Patent Abstract:
A wall mounted adjustable, shelf structure for organizing and facilitating drying of wet wearing apparel includes a tray and shelf with grooves for channeling water from the apparel to a removable receptacle. The shelf structure facilitates drying of the apparel and prevents soiling of floors, walls and the like.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     Summary of Invention 
     This invention relates to a wall shelf structure for holding and facilitating the drying of wet weather wearing apparel. More particularly, this invention relates to a shelf assembly for organizing and facilitating drying of wet weather wearing apparel such as gloves, hats and shoes. 
     OBJECT OF THE INVENTION 
     It is a primary object of this invention to provide a convenient and flexible shelf assembly which facilitates organizing, drying and storing of wet weather wearing apparel and more particularly to organizing, drying and storing gloves, hats and shoes. 
     It is a further object of this invention to provide a shelf structure for organizing and facilitating drying of wet wearing apparel comprising a generally vertical supporting frame member including a generally planar support member, a shelf member mounted on the planar support member and extending there from at a small positive angle with respect to horizontal, said planar support member and said shelf member defining at least one opening allowing the flow of water under the influence of gravity along said planar support member, and a water trap mounted on the supporting frame member for collecting and holding water flowing downwardly from said shelf member. 
     It is a further object of the invention to provide a shelf structure as described in the previous object wherein said shelf member further comprises: a fixed shelf element, a movable shelf element operatively associated with said fixed shelf element and supported thereby for telescopic movement with respect thereto from a first retracted position to a second extended position with respect to said planar support member. 
     A still further object of the invention is to provide a shelf structure as described in the previous objects wherein the supporting frame member, shelf member, and water trap comprise a water impervious material. Another object of the invention is to provide a shelf structure as described in the prior objects wherein the water impervious material of the shelf structure is polypropylene. 
     A further object of the invention is to provide a shelf structure as described in the previous objects wherein said water trap is removably mounted on the supporting frame member below said shelf member. 
     Also, it is an object of this invention to provide a shelf structure as described in the above objects wherein the shelf member is provided with intersecting generally horizontal water grooves, and generally vertical water grooves which intersect and cooperate with openings in the tray and fixed shelf elements to provide water flow grooves from the tray and fixed shelf element to the water trap. 
     It is a still further object of the invention to provide a shelf structure as described in the preceding objects further including a tray located above said shelf member fixed to the shelf supporting member and including an opening in fluid communication with said vertical water grooves and an upwardly extending lip along the entire periphery of said tray. 
     Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the drawing and detailed description of the invention. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     Rain, snow or ice covered wearing apparel, especially shoes and gloves, if left unorganized on the floor, are a nuisance, create a safety hazard and soil the floor. Also, when left to stand in water, the apparel will be subjected to premature decay and be ruined. Prior art organizing and drying devices for foul weather apparel include generally flat water-proof mats that lay on the floor. These mats effectively prevent soiling of the floor due to water but leave the shoes and other wet weather wearing apparel, such as hats, scarves and gloves on the floor usually in the path of traffic and much of the safety hazard and nuisance remain unabated. Other prior art drying racks include plastic or wire frames adapted to hold individual items of clothing such as hats and shoes. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the wall shelf of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a partial detail view of a groove in the lateral edge of a fixed shelf element on the support member of the wall shelf of the present invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view showing construction of the groove used on an extensible shelf element included in the present invention. 
     FIG. 4 is a partial enlarged perspective view of a portion of the wall shelf of the present invention showing grooves that control water flow from apparel to shelves to a water trap. 
     FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line  5 — 5  and is a further enlargement of the perspective view of FIG. 4 showing the intersection of the water flow control grooves. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The shelf structure  100  of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 through 3 of the drawing. The shelf structure  100  is especially adapted for organizing and facilitating drying of wet wearing apparel. As shown in FIG. 1, the shelf structure  100  includes a vertical supporting frame members  105 . The shelf support frame member  105  includes a generally planar support member  106  and a frame element  108 . 
