U.S. patent number 3,874,512 [Application Number 05/391,037] was granted by the patent office on 1975-04-01 for multi-sided storage rack for skis or similar articles.
Invention is credited to John C. Foraker, Jack H. Wegley.
United States Patent |
3,874,512 |
Wegley , et al. |
April 1, 1975 |
Multi-sided storage rack for skis or similar articles
Abstract
A multi-sided or polygonal rack for storing or displaying skis
or similar articles. A pair of unitary molded frame members are
formed with a polygonal web integrally joined to a central top by a
plurality of spokes extending radially from the hub to the midpoint
of each side of the polygonal member. In one embodiment of the
invention a carousel type arrangement is achieved by mounting two
frame members in vertically spaced relationship upon a central
post, the frame members being freely rotatable on the post. Another
version finds the upper and lower frame members provided with wall
mounting brackets, while still a third version finds the two frame
members mounted upon a central post and provided with mounting
brackets for mounting the rack upon a car. Both frame members of
the car rack version and the upper frame members of the carousel
and wall mounted versions are provided with resilient straps each
having one end anchored to a projecting pin fixedly mounted
adjacent one end of each side of the polygonal web, the straps
having a washer like member fixed to their opposite ends which can
be slipped over the pin at the next adjacent side to clamp the skis
against the outer side of the polygonal member. The lower frame
members of the carousel and wall mounted versions are formed with
integral pockets at each exposed side of the polygonal outer web,
the pockets serving to receive the tails of a pair of skis.
Inventors: |
Wegley; Jack H. (Boulder,
CO), Foraker; John C. (Boulder, CO) |
Family
ID: |
23544955 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/391,037 |
Filed: |
August 23, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
211/163;
211/70.5 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B
55/10 (20130101); A63C 11/028 (20130101); A47B
81/00 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A47B
81/00 (20060101); A63B 55/10 (20060101); A63B
55/00 (20060101); A63C 11/02 (20060101); A63C
11/00 (20060101); A47f 005/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;211/163,6SK,6G,78,58,115,131 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Gilliam; Paul R.
Assistant Examiner: Calvert; Andrew M.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Burton, Crandell & Polumbus
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A carousel type rack comprising:
a vertically disposed post; and
upper and lower frame members projecting radially outwardly from
said post, said pair of frame members being rotably mounted on said
post and each of said frame members comprising:
a hub rotatably received upon said post;
a polygonal outer web coaxial with said post;
a plurality of radially extending spokes integral with said hub and
extending from said hub to the midpoints of the sides of said
polygonal member and integrally jointed thereto to define a rigid
one piece frame member, the axial width of said polygonal web being
less than the axial length of said hub with said spokes being
tapered from a maximum axial width equal to that of the hub at
their juncture therewith to a minimum axial width equal to that of
said web at the juncture of said spokes within said web; and
retaining means for retaining articles contiguous to the sides of
said polygonal member, said retaining means on the lower frame
member comprising upwardly opening pockets integrally formed on the
outer sides of the polygonal web, and said retaining means on the
upper frame member comprising resilient straps secured at one end
to one end of each side of said polygonal web and means for
releasably attaching the other end of said strap at the other end
of said one side of said polygonal web.
2. A ski rack comprising a pair of frame members, each frame member
including a one piece polygonal outer web symmetrical about a
central axis, a cylindrical central hub coaxial of said axis and a
plurality of stiffening webs each intricately joined at one end of
said hub and projecting radially from said hub, the opposite ends
of said stiffening webs being respectively integrally joined to the
midpoints of the sides of said polygonal outer web to constitute
said hub, stiffening webs and polygonal web has a unitary one piece
frame member, a rod like central member received within the hubs of
said frame members, locating means engaged between said central
member and said hubs to maintain a selected axial spacing between
said frame members, and releasable securing means on said frame
members for releasably securing skis to the sides of said polygonal
webs, said securing means including a bolt fixedly mounted at one
end of a side of said polygonal outer web of one of said frame
members projecting outwardly from said outer web, a resilient strap
having a length less than the length of a side of said polygonal
web, means mounting one end of each said strap upon said bolt
against the outer side of said outer web, and means at the other
end of said strap for detachably securing said strap to a similar
second bolt located at a corresponding position on an adjacent side
of said outer web, and wherein said securing means also includes a
ski tail receiving cup integrally formed on a respective side at
the outer web of the other of said frame members.
3. A ski rack as defined in claim 2 further comprising means for
supporting said central member in a vertical position with said one
of said frame members located adjacent the lower end of said
central member.
4. A ski rack as defined in claim 3 wherein said locating means
comprises bracket means for fixedly mounting said frame members
upon a wall surface spaced in vertical alignment with each other.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application relates to the co-pending application of Jack H.
