GB2116020A - Storage rack - Google Patents

Abstract

In a storage device which may be readily adapted to accept either articles of a first predetermined dimension or articles of a second predetermined dimension (e.g. either boxed or unboxed cassettes), there are provided two opposed readily removable wall panels (16, 17) between which the articles are located, the panels being of such form that when inserted in a first orientation they define therebetween a space complementary to said first dimension, and when inserted in a reversed orientation they define therebetween a space complementary to said second dimension. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Storage rack This invention relates to storage racks for the storage of objects of different dimensions.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings shows a known example of such a storage rack. This storage rack is designed to hold individual cassettes 1 and their storage boxes 2.

The rack comprises a housing 3 having four recesses 4 for receiving the cassettes/storage boxes.

The height of the recesses 4 is determined by the height of the storage boxes 2 whereas their width is determined by the length of the cassettes. Pairs of ribs 5 are provided on opposite vertical walls of each recess 4 for supporting individual cassettes in a horizontal position. Similar vertical divisions are provided in each recess by further ribs located on the top and bottom walls of the housing 3 for supporting the storage boxes.

This known storage rack has a number of disadvantages. The height and width of the recesses is fixed by the dimensions of the cassettes and their storage boxes. Since a cassette has similar dimensions than a storage box, a cassette placed in the vertical division provided for storage of the storage box, will be loose and may easily drop out. This problem becomes more critical in the case of a rotary rack. Thus, it is the number of recesses rather than the size of these recesses which determines the number of cassettes and storage boxes which may be stored in a single rack.

In addition in the case of cassettes, their storage in a horizontal position has a detrimental effect on the cassette when compared with vertical storage. In the horizontal position, the tape hub rests on the lower side of the cassette. In the case of a properly wound tape hub, the pressure is equally spread and this gravitational effect should not be too great. However, if the tape is wound with jiggle or flutter, a portion of tape will protrude on to the tape hub. The pressure produced on this portion of tape will form a fold in the tape, and if this fold is serious, magnetic material will flake from this portion. This magnetic material will then be carried to the cassette recorder and become attached to the magnetic heads and roller to cause additional damage. Thus, horizontal storage of cassettes is to be avoided.

According to the present invention there is provided a storage rack for storing objects having one of two sets of dimensions comprising: two wall elements each of which is detachably mounted in one of two orientations to a support member, in each of which orientations, the elements face one another to define a recess therebetween adapted to receive and support one or more objects of a respective one of the two sets of dimensions, each element having a first and a second support surface the first support surface of facing that of the other in one of said two orientations and the second support surface of one element facing that of the other in the other of said two orientations.

In one embodiment of the present invention, said wall elements constitute the top and bottom walls of the recess of the storage rack.

In another embodiment, the rack comprises three such recesses respectively comprising two wall elements.

In a preferred embodiment, the support surfaces of the elements are each provided with a plurality of ribs spaced at intervals from one another along the element, the intervals of the ribs on the first and second support surfaces being adapted respectively to one of the two sets of dimensions. These elements are preferably stepped such that the distance between those support surfaces which face each other in one orientation is greater than that in the other orientation.

At least one of the wall elements is provided with bias means on its first and second support surfaces for urging a received object against the opposite support surface.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a known storage rack for cassettes and cassette storage boxes which has been described above; Figure 2 shows a perspective view from above of an embodiment of a storage rack according to the present invention; Figure 2a shows a schematic plan view of one arrangement of removable wall elements of the embodiment of the Figure 2; Figure 3 is a partially cut away perspective view of one wall element of the embodiment of Figure 2 showing a first support surface uppermost; Figure 3a is a schematic plan view of the first support surface shown in Figure 3; Figure 4 shows a partially cut away perspective view of the first support surface of the other wall element to that shown in Figure 3;; Figure 4a shows a plan view of the first support surface shown in Figure 4; Figure 5 is an exploded view of the embodiment shown in Figure 2 with wall elements removed; Figure 5a shows a constructional detail of Figure 5.

Figure 6 illustrates in Figures 6a to 6c the insertion of a wall element in the housing of the embodiment of Figure 2; Figure 7shows a first arrangement of the wall elements with the first support surfaces facing each other as in Figures 3 and 4, and Figure 8 shows a second arrangement in which the second support surfaces of the wall elements face each other.

A preferred embodiment of a storage rack of the present invention is shown in Figure 2. This storage rack comprises a housing 6 having a top wall 7 and a bottom wall 8 which are, in plan, irregular hexagons having three equal long sides and three equal short sides. These walls 7 and 8 are rigidily connected together by a triangular central pillar 9. Both ends of this pillar 9 are provided with projections 10 (Figure 5) which engage a triangular structure formed by the intersection of ribs 11 and 12, respectively provided on the top wall 7 and bottom wall 8. Ribs 11 and 12 and hence the walls of the pillar 9 run parallel to the long sides of the top and bottom walls respectively. Three side walls 13 connect each of the short sides of the top wall 7 with a respective one of the bottom wall 8.

