Patent Application
20220338625
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The present disclosure is generally related to a rod holder and more particularly related to a rod holder for connecting to a wire shelf.
The subject matter discussed herein should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the related art section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the related art section or associated with the subject matter of the related art section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the related art section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also correspond to implementations of the claimed technology.
Modern storage areas such as closets, wardrobes, and garages may require holding and stacking various accessories such as clothes and other objects. Such holding and stacking may be facilitated by using wire shelves. Typically, a wire shelf consists of spaced longitudinal rods extending along the length of the shelf and smaller wire shelving rods extending transversely front to rear over the longitudinal rods. The longitudinal rods may include a pair of horizontally spaced rods, one in the front of the shelf and one in the rear of the shelf, optionally with one or more intermediate rods between the front and rear rods. The wire shelving rods are spaced over the tops of the front to rear rods. In many examples, two longitudinal rods are located at the front of the shelf, one located vertically above the other. In such applications, the wire shelving rods are turned down at their fronts and attached to both of the two front longitudinal rods.
It may be desirable to include a clothes rod with the wire shelving. Such a clothes rod might be connected to the wire shelving and might allow for the hanging of coat hangers, clothes hangers, and other such hangers having an upper hook to facilitate suspending the device, the upper hook configured to overfit a clothes rod. Ideally, the clothes rod might be attached to the wire shelving with a holder that would allow for one or more coat hangers, clothes hangers, and other such hangers to be freely slidable along most of, or all of, the length of the clothes rod without interference from the holder, as a user peruses the items stored on the clothes rod by shifting such hangers longitudinally along the clothes rod. Still further, ideally such clothes rod holders might have the versatility of being easily installed upon a shelf, yet being easily moved from a first location upon a wire shelf to a second location upon the shelf, as a user may desire.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved design of a rod holder for use with wire shelving.
In response to the foregoing, a new, versatile, and movable rod holder has been discovered.
In accordance with certain aspects of certain embodiments of the present technology, a rod holder is provided that includes a first socket and a second socket, the first socket being open forward and the second socket being open downward. The rod holder further includes a cradle, the cradle being open upward. The second socket resides between the first socket and the cradle. The rod holder includes a body connected with the first socket, the second socket, and the cradle, and extending rearward from the first socket. Additionally and/or alternatively, in various embodiments one or more of the following aspects may also be included:
In accordance with additional aspects of other embodiments of the present technology, a rod holder comprising an upper first socket and a lower second socket is provided. The first socket is forward-facing and C-shaped and the second socket is lower-facing and N-shaped. An upwardly-facing U-shaped cradle is included, the cradle being connected to the first and second sockets. The second socket resides between the first socket and the cradle. The first and second sockets reside in a plane and the cradle resides forward of the plane. Additionally and/or alternatively, in various embodiments one or more of the following aspects may also be included:
In accordance with yet additional aspects of other embodiments of the present technology, a rod holder is provided that includes a first socket, the first socket being located at the top of the rod holder, being C-shaped, and opening forward. A second socket is included, the second socket being located below the first socket, being N-shaped, and opening downward. An U-shaped cradle is included, the cradle residing opposite the first socket from the second socket and opening upward. A rod holder body is also included, the rod holder body having a first end and an opposite second end, with the first end connected to the first and second sockets and the second end connected to the cradle. The first and second sockets reside in a plane and the cradle resides forward of the plane. Additionally and/or alternatively, in various embodiments one or more of the following aspects may also be included:
Other advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following descriptions, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, by illustration and example, an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed.
The accompanying drawings illustrate various embodiments of systems, methods, and configurations of various other aspects of the disclosure. It may be that in some examples one element may be designed as multiple elements or that multiple elements may be designed as a single element. Non-limiting and non-exhaustive descriptions are described with reference to the following drawings.
It should be noted that the drawings discussed above and below are not to scale in all instances, but may have exaggerated dimensions in some respects to illustrate one or more of the principles of the invention.
Certain preferred embodiments and examples are disclosed herein. The inventive subject matter extends beyond the examples in the specifically disclosed embodiments to other alternative embodiments and/or uses, and to modifications and equivalents thereof. Thus, the scope of the claims below is not limited by any of the particular embodiments described herein. Additionally, the structures, systems, and/or devices described herein may be embodied as integrated components or as separate components. For purposes of comparing various embodiments, certain aspects and advantages of these embodiments are described. Not necessarily all such aspects or advantages are achieved by any particular embodiment. Thus, for example, various embodiments may be carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other aspects or advantages as may also be taught or suggested herein.
Although any systems and methods similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the present disclosure, preferred systems and methods are now described. In describing the embodiments, specific terminology will be used for the sake of clarity. However, the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific terms so selected, and it is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents that function in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose.
Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like elements throughout the several figures, and in which example embodiments are illustrated. Embodiments of the claims, however, may be in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. The examples set forth herein are non-limiting and are merely among other possible examples. While the making and using of various embodiments of the present invention are discussed in detail below, it should be appreciated that the present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention and do not delimit the scope of the invention.
The words “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. The singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The terms “upper,” “top,” and like terms refer to a direction relatively further from Earth. The term “lower,” “below,” and like terms refer to the direction opposite “upper,” a direction relatively closer to Earth. Unless specified or limited otherwise, the terms “connect,” “support,” “couple,” and variations thereof are used broadly and encompass direct and indirect connections, supports, and couplings; further, such terms are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections, supports, and/or couplings. The term “longitudinal” and variations thereof refer to the direction generally parallel to the length of shelving; the term “transverse” refers to the direction generally perpendicular to longitudinal. The terms “front,” “forward,” and like terms refer to the direction closer to a user of the subject shelving; for example, in
A rod holder 100 may comprise a rod holder body 101 having a first portion 102 and a second portion 104. The first portion 102 may have a shelf mounting block 106. The shelf mounting block 106 may further include a side-facing C-shaped first socket 108 and a lower-facing N-shaped second socket 110. Further, the second portion 104 of the rod holder 100 may include an upwardly extending U-shaped cradle 112. It may be noted that the first portion 102 of the rod holder 100 may correspond to an upper portion of the rod holder 100 and the second portion 104 of the rod holder 100 may correspond to a lower portion of the rod holder 100.
The shelf mounting block 106 may be configured to connect the rod holder 100 to a wire shelf 200. The first socket 108 may be located at the top of mounting block 106/rod holder 100. Further, the first socket 108 of the rod holder 100 may comprise of two arms—a first arm 114 and a second arm 116—that may facilitate the rod holder 100 being connected to an upper front longitudinal shelving rod 204 of a wire shelf 200.
The shelf mounting block 106 may also comprise the second socket 110, which may reside below first socket 108. The second socket 110 of the rod holder 100 may comprise of two arms—third arm 118 and fourth arm 120—that may facilitate the rod holder 100 being connected to a lower front longitudinal shelving rod 206 of a wire shelf 200. It can be noted that the shelf mounting block 106 comprising the first socket 108 and the second socket 110, together, may facilitate a stable connection of the rod holder 100 to a wire shelf 200.
In one embodiment, the rod holder body 101 of the rod holder 100 may comprise one or more braces 122. A brace 122 is a strengthening feature, such as a beam or truss, configured within or attached to the rod holder body 101, adding material to the rod holder body 101 at select locations. It can be noted that the braces 122 may bolster the rod holder 100 with strength when load is applied on the rod holder 100.
The cradle 112 of the rod holder 100 may include a first edge 131 and a second edge 132, first and second edges 131, 132 defining the opening to the cradle 112. Cradle 112 may also include a first protrusion 124 residing at first edge 131 or at second edge 132. It can be noted that the first protrusion 124 may facilitate the clipping of a clothes rod 208 into the cradle 112, to hold clothes rod 208 within cradle 112. The first protrusion 124 may facilitate the cradle 112 to hold a clothes rod 208 in place in the cradle 112. In some applications, the cradle 112 may also include a second protrusion 125, disposed opposite the first protrusion 124. More specifically, the cradle 112 may include a first protrusion 124 residing at first edge 131 and a second protrusion 125 residing at second edge 132. Together, first protrusion 124 and second protrusion 125 may facilitate cradle 112 holding a clothes rod 208 in place in the cradle 112 by snap fit engagement.
In another embodiment, the rod holder 100 may include a third protrusion 302 in the lower-facing N-shaped block 110 (see
In particular illustrations, the rod holder 100 is of generally J-shaped configuration with the shelf mounting block 106 being at the top of the “J” and the cradle 112 being provided at the lower terminating end of the second portion of the rod holder 100. Further, the cradle 112 may open upwardly and may have a diameter substantially the same as the diameter of a clothes rod 208 to be received therein. Further the cradle 112 may be provided with protrusions, such as first protrusion 124 and second protrusion 125, wherein the distance between the protrusions is less than the diameter of the clothes rod 208 which is to be received within the cradle 112—such relative dimensions may allow the clothes rod 208 to be snapped within the cradle 112 due to resiliency of the material of cradle 112. Further, the cradle 112 may include a recess therein of a depth and a width to receive a rod thereacross. For example, for a clothes rod 208 having a diameter of 1 inch, the distance between the protrusions 124, 125 may be less than 1 inch, and the depth and width of the cradle may be approximately 1 inch, thereby allowing for a snap fit engagement of the clothes rod 208 into the cradle 112.
