1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an element. More particularly, the present invention relates to a storage element.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous innovations for door related devices have been provided in the prior art that will be described. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they differ from the present invention.
A FIRST EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,399 to Berton et al. teaches a door of furniture formed by a series of uniformly sized panels which are movable from a closed position, in which they are coplanar one with another, to an open position, in which they are parallel and folded on one side of the furniture itself. The panels are connected together by means of a parallelogram linkage system which allows the panels to be moved from the closed position to the open position by means of a single control. The panels slide in an upper guide and a lower guide of the furniture and fold onto the left hand side of the furniture, allowing full access to the furniture itself. The parallelogram system comprise two sets of rods which are substantially identical and arranged between an upper side of the panels and the upper guide of the furniture and between a lower side of the panels and the lower guide, respectively.
A SECOND EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,524 to Bonetti et al. teaches apparatus for opening aligned sliding leaves of furniture, wherein each sliding leaf comprises, at its upper part, an upper track for receiving a first roller having a vertical axis and connected to a movable part of a slide guide fixedly secured to or integral with the furniture. The movable part is movable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the leaf and is provided with an engagement member, such as a pin, coupled with a first pulley connected, by means of an inextensible, flexible element, to a second pulley in a lower part of the furniture. The second pulley is supported by a horizontal shaft extending across the width of the door leaf and is provided at its ends with a pair of arms, acting upon lateral trolleys supported by pairs of rollers sliding in guides rigidly secured to the furniture. The trolleys carry a U-section member in which run horizontal-axis second rollers and vertical-axis third rollers, rigidly connected to the door leaf by means of a lower support member. On the lower member are also mounted fourth rollers arranged, when the leaf is moved perpendicular to the plane and in a direction away from the furniture, to cooperate with a horizontal lower track mounted parallel to the front surface of the furniture.
A THIRD EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,749 to Rock et al. teaches a hinge mounting plate suitable for fastening to a furniture frame that is U-shaped and is laterally slidable onto the furniture frame. A distance compensating plate is provided at one of the two parallel side flanges of the mounting plate.
A FOURTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,212 to Amann teaches a set of hardware for mounting a hinged and slidable door on a box unit of furniture that comprises hardware elements which define a pivotal axis for mounting the door and comprise slide track devices which are adapted to be mounted to extend parallel to the pivotal axis and to a wall of the box and to guide the door into the box when the door has been swung open. To permit a substantial use of commercially available, simple components and a simple adaption of the hardware elements to doors differing in size, the slide track devices comprise two track rails, which are adapted to be mounted so as to be spaced apart and to extend horizontally. A trolley is associated with each of the rack rails and comprises rollers guided on bearing surfaces of the guide rails. The trolleys are adapted to be interconnected by a mounting plate on that side of the rails which faces away from the wall of the box. The door is hinged to the mounting plate by furniture hinges. Carriage stop devices are provided for limiting the movement of the carriages along the rails. Adjustable door stop devices are provided for cooperation with the door in its closed position at those edges of the door which extend from the edge at which the furniture hinges are provided.
A FIFTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,976 to Haab et al. teaches a door for a furniture article which is lowerable into a door compartment that is fastened to a door-carrying bar which is fixed to a scissors-assembly having two beams anchored on one side wall of the door compartment. To facilitate the adjustment of the scissors-assembly, an upper anchor assembly of one of the beams of the scissors-assembly is located on a fixing member, which is connected via the one side wall to an adjusting member so that, on pivoting the adjusting member about a screw, the fixing member is also moved. The door-carrying bar is guided on two opposite rails, which are screwed to bushes which are in turn screwed into the one side wall for adjusting the spacing between the wall and a respective rail. For maintaining the spacing between the door and a second wall, facing the first side wall, the door-carrying bar carries a roller which presses against a plastic plate provided in the vicinity of the leading edge of the first side wall when the door is not lowered. A set screw is provided in the door to permit a vertical displacement of the door-carrying the bar with respect to the scissors-assembly.
A SIXTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,180 to Haab et al. teaches a door for an article of furniture which is slidable into a door compartment is fastened to a door-carrying bar which in turn is connected to a scissors-assembly having two beams anchored on one side wall of the door compartment. The door-carrying bar is guided on an upper rail fixed to one of two side walls of a door compartment and on a lower rail also disposed in the door compartment. In order to permit a precise fitting of the door and to facilitate an adjustment of the door, the lower rail is also fixed to the one of two side walls. Both rails are connected to the one side wall by bushings screwed into the rails and permitting an adjustment of a spacing of the rail from the side wall. The door-carrying bar has a roller which, when the door is not lowered, presses against a plastic plate provided in the vicinity of the leading edge of the one side wall. A set screw is provided to permit a vertical displacement of the bar with respect to the scissors-assembly.
It is apparent that numerous innovations for door related devices have been provided in the prior art that are adapted to be used. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.
ACCORDINGLY, AN OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a storage element that avoids the disadvantages of the prior art.
ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a storage element that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.
STILL ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a storage element that is simple to use.
BRIEFLY STATED, STILL YET ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a storage element that includes a pair of mu side walls, a front header panel, a pair of doors, and apparatus that selectively conceals the pair of doors. Each door has an uppermost edge with a high point that is intermediate thereof. The front header panel has a pair of throughslots that provide clearance for the high points of the pair of doors when the pair of doors are slid therethrough and concealed The apparatus includes a pair of blocks that fill the pair of throughslots in the front header panel when the pair of doors are closed so as to provide a clean look for the front header panel when the pair of doors are closed. The pair of blocks either move with the pair of doors or are hingedly attached to the front header panel and are responsive to movement of the pair of doors.
The novel features which are considered characteristic of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of the specific embodiments when read and understood in connection with the accompanying drawing.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds