Tensilely stressed storage furniture

An article of storage furniture comprising in combination:

• a framework comprising a plurality of interconnected support members including at least one largely horizontal support member and at least one upwardly disposed support member, the configuration of said interconnected support members defining at least four generally planar faces comprising one largely horizontal face to serve as a base and at least three upwardly disposed faces, adjacent faces forming a plurality of structural edges and a plurality of imaginary edges, the horizontal cross-section of said upward members above said base having less than three nonlinear points;
• a three-dimensional storage system or grid comprising a plurality of panels including a plurality of non-horizontal panels that at least have a border that extends along said imaginary edges which are sloped, said storage grid further comprising a plurality of largely horizontal panels that are at least attached to said non-horizontal panels and optionally engaged to said support members, said upward panels being engaged to said support members, said storage grid being composed of flexible, tensilely strong and substantially inelastic material, said storage grid optionally having a flexible load redistribution means for increasing load-bearing capacity and rigidity, the overall shape of said storage grid being dimensionally compatible with said framework;
• means for engaging said storage grid to said framework such that said grid is compatibly aligned, suspended and integrated with said framework;
• tensioning means for generating continuous tensile stress in at least two largely perpendicular directions so as to remove the slack and the initial elasticity of said grid's panels,
• whereby said article of storage furniture provides "near-rigid" storage space under anticipated static and dynamic loads placed thereon.

An article of storage furniture comprising in combination:

• a framework comprising a plurality of interconnected support members including at least one largely horizontal support member and a plurality of upwardly disposed support members, the configuration of said interconnected support members defining at least four generally planar faces comprising at least one largely horizontal face to serve as a base and at least three upwardly disposed faces, said planar faces collectively encompassing a largely uninterrupted interior chamber;
• a storage system comprising a plurality of panels including a plurality of horizontal panels or shelves and optionally one or more non-horizontal panels that interconnect said shelves, the material of said panels being flexible, tensilely strong and substantially inelastic, said storage system optionally having a flexible load redistribution means for increasing load-bearing capacity and rigidity, the overall shape of said storage system being dimensionally compatible with said framework, said storage system's panels being tensilely prestressed, before engagement to said framework, in at least two largely perpendicular directions so as to remove the slack and the initial elasticity;
• means for engaging said prestressed storage system to said framework such that said system is compatibly aligned and suspended with said framework, said engaging means being capable of substantially maintaining the tensile stress of said prestressed storage system,
• whereby said article of storage furniture provides "near-rigid" storage space under anticipated static and dynamic loads thereon placed.

An article of storage furniture comprising in combination:

• a framework comprising a plurality of interconnected support members including at least two largely vertical support members and at least two largely horizontal support members, the configuration of said interconnected support members defining at least six generally planar faces;
• a storage system comprising a plurality of sloped panels and optionally one or more vertical panels and optionally one or more horizontal panels or shelves, at least two of said sloped panels being of opposing slopes, the ends of said two opposing sloped panels being fixedly engaged to either said framework or to a plurality of fixed suspension lines or to a combination thereof, the material of said panels being flexible, tensilely strong and substantially inelastic, the overall shape of said storage system being dimensionally compatible with said framework;
• means for engaging said system to said framework wherein said system is compatibly aligned, suspended and effectively integrated with said framework, said engaging means comprising at least two complimentary interlocking parts, a first part that is connected to said framework and a second part that is connected to said panel;
• tensioning means for generating continuous tensile stress in at least two largely perpendicular directions so as to remove the slack and the initial elasticity of said system's panels,
• whereby said article of storage furniture is substantially free of parallelism movement and provides "near-rigid" storage space under anticipated static and dynamic loads thereon placed.