EP3415039B1

EP3415039B1 - Reinforced shelf for modular shelves and modular shelves comprising such reinforced shelf

Info

Publication number: EP3415039B1
Application number: EP18171679.6A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Stefania Filippi
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2017-06-15
Filing date: 2018-05-10
Publication date: 2019-09-11
Anticipated expiration: 2038-05-10
Also published as: HUE045996T2; PT3415039T; HRP20191952T1; EP3415039A1; IT201700066753A1; SI3415039T1; ES2751908T3; PL3415039T3

Description

Field of The Invention

The present invention generally finds application in the civil or industrial storage devices and particularly relates to a reinforced shelf for modular shelving units.
According to a further aspect, the invention relates to a modular shelving unit comprising one or more shelves as described above.

Background art

Modular metal shelving units, either of light-duty type for home and office use or of heavy-duty type for industrial warehouses, are known in the art.
These shelving units comprise a plurality of vertical posts, which have one or more metal shelves secured thereto by appropriate anchor means.
A first drawback of this arrangement is that the shelves tend to only withstand light loads and to become deformed if the weight of the supported objects exceeds these loads.
This deformation often occurs at the folded longitudinal edges, and may cause a reduction of the load capacity or the formation of a failure crack.
In an attempt to at least partially obviate these drawbacks, shelves for modular shelving units have been developed, which comprise a reinforcement member coupled to the edges of the shelf at its bottom surface.
BE781831 discloses a metal shelf with a longitudinal reinforcement member having a "Ω" cross-sectional shape and ends welded to the folded transverse edges of the shelf.
Particularly, the reinforcement member comprises a pair of downwardly facing side wings welded to the horizontal faces of their respective folded transverse edges.
Furthermore, the longitudinal edges of the shelf are folded four times to define a vertical face, a horizontal face, an inclined connecting wall and a longitudinal wing welded to the lower surface of the shelf to stiffen the entire structure.
A first drawback of this arrangement is that the reinforcement member is mechanically connected to the shelf with no clearance, and does not allow predetermined bending thereof when a high load has to be supported.
In fact, this drawback only affords a limited increase of the maximum load that the shelf can withstand and does not allow a homogeneous distribution of the weight of the objects placed thereon.
A further drawback is that the step of welding the reinforcement member to the transverse edges increases the complexity of the entire shelf fabrication process.
Another drawback is that the reinforcement member cannot be removed from the shelf during disassembly or maintenance of the latter.
Yet another drawback is that the lateral wings of the reinforcement member are sharp and protrude downward from the bottom surface of the shelf and an operator may be accidentally injured thereby during assembly or disassembly.
EP 2 664 256 discloses a reinforced metallic shelf for a modular shelving structure, comprising a support plate with an upper surface, a lower surface and an inwardly folded peripheral edge having longitudinal sections substantially parallel and mutually joined by opposed transverse sections, and at least one substantially transverse reinforcement member adapted to be associated with the lower surface, having opposed ends which are adapted to be anchored to the longitudinal sections.
GB 1 278 687 A discloses a shelf comprising a metal sheet with edges bent over to define box-flanges around its periphery and adjacent ends of the flanges at the shelf corners that are rigidly inter-connected by engaging a tab on one flange through a slot in the other flange and thereafter bending over the tab.
GB 912 661 discloses metal shelves having the rims along opposed edges formed by ribs of box section, marginal channel portions having channel shaped rib portions inserted therein and secured thereto wherein the webs of portions are apertured at intervals to receive tongues at the ends of cross-members.

Technical Problem

In the light of the prior art, the technical problem addressed by the present invention is to provide a reinforced support for modular shelving units that can be easily fabricated and allows the support base to bend within predetermined limits, to withstand heavy loads.

