Abstract:
A beverage machine turntable pad includes a housing having a first wall for supporting a beverage machine, a support rotatably coupled to the housing below the first wall, such that the support is rotatable about a rotational axis relative to the housing, and a plurality of adjacent drawers mounted on the support, each of the drawers being capable of extending and retracting relative to the support and radially relative to the rotational axis and through a housing opening formed through the housing.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to and the benefit of Provisional Application No. 61/836,002, filed on Jun. 17, 2013, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Newer beverage machines, such as coffee brewing machines such as those that use coffee pots require that such pads are stored somewhere. Often, these pads are stored in drawers away from the coffee maker. Other items such as sugar, etc., are stored away from the coffee maker. Thus, a storage system that occupies a lot of space and that can be adjacent to such coffee maker to hold such coffee related items is desired. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    In an example embodiment a beverage machine turntable pad is provided. The turntable pad includes a housing having a first surface on a first wall for supporting a beverage machine, a support rotatably coupled to the housing below the first wall, such that the support rotates about a rotational axis relative to the housing, and a plurality of adjacent drawers mounted on the support, each of the drawers being capable of extending and retracting relative to the support is rotatable relative to the rotational axis and through a housing opening formed through the housing. In another example embodiment, the housing includes a second surface formed on a second wall opposite and spaced apart from the first wall and a peripheral wall extending between the first and second walls. In this embodiment, the housing opening is formed at least through the peripheral wall. In yet another example embodiment, the turntable pad further includes a post extending from the second surface toward the first surface. In a further embodiment, the support includes an opening penetrated by the post. In yet a further embodiment, the turntable pad also includes at least one annular track on the second surface, such that the support is on the at least one annular track and rotates on the at least one annular track. In one example embodiment, the support includes at least one support track for each drawer, each of the at least one support tracks extend outward, and each of the drawers includes at least one drawer track for mating with, and sliding relative to, a corresponding support track. In another example embodiment, the support includes at least two support tracks for each drawer, and the drawer track on each drawer defines a dove tail mating with the support tracks, such that the dove tail has a first portion and a second portion, and at least a portion of a first of the support tracks extends over the first portion of the dove tail, and at least a portion of second of the support tracks extends over the second portion of the dove tail. In yet another example embodiment, the at least one support track for each drawer on the support is a dove tail, and the at least one drawer track on each of the drawers is two drawer tracks on each drawer for mating with the a corresponding dove tail of the support, such that the dove tail has a first portion and a second portion, where at least a portion of a first of the drawer tracks extends below the first portion of the dove tail, and at least a portion of second of the drawer tracks extends below the second portion of the dove tail. In a further example embodiment, only a single drawer can extend through the housing opening when the drawer is aligned with the housing opening. In yet a further example embodiment, each drawer has a first mark and wherein the first surface has a second mark, such that when the mark of one of the plurality of drawers is aligned with the mark on the first surface, the one drawer of the plurality of drawers can be extended through the housing opening. In another example embodiment, the first mark is a cut-out formed on the first wall and wherein the second mark is a cut-out. Any of the aforementioned embodiments may be provided in combination with a beverage machine, such as a brewing machine. Examples of beverage machines include but are not limited to coffee, tea and hot chocolate brewing machines. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0004]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a turntable pad of an example embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0005]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a lower piece of the example turntable pad shown in  FIG. 1  depicting drawers mounted thereon. 
           [0006]      FIG. 3  is a perspective cutaway view showing a support rotatably mounted on a lower wall of an example embodiment turntable pad shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0007]      FIG. 4A  is a perspective view depicting a lower section of the housing of the example embodiment turntable pad shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0008]      FIG. 4B  is a perspective view depicting another example embodiment lower section of the housing of the example embodiment turntable pad shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0009]      FIG. 5  is a partial cross-sectional view depicting sliding engagement between a drawer and a support of the example embodiment turntable pad shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 6  is a partial cross-section view of another example embodiment sliding connection between a drawer and a support of an example embodiment turntable pad. 
