Patent Publication Number: US-7210659-B2

Title: Combination of telescopically extendable frame with a laundry bag assembly

Description:
I. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates in general to household storage of laundry bags. More specifically, it relates to a combination of a telescopically extendable frame with a laundry bag assembly. 
   2. Description of the Prior Art 
   Generally, laundry bags have been used to store soiled and dirty clothing until it is washed and dried. This clothing, which needs laundering, generally falls into the following categories: clothes (garments), bedclothes such as sheets and pillow cases, and those items used in personal cleanliness, such as towels and washcloths. The items to be laundered are not always immediately laundered, and need to be stored until the laundering thereof. In addition, while all of the items to be laundered are made of fabric, there are different kinds of fabric and, for maximum life of laundered items and optimum quality of laundering; they require different pre-established laundering cycles. 
   Different combinations of laundry bags with various types of stands have been made and used. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,342 granted on Oct. 19, 1999 to Steffine for a “MULTIPURPOSE LAUNDRY CART” describes a cart provided with a frame that supports laundry bags therein. The frame is provided with a top having an upwardly open mouth and a bottom having caster wheels for mobility of the frame. Three laundry bags are suspended in the frame from the mouth. As can be learned from the disclosure and can be seen in the drawings, no means for an easy detachment of the laundry bags from the frame is provided and no means for grasping and carrying the laundry bags is used. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,705 granted on Dec. 25, 1990 to Bovitz for a “LAUNDRY BAGS AND FRAME APPARATUS” discloses a demountable frame apparatus having front and back support rails thereon and a plurality of laundry bags, each having an open top, closed bottom and continuous sidewalls. The sidewalls have support loops adjacent the open mouth. Two rods support each laundry bag, with a rod going through each support loop. The rods engage upon the support rails and can slide along the length of the latter. The main disadvantage of the structure of this apparatus resides in the fact that it is stationary and therefore cumbersome in a household environment. There are known also a “ROLLING CHROME 3 BAG LAUNDRY HAMPER BIN”, incorporating a rigid frame cart on casters, and a “FOLDING CHROME LAUNDRY BIN WITH A CANVAS BAG” that includes a scissor type folding structure, both sold by RILLO HOME. In addition, a “NEW HAILO LAUNDRY SORTER HAMPER 3 BAGS WITH QUICK GRAB” is sold by HAILO. 
   II. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   Without question, the field of laundry bags and of the stands thereof is very active and the inventors of the present combination realized that the need for an improved combination between the former and the latter is real and very pressing. The inventors believe that one of the outstanding problems in the field of laundry bags resides in the difficulty of keeping them and their stands in closets, out of sight. 
   Thus, it is a first objective of the present invention to judiciously use the confined spaces, available in closet receptacles, to keep the laundry bags and their stands out of sight in a functional and stylish manner. 
   It is another objective of this invention to provide a system that conveniently, compactly and economically provides a sorting of items to be laundered, compact storage thereof, and easy removal and transport of laundry bags containing sorted items to the washing machine. 
   It is still another objective of the present invention to provide an extendable frame adaptable for use in conjunction with closet receptacles of different widths. 
   It is a further objective of this invention to use, for the extendable frames, ball bearing drawer slides, which are extensively tested, and mass-produced in different sizes 
   Broadly stating, the present invention is directed to a combination of a telescopically extendable frame with a laundry bag assembly, adaptable to be mounted in closet receptacles of various articles of furniture. The combination comprises a telescopically extendable frame incorporating front and back support bars and a laundry bag assembly including one or more laundry bags inter-engageable with the front and back support bars and hanging below them. Thus, the one or more laundry bags can be translatable with respect to the front and back support bars. The front and back support bars are so spaced apart as to permit the laundry bag assembly to be located between and suspended from them. 
   The telescopically extendable frame comprises left and right slides of ball bearing drawer type slides and also the front and back support bars, each one of the left and right slides including external and internal rails and a multiplicity of antifriction rolling elements disposed between them. Each external rail is adaptable to be secured to an adjacent panel facing an interior of the closet receptacle of an article of furniture. The front and back support bars are each attached with their extremities to the internal rails. Each one of the one or more laundry bags includes, when collapsed, a pair of flat overlying panels adapted to form a pair of opposite panels and a pair of folded panels, generally extendable inwardly between the pair of opposite panels from opposite side edges of the latter and adapted to form a pair of opposite side panels. Each one of the one or more laundry bags, seen when unfolded, has a closed, flat bottom. Each one of the pair of opposite panels and an adjacent one of the pair of opposite side panels are connected together, along their side edges. Each one of the pair of opposite panels is provided adjacent its top with a pair of spaced suspension loops, each one of the latter being equally spaced from a proximate upper intersection between one of the pair of opposite panels and an adjacent one of the pair of opposite side panels. 
