Patent Abstract:
A poolside organizer has build-up structure with quick-and-easy assembly of a base enclosure ( 11 ) and a top enclosure ( 23 ) having upright support from the base enclosure. A front hanger wall ( 17 ) supports a plurality of hangers ( 25 ) for holding swimming attire and other items. A left upright ( 1 ) supports a plurality of tube hangers ( 24 ). A right upright ( 6 ) supports a plurality of the swimming-attire hangers in addition to one or more optional boxlike poolside trays ( 26 ). An extension closure ( 29 ) contains un-hangable poolside items loosely or in baskets.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to containers and hangers for poolside containment and organizing of swimming pool items. 
     Increasing use of residential swimming pools has created a need for organized containment of items used frequently for swimming, playing and relaxing in and around them. There are known containers that could be used to contain items at a poolside, but none having the quick assembly, convenience, and organizational advantages specifically for poolside items in a manner made possible with this invention. 
     Examples of the most closely related but different known organizers are described in the following patent documents. U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,334, issued to Harper on Nov. 10, 1998, described a home-entertainment organizer for TV-related items that would not be suitable for poolside items. U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,699, issued to Griffin on Jun. 16, 1998, described a holder of swimming-pool maintenance equipment in a garage or other building. U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,307, issued to Smith on May 6, 1997, described mobile holder of swimming-pool maintenance equipment. U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,857, issued to Suzuki on Oct, 5, 1993, described build-up furniture for homes. U.S. Pat. No. 3,887,103, issued to Spooner on Jun. 3, 1975, described a hand-tool box for carrying pool-maintenance tools. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Objects of patentable novelty and utility taught by this invention are to provide a poolside organizer which: 
     holds such poolside items as floats, fins, snorkels, lotion, bathing suits, towels, toys, boogie boards, swim rings, sun glasses and hats with convenient organization and easy accessibility; 
     can be packaged compactly unassembled for marketing; 
     can be assembled quickly and easily; 
     is sturdy for withstanding poolside uses and movement; and 
     can be structured and designed attractively. 
     This invention accomplishes these and other objectives with a poolside organizer having (a) a base with storage dividers and quick-assembly joints for upright structure, (b) a front wall supporting a plurality of hangers and one or more optional boxlike containers, (c) a rear wall supporting a plurality of hangers and one or more optional boxlike containers, (d) a left upright supporting a plurality of hangers and one or more optional boxlike containers, (e) a right upright supporting a plurality of hangers and one or more optional boxlike containers, and (f) one or more bottom end enclosures for containing items loose or in baskets. Quick-assemble and quick-disassemble fastener joints are provided for build-up structure. 
    
    
     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention should become even more readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings wherein there is shown and described illustrative embodiments of the invention. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     This invention is described by appended claims in relation to description of a preferred embodiment with reference to the following drawings which are explained briefly as follows: 
     FIG. 1 is a top view of a poolside organizer with an extension enclosure and having an upright receptacle; 
     FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway front view of the FIG. 1 illustration; 
     FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway left-side view of the FIG. 1 illustration; 
     FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway right-side view of the FIG. 1 illustration; 
     FIG. 5 is an expanded top view of corners of a poolside organizer having fastener orifices for being joined together with fasteners; 
     FIG. 6 is an expanded top view of corners of a poolside organizer having angle fasteners for being joined together; 
     FIG. 7 is a top view of a poolside organizer joined together with angle fasteners; 
     FIG. 8 is an expanded side view of an embedded overlap fastener on a corner of a poolside organizer; 
     FIG. 9 is an expanded side view of a non-embedded overlap fastener on a corner of a poolside organizer; 
     FIG. 10 is an expanded side view of an embedded overlap fastener on a side wall of a poolside organizer; 
     FIG. 11 is an expanded top view of corners of a poolside organizer joined together with overlap fasteners; and 
     FIG. 12 is a top view of a poolside organizer joined together with overlap fasteners. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Listed numerically below with reference to the drawings are terms used to describe features of this invention. These terms and list numbers assigned to them designate the same features throughout this description. 
     
