US2636800A - Combined linen closet and clothes hamper - Google Patents

Description

April 28, 1953 w. H. .1. DOWNEY COMBINED LINEN CLOSET AND CLOTHES HAMPER 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed April 15. 1949 INVENTOR Wf/l/am H J. Dow/7e y Attorney April 28, 1953 w. H. .1. DOWNEY ,636,80

COMBINED LINEN CLOSET AND CLOTHES HAMPER Filed April 15. 1949 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 25 @13 vzaanlw '1 I 25 O iL/ o aa b 2a 40 40 2,9 [29 Q\ 46 B an- INVENTOR William H. J. Downey Patented Apr. 28, 1953 STATES PATENT OFFICE CQMBINEB LINEN CLOSET AND CLDTHES.

HAMPER William Ell; J. owney, Wilmington, Del.

Application April 15, 1949, Serial No. 8 1,783.

2 Claims. (01. 312F328.)

This invention relates generally to the class of cabinets and is directed. particularly to an improved cabinet structure designed. for use as a linen closet and soiled clothes hamper.

A principal object of the present invention is to cabinet structure formed of sheet metal,

in units and readily assembled or set up mouth of the hamper is opened ready for the reception of soiledv clothing or other articles.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved cabinet structure. wherein novel means is provided. for detachably supporting a plurality of shelves, such. shelf supporting means comprising a unit which is insertible into the cabinet through the. top thereof.

Other objects and advantages of the. invention will become apparent as the description of the same proceeds and the invention. will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming. a part of the specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described since obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a view in perspective of the linen closet enclosed hamper of the present invention, showing the closet door open and the clothes hamper door open.

Figure 2 is a horizontal section of. the lower section of the structure with the hamper bag removed and showing the door in opened position.

Figure 3 is avertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Figure 2 showing the bag in position and in transverse section.

Figure 4 is a detail perspective of the upper portion of the lower section showing the: lower part of the upper section in dotted outline there- Figure 5 is a detailed section taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Figure 2.

of a novel design whereby it may be Figure 6 adetailed section taken substantially on the line 5-6 of Figure 1.

Figure 7 is aview in perspective of the upper portion of the shelf supporting frame unit.

Figure 8 a detailed perspective of one end of a shelf unit.

Referring now more particularly to. the drawthe cabinet structure or" the present invention com-prises an upper section it and a lower section it together with a supporting base. i2 upon which the lower section is mounted.

The cabinet is preferably constructed of sheet metal and the upper portion It comprises the side walls. it and back wall M. The side walls it are turned inwardly at the front of the section to provide the front wall panels l5 each of which has a vertical edge turned back as indicated at it to form channel in which a reinforoin strip ll is-scured. Between the panels i5 is the door opening which is covered by the door unit [3 hingedly mounted as at It to the inner edge of one of the front wall panels It as illustrated.

The door unit it is formed of sheet metal havinturned flanges Iii which secure against the inner side of the metal sheet the thin reinforcing panel it which may be formed of wood or other suitable material.

The top of the upper section is generally designated 2i and this comprises a suitable sheet of metal having the surrounding down turnedi'lang'es 22 which enclose the top edges of the walls l3 andt l and the front wall panels l5 and suchv top unit is secured by bolts, screws or the like as designated at 23. Thus it will be seen that by removal of the-top 2! the hereinafter described shelving and supporting means therefor may be readily placed in position.

A bottom shelf 24 is disposed in the upper part. of the lower section and in addition to providing a bottom for the upper section provides a top for the lower section as will be readily apparent.

The lower section l I is constructed in a similar manner to the upper section in that it has the sidewalls 2i)? and back. wall 26 formed preferably of a single sheet of sheet metal, the side walls having. inwardly turned front wall panel forming sections 2?, each of which terminates in an inwardly directed flange is forming an inwardly directed recess or channel in which is fitted a reinforcing strip 29 of wood. or other suitable material.

As shownv in Figure 4 the side walls 25 and the back wall 26 of the lower section are extended slightly above the top end of the panels 2'! and the. reinforcing strips. 29 forming a flange 25a. This flange portion around the top of the lower section is inserted into the lower part of the upper section whereby to rest the upper section upon the lower section and lower ends of the reinforcing inserts I1 and of the front wall panels of the upper section rest upon the top ends of the reinforcing inserts 29 and the front panels 2'! of the lower section. After the sections are assembled in this manner a trim strip or band is placed around the structure to cover the joint between the walls of the upper and lower sections and to extend across the joining edges of the front wall panels l5 and 21 and such trim strip is secured in place by metal screws, bolts or other suitable securing elements as indicated at 3|.

Connecting the ends of the trim strip 30 in the front of the cabinet and extending across the lower part of the door opening of the upper section and the upper part of the door opening for the lower section, is a flat rail 32, the ends of which are secured to the front wall panel sections of the upper and lower cabinet sections, by means of securing elements 3| which secure the trim strip in place.

