US20110226641A1

US20110226641A1 - Laundry Cubby System

Info

Publication number: US20110226641A1
Application number: US12/728,086
Authority: US
Inventors: Evangelia Vensel
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2010-03-19
Filing date: 2010-03-19
Publication date: 2011-09-22

Abstract

Implementations for a laundry cubby system are generally disclosed.

Description

BACKGROUND

Laundry items, such as shirts, pants, and the like come in various sizes and shapes. Such laundry items may be stored in a variety of ways. For example, such laundry items may be hung on hangars, folded and place on shelves, or folded and placed in drawers associated with pieces of furniture. Additionally, containers may be utilized for storing such laundry items.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references may indicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an example laundry cubby in a closed condition;

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of an example laundry cubby in an open condition;

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of an example laundry cubby in another open condition;

FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of an example laundry cubby in a collapsed condition;

FIG. 5 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the laundry cubby of FIG. 1 taken along line 5-5; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of an example laundry cubby system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, various embodiments will be disclosed. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiments may be practiced with all or only some of the disclosed subject matter. For purposes of explanation, specific numbers and/or configurations are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will also be apparent to one skilled in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other approaches and/or components. In other instances, well-known structures and/or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring the embodiments. Furthermore, it is understood that the embodiments shown in the figures are illustrative representations and are not necessarily drawn to scale.
FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an example laundry cubby in a closed condition, in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, laundry cubby 100 may include a container 102. The container 102 may have a substantially rectangular prism shape, a substantially cubic shape, or the like. The container 102 may have a bottom 104, a top 106, and a plurality of sides 108. The bottom 104, top 106, and plurality of sides 108 may be made of flexible fabric-type material coupled one or more rigid cardboard-type support boards (not shown). The plurality of sides 108 may be coupled between the bottom 104 and the top 106. A handle 112 may be coupled to the top 106 of the container 102.
The bottom 104, top 106 and two of the plurality of sides 108 may demarcate an aperture 110 in the container 103. A door component 114 may be hingedly coupled to the bottom 104, the top 106, or one of the sides 108 of the container 102. For example, the door component 114 may be hingedly coupled to the to the bottom 104 of the container 102 so as to be configured lay flat within the container 102 or fold out from the container 102.
FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of an example laundry cubby in an open condition, in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the door component 114 may be hingedly coupled to the bottom 104 so as to be configured to fold out from the container 102. For example, in operation a user (not shown) may fold out door component 114 to provide access to laundry (not shown) ingress or egress from container 102.
FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of an example laundry cubby in another open condition, in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the door component 114 may be hingedly coupled to the bottom 104 so as to be configured to lay flat within the container 102. For example, in operation a user (not shown) may fold in door component 114 to provide access to laundry (not shown) ingress or egress from container 102.
Referring back to FIG. 1, the door component 114 may have a substantially rectangular shape, substantially square shape, or the like. The door component 114 may be sized to substantially removably cover the aperture 110 in the container 102. The door component 114 may be made of a clear flexible material, such as a clear vinyl type material or the like.
The door component 114 may be removably coupled to the bottom 104, the top 106, and/or one of the sides 108 of the container 102. For example, a matable fastener 116 may be removably coupled between at least one of the plurality of sides 108 and the door component 114. As illustrated, the matable fastener 116 may be a zipper-type matable fastener. Alternatively, the matable fastener 116 may be a button/hole-type matable fastener, a hook/loop-type matable fastener, or a snap-type matable fastener.
Referring back to FIG. 3, a back panel 302 portion of one of the plurality of sides 108 may be located opposite door component 114. The back panel 302 may be hingedly coupled to the bottom 104, the top 106, or one of the sides 108 of the container 102. For example, the back panel 302 may be hingedly coupled to the to the bottom 104 of the container 102 so as to be configured lay flat within the container 102. For example, in operation a user (not shown) may fold door component 114 in or out while also folding the back panel 302 to lay flat within the container 102. In such an arrangement, container 102 collapsed flat and folded up, as will be described in greater detail below with respect to FIG. 4.
