Support rack and methods of making and use

Abstract

A rack support and method of use. The support rack can include a plurality of support slats mounted to a support base. The support slats cooperatively provide a plurality of article mounting channels, and article mounts can be slidably mounted in the channels in order to provide a variety of orientations of the article mounts with respect to the support base. In one embodiment, the support channels are T-shaped, and the article mounts have T-shaped mounting ends that may slidably mount with the T-shaped support channels. Other support channel and mounting end shapes may be used. In some embodiments, the rack support may be used to store articles on a wall with increased article density, economy, reliability, safety, and/or usability.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A wall mountable support rack comprising in combination:
 a. a planar base section mountable to a wall;   b. a plurality of support slats mountable spaced from the base section and each other to cooperatively provide a first support element mounting channel between one adjacent pair of said support slats and a second support element mounting channel between a second adjacent pair of said support slats; and   c. a plurality of article mounting elements, each said article mounting element:
 (i) including a mounting base element and a plurality of article support arms extendable from the article mounting base element, with 
 (ii) the mounting base element being slidably mountable in, and with the plurality of support arms slidably extending through, either of the first support element mounting channel or the second support element mounting channel. 
   
     
     
         2 . The wall mountable support rack of  claim 1  wherein the mounting base element of each said article mounting element is slidably securable adjacent the planar base section by either of the one adjacent pair of said support slats or the second adjacent pair of support slats. 
     
     
         3 . The wall mountable support rack of  claim 1  wherein the mounting base element of each said article mounting element has a generally planar surface with the plurality of support arms extending from the generally planar support surface. 
     
     
         4 . The wall mountable support rack of  claim 2  wherein the mounting base element of each said article mounting element has a generally planar surface with the plurality of support arms extending from the generally planar support surface. 
     
     
         5 . The wall mountable support rack of  claim 1  wherein each said support arm has a protruding section extendable from the mounting base element, and the protruding section is at least five inches long. 
     
     
         6 . The wall mountable support rack of  claim 4  wherein each said support arm has a protruding section extendable from the mounting base element, and the protruding section is at least five inches long. 
     
     
         7 . The wall mountable support rack of  claim 1  each said article mounting element has at least one flat side transverse to the generally planar surface. 
     
     
         8 . The wall mountable support rack of  claim 4  each said article mounting element has at least one flat side transverse to the generally planar surface. 
     
     
         9 . The wall mountable support rack of  claim 6  each said article mounting element has at least one flat side transverse to the generally planar surface. 
     
     
         10 . The wall mountable support rack of  claim 1  wherein each of the planar base section, support slats, and article mounting elements consist essentially of plastic. 
     
     
         11 . The wall mountable support rack of  claim 9  wherein each of the planar base section, support slats, and article mounting elements consist essentially of plastic. 
     
     
         12 . The wall mountable support rack of  claim 1  wherein a first said article mounting element has a first pair of article support arms with first predetermined length, a second said article mounting element has a second pair of article support arms with a second predetermined length, and the first predetermined length is longer than the second predetermined length. 
     
     
         13 . The wall mountable support rack of  claim 9  wherein a first said article mounting element has a first pair of article support arms with a first predetermined support arm length, a second said article mounting element has a second pair of article support arms with a second predetermined support arm length, and the first predetermined support arm length is longer than the second predetermined support arm length. 
     
     
         14 . The wall mountable support rack of  claim 11  wherein a first said article mounting element has a first pair of article support arms with a first predetermined support arm length, a second said article mounting element has a second pair of article support arms with a second predetermined support arm length, and the first predetermined support arm length is longer than the second predetermined support arm length. 
     
     
         15 . The wall mountable support rack of  claim 1  also including a single support arm article mounting element. 
     
     
         16 . The wall mountable support rack of  claim 9  also including a single support arm article mounting element. 
     
     
         17 . wall mountable support rack of  claim 14  also including a single support arm article mounting element. 
     
     
         18 . A wall mountable support rack comprising in combination:
 a. a planar base section mountable to a wall;   b. a plurality of support slats mountable spaced from the base section and each other to cooperatively provide a first support element mounting channel between one adjacent pair of said support slats and a second support element mounting channel between a second adjacent pair of said support slats; and   c. a plurality of article mounting elements including at least a first article mounting element and a second article mounting element each including a first mounting base element and a plurality of article support arms extendable from the first mounting base element, with   
       the first mounting base element being slidably mountable in, and with the plurality of support arms slidably extendable along, either of the first support element mounting channel or the second support element mounting channel; 
       wherein (i) the first article mounting element has at least a first element support arm with a predetermined first element support arm length, (ii) the second article mounting element among second element support arm with a predetermined second element support length, and (c) the predetermined first element support arm length is longer than the predetermined second element support arm length. 
     
     
         19 . The wall mountable support rack of  claim 18  wherein the second mounting element:
 (i) includes a single arm mounting base element and a single article support arm extendable from the second article mounting base element, with 
 (ii) the second mounting base element being slidably mountable in, and with the single support arm slidably extendable along, either of the first support element mounting channel or the second support element mounting channel. 
 
     
     
         20 . The wall mountable support rack of  claim 19  wherein at least one among the predetermined first element support arm length and the predetermined second element support arm length is at least five inches long.