Rotary shelf system

#The present invention relates to a rotary shelf construction and assembly and, more particularly, to a fixed-post rotary shelf construction and assembly. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to improving the rotation and stability of fixed-post rotary shelf systems.

#Corner cabinets, e.g., corner kitchen cabinets, are common features in most houses or businesses. These cabinets offer significant storage space that is commonly difficult to access because of the depth or shape of the cabinet. Rotary shelving or “Lazy Susan” type shelving is often utilized to enhance access to the space contained within corner cabinets. Rotary shelves typically come in two types, rotating-post types and fixed-post types. With rotating-post types of rotary shelves, the shelf is fixedly attached to the rotating post to achieve shelf rotation within the cabinet. With fixed-post types of rotary shelves, the shelf is allowed to rotate around the fixed post to achieve shelf rotation. Each of these types of rotary shelves also commonly has a desired rest-position for the shelf. For example, a rest-position may be a position along the rotation of the shelf that is somewhat resistant to rotation and used to maintain the shelf at a particular location. Rest-positions are desirable, for example, for proper cabinet door positioning or simply to allow for a reference point for positioning or locating items on a shelf.

#The fixed-post type of rotary shelf has historically had drawbacks. For example, they are either unable to rotate a full 360 degrees smoothly or without a bump at 180 degrees from the rest-position, or they are unable to adequately distribute the load of the shelf. Some, for example, in an effort to distribute the load of the shelf evenly, have constructed shelves that rotate on dual contact points. With this type of construction, shelves have a desired first rest-position, e.g., at 0 degrees, and an undesirable second rest-position or bump, e.g., at 180 degrees. This second “bump” disrupts operation and can cause items stored on shelves to topple during rotation. To address this problem, others have constructed shelves that rotate on a single contact point, which allows for only a single rest-position. These shelves, however, fail to evenly distribute the shelf load on both sides of the post, and thus lead to an unstable or un-level shelf.

#FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of one embodiment of the shelf system of the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view of the system shown in FIG. 1;

#FIG. 3 is a close-up exploded perspective view of part of the system shown in FIG. 1;

#FIGS. 1 and 2 show perspective views of one embodiment of a fixed-post type of rotary shelf. Rotary shelf 1 includes a base plate 4 configured to be mounted to the floor of a cabinet through mounting apertures 4a defined by base plate 4. Post 12 is fixedly mounted to base plate 4. A pair of shelf systems 2a and 2b are also shown. FIG. 1 shows systems 2a and 2b as exploded along post 12, while FIG. 2 only shows system 2b as exploded. As seen, system 2 includes shelf hub 10 (shelf surface not shown to facilitate illustration of other components), collar 16, and pin 18. In some embodiments, the shelf system may also be considered to include post 12.

#In terms of assembly, post 12 may be mounted to a cabinet (not shown) through mounting plate 4. Pin 18 may be inserted into an aperture (see FIG. 3), and be secured simply by its own design. Collar 16 may be inserted into shelf hub 10, and the combination may be inserted onto post 12. Alternatively, collar 16 may be placed on post 12 and shelf hub 10 may be lowered down post 12 to engage collar 16. After assembly, the shelf system will rest on pin 18 and resemble system 2a as shown in FIG. 2. Those of ordinary skill will recognize that mounting plate 4 will preferably be mounted to the interior floor of a cabinet, yet other embodiments of the present invention will work equally as well if mounting plate 4 is mounted, for example, to the interior top of the cabinet. Additionally, while one of the benefits of the present invention is its ability to operate smoothly with only one mounting plate, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other embodiments may use two mounting plates, e.g., a plate to attach to the internal floor of a cabinet and a plate to attach to the internal top of a cabinet.

#FIGS. 3 and 4 show close-up perspective views of shelf system 2. Shelf hub 10 is slidably and rotatably positionable on post 12 and defines recess 14 configured to receive and engage collar 16. Collar 16 is slidably and rotatably configured to encircle post 12, and is further configured to mount within recess 14 of hub 10. While collar 16 is shown as separate from shelf hub 10, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that collar 16 could be integral with shelf hub 10.