Reconfigurable storage system and method

Title: Reconfigurable storage system and method

Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Claims

The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20080245753, Reconfigurable storage system and method.

1. A storage system, operable to provide horizontal and vertical adjustment of attachment assemblies, the storage system comprising: a rail fixedly mounted to a surface and being mounted in a substantially horizontal fashion; at least one vertical support suspended from the rail by an upper end assembly attached to the upper end of the at least one vertical support, the at least one vertical support configured to translate horizontally along a useable length of the rail to an infinite number of positions; wherein the at least one vertical support is suspended away from the surface so that the at least one vertical support does not come into contact with the surface; wherein the attachment assemblies are configured to slidably attach to the at least one vertical support and is configured to support at least one item therefrom; wherein the attachment assemblies are further configured to translate vertically to an infinite number of positions along the useable length of the at least one vertical support, wherein the attachment assemblies may be infinitely positioned within a defined two-dimensional space; and wherein an attachment assemblies mounting device can be infinitely positioned within the two-dimensional space defined by the usable length of the rail and the usable length of the at least one vertical support.

2. The support system of claim 1, further comprising rail mounting components, wherein the rail mounting components comprise brackets, lag bolts, washers, mounting plates and screws.

3. The support system of claim 1, wherein the rail further comprises angle iron, slotted rectangular bar stock, u-channel, c-channel, flat formed channel, extrusions, rod, tubing and slotted box channel or a combination thereof.

4. The support system of claim 1, further comprising: at least one horizontal cross-tie, arranged between selected attachment assemblies mounted on two or more vertical supports, the at least one horizontal cross-tie and attachment assemblies are configured to translate vertically on the two or more vertical supports and the attachment assemblies are configured to lock in one or more positions at a desired location on the two or more vertical supports.

5. The system of claim 4, further comprising: a cross-tie item attachment assembly, configured to slideably translate along and lock in one or more locations of the at least one horizontal cross-tie.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the attachment assemblies are further configured to translate horizontally to an infinite number of positions along the useable length of the at least one horizontal cross-tie, wherein the attachment assemblies may be infinitely positioned within a defined two-dimensional space defined by the usable length of the at least one horizontal cross-tie and the usable length of the at least one vertical support.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a diagonal brace configured to slideably translate along and lock in a desired location on the rail at a first end of the diagonal brace, and to lock into a location on one of the at least one vertical supports or on one of the horizontal cross-ties at a second end of the diagonal brace.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a wheel assembly affixed near a lower end of the vertical support to space the at least one vertical support away from the mounting surface, and wherein the at least one vertical support may be translated along the rail without damage to the mounting surface.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a diagonal brace configured to lock a diagonal first end in position at a location on the rail near a first end of the rail, and the at least one vertical support nearest the second end of the diagonal brace.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one vertical support is non-fixedly attached to the rail and is configured to translate by sliding or rolling along the rail.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a second rail mounted substantially horizontal to a lower portion of the mounting surface, configured to engage and to further support a lower end of the vertical support, and wherein the at least one vertical support is further configured to translate by sliding or rolling along the second rail.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a net-like accessory configured to be mounted between two or more of the at least one vertical supports for containment of items wherein the items comprise tools, household goods, commercial goods, industrial goods, hammers, rakes, paper towels and sporting goods.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a net-like accessory configured to be mounted between two or more vertical supports for containment of a variety of storage items.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the net-like accessory is configured with grommets that non-fixedly attach to two or more of the attachment assemblies.

15. The system of claim 2, further comprising: a wire-form accessory configured to be mounted between two or more of the at least one vertical supports or between two or more of the at least one horizontal cross-ties for mounting of items; wherein the items comprise tools, household goods, commercial goods, industrial goods, hammers, rakes, paper towels and sporting goods.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the wire-form accessory comprises a rectangular grid, a basket, and shelf.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the vertical support further comprises a spring-loaded foot at a lower end of the vertical support, configured to stabilize the vertical support against a floor adjacent to the wall.

