US3037663A - Dispensing devices - Google Patents

Description

June 5, 1962 L. STEINER 3,037,663

DISPENSING DEVICES Filed July 29, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 /'/6. Z F/J 22 INVENTOR. Lou/S STE/NEE A rro/avEY June 5, 1962 STEINER DISPENSING DEVICES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 29. 1958 June 5, 1962 L. STEINER 3,037,663

DISPENSING DEVICES Filed July 29, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 all 2.91:.

1N VENTOR. LOU/5 5 TE/NEQ A rroeusx 3,037,663 DISPENSING DEVICES Louis Steiner, 812 E. Park St., Long Beach, NY. Filed July 29, 1958, Ser. No. 751,755 Claims. (Cl. 221-90) This invention relates to dispensing devices of the type used in coin operated machines. The invention particularly relates to a dispensing device embodying an upright casing supporting a number of hinged shelves, and a climbing member on the casing which may be caused to move upwardly from shelf to shelf releasing the shelves one at a time from outstanding horizontal positions to vertical hanging positions as the climbing member mounts the casing.

One object of this invention is to provide a highly 1111- proved dispensing device of the character described, comprising a stationary wall on the casing having a notched vertical edge, and a vertical reciprocating slider on said casing having a notched edge opposed to and spaced from the notched edge of the stationary wall, and a climber which moves upwardly between the two notched walls by booking itself alternately to the notches in the moving slider and the stationary wall.

Another object of this invention is to provide in a device of the character described, means to prevent the climber from moving upwardly more than one shelf space at a time so that the climber will not pass between the notched edges relative to both edges at the same time, if an attempt is made to operate the machine improperly, thus preventing release of more than one shelf for each reciprocation of the slider.

Another object of this invention is to provide in a device of the character described improved means to stop the climber automatically at the top of the stack of shelves.

A further object is to provide a climber for a machine as described which may be pulled downwardly to begin the climbing cycle again without any difliculty, and which may be moved upwardly for removal from the casing by pressing a simple lever on the climber.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a shelf structure for a machine of the character described which may be easily reset to horizontal position from the vertical hanging position and which may be removed from the casing and replaced therein, simply and easily and without the use of any tools.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a machine of the type specified which is sturdy and reliable in operation, simple and inexpensive to manufacture, and easy to service and reset.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a device of the type described which incorporates a shelf structure supported from more than one side and therefore capable of storing unusually heavy articles and which will yet dispense such articles in a foolproof and efficient manner.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts, which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope of invention will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown various illustrative embodiments of this invention,

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a device in ac cordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the device in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary rear elevational view of the device;

nited States Patent FIGS. 4 and 5 are fragmentary elevational views showing the climber;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the climber taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a partly sectional perspective view of the climber;

FIG. 7a is a fragmentary elevational view of a portion of the climber fitting into a notch;

FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 are cross-sectional views taken on corresponding lines of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10a is a cross-sectional view taken on corresponding lines of FIG. 10 but showing the climber in another position.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 11-11 of FIG. 3;

FIGS. 11a and 11b are similar to FIG. 11 but showing different positions of the shelf hinged extension;

FIG. 12 and FIG. 12a are fragmentary perspective views of one of the shelves and illustrating the insertion and removal of the shelf;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary elevational view of a portion of a second embodiment of the invention;

FiG. 14 is a top cross-sectional view of the second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 14a is a cross-sectional View taken on the line 14a-14a of FIG. 14;

FIG. 14b is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 1411-1411 of FIG. 14;

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 15--15 of FIG. 14; and

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary perspective of a shelf-releasing element.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, 10 indicates the device of the invention. The same comprises an upright sheet metal shaft or casing wall 11 which serves as the main support. The upright support has a broad central section having a front face 12 and a rear face 13. At one side of the support 11 is a rearwardly facing flange 14. Formed in the flange 14 is a vertical row of spaced, circular openings 15. The opposite side edge 16 of the support 11 is formed with a number of vertically and equally spaced notches 17. The notches 17 each have a horizontal lower edge 17a and an inclined upper edge 17b extending to edge 16. At the lower end of the edge 16 a forwardly curved stop tab 18 is formed.

