Patent Application
20050274865
The present disclosure relates, in general, to a media storage system and method and, more particularly, to such a system and method for supporting a computer monitor and digital media.
With the huge popularity of recordable media such as recordable CDs and DVDs, the dramatic price decreases for R/W players and software, consumers are now making their own private libraries and collections of selected music and movies and other entertainments. Whether the work involves copying, down loading from the internet or developing original work, the time spent in front of a computer is very substantial (as in the making of a multimedia presentation on CD) and may require using source material from a multitude of CDs and DVDS.
While there're many means for organizing and storing CDs, including shelves, racks or binders, there's little that has been created to reduce the problem of clutter on a desktop during an ongoing work session.
A work in progress is generally monitored on the computer screen, as material from a variety of CDs and DVDs is been imputed. The same CDs may be used several times requiring the user to keep them on the desktop for immediate accessibility. As CDs and empty cases pile up on the surface of a desktop using-up valuable space, they also become prone to damage and abuse.
Desktop keyboard drawers can reduce some desktop clutter by providing additional space beneath the monitor for storing a computer keyboard.
Computer monitor and keyboard supports are well known in the prior. Typical examples are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,483,572; 4,496,200; 4,624,510; 4,635,893; 4,717,112; and 4,901,972.
Other desktop organizers are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,735, while a monitor support device with a rotary apparatus for holding CDs and alike is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,609.
While many inventions deal with long term storage of digital media, none of the prior art resolves the problem of a temporary storage of compact disks and their empty cases during a work session in progress.
While desktop keyboard drawers help in reducing some of the clutter, the outer cabinet is generally made of a metal chassis for supporting the excessive weight of a monitor. Plastic constructions have being mostly unpractical.
Therefore, what is needed is a more practical storage system and a method for storing, organizing and accessing entertainment and/or computer media for a work in progress in the immediate vicinity of a computer monitor. Furthermore, the plastic construction of a keyboard drawer cabinet is now possible according to the present invention, because of the unique monitor support platform design.
To this end, according to one embodiment of the invention, a combination of a monitor stand and CD rack to temporarily store CDs or DVDs with or without their cases is provided. While the CD rack assembly is made of a plurality of U-shaped channels or CD tracks to receive CD cases, the computer monitor is preferably resting on a tray or platform which is adapted to support a computer monitor or alike. The monitor, with or without the platform, can be moved left or right along the longitudinal axis of the CD tracks, depending on the operators preference.
Construction of the rack assembly as described in the invention would provide a large number of U-shaped ribs with twice as many vertical walls, that would make the use of a plastic injected monitor stand possible.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a support for a computer monitor that can include a slidable platform or base for supporting a monitor or alike, a CD rack assembly consisting of a plurality of U-shaped channels for storing CDs, DVD cases and alike, and legs or side walls, for holding the rack assembly above the desktop and providing sufficient storage room directly underneath it for storing a keyboard.
By moving the slidable monitor platform to one side, additional room for storing additional CD cases is exposed along the U-shaped channels at the opposite side of the platform.
In another object of the invention, the rack assembly and side walls can also include a slidable tray adapted to support a keyboard, with means for transporting the keyboard tray between a forward work position and a backward storage position.
Other features and advantages of the present invention are stated in or apparent from a detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment of the invention found hereinbelow.
With reference to
The various elements from the monitor support assembly of the invention can be constructed from plastics, wood or metal or a combination thereof.
Monitor platform 20 includes a generally planar top surface 23 which is adapted to support a computer monitor or alike, while opposed surface 24 is adapted to be slidable against upper surfaces 12 of the rack assembly 70, with respect to the CD rack assembly 70 and the desktop 40.
By moving the slidable platform to one side, additional room is exposed along the U-shaped channels 1a or 2a, that may allow the storage of additional CD cases 1 or 2, while an equal amount of space is lost at the opposite side of the slidable platform 20.
The rack assembly 70 and platform assembly 20 of the invention may be placed on any computer shelf or desktop as a free standing unit
Member 60 represents a rubber pad or alike for preventing damage to the desktop surface.
