Patent Application
20170341216
The present invention relates to tools and, more particularly, to a storage apparatus for containing tools.
Taiwanese Patent 1402148 discloses a storage apparatus that includes several trays rotationally supported on a vertical shaft that is connected to a base element at a lower end. Two lager wheels are attached to the lowermost tray while three smaller wheels are attached to the base element. In a position relative to the vertical shaft, the trays overlap one another so that each of the trays, except for the uppermost tray, is covered by another tray. In use, the lowermost tray is moved to a substantially opposite position relative to the vertical shaft to have the larger and smaller wheels cover a large area to stably support the trays. Then, the other trays are moved to other positions so that none of them is covered by any other tray.
The present invention is therefore intended to obviate or at least alleviate the problems encountered in prior art.
It is the primary objective of the present invention to provide a storage apparatus.
To achieve the foregoing objective, the storage apparatus includes trays, a shaft, a base element and two wheel assemblies. Each of the trays includes a supporting plate, a confining plate formed on the supporting plate, and a lug formed on an external side of the confining plate. The shaft is inserted in the lugs of the trays to connect the trays to one another so that each of the trays is rotatable between a withdrawn position and a spread position relative to a lower one of the trays. The base element is attached to a lower end of the shaft. The base element is connected to the confining plate of a second one of the trays by a connecting element. The base element is located below the lowermost tray when the trays overlap one another. The first wheel assembly includes wheels attached to a lower face of the lowermost tray. The second wheel assembly includes wheels attached to a lower face of the base element. The wheels of the first and second wheel assemblies cover a first area when the trays overlap one another and cover a second area when the trays fully spread from one another. The first area is smaller than the second area.
Other objectives, advantages and features of the present invention will be apparent from the following description referring to the attached drawings.
The present invention will be described via detailed illustration of the preferred embodiment referring to the drawings wherein:
Referring to
The shaft assembly 20 includes a shaft 21, several smoothing elements 22 and a fastener 23. The shaft 21 extends throughout the tunnel 14 of the lug 13 of each of the trays 10 so that each of the trays 10 is rotationally connected to the shaft 21. The smoothing elements 22 are in an annular shape. The shaft 21 extends throughout each of the smoothing elements 22 while each of the smoothing elements 22 is provided between the lugs 13 of two adjacent ones of the trays 10. Each of the smoothing elements 22 is adapted for smoothing rotation of the two corresponding trays 10 relative to each another by reducing friction between the lugs 13 of the two corresponding trays 10. The fastener 23 is preferably a nut engaged with a threaded section 24 of the shaft 21 near an upper end. Thus, the lugs 13 and hence the trays 10 cannot be translated up and down long the shaft 21.
The first wheel assembly 30 includes two wheels 31. The wheels 31 are connected to the bottom of the supporting plate 12 of the lowermost tray 10. Each of the wheels 31 is at a proper distance from the lug 13 of the lowermost tray 10.
The base element 40 is a V-shaped element including two prongs 41 extending from a shaft-connecting portion 42. The shaft-connecting portion 42 preferably includes a tunnel 421. The shaft 21 extends in the tunnel 421. One of the prongs 41 includes a connecting element 43 connected to the confining plate 11 of a second one of the trays 10, counted from the top, so that the base element 40 is connected to and movable together with the second tray 10.
The second wheel assembly 35 includes three wheels 36. One of the wheels 36 is attached to the bottom of the shaft-connecting portion 42 while each other wheel 35 is connected to the bottom of a corresponding one of the prongs 41. Each of the wheels 36 is at a proper distance from any other wheel 36.
The angle-retaining assembly 50 includes a pin 51, an aperture 52 made in the supporting plate 12 of each of the trays 10, and a hollow stem 53 formed on the top of the supporting plate 12 of each of the uppermost and lowermost trays 10. The pin 51 includes a crook 54 formed at an upper end.
The apertures 52 are located along a vertical line when the trays 10 overlap one another. The pin 51 can be inserted in the apertures 52 of the trays 10 to prevent the trays 10 from rotation relative to one another, thereby keeping the trays 10 overlapping one another. In that case, the crook 54 of the pin 51 can be laid on the confining plate 11 of the uppermost tray 10 to retain the elevation of the pin 51.
The hollow stems 53 extend along a vertical line as the uppermost tray 10 is angularly biased from the lowermost tray 10. The pin 51 can be inserted in the hollow stems 53 to prevent the uppermost tray 10 from rotation relative to the lowermost tray 10, thereby keeping the uppermost tray 10 annularly biased from the lowermost trays 10.
The positioning assembly 60 is connected to the lowermost tray 10. The positioning assembly 60 includes a positioning ring 62 formed on or attached to the lowermost tray 10, a post 61 connected to the positioning ring 62, a pad 63 connected to a lower end of the post 61, and a knob 64 connected to an upper end of the post 61. In an alternative embodiment, the positioning ring 62 is formed or connected to a portion of the first wheel assembly 30, which is connected to the lowermost tray 10.
The post 61 is vertically movable relative to the positioning ring 62 between an upper position and a lower position. As the post 61 is in the upper position, the pad 63 is located away from a floor to allow the wheel assembly 30 to roll on the floor. As the post 61 is in the lower position, the pad 63 is laid on the floor to prevent the wheel assembly 30 from rolling on the floor. To this end, the pad 63 is preferably made of a skid-proof material. Preferably, the post 61 is a threaded bolt and the positioning ring 62 is a nut engaged with the threaded bolt. The knob 64 is operable to rotate the post 61 relative to the positioning ring 62 to move the post 61 relative to the positioning ring 62.
The cover 70 is pivotally connected to the confining plate 11 of the uppermost tray 10 by two hinges 71. The cover 70 can be pivoted between a closing position and an opening position. In the closing position, the cover 70 closes the uppermost tray 10. The cover 70 includes a cutout 72 for receiving the crook 54 of the pin 51 so that the crook 54 of the pin 51 does not interfere with the pivoting of the cover 70 to the closing position. A buckle 73 is provided for locking the cover 70 to the uppermost tray 10.
Referring to
The posts 61 can be moved to the upper position to move the pads 63 from the floor. Then, a user can carry the storage apparatus by the handle 17.
Referring to
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The present invention has been described via the detailed illustration of the preferred embodiment. Those skilled in the art can derive variations from the preferred embodiment without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the preferred embodiment shall not limit the scope of the present invention defined in the claims.