           [0011]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a housing of the example embodiment turntable pad shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 8  is a partial perspective view of an upper piece of housing (shown upside down) of the example embodiment turntable pad shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 9  is a partial cross-sectional view depicting a connection between an upper and a lower piece forming a housing of the example embodiment turntable pad shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 10  is a front view of a coffee brewing machine supported by an example embodiment coffee turntable pad. 
           [0015]      FIGS. 11A and 11B  disclose a perspective view and a top view, respectively, of example pods for use with an example embodiment turntable pad. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0016]    A coffee maker supporting turntable pad  10  is provided ( FIG. 1 ). The pad is described for use with a coffee maker for storing coffee pods for illustration purposes. The pad may be used with other devices such as teamakers, or hot chocolate makers, or other beverage making devices for example and may house other type pods such as tea pods or hot chocolate pods or any other type of beverage pods including tea bags. In an example embodiment, the turntable pad includes a housing  12  which includes an upper or first wall  14 , on which may be rested a coffee brewing machine, opposite a second wall  16 . In an example embodiment, the turntable includes drawers  18  ( FIG. 2 ). In an example embodiment, the turntable pad is meant for use with a brewing machine which uses pods. Pods may have different shapes and are well known. For example pods  80  may have a cup-shaped body  82  housing coffee which is covered by a covering  84 , as for example shown in  FIG. 11A . Other pods  86  may have a generally polygonal body  88  housing the coffee in a bulge  90 , as for example shown in  FIG. 11B . Such pods are typically provided in sealed enclosures. Other pods may have other shapes. The drawers in an example embodiment pad may be used to house the pods. For example, different drawers may be used to house different types of coffee pods or different flavored coffee pods. The housing first wall  14  forms a coffee brewing machine interfacing surface  19  while the second wall or base wall  16  defines a base. The two walls are interconnected by a peripheral wall  20 . The peripheral wall may be integrally formed with either or both of the first and second walls  14 ,  16 . A support member, or plate  22 , defining a turntable is rotatably mounted relative to the base wall, such that it can rotate relative to the base wall ( FIG.3 ). In an example embodiment, a post  24  extends internally and vertically from an inner surface  28  of the base wall  16 . The support member includes an opening  26  which is penetrated by the post. In a further embodiment, at least one circular track  30  extends internally from the inner surface  28  of the base wall ( FIG. 4A ). As shown in  FIG. 4A , two concentric circular tracks  30  extend from the inner surface of the base wall. When mounted on the base surface, the support member slides along the circular track and is thus spaced from the inner surface  28  of the base wall. By being spaced apart from the inner surface, the support member  22  can rotate around the post relative to the base member easier with less drag or friction. 
         [0017]    In another example embodiment as shown in  FIG. 4B , instead of a track  30 , an annular cage  31  is fitted within an annular groove  33 . The annular cage  31  supports a plurality of roller bearing balls  35 . In this regard, the annular cage can rotate along the annular groove and the roller balls which also simultaneously rotate reduce the friction between the annular cage and a lower surface of the groove. As such, when mounted over the base surface, the support member rests against the annular cage. Thus, due to the weight of the support member against the annular cage, rotation of the support member causes the annular cage to rotate within the annular groove. The roller bearings allow the annular cage, as well as the support member to rotate relative to the inner surface  28  of the base wall, easier with less drag or friction. 
