Patent Application
20090188917
This invention generally relates to vertically-aligned organizers.
Although hanging compartmentalized vertical organizers are known in the art, prior art vertical organizers are deficient in many respects. For example, prior art vertical organizers are only adapted to hang from a hook or any other similarly-adapted hanging instrument and therefore require a location in a house or other area to hang the organizer. Furthermore, prior art vertical organizers are not able to be set up without drilling or otherwise positioning a hanging device into a household item such as a door or wall. Many of these prior art systems are not adapted for use as a vertical organizer for garments—nor may they be used with a stand-alone frame instead of a household item.
Prior art vertical organizers are also deficient because prior art organizer compartments are not adapted for use a travel bag. If the user attempts to travel with the items within the prior art vertical organizers, the items are likely to fall out of the organizer during travel. Furthermore, the compartment and organizer is difficult to carry.
Further deficiencies in prior art vertical organizers include the lack of vertical garment organizers which allow air circulation over the garments. Current organizers have compartments which comprise continuous sidewalls, covers or dividers. The continuous sidewalls, covers, or dividers are not porous and are not adapted to allow air to flow through and around the garments. Therefore, in the prior art organizers, wet items may not dry appropriately if placed within the organizer and if many items are placed in the individual prior art compartments, without proper air circulation, the items may become moldy or have an unpleasant odor.
Further deficiencies in prior art vertical garment organizers include the lack of appropriately identifying the different types of items placed within the compartments. There is also a lack of vertical garment organizer compartments having shapes adapted to make the organizer more appealing to certain segments of the population such as, but not limited to, children.
In one embodiment of a vertical organizer, the organizer may be adapted for use as a vertical garment organizer. A vertical garment organizer may be comprised of a backpanel wherein one or more compartments are coupled to the backpanel such that the compartments are vertically sequentially arranged. For example, the backpanel may be comprised of a long and thin, yet relatively wide, flexible polymeric or non-polymeric material, and may have at least one bore proximal one or more backpanel edges. The bore or bores may be used to couple the backpanel to a wall, door, or another vertically-oriented area through a hanging instrument such as, but not limited to, a hook. Other hanging instruments are contemplated such as, but not limited to, nails may be used. The backpanel may be a thin section of material about 6 feet in length and 3 feet in width.
One backpanel may have a front side. On one backpanel front side may be a coupling mechanism such as, but not limited to, one of a hook and a loop material. Additionally, the one or more compartments may have a rear side comprising the other of the hook and loop material wherein backpanel front side and the compartment rear side may be adapted to operatively couple to one another. Other mechanisms adapted to couple the compartments to the backpanel are also contemplated and one coupling mechanism may be adapted to quickly couple and uncouple the compartments to the backpanel. In one embodiment, a compartment may have about a 9 inch depth, with about a 15 inch width and about a 15 inch length.
One garment compartment may be a sectionalized compartment. One sectionalized compartment may have three sections, each adapted to receive garments. The compartments may have sections aligned along a compartment's depth, although widthwisely or lengthwisely sectioned compartments are also contemplated. One compartment may also be comprised of at least one sidewall, a front cover, and back cover. The sidewall covers, or dividers may surround a cavity and may be comprised of a porous material adapted to allow air to flow over the contents of the compartments in one embodiment (i.e., garments in one embodiment are allowed to “breathe”, thereby helping wet garments to dry).
Sidewalls, covers, or dividers in one embodiment may also be comprised of a mesh material such as cotton or another type of fabric such as, but not limited to a synthetic material—for example, polyester or even polyethylene. The divider walls between the sections in the compartments, the sidewalls, and the covers may also be comprised of non-porous transparent polymeric material. All materials may be flexible in nature. One embodiment may be comprised of compressible bellowed compartments which may be similar to an “accordion shape”.
Further unique aspects of one vertical garment organizer comprise an embodiment having a vertical organizer frame. One vertical organizer frame may be adapted to be a standalone frame, thereby overcoming the prior art deficiency where the vertical organizers must be hung or otherwise attach themselves to a household item in order to position themselves vertically.
One vertical garment organizer may also be used as a traveling device. With one such device, a user of a vertical garment organizer may detach one or more portions of the organizer for use as a day or overnight travel bag. Therefore, one embodiment may overcome the prior art deficiency where a user may be required to remove items from the organizer and place the items into a separate travel bag if the user wishes to travel with the items.
One such travel organizer may have compartments which may have an internal frame. Additionally, traveling compartments may be comprised of a clasping device adapted to secure a lid to the compartment cavity opening, substantially closing the compartment cavity. The compartment may also be comprised of a handle. Like other compartments, traveling compartments may be adapted to secure to a backpanel and may couple to a backpanel through a zipper. A vertical garment organizer may also be adapted to provide a user with the ability to further organize garments into color-coded or shape oriented compartments, helping to identify the types of garments within each compartment. For example, some organizer compartments may be colored pink or blue or may have the shape of a football or a heart or flower.
The terms and phrases as indicated in quotation marks (“ ”) in this section are intended to have the meaning ascribed to them in this Terminology section applied to them throughout this document, including in the claims, unless clearly indicated otherwise in context. Further, as applicable, the stated definitions are to apply, regardless of the word or phrase's case, tense or any singular or plural variations of the defined word or phrase.
