EP0057800A1 - Pivoting shelf with a locking device in a raised position, especially for foldable containers and for restocking trolleys in shops - Google Patents

Abstract

1. Shelf which is intended to be attached to a wall (3), especially one of the walls of folding containers, trolleys for various goods, shelving structures and trolleys for re-stocking shops, which can be raised against the supporting wall (3) in the non-utilization position, and which is provided on the same side as this latter with end portions (5) which are elbowed at right angles with respect to the surface for receiving goods on the shelf, these portions (5) being provided with hooks (6) engaged around a cross-member (7) of the wall (3) in order to ensure pivotal attachment of the shelf to the said cross-member for the purpose of raising it, characterized in that this shelf is provided with a locking device which serves to lock it in the raised position and which comprises a locking member (9) pivotally mounted on a pin (11) parallel to one of the elbowed end portions (5) or which can be constituted by one of the elbowed end portions (5) themselves, this locking member comprising a side (9a, 17) which, in the position of use of the shelf, coincides substantially with the axis of pivotal attachment of the shelf to the cross-member (7) whilst this side (9a, 17) of the locking member and its pivot-pin (11) are disposed in a plane which, in the position of use of the shelf, is parallel to the wall 3 whereas, after raising of the shelf against the supporting wall (3) and pivotal displacement of the locking member about the pin (11) simply under the action of gravity, this same plane formed by the pin (11) and the side (9a, 17) of the locking member is perpendicular to the wall (3) and the side (9a, 17) is applied against the said wall (3), thus preventing the shelf (2a) from swinging-down towards its horizontal position of use.

Description

The present invention relates to a shelf intended to be hung on the walls in particular of folding containers, trolleys for general merchandise, and in particular trolleys for restocking of shops, shelving, etc., capable of being raised against the wall of stand in non-use position.

It is known to use removable shelves inside containers with folding walls, intended to contain various goods; these shelves are made up of metal wires comprising bent end portions provided with end hooks which allow them to be hung on the metal wire walls of the container, by placing them one above the other on at least two levels to receive objects. various. When the container is empty, the shelves are removed, then the walls of the container are folded and folded over the bottom of the latter, in order to store it in a reduced space. Removable shelves of this kind are also used in store reassortment carts, more generally in carts for storing and handling various objects.

In the various aforementioned use cases, the time required to set up and remove the sets of shelves is relatively long, which causes significant loss of time if the objects placed on them are used for example for mounting chain cars, including bumpers, and these manipulations also involve the risk of losing shelves. In the event of faulty positioning on the support walls, the shelves can also undergo deformations which hamper their subsequent use.

In the particular case where the shelves are not mounted removable, but permanently articulated on the wall of a collapsible container, shelf retaining hooks are used in the high position. But you must be able to have two hands simultaneously to perform the operation: one to raise the shelf and the other to operate the hook, which is therefore not convenient and sometimes difficult. We can naturally remove the shelves to overcome these drawbacks, but we then find the risk of loss and prolonged handling times of the removable shelves.

The invention aims to remedy these drawbacks by providing a shelf that can be easily raised with one hand and locked in the non-use position against its support wall.

The shelf covered by the invention is of the type comprising sides whose end portions are bent substantially at right angles to the plane of the shelf proper, and are provided with hooks at their ends to articulate them to the metal wires of the container or cart wall.

According to the invention, the shelf is provided with a locking device in the raised position, comprising a latch pivotally mounted about an axis parallel to or formed by one of the bent end portions. that the latch can tilt by simple gravity around this axis when the shelf is raised against the wall, and is then placed in a plane perpendicular to the latter and pressing against said wall, preventing the shelf from switch to its horizontal position of use.

It is understood that to rotate the shelf to its position of use, it suffices to manually rotate the latch upward to a substantially horizontal position, in which it no longer retains the shelf which then falls automatically in horizontal position.

Conversely, when the shelf is raised, the latch is automatically placed by gravity in the locked position, after pivoting about its axis.

