US3483999A - Portable,foldable,and collapsible rack - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 16, 1969 s. P. BARRETT PORTABLE, FOLDABL-E, AND COLLAPSIBLE BACK 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed 061,. 18, 1965 INVENTOR. SAM 84/22577- 4x I as 42 22 44 I I LLLJ 54-:q F: e. 5

Dec. 16, 1969 s. P. BARRETT PORTABL, FOLDABLE, AND COLLAPSIBLE RACK Filed Oct 18, 1965 2 SheetsSheet 2 .H FIGJZ il/na INVENTOR SAUL R 8/4/2257? United States Patent 3,483,999 PURTABLE, FOLDAEBLE, AND CGLLAPSIBLE RACK Saul P. Barrett, R0. Box 18992, Los Angeles, Calif. 90018 Filed Get. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 497,117 Int. Cl. A47f 5/10, 5/14 US. Cl. 211-173 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The specification discloses a portable, foldable and collapsible rack intended primarily to support clothing on hangers. It can be folded into a substantially completely collapsed relationship for easy storage and portability, and can be opened so as to have two pairs of inverted, V-shaped supporting legs, with each such pair of inverted, V-shaped supporting legs longitudinally spaced apart by, and supporting therebetween, a transversely directed cross-bar or carrying member on which clothes hangers may be supported in depending relationship. The rack is provided with novel means for rigidifying the coupling means which interconnects the cross-bar or carrying member with respect to the two longitudinally spaced pairs of inverted, V-shaped supporting leg members when in fully open relationship.

Generally speaking, the present invention relates to the rack art and, more particularly, to a portable, foldable, and collapsible rack which is of very light-weight and yet relatively rugged construction and which is ideally suited for use as a portable clothes rack, although not specifically so limited in all forms of the invention.

The device, in one preferred exemplary form, is particularly suitable for use by salesmen, and the like, as a portable, foldable, and collapsible clothes rack which can be readily stored in folded condition in a salesmans automobile until he reaches a display location, at which time it can be readily set up and used for carrying a large number of garments or articles of clothing (usually on hangers or other auxiliary supporting devices) so that said garments or articles of clothing can be displayed in a very effective manner by the salesman. After completion of such a display, the salesman may just as easily remove the garments or articles of clothing and collapse or fold the novel rack of the present invention into its small-volume configuration, which may then be replaced in the salesmans car until a subsequent use.

It should be understood that the preceding paragraph merely describes one exemplary and highly advantageous use of one particular form of the present invention and that it should not be construed as specifically limiting the invention in any way. Actually, the novel collapsible rack of the present invention may be used for a great variety of purposes wherever the readily foldable and collapsible structure thereof is advantageous and the detailed description and claims which follow hereinafter are to be broadly read and construed in the light of the foregoing statement.

With the above points in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel portable, foldable, and collapsible rack which can be effectively opened into unfolded operative relationship very easily by even a person of very limited strength (for example, a woman or a child) and which can just as readily be closed into a fully-collapsed folded relationship whenever desired and which is of light-enough weight and a small-enough space volume when so collapsed as to be very readily portable by even a person of very limited strength as referred to above. However, despite the advantageous features just referred to, the novel rack, when in the fully-opened un- 3,483,999 Patented Dec. 16, 1969 folded and operative position or relationship of the elements thereof is extremely rigid and structurally strong and can carry and support a very heavy load.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved foldable and collapsible rack of the character referred to herein which can be rendered, by the provision of wheel means, freely rollable along an underlying supporting surface such as a floor, or the like, to facilitate moving the rack, when in the unfolded fullyoperable position, along the floor surface, even when carrying or supporting a very heavy load.

-It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel foldable and collapsible rack of the character referred to in the preceding object, including means for effectively overriding the free-wheeling feature referred to in the preceding object and for rendering the device substantially immovable along an underlying floor surface by locking the wheel means referred to in the preceding object.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel foldable and collapsible rack of the character referred to herein adapted to be effectively provided with extension means which can be controllably placed in operative relationship with respect to the rack for effectively modifying the overall height of a top horizontal carrying member of the rack, when in the fully-unfolded and operative relationship referred to hereinbefore, thus making the rack capable of carrying garments or articles of clothing or other objects which are too long to be properly carried by the rack when in its n rmal, vertically shorter, unfolded configuration.

