Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to racks for holding things and more particularly, to a cup rack for holding cups or like objects. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Taiwan Utility No. M406381 discloses a cup rack, which comprises a bottom rod and two side rods for holding a number of cups, and a stop rod extended from the bottom rod for stopping the arranged cups from falling. This design of cup rack has no baffle means arranged at the top. Thus, this cup rack can simply be set in vertical, and its structural configuration is not changeable. 
         [0005]    Taiwan Utility No. M415672 discloses a rack for holding cap-shaped coffee powder balls. According to this design, the rack comprises an oblique guide for receiving the rims of cap-shaped coffee powder balls. However, if the rims of cap-shaped coffee powder balls are soft or softened, the oblique guide will be unable to support the storage cap-shaped coffee powder balls in place. 
         [0006]    Taiwan Utility No. M420242 discloses a box rack, comprising a base member, and an inner holder member mounted at the base member for holding storage boxes. This design of box rack is complicated, not convenient for use. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is the main object of the present invention to provide a cup rack, which is practical for holding a large number of cups in good order. The cup rack comprises an upright cup body and a base. The upright cup body defines a top opening, a bottom opening, and a passage in communication between the top opening and the bottom opening for accommodating cups. The passage defines opposing left and right sides respectively facing opposing top and bottom sides of each storage cup, and opposing front and rear sides respectively facing the body of each storage cup. The base comprises two limiter members, a rear baffle member and a receiving member. The limiter members have the top ends thereof respectively connected to the upright cup body and disposed at the left and right sides of the passage. The rear baffle member has the top end thereof connected to the upright cup body and disposed at the rear side of the passage. The receiving member has the rear end thereof connected to the bottom end of each rear baffle member, and the front end thereof defining with the two limiter members an access port for the passing of the cups. Thus, the cups stored in the cup rack can be taken out through the access port individually. 
         [0008]    Preferably, the rear baffle member comprises two baffle rods. The receiving member comprises two support rods and one upright rod. The support rods have the respective rear ends thereof respectively connected to the baffle rods and inclined downwardly relative to the baffle rods. The upright rod of the receiving member has the two opposing ends thereof respectively connected to the front ends of the support rods in a vertical position on the support rods. Thus, the upright rod can stop the storage cups in the base. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is an elevational view of a cup rack in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged view of the base of the cup rack in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a left side view of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is an oblique top elevation of the cup rack shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is an elevational view illustrating 5 pcs of cup racks arranged together in accordance with the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0014]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , a cup rack  1  in accordance with the present invention is shown for holding a plurality of cups  2  or like objects in a good order. In this embodiment, the cups  2  each comprise a cup body  21 , and a seal film  22  for sealing coffee, tea, or any of a variety of other powdered or grained food or brewing materials in the cup body  21  after filling of nitrogen gas in the cup body  21 . The cup rack  1  comprises an upright rack body  11  and a base  12 . The upright rack body  11  defines a top opening  13 , a bottom opening  14 , and a passage  15  in communication between the top opening  13  and the bottom opening  14  for accommodating the cups  2  in such a manner that the top and bottom sides of the cups  2  respectively face the opposing left and right sides of the passage  15  and the body of each cup  2  faces the opposing front and rear sides of the passage  15 , i.e., the cups  2  are individually put into the passage  15  through the top opening  13 . 
         [0015]    The base  12  is adapted to receive the cups  2 , wherein the lowest cup  2  can be taken out of the cup rack  1  through the base  12 . This will be explained further. 
         [0016]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , an enlarged view of the base  12  of the cup rack  1  is shown. As illustrated, the base  12  comprises two limiter members  16 , a rear baffle member  17 , and a receiving member  18 . The two limiter members  16  have the respective top ends thereof connected to the upright rack body  11  and respectively disposed at the left and right sides relative to the passage  15 . The rear baffle member  17  has the top end thereof connected to the upright rack body  11  and disposed at the back side relative to the passage  15 . The receiving member  18  has the rear end thereof connected to the bottom end of the rear baffle member  17 , and the front end thereof defining with the two limiter members  16  an access port  19 . The receiving member  18  is adapted to receive the cups  2  shown in  FIG. 1 , wherein the cups  2  can pass through the access port  19 , i.e., the access port  19  allows the cups  2  to pass therethrough. 