Disclosure of the invention

The object of the present invention is to obviate the above drawback, by providing a reinforced shelf and a modular shelving unit that are highly efficient and relatively cost-effective.
A particular object of the present invention is to provide a reinforced shelf for modular shelving units that can withstand heavy loads while preventing permanent deformations.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a reinforced shelf for modular shelving units that allows the support base to bend within predetermined limits.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a reinforced shelf for modular shelving units that affords uniform distribution of the weight of the supported objects.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a reinforced shelf that can be simply fabricated.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a reinforced shelf for modular shelving units that can be easily mounted and removed by an operator.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a reinforced shelf for modular shelving units that has no sharp projecting edges.
These and other objects, as better explained hereinafter, are fulfilled by a reinforced shelf for modular shelving units as defined in claim 1, comprising a horizontal support base made of sheet metal, which defines a longitudinal axis and has a top surface, a bottom surface, a pair of longitudinal edges and a pair of transverse edges and at least one longitudinal reinforcement member which contacts the bottom surface of the support base and has a substantially Ω-shaped cross section with lateral wings joined to a horizontal wall. The longitudinal edges and the transverse edges are folded twice, downwardly and inwardly, at right angles to define a vertical face and a horizontal face respectively.
The horizontal wall of the reinforcement member has a pair of first openings at its ends and the horizontal faces of the transverse edges have at least one pair of central tongues fitting into the first openings.
Particularly, the reinforcement member is coupled to the support base without welds along its longitudinal extent, by placing its longitudinal ends into the transverse edges and folding the central tongues outwards to form an angle greater than 90°, thereby hooking and firmly locking the longitudinal ends to the support base.
According to the invention, there is provided a reinforced shelf as claimed in claim 1.
In a further aspect, the invention relates to a modular shelving unit comprising one or more shelves as described above and as defined in claim 10.
Advantageous embodiments of the invention are obtained in accordance with the dependent claims.

Brief Description of The Drawings

Further features and advantages of the invention will be more apparent from the detailed description of a preferred, non-exclusive embodiment of a reinforced shelf and a modular shelving unit comprising one or more shelves, which are described as a non-limiting example with the help of the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective top view of the shelf of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the modular shelving unit of the invention;
FIG. 3 is a perspective bottom view of the shelf of Fig. 1;
FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective bottom view of the shelf of Fig. 1;
FIGS. 5 to 7 are broken-away front and perspective views of the shelf of Fig. 1, as taken along respective planes V-V, VI-VI and VII-VII.

