AU709688B3

AU709688B3 - A hangable caddy

Info

Publication number: AU709688B3
Application number: AU29084/99A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Frank Charles Giufre
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1999-05-19
Filing date: 1999-05-19
Publication date: 1999-09-02
Anticipated expiration: 2005-05-19

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A PETTY PATENT Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Invention Title: Frank Charles GIUFRE CULLEN

CO.,

Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, 240 Queen Street, Brisbane, QId. 4000, Australia.

A HANGABLE CADDY The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to me: 2 A HANGABLE

CADDY

This invention relates to a versatile and useful hangable caddy which can also be mounted to a wall and which can hold everyday items such as pegs, pens, household and office items, medicines, toys and the like.

Caddies can include any container or device for storing or holding frequently used things when they are not in use. The caddies are usually fairly small which means that they can be picked up and carried by a person.

A disadvantage with existing caddies is that they are not very versatile and can only be placed on the ground, a table, bench and the like when not being carried. That is, existing caddies are not able to be attached or hung from wires, rods, handles and the like. This makes the caddies inconvenient if the caddy is on the ground level yet the work area is substantially above the ground level.

Clothes peg containers or caddies which can hang from a clothes line are well-known and typically consist of an item storage area and a pair of hooks which can simply hook about a clothes line. These hooks have to be fairly large to allow them to be hooked over a line member, the handle of the clothes line, and the steel support rods of the clothes line. This means that when the caddy is attached to the line member only, the hooks are far too large which means that the caddy can swing or be knocked from the line member fairly easily.

The present invention is directed to a hangable caddy which has a particularly configured hanging arrangement which allows the caddy to be hung from a thin horizontal line member (such as a clothes line), but also from a thicker member such as a rod and the like, and whereby the particular configuration has a working interrelationship to provide improvements over existing hangable caddies.

In one form, the invention resides in a hangable caddy which has a bottom wall, at least one side wall, and an upper hanging arrangement which allows the caddy to be hung from a thin horizontal line member and a thicker rod member, the arrangement having a first larger inverted curved II| ill support surface which allows the caddy to be hung from the thicker rod member, and a second smaller inverted curved support surface which extends from an upper part of the first surface and which allows the caddy to be hung from the thin line member.

In another form, the invention resides in a hangable caddy which has a bottom wall, and at least one side wall to define an item storage area, and an upper hanging arrangement which allows the caddy to be hung from a thin horizontal line member and a thicker rod member, the arrangement extending above the item storage area and having a plate like configuration formed with a entry recess through which the line member and/or the rod member can pass, the recess having an upper portion formed with a first larger inverted curved support surface which allows the caddy to be hung from the thicker rod member, and a second smaller inverted curved support surface which extends from an upper part of the first surface and which allows the caddy to be hung from the thin line member.

The hangable caddy can be made from a variety of useful materials such as plastics, metals, composites, wood, strong cardboard and the like. The size and shape of the caddy can vary but it is preferred that the caddy is of a size such that it can hold an appropriate amount of items but is small enough to allow it to be fairly easily carried, lifted and put down. For instance, in an embodiment there is provided a caddy of more or less rectangular shape when viewed in plan which has a length of approximately 200 to 300cm and a width of slightly less than the length.

The caddy has an upper hanging arrangement which allows it to be hung from a thin horizontal line member such as a clothes line but also from a thicker member such a support rod and the like.

This is achieved by having a first larger inverted curved support surface which allows the caddy to be hung from the thicker rod member and a second smaller inverted curved support surface which extends from an upper part of the first surface and which is small enough to clip around or be attached to the thin line member but is too small to accommodate the thicker rod member.

IIIII II With this particular configuration, should the caddy be attached to a thinner line member, the larger inverted curved support surface functions as a guide to guide the caddy towards and onto the thinner line member.

Conversely, it appears that when the caddy is attached to the thicker rod member, the smaller inverted curved support surface provides a free area on the rod which means that the caddy is not supported by the entire surface of the rod which may facilitate sliding adjustment of the caddy along the rod (by reducing friction).

The thin horizontal line member can include clothes lines, fence lines and other types of line members which are typically fairly taught and which can accommodate some form of load. The diameter of the thin horizontal line member can of course vary but is typically between 2 to The thicker rod member can include the support struts of a clothes line, fence rails, other form of supporting rails, protruding handles (for instance the wind handle on a clothes line), ledges and edges and the like.

In an embodiment, the thicker rod member has a cross-section size or diameter of between 10 to The first and the second inverted curved support surface is typically semi-circular in configuration. It is however envisaged that other types of curved surfaces may be used such as an oval-type shape and the like. The surface is open ended by which is meant that a wire or rod can be passed against the support surface without having to be threaded through it or pushed through it.

In one form of the invention, the hanging arrangement has a substantially flat plate-like configuration and can be an extension of one or more end walls of the caddy or an extension of an intermediate wall. The arrangement has an entry recess which in one form of the invention is a horizontal open ended slot which is large enough to allow the thicker rod member or the thinner line member to pass into the slot.

The slot or recess has an upper portion, typically an upper wall, which is formed with the first and the second support surfaces. This particular arrangement can provide a balance to the caddy such that it can achieve a balanced horizontal orientation when suspended from the wire or rod.

A carry handle can be attached to or part of the caddy. If the caddy has two spaced apart hanging arrangements, the carry handle may be a rod or similar member extending between the two spaced apart hanging arrangements. If a single hanging arrangement is provided, the carry handle may comprise a rod extending from one or both sides of the hanging arrangement. In a further alternative, the carry handles may comprise hand grippable slots or even hand grippable profiles on the hanging arrangement.

To provide greater versatility to the caddy, the caddy may also have means to allow it to be wall mounted. These means may be in the form of slots such as key hole slots in one or more of the walls of the caddy such that the caddy can be mounted to projections (for instance screws) attached to the wall.

