Abstract:
A storage table is disclosed in which a finished hardwood enclosure is provided which may have whatever ornamentation is desired. The top surface of the enclosure may be slid horizontally to provide access to the interior of the enclosure, in which a storage chest is vertically oriented. Sliding means are provided to allow the horizontal positioning of the top surface, and electromechanical lifting means are provided to raise and lower the storage chest with respect to the enclosure.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     Reference is hereby made to and priority is hereby claimed from provisional application No. 60/581,693, filed Jun. 21, 2004. 
     
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH  
       [0002]     Not Applicable.  
       REFERENCE TO “MICROFICHE APPENDIX” 
       [0003]     Not Applicable.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     The present Invention is directed towards a table which incorporates hidden storage with access to the storage provided by electrically powered mechanical means for opening the top of the table and lifting the storage compartment upwards. There is an ongoing need for storage volumes in order to organize and store tools and items associated with a variety of activities, including hobbies, crafts, and other leisure activities. Existing systems for storing such tools typically include tool chests and other similar devices. A wide variety of such systems exist, including, e.g., Herdies, U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,601; Miles, U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,987; and Geiss II, U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,816. For aesthetic reasons, however, these existing systems are generally unsuitable for widespread use in an environment outside a workshop. Many hobby and leisure activities carried out by individuals in a home are conducted in family living areas or bedrooms, where individuals take the opportunity to multitask such hobby and leisure activities with the entertainment increasingly available in such parts of the typical household. For aesthetic reasons, traditional tool storage systems are unsuitable in these locales, exposed tools and hobby supplies are similarly aesthetically displeasing. A need exists, therefore, for a device which allows for the storage of tools and supplies associated with hobbies and other leisure activities while maintaining the neat appearance of home living areas.  
         [0005]     One example of a prior effort at providing the solution to these problems appears in Hastings, U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,606. While similar in direction to the present invention, Hastings provides a limited solution to specific storage problems attendant to one particular activity, art. The instant invention provides a general solution applicable to most, if not all, general hobbies, crafts, and other tool-intensive activities. Additionally, the Hastings solution provides storage which is not vertically adjustable. As such, the storage provided by Hastings is inconvenient to access during use of the Hastings invention. Furthermore, the storage in Hastings is only accessible through manual means. An ongoing need remains for a general storage solution with vertically adjustable storage, which is provided by the instant invention as described further herein.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     The present invention seeks to solve these issues by providing a storage table which, on its exterior, resembles an end table or other similar piece of furniture which is commonly found in a family living area. The table consists of an enclosure, typically a right rectangular hardwood enclosure including four sides and a top surface. The enclosure may include such exterior ornamentation as is necessary to allow the invention to appear to be a normal piece of household furniture. The top surface of the table is attached to the sides by means of two sliding mechanisms (such as drawer slides), which allow the top surface to be slid forward a distance at least equal to the side dimension of the enclosure. By this sliding action, the interior of the enclosure is thereby exposed.  
         [0007]     Contained within the interior of the enclosure, a storage chest rests upon a lifting bracket. The storage chest may be of a variety of designs, but most typically would comprise a plurality of shallow drawers stacked in a vertical configuration, with the top level of the chest comprising a removable tray. By this arrangement, the interior volume of the storage chest is divided into as large a surface area as possible, allowing for the storage and organization of a large number of small items. Furthermore, by including a removable tray on the top of the chest, easy access to the most commonly used items is provided, as only the top surface of the enclosure need be opened for access to the removable tray.  
         [0008]     As noted, the storage chest rests upon a lifting bracket, which is connected to electrical lifting means. The lifting bracket may slide freely in a vertical direction within the enclosure, and has a outer shape that is approximately the same as the inner cross-sectional shape of the enclosure. The electrical lifting means may include a wide variety of mechanisms, but preferably include an electrical motor turning a chain drive which lifts and lowers the lifting bracket, thereby allowing for rapid, reliable, and simple access to the storage chest contained within the enclosure.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]      FIG. 1  is an oblique view of the storage table in its closed position.  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is an oblique view of the storage table with the top surface slid forward, revealing the storage chest contained within.  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is a cutaway view of the storage table from the front showing the storage chest in the raised position and showing the lifting mechanism.  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is a top view of the storage table with the chest removed, showing the lifting mechanism and lifting bracket and showing the top surface in its forward position. 
