GB2488801A

GB2488801A - Utility tray for use with motor vehicle

Info

Publication number: GB2488801A
Application number: GB201103965A
Authority: GB
Inventors: William Gniadek
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-03-09
Filing date: 2011-03-09
Publication date: 2012-09-12
Also published as: GB201103965D0

Abstract

A multifunctional utility tray assembly is provided for use inside and outside a motor vehicle. The tray assembly includes a carrier 14 for engaging on the vehicle part to extend in a generally vertical orientation. The tray 13 is mountable in a relative position on the carrier 14 for extending in a horizontal orientation. The assembly further includes a ratchet formation (50 see fig 3) for providing a range of relative positions for the tray 13 and carrier 14. The tray position is adjustable to maintain the horizontal orientation for different orientations of the carrier 14. The assembly can be mounted on a steering wheel and may also stand freely as a table.

Description

Tray Assembly This invention relates to tray assemblies for location on a part of a vehicle.

For many reasons, such as picnicking or using the car as a temporary office, drivers often find it convenient to have a table assembly which can be hung from the steering wheel and rear seat passengers may want to have a similar tray suspended from the back seat of one of the vehicle's front seats.

There are many designs of such trays on the market but they have a number of issues in relation to the complexity and robustness ensuring that the tray can extend horizontally and in many cases they lack flexibility.

The present invention consists of a tray assembly for location on part of a vehicle including a carrier for engaging on a vehicle part to extend in a generally vertical orientation; and a tray mountable in a relative position on a carrier for extending in a generally horizontal orientation characterised in the assembly further includes a ratchet formation for providing a range of relative position for the tray on the carrier whereby the tray position is adjustable to maintain a horizontal orientation for different orientations of the carrier.

Preferably there are a plurality of spaced ratchet formations, most conveniently two, one on either side of the carrier. The tray may be formed with an edge for engaging the ratchet formation and particularly that edge may be grooved to provide at least one ratchet engaging lip.

The tray may have a pair of projections extending beyond the edge for engaging on the opposite side of the carrier to the ratchet formations to mount the tray as a cantilever on the carrier. In this case the opposite side of the carrier may be profiled for enabling the tray to take up a variety of positions relative to the carrier. Particularly conveniently the projections may include a cylindrical surface, which acts on a cam profile.

The carrier may include a shaped portion for allowing the projections to pass generally horizontally whereby the tray can be mounted and de-mounted on the carrier. This not only allows the tray to be used independently, for example for carrying rubbish to a litter bin, but it also enables the tray to be inverted. One advantage of this is that the tray can have one flat surface, for example for receiving a laptop, and a lipped surface which is particularly convenient for eating off as it prevents crumbs falling into the vehicle. It also is useful in a particular embodiment where the assembly can be configured as a

free standing table.

Thus the carrier may include a foldable leg, which can be used to stand the carrier off the vehicle part to which it is attached in order to achieve a generally vertical orientation or it may act as a leg when the assembly is forming a free standing table. In the first case, the leg is particularly useful when the carrier is being hung on a passenger seat, which is inclined away from the user.

The carrier may include at least one hook for mounting the carrier on a vertical part. The hook or hooks can be folded to lie parallel with the carrier which may be provided with a suitable recess for receiving the respective hook.

The hooks may be laterally adjustable.

The tray may be foldable relative to the carrier to lie generally parallel to it in a storage condition.

Although the invention has been defined above it is to be understood that it includes any inventive combination of the features set out above or in the

following description.

The invention may be performed in various ways and specific embodiments will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a front perspective view of an assembly installed on a steering wheel of a motor vehicle; Figure 2 shows a front perspective view of the assembly installed on a head rest so that it is attached to the rear of a seat; Figure 3 shows a perspective view of the assembly in a stand alone table mode; Figure 4 is a section through the assembly in a folded condition along the line 8..8; Figure 5 shows an equivalent section from the opposite side indicating the variable positions that the tray may take relative to the carrier; Figure 6 is a scrap view corresponding to Figure 5 illustrating the release of the tray; Figure 7 is a side view of the assembly in its storage mode; Figure 8 is a rear view of the assembly of Figure 7; Figure 9 is a scrap view illustrating the lateral adjustability of the hooks; and Figure 10 illustrates the degrees of linear and rotational freedom of the hooks.

Figure 1 illustrates an assembly generally comprising a tray 13 and a carrier 14. As can be seen the carrier 14 is mountable on a steering wheel 30 by means of hooks 15 at a generally vertically orientation, the rake of which is determined by the rake of the steering wheel. The tray 13 is carried on the carrier to extend generally horizontally from there. The carrier includes a foldable cup holder 16.

Figure 2 illustrates the same assembly mounted on the rear of a vehicle's seat. It will be noted that the carrier 14 has a foldable leg 21, which can be folded outwardly from the plane of the carrier to engage the rear of the seat 20 to position the carrier 14 in a generally vertical orientation.

Figure 3 illustrates another use of the leg 21 whereby the hooks 15 are folded away, as described in more detail later, as is the cup holder 16. The leg 21 may form a second leg with the carrier 14 to provide a free standing table. In this arrangement the tray 13 has been inverted in order to provide a lipped upper surface.

The constructional features that enable this highly flexible performance of the assembly will be described in more detail with reference to the succeeding figures.