In the illustrated example, container 102 may include a back cover 304 portion of one of the plurality of sides 108 that may be located opposite door component 114. The back cover 304 may be fixedly coupled to the bottom 104, the top 106, and two of the sides 108 of the container 102. As illustrated, when the back panel 302 is positioned flat within the container 102, the back cover 304 may remain in place fixedly coupled to the bottom 104, the top 106, and two of the sides 108 of the container 102.
Alternatively, the back cover 304 may be excluded from container 102. In such an example, aperture 110 may extend through two ends of container 102 in situations where container 102 has been configured to have door component 114 folded in or out while also having the back panel 302 folded to lay flat within the container 102.
FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of an example laundry cubby in a collapsed condition, in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, in operation a user (not shown) may fold door component 114 (FIG. 3) in or out while also folding the back panel 302 (FIG. 3) to lay flat within the container 102. In such an arrangement, container 102 collapsed flat, as illustrated. Additionally, container 102 may be further folded up, as illustrated by arrow 402. For example, container 102 may be further folded up so that top 106 contacts one of the sides 108 or so that bottom 104 contacts one of the sides 108.
FIG. 5 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the laundry cubby of FIG. 1 taken along line 5-5, in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the bottom 104, the top 106, and/or the plurality of sides 108 may be made of flexible material 502 coupled one or more rigid support boards 504. For example, the flexible material 502 may include a flexible fabric-type material, such as natural fabric-type materials, synthetic fabric-type materials, the like, or combinations thereof. The one or more rigid support boards 504 may include cardboard-type support boards, plastic-type support boards, the like, or combinations thereof.
FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of an example laundry cubby system, in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, system 600 may include a first laundry cubby 602. The first laundry cubby 602 may be sized to contain folded clothes of a first type. For example, such folded clothes may include folded shirts, folded pants, folded shorts, folded socks, children's sized cloths, adult sized clothes, or the like. The first laundry cubby 602 may include features described above with respect to FIGS. 1-5.
The system 600 may also include a second laundry cubby 604. The second laundry cubby 604 may be sized to contain folded clothes of a second type, where the folded clothes of the second type are different in size from the folded clothes of the first type. For example, such folded clothes may include folded shirts, folded pants, folded shorts, folded socks, children's sized cloths, adult sized clothes, or the like. As illustrated, the second laundry cubby 604 may be of a different size than first laundry cubby 602 as the second laundry cubby 604 may be sized to contain folded clothes of a second type. The second laundry cubby 604 may include features described above with respect to FIGS. 1-5.
Additionally or alternatively, the first laundry cubby 602 may have an outward color and/or pattern 606 different from an outward color and/or pattern 608 of the second laundry cubby 604. For example, such a pattern may include stripes, dots, hearts, checked, solid colors, pictures, the like, and/or combinations thereof. Such variations in outward colors and/or patterns 606, 608 may permit a user to more easily distinguish between multiple laundry cubbies 602, 604 in system 600, such as where multiple laundry cubbies 602, 604 contain differing kinds of cloths.
References throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner. Various operations may be described as multiple discrete steps in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the claimed subject matter. However, the order of description should not be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily order dependent.
While there has been illustrated and/or described what are presently considered to be example embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various other modifications may be made, and/or equivalents may be substituted, without departing from the true scope of claimed subject matter. Additionally, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation to the teachings of claimed subject matter without departing from subject matter that is claimed. Therefore, it is intended that the patent not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but that it covers all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A laundry cubby, comprising:

a container, the container having a bottom, a top, and a plurality of sides each made of flexible fabric-type material coupled one or more rigid cardboard-type support boards, wherein the plurality of sides are coupled between the bottom and the top, wherein the bottom, top and two of the plurality of sides demarcate an aperture in the container, and wherein the container has a substantially rectangular prism shape;

a handle coupled to the top of the container;

a door component, the door component hingedly coupled to the bottom of the container so as to be configured lay flat within the container or fold out from the container, wherein the door component has a substantially rectangular shape and is sized to substantially removably cover the aperture in the container, wherein the door component is made of a clear vinyl type material; and

a zipper-type matable fastener removably coupled between at least one of the plurality of sides and the door component.

2. The laundry cubby of claim 1, wherein the door component is hingedly coupled to the bottom so as to be configured to lay flat within the container.

