Abstract:
A medicine cabinet is disclosed that has electrical power. An internal raceway is provided to hide the electrical wiring for the cabinet, accommodate power cords of appliances powered by the cabinet, and to support shelving. A vertically movable front mirrored door can be raised to access the power supply and/or cabinet storage space.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    Not Applicable. 
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH 
       [0002]    Not Applicable. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The present invention relates to storage cabinets such as medicine cabinets. More particularly it relates to improvements in positioning and storing electrical wiring for these cabinets, and power cords for appliances and other items stored in the cabinet. 
         [0004]    It is conventional to provide wall-hung “medicine” cabinets in homes that are used to store cosmetics, drugs, and other personal items. Some of these cabinets are provided with electrical power (e.g. to light the cabinet itself and/or to provide a plug-in site for personal care devices such as hair dryers, curling irons, toothbrushes and shavers). See generally U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,627. 
         [0005]    Most such cabinets have their front door pivot open on a vertical hinge. However, some provide a front door that slides vertically. See e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 2,331,655. 
         [0006]    Regardless, the structures used to house the needed electrical wiring for electrified medicine cabinets were not optimal. For example, when a pivoting front door was provided, and the door was open, the mirror on the front of the door was no longer easily usable. Hence, an electrical plug-in outlet associated with such a cabinet would therefore typically be placed on the exterior of the cabinet. This is not only somewhat ugly, it exposes the outlet to an environment where water is more likely to be present. 
         [0007]    Further, placing the outlet at some locations in such a cabinet could interfere with storage capability in an undesirable way. In any event, typical medicine cabinets were not well suited for dealing with elongated power cords associated with some consumer appliances that were not in use. 
         [0008]    Accordingly, there exists a need for improving such storage cabinets in addressing these concerns. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage cabinet (e.g. a medicine cabinet). It has an outer housing having opposed side walls, an openable front door, and an internal storage cavity between the opposed side walls. There is also a vertically extending wire management raceway positioned between the opposed side walls so as to define storage sections in the cavity on opposite lateral sides of the wire management raceway. The wire management raceway has an internal passage that houses electrical wiring. 
         [0010]    In one form the electrical wiring is linkable to an external power source (e.g. a building power supply), and another end of the electrical wiring is linked to an electric outlet (e.g. most preferably positioned on an outer face of the wire management raceway). 
         [0011]    In another form there is an elongated pocket formed along the wire management raceway and accessible from an exterior of the wire management raceway, the pocket is suitable to conceal a portion of a power cord of an item (e.g. a curling iron) stored in the internal storage cavity when the item is not linked to a power supply. For example, the outer housing can have a rear wall and the pocket can be located adjacent a junction between the rear wall and the wire management raceway. 
         [0012]    In one form the pocket is associated with a flexible retainer suitable to assist in retaining such a power cord in the pocket if positioned therein, where the retainer is in a form of a flexible brush, gasket or bulb style seal. 
         [0013]    The wire management raceway can also have an array of means (e.g. holes or pegs) for supporting a shelf at selected heights in the internal storage cavity, and a shelf is at least partially supported thereon in the internal storage cavity. 
         [0014]    In the most preferred form the door is openable by a vertical sliding movement, and its movement is in part governed by a counterweight. 
         [0015]    It should be appreciated that the outlet can be positioned low enough along the raceway such that moving the door up slightly exposes the outlet, permitting a shaver or other electrical item to be powered from the outlet while a mirror on the front of the door is still useful. 
         [0016]    Note also that when the accessories like a shaver are not in use, they can be stored on shelving of the cabinet with their cord properly concealed in a pocket. Hence, such items do not need to be crammed in a drawer due to their unwieldy power cords. 
         [0017]    Also consider that there are some items that can be permanently positioned inside the medicine cabinet (e.g. a recharging base for a rechargeable toothbrush). Such an item might be “permanently” plugged into an upper outlet of the cabinet, leaving one or more lower outlets free for use by items such as a hairdryer. Thus, rather than using the outlet  52  as shown in  FIG. 5 , the recharging base could use a very high outlet  52  near the top of the raceway. 
