GB2198928A

GB2198928A - Adjustable-height floor stand

Info

Publication number: GB2198928A
Application number: GB08719253A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Summers Thompson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1986-08-15
Filing date: 1987-08-14
Publication date: 1988-06-29
Anticipated expiration: 2007-08-14
Also published as: GB2198928B; GB8719253D0; GB8619874D0

Abstract

An adjustable-height floor stand whose raisable and lowerable portion is adapted to receive, in use, an animal feeding bowl (16); to hold the bowl steady whilst the animal feeds; and to hold the bowl in - as well as other selected positions - a position in which the bowl rests on or adjacent the floor. In an alternative embodiment the stand may support twin feeding bowls on a raisable and lowerable cross-piece which fits releasably via a boss-and-slot arrangement into the stand. <IMAGE>

Description

ADJUSTABLE-HEIGHT FLOOR STAND The invention relates to adjustable-height floor stands.

An adj-ustable-height floor stand is a stand incorporating a ralsable and lowerable portion and also incorporating means to hold the said portion, in use, at selected heights above the floor; with means to support the stand adjacent, but not necessarily on, the floor.

In its broadest aspect, the invention provides an adjustableheight floor stand whose raisable and lowerable portion is adapted to receive, in use, an animal feeding bowl; to hold the bowl steady whilst the animal feeds; and to hold the bowl in - as well as other selected positions - a position in which the bowl rests on or adjacent the floor.

Such a stand, in use, can enable (for example) domestic dogs of widely differing breed and size to feed comfortably. Alternatively or additionally, the same dog as it grows from puppy to maturity can feed at an appropriately comfortable height from the ground.

The stand may with advantage be specifically adapted to be secured to a wall rising from the floor. Dog bowls (for example) are usually placed adjacent a wall, in order to minimise the risk of their being kicked inadvertently by the dog owner.

Walls form convenient points of securement for stands generally, and this subsidiary aspect of the invention proceeds from the inventive step of connecting these two facts.

Where the stand is adapted to be secured to a wall, as just outlined, it is preferably adapted to be secured to the skirt ing board of the wall. Skirting boards are overwhelmingly made of wood, or occasionally plastics materials, either of which is altogether easier to fix into than the brick and/or plaster facing of the rest of the wall which requires masonry fixings and plugs.

Where the stand is adapted to be secured to a wall, whether or not it is adapted to be secured to the skirting board, it may with advantage be adapted to be pinned by screws, nails, bolts all of which are well-known fixings and are reliable and readily handled by the average domestic householder.

Where the stand is adapted to be secured to a skirting board, preferably the stand extends above the skirting board whilst remaining adjacent the wall when so secured, for an apprec iable distance; and the top region of the stand (i.e. the region remote from the skirting board) incorporates a screw drlven or spring-driven pad which projects from the top region of the stand to engage the wall. Such a pad, driven hard against the wall, will force the bottom region of the stand (the region secured to the skirting board) out against its securing means, thus effectively "springing" the stand firmly against the wall.

Where the stand is adapted to be secured to a wall, it may with advantage incorporate one or more ground-engaging feet.

It was made clear when defining the term "adjustable-height floor stand" above that the stand need not necessarily engage the floor In use. But if the stand does engage the floor, as well as being adapted to be secured to a wall, its stability ts maximised.

Where there are one or more ground-engaging feet as just envisaged, preferably these feet extend from the base of the stand. In use, when so extended, they run along or adjacent the floor and present the minimum of obstacle to the feeding animal and to the householder.

In any stand embodying the invention, the raisable and lowerable portion is held at selected heights in use preferably by a pin-and-hole mechanism. Such mechanisms are of proven reliability, simple to manufacture and to use, and are unlikely to endanger the feeding animal.

In any stand embodying the invention, preferably the raisable and lowerable portion, in use, embraces the rim of the bowl around at least a major portion of the bowl rim. The said portion could hold the bowl at circumferentially spaced points, but it will hold the bowl more steadily if it embraces the bowl rim. And it need not necessarily embrace the whole of the rlm.

