GB2623997A - Kit for constructing a suspended garment storage unit - Google Patents

Abstract

A kit 13 for constructing a suspended garment storage unit comprises two support brackets 11 mountable on mounts, especially roof struts or rafters (40 & 41, figures 1 & 1A) in a loft, at a spacing from one another, a bar 12 supportable by the mounted brackets to extend between the brackets and serve as a suspension for garment hangars, and a garment storage bag 13 to form an enclosure for garment hangers suspended from the bar and for garments hung on the hangers. The bag 13 has openings 20 in mutually opposite side walls 16 to permit passage of the bar 12 entirely through the bag so that when the brackets are mounted the bag can be suspended from the bar in a position between the brackets. The bag 13 also has an openable and closable flap 22 for insertion and removal of garments from the enclosure.

Description

KIT FOR CONSTRUCTING A SUSPENDED GARMENT STORAGE UNIT

The present invention relates to a kit for constructing a suspended garment storage unit and to a garment storage unit constructed from the kit.

Lightweight and compact garment storage units, in particular wardrobes for clothes hung on coat hangers, can be used in situations where space is at a premium for conventional free-standing wardrobes or available flooring is insufficient in strength or area for a heavy free-standing unit. Such situations apply especially to lofts, which often enclose a useful storage volume, but which may be under-used because of the constraints of access for installation of furniture, limited floor strength and disruption of the volume by roof trusses and other structural elements. Similar issues may arise in rooms with low ceiling levels or niches and other shapes which may be unsuitable for placing tall furniture such as wardrobes. Known storage units usable in these circumstances range from free-standing, portable or foldable units with a frame structure and synthetic fabric covering to suspended units in the nature of a shaped fabric housing designed to be suspended from a rail. These units can be used in various locations, but are not specifically designed for installation in a loft space where roof support elements such as bracing struts intrude into the space and limit the area available for free-standing units or complicate the installation of suspension rails.

It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide a kit for construction of a lightweight suspended garment storage unit which is particularly suited to fitting in lofts and other confined areas or in spaces with limited access and which can take advantage of existing struts, posts, rafters and other structural elements able to serve as mounting means for the unit.

A further object of the invention is to provide a kit for construction of a suspended garment storage unit which can be adapted to accommodate different spacings of existing structural elements usable as mounting means.

Yet another object is design of such a kit in a way allowing quick and simple assembly of a garment storage unit with use of only basic tools.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following

description.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a kit for constructing a suspended garment storage unit, comprising two support brackets mountable on mounting means at a spacing from one another, a bar supportable by the mounted brackets to extend therebetween and serve as a suspension for garment hangars and a flexible garment bag storage bag to form an enclosure for garment hangers suspended from the bar and for garments hung on the hangers, the bag having openings in mutually opposite sides thereof to permit passage of the bar therethrough so that when the brackets are mounted the bag can be suspended from the bar in a position between the brackets and the bag including an openable and closable section for insertion of garments into and removal of garments from the enclosure.

A garment storage unit construction kit embodying the present has the advantage that it can be introduced as a set of components into an installation space such as a loft with restricted access and assembled in situ. The brackets, as individual items, can be attached to existing structural elements as mounting means, such as roof struts, posts, rafters, rails or even surfaces of cladding, subject only to the consideration that the mounting means can bear the weight of the constructed unit and its content. The storage component, i.e. the storage bag, is suspended from the bar and does not have to rest on a floor or other underlying support surface. The bag, which can be dimensioned to usefully fit between, for example, adjacent roof struts or rafters in a loft, can be made largely from durable and moisture-impermeable sheet material which creates a particularly light and economic form of enclosure able to provide a sealed and dry storage environment excluding insects, their larvae and fungi responsible for mould and mildew. The bar can be a simple wooden pole or metal tube which can optionally be provided in the kit in an oversize length able to be appropriately adapted to the spacing of the brackets when mounted.