Secured to the rearward face 13 of support 11 is an elongated strip of metal 19 of Z-shaped cross-section (see FIG. 8). Strip .19 is fastened by bolts 2.0 which extend through flange 19a of said strip. An intermediate wall 1% extends outwardly from the rear face of support 11, and a third flange extends parallel to support 11. The intermediate wall 1% of the Z-shaped strip 19 is formed with a number of spaced openings 21 which are horizontally opposed to the openings 15 in flange 14. Openings 21 are each formed with an enlarged portion 21a from which extends a narrow slot portion 21b. The narrow slot portions of openings 21 extend forwardly towards support 11, While the enlarged portions 21a extend rear'wardly away from surface 13 of said support.

Fastened to flange 190 of strip 19 are a number of spring leaves 22. One free end of each of the spring leaves 22 overlaps flange 19b and the large portion 21a of opening 21. One spring leaf is supplied for each opening 21. Fitted between each pair of opposed openings 21 and 15 is a shelf 23. Shelf 23 is made with a shelf hinge bar 24. One end 25 of the shelf hinge bar 24 is curved. The other end 26 is straight. A broad, flat plate or piece of metal 27 serves as the shelf and is connected at one edge to the hinge bar 24 between the ends 25 and 26. Such connection may be made by means of welding. Connected to each shelf plate 27 adjacent the curved-end 25 of the shelf hinge bar is a short strip of spring metal 28. Each spring strip 28 serves to lock the shelf in place in the supporting framework in the following manner. The curved end 25 of the shelf hinge bar may be first inserted in one of the openings 15 of flange 14 (FIG. 12a). If spring strip 28 is compressed it may also be forced through the opening 15 (FIG. 12). Then the straight end 26 of the shelf hinge bar can be swung around, the spring leaf 22 pulled aside and the straight end 26 inserted in the elongated portion 21b of an opening 21. When the straight end 26 is all the way into opening 21, the spring strip 28 may be released and will serve to lock the hinge bar 24 in position between openings 15 and 21 (see FIG. 3). The flat hinge bar end 26 will normally be held in the elongated slot portion 21b of opening 21 by the corresponding leaf 22. Thus the shelf 23 will remain horizontal and able to support an article to be dispensed.

Joined to flange 190 of strip 19 is flange 29a of a bracket 29. A second flange 29b is at right angles to flange 29a. Thus a tall, three-sided shaft or cage 30 is formed. The flange wall 29b of bracket 29 is formed with a number of spaced vertical slots 31 (FIG. 2). Within the shaft 30 and adjacent bracket 29 is a channel bar or slider 32. One side flange 32a of channel bar 32 lies adjacent the inside surface of flange 29a of bracket 29. The opposite outside flange 32b is coplanar with support wall 11 and is formed with an edge 33 opposed to and spaced from edge 16 and provided with notches 34 similar and symmetrical to notches 17 in said edge 16. The lower horizontal edge 34b of each notch 34 is normally on a plane with the corresponding opposite edge 17a of the corresponding notch 17, and the upwardly angled edges 34a are correspondingly opposite to the angled edges 17b thereopposed.

The central wall of channel bar 32 is formed with a number of spaced openings 320. There is one opening 320 corresponding to the top end of each vertical slot 31 in bracket 29. A drilled collet 35 extends through each slot 31. The collar of each collet overlaps the edges of the slots 31 so that when a sheet metal bolt 36 is positioned through the collet and fastened to the adjacent opening 34 in channel bar 32, the channel bar will then be movable vertically as far as the length of the slots 31 will allow, and the bolts 36 will not bind in the slots.

The normal position of the channel bar 32 relative to bracket 29 is the upper position shown in FIG. 2. In order to prevent the channel bar 32 from slipping down a bolt 37 is provided spaced above one of the slots 31. A coil spring 38 is attached at one end to the bolt 37 and at the opposite end to the bolt 36 which extends through the slot to the channel bar 32. Thus the channel bar may be pulled downwardly against the restraint of the spring by any known means common to the art, such as a coin-operated lever system. The channel bar or slider will be raised and returned to its normal upper position by the spring 38 upon release of the slider. One of the bolts 36a has been made longer than the other bolts 36 in order to provide a connection to the system for pulling down the channel bar.

A movable climber 40 is provided for movement between the edge 16 of wall 11 and the edge 33 of flange 32b. The purpose of the climber 40 is to release the shelves from horizontal position one at a time so that the shelves will swing down and the merchandise resting on the shelf is dropped. Accordingly, the climber is constructed with a tripping key 41 having a flat base plate 42 and an outstanding key flange 43 at right angles to the base plate. The upper and lower edges 43a of the key flange 43 are angled as shown in FIG. 6. The flat plate portion 42 of the tripping key 41 is normally positioned inside the shaft 30 with the flat plate portion 42 adjacent the inner edges of wall 11 and flange 32b. The key flange 4-3 is therefore positioned adjacent the inside surface of flange 19b of the Z-shaped strip 19. Fixed to the forward 4 surface of the key plate 42 is a spacer strip of metal 44. The spacer strip 44 is positioned directly between and in the plane of wall 11 and flange 32b, and may be of the same or slightly greater thickness. The lower end 45 of spacer strip 44 is bent forwardly.

