GB2524052A - Shoe cupboard - Google Patents

Abstract

A corner cupboard for storing shoes and the like, includes an elongate shelf support rail 9 secured in a vertical position in a corner between two walls within a building. A door panel 2 is hinged to a back wall panel 11 adjacent the edge thereof remote from the shelf support rail and extends, in its closed position to a single side wall panel 6 adjacent the edge thereof remote from the shelf support rail. Shelves 3 are supported by the rail. The door panel has a horizontal cross-section including an arcuate portion (28, figure 3) defining a curve centred on a vertical axis within the shelf support rail. The invention meets the need for a construction of a storage unit for items such as shoes but which can overcome the lack of space in a dwelling.

Description

SHOE CUPBOARD

flEW OF THE INVENTION This nven'ion r&ates to a cupcoaro n particuar to a cupboard torthe storage S of reavey srad rems such as shoes r other domeqtic or housenod tems

BACKGROUND TO THE NVEN'1ON

The esuit & moaem hfestyles is that peoce have a or of oossessiofls the resut of wh jì s that v' many dveth'gs especaJi r' cites where housing concentrationS are high stotage space sat a premLum For examp'e, mor families wiU iavo a consioeaole number o tems, such as shoes, whch need to be stored but whicn riced to be easy an regularly accessed For e>ample a fanit of tour might typica1l nave about twen pairs of shoes betweer t'en In such circumstances eroes are often Kept ir haPays, M landings o in indivicuars 1 bedrooms, whicr' s not recossarj a oleasan habit a a ma'1 esuft in dirty shoes neing worn aruur'o the home possib v ap cading ge-ms throughout In large houses, a stoisge unit of considerable dimers'ons, such as above 800 mm, may be located in a porch or a ha way ebse to the house door but n maUer dwel iis space is ofte' not availab'e foi such stoiage nit Even if a eon jentional unit is Ni fitted in.i haPwav more often than ro it cannot cater or a V household with e g more than a dozen cross u'crmor, conventinna cupbo&ras, whethei floor mounted or wal mouneo cave waste'u xacant space abode andlo' below them There is therefore a need fr a construThor' ot a storage unit for tems such as shoes out wrtich can overcome the acK of sufficient space for the traditional units The piosent invention stems t3m the saksation that most dwed nqs have aced corner spaces hich a-s u"usec these nay be for campie ad3ecent a 000i ot the dwelling ad:acent the door of a tcsption room or on the curve n the stairway of the dwelling

SUMMARY OF THE 1NVENTION

The above o9ject vs is acniejed according U a fl-st aboect ci the present insention which proides a corner upboard comprising the foflowing elenents an elongate shelf support ral aoapted -o be secured r a gererall\' erticai posfion ri a cornet between two walls Within a hulçiing; (i a back wall panel exterong ftom the shelf supoort rail aganat one of said building waUs; mi) a single side wail panel extending fror the she f suopor r5 against the other of said building wails: tv) a oor panel hinged 0 the hack walE panel aljaceilt tat edge thereof rernoe from said shelf suppor ail and extendng ir its cosod pos4ion to the s de wail panel adjacent that edge trereot remote fiom said shelf supporE iail, and a piurality of shelves supported by said sFwif support rail wrthin the space defined by the back panel side panel and dor pane in its ciosed position, wherein ti-a door pane has a L3 izontat cr:sssection i-chiding an arcuate portion defining a curve centied on a vertical axis within said self supcort rail No on y aces the invertion enable dead corner spaces in a dwetn to be itdised but also vacant space that wou d exist above and'ar below a conven4 oriat cupboard,Sn bo avoided The door panel in horwontal cross section may induce the ar;uate cortion positioned between tangentia ly extenthng portions exteElthng t the edyes of the doo.r panel.

Each sbet a p eferaoly remoiaoly secured to san shelf supçort rail so that spacing between shelves ca be selected as desired The shelves may be beoureci in any convenient marrer However it is pre'erred that each shah irciudes a support rod embedded within its body ard having a piotrLcrng portion extending thererom adjacent a corner of te she1f and the she supoort rai may nclude a plurality of apaluras for seect vety accommodating the proP ad ng porton ot me rod The sneif' support ia which is preferaoly formed of metal or other rigid matenaL may have a generaily r g"t-ang ad tnangu at kioss-section wth two adacent faces abutting the walls of the buiding which de ne the corner and the third hypotenuse, side carrying the apertuies in which the c2pporting Eods of the shelves. are accommodated. The shelf support.rail may additionally include channels' into which an eoge of a shoves slot to prevent rotation of tre steNes about the axis of the support rod Thus the rai and snail constrct ons may DC accorthng to a secono aspect of the invenon whch provoes tre combination of an elongate corner she f supporting rail and. at least one shelf wherein: (I) the shelf is of ceneraliy planar configuration and has a supporting rod. -3"