Wegley, Ser. No. 269,039, filed July 5, 1972, which application
discloses a basic concept to which further improvements have been
added in the present application.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The art of the present invention is found in a polygonal frame
member which is of one-piece molded construction. Two basic forms
of frame members are employed, each of which includes a polygonal
outer web integrally joined to a coaxial central hub by radially
extending spokes extending from the hub to the midpoint of each
side of the polygonal outer member. In one form of frame member,
pockets are formed along each outer side of the frame member, while
in the other form of frame member the pockets are eliminated and
replaced with a pair of locating ribs. The two forms of frame
members may be produced from a single mold, inserts being placed in
the pocket forming portions of the mold when it is desired to mold
frame members without the pockets. For strengthening purposes, the
central hub has an axial length greater than the axial width of the
polygonal outer web and the radially extending struts are tapered,
extending the full length of the hub and the full width of the
rib.
Three forms of the invention are disclosed, a carousel type form in
which frame members are rotatably supported at vertically spaced
positions on a central post, the post preferably being of the
extensible length type employed for pole lamps. A second form of
the invention finds upper and lower frame members being provided
with wall mounting brackets at one side of their polygonal
configuration, the brackets being fixedly secured to a wall surface
as by bolts. In both the carousel and wall mounted version, the
pocket type frame members are employed as the lower of the two
frame members, while the upper frame members do not have pockets,
but are provided with resilient straps for clamping a ski rack to
each of the exposed polygonal sides.
A third form of the invention, a car rack embodiment, is disclosed
which finds two of the non-pocket type frame members fixedly
mounted at spaced positions on a central shaft with car mounting
brackets and straps secured to the lower side of the respective
polygonal frame members.
Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent to
the following specification and to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a carousel-type supporting
apparatus in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the carousel-type supporting apparatus
taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1 in accordance with the present
invention;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the inner mounting means for the
plurality of spokes of the carousel type supporting apparatus in
accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the inner mounting means for the
plurality of struts of the carousel-type supporting apparatus in
accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged side elevational view, partially separated,
of the mounted spokes of the carousel-type supporting apparatus
taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 2 in accordance with the present
invention;
FIG. 6 is an enlarged side elevational view, partially separated,
of the mounted struts of the carousel-type supporting apparatus in
accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 7, is a partial front elevational view of another
carousel-type supporting apparatus in accordance with the present
invention;
FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the carousel-type supporting apparatus
of FIG. 7 in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a lower poket-type retaining member
of the carousel-type supporting apparatus of FIG. 7 in accordance
with the present invention;
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a pole mounted ski rack;
FIG. 11 is a detail top plan view, partially in cross section of
the upper frame member of the rack of FIG. 10;
FIG. 12 is a cross sectional view taken on line 12--12 of FIG.
11;
FIG. 13 is a detail cross sectional view taken on line 13--13 of
FIG. 11;
FIG. 14 is a top plan view, partially in section, of he lower frame
member of the rack of FIG. 10;
FIG. 15 is a detail cross sectional view taken on line 15--15 of
FIG. 14;
FIG. 16 is a detail perspective view of a wall mounted embodiment
of the rack of FIG. 10;
FIG. 17 is a top plan view of the rack of FIG. 16;
FIG. 18 is a cross sectional view, taken on a central vertical
plane of the lower frame member of the rack of FIG. 16; and
FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a rack embodying certain features
of the rack of FIG. 10 adapted to be mounted upon an
automobile.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a carousel-type supporting
apparatus 10 in accordance with the principles of the present
invention. The supporting apparatus 10 is generally comprised of a
pair of individually rotatable retaining means 15a and 15b for
retaining heavy objects, such as, the illustrated set of golf clubs
and golf bag 40. The retaining means 15a and 15b are rotatably
mounted to a center post 11 which vertically mounted between the
ground 12 and the ceiling 13. The carousel-type supporting
apparatus 10 may be adjusted by means of a pair of telescopic
member 11a and 11b which include respective apertures 11c that
cooperate the respective pins 14 to allow the supporting apparatus
to be securely mounted in a conventional showroom. The rotatable
retaining means 15a and 15b are identical; therefore, for the sake
of clarity and brevity, only the lower rotatable retaining means
15a will be described throughout the rest of this
specification.
Referring now also to FIG. 2, there is shown a top plan view of the
carousel-type supporting apparatus 10 which illustrates the lower
rotatable retaining means 15a set forth in the lower half of FIG.
