Nestable and/or liftable rack
OwnerDonald M. Hallinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Rack includes a left upright frame, a right upright frame, and a connector extending between and joining the left and right frames. The connector defines at least one (1) passage extending along the left upright frame, for example, so that another rack may be nested within a volume defined by the rack for reducing storage space requirements. The rack may have its connector oriented so that the rack has a substantially Z-shaped frame, when viewed from above. Wheels may be provided to ease movement of the rack, and a lifting element may be provided on an upper portion of the rack for use with institutional and industrial lifting mechanisms.
Claims16
A rack, comprising:
- a) a left upright frame;
- b) said left upright frame including a front post and a spaced apart rear post;
- c) a right upright frame spaced at a distance from said left frame;
- d) an upper connector disposed between said left frame and said right frame;
- e) said upper connector including a left arm, a right arm, and a middle -portion disposed between and connecting the left and right arms;
- f) said left arm extending from said left frame toward said right frame;
- g) said left arm extending at an acute angle relative to said left frame;
- h) said left arm and a portion of said left frame defining a passage therebetween;
- i) said middle portion being a lifting element forming a part of said upper connector, said lifting element being configured for being lifted by a piece of lifting equipment;
- j) said lifting element extending substantially perpendicularly relative to said left frame;
- k) said lifting element extending transversely relative to said left arm of said upper connector;
- l) said upper connector being disposed so as to provide substantially free access to said passage in a direction from the front to the rear of said rack;
- and
- m) wherein, said passage is open and sufficiently free of obstructions and sufficiently large so that a portion of a left frame and an upper connector of a further rack of the type having spaced apart left and right upright frames can be received therein for nesting together of said rack and the further rack when the further rack is moved in a direction from the front of said rack to the rear of said rack, and the upper connector of the further rack being disposed between the left and right upright frames, and the upper connector of the further rack extending at an acute angle from the left upright frame toward the right upright frame.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.