The lower section side walls 25 and the back wall 26 have the inturned foot flanges 33 which rest upon the top of the base unit If and are secured thereto by bolts, screws or the like as indicated at 34. The base unit comprises a sheet metal panel 35 which has the down turned flanges or skirts 36 whereby there is formed a downwardly opening box-like unit in each of the corners of which is secured a supporting foot 3?. The metal sheet 35 forms the bottom or floor for the lower cabinet section and this floor is provided with a plurality of ventilation apertures 38 for the purpose hereinafter described. In addition to the ventilation apertures there are formed in the floor sheet 35, within the door opening 35a the hinge pin openings 43 by means of which the pivotal mounting of an outwardly swinging or tilting door panel is effected. Such door panel is generally designated 4| and is preferably constructed in a similar manner to the door It in that it comprises an outer metal sheet 42 which is of a size to fit within the lower cabinet section opening 39 and which has the inturned flanges 43 which engage over the edges of a reinforcing panel 44 which is placed against the inner side of the sheet 42 and which may be formed of wood, pressed fiber board or other suitable material.

At the top of the swinging door unit 4| a portion of the metal sheet 42 is extended upwardly to form a lip 45 which, when the door unit 4| is closed engages against the forward face of the rail 32.

At the bottom of the door unit 4|, a portion of the flange 43 extends straight inwardly, substantially perpendicular to the sheet 42 of which it forms a part, as indicated at 43c and this inwardly extending portion of the flange carries a pair of downwardly and forwardly curving pins 46, each of which engages loosely in an opening 4|). The pins, loosely engaging in the openings 40, thus form a hinge connection with the base of the cabinet for the door unit 4| which permits the door unit to be swung outwardly and also permits the door unit to be easily and quickly detached from the floor 35 for removal.

The upper part of the door unit 4| carries a suitable latch 41 which, when the door unit is in closed position, engages behind the rail 32 by being rotated through the medium of the button 41a.

A similar rotatable latch 48 is carried by the F or hamper 52.

door unit l8 which engages against the inner edge of the inturned flange portion of the adjacent front wall panel section 5, when the door unit it? is closed, as will be readily apparent.

The back wall 25 of the lower section of the cabinet carries a pair of hooks 49 which are disposed just below the shelf panel 24 which is fixed in the upper part of the lower cabinet section as shown and there are formed in the back wall, preferably in the upper portion thereof between the hooks 49, ventilating openings 50.

Upon the inner side of the lower section door unit 4| are mounted hooks 5| which cooperate with the hooks 49 to support a soiled clothes bag This bag 52 is of substantially V- shaped cross sectional form as shown in Figure 3 and adjacent to the top edge of both the front and back walls 53 it has grommets 53' each of which is detachably engaged over a hook whereby to suspend the bag between the front wall unit 4| and the back wall 26. The lower part of the bag rests upon the floor 35 at the ventilation openings 38. Thus it will be seen that by the provision of the openings 38 and 5|] a suitable movement of air through the lower cabinet section may take place to provide for the thorough ventilation of the bag.

The upper section H! has therein a plurality of shelves which are supported, removably, in the following novel manner.

Arranged in spaced relation within the upper section are the two inverted substantially U- shaped frames 54 each of which comprises a top transverse or horizontal rail 55 and the vertical side rails or posts 56. One of these frames is disposed in the rear part of the cabinet section while the other one is disposed in the front part thereof and the lower ends of the posts 56 rest upon the fioor 24.

Connecting between the adjacent front and rear posts 5% are the vertically spaced horizontal rungs 5i which not only function to maintain the frames 54 in the proper spaced relation but also serve the more important function of supporting the removable shelf units 58. Each shelf unit, which is preferably formed of sheet metal of suitable weight, comprises the rectangular sheet 59 which has the forward longitudinal edge portion turned down and folded back to form the front reinforcing flange 60. At each end of the shelf is a down turned tongue 6| which is of a length materially less than the width of the shelf whereby to provide the corner spaces 62 in which the upright posts 56 of the supporting frames position when the tongue 6| is inserted between a rung or rail 57 and the adjacent side wall l3.

It will be readily apparent that the shelf supporting unit comprising the frames 54 and the connecting rungs or bars 5? may be easily placed in position within the cabinet section before the top 2| is placed and secured and since the top 2| is readily removable it will be apparent that the shelf supporting unit can be taken out if and when desired.

From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that there is provided in the present invention a new and novel type of combination linen cabinet and clothes hamper wherein the two units or sections are constructed and assembled in a novel manner and wherein, in the clothes hamper unit or section provision is made for sup porting a removable clothes receptacle or bag in such a manner that it will open up upon open- 5 ing of the (1001' to the hamper to facilitate the placing of soiled linen therein.

It will also be apparent that the present construction for the shelving in the upper section of the cabinet is such that the construction and assembling of the shelving in the section may be effected with a minimum of effort and the shelves are supported in such a manner that they may be easily and quickly removed for cleaning when necessary.

I claim:

1. In a clothes hamper, a supporting base, a compartment forming body mounted on the base and comprising top, bottom, back and side walls, and an open front, the bottom wall having a series of ventilating apertures spaced along its longitudinal center, a door hinged for outward and downward swinging movement normally closing the open front, a bag-like container of V-form in transverse section within the body, and means carried by the back wall and the door engageable with the top end of the back and front walls of the container for detachably suspending the container in place, the bottom of the bag being disposed in close proximity to and in line with the said apertures.

2. The clothes hamper as defined in claim 1, with the said bag suspension means comprising hook elements carried adjacent the top of the back wall, other hook elements carried on the door opposite from the first hook elements, and grommets secured in the tops of the rear and front walls of the container and engaged with the hook elements.

WILLIAM H. J. DOWNEY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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