In a preferred embodiment the storage bag comprises flexible fabric material and is transferrable, such as by folding and unfolding, between a volumetric form defining the enclosure and a collapsed form, which in the latter state contributes to overall compactness of the kit and facilitates introduction of the kit, in particular the bag, into a space such as a loft with a small access opening. However, for preference the sides of the bag with the openings are stiffened in end portions thereof having the openings so that the end portions have and retain a substantially planar shape. This assists maintenance of the volumetric form, for example a generally parallelopipedonal shape appropriate to storage of hanging garments, although advantageously the bag can have a partly sloping top, in particular sloping downwardly away from a side of the bag with the openable and closable section, to allow the bag to nest under a sloping roof. The stiffening of the bag sides with the openings can conveniently be provided by stiffening elements, for example rigid or semi-rigid inserts, incorporated in those sides. The stiffening elements provide stiffening in the region of the openings so that the weight of the bag suspended from the bar can be borne by the elements rather than flexible bag walling, but the bag as a whole remains flexible.

For preference, bag has a substantially rigid and planar base, which allows the base to accept light loading, such as by stored footwear, without sagging or otherwise distorting.

The openings in the sides of the bag are preferably disposed at a spacing from a top of the bag to provide movement space for hooks of garment hangers to be lowered onto and lifted from the bar when supported on the brackets. This space eases attachment and removal of hangers, particularly when laden with garments.

The openable and closable section of the bag may have the form of a flap, for example a panel hinged at one edge, especially an edge which is vertical when the bag is suspended, and secured at its other edges by a fastener, preferably a zip fastener. Other forms of fastener, such as hook-and-burr fastener strips and/or press studs, are also conceivable. The openable and closable section of the bag advantageously includes a transparent window so that the content of the storage bag can be viewed.

It is particularly desirable if the kit comprises fixing means for axially fixing the position of the supported bar relative to the mounted brackets or the position of the suspended bag relative to the bar or both. Such fixing means ensure that the assembled kit remains a stable unit by preventing unintended detaching of the bar from the mounted brackets and/or sliding of the bag sides with the openings along the bar. The fixing means can be provided in a variety forms, but -in a particularly economic form which is simple to use -comprise expandable resilient rings each positionable on the bar to extend therearound and to remain in a selectable position on the bar by pressurable engagement with the bar. The rings resist axial movement of the bar relative to the brackets and movement of the bag sides with the openings along the bar. The bar and bag otherwise remain in place due to, in use, firstly the weight of garment hangers and garments hanging from the bar and secondly the captive retention of the bag by the bar passing through the openings.

The brackets themselves preferably comprise arms provided with openings for reception of the bar, in which case the arms can project from mounting means so that the bar can be fitted clear of the mounting means. The openings in the arms can in that case be slots which into which the bar can be dropped for retention therein under gravitational force. This provides a particularly simple means of fitting the bar to the brackets. With advantage, the slots define hooks to allow the bar to be retained in the slots in different mounting orientations of the brackets. The brackets can thus be mounted in different orientations within a range of orientations, for example to project approximately horizontally from a bracing strut or to depend from a rafter or adopt any angle therebetween, without the bar dropping out of the slots, which enhances the versatility of the brackets. It also possible for the arms to be provided with additional openings for reception of another such bar of another such kit, in which case, for example, two or more storage units can be arranged in line in an installation space. One bracket will then be common to two adjoining units.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a mounted garment storage unit constructed from a kit according to the first aspect of the invention, wherein the brackets are mounted on mounting means to be at a spacing from one another, the bar is supported by the mounted brackets and the bag is suspended from the supported bar. The mounting means can be, especially, roof bracing struts or roof rafters so that the storage unit can utilise existing structural element in, for example, a loft as mounting means for the brackets.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a method of constructing a unit according to the second aspect of the invention, comprising the steps of mounting the brackets on mounting means at a spacing from one another, passing the bar through the openings in the bag and supporting the bar on the mounted brackets to extend therebetween with the bag suspended from the bar and positioned between the brackets. This represents a particularly straightforward assembly and mounting operation capable of being carried out without the need for any specialist skills or tools.

