IL49433A - Drying rack for crockery and the like - Google Patents

Description

nanai » 3 via"* TJia Drying rack for crockery and the like Plastic and Metal Products L. M. Lipsky Ltd.

C: 47626 The present invention relates to a rack assembly for storing and drying dishes and kitchen utensils and particularly to an assembly which may be installed - as is known - above a kitchen sink and which when not in use may be raised into a cup-board like enclosure. Such an assembly comprises a number of grid-shaped trays which are intended to carry the crockery to v,he dried and which in their fixed position relative to one another can be moved from a lowermost to an uppermost position, and vice versa. More particularly the invention relates to a pair of rail members on which the said grid-shaped trays are held and by which they are guided during their up and down movement.

There are already known arrangements for placing thereon crockery and cutlery for drying, but the lowering and raising of the known assemblies has not been found fully satisfactory, because the housewife (or another person using the device) had to lift the heavy loaded rack assembly into the encasement and it frequently happened that the loaded grids carrying the drying crockery and other articles, being heavier on one side than on its other, did not travel upwardly along a straight line and jamming had been experienced. It is the object of the present invention to overcome the above disadvantage.

The disadvantages of the kind referred to above can be eliminated by employing suspension - and guide means for the trays on which the articles to be dried are placed. The trays may be of any known kind and construction, they may be grid-like or perforated plates. According to the invention there is provided a rail assembly or composite rail on which the drying trays are carried and with the aid of which the trays are moved up and down, the said assembly comprising two interengaging rails - which will be referred to as the female and the male rails - the said female rail being of H-profile and receiving within it a T-profiled male rail, the latter filling with its leg portion a concavity of the female rail, the said leg portion being provided with a lengthwise extending slot open at one end, the web of the H-profiled female rail passing through the said slot, outwardly extending abutments, operative towards one direction only being provided on the female rail and cooperating stops on the male rail and means for affixing thereto the drying trays being provided on the female rail. These and further features will become clear from the following description.

The invention will now be described with reference to the annexed drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a frontal elevational view of a drying rack assembly while, using the new rails Fig. 2 is an elevational lateral view thereof. Fig. 3 is the upper part of the new composite tail while Figi 4 is the lower part of the said rail. Fig. 5 is a cross section of the new rail.

Turning first to Figs. 1 and 2 the drying rack is positioned in the cupboard C when in its uppermost position. Two composite rails 1, 2 which will later be described in detail are affixed to the side walls Cj and C2 of the cupboard C by means of brackets 3, 4 and 3^, 4^ respectively. To said rails are connected drying trays T^ and T2. To a member of each of the composite rails 1 and 2 is connected a spiral spring and with one of its ends and to the top wall C with its other cud. The composite rail is shown in detail in Figs. 3 to 5. It comprises two main parts: A male part x and a female part y.

Part x is T profiled ( see Fig. 5). Said part x has a lengthwise extending slot 6 which is closed at its upper end 7 while it is closed at its upper end 7 while it is open at its lower end 7. The second part y of the rail has H profile. The two legs 9 and 9.j of the H are connected by a web 101 said web 10 is inserted into slot 6 of part x, thus forming a guide for the movement of part y on and along part x. To the lowermost portion of y is connected a grip 8. In the lower brackets 4 and 4^ is accommodated a spring 14 which will be described hereinafter. At its opposite side walls are positioned - opposite one another and in full register with one another, the composite rails 1 and 2. Between the two rails 1, 2 extend the trays T.j and T2 which rest on supports 15 extending laterally from parts y.

From the edge of the female rail y and being directed towards the web of the male T-rail extend abutments in the shape of noses 16 and 17. The ^opposite horizontal edge of nose 16 is directed downwardly , while the operative horizontal edge of nose 17 is directed upwardly. From these horizontal faces extend obliquely directed faces. A stop 12 designed to cooperate with the said abutments, is provided on the male rail x.

A like nose 11 is provided at the upper part of rail y.

The new device functions and is operated as follows: when the empty rack is in the uppermost position as shown in Fig. 1, it is held in that uppermost position by a nose 11 which extends from the edge of part y.

The said nose rests on the abutment 12 which is provided on part x at the angle formed between the leg and the web of the T thus preventing part y from moving downwardly. A weak spring 14 is provided within the brackets 3^, to urge the male part x into the female part y, thus ensuring engagement between nose 11 and abutment 12 and preventing unintentional sliding down of the assembly from the uppermost position. Now if the two grips 8 are grasped with both hands of a person and pulled outwardly in the direction towards that person against the urge of spring 14, the nose 11 is brought out of engagement with stop 12, thus allowing part y to slide down along part ϊχ. The assembly can be pulled down, thereby expanding the springs s^ and S2» In the lower position the stop 12 enters in a gap between teeth 16 and 17 thereby supporting the whole rack on stop 12 on which nose 16 rests and preventing the empty and thus unweighted rack to be pulled up by the springs and S2 since nose 17 engages the stop from below.

On the other hand the possibly loaded and thus heavy rack cannot slide further down. After the trays being loaded the grips 8 being pulled outwardly again thereby bringing about the disengagement of the abutment from stop 12, the whole drying rack can be lifted upwards which will be facilitated by the contraction of springs S* and S- ·

Claims (3)

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A drying rack for crockery and the like comprising a number of superposed trays on which the articles to be dried are placed, such trays being carried on and being _ movable with composite rail members provided within an encasement open at bottom, such composite rails being affixed to opposite inner walls o such encasement characterised thereby that each composite rail comprises two interengaging rails - which will be referred to as the female and the male rails - the said female rail being H-profile and receiving within it a T-profiled male rail, the latter filling with its leg portion a concavity of the female rail, the said leg portion being provided with a lengthwise extending slot open at one end, the web of the H-profiled female rail passing through the said slot, outwardly extending abutments, operative towards one direction only being provided on the female rail and cooperating stops on the male rail and means for affixing thereto the drying trays being provided in the female rail.

2. The composite rail according to claim 1, characterised thereby that the said abutments are noses extending from the edge of the female rail towards the web of the male rail, such noses having operative, horizontal edge faces.

3. Composite rails for the purpose of carrying drying racks. Substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. For fhe A plicant DR. REINjfQLD COHN AMD PARTNERS