US20080203044A1

US20080203044A1 - Toy organizer pole

Info

Publication number: US20080203044A1
Application number: US11/709,377
Authority: US
Inventors: Richard Elden
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-02-22
Filing date: 2007-02-22
Publication date: 2008-08-28

Abstract

A support pole holds and organizes a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and types of toys in a vertical array. Two vertical shaft sections screw together to form a vertical pole with elasticized loops attached along the length of the pole in four vertical arrays at cardinal points around the pole. Four triangular support brackets act as legs screwed onto the bottom of the pole at cardinal points aligned with the loop arrays. Each of two opposing pairs of triangular support brackets are screwed onto the pole with the same pair of screws. The support pole may be can be knocked down for compact shipping and storage.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to knock-down article support stands and particularly to a support pole for holding a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and types of toys including stuffed animals, dolls, action figures, toy vehicles, or the like, which comprises two vertical shaft sections screwed together to form a vertical pole with elasticized loops attached to both vertical rod sections along the length of the pole to hold the toys, and two pair of triangular support brackets screw onto the bottom of the pole to form the stabilizing legs; the stand may be can be knocked down for compact shipping and storage.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Stuffed animals are a popular children's toy, and often a child has many of them. Without a way to store and display the plush toys, they can take up floor space or cover a child's bed. Ceiling clips, wall mounted organizers, suspended nets and suspended organizers have been proposed, but these do not allow easy access to the stuffed toys. The prior art does not adequately solve the problem of organizing and storing a number of plush toys for easy access and a tidy appearance.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,817, issued Apr. 11, 1989 to Mar, is for an animal tree comprising an adjustable pole type support device structured of three to four tubular sections containing a tension spring ceiling support and a floor base support, the tubular sections being separate pieces or internally connected by hinged retainer cord. The outer surface of the support device has a multiple of hooks designed as an animal tree to support children's stuffed toy animals and dolls. The pole structure is available in a variety of colors. The device can be disassembled into small sections for storage and shipping.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,846, issued Feb. 27, 1990 to Smith, provides a vertical storage pole assembly. A compact knockdown kit assembly of cooperative parts is provided for constructing and utilizing a hanging vertical storage pole, which comprises a plurality of tubular pole sections arranged to be connected together by joint connector into end-to-end relation. In the kit the joint connector defines a space between the pole sections within which pole accessories are housed, and the kit is wrapped for convenient handling as a single package. A suspension cord is provided at the top of the pole for connection to an overhead support. Hanging hooks are arranged to be attached by pressure sensitive adhesive to the pole for supporting articles on the pole.
U.S. Pat. No. D402,826, issued Dec. 22, 1998 to Barkley, shows the ornamental design for a plush toy display stand.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,545, issued Sep. 29, 1998 to Greenberg, claims a stuffed animal display apparatus having first and second sections which are provided with holes for supporting and displaying stuffed animals therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,122, issued May 9, 2000 to Cartmell, describes a display and holding apparatus for stuffed toys comprising a thin, flat base consisting of a sheet of material of any shape with multiple holes for displaying and holding stuffed toys. The base, suspension holes, rod spacer mounts and lean support bases make up a display and holding apparatus that can be suspended from the ceiling, mounted on a wall or door, or lean against a wall on furniture.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,088, issued Jun. 7, 1988 to Workman, discloses a doll pole for suspending stuffed dolls which has a pair of stiffening and filler rods made from resilient foam plastic that are coaxially aligned and housed in a hollow tube made from sheet material. The rods are slidable within the tube and have a combined length which is less than the length of the tube so that the tube may be folded at its midsection for ease of transport and storage. Ribbons are spaced along the length of the tube for tying the stuffed dolls to the pole.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,593, issued Nov. 20, 1990 to Mayhall, indicates a stuffed toy support pole. A supporting device is provided for stuffed toys or other similar items in the form of a generally vertically disposed support post or pole having a plurality of areas of hook and loop pile fabric material sold under the trademark “Velcro” mounted thereon which will effectively support stuffed toys with a “plush” surface that will stick to the “Velcro” areas. The vertical post is supported on a base for rotation about a generally vertical axis and handles are provided on the post to facilitate its rotation.
What is needed is a pole with leg supports and a plurality of elasticized loops along the length of the pole for holding toys, such as stuffed animals, in an organized, attractive, easy-to-access array.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a pole with leg supports and a plurality of elasticized loops along the length of the pole for holding toys, such as stuffed animals in an organized, attractive, easy-to-access array.
Another object of the present invention is to enable holding a variety of different sizes of stuffed animals by the use of the elasticized loops which can stretch around a wide variety of different sizes and shapes and types of toys, including stuffed animals, dolls, action figures toy vehicles or any other type of toy.
One more object of the present invention is to make it easy to attach and remove the stuffed animals by using very stretchy elasticized loops which expand easily to admit the toys and remove the toys.
An additional object of the present invention is to arrange the elasticized loops around the pole spaced in fairly close proximity vertically along the length of the pole to create an overlapping array of toys removably attached to the pole.
