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US 6,283,314 B1Granted
Foldable rack
OwnerPaul Loguercioinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An expandable structure adapted to convert from a collapsed position to an expanded position, wherein a plurality of parallel rods are mounted to pivotally interconnected links, each of which has a plurality of bores asymmetrically spaced from one another. The structure in its collapsed position is generally flat and can be conveniently stored. The structure can be expanded into an arch-shaped structure. The structure can be used as a portable drying rack, or may be used in other product applications.
Claims16
A foldable drying rack comprising:
- a plurality of spaced apart parallel hanging bars;
- and side supports holding said hanging bars, said side supports each comprising a plurality of pairs of links, each link of said pairs of links being pivotally connected at a pivot point located below a midpoint of each link in said pairs of links, each end of each link in said pairs of links being pivotally attached to an adjacent end of a link in an adjacent pair of links;
- said side supports being expandable into an arcuate form such that said rack can be used in an expanded position wherein the hanging bars define at least two concentric annular planes, and being collapsible into a flattened form such that said rack can be stored.
A foldable drying rack comprising:
- a plurality of spaced apart parallel hanging bars;
- and
- side supports holding said hanging bars, said side supports each comprising a plurality of pairs of links, each link of said pairs of links being pivotally connected at a pivot point located below a midpoint of each link in said pairs of links, each end of each link in said pairs of links being pivotally attached to an adjacent end of a link in an adjacent pair of links;
- end pairs of links located at each end of said plurality of pairs of links of said side supports having a full link and a partial link, said partial link extending between said pivot point and an adjacent end of a link in an adjacent pair of links, said full link being coupled at one end to an adjacent end of a link in an adjacent pair of links and having a free end which is unconnected to any other link;
- said side supports being expandable into an arcuate form such that said rack can be used in an expanded position wherein the hanging bars define at least two concentric annular planes, and being collapsible into a flattened form such that said rack can be stored.
2 more elements
An expandable structure comprising:
- a plurality of spaced parallel members, each having opposite end portions;
- a plurality of links forming an inner and outer frames operatively connected to each of the opposite end portions of said members, each link of one of the frames bridging three neighboring links of the other frame to define inner, intermediate and outer asymmetrically spaced apart overlapping regions of the interconnected links;
- and
- pivot assemblies formed in each of the inner, intermediate and outer overlapping regions and receiving the opposite end portions of the parallel members to convert the expandable structure from a collapsed position, wherein said members, received in the inner, intermediate and outer pivots, define three straight spaced parallel planes, to a series of expanded positions, in each of which the parallel members define three concentric annular planes.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.