It is a further object of the present invention to pro vide an improved foldable and collapsible rack of the character referred to herein, having any or all of the advantages referred to herein and including any or all of the features referred to herein generically and/or specifically and individually or in combination, and which is of extremely simple, inexpensive construction readily adapted for mass manufacture at an extremely low cost, both as to capital investment and as to the productioncost-per-article, whereby to be conductive to widespread use thereof.

Further objects are implicit in the detailed description which follows hereinafter (which is to be considered as exemplary of, but not specifically limiting, the present invention), and said objects will be apparent to persons skilled in the art after a careful study of the detailed description which follows hereinafter.

For the purpose of clarifying the nature of the present invention, several exemplary embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the hereinbelow-described figures of the accompanying two sheets of patent drawings and are described in detail hereinafter.

FIG. 1 is a reduced-size three-dimensional perspective view illustrating one exemplary embodiment of the invention in its fully-opened unfolded and operative relationship adapted to rest upon an auxiliary underlying substantially horizontal supporting surface such as a floor or ground surface, or the like.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, partially-broken-away sectional view taken substantially along the plane 2-2 of FIG. 1 and is drawn to a substantially larger scale than FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a left side elevational View of the portion of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2 and illustrates the left coupling and locking means of FIG. l in full elevation.

FIG. 4 is a view very similar to FIG. 3 but comprises a sectional rather than an elevational view taken substantially along the plane indicated by the arrows 44 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a two-position view taken substantially on the same plane as FIG. 4 with respect to the coupling and locking means but with the upper part of the supporting leg member shown in elevation rather than in section in the manner of FIG. 4. Also this view shows in solid lines the position of the fragmentarily illustrated portion of the leg means when in folded collapsed relationship and shows fragmentarily in phantom the position thereof when in the fully-opened, unfolded, and operative relationship of the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 inclus1ve.

FIG. 6 is a greatly-reduced-size view drawn to a scale similar to that of FIG. 1, but illustrates the complete apparatus when in the fully-collapsed and folded position or relationship of the various elements thereof, which might be called a storage position, for ready storage and/ or portability as opposed to the operative use portion or relationship of the apparatus as illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view similar to the bottom portion of FIG. 4, but illustrates a very slight modification of the fastening of the upper end of each of the tubular leg members with respect to the corresponding tongue member.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary, partly-broken-away view similar to the left portion of FIG. 1 and illustrates a very slight modification of the first form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. l-6 which additionally includes extension means adapted to be controllably placed in operative relationship with respect to the supporting leg means for modifying the effective height thereof and correspondingly of the horizontal carrying member at the top of the rack.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary partly-broken-away view taken substantially along the plane indicated by the arrow 9-9 of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 8 but illustrates another alternate type of extension means for effectively 9 and controllably modifying the overall height of the rack.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary partly-broken-away view taken substantially along the plane indicated by the arrows 11-11 of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIGS. 9 and 10 but illustrates a further modification of the extension means for effectively modifying the overall height of the rack, as desired.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along the plane indicated by the arrows 1313 of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is an enlarged side elevational view of a typical wheel means which may be provided at the bottom of each supporting leg member of the rack for rendering it readily rollable along an underlying floor surface, or the like, and which may be provided with controllably activatable and inactivatable brake means for controllably locking said wheel means, when desired, and for controllably unlocking same, when desired. The brake means is shown in full or solid lines in inactivated or disengaged position and is shown in broken lines in the acti vated, fully-engaged braking position for locking the wheel.

FIG. 15 is a view taken substantially along the plane indicated by the arrows 15-45 of FIG. 14 when the brake means is in the activated, fully-engaged and locked relationship shown in broken lines in FIG. 14.

Generally speaking, the exemplary first form of the present invention illustrated in FIGS. 1-6 inclusive cornprises a longitudinal carrying member, such as is generally indicated at 20, a pair of supporting leg means, such as generally designated at 22, effectively connected by a corresponding pair of combination coupling means and controllably operable locking means, such as generally designated at 24, to opposite engagement end portions 26 of the previously-mentioned longitudinal carrying member 20.

The apparatus is adapted to assume either a fully opened, unfolded, operative position and relationship of the various elements thereof as shown in FIG. 1, or a completely closed, folded storage position and relationship of the various elements thereof, as shown in FIG. 6.

