US4573415A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Stand with spring lock legs
Assignee: ATLAS METAL INDUSTRIES Inc A FL CORP
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Filing: 1984-07-06
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Granted: 1986-03-04
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Expires: 2004-07-06
Abstract
Abstract A stand, table or other supporting structure having one or more supporting leg assemblies connected thereto in such a manner that the leg assemblies can be collapsed into a compact condition to facilitate storage, transportation and handling of the stand, table or other supporting structure. The leg assemblies are retained in their operative position substantially perpendicular to and rigid with respect to the stand to provide a stable support for the stand and for any item or items placed thereon. The leg assemblies are retained releasably in their operative position by a manually operated spring lock device that is provided with a camming feature which enables automatic locking of the leg assembly when oriented into operative position and maintaining a continuous upward bias on the leg assembly for maintaining the rigid perpendicularity of the leg assembly in relation to the stand. In one embodiment of the invention, the leg assembly is hingedly connected to the stand for folding movement into generally underlying parallel relation to the stand. In another embodiment of the invention, the leg assembly is releasable from the stand for movement to a collapsed or compact condition either alongside the underside of the stand or in a separate area which enables the leg assembly of the present invention to be utilized with a stand, table or other supporting structure which has a lateral dimension less than the length of the leg assembly.
Inventors
- 👤 Edwin O. Ramey
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 05:06
CPC Classifications
A; A47; A47B; A47B3/00; A47B3/08; A47B3/0809; A47B3/0815; A47B2003/0821
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim
233 words
A supporting structure comprising a support panel, at least one support leg assembly, and means connecting said leg assembly to said panel in perpendicular depending relation thereto to support the support panel in elevated relation to a support surface, said connecting means including a bracket fixedly attached to said support panel, said bracket including a downwardly opening socket, said leg assembly including an upper end received in said socket and including a latch structure at one edge portion thereof and means at the opposite edge portion engaged with said bracket, said bracket including a spring-biased member slidably mounted thereon for permitting the latch structure to pass upwardly into the socket by outward movement of the spring-biased member, said spring-biased member snapping back into underlying relation to the latch structure to retain the leg assembly in perpendicular relation to the support panel, said latch structure including an inclined cam surface on the upper end thereof for camming said spring-biased member outwardly when the latch structure moves into the socket, said bracket including spaced parallel plates forming a portion of the socket, each of said plates including an upwardly and inwardly inclined slot, said spring-biased member including a rod having end portions slidable in the slots, and tension coil springs interconnecting the rod and plates to bias the rod inwardly in the slots to continuously bias the latch structure upwardly in relation to the socket.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
233 words
A supporting structure comprising a support panel, at least one support leg assembly, and means connecting said leg assembly to said panel in perpendicular depending relation thereto to support the support panel in elevated relation to a support surface, said connecting means including a bracket fixedly attached to said support panel, said bracket including a downwardly opening socket, said leg assembly including an upper end received in said socket and including a latch structure at one edge portion thereof and means at the opposite edge portion engaged with said bracket, said bracket including a spring-biased member slidably mounted thereon for permitting the latch structure to pass upwardly into the socket by outward movement of the spring-biased member, said spring-biased member snapping back into underlying relation to the latch structure to retain the leg assembly in perpendicular relation to the support panel, said latch structure including an inclined cam surface on the upper end thereof for camming said spring-biased member outwardly when the latch structure moves into the socket, said bracket including spaced parallel plates forming a portion of the socket, each of said plates including an upwardly and inwardly inclined slot, said spring-biased member including a rod having end portions slidable in the slots, and tension coil springs interconnecting the rod and plates to bias the rod inwardly in the slots to continuously bias the latch structure upwardly in relation to the socket.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
56 words
The structure defined in claim 1 wherein said bracket has a substantially planar internal surface defining the upper end of the socket, the upper end of the leg assembly including a substantially flat upper end for engaging the upper end of the socket for securely retaining the leg assembly in perpendicular relation to the support panel.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
46 words
The structure defined in claim 2 wherein said means at the edge opposite the latch structure engaging the bracket includes a pivot assembly pivotally connecting the leg assembly to the bracket for pivotal movement between a generally horizontal folded position and a generally vertical operative position.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
91 words
The structure defined in claim 2 wherein said means at the edge opposite the latch structure engaging the bracket includes a lateral projection on the leg assembly and a transverse projection on the bracket with the projection on the leg assembly being insertable into overlying relation to the projection on the bracket when the leg assembly is in angular relation to the support panel and then swung to a perpendicular relation thereto and locked in position thereby enabling the leg assembly to be detachable from and attached to the support panel.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
184 words
The structure as defined in claim 4 wherein said transverse projection on the bracket is in the form of a transverse rod interconnecting the plates forming the bracket in a rigid manner generally parallel to the slidable rod, said tension coil springs interconnecting the ends of the transverse rod and slidable rod outwardly of the plates forming the bracket, said transverse rod being spaced below the upper end of the socket and said lateral projection on the leg assembly being spaced below the upper end of the leg assembly to enable the projection on the leg assembly to be inserted into overlying contact with the transverse rod when the leg assembly is oriented in inward angular relation to the support panel with the inclined cam surface on the latch structure biasing the slidable rod outwardly as the leg assembly is swung to perpendicular relation to the support panel with the slidable rod passing over the end of the cam surface and engaging substantially straight edges on the latch structure for biasing the latch structure and leg assembly against the upper end of the socket.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
