US20030005863A1

US20030005863A1 - Table assembly with adjustable storage accessories

Info

Publication number: US20030005863A1
Application number: US09/901,347
Authority: US
Inventors: Kao-Ming Chen
Original assignee: Sanmaw Lumber and Wood Mfg Co Ltd
Current assignee: Sanmaw Lumber and Wood Mfg Co Ltd
Priority date: 2001-07-09
Filing date: 2001-07-09
Publication date: 2003-01-09

Abstract

A table assembly includes a table unit, a support grating, and a storage accessory in the form of a shelf member. The support grating includes a parallel pair of upright support rods mounted on the table unit, and a plurality of horizontal bars interconnecting the upright support rods and vertically spaced apart from each other. The shelf member includes a shelf board with a major shelf surface, a bracket unit mounted on the shelf board and having a retaining part that is transverse to the major shelf surface, and a hook unit mounted on the retaining part of the bracket unit for hooking removably with selected ones of the horizontal bars of the support grating.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a table assembly, more particularly to a table assembly with adjustable storage accessories, such as shelf members and baskets.

2. Description of the Related Art

Referring to FIG. 1, a

conventional table assembly

1 is shown to comprise a table unit having a table top 11 and a plurality of leg members 12 with lower ends adapted to be placed on a ground surface, and upper ends connected to the table top 11, a pair of drawers 13 mounted on the table top 11, a back board 14 mounted vertically on a rear side of the table unit, an upper shelf unit 15 mounted fixedly on the back board 14 and disposed above the table top 11, and a lower shelf unit 16 mounted fixedly on the back board 14 and disposed below the table top 11.

The aforesaid

conventional table assembly

1 suffers from the drawback of non-flexible and limited storage space allocation for objects. As shown in FIG. 1, the sizes and positions of the

shelf units

15, 16 are fixed and cannot be varied after fabrication of the table assembly 1. Thus, only a limited number of appropriately sized objects can be placed on the

shelf units

15, 16. In addition, the table area of the table top 11 is fixed and cannot be expanded.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide a table assembly with adjustable storage accessories, such as shelf members and baskets, so as to overcome the aforesaid drawbacks of the conventional table assembly.

Accordingly, the table assembly of the present invention includes a table unit, a support grating, and at least one storage accessory in the form of a shelf member. The table unit has a table top and a plurality of leg members with lower ends adapted to be placed on a ground surface, and upper ends connected to the table top. The support grating includes a parallel pair of upright support rods mounted on the table unit, and a plurality of horizontal bars interconnecting the upright support rods and vertically spaced apart from each other. The shelf member includes a shelf board with a major shelf surface, a bracket unit mounted on the shelf board and having a retaining part that is transverse to the major shelf surface, and a hook unit mounted on the retaining part of the bracket unit for hooking removably with selected ones of the horizontal bars of the support grating.