Fixed to the front end of spacer strip 44 is a channel shaped strip 46. The central wall of channel strip 46 is similar in size and shape to the key plate 42. A pair of side flanges 47 are formed on the channel strip 46, and are formed on their lower ends with a pair of opposed circular openings 48. A hinge pin 49 extends through the openings 48. Hinged on pin 49 is a rocking arm 50. The rocking arm 50 is formed with a central portion 51. At the lower end of rocking arm 50 is a forwardly extending tab 52. At a point spaced above the hinge pin 49' the rocking arm is formed with an opening 53 through which a bolt 54 extends and is fastened to spacer strip 44. The head of the bolt 54 serves to limit the forward rocking motion of the rocking arm portions 51 and also as an anchor for one end of a coil spring 55, which is anchored at its opposite end to the outstanding end of tab 52, thus restraining the rocking arm against forward movement.

Spaced slightly above bolt 54 are a horizontally spaced pair of mounting pins 56. Pivotally mounted on pins 56 are an upstanding pair of latches or hooks 57 and 58. The curved portions of the hooks extend over the top edge of the rocker plate 51 and the channel strip 46, and rearwardly over strip 44 and plate 42 of the tripping key 41. The hooks 57 and 58 are mounted for sideways rotation. Attached to hook 57 at its upper end is a thin metal cross-arm 59 which extends sideways as far as hook 53. Attached to the lower end of hook 58, adjacent the pivot pin 56, is a cross-arm 66' which extends sideways as far as the first book 57. The ends of the two cross-arms 59 and 60 are interconnected by a coil spring 61. Thus, because the two arms 59 and 60 are crossed, the spring 61 tends always to pull the two hooks 57 and 58 apart.

The channel bar or slider 32 can be moved downwardly by pulling on bolt 36a and will be returned upwardly to its original position by spring 38 as shown in FIG. 1. The hooks 57 and 58 of the climber 40 can pivot sideways until they hit each other or the side flanges 47 of channel strip 46. The starting position of the climber is on the lowest pair of opposed notches 17 and 34 with hook 57 engaging the lower edge 34b of the notch 34 and hook 58 engaging the lower edge 17a of the opposite notch 17. As the channel bar 32 is moved downwardly, the upper inclined edge 34a of notch 34 begins to push hook 57 sideways towards hook 58. Then the edge 33 keeps hook 57 over (FIG. 4) until the channel bar is all the way down, at which point the next above notch 34 comes into position, and hook 57 is pulled over into that notch by spring 61. As the channel bar begins to return, the hook 57 will be pulled upwardly by the lower edge 34b of the notch which the hook engages. As hook 57 is pulled upwardly by the channel bar or slider, the entire climber will be pulled upwardly and the other hook 58 will be pushed sideways toward book 57 by the inclined edge 17b of the first notch 17. Hook 58 will be held over by edge 16 of wall 11 (FIG. 5) until the climber has been lifted all the way to the next above notch 17. At that point hook 58 will spring over into the notch 17 and climber will be in its original condition but one notch higher.

While the action shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 just described takes place, the climber simultaneously performs the function of dropping a shelf 23 in the manner shown in FIGS. 1011b. As the climber moves upwardly from the position just below a horizontal shelf 23, the upper inclined edge 43a of the release key engages the end 26 of shelf hinge bar 24. As flange 43 of the key begins to engage the end of shelf hinge bar 24, the bar will be pushed rearwardly by the inclined edge 43a of the key. When the end of the bar has been pushed out of slot 21b into the enlarged portion 21a of opening 21, it will begin to turn as shown in FIG. 10, and the shelf 23 begins to swing down. The same action is seen from the other side of wall 19b in FIGS. 11 to 11b. The leaf spring 22 at all times tends to push bar end 26 towards flange 1901. Once the shelf has been dropped it will remain in its downward position until lifted manually. When lifted to the horizontal position, the bar end 2-6 will be pushed back into the slot 21b by leaf springv 22. Since the tripping key flange 43 has inclined edges 43a at both top and bottom ends, the shelf can be dropped by moving the climber either upwardly or downwardly. Once the shelf has been dropped, the climber can move past it without any resistance.

