Abstract:
A cookware holder is supported in the upper end of a kitchen cabinet to hang a plurality of cookware items by their handles so that these items extend from the back to the front of the cabinet. The cookware is held on a plurality of hooks that descend from a laterally extending rail portion of the holder. This rail is extended outward from the front of the cabinet to dispose the cookware items outside the cabinet to facilitate access and storage thereof.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application claims priority to the US provisional patent application of the same title that was filed on Jul. 1, 2009, having application Ser. No. 61/223,324, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to means for holding and storing cookware, such as pots and pans, in a kitchen. 
         [0003]    Prior methods of storing cookware involve rack that hangs from the ceiling or wall, as well as placing hooks on the inside of cabinet doors, as well as stacking cookware on shelves or in deep drawers. 
         [0004]    If is difficult to retrieve items when cookware is stacked, as well as find the desired cookware item, as it can be obscured in the stack by the larger items. 
         [0005]    Many consumers either lack the space for overhead or wall storage, or finds it interferes with their movement in a small kitchen. Other consumers, who might have such space simply cannot reach a ceiling height rack without assistive device, or feel doing so is unsafe. Other consumers avoid such racks because they prefer a clean, clutter free look to their kitchen, and thus prefer that all such utensils are hidden when not in use. 
         [0006]    Further, using hanging hooks on the inside of a cabinet door provides only limited storage capacity, and makes it harder to view an entire cookware collection at once to select the best utensil for the tasks at hand. Hence, it is not a significant improvement over stacking but for the few utensils most frequently used in the kitchen 
         [0007]    It is therefore a first object of the present invention to provide an improved and convenient method and device for the storage of cookware at a low height so that it is readily accessible for all potential users in a household, restaurant or institution. 
         [0008]    It is a further object of the invention to provide such a method and device that efficiently uses space, and in particular cabinet space for the storage of the cookware. 
         [0009]    It is a further object of the invention to provide such a method and device that can, if desired, readily hide cookware when not in use, but make an entire collection quickly accessible and readily visible from multiple vantage points. 
       SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
       [0010]    In the present invention, the first object is achieved by providing a process for storing and retrieving cookware from a cabinet comprising the steps of providing a cabinet that has at least a portion of a back wall and a face frame around the opening thereof, providing one or more pots or pans having a handle with a hanging hole thereon, providing a cookware holder that includes a first fixed rail having a distal end and a proximal end, a second laterally extending rail, a plurality of hooks having a substantially straight shank end that is coupled to said second laterally extending rail, and a curved returning end extending from the shank end to terminate in a generally upward pointing tip disposed below the shank end, a first bracket coupled to the distal end of said first fixed rail, a second bracket coupled to the proximal end of said first fixed rail wherein the attachment of the said first and second bracket to supporting surfaces vertical disposes said first fixed rail and said second laterally extending rail, wherein the second laterally rail extending slidingly engages said first fixed rail for linear motion along the common axis there between so as to be capable of extending outward beyond the proximal end thereof to laterally translate said plurality of hooks from a first stored position to a second accessible position, attaching the first bracket to a position proximate the back wall of the cabinet and the second bracket to the face frame of the cabinet to dispose the first fixed rail above the cabinet opening in a vertical orientation, attaching one or more pots in hanging engagement on one of said plurality of hooks by the handing hole thereof. 
         [0011]    A second aspect of the invention is characterized by a cookware holder comprising a first fixed rail having a distal end and a proximal end, a second laterally extending rail, a plurality of hooks having a substantially straight shank end that is coupled to said second laterally extending rail, and a curved returning end extending from the shank end to terminate in a generally upward pointing tip disposed below the shank end, a first bracket coupled to the distal end of said first fixed rail, a second bracket coupled to the proximal end of said first fixed rail wherein the attachment of the said first and second bracket to supporting surfaces horizontally disposes said first fixed rail and said second laterally extending rail inside an enclosure, wherein the second laterally rail extending slidingly engages said first fixed rail for linear motion along the common axis there between so as to be capable of extending outward beyond the proximal end thereof to laterally translate said plurality of hooks from a first stored position to a second accessible position outside an enclosure. 
         [0012]    The above and other objects, effects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1A  is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the invention.  FIG. 1B  is a cross-sectional elevation of the rail structure in  FIG. 1  transverse to the direction of rail travel. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2A  is a front elevation view of another embodiment of the invention in which  FIG. 2B  is an enlarged view of the smaller circled portion of  FIG. 2A . 
           [0015]      FIG. 3A  is a more detailed view of the enlarged portion shown in  FIG. 2B , corresponding to section A-A in  FIG. 4A .  FIG. 3B  is a plan view of the plate in  FIG. 3A . 
           [0016]      FIGS. 4A and 4B  show in side cross-sectional elevations the stored and extended positions respectively for the sliding rail with respect to the cabinet and supporting structure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0017]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 through 4 , wherein like reference numerals refer to like components in the various views, there is illustrated therein a new and improved Cookware Holder, generally denominated  100  herein. 
