Patent Publication Number: US-8973763-B2

Title: Dish drying rack and tray assembly

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates in general to dish drying racks and trays, and more specifically to a device that aids in the cleaning of dishware by providing an improved rack with rods for hanging dish towels and a tray that includes an attachments means for a paper towel roll for ease of use. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Paper towels are perhaps the most useful and ubiquitous item for cleaning in modern kitchens. Typically, people mount paper towels horizontally to a wall a few feet from their kitchen sinks or place them on a stand-alone holder that is placed on a kitchen counter taking up valuable space. Likewise, kitchen towels and rubber gloves are typically draped over the edge of a kitchen sink after use or over the door of a kitchen cabinet to dry for later use. 
     Typical dish racks consist of an area to place recently washed and dripping wet dishware or cookware which are left to air dry or are temporarily placed in a dish rack until dried by means of a hand towel. A dish rack is placed directly adjacent to the kitchen sink in order to collect the dripping run off onto a dish tray which redirects the dripping water back into the sink. Most washes result in food particles being rinsed into the sink. 
     For people who wash and dry dishes by hand, and who do not have access to a garbage disposal system directly in the sink, food particles must get scooped up and transported to a garbage can, many times resulting in some of the food inadvertently being dropped onto the kitchen floor. Moreover, use of the devices of the past typically result in water droplets being sprinkled onto kitchen floors either from the drying cloths and gloves, or from a user&#39;s wet hands as he or she reaches for a paper towel. The floor directly in front of a kitchen sink can be one of the most germ laden and wet part of the entire house. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention overcomes the disadvantages and shortcomings of the problems of the prior art by providing a multifuctional dish drying rack and drip tray assembly. 
     In one preferred version of the present invention, a roll of paper towels is secured horizontally to an outer edge of a drip tray by means of a rod that goes through the center of the towels and is placed into support posts that can attach to the drip tray, thereby allowing the towels to be secured immediately next to a kitchen sink eliminating the dripping of water on a floor or counter top that occurs when a person with wet hands reaches for a paper towel. 
     The present invention also provides a means for upwardly rotating the paper towel storage arm into a vertical, locked position in one of the support posts, permitting a user to place a plastic or other type of bag onto towel support hooks located on the support posts. This feature allows a user to quickly and neatly dispose of food parts that may have fallen into the kitchen sink during the food preparation process such as handling uncooked chicken or during the washing of dishware, reducing the user&#39;s exposure to potentially harmful bacteria, such as salmonella and the spreading of bacteria onto kitchen counters. The bag can be easily removed from the support posts, twisted closed and tied in a knot to be easily discarded. 
     Other features of the present invention includes holding devices for the storage of scrub pads, scrub sponges and the like, eliminating the need to accommodate such dish washing paraphernalia in a storage holder often placed inside the sink. 
     Yet another feature of the present invention are rotatable hanging rods for the placement of damp dish towels or rubber gloves, which can allow for the hanging of such implements over the kitchen sink. The assembly described herein can be placed on either side of the kitchen sink to accommodate different kitchen counter configurations and to accommodate a left handed or right handed user. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiment(s) considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the dish drying rack and tray assembly showing the assembly in use with paper towels in place and rotatable rods on the dish rack extending outwardly for hanging hand towels or rubber gloves; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the dish drying rack and tray assembly showing the paper towels stored vertically and rotatable hanging rods of the dish rack in a stored position; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective exploded view of the dish drying rack and tray assembly; 
         FIG. 4  is a left side elevational view of the dish drying rack and tray assembly; 
         FIG. 5  is right side elevational view of the dish drying rack and tray assembly; 
         FIG. 6  is a top plan view of the dish drying rack and tray assembly; 
         FIG. 7  is a bottom plan view of the dish drying rack and tray assembly; 
         FIG. 8  is a front elevational view of the dish drying rack and tray assembly; 
         FIG. 9  is a rear elevational view of the dish drying rack and tray assembly; 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view of a paper towel mounting post of the dish drying rack and tray assembly; 
         FIG. 11  is a top plan view of a paper towel mounting post of the dish drying rack tray assembly; 
         FIG. 12  is a left side elevational view of a paper towel mounting post of the dish drying rack and tray assembly, a right side view being a mirror image thereof; 
         FIG. 13  is a cross sectional elevational view of a paper towel mounting post of the dish drying rack and tray assembly taken through line A-A; 
         FIG. 14  is a bottom plan view of a paper towel mounting post of the dish drying rack and tray assembly; 
         FIG. 15  is a perspective view of a paper towel receiving rod; and 
         FIG. 16  is top plan view of a paper towel receiving rod. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-9 , a dish drying rack and tray assembly  10 , constructed in accordance with the present invention, is shown to include a dish rack  20  and a dish tray  50 . 
     As shown more clearly in  FIGS. 3 and 7 , the dish tray  50  is essentially rectangular in shape and substantially planer. Dish tray  50  includes an upper recessed center area  72  and a substantially planar bottom surface  80  opposite thereto. Dish tray  50  includes a raised circumferential tray lip  78  which forms the right, left, front and rear walls,  45 ,  46 ,  49   47 , of the dish tray  50 . Uniformly molded within the center area  72  of the dish tray  50  is a tray rib  74  that extends from the tray front wall  49  to tray rear wall  47 . The dish rack  20  matingly and releasably can be placed into the area defined by the space between the tray rib  74  and the left wall  46  of the dish tray  50 . 
     The dish tray  50  is designed to include a pair of drain sprouts  62 . The drain sprouts  62  allow for water to be emptied from the center area  72  by providing breaks in the circumferential raised lip  78 . When dishes are drying in the dish rack  20 , water can be stopped from escaping through the drain sprouts  62  by means of tray blocks  60  which can be releasably and slidingly affixed to the dish tray  50  by means of tray block slits  61 . The plurality of drain sprouts  62  allows a user to transfer the placement of the tray  50  on either side of the kitchen sink to accommodate either a left handed or a right handed user. Depending on the placement of the dish tray  50  with respect to a kitchen sink, the dish rack  20  would then be accordingly rotated and placed onto the dish tray  50  for proper usage. 
     As can be seen best in  FIG. 3 , the dish tray  50  also includes two paper towel supports tabs  70  which are configured and designed to matingly accept paper towel supports  52 . The paper towel support tabs  70  are annular in cross section, being essentially cylindrical in shape with a flattened top. The paper towel rod support tabs  70  are configured to be uniformly molded to the dish tray  50  in the area between the tray rib  74  and the tray right wall  45 . 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1-3  and  10 - 14 , the dish tray  50  is designed to be used with a releasably affixed paper towel roll by means of paper towel rod supports  52 . Paper towel rod supports  52  include a central body  51  that is essentially annular in cross section, and each of which include a plastic bag hook  53  at a bottom distal end, across which the handles of a plastic bag can be stretched to open the bag for discarding food particles. Each of the upper distal ends  55  of the paper towel rod supports  52  is designed to include a criss-cross cut out for reception of the pins  58  of a paper tower receiving rod  54 . An aperture  57  is formed at the center of the criss-cross cut out of the top surface  55  through which paper towel support pins  58  of the paper towel rod  54  are slidingly placed. The aperture  57  extends downwardly into the paper towel supports  52  forming an annular channel  59  within the paper towel supports  52 . 
     Hook  53  is designed at a lower distal edge of each of the paper towel rod supports  52  to accept a loop of a plastic bag so that the bag can hang next to a kitchen sink either off of one of the hooks  53  or in a stretched position across both hooks  53 , and into which a user can place refuse or wet paper towels. As can be seen in  FIGS. 3 and 14 , the paper towel supports  52  have a bottom surface  59  designed with a circular recess that is shaped to matingly engage with the paper towel support tabs  70  located on the tray  50 . 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1-3 , and  15 - 16 , paper towels are attached to the dish rack  50  onto the paper towel rod supports  52  by means of a paper towel receiving rod  54  that essentially resembles a rolling pin used in baking with uniformly molded pins  58  at either distal end. The diameter of the paper towel receiving rod  54  is designed to be smaller than the diameter of a paper towel cardboard center to allow a user to slidingly remove or place a new roll of paper towels over the paper towel receiving rod  54 . When in the horizontal position, the pins  58  are each releasably placed into each of the criss cross cuts of the top surface  55  of the paper towel support  52  so that the paper towels themselves can be rotatingly pulled and torn for use. As can be seen in  FIG. 13 , one of the paper towel receiving rod pins  58  can be slidingly placed through the aperture  57  into a channel  59  for securely placing paper towels in a vertical position. 
