US 4,140,223 AGranted

Tiered rotatable spice-cans storage unit

OwnerArthur G. Rau, Regina M. Rauinventors

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Abstract

In a preferred embodiment, a support base having a detachably attached segmented upright structure of serially arranged rod members having pivotally-rotatably mounted therearound a multiplicity of tiers of pigeonhole structures, each pigeonhole structure forming a plurality of separate recess spaces each with its respective flat support surface and outer edge thereof located adjacent the insert opening to the recess space thereof, and for each flat support surface there being a set of at least one pair of upwardly-extending abutments including at least a first abutment positioned a first distance from the outer edge and a second abutment positioned a second distance from the outer edge, respectively preventing the sliding inwardly and outwardly of a spice can having a bottom peripheral downwardly-extending flange, and each recessed space extending along a first direction to its insert opening with the first direction substantially at right angle to a line along a second direction having the line of the second direction extending imaginarily through the upright structure.

Claims2

Dependent claims

A spice-can storage device comprising in combination:

pigeonhole structure forming a recessed space and having upright walls and an overhead wall, and having a flat support surface between the upright walls and having an outer edge to the flat support surface, within the recessed space and forming a single recessed-space opening, and having an outer edge to the flat support surface, and the flat support surface and the recessed space both extending from the single recess-space opening at the outer-edge of the flat support surface, the flat support surface being adapted for supporting a bottom face of a spice can having a continuous peripheral downwardly-extending flange around the periphery of the spice can-bottom, the pigeonhole structure' recessed space and the flat support surface both being of lengths receivable of different ones of spice cans having bottoms of different lengths, the flat support surface having upwardly extending sets of abutments located solely adjacent said single recessed-space opening, the sets including at least a first abutment positioned on an upper surface of the flat support surface at said outer edge adapted for preventing the spice can from being accidentially slid outwardly from the recessed space and a second abutment positioned adjacent to said single opening a predetermined minor distance of a dimension sufficient to form a seating space the second abutment being spaced-away-from each of the upright walls sufficiently to receiving and retainably seating the continuous peripheral downwardly-extending flange, and for the second abutment being positioned to prevent a downwardly-extending spice can flange seated within said seating space from being slid further into said recessed space, whereby a spice can of any size bottom is retainably seatable adjacent to said single recessed space opening.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.