Abstract:
A media storage rack for storing a plurality of different media comprising an elongate media support base supported between first and second rack ends, the base defining elongate ribs and recesses sized and positioned to locate the plurality of media securely in the rack.

Description:
This invention relates to a media storage rack capable of accommodating a plurality of different media forms and of being free standing, side mounted or supported at opposite ends by a slide/rail arrangement. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Storage racks are well known for use to store various types of media, e.g. CDs, VHS tapes, floppy discs, etc., however, the existing designs lack versatility in the accommodation of differing forms of media in a single storage rack design. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a storage rack capable of accommodating a wide range of media forms in a simple inexpensive construction and to provide a variety of support arrangements for such a rack. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a media storage rack for storing a plurality of different media comprising an elongate media support base supported between first and second rack ends, the base defining elongate ribs and recesses sized and positioned to locate the plurality of media securely in the rack. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the embodiment of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a wall mount arrangement for the invention; 
     FIG. 5 is a slide/rail mount arrangement for the embodiment of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 6 illustrates the embodiment of FIG. 1 with various sized disc media stored therein; and 
     FIG. 7 illustrates a cross-section of the base of the embodiment of FIG. 1 with the manner of accommodating various media including VHS tapes. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, the media storage rack of the present invention comprises a base  2  supported between first and second ends  4  and  6  by a press fit to base supports  8 ,  10 . A divider  12  is slidably mounted on the base for movement between the ends  4  and  6  with sufficient friction to allow the divider to remain in a desired position on the base in the presence of media stored thereon. 
     As will be described below, the base  2  which is an elongate plastics extrusion, comprises longitudinal outer edges  14  and  16  facilitating side mounting of the rack and the ends  4  and  6  comprise end mounting features  18  and  20  facilitating the mounting of the rack by the ends, e.g. in a drawer. Of course, the rack may be used in a free standing manner. 
     To facilitate the orderly storage of a wide range of media (e.g. DVDs, CDs, CD ROMs, floppy discs, VHS tapes and a variety of cassettes used in the storage of data), the base  1  is provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending ribs  22  and recesses sized and spaced to provide appropriate location for the stored media. 
     Two of the ribs  22  are terminated by elongate beads  24  which engage mating re-entrant openings  26  in the divider  12  to captively retain the divider on the base  1 . 
     FIG. 3 illustrates a second embodiment of the invention which differs from the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 only by the provision of a different design for the ends  4  and  6 . Here the base and the base mounting features are unchanged but rack mounting screw holes  28  in the ends are provided to facilitate screw mounting of the rack by one end or by both ends between parallel surfaces. 
     FIG. 4 illustrates a side mounting arrangement of the rack by the outer edge  16 . The outer edges  14  and  16  are the mirror image of one another and consist of inverted U-shaped channels terminating in longitudinally extending beads  30  projecting into the interior of the U-shape to provide a re-entrant shape to facilitate resilient captive mounting of the rack to an elongate bracket  32  which may be mounted to a vertical surface, e.g. a wall. As shown, the bracket  32  defines an upwardly facing channel  34  to receive the outer edge  16  to support the rack. The channel  34  has an internally projecting detent  36  which cooperates with the bead  30  of the outer edge  16  to resiliently retain the outer edge  16  in the channel  34  while permitting the rack to be removed from the bracket when desired. 
     FIG. 5 illustrates the mounting of end  4  on an end mounting bracket  38  which comprises an upwardly facing channel  40  to support the rack by the mounting features  18 . The end mounting bracket may provide a sliding support for the rack to permit mounting under a shelf or to provide support in a drawer, etc. As will be appreciated, the other end  6  will be supported by a similar end mounting bracket. 
     FIG. 6 illustrates the rack of FIGS. 1 and 2 supporting a variety of disc media, for example, CDs  42 , floppy discs  44  and CD ROMs  46  located by the ribs and recesses previously referred to. 
     FIG.7 is a cross-section of the base  2  with the outer edges  14  and  16 , ribs  22 , beads  24  and associated recesses  48 . In this Figure, the ends and divider are omitted. The dashed line  50  represents the location of a CD or CD ROM when stored in the rack, while dashed line  52  represents the location of a floppy disc and dashed line  54  represents a VHS tape stored longitudinally in place of the disc media stored transversely. 
     List of references 
       2  base 
       4  first end 
       6  second end 
       8  base support 
       10  base support 
       12  divider 
       14  outer edge 
       16  outer edge 
       18  mounting features 
       20  mounting features 
       22  ribs 
       24  beads 
       26  openings 
       28  screw holes 
       30  beads 
       32  bracket 
       34  channel 
       36  detent 
       38  end mounting bracket 
       40  channel 
       42  CDs 
       44  floppy discs 
       46  CD ROMs 
       48  recesses 
       50  dashed line 
       52  dashed line 
       54  dashed line