U.S. patent number 3,888,353 [Application Number 05/371,245] was granted by the patent office on 1975-06-10 for stand for storage of shoes.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Leifheit International Gunter Leifheit GmbH. Invention is credited to Gunter Leifheit.
United States Patent |
3,888,353 |
Leifheit |
June 10, 1975 |
Stand for storage of shoes
Abstract
A stand for storage of shoes has two flat parallel rigid end
supports, and telescopic crossties extending between these. Major
surfaces of the end supports are provided with coupling elements
for engagement with the crossties. Edge faces of the end support
have additional coupling elements by means of which two or more of
the stands can be coupled together to provide increased storage
capacity.
Inventors: |
Leifheit; Gunter (Nassau, Lahn,
DT) |
Assignee: |
Leifheit International Gunter
Leifheit GmbH (Nassau, Lahn, DT)
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Family
ID: |
5848114 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/371,245 |
Filed: |
June 18, 1973 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Jun 19, 1972 [DT] |
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2229084 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
211/37; 312/108;
108/91 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47B
61/04 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A47B
61/00 (20060101); A47B 61/04 (20060101); A47F
007/08 () |
Field of
Search: |
;211/37,34,13
;108/64XR,91 ;5/8,9B ;46/30,25,15 ;206/504,511
;312/107,108,111 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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1,206,143 |
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Aug 1959 |
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FR |
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1,462,095 |
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Nov 1966 |
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FR |
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884,776 |
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Dec 1961 |
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GB |
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19,562 |
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Sep 1898 |
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GB |
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Primary Examiner: Frazier; Roy D.
Assistant Examiner: Marquette; Darrell
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Striker; Michael S.
Claims
What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters
Patent is set forth in the appended claims:
1. A stand for storage of shoes, comprising a pair of I-shaped end
members each having a center portion and a pair of crossbar
portions having parts which extend beyond opposite sides of said
center portion at the respective ends thereof, each of said
crossbar portions having an edge face facing away from the other
crossbar portion and each of said parts having an end face
extending substantially normal to the associated edge face so that
each end member may be placed on a supporting surface in a position
in which one of said edge faces or two of said end faces are
juxtaposed with said supporting surface, said center portion of
each of said end members being provided with a plurality of sockets
aligned with corresponding sockets provided in the center portion
of the respective other end member; a plurality of shoe-supporting
telescopic crossties each having spaced end portions lodged in the
respective aligned sockets of said end members and interconnecting
the latter at a distance from one another which is adjustable by
telescoping said crossties, the length of said shoe stand being
variable at will by changing said distance between said end members
of said pair with attendant telescoping of said crossties, and the
working height and width of said shoe stand being selectable in
dependence upon whether respective edge faces or end faces of said
end members are juxtaposed with supporting surface; and a plurality
of male and female portions in form of projections and recesses
provided on said edge faces and on said end faces of said crossbar
portions of said end members and adapted to engage complementary
connecting crossbar portions of an identical additional shoe stand
so that a stacked array may be provided which is composed of a
plurality of said shoe stands.
2. A shoe stand according to claim 1, wherein said sockets for
attachment of said crossties are arranged in pairs at diagonally
opposing grid points of a rectangular grid.
3. A shoe stand according to claim 2, wherein said pairs of sockets
are constructed for accommodation said crosstie sections of
different diameters.
4. A shoe stand according to claim 1, wherein said end members are
provided with holes intermediate said sockets.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a stand for storage of shoes, in which rod
shaped crossties are supported by supports which are arranged at a
distance from each other.
There are already known stands for storage of shoes which have a
cabinet shape, wherein storage shelves are provided for receiving
the shoes and are integrated into the cabinet construction. There
are also known stands for storage of shoes which are made from
rod-shaped material and which can be hung on walls. These known
shoe stands are disadvantageous in that their use is tied to a
stable location as a consequence of their construction, so that
they can usually be accommodated only in places which are
unsuitable for permanent use. Also, fitting the conventional stands
to the available space is quite impossible without resorting to
special measures.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a shoe storage
stand which can be used under various conditions, particularly in
diversely shaped spaces, without resorting to special assembling
measures, and which also is suitable for superposing so as to
assemble a larger unit.
