Metallic Cabinet Door Organizer

Abstract

A metallic cabinet door organizer providing a convenient, functional, space saving, efficient, lightweight, concealed, and inexpensive method for magnetically mounting printed material and other small household/office items to the inside panel of cabinet doors, which would otherwise be wasted space. The metallic cabinet door organizer comprises a flat metal plate, an optional adhesive agent layer for adhering the metal plate to the inside of a cabinet door, an optional color and/or other coating/sealant applied to the metal plate and optional anchoring hardware for anchoring the metal plate to the inside of a cabinet door. The metal plate, adhesive layer, color and/or other coating/sealant may be secured inside or outside of the inner rabbet of a cabinet door's outer frame.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention disclosed herein relates to both magnet boards and cabinet doors. More specifically, it relates to attaching magnet boards to the inside of cabinet doors to provide convenience and functionality from otherwise wasted space.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Both magnetic boards and cabinet doors have existed for many years. Magnet boards exist in many shapes and sizes for a variety of purposes. Magnet boards consist of a flat metal plate on which magnets are used to hold printed material and other small household/office items.

Cabinet doors also exist in many shapes and sizes but generally speaking a cabinet door consists of an outer frame with a rectangular shape and an inner panel permanently attached within the outer frame.

A major disadvantage with cabinet doors is that the space on the inside of the cabinet door is wasted space. In addition, existing prior art related to mounting or displaying printed material are not suitable for attaching to the inside of cabinet doors.

Examples of patented display related devices that are illustrative of such prior art include U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,055 to Kane; U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,825 to Rosen; U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,147 to Rellinger; U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,999 to Roche and Farber; U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,342 to Roche and Farber; U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,043 to Ernst; U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,312 to King and Robinson; U.S. Pat. No. 3,942,147 to Josephson; U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,300 to Ledenican.

Examples of patented cabinet door related devices that are illustrative of such prior art include U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,176 to Suzuki; U.S. Pat No. 6,367,898 to Jobe; U.S. patent application Doc No. 20020089271 to Turner.

While these display related devices may be suitable for a specific purpose, they are not suitable for attaching to the inside of a cabinet door. Many are too deep so they interfere with the contents of the cabinet. Many are designed specifically to display items in public and are therefore too heavy and cumbersome to attach to a cabinet door.

Cabinet doors are not manufactured with a display or mounting related device on the inside of the cabinet door, therefore causing a significant amount of wasted space.

It is thus apparent that the need exists for a functional way to display or mount items on the inside of cabinet doors without causing a significant amount of wasted space. In these respects, the metallic cabinet door organizer, as presented in this invention, significantly distinguishes itself from the designs and concepts of the prior art. In doing so, it provides a convenient, functional, space saving, efficient, lightweight, concealed, and inexpensive method of magnetically mounting printed material and other small household items to the inside panel of cabinet doors, which would otherwise be wasted space.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In light of the noted disadvantages inherent in the known types of cabinet and display related devices existing in the prior art, the present invention provides a functional, space saving, efficient, lightweight, concealed, and inexpensive method of magnetically mounting printed material and other small household items to the inside panel of cabinet doors, which would otherwise be wasted space.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a metallic cabinet door organizer with all of the advantages previously mentioned. The features and advantages of this invention have not been suggested, anticipated, made obvious or implied by any of the prior art cabinet devices or display devices, either separate or in any combination.

In accordance with the present invention, there is disclosed a metal cabinet door organizer comprising a flat metal plate that is attached to the inside of a cabinet door. The flat metal plate can be permanently attached to the inside of a cabinet door's outer frame, it can be secured within the inner rabbet of a cabinet door's outer frame along with the inner panel, or it can be attached to the inside inner panel of a cabinet door.

The primary purpose of this invention is to create a metallic cabinet door organizer that will overcome the deficiencies of the prior art devices.

Another purpose is to provide a functional use for otherwise wasted space on the inside of cabinet doors.

Still another purpose is to provide a metallic cabinet door organizer to help keep household, office and other work spaces organized. These spaces include, but are not limited to, such areas as kitchens, offices and home offices. Household and office items such as note paper, schedules, coupons, etc can be held against the metallic plate with individual magnets. Hooks, clips and other miscellaneous magnetically equipped holding devices can be magnetically attached to any part of the metallic plate. These in turn can hold such household items as calendars, key rings, note paper, pens, pencils, etc.

Yet another purpose is to provide a metallic cabinet door organizer that is concealed for aesthetic purposes.

Another purpose is to provide a metallic cabinet door organizer that is lightweight so as not to stress the cabinet door hinges that hold the cabinet door to the cabinet.

Still another purpose is to provide a metallic cabinet door organizer that is inexpensive to the general public.

