Patent Publication Number: US-7900781-B2

Title: Storage system

Description:
This application claims benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to the filing date of to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/962,114, as filed on Jul. 26, 2007, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     The invention relates to storage systems and more particularly to wall mounted storage systems. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Such wall mounted storage systems are sold by Newell Rubbermaid Inc. under the trademarks FASTTRACK and 300X. These systems comprise a rail or a plurality of rails that are mounted to a substantially vertical supporting surface such as a wall. The rail supports a variety of organizing and storage accessories such as hooks, shelving units and tool holders. The accessories can be removed from and attached to the rail along its length such that the system provides a flexible, reconfigurable storage and organizing system. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A storage system is provided comprising a rail having a protrusion including a first flange and a second flange. An accessory mount for mounting to the rail includes a top hook for engaging the first flange and a resilient bottom hook for engaging the second flange. 
     A rail is also provided for supporting an accessory mount comprising a back rail portion comprising a substantially planar member and a front rail portion substantially coextensive with the back rail portion and secured to the back rail portion. A protrusion is formed on the front rail portion and extends along a longitudinal axis of the rail. The protrusion comprises a first flange and a second flange extending along the longitudinal axis where the protrusion is symmetrical about the longitudinal axis. The first flange and the second flange are formed with rounded outer peripheries and define a first recess located behind and extending along the first flange and a second recess located behind and extending along the second flange. 
     A method of assembling a support is also provided comprising providing a rail having a protrusion comprising a first flange and a second flange where the protrusion extends for substantially the length of the rail. The first flange defines a first recess and said second flange defines a second recess. The rail is mounted to a surface. An accessory mount is provided having a first hook and a second hook. The first hook is inserted on the first flange such that the first hook extends into the first recess. The bottom of the accessory mount is pushed towards the rail forcing the second hook into engagement with the second flange to deform the second hook. The second hook passes transversely under the second flange and snaps back toward its original shape to engage the second flange. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is plan view showing a rail for use in the storage system. 
         FIG. 2  is a side view showing the rail of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a side view showing the front rail portion of the rail of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of an accessory for mounting on the rail of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is a back view of the accessory of  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 6  is a front view of the accessory of  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 7  is a section view taken along line  7 - 7  of  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 8  is a section view taken along line  8 - 8  of  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective front view of the accessory of  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective back view of the accessory of  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective front view of a component of the accessory of  FIG. 4 . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
     A rail for use in a wall mounted storage system is shown generally at  100  in the Figures. The rail  100  is constructed of two components—a front rail portion  102  and a back rail portion  104 . The back rail  104  portion comprises a substantially planar member constructed of full hard steel or other structurally rigid material. The back rail portion  104  is dimensioned so as to extend for substantially the length and width of the finished rail  100 . While the rail may be dimensioned to in a variety of sizes in one embodiment the rail has a horizontal length that is substantially greater than the vertical height. For example, the rail may have a height of approximately 2 to 3 inches and a length of approximately 4 to 6 feet. A plurality of mounting apertures  106  are provided along the length of the back rail portion  104 . 
     The front rail portion  102  may also comprise full hard steel formed to have the shape shown in the drawings. The finished dimensions of the front rail portion  102  substantially conform to the dimensions of the back rail portion  104  such that the front rail portion  102  is substantially coextensive with the back rail portion  104 . While in the illustrated embodiment the front rail portion  102  is coextensive with the back rail portion  104 , these components do not necessarily have to be coextensive. A plurality of mounting apertures  108  are provided along the length of the front rail portion  102  that are aligned with the apertures  106  on the back rail portion  104  when the front rail portion is secured to the back rail portion. The apertures may also be formed in the rail after the front and back rail portions are joined together. The apertures receive fasteners for securing the rail to the wall or other vertical surface. In one embodiment the front rail portion  102  is secured to the back rail portion  104  by welding. Other mechanisms may also be used to secure the front rail portion  102  to the back rail portion  104  such as rivets or other fasteners, adhesive, a mechanical joint such as crimping or the like. 
     The front rail portion  102  has a protrusion  110  formed therein that in one embodiment extends for the length of the rail. When joined together the front rail portion  102  and the back rail portion form a rail  100  that has a box section that is very rigid and resists twisting and bending. The protrusion  110  is configured to mate with accessories that are to be mounted on rail  100  as will hereinafter be described. In one embodiment the protrusion  110  is substantially symmetrically disposed on front rail portion  102  such that the rail  100  may be properly secured to the wall or other vertical surface with either longitudinal side on the top. Making the rail symmetrical also facilitates its use as a ceiling mounted support because accessories can grip both protrusions  112  and  114 . The protrusion  110  has a first upwardly facing flange  112  and a second downwardly facing flange  114  where both flanges extend for the length of the front rail portion  102 . The flanges  112  and  114  create longitudinally extending recesses  116  and  118 , respectively, that extend for the length of the front rail portion  102 . Because the rail is symmetrical it can be mounted on a vertical surface with either flange  112  or  114  facing upward. In explaining operation of the rail, reference is made to an upper flange and a lower flange. It is to be understood that either flange  112  or flange  114  may function as the upper or lower flange depending on the orientation of rail  100 . 