If the kit from which the unit is constructed comprises the afore-mentioned fixing means in the form of expandable resilient rings individually positionable on the bar, the construction method can be performed in such a way that the step of passing the bar through the openings in the sides of the bag comprises inserting the bar through the opening in one side, fitting the fixing means on the bar so that two rings are inside the bag, inserting the bar through the opening in the other side and positioning each of the two rings to lie against a respective one of the sides. This sequence of actions allows the two rings to be fitted and positioned inside the storage bag in a quick and simple procedure to locate the bag on the bar. In addition, two further rings can be positioned on the bar outside the bag so as to each lie against a respective one of the brackets and thereby lock the bar against axial movement relative to the brackets. In addition, the pressure of the rings bearing against the brackets directly and via the bag sides with the openings resists lateral movement of the bar, for example lifting of the bar in slots in the brackets.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be more particularly described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic side elevation of a suspended garment storage unit embodying the invention, shown in a mounted state on a roof bracing strut; Fig. 1A is a view similar to Fig. 1, but of just a top part of the unit and shown in a mounted state on a roof rafter; Fig. 2 is a schematic partly sectioned front elevation of the unit of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a schematic plan view of the unit of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a kit from which the unit of Figs. 1 to 3 can be constructed.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 a suspended garment storage unit 10 which is constructed from a kit 30 shown in Fig. 4 and which is depicted in a mounted state on, by way of example, two spaced-apart roof bracing struts 40 projecting from a floor 50 in a loft. Alternatively and as shown in Fig. 1A, the unit can be mounted on two spaced-apart roof rafters 41 (only one visible in Fig. 1A). Since the unit 10 is suspended and does not have to touch the floor, the area directly below the unit could also be a non-load-bearing building element such as ceiling plasterboard. The unit 10 could equally well be suspended from other suitable mounting means, such as uprights or walls, in a room in a domestic, commercial or industrial building. However, the unit and the kit from which it is constructed are designed to be particularly suitable for installation in the confines of a loft and to make use of existing roof support elements as mounting means for the unit.

The storage unit 20 in the mounted state of Figs. 1 to 3 comprises as principal components two support brackets 11 each mounted on a respective one of the struts 40 or rafters 41, for example at mutually facing sides of the struts or mutually remote sides of the rafters, so as to be arranged parallelly to and at a spacing from one another, a circular-section bar 12 supported by the mounted brackets 11 and extending between them to function as a suspension for garment hangars carrying garments, and a flexible garment storage bag 13 forming a substantially sealed enclosure for the hangers and garments, the bag itself also being suspended from the bar 12 and positioned between the brackets 11 as evident from Figs. 2 and 3.

The brackets 11 are each formed by shaped arms, for example of sturdy plywood, fixed to the respective strut 40 or rafter 41 at a suitable height by a pair of screws so as to project from the strut or rafter, preferably in a direction away from an intended front of the unit 10 in the case of the strut, but downwardly in the case of the rafter. Each of the brackets has two slots 14, which extend from the same edge of the bracket arm and each terminate in a closed rounded end with a radius approximately the same as that of the bar 12. Each slot 14 defines a hook in which the bar can be received and retained. In the illustrated embodiments the bar is received in the slot 14 closer to the point of fixing of the bracket to the respective strut or rafter. The other slot is available for reception of the bar of another such storage unit mounted adjacent to the unit 10 or as an alternative location for the bar 12, so that in the case of Fig. 1 the front of the bag 13 can be positioned closer to the struts 40 and in the case of Fig. 1A the top of the bag 13 can be positioned further from the roof. The bar 12 together with anything it supports, namely the bag 13 and any garment hangers and garments, is retained in the selected slots 14 of the brackets primarily by gravitational force.

The bag 13, which is flexible as a whole, is largely made from flexible, preferably synthetic, fabric sheet material and is transferrable between a volumetric, somewhat parallelopipedonal form bounding the enclosure for the garment hangers and garments, and a collapsed, generally flat form. In its volumetric form and as considered in the illustrated mounted state of the unit 10, the bag 13 has a flat approximately square base wall 15, which is stiffened by an integrated or removable hardboard panel, two mutually opposite flat side walls 16, which are each rectangular apart from a chamfered corner and which are each stiffened in an upper end portion, a flat rectangular back wall 17, a flat rectangular front wall 18 which is opposite to and longer, i.e. higher, than the back wall, and a top wall 19 which is opposite to the base wall 15 and has an angled shape formed by a horizontal half meeting the front wall 18 and a downwardly sloping half meeting the back wall 17. The side walls are joined to the other walls with piping (not shown) at their junctions. The downwardly sloping half of the top wall 19 allows the bag 13 to be placed close to a similarly sloping section of a roof as indicated by the slope of the rafter 41 in Fig. 1A. The bag 13 is stiffened in the upper end portion of each of its side walls 16 by an insert 20 of stiff material, such as a corrugated plastics material sheet, which is capfively retained in two fabric pockets 21 at the respective side wall and concealed by the pockets apart from a vertically extending strip centrally between the front and back walls of the bag. The stiffened and thereby substantially planar upper end portions of the side walls 16 in conjunction with retention of the bag 13 on the bar 12 as described further below has the consequence that the volumetric shape of the bag when suspended is largely self-maintaining.

