Patent Publication Number: US-8966828-B1

Title: Shed with rails

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to storage sheds. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Several designs for storage sheds have been designed in the past. None of them, however, include rails that permit the selective movement of the shed&#39;s walls to expose the stored items. The typical storage shed requires a user to enter or reach the items stored through a door or window. This results in very limited access for some of the stored objects specially those in the back. With the present invention, a user has complete access to the stored items since walls are moved temporarily exposing what is stored. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is one of the main objects of the present invention to provide a storage shed with walls that can readily moved to expose the items in storage. 
     It is another object of this invention to provide such a shed that is volumetrically efficient. 
     It is yet another object of this invention to provide such a shed that is inexpensive to manufacture and maintain while retaining its effectiveness. 
     Further objects of the invention will be brought out in the following part of the specification, wherein detailed description is for the purpose of fully disclosing the invention without placing limitations thereon. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       With the above and other related objects in view, the invention consists in the details of construction and combination of parts as will be more fully understood from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  represents a front elevational view of one of the embodiments for a shed incorporating the present invention. 
         FIG. 1A  is a rear elevational view of the shed represented in the previous figure. 
         FIG. 1B  is a top view taken from cutting line  1 B- 1 B in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 2  is an enlarged elevational view of floor rail assembly  30  and wheel assembly  40 . 
         FIG. 3  is an elevational view of the portion of shed  10  (with side wall  26  removed) showing floor rail member  32  protruding through end wall  24 . 
         FIG. 4  is an elevational view of a portion of shed  10  (with side wall  26  removed) showing the internal disposition of floor rail assembly  30  and wheel assembly  40 . 
         FIG. 5  is a partial elevational view of a corner of shed  10  showing outer rail member  62  in the vertical (not deployed) position with floor rail member  32  of assembly  30  protruding through end wall  24 . 
         FIG. 5A  is similar to the previous figure and shows outer rail member  62  being lowered with pivotally mounted extension arm  64 . 
         FIG. 5B  like the previous two figures, shows outer rail member  62  which is now in its resting horizontal position being partially supported by supporting extension  33 . 
         FIG. 6A  shows the first figure of a sequence of side elevational representations showing the operation of the shed represented in the previous figure. In this figure shed  10  is closed and rail assembly  60  is in the retracted (upright) position. 
         FIG. 6B  shows the shed shown in the previous figure with the doors (only one door is shown) open and exterior rail assembly  60  lowered to the horizontal position and with an arrow indicating a force about to be applied. 
         FIG. 6C  shows shed  10  partially moved to the left riding over deployed assembly  60 . 
         FIG. 6D  shows shed  10  completely moved to the left. 
         FIGS. 7A through 7D  is a sequence of figures similar to  FIGS. 2A through 2D  without using doors  22 ;  22 ′ since the front side is closed with a vertical wall, thereby saving space. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to the drawings, where the present invention is generally referred to with numeral  10 , it can be observed that it basically includes shed assembly  20  and pivotally mounted rail assembly  60  over which assembly  20  rides when deployed. This allows a user to have access to the items is storage having handle  27  mounted thereon. 
     Shed wall or housing assembly  20  includes doors  22 ;  22 ′ rear wall  24  and side include hinges  19 ;  19 ′ to support the former walls  26  and  28 , as best seen in  FIGS. 1 and 1A . Doors  22 ;  22 ′ define the fourth side. In other embodiments shed  10  does not have doors  22 ;  22 ′ and the fourth side is covered by a vertical structure such as a wall. Top or roof  25  is mounted on walls  24 ;  26 ;  28 . The fourth side may include doors  22 ;  22 ′ that can extend the entire height of the other sides or include a transversal structure  23  to enhance the structural integrity of shed wall assembly  20 . Floor or platform assembly  21  is perpendicularly disposed with respect to walls  24 ,  26 ;  28  to support the latter through floor rail assemblies  30  and  30 ′ and wheel assemblies  40 ;  40 ′. Rail members  32 ;  32 ′ extend out beyond floor assembly  21 . Leg members  29  mounted to the underside of floor assembly  21  keep the latter at a parallel and spaced apart relationship with respect to a supporting surface. Wheel assemblies  40 ;  40 ′ are interiorly mounted to side wall  26  and  28 , respectively. In one of the embodiments wheel member  42  is mounted inside a C-shape bar  44 , as best seen in  FIG. 5 . Spacers  46  keep bar  44  at spaced apart from wall  26 . A similar arrangement is found for wheel assembly  40 ′. Outer rail assembly  60  is pivotally mounted to the protruding end  32   a  of member  32  through pivotally mounted arm  64  at a location adjacent to the lower edge of wall  24 . Arm  64  is rigidly mounted to rail member  62  at end  64  and pivotally mounted to the underside of rail member  32  at end  64   b , as best seen in  FIGS. 5 ;  5 A and  5 B. Rail member  62  is cooperatively mounted to be selectively deployed in the horizontal position in alignment with floor rail assembly  30  to permit wheels  35  to continuously ride from floor rail member  32  to rail member  62 . 
       FIGS. 6A through 6D  show the operation of shed  10 . Doors  22 ;  22 ′ are opened in  FIG. 5B  and placed parallel to side walls  26  and  28 . As seen in  FIG. 1A , latch member  65  releasably locks said assembly  60  in the vertical position. Then, rail assembly  60  is placed in a horizontal position over supporting surface S. Wall assembly  20  is then moved to the left riding over rail assembly  60 , as seen in  FIGS. 6C and 6D . As seen in  FIG. 1A , latch member  65  releasably locks rail assembly  60  in the vertical position. 
       FIGS. 7A through 7D  are similar to  FIGS. 6A through 6D , except that wall assembly  20  does not include doors  22 ;  22 ′. Instead a vertical wall W is used to close the side where doors  22 ;  22 ′ would otherwise be installed. This embodiment is used where space limitations require it. 
     The foregoing description conveys the best understanding of the objectives and advantages of the present invention. Different embodiments may be made of the inventive concept of this invention. It is to be understood that all matter disclosed herein is to be interpreted merely as illustrative, and not in a limiting sense.