       
         
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
                  1. Left upright 
                 18. Rear hanger wall 
               
               
                   
                  2. Front bottom wall 
                 19. Front-left hanger joint 
               
               
                   
                  3. Left-front upright joint 
                 20. Front-right hanger joint 
               
               
                   
                  4. Rear bottom wall 
                 21. Rear-left hanger joint 
               
               
                   
                  5. Left-rear upright joint 
                 22. Rear-right hanger joint 
               
               
                   
                  6. Right upright 
                 23. Top enclosure 
               
               
                   
                  7. Right-front upright joint 
                 24. Tube hangers 
               
               
                   
                  8. Right-rear upright joint 
                 25. Swimming-attire hangers 
               
               
                   
                  9. Left hanger wall 
                 26. Poolside tray 
               
               
                   
                 10. Right hanger wall 
                 27. Linear slots 
               
               
                   
                 11. Base enclosure 
                 28. Slot walls 
               
               
                   
                 12. Upright receptacle 
                 29. Extension enclosure 
               
               
                   
                 13. Angle bracket 
                 30. Extension wall 
               
               
                   
                 14. Overlap bracket 
                 31. Rear-wall struts 
               
               
                   
                 15. Left receptacle wall 
                 32. Fastener orifices 
               
               
                   
                 16. Right receptacle wall 
                 33. Fasteners 
               
               
                   
