GB2394401A

GB2394401A - Storage rack for artists materials

Info

Publication number: GB2394401A
Application number: GB0224963A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Julie Davidson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-10-26
Filing date: 2002-10-26
Publication date: 2004-04-28
Also published as: GB0224963D0

Abstract

A plurality of shelves 3, which may each include an integral drawer 10, is mounted on an upright shaft supported by a base 9. The shelves may be rotatable and/or vertically adjustable. The shaft may be in sections (1a,b,c Fig 4) so that the whole assembly can be easily dismantled. The device is for artists's media such as pastels, watercolours and paint tubes.

Description

STORAGE RACK FOR ARTISTS MATERIALS

Field of the Invention

5 The present invention concerns improvements relating to a storage rack for holding artists materials such as pastels or tubes of watercolour or oil paints.

Background to the Invention

10 At present the graphic artist working in paints such as watercolours, oils or with pastels has substantial difficulties in properly storing their paint materials/media in an organised manner while being readily accessible for use. Whether the artist uses a desk or an easel to support their canvas, they will generally have little space for storage and access to their painVmedia.

Whereas dedicated desks and cabinets for housing artist's material are available, they are inherently bulky items of furniture which limit the artist's freedom of movement. They are generally static and not convenient to carry between locations and are generally ill-suited to the artist's ergonomic requirements, especially when 20 the artist is working with the materials and needs to be able to readily access selected ones of the materials at different stages in the process without excessive reaching or bending movements simply to locate and access the material required at different times.

25 In the face of a general lack of any suitable dedicated apparatus for the purpose, the present applicant has developed an improved storage rack for artists materials that meets the needs for ease of portability and compactness when not required for use, as well as the needs for versatility and ease of access to the required materials during creation of the artwork.

Summarv of the Invention According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a storage rack for artists materials which comprises an upstanding shaft on which is mounted at 35 least one shelf, which shelf accommodates, in use, a plurality of pastels, or tubes of watercolour, oil paint or acrylic paint or the like artists media thereon or therein.

Particularly advantageously, the or each shelf has an integral drawer to accommodate a plurality of said pastels or tubes of watercolour, oil or acrylic paint or the like media. This drawer is suitably underslung beneath the shelf and 5 particularly suitably is dimensioned to closely accommodate a set of the pastels or tubes of watercolour, oil or acrylic paint.

Particularly preferably the shaft is telescopic and suitably is configured to enable the telescopic lengths of the shaft to be disassembled for compact storage and carriage.

Preferably the rack comprises a plurality of said shelves. Suitably the one or more shelves are Remountable from the shaft and suitably the mounting of the or each shelf to the shaft is such that the location of the shelf in height above the base of the shaft may be adjusted by the user.

In one preferred embodiment, the shaft comprises a plurality of telescopic sections of which each section has a flange to support a respective shelf whereby raising or lowering of each telescopic section relative to each other provides a means for adjustment of the height of the respective shelf.

Particularly preferably the or each shelf is mounted to the shaft in a manner whereby the shelf may swivel around the shaft. This may be most simply achieved by having a circular cylindrical shaft with a radial flange extending at least partway around its circumference and on which the respective shelf sits.

An adjustable locking means is suitably provided to enable the one or more shelves to be locked at the selected height and may suitably comprise a locking nut.

By having a collapsible configuration of storage rack with one or more shelves that 30 are demountable from and remountable to the shaft, and suitably further having a base for the shaft which is Remountable from the shaft, it is possible to render the whole assembly very compact generally having a flatpack form when disassembled. In the preferred embodiment the or each shelf has a footprint that is of similar size or substantially smaller than the base of the storage rack and the or 35 each shelf may be nested against the base of the storage rack for ease of stowage or transportation in a compact volume.

By disassembling the shaft from the base and separating the telescopic sections of the shaft from each other and the shelves from the shaft, and nesting the shelves together and against the base, it is possible to reduce a metro high storage rack with 5 three adjustable shelves down to a volume that may be accommodated within a polythene bag or briefcase.

In a current metre high embodiment having three shelves with each shelf having a drawer to contain 26 pastels, the storage rack has capacity for 72 pastels held in the 10 drawers of the shelves and, if desired, for as many again or more to be held on the upper surfaces of the shelves.

Generally, the purpose of the upper surface of each shelf is to provide a temporary resting place for the one or more pastels that are currently in use by the artist whilst 15 each drawer holds the remaining pastels that are not currently required for use but which the artist may readily locate and access when required.

By having each shelf configured to swivel about the axis of the shaft, the artist may select one shelf for the time being and have that shelf directed toward him/herself 20 whilst the remaining shelves are directed away. This optimises the freedom of movement of the artist working directly next to the storage rack, and further enables the artist to focus better on the artwork.

Brief Description of the Drawinns

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 30 Figure 1 is a perspective view of the assembled storage rack at full height extension and with all shelves aligned; Figure 2 is a perspective view similar to Figure 1 but with the uppermost shelf telescopically lowered down to closer to the second shelf and both of those two 35 shelves swivelled out of line with the lowermost shelf to provide ready access to the lowermost shelf;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but with a drawer opened; and Figure 4 is a perspective view of the storage rack disassembled.

Description of the Preferred Embodiment

Referring to the figures, the illustrated storage rack comprises a telescopic upstanding shaft 1 that is suitably formed of three lengths 1a - 1c of circular 10 cylindrical steel tube of which the lower most section 1c has a bore of greatest diameter to accommodate each of the middle and upper telescopic sections.

In all other respects the telescopic sections 1a - 1c are substantially the same as each other, having an annular flange 2 projecting radially outwardly from the outer 15 circumference of the tube section at a pre determined short distance from one end of the tube section.

