Rotatable shelf insert for corner cupboards

A rotatable shelf insert for corner cupboards comprising at least one shelf of substantially circular overall shape. A guide rod passes through a hub in the center of the shelf. The shelf is supported on the guide rod by means of a retaining pin passing through the guide rod at right angles. The hub receives the guide rod with radial play. A cylindrical clamping sleeve conically tapered at one end by variation of the wall thickness is inserted between the guide rod and the inner wall of the hub.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to a rotatable shelf insert for corner cupboards with 
at least one shelf of substantially circular overall shape, and a guide 
rod for supporting the shelf. The guide rod passes through a hub lying in 
the center of the circular shelf. A retaining pin passes through the guide 
rod at right angles and supports the shelf. 
Inserts of this kind, which are also termed carousel inserts, serve 
principally to make use of the region of the internal corners of built-in 
kitchen cupboards. Since the space lying in the corners is only accessible 
with relative difficulty, and via a comparatively small opening, it has 
proved appropriate to employ rotatable shelves, so-called carousels. These 
carousels enable pots or other kitchen utensils to be put away, and moved 
when required, by rotating the shelf to the open side of the cupboard. The 
carousels generally have a cut-out (rectangular or otherwise) for 
receiving a door. A vertical guide rod is rotatably secured between the 
lower and upper wall surfaces of the cupboard. The guide rod carries at 
least one, but generally two shelves mounted to rotate substantially 
together. 
To simplify assembly, easy insertion of the guide rod into the hub of the 
shelf necessary. With corresponding manufacturing tolerances, this can 
lead to considerable play between the shelf and the guide rod. Further 
play occurs between the retaining pin which runs perpendicularly through 
the guide rod and the corresponding holes in the guide rod. The shelves 
are thus able to tip relative to the guide rod, and are rotatable through 
a certain angle relatively to the guide rod, producing reduced stability. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object underlying the present invention is to provide an insert of the 
generic type described, in which the shelves are held on the guide rod 
substantially free of play. 
In accordance with the above object, there has been provided a rotatable 
shelf insert for corner cupboards, comprising a substantially circular 
shelf having a top and a bottom; a hub centrally disposed in the shelf and 
having a first inner wall; a guide rod for supporting the shelf, and 
passing through the hub, wherein a radial space is defined between the 
guide rod and the first inner wall; a cylindrical clamping sleeve having a 
lower end having a conically tapered wall, inserted in the radial space, 
and for clamping the shelf to the guide rod. 
Preferably, the rotatable shelf insert according to the invention further 
comprises a supporting sleeve having a conically widening inner wall, and 
having a supporting surface for supporting the shelf, wherein the 
supporting sleeve is inserted into the radial space from the bottom of the 
shelf, wherein the clamping sleeve is inserted into the radial space from 
the top of the shelf, and wherein the conically tapered wall of the 
clamping sleeve engages the conically widening inner wall of the 
supporting sleeve. 
Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will 
become apparent from the detailed description of preferred embodiments, 
when considered together with the attached figure of drawing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The above object is achieved according to the invention in that the hub 
receives the guide rod while defining a radial space, and a clamping 
sleeve is inserted in the radial space between the guide rod and the inner 
wall of the hub. The sleeve is cylindrical and tapered conically at one 
end by variation of the wall thickness. 
The above solution offers the advantage that the guide rod can first be 
very simply pushed into the hub. The clamping rod is secured free of play 
on the hub only as a result of inserting the clamping sleeve. The clamping 
sleeve is clamped between the hub and the guide rod. 
Preferably, the clamping sleeve is pushed into the hub from above. 
Expressions such as "above" and "below" relate in the present context in 
each case to the mounted position inside a corner cupboard. A supporting 
sleeve is inserted into the hub from below. The supporting sleeve has a 
conically enlarged internal diameter which cooperates with a conical 
tapering of the clamping sleeve. The supporting sleeve also serves to 
support the shelf on a retaining pin. 