                 17. Front hanger wall 
                 34. Left-upright support 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     Reference is made first to FIGS. 1-5. A left upright  1  has a bottom end that is joined to a front bottom wall  2  proximate a left-front upright joint  3  and that is joined to a rear bottom wall  4  proximate a left-rear upright joint  5 . A right upright  6  has a bottom end that is joined to the front bottom wall  2  proximate a right-front upright joint  7  and that is joined to the rear bottom wall  4  proximate a right-rear upright joint  8 . The left upright  1  has a top end with a left hanger wall  9  and the right upright  6  has a top end with a right hanger wall  10 . 
     The front bottom wall  2 , the rear bottom wall  4 , the bottom end of the left upright  1  and the bottom end of the right upright  6  are a base enclosure  11  having a length, a width and a breadth to enclose bottom ends of a predetermined volume of elongate poolside items in variously upright orientations. 
     The left upright  1  and the right upright  6  are supported in a vertically upright orientation by at least one upright support such as an upright receptacle  12  as shown in FIGS. 1-4, at least one angle bracket  13  as shown in FIGS. 6-7 or at least one overlap bracket  14  as shown in FIGS. 8-12. The upright receptacle  12  provides upright support by rigid attachment of a left receptacle wall  15  and a right receptacle wall  16  to the front bottom wall  2  and to the rear bottom wall  4 . The right upright  6  positioned in the upright receptacle  12  between them provides upright rigidity to other structural elements attached directly or indirectly to the right upright  6 . Attachment of the left upright  1  and/or the right upright  6  to the front bottom wall  2  and to the rear bottom wall  4  with fastener members and fastener brackets such as the angle brackets  13  and the overlap brackets  14  provides upright support also, but with different requirement for fasteners in contrast to a drop-in method of build-up assembly. 
     At the front, a front hanger wall  17  has a left end that is joined to a top of the left upright  1  and has a right end that is joined to a top of the right upright  6 . Similarly at the rear, a rear hanger wall  18  has a left end that is joined to a top of the left upright  1  and has a right end that is joined to a top of the right upright  6 . 
     The front hanger wall  17  and the left hanger wall  9  have a front-left hanger joint  19 . The front hanger wall  17  and the right hanger wall  10  have a front-right hanger joint  20 . The rear hanger wall  18  and the left hanger wall  9  have a rear-left hanger joint  21 . The rear hanger wall  18  and the right hanger wall  10  have a rear-right hanger joint  22 . The front hanger wall  17 , the rear hanger wall  18 , the left hanger wall  9  and the right hanger wall  10  are a top enclosure  23  against which top portions of the elongate poolside items can lean. 
     A plurality of predetermined poolside hangers are positioned on the front hanger wall  17 , the rear hanger wall  18 , the left hanger wall  9  and the right hanger wall  10  selectively. Preferably for most uses, there are no poolside hangers positioned on the rear hanger wall  18  in order for one side to be free of hangers or other protrusions for positioning against a poolside fence or other structure. The poolside hangers are preferably two tube hangers  24  on the left hanger wall  9 , four swimming-attire hangers  25  on the right hanger wall  10  and four swimming-attire hangers  25  on the front hanger wall  17  respectively. Preferably, the tube hangers  24  extend outwardly about ten-to-twelve inches and the swimming-attire hangers  25  extend out approximately three-to-six inches. 
     A poolside tray  26 , preferably having a fluid-outlet bottom, is positioned preferably on only the right hanger wall  10 , but can be positioned also on the front hanger wall  17 , the rear hanger wall  18  and/or the left hanger wall  9  selectively. The poolside tray  26  is sized and shaped for holding suntan lotion, hair-care items, eye-care items and other body-care items. It is preferably three-to-five inches wide, three-to-five inches deep and about ten-to-fifteen inches long. 
     At least one bottom-end enclosure is positioned in the base enclosure  11  for arresting lateral travel of bottom ends of elongate poolside items positioned uprightly within the top enclosure  23 . The bottom end enclosure is preferably a plurality of linear slots  27  that are juxtaposed intermediate the front bottom wall  2  and the rear bottom wall  4 . Preferably, slot walls  28  of the linear slots  27  are lower than the front bottom wall  2  and the rear bottom wall  4 , which are preferably about six inches high. 
     Preferably, at least one extension enclosure  29  is extended horizontally from at least one bottom end wall, preferably from the right upright  6  at the base enclosure  11 . The extension enclosure  29  has an extension wall  30  between the front bottom wall  2  and the rear bottom wall  4 . The extension enclosure  29  is sized and shaped to contain poolside items such as poolside toys, poolside items that are not easily hangable on the poolside hangers and optionally baskets for containing same. 
     Optionally, rear-wall struts  31  can be extended for vertical support between the rear bottom wall  4  and the rear hanger wall  18 . 
     As depicted in FIG. 5, fastener orifices  32  can be pre-positioned for fasteners  33  proximate ends of the left upright  1 , a left-upright support  34 , the front bottom wall  2 , the rear bottom wall  4 , the front hanger wall  17 , the rear hanger wall  18 , the left receptacle wall  15 , the right receptacle wall  16 , the right upright  6  and the extension wall  30 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 6-7, the angle brackets  13  employed for upright support can have length extended vertically along sides, edges and corners of the left upright  1 , the right upright  6 , the front bottom wall  2 , the front hanger wall  17 , the rear bottom wall  4 , the rear hanger wall  18  and the extension wall  30  for an angle-bracket embodiment. The front hanger wall  17  can be positioned directly above the front bottom wall  2  and the rear hanger wall  18  can be positioned directly above the rear bottom wall  4  as illustrated with breakaway lines for this embodiment. The angle brackets  13  can be adhered with adhesive or bolted to adjoining walls. 
     Referring to FIGS. 8-12, the overlap brackets  14  employed for upright support also can have length extended vertically proximate sides of the left upright  1 , the right upright  6 , the front bottom wall  2 , the front hanger wall  17 , the rear bottom wall  4 , the rear hanger wall  18  and the extension wall  30  for an overlap-bracket embodiment. As for the angle-bracket embodiment described in relation to FIGS. 6-7, the front hanger wall  17  can be positioned directly above the front bottom wall  2  and the rear hanger wall  18  can be positioned directly above the rear bottom wall  4  as illustrated with breakaway lines for this embodiment. The overlap brackets  14  also can be adhered with adhesive or bolted to adjoining walls. 
     A new and useful poolside organizer having been described, all such foreseeable modifications, adaptations, substitutions of equivalents, mathematical possibilities of combinations of parts, pluralities of parts, applications and forms thereof as described by the following claims and not precluded by prior art are included in this invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 0