Patent Publication Number: US-7717279-B2

Title: Slatwall track

Description:
I. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Definition of the Invention 
     The present invention relates, in general, to workroom and garage storage organizers and, in particular, to a slatwall track. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     The walls of a building in residential, commercial and industrial buildings are frequently provided with one or more slatwall tracks used to display a variety of objects off the floor of the building. The objects can be similar, such as in a display for merchandise in retail stores, for example shoes, or they can vary in shape, size, weight and type, such as in a garage or workshop, etc. to suspend, for example, gardening or other handtools. 
     The slatwall tracks are made of metal, metal alloys or plastic and formed by an extrusion process. 
     Slatwall tracks are generally secured to a building structure, which includes without limitation any walls, such as temporary or permanent walls. The walls may or may not be covered with wallboard. The slatwall tracks are attached with screws directly to walls having physical strength, to an existing frame or studs normally used to hold the wallboard. 
     Often a slatwall track is interlockingly connected with a similar upper and lower slatwall tracks. Sometimes there is spacing between slatwall tracks in which case that spacing must be uniform to provide an even and aesthetically pleasing surface. 
     When slatwall tracks are mounted on the walls of a workroom or a garage, in order to create an appealing, more pleasant environment, the choice is generally limited to the use of wallboard which must be usually painted. 
     Attempts to improve the structural configuration of slatwall tracks have been made and are reflected in patents. Thus, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,490 granted on Oct. 13, 1998 to Current for a “SLATWALL SECTION AND METHOD FOR MAKING THE SAME” describes a slatwall track of uniform thickness with an upper and lower leg for intermeshing with contiguous above or bellow identical slatwall tracks. The upper and lower leg are provided with holes for securing them together and also to a wall. The total thickness of both legs is equal to the uniform thickness of the remainder of the slatwall track. The main shortcomings of the foregoing slatwall track reside in the fact that in reality there is no uniform thickness throughout the entire track, which complicates the extrusion process, and an attachment to a wall is not specifically designed for a single track, which can be sometimes the case. Another shortcoming is due to the fact that no means are provided to cover the spacing between spaced slatwall tracks when the securing wall is not a finished one. Moreover, the attachment of the track is located at the extremities of the latter and not along its center of symmetry. 
     Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,384 granted on Jan. 4, 2005 to Secondino for a “STORAGE TRACK” configured for use with a panel, such as a pegboard. The storage track is extruded with a horizontal “L” groove along its length for accepting most standard display accessories, such as hooks, shelf brackets, etc. The storage track incorporates as well two channels that run horizontally along its length to receive upper and lower panels. The upper channel mates with a bottom edge of the upper panel, while the lower channel mates with a top edge of the lower panel. Furthermore, the storage track is used in combination with hollow tubular elements to provide the necessary spacing between a wall, onto which the storage track is secured, and pegboard panels. The latter float between the two horizontal channels of the storage tracks. One disadvantage of the foregoing storage track resides in the fact that there is no rigid and sufficient secure attachment of the pegboard panels to the storage track. Another disadvantage is due to the fact that there are no means provided to cover the spacing between spaced storage tracks, when the wall of the building was not finished. 
     Yet another example is International Patent Application WO 93/00846 published on 21 Jan. 1993 under the title “ARRANGEMENT FOR A HOLLOW PROFILE MOULDING”, inventors Becker et al. This application describes an assembly of slatwall tracks horizontally extending and vertically succeeding, which are interlocked preferably with tongued and grooved type coupling. Each slatwall track incorporates front vertical elements so disposed that an opening is formed between two consecutive front vertical elements. The opening is adaptable to accommodate object supports. The assembly also includes fixtures which permit the detachable supporting of sheet-shaped panels. The main disadvantage of this assembly is the lack of means for retaining and securing an aesthetically appealing panel, between two consecutive slatwall tracks, flush with an unfinished wall to which the slatwall tracks are secured. 
     II. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     There is a urgent need, frequently expressed by the users, for an improved slatwall track which satisfies not only utility and functionality requirements but also the aesthetical aspects of workrooms and garages where slatwall are used. Hence, several objectives were established by the inventor. 
     A first objective is to provide a simple and robust slatwall track. 
     A second objective is to provide a versatile slatwall track that can either be used alone, or be interengaged with an upper or a lower or both upper and lower slatwall tracks, and is also adaptable to retain a decoration panel, when two consecutive slatwall tracks are used. 
     Broadly stating, the slatwall track according to the present invention comprises:
         a horizontally elongated integral body defined by an uniform thickness and by a front and a back side, and incorporates
           an upwardly extending element adapted for intermeshing with another slatwall track mounted above it, the upwardly extending element adapted for intermeshing with another slatwall track being positionally retracted from the front side at a distance equal to the uniform thickness;   one or more subassemblies for receiving and capturing adapted to retain one or more elements for supporting suspended items, the one or more subassemblies for receiving and capturing being followed downwardly by   one or more rigidity components adapted for resisting to a leverage effect caused especially when the one or more elements for supporting suspended items are loaded with the latter, the one or more rigidity components adapted for resisting to a leverage effect being positioned to follow each of the one or more subassemblies for receiving and capturing,   a downwardly extending element adapted for intermeshing another slatwall track mounted bellow it, namely the downwardly extending element, being coplanar with the front side, frictionally engage the upwardly extending element adapted for intermeshing with another slatwall track mounted above it; and   an element for stopping adapted to limit an upward insertion of the upwardly extending element adapted for intermeshing with another slatwall track, being perpendicularly and backwardly projecting from the downwardly extending element and having an outside extremity spaced from a back plan coplanar with an exterior surface of the back side; the upwardly extending means adapted for intermeshing having also an outside extremity equally spaced from a back plan coplanar with an exterior surface of the back side   whereby a spacing, adapted for insertion of a panel between two slatwall tracks disposed in parallel and spaced vertically, is formed.   
               

