Cabinet structure for storing, displaying and indexing

• US 4,540,222 A
• Filed: 02/28/1983
• Issued: 09/10/1985
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/1983
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Alfred A. Burrell
• Original Assignee: Alfred A. Burrell
• Inventors: Burrell, Alfred A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lyddane, William E.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Falk, Joseph
• Application Number:
  US06/470,322
• Time in Patent Office: 925 Days
• Field of Search: 211/105.1, 211/123, 211/134, 211/190, 211/208, 211/186, 211/187, 211/184, 211/43, 211/175, 108/108-111, 108/60, 108/61, 108/65, 248/223.1, 248/222.4, 248/150, 248/165, 248/295.1, 312/111, 312/3, 312/201, 312/257, 312/5, 312/250, 312/257 SM
• US Class Current: 312/257.1
• CPC Class Codes: A47F 3/00 Show cases or show cabinets

Abstract

A cabinet structure for space-efficient storage and/or display of a wide variety of small and medium sized items utilizing certain basic parts and offering with optional accessories a versatile storage system that can be assembled to meet the individual requirements of many different users and purposes. The cabinet structure comprises a base, a pair of spaced vertical sides, a back and a top. It can be used alone or means may be provided on the sides to secure it in combination with other related cabinet structures. The structure may carry one or more shelves at selected vertical spacings, the ends of the shelves being removably supported on the cabinet sides and optionally adjustable in width, i.e., from back to front of the cabinet, and the cabinet side supporting means being able to support the shelf ends in the shelf width selected. Provision is made for supporting vertical dividers extending in front to back direction between adjacent shelves at selected spacings. The dividers are held at top and bottom, being compression biased toward the bottom and readily removable against such bias. The compartmented shelves are easily converted into bins by a bin front member that is removably mounted on the front edge of certain dividers by an adjustable pair of divider carried jaws. The cabinet structure is readily convertible to a wide number of configurations alone or in combination with other such structures.

Claims

1. A cabinet comprising a base, spaced vertical sides, a back and a top, a plurality of removable shelves extending between the spaced sides of the cabinet, said shelves being expandable in width with each comprising two complementary full-length sections indivdually supported at their ends by said cabinet sides, a longitudinally extending reinforcing member on the underside of each shelf section having a downwardly facing trough with a compressible filler therein and spaced transverse slots that rise above the bottom of said compressible filler, said shelf sections having longitudinally spaced rows of cuts in vertical registry with said reinforcing member slots, shallow channels with downwardly extending tabs seated in selected rows of cuts on at least one shelf, vertical partitions removably supported in confronting reinforcing channel slots and shallow channels being downwardly biased by said compressible filler, co-acting upper and lower jaws mounted on the edges of said vertical partitions, each lower jaw being in fixed position and each upper jaw being vertically adjustable and a vertically oriented planar front member removably secured across the front of a shelf by partition carried jaws to define with a respective shelf and dividers at least one bin.

2. A cabinet structure for storage or display comprising a rectangular base to be horizontally positioned on a support surface, spaced vertical sides and a back and top, and a plurality of shelves extending between said spaced sides, said vertical sides being inclined on the front, rearwardly tapering toward the top, and being made of rigid sheet material and having therein a series of vertically spaced horizontal rows of regularly positioned holes, bolt fastening means passing through said holes to co-operate with ends of said shelves to releasably support said shelves in a variety of horizontal positions, at least one of said shelves having two complementary full-length sections extending between said sides and being in telescopic sliding relation to each other to permit said one shelf to be expandable in width from front to back, both sections of each expandable shelf having depending ends for attachment to the cabinet sides, and wherein the rear section has a lower part of the depending ends thereof each provided with an offset step and a front section has an inner portion of the depending ends thereof of the same depth as the upper part of the rear section ends and provided with an inturned flange that normally rests on the outwardly offset step of said rear section so that the respective front section ends and the lower part of the rear section ends are coplanar.

3. A cabinet structure according to claim 2, both shelf sections having flanged ends for attachment by way of the bolt fastening means to the cabinet sides, the horizontal rows of holes being arranged to receive the bolt fastening means to secure the front section to the cabinet sides at a predetermined vertical height in a selected expanded width.

4. A cabinet structure according to claim 2 further comprising means for separately supporting opposite ends of both front and rear sections of the shelves, each such means comprising a bolt selectively positioned in a keyhole-shaped perforation in a side of the cabinet, the bolt having a collar with opposite sides flattened to fit and be releasably held in a non-rotatable relation in the narrow slot of the keyhole perforation.

5. A cabinet structure according to claim 6 wherein each shelf section has depending ends for attachment to the cabinet sides, and wherein the depending ends of the front and rear shelf sections have spaced vertical notches extending up from their lower edges adapted to straddle the bolts and nuts on the bolts for securely clamping the shelf section ends to the cabinet sides, the notches having flared mouths to facilitate the mounting of the shelf sections on the bolts.

6. A cabinet structure according to claim 2 having removable vertical dividers running from front to back and at selected spacings along the length of the shelves, the dividers when in position being downwardly biased under compression and removable against such compression.

7. A cabinet structure according to claim 6 wherein each shelf has secured to its underside a longitudinally extending reinforcement member of U-shaped cross-section with a central downwardly facing trough, a compressible filler in the trough and divider-accommodating slots disposed transversely of the U-shaped reinforcement member, which slots rise above the bottom of the filler.