Two opposed openings are provided on the underside of the supporting sleeve 
for receiving the retaining pin. The openings have opposite side walls 
converging obliquely upwards, so that, when the shelf is placed in 
position, the retaining pin is clamped between the side walls, and a 
connection is made which is free of play. In addition, the opposite side 
walls can have lugs, behind which the retaining pin is locked. 
Preferably, the clamping sleeve is able to be screwed into the hub from 
above. For this purpose, the clamping sleeve has at least one lug on its 
outer surface, which enters a thread turn in the inner wall surface of the 
hub. 
The holes for receiving the retaining pin or pins in the guide rod are 
preferably not made round, but have side edges which converge obliquely 
downwards. The retaining pin can thus also assume a lower end position 
free of play in these holes. 
In accordance with a particular advantageous embodiment, the clamping 
sleeve is enlarged conically outwards at its upper end, while the hub of 
the shelf has a corresponding conical enlargement or widening at its upper 
end. In this way, the clamping sleeve is clamped both at its upper end and 
also at its lower end. The clamping sleeve is clamped relative to the hub 
and relative to the supporting sleeve, so that it bears firmly against the 
guide rod and lies free of play within the hub. For easier radial 
deformation, the clamping sleeve can have suitably-positioned slits 
parallel to the axis. 
Since the hub is closed from above and from below by the clamping sleeve 
and the supporting sleeve, respectively, the hub can be made shorter in 
the axial direction. Since the lower supporting sleeve can be omitted 
during transport, the shelves can, for transport purposes be pushed into 
one another in the hub region, so that a reduced stacking height results. 
A circumferential, upwardly projecting edge, may be provided so that the 
shelves can be stacked without tipping. 
In the drawing, a guide rod is numbered 10 and a carousel or shelf is 
numbered 12. The guide rod 10 lies within a hub 14 of the shelf 12. The 
shelf comprises a supporting surface 16, which at the outer edge 18 is 
drawn up in an inverted U shape and is supported from the underside by 
ribs 20. The hub 14 can, in essence, be described as of double-layer 
construction with an outer sleeve 22 and an inner sleeve 24. The outer 
sleeve 22 and the inner sleeve 24 are joined together angularly at their 
upper ends. In addition, radial ribs 26, 28 are provided between the two 
sleeves, so that an overall stable hub construction results. 
The inner sleeve 24 has at it upper end a conical enlargement or widening, 
not numbered, to which further reference will be made below. A clamping 
sleeve 30 is inserted into the hub 14 from above, and thus lies between 
the hub and the guide rod 10. The clamping sleeve 30 has a cylindrical 
tube portion 32, which is conically tapered at its lower end by a 
reduction of the wall thickness. At its upper end, the tube portion is 
conically enlarged by wedge-shaped ribs 34. At this upper end the tube 
portion is subdivided into individual segments by slits, not numbered, 
parallel to the axis, which facilitate radial deformation. The external 
cone formed by the ribs 34 corresponds to the internal cone at the upper 
end of the inner sleeve 24. 
The cylindrical tube portion 32 of the clamping sleeve 30 has on the 
outside at least one lug 36, shown in the drawing on the left side. This 
lug can be inserted through a groove 38 in the region of the conical 
enlargement at the upper end of the inner sleeve 24 of the hub. The lower 
edge of the inner sleeve 24 is formed as a thread turn 40, over which the 
lug 36 slides relatively to the hub 14 when the clamping sleeve 30 is 
rotated. In this way the clamping sleeve 30 can be drawn into the hub by 
rotation. As a result, the conical outer surface of the clamping sleeve 
30, formed by the ribs 34, clamps itself within the conical enlargement of 
the inner sleeve 24. The clamping sleeve 30 is thus pressed firmly against 
the guide rod 10, and the sleeve lies within the hub 14 without play. 