As mentioned above, the caddy can be made of various different suitable materials such as waterproof ply 9mm, perspex clear or coloured, optionally with aluminium edging, stainless steel, galvanised metal, plastic coated wire, PVC, polyethylenes, other types of plastics, solid timber, custom wood and the like. The caddy may be painted or otherwise coated for decoration and protection.

The caddy has a multiplicity of uses including hangable peg holders, milk, bread and paper delivery holder (attached to a front fence), a fishing tackle caddy, a sewing box caddy, a tradesman's carry, office stationery holder, bathroom and toilet accessory, kitchen accessory including spice holder and the like, a travel tidy and carry, a medicine carry and a children's toy tidy.

An embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the following drawings in which Figure 1 is a view of a hangable caddy according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a side view of Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows the caddy attached to a support rod of a clothes line.

Figure 4 shows the caddy attached to the clothes line itself.

Referring initially to Figure 1, there is illustrated a caddy which in the embodiment is formed from waterproof ply but this can of course vary to suit. Caddy 10 has a length of 260mm, a width of 220mm and a total height of 260mm, but this can again vary to suit. Caddy 10 has a bottom wall 11 two opposed parallel extending side walls 12 and two parallel extending end walls 13, 14. Side walls 12 in the embodiment have a height of 100mm, but this can again vary to suit, and the bottom wall, side walls and end walls define an internal item storage area 15 which can hold a variety of items for everyday use.

Bottom wall 11 is provided with an array of drain holes 16 which have a diameter of approximately 8mm and which drain rain water if the caddy is used outdoors (for instance on a clothes line).

A characterising feature of the caddy is its versatility in attachment to thick and thin support members. In the embodiment, the caddy has two upper hanging arrangements 17, 18 which are integral extensions of end walls 13, 14. Arrangements 17, 18 therefore extend above and to each side of the item storage area 15 and are sufficiently above the item storage area to allow items to be inserted and removed from the area without striking any part of arrangement 17, 18 or the carry handle 19. Arrangements 17, 18 are substantially planar and are each formed with an entry recess 20 which is substantially rectangular in configuration and has a recess entry height of approximately 40mm and a depth of approximately 90mm. The depth of the recess is such that the recess is cut into or extends into arrangement 17, 18 to approximately the balance point or mid-way point of item storage area The top wall of recess 20 has a first larger inverted semicircular curved support surface 21 which has an open end of a diameter of approximately 35mm. Centred above the first support surface 21 is the second smaller inverted semi-circular curved support surface 22 which is also open at its base and has a diameter or approximately 6mm.

Centred above the first and second support surfaces is carry handle 19.

The arrangement of the entry recess 20 and the particular configuration of the first and the second support surfaces 21, 22 allows the caddy to be attached to a thin line member (which passes into support surface 22 but is guided therein by first support surface 21), and a larger rodlike support (which passes into first support surface 21), in a balanced manner which means that the item storage area 15 remains substantially horizontal which prevents the items from tipping out.

Figure 2 particularly illustrates the balanced arrangement and the centred arrangement between carry handle 19, the first and second support surfaces 21, 22 and how the surfaces (by virtue of the depth of entry recess 20), is approximately at the balance point of the caddy when the caddy is hung from a wire or rod.

The caddy 10 can be provided with wall mounting means which in the embodiment is in the form of two key hole slots 25, 26 which are of known design and which allow the caddy to be wall mounted to a pair of spaced apart projections such as screws.

The arrangements 17, 18 are shaped (particularly illustrated in Figure 2) to provide easy entry 27 to the contents of the caddy with little probability of a person's hand being wedged or striking either the side walls or the carry handle of the caddy.

Figure 3 shows caddy 10 attached to the thicker metal rod-like support of a clothes hoist while Figure 4 shows the caddy attached to the metal or plastic thinner line member of the clothes hoist, and illustrates the versatility of the caddy.

Another advantage of the particular configuration of the curved support surfaces is that the caddy can be pushed along either the wire or the rod-like arrangement with little likelihood of becoming wedged. With the larger surface area of the thicker rod-like arrangement, it is considered an advantage to have the second smaller curved support surface 22 being a "cut-out" of the larger support surface 21 which reduces frictional contact between the larger support surface and the rod and thereby may facilitate III 8 sliding movement of the caddy along the rod by virtue of reduced friction. By having the curved surfaces "tailor made" to the larger diameter rod member or the smaller diameter line member, the caddy is more properly supported by the line member or the rod member which is an advantage over existing caddies which use a single size (and usually oversize) hook.

It should be appreciated that various other changes and modifications may be made to the embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Claims

1. A hangable caddy which has a bottom wall, at least one side wall, and an upper hanging arrangement which allows the caddy to be hung from a thin horizontal line member and a thicker rod member, the arrangement having a first larger inverted curved support surface which allows the caddy to be hung from the thicker rod member, and a second smaller inverted curved support surface which extends from an upper part of the first surface and which allows the caddy to be hung from the thin line member.

2. The caddy of claim 1 which has a bottom wall, and at least one side wall to define an item storage area, and an upper hanging arrangement which allows the caddy to be hung from a thin horizontal line member and a thicker rod member, the arrangement extending above the item storage area and having a plate like configuration formed with a entry recess through which the line member and/or the rod member can pass, the recess having an upper portion formed with a first larger inverted curved support surface which allows the caddy to be hung from the thicker rod member, and a second smaller inverted curved support surface which extends from an upper part of the first surface and which allows the caddy to be hung from the thin line member.

3. The caddy of claim 1 or claim 2 substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings. DATED this 1 9 th day of May 1999 Frank Charles GIUFRE By his Patent Attorneys CULLEN CO. L