Patent ID: 6073764
Filing Date: 2000-06-13
Classification: A47F,G11B

Abstract:
A storage device for holding a plurality of media units each having a front cover, said device comprising:a frame assembly including first and second longitudinal frame members supported in spaced apart, parallel relation to one another, and each having an inner facing side, an outer facing side, a forward end, a rear end, a longitudinal recessed channel extending along said outer facing side, and a plurality of holes disposed in an equi spaced, linear arrangement along said recessed channel, each of said plurality of holes extending through a thickness of said respective first and second longitudinal frame members, and each of said plurality of holes in said first longitudinal frame member being positioned and disposed in axial alignment with a correspondingly positioned one of said holes in said second longitudinal frame member to thereby define a pivot axis;a plurality of carriers transversely positioned between said first and second longitudinal frame members in a plurality of rows, each of said carriers including:a base having a lower portion, a top support surface, opposite ends, and an axial bore formed in said opposite ends, said axial bore at each end being positioned and disposed in axial alignment with one of the correspondingly positioned axially aligned holes in said first and second longitudinal frame members to thereby align said axial bore at each end of said base along said pivot axis;a rear panel extending upwardly from said base, and including an inner face, an outer face, a top edge, and opposite side edges;a front transparent panel extending upwardly from said base in spaced, parallel relation to said rear panel and including an inner face, an outer face, a top edge and opposite side edges; andsaid inner faces of said front and rear panels being spaced apart from one another at a distance which permits placement and removal of at least one of the media units therebetween so that the media unit is held on said carrier while resting on said top support surface of said base with at least a portion of the media unit captivated between said front and rear panels and the front cover of the media unit maintained upright and visible through said front panel; anda plurality of pivot fasteners for pivotally supporting said carriers transversely between said longitudinal frame members, each of said pivot fasteners including a head and a shank, said shank being structured and disposed to extend through a respective one of said holes in said first and second longitudinal frame members and into said bore of an adjacently positioned one of said opposite ends of said base of said carrier, and said head of said pivot fastener being sized and configured to engage said outer facing side of said respective first and second longitudinal frame members surrounding said hole to limit travel of said shank into said bore, thereby defining a fully inserted position, and said head being further structured and configured to protrude outwardly from said outer facing side to a distance not exceeding a depth of said recessed channel when said pivot fastener is in the fully inserted position, and said shank including a distal end portion being structured and disposed for fixed attachment within said bore and a proximal portion being structured and disposed to rotate freely within said hole of said respective longitudinal frame member to thereby permit pivotal movement of said carrier about said pivot axis, in a flipping motion, between a forwardly inclined position and a rearwardly inclined position, wherein the front cover of at least one media unit held in a respective one of said carriers is visibly exposed in a selected one of said rows when said carriers in preceding rows, positioned forwardly of said selected row, have been rotated to said forwardly inclined position and the carrier in the selected row is in said rearwardly inclined position.