18. The system of claim 1, further comprising an end cap suitable for covering one of an end of the rail configured to limit or stop the translation of the vertical support along the rail, and an end of the vertical support configured to limit or stop the translation of the attachment assemblies along the vertical support.

19. A tool storage system, operable to provide horizontal and vertical adjustment of an attachment point, the storage system comprising: a horizontal rail mounted substantially horizontally to a wall surface; at least one vertical support non-fixedly suspended from the horizontal rail by an upper end assembly of the vertical support, the vertical support configured to translate along the horizontal rail; and one or more attachment assemblies configured to be non-fixedly attached to the vertical support and to support a storage item therefrom, wherein the one or more attachment assemblies are further configured to translate along and lock in one or more positions along the vertical support, wherein the one or more attachment assemblies may be infinitely positioned within a two-dimensional space defined by a length of the horizontal rail in a first dimension and a length of the vertical support in a second dimension.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the vertical support comprises one of an extrusion, welded tubing, an angle and a stamping.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the vertical support comprises one of a rod, a bar, a channel, and a tube.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the vertical support is further configured with an array of holes for fixedly attaching the one or more attachment assemblies, the one or more attachment assemblies; configured to be inserted into one or more of the holes and to support a storage item therefrom.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein the vertical support and the one or more attachment assemblies are further configured to prevent rotation of the one or more attachment assemblies about the vertical support and to prevent the rotation of the vertical support relative to the horizontal rail in order to maintain a fixed orientation between the one or more attachment assemblies and the wall.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the shape of the vertical support is used to maintain the fixed orientation between the one or more attachment assemblies and the wall.

25. The system of claim 19, wherein the horizontal rail comprises one of a rectangular slotted member, a u-channel, and a track.

26. The system of claim 19, further comprising: a horizontal cross-tie member, arranged substantially horizontally between two or more vertical supports, the horizontal cross-tie configured to translate vertically along and lock in one or more positions on the two or more vertical supports.

27. The system of claim 26, further comprising: a cross-tie hook assembly, configured to translate horizontally along the horizontal cross-tie and to support a storage item or attachment accessory therefrom.

28. The system of claim 26, further comprising: a cross-tie hook assembly, configured to translate horizontally along and lock in position positions on the horizontal cross-tie.

29. The system of claim 26, further comprising: a diagonal brace configured to slide horizontally along and lock in one or more positions along the horizontal rail at one end of the diagonal brace, and one of the vertical supports or the horizontal cross-tie at the other end of the diagonal brace.

30. The system of claim 19, wherein the vertical support comprises a wheel assembly affixed near a lower end of the vertical support to provide protection for the wall and to space the vertical support away from the wall, wherein the vertical support may be translated along the horizontal rail without damage to the wall.

31. The system of claim 19, further comprising: a diagonal brace configured to translate horizontally along and lock in a desired position on the horizontal rail at a first end of the diagonal brace, and to lock into one or more positions on the vertical support at a second end of the diagonal brace.

32. The system of claim 19, wherein the vertical support is configured to translate by sliding or rolling along the horizontal rail.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the vertical support comprises a roller assembly affixed to the upper end of the vertical support for translating or rolling along the horizontal rail.

34. The system of claim 19, further comprising: a second horizontal rail mounted substantially horizontally to a lower portion of the wall surface, configured to engage and to further support a lower end of the vertical support, and wherein the vertical support is further configured to translate by sliding or rolling along the second horizontal rail.

35. The system of claim 19, further comprising: a net-like accessory configured to be mounted between two or more vertical supports for containment of a variety of storage items.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the net-like accessory is configured with grommets that non-fixedly attach to two or more of the one or more attachment assemblies.

37. The system of claim 26, further comprising: a wire form accessory configured to be mounted between two or more vertical supports or between two or more horizontal cross-ties for mounting or containment of a variety of storage items.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein the wire form accessory comprises one of a rectangular grid, a basket, and a shelf.