         [0018]    Similarly, a television associated with the medicine cabinet (e.g. visible through the mirror on the front door) could be permanently plugged into an outlet along the raceway, such as an upper outlet. The raceway would then provide a permanent benefit with respect to cord management. 
         [0019]    Thus, the raceway permits power to be supplied at optimal positions from a vertical standpoint. 
         [0020]    Moreover, the raceway allows removable shelves to be positioned as needed. 
         [0021]    The foregoing and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description. In that description reference will be made to the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof, and in which there is shown by way of illustration an example embodiment of the invention. However, the example embodiment is not intended as a representation of the full scope of the invention. Rather, the claims should be looked to for that purpose. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0022]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a medicine cabinet of the present invention, with its front door shown partially raised; 
           [0023]      FIG. 2  is a view similar to  FIG. 1 , but with the front door fully closed; 
           [0024]      FIG. 3  is a partially exploded frontal perspective view of certain structural internal components of the cabinet of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0025]      FIG. 4  is a rear perspective view of the cabinet of  FIG. 1 , depicting in part an associated counterweight system; 
           [0026]      FIG. 5  is a detailed perspective view of a portion of the medicine cabinet of  FIG. 1 , illustrating how certain personal care devices can be linked to the raceway; and 
           [0027]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view taken along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 5 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0028]    A preferred assembly, generally  10 , is shown in the drawings. There is shown a medicine cabinet  14  having a top wall  18 , a bottom wall  20 , opposed side walls  22 , and preferably a rear wall  24 , which together define an internal cavity. Dividing the cavity is a wire management raceway generally  12 . There is also a front door  28  (preferably mirrored and vertically slidable). For example the door  28  can have a horizontally extending handle  32  fixed along a lower edge  34  thereof to facilitate lifting and lowering of the door  28 . There can also be a counterweight  36  (equal to the weight of the door  28 ). 
         [0029]    The door  28  is slidably retained within a set of vertical tracks  38  formed along the side walls  22  of the enclosure  16 . The door  28  is connected to the counterweight  36  via a pair of toothed belts  40  extending over a roller  41  and respective gear wheels  42 . The belts  40  engage and cooperate with the wheels  42  when lifting or lowering the door  28 . Door  28  may be maintained in a partially opened position such as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0030]    The cabinet is suitable to be mounted onto a vertical wall  30  using brackets or other conventional means. Also, while the principles of the present invention are mostly intended for use in a medicine cabinet, it should be appreciated that they will also be valuable in the context of other cabinets such as kitchen cupboards, and personal workstations. 
         [0031]    Pegs can be positioned in various holes along the side walls  22  and raceway  12 . Shelving  44  can be positioned thereon at desired vertical heights. 
         [0032]    Health and beauty aids such as cosmetics, toiletries, and the like may be conveniently stored on the shelves  44 . Further, electric grooming devices  46  may be stored in a cabinet when not in use. 
         [0033]    Note also a recharging base  48  positioned on a shelf  44  in  FIG. 5  with its power cord managed by being partially concealed in a pocket defined by raceway  12 , with the opposite end of its power cord linked into an outlet  52 . Hence, a toothbrush  50  can be recharged without the consumer needing to keep the recharging device on a counter top or the like. Also, as previously noted, the toothbrush recharging base can be permanently plugged in at an outlet  52  near the top of the raceway, to leave the lower outlets free for other purposes. 
         [0034]    As indicated, outlets  52  can be at varied vertical heights, albeit placing them close to the bottom of the raceway  12  makes it easier to use a power outlet as well as a mirror on the front door  28  simultaneously. 
