Tool cabinet drawers or trays, tool boxes, storage cases, inventory display or storage shelving, or other such item retaining structures are often provided with pads, inserts, or other such mats to organize the items stored on or in the structure. Examples of conventional item storing mats include foam pads with cut recesses or plastic inserts with molded recesses. These recesses may be shaped to receive items (e.g., hand tools or other instruments) of varying size and shape in a consistent, organized arrangement, making the items easier to find, less likely to shift or slide on the mat, and/or less likely to be damaged, and their absence more easily recognized.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present application, an item retaining mat includes a base sheet and an array of projections extending from the base sheet to define an item receiving surface. When an item is pressed against the item receiving surface of the mat, one or more projections of the array of projections that are engaged by the item are depressed from an extended position to a depressed position to define a recess in the item receiving surface, the recess being shaped to limit lateral movement of the received item.
Another exemplary embodiment of the present application involves a method of retaining an item against lateral movement. In the exemplary method, an item retaining mat is provided, including a base sheet and an array of projections extending from the base sheet to define an item receiving surface. An item is pressed against the item receiving surface of the mat to engage one or more projections of the array of projections thereby depressing the one or more projections from an extended position to a depressed position to define a recess in the item receiving surface, with the recess being shaped to limit lateral movement of the received item.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present application, an item retaining mat includes a base sheet, an array of projections extending from the base sheet to define an item receiving surface, and means for depressing one or more projections of the array of projections from an extended position to a depressed position to define a recess in the item receiving surface.
Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description made with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The Detailed Description merely describes exemplary embodiments and is not intended to limit the scope of the claims in any way. Indeed, the invention as claimed is broader than and unlimited by the exemplary embodiments, and the terms used in the claims have their full ordinary meaning.
Tool cabinet drawers and other item retaining structures are often provided with item organizing mats to retain one or more items in a consistent arrangement. These inserts may include one or more recesses shaped to closely receive one or more items in desired locations and/or orientations. Examples of foam mats having cut or molded tool retaining recesses are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,223 to Allen (describing cut recesses) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,632,162 (describing molded recesses), the entire disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein. These mats, while facilitating consistent storage and organization of existing items, require an additional recess generating operation (e.g., cutting, heating/curing, or spraying reactive chemicals on the foam), and are not reconfigurable to accommodate new items of different sizes and shapes, thus requiring replacement of the mat with a new mat to be appropriately cut or molded with new item retaining recesses.
According to an aspect of the present application, an item retaining mat may be provided with an array of projections that are depressible when an item is placed onto or pressed against one or more of the projections on the mat, or by engagement of the projections with another implement (e.g., a user's fingers or a stylus or other such component). The depressed projections form a recess, with respect to the non-depressed projections, shaped to closely receive and retain the placed item. The projections may be of a sufficient depression depth (i.e., difference in height between non-depressed and depressed conditions) to form a deep enough recess to suitably retain the placed item. Further, the projections may be of a sufficiently small cross-sectional size, and/or sufficiently closely spaced, to be depressible to form a recess that sufficiently conforms to the shape of the placed item (e.g., sufficiently limiting lateral movement of the item on the mat).
In one exemplary embodiment, projections on an item retaining mat may be permanently collapsible or crushable, such that the placed item produces a permanent recess in the mat for repeatable placement of the item in a consistent position and orientation on the mat. Exemplary projections may be formed from paper, air filled capsules, or other non-resilient materials. While this arrangement would not allow for repeated use of the same portion of the mat with new, different-shaped items, the collapsible or crushable projections would facilitate formation of an item retaining recess without additional recess generating operations (e.g., cutting, heating/curing, or spraying reactive chemicals on the mat material).
In another exemplary embodiment, projections on an item retaining mat may be resiliently depressible, such that when the placed item is removed from the mat, the projections automatically return to the non-depressed height. Exemplary projections may include biasing springs to return the depressed projections to the non-depressed condition, or may be formed from resilient materials configured to automatically expand or extend when pressure has been removed. While this arrangement would not facilitate repeatable placement of the item in a consistent position and orientation on the mat, the resilient projections would allow for repeated use of the same portion of the mat with new, different-shaped items, and would facilitate formation of an item retaining recess without additional recess generating operations (e.g., cutting, heating/curing, or spraying reactive chemicals on the mat material).
In still another exemplary embodiment, projections on an item retaining mat may be collapsible and extendable between bi-stable extended (or non-depressed) and depressed conditions. This arrangement would allow for both repeatable placement of the item in a consistent position and orientation on the mat and repeated use of the same portion of the mat with new, different-shaped items. When different shaped recesses in the item retaining mat are desired, the user may selectively move one or more of the depressed projections back to the non-depressed or extended position.
Many different arrangements may be used to provide bi-stable depressible projections on an item retaining mat. In one embodiment, the circumferential side wall of each projection may include one or more rings of thinner and/or perforated material, such that the ring forms a hinge bout which all or part of the projection may bend between an extended position and a collapsed position. Exemplary collapsible shapes are shown and described on a larger scale, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,439,128 and 7,654,402, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, which disclose collapsible plastic containers having rings of concentric wall elements joined by thinner flexure zones or film hinges. This arrangement accommodates a telescoping accordion-style collapse or compression of the containers. In the exemplary embodiment of
In one exemplary embodiment, projections of an item retaining mat may be partially collapsed, for example, to conform to an item having a contoured projection-engaging surface. As shown in
When the mat 100 is to be used to retain different items, or to retain the items in a different orientations, the undersides of the collapsed projections 130 may be pressed by a user (e.g., by direct finger contact or using a narrow tool) to return the collapsed projections to the extended or non-collapsed positions.
Other types of collapsible projections may be used on an item retaining mat. In one exemplary embodiment, as shown in
In another exemplary embodiment, as shown in
While various inventive aspects, concepts and features of the inventions may be described and illustrated herein as embodied in combination in the exemplary embodiments, these various aspects, concepts and features may be used in many alternative embodiments, either individually or in various combinations and sub-combinations thereof. Unless expressly excluded herein all such combinations and sub-combinations are intended to be within the scope of the present inventions. Still further, while various alternative embodiments as to the various aspects, concepts and features of the inventions—such as alternative materials, structures, configurations, methods, circuits, devices and components, software, hardware, control logic, alternatives as to form, fit and function, and so on—may be described herein, such descriptions are not intended to be a complete or exhaustive list of available alternative embodiments, whether presently known or later developed. Those skilled in the art may readily adopt one or more of the inventive aspects, concepts or features into additional embodiments and uses within the scope of the present inventions even if such embodiments are not expressly disclosed herein. Additionally, even though some features, concepts or aspects of the inventions may be described herein as being a preferred arrangement or method, such description is not intended to suggest that such feature is required or necessary unless expressly so stated. Still further, exemplary or representative values and ranges may be included to assist in understanding the present disclosure; however, such values and ranges are not to be construed in a limiting sense and are intended to be critical values or ranges only if so expressly stated. Moreover, while various aspects, features and concepts may be expressly identified herein as being inventive or forming part of an invention, such identification is not intended to be exclusive, but rather there may be inventive aspects, concepts and features that are fully described herein without being expressly identified as such or as part of a specific invention. Descriptions of exemplary methods or processes are not limited to inclusion of all steps as being required in all cases, nor is the order that the steps are presented to be construed as required or necessary unless expressly so stated.
This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/787,247, entitled “ITEM RETAINING MAT” and filed Mar. 15, 2013, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61787247 | Mar 2013 | US |