• - La figure 1 est une vue en perspective avec arrachements d'un container de stockage d'objets divers, par exemple des pare-chocs pour véhicules automobiles, muni d'étagères superposées selon l'invention.
• - La figure 2 est une vue en élévation simplifiée du container de la figure 1, montrant deux paires d'étagères disposées dans celui-ci.
• - La figure 3 est une vue en perspective partielle à échelle agrandie montrant une étagère selon l'invention en position horizontale d'utilisation.
• - La figure 4 est une vue analogue à la figure 3 montrant l'étagère en position relevée de non-utilisation, verrouillée dans cette position par le dispositif selon l'invention.
• - La figure 5 est une vue en perspective d'une variante de réalisation du loquet de verrouillage de l'étagère.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the description which follows, given with reference to the appended drawings in which two embodiments of the invention have been shown by way of non-limiting examples.

• - Figure 1 is a perspective view with cutaway of a container for storing various objects, for example bumpers for motor vehicles, provided with superimposed shelves according to the invention.
• - Figure 2 is a simplified elevational view of the container of Figure 1, showing two pairs of shelves arranged therein.
• - Figure 3 is a partial perspective view on an enlarged scale showing a shelf according to the invention in a horizontal position of use.
• - Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing the shelf in the raised position of non-use, locked in this position by the device according to the invention.
• - Figure 5 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the shelf locking latch.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, we see a container 1 shown schematically, intended for the storage and handling of various objects such as for example bumpers of motor vehicles not shown, on a series of removable interior shelves 2a, 2b.

Container 1, formed in a manner known per se of four vertical walls of metal wires and of a bottom, in this example receives two pairs of superimposed shelves 2a, 2b hung on the horizontal crosspieces of two opposite walls 3 of the container 1. One of the two.other intermediate walls, not shown, is arranged to be able to tilt outwards in order to authorize access to the interior of the container 1 in the direction of arrow F, and the four walls are foldable on the bottom 10.

The shelves 2a, 2b are arranged one above the other with a sufficient interval to allow the lower shelves 2b to be folded down under the upper shelves 2a, against their support wall 3 in the non-use position, after tilting. 90 ° symbolized by the arrows shown in Figure 2 to the positions shown in dashed lines. Likewise, the upper shelves 2a are dimensioned and positioned at a chosen level so that they do not protrude above the upper edges of the walls 3 after folding against them in the out-of-service position.

There is shown in this example two pairs of superimposed shelves extending along two opposite walls 3,. but of course, the number of shelves can vary depending on the dimensions of the container, as well as if necessary of the objects which must be stored there.

In known manner, each shelf 2a, 2b is formed by a reinforcement of metal wires comprising two lateral wires 4 having end parts 5 bent at right angles, themselves provided with end hooks 6 allowing the attachment of the shelf on the horizontal cross member 7 of the corresponding wall 3.

The hooks 6 therefore ensure the articulation of the shelf around the cross member 7, from its horizontal position. zontal use in its raised vertical position.

According to the invention, the shelf 2a or 2b is equipped with a locking device 8 for said shelf in the raised position, which comprises a latch 9 pivotally mounted around an axis 11 parallel to one of the bent end parts 5 and joined to them.

In the example illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the latch 9 is articulated on the axis 11 by means of two lateral fingers 12 crossed by the axis 11, which is itself mounted inside a socket 13 fixed to the end part 5. The sleeve 13 is also fixed to a stop 14 secured to a part 15 fixed to the part 5, these various parts being made integral with each other for example by welding.

The stop 14 of the locking device is formed by a lug which extends perpendicular to the terminal part 5, and to the axis 11, projecting beyond the latter over a distance suitably chosen, so as to limit the rotation of the latch 9 around the axis 11. The latch 9 is formed of a relatively heavy metal plate, so as to be able to pivot by simple gravity around the axis 11.

The implementation of the locking device fitted to the shelf 2a or 2b according to the invention is as follows.