The entire housing 6 is rotatably mounted on a stand 14 by means of steel ball bearings located in a recess between the stand and the base of the bottom wall 8. A sheet of soft rubber is fixed to the bottom of the stand 14 for the purpose of shock absorption and to provide good surface contact.

A handle 15 is provided on the top of the top wall 7 to facilitate lifting and turning of the rack on its stand 14.

The top and bottom walls 7 and 8 are each provided with three removable wall elements 16, 17 each having a first and a second support surface A,B.

These elements are parallelograms in plan and fit into similarly shaped recesses in the top and bottom walls 7 and 8 defined by the mutually intersecting ribs 11 and 12 and a flange 7a, 8a provided along the entire periphery of each wall 7, 8 respectively (Figure 5). The long sides of flanges 7a and 8a carry projections 18 and 19 respectively. These projections 18 and 19 are provided to mate with corresponding slots 26,27,36,37 provided on the wall elements 16, 17.

The pillar 9 is formed from three rectangular plates which are slotted together by means of pegs and receiving holes 9a, 9b as shown in Figure 5a. Each face of the pillar 9 is provided with two clips 20, one at each end. These clips 20 are attached to the pillar wall at one end and have an outwardly extending projection 20a at the other free end for engaging a corresponding slot in a wall element 16, 17. Each clip 20 is provided with a recessed surface 20b for receiving a finger tip to release engagement of its projection with the slot 26, 27, 36, 37 of a wall element 16,17.

Examples of wall elements 16,17 are shown in Figures 3 and 4. The removable wall element 16 of Figure 3 comprises a parallelogram shaped plate 21 having a plurality of projecting ribs 22 and 23, respectively arranged on the opposite side surfaces A, B, of the plate. These ribs 22,23 extend parallel to the short side of the plate and are respectively located at different predetermined intervals along the plate. The interval between the ribs 22 and and ribs 23 are respectively slightly greater than the thickness of a cassette storage box and of a cassette.

The longitudinal sides of the plate 21 are respectively provided with oppositely extending flange members 24 and 25. The flange member 25 extends from the surface A of the plate 21 in the same direction as the ribs 22 and has a greater depth than that of flange member 24. Flange members 24 and 25 are provided with slots 26, 27 respectively, for receiving as required, co-operating projections 18, 19, 20a provided on the top and bottom walls 7,8 and clips 20.

In this embodiment, in addition to supporting a received object, the other wall element 17 shown in Figure 4 also acts to retain the object in the recess of the rack by applying a light pressure to the object to press it against the support surface of the wall element 16 which is opposite. As in the case of wall element 16, wall element 17 comprises a parallelogram shaped plate 31 having a plurality of ribs 32 and 33 respectively arranged on opposite side surfaces A,B of the plate and oppositely extending flange members 34,35 with slots 36,37. However, in this case, resilient members 38 are also provided which act in one or both of the support surfaces A and B of wall element 17. These members 38 comprise a flexible strip 38a provided in and attached at one end to plate 31 in the intervals between the ribs 32 and 33.A projection 38b is provided on one or both sides of each strip 28a.

Since ribs 33 are more closely spaced than ribs 32, where the interval between ribs 33 corresponds to the positioning of a rib 32, the rib 32 is formed in two parts 32a, 32b one part 32a being carried on the opposite side of the strip 28a from that bearing the knob 38b.

The method by which the wail elements 16,17 are inserted in the top and bottom walls 7,8 of the housing will now be described with reference to Figures 6 to 8.

In this embodiment, the wall elements 16,17 are interchangeable and may each be mounted in the top and bottom wall 7, 8 exposing support surfaces A or B. Thus, the mounting method of each is identical.

Figure 6 shows the insertion of a wall element 16 in the bottom wall 8 with support surface A exposed.

As can be seen from Figure 6a, the wall element is first inclined to the bottom wall 8 with its flange member 24 arranged such that the projections 19 of the bottom wall 8 rest at the entrance of slots 26.

Pressure is applied to the respective clip 20 of the pillar 9 to move it in the direction indicated by arrow X (Figure 6b), and the wall element 16 is rotated about the point of contact between the projections 19 and the flange 24 into a horizontal position. The pressure on clip 20 is then released and the clip 20 returns to its original position through its own resiliency as indicated by arrow Y. The projection 20a on the lower edge of the chip thereby engages a corresponding slot 27 in the flange 25 as shown in Figure 6c.

Figures 7 and 8 show two different arrangements for the storage rack in which the wall elements are in different orientations with respect to each other.