In order to enable movement of garment hangers and garments into and out the enclosure bounded by the bag 13 the bag has in its front wall 18 a large openable and closable section in the form of a rectangular flap 22 hinged at its lefthand edge in Fig. 2 and releasably attached at its remaining edges to the rest of the front wall 18 by a zip fastener 23, the flap 22 occupying the majority of the area of the front wall. The flap incorporates a panel 24 of transparent plastics material affording a view of the content of the bag, in particular garments stored in the bag enclosure.

Suspension of the bag 13 from the bar 14 is made possible by formation of two aligned circular openings 25 (Fig. 4) respectively in the two opposite side walls 16 in the upper end portions thereof so as to permit passage of the bar entirely through the bag, the openings 25 being located centrally between the back wall 17 and front wall 18 at a spacing from the top wall 19, more particularly from the junction of the mentioned horizontal and sloping halves of the wall 19. The spacing provides a headroom or movement space for hooked garment hangars to be dropped onto and lifted from the bar 12. Each opening 25 is formed in both the fabric of the respective side wall, where it is reinforced by an eyelet (not shown), and the captive stiffening insert 20 of that wall and has in the insert an internal diameter approximately the same as that of the bar 12, plus a tolerance. The weight of the bag 13 in the mounted state of the unit 10 is borne by the two inserts 20 of the two side walls.

The bar 12 in the illustrated embodiment is a wooden pole which can be supplied in an appropriate final length or in an oversize length which can be reduced as needed. A metallic tube could also be provided as the bar. The diameter of the bar corresponds with a minimum width of the slots 14 and the diameter of the openings 25, less a tolerance. The bar 12 is received in a selected one of the slots and located at the closed end of the selected slot as described above. Axial fixing of the bar 12 in the slots 14 of the bracket arms and axial fixing of the bar relative to the bag 13 are achieved by way of expandable rings 26 of elastomeric material, which are stretched and fitted around the bar in such positions that two of the rings 26 bear against the mutually remote surfaces of the brackets 11 and thereby prevent axial movement of the bar relative to the brackets and two further ones of the rings 26 bear against exposed mutually facing surfaces of the inserts 20 at the side walls 16 of the bag 13 and thereby prevent movement of either one of the bag side walls 16 along the bar. The bag side walls 16 are, in effect, lightly pressed against the mutually facing surfaces of the brackets.

The kit 30 from which the storage unit 10 is constructed is shown in Fig. 4 as an exploded view of the unit. The bag 13 is shown in the volumetric form it adopts in an expanded state, but can be collapsed to a generally flattened state by folding the fabric walls, apart from the stiffened base wall 15 and the side walls 16 in the region of the stiffening inserts 20. Delivery and carriage of the kit are facilitated by collapsing of the bag to a flattened state. The nature of the kit components is evident from the preceding description of the unit 10. In its kit form, the storage unit is convenient to deliver and to install, particularly to construct in a space such as a loft with restricted access and with intruding structural elements such as roof supporting and bracing timbers.

Construction of the unit 10 from the kit 13 is undertaken by initially mounting the brackets 11 on mounting means at a spacing from one another, in this instance screw-connecting the brackets with the struts 40 or rafters 41, passing the bar 12 through the openings 25 in the side walls 16 of the bag 13 and dropping the bar together with the suspended bag into the selected slots 14 of the brackets so that the bag is positioned between the brackets. As already indicated, the brackets 11 can be mounted on the struts 40 to project rearwardly with respect to an intended plane of the front wall 18 of the suspended bag 13, in particular at a slight inclination relative to the floor 50, or downwardly towards the floor, thus two mounting orientations almost at right angles to one another. Other orientations of the brackets 11 are possible, provided only that the bar 12 cannot drop or slip out of the slots 14 unaided.

