EP0744854B1

EP0744854B1 - Device for accommodating and retaining utensils, tools, instruments, and the like

Info

Publication number: EP0744854B1
Application number: EP95830219A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Giampaolo Tonelli; Massimo Tonelli
Original assignee: GT Line SRL
Current assignee: GT Line SRL
Priority date: 1995-05-25
Filing date: 1995-05-25
Publication date: 2002-03-27
Anticipated expiration: 2015-05-25
Also published as: ES2172568T3; EP0744854A1; DE69526071D1; DE69526071T2

Description

The present invention relates to a device for accommodating and retaining utensils, tools, instruments, and the like.
It is known that utensils, tools, and other similar instruments are usually loosely contained in boxes provided with appropriate compartments. In order to facilitate the use of such tools particularly in professional fields, however, it is convenient to arrange the tools in an orderly fashion on the surface of a panel for wall mounting or on the bottom of an adapted compact case.
A traditional solution for retaining tools on said surface entails the use of corresponding elastic loops that are rigidly coupled to said surface itself and that are adapted to elastically secure respective tools. The use of said elastic loops, however, is rather awkward; moreover, the loops tend to deteriorate very rapidly and lose the necessary elasticity.
DE-U-82 19 280 discloses a device for accommodating several tools and the like that is constituted by a compact case provided, on the mutually facing surfaces of the main body and of the lid, with projections made of foamed material that have a pyramid-like shape. When the lid is closed, the tools are held between said opposite protrusions, which deform elastically. It is evident that such a device can retain the tools only when the case is closed, thus allowing, for example, to transport the tools, but cannot be used as a wall-mounted support.
A similar drawback affects the device disclosed in DE-A-36 31 690, where the tools are accommodated by means of a series of vertical bristles that are arranged so as to fill the inside of a container that is open at the top. The tools are placed in the container along the longitudinal direction of the bristles and are retained by the forces produced by the elastic deformation of said bristles; such forces, however, are very limited, and therefore the open container must be kept in a vertical position to prevent the tools it contains from falling.
DE-A-43 20 592 discloses a device where tufts of bristles protrude from a base surface that is parallel to a complementary surface, so as to form, between these two surfaces, a gap in which the objects to be accommodated can be inserted. These objects are retained elastically by the action applied by said bristles as a consequence of their deformation.
This device, however, does not ensure perfectly stable retention of the tools, since said bristles tend to deform permanently until they brake, thus gradually reducing the elastic action. Furthermore, the device is complicated and expensive to manufacture as a consequence of the particular method of fitting the bristles that secure said objects.
DE-A-3 024 414 discloses a utensil holder formed by two parallel resilient lips which form a slit whose width is less than the diameter of the utensil handles. These lips, which preferably have a flat rectangular cross-section, are set in the same plane and fixed to a support along the opposite longitudinal sides of the support remote from the slit. The support can then be mounted on the wall or similar and any utensil with a handle can be hung up at any distance from the adjoining utensil merely by pushing the handle up through the slit.
US-A-4 597 496 and GB-A-987 641 disclose utensil holders similar to that disclosed in DE-A-3 024 414, in which however the facing parallel resilient lips are provided with a plurality of transverse slits which provide individually movable fingers.
GB-A-2 038 613 discloses a utensil holder also similar to that disclosed in DE-A-3 024 414, in which however a plurality of mutually facing elongate flexible fin pairs are provided at different vertical levels.
The aim of the present invention is to solve the above- mentioned problem, providing a device that allows to accommodate utensils, tools, instruments, and the like in an orderly fashion and to stably retain them on a surface from which they can be easily removed for use.
Within the scope of this aim, an object of the present invention is to provide a device that is simple in concept, safely reliable in operation, and versatile in use.
According to the invention, this aim and this object are achieved by the present device for accommodating and retaining utensils, tools, instruments, and the like, which comprises: a supporting element that lies longitudinally and is provided, at its opposite ends, with heads that are adapted to be fixed to a back surface that is parallel to said supporting element so as to form a pocket that is open on opposite sides and in which said tools can be inserted; and an elastic retention element that is adapted to be associated with said supporting element and forms elastically flexible prongs that run longitudinally with respect to said supporting element and protrude transversely inside said pocket so as to retain said tools pressed against said back surface.
Preferred embodiments of the device are subject-matter of the dependent claims 2-10.
The details of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the device for accommodating and retaining utensils, tools, instruments, and the like, illustrated by way of non- limitative example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:
figure 1 is a partial perspective view of the device for accommodating and retaining utensils, tools, instruments, and the like;
figure 2 is a lateral detail view of said elastic retention element;
figure 3 is a transverse sectional view of the device according to the invention, in the active configuration;
figure 4 is a view, taken from the inner side, of a head of said supporting element;
figure 5 is a front view, taken from the inner side, of said supporting element in a different embodiment;
