GB2370983A

GB2370983A - Door top mountable, generally hook like, hanging storage device which may be reversible

Info

Publication number: GB2370983A
Application number: GB0100712A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Autridge Bleaden
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-01-11
Filing date: 2001-01-11
Publication date: 2002-07-17
Also published as: GB0100712D0

Abstract

A demountable storage device 10 for use in hanging an article on a door comprises a door engaging portion 11, 12 to engage the upper region of a door and a support member 14, 15 to support an article adjacent or against a vertical surface of the door. The door engaging portion 11, 12 engages the back side of the door relative to the hung article. An intermediate portion 13 connects the door engaging portion 11, 12 and the support member 14, 15 and at least partially abuts the surface of the door against which the article hangs. The device is formed from a resilient material such as polyproylene, the intermediate portion 13 may be angled acutely, and the support member 14, 15 may comprise a towel support (41, fig.4). Also disclosed is a demountable storage device 10, which need not be formed of a resilient material, which is reversible in that the door engaging portion 11, 12 and support member 14, 15 may be inverted to perform each others respective functions.

Description

AN IMPROVED SUPPORT DEVICE

Field of the Invention The invention relates to a storage device from which articles can be hung in a work area In particular it relates to a device, attachable to a door or drawer which is suitable for use in a domestic environment Background to the Invention In the work place and domestic environment, the efficient utilisation of available storage space is becoming increasingly important. Particularly in an office, this is either to reduce costs by enabling a business to be able to rent less floor space, or to increase safety by reducing clutter. Alternatively, the amount of space itself in a building can be small due to the increasing number and variety of equipment used, and because the rooms of modern houses are smaller than is traditionally the case.

It is additionally often useful to store certain items away from their normally allocated space One specific example of this is a tea-towel used in drying dishes, which it is advantageous to hang up in a kitchen to dry, between being used on a batches of dishes.

In order to utilise the space around a door which might otherwise need to be kept clear to allow access, a number of types of apparatus have been developed For example, hooks are available on which stored items can be hung, which hooks can be semi-permanently fixed to the door by using either a screw or an adhesive. The use of a screw however, leaves a hole in the door either on removal of the screw or when-as can often happen where the door is hollow and the door surface is thin, typically simply a veneer-the stored item is too heavy and pulls the screw out of the door Adhesives are often too weak for the purpose or leave a mark on the door when the apparatus removed.

Demountable devices have been developed which hook over the door and which extend outwardly several door widths into the room and on which there is sufficient space to hang several objects In order to be able to take the weight of these several objects however, the load-bearing part of the device in contact with the door is normally so thick that it is often difficult, if not impossible to shut the door.

It is an object of the invention to provide a removable device to be placed over the top of a door which can provide increased storage space For the purpose of clarity the use of the term door should also include a drawer or other article on which the device can be mounted Summary of the Invention According to the invention there is provided a demountable storage device for use in hanging an article on a door, the device comprising; a door-engaging portion to engage the upper region of a door, a support member to support an article, adjacent or against a vertical surface of a door, the door-engaging portion additionally engaging the opposite surface of the door to that which the support member is against or adjacent; and an intermediate portion connecting the door-engaging portion and the support member, the intermediate portion at least partially abutting the surface of the door

against which an article hangs c In a preferred embodiment, the intermediate portion abuts the door along the intermediate portions entire length, to provide extra support to an article.

The device is preferably formed from a resilient material, polypropylene being particularly preferred. The resilient material enables the device to better grip a

door.

The door-engaging portion is advantageously approximately 0 5mm in thickness It is preferably so sized as to fit over a door of thickness 15. 0-185mm. Particularly preferred sizes are 15. 5mm and 18mm which enable the device to fit standard doors.

The intermediate portion is advantageously planar. In a further preferred embodiment the intermediate portion is non-parallel to the door-surface which it abuts, prior to the article being suspended from the device. Conveniently the intermediate portion subtends an acute angle with the door surface. The angle subtended is preferably less than 5 degrees to reduce damage to the door by the intermediate portion The thickness of the door-engaging portion is selected so as to allow a door, to which it is engaged, to shut by utilising the normal clearance space provided between the door and it's corresponding frame The support member is advantageously furcated to allow more than one article to be suspended from the support member The support member can include a specialist holder adapted to hold articles such as cloths and towels. For example, the holder can comprise a mounting for a resilient split surface which cloth or towel passes the split surfaces then gripping the cloth or towel.

The support member can advantageously be used as the door-engaging member, in which case the door-engaging member can function as the support member The support member is conveniently demountable from the storage device to enable the storage device to be tailored to suit the article being stored.

Brief Description of the Drawings The invention will now be described more particularly with reference to the accompanying drawings which show, by way of example only, six embodiments of storage device according to the invention. In the drawings;

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of storage device, Figure 2 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of storage device having a bifurcated support member ; Figure 3 is perspective view of a third embodiment of storage device,

Figure 4 is a fourth embodiment of a storage device having a towel grip, z Figure 5 is a perspective view of a fifth embodiment of storage device having a hook to support articles, and Figure 6 is a sixth embodiment of a storage device Detailed Description of the Invention Figure 1 shows a first embodiment storage device (generally referenced) 10 which comprises a set of connected plates formed as a plastics material extrusion. The device includes : a first planar rectangular linkage plate 11 ; a second planar rectangular plate 12, of similar size to the first plate 11 depending perpendicularly from one edge of the first plate 11, A third larger, planar rectangular plate 13 depends from the opposite edge of the plate 11, in a parallel plane to the second plate 12. An article support plate 14 is joined to the plate 13 by means of a second linkage plate 15.