39. The system of claim 19, wherein the vertical support further comprises a spring-loaded and lockable foot at a lower end of the vertical support, configured to stabilize the vertical support against a floor adjacent to the wall.

40. The system of claim 34, further comprising an adapter configured to fixedly attach to the lower end of the vertical support and to slidably attach to the second horizontal rail, the adapter configured to interconnect the horizontal rails.

41. The system of claim 19, further comprising an end cap suitable for covering an end of the horizontal rail, and configured to limit or stop the translation of the vertical support along the horizontal rail.

42. The system of claim 19, further comprising an end cap suitable for covering an end of the vertical support, and configured to limit or stop the translation of the one or more attachment assemblies along the vertical support.

43. The system of claim 19, further comprising a pair of ceiling rails fixedly mounted to a ceiling and spatially arranged substantially parallel to each other and configured to non-fixedly suspend and translate the horizontal rail in a third dimension along the pair of ceiling rails, wherein the one or more attachment assemblies may be infinitely positioned within a three-dimensional space defined by the length of the horizontal rail in the first dimension, the length of the vertical support in the second dimension, and a length of the ceiling rails in the third dimension.

44. The system of claim 19, wherein the item comprises one or more of the following: a wheel barrow, ladder, hammer, bike, rake, broom, tool, paper products, yard tool, hand tool, and power tool.

45. The system of claim 19, wherein the vertical support is further configured to be mounted onto or separated from the horizontal rail after the horizontal rail has been fixedly mounted to the wall.

46. The system of claim 33, wherein the roller assembly affixed to the upper end of the vertical support further comprises a locking device configured to lock the vertical support in place along the horizontal rail.

47. The system of claim 19, wherein the vertical support is configured to prevent rotation relative to the horizontal rail and to prevent the one or more attachment assemblies from rotating about the vertical support.

48. The system of claim 19, further comprising a shelf configured to be non-fixedly attached to two or more vertical supports, wherein the shelf is further configured to translate vertically along and lock in one or more positions along the two or more vertical supports.

49. A tool storage system kit, operable to provide horizontal and vertical reconfiguration of tool attachment points, the storage system comprising: a horizontal rail mounted substantially horizontally to a wall surface; two or more vertical supports non-fixedly suspended from the horizontal rail by an upper end of the vertical support, the vertical supports configured to independently translate horizontally along the horizontal rail without damage to the wall; two or more attachment assemblies, each attachment assembly configured to be non-fixedly attached to a vertical support and to support a storage item therefrom, wherein the two or more attachment assemblies are further configured to translate vertically along and lock in one or more positions along the vertical support, wherein one or more of the attachment assemblies may be infinitely positioned within a two-dimensional space defined by a length of the horizontal rail in a first dimension and a length of the vertical support in a second dimension; a diagonal brace configured to slide horizontally along and lock in one or more positions along the horizontal rail at one end of the diagonal brace, and one of the vertical supports or the horizontal cross-tie at the other end of the diagonal brace; a horizontal cross-tie member, arranged substantially horizontally between two or more vertical supports, the horizontal cross-tie configured to translate vertically along and lock in one or more positions on the two or more vertical supports; and a cross-tie attachment assembly, configured to translate horizontally along the horizontal cross-tie and to support a storage item or accessory therefrom.

50. A method of two or three-dimensionally storing and positioning a storage item, comprising: translating and thereby reconfiguring an attachment assembly horizontally along a wall using a horizontal rail without damage to the wall; translating and thereby reconfiguring the attachment assembly vertically along a vertical support that is non-fixedly suspended from the horizontal rail; and locking the attachment assembly in one of an infinite variety of positions along the vertical support; wherein the hook may be infinitely positioned within a two-dimensional space defined by a length of the horizontal rail in a first dimension and a length of the vertical support in a second dimension.

Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Claims

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