booKrates
What follows are the salient parts of a U.S. Patent Application prepared solely by myself during the Fall of 2000, while I was a student at the University of Texas School of Law.
The invention it describes, which I proposed to call "booKrates," was based on an idea I'd had the preceding summer, and mothered by the necessity of my own itinerant and bibliophiliac ways.
I did not hear of the results of my application until March, 2002; by that time, I'd long since given up aspirations to the law, but still held onto a few of being an inventor.
(I still do.)
The complete application, as published by the USPTO can be viewed here.
For the final disposition of that application, see the notes at the bottom of this page.
| United States Patent Application |
20020070641
|
| Kind Code
|
A1
|
|
Ragan, Sean Michael
|
June 13, 2002
|
Two-way stacking and nesting book boxes with interposing slat construction
Abstract
A unitary container for the accessible storage and convenient
transportation of books and/or the like featuring top and bottom surfaces
which are other than solid, being composed of various longitudinal slats
spaced such that, when two or more units are stacked in a bookcase
configuration, the top slats of lower units interpose between the bottom
slats of upper units to form an effectively solid planar shelf for the
storage of books and/or the like within each upper unit. The spaces
between the slats are large enough to allow this function, and at the
same time small enough to provide effective containment of books and/or
the like when an individual container is removed from the stack and used
for transportation of said books and/or the like. Additionally, the
container features conventional nesting means whereby it may be stacked
and interlocked with other like containers in an alternate configuration
with the planes of the rear panels parallel to the ground. The means of
this alternate nesting configuration incorporate a forcing function which
allows the containers to nest properly in the alternate configuration
only if they are stacked alternatingly top-over-bottom and
bottom-over-top, in order to insure that the center of mass of a stack of
containers in the alternate configuration is more closely aligned with
the center of volume of the stack itself
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Persons who, by vocation or inclination, must frequently move from
one residence to another, and who have large libraries (for example
students, professors, journalists, etc.) are faced with a problem in the
convenient storage and transportation of books or the like. Traditional
bookcases, being substantial pieces of furniture, are adequate for
storage but less than adequate for moving, in that the books must first
be unloaded from them and packed and moved separately, and also in that
the bookcases themselves are often heavy and cumbersome. Traditional
bookcases also tend to be expensive and, if a person only has one or two
shelves of books, may provide more storage capacity than is needed.
The 1973 book Nomadic Furniture, by James Hennesey and Victor
Papanek, describes a common solution to these problems, which is to
employ surplus wooden packing crates (for example those sometimes used
for shipping fruit) stacked on their sides in a bookcase-like
configuration with their interiors exposed to the room. Books or other
media stored inside may be easily accessed by reaching into the open
crate, and easily moved by lifting the entire crate and carrying it in
the traditional manner. This eliminates the need to unload a bookcase
prior to moving by eliminating the bookcase itself, and replacing it with
a stack of modular boxes which may be moved without being unloaded. It
also allows for shelving space to grow more naturally with the user's
library.
This approach, while adequate, is less than ideal for many reasons:
1) In today's era of increased recycling and waste-consciousness, wooden
crates are increasingly difficult to find. 2) What crates may be
available are often cheaply made and generally inadequate to support the
significant load of large numbers of books placed on or in them. 3) Even
if solidly constructed, standard wooden crates are heavier than necessary
for the purpose of storing or transporting books or the like, because of
material redundancies between crates when stacked in the bookcase
configuration, and because of excess material when used as a moving
container. 4) Standard wooden crates have no capacity to positively
interlock with one another, and are thus limited in the height to which
they may be safely stacked in the bookcase configuration. 5) Standard
wooden crates are often poorly proportioned for books, resulting either
in wasted space or in inadequate capacity for larger volumes. 6) Standard
wooden crates are often aesthetically displeasing.
The prior art which most closely addresses these problems, to this
writer's knowledge, is Shugart's U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,118, which discloses
a six-sided container featuring top, bottom, rear, and two side panels,
and a sixth, movable panel which, by means of grooves in the side and
bottom panels, may be slid into place either at the front of the unit,
thereby forming a sealed container for transport or storage, or at the
rear of the unit, whereat it may be stored to allow access to the
contents of the shelf. The unit also features pegs extending vertically
from the upper surfaces of the side panels which mate with holes in the
lower surfaces of the side panels of a like unit when stacked on top. The
unit also features horizontally-oriented openings in the side panels
which serve as handholds.
