Rolling pin storage holder

Abstract

An apparatus and method for suspending a rolling pin or other cylindrical item for storage is disclosed. The apparatus may have hooking members which may have J-hooks which suspend the rolling pin by supporting the handles of the rolling pin, and are shaped so that the rolling pin may be supported in a substantially horizontal position, a substantially vertical position, or any other position deemed convenient by the user.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cabinets and drawers in kitchens are commonly used for the storage of food and various household products such as dishes, pots and pans and food preparation items used in the kitchen. Often food or baking items and/or dishes are kept in the kitchen carousel cabinet. However, the kitchen carousel cabinet is hardly used to its full potential because most individuals do not see it as an area of storage besides the shelves that are on the carousel. Awkwardly shaped items are frequently kept in kitchen drawers. Because of the variety of items that are typically stored in kitchen cabinet drawers, is it common for kitchen drawers to become cluttered and disorganized.

Many individuals need and have use for a rolling pin during certain times of the year for making pie crusts, bread, or other baked goods. However because of the amount of space a rolling pin can take up in a drawer many people keep it either away from the kitchen, or in the bottom of a stove since it is bulky, and is much longer than most kitchen drawers. Storing a rolling pin in an older un-remodeled kitchen is very cumbersome as the cabinets and/or drawers are often too short in depth. Storing a rolling pin in a small kitchen is difficult because of the overall lack of storage found in a small kitchen.

The upper inside of a kitchen carousel cabinet, or the underside of an upper kitchen cabinet, or under an island counter where there are no shelves because of the venting for the table top range, are spaces that are not normally used for storage. Most people like to keep counters clear for cooking, preparing meals, etc. There is often not enough storage space for all kitchen items in cabinets or drawers to store everything that is used in a kitchen. Most individuals want to store kitchen items in a way that makes easy access for retrieval and use. There is a need for a way to store food preparation items, especially a large, awkward item like a rolling pin in a manner such that it is conveniently located but does not interfere with other kitchen activities.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

As one aspect of a method according to the disclosure herein, a method for suspending a rolling pin having handles and a barrel with a length, comprises providing a device having two hooking members separated by a bridge that has a length substantially the same as the length of the barrel of the rolling pin, the bridge being attachable to a surface, and inserting the rolling pin into the hooking members such that at least one end of the barrel is proximate to at least one of the hooking members. According to another aspect of the disclosure herein, a device capable of suspending a rolling pin having a barrel and handles comprises two hooking members, each hooking member forming a cradle sized to be smaller than the diameter of the barrel of the rolling pin and larger than the diameter of the handles of the rolling pin. As a further aspect of one disclosure herein, a method of suspending a rolling pin having narrower end portions and a wider portion comprising providing a device having two hooking members forming cradles which are larger than the narrower portions of the rolling pin, the hooking members being separated by a bridge attachable to a surface, and inserting the rolling pin into the cradles.

The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the device disclosed herein holding a rolling pin.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the device disclosed herein without rolling pin.

FIG. 3 is an end view of one embodiment of the device disclosed herein with rolling pin.

FIG. 4 is an end view of another embodiment of the device disclosed herein with rolling pin.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the device disclosed herein without a rolling pin.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of one embodiment to the device disclosed herein without a rolling pin.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an additional embodiment of the device disclosed herein without rolling pin.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the device disclosed herein with a rolling pin stored in a substantially vertical position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The device disclosed herein relates specifically to the storage of one or more rolling pins but can be used to store any substantially cylindrical item. The rolling pin storage holder disclosed herein was designed to be mounted in various places throughout the kitchen. Examples of the areas that it can be mounted are: on the upper inside wall of a kitchen base carousel cabinet or underneath side of a kitchen upper cabinet; or the inside wall of an island counter base cabinet or kitchen wall commonly found in residential kitchens. The rolling pin storage holder uses space that is often underutilized, such as the space on the upper inside cabinet area and other spaces which are not normally thought of for storage. The rolling pin storage holder is useful in residential kitchens, and also has commercial applications because this rolling pin storage holder can also be used in restaurants, bakeries, or home economics classrooms and/or cooking classrooms.