As well as embracing the bowl rim, preferably the raisable and lowerable portion, in use, supports the underside of the bowl. With big animals, when feeding, it is more important than ever that the stand should hold the bowl steady.

In any embodiment of the invention, the stand may exhibit ground-engaging rolling or sliding surfaces. These will be advantageous in allowing it to be moved from one part of the floor to another, for example when the animal is not feeding and the householder wants the bowl moved into some out-of-the-way corner.

Alternatively the - if any - ground-engaging surface or surfaces of the stand may be faced with slip-resistant material (for example, ribbed rubber). It is clearly important for the bowl not to move unduly whilst the animal is feeding from It. One way of doing this Is to make the stand and/or the bowl as heavy as possible. A better way would be to make the stand slip-resistant but not unduly heavy, so that it can easily be lifted and moved out of the way when no longer required for feeding.

Stands embodying the invention are shown, in use, in the accompanying drawings as examples of forms which the invention might take wlthin Its broadest aspect.

In these drawings: Figure 1 shows one stand in side elevation, and Figure 2 shows the stand viewed from above; whilst Figures 3 and 4 show another stand's features.

In Figure 1, the bowl which the stand is adapted to receive is shown in broken line. In Figure 2, the bowl is not shown, and parts of the raisable and lowerable bowl-holding portion are broken away for clarity.

The stand illustrated comprises an elongate hollow square section steel bar 11 rising at right angles from the foot of a T-piece hollow square section steel bar 12. The two bars are welded to one another so that, with the T-piece 12 placed flat on a horizontal floor, the upright 11 rises vertically from the floor.

A ralsable and lowerable portion of the stand comprises a straight steel box-beam 13 which is open at each of its oppos ite ends and is a sliding fit over the upright 11. A circular steel band 14, and a straight steel strip 15, project from opposite-end regions of the same face of the box beam 13 in the same direction as the T-piece 12 extends.

The band 14 embraces the circumferential rim of a bowl 16 with which the stand is adapted to be used. The bowl is part-spherical, as shown in broken line in Figure 1, and flat-bottomed. Its bottom portion rests, in use, on the steel strip 15 as Figure 1 shows.

The band 14 and strip 15 receive the bowl 16, and hold it steady. They also enable it to be raised and lowered with the box-beam 13 along the length of the upright 11.

A succession of holes 17 extends along substantially the whole of the length of the upright 11. Each hole is drilled through a side face of the upright and through the opposite side face, so that a pin 18 can pass through any pair of opposite aligned holes as shown in Figure 2.

A slngle hole 19 is similarly drilled through from one side face to the opposite face of the box-beam 13. The hole 19 is the same size as each of the holes 17. When the hole 19 Is aligned with any of the holes 17, the pin 18 can pass through the resulting row of aligned holes and will hold the box-beam 13 - and hence the bowl 16 in use - at any selected height above the T-piece 12.

When the hole 19 is aligned with the lowest of the succession of holes 17 (i.e. the hole 17 nearest the T-piece 12) then the bowl-suppporting strip 15 is held adjacent the T-piece 12. If the T-piece 12 stands on a floor, the bowl 16 will In that position rest on the strip 15 adjacent the floor.

The stand is adapted to be screwed to the skirting board of a wall rising from the floor on which the T-piece 12, in use, rests. A hole 21 (Figure 1) is drilled from the front face of the upright 11 through the rear face of the upright, so that a screw 22 passing through these holes 21 pins the upright 11 to the skirting board 23 with the T-piece 12 resting on the floor adjacent the base of the skirting board.

The top region of the upright 11 will, of course, then be spaced from the wall. A screw-threaded shaft 24 projects from the back face of he upright 11 (i.e. towards the wall) In the top region of the upright. A cylindrical rubber pad 25 is screw-threaded to mate with the screwed shaft 24 and, when rotated, advances along the shaft. In use, with the upright 11 pinned to the skirting board 23 by the screw 22, the pad 25 is screwed against the wall to "sprIng" the upright 11 in place.