A further object of the present invention is to provide four triangulated support brackets for strength attached to the pole at cardinal points around the pole and four vertical arrays of elasticized loops attached to the pole in four spaced vertically arrays positioned at cardinal points around the pole aligned with the four triangulated support brackets to maintain the balance of the pole in a vertical position with the elasticized loops fully loaded.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide two pair of holes through a bottom section of the pole positioned orthogonally and spaced vertically so that a single pair of threaded fasteners can attach each of two pair of support brackets positioned on opposite sides of the pole aligned with one of the pair of holes through the pole for minimal attachment and detachment requirements for assembly and disassembly and minimal hardware.
In brief, a support pole for holding a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and types of toys, including stuffed animals, dolls, action figures, toy vehicles or the like, which comprises two vertical shaft sections screwed together to form a vertical pole with elasticized loops attached to both vertical rod sections along the length of the pole with the loops hanging down in four spaced vertical arrays at cardinal points around the pole to hold the toys, and four triangular support brackets screwed onto the bottom of the pole at cardinal points aligned with the vertical loop arrays to form the stabilizing legs with each of two opposing pairs of triangular support brackets are screwed onto the pole with the same pair of screws. The support pole may be can be knocked down for compact shipping and storage.
An advantage of the present invention is that it holds toys, such as stuffed animals, in an organized, attractive, easy-to-access array.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it enables holding a variety of different sizes and shapes and types of toys, including stuffed animals, dolls, action figures toy vehicles or any other type of toy.
One more advantage of the present invention is that it makes it easy to attach and remove the toys by using very stretchy elasticized loops which expand easily to admit the toys and remove the toys.
An additional advantage of the present invention is to enable an overlapping array of toys removably attached to the pole.
A further advantage of the present invention is to provide a base and loop storage arrangement which maintains the balance of the pole in a vertical position with the elasticized loops fully loaded.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is that it has minimal attachment and detachment requirements for assembly and disassembly and minimal hardware.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other details of my invention will be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are furnished only by way of illustration and not in limitation of the invention, and in which drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the stuffed animal support pole of the present invention showing the multiple series of elasticized loops attached along the length of the upright pole and the triangulated legs extending outwardly at the bottom of the pole;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one of the elasticized loops of the pole of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a small stuffed animal supported on a section of the pole of FIG. 1 by one of the elasticized loops with the loop around the waist of the small stuffed animal;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a large stuffed animal supported on a section of the pole of FIG. 1 by one of the elasticized loops with the loop around a neck of the large stuffed animal;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the stuffed animal support pole of the present invention showing the separate components of the pole aligned for assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In FIGS. 1-5, a support pole device 20 holds and organizes a number of toys of various types and sizes, such as the small stuffed animal 30A of FIG. 3 and the large stuffed animal 30B of FIG. 4, in a vertical array.
A vertical pole 21 comprises a rigid shaft, preferably comprising two sections of pole, a top pole section 21A and a bottom pole section 21B interconnected by a threaded coupling comprising a threaded bottom end 24 of the top pole section 21A screwed into a threaded top opening 26 of the bottom pole section 21B or visa versa, to form the rigid shaft which may be disassembled for storage and transport. A series of elasticized loops 23 are attached in a spaced array by a means for permanently attaching the elasticized loops, preferably a rivet 22, through each of the elasticized loops into the pole around a perimeter of the pole along the length of the pole. The elasticized loops 23 are each formed from a strip of elasticized material having a high elasticity so that the elasticized loop 23 can expand to encompass a wide range of sizes of toys secured to the pole by the loops, including a number of toys of various types and sizes, such as the small stuffed animal 30A of FIG. 3 and the large stuffed animal 30B of FIG. 4.
In FIG. 5, a portion of the pole adjacent to a bottom of the pole has a plurality of pairs of holes 8AC/9AC and 8BD/9BD transversely through the pole 21, as shown in FIG. 5. A plurality of triangulated support brackets 25A-25D are attached to the pole 21 adjacent to the bottom of the pole by a plurality of elongated fasteners 10 through the support brackets 25A-25D and through the pairs of holes 8AC/9AC and 8BD/9BD to secure the support brackets to the pole to maintain the pole in a vertical upright position on a level surface, as in FIG. 1. The pole 21 preferably has two pairs of holes 8AC/9AC and 8BD/9BD transversely through the pole, each pair of holes orthogonal to the other pair of holes and spaced apart vertically on the pole so that a pair of support brackets 25A/25C and 25B/25D are attached on each of two orthogonal sides of the pole aligned with one of the pair of holes 8AC/9AC and 8BD/9BD respectively so that a single pair of elongated fasteners 10 passes through both support brackets of each pair of support brackets and through one of the pair of holes to attach each pair of support brackets to the pole 21.
The four triangulated support brackets 25A, 25B, 25C, and 25D are attached to the pole 21 at cardinal points around the pole and the elasticized loops 23 are attached to the pole 21 in four spaced vertically arrays positioned at cardinal points around the pole aligned with the four triangulated support brackets to maintain the balance of the pole in a vertical position with the elasticized loops fully loaded.
The vertical pole 21 is preferably fabricated of a coated steel pipe and the support brackets 25A-25D are each preferably fabricated of three steel shafts welded together. The elongated fasteners 10 may be threaded fasteners such as screws or bolts or other pin type fasteners.
It is understood that the preceding description is given merely by way of illustration and not in limitation of the invention and that various modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Claims

