US3532403A - Transportable sectional bar - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 6, 1970' J. 1'. KOSKI I TRANSPORTABLE SECTIONAL BAR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 25, 1968 IINVENTOR JOHN T. KOSKI ATTORNEY J. T. KOSKI TRANSPORI'ABLE SECTIONAL BAR Oct. 6, 1970 Filed March 25, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JOHN T. KOSK! ATTORNEY United States Patent Gee 3,532,493 Patented Oct. 6, 1970 3,532,403 TRANSPORTABLE SECTIONAL BAR John T. Koski, 225 W. Bidwell, Battle Creek, Mich. 49015 Filed Mar. 25, 1968, Ser. No. 715,769 Int. Cl. A47b 96/18; A47f 9/00 US. Cl. 312-140.2 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates broadly to bars for entertainment use, and more specifically to bar modules which may be transported, stored, and two or more joined together to form a sectional bar for special requirements.

The social climate of the day necessitates a great deal of entertaining, both in commercial facilities such as hotels and restaurants, and in private homes. A natural part of this entertaining includes the serving of refreshments of various kinds to those who are present. The major purpose of this invention is to provide a facility for use by both adult and young people for the purpose of storing and serving refreshments.

One of the major difiiculties with most bars of any size is that they are built permanently in place. The removal of such a permanent facility is necessarily a major project. This is especially true where the conventional straight length bar is not involved. Another disadvantage of having a permanent facility is that it takes up space in a room which might be used at least part of the time for purposes other than entertaining with refreshments. Therefore, the ideal facility would be a bar having suitable construction, suificient size, and weight to be firmly set in place on a floor and still have the capability of easy movement from the position into an out-of-the-way place or storage area when not in use.

Attempts have been made in the prior art to provide a suitable portable bar for the purpose of filling the desired need mentioned above. Portable, sectional bars (Pat. No. 2,771,334) have been made collapsible and may be carried from place to place on the body of the person doing the moving. Disadvantages such as having hinged portions and carrying straps which wear out are attendant this type of portable sectional bar. In addition, all persons do not necessarily have the capability of lifting such a portable bar.

Another type (Pat. No. 2,995,408) of sectional bar has been developed which is of a knock-down prefabricated variety for use in the home Unless this particular bar is constructed and left permanently in place, its assembly and disassembly is necessitated every time its use is required. When it is necessary to knock down the prefabricated sectional bar, a plurality of identical sections must be disassembled and carried from the point of use to a storage area of an out-of-the-way place. It was a recognition of these problems and difiiculties, and the lack of a commercially acceptable solution, which led to the conception and development of the present invention.

The primary object of this invention is to overcome the attendant disadvantages of the permanent type bar and the known portable type bars which are presently available in the prior art.

Another object of this invention is to provide a bar module having a retractable friction reducing support means such as retractable casters which, when put in an extended position, provide easy movement of the bar module across the floor.

Another object is to provide bar modules which may be connected to one or more other modules to form a larger sectional bar assembly where desired. Furthermore, the particular bar assembly may be of any desired shape, e.g., a straight, circular, or sinuous configuration.

A further object of this invention is to provide connecting means located at the top portion of attached modules for the purpose of providing a seal to prevent liquid from running down between the modules in the event that there is spillage on the top portion of an assembled sectional bar.

A further object of this invention is to provide a bar module which may be further equipped to provide either storage space for refreshments and condiments or facilities such as sinks, and coolers, or both. This necessarily broadens the use of the bar module during the preparation, use and cleaning up operations accompanying the serving of refreshments.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a bar module of a size which is easily moved from place to place within a building through conventional doorways, and in addition may be packed for easy shipment and handling. At the same time, it is made sufficiently heavy so that its weight is effective to provide firm engagement with the floor so that an accidental jarring will not disturb any liquid refreshment plaed on top of the bar or contents within a storage area provided in the bar module.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention, then, consists of the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the annexed drawings and the following description setting forth in detail illustrative embodiments of the invention, such discosed embodiments illustrating, however, but several of various ways in which the principle of the invention may be used.

In the annexed drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top view of an assembly of modules produced in accordance with this invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of another assembly of modules constructed in accordance with this invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIGS. 2 and 7, looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view as taken along line 55 of FIG. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5, looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 7 is a back view of an assembly of two modules constructed in accordane with this invention including additional service facilities.

FIG. 8 is a front perspective view of an assembly two modules constructed in accordance with this invention.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing the caster location, as taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, differently shaped assemblies of modules of this invention are shown in FIGS. 1 2 and 8.Modules 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 assembled as shown in FIG. 1 comprise a circular-shaped assembly having an opening at one point in the circle for the purpose of ingress as well as egress from the inside of the bar. An assembly ofmodules 18 and 19, FIG. 8, is constructed in a partial circular shape. Another possible modification is shown in FIG. 2, wherein the attached 3modules 16 and 17 have a sinuous construction. In this case, thepadded edge rail 27 is made continuous, and the base is preferably shifted to form acontinuous foot rest 38 on the outside of the assembly.

