The disclosure relates to display tables and more particularly pertains to a new display table for displaying articles requiring electrical power while concealing the electrical cords for the articles.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a housing that has a bottom wall and a perimeter wall attached to and extending upwardly from the bottom wall. The perimeter wall has an upper edge defining an opening extending into the housing. A plurality of legs is attached to and extends downwardly from the bottom wall. An upper wall is hingedly coupled to the upper edge and is positionable in an open position exposing the opening or in a closed position closing the opening. The upper wall has a top side and a bottom side and the upper wall has a plurality of apertures extending therethrough. A power strip, including a plurality of female electrical sockets, is mounted within the housing and is mounted on the perimeter wall. A power supply cord electrically coupled to the power strip extends through the perimeter wall and is pluggable into an electrical power socket to supply power to the power strip. Each of a plurality of plug members has a size and shape to be positioned in one of the apertures and releasably engage a peripheral edge of an associated one of the apertures. Multiple articles are positionable on the top side of the upper wall and each covers one of the apertures. Power cords for the articles are extendable through an associated one of the apertures to be plugged into the power strip.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
An upper wall 28, or cover, is hingedly coupled to the upper edge 18. The upper wall 28 is positionable in an open position exposing the opening or in a closed position closing the opening. The upper wall 28 has a top side 30 and a bottom side 32. The upper wall 28 has a plurality of apertures 34 extending therethrough which extend downwardly into the top side 30 and through the bottom side 32. At least three of the apertures 34 are positioned within 4 inches of a perimeter edge 36 of the upper wall 28 and at least three of the apertures 34 are spaced at least 4 inches from the perimeter edge 36. The apertures 34 may be positioned in rows as is shown in the Figures. The apertures 34 are circular shaped and each has a diameter less than 3 inches. A support arm 37 is coupled to the upper wall to selectively retain the upper wall in the open position. The support arm 37 is slidably coupled to a guide rail 38.
A plurality of clips 40 is attached to a bottom side 32 of the upper wall 28. Each of the apertures 34 has at least one of the clips 40 positioned adjacent thereto. Power cords 75 for articles 74 positioned on the upper wall are securable to the top wall 28 with the clips 40. The clips retain the power cords 75 in an orderly arrangement and the power cords 75 will most often be used for powering items such as lights 76 positioned within the articles 74.
A conventional power strip 42 includes a plurality of female electrical sockets 44 mounted within the housing 12 on the perimeter wall 16. A power supply cord 46 electrically coupled to the power strip 42 extends through the perimeter wall 16 and is pluggable into an electrical power socket to supply power to the power strip. The power strip 42 includes a power actuator 48 to selectively supply or shut off electricity to the female electrical sockets 44. The power actuator 48 extends through the perimeter wall 16 so that it may be accessed outside of the housing 12.
A plurality of plug members 50 is provided. Each of the plug members 50 has a size and shape to be positioned in one of the apertures 34 and releasably engage a peripheral edge of an associated one of the apertures 34. In particular, each of the plug members 50 includes an upper wall 51, a lower wall 52 and a peripheral wall 53 extending between the upper 51 and lower 52 walls. The plug members 50 may be solid and the upper 51 and lower 52 walls comprise upper and lower surfaces. The peripheral wall 53 includes a peripheral flange 54 that it is extendable into a peripheral trough 55 in the peripheral edge of the apertures 34. The flanges 54 frictionally engage the troughs 55 to retain the plug members 50 in place and to allow items to be placed on the plug members 50 without the plug members 50 falling out of the apertures 34. The upper sides 51 of the plug members 50 are flush with the top side 30 of the upper wall 28 when the plug members 50 are places in the apertures 34.
In use, multiple articles 74, such as for example miniaturized dwellings used for holiday decorating, are positionable on the top side 30 of the upper wall 28 and positioned such that each article 74 covers one of the apertures 34. Power cords 75 for the articles 74 are extendable through an associated and covered one of the apertures 34 to be plugged into the power strip 42. This allows the power cords 75 to remain hidden from view when the articles 74 are displays and illuminated. Other decorative features, such as mirrors 77 or other decorative elements not requiring electrical power can be positioned on the upper wall 28 as needed while using the plug members 50.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure.
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