US2183805A - Counter rack - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 19, 1939. 's. BLOOMFIELD COUNTER RACK Filed July 9, 1938 Samuel filoomfield Hrs ATTORNEY.

c viding a sort of forked upright construction, the A plurality of rook bars 18 o elat vely fiat 40 tending therefrom toward the corresponding to Provide end u ds. 4i

Patented Dec.l9,1939 I I Z,l8li,805

UNITED STATES E ATENT OFFFitCif.

COUNTER RACK Samuel Bloomfield, Chicago, 111.

Application July 9, 1938, Serial No. 218,438

3 Claims. (01. 40-11) This invention pertains to racks, a particular Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side section ofv an upobject of the invention being the provision of an right to reduced scale, illustrating the card-re- ,improved counter rack for use on lunch counters, taining arrangement. service fountains and the like, the rack being of The invention contemplates the provision of-a '5 simplified and relatively inexpensive construction counter rack adapted to be mounted particularly 5 and, at the same time, being rugged, of pleasing along the rear edge portions of lunch counters appearance, and having certain features of cond the e S0 that Service items, Such as u struction which provide means for mounting tard jars, Su bowls and the like, y he 1 menu cards and the like. tioned close to the rear edge of the counter with- LO Viewed from another aspect, the invention proout danger of their being dislodged therefrom, vides a counter rack having members secured moreover, providing a suitable r p s t ry together by means similar to rivets or the like, for menu Cards and the like the rivet formations being cast integrally in cer- I t e e b d ent S own n Fig. 1, there are tain of the rack parts, the resulting construction mounted 011 the reel Vertical edge p rt en Of a [6 being of improved appearance by virtue of the Counter iii, U-Sheped brackets Plates tO fact that the securing meansor rivets are hidden Which are fitted h Offset i001; p on 2 of from View 1 a pair of upright supporting members or bars Another object of the invention is the provil3, the offset base portions M of which rest on sion of a counter rack including a pair of spaced the Surface 0f the Counter O10Se1y j nin the uprights each having lateral notches cut therein, e r ed e e of d li t ng the descent of the 20 and a plurality of collaterally extended bars seatuprights t t ei brackets.

ed in the notch formations in the uprights and Referring to Figs- 1 and 2, the bars 0 up g s secured in the latter by integral stud or rivet fori3 e identical n Construction, the main or mations cast in the uprights and in the notches pp Portions (as distinguished from the feet and extended through holes in the bars, and |2)'beihg Provided With a plurality o tr nsverse thereafter peened over to secure the uprights and notches in the channel portions o Wh ch a e bars in rigid relation. integral protuberances or studs 16, constituting Another object is the provision of a counter rivet members, for attachment with the rack rack of the type characterized, in which each of bars Between the base portion d e top of the uprights has an offset foot portion extending each of the m p s s a p otuberance or 30 in a direction collateral to that of the uprights, nose ll which projects laterally from the sureach upright having a strap secured to its foot face in which notches are formed, the p portion so as to extend collaterally in spaced rees being adapted to bear against str p lotion t t corresponding upright thus promembers to retain menu cards in position.

uprights having notches formed on their inner form are seated in the aligned notches l5 in the surfaces opposite the straps, and transverse bars h of uprights that h bars e end in subbeing seated in the notches in the spaced u stantially parallel directions and some-of the bars i t-, each upright having a protuberance [8 having their opposite end portions l9 curved strap, and the straps having a degree of yieldabil- It is important o o serve that the rack bars it so that a me c rd r th lik may h lid i i8 are secured in assembled relation with the upbetween the straps and the protuberances'of each rights by h v holes formed e n t u pair of uprights to be yieldingly and yet securely which the rivet formations l6 in the several upm intai d in position on th nt right notches extend when the bars are fitted 5 Other objects and novel aspects of the inveninto place, the head p o o the protubertion will appear as the following description proances or integral rivet formations thereafterbeceeds in view of the drawing, in which: ing peenedover (Fig. 2 particularly) in the man- Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of a preferred ner of a rivet nose to prevent withdrawal of the form of the rack; rack bars from their respective notches or seats. 50 Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section through one of A particular advantage gained from the forethe uprights, as seen along line 2-2 of Fig. 1; going method of mounting the rack bars resides Fig. 3 is a fragmentary rear elevation of the in the fact that the front side of the uprights l3, upright structure, as viewed along line 3-3 of which faces the'patron at the counter, will not be Fig. 2; while defaced by exposure therein of screws, rivets or 55 other attaching means, the uprights being cast with this object in view, so that the notch formations 85 and the rivet formations 16, as well as the feet 12 and the protuberances 17, may all be formed at one operation, thus achieving an additional advantage in the form of reduced manufacturing cost.