By using the rolling pin storage holder in its intended mounting places, it gives individuals a permanent place for storage of their rolling pin, keeps it conveniently accessible where it is to be used, yet out of the way until one actually has the need to use it.

The rolling pin storage holder may be made of any durable material such as plastic, wood or metal such as stainless steel or aluminum. One embodiment of the rolling pin storage holder uses two hooking members 14 to support the rolling pin 12. These hooking members may be interconnected by a bridge 16. The bridge 16 may be roughly the same length as the barrel 18 of the rolling pin 12. The bridge 16 and the hooking members 14 may be one integral piece of material, or the hooking members may be joined to the bridge. The bridge may be round or rod-like or tubular, or it may be flat or any other shape. The bridge is connectable to a surface 20 such as a wall or a countertop or any other component of a cabinet or of any structure or architectural portion of the kitchen. The connection of the bridge 16 to the wall may be accomplished with connecting members 22 which may be brackets 24 that clip or are otherwise attachable to the bridge 16 and may be removable, or other connective devices which are attachable to the bridge or may be welded to or integral to the structure of the bridge as shown in FIG. 5. Nylon cable end clamps, which are readily available and are also called P-clamps are an example of a suitable connecting member. These connecting members may be holes in the bridge or in tabs attached to the bridge or integral with the bridge through which screws 26 or other fasteners could pass.

Because rolling pins may have different sizes, and specifically may have barrels 18 with different radiuses 30 and lengths 32, in order to accommodate these size differences, the bridge may be capable of telescoping, as shown in FIG. 6 so that it may be lengthened or shortened in order to accommodate the size of the rolling pin and specifically the length of the barrel of the rolling pin. In order to accommodate the radius of the barrel of the rolling pin, the hooking members may be suspended away from the wall or other surface to which the bridge is attached with extenders 28. These extenders 28 may extend outward from the bridge at an approximately 90 degree angle 56 or other suitable angle capable of accommodating the diameter of the barrel of the rolling pin.

The hooking members which support the rolling pin may have a variety of shapes. In one embodiment, a J-hook 36 extends generally down from the extender. See FIGS. 1, 2. This J-hook may extend downward at a 90 degree angle 50 or at any other angle which permits sufficient space between the outside of the barrel of the rolling pin and the wall or other surface to which the bridge is attached. The bottom portion of the J-hook may be flattened slightly as in FIG. 3. The J-hook may possess a tip 54 which angles inward in the direction of the wall or the back of the J-hook. This tip may help to securely hold the handle portion 38 of the rolling pin. The J-hook has an internal width 46 which should preferably be smaller than the diameter of the barrel of the rolling pin but larger than the diameter 48 of the rolling pin handle 38. Hooking portions may also be substantially V-shaped, may have square corners, or may be any other shape suitable for holding the handle of a rolling pin. Each hooking member forms a cradle which may be sized to be smaller than the diameter of the rolling pin barrel and larger than the diameter of the rolling pin handles. When the rolling pin is inserted into the hooking members, at least one end lies proximate to a hooking member.

In order to accommodate rolling pins of different thicknesses, the extenders 28 may be of varying lengths. For example, the extenders may be roughly the same length as the radius 30 of the barrel 18 of the rolling pin used. In an alternative embodiment, the extenders may telescope so that the rolling pin storage holder may hold rolling pins with barrels of varying thicknesses. Alternatively, the bridge may rotate in contact with the wall or other surface 20, so that the angle 34 between the extender and the wall or other surface can vary as necessary to accommodate rolling pins of different sizes.

As shown in FIG. 5, the hooking members 14 may be elevated above or at the same level as the bridge 16 in one embodiment of the device disclosed herein so that the bridge 16 is substantially next to the barrel of the rolling pin. Additional members 42 extend at an approximately 90 degree angle from the bridge and may rest against the surface to which the bridge may be attached. The additional members join the extenders 28 if present, or the hooking members 14.

