Supports: racks – Special article – Stacked articles
Patent
1992-08-25
1994-02-08
Chin-Shue, Alvin C.
Supports: racks
Special article
Stacked articles
211 46, A47F 700
Patent
active
052842584
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a device for supporting articles in a pile so that any one of the articles in the pile can be removed without disrupting the orderly arrangement of the pile.
BACKGROUND
Where articles are assembled in a pile, it can be difficult to remove some of the articles without disrupting the orderly arrangement of the pile. This is particularly so with articles such as bath towels and blankets which are commonly stored in a pile on a shelf. When one of the articles is required for use, it may be that the article required is not at the top of the pile and so it has to be pulled from between other articles in the pile with the result that the orderly arrangement of the pile may be disrupted.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
The present invention seeks to provide a novel and useful device for supporting articles in a pile so that any one of the articles can be conveniently and easily removed without disrupting the orderly arrangement of the pile.
In one form the invention resides in a device for supporting articles in a pile, said device comprising: a guide means; a plurality of spacing elements; means provided on the spacing elements for co-acting with said guide means to allow movement relative thereto for varying the spacing between adjacent spacing element members; said spacing elements adjacent to one another when in a spaced apart relationship defining a storage zone for receiving and storing an article, said spacing elements maintaining at least partial separation between said articles in the pile to permit any one of the articles to be removed without disrupting the pile.
For preference, said spacing elements comprise leaves, said storage zones being defined between the major faces of said leaves. Conveniently, said leaves are formed of low friction material to facilitate removal of articles from said storage zones.
To facilitate loading of articles onto the storage zones, each of said spacing elements is preferably movable on the guide means between a normal position in which it can co-operate with an adjacent one of said spacing elements to define a respective one of the storage zones and a loading position away from said normal position.
Preferably, said guide means define a track along which said spacing elements can move, said track including an upright portion and a further portion offset from said upright portion, said spacing elements assuming said loading position upon movement along said further portion.
Preferably said co-acting means defines an engaging means for releasably engaging said guide means.
In one arrangement, said engaging means comprises a support part and an engaging part, said engaging part being movable between engaging and release conditions and including two spaced arm portions and an elongated bridging portion extending between and formed integrally with said arm portions, said arm portions each being mounted on the support for pivotal movement about a respective pivot axis between a first position corresponding to said engaging conditions and a second position corresponding to said release condition, said bridging portion being adapted for movement between two stable positions one corresponding to said engaging condition and the other corresponding to said release condition, there being an unstable zone between said two stable positions thereby said bridging portion is urged to one or the other of said stable positions.
Preferably the spacing between said pivot axes is fixed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a device according to the embodiment supporting a pile of towels,
FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing one of the towels being removed from the pile;
FIG. 3 is also a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing one of the towels removed from the pile;
FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing the towels being loaded into the device according to the embodiment;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of part of the device according to the embodiment;
FIG. 6 is a side view of the part shown in FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is a
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patent: 1411029 (1922-03-01), Isham
patent: 2172013 (1939-09-01), Parry
patent: 2299780 (1942-10-01), Wolf
patent: 2969153 (1961-01-01), Leon
patent: 3137251 (1964-06-01), Pendergrast, Jr.
patent: 3295696 (1967-01-01), Cohen
GB AS Feeding sheets Ross, H. H. Feb. 12, 1957 [Mar. 22, 1956], No. 9043/56.
Genero Claude P.
Genero Gail A.
Chin-Shue Alvin C.
Lechok Sarah A.
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