1. A support pole device for holding and organizing a number of toys in a vertical array, the device comprising:

a vertical pole comprising a rigid shaft with a series of elasticized loops attached in a spaced array by a means for permanently attaching the elasticized loops to the vertical pole around a perimeter of the pole along the length of the pole and a portion of the pole adjacent to a bottom of the pole having a plurality of pairs of holes transversely through the pole;

a plurality of triangulated support brackets attached to the pole adjacent to the bottom of the pole by a plurality of elongated fasteners through the support brackets and through the pairs of holes to secure the support brackets to the pole to maintain the pole in a vertical upright position on a level surface.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the means for permanently attaching the elasticized loops to the vertical pole comprises a rivet through each of the elasticized loops into the pole.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein four triangulated support brackets are attached to the pole at cardinal points around the pole and the elasticized loops are attached to the pole in four spaced vertically arrays positioned at cardinal points around the pole aligned with the four triangulated support brackets to maintain the balance of the pole in a vertical position with the elasticized loops fully loaded.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein the pole has two pairs of holes transversely through the pole, each pair of holes orthogonal to the other pair of holes and spaced apart vertically on the pole and a pair of support brackets attached on each of two orthogonal sides of the pole aligned with one of the pair of holes so that a single pair of elongated fasteners passes through both support brackets of each pair of support brackets and through one of the pair of holes to attach each pair of support brackets to the pole.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein the vertical pole comprises two sections of pole interconnected by a threaded coupling to form the rigid shaft which may be disassembled for storage and transport.

6. The device of claim 1 wherein the elasticized loops are each formed from a strip of elasticized material having a high elasticity so that the loop can expand to encompass a wide range of sizes of toys secured to the pole by the loop.