Stacking, pivoting, wall storage unit

Claim 2

A stacking, pivoting, wall storage unit with easily removable storage containers and the like, comprising: (a) a vertical mounting member; (b) a vertical connecting member hingedly carried by said mounting member for pivoting about a vertical axis, said connecting member including a plurality of vertically disposed shear trap channels each having a resiliently rigid back portion interconnecting a pair of resiliently rigid opposed side members defining inward facing surfaces with one of first and second portions of a touch fastening system thereon, said touch fastening system comprising said first portion carrying one of hooks, mushrooms, balls on stems, and pigtails capable of engaging one of loops, hooks, mushrooms, balls on stems, and pigtails carried by said second portion to releasably fasten the two portions together; and, (c) a plurality of stacking members each having a vertical rigid unitary planar fin member defining opposed outward facing surfaces extending therefrom and having the other of said first and second portions of the touch fastening system on the opposed outward facing surfaces whereby said stacking members can be releasably attached to said vertical connecting member when the touch fastening system engages in shear as said rigid unitary planar fin members are received between said inwardly facing surfaces of said shear trap channels, said back portion of each said channel member being of a width substantially equal to the thickness of the received fin member plus the other of said first and second portions of said touch fastening system such that said inwardly facing surfaces are substantially parallel to said outwardly facing surfaces and to each other upon in shear engagement of said touch fastening system, each shear trap channel having hinge means connecting at least one side member to said back portion and extending longitudinally along the length of the shear trap channel to permit said at least one side member to pivot outwardly in a manner to effect progressive disengagement of the touch fastening system when desired.

Claim 3

The wall storage unit of claim 1 wherein: said stacking members are rectangular, open-topped boxes having said fin extending outward from a corner in the plane of a side thereof whereby when said boxes are attached to said vertical connecting member by fastening said fins in said shear trap channels said boxes can be individually pivoted between stacked relationship with one another and non-stacked relationship to allow access to individual boxes.

Claim 4

The wall storage unit of claim 1 wherein: said vertical mounting member and said vertical connecting memer are of unitary construction and said hinged attachment of one to the other comprises a living hinge.

Claim 5

The wall storage unit of claim 3 wherein: said vertical connecting member is adapted to fold over said vertical mounting member to hide the mounting member and act as a cover therefor.

Claim 6

The wall storage unit of claim 1 wherein: (a) said vertical mounting member comprises a plurality of first block members adapted to be mounted to a wall or the like in vertical spaced relationship to one another; and (b) said vertical connecting member comprises a plurality of second block members adapted to pivotally mate with said first block members when disposed therebetween, said block members each having a U-shaped shear trap channel member vertically attached to one side thereof.

Claim 7

A supporting structure for a pivoting, wall storage unit with easily removable components, connected to the support structure by engaging first and second portions of a touch fastening system, said touch fastening system comprising said first portion carrying one of hooks, mushrooms, balls on stems, and pigtails capable of engaging one of loops, hooks, mushrooms, balls on stems and pigtails carried by said second portion to releasably fasten the two portions together, comprising: (a) a mounting member adapted for mounting to a wall or the like, (b) a connecting member hingedly carried by said mounting member for pivoting about an axis, said connecting member including a plurality of shear trap channels each having a resiliently rigid back portion interconnecting a pair of opposed resiliently rigid planar members defining inwardly facing surfaces with one of said first and second portions of the touch fastening system thereon, and (c) a plurality of components each having a vertical rigid unitary fin member defining opposed outward facing surfaces extending therefrom and having the other of said first and second portions of the touch fastening system on the opposed outward facing surfaces, wherein each said shear trap channel is adapted to releasably receive a said rigid unitary fin member between said inwardly facing surfaces of said shear trap channel with the touch fastening system engaged in shear to thereby releasably support one of said plurality of components, said back portion of each said channel member being of a width substantially equal to the thickness of said received fin member plus the other of said first and second portions of the touch fastening system such that said inwardly facing surfaces are substantially parallel to said outwardly facing surfaces and to each other upon in shear engagement of said touch fastening system, said shear trap channel member having hinge means connecting at least one of said planar members to said back portion and extending longitudinally along the length of the shear trap channel to permit said at least one planar member to pivot outwardly in a manner to effect progressive disengagement of the touch fastening system when desired.

