Wall-anchored strong cabinet for use in parking garages
A wall mounted strong cabinet anchored into a supporting structure for use in combination with a residential or commercial parking space comprising a tack-welded metal body having a top, a back, a bottom, left and right walls, forming an open interior that can support inner shelves. The strong cabinet has a plurality of metal doors attached to the open face of said cabinet. Said doors have a handle and locking system. Said cabinet is used in combination with a residential or commercial parking space by anchoring said cabinet into the empty space of a support perpendicular to said parking space. The invention allows enough room between the bottom of said cabinet and the surface of said parking space to comfortably park an automobile underneath said wall mounted cabinet without contact between the two.
The present application claims priority under 35 USC §119(e) from U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/656,752 filed Feb. 26, 2005 entitled “SECURE WALL-MOUNTED CABINET FOR PARKING GARAGES.”
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot Applicable.
INCORPORATED-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISCNot Applicable.
REFERENCE TO A “MICROFICHE APPENDIX”Not Applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a wall-anchored strong cabinet for use in combination with commercial or residential parking spaces. More specifically, it relates to a tamperproof strong cabinet for storage in commercial or residential parking garages, where said strong cabinet is anchored into the unused space of a solid support perpendicular to a parking space, such that a motor vehicle's hood or trunk can rest comfortably under the bottom of said strong cabinet without contact between the two.
BACKGROUND ARTIn large urban cities, apartments are small and there exists a longstanding need for extra storage space outside of one's apartment. While storage cabinets are not new, the storage needs of urban dwellers are unique and, to date, no storage cabinet adequately addresses this problem. While some buildings have dedicated storage rooms for residents to store excess or seasonal items not typically stored in an apartment, many, if not most, do not have this amenity. Urban dwellers living in buildings that lack storage rooms have few options. Residents can opt to leave some items, e.g. tires, car seats, boxes, etc. by their cars in their building's parking garage although this is generally either discouraged or completely prohibited by building management. Alternatively, residents can pay for expensive commercial storage space outside of their building. Unfortunately, this is neither convenient nor practical especially for frequently needed items such as car seats.
Apartment managers can provide storage for tenants in a building's parking garage by installing floor-mounted lockers in parking spaces. However, this takes away rented parking spaces from building residents and deprives the apartment building of the revenue generated from these spaces. Further, due to space limitations, the number of storage units available may not be sufficient to supply storage space to all residents seeking extra storage.
Various existing cabinets, lockers, and safes each provide storage space and give a measure of security to stored items. Cabinets serve their intended functions by providing convenient storage space for many items. Many cabinets, however, come unassembled and are not very sturdy or secure. These cabinets are often relatively lightweight and, if wall-mounted, are mounted by vertical slotted standards or by a mounting rod that attaches to a support and the back of the cabinet. Because of their design, construction and size limitations, these cabinets are not suited for holding large and/or heavy items and do not provide the type of security, strength or durability that is required in urban settings if used in a location outside of a person's apartment.
Wall safes and strong boxes are commonly known within the art of secure storage cabinets. Both safes and strong boxes have similar features including being made of strong steel, with a hollow cavity surrounded with top, back, bottom, right and left walls, and a hinged door with a myriad of locking options for safety. Both come in various sizes and can be either mounted into a recessed wall, or floor mounted, or anchored into a supporting wall. Typically, however, people only use safes and strong boxes for their most valuable possessions rather than for additional storage of everyday items.
There have been some attempts to create a storage cabinet that takes advantage of the unused area above parked cars in garages. One such cabinet, the CarLocker™, has a solid sheet metal top panel and wire mesh bottom panel, side panels, and front sliding doors. “K” leg brackets are attached to the wall in front of the car and provide support for the cabinet bottom. The cabinet is cantilevered over these brackets. It can also be ceiling mounted. While this cabinet may provide a good storage option for private home garages, the design has many limitations that would preclude its use in urban residential or commercial garages.
The objects of this invention are as follows: (a) to provide an urban dweller with convenient and accessible storage for excess or seasonal items outside of his or her apartment; (b) to maintain parking spaces for automobiles while providing storage space in commercial and residential garages; (c) to provide private and secure storage for use in commercial and residential garages that will protect contents from public view and thievery; (d) to provide durable storage for use in commercial and residential garages that will safeguard the stored contents from damage due to accidents such as leaks from plumbing or waste lines; (e) to provide a wall-anchored strong cabinet which can be positioned free of obstructions found in most urban garage walls such as windows, electric conduit, telephone wiring, plumbing and waste lines; (f) to provide storage for use in commercial and residential garages that may be safely anchored above a vehicle's hood or trunk regardless of size or mounting position.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccording to the invention, a wall-anchored strong cabinet mounted into the unused area of steel-reinforced poured concrete or masonry block used in combination with a commercial or residential parking space. The wall-anchored strong cabinet has a cabinet body comprised of two walls, top, back, and bottom panels forming an open interior whereby a plurality of optional adjustable inner shelves may be included. Right and left doors are mounted onto the strong cabinet by riveting piano styled hinges along the front flanges of the right and left side-walls and along the rear flanges of the right and left doors. Said strong cabinet doors have two security features, a handle with an inner key-locked cylinder mechanism capable of three point locking and padlock rings on each of the outer doors.