An additional embodiment is shown in FIG. 7. FIG. 7 shows hooking members 14 sized appropriately to hold rolling pin handles. The hooking members 14 are threaded 44 so they may be screwed into a surface at a distance from one another substantially equal to the barrel of the rolling pin to be suspended in either a horizontal or vertical or other configuration.

The rolling pin storage holder may suspend a rolling pin in a substantially vertical or vertical manner. For example, the rolling pin may be suspended in an 85 degree angle. The bridge may be attached to a wall or other surface such that the bridge which is roughly parallel to the barrel of the rolling pin is in suspended at a substantially vertical angle, as shown in FIG. 8. The hooking member 14, for example a J-hook 36 fits around the base of the handle and the end of the barrel 40 rests adjacent to or against the J-hook. The configuration of the J-hook will act to help keep the rolling pin within the J-hook. In this manner, the rolling pin may be suspended in a substantially vertical manner. The rolling pin may be suspended at any angle the user wishes. In addition to substantially horizontal or substantially vertical suspension, the apparatus disclosed herein may be used to suspend a rolling pin at any angle that is deemed convenient or desirable for the user. Additionally, the bridge may be attached to the bottom surface of a shelf or other horizontal architectural portion of a building such as the inside top of a cabinet so that the rolling pin hangs from the surface. Connecting members 22 that may rotate around the bridge 16 may be particularly convenient for this application.

The rolling pin storage holder may also be used to store a French-style rolling pin without separate handles. French style rolling pins have narrower end portions and a wider central portion. With such a rolling pin, the cradles formed by the hooking members hold the rolling pin at its narrower end portions, and the difference in diameter of the rolling pin between the narrower end portions and the wider central portion will permit the rolling pin to be suspended at any angle including a substantially vertical angle, in much the same way as a rolling pin with handles and a barrel.

The rolling pin storage holder can be used to store more than one rolling pin by removably attaching further structures to the hooking members 14 or other components of the rolling pin storage holder. These structures may additionally include hooks for hanging other implements such as measuring cups, pastry cutters, or other tools.

The terms and expressions which have been employed in the foregoing specification are used therein as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, it being recognized that the scope of the invention is defined and limited only by the claims which follow.

Claims

1. A method of suspending a rolling pin having handles and a barrel with a length, comprising:

a. providing a device having two hooking members separated by a bridge, said bridge having a length substantially the same as said length of said barrel, said bridge attachable to a surface; and

b. inserting the rolling pin into the hooking members such that at least one end of the barrel lies proximate to at least one hooking member.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein each said hooking member has a portion that is narrower than the diameter of the barrel of said rolling pin.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said device is reasonably capable of suspending a rolling pin in either a substantially horizontal or a substantially vertical position.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said bridge is capable of telescoping.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said surface is a wall.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said hooking members are separated from said bridge by extenders.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein said extenders extend from said bridge at an approximately 90 degree angle.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said bridge has a plurality of connecting members, said connectors being capable of attaching said bridge to a surface.

9. An apparatus capable of suspending a rolling pin comprising a barrel, said barrel having a first diameter and further comprising handles having a second diameter, said apparatus comprising two hooking members, each said hooking member having a J hook, each said J hook forming a cradle sized to be smaller than said first diameter of the barrel of the rolling pin and larger than said second diameter of the handles of the rolling pin.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said apparatus is reasonably capable of suspending a rolling pin in either a substantially horizontal or a substantially vertical position.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 further comprising a bridge interconnecting said hooking members.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said bridge is attachable to a surface.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said rolling pin barrel has a length, and said bridge has a length, and the length of said bridge is substantially the same as the length of said rolling pin barrel.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said bridge is capable of telescoping.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said surface is a wall.

16. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said hooking members are separated from said bridge by extenders.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein said extenders extend from said bridge at an approximately 90 degree angle.

18. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said bridge has a plurality of connecting members, said connecting members being capable of attaching said bridge to a surface.

19. A method of suspending a rolling pin having narrower end portions and a wider portion, comprising:

a. providing a device having two hooking members forming cradles, said cradles being larger than the narrower portions of the rolling pin, said hooking members being separated by a bridge, said bridge being attachable to a surface; and

b. inserting said rolling pin into said cradles.