Abstract:
A stand for a single-cup beverage brewer incorporates a beverage cartridge storage drawer and incorporates a lever mechanism which, when actuated, simultaneously lifts a plurality of elastomeric friction pads from contacting a support surface, such as a kitchen countertop, while supporting the assembly on rollers to facilitate moving the stand and beverage brewer supported thereon. Release of the lever again brings the friction pads into contact with the countertop to function as a brake.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     None 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     I. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates generally to kitchen appliances and more particularly to a stand for a beverage brewer of the type using single cup cartridges and that facilitates movement of the stand and beverage brewer on a countertop and which provides a drawer for storage of a supply of beverage cartridges. 
     II. Discussion of the Prior Art 
     A currently popular kitchen appliance is a single-cup beverage brewer made by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. and marketed under the Keurig brand. It utilizes small, single-use, disposable beverage cartridges called K-Cups® which, when inserted into the brewer, become punctured so that a stream of water may pass through it and into a drinking cup. 
     In order to insert a cartridge into the brewer, it is necessary to lift a handle on the brewer to expose a chamber in which the cartridge is inserted. When the brewer is placed on a kitchen counter beneath overhead cabinets, there is often not sufficient overhead clearance to permit the brewer&#39;s lever to be lifted. This necessitates sliding the brewer forward on the countertop to bring it out from under the overhead cabinet. Care must be exercised in doing so to prevent the brewer from passing over the front edge of the countertop and falling to the floor. 
     A supply of beverage cartridges should be located proximate the brewer for the sake of convenience. The prior art includes carousel devices having a stacked arrangement of rings designed to hold beverage cartridges. Also, portable drawers of a size to fit atop a kitchen counter have been designed for storing such beverage cartridges. In this regard, reference is made to U.S. Design Patents D691,858, D680,380 and D686,464 owned by applicants&#39; assignee, Nifty Home Products, Inc. of Madison Lake, Minn. These drawer devices are designed so that a beverage brewer may be placed on its top surface, but this makes it somewhat awkward to move the combination brewer and drawer from beneath an overhead cabinet. 
     A need therefore exists for a beverage cartridge storage drawer that is easy to move and that affords added safety to prevent accidental movement of the storage drawer and brewer beyond the edge of a countertop. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the present invention, a stand and storage drawer for a beverage dispenser comprises a base member of a rectangular wire frame defining a front, a rear and left and right sides. The base member further includes first and second wire rails extending parallel to one another from the frame front to the frame rear where the first and second wire rails are inwardly offset from the left and right sides. The base member further includes first and second pairs of wire guide rails that also extend parallel to one another from the frame front to the frame rear and with a predetermined spacing between the wire guide rails of each pair. 
     Affixed to the underside of the wire frame proximate the intersection of the left and right frame sides with the front side are elastomeric friction pads. Further, a pair of rollers is affixed to the underside of the wire frame proximate the intersection of the left and right frame sides with the rear frame side. The rollers are journaled for rotation about axes that are parallel to the rear frame side. 
     Disposed between and affixed to the first and second wire rails is a plate member on which is mounted a manually actuable lever. The lever, when actuated, functions to tip the base member at an angle with respect to a support surface such that the friction pads no longer contact the support surface and only the rollers remain in contact with the support surface. 
     A planar top surface member is vertically offset from the base member by corner posts extending perpendicular to the base member proximate the intersection of the left and right frame sides with the front and rear frame sides. Disposed in the space between the base member and the top surface is a drawer that is slidable in and out of this space and that is guided by the aforementioned first and second pairs of wire guide rails. The drawer is partitioned by a plurality of rectangular straps to support beverage cartridges in an orderly arrangement. By pressing down on the lever, the front portion of the stand is elevated so that the elastomeric friction pads no longer touch a countertop. Instead, the assembly is fully supported by the wheels, allowing a user to readily move the stand and an accompanying brewer on a countertop. When the lever is again released, the friction pads resist further movement of the assembly. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The foregoing features, objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, especially when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals in the several views refer to corresponding parts. 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the stand and storage drawer for use with a beverage dispenser where the drawer is closed; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view like that of  FIG. 1  but with the drawer open; 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 4  is a bottom view thereof. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     This description of the preferred embodiments is intended to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are to be considered part of the entire written description of this invention. In the description, relative terms such as “lower”, “upper”, “horizontal”, “vertical”, “above”, “below”, “up”, “down”, “top” and “bottom” as well as derivatives thereof (e.g., “horizontally”, “downwardly”, “upwardly”, etc.) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawings under discussion. These relative terms are for convenience of description and do not require that the apparatus be constructed or operated in a particular orientation. Terms such as “connected”, “connecting”, “attached”, “attaching”, “join” and “joining” are used interchangeably and refer to one structure or surface being secured to another structure or surface or integrally fabricated in one piece, unless expressively described otherwise. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is indicated generally by numeral  10  a stand and storage drawer for a beverage dispenser embodying the present invention. It is seen to comprise a base member  12  comprising a rectangular wire frame defining a front  14 , a rear  16  ( FIG. 3 ), a left side  18  and a right side  20 . First and second wire rails  22  and  24  are affixed to the underside of the frame by welding and those wire rails  22  and  24  extend parallel to one another from the frame front  14  to the frame rear  16 . The wire rails  22  and  24  are shown as being offset inwardly by equal amounts from their respective left side  18  and right side  20 . 
