Sheet material storage rack

Claim 1

A storage rack for maintaining polished sheet material free of surface imperfections while allowing easy storage and retrieval of the sheet material, said storage rack comprising, a plurality of upright support members spaced across the front and back of said rack and anchored to the floor, first and second cross channels attached to the tops of said upright support members, the first of said cross channels being disposed across the back of said rack and the second of said cross channels being disposed across the front of said rack, a series of parallel closely spaced overhead rails fixedly attached to said cross channels, the rearward ends of said rails being attached to the first cross channel at the back of the rack, the central portion of said rails being attached to the second cross channel at the front of the rack, the forward end of said rails being fixedly attached to a ceiling support, said rails being about twice the length of the rack from back to front, a rectangular frame for holding sheet material suspended from each of said overhead rails for linear movement therealong, said rectangular frame including two upright legs extending downward from one of said rails, a wide channel base positioned between the lower ends of said legs for holding the sheet material on the frame, a cross member positioned across said legs near the center of the frame, diagonal braces attached between the upper part of each of said upright legs and the center of said cross member, and a pair of straps extending from the outer ends of said channel base to the center of said cross member, the sheet material being positioned behind said straps and thereby held in place, said rectangular frame being equal in length to the length of the rack from back to front, and means for reducing the friction between said frame and said rail during movement into and out of said rack to store and retrieve the sheet material on said frame.