Although the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,118 goes a
long way toward eliminating the shortcomings of standard wooden crates
appropriated for use as bookcases, it is still deficient in that it
suffers from excess weight because of material redundancies between the
upper wall of the lower unit and the lower wall of the upper unit when
stacked in the bookcase configuration, and because of excess material in
the side walls of a single unit when used as a moving container.
Moreover, the nesting system used to interlock the units when stacked in
the bookcase configuration, consisting of protrusions and corresponding
recesses in the upper and lower surfaces of the container's side panels,
is incidental to the structure of the container itself and as such
unnecessarily complicates manufacture and may be unduly subject to
breakage.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is the object of this invention to provide a
unitary container for the accessible storage and convenient
transportation of books and/or the like, after the manner of surplus
wooden crates described above, which eliminates excess weight by
eliminating solid planar construction of the top and bottom surfaces of
the container, and replacing them with various longitudinal slats spaced
such that, when two or more units are stacked in the bookcase
configuration, the top slats of lower units interpose between the bottom
slats of upper units to form a single effectively solid planar shelf
within the upper unit whereon books or the like may be stored and
accessed. The slats are spaced widely enough to allow this function, and
at the same time narrowly enough to provide effective containment of
books or the like when a single unit is employed as a moving container.
Additionally, it is an object of this invention to reduce
manufacturing costs by employing other than solid planar construction for
the top and bottom surfaces of the container, and replacing it with the
interposing slat construction described hereinabove as a weight-saving
device, which uses fifty percent less material than solid planar
construction.
It is a further object of this invention to eliminate interlocking
systems which are incidental to the structure of the container itself,
such as protrusions and corresponding recesses in the upper and lower
surfaces of the side panels, and to replace them with an interlocking
system which is integral to the structure of the container itself,
specifically that system of interposing top and bottom slats described
hereinabove.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a means whereby
the containers may be stacked in an alternate configuration, with the
planes of their rear panels parallel to the ground, wherein their
contents will be retained by the force of gravity and, in lower
containers, by the proximity of the rear panels of upper containers, for
purposes of transportation or non-accessible storage of said contents.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a forcing
function whereby the containers, when stacked in the alternate
configuration described hereinabove, will only nest properly when stacked
alternatingly bottom-over-top and top-over-bottom, in order to enhance
stability of the stack, and hence enhance safety, by insuring that the
center of mass of a group of containers stacked in this alternate
configuration is more closely aligned with the center of volume of the
stack itself.
These and other objects will be made manifest by providing a
container with parallel opposed side panels, approximately square, joined
adjacent the rear edge by a back panel or stop-board, and joined along
the top and bottom edges by various slats spaced as described above to
interpose when the unit is stacked with other like units and to
effectively contain when the unit is carried individually, said back
panel and said top and bottom slats being disposed orthogonally to the
plane of said side panels, and being attached to said side panels by
screws, nails, staples, pegs, glue, or other conventional means of
attachment. Additionally, said side panels incorporate openings arranged
to provide handholds for carrying the unit and to further reduce its
weight.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to the drawings of the preferred embodiment, which
are numbered identically throughout, the invention consists of right (1)
and left (2) parallel opposed wooden side panels, 3/4" thick, 111/4" deep
from front to back, and 12" high, incorporating two sets of ovular
openings(3, 4) 4" long and 1" wide to serve as handholds and as a means
to reduce weight, one set of openings (3) being disposed adjacent and
parallel to the front edge of the side panels, and the second set (4)
being disposed adjacent and parallel to the top edge of the side panels.
The side panels are joined adjacent their rear edge by a wooden stop
board (5), 3/4" in thickness, 5 1/2" in height, and 22 1/2" in width,
which is attached orthogonally to the interior surfaces of the side
panels by four screws(6), two in each end of the stop board, extending
through the side panels and into the end grain of the stop-board.
The side panels are also joined along their top edges by three
identical wooden slats (7), each 3/4" thick, 1.6" deep from front to
back, and 24" long, spaced such that an identical slat may be interposed
between each pair of slats, and another identical slat may be exactly fit
between the frontmost top slat and the front upper edges of the side
panels, and another identical slat may be exactly fit between the
rearmost top slat and the rear upper edges of the side panels. These top
slats are orthogonally disposed to the planes of the side panels, and are
attached to the side panels by means of screws(8), two adjacent to each
end of each slat, extending through the upper surface of the slat and
into the upper surface of the side panels and counter-sunk into the upper
surface of the slat so as not to protrude above the upper surface of the
slat.