   The laundry bag assembly includes as well a pair of hangers for each one of the one or more laundry bags. Each one of the pair of hangers, having a rod structure with a generally elongated profile, is provided with a central grip portion, adaptable to accommodate a user&#39;s hand. The central grip portion is spaced upwardly from a remainder part of each one of the pair of hangers and being situated above the latter (remainder part), prevents an interfering with the pair of suspension loops. The central grip portion being vertically oriented, the carrying of each one of the one or more laundry bags can be comfortably accomplished in one hand. Each one of said pair of hangers terminates at each end with a semi-circular configuration that is so dimensioned as to engage upon and slidably fit on the front and back support bars. The semi-circular configurations expand upwardly from the remainder part of each one of the pair of hangers, comparatively less than the central grip portion. Each one of the pair of hangers can be easily inserted through the pair of spaced suspension loops of each one of the pair of opposite panels. Thus, the central grip portion will be always situated between the pair of spaced suspension loops, while the removal of each one of the pair of hangers from the latter is, obviously, as easy as the insertion into them. 
   In one aspect of this invention, the combination of a telescopically extendable frame with a laundry bag assembly uses front and back support bars that are each permanently attached with their extremities to the internal rails of the left and right slides. 
   In another aspect of this invention, the combination of a telescopically extendable frame with a laundry bag assembly uses front and back support bars that are each non-permanently attached with their extremities to the internal rails of the left and right slides, whereby use can be made of different lengths for the front and back support bars for compatibility with different widths of the closet receptacles. 
   In yet another aspect of this invention, the combination of a telescopically extendable frame with a laundry bag assembly further comprises a pair of elongated bodies. One of the pair of elongated bodies is used for longitudinally locating the left slide, while the other one of the pair of elongated bodies is used for longitudinally locating the right slide. Each one of the pair of elongated bodies incorporates transversally, almost entirely, either one of the left and right slides, the pair of elongated bodies being perpendicularly traversed by a pair of extremities of the front and a back support bars. 

   
     III. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Although the characteristic features of the invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims, the invention itself and the manner in which it may be made and used may be better understood by referring to the following description and accompanying drawings. Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the combination assembled to a pair of panels of an interior of a closet; 
       FIG. 2  is a longitudinal sectional view of a front or back support bar, continued with successive transversal sectional views of a left slide and a panel, to which panel an internal rail is attached (in this figure the front or the back support bar is permanently secured by welding to an external rail); 
       FIG. 3  is a longitudinal sectional view of a front or back support bar, continued with successive transversal sectional views of an elongated body, wherein a left slide is located, and a panel, to which panel an internal rail is attached (in this figure the front or the back support bar is secured non-permanently with screws to an external rail); 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a laundry bag assembly; and 
       FIG. 5  is a side view of a hanger. 
   

   IV. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   It is to be agreed, that terms, such as “top”, “bottom”, “left”, “right”, “vertical” and “horizontal” are conventionally used in the present description with reference to the normal position in which a telescopically extendable frame and one or more laundry bags supported by the telescopically extendable frame would be used. 
   The combination of a telescopically extendable frame with a laundry bag assembly of this invention is generally indicated at  10  in  FIG. 1 , wherein a telescopically extendable frame is generally indicated at  100  and a laundry bag assembly is generally indicated at  200 . Telescopically extendable frame  100  comprises left and right slides  105  and  110  and front and back support bars  115  and  120 . Left and right slides  105  and  110  are each incorporating external and internal rails  125  and  130  (see  FIG. 2 ) and a multiplicity of antifriction rolling elements  135  disposed between those rails. External rail  125  being larger than internal rail  130  transversally incorporates at least part of the latter. Left and right slides  105  and  110  are of ball bearing drawer slides type and are sold under the name Accuride™ by Accuride, Santa Fe Springs, Calif. There are as well other companies supplying the market with similar type of slides. 