To move the climber downwardly in the track formed by wall 11 and flange 32b it is necessary only to press down on tab 52. Pressure on tab 52; will rotate the rocking arm 50 about the axi of hinge pin 49 as shown in broken lines in FIG. 6. The hooks 57 and 58 which are attached to the rocking arm will be withdrawn from between the notches 17 and 34. Thus the climber can be slid up and down without interference from the hooks catching in the notches.

The width of each hook is just slightly greater than half the distance between edge 16 of wall 11 and edge 33 of flange 32b. In climbing up the series of notches, only one hook is deflected into the path between the notches at any one time (see FIGS. 4 and Therefore, while it is possible to make the climber go up one notch at a time by reciprocating the channel bar 32 it is impossible for the climber to move up without moving channel bar 32, because the two hooks would jam in the notches at the upper ends of inclined edges 17b and 34a.

In order to move the notched channel bar or slider 32 downwardly, the hook must be pushed sideways towards book 58. In order to stop the upward movement of the climber at the top of the column of shelves, the last notch 340 on flange 32b has been formed with a straight upper wall 34d parallel to the lower edge 34b. When flange 32b is moved downwardly the upper edge 34d will catch on hook 57 and stop.

In another embodiment of this invention shown in FIGS. 13 to 14b, an adaptation of the present device is shown which provides for supporting unusually heavy packages on top of the shelf. FIG. 14 shows a main supporting wall 50a formed with a flange 51a at one end. Flange 51a is provided with circular openings 52a. The other side end of Wall 5011 is provided with a rearwardly extending wall 53a, from which extends wall 54a parallel to wall 56a and wall 55a extending rearwardly to the plane of wall Sila. Wall 53a is formed with openings 56a which have a rounded enlarged portion 570 and a straight slot portion 58a. However, the opening 56a is opposite to opening 21 of the first described embodiment of this invention, having the enlarged portion of the opening adjacent the supporting wall and the slot portion facing rearwardly. A shelf hinge bar 59a extends between each corresponding pair of openings 52a and 56a. One end '6tia of the shelf hinge bar is turned upwardly and the other end 61a is straight. A spring catch 62 is attached to the bar and a shelf 63 extends rearwardly therefrom. For each shelf hinge bar there is a corresponding leaf spring 64 attached to the rearward surface of wall 50a by rivets 65. The leaf spring 64 is interposed between the support wall and the shelf hinge bar and tends to push the shelf rearwardly to keep the bar end 61a in slot 58a. Across from the support wall 50a is a support wall 66. Opposite each leaf spring 64 a small spring catch 67 is 7 attached to wall 66 by a rivet 68. The rearward end of each shelf 63 rests on its corresponding rearwardly extending spring catch 67 (FIG. 15). This extra support allows for a heavy object to be placed on the shelf. It should be noted, as in FIG. 14, that in the horizontal position each shelf is hinged on an angle between walls 50a and 66 for a reason which will hereinafter be described.

Attached to the forward surface of wall 50a adjacent wall 53a is a notched strip 69. Slidably retained adjacent the inside of wall 55a is a channel bar or slider 70 formed with a forward side flange 71 formed with notches 72. The notches 69a and 72 correspond to notches 17 and 34, of the previously described device. A climber 73 rides between strip 69 and flange 71. The climber 73 is formed with a channel strip 74 riding forwardly of flange 71 and strip 69, a rocking plate 75 is rotatably mounted on the channel strip 74 and a pair of spring loaded hooks or latches 76 are attached to the lower end of the rocking plate 75. A spacer strip 77 rides between the edges of strip 69 and flange 71. Attached to the rearward surface of spacer strip 77 is a shelf releasing key 78 formed with an S-shaped cross-section. The main flange 79 of the shelf release key 78 is attached to spacer strip 77. The second flange 30 extends rearwardly but spaced from wall 53a so as to clear the ends of bars 59a. Adjacent the inside surface 54a another flange 81 extends from flange to the inner surface of wall 53a and a key flange 82 extends forwardly from the end flange 81. The key flange 82 is formed with inclined end edges 83. Thus when the climber is moved upwardly the upper inclined edge 83 of the key will engage the end 61a of each successive shelf support bar and push the bar closer to wall 50a against the pressure of a leaf spring 64 until the flat end 61a of the shelf hinge bar enters the enlarged portion 57a of opening 56a and the rearward end of the shelf 63 is pulled off of its spring catch 67 and swings downwardly to a vertical position.

