Patent Application
20080156757
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rack apparatus, and, particularly, to a rack apparatus used to hang workpieces during operating/treating processes, such as plating, washing, coloring, etc.
2. Description of Related Art
Rack apparatuses are widely used to hang/carry workpieces during operating/treating processes such as plating, washing, coloring, etc. Generally, a typical rack apparatus has a special shape and dimension that can be only used in one kind of operating process, and the typical rack apparatus can only hang/carry workpieces having special shapes and dimensions for which the rack apparatus was particularly designed to accommodate.
Therefore, when workpieces requiring a plurality of operating processes are processed, typically, a plurality of kinds/configurations of rack apparatuses are used in an operating line, wherein each kind of rack apparatus corresponds to a kind of operating process and/or a particular workpiece to be carried thereby. The workpieces are hung onto different kinds of rack apparatuses to be processed, in order. At the end of each operating process, the workpieces are taken off the rack apparatuses and hung on other rack apparatuses for the next process. Thus a great deal of time and work is generally consumed in the aforementioned operation. Additionally, when workpieces having shapes and dimensions that do not match the rack apparatuses installed on the operating line are manufactured and/or treated, all rack apparatuses must be replaced by new rack apparatuses that match these workpieces. In this way, the cost of this kind of processing may be made prohibitively expensive.
Therefore, an improved rack apparatus is desired in order to overcome the above-described shortcomings.
A rack apparatus includes a frame member and a plurality of rack members. The rack members are detachably mounted on the frame member, and each rack member includes a plurality of rack poles detachably mounted thereto.
Other advantages and novel features will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Many aspects of the present rack apparatus can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present rack apparatus. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts through out the several views.
Referring now to the drawings in detail,
The hanging member 10 is an approximately U-shaped metal pole with two approximately parallel arm portions, and two respective distal ends of the arm portions of the hanging member 10 extend towards each other. The arm portions of the hanging member display a spring/elastic quality, which helps facilitate a selectably detachable mounting of the hanging member to the frame member 20. The frame member 20 is advantageously made of a mechanically and chemically durable metal, such as a stainless steel or titanium alloy. The frame member 20 is usefully cubical or rectangular parallelepiped in shape and, to attain such a shape, is formed from twelve metal poles via welding or bolting together. Of course, if another frame shape should be desired, the number of poles could be adjusted. Also, the number of poles could, potentially, be increased if reinforcement is desired, even if a cubical or parallelepiped shape is employed. The frame member 20 includes a rectangular top frame 21 and a rectangular bottom frame 22, parallel to the top frame 21. The top frame 21 is formed by two parallel hanging poles 210 and two parallel fixing poles 211, perpendicular to the hanging poles 210. Each hanging pole 210 defines a hanging hole 2100 in its middle portion, and a diameter of the hanging hole 2100 is larger than a width of each end of the hanging member 10. Each distal end of the hanging member 10 respectively is slidably received in a corresponding hanging hole 2100. Due to the spring quality of the hanging member 10, the distal ends of the hanging member 10 are effectively retained in the hanging holes 2100. Each fixing pole 211 defines a plurality of fixing apertures 2110 therein to allow assembly/mounting of the rack members 30, and the fixing apertures 2110 are, beneficially, arranged equidistantly. It is, however, understood that such apertures 2110 could be arranged in some other configuration (i.e., non-equidistant spacing).
Also referring to
The holding member 40 is made of a durable metal (i.e., both mechanically and chemically), such as a stainless steel or titanium alloy. The holding member 40 opportunely includes, at least, a plurality of holding components 400 and a holding pole 410. The holding components 400 are, beneficially, semicircular loops mounted on the holding pole 410 via, e.g., welding or casting for holding the rack members 30 in their proper positions. Such semicircular loops are directed to open upwardly toward a top of the frame member 20. By having the holding components 400 be such upwardly-directed semicircular loops, such loops are able to matingly receive a corresponding bottom bar 306 of a respective rack member 30 therein, as each bottom bar 306 is primarily cylindrical, except at the ends thereof.
