EP2441352B1 - Reinforced shelving upright - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a reinforced rack amount.

In stores and in many rooms shelving is installed to present items for sale or to store various products, among the multitude of displays used the shelves in parts, ready to be assembled are conventionally used.

These shelves are designed to be as flexible as possible, in particular to achieve variable presentation surfaces on several levels, which levels are generally adjustable depending on the use of the rack.

In order to ensure this modularity of the assembly the shelves are often erected by fixing uprights on a support, which support can be mounted on rollers for the mobility of the shelving or to be fixed, the amounts are interconnected by braces and Shelves commonly called "racks" are installed to support the items.

Conventionally, the weight of the rack and its items after loading is supported by the uprights, which must be sufficiently resistant to deformation to prevent breakage during charging and the duration of use of the device.

A first problem of design of a rack amount comes from the fact that the load to be supported is not precisely known, the applications can be varied, the maximum stress supported by the amounts can be more or less important. The stress may be bending and / or compression resulting in buckling.

The conventional solution to have a margin of mechanical strength is to increase the thickness of the uprights, however this solution uses more material to achieve the racking and causes a consequent increase in weight of the installed assembly.

A preferable solution to the increase in thickness is to manufacture studs studied to better withstand deformation, for example by manufacturing hollow posts with sections more specifically adapted to a bending deformation, thus the patents EP 436,471 , US 3,612,291 , JP 2033011 or WO 9536346 have reinforced uprights usable for the installation of shelves and shelves.

The amounts described in the previous patents allow a significant improvement in stiffness and flexural strength however due to the open form of the perimeter of the section a high strain deformation is possible with the risk of the opening of the amounts and the falling shelves. In addition to the higher cost, the increase in section results in a loss of space.

The invention therefore aims to solve the main difficulties above by providing a rack amount having a closed section and a geometry adapted to withstand heavy loads without significant deformation.

The present invention relates to a tubular form of rack comprising recesses allowing the positioning of shelves, side members and / or gondola elements at different levels of height, the amount having a closed perimeter section, the amount

having two longitudinal folds present over the entire height of the upright and placed on the same face of the upright, each fold being complete, that is to say substantially 180 °, the two folds forming a folded zone positioned substantially in the middle of said face, the pleats having orifices for riveting or bolting braces.

• en raison de la fermeture de la section du montant et du plissage particulier la rigidité est très élevée et le montant ne peut pas s'ouvrir lors de contraintes très importantes,
• l'extrême robustesse de la structure permet de réduire l'épaisseur de matière utilisée pour la fabrication du montant, ce qui a pour conséquence une diminution du coût de fabrication et un allègement de l'ensemble après assemblage,
• gain de place où, pour une même épaisseur de matière, le profilé est de section plus réduite,
• du fait de la solidité des montants selon l'invention il peut être employé un même montant servant de support à des étagères pour de multiples rayonnages, lesquels pouvant contenir une large variété d'articles de poids très variables sans qu'il y ait un risque de déformation des montants et écroulement de l'ensemble,
• toutes les fonctionnalités usuelles des montants sont satisfaites par le montant selon l'invention, ces fonctionnalités sont notamment la possibilité d'installer des étagères à

The advantages of the amount of reinforced racking according to the invention are multiple:

• because of the closure of the section of the amount and the particular pleating rigidity is very high and the amount can not open under very important constraints,
• the extreme strength of the structure reduces the thickness of material used for the manufacture of the amount, which has the effect of reducing the manufacturing cost and lightening the assembly after assembly,
• saving space where, for the same thickness of material, the profile is of smaller section,
• because of the strength of the amounts according to the invention it can be used the same amount serving as support for shelves for multiple shelves, which can contain a wide variety of items of variable weight without there being a risk deformation of the amounts and collapse of the whole,
• all the usual features of the amounts are satisfied by the amount according to the invention, these features include the possibility of installing shelves to

several levels and shelves of different widths, the ease of installation and assembly on traditional media, etc ... The amount of the invention can be substituted for current amounts less resistant without any difficulty and without disruption to the personnel responsible for the installation.

• La figure 1 est une vue en perspective d'un montant de rayonnage renforcé selon l'invention.
• La figure 2 montre la structure de la section du montant à l'origine du renforcement.
• La figure 3 est une variante de la structure de la figure 2 avec des perçages permettant le boulonnage ou le rivetage pour des contreventements.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description which follows with reference to the accompanying drawings which are given by way of non-limiting examples.

• The figure 1 is a perspective view of a rack amount reinforced according to the invention.
• The figure 2 shows the structure of the section of the amount at the origin of the reinforcement.
• The figure 3 is a variant of the structure of the figure 2 with holes for bolting or riveting for bracing.