Detailed description of a preferred exemplary embodiment

Particularly referring to the figures, there is shown a reinforced shelf, generally designated by numeral 1, for modular shelving units 2, for instance of the type as shown in FIG. 2.
The shelving unit 2 may have a light metal structure intended for home or office use or for industrial storehouses.
Furthermore, the shelving unit 2 comprises at least four posts 3 in contact with the ground and one or more shelves 1 of the present invention, secured to the posts 3.
The shelves 1 are secured to the posts 3 by appropriate anchor means, not shown, at their corner areas 4, in substantially horizontal and vertically offset positions.
For example, the anchor means may comprise screws fitting into respective aligned holes 5, 6 formed in the posts 3 and the shelves 1 and nuts adapted to screw on the threaded portions of the screw, or alternatively interlocking elements formed in the posts 3, not shown.
The shelves 1 and the shelving unit 2 have standard dimensions, like those of the shelves and shelving units of the prior art, but these dimensions may be also changed without departure from the scope of the present invention.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, as shown in the figures, each shelf 1 comprises a horizontal support base 7 made of sheet metal, which defines a longitudinal axis L and has a top surface 8, a bottom surface 9, a pair of longitudinal edges 10 and a pair of transverse edges 11.
As clearly shown in the figures, the bottom surface 9 of each shelf 1 is the surface that faces the ground or floor on which the posts 3 are supported, whereas the top surface 8 is the surface designed to support the objects.
The longitudinal edges 10 and the transverse edges 11 are folded twice, downwardly and inwardly, at right angles to define vertical faces 12, 13 and horizontal faces 14, 15 respectively.
Namely, the vertical faces 13 and the horizontal faces 15 of the transverse edges 11 delimit, in combination with the lower surface 9 of the support base 7, respective C-shaped transverse slots 16 whose function will be explained below.
As best shown in FIG. 1, the holes 6 in the shelves 1 for receiving the anchor means may have more or less elongate shapes and may be formed on the vertical faces 12, 13 of the transverse edges 11 and the longitudinal edges 10 at their corner areas 4.
Furthermore, the horizontal faces 14, 15 of the transverse edges 11 and the longitudinal edges 10 overlap at the corners of the support base 7.
Advantageously, each of the horizontal faces 14 of the longitudinal edges 10 is further folded twice to define a connection wall 17 which is inclined inwards with respect to the horizontal and a longitudinal wing 18 which is welded to the bottom surface 9 of the support base 7.
The longitudinal wings 18 have a length l₁ that is smaller than the length l₂ of the horizontal faces 14 of the respective longitudinal edges 10 and the connecting walls 17 are preferably inclined by 45° with respect to the latter and to the bottom surface 9 of the support base 7, as best shown in FIG. 5.
This configuration imparts greater load-resistance to the longitudinal edges 10 and can prevent the formation of permanent deformations when supporting heavy objects.
At least one longitudinal reinforcement member 19 is placed in contact with the bottom surface 9 of the support base 7 and has a "Ω" cross-sectional shape with side wings 20 joined together by a horizontal wall 21.
As best shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the horizontal wall 21 is oriented downwards and the lateral wings 20 are joined to the horizontal wall 21 by means of a pair of vertical sections 22.
Therefore, the lateral wings 20 are substantially parallel to the horizontal wall 21 and contact the bottom surface 9 of the support base 7, to thereby counteract the longitudinal bending of the latter along a substantially vertical plane.
The reinforcement member 19 has a height h₁ that is slightly smaller than the height h₂ of the twice-folded transverse edges 11, for its longitudinal ends 23 to fit into the C-shaped slots 16 in a central position. Furthermore, the lateral wings 20 have respective longitudinal ends 24 inclined with respect to the horizontal connecting wall 21.
Namely, the longitudinal end portions 23 of the reinforcement member 19 may fit into their respective slots 16 until the front edges 25 of the vertical sections 22 and the horizontal wall 21 abut the respective vertical faces 13 of the transverse edges 11 and the horizontal wall 21 contacts its respective horizontal face 15.
In a peculiar aspect of the invention, the horizontal wall 21 of the reinforcement member 19 has pair of first openings 26 at its longitudinal ends 23, as best shown in FIGS. 4 and 6.
Furthermore, the horizontal faces 15 of the opposite transverse edges 11 have at least one pair of central tongues 27 formed by cutting the metal sheet and fitting into the first openings 26 when the longitudinal ends 23 of the reinforcement member 19 are located in the C-shaped slots 16.
The reinforcement member 19 is coupled to the support base 7 without welds along its longitudinal extention, but only by placing its longitudinal ends 23 into the transverse edges 11, namely the C-shaped slots 16 and folding the central tongues 27 into the respective first opening 26 by an angle greater than 90° outwards.
Thus, the longitudinal ends 23 of the reinforcement member 19 are hooked and firmly locked to the support base 7.
Nevertheless, the reinforcement member 19 maintains a certain clearance relative to the support base 7, which allows the shelf 1 to bend within a predetermined limit to withstand heavy loads.
In an alternative embodiment of the invention, not shown, the reinforced shelf 1 may comprise a plurality of reinforcement members 19 having respective longitudinal ends 23 stably hooked to the transverse edges 11 of the support base 7 by means of respective pairs of tongues 27. Namely, this configuration is used with reinforced shelves 1 having larger transverse dimensions than the standard.
As best shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the central tongues 27 may be formed substantially at a center line of the support base 7.
Advantageously, the horizontal faces 14 of the longitudinal edges 10 may have respective second openings 29, similar to the first openings 26, at their longitudinal ends 28 overlapping the horizontal faces 15 of the transverse edges 11.
Both the first 26 and the second openings 29 may have transverse dimensions substantially similar to the transverse dimensions the horizontal wall 21 of the reinforcement member 19 and the horizontal faces 14 of the longitudinal edges 10.
Furthermore, the transverse edges 11 have lateral tongues 31, similar to the central tongues 27, formed in the horizontal faces, at their transverse ends 30. Therefore, each transverse edge 11 of the support base 7 comprises a central tongue 26 and a pair of lateral tongues 31.
The lateral tongues 31 may fit into the inside of the second openings 29 and be folded outwards to form an angle greater than 90°, as shown in FIG. 7.
Thus, the horizontal faces 14, 15 of the longitudinal 10 and transverse edges 11 will be hooked and mutually locked to stiffen the corner areas of the support base 7.
It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the reinforced shelf and the shelving unit fulfill the intended objects, and particularly can withstand heavy loads while preventing permanent deformations.
The reinforced shelf and the modular shelving unit of the invention are susceptible to a number of changes or variants, within the inventive concept disclosed in the appended claims.
While the reinforced shelf and the modular shelving unit have been described with particular reference to the accompanying figures, the numerals referred to in the disclosure and claims are only used for the sake of a better intelligibility of the invention and shall not be intended to limit the claimed scope in any manner.