The purposes outlined above are only one embodiment of this invention. Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. It is to be understood that the invention's application is not limited to the details of construction outlined previously or in the drawings that follow. The invention is capable of having various applications and embodiments. Also, it is to be understood that the terminology used herein should not be regarded as limiting.

To accomplish the purposes outlined above, this invention may be embodied as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. These drawings are for illustrative purposes only. Changes may be made in the specific construction illustrated and still remain within the scope of the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The previous and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become fully appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein identical numbers are used to represent identical elements and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an upper perspective view of the present invention applied to the recessed inner panel of an outer cabinet door frame.

FIG. 2 is an upper perspective view of the present invention applied to the non-recessed inner panel of an outer cabinet door frame.

FIG. 3. is a vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale of the present invention secured outside of the inner rabbet of a cabinet door's outer frame taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4. is an exploded view of the present invention secured within the inner rabbet of a cabinet door's outer frame.

FIG. 5. is a vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale of the present invention secured within the inner rabbet of a cabinet door's outer frame taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

In describing the preferred embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake of clarity. However, it is not intended that the invention be limited to the specific term so selected and it is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Having reference to the drawings, attention is directed first to FIG. 1, which discloses a metallic cabinet door organizer made in accordance with the invention and designated generally by the numeral 20. As can be appreciated from a comparison of FIGS. 1-5, the metallic cabinet door organizer 20 includes a flat metal plate 38, a preferred (but optional) adhesive layer 35, an optional color and/or other coating/sealant 40 and optional anchoring hardware 42.

Traditional cabinetry consists of a housing structure with one or more cabinet doors 30 pivotally attached to the structure. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, some cabinet doors are constructed with a recessed inner panel 34 while others have a non-recessed inner panel 36. FIGS. 1 and 2 show a flat metal plate 38 attached to the inside of both types of cabinet panels. Preferably, the flat metal plate 38 is attached to the cabinet panels with an adhesive layer 35, but may be attached to the inner panel or the outer frame using anchoring hardware 42 such as screws or nails.

FIG. 3 shows an optional color and/or other coating/sealant 40 applied to the flat metal plate 38. FIG. 3 also shows that the flat metal plate 38 may be attached to the inner panel 34 without being secured within the inner rabbet 36 of a cabinet door's outer frame 32. This embodiment would most likely be used after a cabinet door has been manufactured.

FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show the preferred embodiment during the cabinet door manufacturing process. Both figures show the preferred adhesive layer 35, the flat metal plate 38 and the optional color and/or other coating/sealant all secured within the inner rabbet 36 of a cabinet door's outer frame 32. Optional anchoring hardware 42 is also shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

As is apparent from the above description, the invention provides a convenient, functional, space saving, efficient, lightweight and concealed method of magnetically mounting printed material and other small household items to the inside panel of cabinet doors, which would otherwise be wasted space. Thus, the invention solves the aforementioned problems of the related-art with a simple, inexpensive design.

With respect to the above description, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment or constructions. The above description and figures are to be considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. The present invention is intended to cover a variety of modifications and equivalents. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise form of apparatus and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A metallic cabinet door organizer for the inner panel of a cabinet door, said metallic cabinet door organizer comprising: a flat metal plate; an optional adhesive agent layer for adhering said flat metal plate to the inner panel of a cabinet door; an optional color and/or other coating/sealant applied to the said metal plate; and optional anchoring hardware for anchoring said metal plate to the inside of the inner panel of a cabinet door.

2. The metallic cabinet door organizer according to claim 1, wherein said flat metal plate is non-corrosive.

3. The metallic cabinet door organizer according to claim 1, wherein said flat metal plate is covered with a color agent layer.

4. The metallic cabinet door organizer according to claim 1, wherein said flat metal plate is covered with a protective agent layer.

5. The metallic cabinet door organizer according to claim 3, wherein said color agent layer is covered with a protective agent layer.

6. A metallic cabinet door organizer for the inner panel of a cabinet door, said metallic cabinet door organizer comprising: a flat metal plate; an optional adhesive agent layer for adhering said flat metal plate to the inner panel of a cabinet door; a color and sealant applied to the said metal plate; and anchoring hardware for anchoring said metal plate to the cabinet door.

7. The metallic cabinet door organizer according to claim 6, wherein said flat metal plate is non-corrosive.

8. The metallic cabinet door organizer according to claim 6, wherein said flat metal plate is covered with a color agent layer.

9. The metallic cabinet door organizer according to claim 6, wherein said flat metal plate is covered with a protective agent layer.

10. The metallic cabinet door organizer according to claim 8, wherein said color agent layer is covered with an optional protective agent layer.

11. The metallic cabinet door organizer according to claim 1, wherein said metal plate is secured to the cabinet door within the inner rabbet of the cabinet door's outer frame.