Abstract:
A vertically oriented generally rectangular box with a hinged lid is pivotally supported on a pull-out slide permitting the box to be linearly displaced and rotated between a stored position and a use position. Two or more such boxes can be vertically stacked for independent movement and use. The box sides and rails on the door interior include opposed rows of holes accepting pins that are received in inclined slots in the sides of a plurality of accessories supports that can be selectively positioned within the box.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention generally relates to cabinets suitable for use in domestic areas such as closets and dressing areas, and particularly to cabinets adapted to be installed in closet systems to hold personal accessories and supported to permit the cabinet to be easily moved from a storage position to a use position. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0004]    There are presently available any number of closet systems to assist one with the organization of clothing and accessories within a closet, particularly a walk-in closet. The closet systems often have a plurality of baskets or drawers, one or more series of shelves that may be vertically sub-divided, some areas having horizontal rods for receiving hangers, and so forth. Some closet systems include slide-out panels for organizing and storing various articles of clothing and accessories. The slide-out panels have the advantage of occupying only a small amount of wall space, while providing substantial storage area. Examples of such slide-out panels that can be used in closet systems are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,076,442; 5,468,063 and 7,281,634. One difficulty with such slide-out panels is that access is generally limited to only one side of the panel, although access to the opposite side may be permitted by sliding the panel into the stored position, walking past the panel and then extending the panel outward. Alternatively, if one has sufficient space which is often not the case even in a walk-in closet, one might walk around an outwardly extended panel to view the opposite sides of the panel. 
         [0005]    The known closet systems utilize a variety of means to provide for the adjustment and/or substitution of storage elements to contain various articles of clothing and personal accessories. One common adjustment system employs a vertical pegboard with an array of holes that can engage various hangers and supports at a variety of locations. For example, pegboard appears in the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,063. While such a pegboard system provides the desired flexibility in the placement of the various supports and hangers, pegboard lacks the esthetics that is desirable, particularly in high end closet system installations. 
         [0006]    There is therefore an unsatisfied need for an esthetically acceptable accessories cabinet that can be included in a high end closet system that can hold a substantial inventory of personal accessories and be supported to permit the cabinet to be easily moved from a storage position, where the contents is substantially inaccessible, to a use position, where the contents of the cabinet can be completely accessed without substantial movement of the person desiring access. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    In one aspect, an accessories cabinet of the present invention can have a support, which can be secured in a closet at a desired location. A generally rectangular box can be coupled to the support for displacement relative to the support between a storage position and a use position. The box can have an upper end, a lower end, a back member extending between the upper and lower ends, and box sides extending between the box upper and lower ends. The box sides can include a plurality of openings directed toward the box interior generally parallel to the back member. A door can be coupled to the box to move between an open position exposing the box interior and a shut position closing the box, the door having an interior surface and an exterior surface. A pair of vertical rails can be fixed to the door interior surface, the rails including a plurality of openings directed generally parallel to the door interior surface. At least one pair of pins can be included, each pair of pins being received in a selected pair of the plurality of openings opposite each other. An accessories support can be situated within the cabinet that have side portions, each side portion including an inclined slot coupled to one of the pairs of pins. 
         [0008]    In another aspect, an accessories cabinet of the present invention can have a support, which can be secured in a closet at a desired location. A generally rectangular box can be included for displacement relative to the support. The box can have an upper end, a lower end, a back member extending between the upper and lower ends, and box sides extending between the box upper and lower ends, with the including at least one accessories support. A door having an interior surface and an exterior surface can be coupled to the box to move between an open position exposing the box interior and accessories support, and a shut position closing the box. Slide members can be coupled between the support and the generally rectangular box to facilitate linear movement of the box between a stored position inhibiting access to the box interior and a use position exposing the door for entry to the box interior. A pivot mechanism can be situated between the slide members and the generally rectangular box to permit rotation of the box from a storage alignment inline with the slides to a display alignment facilitating access to the box interior. 
         [0009]    In yet another aspect, an accessories cabinet of the present invention can have a support, which can be secured in a closet at a desired location. Two or more generally rectangular boxes can be coupled to the support for independent displacement relative to the support. Each of the boxes can have an upper end, a lower end, a back member extending between the upper and lower ends, and box sides extending between the box upper and lower ends of each box. A door having an interior and exterior surface can be coupled to at least one of the boxes to independently move between an open position exposing the box interior and a shut position closing each box. Slide members can be coupled between the support and each of the generally rectangular boxes to facilitate independent linear movement of each box between a stored position inhibiting access to each box interior and a use position exposing any door of the box leading to entry to the box interior. A pivot mechanism can be situated between each of the slide members supporting a given rectangular box and each of the generally rectangular boxes coupled to the slide members to permit independent rotation of each box from a storage alignment with the slides to a display alignment facilitating access to the box interior. 
