising ellipse, square, any other enclosed curve, a polygon, or a combination thereof.
In still another embodiment of the present invention, the vacuum pad has slight curvature in the plane of the pad to give a better grip on curved surfaces.
In a still further embodiment, the holder has multiple annuli thereby enabling the product to secure multiple bottles per holder-attacher assembly (Figure 5).
In still another embodiment of the present invention, the holder contraption has a clamp mechanism that has two claws (21) to secure in place plastic pouches and other similar items (Figure 5A). The clamp is operated with the help of the clamp press (23), and a spring (22). In a further embodiment of the present invention, a flexible clamp (24) is provided, that operates by pressing the annular ring that is held in place in a slotted housing (25). The flexible clamp (24) has variable size opening to suit a bottle cap of a given size.
There are several advantages of the present invention over the existing bottle separators. Some of these are listed below. The product of the present invention:
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1) works well as a holder as well as a separator.
2) secures bottles from not falling in any direction and also from toppling out of the bottle bin.
3) is useable in almost any part of the refrigerator and not limited to the bottle bin.
4) is useable on bottles of different shapes and sizes. This has been made easily possible through the modular design of the holder element.
5) can be used for bottles placed in refrigerator compartment, including the bottles placed horizontally, which increases the flexibility of its use.
6) can be fitted anywhere on door liner or the cabinet liner facilitated by the employment of the vacuum principle.
7) is versatile, for example it can be used as a device to hang items such as small pouches that are light (up to 3kg) in weight.
8) is independent of the type and make of the refrigerator.
9) allows consumers to make maximum use of the available space inside the refrigerator.
10) provides better protection, than with the conventional separators, to the bottles as they are protected from jerks resulting from closing and opening action of the refrigerator door.
11) removes possibility of creating scratches that result from sliding bottle separators thereby maintaining the aesthetics of the refrigerator.
12) is extremely easy to use for consumers, right from a child to an old person.
13) is independent of the design of the bottle bin design, thus making it feasible to adapt it to changing designs of refrigerators; for the manufacturers this means they don't have to incur tooling expenses upon changes to the bottle bin design. .
14) Manufacturers can in a short period make new models and designs of holders available to consumers to cater for new bottle shapes and sizes
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It is obvious from the foregoing description that the present invention comprises the following items.
1. A novel articles-holding device for refrigerators comprising:
A holder unit, an attacher unit having a contraption for securing articles, a first pin and a second pin,
wherein said attacher unit comprises a lever, and a housing that houses a vacuum pad, said vacuum pad being attached to said housing and to said lever by said first pin, and
wherein said attacher unit is rotatably connected to said holder unit using said second pin;
wherein said attacher unit is vacuum attached to a smooth surface by operation of said lever to form said articles-holding device.
2. A novel articles-holding device as described in item 1, wherein said vacuum
pad that has a first connector; a lever with a first receptor; a housing with an
optional support ridge; wherein
said first connector that has a first hole in it; said first receptor has a first hollow space for accommodating said first connector, and a second hole; said housing has a first link and a second connector that has a third hole;
and wherein said holder unit comprises a contraption, said contraption having an opening, a second link and an a second receptor that has a fourth hole and a second hollow space;
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and wherein in the assembled said device, said first connector is placed in said first hollow space and said second connector is placed in second hollow space whereby said first, and second holes align to allow insertion of said first pin to form a first rotatable joint, and said third and fourth holes align to allow insertion of second pin to form a second rotatable joint.
3. A novel articles-holding device as described in items 1 and 2, wherein
said vacuum pad is made of any suitable flexible material selected from a group comprising rubber, plastic, polymer or any combination thereof.
4. A novel articles-holding device as described in items 1 to 3, wherein said contraption has a plurality of openings for securing objects, each of said openings.
5. A novel articles-holding device as described in items 1 and 2, wherein the number of openings in said contraption is at least two.
6. A novel articles-holding device as described in items 1 to 3, wherein said contraption is a spring-operated clamp that has two claws which are operated with a spring and a clamp press, or a flexible clamp that is held in a slotted housing.
