Patent Publication Number: US-6702129-B1

Title: Expandable clothes support structure

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the field of specialized support structures in general, and in particular to structures commonly referred to as clothes trees. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,185,642; 1,973,521; 1,069,643; 3,249,233; and 2,126,513, the prior art is replete with myriad and diverse clothes tree constructions. 
     While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than adequate for the basic purpose and function for which they have been specifically designed, they are uniformly deficient with respect to their failure to provide a simple, efficient, and practical clothes tree support structure that has expandable and contractible support elements that can be selectively deployed to support individual articles of clothing and retracted to their collapsed mode when not in use. 
     As most people who employ clothes trees are all too well aware, virtually all clothes trees have fixed length rigidly mounted support elements that project outwardly from a vertical support post and these support arms not only take up useful storage space, but also have a tendency to provide unnecessary obstructions for the user at various other times. 
     As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need for a new and improved type of expandable clothes support structure whose horizontal support elements are selectively deployable for use and normally retracted otherwise, and the provision of such a construction is a stated objective of the present invention. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Briefly stated, the expandable clothes support structure that forms the basis of the present invention comprises in general, a base unit, a vertical support unit extending upwardly from the base unit, and a plurality of movable support units provided on the vertical support unit and adapted to be selectively extended and retracted in a pivoted and telescoping fashion relative to the vertical support unit. 
     As will be explained in greater detail further on in the specification, the base unit comprises a weighted base member provided with an upwardly projecting hollow collar element that is dimensioned to receive the lower portion of the vertical support unit. 
     The vertical support unit comprises in general, a main vertical support post member having a lower end dimensioned to be received in the collar element of the base member and having an upper end provided with an adapter post element dimensioned to be received in a complementary recess formed in the lower end of an auxiliary vertical support post extension member. 
     In addition, both the main support post member and the auxiliary support post extension member are provided with a plurality of movable support units. Each of the movable support units includes a main support arm member pivotally attached to the vertical support post member and an extension arm element telescopically received within the main support arm member. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other attributes of the invention will become more clear upon a thorough study of the following description of the best mode for carrying out the invention, particularly when reviewed in conjunction with the drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view of the first version of the preferred embodiment of the expandable clothes support structure that forms the basis of this invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail view showing the threaded engagement of the optional adapter post element with the upper end of the main vertical support post member; 
     FIG. 3 is an isolated detail view of one of the support arm units; 
     FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken through line  4 — 4  of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is a partially exploded perspective view of an alternate version of the preferred embodiment of the expandable clothes support structure of this invention; 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the second version of the preferred embodiment of the expandable clothes support structure that forms the basis of this invention; 
     FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view showing one of the support arm units of the second version in the closed position; 
     FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view showing the same support arm unit in the open position; 
     FIG. 9 is an enlarged detailed cross sectional view of the hinged connection between the vertical support unit and the support arm unit of the second version; 
     FIG. 10 is an enlarged cut away detail view of one of the support arm units of the second version; and 
     FIG. 11 is a cross sectional view taken through line  11 — 11  of FIG.  10 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     As can be seen by reference to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, the expandable clothes support structure that forms the basis of the present invention is designated generally by the reference number  10 . The structure  10  comprises in general, a base unit  11 , a vertical support unit  12 , and a plurality of movable support units  13 . These units will now be described in seriatim fashion. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, in the first version of the preferred embodiment, the base unit  11  includes an enlarged base member  20  having a bottom panel  21  and raised sidewalls  22  which define an interior compartment  23  which contains dense material such as sand, gravel, lead weights, etc. for stabilizing purposes. 
     In addition, the enlarged base member  20  is provided with a top panel  24  having a centrally disposed hollow collar element  25  whose purpose and function will be described presently. 
     Turning now to FIGS. 1 and 2, it can be seen that the vertical support unit  12  comprises an elongated main support post member  30  having an enlarged diameter lower end  31  dimensioned to be received in the support collar element  25  of the base member  20  to maintain the main support post member  30  in a vertically upright position relative to the base member  20 . 
     In addition, the main support post member  30  is further provided with a plurality of shallow recesses  37  and disposed around the periphery of the main support member  30 , a reduced diameter generally flat upper end  32  provided with a threaded central aperture  33  which is dimensioned to receive a threaded screw  34  which depends downwardly from an adapter post element  35 . 
     As shown in FIG. 1, the adapter post element  35  may be employed as a connector that is dimensioned to be received in a complementary recess  42  formed in the lower end  41  of an optional, auxiliary support post extension member  40 , or in the alternative, the adapter post element  35  may be used to captively engage a cap element  50  having a plurality of rigid outwardly projecting prongs  51  to the upper ends  32 ,  42 , respectively, of either the main support post member  30  or the auxiliary support post extension member  40  in a well recognized manner. 