8. A cabinet structure according to claim 7 wherein the shelves are provided with longitudinally spaced rows of perforations, the cabinet structure being further provided with a shallow channel member having at least two downwardly extending tabs insertable in the perforations to secure the channel member to the corresponding shelf, and a partition fitted in the transversely disposed slots and compressed against the filler in the shelf reinforcement member and resting in the channel member.

9. A cabinet structure according to claim 8 wherein the channel member has a U-shaped cross-section, one of the arms of the channel member being of less height than the other.

10. A cabinet structure according to claim 2 having removable vertical dividers at selected spacing along the length of the shelves and a vertically oriented planar front member removably carried by the front edges of the dividers on at least one shelf to define at least one bin with said shelf and said dividers.

11. A cabinet structure according to claim 10 wherein the dividers have co-acting upper and lower jaws removably embracing their front edges, the jaws releasably engaging the planar front member, the upper of the jaws being vertically slidably mounted on the divider.

12. A cabinet structure according to claim 2 further provided with a pair of L-shaped brackets, the arm of each bracket being provided with a plurality of holes, the brackets to be secured by the bolt fastening means at corresponding locations at the rear of the cabinet structure sides so that the base section of the bracket will support thereon the rear of a shelf section in position inclined from front to rear.

13. A cabinet structure according to claim 2 wherein the vertical sides are reinforced on their outsides by external spaced upstanding inwardly facing channel members secured near the front and back edges respectively, the base of the channels being provided with spaced perforations and the cabinet sides having perforations in registry therewith for accommodation of fastening means when corresponding cabinet structures or finishing panels of the same perimetral shape as a cabinet side are secured together in side-by-side relationship.

14. A cabinet structure according to claim 13 wherein the sides have an inturned flange at the back edge provided with vertically spaced perforations and the back of the cabinet is provided with registering perforations for the accommodation of fastening means.

15. A cabinet structure according to claim 13 having a side finishing panel of the same perimetral shape as the corresponding cabinet side, the panel being provided with perforations registering with those in the reinforcing external channel members and fastening means extending through the panel, channel and cabinet side.

16. A cabinet structure according to claim 13 further provided with a molding strip for the vertical sides of the cabinet on the front, the molding strip being of recessed channel shape with wide outwardly extending side flanges in cross-section, and wherein the cabinet side front and the molding strip flanges have registering perforations, and securing means for the registering perforations to secure the corresponding flange of the molding strip to the corresponding cabinet side front, wherein when two cabinet structures are secured in side-by-side relationship, the molding strip serves as a closing means for the gap between the side-by-side cabinets and the side walls of the recessed channel of the molding strip lies between the confronting side fronts of the respective cabinet structures acting as a precise spacer therefor.

17. A cabinet structure according to claim 2 wherein the sides of the cabinet structures each have a spaced vertical pair of vertical rows of slots cut therein, two sets of brackets removably mounted in the respective rows of slots and a pegboard disposed between the sides of the cabinet and securely supported by the respective sets of brackets against rearward and forward displacement.

18. A cabinet structure according to claim 2 further provided with an elongated strip having means to releasably secure the strip to the front edge of the shelf and having perforations to receive tabs of a label holder for securing the label holder to the strip.

19. A cabinet structure according to claim 18 wherein the front edge of each shelf ends in a vertical flange section, and wherein the strip is provided with a groove to releasably receive the end of that flange in frictional engagement therewith, the strip being of predetermined length to provide label indexing for a predetermined length of shelf.

20. A cabinet structure according to claim 2 further provided with bins supported on the shelves.

21. A cabinet structure according to claim 2 supported on vertically adjustable feet having a foot pad and upwardly extending threaded stem each received in a threaded socket secured to the underside of the base, the feet being of uniform construction and each being provided with a cylindrical collar of similar length circumscribing the stem, the collar being breakable to enable the foot to be upwardly adjusted after the upward edge of the collar has come into contact with the corresponding edges of the socket.

22. A cabinet structure according to claim 2 which further comprises a pair of similarly shaped wall brackets secured to said sides and an elongated bar from which objects may be hung extending between said sides and supported on a pair of said brackets.

23. A cabinet structure according to claim 2 further comprising blind means rotatable on socket means secured to the cabinet structure, the roller blind extending across the open front of the cabinet structure to close it when the blind is in drawn position.

24. A cabinet structure according to claim 2 further provided with movable drawers supported on at least some of said shelves.

25. A cabinet structure for storage or display comprising a rectangular base to be horizontally positioned on a support surface, spaced vertical sides and a back and top, and a plurality of shelves extending between said spaced sides, said vertical sides being inclined on the front, rearwardly tapering toward the top, and being made of rigid sheet material and having therein a series of vertically spaced horizontal rows of regularly positioned holes, bolt fastening means passing through said holes to co-operate with ends of said shelves to releasably support said shelves in a variety of horizontal positions, at least one of said shelves having two complementary full-length sections extending between said sides and being in telescopic sliding relation to each other to permit said one shelf to be expandable in width from front to back;

removable vertical dividers running from front to back and at selected spacings along the length of the shelves, the dividers when in position being downwardly biased under compression and removable against such compression;

each shelf having a longitudinally extending reinforcement member of U-shaped cross-section with a central downwardly facing trough secured on an underside, a compressible filler in the trough and divider-accommodating slots disposed transversely of the U-shaped reinforcement member and rising above the bottom of the filler.