     
    
     CATALOG OF ELEMENTS  
       [0013]      10  Storage table  
         [0014]      20  Front side  
         [0015]      22  Back side  
         [0016]      24  Left side  
         [0017]      26  Right side  
         [0018]      30  Top surface  
         [0019]      32  Top surface left slide  
         [0020]      34  Top surface right slide  
         [0021]      40  Lifting mechanism  
         [0022]      42  Drive motor  
         [0023]      44  Drive shaft  
         [0024]      46  Drive shaft sprocket  
         [0025]      48  Lifting chain  
         [0026]      50  Lifting axle  
         [0027]      52  Lifting axle drive sprocket  
         [0028]      54  Lifting axle chain sprocket  
         [0029]      60  Upper sprocket  
         [0030]      100  Storage chest  
         [0031]      102  Storage chest compartments  
         [0032]      104  Storage chest tray  
         [0033]      110  Storage chest lifting bracket  
         [0034]      112  Lifting pins  
       DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0035]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the invention in its closed position may be seen, in which an enclosure  12  is provided having a front side  20 , back side  22 , left side  24 , and right side  26 . Additionally, the top of the enclosure  12  consists of a top surface  30 . The four sides of the enclosure  12  are permanently joined together and may include any desired ornamentation to allow the invention to match other household furniture. Referring to  FIG. 2 , the top surface  30  is attached to the left side  24  and right side  26  by a top surface left slide  32  and a top surface right slide  34 , respectively. The top surface slides  32  and  34  may be of any of a variety of designs, but are preferably some form of commercially available drawer slide. The top surface slides  32  and  34  are connected to the upper portion of the outer surface of the corresponding left or right side  24  or  26  and to the underside of the top surface  30 . By this arrangement, the top surface  30  may be slid to one side of the enclosure  12  such that access to the interior volume of the enclosure  12  from the top of the invention is not obstructed by the top surface  30 . It will be understood that the preferred direction of slide of the top surface  30  will be towards the front of the invention; by this arrangement, when the top surface  30  is slid forward, it will form a work surface on which items retrieved from the interior storage chest, infra, may be placed while the apparatus is in use. It will be further understood that the top surface slides  32  and  34  will preferably extend a distance sufficient to permit the rear edge of the top surface  30  to clear the interior volume of the enclosure  12 .  
         [0036]     Located within the interior volume of the enclosure  12 , a storage chest  100  is provided. This storage chest  100  may take on a wide variety of forms in order to provide organization to a wide variety of materials, but will preferably consist of a housing with a plurality of relatively shallow drawers  102  stacked vertically atop each other, such that the drawers may be independently articulated for access to the contents of each. It will be further understood that the top level of the storage chest  100  will preferably comprise a tray  104  (more preferably a removable tray, as depicted in  FIG. 3 ), which will allow for access to a portion of the storage area by simply sliding the top surface  30  to one side, without the need for lifting the entire storage chest  100 .  
         [0037]     The storage chest  100  may be raised or lowered to whatever degree desired by the operation of a lifting mechanism  40 . While a variety of mechanisms may be used, referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the preferred mechanism comprises an electric motor  42  which drives a lifting chain  48 , which in turn vertically actuates a lifting bracket  110 . Specifically, the electric motor  42  (which receives electrical power through a power supply  60 ) turns a drive shaft  44 . Mounted along and coaxially with the drive shaft  44 , a drive shaft sprocket  46  turns with operation of the electric motor  42 . The drive shaft sprocket connects to a lifting axle drive sprocket  46  mounted along a lifting axle  50  as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . This arrangement permits torque generated by the motor  42  to be transferred through the lifting axle  50  to a pair of lifting axle chain sprockets  54 , mounted on either end of and coaxially with the lifting axle  50 . Each lifting chain  48  extends around the corresponding lifting axle chain sprockets  54  upward to pass around an upper sprocket  60 , one of which is connected to the interior surface of each of the left side  24  and right side  26 . The lifting bracket  110  is connected at its left and right sides to the lifting chains  48  by lifting pins  112 , which securely connect the lifting bracket  110  to the lifting chains  48 . By this arrangement, when the drive motor  42  is operated, the drive shaft  44  and drive shaft sprocket  46  are turned. Torque is transferred from the drive shaft sprocket  46  to the lifting axle drive sprocket  52 , which causes the lifting axle  50  to turn about its axis, and thereby causes the lifting axle chain sprockets  54  to turn. This causes the lifting chains  48  to travel, both in the same direction of rotation, about the lifting axle chain sprockets  54  and upper sprockets  60 . As the chain moves, the position along the chain where the lifting pins  112  are attached are moved vertically (either up or down, depending on whether the operator is raising or lowering the tool box), and hence the lifting bracket  110  and storage chest  100  are moved vertically as well. It will be understood that the drive motor  42  is a reversible motor which is controlled by a user-actuated switch mounted on the exterior of the enclosure  12 . Since the drive motor  42  is a reversible motor, the lifting bracket  110  may be raised or lowered to any desired height without the need to fully raise or lower the lifting bracket  110 .  
         [0038]     Although all portions of the invention have not been described in detail, persons with ordinary skill in the art will understand the method of forming all parts of the apparatus as well as methods of connecting them. Although the preferred embodiment is described herein, it is understood that other variations embodying the spirit of the instant invention are incorporated herein.