figure 6 is a top view thereof;
figures 7 and 8 are respective sectional views of the supporting element shown in figure 5, taken along the planes VII-VII and VIII-VIII.
With particular reference to the above figures, the device according to the invention is provided with a supporting element 1 that is constituted by a longitudinal profiled element made of rigid material, for example aluminum.
Said profiled element is longitudinally provided with folded edges 2 that are adapted to form guiding grooves 3. Moreover, on its outer side, the profiled element is conveniently provided with longitudinal stiffening ridges 4; said ridges 4 allow to reduce the use of material but ensure that the profiled element is adequately rigid.
An elastic retention element 5 is adapted to be associated with the supporting element 1 and is constituted by an extruded profiled element made of plastic material, such as for example PVC. Said profiled element forms a sort of comb with prongs 6a and 6b that are elastically flexible and lie longitudinally with respect to said profiled element.
More precisely, the elastic retention element 5 has a flattened bottom 7 that lies longitudinally; said prongs 6a and 6b protrude from a face of said bottom 7, are shaped like a ledge, are perpendicular to said bottom, and have a profile that tapers slightly outward.
The prongs 6a and 6b are placed at regular distances from each other and preferably have different widths. In particular, a pair of outer prongs 6a and a pair of inner prongs 6b are provided, the latter being slightly wider that the former, as shown in detail in figure 2.
The bottom 7 is adapted to be fitted on the supporting element 1 so as to engage, along the opposite longitudinal edges, the guiding grooves 3 of said supporting element 1 (figure 3).
The supporting element 1 is adapted to be frontally fixed to a wall 8, for example a wall-mount panel or the bottom of an adapted compact case, by means of a pair of heads 9 that are rigidly coupled to the ends of said profiled element. Said heads 9, which are conveniently produced by molding plastic material, are provided, on one side, with two slots 10 for the engagement of screws for fixing to the wall 8.
The heads 9 are adapted to be fixed to the supporting element 1 by virtue of screws 11 that pass through corresponding holes 12 of said heads.
Conveniently, the heads 9 have, on their inward-looking face, a groove 13 that is shaped so as to match the profile of the supporting element 1 and is meant for the engagement of a corresponding end of said supporting element 1 (figure 4). The groove 13 is provided with end portions 13a that are shaped so as to match the profile of the folded edges 2 of the support 1 and substantially surround the holes 12.
In practice, the supporting element 1, provided with the heads 9, forms a bracket that is meant to be mounted on the wall 8.
As shown in figure 3, the supporting element 1, applied to the wall 8, forms a sort of pocket 14 that is open at opposite ends and in which the tools to be accommodated and retained can be inserted.
Said tools, therefore, are inserted in the device at right angles to the ledge-shaped prongs 6a and 6b, thus causing the deformation of said prongs 6a and 6b, which are elastically flexible.
The elastic deformation of the prongs 6a and 6b is such that the tools inserted in the pocket 14 are pressed against the wall 8, ensuring the stable locking of said tools in the position in which they have been inserted.
It should be noted that the narrower outer prongs 6a in practice skim the wall 8, whereas the inner prongs 6b, which are wider, are pressed against said wall 8 at their tips (figure 3).
More particularly, the wider prongs 6b allow to secure narrow tools, also compensating for any flexing of the wall 8, which is generally made of deformable material such as cardboard and the like.
Said wider prongs 6b also allow to compensate for any wear caused, in the course of time, by the insertion end extraction of the tools, thus ensuring durable functionality.
Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8 are views of a different embodiment of the device, in which the supporting element, again designated by the reference numeral 1 for the sake of clarity, is formed monolithically with associated heads 15 by molding plastic material.
The heads 15 form corresponding pairs of sleeves 16, whose axis is at right angles to the plane of the supporting element 1, for the insertion of screws for fixing to the wall 8. Two further sleeves 17 are provided in a median section of the supporting element 1 at the folded edges 2.
In summary, the described device allows to accommodate in an orderly fashion and stably retain utensils, tools, instruments, and the like against a back surface from which they can be easily removed for use. In particular, said surface can be constituted by a wall-mounted panel or by the bottom and lid of a compact case and the like.
Several devices of the above-mentioned type, according to the number of objects that to be accommodated, may of course be arranged on said surface in a parallel configuration.
An important advantage allowed by the device according to the invention is constituted by the fact that the prongs 6a and 6b of the retention element 5 are not subjected to permanent deformations but deform elastically only during the insertion of the tools. This ensures durable functionality of the device. Moreover, this result is achieved also by virtue of the fact that the prongs of the retention element 5 allow to compensate for possible wear due to prolonged use.
The fact should be stressed that the device according to the invention is constructively very simple, since it is constituted by a limited number of components obtained from extruded profiled elements or by molding plastic material; said elements, moreover, are assembled easily and rapidly.
In the practical embodiment of the invention, the materials employed, as well as the shapes and the dimensions, may be any according to the requirements.
Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the scope of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.