The annular flange 2 of each tube section 1a - 1c serves as a support for a respective shelf 3. Each shelf 3 has a rear mounting portion 4 with an aperture 5 20 to mount over the upper end of the respective telescopic pole section 1a - 1c and to seat down on to the annular flange 2 of that pole section.

As can be seen with reference to Figure 3, the three telescopic sections 1a - 1 c are readily demountable from each other and the shelves 3 are readily demountable 25 from the respective telescopic sections 1a - 1c. By the simple expedient of mounting each shelf 3 to seat on an annular flange 2, each shelf has the freedom of movement to swivel around the axis of the shaft 1, enabling it to be selectively pointed toward or away from the user.

30 The height of each shelf 3 relative to the base 6 of the shaft 1 may be simply adjusted by operation of a respective locking bolt 7 that is provided on each of the lowermost and intermediate telescopic pole sections 1 b, 1c. Each of these locking bolts 7 is suitably a threaded bolt that extends through the wall of the telescopic pole section 1b, 1c to press against the wall of the telescopic pole section that is 35 mounted within, and suitably has a knob 8 for ease of manual adjustment.

Although not shown, one or more separator collars/devices may be provided

between the shelves 3 to prevent any risk of accidentally collapsing an upper shelf 3 onto a lower one and catching one's fingers between the two.

Although the base 6 of the rack is illustrated as comprising a substantially flat block 5 or plate, it may alternatively comprise radiating feet, for example.

Each shelf is formed of a suitable relatively lightweight and economical material such as MDF, suitably laminated with protective plastics coating or is, for example, injection moulded of plastics. The shape of each shelf is specifically adapted to suit 10 efficient storage and presentation of the artist's materials. Each of the three illustrated shelves has a substantially identical shape and form being, in plan, broadly rectangular and with a triangular rear mounting portion 4, the rectangular portion providing an upper work surface 9 that is recessed into the upper face of the shelf in the manner of a tray, and which is dimensioned to conveniently 15 accommodate the materials/media that the artist generally works with. In this case, to hold a set of pastels, the front to rear dimension of the recessed work surface of the shelf 3 is selected to be roughly equivalent or rather slightly greater than the conventional standard length of a pastel and the length of the recess/tray area is suitably a multiple of pastel widths.

The recess/tray area 9 of the shelf 3 can be used to hold selected ones of the pastels to be used by the artist at a given point in time in order to provide instant access. The recess/tray area 9 may also be used to conveniently present to the artist other material for use including pastel rubbers or sandpaper, and allows space 25 for a pot containing further pastels, if desired.

A full range of colours of pastels may be stowed in the shelf within a specially dimensioned drawer 10 that is mounted to the shelf 3 on the underside of the shelf 3. The illustrated shelf 3 has a drawer 10 that is 13.5 centimetres front to rear by 30 20 centimetres long by 1 centimetre deep in order to accommodate 26 standard sized pastels.

By having seven similarly dimensioned such shelves 3 with similarly dimensioned drawers 10, it is possible to accommodate 72 pastels giving a relatively wide range 35 of colours. Furthermore, the use of multiple drawers arrayed up the height of the shaft 1 of the rack enables different colour groups to be conveniently arrayed in

each respective shelf 3 for quick and convenient location and access. For example, orange and yellow coloured pastels may be grouped together in an uppermost shelf 3 drawer 10 with black and grey in the intermediate shelf 3 and blue and green in the lowermost shelf 3.

The artist can adjust the relative heights of the shelves 3 to their own needs for a given work situation, whether they are seated or standing, and may further adjust the angular poise of the respective shelves around this shaft for further convenience. The ease of assembly and disassembly of the storage rack coupled with its very small overall volume when the components are stowed together, makes it exceedingly convenient to carry from one location to another to suit the artists needs. Taken singly and in combination, these various attributes of the storage rack of the present invention greatly enhance the artist's freedom of movement, allowing them to focus their energies on the creative process rather than constantly scrabbling to locate individual pastels or paints as required.

Claims

1. A storage rack for artists materials which comprises an upstanding shaft on which is mounted at least one shelf, which shelf accommodates, in use, a plurality 5 of pastels, or tubes of watercolour, oil paint or acrylic paint or the like artists media thereon or therein.

2. A storage rack as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the or each shelf has an integral drawer to accommodate a plurality of said pastels or tubes of watercolour, 10 oil or acrylic paint or the like media.

3. A storage rack as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein the shaft is telescopic and is configured to enable the telescopic lengths of the shaft to be disassembled for compact storage and carriage.

4. A storage rack as claimed in Claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the rack comprises a plurality of said shelves and one or more shelves are Remountable from the shaft and the mounting of the or each shelf to the shaft is such that the location of the shelf in height above the base of the shaft may be adjusted by the user.

5. A storage rack as claimed in Claim 4, wherein the shaft comprises a plurality of telescopic sections of which each section has a flange to support a respective shelf whereby raising or lowering of each telescopic section relative to each other provides a means for adjustment of the height of the respective shelf.

6. A storage rack as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the rack has a base and shaft which is demountable from the base.

7. A storage rack as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the or each shelf 30 is mounted to the shaft in a manner whereby the shelf may swivel around the shaft.

8. A storage rack as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the one or more shelves are adjustable in height relative to the base of the shaft and an adjustable locking means is provided to enable the one or more shelves to be locked at the 35 selected height and may suitably comprise a locking nut.

9. A storage rack as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the or each shelf has a footprint that is of similar size or substantially smaller than the base of the storage rack and the or each shelf may be nested against the base of the storage rack for ease of stowage or transportation in a compact volume.

10. A storage rack as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.