In the case of the FIG. 1 configuration, it will be understood that the apparatus effectively comprises an upstanding rack which may carry and support a substantial load on the horizontally positioned carrying member 20. For example, a plurality of garments may be mounted on the horizontal carrying member 20' by engaging the customary top positioned hooks of conventional clothes hanger (not shown) on the horizontal carrying member 20. Thus a relatively large number of garments may be carried by the horizontal carrying member 20 when the rack is in the operative use position shown in FIG. 1. Also, it should be noted that the rack is not limited to carrying garments, but various other objects may be supported on the carrying member 20, if desired.

On the other hand, when the rack is not to be used and is either to be stored away or is to be placed in a small space volume configuration for ready portability, it is readily collapsed and folded into the small space volume storage and/or portability configuration shown in FIG. 6.

In the exemplary first form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. l-6, each of the leg means generally designated at 22, of the pair of leg means referred to hereinbefore. takes the form of a set of two supporting leg members 22 connected by the corresponding coupling means and controllably operable locking means 24 to the corresponding engagement end 26 of the carrying member 20 for effectively mounting said supporting leg member 22' for pivotal movement between the outer extreme unfolded position, best shown in FIGS. 1-4, where each of said leg members 22' is substantially perpendicular to the carrying member 20, into an inner extreme folded position or relationship substantially parallel to, and closely adjacent to, said carrying member 20 in the manner shown fragmentarily in solid lines in FIG. 5 and shown with respect to the complete apparatus in FIG. 6. It should be noted that said inner folded position, such as is shown in solid lines in FIGS. 5 and 6, of each of the leg members 22, and the outer fully open or unfolded position of each of the leg members 22, as shown in FIGS. l-4, and as fragmentarily shown in phantom in FIG. 5, are displaced from each other by substantially degrees and that the length of each of the legs 22 is such that when in said fully-unfolded operative use position, the bottom end (which is shown provided with rubber or elastomeric foot means 28 in FIG. 1) extends to a substantially common lower horizontal support plane, such as that defined by the upper surface of the auxiliary underlying floor or ground surface shown fragmentarily at 30 in FIG. 1 whereby to firmly support the entire rack in the operative use position shown in FIG. 1.

In the exemplary first form of the invention illustrated, each of the coupling means and controllably operable locking means 24 is provided with normally oppositely horizontally aligned recess means similar to the one (which is exemplary of both) best shown in FIG. 2 and indicated by the reference numeral 32, which is adapted to receive a corresponding different one of said opposite end engagement portions 26 of the carrying member 20 therein whereby to positively support said carrying member 20. The engagement may, in certain forms of the engagement, be further enhanced by Allen type socketheaded screw means (or any substantial functional equivalent) such as indicated at 34, which effectively comprises a controllably releasable set screw.

The pivotal engagement of each of the leg members 22' with respect to the corresponding coupling means and controllably operable locking means 24 is of a limited-pivotal-movement type allowing only the previously-mentioned 90-degree movement between the completely-folded position shown in FIG. 6 and the completely-unfolded position shown in FIG. 1 and, in the exemplary first form of the invention illustrated, this is accomplished by pivotal mounting means, such as generally designated by the reference numeral 36, as is perhaps best shown in FIG. 2, and including a tongue member 38, which is connected by connection portion 40 to the upper end 42 of the corresponding supporting leg member 22 and with each of said tongue members 38 having an aperture 44 therethrough through which a transverse pivot pin 46 extends. It will readily be understood that the pivotal mounting means 36 just described allows any of the four leg members 22' to be pivoted from the fully-open relationship shown in FIG. 1 into the fully-closed relationship shown in FIG. 6.

However, it should also be noted that each of said pivotal mounting means 36 may also be said to comprise a pin-in-slot locking means, which is designated by said reference numeral 36 since it comprises the same structure as the pivotal mounting means, and that said pinin-slot locking means 36 is adapted for use in positively locking any one of the supporting leg members 22' in the unfolded operative relationship thereof, such as is shown in FIG. 1, so as to impart great rigidity to the rack when in the operative use position shown in FIG. 1. However, alternatively, any of said pin-in-slot locking means 36 can be operated so as to unlock the pivotal mounting of the corresponding supporting leg member 22 so that it can be pivotally swung inwardly into the folded storage position shown in FIG. 6.

