GB2131285A - Shelving arrangement - Google Patents

Abstract

A shelf (13) is supported between upright standards spaced apart by a distance equal to the length of the shelf, the mutually facing surfaces of the standards bearing opposed vertically spaced horizontal grooves. The brackets are secured to the shelf ends and are of resilient wire construction such that, when relaxed, they are canted outwardly (dashed lines, Figure 1). To fit a shelf between the standards the brackets are sprung towards each other and the rearward ends of wires 10 are entered into respective grooves in the standards. The brackets are then relaxed to allow the horizontal parts of the rearwardly extending hooks 14 to enter further higher grooves on the standards, the downwardly depending parts of the hooks 14 thereby being engaged with a rearwardly directed face of the standard to prevent 'pulling-out'. In an alternative bracket (Figure 5) wires 10 and 27 are replaced by a plate from which wires 28, 29 extend, the rear edge of the plate serving the same function as the projecting end of wire 10. In a further alternative bracket for slatted shelves (Figure 6) the bracket is adapted to engage dowels which interconnect the slats. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Shelving arrangement This invention relates to shelving arrangements.

Known shelving arrangements are typically comprised of a number of uprights which are fixable to a wall and brackets which are attachable to the uprights and on which a shelf can be rested. The uprights can include a plurality of slots spaced therealong and each bracket has projections corresponding to the slots. A bracket is offered up to an upright, the projections are inserted into the slots, and the bracket is allowed to drop under the action of gravity so as to be retained on the upright.

Usually, the shelves are rested on the brackets and may be attached thereto by means of screws.

A disadvantage with this arrangement is that it is unpleasing to the eye, since the shelves are supported from below by what are usually heavylooking and bulky brackets. In addition, the shelves are not particularly stable since an upward force on the shelf or the bracket may cause the projections on the bracket to become disengaged from the slots of the upright, thereby causing the shelf to fall. Further, there is a relatively low maximum weight which such shelves can support due to the closeness of the projections to each other and to the level of the shelf, such that only a relatively small weight on the shelf can give a large resultant turning movement about the projections thereby causing buckling or fracture of the projections and collapse of the shelf. Still further, the brackets are usually solid or made from a sheet material and are relatively expensive to produce.

The present invention overcomes the abovementioned disadvantages, at least in part, and provides a low-cost, high strength bracket which is aesthetically pleasing and can be easily and securely attached to a support.

Accordingly the present invention provides a shelving arrangement comprising a shelf, a support means and a bracket for mounting in part the shelf on the support means, the bracket being adapted to be secured to the shelf, the support means and the bracket having respective co-operating locating means which can be engaged with and disengaged from each other by movement of the locating means of the bracket in respectively one direction with respect to the support means and the opposite direction, abutment means to restrain movement of the shelf in said opposite direction with respect to the support means, and biasing means to urge the bracket so that said locating means of the bracket is urged in said one direction and so that the locating means of the bracket and the support means are held in engagement solely by the action of the biasing means and abutment means, the bracket being deflectable to move the locating means of the bracket in said opposite direction to release the locating means.

Specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a perspective view from below of part of a shelving arrangement including a bracket attached to the end of a shelf; Figure 2 shows a vertical section through the shelf; Figure 3 shows a horizontal section through an upright member shown in Figure 2; Figure 4 shows a fromt elevation of the shelving arrangement; Figure 5 is a perspective view of a modified bracket; Figure 6 is a perspective view of a further modified bracket; Figure 7 is a perspective view, partially cut away, of a shelf used with brackets of the type shown in Figure 6; and Figures 8 and 8A are views in the direction indicated by the arrows VIII-VIII in Figure 7 of part of the shelf with the bracket of Figure 6, partly fitted in Figure 8A and completely fitted in Figure 8B.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a basic shelving arrangement comprising a pair of upright elongate support members 21, a shelf 13 and a pair of brackets 11.

Each support member 21 is of generally rectangular section and is for securing against a vertical support surface such as a wall 22. The member has a plurality of equally spaced locating means along its length for co-operation with the bracket 11, each locating means being formed by a horizontal channel 24 which extends towards the wall 22 and intersects a longitudinal channel 25 extending the length of the member 21.