To return the shelves to support position they are merely rotated manually to the horizontal position until the rearward end is above catch 67 and the leaf 64 pushes the shelf hinge bar end 64 into slot Site.

It will thus be seen that there is provided an apparatus in which the several objects of this invention are achieved and which is well adapted to meet the condition of practical use.

As possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. In combination, a vertical casing formed with vertically aligned notches spaced equally apart vertically at a plurality of levels, a plurality of shelves within the casing one at each level, means on the casing having openings at said levels, one for each shelf, said openings having enlarged portions from which horizontal slots extend, each shelf having a flat portion in the slot of its opening to hold the shelf in horizontal position, said shelf being movable to bring its flat portion into the enlarged portion of its opening to permit the shelf to swing downwardly to vertical position, a vertical slider slidably mounted on said casing and formed with notches opposed to the first mentioned notches, said slider being manually movable downwardly a distance equal to the distance between adjacent levels, spring means to raise the slider a similar distance after the slider has been siidably moved downwardly and released, means operative upon successive manual downward movements .and upward raisings by the spring means, to move said shelves one at a time relative to the casing, beginning from the bottom to the top, to bring the flat portions thereof into the enlarged portions of their openings, so as to release said shelves so that they will swing downwardly and drop from horizontal to vertical position, whereby the articles on the shelves may drop downwardly within the casing, said moving means comprising a climber slidably mounted on the casing, said climber having means to engage the shelves for moving such shelves relative to the casing to releasing position, a spring latch on the climber engageable with the first mentioned notches, one at a time, to

maintain the climber at each level to which the climber is raised, said casing having cam means at the notches engaging the spring latch to permit movement of the latch out of each notch after the climber is moved upwardly, whereby to permit the latch to snap into the next upper notch in said casing, and a second spring latch on said climber engageable in the notches of the slider so that each time the slider moves up the climber will be raised, and said slider having cam means at each notch to permit the slider to move downwardly without interference by the slider, whereby as said climber is reciprocated downwardly and upwardly the climber is raised one lever each time the slider reciprocates once downwardly and once upwardly.

2. The combination of claim 1, in combination with means to prevent the climber from moving upwardly concurrently relative to the casing and slider, whereby the climber can only move upwardly with the slider when it is raised by the slider.

3. The combination of claim 1, said spring latches having fingers receivable in said notches and located at the same horizontal level and movable toward and away from each other, and said casing and slider being so constructed as to form passages between opposed pairs of notches, and the width of said passages being less than the combined widths of said fingers so that if the fingers are moved together they cannot pass through said passages while the slider is stationary relative to the casing, the construction being such that when the slider moves downwardly, the second latch is cammed toward the first latch by the slider until the second latch snaps into the next adjacent higher notch in the slider, and whereby, when the slider then moves upwardly, the first latch is cammed inwardly toward the second latch by the cam means on the casing and moves upwardly through a passage.

4. In combination, a vertical support having openings at different levels each comprising an enlarged portion and a horizontal slot extending therefrom, a plurality of equally spaced shelves one above the other at said diflFerent levels one for each opening, each having a flat portion in the slot extension of the opening at its level to retain the shelf on said support in horizontal position, .and said shelf being adapted to swing down to vertical position when their fiat portions are moved into the enlarged portions of said openings, a vertical slider mounted on said support for vertical reciprocation for a distance equal to the space between two adjacent shelves, a climber, means to raise the climber the vertical distance between adjacent shelves each time the slider is moved upwardly a vertical distance between adjacent shelves, means to retain the climber on the support at the level to which it is lifted each time the slider moves downwardly, means on the climber to move the shelf at the level to which it is lifted to bring the flat portion thereof into the enlarged portion of its opening, so that said shelf will swing down about its hinged connection to the support, and means to prevent the climber from moving upwardly relative, concurrently, to both the support and the slider at the same time.

5. The combination of claim 4, in combination with means at the upper end of the slider to prevent movement of the slider downwardly relative to the climber.

6. The combination of claim 4, said last means including means on the climber releasable from both the slider and support to permit free sliding movement up and down of the said climber relative to said support and slider.

7. The combination of claim 6, in combination with means on the climber to release the shelves for downward swinging movement upon moving the slider downwardly.