         [0035]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , the raceway  12  can be a largely unitary structure. It can have spaced apart side walls  58  and a planar front wall  60  defining a generally U-shaped passage  62  therein. When the raceway  12  is secured within the cabinet  14 , the outer housing of the cabinet together therewith create a passage  62  for electrical wiring, such that electrical wiring  64  and related electrical connections are isolated from the opposed lateral storage areas  26 , helping to achieve compliance with various electrical wiring safety codes. 
         [0036]    Referring next also to  FIG. 6 , each outlet  52  is formed with a substantially square housing  66  having a front end  68 , a rear end  70 , and a radial flange  72  adjacent to the front end  68 . During assembly of the raceway  12 , the outlet  52  is inserted through aligned square-shaped openings  82 ,  74  formed in the side wall  58  and a retaining plate  76  therein. The retaining plate  76  is secured within a pair of spaced apart slotted protrusions  80  formed inside the passage  62 . 
         [0037]    A plurality of retaining clips  78  in the housing  66  are temporarily inwardly displaced when the outlet  52  is pushed further through the opening  74  in the retaining plate  76 . The outlet  52  is fully inserted when the flange  72  abuts the retaining plate  76 , allowing the clips  78  to return to their unbiased position. In such a position, the clips  78  firmly press against the retaining plate  76  to hold the outlet  52  in place. When installed, the front end  68  of the outlet  52  extends slightly through the opening  82  in the side wall  58  and presents an aesthetically pleasing appearance. 
         [0038]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , one or more openings  84  may be provided in the top or bottom walls  18 ,  20  to permit entry of wiring from a building power supply (not shown) into the raceway  12 . Note also terminals  86  provided at the rear end  70  of the outlet  52 . The cabinet may be wired to a GFI circuit breaker, if desired. Low profile push buttons or switches  88  may be provided on the front wall  60  of the raceway  12  to control a light  90  and/or one or more of the outlets  52 . 
         [0039]    It should be appreciated that standard power cords  92  supplying power to the devices like a television monitor or recharging base may be very long. Rather than having those cords be repeatedly wound around themselves, and/or otherwise take up internal storage space, provision is made to manage those cords. Specifically, each side wall  58  of the raceway  12  is provided near its rear with a pocket  94  in the form of an elongated channel  96  that is open externally. There is also a flexible retainer  98  (see  FIG. 6 ) which helps hold the cord in the pocket once placed therein. 
         [0040]    The channel  96  may be integrally formed in the side walls  58  such as with a one-piece extrusion process, or, as illustrated, be formed by two extruded pieces  100 ,  102  fastened together with screws  104 . Regardless of the manufacture process, the cross-sectional area of the channel  96  is large enough to accommodate one or more power cords  92 . 
         [0041]    The retainer  98  may be made of a resilient material such as foam, rubber, or a brush strip capable of at least partially concealing the channel  96  and retaining power cords  92  placed therein. The retainer  98  is secured to the side wall  58  via frictional engagement with a slot  106  formed on one edge  108  of the channel  96 . Alternatively, a suitable adhesive or heat welding may be used. The retainer  98  is inwardly angled and tapered and extends towards the other edge  110  of the channel  96 . 
         [0042]    Parts of one or more power cords  92  may be pushed/tucked into the pocket  94  with a pressing force sufficient to temporarily displace the retainer  98 . This may be when an item is not in use, or in the case of something like a recharging station when the full length of a power cord isn&#39;t needed. 
         [0043]    Referring particularly to  FIG. 5 , it can be seen that an associated plug  112  may be plugged into an outlet with unneeded cord length  92  retained within the pocket  94 . Note that there may also be horizontal wireways in the shelves  44  or bottom wall  20  to conceal and retain the power cords  92  to a further extent. 
         [0044]    What has been described thus far is merely a preferred embodiment of the invention. It should be appreciated that various other modifications could be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the claims should be looked to in order to judge the full scope of the invention. 
       INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY 
       [0045]    The present invention provides storage cabinets such as medicine cabinets with improved structures for accommodating electrical wiring for the cabinets, and power cords for appliances used therewith.