     The paper towel receiving rod also includes a unitarily molded circular flange  56  at one distal end, where flange  56  is positioned perpendicularly at the inner end of one of the pins  58 . It will be noted that flange  56  is designed to be greater in diameter than the cardboard tube of a paper towel roll to prevent the paper towel roll from slipping off when being placed in a vertical position as shown in  FIG. 2 . When being placed in a vertical position with respect to the dish tray  50 , the paper towels will come to a secure stop when making contact with the flange  56  which ensures the paper towels will not slide off of the paper towel receiving rod  54  during this process. In use, a paper towel roll can be releasably and rotatably affixed to dish tray  50  in a horizontal position so that a user can easily tear a section of paper towels for drying or cleaning, or alternatively place the paper towels in a stored vertical position if a user wishes to hang a plastic bag onto one of the hooks  53  or across both hooks  53  of the paper towel supports  52 . When a user wishes to more easily access the hooks  53 , the paper towel rod  54  may be lifted off of the paper towel rod supports  52 , rotated essentially ninety degrees until a paper towel roll stoppingly slides against the flange  56 , and then slidingly engage the pin  58  adjacent to the flange  56  into channel  59  of the paper towel rod support  52  through the aperture  57  as can be seen in  FIG. 13 . 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1-9 , dish rack  20  can be releasably placed onto the dish tray  50  in order to accept freshly washed dishes. Dish rack  20  is substantially rectangular in shape with an inner cavity formed from the front, rear, left and right dish rack walls,  23 ,  24 ,  27 ,  29 . The dish tray  50  is designed with a series of curved ribs  30  placed at regular intervals in the center area for reception of dishware as is commonly used in the trade. 
     Dish rack  20  also includes a plurality of implement receptacles  22  for holding cutlery or washing implements. Each of the receptacles  22  is designed to include a pair of curved hooks  21  at an upper surface which are designed to be used to hang the implement receptacles  22  onto the dish rack  20  at any desired location of the user around the periphery of the dish rack  20 , and can be hung from the top edge of the dish rack  20  at the position of a user&#39;s choice by means of the hooks  21  that are designed to matingly fit over the top edge of the dish rack  20 . 
     Still referring to  FIGS. 1-9 , dish rack  20  includes a plurality of elongated swinging rods  102  which are annular in cross section and substantially L-shaped. Rods  102  which releasable attach to the dish rack  20  by means of rod sleeves  100  which are uniformly molded onto corners of the front wall  23  of the dish rack  20 . The vertical positioning of the swinging rods  102  and rod sleeves  100  is designed to allow the swinging rods  102  to be stored flat against the dish rack  20  either along its front wall  23  as seen in  FIG. 2  or alternatively along the right and left walls  27 ,  29  of the dish rack  20 . 
     As can be seen in  FIG. 3 , the front wall  23  of the dish rack  20  is designed to include a lowered centered top portion  25  to accommodate an implement receptacle  22  at a position such that the swinging rods  102  can be stored flat against the front wall  23  over this implement receptacle  22 , with one swinging rod  102  stored slightly above the other swinging rod  102  by means of placement of the swinging rod sleeves  100  on the dish rack  20  in corresponding positions to accommodate such storage. 
     The swinging rods  102  can be rotatingly positioned to extend outwardly and perpendicularly to the right and left walls  27 ,  29  of the dish rack  20  or alternatively to extend outwardly and perpendicularly from the front wall  23  as shown in  FIG. 1 . When not in a stored position, the swinging rods  102  can be used to hang damp dish cloths or rubber gloves or other items of a user&#39;s choice, either over a kitchen sink or over outwardly over a kitchen floor. 
     While there has been described the preferred embodiment of this invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other embodiments, changes, equivalents, and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of scope of this invention. It is therefore aimed to cover all such changes, equivalents, and modifications as fall within the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the paper towel rod supports  52  could be manufactured to each include a plurality of plastic bag hooks  53  or to omit such hooks  53  altogether. Alternatively, the paper towel rod supports  52  could be made to include only a single cut out for reception of the paper towel rod pins  58  rather than using a criss-cross cut out. The paper towel support tabs  70  could also be redesigned to alternatively be located on the dish rack  20  rather than on the dish tray  50  so that the paper towel rod supports  52  could releasably and matingly engage with the paper towel support tabs  70  on the dish rack  20  rather than on the dish tray  50 . Furthermore, the present invention could include additional swinging arms along the rear wall  24  of the dish rack  20  or larger and additional implement receptacles  22  for cutlery or other cleaning implements. 
     The invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the description above or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. It is to be understood that the terminology employed herein is for the purpose of the description and should not be regarded as limiting.