US1982972A - Folding rack - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 4, 1934. A. VAN ROOSENDAEL 1,982,972

FOLDING RACK Filed June 27, 1932 INVENTOR. fluausr lh/v Koosavma MVG ATTORNEYS.

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Patented Dec. 4, 1 934 FOIlDING RACK uru-st tail, titties s'ig ff 'jHo'ine Faciliti California Lbs, n'ligis C n't, es Ina, ac'oipora'tion of Application june 27, 1932, Serial no. 619,566

1 Claim; (01. 211L219 "Thi'sinverition relates to and has for a purpose the provision "of {a rack adapted to support various articles, such as nckties, towels, etc., the rack being structurally characterized in a manner to enable articles to be readily applied thereto removed therefrom, as well as stored on the rack in 'a restricted space by virtue of the adjustab'ility bf the rack to either project from a war-'1 or other support in a substantially horizontal position for the apsncauon and removal or articles, orto "be "disposed vertically against the wall for the storage of articles neatly and compactly.

It is a further purpose of this invention to provide a folding rack of the above described character which is extremely simple in construction; is inexpensive to manufacture; and is composed of but a few parts capable of being assembled 20 and installed with the utmost ease and dispatch to form a substantial structure of neat appearance.

Only one form of this invention will be described, following which its novel features will be pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure l is a view showing in perspective the folding rack embodying this invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the manner in which article holding bars or rods can be removably associated with the rack.

Figure 4 is a schematic view illustrating in dot and dash lines the relative positions of the bracket and the coacting frame of the device when adjusting the frame to a vertical posi- Referring specifically to the drawing, wherein similar reference characters designate similar parts in each of the several views, this invention in its present embodiment comprises an article supporting unit in the form of a rectangular frame F constructed of wood or other suitable material. The frame F is composed of side members 10-10 and end members 11-11a. spanning and rigidly connecting the side members.

M Bars or rods 12, from which articles such as tow- 'els, neckties, etc., can be suspended, span and are either permanently secured to the side members in parallelism at intervals along the lengths of the side members, as shown in Figures 1 and *2, or can be removably associated with the side master the provision of inclined slots in the latter which are adapted to freely receive the ends of the rs,1as shown in Figure 3. M

Afbrace "rfierr'iber M is preferably constructed froma length of lieavy wii e stock: bent i' ('1 U shape to provide parallel arms 16- -16 nd a rectilinear portion 17. The free ends fof tlie m 1 re temt m re re t imn pn' aiwm h a'r i id fnei briefings e endi'ng through the side embers 10 of the frame F adj v nt "ijee'nd thereof, theftrunnio'n's being associated with me Sid embers by springing the arms outwardlyis ently to resave the were, arid then releasing the arms 'so that upon registering the trunnions will snap into the openings so as to hingedly connect the brace to the frame.

A bracket B of wood or other suitable material is preferably in the form of a rectangular and flat bar adapted to be secured in a horizontal position by screws or other fastening means to a vertical support such as a wall W. The bracket is co-extensive in length with that of the end member 11 of the frame F, and is provided in that vertical side face 19 intended to confront the wall, with a groove 20 extending lengthwise of the bracket and co-extensiv'e in length therewith.

The groove 20 is of sufficient cross sectional area to freely receive the connecting portion 17 of the brace M, it being understood that the connecting portion is co-extensive in length with the bracket B. When the bracket is secured to the wall, as shown in Figure 2, the connecting portion 17 will be confined in the groove 20 against lateral and axial displacement so as to provide a hinged connection between the bracket and brace, which, with the hinged connection provided by the trunnions 18 between the brace and the frame F, enables the frame to be adjusted to occupy the horizontal and vertical positions shown, respectively, in full and broken lines in Figure 2.

In the horizontal position of the frame, wherein articles can be readily applied to and removed from the bars 12, the upper surface 21 of the end member 11 abuts the parallel under surface 22 of the bracket B throughout the length of the latter, whereas the outer surface 23 of this end member abuts the wall W, for co-action with the brace in rigidly supporting the frame against tilting.

The frame is moved to its vertical position by being first swung upwardly about the hinged connection provided by the connecting portion of the brace, following which the frame is swung downwardly about the axes of the trunnions 18 and allowed to rest against the wall, thus storing the suspended articles neatly and compactly in a minimum amount of space. The rack is particularly advantageous at locations where space must be economized, or where the frame would present an obstruction in its horizontal position. Due to the manner in which the frame is associated with the bracket and brace, there is no sacrifice of the rigidity afforded by a non-adjustable rack, all while enabling the rack to be constructed at a minimum cost. The end member 11 is rounded at one of its longitudinal cor-- ners to provide a transversely curved surface 11b; and the adjacent ends of the members 10 are likewise rounded to provide similar. curved surfaces 10b, the latter surfaces being associated with the surface llb so that the whole thereof constitute a rocker-like portion which directly coacts with the front face of the bracket B to permit the frame F to be quickly turned to occupy the substantially vertical position shown in Figure 2. In Figure 4, I have schematically illustrated by the dot and dash linesthe manner in which the aforementioned rocker-like portion is adapted to bear against the front face of the bracket B and to rock and smoothly glide thereover the moment the surface 21 is withdrawn from under the surface 22 and the frame canted in a direction forwardly of the bracket.

What is claimed is:

A rack comprising a frame composed of side members and end members with article supporting bars spanning the side members at intervals; a bracket in the form of a flat rectangular shaped bar having a groove in one side face thereof extending longitudinally of the bracket and co-extensive in length therewith; means for rigidly securing the bracket to a fiked support; a U-shaped brace providing parallel spaced apart arms and a rectilinear connecting portion; the free ends of the arms having trunnions journaled in the side members of the frame, and the connecting portion being received in said groove of the bracket so as to be confined therein against lateral and axial displacement when the bracket is secured to a wall with its grooved side face confronting the wall, whereby the connecting portion will provide a fulcrum enabling the frame to be swung to occupy a vertical position and a horizontal position wherein an end member of the frame abuts the under surface of the bracket for co-action with the brace in supporting the frame in such position, the opposite face of the bracket being uniformly smooth throughout and the frame having a continuous rocker surface co-extensive with the width of the bracket; said rocker surface being transversely curved and adapted to freely rock on the aforementioned smooth face of the bracket during the operation of turning the frame to a. vertical position.

AUGUST VAN ROOSENDAEL.

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