[0001] The present invention relates to a rotating chest of drawers which can be used wherever
a considerable number of different items of small size have to be stored in order
that they can be arranged according to their different types within user's reach.
[0002] Storage problems are of particular interest in pharmacies and drug-stores where medicines
are arranged according to precise criteria of classification within vertical chests
of drawers in which, however, the high levels can be hardly reached by the salesmen
and make it necessary the use of stools, folding ladders etc. This is a serious drawback
because of the long time needed to take medicines out so that the service is impaired.
[0003] The object of the present invention is to solve this problem by means of a piece
of furniture in form of a chest of rotating, prismatic drawers which are distributed
like the segments of an orange. The drawers are slideable on guide rails radially
arranged on the opposite surfaces of two supporting discs which are rotatably integral
with a rotating axis journalled between the two side walls of the chest of drawers.
By rotating the chest of drawers it is possible to bring the drawer to be opened at
user's reach, preferably at a height of 1,2 m from the floor, so that one can check
at sight the content of the drawer and take easily out the items of use.
[0004] To this end each drawer is closed at the upper side by a transparent cover or sheet
of plexiglas or like material which ran be pivotally rotated and locked at the front
side by a magnetic means or snap-locked. In this way a better preservation of the
products as well as a suitable protection against the environmental agents is provided.
[0005] In order that the items contained in the drawers do not mix confusedly, thrust members,
preferably urged by a spring, are provided in each drawer so that a constant pressure
is exerted on the goods which are kept adjacent to the front wall of each rotating
drawer.
[0006] The present invention will be more readily apparent from the following description
with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating by way of a non-limitative
example a preferred embodiment.
[0007] In the drawings:
Fig. 1 is an elevation front view of the chest of drawers;
Fig. 2 is a side elevation view of the rotating chest of drawers partially sectioned;
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a rotating drawer with the thrust members.
[0008] Referring to the figures the invention relates to a piece of furniture or container
5 within which a chest of rotating drawers 6 is provided having the form of a drum
rotating about a horizontal axis and formed of prismatic drawers 8 arranged like the
segments of an orange. The lower volume of the furniture is taken up by further drawers
20 having the conventional parallelepiped form.
[0009] The prismatic drawers 8 have a rectangular, sloped bottom 8C and two side tapered
walls 8D connecting the higher front wall 8A to the lower rear wall 8B. Consequently
the available room is gradually decreasing to the inside of the drawer.
[0010] In the illustrated embodiment all drawers 8 are sidewise provided with strips or
slider 10 which slide in guide grooves 11 radially arranged in the opposite surfaces
of two parallel discs 14 mounted on a rotating axis 16 journalled between the side
walls 18 of the chest. Of course, the same guide grooves 11 can be considered as a
supporting construction so that the two parallel discs are made useless.
[0011] As can be seen the depth of the piece of furniture essentially corresponds to the
diameter of the rotating chest of drawers, i.e. the depth of two drawers.
[0012] Each drawer is blocked in the locked position by a common elastic retainer or snap-lock,
for instance, formed of a pawl 22 urged by a spring and engaging a hollow seat formed
in the side wall 8D of each drawer.
[0013] Each drawer is divided in sectors by partitions 24.
[0014] The goods are kept against the front wall 8A of the drawer by thrust means 26 formed
of strips urged by springs 27 abuting against the rear wall 8B of the drawer.
[0015] In order to prevent goods from falling down during the rotation of the drawers, each
drawer is closed at the upper side by a transparent cover 28, for example, a sheet
of plexiglas allowing the goods to be inspected from the outside. Preferably the cover
ir rearwardly hinged so that it can be completely turned over once the drawer has
been drawn out.
[0016] The piece of furniture 5 containing the chest of drawers is open at the front side.
In order to allow the drawers to be drawn out only in the desired position a side
frame 32 vertically extending essentially to the whole height of the rotating chest
of drawers is interrupted only by a length corresponding to the height of a drawer.
This is carry out preferably at a height of about 1,20 m from the floor.
[0017] As can be seen in the figures, the supporting discs with the drawers take up only
the upper part of the piece of furniture. As mentioned above, the lower room of the
piece of furniture is taken up by two or more conventional drawers 20 where the heavier
goods can be stored.
[0018] From what above described the advantages of the present invention are made apparent:
the drawers arranged like the segments of an orange are used more rationally; the
different depth of the drawers from the front side to the rear side does not cause
any problems as the goods can be easily inspected and reached by rotating the drawers
and without the use of stool or the like. It should be appreciated that the same number
of conventional drawers would reach the height of 2 m.
[0019] A preferred embodiment has been herein described only by way of example. Alternatively
a chest of drawers can be provided which is like that of this invention but equipped
with spring means of different type in order to store documents, paper, invoices lying
on the bottom of each drawer. This and many other modifications and changes may be
made by the skilled in the art without parting from the scope of the present industrial
invention when they provide the same or similar results at which this invention is
aiming.
1. A chest of drawers, in particular for separately storing a plurality of different
articles, characterized in that it is formed of a piece of furniture (5) with a rotating
assembly (6) of drawers wherein the drawers (8) have a prismatic form and are arranged
like the segments of an orange, each drawer (8) being slideable on guide rails (11)
radially mounted on the opposite surfaces of two vertical supporting discs (14) which
are rotatably integral with a horizontal rotation axis (16) journalled between the
outer side walls (18) of the piece of furniture (5).
2. The chest of drawers of claim 1, characterized in that the depth of each drawer
(8) is gradually decreasing from the front wall (8A) to the rear wall (8B).
3. The chest of drawers of the preceding claims, characterized in that within each
drawer (8) at least one thrust means (26) is placed which is elastically urged so
as to keep the content of the drawer adjacent to the front wall (8A) of the latter.
4. The chest of drawers of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that in each drawer (8)
at least a thrust means is placed which is elastically urged so as to keep paper,
documents or the like adjacent to the bottom of the drawer.
5. The chest of drawers of the preceding claims, characterized in that each drawer
is closed at the upper side by a cover of transparent material which can be locked.
6. The chest of drawers of the preceding claims, characterized in that tha drawing
out of the drawers ad a desired height is allowed by a side frame against which the
drawers are abuting , said frame being mounted on the front side of the piece of furniture
and having at said desired height a slot, the height of which corresponds to the height
of a drawer.
7. The chest of drawers of the preceding claims, characterized in that each drawer
is kept closed by a snap-lock and/or a spring-lock.
8. The chest of drawers as substantially described and illustrated in the annexed
drawings.