         [0018]    In accordance with the present invention,  FIG. 1  illustrates a first embodiment of the Cookware Holder  100  in which a fixed rail member  110  is attached to a cabinet interior  10  via front  140   a  and rear  140   b  mounting brackets  140 . A laterally extending rail member  120  engages the fixed rail member  110  in lateral sliding engagement therewith enabling it to be withdrawn from within the cabinet  10 . A plurality of hooks  130  are coupled to descend from the laterally extending rail member  120  so pots and pans, and related cookware vessels and article can hang there from in a conventional manner by the handles, via the holes provided for receiving the open end  130   b  of hook  130 . 
         [0019]    Optionally, depending on the type of fixed and sliding rails deployed and the weight of cookware to be hung, rotary bearings  105  are optionally disposed between the fixed  110  and extending  120  rail members, as shown in  FIG. 1B   
         [0020]    Thus, another aspect of the invention is a process for storage and retrieving cookware from a cabinet  10 . First, the cookware holder  100  is installed in the upper end of the cabinet  10  in suspension from both the back and front. Then the user hangs pots or pan  1  by their handles on the hooks  130 , spacing them from the back to the front of the cabinet. Installation of pots and pans can be done after the user extends the sliding portion  120  of the cookware holder to same position used retrieve pots or pans ( FIG. 4A ). The sliding rail  120  is then slid back into the cabinet  10  on the fixed rail  110  ( FIG. 4B ) so that all the pots and pans  1  are in the cabinet  10  where they can be hidden by closing door  11  until user needs to open the cabinet door  11  to make a selection. Thus for under countertop based cabinets, when the sliding rail  120  is extended beyond the face of the cabinet  10 , the user has all the pots and pans  1  at or below waist height for convenient removal where they can all be easily inspected to choose the appropriate cookware vessel. 
         [0021]      FIGS. 2-4  illustrate a more preferred embodiments of the invention in which the fixed rail member  110  is a tube, and the sliding rail member  120  is disposed within and surrounded by the now tubular fixed rail member  110 . More preferably, as illustrated, the fixed rail member  110  has a lower longitudinal slot  115 . As this slots  115  is at the bottom side  115   a  thereof, the shank end  130   a  of hooks  130  can be attached to the bottom of the inner tubular rail sliding member  120  so that it passes through slot  115  through so that that the open handle receiving end  130   b  of hook  130  points upward. 
         [0022]    More preferably, and also shown in  FIG. 2-4 , when the fixed rail  110  and laterally extending rails  120 , are both tubular members, the laterally extending rail  120  is preferably disposed within the fixed rail  110  and also has a lower longitudinal slot  125 . Thus, hooks  130  extend through both the laterally extending tubular rail  120  and the fixed tubular rail  110 , as their respective slots  125  and  115  are co-aligned with the shank  130   a  of the hooks  130 . This disposes the open end  130   b  of the hooks  130  pointing upwards to receive and support a conventional cookware handle by the hole disposed thereon. 
         [0023]    Preferably, the inner  120  and outer  110  tubular rails have the same shape, but can have different shapes, and may include bearings and other members to reduce the sliding friction there between, if warranted by the size or length of the holder  100  or the pots  1  to be hung thereon. 
         [0024]    It is also preferable that hooks  130  are attached at the shank end  130   a  to a plate  135  that is supported by a track  127  in the extending rail member  120 . This plate  135  is preferably dimensioned perpendicular to the track  127  to be much longer than the track width to laterally space the hooks  130  apart at a predetermined minimum distance. It should thus be appreciated that in some embodiments of the invention, different length plates  145  may be deployed on the sliding rail  120  to space pots and pans  1  apart varying distance that correspond to their respective depths, thus either minimizing contact and/or enable nesting for optimized use of the interior space of the cabinet  10 . 
         [0025]    It should be appreciated that in the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  hooks  130  and the hook support members can be configured to permit hook rotation with respect to the laterally extending rail member  120 . This is easily accomplished in the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 3A and 3B , in which the hook support member is in the form of plate  135  have a circular hole  137  for receiving the shank  130   a  of the hooks  130 . The shank end  130   a  terminates above this hole  137  with an end retaining face  138  having an outer diameter larger than the hole diameter. 
         [0026]    As shown in  FIGS. 4A and 4B , the brackets  140  also preferably have a vertical portion  141  that is attached to the vertical back side of the cabinet  10   a  and above the face frame  10   b  of the cabinet  10  via a plurality of screws  12 . 
         [0027]    It should be appreciated that while  FIG. 1-4  illustrate currently preferred embodiments, other alternative embodiment include different rail shapes, with such variations in which at least one of the fixed  110  or sliding  120  tubular rails has a shape that is square, round or oval, and the like. 
         [0028]    While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the particular form set forth, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.