         [0010]    In the various aspects of the present invention a mirror can be coupled to either the interior and exterior surfaces of the door. At least one drawer can be situated within the cabinet. At least one inclined surface can be included within the cabinet upon which personal accessories can be displayed. At least one projecting member can be included within the cabinet for supporting a draping accessory, such as a tie or necklace. 
         [0011]    In the various aspects of the present invention the pivot mechanism can be a turntable, which can include a first ring fixed to one of the slide members, a second ring fixed to one of the upper and lower ends of the box, an a rotational bearing coupling the first and second rings to each other. At least one pair of lobes can be situated on a surface of one of the first and second rings, the lobes being separated by a notch. A follower can be fixed to the other of the first and second rings so as to contact the lobe bearing surface other ring. 
         [0012]    In the various aspects of the present invention, an exterior surface of the door can include a handle facilitating the opening of the door. A cabinet face plate can be coupled to one of the box sides, the face plate having upper and lower ends that can extend above the box upper end and below the box lower end. The face plates can be dimensioned to form a substantially continuous surface with adjacent closet system faceplates when the accessories cabinet is situated in the stored position. The cabinet face plate can further include a handle facilitating movement of the box and slide members between the stored position and the use position. 
         [0013]    In the various aspects of the present invention, the sides of each box can include a plurality of opposed openings directed to the box interior generally parallel to the back member. Additionally, a pair of vertical rails can be fixed to at least the interior surface of at least one of the doors, the rails including a plurality of opposed openings directed generally parallel to the door interior surface. A plurality of pair of pins can be received in selected opposed pairs of the plurality of openings. At least one accessories support can be situated within each cabinet, each accessory support having side portions, and each side portion can include an inclined slot coupled to one of the pairs of pins extending inward from either the box sides or the rails mixed to the doors. The accessories supports can be easily moved from one location to another. 
         [0014]    Each of the accessory supports can be suitably finished to meet the esthetic demands of the particular installation. The connection between the various accessory supports is coupled to the generally rectangular box so that the coupling mechanism including openings receiving supporting pins has only a minimal visual impact on the assembly as a whole. 
         [0015]    Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following disclosure of preferred embodiments of the present invention exemplifying the best mode of practicing the invention. The following disclosure references the accompanying drawings illustrating the preferred embodiments. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0016]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a two box accessories cabinet of the present invention, with the lower box in a stored position and the upper box in the use position. 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of another accessories cabinet of the present invention containing a variety of accessories supports. 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an accessories cabinet of the present invention with the accessories supports removed. 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  is a detail taken from  FIG. 3  showing the holes and pins that can be used to hold the accessories supports within the cabinet. 
           [0020]      FIG. 5  is a perspective detail view of an accessories support showing an inclined slot for engaging one of the pins. 
           [0021]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a combined slide and pivot mechanism that can be used to support the boxes in an accessories cabinet of the present invention. 
           [0022]      FIG. 7  is a plan view of another combined slide and pivot mechanism that can be used to support the boxes in an accessories cabinet of the present invention, with portions broken away. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0023]    An accessories cabinet  10  is shown in  FIG. 1  to include an upper box  12  and a lower box  14 . The accessories cabinet  10  can consist of only a single box, which can be vertically elongated from that shown in  FIG. 1 . The accessories cabinet  10  can have a support  16 , which can be secured in a closet at a desired location. In  FIG. 1 , the support  16  is shown to be position immediately adjacent to another unit  18  of a closet system, which is shown in phantom. The support  16  can be situated between two such other units  18 . The support  16  can include a plurality of tracks  20  projecting outward from a rear surface  21  of the cabinet  10 . Each of the upper box  12  and lower box  14  can be coupled to the tracks  20  for displacement relative to the support  16  between a storage position and a use position. The lower box  14  is shown in  FIG. 1  in a stored position where the box  14  is recessed into the support  16  as far as possible. The upper box  12  is shown in  FIG. 1  in a use position where the box  12  is extended outward on the tracks  20  so that the contents of the box  12  are accessible. It will also be noted that lower box  14  is substantially aligned with the tracks  20  while upper box  12  has been turned relative to the tracks  20 . A pivot mechanism  22  can be provided between each of the boxes  12 ,  14  and the supporting tracks  20  to facilitate this turning of the boxes in relation to the tracks  20 . A possible pivot mechanism  22  is shown in  FIG. 6  and will be discussed further below. 
         [0024]    Each of the boxes can have an upper end  24 , a lower end  26 , and a back member  28  extending between the upper and lower ends  24 ,  26 . Each of the boxes can have box sides  30  extending between the box upper end  24  and the box lower end  26 . A door  32  can be coupled to either side of the box  12 ,  14  as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  to move between an open position exposing the box interior and a shut position closing the box. The door  32  can have an interior surface  34  and an exterior surface  36 . The exterior surface  36  can support a mirror. The exterior surface  36  of the door  32  can also include a handle facilitating the opening of the door  32 . A pair of vertical rails  38  can be fixed to the door interior surface  34  as shown in  FIG. 3 . The rails  38  can include a plurality of openings  40  directed generally parallel to the door interior surface  34 . At least one pair of pins  42  can be included, each pair of pins  42  being received in a selected pair of the plurality of openings  40  opposite each other. An accessories support  44 , such as a ring support  46 , a necklace support  48 , or tie support  50  can be coupled to the pins  42  to secure the accessories support  44  to the door interior surface  34 . The particular arrangement of the accessories supports  44  relative to the door interior is subject to variation, which is facilitated by selective movement of the pins  42  in the various openings  40  of the rails  38 . A mirror  52  can also be coupled to the door interior surface  34  in the same manner. 