     Also seen in the bottom view of  FIG. 4  is a first pair of wire guide rails  26  and a second pair of wire guide rails  28 . These guide rails are affixed to the top side of the frame  12  by spot welding and again extend between the frame front  14  and the frame rear  16 . The members of the pairs of guide rails are spaced apart from one another by a predetermined spacing. 
     Affixed to the bottom of the frame  12  at its four corners are mounting plates  30 ,  32 ,  34  and  36 , and affixed to the exposed bottom surface of the corner plates  30  and  36  proximate the front of the frame are elastomeric friction pads  38  and  40 . Journaled for rotation on the corner plates  32  and  34  are rollers  42  and  44  that rotate about an axis that extends parallel to the frame rear  16 . 
     With continued reference to  FIG. 4 , there is seen a plate member  46  that extends between and is permanently attached at opposite ends to the first and second wire rails  22  and  24 . Riveted to the plate  46  are L-shaped brackets  48  and  50 . Fitted between the downwardly projecting legs  52  and  54  of the brackets  48  and  50  is a lever  56  mounted on an axle  58  that extends through aligned holes in the legs  52  and  54 , allowing the lever  56  to pivot when depressed. 
     Journaled for rotation on the lever  56  are rollers  60  and  62 . Also seen in the bottom view of  FIG. 4  are elastomeric friction pads  64  and  66 . 
     With reference again to  FIG. 1 , there is seen a planar top surface member  67 , preferably made of a decorative smoked glass, that is offset from the base  12  by corner posts  68 ,  70 ,  72  and  74 . These corner posts extend perpendicular to the base member and are proximate the intersections of the left and right frame sides  18  and  20  with the front and rear frame sides  14  and  16 . Fitted between the base member  12  and the top surface member  67  is a drawer indicated generally by numeral  76 . The drawer  76  is designed so as to fit in the space between the base member  12  and the top surface member  67  and is slidable in and out of the space, with its movement being guided by the first and second pairs of wire guide rails  26  and  28  ( FIG. 3 ). 
     The drawer itself is seen to comprise a front and a rear vertically oriented rectangular frame member  78  and  80 , each with an upper wire  82 , a lower wire  84  and left and right side wires  86  and  88 . As best seen in  FIG. 2 , the lower wire of the front rectangular frame member is joined by first and second parallel, spaced-apart wire drawer rails  80  and  82  which are positioned so as to fall between and be constrained to rectilinear movement by the guide rail pairs  26  and  28 . 
     As is seen in  FIG. 2 , a plurality of rectilinear straps  84  are spot-welded to the upper wires of the front and rear rectangular frame members  78  and  80 . The lateral spacing between the straps  84  is such that they will engage a radial flange found on beverage cartridges and as shown in phantom in  FIG. 2 . Thus, the cartridges are suspended by virtue of the spacing between adjacent ones of the straps  84 . A decorative face plate  86  is spot-welded to the drawer&#39;s front rectangular frame member and a pull knob  88  is provided to aid in opening the drawer from the position shown in  FIG. 1  to that shown in  FIG. 2 . The face plate preferably has a polished chrome finish for esthetic purposes. 
     With reference again to  FIG. 4 , spherical retainers  90  are spot-welded to the guide rails  80  and  82  and the diameter of the retainer members  90  is slightly greater than the spacing between members of the guide rail pairs  26  and  28 , allowing the drawer rails  80  and  82  to slide between the wire guide rails  26 ,  28 , but not be removable. Also welded to the members of the guide wire pairs  26  and  28  are front and rear stops  92  and  94 , respectively. When opening the drawer, the spherical retainers  90  will abut the stops  92  to prevent the drawer from being opened further. Similarly, when closing the drawer, the stops  94  will engage the spherical retainer  90  so that the face plate  86  will be flush with the frame front. 
     In operation, a selection of coffee cartridges that have been loaded onto the straps  84  of the drawer  76  will reside within the stand  10  and an electric brewer will be supported on the top member  67  and will typically be pushed back against a backsplash of a kitchen counter so as to be beneath overhead cabinets when not being used. When it is desired to brew a beverage, the operator will depress the lever  50  and, in doing so, will elevate the front end portion of the stand  10  so that the elastomeric friction members  38 ,  40 ,  64  and  66  will no longer be in contact with the counter surface. Instead, the stand with the brewer atop will be supported on the rollers  42 ,  44 ,  60  and  62 , allowing the operator to readily roll the stand and brewer from its location beneath the kitchen cabinets to a forward position on the counter. Immediately, upon release of the lever  56 , the front end portion of the stand  10  will drop so that the elastomeric friction members  38 ,  40 ,  64  and  66  will again come in contact with the countertop to resist any further forward motion and preventing the assembly from rolling off the countertop. The user may then slide open the drawer  76  and select a beverage cartridge and insert it into the brewer&#39;s cartridge chamber and initiate a brewing cycle. Upon completion, the user may again depress the lever  56  and roll the stand and brewer back against the counter&#39;s backsplash. 
     This invention has been described herein in considerable detail in order to comply with the patent statutes and to provide those skilled in the art with the information needed to apply the novel principles and to construct and use such specialized components as are required. However, it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out by specifically different equipment and devices, and be used with a variety of brewer models. Also, various modifications, both as to the equipment and operating procedures, can be accomplished without departing from the scope of the invention itself.