Patent Application
20190038022
The present invention relates to bath shelving units with improved stabilization.
The present invention provides bath shelving units with at least one rear stability bar. The bath shelving units may be installed behind a toilet or any other desired location. The stability bar may be connected between rear vertical leg assemblies, each of which comprises a lower and an upper rear leg section. The stability bar may be oriented horizontally, and may span the lower and upper rear leg sections to thereby help fasten them together.
An aspect of the present invention is to provide a bath shelving unit comprising first and second front vertical leg assemblies, first and second rear vertical leg assemblies, at least one shelf extending between the first and second front vertical leg assemblies and extending between the first and second rear vertical leg assemblies, and a stability bar extending between and fastened to the first and second rear vertical leg assemblies, wherein the stability bar has a width and a length, and a ratio of the width to the length is from 1:3 to 1:30.
This and other aspects of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description.
The bath shelving unit 10 includes front vertical leg assemblies 12 having lower front leg sections 14 and upper front leg sections 17. Each lower front leg section 14 rests on a front foot 15. A top portion 16 of the lower front leg section 14 fits inside a bottom edge 18 of the upper front leg section 17. A front top cap 19 is installed on the top of each upper front leg section 17. As shown most clearly in
As shown most clearly shown in
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a stability bar 30 is installed at the rear of the bath shelving unit 10 on the rear vertical leg assemblies 22. In the embodiment shown, the stability bar 30 is installed at the intersection of each lower rear leg section 24 and each upper rear leg section 27. The stability bar 30 includes a top edge 31, bottom edge 32, side edge 33, and opposing side edge 34. A stiffening rib 36 runs along the stability bar 30 between the top edge 31 and bottom edge 32. A stiffening rib 36 provides rigidity to the stability bar 30 and reduces unwanted flexing or bending thereof. The stiffening rib 36 may be formed in or on the stability bar 30 by any suitable method such as stamping, welding, mechanical fastening and the like. For example, the stiffening rib 36 may be stamped into a sheet metal stability bar 30 to deform the stiffening rib 36 in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the stability bar a distance at least as great as the thickness of the stability bar, e.g., at least 2 or 3 times the thickness of the stability bar 30.
As shown most clearly in
As shown in
In certain embodiments, the width W of the stability bar 30 may be less than 6 inches, for example, less than 4 inches, or less than 3 inches. In certain embodiments, the width W of the stability bar 30 may range from 1 to 4 inches, for example, from 1.5 to 3 inches, or may be about 2 inches.
The length of the stability bar 30 measured between the opposing side edges 33 and 34 may typically range from 12 to 42 inches, for example, from 15 to 30 inches, or from 18 to 24 inches. In accordance with certain embodiments, the ratio of the width W of the stability bar 30 to the length of the stability bar 30 may typically range from 1:3 to 1:30, for example, from 1:5 to 1:20, or from 1:7 to 1:15, or from 1:8 to 1:12.
The stability bar 30 has a typical thickness of from 0.02 to 0.3 inch, or from 0.04 to 0.2 inch, or from 0.06 to 0.1 inch.
As further shown in
Top side horizontal support bars 50 extend between the upper front leg sections 17 and the upper rear leg sections 27. In the embodiment shown, the top side horizontal support bars 50 are at the same level as the top rear horizontal support bar 43, to form a three-sided railing. A top front horizontal shelf bar 51 extends between the upper front leg sections 17. Top shelf slats 52 extend between the top front horizontal shelf bar 51 and the top rear horizontal shelf bar 44 to provide a top shelf for the bath shelving until 10. An intermediate front horizontal shelf bar 53 extends between the upper front leg sections 17. Intermediate shelf slats 54 extend between the intermediate front horizontal shelf bar 53 and the intermediate rear horizontal shelf bar 42 to provide an intermediate shelf for the bath shelving unit 10.
As shown in
The various components of the bath shelving unit 10 may be secured together by any suitable means such as screws, bolts or other types of known mechanical fasteners.
The components of the bath shelving unit 10 may be made from any suitable materials including metals and plastics known to those skilled in the art. For example, the components may comprise metals such as aluminum, steel and the like.
The present invention provides a relatively wide stability bar between the back legs, allowing the use of two or more screws or other types of mechanical fasteners on each side of the stability bar. This double attachment reduces or prevents movement, holding the legs rigidly in place. The stability bar may accommodate at least two screws or other mechanical fasteners per side. In order to allow flexibility for installation, the user may have two or more sets of options as to where to position the stability bar on the back legs.
As used herein, “including,” “containing” and like terms are understood in the context of this application to be synonymous with “comprising” and are therefore open-ended and do not exclude the presence of additional undescribed or unrecited elements, materials, phases or method steps. As used herein, “consisting of” is understood in the context of this application to exclude the presence of any unspecified element, material, phase or method step. As used herein, “consisting essentially of” is understood in the context of this application to include the specified elements, materials, phases, or method steps, where applicable, and to also include any unspecified elements, materials, phases, or method steps that do not materially affect the basic or novel characteristics of the invention.
In this application, the use of the singular includes the plural and plural encompasses singular, unless specifically stated otherwise. In addition, in this application, the use of“or” means “and/or” unless specifically stated otherwise, even though “and/or” may be explicitly used in certain instances. In this application and the appended claims, the articles “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless expressly and unequivocally limited to one referent.
Whereas particular embodiments of this invention have been described above for purposes of illustration, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that numerous variations of the details of the present invention may be made without departing from the invention as defined in the appended claims.
This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/540,699 filed Aug. 3, 2017, which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62540699 | Aug 2017 | US |