The locking of any of said pin-in-slot locking means 36 is effected by merely upwardly moving the corresponding supporting leg member 22' relative to the corresponding coupling and locking means 24 when in the unfolded position and, conversely, the unlocking of said pin-in-slot locking means 36 with respect to any of the four supporting leg members 22 is accomplished by merely moving said supporting leg member 22 downwardly relative to the coupling and locking means 24 and the horizontal carrying member 26 when in the operative use configuration shown in FIG. 1.

Normally the above-described locking operation may be accomplished, after all of the legs are unfolded into the operative use configuration shown in FIG. 1, by merely pressing downwardly on the carrying member 20 and, conversely, normally the above-described unlocking operation may be accomplished by merely applying upward lifting force to the carrying member 20 so that all four of the supporting leg members 22 are lifted off the floor 30 and hang downwardly. The action of gravity then unlocks each of the pin-in-slot locking means 36 so that the four leg members 22' can be folded into the closed configuration shown in FIG. 6.

The pin-in-slot locking means referred to above, and generally designated at 36, in each case comprises the flat upwardly directed tongue member 38 wherein the previously-mentioned aperture 44 takes the form of a vertically directed and elongated locking slot also designated by the same reference numeral 44 and further comprises a corresponding fiat spatulate recess 48 formed within the corresponding coupling means 24 and having the transverse apertures 50 in each pair of recess-defining wall portions 52 and mounting the previously-mentioned pivot pin 46 within the elongated slot 44. It will be noted that each of said fiat spatulate recesses 48 is open at the bottom and inner sides thereof but is closed at the outer side thereof by a locking wall 54, which allows pivotal movement of the corresponding tongue 38 when it is slidably moved downwardly into either the phantom or broken line position shown in FIG. 5 (and then into the solid line position shown in FIG. 5), which acts to position the corresponding transverse pivot pin 46 at the upper or outer end of the slot 44.

It will be understood that the arrangement is such as to positively prevent pivotal movement of the corresponding leg member 22' when the tongue 38 is slidably moved upwardly into a position such as is shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4, where the corresponding transverse pivot pin 46 is positioned at or adjacent to the bottom of the elongated slot 44. This is best shown in FIG. 4 where it will be understood that the upper end of the tongue 38 abuts the locking wall 54 and positively prevents counterclockwise rotation of the supporting leg member 22 into the folded configuration shown in FIG. 6. However, when said tongue 38 is moved downwardly into the phantom line position shown in FIG. 5, it is clear that said locking wall 54 no longer locks the tongue 38 and does not prevent it from rotating in a counterclockwise direction into the folded configuration shown in solid lines in FIG. 5.

It should be noted that the two recesses 48 of each coupling and locking means 24 are relatively angularly inclined in upwardly converging and in downwardly diverging planes so that each supporting leg member 22' of each set thereof, when pivotally moved into the folded position shown in FIG. 6, will not only move inwardly toward a position adjacent to the carrying member 20 but will also move toward the other supporting leg member 22 of the same set thereof. Conversely, when each of the supporting leg members 22' of the same set thereof swings outwardly from the folded configuration shown in FIG. 6, into the open configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, said supporting leg members 22 will not only move outwardly away from the carrying member 20, but will also move away from each other at the lower ends 28 thereof in a direction transverse to the plane of the unfolding movement, thus resulting in an inverted V-shaped relative configuration of each set of supporting leg members 22' when in said unfolded operative position. This provides a very stable four-point contact for the bottom foot members 28 with the underlying floor surface 30.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view representative of a modification of the attachment of the four lower connection portions carried at the bottom of the four tongue members 38 of the first for-m of the invention relative to the corresponding four upper ends 42 of the four supporting leg members 22.. In FIG. 7, the corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals, followed by the letter a, however, and it will be noted that connection of said lower portion 40a to the upper end 42a comprises a pressfit engagement rather than a threaded engagement.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate a modification of the invention wherein extension means is provided for modifying the height of the complete rack, with said extension means at one end of the device being generally designated by the reference numeral 56 and comprising an additional extension leg section 58 for each of the four leg members 22b which correspond to the legs 22' of the first form of the invention. While only two of said modified legs 22'!) are shown in FIG. 8, these are identical to the similar two legs 22'!) comprising the opposite end of the rack. It will be noted that each additional extension leg section 58 is illustrated in FIG. 9 as having connection means generally designated at 60 for effectively attaching it between the upper coupling and locking means 24b and the corresponding main leg section 22.!2. Also it should be noted that said coupling means 60, as illustrated in FIG. 9, is of the threaded type but it need not be and may comprise pressfit engagement means, or other type of engagement or connection means. Parts of this modification corresponding to the first form of the invention are designated by the same reference numerals, followed by the letter [7, however.

