Horizontally supported planar surfaces – Folding – Legs fold axially parallel to surface edges
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-10
2001-07-03
Cuomo, Peter M. (Department: 3636)
Horizontally supported planar surfaces
Folding
Legs fold axially parallel to surface edges
C108S129000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06253688
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to portable tables and more particularly pertains to a new portable table for providing a useful and stable table surface raised above a surface such as a floor or bed and that may be easily and quickly collapsed into a more compact form for convenient transport and storage.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of portable tables is known in the prior art. More specifically, portable tables heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,099; U.S. Pat. No. 3,123,935; U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,583; U.S. Pat. No. 3,821,936; U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,915; and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 311,828.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new portable table. The inventive device includes a tabletop member, a support apparatus that includes a pivotally movable leg member designed for movement between a extended and stored position as well as an attachment assembly, for the purpose of coupling the support apparatus to the tabletop member, and a locking assembly designed for locking the leg member in the deployed position.
In these respects, the portable table according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing a useful and stable table surface raised above a surface such as a floor or bed and that may be easily and quickly collapsed into a more compact form for convenient transport and storage.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of portable tables now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new portable table construction wherein the same can be utilized for providing a useful and stable table surface raised above a surface such as a floor or bed and that may be easily and quickly collapsed into a more compact form for convenient transport and storage.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new portable table apparatus and method which has many of the advantages of the portable tables mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new portable table which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art portable tables, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a tabletop member, a support apparatus that includes a pivotally movable leg member designed for movement between a extended and stored position as well as an attachment assembly, for the purpose of coupling the support apparatus to the tabletop member, and a locking assembly designed for locking the leg member in the deployed position.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new portable table apparatus and method which has many of the advantages of the portable tables mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new portable table which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art portable tables, either alone or in any combination thereof.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new portable table which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new portable table which is of a durable and reliable construction.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new portable table which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such portable table economically available to the buying public.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new portable table which provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new portable table for providing a useful and stable table surface raised above a surface such as a floor or bed and that may be easily and quickly collapsed into a more compact form for convenient transport and storage.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new portable table which includes a tabletop member, a support apparatus that includes a pivotally movable leg member designed for movement between a extended and stored position as well as an attachment assembly, for the purpose of coupling the support apparatus to the tabletop member, and a locking assembly designed for locking the leg member in the deployed position.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new portable table that permits secure locking of the leg members in a deployed position for providing a stable tabletop surface while permitting easy unlocking for moving the leg members to a stored position.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a new portable table that permits the legs of the user to being fully extended, or even crossed with each other, in a position beneath the tabletop without interfering with the leg members of the device.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive
Anderson Jerry A.
Cuomo Peter M.
LandOfFree
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