As has been mentioned above and as can be seen clearly in Figures 4 and 5 the leg 21 and cup holder 16 can be folded generally into the plane of the carrier. The tray 13 can also be folded to lie parallel with the carrier 14 and the hooks 15 can be folded into rearwardly facing recesses 22 on the carrier. This provides the folded condition illustrated in Figure 4. F 5

As can be seen in Figures 4 to 6 the carrier has at its lower end (in use) two inclined portions 50 which have ratchet toothed outer surfaces 51.

The tray is provided with a pair of hook like projections 52, each of which has a laterally inwardly projection 27, so that the tray can hook around the carrier 14 such as to hold a grooved edge 53 of the tray against the ratchet surface 51. This enables the tray 13 to be cantilevered in a position which is determined by the point on the toothed surface 51 which the edge 25 engages.

In this connection it can be seen in Figure 5 that the rear face of the carrier 14 is profiled at 53 to enable these different orientations to be taken up as the locations of the portions 26 need to move towards the front of the carrier 14, because the gap between the portions 26 and the edge 53, does not, of course, vary. It will be noted that by having the groove in the edge 53, a relatively narrow edge portion 54 is provided for engaging in the toothed surface 50. lt also forms an enlarged lip 25, which can be used on closing as described below.

This arrangement allows for ready adjustability of the tray relative to the carrier without involving any complex mechanism, which can become jammed, broken or otherwise go wrong.

As has been already indicated the tray 13 can be de-mounted from the carrier 14, because it is waisted at 23. This is indicated in Figure 6 if the tray is lifted in the direction of the arrows A to the level of 23, it can then be withdrawn horizontally along the arrow B. For simplicity the profiling of the rear surface of the carrier 14 has been omitted from this drawing.

Once de-mounted the tray 13 can be inverted and then re-engaged by reversing the process to form the Figure 3 mode of operation.

Figures 7 and 8 illustrate the assembly in its folded condition. ln Figure 7 it can be seen that there is a clip 32 for retaining the assembly in the folded condition.

This would normally simply be a press fit clip. Further a groove 24 is provided to receive the lip 25 of the tray 13 to enhance pivoting as the tray 13 folds down on to the carrier 14. Figure 8 illustrates the storage position of the hooks 15 and of the cup holder 16. It will be seen that the hooks 15 sit in respective recesses 22.

It will also be seen that the carrier 14 has cut away portions 27 to receive the portions 26 in the folded condition.

Figures 9 and 10 illustrate the flexibility of the hooks 15. It will be seen that these are mounted on L-shaped rod members 28 which can be moved laterally as shown by arrows 34 and rotated about the axes of both elements of the L-shaped rod members 28 so as to provide for a range of locations. As in Figure 9 it can be seen that the hooks 15 can either hook over from the front or back of the steering wheel 30 and they can be adjusted laterally to take up different positions on the steering wheel as is appropriate for the particular vehicle. Further they can rotated into the position shown in Figure 10, which is particularly convenient for location on the head rest supports 18 of a head rest 17 of a car seat 20 as illustrated in Figure 2.

The assembly is thus mechanically very simple but extremely flexible in terms of use. Preferably the carrier tray and other components are made of plastics, but any other suitable material may be used. Qlath

Claims

1. A tray assembly for location on a part of a vehicle including: a darner for engaging on the vehicle part to extend in an generally vertical orientation; and a tray mountable in a relative position on the carrier for extending in a generally horizontally orientation characterised in that the assembly further includes a ratchet formation for providing a range of relative positions for the tray on the carrier whereby the tray position is adjustable to maintain a horizontal orientation for different orientations of the carrier.

2. A tray assembly as claimed in claim 1 including a plurality of spaced ratchet formations.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim I or claim 2 wherein an edge of the tray engages with the ratchet formations or formations.

4. An assembly as claimed in any one of claims I to 3 wherein the or each ratchet formation is in the form pf an inclined toothed formation located on a face of the carrier.

5. An assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the tray has a pair of projections extending beyond the edge for engaging on an opposite side of the carrier to the formations to mount the tray as a cantilever on the carrier.

6. An assembly as claimed in claim 5 wherein the opposite side of the carrier is profiled for enabling the tray to take up a variety of positions relative to the carrier.

7. An assembly as claimed in claim 5 or 6 wherein the carrier includes a shaped portion for allowing the projections to pass generally horizontally whereby the tray can be mounted and demounted on the carrier.

8. An assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the carrier includes a foldable leg.

9. An assembly as claimed in claim 8 wherein the leg can be positioned to enable the carrier to be free standing to form a portabletable.

10. An assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein one surface of the tray is lipped.

11. An assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims as dependent on claim 8 wherein the tray can be inverted.

12. An assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the carrier includes at least one hook for mounting the carrier on a vehicle part.

13. An assembly as claimed in claim 12 wherein the hook or hooks can be folded to lie parallel with the carrier.

14. An assembly as claimed in claim 12 or 13 wherein the hooks are laterally adjustable relative to the vertical orientation of the carrier.

15. An assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the tray is foldable relative to the carrier to lie generally parallel to it in a storage condition.

16. A tray assembly for location on a part of a vehicle including: a carrier for engaging on the vehicle part to extend in a generally vertical orientation; and a tray mountable in and demountable from a relative position on the carrier for extending in a generally horizontally orientation characterised in that the assembly further includes a formation for providing a range of relative positions for the tray on the carrier whereby the tray position is adjustable to maintain a horizontal orientation for different orientations of the carrier.