Industrial Applicability

The present invention may find application in industry, because it can be produced on an industrial scale in factories operating in the field of civil and industrial storage devices.

Claims

A reinforced shelf (1) for modular shelving units (2) comprising:
a horizontal support base (7) made of sheet metal, which defines a longitudinal axis (L) and has a top surface (8), a bottom surface (9), a pair of longitudinal edges (10) and a pair of transverse edges (11);

at least one longitudinal reinforcement member (19) which is placed in contact with the bottom surface (9) of the support base (7) and has a "Ω" cross-sectional shape with side wings (20) joined together by a horizontal wall (21);

wherein said longitudinal edges (10) and said transverse edges (11) are folded twice, downwardly and inwardly, at right angles to define vertical faces (12, 13) and horizontal faces (14, 15) respectively;

wherein said horizontal wall (21) of said reinforcement member (19) has a pair of first openings (26) at their longitudinal ends (23), said horizontal faces (15) of said opposite transverse edges (11) having at least one pair of central tongues (27) fitting into said first openings (26), said reinforcement member (19) being coupled to said support base (7) without welds along its longitudinal extent, and by placing its longitudinal ends (23) into said transverse edges (11) and folding said central tongues (27) outwards to form an angle greater than 90°to thereby hook and firmly lock said longitudinal ends (23) to said support base (7).
A shelf as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said central tongues (27) are formed substantially at a center line of said support base (7).
A shelf as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said lateral wings (20) for locking said reinforcement member (19) are substantially parallel to said horizontal wall (21) and contact the surface bottom surface (9) of said support base (7) in order to counteract the longitudinal bending of the latter in a substantially vertical plane.
A shelf as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the horizontal faces (14, 15) of said longitudinal (10) and transverse (11) edges overlap at the corners of said support base (7).
A shelf as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the horizontal faces (14) of said longitudinal edges (10) have respective second openings (29), similar to the first openings (26), at their longitudinal ends (28).
A shelf as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that said transverse edges (11) have lateral tongues (31), similar to said central tongues (27), formed at their transverse ends (30) in said horizontal faces (15), said lateral tongues (31) fitting into said second openings (29) and being folded outwards to form an angle greater than 90° to thereby hook and lock together said horizontal faces (15) and stiffen the corner areas of said support base (7).
A shelf as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that each of the horizontal faces (14) of said longitudinal edges (10) is further folded twice to define a connection wall (17) which is inclined inwards with respect to the horizontal and a longitudinal wing (18) which is welded to the bottom surface (9) of said support base (7).
A shelf as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said vertical faces (12, 13) of said longitudinal (10) and transverse (11) edges comprise holes (6), possibly having a more or less elongate shape, which are designed to receive anchor means for securing said support base (7) to vertical posts (3) of the shelving unit (2).
A shelf as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said reinforcement member (19) has a height (h₁) that is slightly smaller than the height (h₂) of said twice folded transverse edges (11), said lateral wings (20) having longitudinal ends (24) inclined with respect to said horizontal wall (21).
A modular shelving unit (2) comprising:
at least four vertical posts (3);

one or more horizontal shelves (1) with a support base (7) having edges (10, 11) folded at least twice;

anchor means for securing said one or more shelves (1) to said posts (3);
characterized in that said one or more shelves (1) are of the type as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 9.