US Patent Issued to Illinois Tool Works on Aug. 11 for "Support beam for a refrigerator" (Dutch Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,704,314, issued on Aug. 11, was assigned to Illinois Tool Works Inc. (Glenview, Ill.).

"Support beam for a refrigerator" was invented by Jos Nieuwlaat (Etten-Leur, Netherlands), Joannes Sebastiaan Cornelis Emmen (Etten-Leur, Netherlands) and Thijs Slagter (Etten-Leur, Netherlands).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A support beam for a refrigerator includes an outer shell defining a cavity, or a spine with a keyed surface, a filler applied to the outer shell or spine, and at least one jamb. The filler and outer shell or spine are formed of the same material. A method of manufacture, a fridge including the support and a kit are also described....