This is achieved according to the invention, in general, by
constructing the shoe stand supports as rigid flat members, and by
providing at least one major surface of each support with coupling
elements for supporting rod-shaped crossties. Additional coupling
elements are provided on the support edge faces for direct
attachment of a plurality of supports to each other. Using such a
construction of the supports, the shoe stand according to the
invention is suitable for direct erection on the floor, for hanging
on a wall or the like, or also as the need may be for accommodation
in an available cabinet space, without any need for a professional
assistance on the part of the user. It is also possible to stack a
plurality of such shoe stands above each other without encountering
any difficulty, and thus to assemble from them a larger unit.
For this purpose it is advantageous that the shoe stand supports be
configurated as essentially rectangular rigid members, and that
they be provided with coupling elements on their edge faces.
Consequently, the shoe stand can be optionally erected in such a
manner that the shorter or the longer edge faces of the support
contact the support surface (e.g. the floor) and a fitting of the
stand to spaces having different heights and depths is possible
solely by changing its orientation. Furthermore, it is advantageous
to locate the coupling elements for supporting the rod-shaped
crossties for holding the shoes at diagonally opposite grid points
of a rectangular, preferably quadrilateral, grid. An arrangement is
obtained by this measure which permits optimum storage of the shoes
and in which the crossties are located in pairs arranged in
inclined planes. The preferable arrangement of the coupling
elements at diagonally opposite grid points of a quadrilateral grid
even permits a positioning of the crossties in inclined planes
which enclose an angle of 45.degree. with any possible base planes
(depending upon the orientation of the stand), so that the shoes to
be stored can always be placed upon a crosstie having the same
inclination regardless of the orientation of the stand, such
inclination of course assuring optimum access thereto. Moreover, it
is advantageous to construct the coupling elements of the shoe
stand support for the unilateral reception of crosstie parts having
different diameters, i.e. of parts which are telescoped into each
other, such crosstie parts preferably having a tubular
configuration. Widening or narrowing of the entire shoe stand may
then be obtained by telescoping the smaller-diameter crosstie part
into or out of the larger-diameter crosstie part so that the shoe
stand width is easily variable in a broad range. In this context,
it is furthermore advisable to provide one major surface of each
shoe stand support with coupling elements for both types of the
crosstie parts to be assembled to a crosstie unit, the coupling
elements being arranged in alternating order so that the shoe stand
supports are identical and the two supports can be used
interchangeably at any end of the shoe stand.
In order to enable even a technically unskilled user to easily
assemble the various parts, the coupling elements for attachment of
the crossties as well as for direct coupling of a plurality of
supports to each other are advantageously constructed as coupling
projections and/or coupling sockets suitable for establishing
plug-in connections.
The coupling projections and the coupling sockets for mutual
coupling of several supports are preferably provided on elongated
offset head parts of the supports, the head parts being located at
the shorter ends of the supports and projecting beyond the
longitudinal sides of the main part of the support. The ends of the
head parts are advantageously provided with coupling projections on
one side of the support, and with coupling sockets on the other
side of the support, while the head parts are provided with
immediately adjacent coupling projections and coupling sockets in
the longitudinal regions of their end faces, the adjacent
arrangement on one side of the support being opposite to that on
the other side. In order for the shoe stand according to the
invention to have only a small weight but high stability, it is
advisable that the shoe stand supports be provided with
perforations or holes in the region between the coupling elements
for the rod-shaped crossties.
The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the
invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The
invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its
method of operation, together with additional objects and
advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following
description of specific embodiments when read in connection with
the accompanying drawing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the novel shoe stand, in a first
manner of erection;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the novel shoe stand, in a second
manner of erection and with two individual stands superimposed;
FIG. 3 is an elevational view of a shoe stand support, seen from
the inside of the stand; and
FIG. 4 is a top plan view of FIG. 3.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 of the drawing shows a currently preferred embodiment of the
stand for storage of shoes, according to the invention. This shoe
stand comprises, in general, flat panel-shaped supports 10 arranged
in parallel but spaced from one another, and rod-shaped crossties
11 which are accommodated between these supports and suitable for
supporting the shoes to be stored. The supports 10 have different
dimensions in mutually normal directions, such that a substantially
rectangular basic shape is obtained. Various possibilities of
erection of the shoe stand, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, result
from this fact. When the stand is oriented as shown in FIG. 1, it
evidently requires a much smaller floor space than if it has the
orientation shown in FIG. 2, but it needs greater overhead
clearance (disregarding the fact that in FIG. 2 there are two
stands shown to be stacked in vertical direction).