FIGS. 10 and ll are similar to FIGS. 8 and 9, but illustrate a further modification of the extension means 56 of FIGS. 8 and 9, each of which is designated by the reference character 560 in FIGS. 10 and 11. Also in this connection it should be noted that other parts similar to the earlier forms of the invention are designated by similar reference numerals, followed by the letter 0, however. In this modification, it will be noted that each of the extension leg sections 58c is not connected to the top of the main leg section in the manner of the form of the invention shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, but is connected to the bottom corresponding main leg section 22c as is clearly shown in both FIGS. 10 and 11. Also in this modification the connection means 680 provides a pressfit engagement rather than a threaded engagement for connecting the extension leg section 580 to the lower end of the corresponding main leg section 22'0. However, said engagement might be of the threaded type as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, if desired.

FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate a further modification of the extension means, which in this case is generally designated by the reference numeral 56d. Indeed, it will be understood that parts of this modification corresponding to earlier forms of the invention are designated by similar reference numerals, followed by the letter d, however. In this modification said extension means 56d comprises a telescopic extension leg member 58d slidably mounted within the bottom end of the corresponding main leg section 22'd, with said main leg section being provided with a pair of aligned apertures 62, and with said exten sion leg section 58d having a plurality of sets of aligned apertures 64. The ararngement is such that any pair or set of the aligned apertures 64 of the extension leg section 58d may be moved into alignment with the outer pair of aligned apertures 62 (of course, this can be done only when the locking pin 66 is removed) and after this has been accomplished, the locking pin 66 is then inserted through the two sets of outer and inner aligned apertures 62 and 64 to lock the extension leg section 58d in any desired overall length relationship with respect to the corresponding main leg section 22'11.

FIG. 14 illustrates the provision of underlying rollable wheel means, generally designated at 68, for the bottom end of each of the four leg members 22 of the first form of the invention, or any of the modifications thereof in the alternate forms of the invention including the bottom leg extensions 58c and/or 58d shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, and it is to be understood that FIG. 14 is applicable to all of same, if desired. Each of the four rollable wheel means 68 is of the caster type and engages the bottom end of the corresponding leg member 22e in a conventional caster engagement fashion (which usually comprises a resiliently engaged insert connection member shoved upwardly into the bottom of the tubular leg member 22'e). This arrangement makes it possible to readily roll the entire clothes r-ack around even when heavily loaded. How ever, once the rack reaches a desired location, it is normally desirable to immobiolize it, and FIG. 14 also illustrates a controllably activatable and inactivatable brake means, generally designated at 70, for controllably locking the wheel means 68 and for controllably unlocking same, when desired. In the exemplary form of the invention illustrated in FIG. 14, the locking means 70 takes the form of a centrally slotted foot-operated or pedal member 72 pivoted as indicated at 74 to the yoke means 76, which mounts the caster 78 for rotation around the shaft 80 and with said pivotal mounting of the pedal brake member 72 being offset from the pivotal mounting at 80 of the caster 78 so that lever 72 shown in FIG. 14 will cause contact of a frictional braking portion 73 of the lever member 72 with a corresponding portion of the caster 78 at the location indicated at 75 for positively locking same. This is further illustrated in detail in FIG. 15.

It should be understood that the figures and the specific description thereof set forth in this application are for the purpose of illustrating the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention to the precise and detailed specific structure shown in the figures and specifically described hereinbefore. Rather, the real invention is intended to include substantially equivalent constructions embodying the basic teachings and inventive concept of the present invention.

