US3746181A

US3746181A - Drawer divider

Info

Publication number: US3746181A
Application number: US00220951A
Authority: US
Inventors: E Benoit
Original assignee: Lee Raymond Organization Inc
Current assignee: Lee Raymond Organization Inc
Priority date: 1972-01-26
Filing date: 1972-01-26
Publication date: 1973-07-17
Anticipated expiration: 1990-07-17

Abstract

A portable divider, adaptable for fitting in a drawer or on a shelf which serves to separate the contents of the drawer or shelf. The unit is shaped with an inverted T-cross-section, and consists of a base member designed to lie horizontally on the shelf or drawer bottom, and two or more vertical rods on which vertical hollow dividers are mounted. The vertical dividers may be stacked adjoining each other, in the case of a shallow drawer, or shallow shelf, and the vertical dividers may be spaced apart from each other in the case of a deeper drawer or shelf.

Description

Elte States Patent 119] Benoit July 17,1973

[73] Assignee: The Raymond Lee Organization,

Inc., New York, NY. a part interest 22 Filed: Jan. 26, 1972 211 App]. No.: 220,951

[52] U.S. C1 211/184, 217/18, 220/22,

229/42 [51] Int. Cl. A471 5/10 [58] Field of Search 211/184, 42, 43,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,510,077 6/1950 Coffman 211/43 X 3,021,186 2/1962 lmmermann 312/1403 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 49,605 2/1939 France 217/22 Primary Examiner-Ram0n S. Britts Attorney-Howard l. Podell I 57] ABSTRACT A portable divider, adaptable for fitting in a drawer or on a shelf which serves to separate the contents of the drawer or shelf. The unit is shaped with an inverted '1- cross-section, and consists of a base member designed to lie horizontally on the shell or drawer bottom, and two or more vertical rods on which vertical hollow dividers are mounted. The vertical dividers may be stacked adjoining each other, in the case of a shallow drawer, or shallow shelf, and the vertical dividers may be spaced apart from each other in the case 01' a deeper drawer or shelf.

1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figures DRAWER DIVIDER SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a means of vertically separating the contents of drawers or shelves, and particularly to a device which may be readily inserted onto an existing shelf or placed in a drawer.

An advantage of the device is that it is readily adjustable in vertical height to suit the requirements of the location in which it is placed.

A further advantage of the device is that the horizontal spacing between the divider and the side walls of the drawer or shelf may be altered as necessary to most economically utilize the shelf or drawer space. If desired, several such dividers may be mounted on the same shelf or in the same drawer.

The device consists of a flat base member designed to rest on the shelf or bottom of the drawer. Two or more vertical rods are fastened along the upper mid surface of the base on which hollow vertical dividers may be located. The vertical dividers may be placed in close proximity to each other, or if desired, the vertical height of the divider may be increased by separating adjoining vertical dividers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The objects and features of the invention may be understood with reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention, taken together with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the device;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the base and vertical rod members of the device;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the device with one divider installed;

FIG. 4 is a cross-section view of an installed divider;

FIG. 5 is a front cross-section view of a divider installed on a shelf; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of two divider units mounted in a drawer.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Turning now descriptively to the drawing, in which similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views, FIG. 1-3 illustrate the divider 10 which consists of a horizontal base member 11, to which a vertical support 14 is mounted at each end of the base in the neighborhood of the mid-section of base 11. Hollow partition members 12 and 13 slide over vertical supports 14 as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4 to separate the contents of a shelf of a closet in which the divider 10 is mounted.

As shown in FIG. 5, the divider 10 may be mounted on the shelf 21 of a closet with stored items 20 mounted on each side of the dividing wall formed by hollow partition members 12 and 13.

Two or more dividers 10 may be mounted side by side on a shelf 21 or on a drawer bottom 23 as shown in FIG. 6 to separate the contents 24 of the drawer.

The longitudinal length of the divider may be considerably shorter than the depth of the drawer or shelf on which the divider 10 is mounted, and the vertical wall may be heightened as necessary by the installtion of additional vertical panels 12, or by the separation of panels 12 from each other in the installed mode.

Since obvious changes may be made in the specific embodiment of the invention described herein, it is indicated that all matter contained herein is intended as illustrative and not as limiting in scope.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A portable divider unit, adaptable for installation in a drawer, or on a shelf, to separate the stored contents of said shelf or drawer, consisting of a horizontal base member having a substantially planar surface capable of independently supporting said divider unit, and adaptable to resting on said shelf or drawer bottom, with two or more parallel rods fastened at right angles to the mid-section of the base member, said rods serving as guides on which is mounted a hollow dividing wall in perpendicular relation to the base member, with said rods being received within the hollow of the dividing wall, in which two hollow dividing walls are mounted, one above the other on the vertical guide rods fastened to the horizontal base member, and in which the transverse dimension of the hollows of the dividing walls is substantially equal to the corresponding dimension of the guide rods, whereby the fit of the hollowed dividing walls to the vertical guide rods is maintained by frictional engagement between the guide rods and the internal surfaces of the hollow dividing wall mounted on said guide rods, so as to permit vertical adjustment of the location of a hollow dividing wall with regard to the horizontal base member and with regard to an adjacent hollow dividing wall mounted on the same guide rods,

the combined vertical dimensions of the dividing walls being substantially at least as great as the vertical dimension of the guide rods.

Claims

1. A portable divider unit, adaptable for installation in a drawer, or on a shelf, to separate the stored contents of said shelf or drawer, consisting of a horizontal base member having a substantially planar surface capable of independently supporting said divider unit, and adaptable to resting on said shelf or drawer bottom, with two or more parallel rods fastened at right angles to the midsection of the base member, said rods serving as guides on which is mounted a hollow dividing wall in perpendicular relation to the base member, with said rods being received within the hollow of the dividing wall, in which two hollow dividing walls are mounted, one above the other on the vertical guide rods fastened to the horizontal base member, and in which the transverse dimension of the hollows of the dividing walls is substantially equal to the corresponding dimension of the guide rods, whereby the fit of the hollowed dividing walls to the vertical guide rods is maintained by frictional engagement between the guide rods and the internal surfaces of the hollow dividing wall mounted on said guide rods, so as to permit vertical adjustment of the location of a hollow dividing wall with regard to the horizontal base member and with regard to an adjacent hollow dividing wall mounted on the same guide rods, the combined vertical dimensions of the dividing walls being substantially at least as great as the vertical dimension of the guide rods.