Means are provided for cooperation with the protuberances H for holding a menu card in place on the rack, this means being in the form of a strap 28 mounted flush against the rearward surface of each of the feet l2 by means of integral rivet formations 2! projecting through holes in the bottoms of the straps and peened over, as in the case of the member it for attaching the rack bars. As a result of this arrangement, the straps 28 extend in a direction collateral with the uprights l3 and the offset feet l2, but are disposed in spaced parallel relation with the mainor upper portions [3 of the uprights to provide a forked or bifurcated formaticn, with the straps 29 fitting closely against the outer rounded nose portions I? of the protuberances ill.

The upper end portions of the straps 29 in the region. of the protuberances H are bent inwardly or biased so that they bear against the protuberances, and have a degree of inherent yielda ty particularly in the region of their attachng means 2! so that they may be sprung away from the nose portions H to permit the introduction and attachment of the menu card, the uprights ll being spaced apart a distance such that the usual length of card will fit into the holding means, that is, between the straps 20 and the protuberances ii in both uprights, as illustrated in Fig. i. By the provision of the end guard formations W, the counter rack forms a sort of cove into which various jars, bottles, and containers usually found on counters of the class described may be collected as close to the rear edge of the counter as possible without danger of dislodgement, thereby improving the neat appearance of the counter and providing for orderly arrangement of the counter serv ice items within reach of the patrons.

t will be observed that the protuberances I! are c rved at their upper junctures with the main portions of the upright, the curvature descend ing toward the nose portion I? from the upright and facilitating the guidance of a menu card quickly toward the nose portion for movement between the latter and the strap. I Similarly, in the region of the juncture between the base portion and the foot 42 in each upright, there is provided a downwardly curved portion '2? constituting a card-seating means effective to guide the lower edge portion of the menu card downwardly close against the strap 20 that the card will bear uniformly against the strap in the regions between the base It and the protuberance l7, and hence throughout the length of the strap. Thus, the cards are automatically guided into a proper upright position in their respective holding means.

, The advantages and objects of the invention may be accomplished by various modifications of the specific means described herein for purposes of illustration, and it is to be understood that the invention is not restricted to the precise form of the preferred embodiment described, but is to be broadly interpreted as provided in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a counter rack of the type including a pair of fork-shaped uprights arranged for mounting along the edge of a counter, and means joining said uprights, card holding means comprising the provision on each of said uprights of a protuberance formed on the inner side of one of the fork portions thereof, the other fork portion of each upright being constructed to bear yieldingly against the corresponding protuberance, whereby to provide card-retaining means, each of said protuberances having a downwardly curved portion directed toward the opposite fork portion of the corresponding upright to guide the lower edge portion of a card between said protuberance and said opposite fork portion, and each upright fur ther havinga downwardly curved portion in the lower part thereof for guiding the lower edge of a card toward said opposite corresponding fork portion.

2. In a counter rack, comprising a pair of upconstituting a card seat and adapted to guide the lower edge of a card toward said straps.

. 3. In a counter rack, comprising a pair of uprights, each having a collaterally extending strap secured to the lower portions thereof so as to extend in parallel spaced relation with the upper parts thereof, each of said uprights having a. protuberance projecting laterally from the surface thereof opposite said straps, said straps being biased to bear against the end portions of said protuberances, whereby to provide clip means for a menu card, each of said uprights having a downwardly curved portion in its lower region constituting a card seat and adapted to guide the lower edge of a card toward said straps, and

eachof said protuberances having a downward ly curved portion leading from the region of its juncture with the corresponding upright toward the corresponding strap, whereby to guide the edge of a card toward the end portion of the protuberance for passage between the latter and the corresponding strap.

SAMUEL BLOOMFIELD.

Images