I claim:

1. A portable, foldable, and collapsible rack, comprising: a longitudinal normally horizontal carrying member when the rack is in unfolded open operative relationship; and -a pair of limited-pivotal-movement coupling means having facing horizontally aligned recess means comprising completely circularly encompassing receiving sock ets having closed outer ends and open inner ends detachably connected to corresponding ones of said opposite end engagement portions of said normally horizontal carrying member and cooperative with corresponding upper portions of said supporting leg means for effectively mounting each of said pair of supporting leg means rela tive to the corresponding one of said opposite end engagement portions of said carrying member for pivotal movement between an inner extreme folded position substantially parallel to and closely adjacent to said carrying member and an outer extreme unfolded position substantially perpendicular to said carrying member, each of said limited-pivotal-movement coupling means also effectively providing, defining, and comprising pin-in-slot locking means cooperable for positively locking corresponding supporting leg means in said unfolded open operative relationship relative to said coupling means and relative to said carrying member as a result of slight relative vertical locking movement of said pin-in-slot locking means in response to vertical downward movement of said coupling means with respect to the underlying supporting leg means, each of said pin-in-slot locking means comprising a fiat upwardly directed tongue member provided with a vertically directed and elongated locking slot, and further comprising a corresponding outwardly and downwardly inclined fiat spatulate recess within the corresponding coupling means having a trans verse aperture mounting a pivot pin extending through said slot and being open at the bottom and inner sides thereof but being closed at the outer side thereof with a locking wall which allows pivotal movement of said tongue when said tongue is slidably moved downwardly relative to said coupling means so as to position said transverse pivot pin adjacent to the upper end of said slot but which positively prevents pivotal movement of said tongue when said tongue is slidably moved upwardly relative to said coupling means so as to position said transverse pivot pin adjacent to the lower end of said slot, each of said locking slots being inclined upwardly and outwardly and downwardly and inwardly along the elongated length thereof whereby to facilitate the locking thereof when said transverse pivot pin is slidably relatively moved toward the lower end of said locking slot and is simultaneously moved inwardly relative to said tongue, thus imparting substantial rigidity to the complete rack and said supporting leg means when in said unfolded and locked position.

2. A rack as defined in claim 1, wherein said supporting leg means are provided with underlying rollable wheel means.

3. A rack as defined in claim 1, wherein said supporting leg means are provided with underlying rollable wheel means provided with controllably activata'ble and inactivatable brake means for controllably locking said wheel means when desired and for controllably unlocking same when desired.

'4. A rack as defined in claim 1, wherein said supporting leg means are provided with effective extension means adapted to be controllably placed in operative relationship With respect thereto for effectively modifying the overall height of said supporting leg means.

5. A rack as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said supporting leg means of said pair thereof comprises a set of two supporting leg members adapted to be pivotally and controllably lockably mounted with respect to a corresponding different one of said coupling means adjacent to a corresponding different one of said opposite end engagement portions of said carrying member, with each set of two supporting leg members being mounted in angularly upwardly converging and angularly downwardly diverging planes so that each supporting leg member of each set thereof, when pivotally moved into said folded position, will not only move inwardly toward a position adjacent to said carrying member but will also move toward the other supporting leg member of said set thereof and, conversely, thus providing an arrangement whereby each supporting leg member of each set thereof, when moved from said folded position toward said unfolded operative position, will not only move outwardly away from said carrying member but will also move away from each other at the lower ends thereof in a direction transverse to the plane of the unfolding movement, thus resulting in an inverted V-shaped relative configuration of each supporting leg member of each set thereof when in said unfolded operative position.