7. A novel articles-holding device as described in items 1 to 3, and 6 wherein said contraption is in the form of a plurality of clamps connected to each other in a manner such that each of said clamps is operable independently.
8. A novel articles-holding device as described in items 1 to 5. wherein said openings are of any shape selected from a group comprising circular, square, elliptical, triangular, or any other shape, or any combination thereof.
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9. A novel articles-holding device as described in items 1 to 8, wherein the
material used for any parts of said device is selected from a group comprising
metal, plastic, rubber, wood, composite materials, or any combination thereof.
10. A novel articles-holding device as described in item 1, wherein said attacher unit and said holder unit are connected to each other by any suitable mechanism.
11. A method of using the novel article as described in any of claims 1 to 10, comprising the steps of:
a. providing said novel article,
b. placing said attacher unit against the desired surface of the refrigerator,
c. lowering said contraption onto the article to be securely held, and
d. operating said lever to create vacuum inside said housing.
While the above description contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limitation in the scope of the invention, but rather as an exemplification of the preferred embodiments thereof. Many other variations are possible. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiments illustrated, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.
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We claim:
1. A novel articles-holding device for refrigerators comprising:
A holder unit, an attacher unit having a contraption for securing articles, a first pin and a second pin,
wherein said attacher unit comprises a lever, and a housing that houses a vacuum pad, said vacuum pad being attached to said housing and to said lever by said first pin, and
wherein said attacher unit is rotatably connected to said holder unit using said second pin;
wherein said attacher unit is vacuum attached to a smooth surface by operation of said lever to form said articles-holding device.
2. A novel articles-holding device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said vacuum pad
that has a first connector; a lever with a first receptor; a housing with an optional
support ridge; wherein
said first connector that has a first hole in it; said first receptor has a first hollow space for accommodating said first connector, and a second hole; said housing has a first link and a second connector that has a third hole;
and wherein said holder unit comprises a contraption, said contraption having an opening, a second link and an a second receptor that has a fourth hole and a second hollow space;
and wherein in the assembled said device, said first connector is placed in said first hollow space and said second connector is placed in second hollow space whereby said first, and second holes align to allow insertion of said first pin to form a first rotatable joint, and said third and fourth holes align to allow insertion of second pin to form a second rotatable joint.
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3. A novel articles-holding device as claimed in claims 1 and 2, wherein
said vacuum pad is made of any suitable flexible material selected from a group comprising rubber, plastic, polymer, or any combination thereof.
4. A novel articles-holding device as claimed in claims 1 to 3, wherein said contraption has a plurality of openings for securing objects. •
5. A novel articles-holding device as claimed in claims 1 and 2, wherein the number of openings in said contraption is at least two.
6. A novel articles-holding device as claimed in claims 1 to 3, wherein said contraption is a spring-operated clamp that has two claws which are operated with a spring and a clamp press, or a flexible clamp that is held in a slotted housing.
7. A novel articles-holding device as claimed in claims 1 to 3, and 6 wherein said contraption is in the form of a plurality of clamps connected to each other in a manner such that each of said clamps is operable independently.
8. A novel articles-holding device as claimed in claims 1 to 5, wherein said openings are of any shape selected from a group comprising circular, square, elliptical, triangular, or any other shape, or any combination thereof.
9. A novel articles-holding device as claimed in claims 1 to 8, wherein the
material used for any parts of said device is selected from a group comprising
metal, plastic, rubber, wood, composite materials, or any combination thereof.
10. A novel articles-holding device as claimed in claims 1 to 9, wherein said attacher unit and said holder unit are connected to each other by any suitable mechanism.
11. A method of using the novel article as described in any of claims 1 to 10, comprising the steps of:
a. providing said novel article,
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b. placing said attacher unit against the desired surface of the refrigerator,
c. lowering said contraption onto the article to be securely held, and
d. operating said lever to create vacuum inside said housing.
Dated this 19th day of November, 2007

Mr. Vijay Sharatehandra Tase (Patent Agent for the Applicant) Registration No. IN/PA 987
To
The Controller of Patents,
The Patent Office Branch at Mumbai
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