The details of a module of this invention may be understood more clearly from an examination of one specific single module, generally designated as 16 in FIGS. 2 and 3, having a curved sectional shape and comprising twoside panels 20, 20, atop portion 21, afront portion 22, and anopen back portion 23. Agroove 21a, commonly used to hold glasses in which a beverage is being mixed, is located at the inside edge of thetop portion 21. A paddededge rail 27 is attached to arail mounting portion 37, FIG. 5, on the outside edge of thetop portion 21 by way of a bolt 34 andspacer 33. The bolt 34 runs from therail mounting portion 37 throughspacer 33 into arail beam 30 on which a rail covering 28 is mounted by way of anchoring means 31 and 32. The rail covering 28 holds the rail padding 29 in place on therail beam 39. Thespacer 33 comprises acore 35, FIG. 6, and acovering 36. The covering of the various portions of themodule 16 is chosen to provide durability and to be food and drink resistant. Thetop portion 21 may be varnished wood, but is prefer" ably covered with plastic, vinyl or other suitable material. Afoot rest 38 including an overhangingtoe kick portion 39 is located at the bottom of the front portion. This construction provides foot space at floor level for a person standing at the bar in addition to afoot rest 38 at an elevated position.

Fivecasters 40, FIG. 9, are mounted at the bottom of themodule 16 with two located on adjacent end panels -20, and one adjacent the center of the projecting front of the module. Eachcaster 40 has aconventional foot kick 41, FIG. 7, for the purpose of adjusting the caster in either an extended position for transporting the module, or a retracted position for holding the module in fixed location.Casters 40, FIG. 7, are shown in extended position and attached to themodule 16 via mountingmeans 42.

Themodule 16 is preferably of such a size as to be packed for shipment in substantiallyrectangular boxes 30 inches wide and of a height of about 42 inches and maximum length of the particular bar module itself. The size is further preferably limited to permit stacking two high during shipment and for allowing easy passage through a conventional 32 inch doorway without the necessity of uncrating. However, if the doorway was somewhat narrower, the module can be uncrated and worked through the doorway on a curve, since the actual width of the top in preferred construction is only about two feet.

Themodule 16 preferably has a weight of approximately 200 pounds to make it very stable. To provide additional weight when necessary, the inside of themodule 16 may be conventionally provide with any suitable weighing material, such as concrete or metals (not shown). This weighting material, for instance, may be placed inside offoot rest 38, FIG. 5, or even onshelves 43, or the like, if desired. The primary concern is for themodule 16 to have sufiicient weight to provide stability and a solid engagement with the floor.

Theopen back portion 23, FIG. 7, may be variously modified as diagrammatically illustrated, wherein the modules of the assembly may includestorage shelves 43, a coolingunit 44 and asink 45 with washwater receiving tank 46. If desired, faucets (not shown) may be conventionally provided on thetop portion 21 for delivery of various liquid refreshments.

Themodule 16 is easily attached to another module. A typical junction of two attached modules is fragmentarily shown in FIG. 4 wherein bolts extend from onemodule side portion 20, through asoft gasket material 24, such as sponge rubber, and through another moduleside wall portion 20. Thebolts 25 may be firmly anchored in place by means of wing nuts 26. Thegasket material 24 prevents the flow of liquid between the modules in the event of liquids being spilled on or used to clean thetop portion 21.

While this invention has been shown with reference to the very specific embodiment illustrated in the drawings, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is susceptible to various other changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. A bar module comprising:

(a) a generally vertical arcuate front wall portion, side wall portions, a top portion having a curved front edge generally corresponding to the curvature of said front wall portion, and an open back portion;

(b) a retractable friction reducing support means having a first position and a second position, said means including rollable members mounted at the bottom of said front and side wall portions for contacting a floor surface to provide easy movement of said module across such surface when said means is in one of said positions and retracting out of contact in the other position of such means;

(c) said module having a total weight and weight distribution effective to provide a free-standing structure in either of the said positions of said retractable means, and a physical size sui'ficiently small to allow free movement thereof through conventional doorways.

2. A bar module as defined in claim 1 wherein said module has weighting means incorporated therein, thereby providing added weight to the module to improve its stability.

3. A sectional bar comprising:

(a) at least two modules, each module having a front wall portion, side wall portions, a top portion and an open back portion;

(b) friction-reducing support means having an opera tive position and a disabled position, said means mounted at the bottom of said front and side wall portions of each of said modules for providing easy movement thereof across a surface when in said operative position;

(c) means for connecting said modules together, said means located on said side wall portions, said connecting means including a gasket means to prevent flow of liquid between said modules, and

(d) wherein said module has weighting means incorporated therein, thereby providing added weight to the module to improve its stability.

4. A sectional bar as defined inclaim 3 wherein said modules are arcuate in shape.

5. A sectional bar as defined inclaim 3 wherein each of said modules has a weight and a weight distribution effective to make each a free-standing unit.

6. A sectional bar as defined inclaim 3 wherein said gasket means is of compressible soft gasket material such as sponge rubber.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,771,334 11/1956 Wahlbom 312-140.2 2,808,305 10/1957 Jackson 312-1402 2,995,408 9/1961 Kobrin 312140.2 3,009,752 11/1961 Margulis 312-1402 X 3,356,434 12/1967 Theodores 312250 3,365,258 1/1968 Downing 312---140.2

CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 312-250

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