The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 01, 2003
Filed:
Mar. 15, 2001
Peter Craig Mathieson, Kanata, CA;
Chris Gorman, Ottawa, CA;
Mitel Knowledge Corporation, Kanata, CA;
Abstract
A support unit includes an outer panel intended to lie in a vertical plane when in use, the outer panel having a straight, horizontal lower edge. The support unit further includes an inner panel extending generally at right angles to the outer panel and connected thereto along a portion of the lower edge of the outer panel which is adjacent one end of that edge. The inner panel has structure defining a first horizontal contact plane on the upper side of the inner panel, and a second horizontal contact plane on the lower side of the inner panel. These two planes are substantially parallel. The preferred embodiment further includes a flange adjacent the mid-region of the outer panel and extending generally parallel with the two contact planes. In the preferred embodiment, the flange is flat and has a top surface which contains a hypothetical line extending at right angles to the outer panel. The support unit is such that a pair of them, with one rotated about the hypothetical line through 180° with respect to the other, can be fitted together with the hypothetical lines coincident, the flanges in surface contact, the lower edges of the outer panel in aligned contact, and the first contact plane of each support unit coplanar with the second contact plane of the other support unit, whereby a single support unit alone can provide a load-bearing foot with which to support at least part of the overall weight of a stack of such items, while a pair of support units in rotated juxtaposition about their hypothetical lines can provide an interstitial spacer between two stacked items. The flange has a detent which interacts with a further detent on the outer panel of the second support unit, in such a way as to restrain the support units from disengaging.