embedded ther&n to e parSe with the p'ane of the sh&f, the.suppctiflg rod havfrig a spgot end poroi protrudng frQ"T' the sr&f at a corner thereof and () he suopo1ng raI s Of gererall\ rght-anged tr a iguar ho ow conflguraton, the hycotenuse face of which includes a plurabty of ttansveise chennels foi select vey accornmodatng said corner of the she f and an aperture in ho base of each channel eadrg to a is:cpto" w thin the rail to receive said spigot The "eceptor a preeraby defred between a-' aperture in the base of a said cr'annel in Inc with an aperk ien te ng 1-angled:ornr of the rai The hypotenuse face of the rail further may include ape"tures positioned ntormediate said channels, in bne wth apertures ri the ght-angled corner of the rail to a low access to fixng aevces for fix'ng the tad to a cower in the wads of a building In a preferred enioozirrent, the trancvese channe s n the hypotenuse face of the rail are equal to each othr in terra of width ength 2nd depth and are egulad1 spaced along the iail Preferably a piuralty 0* said shelves a-c piovided with one,aid rali the numbee of shelves beino tewer than he numoer o the channels in -be ra I, enabling the spacing between the shelves to he vaned according to hoice Peon elf preferably has a back edge positioned against the back panel and a sde edge positioned against the side pane Each shelf may have a hcrzci tel cosssectoaI s'apo whc' inc'udes an arcuate portion definng a c-rve centred a vertical axis wrbin the shoif support rail [he arcuate portion of each she? c-ross-section is i-ieaRy coaxial with the arcuate portion of the door panel cro.ssrsection. when th letS s in its closed position I he ci ncr c. pboacd may adaitionahy comprise a floor panel secwed to the door panel Arso the cor'ar cupboard may aduitiora1ly comprise a top panel secured to the ooor panel Floor and top panels cod at uctural integnty to the door pa id 0 prevent defomiation A \en+llation opening, optionaliy ogethel with a venti ahon fan is usefurly povided in the top canel The conet cupboard preferaolv further conci sea a screen, possibly n the rorm of a mesh oositroned agansi an ouge of eec-i shelf opposite to that edge thereof which lies ag?inst. the side penel Such a. screen can help to carry the load from the shelves.

The corner cupboad nay nc ude a aw ton to be activated when the door panel is opened, to turn on a light within the cupboard, A magnetic catch may be provided to normally hold the door pane in its closen position The cuoboard may be ot any surablo height, such as between 1 0 and 3 0 metres high.

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE DRAWINGS

An e vbooimert of the inven on is ksstrated n tne accompany ng drawings in which Figure I shows a corner cupboa;a actodtng o the first aspect of the piesent invention oositrored in the cower of a budaing Fi9ure 2 shcw the corner cupboard of Figio in ta open coit on, Hgure 3 shows a horizontal cross sction of the. cupboard of Figure 1; rEgula 4 sows a crosssectior of a shelf of the cupboa'd of Figure 1 Figure 5 shows a view of the shelf support ra I of ie cpboard o Figure 1 eccordng to the second aspect o The invention, with a view towards its hypotenuse t5 face, end Figure $ sho a view of the shett support red rown ii Figure 5, wr' a view towards its nght-ang ed corre' DESCRPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODMENT8 Referrng to the drawings there is shown a cornr oupooard accoiding to the present invention. The cuptoard.nc.ludes the following *mefl.ts I an etongete sh&f support rait 9.; ii a back wad panel 1 a engle ads wal panel 6, and iv a door paneL 2 The back Mall panel 11 extends rori the shef support red earnst one of the buidng walls 20 and a securect thereto in a coiven4'ona narnr whiie the side wall pane 6 extends from the shef buppol raIl 9 agai ist the other ot the huid rig wals 22 and s seourea thereto in a convertiona manner Tie door panel 2 is mounted o the ack wa I pane ii by a piano hrnge 13 cojacent the edge 24 thereof remote from the snelt suoport ad 9 The door panel exte"ds in vs dosed postior, to the side wall panel ad acent that edge 26 thereof renote from the sheif support Md 9 and opens n the d rechon indicted by the curved arrow in Figure 3 The door panel 2 nsa a horizontal ctosssection incLuding 5.-an arcuate portion 2S c$fining a curve centred on th a vertca axs wthTh the shelf s4ppon rad 9 The door panel 2 r' hon:onta crosssecbon ncludes the arcuate portion 28 posthoned DeWveen tangen4 ally extending ponons 32, 34 sxtendng to the edges of the docr panel 2 A magneto push catch 4 romatly holds the door panel 5. 2 in its closed posfton.

