WO1999012450A1 - Systeme d'etageres - Google Patents

Systeme d'etageres Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO1999012450A1
WO1999012450A1 PCT/US1998/018350 US9818350W WO9912450A1 WO 1999012450 A1 WO1999012450 A1 WO 1999012450A1 US 9818350 W US9818350 W US 9818350W WO 9912450 A1 WO9912450 A1 WO 9912450A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
shelf system
curved
curved support
spaced
support
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US1998/018350
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Christopher Corrado
Original Assignee
Christopher Corrado
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Christopher Corrado filed Critical Christopher Corrado
Publication of WO1999012450A1 publication Critical patent/WO1999012450A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47B—TABLES; DESKS; OFFICE FURNITURE; CABINETS; DRAWERS; GENERAL DETAILS OF FURNITURE
    • A47B96/00—Details of cabinets, racks or shelf units not covered by a single one of groups A47B43/00 - A47B95/00; General details of furniture
    • A47B96/02—Shelves
    • A47B96/021—Structural features of shelf bases
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47B—TABLES; DESKS; OFFICE FURNITURE; CABINETS; DRAWERS; GENERAL DETAILS OF FURNITURE
    • A47B55/00—Cabinets, racks or shelf units, having essential features of rigid construction
    • A47B55/02—Cabinets, racks or shelf units, having essential features of rigid construction made of wire
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47B—TABLES; DESKS; OFFICE FURNITURE; CABINETS; DRAWERS; GENERAL DETAILS OF FURNITURE
    • A47B57/00—Cabinets, racks or shelf units, characterised by features for adjusting shelves or partitions
    • A47B57/58—Cabinets, racks or shelf units, characterised by features for adjusting shelves or partitions with means for adjusting partitions horizontally
    • A47B57/588—Cabinets, racks or shelf units, characterised by features for adjusting shelves or partitions with means for adjusting partitions horizontally by means of shelf bottoms with apertures co-operating with tongues or pins
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47B—TABLES; DESKS; OFFICE FURNITURE; CABINETS; DRAWERS; GENERAL DETAILS OF FURNITURE
    • A47B63/00—Cabinets, racks or shelf units, specially adapted for storing books, documents, forms, or the like
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47B—TABLES; DESKS; OFFICE FURNITURE; CABINETS; DRAWERS; GENERAL DETAILS OF FURNITURE
    • A47B96/00—Details of cabinets, racks or shelf units not covered by a single one of groups A47B43/00 - A47B95/00; General details of furniture
    • A47B96/02—Shelves
    • A47B96/027—Cantilever shelves

