Supports: cabinet structure – Mounted on wall – ceiling or spaced panels – Movably mounted housing or compartment
Reexamination Certificate
2002-09-25
2004-06-29
Hansen, James O. (Department: 3637)
Supports: cabinet structure
Mounted on wall, ceiling or spaced panels
Movably mounted housing or compartment
C312S298000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06755492
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sliding cabinet for use in connection with storing goods on elevated shelves. The sliding cabinet has particular utility in connection with providing safe, ergonomic, and convenient access to shelves in elevated cabinets.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cabinets of varying size are widely employed as space savers in homes, garages, and businesses. The use of elevated cabinets is an extremely efficient space saving technique. However, not everyone can safely reach the shelves of elevated cabinets. For example, a person may drop an item while stretching to remove it from the top shelf of an elevated storage cabinet. As a result, the item may break or injure the person. In response to the hazards of removing items from elevated cabinets, mechanical cabinets have first been developed in the art. However, the mechanical cabinets present in the art are complicated and expensive to manufacture and install.
As stated, the use of mechanical cabinets is known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,415,586 to James F. Hammond discloses a cabinet shelf elevator and control. However, the Hammond '586 patent requires a motor to lower and raise the cabinet. The use of a motor introduces several drawbacks. First, motors are expensive, loud, and require maintenance. Second, the space required for a motor may preclude retrofitting the cabinet shelf elevator into existing cabinets.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,650,591 to Ernest B. Longmire discloses a elevator shelf unit that lifts shelves through an opening in the top of a cabinet. The Longmire '591 patent utilizes a rod to lift and support the cabinet's shelves. However, a drawback of using the rod is a lack of support and stability for heavier items. For example, the rod may sway or collapse while supporting heavier items, causing the items to fall from the shelf and break.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a sliding cabinet that allows safe, ergonomic, and convenient access to shelves in elevated cabinets. The Hammond '586 shelf elevator is neither ergonomic nor convenient. The shelf elevator requires a motor that is loud and precludes retrofitting in existing cabinets. Moreover, the Longmire '591 elevator shelf is unsafe because its only basis of supporting weight on the shelves is a single rod. However, the sliding cabinet of the present invention overcomes these drawbacks. The sliding cabinet requires no loud, space filling motor. Furthermore, the sliding cabinet employs ample support for the weight on its shelves.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved sliding cabinet that can be used for safe, ergonomic, and convenient access to shelves in elevated cabinets. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need. In this respect, the sliding cabinet according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of allowing safe, ergonomic, and convenient access to shelves in elevated cabinets.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of mechanical cabinets now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved sliding cabinet, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved sliding cabinet which has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a sliding cabinet which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a sliding cabinet with an inner cabinet and outer cabinet that connect to a support frame. The outer cabinet pulls out of the support frame by rolling horizontally on a roller and track system. Once the outer cabinet is free of the support frame, the inner cabinet lowers through the bottom of the outer cabinet by rolling vertically on a second roller and track system. After reaching the desired item, the inner cabinet is raised back into the outer cabinet and the outer cabinet is pushed back into the support frame. Additionally, the sliding cabinet is supplied with an adjustable counterweight, allowing the inner cabinet to be easily raised or lowered regardless of the weight on the shelves. Moreover, the components may be sized to fit into any size or style of cabinetry.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
The invention may also include door that covers the sliding cabinet while it positioned in the support frame. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved sliding cabinet that has all of the advantages of the prior art mechanical cabinets and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved sliding cabinet that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved sliding cabinet that has a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such sliding cabinet economically available to the buying public.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new sliding cabinet that provides a safe and ergonomic storage alternative.
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved sliding cabinet has a stable support mechanism and does not require a motor.
REFERENCES:
patent: 628828 (1899-07-01), Mentzer
patent: 835157 (1906-11-01), Fry
patent: 3415586 (1968-12-01), Hammond
patent: 3650591 (1972-03-01), Longmire, Sr.
patent: 2344640 (1975-03-01), None
patent: 2611661 (1977-03-01), None
patent: 2382872 (1978-10-01), None
Hyde Don W.
Hyde Penny
LandOfFree
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