At the same time, a corresponding clamping occurs at the lower end of the 
clamping sleeve with the help of the already-mentioned conical tapering of 
the tube portion 32 of the clamping sleeve. A supporting sleeve 42 is 
pushed from below into the outer sleeve 22 of the hub 14. The supporting 
sleeve has a cylindrical tube portion 44, which is conically enlarged at 
the upper end of its inner surface, by a reduction of the wall thickness. 
This enlargement cooperates with the tapering at the lower end of the 
clamping sleeve 30, so that a corresponding radial clamping occurs at the 
lower end of the clamping sleeve 30 or of the hub 14. 
In the region of the lower end of the tube portion 44 already-mentioned, 
the supporting sleeve 42 is flanged, at right angles outwards and then 
upwards. The supporting sleeve is then bent at right angles outwards and 
thereupon again guided parallel to the axis into the interior of the outer 
sleeve 22. Between the double-walled construction thus formed, there are 
radial ribs 46. These ribs 46 serve to support the ribs 26 of the hub 14 
and thus the whole shelf 12 on the supporting sleeve 42. 
The supporting sleeve 42 is locked relative to the hub 14 both in the 
rotary direction and also in the axial direction. The sleeve 42 does not 
rotate with or move with the clamping sleeve 30, and the entire shelf 12 
is fixed on the guide rod 10 in the rotary direction, as will later be 
described in more detail. 
At least one lug 48 is provided on the outside of the supporting sleeve 42 
for locking the sleeve 42 in the axial direction. The lug 48 can latch in 
a window 50 of the outer sleeve 22 of the hub. The already-mentioned 
generally cylindrical, outer region 52 of the supporting sleeve 42 is 
preferably slit in a direction parallel to the axis to form individual 
tongues. The region 52 has an extended finger 54 which, in a predetermined 
angular position, enters into a corresponding recess, not numbered, in one 
of the ribs 26 between the inner sleeve 24 and the outer sleeve 22 of the 
hub 14, as is shown on the left side of the drawing. This configuration 
prevents further rotation of the sleeve 42. 
The supporting sleeve 42 supports the shelf 12 on the guide rod 10. For 
this purpose, the guide rod 10 is transfixed by a retaining pin 56. At 
both its ends, the pin 56 extends for part of its length out of the guide 
rod 10. As is shown at the top of the drawing, the corresponding holes 57 
in the guide rod are not circular in shape, but have edges converging 
obliquely downwards, so that the retaining pin 56, when under load, is 
pressed into a lower position free of play. The opposite, 
outwardly-extending ends of the retaining pin 56 lie in opposite openings 
58 formed in the tube portion 44 of the supporting sleeve 42. These 
openings 58 have side walls 60, 62 converging obliquely upwards, so that 
the retaining pin 56, when under load, is also pressed into an upper end 
position free of play relative to the supporting sleeve 42. Small lugs 64, 
66 at the lower edges of the opposite side walls 60, 62 serve for locking 
the retaining pin 56 in the pressed-in position, so that the supporting 
sleeve 42 and hence the entire shelf 12 are fixed relatively to the guide 
rod 10, even under upwardly-directed forces such as can arise during 
transport for example. 
At its upper end, the clamping sleeve 30 has a circumferential edge 68 bent 
outwards and then downwards, which overlaps the hub 14 from outside and 
contributes to greater stability. 
From the drawing it also appears that, before assembly, i.e., before 
insertion of the guide rod and the retaining pin, the shelf according to 
the invention can be stacked in a particularly convenient manner. To 
illustrate this, a further shelf numbered 12'0 is shown in broken lines. 
Since the upper clamping sleeve 30 and the lower supporting sleeve 42 are 
absent, the hubs of shelves lying one above one another fit within one 
another in the manner shown, saving space. Here, the stacking height in 
the region of the hub corresponds substantially with that height which 
appears in the region of the outer edge 18, so that the shelves can be 
stacked free of play. Relative to comparable shelves with a hub 
construction which cannot be taken apart, a space saving of about 40% 
results according to the invention.