1. The lower rotatable retaining means 15a is generally comprised
of an annular member 16a, a plurality of diagonally disposed struts
17a, a plurality of horizontally disposed spokes 18a, an upper
collar 20a, a lower collar 22a, and a plurality of retaining hooks
39a. The annular member 16a has twleve sections, each section
having either one end of the six struts 17a or one end of the six
spokes 18a mounted thereto. The other ends of the struts 17a and
the spokes 18a are respectively mounted to the lower collar 22a,
and a plurality of retaining hooks 39a. The annular member 16a has
twelve sections, each section having either one end of the six
struts 17a or one end of the six spokes 18a mounted thereto. The
other ends of the struts 17a and the spokes 18a are respectively
mounted to the lower collar 22a and the upper collar 20a. The
mounting of such struts 17a and spokes 18a will be described in
detail in the later discussions of FIGS. 3, 4 5 and 6. The upper
collar 20a and the lower collar 22a are rotatably supported on the
center post 11 by respective rings 19a and 21a which are securely
mounted to the center post 11 as clearly illustrated in FIGS. 3 and
4.
Referring now to FIGS. 3, 4, 5, and 6, the means for constructing
and rotatably mounting the retaining means 15a are shown in detail.
In FIGS. 3 and 5, the ring 19a is secured to the center post 11 by
means of the aperture 23a and the pin 24a. A plurality of inner
spoke brackets 27a may be mounted on the upper collar 20a by
conventional means, for example, suitable screw and lock washer
means 28a. The inner end of the spoke 18a may be secured to the
inner spoke bracket 27a by means of an aperture and pin combination
29a. The outer end of the spoke 18a may be secured to the annular
member 16a by means of an outer spoke bracket 30a. The outer spoke
bracket 30a secures the spoke 18a by means of an aperture and pin
combination 32a, and the outer spoke bracket 30a is secured to the
annular member 16a by means of the screw and lock nut arrangement
31a.
Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 6, there is shown the means in detail
for securing the plurality of struts 17a between the annular member
16a and lower collar 22a. The ring 21a is secured to the center
post 11 by means of the aperture 25a and the pin 26a. A plurality
of inner strut brackets 33a may be respectively welded to the lower
collar 22a at the illustrated area designated 34a. The inner end of
the strut 17a may then be secured to the inner strut bracket 33a by
means of a screw and lock nut arrangement 35a. The outer strut
bracket 36a may be secured to the annular member 16a by a screw and
lock nut arrangement 37a. In turn, the outer end of the strut 17a
may be secured to the outer strut bracket 36a by means of an
aperture and pin combination 38a.
For the most part, all of the elements of the carousel type
supporting apparatus 10 are fabricated of aluminum, and the same
applies for the later taught supporting apparatus 50, except for
the base stand 44. The plurality of struts 17a and spokes 18a are
inverted U-shaped aluminum channels which are relatively
lightweight and may be arranged to ensure compact packaging of the
carousel-type supporting apparatus 10. The center post 11 may
consist of two sections which allows the approximate maximum length
of the package to be no longer than a respective diameter of the
annular members 16a and 16b.
Referring now to FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, there is shown another
carousel-type supporting apparatus 50 for retaining shown skis 54
in accordance with the principles of the present invention. The
supporting apparatus 50 is generally comprised of a pair of
generally annular rotatable retaining means 45a and 45b which are
adapted to rotate around a center post 41 which is supported by a
base stand 44. While the plurality of spokes 46c and the plurality
of struts 46a and 46b are mounted in a similar fashion as the
aforementioned spokes and struts of the supporting apparatus 10,
the plurality of struts 46a are attached to a common collar 47 by
means of strut bracket 48 so that the retaining means 45a and 45b
are locked in rotation movement in order to retain the shown skis
54. As is obvious in light of the earlier discussion of supporting
apparatus 10, the pair of rotatable retaining means 45a and 45b are
also rotatably mounted to the center post 41 by means of the
respective lower collar and ring 42a and 43a and upper collar and
ring 42b and 43b. The shown skis 54 are retained on the supporting
apparatus 50 by means of cooperating lower pocket retaining member
49 and upper pocket retaining member 51.
Referring now to FIG. 9, there is shown a perspective view of the
lower pocket retaining member 49 which is mounted to the lower
retaining member 45a by means of the U-shaped inner support 53. The
pocket retaining members 49 and 51 may be constructed of suitable
rigid material, such as, metal, and such material may be rubber or
felt control on its inner surface 52.
In FIGS. 10 through 19, three exemplary forms of ski racks are
disclosed which employ main frame members 100 (FIG. 11) and two
instances a main frame member 102 of a molded thermoplastic
material.
Referring first to FIGS. 11 through 13, main frame member 100 is
preferably constructed as a one-piece member having a continuous
polygonal outer web 104, a centrally located hub 106 coaxial with
the polygonal configuration of outer web 104, and a plurality of
stiffening webs 108 which extend radially from hub 106 to the
respective midpoints of the individual sides of polygonal web 104.