     The supporting frame member  105  is preferably constructed of a molded relatively rigid thermoplastic material and is integral with the supporting frame members  105 . In the preferred embodiment, the shelf structure comprises molded polypropylene. The supporting frame member  105  includes an integral tray  110  for holding wearing apparel such as hats and scarves or the like. The tray  110  includes a circumferential vertical lip  111  for containing water from apparel placed on the tray  110 . Any water from apparel placed on the tray  110  flows under the influence of gravity toward the planar support member  106  and is directed to openings  112  in the tray  110 . 
     The openings  112  permit water from tray  110  to flow downwardly in water grooves  140  located in the planar support member  106 . The supporting frame member  105  supports one or more similar shelf assemblies  115  which may be evenly or unevenly spaced vertically along the planar support member  106  and shelf support brackets  122  extending from the planar support member  106 . 
     Each shelf assembly  115  includes a fixed shelf element  120  extending from the supporting frame member  105  and a movable shelf element  125 . The fixed shelf element  120  and the supporting brackets  122  can be molded integrally with the planar support member  106  or fixedly or removably attached to the planar support member  106  by any well known suitable fastening means such as welding, threaded fasteners or the like (not shown). 
     As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the movable shelf element  125  is mounted for telescoping movement with respect to the fixed shelf element  120 . The movable shelf element  125  includes a planar top portion  126 , a side portion  129 , and a bottom bearing lip  128 . Hence, the movable shelf element  125  is generally C-shaped and the top portion  126 , side portion  129 , and bottom bearing lip  128  define a cavity that mates with and corresponds to the exterior shape of the fixed shelf element  120  defined by the top surface  136 , side surface  137  and a portion of the bottom surface  138  of fixed shelf element  120 . 
     The fixed shelf element  120  thereby provides a cantilevered bearing support for the movable shelf element  125  and guides the telescopic movement of the movable shelf element  125  during extension and retraction with respect to the fixed shelf element  120 . The movable shelf element  125  also includes a vertically extending lip  126  along substantially the entire outer periphery of the movable shelf element  125  to prevent water from flowing off the movable shelf element  125 . The lip  126  on the movable shelf element  125  does not extend along the front edge  143  of the movable shelf element  125  thus permitting water to flow from the apparel onto the fixed shelf element  120  and into the water conducting grooves  139 ,  141  to openings  121  and into the vertical grooves  140 . The shelf assembly  115 , which includes the fixed shelf element  120  and movable shelf element  125 , is supported by the planar support member  106 , extends there from at a small positive angle with respect to horizontal when the planar support member  106  is mounted on a vertical surface such as a wall. The small positive angle allows water flow from the shelf assembly  115  toward the planar support member  105  to facilitate drying of apparel placed on the shelf assembly  115 . The small positive angle can be provided to the fixed shelf element  120  in any of several convenient ways, e,g., the planar support member  106  can be biased from the vertical by an imposed by a varying increasing thickness of the supporting frame member  105  as is shown in FIG. 1, or the fixed shelf element  123  can have a small positive angle from the horizontal with respect to the planar support member  106  (not shown). As shown in FIG. 1, the supporting frame element  108  is provided with a varying thickness from thinner at the top to thicker at the bottom. The varying thickness provides the planar support member  106  with an angle of about 2.7 degrees from vertical. The shelf assembly  115  and the shelf elements  120  and  125  are preferably constructed of a readily moldable water impervious material such as polypropylene. 
     The movable shelf element  125  also includes a peripheral vertical lip  126  that contains water within the movable shelf element  125 . As a result of the small positive angle of the shelf assembly  115  with respect to horizontal, water on the movable shelf element  125  will flow under the force of gravity to the fixed shelf element  120  and to the openings  121  and downwardly along the planar support member  106  to a water trap  131  located below the shelf assemblies  115 . The water trap  131  can have any convenient configuration capable of collecting and retaining water but is shown as a generally semi-cylindrical tube. Preferably, the water trap  131  is also constructed of molded polypropylene. 
     As shown in FIG. 2, the fixed shelf element  120  includes a generally rectangular groove  124  in each lateral edge  123  of the fixed shelf element  120 . The groove  124  cooperates with a boss  127  on the movable shelf element  125  to limit the telescopic movement of the movable shelf element  125  with respect to the fixed shelf element  120 . 
