Pull tray

A pull tray is disclosed comprising a planar support surface for a plurality of articles. The pull tray is easily converted into a drawer with front handle by means of a removeable handle. The pull tray is provided with a pair of shoulders which are adapted to provide sliding surfaces for a pair of channels defined by the handle. Additionally, the pull tray is provided with a resilient retention means which serves to selectively allow the handle to be secured and removed from the pull tray.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention generally relates to drawers or trays such as used in 
organizing and storing a variety of smaller items. The drawers or trays 
can be removeably held within a storage cabinet which is provided with 
pairs of opposed, yet parallel, drawer glides. A storage cabinet or 
modular cell unit, specifically adapted for storing the drawers or trays 
is disclosed in my copending application Ser. No. 791,323. This specific 
modular cell unit is not, however, essential; other similarly adapted 
storage cabinets could function with the drawers or trays of this 
invention. The modular cell, drawers, or trays can be employed in a 
hospital setting, for example, to store a patient's personal belongings, 
clothing, or medicines. The present invention comprises a storage or 
supporting member which can easily be converted from a pull tray to a 
drawer with associated pull handle. 
Any modern institutions, such as hospitals, hotels and schools, which must 
provide short term storage and related living facilities to members of the 
public face the problem of meeting a variety of different needs without 
maintaining a huge supply of different cabinets, dressers, etc. Such 
independent products and subsystems, in conflict with each other, are 
expensive to obtain and to store. Also, particularly in hospitals where 
sanitary procedures and controls are a major concern, it results in the 
practice of overcompensation to balance the unsanitizable character of 
many equipment structures. This group of "unsanitizable" structures 
include most furniture, professional equipment, transporting devices, 
containers and storage units of a larger size. All surfaces, without 
exception, should and need to be clearly accessible for removal of 
contaminated material and for sterilization. There should be no seams, no 
cracks, no interior grooves, no hinges and no unsealed shell interiors 
penetrable by air or liquid flow in order to preserve a sanitary 
atmosphere. With rare exception, present structures do not lend themselves 
to disassembly for proper cleaning. 
In such institutions, it has increasingly become apparent that the visible 
physical characteristics of the room or surroundings can have a profound 
impact on the psychological outlook of the occupant. It is therefore 
beneficial to provide comfortable and uncluttered furnishings that still 
fulfill the sanitary requirements. 
In order to be aesthetically pleasing to the occupant and yet maintain 
extreme functionality, a system of unitary modular cell units has been 
constructed. Each individual cell unit is capable of storing a variety of 
items of various shapes and sizes in an extremely aesthetically pleasing 
manner. The cell units or cabinets can be provided with a plurality of 
drawers or pull trays, as desired. These support devices are constructed 
of a hard, resilient, and durable plastic which can be submitted to heat 
and sanitarization without deterioration. The units are molded as one 
solid piece thereby eliminating unsightly seams. Additionally, the 
elimination of seams tends to substantially decrease the degree of 
impurities maintained in a structure after sterilization. The elimination 
of seams also tends to increase the component's structural strength. The 
pull trays or drawers are adapted to slide in and out of the front of a 
storage cabinet. These storage drawers or pull trays can be "mixed & 
matched" to provide a variety of cabinet configurations to meet the 
variety of needs. Quite obviously, the flexibility of a cabinet to take on 
a variety of functional embodiments is a tremendous advantage. 
By allowing a pull tray to be easily converted into a drawer, the cabinet 
or modular cell which carries the trays or drawers can be provided with a 
variety of frontal closures, as desired. For example, if the pull trays 
are used in an ordinary cabinet containing drawer support guides, then a 
hinged door or tambour-type door could be used to seal the cabinet from 
potential contamination. Alternatively, the pull trays can be converted 
into drawers by means of a handle which snaps onto the front of the pull 
tray. If the drawers are used in a cabinet, then the handles serve the 
dual function of facilitating removal of the drawers from the cabinet in 
addition to eliminating the need for an independent frontal closure. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,752,547 discloses and claims a rectangular drawer with a 
guide flange extending from the rear and side walls for sliding and 
supporting the drawer. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,550 discloses a drawer and drawer supporting 
combination. The drawers are provided with glide flanges which glide over 
the guide flanges located along the interior walls of the drawer support 
cabinet. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to a pull tray for use in a cabinet or modular cell 
unit which is easily converted into a drawer with handle. The pull tray 
comprises a planar base, four walls, and opposing glide flanges which are 
adapted to slide upon parallel pairs of internally extending flanges of a 
cabinet or modular cell unit. A variety of small articles can be held and 
supported upon the planar base of the tray. 