The side panels are also joined along the bottom edges by four
identical wooden slats (9), each also 3/4" thick, 1.6" deep from front to
back, and 24" long, spaced such that an identical slat may be interposed
between each pair of slats, with the frontmost bottom slat positioned
immediately adjacent the front lower edges of the side panels, and the
rearmost bottom slat positioned immediately adjacent the rear lower edges
of the side panels, so that the three spaces between the four bottoms
slats will exactly accept the three top slats of another unit stacked
underneath. The bottom slats are orthogonally disposed to the planes of
the side panels, and are attached to the side panels by means of
screws(10), two adjacent to each end of each slat, extending through the
lower surface of the slat and into the lower surface of the side panels
and counter-sunk into the lower surface of the slat so as not to protrude
below the lower surface of the slat.
To use the invention, books and/or the like are placed inside the
container thus formed with their spines (or the equivalent) facing
forward with respect to the container and their bottom edges resting on
the upper surface of the bottom slats. Two or more like containers may
then be stacked in a bookcase configuration by aligning the bottom slats
of upper units with the spaces between the top slats of lower units, and
lowering the upper units into position thusly, so that the top slats of
lower units and the bottom slats of upper units interpose to form a
single effectively solid planar shelf within each upper unit whereon
books or the like may be slidably stored or removed. The weight of the
containers and of the material they contain is sufficient to maintain a
stable nesting arrangement by means of this interposition, allowing the
containers to be safely stacked as high as the ceilings of most rooms
will permit without need of further interlocking devices. Note that the
mating faces of interposing slats may or may not be slanted at
complementary angles, as shown in FIG. 8, to facilitate the self-aligning
of top and bottom slats when the units are stacked in a bookcase
configuration.
To move the books and/or the like so contained and arranged, each
unit is lifted off the stack by means of either set of handholds (2,3),
manually rotated so that the plane of the rear stop-board is roughly
parallel to the ground, and carried in the manner of a standard lidless
crate by means of the handholds adjacent the front edges of the side
panels (3).
The preferred embodiment also incorporates rabbeted front (11) and
rear (12) edges of the side panels to facilitate nesting of the units
when stacked in an alternate configuration, presumably for transportation
purposes, with the planes of the rear stop-boards parallel to the ground.
This alternate stacking and nesting configuration, illustrated in FIG. 9,
also incorporates a forcing function, provided by the juxtaposition of
the rabbeted front and rear edges with respect to the frontmost and
rearmost bottom slats, which allows the units to nest properly in the
alternate configuration only when stacked alternatingly top-over-bottom
and bottom-over-top. In the preferred embodiment, this forcing function
works by providing that the frontmost and rearmost bottom slats of two
units will interfere with one another and so prohibit nesting of the
rabbeted front and rear edges of the two units if the two units are
stacked in a bottom-over-bottom and top-over-top configuration. This
feature works to insure that the center of mass of a stack of units
arranged in this configuration corresponds more exactly to the centerline
of the stack itself, thus enhancing the stability and safety of the units
stacked in this configuration.
It will be recognized, finally, that the foregoing is but one
embodiment of an apparatus within the scope of the present invention, and
that various other modifications will occur to those skilled in the art
upon reading the disclosure set forth hereinbefore. Moreover, although
the preferred embodiment is constructed in wood, it will be recognized
that construction in other materials and by other processes, such as
plastic injection molding, is not precluded from the scope of this
invention.
* * * * *
The patent, alas, did not issue;
in spite of what I considered an exhaustive (it was certainly exhausting) patent search prior to filing the application, there was almost identical prior art.
Compare my figure 1, immediately below, to the title figure from
US Patent No. 5,335,606.
This patent issued only seven years before my own application (1993) and, incredibly, to an inventor (Verlon E. Whitehead) who lives within 15 miles of me.
In the summer of 2002, I wrote a letter to Mr. Whitehead, congratulating him and expressing my general amazement at the coincidence.
I received a concise, but courteous, reply from his business associate, a Mr. Ron Hunt, CEO of CD3 Storage Systems, advising me that, although the unit was not currently in production, they had "chosen to move in the direction of plastic injection molding," and had already prepared oak part masters to that end.
Mr. Hunt intimated that a production license might be available, but I have neither the time, money, or inclination to pursue such a business right now.
Maybe someday. :)
iamanangelchaser@yahoo.com
9.28.2002
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