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Round table storage rack

a storage rack and round table technology, applied in the field of storage racks, can solve the problems of unbalanced cart and table, inability to index, and inability to reach much beyond the center of such tables, and achieve the effect of facilitating the rolling of the tabl

Inactive Publication Date: 2009-03-05
HINCKLEY RANDY L
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006]The present invention provides a storage rack for round tables having foldable legs that maintains each table in a vertical position. The storage rack can be designed to store multiple tables of any diameter, including diameters of 42, 48, 54, 60 and 72 inches. The rack includes a base fabricated from first and second parallel pairs of tubing sections which are welded together to form a rectangular arrangement. Although the base may be fabricated from either round or square tubing, the invention is disclosed as an embodiment having a base fabricated from square tubing. When a table is positioned vertically on the base, the rim of the table makes contact with both tubing sections of the first pair, which are spaced apart a distance calculated to maintain the lowermost point of the rim above the level of the floor on which the base rests. A horizontally disposed indexing bar is supported at each end by a vertical support post, which is welded to one of the tubing sections of the second pair. The indexing bar has welded thereto a plate having a number of equally-spaced, downward-facing notches which correspond to the number of tables which can be stored on the rack. Each notch is sized to receive the rim of a single round table. By extending the length of the base and the indexing bar, the rack can be made to accommodate the storage of additional tables. Each notch is of sufficient depth that a table can be rolled over either of the tubing sections of the first pair and into the notch, without the rim contacting the top of the notch. A ramp may be provided which extends the full length either or both of the first pair of tubing sections, and facilitates rolling the table, on its rim, over the associated tubing section.

Problems solved by technology

The most common size of round table is 60 inches in diameter, as it is difficult to reach much beyond the center of such table while standing near the edge.
However, these storage carts all suffer from the disadvantage that they have no indexing capability which maintains each table in an upright position.
Thus, if they are not entirely full, the tables will lean and cause the cart and tables to become unbalanced and potentially unstable.

Method used

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Examples

Experimental program
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Effect test

first embodiment

[0027]Referring now to FIG. 9, a first embodiment notched plate 104B of the table indexing assembly 104 is fabricated from stamped steel plate. For this particular notched plate 104B, a total of ten, spaced-apart, downwardly-projecting spacer tabs 901A-901J form ten indexing notches 108. The edges around each notch 108 are rounded and smoothed in order to avoid damage to the rims 302 of the stored round tables 301. The notched plate 104B is preferably welded to the horizontal tube 104A.

[0028]Referring now to FIG. 10, a second embodiment notched plate 1001 may be substituted for the first embodiment notched plate 104B. It will be noted that each downwardly-projecting mounting tab 1002A-1002J (1002, generally) is considerably narrower than the spacer tabs 901A-901J of the first embodiment notched plate 104B, and that each mounting tab 1002 is provided with a pair of apertures 1003A and 1003B. Each aperture pair 1003A / 1003B will be used to secure a block of low-friction polymeric plast...

second embodiment

[0029]Referring now to FIG. 11, a single block of durable, low-friction, low-abrasive ploymeric plastic material 1101 is shown ready for mounting with threaded fasteners to one of the downwardly-projecting mounting tabs 1002 of the second embodiment notched plate 1001. Although high-density polyethylene (HDPE), tetrafluoroethylene (TFE), and nylon are considered to be the preferred low-friction polymeric plastic materials from which the blocks 1101 are fabricated, other durable materials having similar low-friction and low-abrasive characteristics may substituted therefor. A pair of machine screws 1102A and 1102B will pass through the apertures 1103A and 1103B in the block 1101, through the apertures 1003A and 1003B in the mounting tab 1002, through optional flat washers 1104A and 1104B, and will be secured with a pair of acorn nuts 1105A and 1105B. The acorn nuts 1105A and 1105B are used to protect users against injury from the exposed ends of the screws 1102A and 1102B.

[0030]Refer...

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Abstract

A storage rack for round tables having foldable legs, that maintains each table in a vertical position, includes a base fabricated from first and second parallel pairs of tubing sections which are welded together to form a rectangular arrangement. The rim of a round table positioned vertically on the base makes contact with both tubing sections of the first pair, which are spaced apart a distance calculated to maintain the lowermost point of the rim above the level of the floor on which the base rests. A horizontally disposed bar having a welded notched plate welded thereto is supported at each end by a vertical support post, which is secured to one of the tubing sections of the second pair. The notched plate has a number of equally-spaced, downward-facing notches, each of which is sized to receive the rim of a single round table.

Description

PRIORITY DATA[0001]This application has a claim of priority based on the filing of provisional patent application No. 60 / 969,814 of the same title and by the same inventor on Sep. 4, 2007.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]This invention relates, generally, to storage racks and, more particularly, to storage racks used to store round, generally laminar items in a vertical orientation.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Round tables having foldable legs are commonly used in the hospitality industry primarily for dining functions. Many churches have large inventories of such tables, which are commonly used for social functions and congregational dinners. The most common size of round table is 60 inches in diameter, as it is difficult to reach much beyond the center of such table while standing near the edge.[0004]A variety of wheeled storage carts are available for the storage of round tables having foldable legs. The rim of each of multiple tables rests on two spaced apart supports, which prev...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): A47F7/30
CPCA47B3/00A47F7/30A47B81/007
Inventor HINCKLEY, RANDY L.
Owner HINCKLEY RANDY L