Claim 8

A supporting structure for a pivoting, wall storage unit with easily removable components, connected to the support structure by engaging first and second portions of a touch fastening system, said touch fastening system comprising said first portion carrying one of hooks, mushrooms, balls on stems, and pigtails capable of engaging one of loops, hooks, mushrooms, balls on stems and pigtails carried by said second portion to releasably fasten the two portions together, comprising: (a) a mounting member adapted for mounting to a wall or the like, (b) a connecting member hingedly carried by said mounting member for pivoting about an axis, said connecting member including a plurality of shear trap channels each having a resiliently rigid back portion interconnecting a pair of opposed resiliently rigid planar members defining inwardly facing surfaces with one of said first and second portions of the touch fastening system thereon, and (c) a plurality of components each having a vertical rigid unitary fin member defining opposed outward facing surfaces extending therefrom and having the other of said first and second portions of the touch fastening system on the opposed outward facing surfaces, wherein each said shear trap channel is adapted to releasably receive a said rigid unitary fin member between said inwardly facing surfaces of said shear trap channel with the touch fastening system engaged in shear to thereby releasably support one of said plurality of components, said back portion of each said channel member being of a width substantially equal to the thickness of said received fin member plus the other of said first and second portions of the touch fastening system such that said inwardly facing surfaces are substantially parallel to said outwardly facing surfaces and to each other upon in shear engagement of said touch fastening system, said shear trap channel member having hinge means connecting at least one of said planar members to said back portion and extending longitudinally along the length of the shear trap channel to permit said at least one planar member to pivot outwardly in a manner to effect progressive disengagement of the touch fastening system when desired.

Claim 9

The supporting structure of claim 6 wherein: said mounting member and said connecting member are of unitary construction and said hinged attachment of one to the other comprises a living hinge.

Claim 10

The supporting structure of claim 7 wherein: said connecting member is adapted to fold over said mounting member to hide the mounting member and act as a cover therefor.

Claim 11

The supporting structure of claim 6 wherein: (a) said mounting member comprises a plurality of first block members adapted to be mounted to a wall or the like in spaced relationship to one another; and, (b) said connecting member comprises a plurality of second block members adapted to pivotally mate with said first block members when disposed therebetween, said block members each having a U-shaped shear trap channel member attached to one side thereof.

Claim 12

A stacking, pivoting, wall storage unit with easily removable storage containers and the like, comprising: (a) a vertical mounting member; (b) a plurality of stacking members each having a vertically disposed shear trap channel having a resiliently rigid back portion interconnecting a pair of resiliently rigid opposed side members defining inward facing surfaces with one of first and second portions of a touch fastening system thereon, said touch fastening system comprising said first portion carrying one of hooks, mushrooms, balls on stems, and pigtails capable of engaging one of loops, hooks, mushrooms, balls on stems, and pigtails carried by said second portion to releasably fasten the two portions together; and, (c) a vertical connecting member hingedly carried by said mounting member for pivoting about a vertical axis, said connecting members including a plurality of vertical rigid unitary planar fin members defining opposed outward facing surfaces extending therefrom and having the other of said first and second portions of the touch fastening system on the opposed outward facing surfaces whereby said shear trap channels are adapted to releasably receive said rigid unitary planar fin members between said side members with said touch fastening system engaged in shear to releasably support said stacking members, said back portion of each said channel member being of a width equal to the thickness of said fin member plus the other of said first and second portions of said touch fastening system such that said inwardly and outwardly facing surfaces are all substantially parallel to one another upon engagement of said touch fastening system, said shear trap channel member having hinge means extending longitudinally along the length of the shear trap channel to permit at least one side member to pivot outwardly in a manner to effect progressive disengagement of the engaged touch fastening system.

