Supports: racks – Special article – Article includes elongated portion
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-10
2001-08-14
Gibson, Jr., Robert W. (Department: 3634)
Supports: racks
Special article
Article includes elongated portion
C211S070600, C211S095000, C211S115000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06273277
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates to implement storage devices; and, more particularly, to rotatable implement storage devices for storing garden implements and the like.
2. Description of Related Art
In modern American suburbia, the garage has become the storage receptacle for a myriad of items that are necessary for work and recreation. The need for this storage space has become so acute that many suburban dwellings contain a 3-car garage even though the occupants own only two vehicles. In many instances, a recreational vehicle, such as a boat or a 4-wheel drive occupies the third bay; but in most cases, it is utilized for storage and as a work area. Items such as bicycles, sports equipment, garden furniture, wheelbarrows, trash cans, and work shops containing wrenches, power tools, and other implements for repairing various electrical and/or mechanical apparatuses, throughout the house, are generally stored in the garage.
Gardening has become a recreational pastime of suburbia, and the lawns and gardens of the occupants of suburban dwellings have become a source of pride and even, in some cases, competition. For example, automatic-timed sprinkler systems assure vigilant watering of both shrubbery and lawn, and many commercial services provide lawn fertilization, weed control, aeration, and the like. Traditionally, the implements for gardening, which can include very intricate devices, have been stored in the garage or, in some cases, a tool shed. Hand implements, such as rakes, hoes, shovels, picks, and the like, traditionally have been stored either in a corner of the garage or hung linearly along the wall on hooks, nails, clips or the like. Many implement handles contain a hole or other attachment means which allows the implement to be secured to these nails or hooks.
Unfortunately, the space utilization of these lineal storage methods is not optimum, and valuable space in an already crowded garage or tool shed that could be used for other purposes is wasted. Moreover, in order to access the tools stored lineally on the wall, one must approach the tools directly beneath their placement on the wall, often necessitating that items beneath the stored tools be moved or vehicles backed from the garage in an effort to facilitate access to the desired tools.
Various methods for storing items have been proposed in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,864,039 issued to DeWitt M. Brownson, Jun. 21, 1932, shows a utensil holder mounted horizontally to a bracket on a kitchen wall adjacent to a stove or range for hanging kitchen utensils, such as knives, forks, spoons, or ladles, which are used daily in connection with culinary work. In one embodiment, a rotatable disk is provided wherein the periphery is formed with radial notches or grooves to receive hooks or nails which are driven into the free end of the handles of the utensils so that the latter may depend from the circular formation of the disk. While this device provides for the storage of small implements in a relatively small space on a disk, the implement itself must be configured with some kind of hook or retention device to depend from the rack. Additionally, this utensil holder would not be applicable for retaining or holding large implements such as rakes, hoes, shovels, or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,644 issued to Joseph A. Weld, Jr. on Mar. 7, 1989, shows a circular rack much like a pie rack with hooks and tongs upon which bridles and other equestrian gear are laid so that they may be rotatably brought into view. Again, this would be inappropriate for a garden implement-retaining device. Likewise, there are a myriad of references for circular tie racks, both motorized and unmotorized, which allow ties to be draped over hooks on a wheel or disk which can be rotated from its center in order to bring the ties into view. Again, the configuration would not be operable with regard to large garden implements, and the method of retaining the ties is to lay the tie or garment over a hook such as bathroom hook on a door or the like.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a rack or device which allowed ease of accessibility to large tools, such as gardening implements, while maximizing the use of comparatively minimal amounts of space It would also be advantageous to have a storage means that could be mounted directly to the ceiling or the walls, thereby allowing effective use of available space while removing garden implements from the floor space of the garage or tool shed. Finally, it would be advantageous to have an implement storage device wherein the means for attaching or storing the implement allowed accessibility from a station not directly proximate the wall where other items are stored as well as permitting ease of implement retrieval by a single movement of the wrist. This last characteristic is an especially important consideration for elderly people.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A garden implement storage device has now been discovered that overcomes the above-described deficiencies of the prior art. The present invention provides an implement storage device that permits improved accessibility to stored garden implements and tools while maximizing available storage space. In accordance with the invention, the apparatus comprises a solid support-mourited rotating implement rack having releasable means for hanging, retaining, and storing garden tools, other large implements, or the like.
The rotating implement storage device of the instant invention comprises mounting bracket means adapted for mounting or suspending the device from a solid support, such as a wall or a ceiling in a garage, tool shed, or like storage facility; a carousel having at least one set of retention means for retaining an implement; and a support shaft having a first end and a second end with the first end adapted for supporting attachment to the mounting bracket means and the second end rotatably attached to the carousel. Preferably, at least a portion of the retention means is peripherally mounted on the carousel.
The mounting bracket means is preferably a U-channel, having at least two holes or openings passing there through, in spaced apart relation along the length of the U-channel, into which fasteners are inserted for mounting the U-channel onto a solid support. The mounting bracket means also can be a bar, which can be either solid or hollow, or a plate. The fasteners include screws, toggle bolts, or any other suitable means for attaching a mounting bracket to a solid support, as known and practiced by those skilled in the art. The mounting bracket means can be made of a wide variety of rigid materials, such as, for example, wood, plastics, metals, composites, fiberglass, or any other suitable material known and used by those skilled in the art.
In an alternate embodiment of the instant invention, the mounting bracket means further comprises implement retaining means for retaining and supporting implements or tools.
In accordance with the invention, the support shaft may be of any configuration that allows the carousel to rotate freely while supporting the various implements or tools stored thereon and while permitting a person to reach any and all of those implements conveniently. Such configurations would include an S-shaped support shaft and an L-bracket that is bent at a substantially right angle, making an L-shaped, rigid shaft. In another aspect, when the device is mounted onto a solid support, such as a ceiling, the support shaft is a straight, unbent shaft having a first end and a second end opposite the first. In this preferred aspect, the long axis of the shaft is aligned substantially perpendicular to the long axis of the mounting bracket means.
In a preferred embodiment, the rotating implement storage device further comprises support shaft attachment means fixedly attached to the mounting bracket means, preferably comprising a pair of parallel, spaced apart retaining brackets, having aligned apertures in each, to allow a pin or swivel to pass there through for swiv
Gibson , Jr. Robert W.
Meyer Lee G.
Snell & Wilmer LLP
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