A number o hghtweht oad bearuig shelves 3 ae supported Dy the sheif support ral 9 withrn the space definea by the back pane 1, sde pane C and door pane 2 n its dosed position Each shelf 3 is removably secured to the shelf support 9 Each sheh is of genraly paiEr configuration Each sher 3 ncludes a it) suppor rod 10 embedded wititn rs both o ie pan le Mth the plane of the sh&faro naving a protruoirg portior in the orm of a male wigot 8 extending nererorn adjacent a corner 68 of the she f 3 a-iu the shelf suocort isil 9 ncludas a plural ty of apertures in the form of femalo rocoptors to selectively arcommoaang the male spigot E of the od 10 Each nel 3 nas a hac1c edge 42 positioned against the back panel 11 ano a s tie edge 44 cositioncu against the side panel 6 Each snSf 3 has a honontal cross-sectional shape Miich InCILOeS an arcuate pcruon 46 defining a cun.e centred on vertical axis within the shel suppol a 1 9 The arcuate portion 46 of each bhelf crosssection is coaxial wit the arcuate portion 28 of the door panel crosssE ction when the latteris in its dosed position.

The supoort rau 9 s secured r a ge-'erally van cal position iii a come between two walls within a huilding The shelf sdoport ar 9 whrh is ormea o metal or other ngid material has a generahy right-anlea hol ow tnangular aces-section, with two adjacent faces abutting the naUs of the budding which cetine the corner and the th rd, hypotenuse, side 70 cary ng the receotors into whit h spigo4s 8 of the supporting rods 1 of the slelies are acrornmoaated The shef suppo rail 9 additionally ncludes even y spaceci (by e g 50 mm) transve-se channels 52 tvically having a depth of 20 mm foi ssiectivety accommcoat ng the corner 68 of the snelf to prevent otaton of the shelf 3 about te axs of the support rod 10 An apertuis 74 n the base o' each channel leacs to a respective seceptot wdnin the ratl to receve the spigot 8 The recoptor is defined between the apertuie 74 in the base o the channel ii line with an apertuie 75 n the nghtanglea corner of the a I A magnetic stip 7 secjrec to the tOyC of the shelf helps to locate "ie she f cci reotli in its iespectio channel 52, wh Is preenti1g Jnlntertiona shalt rotation due to oeformation or stress from imposen cads The snelf is tien able to carry a reasonable domestic load of up to a g 3 kg Those channels 52 which he between the receptors sic dosed off ecith f ush fitting spacers 54 the hypotenuse face 70 of the ra further includes apertures 80 posit oned intermediate the channels in hn with aperture% 82 in the r ghtangled cornei of the rail, to a'low ac:ess to fixing screws 84 or fixing the rai to a corner in the walls of a buddiig Typicalty the rail is fixed at appioxirnately 200 mm centres The, transverse channels 52 in. the hypotenuse face of the rail, are equa to each other wijth, length and depth and are regular y spaced along the rail Where a number of the shelees are orovidee with one the ai the number of shaves wi I be 0 tewei than the nt mber of the channels in the tad enaohrg the spacing between the sh&ves to be viried acordhig to choice.

The corner cupboard additionahy incluacs top panel 38 and a floor panel 38 secureci respectively to the top ard bottom edges the coor panel 2 a ic serve o provide rigvtht to the door panel 2 A enUation onening together with a ventilation b fan 56, s provided in the top panei The cuoboara is typ call about 25 met as high A screen I S r the orm of a ngid LPVC mesh is pos tionec against an edge of esci shelf 3 opposite o that edge thereof whici' las aga1nst the side panel and is held in place by retaining plugs 14 The mesh prevents items stotd on the shelves 3, from falling cut.

A switch 515 activated when The coor panel 2 is opened, to turn on a vncaIl oriented LEO lightng strip 12 exierg wiV'n the cupbord from the floor panel 38 to. the top panel 3$'.

The shelves side ano heck panels ano the dtor pane re suitably formed In white irelanline, which is available in 3 metre standard lengths.