Shelf assembly for a domestic cooling appliance

Abstract

A domestic cooling appliance includes a cabinet having a set of inner walls defining a cooling space, and a shelf assembly provided in the cooling space. The shelf assembly includes a shelf panel and a pair of left and right metal support brackets disposed adjacent one of the pair of lateral edges of the shelf panel and extend between front and rear edges of the shelf panel. Each support bracket includes at least one mounting member for mounting the support bracket to an inner rear wall of the cabinet and one or more coupling members for coupling the shelf panel to the pair of support brackets where at least a first coupling member of the one or more coupling members is designed as an elongated U-shaped metal profile defining only a first pocket for engaging the shelf panel.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A shelf assembly comprising:
 a shelf panel having a front edge, a rear edge and a pair of lateral edges extending between the front edge and the rear edge;   a pair of left and right metal support brackets each disposed adjacent a respective one of the pair of lateral edges of the shelf panel, each support bracket including at least one mounting member for mounting the support bracket to a rear wall structure; and   one or more coupling members for coupling the shelf panel to the pair of left and right support brackets, at least a first coupling member of the one or more coupling members being designed as an elongated U-shaped metal profile defining only a first pocket, wherein the shelf panel engages the first pocket,   wherein the first coupling member is fixedly attached to an upper edge of a first support bracket of the pair of left and right metal support brackets by a weld connection.   
     
     
         2 . The shelf assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the shelf panel is clamped between opposite side surfaces of the first pocket. 
     
     
         3 . The shelf assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the U-shaped metal profile includes a shorter profile leg and a pair of opposite longer profile legs, each of the pair of opposite longer profile legs having a first leg end and an opposite second leg end, the pair of opposite longer profile legs being connected to each other at the first leg end by the shorter profile leg, wherein the first coupling member is clamped between the pair of opposite longer profile legs and the pair of opposite longer profile legs define a bottleneck at a location distanced from the second leg end of each of the pair of opposite longer profile legs. 
     
     
         4 . The shelf assembly of  claim 3 , wherein at least one of the pair of opposite longer profile legs is arcuate or has an arcuate portion. 
     
     
         5 . The shelf assembly of  claim 3 , wherein one of the pair of opposite longer profile legs is straight. 
     
     
         6 . The shelf assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the U-shaped metal profile includes a shorter profile leg and a pair of opposite longer profile legs, each of the pair of opposite longer profile legs having a first leg end and an opposite second leg end, the pair of opposite longer profile legs being connected to each other at the first leg end by the shorter profile leg, wherein the weld connection is established at the first leg end of one of the pair of opposite longer profile legs. 
     
     
         7 . The shelf assembly of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first support bracket and the U-shaped metal profile is made of sheet metal. 
     
     
         8 . The shelf assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the U-shaped metal profile is a bent sheet metal part. 
     
     
         9 . The shelf assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the U-shaped metal profile and the first support bracket are made of the same metal material. 
     
     
         10 . The shelf assembly of  claim 9 , wherein the metal material of the U-shaped metal profile and the first support bracket is one of aluminum, pig iron and low-alloy steel. 
     
     
         11 . The shelf assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the U-shaped metal profile and the first support bracket are each provided with a coating layer, wherein a material of the coating layer is the same for the U-shaped metal profile and the first support bracket. 
     
     
         12 . The shelf assembly of  claim 11 , wherein the coating layer is one of a powder coating layer and an anodic coating layer. 
     
     
         13 . The shelf assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the shelf panel is held in the first pocket without using an adhesive. 
     
     
         14 . The shelf assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the weld connection includes a plurality of welding spots formed in a mutually spaced manner along a direction of longitudinal extension of the U-shaped metal profile. 
     
     
         15 . The shelf assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the first coupling member is mounted to extend alongside one of the lateral edges of the shelf panel. 
     
     
         16 . The shelf assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the first pocket has a general U-shape in cross-section and the shelf panel extends into the first pocket substantially as far as a bottom area of the first pocket. 
     
     
         17 . A domestic cooling appliance comprising:
 a cabinet having a set of inner walls defining a cooling space, the set of inner walls including an inner rear wall;   a door mounted to the cabinet to close the cooling space; and   a shelf assembly provided in the cooling space, the shelf assembly comprising:
 a shelf panel having a front edge, a rear edge and a pair of lateral edges extending between the front edge and the rear edge; 
 a pair of left and right metal support brackets each disposed adjacent a respective one of the pair of lateral edges of the shelf panel, each of the pair of left and right support brackets includes at least one mounting member for mounting to the inner rear wall; and 
 one or more coupling members for coupling the shelf panel to the pair of left and right support brackets, at least a first coupling member of the one or more coupling members being designed as an elongated U-shaped metal profile defining only a first pocket, wherein the shelf panel engages the first pocket, 
   wherein the first coupling member is fixedly attached to an upper edge of a first support bracket of the pair of left and right metal support brackets by a weld connection.