Abstract:
A drawer expander that includes a plurality of trays that are stacked on top of each other. Spring-biased arms connect the trays together so that the trays will open when the drawer is opened and close when the drawer is closed. One form of the drawer expander can be used in a drawer, and another form can be attached to the bottom surface of a support element so the expanding trays can act like drawers that expand when opened.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to the general art of supports, and to the particular field of cabinet structure with movable components. 
   Many people have a severe shortage of storage space. This most often occurs as a shortage of drawer space. Many drawers are jammed with items, and often resemble Fibber Magee&#39;s closets. Some items become lost even though they are where they should be. 
   Therefore, there is a need for a means for improving the storage capacity associated with most household storage devices. 
   Furthermore, while the inventor is aware of many drawers that have dividers and the like, such dividers have many shortcomings. For example, an item may become displaced in the divided drawer and inadvertently moved from one area to another thereby cluttering the second area. 
   Therefore, there is a need for a means for dividing a drawer such that items in one area are not likely to move into other areas of the drawer. 
   Furthermore, such drawer dividers generally do not increase the storage capacity of a drawer, they merely divide the drawer. In fact, such dividers may even decrease the storage capacity of a drawer because the divider, itself, takes up space. 
   Therefore, there is a need for a means for dividing a drawer in a manner that increases the storage capacity of the drawer. 
   PRINCIPAL OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
   It is a main object of the present invention to provide a means for improving the storage capacity associated with most household storage devices. 
   It is another object of the present invention to provide a means for dividing a drawer such that items in one area are not likely to move into other areas of the drawer. 
   It is another object of the present invention to provide a means for dividing a drawer in a manner that increases the storage capacity of the drawer. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   These, and other, objects are achieved by a drawer expander that includes a plurality of trays that are stacked on top of each other. Spring-biased arms connect the trays together so that the trays will open when the drawer is opened and close when the drawer is closed. One form of the drawer expander can be used in a drawer, and another form can be attached to the bottom surface of a support element so the expanding trays can act like drawers that expand when opened. 
   Using the drawer expander embodying the present invention will permit the storage capacity of a drawer to be expanded yet will keep stored items organized. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a first form of a drawer expander embodying the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a side elevational view of three drawer expanders such as shown in  FIG. 1  in closed conditions. 
       FIG. 3  is a side elevational view of three drawer expanders such as shown in  FIG. 1  with one of the drawer expanders in an open condition. 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a second form of a drawer expander embodying the present invention. 
       FIG. 5  is a side elevational view of the  FIG. 4  drawer expander in a closed condition. 
       FIG. 6  is a side elevational view of the  FIG. 4  drawer expander in a closed condition and attached to a support surface. 
       FIG. 7  is a side elevational view of the  FIG. 4  drawer expander in an open condition. 
       FIG. 8  is a front elevational view of the  FIG. 4  drawer expander in a closed condition. 
       FIG. 9  is a front elevational view of the  FIG. 4  drawer expander in an open condition. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. 
   Referring to the Figures, and particularly  FIGS. 1–3 , it can be understood that the present invention is embodied in a drawer expander  10  which achieves the above-stated objectives. 
   Drawer expander  10  comprises a plurality of tray units  12 ,  14  and  16 . The tray units are in stacked configuration with one tray unit being located above an adjacent tray unit. The tray units increase in size from bottom tray unit  16  to top tray unit  12 . 
   Other than size, the tray units are identical. Each tray unit includes a planar surface, such as planar surface  24  of tray unit  12 , a first end, such as end  26  of tray unit  12  which is a front end when the tray units are in use, a second end, such as end  28  of tray unit  12  which is a rear end when the tray units are in use, and a longitudinal axis, such as longitudinal axis  30  of tray unit  12  which extends between the first end  26  and the second end  28 , a first side, such as first side  40  of tray unit  12 , a second side, such as second side  42  of tray unit  12  and a transverse axis, such as transverse axis  44  of tray unit  12  which extends between the first side  40  and the second side  42 . 
   Each tray unit further includes a first side wall, such as first side wall  50  on tray unit  12 , on the first side of the planar surface  24 , the first side wall extending perpendicular to the planar surface  24 . Each tray unit further includes a second side wall, such as second side wall  52  of tray unit  12  on the second side of the planar surface  24 , the second side wall extending perpendicular to the planar surface  24 , a first end wall, such as first end wall  54  on tray unit  12  on the first end  26  of the planar surface  24 , the first end wall  54  extending perpendicular to the planar surface  24 , and a second end wall, such as second end wall  56  of tray unit  12  on the second end  28  of the planar surface  24 , the second end wall  56  extending perpendicular to the planar surface  24 . 
   The end walls  54 ,  56  and planar surface  24  of each tray unit define a storage area, such as storage area  60  of tray unit  12  in which items can be stored. 
   A tray unit-connecting unit  70  movably connects each tray to an adjacent tray so the tray units can move with respect to each other as indicated in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . 
   The tray unit-connecting unit  70  includes a plurality of first connecting arms  72  and a plurality of second connecting arms  74 . 
   A first spring-biased pivot connection, such as spring-biased connection  76 , connects each of the first connecting arms  72  to an associated tray. A second spring-biased pivot connection such as spring-biased pivot connection  78 , connects each of the second connecting arms  74  to an associated tray. The spring-biased pivot connections  76 ,  78  can include coil springs such as those known to those skilled in the art. Each spring-biased pivot connection  76 ,  78  biases the tray to which it is connected in a direction toward the second end walls  56  of the trays such as indicated by arrow  80  in  FIG. 1 . This biasing direction tends to close the tray units when a storage condition is desired. 
   At least one tray unit, such as tray unit  16 , of the plurality of tray units is connected to a support member. One such support member is a drawer D. When drawer D is opened, i.e., when the drawer is moved in a direction opposite to direction  80 , the tray units are opened through the action of the connecting arms  72 ,  74  such as indicated in  FIG. 3 . The bias of the pivot connections  76 ,  78  causes the tray units to resume their stacked configuration when the drawer is closed. The bias of the springs associated with the pivot connections  76 ,  78  is also selected so the individual trays can be pulled out one by one with drawer  3  in  FIG. 3  drawing out drawer  2 , which in turn, draws out drawer  1 . Otherwise, the entire unit can be pulled out and the individual trays moved manually to expose the contents of the trays once the entire unit is drawn out. 
   As can be understood from  FIGS. 2 and 3 , each of several drawers can have a drawer expander associated therewith. 
   A second form of the drawer expander embodying the present invention is indicated in  FIGS. 4–9  and is indicated as drawer expander  10 ′. Drawer expander  10 ′ is identical to drawer expander  10  with the exception of the support member being a horizontal surface S such as the bottom surface of a desk top, counter, or the like. Drawer expander  10 ′ has a connecting unit  70 ′ which includes two L-shaped bracket arms  100  and  102 . Each bracket arm  100 ,  102  is fixedly mounted on the horizontal surface and one of the first connecting arms  72  and one of the second connecting arms  74  are connected to each bracket arm  100 ,  102 . The spring bias is indicated in  FIGS. 6 and 7  as bias  82  and the direction of opening movement is indicated in  FIG. 4  as direction  84 . 
   Drawer expander  10 ′ operates identically to drawer expander  10 , and thus operation of drawer expander  10  will not be discussed in detail. 
   It is to be understood that while certain forms of the present invention have been illustrated and described herein, it is not to be limited to the specific forms or arrangements of parts described and shown.