A wire shelf 200 may comprise longitudinally extending wire shelving rods. Specifically, in select configurations, an upper front longitudinal shelving rod 204, a lower front longitudinal shelving rod 206, and a back longitudinal shelving rod 207 may be included. Optionally, an intermediate longitudinal shelving rod 209 may also be included. Further, the wire shelf 200 may comprise a plurality of horizontally extending wire shelving rods 202. It can be noted that the horizontally extending wire shelving rods 202 may extend from the back of the wire shelf 200 to the front of the wire shelf 200 and over an upper front longitudinal shelving rod 204 and terminate at and be connected to a lower front longitudinal shelving rod 206.
It can be noted that the rod holder 100 of the present invention can be coupled to the wire shelf 200 and thus be particularly useful for receiving the clothes rod 208 therein. In some applications, the clothes rod 208 may be referred to as a clothes hanger rod.
The first socket 108 may couple with the upper front longitudinal shelving rod 204 of the wire shelf 200 and the second socket 110 may couple with the lower front longitudinal shelving rod 206 of the wire shelf 200. In one embodiment, the first socket 108 may interfit upon the upper front longitudinal shelving rod 204 of the wire shelf 200. Further, the second socket 110 may interfit upon the lower front longitudinal shelving rod 206 of the wire shelf 200.
In particular instances, the first and second sockets 108, 110 may reside in a plane and at least a majority of the cradle 112 may reside forward of the plane. Thus, once a rod holder 100 having that configuration is connected to a wire shelf 200 and a clothes rod 208 is connected within the cradle 112, a torque may be urged upon the rod holder 100, by reason of the forward location of the majority of the cradle 112 relative to the plane occupied by the first and second sockets 108, 110, such torque urging the first socket 108 to be interfitted upon the upper front longitudinal shelving rod 204. Further, such shelf mounting block 106 of the rod holder 100 may provide stability to the rod holder 100 when connected on the wire shelf 200. The rod holder 100 may eliminate the need of an additional member to support the rod holder 100 on the wire shelf 200. In one embodiment, the rod holder 100 may be easily interfitted onto the wire shelf 200 at a first location and later moved to a second, third, or fourth location of the wire shelf 200, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.
In one embodiment, the first socket 108 may comprise at least one protrusion (not shown) on the inner side of the first arm 114 and/or the second arm 116 of the first socket 108, to facilitate locking of the first socket 108 onto the upper front longitudinal shelving rod 204 of a wire shelf 200. Further, or alternatively, the second socket 110 may comprise at least a third protrusion 302 on the inner side of the third arm 118 and/or the fourth arm 120 of the second socket 110, to facilitate locking of the second socket 110 onto a lower front longitudinal shelving rod 206 of a wire shelf 200, as illustrated in
The rod holder 100 may be fabricated from one or more than one material selected from the group metal, metal alloy, resin, plastic, or wood. In some embodiments, the rod holder 100 may be made up of some other materials and designed to support a ranging thickness of materials, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.
The disclosed embodiments encompass numerous advantages. Such a rod holder 100 may be tightened or locked onto the wire shelf 200. Such a rod holder 100 has an ability to be connected onto the wire shelf 200 without the use of power tools or skilled knowledge. Further, such a rod holder 100 improves the ease of use by allowing the rod holder 100 to be inventoried and assembled on-site. Additionally, the rod holder 100 may hold clothes rods 208 of various diameters. Furthermore, the clothes rod 208 may be removed and re-located at any time without requiring any power tools and/or skilled knowledge and therefore the removal of the clothes rod 208 may leave no holes, marks, or deformities on the rod holder 100.
Further, the rod holder 100 may be removed and reinstalled as needed with no actual wear visible on the rod holder 100. Therefore, such designs of rod holder 100 are optimal and result in increasing the ease and accessibility of the rod holder 100 without the use of power tools or skilled knowledge.
The first and second sockets 108, 110 reside in a plane and the cradle 112 resides forward of the plane; the rod holder body 101 extends rearward from the plane.
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The preceding examples, figures, discussion and explanations consider specific materials and conditions. It is to be understood that such specific details are given for illustrative purposes and not as limitations to be applied in interpreting the appended claims.
The foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Obvious modifications, variations or combination of embodiments are possible in light of the above teachings. The exemplary embodiments were chosen and described to provide an illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly, legally, and equitably entitled.
While this invention has been described in conjunction with the specific embodiments outlined above, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the exemplary embodiments of the invention, as set forth above, are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.
This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/179,718, filed on Apr. 26, 2021, which is incorporated herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63179718 | Apr 2021 | US |