The support members 21 are secured to the wall 22 parallel to each other and spaced such that the shelf 13 lengthwise is a clearance fit between the members 21, each horizontal channel 24 in one of the members being on the same level as one of the horizontal channels 24 in the other member.

Each bracket 11 is formed from two steel rods which are bent and welded to form a generally triangular shape and is then chromium plated or otherwise finished. A lower limb 27 of the triangular bracket turns under the end of the shelf and is provided with two formations 15, 16 forming eyes by which the bracket 11 is rigidly secured to the shelf 13 using screws 18, 19. A vertical limb 28 extends adjacent and parallel the support member 21 when fitted thereto, and an inclined limb 29 extends between the top of the vertical limb 28 and the forward end of the lower limb 27.

An integral angled projection 14, forming a means of locating the bracket on the support member 21, extends rearwardly from the top of the vertical limb 28 and then downwardly to a free end. Generally at a level with the shelf 13, a straight projection 10 integral with the bracket 11 extends rearwardly, the spacing between the straight projection 10 and the rearwardly extending part of the angle projection 14 being twice the spacing of the channels 24 in the support members 21. Any other integer multiple may be used instead.

The brackets are formed such that, in their relaxed state, they diverge from each other as they extend away from the shelf (at a half angle of something like 5 to 10 degrees), as shown in Figures 1 and 4.

Fitting the shelf 13 (with brackets 11 attached) to the support members 21 is simply performed by pressing upper ends of the brackets 11 towards each other, against the resilience of the steel rods forming the brackets, inserting the straight projections 10 each into a horizontal channel 24 of a respective one of the support members 21, and then releasing the pressure on the tops of the brackets 11. The brackets then spring outwardly under their own resilience to vertical positions (as shown in solid line in Figure 4) in which the rearwardly extending portions of the angled projections 14 lie in the channels 24 which are two channels up from those occupied by the straight projections 10, and the downwardly extending portions ofthe angled projections 14 lie in the vertical channels 25.Since in this position the brackets 11 do not take up their relaxed positions, the angled projections 14 are urged by the resilience of the steel rod into the channels 24,25. Also, since the straight projections 10 lock the shelf 13 against longitudinal movement in either direction, the brackets 11, if one happens to be more strongly biassed than the other, cannot take up assymmetrical positions.

The weight of the shelf 13 and any articles on it is transferred to the support members by the straight projections 10 and the rearwardly extending portions of the angled projections 14. The shelf is prevented from tilting downwardly by the downwardly extending portions of the angled projections 14 engaging rearwardly facing surfaces 26 of the longitudinal channels 25.

Ratherthen providing two eyes 15,16 in the lower limb 27 of the bracket, one eye may be sufficient in certain cases.

Figure 5 shows a modified bracket. The rod forming the elongate projection 10 and a major portion of the lower limb 27 shown in Figure 1 are replaced by a steel strip 30 welded to the vertical limb 28 and to the remaining portion 31 of the rod forming the lower limb. The steel strip 30 is formed with a pair of holes 32 by which the strip can be screwed flat underneath the shelf end.

In a further modification, the vertical limb 28 can be omitted if the remainder of the bracket has sufficient resilience to provide the necessary bias to hold the angled projections 14 in engagement with the support members 21.

The shelf 13 may be of the type described in U.K.

patent application filing No.8213664 and the support members 21 may be any of the types described in U.K. patent application serial No. 2094134 (filing No.

8201392).

Figure 7 illustrates a shelf 13 of the type described in application No. 8213664 and comprises a plurality of spaced-apart longitudinal slates 34 (three being shown) secured together by a plurality of dowels 36.