8. In combination, a support having a vertical edge and being formed with vertically equally spaced notches at said edge, each notch having a lower ledge and a cammed edge extending upwardly from the ledge to said edge, a slider mounted for reciprocation relative to the support, means to limit reciprocation of the slider to a distance between adjacent notches, said slider having a wall in the plane of the first wall, having an edge parallel to and spaced from the vertical edge of said first vertical wall, said vertical wall of said slider being formed with notches opposed to and symmetrically disposed with respect to the notches in the first wall, a climber slidably mounted on and between said walls, a member on said climber having a pair of latches pivoted thereto about parallel axes perpendicular to said walls, said latches being spaced from one another and being formed with fingers at the upper ends thereof, one to selectively engage the ledges of the notches in the first wall, and the other to engage the ledges in the notches of the slider wall, said slider being movable downwardly to cause a cam edge of the notch therein to press one latch toward the other, spring means biasing the fingers of the latches away from each other, whereby when the slider moves downwardly the distance between a pair of adjacent levels, said one latch will snap onto the ledge of the next adjacent notch, spring means to raise the slider every time the slider is moved downwardly a distance equal to the distance between adjacent levels and released, whereby to raise the climber, the cam edge of a notch in the first wall causing the other latch to move toward the first latch whereby to permit the climber to be raised together with the slider until said other latch snaps into the notch next above.

9. The combination of claim 8, the space between the vertical edges of said first and second walls being less than the combined widths of the two fingers of said latches, whereby the climber cannot move upwardly relative to both the support and the slider.

10. The combination of claim 9, said member being pivoted to the climber about a horizontal axis parallel to said walls, whereby said member may be moving about said pivot to move the fingers of the latches away from said walls and out of said notches to permit the climber to be freely moved up and down.

ll. In combination, a support having a pair of parallel opposed flanges, a plurality of shelves having rear portions disposed between said flanges, said shelves having oppositely extending extensions at the rear thereof, one flange having bearing openings to rotatively receive the extensions at adjacent ends of said shelves, the other extensions being flat .and said other flange having openings to receive said flat extensions, said openings in said other flange each comprising an enlarged portion in which a flat extension may rotate, and a horizontal slot portion extending from the enlarged portion of the opening to receive a flat extension, to non-rotatively support the shelf, spring means to bias the flat extension of each shelf into its slot, and means to selectively move said fiat extensions against said spring means out of the slots and into the enlarged portions of said openings in said other flange, whereby to permit the shelves to rotate.

12. In combination, a support having a back wall, flanges extending forwardly from the sides of said rear wall, a shelf having a rear portion disposed between said flanges, said flanges being formed with a pair of opposed horizontally aligned openings, said pair of opposed openings comprising an opening in one flange, an extension adjacent one side of said shelf rotatively received in said opening, the other opening of said pair of openings comprising a horizontal slot portion and an enlarged portion communicating with said slot portion, a flat extension at the other side of said shelf, said last mentioned extension being flat and being adapted to be received in the slot for maintaining the shelf in horizontal position, spring means to retain said last mentioned extension in said slot, and means to move one end of the shelf against the pressure of said spring means to move said last mentioned extension out of said slot and into the enlarged portion in which latter position the shelf may rotate downwardly about said extensions from horizontal to vertical position.

13. The combination of claim 12, said spring means urging the shelf away from said support, said slot extending forwardly from the enlarged portion, a second support in opposed relation to the first support, and means on the second support to support the free end of the shelf when said shelf is in horizontal position.

14. In combination, a support having at different levels, openings, each having an enlarged portion and a horizontal narrow extension, a shelf for each level, each shelf having means non-rotatable in said extension and rotatable in said enlarged portion, spring means to bias said means of each shelf into said extension to hold the shelf in horizontal position and means to move said shelves one at a time in series, from the bottom upwardly, against said spring means, in their own planes to bring said means thereof into the enlarged portions of said 10 openings to permit the moved shelves to swing down to vertical positions.

15. The combination of claim 14, in combination with a vertical slider mounted for reciprocation on said support, and means controlled by reciprocation of said slider to actuate said moving means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 749,535 Dawes Ian. 12, 1904 1,004,856 Dawes Oct. 3, 1911 1,275,983 Rasmussen Aug. 13, 1918 1,322,173 Baker Nov. 18, 1919 1,916,530 Richardson July 4, 1933 2,203,834 Mergens June 11, 1940 2,203,847 Steiner June 11, 1940 2,623,804 Neidig Dec. 30, 1952 2,652,304 Gabrielsen Sept. 15, 1953 2,904,216 Poland Sept. 15, 1959

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