   Each internal rail  130  is adaptable to be secured by fasteners  140  (usually screws) to an adjacent panel  145  facing an interior of an article of furniture (not shown). Generally, front and back support bars  115  and  120  are each attachable with their extremities either to internal or external rails  130  and  125 , respectively. If front and back support bars  115  and  120  are attached to external rail  125 , internal rails  130  is attached to panel  145  and, conversely, if front and back support bars  115  and  120  are attached to internal rail  125 , external rail  125  is attached to panel  145 . The attachment can be permanent by welding  150  (see  FIG. 2 ), or non-permanent by tapping screws  155  (see  FIG. 3 ). In the latter attachment, front and back support bars  115  and  120  are each provided with a retaining internal channel of relatively small diameter (not shown) for inserting tapping screws  155 . The non-permanent attachment allows the use of front and back support bars  115  and  120  of different lengths in conjunction with closet receptacles of different widths. 
   In another embodiment of the present invention, use is made of a pair of elongated bodies  160  (refer back to  FIG. 3 ), one elongated body  160  for longitudinally locating left slide  105  and the other elongated body  160  for longitudinally locating right slide  110 . Transversally, each elongated body  160  incorporates, almost entirely, a left or a right slide, respectively  105  or  110 . The former and the latter are perpendicularly traversed by a pair of extremities of a front and a back support bar  115  or  120 , respectively. 
   Front and back support bars  115  and  120  are so spaced apart as to permit laundry bag assembly  200  to be located between them and suspended from them. 
   Laundry bag assembly  200  comprises one or more laundry bags  205  and a pair of grip and carry hangers, further called hangers  230 , for each laundry bag  205 . When more laundry bags  205  are used, this allows a sorting of the laundry to be washed, according to the type and color of the fabric. 
   Laundry bag  205  is made of washable fabric (conveniently to be washed together with the laundry) and includes, when collapsed, a pair of flat panels, forming a pair of opposite panels  210  and a pair of folded panels, generally extendable inwardly between the pair of opposite panels  210  from opposite side edges of the latter and forming a pair of opposite side panels  215 . Laundry bag  205 , seen when unfolded, has a closed, flat bottom  220 , usually formed from a single piece of fabric that is peripherally attached to lower ends of each pair of opposite and opposite side panels  210  and  215  respectively. 
   As further illustrated in  FIG. 4 , each one of the pair of opposite panels  210  is provided with a pair of spaced suspension loops  225 , permanently secured, preferably by stitching, adjacent an open top. Each one of the pair spaced suspension loops  225 , further called “loops  225 ”, is usually made of flexible material, resistant to relative high tensions, and is adjacent to a proximate upper intersection between one of the pair of opposite panels  210  and an adjacent one of the pair of opposite side panels  215 . A loop  225  can also be formed: by using a strap having one end portion firmly secured, adjacent the open top, to each one of the pair of opposite panels  210 , and by doubling back and temporarily securing a second end portion to a remainder of the strap. To this end, use is made of removable attachments such as Velcro™, snap fasteners, buttons and buttonholes or alike. Loops  225  can also be made by folding portions of the upper margins of the pair of opposite panels  210  and then stitching to the latter. 
   As stated in the foregoing description, each laundry bag is provided with a pair of hangers  230 . Each one of said pair of hangers  230  has a rod structure with a generally elongated profile, provided with a central grip portion  235 , adaptable to accommodate a user&#39;s hand. Central grip portion  235  is spaced upwardly from the remainder part of hanger  230 ; hence it is situated above the latter (remainder part), and does not interfere with loops  225 . Central grip portion  235  being vertically oriented, the carrying of the laundry bag  205  can be comfortably accomplished in one hand. Each hanger  230  terminates at each end with a semi-circular configuration  240 , so dimensioned as to engage upon and slidably fit on front and back support bars  115  and  120 . Semi-circular configurations  240  are open downwardly. Hanger  230  can be easily inserted through loops  225  of each one of the pair of opposite panels  210 , so that central grip portion  235  will be situated between loops  225 . The removal of a hanger  230  from the loops  225  is, obviously, as easy as the insertion into the loops  225 . 
   A distance between the geometrical centers of semicircular configurations  240  of a hanger  230  is commensurate with a distance between the longitudinal geometrical axes of front and back support bars  115  and  120 . 
   As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are 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.