Figure 7 shows elements 17 and 16 inserted respectively in walls 7 and 8. The orientation of the elements 16 and 17 is the same as that of Figure 6, namely with support surfaces A opposite one another. Of the two arrangements, this orientation provides the greater distance between the plate members 21 and 31 for the storage of the larger of the two objects i.e. the cassette storage boxes. In this case, the wall elements 17 which acts as a pressure applying member is in the top wall 7.

In Figure 8, the wall elements 17, 16 are inserted in the bottom and topwalls 7 and 8 respectively with support surfaces B exposed. Thus, the pressure applying wall element 17 is now in the bottom wall.

In this arrangement, flanges 24,34 are engaged in projection 20a of the clip 20. Since the slots 27 and 37 are respectively further from the now exposed surfaces B of the plate members 21 and 31 than are the respective slots 26,36 from the other surface A, the distance between the exposed surfaces of the plate members 21 and 31 is less than in the previous case shown in Figure 7. This arrangement provides for the storage of cassettes.

The difference in the height AX of the recesses provided by these two arrangements may be expressed mathematically as follows: AX = (H - R) + (S - G) where H is the distance between the bottom of projections 18 and the support surface B of the element 16 in the top wall 7 in the arrangement shown in Figure 8. R is the distance between the bottom of projections 18 and the support surface A of the element 17 in the top wall 7 in the arrangement shown in Figure 7. S is the distance berween the top of projection 19 and the support surface B of the element 17 in the bottom wall 8 in the arrangement shown in Figure 8, and G is the distance between the top of projection 19 and the support surface A of the element 16 in the bottom wall 8 in the arrangement of Figure 7.

In the present embodiment, since the dimensions of the plates and flange members of wall elements 16 and 17 are identical, (H - R) = (S - G). The difference in height between a cassette-storage box and a cassette is approximately 7 mm therefore for the wall elements 16,17 (H - R) = 3.5 = (S - G). In a preferred embodiment H = 5.5 mm = S and R = 2 mm = G.

A storage rack according to the present invention has a number of applications. Apart from that as a compact cassette rack, it may also be used for such products as video cassettes, film loops, or any other object which has a storage box.

A rack of the present invention may take many forms. For example, it may be rectangular in shape and have one or more housing recesses. Furthermore, the removable wall elements may be arranged vertically so as to provide for horizontal storage of objects.

Embodiments of the present invention have the following advantages: 1. Since the width of the or each recess of a rack is not limited by the dimensions of one of the objects, the racks may be designed to hold any number of objects as required.

2. In the case of cassette and cassette box storage, the cassettes as well as the cassette box may be stored vertically thereby reducing the possibility of the tape becoming damaged through horizontal storage.

3. The present invention permits, as shown in the embodiment of Figure 2, the objects to be supported at an angle with respect to the front of the recess making it easierto grasp and remove an object which is in the recess.

4. No tool or accessory is necessary to interchange/insertthewall elements.

Claims (12)

1. A storage rack for storing objects having one of two sets of dimensions comprising: two wall elements each of which is detachably mounted in one of two orientations to a support member, in each of which orientations, the elements face one another to define a recess therebeteen adapted to receive and support one or more objects of a respective one of the two sets of dimensions, each element having a first and a second support surface, the first support surface of one element facing that of the other in one of said two orientations and the second support surface of one element facing that of the other in the other of said two orientations.

2. A rack according to claim 1 wherein said two wall elements constitute the top and bottom walls of the recess.

3. A rack according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the support surfaces of the wall elements are each provided with a plurality of ribs spaced at intervals from one another along the element, the intervals between the ribs on the first and second support surfaces being adapted respectively to one of the two sets of dimensions.

4. A rack according to claim 3 wherein the ribs on each support surface extend obliquely with respect to that side edge of the wall element which defines the mouth of the recess.

5. A rack according to any preceding claim wherein the elements have a stepped form such that the distance between those support surfaces which face one another in one orientation is greater than that in the other orientation.

6. A rack according to claim 5 wherein each wall element comprises an L-shaped member having mounting means provided at the free ends of the two limbs thereof for mounting said element to the support member.

7. A rack according to any preceding claim wherein bias means are provided on the first and/or second support surfaces of one wall element for urging a received object against the corresponding support surface of the other wall element.

8. A rack according to any preceding claim wherein the wall elements are identical in shape.

9. A rack according to any preceding claim wherein said support member comprises a top and a base member each having a peripheral flange, and a central pillar which extends between said top and base members, each peripheral flange and the pillar co-operating to support a respective one of said two wall elements and having means for releasably engaging said wall elements.

10. A rack according to claim 9 wherein the pillar has depressible clips each of which releasably engage a wall element.

11. A rack according to any preceding claim wherein said support means comprise a central pillar of triangular cross-section, and three recesses are provided each defined by two said wall elements and one face of said pillar.

12. A storage rack for storing objects having one of two sets of dimensions substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 2 to 8 of the accompanying drawings.