As best seen in FIG. 12, the axial extent of hub 106 is
approximately twice that of the axial extent of outer web 100 and
stiffening webs 108 are tapered as at 110 to provide an increased
degree of rigidity to the assembly. Preferably, frame members 100
are cast as a single unit, however, in some situations, it may be
desirable to form the members from two as at the dividing line A of
FIG. 12 which are subsequently assembled by thermal bonding.
For additional strength, an inwardly projecting flange 112 (FIG.
12) is formed around the inner periphery of outer web 104. Near the
end of each individual side of outer web 104, a pair of outwardly
projecting locating ribs 104 are integrally formed to extend
axially along each side of web 104.
At or adjacent each corner of polygonal web 104, an outwardly
projecting pin 116 is fixedly secured as by a riveting technique
(FIG. 13) to the web, a resilient strap 118 having one end fixedly
secured to web 104 during the rivetin process. A coupling washer
120 is fixedly secured to the free end of each strap 118. The
length of resilient strap 118 is somewhat less than the distance
between adjacent pins 116 so that when the coupling wahser 120 at
the free end of the strap is slipped over the pin 116 at the
adjacent side of web 104, strap 118 is resiliently tensioned and
may thus serve as a clamping or holding memker for detachably
holding a pair of skis S against one side of polygonal web 104, the
locating ribs 114 holding the skis in a substantially centered
position at the side of web 104.
Frame member 102 differs from frame member 100 in that a ski tail
receiving cup 122 is integrally molded at the outer side of each
side of polygonal web 104. Apart from the presence of cups 122, the
configuration and dimensions of web 102 are identical to the
corresponding configuration and dimensions of web 100 and by
employing a mold with removable inserts, a single mold may be
alternatively used ro produce webs 100 or 102. It will be noted
that the spacing between locating ribs 114 and the opposite end
sides of cups 122 is identical.
Referring now to FIG. 10, a pole mounted version of a ski rack
embodying the invention is disclosed in which a frame member 100
and a frame member 102 are received on an extensible pole 126 which
passes through the central hubs 106 of the respective frame
members. Pole 126 is of the longitudinally extensible type which is
adjustably extended to rigidly clamp the pole in a fixed position
between a floor and ceiling, poles of this type being widely
employed for supporting lamps. Frame members 100 and 102 are
supported upon pole 106 for free rotation relative to the pole as
by roll pins 128, 130 which pass through pole 126 in underlying
relationship of the central hubs of the respective frame members.
In the arrangement of FIG. 10, the uppermost frame member 100 and
the lowermost frame member 102 are rotatively coupled to eeach
other whenever a pair of skis is mounted in the unit as shown in
FIG. 10, the tail ends of the skis being received in one of the
cups 122 while the upper ends of the skis are clamped to one side
of frame member 100 by the resilient straps 118. Thus, when fully
loaded, the rack can be freely rotated to bring a desired pair of
skis to a selected position, thus enabling locating of the rack
closely adjacent a wall or in a corner of the room.
In FIGS. 16 through 18, a stationary wall-mounted version of the
rack is disclosed in which the upper frame member 100 is provided
with a generally U-shaped wall mounting bracket 132 fixedly secured
to one side of the outer web of frame member 100. A slightly
modified form of frame member 102, designated 102' in FIGS. 16 and
18 is employed in which the cup 122 is omitted from one of the
sides of polygonal member 104 and an offset wall mounting bracket
134 is fixedly secured to member 102' in place of the omitted cup.
The brackets 132 and 134 are fixedly secured, as by screws, to a
wall surface as illustrated in FIGS. 17 and 18.
In FIG. 19, a car rack version of the invention is disclosed which
employs two frame members 100 fixedly interconnected to each other
by a central rod 136 which is fixedly secured at its opposite ends,
as by riveting, to the central hubs of the respective frame members
100. A mounting bracket 138 of a configuration suitable to support
the two frame members 100 at a sufficient clearance from a car roof
or rear deck is employed and is fixedly secured to one side of the
frame members as illustrated in FIG. 19. Conventional suction cups
and straps 140 and 142 are employed to support and secure the rack
of FIG. 19 to the roof or trunk lid of a car.
Thus, although the present invention has been shown and described
with reference to particular embodiments, such as, a carousel-type
supporting apparatus having hexagonally shaped retaining member,
nevertheless, various changes and modifications obvious to a person
skilled in the art to which the invention pertains, for example,
generally annular shaped retaining members having some other member
of sides, are deemed to lie within the spirit, scope and
contemplation of the invention as set forth in the appended
claims.
* * * * *