Incorporated by reference in its entirety is U.S. Pat. No. 2,188,703 directed generally towards the use of multipoint locks in lockers. The use of this locking system is contemplated by the present invention. The use of such incorporation by reference is only to provide enabling support for the manufacture of the invention.
The strong cabinet is anchored into the unused area of a steel-reinforced poured concrete or masonry block support by masonry wall anchors. The position of the strong cabinet on the support is such that said wall-anchored strong cabinet is perpendicular to a commercial or residential parking space with enough room for the hood or trunk of a car to rest underneath. Top and bottom reinforcing steel standards are welded to the outer back of the strong cabinet through which said masonry wall anchors are inserted from the open interior of the strong cabinet. The dimensions of the wall-anchored strong cabinet and its mounting height on the wall are substantially related to the dimensions of the parking space and the height of the vehicle's hood or trunk that will rest underneath the wall-anchored strong cabinet.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe following drawings, with numerated references, will further detail the invention in which:
1 cabinet 2 cabinet body
2a top panel 2b back panel
2c bottom panel 3a first top flange segment
3b second top flange segment 3c third top flange segment
4a first bottom flange segment 4b second bottom flange segment
4c third bottom flange segment 4d fourth bottom flange segment
5 right wall 6 left wall
7 angle iron 8 reinforcing standard
9 shelf support standard 10 right door
10a a aperture/keeper 10b aperture/keeper
10c aperture/keeper 11 left door
12 hinge 13 shelf
14 handle 15 padlock ring
16 wall anchor
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The drawings illustrate the embodiment of the invention.
The strong cabinet's construction is further detailed. A single sheet of folded industrial steel forms the strong cabinet's top 2a, back 2b, and bottom 2c panels, along with the top 3a-c and bottom 4a-d flange segments. The overall dimensions of the outer surface of the top portion which forms the top panel 2a are 30″ (deep)×48″ (width) where the measurement is taken from the top fold of the first flange segment 3a to the fold where the back 2b begins. The dimensions of the back panel are 36″ (height)×48″ (width). The overall dimensions of the outer surface of the bottom portion which forms the bottom panel 2c are 30″ (deep)×48″ (width) where the measurement is taken from the fold where the back 2b ends and the bottom 2c begins the bottom fold of the third flange segment 4b. The top, back, and bottom panels are made from a single sheet of folded industrial steel, but it is possible that separate panels could be used. When used in combination, the strong cabinet dimensions will vary with respect to the parking space dimensions and the amount of space available on the wall perpendicular to said parking space.
The top 3a-c and bottom 4a-d flange segments are folded as part of the strong cabinet body frame 2a-c. Said flange segments serve as top and bottom doorframes and top and bottom doorjambs. From
From
Reverting to
From
The inner shelf 13 is made from a sheet of industrial steel and is of substantial size to fit inside the open interior of the strong cabinet 1. Each edge of the inner shelf has a first flange segment folded inward and perpendicular to the shelfs top surface. Along the front edge only, there is a second flange segment that is folded inward. The inner shelf is reinforced underneath by tack welded angle irons. The inner shelf flanges fit into shelf support standards 9 from front to back. The shelf support standards 9 are tack welded about the inner right 5 and left 6 side walls and the inner back panel 2b.
From
This description of the invention is a reference to a particular embodiment and does not serve as a limitation.
Claims
1. A strong cabinet anchored into a solid support for use in combination with a commercial or residential parking space comprising:
- (a) a solid metal cabinet body having a top, a back, a bottom, left, and right walls forming an open interior, having a plurality of optional shelves;
- (b) a plurality of strong cabinet doors attached to said strong cabinet body having a handle for opening said strong cabinet doors with a locking mechanism for securing said open interior, thereby making a strong cabinet;
- (c) an anchoring system for securely mounting said strong cabinet into a supporting structure perpendicular to a parking space.
2. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said supporting structure is constructed of steel-reinforced poured concrete or masonry blocks.
3. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said anchoring system having steel standards in combination with masonry wall anchors that can support up to 2000 lbs. of distributed weight.
4. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said strong cabinet is made of steel.
5. The invention according to claim 4 wherein said strong cabinet is finished with a powder coated baked enamel paint.
6. The invention according to claim 5 wherein said bottom of said strong cabinet is 43″ to 55″ above said floor.
7. The invention according to claim 5 wherein the depth of said strong cabinet is 24″ to 36″.
8. The invention according to claim 5 wherein the width of said strong cabinet is 36″ to 60″.
9. The invention according to claim 5 wherein the height of said strong cabinet is 24″ to 48″.
10. The invention according to claim 5 whereby an optional bicycle hook is attached to an outer wall of said strong cabinet.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 13, 2006
Publication Date: Aug 31, 2006
Inventors: Gary Flyer (Bronx, NY), Susan Flyer (Bronx, NY)
Application Number: 11/352,320
International Classification: A47B 81/00 (20060101);