         [0018]    The support member  22  is designed for slidably supporting the plurality of drawers  18 . In the shown example embodiment, the support member is designed for supporting four drawers  18 . In another example embodiment, the support surface may be designed to support any number of drawers. In an example embodiment, each of the drawers is coupled to the support around the post  24 , and each has a truncated pie-shape in plan view. In an example embodiment, for each drawer, the support includes at least one support track  32  and each drawer also includes one drawer track  34  for mating with the support track  32  so that the drawer can slide radially relative to the post and extend and retract relative to the support member ( FIGS. 3 and 5 ). In an example embodiment shown in  FIG. 3 , for each drawer, the support member  22  includes two pairs of tracks  32  (or four tracks  32 ). In one example embodiment, each drawer track  34  has a portion  37  for sliding below a portion  41  of a corresponding support track. In this regard, the support track retains the drawer track from moving in a direction away from the support member. In the example embodiment shown in  FIG. 5 , the support track portions  41  extend transversely toward each other and from vertical portions  43  of their support tracks  32 , while the drawer track portions  37  extend transversely away from each other and from vertical portions  45  of the drawer track portions  37 . In other example embodiments, the support track portions  41  extend away from each other while the drawer track portions  37  extend toward each other. In another example embodiment, each drawer has a dovetail projection  36  defining a pair of opposite tracks  39  for interfacing with two support tracks  32 , as for example shown in  FIG. 5 . In an example embodiment, each drawer has two dovetail projections  36  for slidably interfacing with the two pairs of support tracks  32 , as for example shown in  FIG. 3 . Other coupling arrangements known in the art may be used for coupling each drawer to the support member. For example, dove tail projections may extend from the support member for slidably engaging tracks extending from the drawers. As can be seen with the example embodiments, the drawers can extend and retract radially relative to the support member. 
         [0019]    In an example embodiment, an opening  38  is formed at least through the peripheral wall  20  ( FIG. 1 ). The opening is of a size that will only allow one drawer  18  to extend therethrough at a time. For a drawer  18  to be able to extend through the opening and outside the housing  12 , the drawer  18  must be aligned with the opening  20 . In an example embodiment, each drawer is provided with a marking  40  and a marking  42  is provided on the housing, as for example on the upper wall  14  of the housing. When the marking on the drawer is aligned with the marking on the housing, the drawer is in a position to be extended relative to the support, and thus, the housing through the housing opening. In an example embodiment, the markings are a cut-out formed on the upper wall of the housing, as well as a cut-out formed on the drawer. The cut-out also allows a user to use his finger to penetrate the cut-outs and pull and extend the drawer open, as well as rotate the drawers relative to the housing. 
         [0020]    In an example embodiment, the housing may be formed in two pieces: an upper piece  44  which includes the upper wall and a lower piece  46  which includes the base wall  16  ( FIG. 7 ). The upper and lower pieces are then connected to each other and define the opening  38 . The connection may be done with any well-known methods. In an example embodiment, the upper piece is adhered to the lower piece. The two pieces may mate with each other through a post  56  and groove  60  type connections, as for example shown in  FIG. 9 . In an example embodiment, the upper piece also includes an annular sleeve  48  for receiving the post  24  extending from the base wall when the upper piece is mated to the lower piece. In an example embodiment, at least one spline  50  is formed inside the annular sleeve  48  for mating with a pocket  52  formed on the post  24 . In an example embodiment, two splines  50  opposite each other are formed inside the annular sleeve  48  for mating with two opposite pockets  52  ( FIGS. 2 and 4A ) formed on the post  24 . Each spline  50  slides within its corresponding pocket  52  when the upper piece is mated with the lower piece serving to guide the two pieces together and to prevent them from rotating (at least to any significant degree) relative to each other and ensure that they are properly aligned relative to each to other to define the opening  38 . In other example embodiments, the spline(s)  50  may be formed in the post  24 , and the pocket(s)  52  inside the annular sleeve  48 . 
         [0021]    In an example embodiment, the turntable pod is made for use with a coffee brewing machine  54  that uses coffee pods, as for example shown in  FIG. 10 . In such case, each tray may be filled with pods of a different type of coffee. A user may then rotate the turntable (i.e., the support member  22 ) with the drawers, such that the drawer containing the coffee pods that he/she likes is aligned with the marking and then opens the drawer to obtain an appropriate pod of coffee. 
         [0022]    In an example embodiment, the coffee interfacing surface  19  of the first wall may be formed with specific types of coffee makers in mind having a sufficient size to support such coffee makers. In another example, the interface surface may be formed or molded into a shape that is complementary the base of a coffee maker. In addition, the interfacing surface  19  may include a surface that provides higher friction for preventing the beverage machines (e.g., coffee maker) from sliding off. In one example embodiment, the interfacing surface may be made from rubber or a rubber-like material or include a section or sections of rubber or rubber-like material, or other similar materials. 
         [0023]    While the present invention has been described in connection with certain exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, and equivalents thereof.