         [0017]    In this embodiment, the two limiter members  16 , the rear baffle member  17  and the receiving member  18  are preferably made of stainless steel wire rods, iron wire rods, or plated metal wire rods. Iron wire rods electroplated with chrome to provide corrosion resistance. Other corrosion resistant material may be used. The rear baffle member  17  comprises two baffle rods  171 ; 172 . The receiving member  18  comprises two support rods  181 ; 182  and one upright rod  183 . The two support rods  181 ; 182  have the respective rear ends thereof respectively connected to the two baffle rods  171 ; 172  in a downwardly inclined manner relative to the two baffle rods  171 ; 172 . The upright rod  183  has the two opposing ends thereof respectively connected to the front ends of the two support rods  181 ; 182  and kept in vertical on the support rods  181 ; 182 . Subject to the configuration of the receiving member  18 , the lowest cup  2  will naturally move along the support rods  181 ; 182  to the front ends of thereof and will be prohibited by the upright rod  183  from moving out of the base  12 . 
         [0018]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , a left side view of  FIG. 2  is shown. The bottom end  171   a  of the baffle rod  171  is disposed below the elevation of the bottom ends  16   a  of the limiter members  16 . The upright rod  183  is disposed below the elevation of the limiters  16 . Actually, the two baffle rods  171 ; 172  have the same length, i.e., the bottom ends of the baffle rods  171 ; 172  are disposed below the elevation of the bottom ends of the limiter members  16 . The elevational clearance between the bottom end  171   a  of the baffle rod  171  and the bottom ends  16   a  of the limiter members  16  facilitates finger access to pick up the cup  2 . In actual practice, the bottom ends  16   a  of the limiter members  16  can be lower than the elevation of the bottom ends  17   a  of the baffle rods  171 ; 172 , and therefore what illustrated in  FIG. 3  is not a limitation. 
         [0019]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , the upright rack body  11  comprises two rings  110 ; 111 , two rear upright rods  112 ; 113 , two left upright rods  114 ; 115 , two right upright rods  116 ; 117 , and a front rod  118 . Each ring  110 ; 111  comprises a left straight segment  119 ; 120 , a right straight segment  121 ; 122 , a front arched segment  134 ; 124 , and a rear arched segment  125 ; 126 . The top and bottom ends of the rear upright rods  112 ; 113  are respectively connected to the respective inner sides of the rear arched segments  125 ; 126  of the rings  110 ; 111  in a parallel manner. The top and bottom ends of the left upright rods  114 ; 115  are respectively connected to the respective inner sides of the left straight segments  119 ; 120  of the rings  110 ; 111  in a parallel manner. The top and bottom ends of the right upright rods  116 ; 117  are respectively connected to the respective inner sides of the right straight segments  121 ; 122  of the rings  110 ; 111  in a parallel manner. The top and bottom ends of the front rod  118  are respectively connected to the respective inner sides of the front arched segments  123 ; 124  of the rings  110 ; 111  in a parallel manner. Further, the two rings  110 ; 111  define the top opening  13  and the bottom opening  14  respectively. The passage  15  is defined by the two rear upright rods  112 ; 113 , the two left upright rods  114 ; 115 , the two rear upright rods  116 ; 117  and the front rod  118 . It is to be noted that the two limiter members  16  of the base  12  are respectively formed integral with the left upright rods  114 ; 115  and the right upright rods  116 ; 117 . The rear baffle members  17  and receiving member  18  of the base  12  are formed integral with the two rear upright rods  112 ; 113 , i.e., these components are made by bending one single piece of metal wire rod into shape. In actual application, the upright cup body  11  can be made of a meshed or plate member and arranged around the two rings  1110 ; 111  to constitute an enclosed or semi-enclosed passage structure, forming the aforesaid passage  15 , and therefore, the upright cup body  11  is not limited to the aforesaid design. 
         [0020]    More particularly, the front rod  118  comprises a long straight segment  128  and two short straight segments  129 . The two short straight segments  129  are respectively disposed at the top and bottom ends of the long straight segment  128  at a predetermined angle and kept facing each other. Thus, by means of changing the lengths of the short straight segments  129 , the front-back width of the passage  15  is relatively controlled. 
         [0021]      FIG. 5  illustrates 5 pcs of the cup racks arranged together, forming a cup rack combination. As illustrated, these cup racks are abutted against one another side by side, and each two adjacent cup racks are connected together. In actual application, any predetermined number of cup racks can be arranged together. 
         [0022]    Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.

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