Definitions

  • This invention relates generally to shelf units for supporting objects, and more particularly to a shelf system that includes curved supports attachable to a wall for supporting objects.
  • shelf units such as wall shelves are common.
  • Conventional shelves are typically formed of flat, rectangular, rigid supports attached to a wall or support panel. Examples of flat, rectangular supports are found in U.S. Pat. No. 1,621,410 to House, U.S. Pat. No. 2,461,157 to
  • the present invention discloses a shelf system including curved supports that can be detachably attached to a wall for supporting objects.
  • a feature of the present invention is to provide curved supports that are transparent .
  • Another feature of the invention is to provide illumination elements for illuminating transparent curved supports.
  • Another feature of the invention is to provide curved supports that are formed by bending flexible, elongated sheets .
  • Another feature of the invention is to provide curved supports that are formed by bending flexible, elongated rods .
  • Another feature of this invention is to provide curved supports that are made of polyresins such as plexiglass .
  • Another feature of the invention is to provide apertured or perforated curved supports .
  • Another feature of the invention is to provide spaced attachment elements for holding the curved supports in place .
  • a shelf system for supporting objects comprises a plurality of spaced attachment elements attachable to a wall. A curved support is held by the plurality of spaced constraint elements for supporting the objects.
  • a shelf system comprises an elongated curved holder and means attachable to a wall for supporting the elongated curved holder.
  • Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating one embodiment of the shelf system of the present invention.
  • Figure 2 is a perspective view of the attachment element of the shelf system of Figure 1.
  • Figure 3 is a perspective view illustrating another embodiment of the shelf system of the present invention.
  • Figure 4 is a perspective view illustrating another embodiment of the shelf system of the present invention.
  • Figure 5 is a perspective view illustrating another embodiment of the shelf system of the present invention.
  • Figure 6 is a perspective view illustrating another embodiment of the shelf system of the present invention.
  • Figure 7 is a perspective view illustrating another embodiment of the shelf system of the present invention.
  • Figure 8 is a perspective view illustrating yet another embodiment of the shelf system of the present invention.
  • the shelf system 10 includes a curved support or holder 12 held by spaced attachment or constraint elements 16 for supporting objects (not shown) .
  • the curved support 12 is generally elongated and may have any shape desired.
  • the curved support 12 may be formed by a flexible material such as plastics that can be bent into different curved shapes.
  • the curved support 12 preferably is constructed from a substantially transparent material such as plexiglass o other polyresins although other materials may also be used.
  • the transparent material may be illuminated with an illumination source such as a fiber-optic source (not shown) for lighting up the transparent material to create a fiber-optic effect using devices that may be operated with batteries.
  • the constraint element 16 includes a block with a channel or groove 18.
  • the channel 18 is sized to cooperatively receive an edge 17 (Fig. 1) of the curved support 12 to support and constrain the curved support 12, as best seen in Figure 1.
  • the channel 18 is generally rectangular for holding the transverse dimension of curved support 12 in a position generally perpendicular to the wall .
  • the channel 18 may be a slanted channel (not shown) having the shape of a parallelogram for holding the curved support 12 at an angle with respect to the wall.
  • Constraint elements 16 with different channels 18 may support a twisted curved support (not shown) which forms a varying angle with respect to the wall.
  • the constraint element 16 includes a plurality of apertures 20 through which conventional fastening devices, such as screws, may extend for attachment to a wall or support panel (not shown) .
  • the constraint element 16 may be made of various materials, including polyresins such as plexiglass.
  • an elongate, flexible plexiglass material will form 'the curved support 12.
  • the constraint elements 16 (which may also be plexiglass) are affixed to a wall or whatever support surface is to be used to mount the shelf system 10 of the present invention.
  • the plexiglass material is then contorted to have an edge 17 be received by the channels 18 of the awaiting constraint elements 16 to form the curved support 12.
  • the plexiglas will retain a certain amount of "memory" (resilience) urging it to return to its original, elongate state. This memory will produce a force that assists in holding the curved support 12 in place in the constraint elements 16.
  • the nontransparent metallic support 12 may include transparent channeled pieces (not shown) made of polyresins such as plexiglass. Each channeled piece may be generally cylindrical and has an elongate channel or groove that fits over an edge (15, 17) of the metallic support 12 in a clamp-like manner. Each channeled piece has a hollow center for insertion of an illumination source such as fiber optics or illumination liquids.
  • the channeled pieces are transparent to facilitate the illumination fiber-optic effects by lighting up the transparent material with an illumination source.
  • the outer edge 15 of the support surface 12 may be shaped (e.g., be provided with an undulating contour) rather than the linear configuration shown in Figure 1.
  • the shelf system 10 may further include one or more pegs 24 extending from the curved holder 12 for supporting the objects such as compact disc or cassette tape packages 26. The pegs 24 extend through apertures or slits 28 provided in the curved support 12.
  • the pegs 24 may form a tight fit with the apertures 28 or may each include a tapered member with an upper portion larger in size than the apertures 28 to prevent sliding through the apertures 28 and a lower portion smaller in size than the apertures 28 to allow the pegs 24 to be inserted into the apertures 28 from above.
  • the curved support 12 includes a plurality of such apertures 28 spaced throughout, as illustrated in Figure 3 , so that the pegs 24 may be disposed in a range of different positions relative to the curved support 12.
  • the apertures 28 may be replaced by slits for supporting differently shaped pegs (not shown) .
  • Figure 4 shows another embodiment of the shelf system 10 in which the curved support includes a pair of curved rods 30, although one curved rod 30 may be sufficient to support objects (not shown) .
  • the curved rods 30 are generally elongated and may have any shape desired.
  • the curved rods 30 may be formed generally of a flexible, transparent plexiglass material as described above.
  • the constraint elements 32 include pins that extend through apertures or slits 34 in the curved rods 30.
  • the pins 32 may include threaded ends (not shown) that are threaded onto threaded cavities (not shown) of the curved rods 30.
  • the pins 32 may be attached to a wall by various mechanisms known in the art, such as a hook-and-slot connection (not shown) .
  • the attachment pins 32 may hold the curved rods 30 in a position generally parallel or angled to the wall.
  • the pins 32 may be made of substantially rigid materials, such as steel.
  • Pegs similar to the pegs 24 of Figure 3 may extend from peg apertures or slits 36 provided in the curved rods for supporting objects.
  • the peg apertures 36 are generally transverse to the apertures 34 for the attachment pins 32 and are distributed to support pegs in a range of different positions.
  • the constraint element may take on other configurations.
  • a member that is shaped like a piano tuning fork with a pair of elongate branches for holding the edge 17 of the curved member 12 (not shown) .
  • a constraint pin or nail that supports the lower surface of the curved member 12 which rests on the pin or nail by gravity (not shown) .
  • Figure 5 shows a further embodiment of the shelf system 10 that is a variation of the embodiment shown in Figure 3.
  • the shelf system 10 of Figure 5 employs one or more pairs of curved rods or wires 38 for supporting objects such as the compact discs 26. (Only one pair is illustrated for clarity.)
  • a single curved wire 38 may be used rather than the pair shown.
  • the curved wires 38 may be made of a flexible and transparent material similar to the curved rods 30 of Figure 4.
  • the curved wires 38 extend through the spaced apertures 28 provided in the curved holder 12 to form a pair of arches.
  • the curved wires 38 may extend through more spaced apertures 28 to form a different shape.
  • the curved holder 12 is desirably a perforated or apertured member with apertures 28 distributed throughout through which different curved wires 38 may extend to form different shapes.
  • the curved wires 38 may be fabricated from a light transmission material, and the distal end of one or each of the pair be provided light producing apparatus (not shown) to complement the overall aesthetic effect of the shelf system 10 of this embodiment .
  • Figure 6 illustrates the use of an ornamental finial
  • the finial 42 which fits over an end of the curved support 12.
  • the finial 42 may fit over the illumination element to protect and cover the illumination element for aesthetic purposes.
  • the finial 42 may have different designs and formed of various materials.
  • the curved support 12 may include spaced slots 46 sized and configured to receive and hold thin objects such as compact discs or compact disc packages.
  • yet another embodiment of the shelf system 10 includes a pair of curved supports 48, 50 constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • the confronting surfaces of the upper and lower supports 48 and 50 are each provided flexible or pliable films 49 and 51, respectively.
  • the films 49, 51 may be made of rubber-like polymers or polyresins and are self-adhesive and cling to the supports 48, 50 without the need for adhesives.
  • the films 49, 51 include upper and lower spaced ridges 52 aligned to define upper and lower seats 54 that allow objects such as compact disk or cassette tapes to be insert between the upper and lower seats 54.
  • the films 49, 51 form a compact disc or cassette tape separator.

Landscapes

  • Display Racks (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention porte sur un système d'étagères (10) destiné à supporter des objets et comprenant un support incurvé (12) allongé maintenu par une pluralité d'éléments (16) de fixation espacés pouvant être fixés à un mur. Le support incurvé (12) comprend un matériau plexiglass transparent et est formé dans une feuille ou tige flexible. Des chevilles (24) ou tiges métalliques (38) de support traversent des ouvertures ou fentes (28) ménagées dans le support incurvé (12) destiné à supporter des objets (26). Les éléments de fixation (16) espacés bloquent et supportent le support incurvé (12), et comprennent des blocs constitués de gorges (18) destinés à bloquer les bords (17) du support incurvé (12), ou des broches de fixation (32) traversant les ouvertures (34) ménagées dans le support incurvé (30).
PCT/US1998/018350 1997-09-11 1998-09-03 Systeme d'etageres WO1999012450A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US92784797A 1997-09-11 1997-09-11
US08/927,847 1997-09-11

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1999012450A1 true WO1999012450A1 (fr) 1999-03-18

Family

ID=25455355

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US1998/018350 WO1999012450A1 (fr) 1997-09-11 1998-09-03 Systeme d'etageres

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (1) WO1999012450A1 (fr)

Citations (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1608928A (en) * 1925-02-12 1926-11-30 Washburn Co Soap tray
US3836009A (en) * 1973-02-23 1974-09-17 L Horowitz Shelving system having wall-mounted fixtures
US3858725A (en) * 1971-11-12 1975-01-07 Eli Pietrack Tennis equipment rack
US4566597A (en) * 1983-08-08 1986-01-28 Caputo Mario A Modular support unit
US4805782A (en) * 1988-05-03 1989-02-21 Hale Everett D Cap shaping and drying apparatus
USD326357S (en) * 1989-08-24 1992-05-26 Sun Hing Audio Equipment Mfy. Ltd. Holder for discs or the like
US5160050A (en) * 1989-05-02 1992-11-03 Vincenzo Russo Modular apparatus used for the orderly display, in particular, of advertising fliers accompanying videocassettes, videocassettes themselves, or like materials
US5408396A (en) * 1994-05-04 1995-04-18 Ccs International Corp. Illuminated earring holder
USD358725S (en) * 1992-12-22 1995-05-30 Stender Thomas W Compact disc storage unit
US5670221A (en) * 1995-03-31 1997-09-23 Newell Operating Company Universal socket for a finial and finial incorporating such a socket
USD390269S (en) * 1996-11-12 1998-02-03 Bycin Industries Inc. Desk top file holder

Patent Citations (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1608928A (en) * 1925-02-12 1926-11-30 Washburn Co Soap tray
US3858725A (en) * 1971-11-12 1975-01-07 Eli Pietrack Tennis equipment rack
US3836009A (en) * 1973-02-23 1974-09-17 L Horowitz Shelving system having wall-mounted fixtures
US4566597A (en) * 1983-08-08 1986-01-28 Caputo Mario A Modular support unit
US4805782A (en) * 1988-05-03 1989-02-21 Hale Everett D Cap shaping and drying apparatus
US5160050A (en) * 1989-05-02 1992-11-03 Vincenzo Russo Modular apparatus used for the orderly display, in particular, of advertising fliers accompanying videocassettes, videocassettes themselves, or like materials
USD326357S (en) * 1989-08-24 1992-05-26 Sun Hing Audio Equipment Mfy. Ltd. Holder for discs or the like
USD358725S (en) * 1992-12-22 1995-05-30 Stender Thomas W Compact disc storage unit
US5408396A (en) * 1994-05-04 1995-04-18 Ccs International Corp. Illuminated earring holder
US5670221A (en) * 1995-03-31 1997-09-23 Newell Operating Company Universal socket for a finial and finial incorporating such a socket
USD390269S (en) * 1996-11-12 1998-02-03 Bycin Industries Inc. Desk top file holder

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