Each of the rod-shaped crossties 11 in the illustrated embodiment
consists of two tubular crosstie sections 12, 13, one of which is
suitable for being telescopically inserted into the other, each
crosstie section also being inserted at one end into a coupling
element 14, 15. These coupling elements are provided on a major
surface 16 of the respective support 10. In the illustrated
embodiment, the coupling elements are constructed as coupling
receptacles or sockets fitted to the outer periphery of the
respective crosstie section 12 or 13 to be accommodated therein.
However, it is to be noted that the coupling elements 14, 15 can
also be constructed as pins projecting into the ends of the
crosstie sections, should this be preferred. The length of the shoe
stand may be varied within a broad range as a result of the use of
the telescopic crosstie sections, so that an universal adjustment
of the shoe stand to given space conditions is possible.
The coupling sockets 15, 14 for accommodation of the crosstie
sections for holding the shoes are arranged in a quadrilateral grid
on the major surfaces 16 of the supports 10, namely, in pairs at
diagonally opposite corner points. By this arrangement, the
crossties are arranged so that each cooperating pair of the same
lies in a plane which encloses a 45.degree. angle with the base
plane of the stand, regardless of the orientation of the stand
(compare FIGS. 1 and 2) so that there is no need for changing the
position of the crossties in respect to the supports. Since the
shoes are always rested on one pair of crossties, an optimum
condition for the accessibility of the shoes is thus obtained
because, regardless of the orientation of the shoe stand, the
orientation of the pairs of crossties relative to the base plane
remains the same at all times.
It is to be noted that each support is provided with adjacent
coupling sockets for accommodation of any one of the two different
crosstie sections 12, 13 having different diameters, so that the
supports of the shoe stand are arbitrarily interchangeable
end-for-end. The different coupling parts are alternately provided
at the corner points of the quadrilateral grid so that, in the
arrangement obtained during the assembling operation, the shoe
stand supports are mirror images of each other, and the coupling
parts for each of the crosstie sections 12, 13 always face each
other.
In addition to the coupling elements 14, 15, the shoe stand
supports 10 are provided with further coupling elements 18, 19 on
certain of their edge faces. These latter coupling elements 18, 19
are alternately constructed as coupling projections and coupling
sockets in such a manner that whenever a plurality of shoe stands
is arranged above each other (see FIG. 2) or next to each other,
the shoe stand supports engage each other by means of the coupling
elements 18, 19 which permit a plug-in connection. The drawing
shows that the supports 10 are delineated at their shorter sides by
offset head parts 20 which are unitary with the main part of the
respective support, but extend beyond its longitudinal sides. FIGS.
3 and 4 show in particular that the offset head parts 20 are
provided with immediately adjacent coupling projections 18 and
coupling sockets 19 at their longer edge faces 21, the adjacent
arrangement on one of the ends of the support being opposite to
that on the end facing in the other direction. The ends of the head
parts, which constitute the base regions for the erection of the
shoe stand in the manner as shown in FIG. 2, are alternately each
provided with a coupling projection 18 on one end and with a
coupling socket 19 on the opposite end. This arrangement of the
coupling elements 18, 19 permits the assemblage of several shoe
stands by plug-in connection in every case, regardless of the
orientation of the lowermost stand. Finally, it is to be added that
the supports are provided with perforations or holes 22 in their
main part for reducing their weight and the material
expenditure.
As already mentioned above, the illustrated embodiment is only an
example of the construction of the shoe stand according to the
invention, and the invention is not limited to this particular
embodiment; rather, various changes and other embodiments are also
possible. For instance, the rod-shaped crossties could also be of a
different shape, and the coupling parts for attachment of the
crossties could be constructed as annular collars into which the
ends of the crossties are inserted.
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or
two or more together, may also find a useful application in other
types of constructions differing from the types described
above.
While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied
in a shoe stand, it is not intended to be limited to the details
shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be
made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present
invention.
Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the
gist of the present invention that others can by applying current
knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without
omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly
constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific
aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should
and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of
equivalence of the following claims.
* * * * *