     More specifically, the slatwall track comprises, in combination,
         an integral body structure formed with a uniform thickness throughout the whole its structure and having a front and a back side;   an upwardly extending horizontal protrusion adapted for an intermeshing with another slatwall track situated above it, the upwardly extending horizontal protrusion being retracted from front side at a distance equal with the uniform thickness;   an rearward extending horizontal wall starting from a bottom of the upwardly extending horizontal protrusion. The former and the latter defining a first step-shaped rabbet and ending into the back side, followed by   a vertical wall horizontally extending as part of the back side and, then, continued at its bottom by a first forwardly extending horizontal segmental wall;   a channel, generally of rectangular shape, with an opening in the front side, formed by the the foregoing walls;   a U-shaped channel expanding downwardly from the channel and retracted from the back side, and having an external leg coplanar with the front side; the channel and the U-shaped channel having each a length commensurate with a whole length of said slatwall track;   a closed box section extending downwardly from said U-shaped channel and defined by a frontal wall stretching down from said external leg and coincidental with a portion of the front side, by a rear wall coincidental with a portion of the back side and continued at its top by a second forwardly extending horizontal segmental wall and at its bottom by a forwardly extending horizontal wall;   another channel extending into another U-shaped channel and located beneath the closed box section is followed downwardly by another closed box;   yet another channel extending into an other U-shaped channel downwardly;   a limiting horizontally wall incorporating a second forwardly extending horizontal segmental wall and a bottom of a last U-shaped channel stretches from the front side and reaches a back plan coplanar with an exterior surface of the back side;   an downwardly extending horizontal protrusion adapted for an intermeshing with another slatwall track situated beneath it; and   a rearward projecting tongue horizontally extending and perpendicular to the downwardly extending horizontal protrusion. The former and the latter defining a second step-shaped rabbet designed to stop the upwardly extending horizontal protrusion of a lower-contiguous slatwall track when the latter abuts it, after the upwardly extending horizontal protrusion frictionally engaged the downwardly extending horizontal protrusion; a length of said rearward projecting tongue being conveniently chosen that a panel having a specific thickness is adaptable to be inserted between an outside end of the rearward projecting tongue and a wall coplanar with a back plane, the latter being coplanar with the back side;   correspondingly, the upwardly extending horizontal protrusion being adapted to frictionally engage the downwardly extending horizontal protrusion of an upper contiguous slatwall track until the rearward projecting tongue of the latter abuts and, thus, is stopped by a top end of the upwardly extending horizontal protrusion; thus, a distance between the upwardly extending horizontal protrusion and the wall coplanar with the back side is so conveniently chosen that is adaptable for an insertion of a panel having a specific thickness;   whereby   the channels together with the U-shaped channels are adaptable to receive and capture supporting features; and   the vertical wall being provided with a notch along its horizontally extending midline defines an indentation for guiding fastening means during mounting of the slatwall track.       

    
    
     
       III. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The subject matter of the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctively claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. The invention, however, both in structure and operation may be better understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the subjoined claims and the accompanying drawings of which 
         FIG. 1  shows an end elevation view of a slatwall track according to present invention; 
         FIG. 2  shows the same slatwall track as in  FIG. 1 , with a supporting feature retained into it; 
         FIG. 3  shows the same slatwall as in  FIGS. 1 and 2  when used alone, depicted besides 
         FIG. 4  which shows two interlocked slatwall tracks; and 
         FIG. 5  shows two fragmentary successive slatwall tracks as those depicted in the foregoing drawings, between which a panel is interposed. 
     
