GB2035058A - Shelf supports - Google Patents

Abstract

A supporting structure for shelving which comprises a horizontal shelf support member 6, 7 and an upright member 1 having slots along its length for the insertion of a hook portion 10 of the horizontal member, wherein additional toggle member 16 is pivotally mounted with respect to horizontal support member 6, 7 and can be urged in a clockwise direction by means of a bolt 17. The toggle member 16 has a hook portion 21 which is insertable into a lower slot in upright member 1, the toggle member then being locked in position with respect to the upright member 1 and the horizontal member 6, 7 by turning the bolt 17. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in shelf supports This invention relates to supporting structures for shelves, rails and like generally horizontally extending members for carrying and/or displaying goods, for example, in shops, offices and store-rooms.

In British patent 1, 202,883 there is described a supporting structure for shelving which comprises an upright having apertures spaced apart at regular intervals. A two-part support member extnes from the upright, and is mounted on the upright by virtue of the fact that each part of the support member is equipped with a hook portion which engages into a respective one of said apertures in the upright. The two parts of the support member can be moved by hand pressure to a position in which the structure is under stress, at which position the parts are locked by the insertion of a pin in two aligned apertures.

When the structure is such as to retain the support member firmly in place against the upright.

The arrangement described above has been commercially successful over the years, but has been found to suffer a number of disadvantages. In order to obtain sufficient leverage for the support member to become strongly locked into the upright, both parts of the support member have to be fairly long and fairly rigid in order to prevent buckling under pressure. This means that the two parts require to be fairly bulky and this leads to an over-complicated structure, and detracts from the external appearance of the structure as a whole. Furthermore, even with the leverage which is provided, the rigidity with which the support member clings to the upright may not be sufficient for many applications where extra large loads are to be carried.

The present invention seeks to mitigate these disadvantages by providing an aesthetically pleasing structure in which the support member may be locked against the upright with considerably greater force than hitherto, thus enabling greater loads to be carried.

According to the invention there is provided a supporting structure for shelving, which structure comprises an upright having apettures spaced apart at regular intervals along its length, a support member extending laterally from said upright, said support member having a hook portion which is engaged in one of the apertures in the upright, a toggle member having a hook portion for engagement in another of the apertures in the upright, means for pivotally attaching said toggle member to the support member, and means for rotating said toggle member about its pivot in order to cause relative movement between the hook portion on the support member and the hook portion on the toggle member to thereby lock the support member tightly against the upright.

Provided a suitable toggle rotating means is used, the toggle itself can be of very small size and, as such, can be effectively hidden from view. The support member thus appears to all intents as a unitary structure which improves the aesthetic appearance. Preferably the toggle rotating means is a threaded rod which is rotated in a threaded bore and bears against the toggle to cause rotation. The threaded bore may be provided in the support member itself or in a nut which acts in association with the support member to cause the threaded rod to move relative thereto as it is screwed. The use of a threaded rod enables considerable force to be applied to rotation of the toggle and hence enables the support member to be very strongly held against the upright.

Furthermore it will be clear that, as with the structure described in British Patent 1,202,883, the assembly is held tightly against both upwards and downwards lever age forces applied to the support member. As such, the support member is emanently suit able to form the bottom support member of a series of support members spaced one above the other on the upright. Such bottom support member is thus able, in conjunction with the upright, to form a floor support, enabling the whole structure to be free standing. This con trasts with some conventional types, in which the upright has to be a attached by screws or bolts to a wall or other vertical surface in order to hold the shelving structure upright.

In order that the invention may be better understood, an embodiment thereof will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a support structure according to the invention; Figures 2A and 2B are end and side eleva tions respectively of the toggle used in the support structure of Fig. 1; and Figures 3A, 3B and 3Care diagrammatic side views of the structure of Fig. 1 shown in three successive stages of assembly.

The support structure shown in the draw ings is intended to form a firm floor support for a free standing unit. The remainder of the unit (not shown) may comprise further similar horizontal support members for supporting the upper shelves of the unit. A complete shelving system may be built up using a plurality of such units, each unit comprising one upright and one or more horizontal support members.

Referring now to the drawings, each upright consists of a rectangular section tubular mem ber 1, the two narrower sides 2 of which are provided at regular intervals along their length with pairs of slots 3, the slots of each pair being disposed side by side. A foot 4 having a screw threaded stem (not shown) is secured in a threaded aperture in a plate 5 fixed to the bottom of the upright.

The horizontal support member comprises a pair of parallel metal sheets 6, 7 in which are formed depressions 8, 9 at corresponding positions so that the depressions maintain the sheets at a small spacing. Spot welds secure the two sheets together at the bases of the depressions. The spacing of the sheets is such as to correspond to the spacing of each of said pairs of slots 3. Each sheet is provided with a hook portion 10, best shown in Figure 3, which may be inserted into a corresponding slot 3. The hook portion 10 defines a shoulder 11 which, when the support member is in position, lies against the internal surface of one of the narrow sides 2 of the tubular member 1, as shown in Fig. 3C.

