Display dish-rack.

Application filed June 16,1904. Serial No. 212,873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, John B. Timbeelake, a citizen of the United States, residing at Jackson, in the county of Jackson and State of 5 Michigan,have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Display Dish-Racks, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

io This invention relates to improvements in racks for supporting and displaying articles of various classes, particularly dishes, such as plates, saucers, and the like.

Figure 1 is a side view of a device embody15 ing my improvements. Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the dish-supporting element and the standard or leg part folded together. Fig. 3 is a side view of the parts when in the positions shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a view show20 ing the dish-supporting element when detached from the standard part and having its two side sections brought into compact position. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the leg or standard detached. Fig. 6 is a side, and Fig. 25 7 is an end, view of the same. Fig. 8 is an elevation of the inside edge or face of one of the dish-supporting side bars. Fig. 9 is a side elevation showing a slight modification in the arrangement of the upper cross-bar of 3° the device shown in Fig. 1.

The article as a whole may be considered as made up of two main elements, one being the frame and attachments thereto with which the dishes directly engage and the 35 other being the standard or leg by which the former is supported in an elevated position. As shown in the drawings, the first of these elements (the dish-engaging part) is constructed as follows: 1 l^a are two bars prefer4° ably arranged substantially parallel to each other. These are connected by means of cross-bars 2, each of which has a foot-piece 3 and an inclined leg 4 at each side and a crossconnecting rod 5. In order to attain certain 45 ends, I prefer to so construct the foot-pieces 3 that they can serve as pivots or hinges, as will be described below. They are seated in sockets 6, which are provided for them at intervals along the side bars 1 l^a. By examin5° ing Fig. 1 it will be seen that the inclination of the leg parts 4 to the side bars 1 l^a is such that when the rack as an entirety is put in the position of use they will permit the articles to each lean slightly in order to bring its 5 5 center of gravity somewhat back of the ver tical plane of the cross-bar 5, against which it rests. At the same time the shaping of these cross-supports is such that a relatively acute angle is formed between the leg parts 4 and the side bars 1 l^a in order to snugly hold 62 in place the bottom edges of the dishes. It will thus be seen that the dish-engaging part or element of the rack has two sets or series of supports for the dishes arranged side by side, each formed of one of the bars-1 or l^a 65 and the set of inclined legs 4, carried thereby, and that the connecting-rods 5 serve to unite the two sets of supports, though this particular manner of connecting them may be varied, as will be apparent from an examination of 70 the other forms of myinvention, to be hereinafter described.

The principal purpose of the present invention is to provide a rack which shall sesurely support and at the same time effect- 75 ively and tastefully display the faces of ornamented ware, such as decorated plates,' saucers, and the like. Heretofore displayracks have been so made as to lie in horizontal planes—that is to say, so that the edges of 80 the plates or other dishes supported thereby were all in the same horizontal plane—and in consequence the visual effect with respect to the conformation and the decoration of articles was limited to that which could be ob- 85 tained by seeing the first one in the series. The rack which I have devised greatly enhances the effect attainable from a series of such articles, as it not only brings more or less of each of them into view, but throws into a 9c species of perspective the entire series. In order to attain this result, I provide the abovedescribed element—that is to say, the dishengaging part proper—with a standard or leg-like support. Thismaybehingedandmay 95 be constructed in such way or related to the other element in such way that it will lock itself against displacement when in the position of use. 7 indicates this part as an entirety of the device. As shown in the con- 100 struction now being described, it consists of a cross-bar or base 8, having legs or .uprights 9, which at the top are connected by pintles or pivots 10 to the side bars 1 l^a of the rack, being fitted in suitable bearings, as at 11. In 105 order to furnish a stop to limit the pivotal movement and prevent backward movement of the standard or support 7 when the holder is set up, I prefer to bend the upper ends of the uprights or legs 9, so as to provide the no a

839.906 shoulders at 12, which are adapted to lie un- I der and engage with the under sides of the bars 1 l^a.

By examining Fig. 3 it will be seen that 5 when the two elements are connected together the article as a whole can be folded into small space and is ready for instant use by simply throwing the standard or leg element 7 down and out into the position shown i o in Fig. 1; but inasmuch as it is desirable to have the parts of the device frequently packed in a still more compact form I provide for this by constructing the standard or leg element 7 in such way that its pivotal connec15 tions at 10 can be'readily detached from the side bars 1 l^a, as shown in Fig. 5, and thereupon the dish-supporting element can have its parts instantly thrown into position as shown in Fig. 4—that is to say, the side bars 20 1 l^a can be brought side by side and in a small compass. The cross-connecting devices at 2 2 are not only at each end connected pivotally to the side bars 1 l^a, but are arranged in parallelism each with the others, so 25 that the several parts are united by a connection of the nature of a parallel-rule joint.

To provide for varying the angle of inclination of the dish-rack when it is put into the position of use, as shown in Fig. 1,1 provide 30 for an adjustment of the standard or leg element 7. ' Such adjustment can be obtained in any of several ways. I have shown and prefer a simple manner of adjusting it, which consists in providing a series of bearing sock35 ets or apertures 11 for the leg-pintles 10, these being of any desired number and the series being of any desired length. By connecting the leg or standard at a higher point in the series the rack will be held in a position 40 correspondingly nearer the horizontal; but when it is attached in one of the lower bearings the rack and the dishes thereon as a series will be held on lines more nearly vertical. This enables the merchant to vary the angle 45 of inclination to correspond to the shapes and relative sizes of the varying sets of articles.

In Fig. 9 I have shown a modification of the device shown in Fig. 1, this modified device being adapted for displaying at the top of the rack of a relatively large bowl or dish. 50 The upper cross-bar is bent upwardly and rearwardly, as indicated at 2', so as to provide an enlarged space between it and the next bar lower on the rack. This particular portion of the device is thus adapted to receive a 5 5 bowl or dish of considerable depth, the idea being to place in it a bowl such as is used for salads or other purposes and to display in the rack-sections beneath it the dishes which make up the set. 60