The following includes information that may be useful in understanding the present disclosure. It is not an admission that any of the provided information is prior art nor material to the presently described or claimed inventions, nor that any publication or document that is specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
The present invention generally relates to the field of racks of existing art and more specifically relates to law enforcement utility racks.
Law enforcement officials carry numerous accessories and essential pieces of equipment. Typically, an officer must carry these accessories on their person for quick access. The increasing list of daily supplies includes notepads, writing utensils, firearm and holster, ballistic vests, flashlight, and handcuffs to name a few. The various essential equipment and supplies are retained on or near an officer when on duty. In preparation for each shift, a law enforcement official must equip the supplies. Officers agree that organization of the equipment between shifts is crucial. Existing efforts to keep organized include modified hat racks, storage cabinets, and similar dedicated spaces. However, the prior art fails to accommodate firearms securely.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,749,073 to Amanda L. McNab relates to a utility rack. The described utility rack includes a utility rack for organizing and storing a variety of clothing and accessory items commonly worn and used by law enforcement personnel. The utility rack includes several apparel supports and accessory supports, and more specifically, the utility rack includes a shoe-rack, radio support, microphone mount, apparel hook, hat-rack, utility belt hanger, vest hanger, and storage box all carried on an elongated post affixed to a base with adjustable footing for leveling the rack. The apparel supports and accessory supports are disposed at various levels along the height of the post for organizing the clothing and accessory items in a functional arrangement generally related to the manner in which the items are usually donned and removed.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known law enforcement utility racks art, the present disclosure provides a novel utility rack and method. The general purpose of the present disclosure, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a utility rack and method.
A utility rack for holding law enforcement equipment is disclosed. The utility rack includes a base, an elongate support, an upper compartment, and a locking-safe. The elongate support is configured to attach in a perpendicular orientation to the base. The upper compartment is configured to attach to the elongate support at an end distal to the base. The upper compartment includes a plurality of partitions. The locking-safe occupies one of the pluralities of partitions in the upper compartment. The base, the elongate support, and the upper compartment form a vertically standing structure when attached in series.
According to another embodiment, a method of assembling the utility rack is also disclosed. The method includes a step of providing a utility rack as described above, a step of attaching an elongate support to a base, a step of attaching an upper compartment to the elongate support at an end distal to the base, a step of mounting the upper compartment to a vertical surface with a compartment-wall-mount mechanism, and a step of mounting the upper compartment to a vertical surface with a compartment-wall-mount mechanism.
For purposes of summarizing the invention, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features of the invention have been described. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any one particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein. The features of the invention which are believed to be novel are particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings and detailed description.
The figures which accompany the written portion of this specification illustrate embodiments and methods of use for the present disclosure, a utility rack and method, constructed and operative according to the teachings of the present disclosure.
The various embodiments of the present invention will be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein like designations denote like elements.
As discussed above, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a law enforcement utility racks and more particularly to a utility rack and method as used to improve the existing storage racks.
Generally, the utility rack is a space-efficient storage area for the organization of law enforcement equipment. Similar organizations such as military and first responders may also find the utility rack useful. The utility rack may be assembled to stand vertically, thereby occupying a minimal amount of floor space. Alternatively, the utility rack may be mounted on a wall or other flat surface. The utility rack may comprise of any known material including wood, metal, plastic, ceramic, and all like composites. The utility rack comprises three main components: an upper storage area, an elongate storage area, and a base. In alternate embodiments, the elongate storage area may be replaced by a non-storage support pole. When the utility rack is assembled in a vertical orientation, the three main components are connected in series. The upper storage area and the elongate storage area include a mounting mechanism that enables the components to be attached to a wall.
The upper storage area includes multiple partitions and shelving arrangements for storage and organization of various law enforcement supplies. The shelving and partitions may include apertures configured to receive wires, for charging electronic devices and the like. At least one of the partitions includes a locking safe made of a metal, such as steel, or a hard plastic. The locking safe may further include partitions, shelves, and other means to organize items. The locking safe may be useful for officers to secure their weapons, bullets, and other dangerous items. The upper storage area further includes armatures that may be useful for hanging equipment. These armatures include a configuration to hang a ballistic vest such that the downward force is evenly distributed on the upper storage area. The armatures further include a configuration to hang a utility belt. The utility belt configuration provides a space below the armature for a belt to hang unimpeded.
The elongate storage area serves as a vertical support pillar when in series between the base and the upper storage compartment. The elongate storage area further serves as a secure area for an officer to store a long firearm, such as a rifle. The elongate storage area includes at least one locking hatch that is openable by a key lock, a combination lock, or a fingerprint or other biometric lock, as well as many other methods as known to those of ordinary skill in the art. In some embodiments the elongate storage area may be an extruded polygon such as squares, rectangles, triangles, pentagons, and hexagons. In other embodiments the elongate storage area may be an extruded shape that is annular.
Referring now more specifically to the drawings by numerals of reference, there is shown in
According to one embodiment, the utility rack 100 may be arranged as a kit 105. In particular, the utility rack 100 may further include a set of instructions 107. The instructions 107 may detail functional relationships about the structure of the utility rack 100 such that the utility rack 100 can be used, maintained, or the like, in a preferred manner.
The upper compartment 130 is configured to attach to the elongate support 120 at an end opposite the base 110. The upper compartment 130 may include a plurality of armatures 132. Each of said plurality of armatures 132 may be individually used to retain apparel and accessories. The plurality of armatures 132 may include a utility belt retention armature 133. The utility belt retention armature 133 may be disposed on the upper compartment 130 such that there is ample space below the utility belt retention armature 133. The plurality of armatures 132 may further include ballistic vest retention armatures 134. The ballistic vest armatures 134 may be configured to distribute the weight of a ballistic vest evenly on the upper compartment 130. In some variations, the locking-safe 140 and the upper compartment 130 may comprise steel in another embodiment. In an alternate embodiment, the utility rack 100 may comprise a hard plastic.
Further shown, the plurality of armatures 132 includes a ballistic vest retention armatures 134. The ballistic vest retention armatures 134 are used to hang a ballistic vest 72. The locking-safe 140 may include a non-abrasive material 141 disposed on the interior of the locking-safe 140.
It should be noted that steps 504 and 505 are optional steps and may not be implemented in all cases. Optional steps of the method of use 500 are illustrated using dotted lines in
The embodiments of the invention described herein are exemplary, and numerous modifications, variations, and rearrangements can be readily envisioned to achieve substantially equivalent results, all of which are intended to be embraced within the spirit and scope of the invention. Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientist, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application.
The present application is related to and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/564,199 filed Sep. 27, 2017, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
62564199 | Sep 2017 | US |