The present disclosure relates generally to a multi-level cabinet storage system for use in a cabinet or other enclosure and more particularly to a revolving shelf multi-level cabinet storage system with one or more revolving shelves.
Cabinets such as storage cabinets for kitchens, bathrooms, closets, offices and other uses can include one or more receptacles, such as drawers or shelves for storing articles. The drawers and shelves can move in and out of the cabinet between an open position and a closed position. While in the open position, a drawer or shelf may be extended away from the storage cabinet or other enclosure so as to receive the articles. In the closed position, the drawer or shelf may be recessed within the storage cabinet or other enclosure in which the drawer or shelve is installed. The size and weight of such drawers or shelves can vary. In addition, the weight and/or number of articles that can be stored on the drawers or shelves can be quite different in different applications.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
A cabinet storage system may include a multi-shelf storage container having horizontal planer members positioned horizontally between, and perpendicular to, a front vertical planar member and a rear vertical planar member. Slides may be coupled with the multi-shelf storage container, and configured to couple with a cabinet carcass in which the multi-shelf storage container is mountable. At least some of the horizontal planar members may include shelves. A swivel may be coupled with one of the horizontal planar members and one of the shelves so that the shelf rotates, or revolves, horizontally with respect to the horizontal planar member.
An interesting feature of the cabinet storage system relates to the horizontal planar member and the shelf being positioned in parallel planes with the swivel positioned therebetween.
Another interesting feature of the cabinet storage system relates to the swivel, which includes a base coupled with the horizontal planar member, and a rotatable table coupled with a planar surface of the shelf. The base and the rotatable table are on opposing sides of the swivel, and the rotatable table is rotatable with respect to the base.
Yet another interesting feature of the cabinet storage system relates to the horizontal planar member including an aperture sized to receive a portion of the base that extends into the aperture such that the vertical distance between the horizontal planar member and the shelf is minimized.
Still another interesting feature of the cabinet storage system relates to the swivel including a bias coupled between the base and the rotatable table to rotatably return the shelf to a rest position where the shelf is aligned in parallel with the horizontal planar member.
Another interesting feature of the cabinet storage system relates to the swivel including a rotary damper coupled with the base to slow inertial rotational acceleration of the shelf when the shelf rotatably returns to, or is rotated out of the rest position.
Other systems, methods, features and advantages will be, or will become, apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and the following claims.
The system may be better understood with reference to the following drawings and description. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. Moreover, in the figures, like referenced numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views.
The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.
The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses.
The horizontal planar members 104 and front and rear vertical members 106 and 108 may be made of wood, metal, plastic, composite, and/or any other rigid material. In an example, the horizontal planar members 104 and front and rear vertical members 106 and 108 are made of wood. In another example, the horizontal planar members 104 are made of metal, such as in the form of wire, and the front and rear vertical members 106 and 108 are made of wood or plastic. In other examples, other configurations of rigid materials may be used. Some of the horizontal planar members 104 in the multi-level cabinet system are shelves upon which articles may be stored. Others of the horizontal members 104 are a structural base to which a horizontal planar members 104 operable as a respective shelf is mounted.
For example, as illustrated in
In the example of
The multi-level storage system 100 also includes at least two slides 130, which may be positioned on opposing sides of a base 132 of the multi-level storage container 102. The slides 130 may include a first slide 134 and a second slide 136 coupled with each other and/or the multi-level storage container 102. Each of the slides 130 may include a slidable portion coupled with a base of the multi-level storage container 102, and a fixed portion. The slides 130 may also include a mounting bracket 138 coupled with the fixed portion of the first and second slides 134 and 136 and/or the multi-level storage container 102. In the illustrated example, front and rear mounting brackets 138 are illustrated. In other examples, other number of mounting brackets may be coupled between the slides 130. The mounting bracket 138 may be used to mount the multi-level storage system 100 in a cabinet. Alternatively, the first and second slides 134 and 136 may be used to mount the multi-level storage system 100 in the cabinet, and the mounting bracket(s) 138 may be omitted.
