Patent Publication Number: US-2007114350-A1

Title: Table accessory for supporting bags and the like

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This application claims priority to Italian Application No. RM2005A000589, filed Nov. 24, 2005, entitled “TABLE ACCESSORY FOR SUPPORTING BAGS AND THE LIKE.” 
     TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention refers to the field of manufacturing accessories for pieces of furniture and in particular, to a table accessory for supporting bags and the like apt to provide an aid for placing and temporarily storing a generic load, like that represented by a luggage and leather-ware.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      In public places such as restaurants, bars, offices, schools, etc. there is often little or no space intended for temporarily storing bags or luggage carried by an individual intending to stay for a prolonged time without being encumbered by the bags or luggage. One solution to the problem is to lay the bags or luggage on the floor, thereby occupying space otherwise used for walking, with the associated risk of hindering the transit of persons and things, e.g., in a restaurant-like venue of waiters, customers, trolleys, etc. Even when rooms or spaces are available for temporarily storing bags or luggage, the rooms or spaces are not always located in the immediate vicinity of the positions occupied by the persons who were carrying the bags or luggage. Thus, these persons temporarily lose direct control of the own bags or luggage in that expressly employed personnel of a particular establishment have control of the bags or luggage goods, with the entailed increase in managing costs. Hooks or the like are often applied to tables and the like for holding bags, but may entail drawbacks, such as the irremovability and the inability to adjust their configuration to the alternate conditions of loading/unloading with bags and the like.  
      For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for alternatives for temporarily storing bags or luggage.  
     SUMMARY  
      The above-mentioned problems with temporarily storing bags or luggage and other problems are addressed by the present invention and will be understood by reading and studying the following specification.  
      There is a demand for a system allowing the practical arranging of bags and the like at the positions taken up by people who carry the bags, e.g., when these people reside adjacent pieces of furniture generally incorporating a plane, such as tables, counters, desks and the like. Hence, object of the present invention is to meet said demand.  
      As it will be made apparent by the following description, the table accessory for supporting bags according to the present invention is susceptible to simple manufacturing and particularly cost-effective production. The accessory according to the present invention is engineered so as to advantageously have very limited dimensions; the bags loaded thereon concomitantly remaining easily accessible.  
      A further advantage of the accessory, according to the present invention, lies in that a user can immediately and effectively benefit therefrom for positioning bags and the like while residing adjacent a piece of furniture to which the accessory is applied. Moreover, the accessory according to the present invention combines demands of practicability with pleasant aesthetic values. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      Further advantages, as well as the features and the modes of employ of the present invention, will be made apparent in the following detailed description of two preferred embodiments thereof, given by way of example and without limitative purposes, and of variants thereof making reference to the figures of the annexed drawings, wherein:  
       FIG. 1A  is a perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of the accessory, according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
       FIG. 1B  is a top perspective view of a plane of a piece of furniture to which is applied the accessory of  FIG. 1A  in operating conditions, according to another embodiment of the present invention.  
       FIG. 1C  is a partially sectional side perspective view of a detail of the piece of furniture of  FIG. 1B  at the applying of the accessory of  FIG. 1A .  
       FIG. 2A  is a side and top perspective view of a second preferred embodiment of the accessory mounted on a plane of a piece of furniture, according to another embodiment of the present invention.  
       FIG. 2B  is a side and bottom perspective view of the accessory according to the present invention of  FIG. 2A , according to another embodiment of the present invention.  
       FIG. 2C  comprises a set of three perspective views of the accessory of  FIG. 2A , said set being apt to exemplify a mode of deployment in an operating position of a retaining member for a bag and of closure in a non-operating position thereof, according to another embodiment of the present invention.  
       FIG. 3A  is a side and top perspective view of a variant of the accessory of  FIG. 2A , mounted on a shelf of a piece of furniture, according to another embodiment of the present invention.  
       FIG. 3B  is a side and bottom perspective view of the accessory of  FIG. 3A , according to another embodiment of the present invention.  
       FIG. 3C  comprises a set of three perspective views of the accessory of  FIG. 3A , said set being apt to exemplify a mode of deployment in an operating position of a retaining member for a bag and of closure in a non-operating condition thereof, according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      The structure of a table accessory  1 , according to the present invention, as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , comprises means for fastening table accessory  1  to a plane  10 , e.g. the top of a table, and a retaining member  3  for a bag  100  or the like. Such a retaining member  3  has a first element  4 ′,  4 ″ for positioning and/or grabbing the bag  100 , and a second element  5 ′,  5 ″ for securing the bag  100  to the plane  10  of the table.  
      The securing element  5 ′,  5 ″ is apt to cooperate with the plane  10 , and the operation mechanism is conceived so as to provide a firm grip of the bag  100 , located on said first positioning and/or grabbing element  4 ′,  4 ″, and assure a safe supporting thereof by the accessory  1  fastened to the plane  10 . In particular, the operation dynamics provides that when the bag  100  is engaged in the positioning and/or grabbing element  4 ′,  4 ″, the accessory  1  assumes, by virtue of the weight force of the bag  100 , a first loaded configuration defined by the abutting of the securing element  5 ′,  5 ″ on a bottom surface  12  of the plane  10 . Thus, the portion of plane  10  to which the accessory  1  is applied is pinched between said fastening means and the securing element  5 ′,  5 ″.  