Due to the removable engagement between the shelf member and the support grating, the number of the shelf members and the positions thereof on the support grating can be adjusted to suit the user's requirements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: [0009]
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional table assembly; [0010]
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the first preferred embodiment of a table assembly according to the present invention; [0011]
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the first preferred embodiment when provided with a number of adjustable storage accessories thereon; [0012]
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary schematic side view showing a first manner of securing a storage accessory in the form of a shelf member onto a support grating of the table assembly according to the first preferred embodiment; [0013]
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary schematic side view showing a second manner of securing the shelf member onto the support grating of the table assembly according to the first preferred embodiment; and [0014]
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the second preferred embodiment of a table assembly according to the present invention. [0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Before the present invention is described in greater detail, it should be noted that like elements are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the disclosure. [0016]
Referring to FIG. 2, the first preferred embodiment of a table assembly according to the present invention is shown to comprise a [0017] table unit 2, a support grating, and a storage accessory in the form of a shelf member 3.
The [0018] table unit 2 includes a table top 21 and a plurality of leg members 22 with wheeled lower ends adapted to be placed on a ground surface, and upper ends connected to the table top 21. The support grating includes a parallel pair of upright support rods 24 mounted on the table unit 2, and a plurality of horizontal bars 25 interconnecting the upright support rods 24 and vertically spaced apart from each other. In this embodiment, each of the upright support rods 24 has a lower portion mounted on one of the leg members 22 at a rear side of the table top 21. The shelf member 3 includes a shelf board 37 with a major shelf surface, a bracket unit mounted on the shelf board 37, and a hook unit mounted on a retaining part of the bracket unit that is transverse to the major shelf surface for hooking removably with selected ones of the horizontal bars 25 of the support grating. The bracket unit includes a pair of L-shaped brackets 38, each of which has a first portion 382 mounted on a respective one of opposite lateral sides of the shelf board 37 by means of screws, and a second portion 381 that is transverse to the first portion. The second portions 381 of the L-shaped brackets 38 cooperate to form the retaining part of the bracket unit. The hook unit includes two pairs of generally C-shaped hook members 36, each of which has a first downwardly curving upper hook part 361, a second upwardly curving lower hook part 362, and a connecting part 363 interconnecting the upper and lower hook parts 361, 362. The connecting parts 363 of the hook members 36 in each pair of the hook members 36 are mounted on the second portion 381 of a respective one of the L-shaped brackets 38 such that the hook members 36 in each pair of the hook members 36 are spaced apart vertically from each other by a distance corresponding to the spacing between adjacent ones of the horizontal bars 25 of the support grating.
Referring to FIG. 3, the table assembly of the first preferred embodiment is shown to optionally include a second storage accessory, in the form of another [0019] shelf member 3′, and a third storage accessory, in the form of a basket 4. As shown in this figure, the shelf members 3, 3′ and the basket 4 are hung at desired locations on the horizontal bars 25 of the support grating. Each of the shelf members 3, 3′ forms four contact points with the horizontal bars 25 to firmly support the same on the support grating. The shelf member 3 is hung on upper ones of the horizontal bars 25 such that relatively large objects can be placed thereon without affecting the usable area of the table top 21. The shelf member 3′ is hung on lower ones of the horizontal bars 25 such that relatively small objects placed thereon can be readily accessed by the user. The basket 4, which can receive articles therein, is provided with hangers 41 for hanging the same on a selected one of the horizontal bars 25. The support grating of the table assembly permits other accessories to be mounted thereon. For example, lamps that are equipped with suitable clamps can be mounted on the support grating.
FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate how the [0020] shelf members 3, 3′ are mounted on the support grating in greater detail. With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the shelf member 3 is disposed behind the support grating. The gap between the hook parts 361, 362 of each hook member 36 allows the hook parts 361 to rest on the selected horizontal bars 25 such that the shelf member 3 forms four contact points with the support grating. With reference to FIGS. 3 and 5, the shelf member 3′ is in an upturned state with respect to the shelf member 3, and is disposed in front of the support grating. In the case of the shelf member 3′, the hook parts 362 of the hook members 36 rest on the selected horizontal bars 25 such that the shelf member 3′ forms four contact points with the support grating.
FIG. 6 illustrates the second preferred embodiment of a table assembly according to the present invention. Unlike the previous embodiment, adjacent pairs of the [0021] leg members 22 are interconnected by a plurality of connecting bars 5 that extend horizontally. By virtue of the connecting bars 5, a larger number of storage accessories can be employed in the table assembly of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, two shelf members 3, 3′ are mounted on the support grating. Two other shelf members 3 are mounted on the connecting bars 5 at the opposite lateral sides of the table unit 2 such that the shelf boards 37 thereof can be used to expand the table area of the table top 21. The connecting bars 5 also permit the hanging of a storage accessory in the form of the basket 4 thereon.
It has thus been shown that the storage accessories of the table assembly according to the present invention can be flexibly disposed on the support grating to meet the user's storage space requirements for objects, and need not be fixed on the support grating, such as by screwing, soldering and gluing, thereby simplifying the manufacturing process of the table assembly. [0022]
While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements. [0023]

Claims

I claim:

1. A table assembly comprising: a table unit having a table top and a plurality of leg members with lower ends adapted to be placed on a ground surface, and upper ends connected to said table top;

a support grating including a parallel pair of upright support rods mounted on said table unit, and a plurality of horizontal bars interconnecting said upright support rods and vertically spaced apart from each other; and

a shelf member including

a shelf board with a major shelf surface,

a bracket unit mounted on said shelf board and having a retaining part that is transverse to said major shelf surface, and

a hook unit mounted on said retaining part of said bracket unit for hooking removably with selected ones of said horizontal bars of said support grating.

2. The table assembly of claim 1, wherein said table top has a rear side, and said upright support rods have lower portions mounted on a pair of said leg members at said rear side of said table top.

3. The table assembly of claim 1, wherein said shelf board has opposite lateral sides, and said bracket unit includes a pair of L-shaped brackets, each of which has a first portion mounted on a respective one of said lateral sides of said shelf board, and a second portion that is transverse to said first portion, said second portions of said L-shaped brackets forming said retaining part of said bracket unit.

4. The table assembly of claim 3, wherein said hook unit includes two pairs of generally C-shaped hook members, each of said hook members including a downwardly curving upper hook part, an upwardly curving lower hook part, and a connecting part interconnecting said upper and lower hook parts, said connecting parts of said hook members in each of said pairs of said hook members being mounted on said second portion of a respective one of said L-shaped brackets such that said hook members in each of said pairs of said hook members are spaced apart vertically from each other.

5. The table assembly of claim 1, wherein said hook unit includes two pairs of generally C-shaped hook members, each of said hook members including a downwardly curving upper hook part, an upwardly curving lower hook part, and a connecting part interconnecting said upper and lower hook parts, said connecting parts of said hook members being mounted on said retaining part of said bracket unit such that said hook members in each of said pairs of said hook members are spaced apart vertically from each other.

6. The table assembly of claim 1, further comprising a basket provided with a hanger for hanging removably said basket on a selected one of said horizontal bars of said support grating.

7. The table assembly of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of connecting bars that extend horizontally and that interconnect an adjacent pair of said leg members, said hook unit of said shelf member hooking removably with selected ones of said connecting bars.