The shelf being in the horizontal position of use (Figure 3), the latch 9 is in a vertical plane, held against the metal wires of the wall 3 by the stopper 14. When the shelf 2a is raised by rotating it 90 ° around the support cross member 7, to bring it into a vertical non-use position (FIG. 4), the bent end portions 5 and the axis 11 are placed in a horizontal position. During this angular displacement of the shelf, the latch 9 moves away of the wall 3, which allows it to switch freely by simple gravity around the axis 11. The latch 9 thus pivots by approximately 90 ° to its locking position in FIG. 4, in which it is placed in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the wall 3, against which it comes to bear by its inner vertical side 9a, and thereby prevents the shelf 2a from tilting vers.sa horizontal position. The latch 9 thus automatically locks the shelf in the vertical raised position against the corresponding wall 3.

It will be noted that the operator has no particular maneuver to do to lock the shelf in the raised position, since the latch 9 is positioned by itself by gravity until its position for locking the shelf.

To place it again in its horizontal position, the operator just has to manually raise the latch 9 to its horizontal position, in which it is also stopped by the stop 14, against which the middle part of the latch 9. The shelf then being released, drops by itself to its horizontal position in FIG. 3 by pivoting by the hooks 6.

It is understood that it is possible under these conditions to close the hooks 6 for retaining the shelf so that it remains normally secured to its support wall 3, which eliminates the risk of loss of the shelf caused by successive poses and deposits as well as the corresponding loss of time.

In addition, the locking device according to the invention has the advantage of preventing practically any false maneuver by the operator, likely to cause deterioration of the shelf by deformation, consecutive to a faulty installation.

In the variant embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, the locking latch 16 is constituted by a U-shaped stirrup 17 of which a transverse branch is formed by a counterweight 18, while the end parts of this stirrup are provided with loops 19 of joints on the axis 11. The weight of the counterweight 18 is determined so as to be sufficient to drive the latch 16 in rotation by simple gravity around the axis 11, in the same way as in the example described above.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and may include variant embodiments. Thus, it is obvious that the stop 14 for stopping the locking latch can be produced in any other equivalent way, and that the latch 9 can be articulated directly on the bent end part 5, the axis 11 then being eliminated.

The shelf provided with the locking device according to the invention can be used not only in collapsible containers such as container 1, but in many other applications, such as trolleys intended to receive various goods, in particular restocking trolleys stores, fixed shelving, etc. The saving of time obtained thanks to the locking device according to the invention is particularly advantageous when the container fitted with such shelves is used in an automobile assembly line.

Claims (3)

1 - Shelf intended to be hung on the walls, in particular of folding containers, trolleys for general merchandise, shelving and shopping restocking trolleys, capable of being raised against the support wall in the non-use position, comprising sides, the parts of which terminals are bent and provided with wall articulation hooks, characterized in that it is provided with a locking device (8) in the raised position which comprises a latch (9) pivotally mounted about an axis ( 11) parallel to or formed by one of the bent end portions (5), so that the latch (9) can tilt by simple gravity around this axis (11) when the shelf is raised . (2a) against the wall, and is then placed in a plane perpendicular to the latter and pressing against said wall (3), preventing the shelf (2a) from tilting towards its horizontal position of use. 2 - Shelf according to claim 1, characterized in that a stop (14) is fixed to the bent end part and arranged so as to stop the latch '(9) in a substantially horizontal position when it is pivoted upwards from its lowered position to allow tilting of the shelf (2a) to its horizontal position of use, this stop (14) also ensuring the retention of the latch (9) in vertical position when the shelf (2a) is lowered. 3 - Shelf according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the latch consists of a plate (9) or a stirrup (17) in U whose median branch is formed by a counterweight (18) likely to cause the latch (16) to rotate about its axis (11) by gravity when the axis (11) passes from the vertical position to the horizontal position, corresponding to the raised position of the shelf (2a).

Images