The storage device 10 is formed from a resilient polypropylene plastics material.

The thickness of the linkage plate 11 is 0. 5mm. The width of the narrower portion of the linkage plate 11 is 15. 5mm The width of the narrower portion of the linkage plate 15 is 18. 5mm Figure 2 shows the second embodiment of storage device 20 which is substantially similar to that shown in Figure 1. The support plate 21 (corresponding to support plate 14 in Figure 1) is U-shaped, either to facilitate two items, such as cloths or utensils, being supported from the device 20 or to provide an improved grip on an article to reduce its chances of slippage and falling to the floor.

A third embodiment of a storage device 30 is shown in Figure 3. The device 30 is substantially similar to that shown in Figure 1, in which the support member 31 and the plate 32 are rounded to reduce any damage to the article being supported, which the sharp edges of the corner of the support plate 14 in Figure 1 might cause.

Figure 4 shows a storage device 40, in which the device has a towel support 41 fixed to the plate 42. The towel support 41 is of a well known construction having an outer casing 43 and three flexible flaps 44 which grip and support a towel when a towel is pushed through them.

In Figure 5 a storage device 50 has a hook 51 to support an article, for example, a cloth, coat etc.

The storage device 60 illustrated in Figure 6 is substantially similar to the device 10 shown in Figure 1. The plate 61 however does not depend perpendicularly from the plate 62, but is at an angle alpha, alpha being about 85 . The angle alpha, combined with the resilience of the material from which the material 60 is formed causes the device 60 to grip more strongly to the door onto which it is placed.

In use, a device 10 is chosen, having a linkage plate of sufficient thickness to pass between the top of the door and the door frame The linkage plate 11 is placed in contact with the upper surface of a door against which an article is to be stored, with the article support plate 14 on the side of the door on which the article is to be stored. Once the device 10 has been positioned where desired, along the length of the door, the article can be hung from the device.

The device can be formed as one integral device, for example by thermoforming a plastics material. Alternatively, the individual support members can be demountable so that the device can be adapted to store a number of different articles when required. The device can be formed from a number of different materials which, without being limiting, can be selected from polypropylene, polyethylenes or copolymers thereof, steel or wood.

It will of course be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific details described herein, which are given by way of example only, and that various modifications and alterations are possible within the scope of the invention.

Claims

A demountable storage device for hanging an article on a door, the device being formed from a resilient material and comprising a support member for hanging an article adjacent or against a vertical surface of a door, a door-engaging portion to engage the upper in use region of a door, said door-engaging portion additionally engaging the opposite surface of the door to that adjacent or against which an article may hang and to which the support member is against or adjacent, and an intermediate portion connecting the door-engaging portion and the support member, the intermediate portion at least partially abutting the surface of the door adjacent or against which an article may hang
2. A demountable storage device according to Claim 1, wherein the device is 1. 3 c reversible, the support member being operable to engage the upper in use region of the door and the door-engaging portion being operable as a support member.
3. A demountable storage device for hanging an article on a door, the device comprising a support member for hanging an article adjacent or against a vertical surface of a door, a door-engaging portion to engage the upper in use region of a door, said door-engaging portion additionally engaging the opposite surface of the

door to that adjacent or against which an article may hang and to which the c support member is against or adjacent; and an intermediate portion connecting the door-engaging portion and the support member, the intermediate portion at least partially abutting the surface of the door adjacent or against which an article may hang,

wherein the device is reversible, the support member being operable to engage the upper in use region of the door and the door-engaging portion being operable as a support member 4 A demountable storage device according to Claim 3, wherein the device is formed from a resilient material 5 A demountable storage device according to any one of claims I to 4, wherein the intermediate portion abuts the door along the intermediate

portion's entire length, to provide extra support to an article c 6 A demountable storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the material is a polypropylene 7 A demountable storage device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein one or both of the door-engaging portion and the support member is so sized as to fit over a door having a thickness which is in a range from 14. 0 to 20 Omm 8 A demountable storage device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein one of either the door-engaging portion and the support member has a depth dimension of 15. 5mm 9 A demountable storage device according to Claim 8, wherein the other one of the door-engaging portion and the support member has a depth dimension of 18. 5mm.

10 A demountable storage device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the intermediate portion is planar 11 A demountable storage device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the intermediate portion is non-parallel to the door-surface to which it abuts 12 A demountable storage device according to Claim 11, wherein the intermediate portion subtends an acute angle with respect to a vertical surface of a door

13 A demountable storage device according to Claim 12, wherein the angle subtended is less than 5 degrees to reduce damage to a door by the intermediate portion

14 A demountable storage device according to any one of the preceding n claims, wherein the thickness of the door-engaging portion is selected so c as to allow a door, to which it is engaged, to shut by utilising the normal clearance space provided between a door and its corresponding frame.

15 A demountable storage device according to Claim 12, wherein the door engaging portion is approximately 0. 5mm thick 16 A demountable storage device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the support member is furcated to allow more than one article to be suspended from the support member 17 A demountable storage device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the support member includes a specialist holder adapted to hold articles such as cloths and towels 18. A demountable storage device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the support member is removably fixed to the storage device to enable the storage device to be tailored to suit the article being stored 19 A demountable storage device substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in any one of the accompanying drawings.