Abstract:
A dish rack has a main deck piece formed of sheet metal of stainless steel, with a perforated region allowing wire form glass holders to be variably positioned thereon, and a row of spaced apart bands adjacent one edge for holding the plates, saucers, and the like. Rolled side edges space the deck piece above a supporting surface.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/176,352, filed on Jan. 14, 2000. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention concerns racks and more particularly racks especially adapted to hold dishes while draining and drying after washing the same. 
     Dish racks are generally utilitarian in appearance and have a fixed configuration such as to not be changeable to better suit the type and number of dishes to be accommodated. 
     It is desirable to have a more aesthically pleasing design, particularly since the racks are often left in view in the kitchen. 
     It is the object of the present invention to provide a dish rack which has a high degree of aesthetic appeal, is versatile in adapting to the type of dishware items to be accommodated, while being simple and low in cost to manufacture. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The above objects and others which will become apparent upon a reading of the following specification and claims are achieved by a rack including a rectangular metal sheet forming a deck piece, preferably of polished or satin stainless steel, which has one section which has aligned rows of perforations adapted to receive wire forms in serpentine shape to provide upright loops, with wire ends at each end able to be inserted in the perforations to support the wire forms in an upright position above the sheet metal deck piece. 
     The upright flattened loops in the wire forms provide spaced finger supports for holding cups, glasses, mugs or the like, or for cookware. The wire forms can be repositioned at any spacing, position, or orientation to accommodate a wide variety of sizes and types of dishware items. 
     Another section of the deck piece has an integrally formed row of bands extending upwardly and spaced apart by intervening slots punched into the metal. The bands define supports for flat items such as plates and saucers. The wire forms can be positioned aligned with the bands to provide additional support for large platters or cooking sheets, etc. 
     Two opposite sides of the sheet metal deck piece are rolled over, a bottom lip edge mounting rubber feet at each comer of the deck to support the rack above the surface on which it is rested. 
     The polished metallic finish of the deck provides a sophisticated appearance, particularly when combined with the polished chrome wire forms. 
     The rack can be manufactured at relatively low cost while having a high quality look. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a dish rack according to the invention shown with a few dishes in place. 
     FIG. 1A is a fragmentary perspective view showing repositioning of wire forms included in the dish rack shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 2 is a plan view of the dish rack shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is a front view of the dish rack shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 but without the suction cup feet. 
     FIG. 4 is a left side view of the dish rack shown in FIGS. 1-3. 
     FIG. 5 is a right side view of the dish rack shown in FIGS. 1-4, but without the suction cup feet. 
     FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the dish rack shown in FIGS. 1-5. 
     FIG. 7 is a front view of one of the wire forms used to support cups, glasses and cookware. 
     FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the lines  8 — 8  in FIG.  7 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following detailed description, certain specific terminology will be employed for the sake of clarity and a particular embodiment described in accordance with the requirements of 35 USC 112, but it is to be understood that the same is not intended to be limiting and should not be so construed inasmuch as the invention is capable of taking many forms and variations within the scope of the appended claims. 
     Referring to the drawings, a dish rack  10  according to the invention includes a formed sheet metal deck piece  12  of a rectangular shape, a plurality of wire forms  14  which each have ends which are secured in respective perforations  16  in a main region  17  of the deck piece  12  adjacent one side edge  26 . The perforations  16  are formed in orthogonal rows at spacings such as to allow the opposite foot ends of the wire forms  14  to be received therein. 
     The deck  12  is also integrally formed with a series of bands  19  extending in a row along side edge  24 , the bands  19  curving up over the level of the perforated region  17  and defining intervening slots  21  adapted to receive plateware, such as dinner plates  20 , saucers  22 , etc. 
     The bands  19  extend to formed left side edge  24  which is similar to the opposite right side edge  26 . 
     Four suction feet  28  can be mounted at each comer secured to lower edge  30  of each formed side edge  24 ,  26 , to support the deck piece  12  spaced above a surface on which it is placed. 
     The sheet metal deck  12  is preferably made of stainless steel having a polished brushed or satin finish to provide an attractive appearance. 
     The wire forms  14  similarly may be made of chrome plated steel of a bright or stainless steel with a polished, brushed or satin finish, and together provide an attractive appearance. 
     FIG. 3 shows the formed edges  24 ,  26  in which the sheet metal is rolled over, with the edges  30  at each comer provided within punched openings (FIG. 6) suited to attach the suction cup feet  28 . 
     FIGS. 4 and 5 show that the slots  21  and bands  19  have sloping bottom edges  34  adapted to locate the rims of plates, saucers, etc. inserted in the slots  21  to assume the same inclination. 
     The wire forms  14  are serpentine in shape to form a series of parallel narrow flattened loops  36  (FIG. 3) defining upright fingers able to support cups  38 , glasses, pots, etc. 
     The wire forms  14  have lower support wire ends  40  at each end which are spaced at a distance which matches the spacing between two of the perforations  16  so as to allow the ends  40  to be inserted into any two similarly spaced perforations to enable each of the wire forms  14  to be quickly mounted, removed or repositioned on the perforated portion of the metal deck  12  to accommodate the specific dishware items to be drained, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 1A. 
     The wire forms  14  can be repositioned normally to one edge as shown in FIG. 1A to save space. Also, the spaces between flattened loops  36  can be aligned with the slots  21  to provide extended support for large platters, pans, and the like as necessary. A row of perforations  16 A are formed in the rolled edge  24  adjacent the bands  19  to provide another wire form maintaining location. 
     The lower wire form ends  40  are preferably coated with a vinyl coating or tubing  42  to secure the ends in the respective perforations  16  or  16 A. The ends  40  include a generally horizontal segment  41 , a vertical offset  43 , and a slightly upturned tips  45 . The wire formed  14  can be first turned sideways to insert the tips  45  into perforations  16  or  16 A then turned up to allow advancing the segments  43  into the perforations  16 ,  16 A. The wire forms  14  are slightly inclined from the vertical to insure that the tips  45  engage the undersurface of the deck piece  12 . 
     The construction of the deck piece  12  as a formed metal sheet provides for an attractive functional support at low cost, since the bands, slots perforations, and rolled edges, are all integrally formed. The metal can be of thin gauge (1.5 mm thick) but still provide sufficient stiffness to easily support the weight of the dishes above a supporting surface on the rolled under side edge  24 ,  26 . 
     The perforations  16 ,  16 A should be substantially larger than the diameter of the wire form  14  to allow inserting and removal of the wire form ends to be easily done. 
     The metal used for the deck piece should be corrosion resistant and attractive in appearance. Steel is suitably strong and is preferred, but aluminum could also be used. 
     Stainless steel is attractive in appearance and will remain so through long periods of use without any surface coating to wear or chip. 
     However, primed and enameled steel may also be used. 
     Likewise, polished or brushed stainless steel may be used for the wire forms  14  instead of chrome plated steel wire (4 mm thick), although chrome plated steel is harder and more resistant to scratching, hence is preferred.