      When, instead, the bag  100  is removed from the positioning and/or grabbing element  4 ′,  4 ″, the accessory  1  assumes a second unloaded configuration, wherein the securing element  5 ′,  5 ″ is unconstrained from the bottom surface  12  of the plane  10 . Thus, the slipping off of the bag  100  itself from the accessory  1  by the user and the restoring, automated or by a user of the retaining member  3 , to the non-operating position are made easier.  
      A first preferred embodiment of the accessory according to the present invention, exemplified in  FIG. 1A , provides that the fastening means be integral with the retaining member. In this specific case, the fastening means comprises a basically cylindrical element  2  apt to rest on a top surface  13  of the plane  10 . Such a basically cylindrical element  2  allows a rotation of the accessory  1  with regard to the table in connection with the loading of the accessory  1  with the weight of a bag  100 .  
      As illustrated in  FIG. 1A , the positioning and/or grabbing element has a basically curved portion  4 ′, e.g., loop-shaped, of the retaining member, made integral with the basically cylindrical element  2  through a fitting  6 . The securing element is an extension bar  5 ′, integral with the loop  4 ′ of the retaining member. The configuration of the retaining member is such that, in the loaded configuration, the basically cylindrical element  2  rotates, under the weight of the bag  100 , according to a first sense of rotation determining the tilt of the fitting  6  and therefore the abutting of one end of the bar  5 ′ onto the bottom surface  12 . By virtue of such a configuration, it is prevented the slipping off of the bag  100 , which thus remains stably hung, as shown in  FIG. 1C , until the user decides to remove it by lifting it.  
      In the unloaded configuration, when the securing element  5 ′ is freed from the weight of the bag  100 , the basically cylindrical element  2  rotates according to a second direction sense, opposite to said first sense of rotation, causing the detaching of the securing element  5 ′ from the bottom surface  12 . Thus, it is allowed the removal of said bag  100  and/or the insertion of a further bag.  
      In a second embodiment of the accessory  1 , according to the present invention, as depicted in  FIGS. 2A  to  2 C, the fastening means comprises a basically C-shaped structure  40 , apt to engage on the plane  10  of a table to which it is applied by insertion from an open side thereof. In this case, the securing element is a rod  5 ″ hinged to the basically C-shaped structure  40 . The positioning and/or grabbing element  4 ″ is basically hook-shaped. In operation, the basically C-shaped structure  40  and the rod  5 ″ cooperate so as to strengthen the anchoring of the accessory  1  to the table by pinching the plane  10 . The rod  5 ″ is preferably hinged to the hook  4 ″.  
      The at least two joints, preferably made with hinges, at the connection between rod  5 ″ and structure  40  and between rod  5 ″ and hook  4 ″, respectively, enables retaining member  3  to be reversibly folded back. As exemplified in  FIG. 2C  and in  FIG. 3C , the retaining member  3  can be folded back, e.g., by jointing, in housings  7  obtained into the basically C-shaped structure  40 , when in not in operation. Hence, the retaining member  3  is deployable from its housing into the basically C-shaped structure  40 , to be thereby set in operation in order to allow the loading of a bag  100 .  
      A variant of the table accessory  1 , according to the present invention, envisages the insertion of an element  8  ( FIGS. 3B and 3C ) for closing the open side of the basically C-shaped structure  40 . Such a closing element  8  has a C-like shape basically analogous to the structure  40 , so as to couple to the ends of the structure  40 . Thus, when the retaining member  3  is folded back and not engaged with the plane  10 , the accessory  1  when not in operation appears basically shaped like a closed ring. Preferably, the closing element  8  is rotatably connected to one end of the structure  40 , e.g. by a ball joint head.  
      Thanks to this design, the transportability of the accessory  1 , which may optionally be removed from the plane  10  with ease, is advantageously facilitated. In particular, the accessory  1 , provided with closing element  8 , may convert to a user-wearable bracelet in its closed configuration. In both embodiments, the design incorporates ergonomic features and is such as to foster an advantageous removability of the accessory  1 , so that the latter may easily be applied to the plane  10  or removed therefrom.  
      The use of a device according to the present invention may prove extremely convenient, e.g., in a working or private environment, where a shelf is available. The device finds useful in convivial contexts, like in restaurants or entertainment venues, or professional ones, like studies, in which a user has at his/her disposal a plane, e.g. of a table, shelf, stack or desk and wants to get rid of a load by putting it away in an orderly manner. The present invention may also be used in highly frequented public places such as teaching institutes, libraries, and offices attended by a consistent number of users equipped with respective bags apt to contain various documents and materials.  
      The present invention has hereto been described according to two preferred embodiments thereof, given by way of example and not for limitative purposes. It is understood that other embodiments may be envisaged as falling within the protective scope thereof, as defined by the appended claims.