The invention is intended for the realization of shelving, more particularly to replace the current amounts serving as vertical support supports for shelves, such shelves are for example used in sales areas for the production of linear and in various structures erected vertically, mobile or stationary.

As shown on the figure 1 the amount of shelving according to the invention is tubular, the upright is erected vertically on a support not shown in the figure.

The amount of racking is tubular with a small thickness e, recesses 1 allowing the positioning of shelves are present in different locations of the height so as to allow the attachment to different levels of horizontal structures.

According to the invention the amount has a section 2 of closed perimeter, this section is represented on the figure 2 in fact the amount does not have an opening on its height outside the recesses 1.

The realization of a closed amount on the perimeter of its section makes it possible to improve the stiffness of the structure for a smaller quantity of material.

The stiffness of the amount is further enhanced by the realization of two longitudinal folds over the entire height of the amount.

The amount of shelving has two folds 3 and 4 visible in both figures.

According to the invention the two folds 3 and 4 are placed on the same face of the upright and the folded zone is positioned substantially in the middle of said face. The two plies can also serve as fixing plates and receiving structures for the braces, possibly by bolting or riveting as shown in FIG. figure 3 .

According to the invention each fold 3 and 4 is complete, ie substantially 180 °.

According to the invention section 2 of the amount is generally of polygonal shape outside the pleated zone.

Advantageously, the section 2 of the amount is generally of square or rectangular shape outside the pleated zone, as shown in FIG. figure 2 . It could also be polycurved with strengthening ribs.

The linear portion 5 between the two plies is positioned inside the upright relative to the generally square or rectangular structure of the section to collect the braces. For this purpose, orifices are formed in the folds as shown in FIG. figure 3 .

Different materials can be used to manufacture the amount according to the invention, advantageously the amount is formed from a single metal sheet folded and welded over the entire height of the upright so as to form a closed perimeter section.

The weld bead of the metal sheet may be provided in the middle of the linear portion 5 or in the middle of the face opposite to that pleated or otherwise.

The metal upright thus formed has a very high rigidity compared to the existing metal supports used for the same applications, this rigidity is essentially due to the structure of the amount, because other materials making it possible to achieve amounts of the same conformation would present the same advantages, also the invention provides that the plastic can also be used, in particular by producing amounts manufactured by extrusion of material in a suitable die.

The recesses 1 which allow the fixing of the shelves or rays by means traditionally known in the field are advantageously placed on the face of the amount comprising the folds and / or on the opposite side to that pleated, however nothing prevents to place recesses on other sides and arrange along the amount of any device for connecting amounts between them so as to form a rigid frame.

The three figures which illustrate the invention show an amount on which the faces which do not comprise the folds are flat, it may however be envisaged within the scope of the invention to provide embossings, for example towards the inside of the amount, in order to further stiffen the amount in case of need.

Several variants are possible for the amount of shelving previously described, the thickness e of material can be eminently variable according to the applications and according to the dimensions of the amounts, the dimensions of the section can also be adjusted in a wide range without going beyond the scope of the invention.

The recesses provided in the faces of the amount may be more or less numerous and have different conformations without departing from the scope of the invention.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described and represented by way of examples, but it also includes all the technical equivalents as well as their combinations.

Claims (7)

1. Shelving upright with a tubular form, said upright having openings over its height in the form of cut-outs (1) for the positioning of shelves, beams or gondola elements at different height levels, said upright having a section (2) with a closed perimeter, said upright being characterised in that it has two longitudinal folds (3, 4) over the whole height of the upright and located on the same face of the upright, each fold being complete, i.e. substantially 180°, the two folds forming a folded zone positioned substantially in the middle of said face, the folds (3, 4) comprising openings for riveting or bolting on braces.
2. Shelving upright according to claim 1, wherein the upright is formed by a single metal sheet which is folded and welded over the whole height of the upright so as to form the section (2) with a closed perimeter.
3. Shelving upright according to claim 1, wherein the upright is made of plastic.
4. Shelving upright according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein section (2) of the upright has an overall polygonal form outside of the folded zone.
5. Shelving upright according to claim 4, wherein section (2) of the upright has an overall square or rectangular form outside of the folded zone.
6. Shelving upright according to one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the linear portion (5) between the two folds (3, 4) is positioned on the inside of the upright relative to the overall square or rectangular structure of the section (2).
7. Shelving upright according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cut-outs (1) are formed on the face of the upright comprising the two folds (3, 4) and/or on the face opposite the face comprising the folded zone.

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