181 words
The structure as defined in claim 3 wherein said latch structure includes a pair of projecting tabs opposite to the pivot assembly with each tab including an inclined cam surface on the upper edge thereof and a substantially straight lower surface engaged with the slidable rod when the leg assembly is in vertical operative position with the inclined structure of the slots causing upward movement of the slidable rod and thus upward bias on the leg assembly to bias the leg assembly into engagement with the upper end of the socket, the central portion of the slidable rod being manually engageable for pulling it outwardly beyond the tip ends of the projections to enable the leg assemblies to pivot inwardly about the pivotal connection with the cam surfaces engaging the rod when the leg is swung back toward vertical position for biasing the rod outwardly in the slots until the tip ends of the tabs pass upwardly beyond the rod at which time the rod snaps inwardly under the straight bottom edges of the tabs for camming the leg assemblies upwardly.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
246 words
A supporting structure comprising a support panel, a pair of support legs assemblies, and means connecting each of said leg assemblies to said panel adjacent opposite edge portions thereof and in perpendicular depending relation thereto to support the support panel in elevated relation to a support surface, each of said connecting means including a bracket fixedly attached to said support panel, said bracket including a downwardly opening socket, each of said leg assemblies having an upper end received in said socket and including a latch structure rigidly mounted at one edge portion thereof and means at the opposite edge portion of the leg assembly engaged with said bracket, said bracket including a spring-biased member slidably mounted thereon for permitting the latch structure to pass upwardly into the socket by outward movement of the spring-biased member, said latch structure including a pair of laterally spaced, generally parallel plates received in the socket, each of said plates having a projecting tab extending remotely from the means at the opposite edge portion of the leg assembly engaged with the bracket, said spring-biased member snappng back into underlying engaging relation to the tabs after the upper end of the leg assembly has moved into the socket and engaging the tabs to retain the leg assembly in perpendicular relation to the support panel with engagement of said member with the tabs providing points of supporting engagement with the leg assembly at laterally spaced points for stable support of the leg assembly.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
246 words
A supporting structure comprising a support panel, a pair of support legs assemblies, and means connecting each of said leg assemblies to said panel adjacent opposite edge portions thereof and in perpendicular depending relation thereto to support the support panel in elevated relation to a support surface, each of said connecting means including a bracket fixedly attached to said support panel, said bracket including a downwardly opening socket, each of said leg assemblies having an upper end received in said socket and including a latch structure rigidly mounted at one edge portion thereof and means at the opposite edge portion of the leg assembly engaged with said bracket, said bracket including a spring-biased member slidably mounted thereon for permitting the latch structure to pass upwardly into the socket by outward movement of the spring-biased member, said latch structure including a pair of laterally spaced, generally parallel plates received in the socket, each of said plates having a projecting tab extending remotely from the means at the opposite edge portion of the leg assembly engaged with the bracket, said spring-biased member snappng back into underlying engaging relation to the tabs after the upper end of the leg assembly has moved into the socket and engaging the tabs to retain the leg assembly in perpendicular relation to the support panel with engagement of said member with the tabs providing points of supporting engagement with the leg assembly at laterally spaced points for stable support of the leg assembly.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
90 words
The structure as defined in claim 7 wherein said bracket includes spaced parallel lugs forming a portion of the socket, each of said lugs including an upwardly and inwardly inclined slot, said spring-biased member including a rod having end portions slidable in the slot, and spring means engaging the rod to bias the rod inwardly in the slots to continuously bias the latch structure upwardly at laterally spaced points in relation to the socket for engaging the upper end of the leg assembly with the upper end of the socket.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
51 words
The structure as defined in claim 8 wherein each of said plates includes an inclined cam surface on the upper edge of the projecting tabs for camming said spring-biased rod outwardly to enable the tabs to pass said rod when the upper end of the leg assembly moves into the socket.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
76 words
The structure as defined in claim 9 wherein said means at the opposite edge portion of the leg assembly engaged with said bracket includes a pivot assembly connecting the leg assembly to the bracket intermediate the spaced points of engagement between the rod and the tabs of the latch structure for pivotal movement of the leg assemblies between a generally horizontal folded position and a generally vertical operative position in perpendicular relation to the support panel.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
144 words
The structure as defined in claim 9 wherein said means at the opposite edge portion of the leg assembly engaged with said bracket includes a lateral projection on the leg assembly and a transverse projection on the bracket with the projection on the leg assembly being insertable into overlying relation to the projection on the bracket when the leg assembly is in angular relation to the support panel and then swung to a perpendicular relation thereto and locked in position by the latch structure thereby enabling the leg assembly to be detachable from and attached to the support panel, said projection on the leg assembly and said projection on the bracket extending substantially completely across the width of the leg assembly and socket to cooperate with the spaced points of engagement between the rod and tabs to provide stable support for the leg assemblies.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1989-03-03 | 1989-09-02 | 1990-03-04 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1993-03-03 | 1993-09-02 | 1994-03-04 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1997-03-03 | 1997-09-02 | 1998-03-04 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |