US20050236343A1

US20050236343A1 - Compact disk storage tower

Info

Publication number: US20050236343A1
Application number: US10/831,314
Authority: US
Inventors: Ta-Cheng Chien
Original assignee: Izart Home & Life Inc
Current assignee: Izart Home & Life Inc
Priority date: 2004-04-26
Filing date: 2004-04-26
Publication date: 2005-10-27

Abstract

A rotatable CD storage tower, which is not only easy to transport, store, and assemble but also facilitate the selecting of any CD from the storage tower, is provided. The CD storage tower includes a support shaft, a rotational shell, connectors, CD receptacle hangers, and a support shaft stand. It is easy to assemble and disassemble. The rotational shell and the connectors combine together and form a rotational shell body. The support shaft and the support shaft stand constitute a support strut which support the shell body and become the revolving center of the shell body. Plenty CD receptacle hangers, annularly and adequately located on the shell body, are provided to vertically store CDs. Because the CD storage tower is easy to turn and the front cover of each CD stored on the tower is sufficiently displayed, the CD storage tower fulfills the consumers' demand for fast and easily selecting CDs.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general to an apparatus for storing and displaying compact disk (CD), and more particular, to a rotatable CD storage tower which is not only easy to transport, store, and assemble but also facilitate the selecting of any CD from the storage tower. Because the CD storage tower is easy to turn and the front cover of each CD stored on the tower is sufficiently displayed, the CD storage tower is convenient for use.
Most of the CD storage racks on the present market are integrally formed. They cannot be disassembled and, therefore, increase the cost of transportation, storage, and circulation. Moreover, these CD storage racks cannot rotate. It is inconvenient for selecting CD.
Furthermore, CDs are stacked up together in a rack or inserted into preformed slots. The covers of CDs are mantled by each other. When a user selects a CD, he can only see the thin side rather than the front cover of a CD. It is tiresome to locate a specific CD.
In addition, there are some DIY (Do It Yourself) style CD storage racks which can be assembled by consumers themselves. These CD storage racks maybe have more flexibility to satisfy the demands of different consumers, or maybe can display the front cover of a CD. However, because these DIY CD storage racks are always restricted by their assembling structure, they don't possess sufficiently displaying function and rotational function, they are still inconvenient for use.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a rotatable CD storage tower which is easy to transport, store, and assemble. Because the CD storage tower is easy to turn and the front cover of each CD stored on the tower is sufficiently displayed, the CD storage tower is convenient for use.
The CD storage tower provided by the present invention includes a support shaft, a rotational shell, connectors, CD receptacle hangers, and a support shaft stand. It is easy to assemble and disassemble. The rotational shell and the connectors combine together and form a rotational shell body. The support shaft and the support shaft stand constitute a support strut which supports the shell body and becomes the revolving center of the shell body. Plural CD receptacle hangers, annularly and adequately located on the shell body, are provided to vertically store CDs. Because the CD storage tower is easy to turn and the front cover of each CD stored on the tower is sufficiently displayed, the CD storage tower fulfills the consumers' demand for fast and easily selecting CDs.
These and other objectives of the present invention will become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of preferred embodiments.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These as well as other features of the present invention will become more apparent upon reference to the drawings therein:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a compact disk storage tower in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 a is an enlarged sectional view of portion A shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 b is an enlarged sectional view of portion B shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 a is a top view of the assembly of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 b is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B in FIG. 3 a.
FIG. 3 c is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A in FIG. 3 a.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the compact disk storage tower installed with CD cases.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a compact disk storage tower in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a compact disk storage tower in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a compact disk storage tower in accordance with the fourth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is another perspective view of the support shaft in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.
Referring to FIGS. 1 through 8, a compact disk storage tower in accordance with the present invention includes a support shaft 10, a rotational shell 11, connectors 12, CD receptacle hangers 14 which are to be installed onto the shell 11, and a support shaft stand 16 which has a threaded receptacle on its top. The support shaft 10 may be constituted by a single shaft, as is shown in FIG. 8. It may also be constituted by several shafts 17 sequentially connecting to each other, as is shown in FIG. 2. There is a threaded receptacle on the top of the shaft 17, and a matching threaded stud on the bottom of the shaft 17. The shafts 17 screw together by means of the receptacle and the stud, and comprise the support shaft 10. A horizontal handle 18 is located on the top of the support shaft 10 to facilitate the carrying of the CD storage tower.
The connector 12 has a central hole 22 in its center and two protruding heads 21, one at each end, as is shown in FIG. 2. The rotational shell 11, as is shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, is constituted by stacking several shells sequentially. Two square slots 19 are cut from the shell 11 directly opposite each other on the top of the shell 11. Another two square slots 19 directly opposite each other are also provided on the bottom of the shell 11. These square slots 19 are adapted to enable each of the protruding heads 21 of the connector 12 to slide in, as is shown in FIG. 1 a. The square slots 19 of two adjacent shells 11 may be aligned directly above or below each other as shown in FIG. 1, or by a 90 degrees rotation as shown in FIG. 6. One connector 12 is slid into the square slots 19 on the top of the shell 11, and another one connector 12 is slid into the square slots 19 on the bottom of the shell 11.
The setup procedure of the shell body is now described. First, insert the support shaft 10 through the central holes 22 of all of the connectors 12. Then screw the support shaft 10 onto the threaded receptacle of the support shaft stand 16. Second, sequentially stack the shell by sliding the protruding heads of the connector 12 onto the lower and the upper square slots 19 of each shell 11. The rotational shell 11 is, therefore, fixed to the connectors 12, and may revolve together with the connectors 12 around the support shaft 10, as is shown in FIG. 4.
The rotational shell 11 of the preferred embodiment of the present invention may also be constituted by two identical semi-shells. The shape of the shell 11 may be either cylindrical or polygonal. Examples of polygonal shape include, but not limited to, hexagonal prism, octagonal prism, and dodecagonal prism. In addition, the rotational shell 11 may also be constituted by a single cylinder component, as is shown in FIG. 5, or a single polygonal prism component. It may also be constituted by two single identical semi-cylinders, as is shown in FIG. 7, or two single identical semi-prisms.
Optionally, a ball trust bearing 13 may be installed above the support shaft stand 16. The ball trust bearing 13 includes two washer type disks on the top and the bottom of the bearing 13, and a separator in the middle. There is an opening in the center of the bearing 13 to enable the support shaft 10 to be inserted. The lowest connector 12 of the shell 11 is fixed on the top disk of the bearing 13 and is rotated together with the bearing 13.
Plural I-type slots 20 are annularly located on the wall of the shell 11. CD receptacle hangers 14 are inserted into the I-type slots 20. Moreover, adequate space is provided between two adjacent I-type slots 20 to sufficiently display the cover of each CD disk that is inserted in a CD receptacle hanger 14. Referring to FIG. 1 b, the CD receptacle hanger 14 is made of metal wire, including a base support 14 a, a traverse support 14 b, and a side support 14 c. The base support 14 a, being two-thirds of the length of a standard CD case, is provided to support the bottom of a CD case. The base support 14 a is angled to tilt a CD case toward the shell 11 and to rest a CD case snugly on the surface of the shell 11. The rear portion of the base support 14 a inclines upwardly to secure the bottom of a CD case. The top support includes the traverse support 14 b and the declining side support 14 c. The traverse support is half the length of a CD case, and is roughly three-quarters the height of a CD case. The side support 14 c extends downwardly toward the vertical sidewall of a CD case at one-quarter height of a CD case. Therefore, CD cases stand vertically on the CD receptacle hanger 14, as is shown in FIG. 4. Because the CD receptacle hanger 14 is made of resilient metal wire, the CD receptacle hanger 14 may be inserted into the I-type slot 20 and secured tightly on the shell 11. Because the width of the CD receptacle hanger 14 is slightly wider than the thickness of two CD cases, each CD receptacle hanger 14 may accommodate two CD cases back to back and sufficiently display the front cover of each CD.
While an illustrative and presently preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed and that the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations except insofar as limited by the prior art.

