Cabinets that raise and lower VERTICALLY?

[fritter63]

Hey all, wanting to put some cabinet storage in the garage area ,but wanting to keep them up high (above 6 feet) so that don't lose walk around area for the cars. We have tall ceilings in the garage. But they need to go on the walls which have only about 12" of space behind the garage door tracks. So if I mount them high, then the doors won't swing open and would be difficult to get into.

Has anyone ever seen a product, or a design, for an entire upper cabinet that could be lowered vertically (like on a rack and pinion) for access, the raised back for storage? Would need to be spring loaded or some kind of crank mechanism I'm guessing.

Thanks.

 

[Peter_C]

Invent one!

I have installed shelving above the garage doors so the doors must be closed to access them. Good for ornaments and the like you only need access to once a year. They can then be wider than the track from the wall which is actually preferred.

 

[ElectricFeet]

One thing that immediately springs to mind is a mechanism like the ones used to bring ladders down from lofts (thinking UK).

Or something like the cantilevered mechanisms that are used to bring down the final flight of stairs on external fire escapes in cities (thinking US).

 

[fritter63]

I'm thinking I could adapt this mechanism to make it work. And may drive it with a cordless drill.

 

[HarveyWildes]

Has anyone ever seen a product, or a design, for an entire upper cabinet that could be lowered vertically (like on a rack and pinion) for access, the raised back for storage? Would need to be spring loaded or some kind of crank mechanism I'm guessing.

This may be out in left field, but I use a winch to raise my topper off of my truck in the garage.  There are four points of contact to keep everything level.  It runs on 120, the winch mounts on the ceiling, and there is a 6' cord with a switch to operate it.  You might put a track on both sides to keep things from swinging about when you're raising and lowering it, but I don't have issues with that with my topper.

 

[tomp]

If what you're really looking to do is access the contents of the cabinets, why not look at the mechanism used to provide access to upper cabinets for people in wheelchairs. The framework pulls out of the cabinet and down when activated - think the mechanism used to open the trays on a cantilevered tool box, except lying on it's side.
https://www.cabinetparts.com/p/reva...MIxenEmOj23AIVTVmGCh0ZyAn4EAQYASABEgJME_D_BwE

Or, to can go with something like this

 

[ElectricFeet]

Also, search for vertical  track cupboard “pull down” on google and select images. There are quite a few that drop down at least the height of the cupboard itself (I’m not really clear on your setup). This gives lots of hits.

One example:http://accessiblehomesinc.com/product/venti-shelving-lifts-12-to-36-10-38-depth/

 

[ElectricFeet]

... why not look at the mechanism used to provide access to upper cabinets for people in wheelchairs....

Snap!

 

[fritter63]

If what you're really looking to do is access the contents of the cabinets, why not look at the mechanism used to provide access to upper cabinets for people in wheelchairs.

Thanks tomp,

yeah, I've seen that first one, won't work as it would collide with the garage door tracks.

The second one *might work*, it doesn't seem to pull out too far while lowering.

Here's a picture of what I'm dealing with. So it would be nice to build one that is twice that height, all the way to the ceiling, and then make it another 4 to 6" deeper as well. Then is would pull STRAIGHT down to a height where the doors could swing open.

Seems like there could be a market for this type of thing to optimize wasted space in a garage.

[attachimg=1]

 

[fritter63]

Dang it, why can't Apple figure out image orientation?????????

 

[ElectricFeet]

So if I mount them high, then the doors won't swing open and would be difficult to get into.

Ah now I get it.

Keeping this simple: how about sliding doors?

 

[fritter63]

So if I mount them high, then the doors won't swing open and would be difficult to get into.

Ah now I get it.

Keeping this simple: how about sliding doors?

Ha, brilliant!

Or maybe I just get rid of all the stored stuff![emoji41]

 

[Roseland]

http://www.venset.com/Text/?m=text&a=all&id=12

Any good?

Andrew

 

[Steve1]

I have not seen a cabinet lift system for sale with that much travel.  There are safety issues, so anything sold would be very well guided and very robust and likely very expensive.

But you could make something up with two leadscrews and two gearboxes, plus guides for the cabinet.  Leadscrew thread should be trapezoidal rather than triangular for far less lifting effort.    You can even buy pre-manufactured screw jacks (google images "screw jack lift").  Lifting that cabinet with a handwheel is going to get old, real quick, so then you will want a motor to lift it.    Cost of all that hardware is going to add up real quick.  If cabinet gets too heavy, might need a counterbalance.
View attachment 1

 

[Steve1]

If you google "motorized garage storage lift" you will get some hits for suspended cable lifts, such as this 4 CABLE LIFT  , or this more reasonable priced two cable lift TWO CABLE LIFT.  (But the two cable lift only has a 200 pound capacity)

 

[Cheese]

Robern manufactures uplift vanity/medicine cabinets. If you're close to a Kohler/Robern dealer you could check out the mechanism they use.
https://www.robern.com/collections/uplift/

 

[Packard]

When I was still working, we used Wafios machines for forming metal.  The German parent company has a US headquarters in Branford, CT. 

I visited there and they had a 3 story tall vertical carousel, which was basically moving shelves.  A smaller version is shown in the YouTube video below. 

Some of the repair parts were heavy castings and I would guess that each shelf had a capacity of 1,000 pounds or more.  I suspect that even these smaller versions are ghastly expensive, but they are available.  I cant imagine it makes much sense in a residential environment.

It was computer controlled.  They entered the part number or description and hit the button and it presented the part on the shelf.  Very impressive. 

 

[ElectricFeet]

I suspect that even these smaller versions are ghastly expensive, but they are available.

They are ludicrously expensive, and — at least in my country — there’s a racket to maintaining them. Basically, pay no maintenance, get no parts / repairs.

Also, they’re doubly-deep, as the shelves rotate over the back and down before coming up again. So not good for the OP’s problem (though chances are that the OP has moved house by now  ;D).

In a former life, I was responsible for getting rid of one of these and replacing it with some filing cabinets, which were quicker to access, ridiculously cheap and used less space.

I agree that they really are cool to watch though.

 

[mino]

Forget about springs. The tension changes and they are a PITA to setup anyway.

What you want is an open-shelf-cabinet-inside-closed-box-without-bottom type arrangement hanging the cabinet on wire ropes. With simple safety blockers when put up.

On the other end of the ropes you want a concrete (cheapest) or metal counter-weight which can be hidden behind some cladding next to the garage doors.

Then you need just a bunch of roller wheels attached to the ceiling for the wire ropes to go over. The wire ropes should be two (pairs) - to balance the front-back weigth and to provide redundancy in case of a failure. Add some guiding rails (repurpose from sliding doors) and you are good.

 

[FestitaMakool]

Or you could head over to a store that sell sailing boat stuff - get the number of blocks you need and a manually operated trailer winch, it’s has self locking mechanism and even the smallest ones can pull or lift all the top cabinets you might have, in one go. Simple wood rails at the back of the cabinets.