The multi-level storage container 102 may slideably extend through an opening 208 in the cabinet 202 on the slideable portion of the slides 130 until a stop 142 included on the multi-level storage container 102 contacts the cabinet 202. The stop 142 may be vertically adjustable with slots 144 to align with an interior surface 210 of the cabinet 202 so as to impede further movement of the multi-level storage container 102 out of the cabinet 202. When extended from the cabinet 202, a latch 146 coupled with the multi-level storage container 102 may secure the multi-level storage container 102 in a withdrawn position from the cabinet 202. When slid on the slides 130 into the cavity 204 in the cabinet 202, a cabinet door, or drawer front coupled with a front face 148 of the front vertical member 106 may be aligned with the opening 208 in the cabinet 202 using adjustable alignment brackets 144.
The shelf horizontal planar member 104B may be coupled with the structural base horizontal planar member 104A by a swivel 154. The swivel 154 is a mechanism or device that enables independent rotational movement of the shelf horizontal planar member 104B from a first position, such as a rest position of the swivel 154, where the shelf horizontal planar member 104B is in parallel alignment with the structural base horizontal planar member 104A to other second positions where the shelf horizontal planar member 104B is obliquely aligned (as illustrated in
When the shelf horizontal planar member 104B is rotated out of the rest position, portions of the shelf horizontal planar member 104B extend beyond a width of the front and rear vertical member 106 and 108. Accordingly, if the multi-level storage container 102 is slide into the cabinet while the shelf horizontal planar member 104B is rotated out of the rest position, the shelf horizontal planar member 104B may contact the cabinet and impede further slidable movement of the multi-level storage container 102 into the cabinet. Such contact may cause damage to the cabinet and/or the multi-level storage container 102.
The latch 146 may lock the multi-level storage container 102 in an extended position where the multi-level storage container 102 is slide out of the cabinet 202, such that the shelf horizontal planar member 104B may rotate without contacting the cabinet 202. In other examples, the latch 146 may be omitted. In these examples, rotation of the shelf horizontal planar member 104B may be impeded by another configuration of an arrest mechanism when the multi-level storage container 102 is not sufficiently extended from the cabinet. In still other examples, there may be no constraints on the slidability of the multi-level storage container 102, or the rotation of the shelf horizontal planar member 104B except for contact of the shelf horizontal planar member 104B with the cabinet 202.
The structural base horizontal planar member 104A illustrated in
As illustrated in
The swivel 154 may be biased to return to a rest position. Biasing may be accomplished by a biasing member 414 with memory, such as a torsion spring. The biasing member 414 may be positioned between the base 402 and the rotatable table 404, and coupled with both the base 402 and the rotatable table 404. Thus, when the rotatable table 404 rotates with respect to the base 402 around a central axis of rotation 416 that is common to the base 402 and the rotatable table 404, the biasing member 414 develops a bias to return the rotatable table 404 back to the rest position with respect to the base 402.
In an example, where the biasing member is a torsion spring, the torsion spring may be a helical torsion spring or a spiral wound torsion spring having a first end fixedly coupled with the base, and a second end fixedly coupled with the rotatable table 404. In another example, the biasing member 414 may include a torsion bar that deforms, or twists to produce a rotational force to return the rotatable table 404 to the rest position with respect to the base 402.
The rest position of the swivel 154 may be arranged to occur when the structural base horizontal planar member 104A and the rotatable shelf horizontal planar member 104B are aligned in parallel alignment extending longitudinally between the front vertical member 106 and the rear vertical member 108, as illustrated by the middle shelf in
The rotary damper 502 may operate as a resistance to slow the rotatable travel of the rotatable shelf horizontal planar member 104B when the rotatable shelf horizontal planar member 104B is returning to, or being rotated out of the rest position. In this way, the inertial rotational acceleration of the rotatable shelf horizontal planar member 104B may be sufficiently suppressed such that items positioned on the rotatable shelf horizontal planar member 104B, such as jars or cans do not topple out when the rotatable shelf horizontal planar member 104B experiences strong rotational force produced by a user to rotate the rotatable shelf horizontal planar member 104B away from the rest position, and/or unimpeded rotation, such as rotation back to the home position, when a user releases the rotatable shelf horizontal planar member 104B while the rotatable shelf horizontal planar member 104B is positioned obliquely or perpendicular with respect to the structural base horizontal planar member 104A (such as the illustrated bottom rotatable shelf in
In
The latch 146 may extend away from the rear vertical member 108 and may latchably secure the multi-level storage container 102 in a withdrawn position outside the cabinet. The latch 146 includes an spring loaded bolt 612 coupled with the rear vertical member 108, and a handle 614. The spring loaded bolt 612 may be engaged to curtail slideable movement of the multi-shelf storage container 102 when the multi-shelf storage container 102 is extended to be fully outside the cabinet. This will prevent accidental contact between the cabinet carcass and a rotatable shelf horizontal planar member 104B that is rotated out of parallel alignment with its respective horizontal planar member 104A.
