Method and apparatus for a floating shelf assembly
View Patent ↗In one aspect, the present invention provides a “floating” shelf assembly that is configured for mounting on attic rafters or exposed wall studs. In at least one embodiment, the shelf assembly comprises a shelf that includes rotatable mounts at a first edge, which are configured to mount to adjacent rafters at a desired height above the attic floor or insulation. The shelf further includes flexible members which are configured to hang the opposing, second edge of the shelf from an overhead mounting point. The ability to rotate the shelf relative to its mounted first edge allows easy leveling of the shelf by adjusting the hanging length of the flexible members suspending the second edge of the shelf. The shelf assembly also permits direct use with wall studs, where the rotatable mounts are attached to the wall studs and the flexible members are pulled taught, diagonally back and above the shelf.
1. A shelf assembly for a hanging shelf suspended from adjacent attic rafters or wall studs comprising:
a shelf defining a load area bounded by shelf edges, including a first edge and an opposite second edge;
at least one rod that extends under said shelf along said first edge and provides rod ends projecting outward on opposing sides of the shelf at said first shelf edge, each said rod end comprising a generally ring-shaped end that is configured to receive a fastener and is thereby operative as a mounting point for rotatably mounting said shelf at said first shelf edge, such that said first edge of the shelf is supported by horizontally mounting the rod ends to said adjacent ones of said attic rafters or wall studs on said opposing sides of said shelf via said mounting points and fasteners, and wherein an end-to-end length between the generally ring shaped rod ends is configured to position the mounting points at a nominal on-center spacing of said adjacent ones of said attic rafters or wall studs and an underside of said shelf includes a channel running along said first edge in which said at least one rod is received within to rotatably mount the at least one rod to the underside of said shelf; and
flexible members having free lengths extending from said opposing sides of the shelf at said second shelf edge, and configured for suspending the shelf at said second edge based on attaching said flexible members to a preexisting structure above a desired mounting location of said shelf;
wherein said nominal on-center spacing is one of sixteen inches, eighteen inches, and twenty-four inches, and wherein the shelf has a width between said opposing sides of the shelf that is less than said spacing between the mounting points provided by the generally ring-shaped rod ends and is dimensioned to fit between adjacent ones of said attic rafters or wall studs at said nominal on-center spacing.
2. The shelf assembly of claim 1 , wherein said flexible members include a length adjustment mechanism configured to adjust a suspended height of said second edge of said shelf.
3. The shelf assembly of claim 1 , wherein said flexible members each have a terminal end having a terminating tab that includes a pre-formed hanging aperture for detachably hanging from a nail or other protuberance fixed in said preexisting structure above said shelf.
4. The shelf assembly of claim 1 , wherein said flexible members each comprise a plastic or fabric web and wherein each web includes a correspondingly positioned and correspondingly spaced series of mounting holes along the free length of the web, to facilitate attachment of each flexible member to an available support structure using a selected one of the mounting holes, and further wherein the free lengths of the webs each carries indicia corresponding to the series of mounting holes, to facilitate identification of the correspondingly matching mounting holes in said flexible members.
5. The shelf assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one rod comprises a single rod, and wherein the generally ring-shaped rod ends projecting outward on opposing sides of the shelf at said first shelf edge are opposing ends of said single rod.