Patent Application
20240108127
None.
This application relates generally to storage cabinets. More specifically, this application relates to a foldable storage cabinet with foldable sides and shelves.
The drawings, when considered in connection with the following description, are presented for the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the subject matter sought to be protected.
While the present disclosure is described with reference to several illustrative embodiments and example devices described herein, it should be clear that the present disclosure should not be limited to such embodiments. Therefore, the description of the embodiments provided herein is illustrative of the present disclosure and should not limit the scope of the disclosure as claimed. In addition, while following description references particular configurations of foldable cabinet, it will be appreciated that the disclosure may be applicable to other types of foldable storage such as closets and TV stands.
Briefly described, a system and a method are disclosed including a foldable storage cabinet, such as an all-purpose indoor or outdoor storage cabinet, a wall-mountable cabinet, a shoe storage cabinet, a clothes-hanging cabinet, a bookshelf, and the like, having multiple foldable sections, coupled to one another except the top section. In some embodiments the cabinet may include a back-panel, two side-panels, a top panel, one or more shelves, and a bottom panel. The back-panel may be a U-shaped panel including a wider back section and two narrower (compared with the back section) side-sections. The side-panels may be flat panels coupled to the side-sections of the back-panel using one or more hinges or other coupling. The hinges allow the side-panels to fold into the back-panel for compact storage and packaging. Each of the side-sections of the back-panel are of different widths to allow folding the side-panels into the concave side of the U-shaped back-panel. The bottom panel is coupled to the back-panel using one or more hinges. The hinges allow the bottom panel to fold into the back-panel for compact storage and packaging. The bottom panel, once unfolded, serves as a shelf and has indentations which, in its fully unfolded configuration, engage with or lock into pegs or other protrusions available on the side-panels for support and stability. The assembly of the foldable storage cabinet entails merely unfolding the different parts of the cabinet that are coupled together by hinges or other fasteners as described herein, such as side-panels, side-sections and others, into an assembled usable and standing cabinet.
In some embodiments, the top panel may be originally detached from the other panels and be coupled to the top of the back and side-panels using snap-fit, cam-lock or other similarly applicable methods. In some embodiments, the one or more shelves may be coupled to the back-panel using one or more hinges similar to the bottom panel. The hinges allow the shelves to fold up into the back-panel for compact storage and packaging. The shelves may have indentations on the side that face the bottom panel which, in their fully unfolded configuration, engage with or lock into pegs or other protrusions available on the side-panels for support and stability. In some embodiments, some or all of the folding shelves may be replaced with hinged wire racks, rods and the like, appropriate for storing shoes. In some embodiments, the distance between the top panel and the upper shelf may be extended to allow for hanging clothes. In such embodiments, the top panel includes a rod for hanging clothes hangers. The rod can be folded into the body of the top panel for compact storage and packaging. In some embodiments, one or more doors may be coupled to the side-panels with one or more hinges to enclose the internal volume of the storage cabinet. The doors can either fold into the side-panels or fold into the back-panel in line and together with the side-panels for compact storage and packaging. In some embodiments the doors may have various designs on their outer face. In some embodiments, the doors may have variously designed panels that may be snapped onto and off of their outer faces for the purpose of changing esthetics. In some embodiments the cabinet may contain support legs coupled to the underside of the bottom panel.
In various embodiments, a foldable storage cabinet is disclosed including a U-shaped back-panel having a middle section, a first side-section, and a second side-section. A first side-panel may be connected by a hinge to the first side-section of the U-shaped back-panel and a second side-panel may be connected by a hinge to the second side-section of the U-shaped back-panel. A bottom panel may also be connected by a hinge to a bottom end of an inside of the back section of the U-shaped back-panel. It also includes a top panel to connect to a top end of the U-shaped back-panel.
In various embodiments, a foldable storage cabinet is disclosed including a back-panel, a first side-panel coupled with the back-panel, a second side-panel coupled with the back-panel. It further incudes multiple shelves coupled with the back-panel, a first door coupled with the first side-panel, and a second door coupled with the second side-panel. The assembly and disassembly of the foldable storage cabinet is performed by folding and unfolding, respectively, the back-panel, the first side-panel, the second side-panel, the plurality of shelves, the first door, and the second door with respect to each other.
In various embodiments, a method of unpacking a foldable storage cabinet, the method including enclosing the foldable storage cabinet in a multi-layered package, the multi-layered package having at least a first layer and a second layer, and unfolding, in one motion, the first layer of the multi-layered package to unfold a first side-panel of the foldable storage cabinet. The first layer is temporarily attached to the first side-panel. The method further includes unfolding, in one motion, the second layer of the multi-layered package to unfold a second side-panel of the foldable storage cabinet. the second layer is temporarily attached to the second side-panel. The method may also include detaching the layers of the multi-layered package from the corresponding panels of the foldable storage cabinet and discarding them.
Storage cabinets are used by many people for both residential and commercial uses. People use rugged storage cabinets in shops and garages as well as more refined cabinets inside their homes. Most storage cabinets on the market are either preassembled or come packaged in many pieces that require assembly. The preassembled cabinets are typically bulky and difficult to package and transport. The cost of assembly of pre-assembled cabinets is also added to the cost of manufacturing which tends to make these types of cabinets more costly. In contrast, the cabinets requiring assembly cost less and can be packaged and transported more efficiently but come in too many pieces and may often require a long and arduous assembly processes. There is also the possibility of missing pieces and miss-assembly that is difficult to undo. In addition, these types of cabinets are usually difficult to disassemble without damaging the pieces, should storage or transport be required at a later date. Therefore, there is a need for a storage cabinet that can be packaged and transported efficiently while at the same time can be assembled and disassembled quickly and easily with very low possibility of damaging it or loosing parts.
