Banana Stand

This application is a continuation in part of U.S. Design patent application Ser. No. 29/934,689 filed Mar. 27, 2024.

The present invention relates to devices that hold fruit. More particularly, it relates to a banana stand.

Banana stands are generally made of wire and include various forms of supports that operate to suspend a hook onto which a bunch of bananas can be hung. These banana stands take up valuable counter space, and often do not collapse or offer an alternative for storing the same.

The present invention provides a banana stand, that is in the shape of a banana, and is also expandable for use and collapsible for storage purposes.

This and other aspects of the invention are provided by a banana stand having the overall shape of a banana in a collapsed state.

In accordance with one implementation, the banana stand has the appearance of a banana when in a closed position, and includes a main body, a rear support positioned within a recess in the main body when in the closed position, and two front supports each pivotally connected to the main body and positioned on sides of the main body when in the closed position. An internal gear mechanism connects the rear support to the two front supports such that movement of the rear support out of the recess causes the two front supports to rotate about their respective pivotal connections.

According to one implementation, a locking mechanism is configured to lock the rear support and front supports in an open or standing position.

According to another implementation, the internal gear mechanism includes a gear head at one end of the rear support having two partial gears, and a front support partial gear on each of the two front supports.

In accordance with another implementation, the banana stand includes a main body having a shape of a banana, a rear support positioned within a recess in the main body when in the closed position and at least one front support pivotally connected to the main body and positioned on at least one side of the main body when in the closed position. A locking mechanism is configured to lock the rear support and the at least one front support in an open or standing position.

Other aspects and features of the present principles will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the present principles, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. It should be further understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein.

show the banana standin a close position according to an aspect of the invention. When closed, the standhas the appearance of a banana, and can be easily stored in a drawer or any place for the storage of such items. The standhas a main bodywith side/front supportsandand a spine or rear support. The neck/crown of the banana functions as a hookfor holding a bunch of bananas (See). As will be apparent from this disclosure, the side/front supports,, and the rear supportare configured to look like the peals of a banana.

shows the beginning operation of opening the stand. According to one implementation, when the spine/rear supportis pulled in the direction of the arrow (by a user's finger pulling on the end), internal gearing causes the front supportsandto rotate away from the main bodyas shown.

show the gearing of the banana stand according to an implementation of the invention. In this implementation, the internal gearing is configured such that when the spine/rear supportis pulled as shown in, it causes the movement of the front supports,. Once the spine/rear supportis fully extended from the recess, the front supports,are also fully deployed from their closed position to their open and operable position such that the main bodyof the stand is supported on the supports,and(see). It follows that the gearing is configured such that when the spine/rear supportis moved back into the spine recess, the front supports follow and retract back into their folded position against the main body.

In one implementation, the spine/rear supporthas a gear headhaving a shaftsaxially positioned therethrough. On each end of the gear headis a partial gearEach of the front supports has a post(not shown), that receives a partial gearrespectively. The partial gearscan be secured to their respective posts(and thereby the respective front supports,) with a pinrespectively. In this example, the geometric shape of the postsmatches a geometric shape of the partial gearssuch that rotation of the partial gear causes rotation of the connected front support,, respectively. Holesandin the front supportsand, respectively, can be configured to allow for the connection or insertion of the pinsand removal of the same if needed. Caps,() can be used to fill those holes,and match the color scheme of the fronts supports such that the overall appearance of the same is continuous and not interrupted by the holesand.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the pinsare only one example of how partial gearsmay be attached to the postsof the respective front supports,.shows an enlarged internal view of how the partial gearfrom the gear headengages the partial gearof the front support.

As will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, the use of partial gearsin conjunction with the partial gearsof the gear head, provides for the desired limited rotation of both the spine/rear supportwith the same corresponding limited rotation of the front supports,.

Referring specifically to, and in accordance with a preferred implementation, a locking mechanismenables the locking of the front and rear supports in the open position (i.e., standing position). The locking mechanismincludes a button lockthat is spring loaded or biased such that when the user moves the rear support to open the stand, once the rear support reaches a predetermined position, the locking sliderconnected to the button“clicks” in or more specifically automatically moves up or along the slotsuch that when it extends to the end of the slot, the rear supportis locked relative to the front supports,and the body.shows the stand in the open configuration where the buttonis in the forward or locked position.shows the buttonslid backwards against the spring bias to release the lock and allow for the folding of the rear () and front supports (,) back to the banana shape. As shown in, the buttonis in the unlocked position and the springis shown compressed accordingly. When the user releases the button, springwill cause the locking slider to move forward along slot, and when it reaches the end of the slot operates to lock the position of rear and front supports relative to the body. As will be appreciated, this locking mechanismis one example of how a lock can be implemented to maintain the rear and front supports in an open position relative to the body. Other locking mechanism versions that may or may not include springs can also be implemented without departing from the intended scope of this disclosure.

show the banana standopen and standing using the front supports,and the rear support. When the front supportsandare deployed or extended into their operable standing position, flat surfacesandof the main body are exposed. As shown, when the front supports,and rear/spine supportare extended, the main bodyis supported upright such that the hookcan be used to hang a bunch of bananas (See).

It should be recognized that structures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described in connection with any disclosed form or implementation of the present principles may be incorporated in any other disclosed, described or suggested form or implementation as a general matter of design choice. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

It should also be understood that the example embodiments disclosed and taught herein are susceptible to numerous and various modifications and alternative forms. Thus, the use of a singular term, such as, but not limited to, “a” and the like, is not intended as limiting of the number of items. Furthermore, the naming conventions for the various components, functions, parameters, thresholds, and other elements used herein are provided as examples, and can be given a different name or label. The use of the term “or” is not limited to exclusive “or” but can also mean “and/or”.

While particular embodiments and applications of the present disclosure have been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the precise construction and compositions disclosed herein and that various modifications, changes, and variations can be apparent from the foregoing descriptions without departing from the invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements or construction which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the present principles.

Having described preferred embodiments, which serve to illustrate various concepts, structures and techniques that are the subject of this patent, it will now become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other embodiments incorporating these concepts, structures and techniques may be used. Additionally, elements of different embodiments described herein may be combined to form other embodiments not specifically set forth above.

Accordingly, it is submitted that that scope of the patent should not be limited to the described embodiments but rather should be limited only by the spirit and scope of the following claims.