The handle 614 may be accessible to a user to release the spring loaded bolt 612. The handle 614 may be positioned to extend horizontally between the front and rear vertical members 106 and 108, and be vertically positioned between two of the horizontal planar members 104. Once the rotatable shelf horizontal planar member 104B is rotated into parallel alignment with the structural base horizontal planar member 104A, a user may manually actuate the handle 414 to release the spring loaded bolt 612 in order to allow the multi-level storage container 102 to be slid back into the cabinet. In other examples, other forms of latches may be used.
For example, a fully or semi-automated latch 146 may automatically initiate to impede the slide travel of the multi-level storage container 102 according to a sensed rotatable position of the rotatable shelf horizontal planar member 104B. In other examples, a fully or semi-automated latch 146 may automatically latch when the multi-level storage container 102 extends far enough out of the cabinet to allow full rotational movement of the rotatable shelf horizontal planar member 104B. In any of these examples, disengagement of the latch 146 to allow slideable movement of the multi-level storage container 102 back into the cabinet may be manual, by a user actuating release with the handle 614, and/or automatically released based on a sensed position of the rotatable shelf horizontal planar member 104B.
As also illustrated in
As also illustrated in
The latch 146 is coupled with the multi-shelf storage container 102 such that slideable movement of the multi-shelf storage container 102 is curtailed by the latch 146 in response to the multi-shelf storage container 102 being extended out of the cabinet 202 a predetermined distance. Where there are handles 614 of the latch 146 on opposite sides of the multi-level storage container 102 a connector shaft 810 may fixedly couple the handles 614 and provide a spring loaded bolt 612 that engages with a receiver 814 when the multi-level storage container 102 is fully slide out of the cavity 204 through the opening 208.
The receiver 814 is fixedly coupled with an interior wall 816 the cabinet carcass 202 by an adjustable bracket 818. The adjustable bracket 812 is illustrated as a two-piece adjustable bracket. The illustrated two-piece adjustable bracket 812 includes a first angled bracket 820 having perpendicularly intersecting flanges such that a first flange 822 abuts an inner surface of the cabinet carcass 202, and a second flange 824 contiguously aligns with a second angled bracket 826. Each of the first and second flanges 822 and 824 include slots 828 to provide for adjustable alignment of the receiver 814 with the bolt 812.
The second angled bracket 826 includes perpendicularly arranged first and second flanges 830 and 832 to respectively contiguously align with the second flange 824 of the first angled bracket 820, and also contiguously couple with the receiver 814. The first and second flanges 822 and 824 of the first angled bracket 820 include slots 836 sized to receive fasteners 838. The slots 836 in the first flange 822 allow horizontal adjustment of the receiver 814 on the inner wall of the cabinet 202, and the slots 836 in the second flange 824 allow adjustment of the spacing of the receiver 814 away from the inner wall of the cabinet 202. Thus, the first and second angled brackets 824 and 826 provide for alignment of the receiver 814 with the bolt 812, which is coupled to the multi-shelf storage container 102.
The first flange 830 of the second angled bracket 826 may include threaded apertures to receive fasteners 838 extending through the slots 836 of the second flange 824 of the first angled bracket 824. Accordingly, the second angled bracket 826 may be adjustably spaced away from the inner wall of the cabinet carcass 202 in order to align the receiver 814 with the bolt 812, while the flanges 824 and 830 of the first and second angled members 820 and 826 are contiguously aligned.
It is now apparent that there are many advantages of the multi-level cabinet storage system 100 provided herein. In addition to the advantages that have been described, it is also possible that there are still other advantages that are not currently recognized but which may become apparent at a later time.
While preferred embodiments of the multi-level cabinet storage system have been described, it should be understood that the disclosure is not limiting, and modifications may be made without departing from the features and functionality described. The scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended claims, and all devices that come within the meaning of the claims, either literally or by equivalence, are intended to embrace them.