In order to fit the rings 26, the bar 12 is firstly inserted through the opening 25 in one of the side walls 16 and two of the rings 26 are fitted on the bar to be positioned inside the bag. The bar is then inserted through the opening 25 in the other side wall 16 and each of the two fitted rings 26 is moved along the bar to lie against a respective one of the inserts 20 of the side walls 16. Thereafter, the two other rings 26 are fitted on the bar 12 at its two free ends outside the bag and positioned to each lie against the respectively adjacent one of the brackets 11. The bar 12 and suspended bag 13 are thereby retained in the relevant slots 14 of the brackets 11. The storage unit is ready for use and the flap 21 can be opened for insertion of garment hangers to be hung on the bar 12.

Although the kit 13 can be used to construct the garment storage unit 10 in any desired installation location the kit and unit constructed therefrom are particularly suitable for use in a loft, where advantage can be taken of the roof struts, which are normally present in a loft, to serve as mounts for the brackets and of the often unused space between struts as a relatively unobtrusive position for the storage bag and its content.

Claims (20)

1. CLAIMS1. A kit for constructing a suspended garment storage unit, comprising two support brackets mountable on mounting means at a spacing from one another, a bar supportable by the mounted brackets to extend therebetween and serve as a suspension for garment hangars and a flexible garment storage bag to form an enclosure for garment hangers suspended from the bar and for garments hung on the hangers, the bag having openings in mutually opposite sides thereof to permit passage of the bar therethrough so that when the brackets are mounted the bag can be suspended from the bar in a position between the brackets and the bag including an openable and closable section for insertion of garments into and removal of garments from the enclosure.
2. 2. A kit according to claim 1, wherein the bag comprises flexible fabric material and is transferrable between a volumetric form defining the enclosure and a collapsed form.
3. 3. A kit according to claim 2, wherein the sides of the bag with the openings are stiffened in end portions thereof having the openings so that the end portions have and retain a substantially planar shape.
4. 4. A kit according to claim 3, wherein the stiffening of the bag sides with the openings is provided by stiffening elements incorporated in those sides.
5. 5. A kit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the bag has a substantially rigid and planar base.
6. 6. A kit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the openings in the sides of the bag are disposed at a spacing from a top of the bag to provide movement space for hooks of garment hangers to be lowered onto and lifted from the bar when supported on the brackets.
7. 7. A kit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the openable and closable section of the bag has the form of a flap.
8. 8. A kit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the openable and closable section of the bag includes a transparent window.
9. 9. A kit according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising fixing means for axially fixing the position of the supported bar relative to the mounted brackets or the position of the suspended bag relative to the bar or both.
10. 10. A kit according to claim 9, wherein the fixing means comprise expandable resilient rings each positionable on the bar to extend therearound and to remain in a selectable position on the bar by pressurable engagement therewith.
11. 11. A kit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the brackets comprise arms provided with openings for reception of the bar.
12. 12. A kit according to claim 11, wherein the openings in the arms are slots which into which the bar can be dropped for retention therein under gravitational force.
13. 13. A kit according to claim 12, wherein the slots define hooks to allow the bar to be retained in the slots in different mounting orientations of the brackets.
14. 14. A kit according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the arms are provided with additional openings for reception of another such bar of another such kit.
15. 15. A mounted garment storage unit constructed from a kit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the brackets are mounted on mounting means to be at a spacing from one another, the bar is supported by the mounted brackets and the bag is suspended from the supported bar.
16. 16. A unit according to claim 14, wherein the mounting means are roof bracing struts
17. 17. A unit according to claim 14, wherein the mounting means are roof rafters.
18. 18. A method of constructing a unit according to any one of claims 15 to 17, comprising the steps of mounting the brackets on mounting means at a spacing from one another, passing the bar through the openings in the bag and supporting the bar on the mounted brackets to extend therebetween with the bag suspended from the bar and positioned between the brackets.
19. 19. A method according to claim 18, wherein the kit is as defined in claim 10 and the step of passing the bar through the openings in the sides of the bag comprises inserting the bar through the opening in one side, fitting the fixing means on the bar so that two rings are inside the bag, inserting the bar through the opening in the other side and positioning each of the two rings to lie against a respective one of the sides.
20. 20. A method according to claim 19, wherein the step of fitting the fixing means on the bar comprises positioning two further rings on the bar outside the bag so as to each lie against a respective one of the brackets.