Each fixing component 303 is formed by a bent/angled metal piece (e.g., about a 90° bend), again formed of a durable metal as per the other components of the rack apparatus 100. The fixing component 303 usefully includes, at least, a connecting portion 3031 and a rack portion 3032, approximately perpendicularly connected (e.g., integrally) to the connecting portion 3031. The connecting portion 3031 defines a connecting hole 3033 therein, and a diameter of the connecting hole 3033 is larger than that of the supporting pole 302 to facilitate, advantageously, a slidable connection therewith. The rack portion 3032 defines a rack aperture 3034 therein, and a width of the rack aperture 3034 is larger than a diameter of the rack pole 305. The width of the rack aperture 3034 and the diameter of the rack pole 305 are advantageously chosen to yield a slide fit therebetween. An inner diameter of each spacing pipe 304 is larger than a diameter of the supporting pole 302, and an outer diameter of the spacing pipe 304 is larger than a diameter of the connecting hole 3033, thereby promoting a slide fit between such parts, also. A length of each rack pole 305 is approximately equal to that of the supporting pole 302. The bottom pole 306 defines two mounting holes 3060, respectively, in its two corresponding ends, and a diameter of the mounting hole 3060 is larger than that of the supporting pole 302 in a manner promoting, usefully, an appropriate slide fit.
In assembly, the holding pole 410 is mounted on a middle portion of the bottom frame 22 and parallel to the fixing poles 211, via, e.g., welding or bolting. The two supporting pole 302 are approximately perpendicularly connected to the top pole 301, for example, via welding or bolting. The ends defining the screw holes 308 of the supporting poles 302, respectively, extend approximately along a same direction as that of the connecting hooks 3010, and the connected ends of the two supporting poles 302 are each positioned near their respective connecting hook 3010. Each supporting pole 302 is, respectively, inserted into a connecting hole 3033 of a fixing component 303. Each supporting pole 302 is then, respectively, inserted into a spacing pipe 304. The aforementioned assembly operations can be repeated, in this way, and the fixing components 303 and the spacing pipes 304 are alternately mounted on/along the supporting poles 302, and the rack portions 3032 are oriented approximately perpendicular to the top pole 301.
The end of each supporting pole 302 is respectively inserted into a mounting hole 3060 of the bottom pole 306, and each of the holding bolts 307 is respectively screwed into a screw hole 308 of the supporting pole 302 to hold the supporting poles 302 in the mounting holes 3060. Two ends of each rack pole 305 are inserted into two respective rack apertures 3034 of two corresponding fixing components 303 mounted on the two supporting poles 302. In this way, a plurality of rack poles 305 are detachably and equidistantly mounted in parallel between the two supporting poles 302. Further, the supporting poles 302 are inserted into both the fixing components 303 and the spacing pipes 304. Resultingly, a rack member 30 is assembled. Additionally, the fixing components 303 can also be welded to the spacing pipes 304 in alternating fashion.
After a rack member 30 is assembled, the two connecting hooks 3010 of its top pole 301 are respectively placed into two corresponding fixing apertures 2110 of the frame member 20. The bottom poles 306 are placed into the holding components 400 to hold the rack member 30. In this way, a plurality of rack members 30 are equidistantly mounted in parallel on the frame member 20. Alternatively, the bottom frame 22 can define a plurality of holding apertures corresponding to the fixing apertures 2110 therein, and two ends of the bottom pole 306 can be placed into the holding apertures. In this way, the holding member 40 can, potentially, be omitted. Finally, the two ends of the hanging member 10 are respectively inserted into the two hanging holes 2100, and thus the rack apparatus 100 can be used in manufacturing.
In use, workpieces (not shown) are hung/mounted on the rack poles 305. Understandably, the rack poles 305 and the rack members 30 can be disassembled from the rack apparatus 100 and mounted to the rack apparatus 100 again, if required. Therefore, when workpieces of a large dimension or complicated shape require hanging on the rack apparatus 100, some rack poles 305 and rack members 30 can be disassembled, and thus the rack apparatus 100 can provide more space to contain these workpieces. Additionally, disassembling and mounting the rack poles 305 and the rack members 30 can also change the shape of the rack apparatus 100, according to requirement. In this way, the rack apparatus 100 can be installed on the operating/processing line without being replaced, and the workpieces hung on the rack apparatus 100 do not necessarily require taking off (i.e., removal from) the apparatus 100 until processing is complete. It is to be understood that the rack apparatus 100 could be used, e.g., to accommodate/carry workpieces that hang alongside a given rack member 30 and/or that lay across a plurality of rack poles 305 of adjacent/adjoining rack members 30. The rack apparatus 100, as such, is not to be prejudiced by the manner that a user could choose to hold/carry workpieces therewith.
It is to be further understood that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of structures and functions of various embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the present invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200610064620.7 | Dec 2006 | CN | national |