The term “or” as used in this specification and the appended claims is not meant to be exclusive rather the term is inclusive meaning “either or both”.
References in the specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “a preferred embodiment”, “an alternative embodiment”, “a variation”, “one variation”, and similar phrases mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least an embodiment of the invention. The appearances of phrases like “in one embodiment”, “in an embodiment”, or “in a variation” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all meant to refer to the same embodiment or variation.
The term “couple”, “coupled”, “coupling”, or any variation thereof, as used in this specification and the appended claims refers to either an indirect or direct connection between the identified elements, components or objects. Often the manner of the coupling will be related specifically to the manner in which the two coupled elements interact. Specifically, this term may be used to define tow elements joined by a bolted fastener, a latch, a hook, or any other reasonably readily removable fastening device.
The term “integrate” or “integrated” as used in this specification and the appended claims refers to a blending, uniting, or incorporation of the identified elements, components or objects into a unified whole.
Directional and/or relationary terms such as, but not limited to, left, right, nadir, apex, top, bottom, vertical, horizontal, back, front and lateral are relative to each other and are dependent on the specific orientation of a applicable element or article, and are used accordingly to aid in the description of the various embodiments and are not necessarily intended to be construed as limiting.
As applicable, the terms “about” or “generally” as used herein unless otherwise indicated means a margin of ±20%. Also, as applicable, the term “substantially” as used herein unless otherwise indicated means a margin of ±10%. It is to be appreciated that not all uses of the above terms are quantifiable such that the referenced ranges can be applied.
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One backpanel 12 may be comprised of a thin, generally flexible material having a front surface 18 with a top edge 22 and at least one bore 20, as best shown in
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In one embodiment, the at least one bore 20 may be a plurality of bores. As best shown in
The compartments 14 in one embodiment may be adapted to expand. For example, one embodiment may be comprised of one or more bellowed compartments, as best shown in
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The mesh or other porous material may be adapted to allow air to enter the compartment. The front side and the back side may also be referred to as the front cover and the back cover. Air is often needed when storing clothes or other items that may be wet, in order to properly dry the items. Wet items or tightly packed items, as well as other items in other areas, may create a moldy, dank, and altogether unpleasant odor. Airflow helps diminish this odor.
One backpanel 12 may be comprised of one of a hanging organizer backpanel, a vertically coupling organizer, and a frame organizer. A hanging organizer backpanel may be adapted to hang vertically through the at least one bore 20 being adapted to receive a hanging instrument 40, as best shown in
Bellowed, unbellowed, sectionalized, and unsectionalized compartments 14 of one embodiment may comprise a cavity 42, as best shown in
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The material of one travel or even a non-travel compartment may be comprised of thickness adapted to travel well—without ripping or tearing or wearing out after only a few uses. For example, one embodiment may have a compartment with a denier of about 420. A type of material which may be used in one embodiment is Cordura®, manufactured by Invista™ of Wichita, Kans. Some Cordura® compartments may have a denier fiber count greater than 420 such as 500 or even 1000 denier fibers. Some compartments in a travel version may have different sizes such that the compartment may be adapted for use as different types of travel bags. For example, one compartment may have a smaller size and may have a liner such that the bag may be adapted to travel with bathroom toiletries, or a compartment may be adapted to receive and carry men's suits.
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Furthermore, the compartments 14 of one vertical garment organizer may be adapted to have a certain color or may resemble a specific shape or object. For example, as best shown in
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In one method, the compartments 14 may be bellowed compartments adapted to expand upon receiving articles. Furthermore, some of the compartments may be comprised of sections. The sections may be separated by transparent dividers. The compartments may couple to the backpanel 12 through the use of a coupling mechanism. One coupling mechanism may be hook and loop material wherein the backpanel of a compartment may be coupled to the hook portion which may align with the loop portion coupled to the front side of the backpanel.
Further methods may include placing garments within the compartments 14. To do so, in one method, a clasping mechanism may be uncoupled, enabling a lid to open and reveal a compartment cavity. When the cavity is open, one method may allow garment to be placed within the cavity in separate sections. The lid clasping mechanism may then be recoupled, keeping the compartment shut. A further method step may include removing the compartment from the backpanel 12 prior to placing the garments within the backpanel, then replacing the compartment on the backpanel after placing the garments within the compartment.
Further methods may include placing garments within a compartment which comprises a flexible material and a compartment frame. One compartment frame may be an internal frame—that is, the frame may be located on the inside of the compartment. The internal frame compartment may be comprised of a lid and the lid may have a coupling mechanism such as, but not limited to, a zipper.
One method may also be comprised of a step of allowing air to enter the compartment. This may be done by having a compartment which is comprised of a porous material. Through this porous material, air may enter the compartment cavity. Furthermore, if the outer compartment material is porous enough, the articles placed within the compartment may be seen from the outside. Additionally, if the dividers that separate the sections are transparent, the articles within the section may be able to be seen through the dividers. In a method of organizing wherein the method is comprised of using a compartment adapted for use as a travel bag, the method may be comprised of steps such as grabbing a sectionalized compartment handle and using the handle to carry the compartment.
The embodiments of the vertically-oriented organizer and methods of use as illustrated in the accompanying figures and described above are merely exemplary and are not meant to limit the scope of the invention. It is to be appreciated that numerous variations to the invention have been contemplated as would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art with the benefit of this disclosure.
