Patent Publication Number: US-2015083718-A1

Title: Laundry hampers with accessible front loading regions

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. nonprovisional application Ser. No. 14/036,988, filed Sep. 25, 2013, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates, in general, to garment storage and, more particularly, to laundry hampers and sorters for storing and pre-sorting of garments prior to laundering them. 
     2. General Background of the Invention Laundry hampers, and laundry sorters, comprising a garment storage hamper having two or more adjacent storage compartments within a common housing, have been known for some time. Today, such laundry sorters, in particular, often feature multiple removable laundry bags adjacently supported by a common frame. The use of removable laundry bags facilitates pre-sorting of garments by type prior to washing, such as separating white, light color, and dark color fabrics, so that each pre-sorted group of garments may be loaded directly into a washing machine. The use of removable laundry bags permits individual loads of pre-sorted laundry to be separately transported for placement within a washing machine. 
     Prior art laundry sorters having removable laundry bags, such as the one disclosed in U.S. Pub. No. 2006/0157358 A1, are commonly top loading in construction, meaning that removal and replacement of each supported laundry bag requires that the bag must be vertically lifted above the frame, in order to clear, among other structures, a top front horizontal bar or similar structure of the frame. Particularly during removal of the laundry bags, when they may be relatively heavily loaded with garments, vertically raising the bag above the frame may be cumbersome or difficult, particularly if the user is not physically strong, is relatively short in height, or is suffering from lower back pain or other physical ailment. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides laundry hampers and sorters that overcome many of the shortcomings of certain prior art laundry sorters. In particular, laundry hampers and sorters are disclosed that are front loading, meaning that they permit removal and replacement of individual laundry bags without requiring the bags to be raised significantly in order to remove the laundry bags from engagement of and storage within a supporting frame. 
     In the hampers and laundry sorters of the present invention, removable laundry bags are supported, at least in part, by front vertical posts having cupped or saddle-shaped supports disposed atop the vertical posts. As a result, the requirement for a top front horizontal bar is eliminated, permitting the laundry bags to be removed and replaced in position using a substantially horizontal direction of movement. This, in turn, provides a significant ergonomic improvement over certain prior art top loading laundry sorters, as significantly less effort is required to both remove and replace the laundry bags. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  an elevated, front perspective view of an embodiment of a laundry sorter of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an elevated, front perspective view of the frame portion of the laundry sorter of  FIG. 1  and further including, for illustrative purposes, only the hanger handle portions of the supported laundry bags; 
         FIG. 3  is a right side view of the laundry sorter of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a saddle-shaped support of the laundry sorter of  FIG. 1 , showing, in particular, a front hook of a single laundry bag supported by a first cupped region of the saddle-shaped support; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the saddle-shaped support of  FIG. 4 , showing, in particular, a front hook of a single laundry bag supported by a second cupped region of the saddle-shaped support; and 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the saddle-shaped support of  FIG. 4 , showing, in particular, two front hooks of two laundry bags adjacently supported by both first and second cupped regions of the saddle-shaped support. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     While the present invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail, several specific embodiments, with the understanding that the present disclosure is intended as an exemplification of the principles of the present invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments illustrated. 
     A first embodiment of the present laundry sorter  10  is shown in  FIGS. 1-6  as comprising frame  20 , supporting a plurality, in this embodiment three, of substantially adjacent removable laundry bags  200 . Frame  20  may be constructed primarily of tubular steel or aluminum components and comprises four vertical front posts  30 , two vertical rear posts  40 , two bottom horizontal tubes  50 , two bottom side tubes  60 , and two angled side support tubes  70 . Each front post  30  comprises an elongated, vertically oriented support member. 
     Angled side support tubes  70  each connect a respective outer front post  30  and rear post  40 . Top rear horizontal tube  90  connects left and right rear posts  40 . Two L-shaped support tubes  80  each connect a respective inner front post  30  to top rear horizontal tube  90  via T-coupling  130 . T-couplings  130  may be constructed of a relatively rigid plastic material, and may include a cuff-shaped upper portion enabling a snap-fit engagement about top rear horizontal tube  90 . T-couplings  130  may optionally include two opposing depressions or recessed regions to secure supported rear hooks  253  associated with laundry bags  200  against unwanted lateral movement. 
     Another form of T-couplings  120  connect two inner front posts  30  to front bottom horizontal tubes  50 , and may likewise be constructed of a relatively rigid plastic material. Two bottom side tubes  60  each connect a respective outer front post  30  and rear post  40 . Wire mesh surface  100  is disposed across front and rear bottom horizontal tubes  50 . 