     The flanges  112  and  114  are formed with rounded outer peripheries  112   a  and  114   a  that facilitate the mounting and removal of accessories on the rail. The center portion of protrusion  110  has a longitudinally extending recess  120  formed therein that is used to reinforce the rail along its length. A pair of flat surfaces  122  and  124  are formed between the recess  120  and flanges  112  and  114 , respectively. 
     An accessory mount  130  for mounting to the rail  100  is shown in  FIGS. 4 through 11 . The accessory mount  130  is intended to support any accessory  127  that may be mounted to the rail including, but not limited to, hooks, shelves, cabinets, tool holders, equipment holders, tools, power strips or the like. The accessory mount includes support portions  132  that support the specific accessory. For example, support portions  132  may have a hook, shelf support, cabinet, tool holder, equipment holder, tool, power strip or the like connected thereto such as by welding. The accessory may also be removably connected to the support portions  132 . Further, the accessory and the support portions  132  may be integrally formed with one another such that the transition from the support portion to the accessory is seamless. 
     The support portions  132  are connected to a top hook support  131  that may be made of sheet metal or other rigid material. Top hook support  131  includes a body portion  133  that terminates at its top end in a first hook  134  that is open in a downward direction. Hook  134  has an inner shape that closely corresponds to the outer peripheries  112   a  and  114   a  of flanges  112  and  114 , respectively. Further, the lip  134   a  of hook  134  has a length sufficient to extend into recesses  116  or  118  for a major portion of the depth of the recesses as shown in  FIG. 9 . Hook  134  has a thickness and width sufficient to support the weight of the accessory and any articles intended to be supported by the accessory. The hook  134  may comprise an outer portion  136  made of a substantially rigid material such as sheet metal. In one embodiment outer portion  136  is formed integrally with body portion  133 . Hook  134  may also comprise an inner sleeve  138  made of a more resilient material such as plastic or rubber. The inner sleeve  138  may be connected to the outer portion  136  such as by sonic welding, fasteners or other connection mechanism. The exposed surface  138   a  of the inner sleeve  138  is shaped and dimensioned to closely receive outer peripheries  112   a  and  114   a  of flanges  112  and  114 . The inner sleeve  138  ensures a tight fit with the rail  100  and prevents marring or scraping of the rail surface. Another pad  139  may also be attached to the body portion  133  so as to contact the front of the rail when the accessory is mounted on the rail. The pad  139  may be made of plastic or rubber sonically welded or otherwise secured to hook support  131  and also prevents marring or scraping of the rail surface. 
     A flange  140  extends from hook support  131  near the bottom of body portion  133 . Flange  140  fits under the lower flange but does not extend into the recess formed by the lower flange. In one embodiment the flange  140  is formed of the same material as the body portion  133  and may be formed integrally therewith. 
     A resilient bottom hook  142  is mounted on the hook support  131  for engaging the lower flange in a snap fit connection. Bottom hook  142  extends generally transverse to flanges  112  and  114  when the accessory is mounted on rail  100 . Bottom hook  142  is formed with protrusions  146  at either end thereof where the protrusions extend into recesses  116  or  118  a minor portion of the depth of the recesses. Protrusions  146  have a rounded outer surface  146   a  to facilitate the mounting of the accessory on rail  100 . Because the member  144  is relatively thin and made of a resilient material such as plastic, the hook  142  can flex relative to the hook support  131  to allow the accessory to be removably mounted to the rail  100 . In the illustrated embodiment, bottom hook  142  includes a portion  142   a  ( FIGS. 6 ,  7  and  8 ) that is connected to the front of hook support  131  and forms a decorative fascia on the front of the support. Portion  142   a  may be molded to include designs, logos, words, symbols or other indicia  143 . 
     To mount an accessory on the rail  100 , the top hook  134  is inserted on flange  112  or  114  such that the hook extends into the top recess  116  or  118 . The bottom of the accessory mount  130  is pushed towards the rail  100  forcing bottom hook  142  into engagement with the bottom flange  112  or  114 . The bottom flange  112  or  114  engages surfaces  146   a  to slightly deform the bottom hook  142  and push the bottom hook  142  away from the top hook  134 . The bottom hook  142  deforms until it can pass transversely under the bottom flange  112  or  114 . The bottom hook  142  then snaps back to its original shape forcing protrusions  146  into recess  116  or  118  and locking the accessory mount  130  on the rail  100 . 
     To remove the accessory mount  130  from rail  100  the process is reversed. A force is applied to the bottom of the accessory mount  130  pulling the accessory mount away from the rail  100 . The protrusions  146   a  engage the bottom flanges causing the bottom hook  142  to deform and spread away from top hook  134 . The rail can then be removed from between the top hook  134  and the bottom hook  142 . The accessory mount and its associated accessory can be positioned and repositioned any where along the rail  100 . 
     Specific embodiments of an invention are disclosed herein. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the invention has other applications in other environments. Many embodiments are possible. The following claims are in no way intended to limit the scope of the invention to the specific embodiments described above.