3. The laundry cubby of claim 1, wherein the container has a substantially cubic shape and wherein the door component has a substantially square shape.

4. A system, comprising:

a first laundry cubby sized to contain folded clothes of a first type, the first laundry cubby comprising:

a container, the container having a bottom, a top, and a plurality of sides each made of flexible fabric-type material coupled one or more rigid cardboard-type support boards, wherein the plurality of sides are coupled between the bottom and the top, wherein the bottom, top and two of the plurality of sides demarcate an aperture in the container, and wherein the container has a substantially rectangular prism shape,

a handle coupled to the top of the container,

a door component, the door component hingedly coupled to the bottom of the container so as to be configured lay flat within the container or fold out from the container, wherein the door component has a substantially rectangular shape and is sized to substantially removably cover the aperture in the container, wherein the door component is made of a clear vinyl type material, and

a zipper-type matable fastener removably coupled between at least one of the plurality of sides and the door component; and

a second laundry cubby sized to contain folded clothes of a second type, wherein the folded clothes of the second type are different in size from the folded clothes of a first type, the second laundry cubby comprising:

a second container, the second container having a bottom, a top, and a plurality of sides each made of flexible fabric-type material coupled one or more rigid cardboard-type support boards, wherein the plurality of sides of the second container are coupled between the bottom of the second container and the top of the second container, wherein the bottom, top and two of the plurality of sides of the second container demarcate an aperture in the second container, and wherein the second container has a substantially rectangular prism shape,

a second handle coupled to the top of the second container,

a second door component, the second door component hingedly coupled to the bottom of the second container so as to be configured lay flat within the second container or fold out from the second container, wherein the second door component has a substantially rectangular shape and is sized to substantially removably cover the aperture in the second container, wherein the second door component is made of a clear vinyl type material, and

a second zipper-type matable fastener removably coupled between at least one of the plurality of sides of the second container and the second door component.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the first door component is hingedly coupled to the first bottom so as to be configured to lay flat within the first container.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the container has a substantially cubic shape and wherein the door component has a substantially square shape.

7. The system of claim 4, wherein the first laundry cubby has an outward color and pattern different from an outward color and pattern of the second laundry cubby.

8. The system of claim 4, wherein the first laundry cubby has an outward color different from an outward color of the second laundry cubby.

9. The system of claim 4, wherein the first laundry cubby has an outward pattern different from an outward pattern of the second laundry cubby.

10. A laundry cubby comprising:

a container, the container having a bottom, a top, and a plurality of sides, wherein the plurality of sides are coupled between the bottom and the top, wherein the bottom, top and two of the plurality of sides demarcate an aperture in the container, and wherein the container has a substantially rectangular prism shape;

a door component, the door component hingedly coupled to the bottom of the container, wherein the door component has a substantially rectangular shape and sized to substantially removably cover the aperture in the container;

a matable fastener removably coupled between at least one of the plurality of sides and the door component.

11. The laundry cubby of claim 10, wherein the door component is made of a clear flexible material.

12. The laundry cubby of claim 10, wherein the door component is made of a clear vinyl type material.

13. The laundry cubby of claim 10, wherein the door component is hingedly coupled to the bottom so as to be configured to lay flat within the container or fold out from the container.

14. The laundry cubby of claim 10, wherein the door component is hingedly coupled to the bottom so as to be configured to fold out from the container.

15. The laundry cubby of claim 10, wherein the door component is hingedly coupled to the bottom so as to be configured to fold out from the container and lay flat within the container.

16. The laundry cubby of claim 10, wherein the matable fastener is a zipper-type matable fastener, a button/hole-type matable fastener, a hook/loop-type matable fastener, or a snap-type matable fastener.

17. The laundry cubby of claim 10, further comprising a handle coupled to the top of the container.

18. The laundry cubby of claim 10, wherein the container has a substantially cubic shape and wherein the door component has a substantially square shape.

19. The laundry cubby of claim 10, wherein the bottom, the top, and the plurality of sides are made of flexible material coupled one or more rigid support boards.

20. The laundry cubby of claim 10, wherein the bottom, the top, and the plurality of sides are made of flexible fabric-type material coupled one or more rigid cardboard-type support boards.