         [0025]    Each of the accessories supports  44 , as well as the mirror  52 , can include side portions  54  shown in detail in  FIG. 5 . Each side portion  54  can extend between an accessories support front wall  56  and back edge  58 . The side portions  54  on the accessories supports  44  mounted on the door interior surface  34  can be spaced from each other by a distance approximating the distance between the vertical rails  38 . Each side portion  54  can include at least one inclined slot  60  that can extend upward from the back edge  58  toward the front wall  56 . Each of the inclined slots  60  is sized to receive one of the pins  42  extending inward from the vertical rails  38 . The inclined slots  60  can be situated at a common position on both sides  54  of the accessories support  44 . Installation of an accessories support  44  does not require any tools as the support  44  is retained in position by gravity. As previously indicated, the pins  42  can be selectively located at various positions along the rails  38  so that the various accessories supports  44  can be repositioned from time to time as desired. 
         [0026]    The box sides  30  can include a plurality of openings  62  directed toward the box interior generally parallel to the back member  28  as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . The openings  62  can be arranged in one or more than one vertical row  64 . The openings  62  can receive pins  42  or brackets for supporting shelves  66 . The shelves  66 , like the accessories supports  44 , can include the inclined slots  60  is sized to receive one of the pins  42  extending inward from the box sides  30 . The shelves  66  can be divided by dividers  68  and can receive drawers  70 . The pins  42  in the openings  62  can also support various other accessories supports  44  including ear ring supports  72  and an inclined necklace rest  74  situated below the necklace support  48 . The lower end  26  of the box  12  and/or box  14  can also support an additional accessories support  44  such as a subdivided box  76  suitable for receiving cuff links, rings, or other clothing accessories, as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
         [0027]    In  FIG. 1 , the outer ends  77  of the supporting tracks  20  are visible, but particularly when the boxes  12 ,  14  are in their stored position, the visibility of the supporting tracks  20  is undesirable. Thus, a face plate  78  can be coupled to one side  30  of each box  12 ,  14 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . Each face plate  78  can have an upper end  80  and a lower end  82  that can extend above the box upper end  24  and below the box lower end  26 , respectively. The face plates  78  can be dimensioned to form a substantially continuous surface with faceplates of any adjacent closet systems  18  the accessories cabinet  10  is situated in the stored position. The cabinet face plate  10  can further include a handle  84  facilitating movement of the box  12  or  14 , and coupled slide members  20  between the stored position and the use position. Both the face plate  78  and the handle  84  are subject to a wide variety of design to meet the esthetic demands of any particular installation. 
         [0028]      FIGS. 6 and 7  show a pivot mechanism  22  that can be used between each of the boxes  12 , 14  and the supporting tracks  20  to facilitate this turning of the boxes  12 ,  14  in relation to the tracks  20 . The pivot mechanism  22  can be a turntable  86 , which can include a first ring  88  fixed to one of the slide members  90  coupled to the supporting tracks  20 . The slide members  90  move in and out of the cabinet  10  with the forward and rearward movement of the boxes  12 ,  14 . The turntable  86  can also include a second ring  92  fixed to either the upper end  24  or the lower end  26  of one of the boxes  12 ,  14 . A rotational bearing, such as a ball bearing race, can couple the first ring  88  to the second ring  92  so the rings can rotate with respect to each other so that the boxes  12 ,  14  can be rotated with respect to the slide members  90 . At least one pair of lobes  96  can be situated on a surface  100  of one of the first and second rings  88 ,  92 , the lobes being separated by a notch  98 . At least one follower  94  can be fixed to the other of the first and second rings  88 ,  92  so as to contact the lobe bearing surface  100  to provide at least one stop position, preferably with the box  12 ,  14  aligned with either the use position or the storage position.  FIG. 7  shows a pair of followers  94  situated on opposite sides of ring surface  100  to provide a pair of stop positions separated by 180°. An additional follower  102  can be provided at a rear portion of at least one of the slide members  90  to interact with a detent, not shown, that is fixed to a rear surface  21  of the cabinet  10 . The additional follower  102  can act as a retention mechanism to hold the boxes  12 ,  14  in a fully retracted storage position within the cabinet  10 . 
         [0029]    From the forgoing description of the structure and operation of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention is susceptible to numerous modifications and embodiments within the ability of those skilled in the art and without exercise of the inventive facility. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is defined as set forth of the following claims.