Bicycle storage system

#1. Field of the Invention

#The present invention is directed to a system for storing objects such as bicycles.

#2. Description of the Related Art

#FIG. 1 is a side view of a pulley system of one embodiment of the present invention, shown without attachments for engaging a bicycle.

#FIG. 2 is a side, perspective view of the pulley system of FIG. 1.

#FIG. 3 is another side view of the pulley system of FIG. 1.

#In one embodiment, a system 10 for storing objects, such as a bicycle, in an elevated location, as seen in FIGS. 1-3. The apparatus may comprise a pulley-operated hoist system 10 by which the bicycle may be elevated off the floor to an overhead location, freeing up floor space. The system 10 may include a plurality of mounting plates 12, 14, each plate supporting a pulley subsystem 16, 18. In addition, the system 10 may include a plurality of fasteners 20 for mounting the system 10 to one or more supports, a rope or cable 22 for operatively engaging the pulley subsystems, a self-locking mechanism 110 on at least one of the mounting plates, and implements 122 for engaging and supporting the object to be elevated.

#The apparatus 10 may have a plurality of mounting plates, preferably two plates 12, 14. Each mounting plate may be substantially similarly shaped, which may simplify manufacture and assembly. For example, a first mounting plate 12 may be formed from a single piece of material such as sheet metal. The first mounting plate 12 may originally be a generally rectangular piece of material from which the corners 30 (and similar corners 40 on second plate 14) may be rounded or otherwise truncated, which may reduce the total weight of the system and, therefore, the weight required to be borne by the fasteners 20 supporting the system 10 and also may eliminate sharper corners that may promote fraying or cutting of the cable 22 running along pulley. FIGS. 4-6B, particularly FIG. 6A, show these elements in a second mounting plate (described below), but these elements are similar in both the first and second plates 12, 14.

#To form mounting plate 12, 14 a plurality of generally diametrically opposed arched slots 31, 41 may be stamped from or otherwise removed from the mounting plate 12, 14 as may a plurality of openings 34, 44 substantially centered on a width of the mounting plate 12, 14 proximate the outer edges 36, 46, as seen in FIGS. 5, 6A, and 6B. Arched slots 31, 41 and/or openings 34, 44 may have a width sized for accepting shanks but not heads of a variety of different fasteners 20, including, e.g., #10×2″ sheet metal screws. Slots 31, 41 may allow mounting plates 12, 14 to be rotationally oriented between about 90 degrees and about 180 degrees in order to align mounting plates 12, 14 with one another in the event that the supports to which plates are mounted are not substantially aligned. In addition, one slot 31, 41 may have substantially the same inner and outer diameters as a second slot 32, 42, a leading end 33, 43 of one slot may be generally diametrically opposed from the leading end 35, 45 of the second slot 32, 42, and the trailing end 37, 47 of one slot 31, 41 also may be generally diametrically opposed from the trailing end 39, 49 of the second slot 32, 42. Moreover, a plurality of openings 38, 48 through which pulley-supporting fasteners 21 are fed may be formed in the mounting plate 12, 14. A plurality of first openings 38a may be generally symmetric about both a width and a length of the mounting plate 12, 14 and may be approximately equidistantly spaced from a top 50, 60 and a respective side 52, 62 of the plate 12, 14 by a distance approximately equal to the radius of the pulley mounted via those openings. A plurality of second openings 38b also may be generally symmetrical about both a width and length of the mounting plate 12, 14 but may be spaced closer to a bottom 54, 64 of the plate than to a respective side 56, 66.