Patent ID: 6851376

Claim:
A pull-down storage or work shelf arrangement comprising: an overhead mounting plate adapted to be attached onto an overhead structural support; a shelf having a spring-loaded wind-up mechanism mounted thereon, the shelf including an upper platform, the wind-up mechanism being situated in an enclosed space on said shelf and having a pair of arbors which rotate under action of a spring and a ratchet mechanism releasably locking said arbors against rotation in a rewind direction; first and second cables wound onto said arbors respectively and extending upwards to said mounting plate; and first and second scissors-action stabilizer linkages mounted respectively at left and right ends of said shelf and also at left and right ends of said overhead mounting plate; and wherein said shelf arrangement is adapted to operate such that when a user pulls down on said shelf to pull it down from a raised position thereof to a lowered position, the cables unwind from said arbors of said wind-up mechanism and charge the spring thereof, said ratchet mechanism locks said wind-up mechanism against rotation in the rewind direction with the shelf in its lowered position, and said scissors-action stabilizer linkages stabilize said shelf against tipping and swinging; and when the user actuates a release mechanism on said ratchet mechanism, said wind-up mechanism rewinds said cables onto said arbors to lift said shelf to its raised position.