Claims

Device for accommodating and retaining utensils, tools, instruments, and the like, comprising:

a supporting element (1) that lies longitudinally and is provided, at its opposite ends, with heads (9,15) that are adapted to be fixed to a back surface (8) that is parallel to said supporting element (1) so as to form a pocket (14) that is open on opposite sides and in which said tools can be inserted; and

an elastic retention element (5) that is adapted to be associated with said supporting element (1) and forms elastically flexible prongs (6) that run longitudinally with respect to said supporting element (1) and protrude transversely inside said pocket (14) so as to retain said tools pressed against said back surface (8).
Device according to claim 1, characterized in that said elastic retention element (5)is constituted by a profiled element made of elastic material that forms a longitudinally arranged flattened bottom (7), from one face of which said elastically flexible prongs (6) protrude, said prongs (6) being shaped like ledges and being arranged at right angles to said bottom.
Device according to claim 2, characterized in that said ledge-shaped prongs (6) of said retention element (5)are arranged at regular distances from each other and are different in length.
Device according to claim 3, characterized in that said elastic retention element (5)is provided with narrower ledge-shaped prongs (6a) that are adapted to skim a back surface (8) of said device in the operating configuration and with wider prongs (6b) whose tips are compressed against said back surface (8).
Device according to claim 4, characterized in that said elastic retention element (5)is provided with two narrower prongs (6a) that are arranged symmetrically and externally with respect to two inner prongs (6b) that are slightly wider that the other prongs (6a).
Device according to claim 2, characterized in that said bottom (7) is adapted to engage, along its opposite longitudinal edges, corresponding guiding grooves formed by said supporting element (1).
Device according to claim 1, characterized in that said supporting element (1) is constituted by a longitudinal profiled element made of rigid material that is longitudinally provided with folded edges that are adapted to form guiding grooves (3) for coupling to said retention element.
Device according to claim 1, characterized in that said heads (9) have, on a face that is directed towards the inside of said device, a slot (13) that is shaped according to the profile of said supporting element (1) and is meant for the engagement of a corresponding end of said supporting element (1).
Device according to claim 1, characterized in that said supporting element (1) is formed monolithically with said heads (15), so as to form a sort of bracket that is adapted to be applied to said back surface (8).
Device according to any one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said back surface (8) is a wall-mount panel or the bottom of an adapted compact case.