The crossbar 26 of the T-piece 12 constitutes a ground-engaging foot (or two ground-engaging feet) of the stand, extending from the base of the stand, in use. The underside (i.e. the ground-engaging surface ) of the T-piece 12 could be faced with ribbed rubber to resist slipping. Alternatively it could support rolling surfaces (wheels) or sliding surfaces (skids) to enable the stand to be easily moved on the floor when the screw 22 and pad 25 had been slackened off to release the stand from the skirting board.

Although the embodiment illustrated and described is made of steel components, other materials are suitable and will be selected as appropriate by the intended addressee of this spedification.

In Figures 3 and 4 there are shown the distinguishing features of an embodiment moulded from plastics material. The upright 11 Is formed as a rectangular shell. A line of slots identical to (and including) slot 27 runs along the front face of the upright. Each slot Is so shaped and sized that the lower part of the slot can firmly hold the boss 28, In the way shown in Figure 4, whilst the upper part of each slot allows the boss to be withdrawn from the slot; all in known manner.

The bosses 28 project from the rear surface of a beam, or cross-piece 13, correspondlng to the box-beam 13 of Figures 1 and 2 in that it carries (ln this embodiment) twin bowls 29.

With the cross-piece 13 held in position on the upright, extra rigldity In the join is provided by the ridge 31 running down and projecting from the rear surface of the cross-piece 13, and by the recesses 32 in the upper and lower surfaces of the cross-piece, all of which interlock when the cross-piece 13 engages the upright in the way shown in Figure 4.

A similar arrangement is used to secure each bowl 29 to the cross-piece 13 via bosses 33 and slots 34, the bosses 33 being formed integrally with each bowl 29.

Although this is not shown in any of the drawings, the foot 12 of either embodiment could extend beyond the plane of the upright 11 to wedge in any gap existing between the base of the skirting board and the floor.

Claims

1. An adjustable-height floor stand whose ralsable and lowerable portion is adapted to receive, in use, an animal feeding bowl; to hold the bowl steady whilst the animal feeds; and to hold the bowl in - as well as other selected positions - a position in which the bowl rests on or adjacent the floor.

2. A stand according to Claim 1, in which the stand is secured to a wall rising from the floor.

3, A stand according to Claim 2 which stand is adapted to be secured to the skirting board of the wall.

4. A stand according to Claim 2 or Claim 3, adapted to be pinned by screws and/or nails and/or bolts to the wall or skirting board.

5. A stand according to Claim 3, or to Claim 4 when appended to Claim 3, in which the stand extends above the skirting board whilst remaining adjacent the wall when so secured, for an appreciable distance; and the top region of the stand incorporates a screw-driven or spring-driven pad which projects from the top region of the stand to engage the wall.

6. A stand according to any of Claims 2 to 5 in which the stand incorporates one or more ground-engaging feet.

7. A stand according to Claim 6 in which the - or at least one of the - feet extend from the base of the stand so that, in use, they run along or adjacent the floor.

8. A stand according to Claim 7 in which one of the ground-engaging feet is adapted to be wedged into any gap existing between the floor and the base of the skirting board.

9. A stand according to any of the preceding claims in which the raisable and lowerable portion is held at selected heights in use by a pin-and-hole mechanism.

10. A stand according to Claim 9 in which the pin-and-hole mechanism is embodied In a co-operating boss-and-slot arrangement.

11. A stand according to Claim 10 in which the co-operating boss-and-slot arrangement comprises spacedapart bosses engaging correspondingly spaced-apart slots, and in which the raisable and lowerable portion embraces the upright portion of the stand when the bosses engage the slots.

12. A stand according to any of the preceding claims in which the raisable and lowerable portion is adapted to receive, in use, two animal feeding bowls.

13. A stand according to any of the preceding claims in which the or a bowl is secured to the raisable and lowerable portion by a co-operating boss-and-slot arrangement.

14. A stand substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

15. A stand according to Claim 14 when modified substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated In Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.