US1267388A - Shelving arrangement and container therefor. - Google Patents

Description

M. B. DODSON.

SHELVING ARRANGEMENT AND CONTAINER THEREFOR. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 19. 1915.

Patented May 28,1918.

. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Miss MARY B. DonsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Geneva, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shelving Arrange ments and Container Therefor, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to shelving arrangements and container therefor, and'has for its principal objects, to provide an arrangement wherein each shelf has individual supporting means; to provide a construction that permits the removal of one or. more shelves without displacing the remaining ones; to provide a construction in which any number of shelves or trays may be partly or completely removed without changing the level of the shelves sufficiently to disturb articles placed thereon; to provide an arrangement whereby the supporting legs of the various trays occupy a minimum of space; to provide a construction whereby the shelves are completely housed in a small spa'ce; to provide an arrangement whereby the house or container can e opened completely at one side; to provide a container that has its interior surfaces entirely free from any projecting or protruding elements whereby the inside thereof may be perfectly, easily and quickly cleaned; to provide a container having a vertically sliding opening whereby the lower tray may be removed without exposing the remaining ones; to provide means associated with the trays for supporting objects that are liable to be displaced; to provide an arrangement .and a construction that is extremely simple, one that can be manufactured very cheaply, one that is exceptionally durable and strong, one that can be kept clean; and, in general, to provide a construction and arrangement of the class described.

The particular form of the invention illustrated is a butter ball container, but it is apparent that an extremely wide range of things can be accomplished by the arrangement and construction shown,for instance, the arrangement might be used as a wardrobe container, such as a trunk or suit case. It might be used as a display case for various articles, such'as fruit, jewelry, etc., or as a kitchen table with. a plurality of smaller tables underneath. It could be used as a book case, andin this connection it will be apparent that'one shelf or tray can he slid CONTAINER THEREFOR.

Specification o f Lettex-s Patent.

Patented May 28, 1218.

Application filed August 19, 1916. Serial Want/783.

tents of the next lower shelf. It can be.

used as an egg container for shi ping eggs by mail or express. The wide y varying uses possible need not be individually set out but enough has been specified that it is'apparent that the invention is not to be limited to a butter ball container.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly in section;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 1.

In the form illustrated in the drawings, 11 designates the container or boxas a whole, which is gage metal and having a coating of enamel or some similar substance that can be easily cleaned. it mightbe in the form of a frame having open sides and back. The box 11 has side members 12 and rear portion 13 and bottom and top parts 14 and 15 respectively. Secured to the top 15 is a handle 16 for moving the container from'place to place. The bottom 14 has an up-turned portion 17 at the forward end thereof and the'side members 12 each have their extreme forward ends bent outwardly and then back on themselves, as shown at 18. By this arrangement a vertically sliding door 19 is furnished with guide slots in which it may be raised or lowered. The up-turned portion of the bottom art permits the container to be closed wlthout having the door or cover 19 extend below the floor 14. This door 19 is provided with a handle 20 for raising and lowering it. The top 15 has its forward edge 21 bent downwardly, and the door 19 has its upper edge 22 bent rearwardly. This makes a comparatively tight preferably made of light must necessarily be as they all rest on a common foundation. These shelves are made of some comparatively thin but strong material, and like the container are preferably coated with enamel or some other 11ke substance. The legs of the various shelves when they are all in place lie very close to each other, in fact, they are in slight contact. The shelves are provided with openings 27, in this instance, shown as circular, but it should be understood that the shelves may be plain or have other openings or ledges of any shape or character that w1ll furnish holding means for particular ob] ects that it is desired to place thereon. Because of the legs, which can be integral, the ob]ects laced in the openings are prevented from being displaced when the shelf is removed.

From the foregoing description it will be evident that any one of the shelves can be partly or completely slid outwardly. In either case the forward leg of the shelf rests on the same plane that the container rests on. This permits the shelves to remain substantially level when they are all but completely removed from the container. The trays or shelves can be each pulled out a greater distance than the one above thereby forming a ste illadder arrangement whereby goods on eac shelf may be exposed to view. When the device is to be used as a food container and kept in a cool place, such as an ice chest, it will sometimes be desirable to place ice in the container itself, especially so, when it is to be removed from the ice chest for any length of time. To this end the space below the lowermost shelf can be filled with cracked ice.

It will be obvious that the details of construction may be varied more or less without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the broader of the claims, and I do not wish to be limited to the details of construction.

Iclaimzj 1. In a container and shelving arrangement therefor, a frame, and a plurality of shelves, said shelves adapted to have separate legs resting on a common foundatlon and arranged to be placed in said'frame in nested relation whereby they stand one above the other and capable of being individually and bodily removed. 2. In a device of the class described, a container having a smooth interior, a vertically sliding door, and a plurality of shelves 3. In a device of the class described, a'

plurality of shelves, legs for said shelves said shelves adapted to stand in spaced apart relation, the legs of the different shelves being of different lengths so that when said legs rest on a common base the shelves are held in their spaced apart relation, and a container for said shelves, said container having a vertically sliding door whereby the lower of said trays may be removed without exposing the remaining shelves.

4. In a device of the class described, a box-like structure having a front adapted to be opened, a vertically slidin 'door for said open front, a plurality of s elves having openings in the tops thereof, said shelves adapted to enter said container in nested relation, and legs for said shelves, said legs being of varying length whereby they rest on a common foundation.

MARY B. DODSON.

Witnesses:

WALTER H. REDFmw, GLADYs G. PERIN.

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