Assemblable support for articles

March 28, 1939.

2,152,192

Η E. HOFFMAN

ASSEMBLABLE SUPPORT FOR ARTICLES

Filed Dec. 4, 1937

<img file="US2152192A_D0001.tif" />

Patented Mar. 28, 1939

2,152,192

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,152,192 ASSEMBLABLE SUPPORT FOR ARTICLES Herbert E. Hoffman, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application December 4, 1937, Serial No. 178,012 1 Claim. (Cl. 211—34)

This invention relates to devices or racks used for supporting or displaying articles such as shoes, and has for its chief object to provide a support or rack capable of being assembled into the con5 dition of use by the user himself without employing any tools, and thereby render shipping of said device easy and convenient and reduce its cost and hazard of damage.

Another object is to provide a shoe rack which 10 will effectively support varieties of shoes in an easily and readily discernible manner and will greatly facilitate the storing and removal thereof.

With these and other objects in view my inven15 tion consists in the novel combination, arrangement and construction of parts hereinafter more fully described and shown and defined in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawing which constitutes 20 part of this specification and in which different reference characters denote corresponding parts—

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of my device shown in assembled condition;

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical section of a 25 part of the device showing one of the cross rods or pins and the means for securing it in position in the side plates or standards of my device;

Figure 3 is a side view of a modified construction of my device;

Figure 4 is a vertical section on line 4—4 of Figure 3 seen in the direction of the arrows therein;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of one of the cross rods or pins used with said modified construction; 35 Figure 6 is a similar view to that of Figure 1 with modified means for securing the cross rods or pins in position in the side plates or standards of my device; and

Figure 7 is a perspective view of one of the cross 40 rods or pins used in the modification shown in Figure 6 and of the means for securing said pins in position in the standards of said device.

Referring to the drawing more in detail i 0, i 0 denote two substantially rectangular boards or 45 plates of any suitable rigid material, such as wood or metal, serving as standards, and 1 I denote cross rods or pins adapted to engage said side boards or plates. The boards or plates are each provided with two vertical parallel rows of open50 tags 12, 13 (Figure 1) for the engagement of the ends of said cross rods or pins 11. The opentags IΣ of one row are vertically displaced relative to the openings 13 of the second row, so that when assembling the parts and the pins are passed 55 with their ends into the openings 12, 13 of the two side plates 10, 10, they will extend ta a staggered formation relative to one another. With such arrangement each cross pin of one row and a corresponding cross pin of the second row constitute a pair of supports for a plurality of shoes, 5 the upper cross pin of each such pair of supports serving to catch the front face of the heel of a shoe and the lower one to bear against the lower face of the sole thereof.

In the drawing 6 pairs of such supports 12, 13 10 are shown, for the support of a plurality of pairs of men’s, women’s and children’s shoes, which may be conveniently hung in a downwardly slanting position to be easily discernible and picked out. Said pins while effectively holding the shoes 15 in position permit easy and ready storing and removal thereof.

As stated at the outset, the device is adapted to be manufactured and sold in a disassembled condition, leaving it to the user himself to assemble ₂₀the parts, whereby shipping is considerably simplified and cheapened and waste through damage reduced. To secure the rods or pins in position in the openings of the boards or plates various suitable means may be used, preferably headed ₂₅thumb tacks 14, if the rods are made of wood, and which can be forced into the ends of the pins or rods by finger pressure, to eliminate the use of any tool.

In the construction shown in Figures 1 and 2 ₃₀the openings 12, 13 are holes which may be of any cross section, such as circular, as shown, when using cylindrical pins 11 or pins having cylindrical ends.

In the construction shown in Figures 3 and 4 ₃₅the openings in the plates 10 are in form of slits 12', 13' slanting downwardly from one of the side edges of each plate and terminating at their inner closed ends ta horizontally extending parts 12^a, I3^a. In width these slits are smaller than the ₄₀thickness of the rods or pins 11'. Near their ends said pins 11' are cut away as at 1 l^a (Figure 5) to fit in said slits and to form shoulders or abutments I i^b (Figure 4) which will bear against the outer faces of said plates and thus securely hold 45 the parts in assembled condition.

This construction facilitates the assemblage of the parts, ta that the pins can be easily slid in into locking position through the slits, and require no separate locking means. 50

In the construction shown in Figures 6 and 7 the plates or boards are provided with similar holes 12, 13 to those shown in Figure 1 and the projecting ends of the pins 11 which may be of the same width as that of said openings are pro- 55

2,152,192 vided each with a groove or recess 15 for engagement of a locking member 16. Such locking member may be in form of a catch lever pivoted at I6^a to the outer face of each plate or board 10.

Inasmuch as the parts when assembled will be rigidly secured in position by locking only one pin at the top and one at the bottom of the device, catches for the other pins may be eliminated and thereby the manufacture and cost of produc10 tion still more simplified and cheapened.

Since various other modifications may be made in the construction without departing from the principle of my invention I do not wish to restrict myself to the details described and shown.