US2907618A - Storage unit - Google Patents

Description

M. ROSTAU STORAGE UNIT oct. 6, 1959` 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed 00T'. 17, 1956 M. ROSTAU STORAGE UNIT Oct. 6, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed oct. 17, 1956 United States Patent O This invention relates to storage units for both commercial and home use, and more particularly comprises `a new and improved means for constructing such units.

The construction of wall storage units found in both thehome and in commercial establishments such as'retail stores requires the talents of a skilled cabinet maker who is paid handsomely for his services. The considerable labor costs obviously` adversely affect the price of these units. In adition, the appreciable amount of hand ,labor involved consumes a great deal of time and, therefore, sometimes a month or more elapses between the placing of an order for wall storage units and their completed installation.

; `I n recent years, designers of these storage units have called for the use of modern attractive plastic material inthe construction of the drawers and covers. These drawers and drawer covers are often made of clear polystyrene so that the contents of the drawers may be seen without opening them. This material has given a very pleasant and bright look to `these units and has met with great commercial success.

In the past, these plastic drawers and covers were supported in` wooden cabinets sub-divided by a number of verticalwooden partitions. The drawers were stacked in vertical rows between these partitions and could be opened individually. The Wooden partitions between each vof the vertical rows of drawers broke the continuity of the design and detracted from the units appearance.

.The primary object of my invention is to provide a greatly simplified construction for wall storage units. Another important object of my invention is to reduce ifnot entirely eliminate the use of cabinet work in the construction of these units. i Still another important object of my invention is to provide drawer supports which take the place of the usual partitions and which are substantially invisible when the units are assembled.

To accomplish these and other objects, my invention includes among its many features long and narrow vertical strips of polystyrene or other material which may be secured to the cabinet frame at the top and the bot tom. These supports include as an integral part along one or both sides a number of horizontal shoulders or flanges which are adapted to Asupport the edges of the drawer covers. A pair of these supports, one adjacent the front edge and one adjacent the rear edge of the cabinet, replace the conventional wooden` partitions, and two such pairs of these supports carry a column of drawers and covers. Notches are cut into the side edges of the covers and receive raised portions or bosses formed as a part of the supports on the upper or supporting surface of the shoulders so that the drawer covers are retained in fixed position on the shoulders. Each of the covers serves to support the drawer above it and to close the drawer disposed immediately below it. Because these strips are very narrow and are made preferably of the same material as the drawers and covers, as for ex- #c 2,907,618 Ice j @stated 9st- 5' 19159 2 j ample clear polystyrene,` they are substantially invisible rwhen the entire unit is assembled. Therefore,` they do -not distinctly separate the various vertical columns of the drawers. Thus, the drawers and covers appear to yiloat within the cabinetframe and a very light looking assembly is obtained. j j j 'Ihese and other objects and features of my invention will be better understood andappreciated from the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration andshown inthe accompanying drawings,` in which: i Figure 1 is a fragmentary elevation view partially in section of a storage unit constructed inaccordance with 'my invention,

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view of a drawer cover carried by supports in accordancewith my invention,

Figure 3 is a side elevation view,ofja support con.` structed in accordance with my invention, VFigures 4 and 5 are cross sectional views taken along the corresponding section lines in Figure 3, and

Figure 6 is an exploded View of a drawer and cover constructed in accordance with `my invention. The embodiment ofrnyA invention illustrated in the drawings includes a cabinet 10 having upper and lower panels 12 and 14 and a side `panel'lti. `These panels, of

` course, can be made of any material but as illustrated are made of wood.` A pair of center supports 18 and -20 (see Figure 2) extend between the upper and lower panels 12 and`14 adjacent their frontand rear edges, respectively. These supports may be made of clear polystyrene in strip form `having sides one and one half `inches wide and one quarter inch in thickness. The ends of these strips are secured in recesses 22 formed in the lower surface of the upper panel 12 and the upper surface of the lower panel 14. Although the strips are made of clear polystyrene, they possess enough flexibility so that they may be bowed between the upper and lower panels until their ends may slide into the recesses and no additional means are required to hold themin position.

The center supports `18 and 20 have formed along each side as an integral part thereof a number of spaced apart shoulders or ilanges 24 which extend outwardly in a horizontal plane. Each of the shoulders 24 has a horizontal supporting surface 26 in the center of which is formed a boss or raised portion 28. The bosses 28 are` integrally formed with the shoulders24 and the sides of the supports and lend considerable strength to the supports. These bosses serve another very important function which will be described later in connection with the drawers and their covers. Extending downwardly from the ends of the shoulders are vertical anges which are integrally formed with the sides of the supports as well as the shoulders. These downwardly extending ilanges 30 add to the rigidity of the supports and increase the total load which may be borne by each of the shoulders.

AIn Figures 1 and 2, I also illustrate side or end supports 32 and 34 which have formed on but one side the shoulders 24 having supporting surfaces 26, bosses 28, and vertical flanges 3 0. It will be noted particularly in Figure 1 that the end or side supports 32 and 34 are disposed immediately adjacentand in fact touch the vertical side panel 16 of the cabinet. `It will become clear in the following paragraphs that the side panels 16 may be eliminated if other means are used to support the upper horizontal panel 12 `above the lower panel 14 for the side panels do not serve any other function. This, for example, could be carried out by supporting the horizontal upper and lower panels 12 and 14 from the rear by brackets or other means secured to a wall. The side supports 32 and 34 are aligned with the center supports 18 and 20, and the shoulders formed on the inside of the endv supports arenaligned with the corresponding supports which they face on the center supports. The sets of supporting surfaces 26 formed on the shoulders 24 are co-planar. andmdeline a :support for the drawer covers Wh'i'chivill be-describestlatr.- .v f Y From theV foregoing description, itr will be appreciated that along cabinet could be sub-divided by the use-of the center and *Vend` supports which have been described. At the extremes of the cabinet, end -supportsv32 and 34 would be used, whilehin.theintermediate portions of the cabinet, the centersupports of the type designated by numerals y18 and. 20 k.would be used. rI'he manner in which the supports function can be illustrated clearly with jus-t the single section shown in Figure 1, and therefore. it is considered unnecessary to` showV a continuous or full row,l of columnshoffunits. i