     Caster wheels  110  are coupled to the bottom ends of each of outer front posts  30  and rear posts  40 , permitting laundry sorter  20  to be rolled about. 
     As best seen in  FIGS. 4-6 , four saddle-shaped laundry bag supports  150  are disposed atop respective front posts  30 . Each saddle-shaped support  150  comprises a top saddle-shaped surface having two opposing outer risers  154 , having a first cupped region  151  and a second cupped region  152 , separated by a center riser  153 . Saddle-shaped support  150  may be constructed of a relatively rigid plastic material. Each cupped region comprises a depression, sunken region, recess or hollow disposed proximate a top surface of saddle-shaped support  150 . 
     As best seen in  FIG. 1 , laundry sorter  10  further comprises three removable laundry bags  200 , each comprising fabric body  210 . Fabric body  210  may be generally parallelepiped on shape, and may include internal stiffeners about its vertical, top and bottom edges to inhibit folding or collapse of the fabric, such that laundry bag  200  substantially retains its generally parallelepiped configuration. Top opening  220  of laundry bag  200  is generally rectangular in configuration, and is angled or canted forward, such that front edge  221  is below rear edge  222 , further facilitating the placement of garments into laundry bag  200 . 
     Fabric body  210  of laundry bag  200  further comprises four side loops  230 , each extending vertically from a side surface of fabric body  210  and each disposed proximate a respective corner of top opening  220 . Two hanger handles  250  are coupled to each fabric body  210  using side loops  230 . Each hanger handle  250  may be constructed of a relatively rigid material such as steel or aluminum, and comprises arcuate central carrying region  251 , front hook  252  and rear hook  253 . Two linear regions  254  of hanger handle  250  are disposed on either side of central carrying region  251  and adjacent front hook  252  and rear hook  253 . Hanger handles  250  are attached to fabric body  210  by passing front hook  252  and rear hook  253  through respective side loops  230 , until each side loop  230  is disposed about an associated linear region  254 . 
     Each laundry bag  250  is releasably attachable at a predetermined position of frame  20 , with frame  20  supporting front hook  252  and rear hook  253 . Specifically, rear hook  253  is disposed about a top region of rear horizontal tube  90 . And may be retained in position in cooperation with T-coupling  130 , as described above. Simultaneously, front hook  252  is disposed atop an associated saddle-shaped laundry bag support  150 , nestled within opposing raised side surfaces of either first cupped region  151  and second cupped region  152 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the saddle-shaped support  150  associated with leftmost front post  30  supports front hook  252  of a leftmost-positioned laundry bag  200  only upon second cupped region  152 , with first cupped region  151  being left unused. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the saddle-shaped support  150  associated with rightmost front post  30  supports front hook  252  of a rightmost-positioned laundry bag  200  only upon first cupped region  151 , with second cupped region  252  being unused. As shown in  FIG. 6 , the saddle-shaped supports  150  associated with each inner front post  30  each supports a first front hook  252  of a first laundry bag  200  upon first cupped region  151 , and a second front hook  252  of a second laundry bag  200  upon second cupped region  252 . 
     As can be seen, through the use of laundry bag handle supports disposed atop vertical posts, coupled with the absence of a top horizontal tube or similar frame structure that presents an obstruction proximate the front of the frame, each laundry bag may be removed through an associated forward opening region of the frame, by raising the hanger handles only slightly, such that the front and back hooks of the hanger handles clear the saddle shaped support supporting them, thereby permitting the laundry bag to then be carried forward, towards the user and out of the interior of the laundry sorter&#39;s frame. Accordingly, each laundry bag need not be raised above the height of the frame in order to remove it from the frame, as would be required by some prior art, top loading laundry sorters. 
     Although the previously described embodiment discloses a laundry sorter consisting of three laundry bags  200 , with a frame that includes two inner front posts  30 , differently sized laundry sorters having different numbers of supported laundry bags are also contemplated by the present invention, including, but not limited to: i) a frame  20  supporting a single laundry bag  200 , with no inner front posts  30 , and two outer front posts,  30 , each having a saddle-shaped laundry bag support  150  disposed atop the front post  30 ; ii) a frame  20  supporting two laundry bags  200 , with a single inner front post  30  and two outer front posts  30 , each having a saddle-shaped laundry bag support  150  disposed atop the front post  30 ; and iii) a frame  20  supporting four laundry bags  200 , with three single inner front posts  30  and two outer front posts  30 , each having a saddle-shaped laundry bag support  150  disposed atop the front post  30 . 
     Many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described. Various modifications, changes and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation and details of performing the various steps of the invention disclosed herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The present disclosure is intended to exemplify and not limit the invention.