In order to convert the pull trays to drawers, a hand plastic handle slides 
over the front of the pull tray and is held in place by a combination of a 
lower protruding lip and a pair of channelways located in the handle which 
slide over a pair of shoulders located on the front of the pull tray. 
The ability of the pull tray to be able to be converted to a drawer and 
vice versa allows for greater versatility. For example, if desired the 
pull trays could be held within an ordinary storage cabinet. In order to 
close off the outside environment from possible contamination, a hinged 
door or drop front door could be utilized. Alternatively, however, the 
pull trays could be provided with the removeable handles. In this 
configuration, the handles serve a dual function. Not only do the handles 
facilitate the easy withdrawal of the drawers from the storage cabinets, 
but the handle, as it extends forward of the front wall of the pull tray, 
also acts as a frontal closure. This, then, eliminates the need for a 
separate and independent frontal closure. It should be appreciated that in 
a hospital environment, it is often crucial to prevent outside dust and 
other particle contamination from being in the immediate proximity to 
various items stored. It is contemplated that the pull trays and drawers 
of the present invention be utilized in a hospital environment and 
specifically within a modular cell unit as described in applicant's 
presently copending application. 
The drawers or pull trays are also provided with drainage holes at 
selective points so that these elements can be placed within an industrial 
washer/sanitizer to clean and sanitize them while allowing the water to 
effectively drain off. Additionally, as mentioned, the pull trays are 
selectively provided with front handles which engage with and secure to 
the front of the pull trays to facilitate the withdrawal of the now-formed 
drawers from a modular storage cell unit. These front handles are readily 
disengaged from the trays and therefore are also easy to sanitize. 
In many institutional uses, the front handles can be color coded so that 
the color of the handle can indicate the content or function of the 
drawer. 
The above mentioned purposes are more readily apparent when read in 
conjunction with the following detailed description of the preferred 
embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, a pull tray 270 is provided with a flat base 
271 and four walls 273. The flat base 271 provides support for a plurality 
of various articles. As the invention is specifically contemplated to be 
used in a hospital environment, drugs, eyeglasses, personal belongings, 
etc. could be stored within the drawers or pull tray. The walls are 
provided with horizontally extending flanges 202. Along the side walls of 
the drawer or pull tray are located a pair of parallel drawer gliders 200. 
The drawer gliders allow the drawer or pull tray to be supported by 
internally extending guide surfaces of a cabinet. The bottom surface 203 
of the drawer gliders 200 serve to support the drawer or pull tray upon a 
cabinet's guide surfaces and also serve to facilitate the relative 
horizontal movement of the drawer or pull tray with respect to the 
cabinet. 
The drawers and pull trays are provided with a plurality of drainage holes 
267 which are located in the flanges 202 of the drawer or pull tray. The 
drainage holes 267 serve to allow water to easily drain off after 
sterilization and thereby prevent water retention in the system. The 
elimination of water retention, by providing a proper water drain-off 
system, prolongs the useful life of the system in addition to the 
elimination of potential germ propogation. 
It should be noted that the drawers 272 are constructed by attaching the 
drawer handle 274 to the front of a pull tray 270. The handle comprises a 
rear flat piece 278 which is co-planar with the front 280 of the pull 
tray, when the handle is secured to the pull tray. A gripping surface 282 
extends downwardly from the flat piece 278 of the handle and serves to 
provide a convenient grip for a user's hand in order to facilitate easy 
withdrawal of the drawer. On both sides of the rear surface of the handle 
274 are guide means 284. The guide means 284 are spaced from the flat 
piece 278 and consequently a "U" shaped channel 285 is formed with the 
flat piece 278 forming one of the legs of the "U". The "U" shaped channels 
285 slide over and matingly engage the horizontally extending shoulders 
288 of the front 280 of the pull tray. The "U" shaped channels 285 are 
open on the top of the handle and closed towards the bottom of the handle. 