That end of the support member remote from the upright is formed with a leg 1 2 comprising a square section tubular member to which sheets 6 and 7 are fixed by welding.

A foot 1 3 having a screw threaded stem (not shown) is secured in a threaded aperture in a plate 14 fixed to the bottom of the leg.

The sheets 6, 7 are provided with aligned apertures for receiving a pin 1 5. A toggle member 1 6 is pivotally mounted about said pin and is positioned for free pivotal movement between the sheets 6, 7. The pin is such that it can be readily removed and replaced during disassembly and assembly of the structure. To this end, the pin is tapered to aid correct alignment of the toggle member 1 6 with respect to the aligned apertures in sheets 6 and 7. The toggle member 1 6 may be rotated in an anticlockwise direction about pin 1 5 by means of a hexagon-head bolt 1 7 which acts in a nut 1 8 which is located in aligned slots in sheets 6 and 7.

The toggle member 1 6 is shown in detail in Fig. 2. The member comprises a piece of plated steel which is bent into the form of a short U-shaped channel. Aligned apertures 1 9 in the two arms of the channel receive the pin 1 5 when the toggle member is in position.

The channel has two distinct widths: on the right hand side in Fig. 2B a substantially rectangular portion 20 having an outside width A such that it is able to slide freely within the space between sheets 6 and 7 of the support member; on the left hand side in Fig. 2B a hook portion 21 having an outside width B such that the hook portion can be inserted into a pair of slots 3 in the upright.

The hook portion 21 is similar to the hook portion 10 in the sheets 6 and 7 and likewise defines a shoulder 22 which abuts, during use, against the inside surface of one of the narrow sides 2 of the channel 1. A ridge 22 separates the rectangular portion 20 from the hook portion 21.

The sequence of assembly of the structure will now be described with particular reference to Fig. 3.

In stage one, shown in Fig. 3A, the hook portions 10 of the support member are inserted into the appropriate pair of slots 3-in the case Fig. 1, this is the sixth pair of slots 3 from the bottom of the upright. In stage two, shown in Fig. 3B, the hook portion 21 of the toggle member 1 6 is likewise inserted into the appropriate pair of slots 3-in the case of Fig. 1, this is the fourth pair of slots 3 from the bottom of the upright. Note that the direction of hook portions 10 and 21 are such that they extend away from one another.

Finally, in stage 3 shown in Fig. 3C, the support member is pivoted in a clockwise direction while the toggle member is pivoted in an anticlockwise direction, such that the toggle member 1 6 becomes tucked behind the end of the bolt 1 7. The tapered end of pin 1 5 is now inserted into the aperture in sheet 6 or 7 and is pushed through to the other side in order to align these apertures with the apertures 1 9 in the toggle member 1 6 and to cause the toggle member to become pivotally mounted about the pin. The bolt 1 7 is now screwed inwards to thereby rotate the toggle member anticlockwise about pin 1 5. This has the effect of moving the hook portions 10 and 21 apart, thus securely jamming the support member against the upright.

It will be seen that the support member is locked against movement both in a clockwise and an anticlockwise direction, thus enabling its use not only as a shelf support but as a foot assembly for a free standing shelving system. When assembled, the feet 4 and 13 are placed on the floor, and may be adjusted up and down to take account of irregularities in the floor surface.

Claims (8)

1. A supporting structure for shelving, which structure comprises an upright having apertures spaced apart at regular intervals along its length, a support member extending laterally from said upright, said support member having a hook portion which is engaged in one of the apertures in the upright, a toggle member having a hook portion for engagement in another of the apertures in the upright, means for pivotally attaching said toggle member to the support member, and means for rotating said toggle member about its pivot in order to cause relative movement between the hook portion on the support member and the hook portion on the toggle member to thereby lock the support member tightly against the upright.

2. A supporting structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the toggle rotating means comprises a threaded rod acting in a threaded bore, said rod being rotatable to bear against said toggle member, thus causing rotation of the toggle member.

3. A supporting structure as claimed in claim 2 wherein said threaded bore is formed in a nut, which nut is located in a slot in the support member.

4. A supporting structure as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the support member comprises a pair of parallel sheets of metal fixed together in spaced relationship, and wherein said toggle member is pivotally mounted between said sheets such that its hook portion is able to extend therefrom to engage in said aperture.

5. A supporting structure as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said means for pivotally attaching said toggle member to the support member is a removable pin which is located in apertures formed in the support member and the toggle member.

6. A supporting structure as claimed in claim 5 wherein said pin is tapered to enable manual insertion of the pin into its locating apertures to thereby assist in locating the toggle and support members correctly in relation to one another.

7. A supporting structure substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

8. A shelving system including a plurality of supporting structures as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.