Claim 13

A stacking, pivoting, wall storage unit with easily removable storage containers and the like, comprising: (a) a vertical mounting member; (b) a plurality of stacking members each having a vertically disposed shear trap channel having a resiliently rigid back portion interconnecting a pair of resiliently rigid opposed side members defining inward facing surfaces with one of first and second portions of a touch fastening system thereon, said touch fastening system comprising said first portion carrying one of hooks, mushrooms, balls on stems, and pigtails capable of engaging one of loops, hooks, mushrooms, balls on stems, and pigtails carried by said second portion to releasably fasten the two portions together; and, (c) a vertical connecting member hingedly carried by said mounting member for pivoting about a vertical axis, said connecting members including a plurality of vertical rigid unitary planar fin members defining opposed outward facing surfaces extending therefrom and having the other of said first and second portions of the touch fastening system on the opposed outward facing surfaces whereby said shear trap channels are adapted to releasably receive said rigid unitary planar fin members between said side members with said touch fastening system engaged in shear to releasably support said stacking members, said back portion of each said channel member being of a width equal to the thickness of said fin member plus the other of said first and second portions of said touch fastening system such that said inwardly and outwardly facing surfaces are all substantially parallel to one another upon engagement of said touch fastening system, said shear trap channel member having hinge means extending longitudinally along the length of the shear trap channel to permit at least one side member to pivot outwardly in a manner to effect progressive disengagement of the engaged touch fastening system.

Claim 14

In a touch fastening system comprising engaging first and second portions carried by first and second members, respectively, for releasable fastening the first and second members together, said touch fastening system comprising said first portion carrying one of hooks, mushrooms, balls on stems, and pigtails capable of engaging one of loops, hooks, mushrooms, balls on stems and pigtails carried by said second portion to releasably fasten the two portions together, the improvement characterized by: (a) the first member carrying a shear trap channel having a resiliently rigid back portion interconnecting a pair of resiliently rigid opposed side members, defining inwardly facing surfaces, with one of said first and second portions of the touch fastening system on said inward facing surfaces, said shear trap channel member having at least one of its side portions connected to said back portions by hinge means; and (b) the second member carrying a rigid unitary fin member defining opposed outwardly facing surfaces and having the other of said first and second portions of the touch fastening system on its opposed outwardly facing surfaces, whereby said shear trap channel is capable of receiving said rigid unitary fin member between its inwardly facing surfaces with the first and second portions of the touch fastening system engaged in shear to releasably attach said second member to said first member, the rigid back portion is of a width substantially equal to the thickness of the rigid unitary fin member plus the other of said first and second portions such that the inwardly and outwardly facing surfaces are all substantially parallel to one another upon said in shear engagement, and said at least one hinged side portion provides progressive disengagement of the engaged touch fastening system when desired.

Claim 15

In a touch fastening system comprising engaging first and second portions carried by first and second members, respectively, for releasable fastening the first and second members together, said touch fastening system comprising said first portion carrying one of hooks, mushrooms, balls on stems, and pigtails capable of engaging one of loops, hooks, mushrooms, balls on stems and pigtails carried by said second portion to releasably fasten the two portions together, the improvement characterized by: (a) the first member carrying a shear trap channel having a resiliently rigid back portion interconnecting a pair of resiliently rigid opposed side members, defining inwardly facing surfaces, with one of said first and second portions of the touch fastening system on said inward facing surfaces, said shear trap channel member having at least one of its side portions connected to said back portions by hinge means; and (b) the second member carrying a rigid unitary fin member defining opposed outwardly facing surfaces and having the other of said first and second portions of the touch fastening system on its opposed outwardly facing surfaces, whereby said shear trap channel is capable of receiving said rigid unitary fin member between its inwardly facing surfaces with the first and second portions of the touch fastening system engaged in shear to releasably attach said second member to said first member, the rigid back portion is of a width substantially equal to the thickness of the rigid unitary fin member plus the other of said first and second portions such that the inwardly and outwardly facing surfaces are all substantially parallel to one another upon said in shear engagement, and said at least one hinged side portion provides progressive disengagement of the engaged touch fastening system when desired.