It is to be noted that directions, orientations, and other relative terms such as “front”, “back”, “top”, “bottom”, “left”, “right”, “inside”, “outside”, “interior”, “exterior”, “downward”, “upward”, “front-facing”, “down-facing”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “diagonal”, and the like are described with respect or relative to a distinguishing feature of the system or device body itself. For example, if the front part or surface of a system body or an object is identified in the description, then rear or back is defined as the part or surface opposite the front surface, left is defined as the left side when looking into the front surface, and so on. As long as directions are unambiguously identifiable based on the descriptions and figures, how the orientations are defined is immaterial.
In various embodiments, the U-shaped back-panel 101 includes three sections, the middle section 101a and two side-sections 101b and 101c. The bottom panel 107, also known as the bottom shelf, and one or more shelves 108 are coupled to the inside of the middle section 101a of the U-shaped back-panel 101 with one or more hinges. The hinges used for this purpose may be a single long piano hinge or multiple smaller butt hinges or one of a variety of hinges used for similar applications such as hanging doors.
The side-sections 101b and 101c of U-shaped back-panel 101 are approximately at 90-degree angle to its middle section 101a. In some embodiments, the sides of 101b and 101c facing the concave side of the U-shaped back-panel 101, may have protrusions for supporting the shelves 108 in their fully unfolded configuration, as further described below with respect to
The doors 105a and 105b are coupled to side-panels 102 and 103, respectively, with hinges 106. The hinges used for this purpose may be pivot hinges used at the top end of the door (the end farthest from the bottom panel 107), and the bottom of the doors near the bottom panel 107, or any other hinge type allowing for partial or full angle pivot of the doors 105a and 105b around the side-panels 102 and 103, respectively.
In some embodiments, support legs 109 maybe coupled to the bottom of the U-shaped back-panel 101 near the bottom panel 107, and support legs 110 are coupled to the bottom of the side-panels 102 and 103 near the bottom panel 107. The support legs 109 and 110 maybe manufactured from solid wood, plywood, wood laminate, Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF), particle board, or other common furniture construction materials, while in other embodiments, they may be manufactured from metals such as aluminum. In still other embodiments, the support legs may be manufactured by molding hard plastic. In still other embodiments, the support legs 109 and 110 maybe an integral or inseparable extension of the U-shaped back-panel 101 and side-panels 102 and 103. In some embodiments, the legs may further have small wheels or casters to facilitate the relocation or adjustment of the position of the folding storage cabinet after unfolding or assembly.
In some embodiments the U-shaped back-panel 101, the side-panels 102 and 103, the bottom panel 107 and the shelves 108 may be manufactured from solid wood, plywood, wood laminate, MDF, particle board, or other common furniture construction materials, while in other embodiments, they may be manufactured from metals such as aluminum. In still other embodiments, the U-shaped back-panel 101, the side-panels 102 and 103, the bottom panel 107 and the shelves 108 may be manufactured by molding hard plastic.
The process of unfolding or assembly of the foldable storage cabinet 100 includes pulling away the integrated side-panel 103 and attached door 105b away from the back-panel 101. Next, the integrated side-panel 102 and door 105a are also pulled away from the back-panel 101. At this point, the integrated shelves 108 are folded down towards legs 109 and 110 to stabilize the unfolded cabinet. A top panel (see
Still in other embodiments the protrusions may run the width of the side-panels and/or the indentations may be missing. In folding the storage cabinet for packaging, storage or transport, the shelves 108 and the bottom panel 107 are folded up (away from legs 109 and 110) into the concave space of the U-shaped back-panel 101 first before the side-panels 102 and 103 (reference to
In various embodiments, the packaging may be made of cardboard, plastic, or other suitable materials. The packaging may include multiple layers or flaps that follow the same folding arrangement of the folded panels of the foldable storage cabinet 100. This way, the multi-layered packaging is opened layer by layer during the course of which the storage cabinet panels are also unfolded resulting in the assembly of the cabinet. Hence, the cabinet is assembled without the user having to attach any components (other than the top panel 501 in some embodiments) together or go through a 2-step process of one, opening the package and bring out the cabinet, and two, assembling the cabinet. Instead, these two steps are integrated and performed in a single step. So, as each layer of the package is opened, the attached cabinet panels and parts (for example, side-panels and doors) are also opened in one motion, as described herein.
In various embodiments, the packaging includes the first layer or flap 604 hat encloses the whole storage cabinet. When the first layer is opened, the side-panel 103 and door 105b are also unfolded because they are attached to the packaging's first layer. This exposes the second packaging layer or flap as further described below with respect to
It will be understood that unless explicitly stated or specified, the steps described in a process are not ordered and may not necessarily be performed or occur in the order described or depicted. For example, a step A in a process described prior to a step B in the same process, may actually be performed after step B. In other words, a collection of steps in a process for achieving an end-result may occur in any order unless otherwise stated.
Changes can be made to the claimed invention in light of the above Detailed Description. While the above description details certain embodiments of the invention and describes the best mode contemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in text, the claimed invention can be practiced in many ways. Details of the system may vary considerably in its implementation details, while still being encompassed by the claimed invention disclosed herein.
Particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspects of the disclosure should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features, or aspects of the disclosure with which that terminology is associated. In general, the terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the claimed invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Description section explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope of the claimed invention encompasses not only the disclosed embodiments, but also all equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the claimed invention.
It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.” It is further understood that any phrase of the form “A/B” shall mean any one of “A”, “B”, “A or B”, or “A and B”. This construct includes the phrase “and/or” itself.
The above specification, examples, and data provide a complete description of the manufacture and use of the claimed invention. Since many embodiments of the claimed invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended. It is further understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