A bracket 11 adapted for use with such a shelf is shown in Figure 6. The bracket 11 comprises a vertical limb 28, inclined limb 29, angled projection 14 and straight projection 10 like the bracket shown in Figure 1 to 4. A lower limb 38 of the bracket 11 shown in Figure 6 has offsetting end portions 40 so that the main portion 42 of the lower limb will extend beneath the shelf 13 inset from the end thereof. A pair of hook members 44 are welded to the upper surface of the main portion 42 of the lower limb spaced apart by one or more times the spacing of the shelf slats 34. The hook members 44 are formed so that, when attached to the shelf, they extend from the main limb 42, beneath and then up and half-way around the dowels 36.To secure the bracket 11 to the shelf, the hook members 44 are engaged with the dowels 36, with the vertical limb 28 extending horizontally sideways from the shelf. The bracket is then rotated about the dowels, through the position shown in Figure 8A, to the position shown in Figure 8B. In this latter position, the main portion 42 of the lower limb engages the underside of the slats 34, and the vertical limb 28 and lower end of the inclined limb 29 may also engage the ends of the front and rear slats 34. Thus further rotation of the bracket is resisted, and therefore such brackets at either end of the shelf can be biased towards each other (in a similar manner to that described with reference to Figures 1 to 4) during fitting of the shelf to the support members. Once fitted, the bracket cannot rotate clockwise from the position shown in Figure 8B, and thus the bracket is secured to the shelf.

Rather than being secured to a wall, any of the support members described above may be freestanding, or be secured to a wall but spaced therefrom. Also, two support members may be tied together in a back-to-back formation.

Claims (15)

1. A shelving arrangement comprising a shelf, a support means and a bracket for mounting in part the shelf on the support means, the bracket being adapted to be secured to the shelf, the support means and the bracket having respective cooperating locating means which can be engaged with and disengaged from each other by movement of the locating means of the bracket in respectively one direction with respect to the support means and the opposite direction, abutment means to restrain movement of the shelf in said opposite direction with respect to the support means, and biasing means to urge the bracket so that said locating means of the bracket is urged in said one direction and so that the locating means of the bracket and the support means are held in engagement solely by the action of the biasing means and abutment means, the bracket being deflectable to move the locating means of the bracket in said opposite direction to release the locating means.

2. A shelving arrangement as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the biasing means is provided by the self-resilience of the bracket.

3. A shelving arrangement as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein the support means comprises an elongate member to be disposed upright for supporting the shelf, the elongate member having a plurality of the said locating means spaced therealong so that different locating means may be selected for different levels of the shelf.

4. A shelving arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the locating means of the bracket is disposed above the shelf when the bracket is mounted in the support means.

5. A shelving arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the locating means of the bracket and at least part of the bracket is formed from bent rod.

6. A shelving arrangement as claimed in Claim 5, wherein the bracket has a rod portion which extends on the underside of the shelf and is adapted to be releasably and rigidly secured to the shelf.

7. A shelving arrangement as claimed in Claim 5 wherein the bracket has a strip portion which extends flat against the underside of the shelf and is adapted to be releasably secured thereto.

8. A shelving arrangement as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the shelf has at least one member extending transversely of the shelf, and the bracket has a hook portion adapted to be hooked around the transverse member, the bracket also having a further portion which abuts the shelf to limit free pivotal movement of the bracket around the transverse member.

9. A shelving arrangement as claimed in Claim 8, wherein the shelf comprises a plurality of spacedapart, longitudinal slats secured one to another by a plurality of transverse dowels, the transverse mem berengaged by the hook portion of the bracket being one of said transverse dowels.

10. A shelving arrangement as claimed in Claim 9, wherein the shelf is a shelf as claimed in United Kingdom Application No. 8213664.

11. A shelving arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the locating means of the support means comprises an angled groove or an angled portion of a grooving arrangement, the locating means of the bracket comprising a complementary angled projection engageable with the angled groove or groove portion.

12. A shelving arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein a further such bracket is secured to the shelf and associated with further such support means, the brackets being spaced apart along the shelf and the abutment means for each bracket being provided by contact between the other bracket and the support means associated therewith.

13. A shelving arrangement as claimed in Claim 12 as dependant on Claim 3, wherein the abutment means for each bracket is provided by a projection on the other bracket engageable with one of the locating means of the support means associated with that other bracket.

14. A shelving arrangement as claimed in Claim 12 or 13 wherein the brackets are secured at opposite ends of the shelf, the bracket at one end of the shelf being a mirror image of the bracket at the other end of the shelf.

15. Ashelving arrangement substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 to 4, or in Figures 1 to 4 as modified by Figure 5, or as modified by Figures 6 to 8B, of the accompanying drawings.