6. A portable, foldable, and collapsible rack, comprising: a longitudinal normally horizontal carrying member having engagement portions at opposite ends thereof; a pair of supporting leg means adapted to effectively support said opposite end engagement portions of said normally horizontal carrying member when the rack is in unfolded open operative relationship; and a pair of limited-pivotal-movement coupling means having facing horizontally aligned recess means comprising completely circularly encompassing receiving sockets having closed outer ends and open inner ends detachably connected to corresponding ones of said opposite end engagement portions of said normally horizontal carrying member and cooperable with corresponding upper portions of said supporting leg means for effectively mounting each of said pair of supporting leg means relative to the corresponding one of said opposite end engagement portions of said carrying member for pivotal movement between an inner extreme folded position substantially parallel to and closely adjacent to said carrying member and an outer extreme unfolded position substantially perpendicular to said carrying member; each of said supporting leg means of said pair thereof comprising set of two supporting leg members adapted to be pivotally and con trollably lockably mounted with respect to a corresponding different one of said coupling means adjacent to a corresponding different one of said opposite end engagement portions of said carrying member, with each set of two supporting leg members being mounted in angularly upwardly converging and angularly downwardly diverging planes so that each supporting leg member of each set thereof, when pivotally moved into said folded position, will not only move inwardly toward a position adjacent to said carrying member but will also move toward the other supporting leg member of said set thereof and, conversely, thus providing an arrangement whereby each supporting leg member of each set thereof, when moved from said folded position toward said unfolded operative position, will not only move outwardly away from said carrying member but will also move away from each other at the lower ends thereof in a direction transverse to the plane of the unfolding movement, thus resulting in an inverted V-shaped relative configuration of each supporting leg member of each set thereof when in said unfolded operative position, each of said limitedpivotal-movement coupling means also effectively providing, defining, and comprising a pair of pin-in-slot locking means each cooperable for positively locking a corresponding supporting leg member of the set thereof of said corresponding supporting leg means in said unfolded open operative relationship relative to said coupling means and relative to said carrying member as a result of slight relative vertical locking movement of said pinin-slot locking means in response to vertical downward movement of said coupling means with respect to the underlying supporting leg member, each of said pin-inslot locking means comprising a fiat upwardly directed tongue member provided with a vertically directed and elongated locking slot, and further comprising a corresponding outwardly and downwardly inclined flat spatulate recess within the corresponding coupling means having a transverse aperture mounting a pivot pin extending through said slot and being open at the bottom and inner sides thereof but being closed at the outer side thereof with a locking wall which allows pivotal movement of said tongue when said tongue is slidably moved downwardly relative to said coupling means so as to position said transverse pivot pin adjacent to the upper end of said slot but which positively prevents pivotal movement of said tongue when said tongue is slidably moved upwardly relative to said coupling means so as to position said transverse pivot pin adjacent to the lower end of said slot, each of said locking slots being inclined upwardly and outwardly and downwardly and inwardly along the elongated length thereof whereby to facilitate the locking thereof when said transverse pivot pin is slidably relatively moved toward the lower end of said locking slot and is simultaneously moved inwardly relative to said tongue, thus imparting substantial rigidity to the complete rack and said supporting leg means when in said unfolded and locked position.

7. A rack as defined in claim 6, wherein each of said supporting leg members is provided with underlying rollable wheel means.

8. A rack as defined in claim 6, wherein each of said supporting leg members is provided with underlying rollable wheel means, at least one of said rollable wheel means being provided with controllably activatable and inactivatable brake means for controllably locking said wheel means when desired and for controllably unlocking same when desired.

9. A rack as defined in claim 6, wherein each of said supporting leg members is provided with effective extension means adapted to be controllably placed in operative relationship with respect thereto for effectively increasing the overall height of said supporting leg members.

10. A rack as defined in claim 6, wherein each of said supporting leg members is provided with effective extension means adapted to be controllably placed in operative relationship with respect thereto for effectively increasing the overall height of said supporting leg members, said extension means comprising an additional extension leg section and connection means adapted to be effectively interconnected with respect to a corresponding one of said supporting leg members for controllably increasing the length thereof when desired and for controllably decreasing the length thereof by removal of same therefrom when desired.

11. A rack as defined in claim 6 wherein each of said supporting leg members is provided with effective extension means adapted to be controllably placed in operative relationship with respect thereto for effectively increasing the overall height of said supporting leg members, said exsection and connection means adapted to be effectively interconnected with respect to a corresponding one of said supporting leg members for controllably increasing the length thereof when desired and for controllably decreasing the length thereof by removal of same therefrom when desired, said extension means and said additional leg section comprising a telescopic leg extension member telescopically engaged with respect to a portion of the corresponding supporting leg member and provided with transverse aperture means and locking pin means for controllably locking said telescopic leg extension portion in any controlled relative longitudinal position with respect to the corresponding supporting leg member.

(References on following page) References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Nathan 211-178 X' Herold 1635 Buechler 108- 125 Maclaskey 182-455 Musial 248'168 Franklin 182--155 X 12 3,144,914 8/1964 Tjosvoll 1s2 1ss 3,269,487 8/1966 Larson 182-155 ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner 5 RAYMOND KRAUS, Assistant Examiner US Cl. X.R. 182-155; 211-182; 248168, 188.6

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