     As shown in FIGS. 1 through 4, in the first version of the preferred embodiment each of the plurality of movable support units  13  comprise a main support arm member  60  having an inboard end  61  pivotally secured to the vertical support unit  12  and a hollow outboard end  62  which is dimensioned to receive an extension arm element  63  telescopically received within the main support arm member  60  and provided with a raised lip  64  on its outboard end. The raised lip  64  serves the dual function of providing a hook surface which will engage a portion of an article of clothing  100  which can be suspended from each support arm unit, as well as forming a gripping surface that will facilitate the extension and retraction of the extension arm element  63  relative to the support arm member  60 . 
     In addition, as can best be seen by reference to FIG. 3, each of the support arm members  60  are provided with a collapsible brace element  70  having a lower brace segment  71  pivotally secured on its one end  72  to the main support post member  30  and pivotally secured on the other end  73  to the lower end  74  of an upper brace segment  75  whose other end  76  is pivotally secured to the underside of the support arm member  60 . 
     In the alternate version of the first version of the preferred embodiment depicted in FIG. 5, it can be seen that the top panel  24  of the base member  20  is further provided with at least one hinged lid panel  26  so that the interior chamber  23  of the base member  20  may serve either as a storage compartment or hamper for articles of dirty clothes or as a container for wet or muddy boots and shoes. 
     At this juncture, it should be noted that the structure  10  is designed and intended to present an aesthetically pleasing appearance when not in use. All of the support arm member  60  are collapsed into their retracted storage mode and then only selected support arm members  60  will be pivoted outwardly to support and suspend a like number of articles of clothing  100  when needed. 
     Furthermore, the telescoping feature of each support arm member allows different articles of clothing  100  to be suspended at different lateral spacings relative to the exterior surface of the vertical support unit  12 . 
     In the second version of the preferred embodiment depicted in FIGS. 6 through 11, it can be seen that the base unit  11  is identical to the base unit  11  of the first version, the vertical support unit  12 ′ of the second version is only slightly different from the vertical support unit  12  of the first version and each of the movable support units  13 ′ of the second version are substantially different from the movable support units  13  in the first version. 
     As can best be seen by reference to FIGS. 7 through 9, the vertical support unit  12 ′ includes a main support post member  30 ′ provided with a plurality of relatively deep recesses  37 ′. The lower portion of each of the recesses  37 ′ are provided with a slightly angled shelf  38 ′ and a vertical slot  39 ′ whose purpose and function will be explained in greater detail further on in the specification. 
     As shown in FIGS. 7 through 10, each of the plurality of movable support arm units  13 ′ in the second version of the preferred embodiment comprise a generally cylindrical main support arm member  60 ′ having a tapered inboard end  61 ′ connected to the upper plate  81  of a hinge member  80 . The lower plate  82  of the hinge member  80  is fixedly secured within the vertical slot  39 ′ in one of the recesses  37 ′ in the main support post member  30 ′. 
     In addition, the main support arm member  60 ′ is provided with a hollow outboard end  62 ′ that is dimensioned to telescopically and rotatably receive a tubular extension arm element  63 ′ having a raised lip  64  formed on its outboard end. 
     As can best be seen by reference to FIG. 11, the interior of the main support arm member  60 ′ is provided with a pair of diametrically opposed inwardly directed protrusions  65 ′ that are adapted to be engaged by a pair of curved wing elements  66 ′ which project outwardly from the inboard end  67 ′ of the extension arm element  63 ′. The protrusions  65 ′ and the wing elements  66 ′ cooperate with one another to allow the tubular extension arm element  63 ′ to be rotated 180° relative to the main support arm member  60 ′. 
     Returning once more to FIGS. 6 through 9, it can be seen that the aforementioned relationship allows the raised lip  64 ′ to be rotated downwardly so,that the raised lip  64 ′ will project outwardly from the recesses  37 ′ to allow each of the plurality of movable support units  13 ′ to be retracted from the vertical support unit  12 ′ and then the extension arm elements  63 ′ can be rotated 180° relative to the main support arm member  60 ′ so that the raised lip  64 ′ functions as a clothes rack. 
     In addition, the angled shelf  38 ′ at the front of each of the recesses  37 ′ will cause each of the movable support units  13 ′ to have a slightly upwardly angled cant when the movable support units are deployed in their outwardly projecting mode. 
     Although only an exemplary embodiment of the invention has been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the following claims. 
     Having thereby described the subject matter of the present invention, it should be apparent that many substitutions, modifications, and variations of the invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that the invention as taught and described herein is only to be limited to the extent of the breadth and scope of the appended claims.