     FIG. 3 illustrates a detail of construction of the movable shelf element  125 . Specifically, FIG. 3 shows that the interior wall  126  of the movable shelf element  125  is provided with a generally c-shaped cross-section, 
     The movable shelf element  125  surrounds and is supported by the fixed shelf element  120 . The boss  127  limits the outward movement of the movable shelf element  125  and provides additional load bearing support for the movable shelf element  125  when in an outwardly extended position. 
     FIG. 1 also illustrates that planar support member  106  and said fixed shelf element  115  cooperate to define at least one opening  121  allowing the flow of water under the influence of gravity vertically in grooves  140  in said planar support member  106 . 
     FIG. 4 shows water grooves  139  in the fixed shelf elements  120 , water grooves  141  extending generally horizontally along the planar support member  106 , and generally vertical water grooves  140  which channel water flow to the openings  121  and then to the water trap  130 . 
     The generally vertical grooves  140  also intersect the openings  121 . 
     FIG. 5 shows the intersection of the water grooves  139 ,  140  and  141  and the openings  121  which channel the flow of water from wet apparel along the fixed shelf elements  120  to the water grooves  141  to the openings  112  and thence along the vertical water grooves  140  to the water trap  130 . 
     Additionally, FIG. 1 shows the water trap  130  mounted on the supporting frame member  105  for collecting and holding water flowing downwardly from said shelf. The water trap  130  is removably supported on the supporting frame member  105  by pins  107  located in the supporting frame member  105 . The water trap  130  includes flexible tabs  131 . The flexible tabs  131  include opening therein which fit over and engage the pins  107  extending from the frame member  105  thereby holding the water trap  130  in position with respect to the planar support member  106  and permit removal thereof to allow emptying and cleaning of the water trap  130 . 
     The shelf structure  100  is provided with mounting openings (not shown) and can be mounted on a vertical surface at any appropriate and convenient height and location. Usually, such a shelf structure will be located indoors and near an entrance to a residence. Hence, as residents or visitors enter and leave, they can conveniently remove and replace their wet weather apparel. 
     During their stay, the wet wearing apparel is conveniently stored on the tray  110  or one of the shelf members  115 . 
     Use of the shelf structure  100  will prevent wetting and soiling of the floors of the residence from the water brought from outside the residence on or in the apparel. 
     Keeping the floors free of wet apparel and free water reduces the chances of accident due to tripping or slipping. Normally, the shelf assemblies  115  are in a first retracted position. The movable shelf elements  125  are collapsed with respect to the fixed shelf elements  120 . In this condition, the shelf assemblies  115  are least intrusive. 
     However, if needed, the shelf assemblies  115  can be extended to accommodate apparel and shoes of different sizes by sliding the movable shelf elements  125  outwardly with respect to the fixed shelf elements  120 . Any excess water, for example from melting snow or ice or rain, on the apparel will move under the influence of gravity, due to the incline of the tray  110  and fixed shelf elements  120 , from the apparel down the tray  110  and shelf elements  115  towards the planar support member  106 . The flow of excess water along the fixed shelf elements  120  is collected from the apparel in water grooves  139  located in the upper surface  136  of the fixed shelf elements  120  and flows under the influence of the slight positive angle of the fixed shelf elements  115  toward the planar support member  106 . 
     The water flows into a water groove  141  that is located in a generally horizontal manner along the intersection of the fixed shelf elements  120  and the planar support member  106 . The water in the water groove  141  flows to vertical openings  121  in the fixed shelf elements  120 . The vertical openings  112  and  121  are aligned with generally vertical water grooves  140  in the planar support member  106 . The water grooves  139 ,  140  and  141  assist with water flow from the apparel to the water trap  130  facilitating drying of the apparel by lessening the need for evaporation. 
     The water flowing from the apparel will pass through the openings  112  or  121  and continue downwardly in the generally vertical water grooves  141  along the planar support member  106  until it falls into the water trap  130 . 
     Since certain changes may be made to the above system and apparatus without departing from the scope of the invention herein involved, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Technology Classification (CPC): 0