Grooves 287 are cut within the rear of the handle 274 and matingly engage 
and secure to the bottom of the front 280 of the pull tray. The front 280 
of the pull tray is provided with a horizontally extending retainer lip 
286. The front 280 of the pull tray is resilient with respect to the rest 
of the pull tray. The resiliency of the front 280 is a crucial aspect of 
the proper functioning of the device as will be explained hereinafter. 
In operation, in order to convert a pull tray to a drawer, the handle 274 
is directed such that the shoulders 288 of the front 280 of the pull tray 
pass within the "U" shaped channel 285 formed by the guide means 284 and 
flat piece 278. This is accomplished by sliding the open ends of the guide 
"U" shaped channels 285 upwardly over the shoulders 288 of the front. The 
rear planar surface of the handle will pass over the retainer lip 286, due 
to the latter's resiliency. Due to the fact that the guide means 284 are 
closed at their lower ends, the handle cannot continue to slide across the 
front of the door. Thus the handle is precluded from sliding above the top 
surface 301 of the pull tray by the closed guide means and the securing of 
the bottom of the front of the pull tray 280 within grooves 287. When the 
lower edge 303 of the handle passes over the retainer lip 286, the handle 
is effectively locked in place. The handle cannot slide off downwardly 
because the retainer lip prevents the handle's downward motion. The handle 
cannot slide upwardly off the front because the closed ends of the "U" 
shaped channels 285 and grooves 287 prevent such movement. 
Thus it can be seen that the handle can securely attach to the front of a 
pull tray and convert the same into a drawer. The advantages provided by a 
pull tray which can be converted into a drawer by the simple attachment of 
a handle are apparent when the following is considered. The pull trays can 
be secured within an ordinary cabinet. The cabinet, in an attempt to be 
sealed from the outside environment, can be provided with a hinged front 
door or alternatively with a roll top closure. If the cabinet is not 
provided with any frontal closure then the handle 274 can be slipped onto 
and secured to the pull tray in order to convert the same into a drawer. 
The drawer, then, is provided with a convenient gripping handle. The 
handle, being of greater height than the height of the pull tray, 
effectively closes off the drawers from the outside environment when the 
drawers are stacked one upon another in a cabinet. In this manner, a 
cabinet closure could be eliminated without sacrificing the dust 
preventive mechanism or aesthetic appeal provided by a cabinet with 
frontal closure. Additionally, the handles can be color-coded for 
facilitating identification of drawers. The ability of the handles to be 
removed and then secured to the pull trays allows the trays' 
identification to be changed without movement of the modular cell unit or 
even the pull trays themselves. 
When the drawer is to be reconverted to a pull tray, the user can merely 
push the retainer lip rearwardly while at the same time sliding the rear 
surface of the handle over the retainer lip in a downward direction. The 
resiliency of the retainer lip, therefore, is crucial to the proper 
addition and removal of the handle to the pull tray. 
Corner cut-outs 290 are located at the rear corners of the flanges 202. The 
corner cut-outs 290 are provided with a vertical planar wall 292. The 
vertical planar wall 292 is adapted to abut against a stop member located 
at the rear of the guide surfaces of a cabinet. The abutment between the 
corner cut-outs and the internally protruding stop means prevents the pull 
tray or drawer from being pushed into the cabinet a greater distance than 
desired. 
Located beneath the horizontally extending side flanges 202 are a pair of 
drawer stop elements 204. These drawer stop elements are adapted to abut 
against a second set of stop means located toward the front end of the 
guide surfaces of the cabinet. The abuttment of the front surface of the 
drawer stop elements 204 with the second set of stop means precludes the 
inadvertant total withdrawal of the pull tray. 
While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it is 
understood that the invention is not limited to such an embodiment since 
it may be otherwise embodied in the scope of the appended claims.