' In Figure 6, I have illustrated the drawers and covers which are Vsupported between the *center and end supports. The drawer coverY 36Vis molded of clear kpolystyrene andha's a at u pper surface upon which are formed pairs of raisedtracksg38. I The side edges 40 of the drawer'cover are notched (as suggested at 42, a few inches in from the front and rear edges of the cover. A number' of covers 3.6 are shown mounted on the horizontal supporting surfaces26uof theshoulders `24 in Figure 1; The notchesl'42 ycut in the side edges of the covers receive the bosses 2 8 which extend upwardly from the center of the supporting surfaces.V When the drawer covers are supported in this manner on the shoulders 24, they cannot be slid in a horizontal plane, for the notches bear against lthe sides of the bosses and prevent the drawers from moving. Of course, the supoprts are separated a distance just equal tothe width of the drawer coversand provide' an easy butrf'rm iit for them.

VJhen the covers 36 areassernbled between the supports themanner described,ttheyrform a number of horizontal shelves in the cabinet as illustrated clearly in Figure 1. After the covers have been positioned within the cabinet inthis m'anner, it is only necessary to slide the molded drawers, 46 onV top of each of the covers to complete ther installation.. The drawers 46 slide easily on the tracks 38 yformed on the upper surface of the covers and are narrow enough so that they do not interfere with the inwardly extending-shoulders or flanges 24 on the sides of the supports. The covers are spaced just far enough apart in a vertical direction to receive the drawers 46 but the fit is. intentionally rather close so that the covers serve not only `to support the drawer above them but close the drawer tightly below them.

It will be noted that theshoulders formed at the bottom of each of the stripsare identical to the other shoulders in the assemblyrexcept thatl they lack the down'- wardly extending Hanges. These anges may be dispensed with because when the supports are inserted into theA slots formed in lthe lower horizontal panel, the bottom of the shoulders are adapted to rest upon the upper surface of that panel. As a result, it is unnecessary to furnish the additional strengthwhich is so desirable in the intermediate shoulders formed on each of the supports. It will be noted also that applicant contemplates using a cover immediately above the upper surface of the lower panel as isV shown in Figure l', although this, of course, is unnecessary and its absence would not constitute a variation of applicants invention. It is desirable for it gives complete contiunity to the arrangement. Applicant "alsoA contemplates the use of a cover immediately beneath the top panel 12 for that reason, although the top panel 12 could conceivably serve as a cover for the top drawer.

From the foregoing description, those skilled in the art will appreciate that an entire wall may be covered with the clear polystyrene drawers and covers with the use of the supports which I have disclosed. After the entire assembly has been completed, a person looking at the wall would probably not see the supports both at the center and at the ends of the walls, for applicant contemplates using the same material in the construction of the supports, drawers and covers. Although I have specifically stated that both the supports and the drawers and covers may be made of clear polystyrene, obviously countless other materials could be used to yachieve the same effect. It will be appreciated that if the supports are made of plastic, they may be molded on conventional equipment for but a fraction of the cost of wooden partitions. l

Because numerous modifications may be made of my invention, without departing from the spirit thereof, I do not intend to limit the breadth of my invention to the specilic embodiment illustrated and described. Rather I contemplate that the scope of my invention will be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What I claim as new and desire to Patent of the United States is: i

l. Means for mounting wall storage units comprising four vertical strips made of clear polystyrene, one adjacent the front and rear portions of the vsides of a unit to be supported, shoulders integrally formed on the inner surface of each of the strips and facing the opposite strips, each of the shoulders lying in the same horizontal plane, additional shoulders integrally formed on each of the strips above the first-named shoulders and lying in a second horizontal plane, horizontal drawer covers made of clear polystyrene having their side edges resting on the shoulders one in each plane, raised portions i11- tegrally formed on each of the shoulders, notchesvformed in the side edges of the covers and receiving the raised portions to prevent horizontal movement of the covers on the shoulders, and a drawer made of clear polystyrene and slidably supported on the lower of the covers and closed by the upper of the covers.

2. Means for mounting wall storage units comprising a plurality of vertical strips made of rigid material and disposed adjacent the sides of a unit to be supported, shoulders formed on the vertical surfaces of each of the strips and facing the units to be supported, each 'of the shoulders lyingv in the same horizontal plane, additional shoulders formed on the vertical surfaces of each of the strips above the first-named shoulders and lyingin a second horizontal plane, horizontal drawer covers having their side edges resting on the shoulders one in each secure by Letters plane, bosses secured to at least one of the shoulders' in each plane, notches formed in the side edges of the covers and receiving the bosses and preventing horizontal movement of the covers, and a drawer slidably supported on the lower of the covers and closed by the upper of the covers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATESKPATENTS 1,829,0(19 Madsen Oct. 27, 1931 2,359,109 Hormes Sept. 26, 1944 2,570,731 Susnow Oct. 9, 1951 2,625,456 Rostau Jan. 13, 1953 2,676,420 Berg Apr. 27, 1954

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