Claims

1. A compact disk (CD) storage tower, comprising:

a support shaft forming a fixed revolving center;

a plurality of connectors possessing an central hole in each center thereof and two protruding heads one at each end, respectively;

a support shaft stand possessing a threaded receptacle on a top thereof;

a rotational shell possessing a pair of slots directly opposite each other on a top thereof and another pair of slots directly opposite each other on a bottom thereof, combining with the connectors by inserting the protruding heads in the slots respectively to form a rotational shell body revolving around the support shaft; and

a plurality of CD receptacle hangers installed on the surface of the rotational shell,

wherein the support shaft is inserted through the central holes of the connectors, and fixed to the support shaft stand by means of screwing the support shaft onto the support shaft stand.

2. The compact disk storage tower as recited in claim 1, further comprising a ball trust bearing, possessing an opening in a center thereof to enable the support shaft to be inserted, installed above the support shaft stand and combined with the lowest connector which rotating together with the bearing.

3. The compact disk storage tower as recited in claim 1, wherein the rotational shell has a shape constituted by a single cylindrical or polygonal component, or constituted by several cylindrical or polygonal components in which the slots of two adjacent shells may be aligned directly above or below each other, or by a 90 degrees rotation.

4. The compact disk storage tower as recited in claim 3, wherein the polygonal shape of the rotational shell includes hexagonal prism, octagonal prism, and dodecagonal prism.

5. The compact disk storage tower as recited in claim 3, wherein the rotational shell is constituted by two identical semi-shells.

6. The compact disk storage tower as recited in claim 1, wherein the support shaft includes a plurality of shafts sequentially connecting to each other by threading, and a horizontal handle located on a top thereof for carrying.

7. The compact disk storage tower as recited in claim 1, further comprising a plurality of slots, annularly cut from a wall of the rotational shell, provided to be inserted in by the CD receptacle hangers, such that CD cases for CD disks stand vertically above the CD receptacle hangers, and an adequate space is provided between two adjacent slots to sufficiently display a cover of each CD disk inserted in a CD receptacle hanger.

8. The compact disk storage tower as recited in claim 7, wherein the slot accommodating CD receptacle hanger has I-type shape.

9. The compact disk storage tower as recited in claim 6, wherein the CD receptacle hanger is made of metal wire, comprising:

a base support being two-thirds of the length of a standard CD case, provided to support the bottom of the CD case, and angled to tilt the CD case toward the rotational shell and to rest the CD case snugly on the surface of the rotational shell, a rear portion thereof inclining upwardly to secure the bottom of a CD case; and

a top support including a traverse support and a declining side support, wherein the traverse support is half the length of the CD case, and is roughly three-quarters the height of the CD case, the side support extends downwardly toward the vertical sidewall of the CD case at one-quarter height of the CD case,

wherein the CD receptacle hanger is made of resilient metal wire, can be inserted into the slot and secured tightly on the rotational shell, and the width of the CD receptacle hanger is slightly wider than the thickness of two CD cases.

10. The compact disk storage tower as recited in claim 9, wherein the slot accommodating CD receptacle hanger has I-type shape.