    
    
     IV. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Before the various embodiments of the present invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the terms used herein with reference to the orientation of a slatwall track (such as, for example, terms like “front”, “back”, “upper”, “lower”, “horizontal”, “vertical”, and the like), are only used to better understand the description of the present invention, and do not alone indicate or imply that the invention and its uses, referred to, must have a particular position. 
     Turning now to the accompanying drawings,  FIG. 1  shows an extruded, horizontally elongated slatwall track  100 , named “slatwall track  100 ” or “slatwall track” elsewhere in this specification, which comprises:
         an integral body structure generally formed with a uniform thickness T throughout the whole of its structure and having a front and a back side  102  and  104 ;   an upwardly extending horizontal protrusion  106  adapted for intermeshing with another slatwall track  100  situated above it (see  FIG. 4 ), upwardly extending horizontal protrusion  106  being retracted from front side  102  by a distance equal with uniform thickness T;   a rearwardly extending horizontal wall  108  starting from bottom of upwardly extending horizontal protrusion  106  (the former and the latter defining a first step-shaped rabbet a) and ending into back side  104 , followed by   a vertical wall  110  horizontally extending as part of back side  104  and, then, continued at its bottom by a first forwardly extending horizontal segmental wall  112 ;   a channel  114 , generally of rectangular shape with an opening in front side  102 , formed by the foregoing walls;   a U-shaped channel  116  expanding downwardly from channel  114  and retracted from back side  104 , and having an external leg  118  coplanar with front side  102 ; channel  114  and U-shaped channel  116  having a length commensurate with the whole length of slatwall track  100 ;   a closed box section  120  extending downwardly from U-shaped channel  116  has a frontal wall  122  stretching down from external leg  118  and coincidental with a portion of front side  102 , a rear wall  124  coincidental with a portion of back side  104  and continued at its top by a second forwardly extending horizontal segmental wall  112 ′ and at its bottom by a forwardly extending horizontal wall  126 ;   another channel  114  extending into U-shaped channel  116  is located beneath closed box section  120  and is continued downwardly by another closed box  120     yet another channel  114  extending into U-shaped channel  116  follows downwardly;   a limiting horizontally wall  128  incorporating a second forwardly extending horizontal segmental wall  112 ′ and a bottom of a U-shaped channel  116  stretches from front side  102  and reaches a back plane  130  coplanar with the exterior surface of back side  104 ;   a downwardly extending horizontal protrusion  132  adapted for an intermeshing with another slatwall track  100  situated beneath it; and   a rearward projecting tongue  134  perpendicular to downwardly extending horizontal protrusion  132  (the former and the latter defining a second step-shaped rabbet b) is designed to stop upwardly extending horizontal protrusion  106  of a lower-contiguous slatwall track  100  when the latter abuts it after upwardly extending horizontal protrusion  106  frictionally engaged downwardly extending horizontal protrusion  132 ; the length of rearward projecting tongue  134  is conveniently chosen that a panel P having a specific thickness (for example, a ¼″ melamine panel) is adaptable to be inserted between an outside end of rearward projecting tongue  134  and a wall coplanar with back plan  130 ;   correspondingly, upwardly extending horizontal protrusion  106  is adapted to frictionally engage downwardly extending horizontal protrusion  132  of an upper contiguous slatwall track  100  until rearward projecting tongue  134  of the latter abuts and, thus, is stopped by a top end of upwardly extending horizontal protrusion  106 ; a distance between upwardly extending horizontal protrusion  106  is so conveniently chosen that is adaptable for the insertion of panel P (see  FIG. 5 ) having a specific thickness.       

     The channels  114  together with U-shaped channels  116  are designed to receive and capture supporting features S (see  FIG. 2 ) such as hangers, brackets, etc. which in turn support items that are being displayed or suspended. Although slatwall track  100  is described and shown with channels  114  and U-shaped channels  116 , the former having a rectangular cross-section and the latter a U-shaped cross-section, other channel configurations may be used. 
     In the foregoing embodiment of the invention, three vertically spaced and horizontally extending channels  114  are described together with their corresponding U-shaped channels  116 . 
     It is to be understood that the number of channels can differ depending on the required number of supports S and the design of the latter. Thus, slatwall track  100  may be formed with one or more channels. 
     Several screws (not shown) are used for attachment of slatwall track  100  to a wall, frame or studs. The screws penetrate into one of the foregoing places of attachment via vertical wall  110  which is slightly notched to define a V-shaped indentation V along its horizontally extending midline c. V-shaped indentation V is used for guiding the screws during mounting of slatwall track  100 . Vertical wall  110  is adaptable to incorporate holes H aligned on midline c and sized for receiving the screws. 
     Closed box  120  shown in the drawings is of rectangular configuration. Alternatively, other configurations can be used as long as closed box  120  provides sufficient rigidity to resist leverage applied by a cantileverly supported item. 
     The foregoing embodiment of the invention incorporates two closed boxes  120 . Generally, a closed box  120  is intercalated between two consecutive channels  114  and U-shaped channels  116 . 
     Upwardly extending horizontal protrusion  106 , downwardly extending horizontal protrusion, downwardly extending horizontal protrusion  132 , rearward projecting tongue  134  and external leg  118  have rounded outside extremities d for facilitating the engagement with those items intended to match with. 
     As required, a detailed embodiment of the present invention is disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiment is merely exemplary of the invention which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure.