GB2148098A - Shelving systems - Google Patents

Abstract

In a shelving system the shelves are at least partially supported by vertical rails which pass through apertures in the shelves (see Fig. 1). In one form the rear edges of the shelves are held by concealed dowels which enter blind bores in both the rear wall and the rear edges of the shelf panels. In an alternative (free standing) form (See Fig. 7) only the vertical rods are provided, the shelves being prevented from sliding down them by pins inserted in diametral bores in the rods. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Shelving systems This invention relates to shelving systems.

It is known to custom-make shelving systems, for commercial or domestic use, to display and/or hold various items. One type of system comprises vertically extending slotted members which are fixed to a wall and into which brackets can be fitted at desired heights to support the shelves. In another type of system the shelves can be secured by anglebrackets or standard pre-drilled fixing blocks to uprights and/or a wall. In a further type of system, the shelves are fixed in place by battens secured to a wall. Though these known systems are satisfactory from the functional point of view, the various fixing members (the slotted members, brackets, anglebrackets, fixing blocks and battens) can detract from the aesthetic appeai of the system.

According to the present invention there is provided a shelving system including a plurality of shelves each supported by means of at least one substantially vertically extending rail that passes through an aperture in the shelf.

The use of one or more such rails that pass through apertures in the shelves can enable the fabrication of a system in which the means supporting the shelves is of an unobtrusive nature.

In a first embodiment of the invention described hereinbelow, at least one of the shelves has a face abutting a wall and is additionally supported by at least one pin that is received in said face and in the wall. Since the pin is received in the wall and in a face of the shelf abutting the wall, it can be arranged to support the shelf at the said face thereof in a substantially invisible manner. Further, in the first embodiment, a said rail that supports the at least one shelf passes through an aperture that is spaced from said face of the shelf, and such rail is a tight or snug fit in such aperture and is not provided with shelf support means where it passes through the aperture.In other words, as explained more fully below, support for the shelf is provided at the aperture simply by the inter-engagement of the rail and shelf, such form of support being, of course, intrinsically unobtrusive.

The above-outlined first embodiment is, as explained in more detail below, particularly applicable to a shelving system that lies against a wall. A second embodiment of the invention described hereinbelow is particularly applicable to a form of shelving system that extends outwardly from a wall or is even spaced from a wall, which form of system can if desired function as a room divider.

In the second embodiment, at least two said rails pass through respective said apertures in at least one of the shelves and, where it passes through the associated aperture, each rail is provided with shelf support means recessed within the shelf for taking the weight of the shelf. The shelf is thus supported in an unobtrusive manner.

The invention will now be further described, by way of illustrative and non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first shelving system embodying the invention, which system is designed to extend along and against a wall of a room; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of one of a plurality of main shelves of the system of Figure 1, showing how the shelf is supported; Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of an upper part of the system of Figure 1, showing how an upper end of a rail thereof is fitted into a ceiling of the room in which the system is located; Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of a lower part of the system of Figure 1, showing how the lower end of the rail is fitted to a lower shelf and how the lower shelf is supported;; Figure 5 is an elevational view of a second shelving system embodying the invention, which system is designed to be used as a room divider or the like; Figure 6 is a cross-sectional plan view of the system of Figure 5, taken along a line VI--VI in FigureS; Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view showing how each of a plurality of rails of the system of Figure 5 supports a main shelf of the system where it passes through an aperture in the shelf; Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of an upper part of the system of Figure 5, taken along a line VIll-VIll in Figure 5, showing how an upper end of each of the rails is fitted into a ceiling of a room in which the system is located; and Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view of a lower part of the system of Figure 5, taken along a line IX-IX in Figure 5, showing how lower ends of the rails are fitted to a lower shelf supported on a plinth.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings shows a shelving system fitted against a wall 10 of a room that includes another wall 12, a ceiling 14 and a floor 16. The shelving system comprises main shelves 18, corner shelves 20 and two lower shelves 22, all of which are of wood. The system further comprises a plurality of vertically extending main rails 24, five of which are shown in Figure 1, and a plurality of vertically extending lower rails 26, four of which are shown in Figure 1, all the rails 24,26 being in the form of chrome-plated metal tubes of circular crosssection, fixed in the illustrated positions by means described hereinbelow with reference to Figures 3 and 4. The number of shelves 18, 20 and 22, their sizes and layout can be selected in accordance with a user's requirements.The shelves and the rails are desirably pre-fabricated and then assembled and fitted in the room (as described below) in the desired position.

The way in which the main shelves 18 are supported will now be described with reference to Figure 2. For each shelf 18, at a position on the wall 10 which the shelf will abut when correctly positioned, a hole 28 is drilled in the wall and a metal pin 30 is inserted into the hole. Another hole 32 is drilled into the rear face or edge of the shelf 18 and the shelf is pushed against the wall 10 so that the pin 30 enters the hole 32 so as to support the shelf at its rear. (Preferably, as shown, the rear face of the shelf 18 is then substantially flush with the wall 10.) There will be at least one pin 30 (and the corresponding holes 30 and 32), and preferably two or more of them, for each of the shelves 18.

As will be evident, the rear fixing of the main shelves 18 provided by the pins 30 is very unobtrusive to the eye, in fact substantially invisible, in that the presence of the pins can be detected only by a very careful inspection of the shelving system.

Referring still to Figure 2, each of the main shelves 18 is supported towards its front by virtue of at least one (and preferably, as shown in Figure 1, at least two) of the main rails 24 passing through circular apertures 34 therein. The apertures 34 are of such a diameter that the rails 24 are a tight or snug fit in the apertures 34. The expression "tight or snug fit" is not to be taken to imply that force is required to insert the rails 24 into the apertures. Though this may be the case, an easy sliding fit will be satisfactory. What is required is that the fit of the rails 24 in the apertures 34 be sufficiently tight or snug that it will resist the tendency of the shelf 18 to pivot downwardly about its fixed rear face under the influence of the weight (loaded or unloaded) of the shelf 18.In this way, front support for the shelf is provided merely by the engagement of the rails 24 within the apertures 34, there being no need to provide additional shelf support means (i.e. means for preventing downward movement of the shelf with respect to the rail) where the rails pass through the apertures since substantial downward movement of the shelf 18 is resisted by the fact that any movement of the shelf will be pivotal about its fixed rear face and such pivotal movement will be resisted by the fact that it will cause the axes of the rails 24 and holes 34 to come out of alignment and prevent relative sliding movement of the rails and apertures. Naturally, the fixing of the shelves 18 in place with respect to the rails is intrinsically unobtrusive in that no additional fixing means is required.

The positioning of the apertures 34 is not critical in that the above-described support effect provided by the rails interengaging with the apertures will be obtained for any position of the apertures spaced substantially outwardly of the rear faces of the shelves 18. Preferably, however, the apertures 34 are disposed nearer the front faces that the rear faces of the shelves and, more preferably still, in the vicinity of the front faces. Further, in the interests of visual symmetry and symmetrical force distribution, the apertures 34 are preferably spaced by like distances from the rear faces of the shelves 18.

The corner shelves 20 are fixed in place in similar manner to the main shelves 18, except that (i) only one main rail 24 passes through apertures in them (at least in the system illustrated in Figure 1) and (ii) the rear faces of the shelves may be pinned to the wall 12, in the manner described with reference to Figure 2, as well as (or even instead of) the wall 10.

As shown in Figure 3, each rail 24 is maintained in position at its upper end by being passed into a hole 36 in the ceiling 14. In the arrangement shown in Figure 3, the ceiling 14 is assumed to comprise a ceiling board 38 and the hole 36 is a through hole drilled in the ceiling board. However, in the event of the ceiling being of a more solid construction, a blind hole would suffice.

Figure 3, and also Figure 1, show that a pelmet 40 may be fitted to extend along the ceiling at a position spaced outwardly of the rails 24, the pelmet being fixed in place by one or more brackets 42 which may be secured to the pelmet 40 and the ceiling 14 by screws (not shown). As also shown in Figure 3, one or more tubular lights 44 (e.g.

fiuorescent tubes) may be fitted behind the pelmet 40 to provide an attractive concealed lighting effect.

As shown in Figure 4, each main rail 24 is maintained in position at its lower end by being placed in a blind hole 46 drilled into the upper side or face of one of the lower shelves 22, except for the central one illustrated in Figure 1 which has its lower end similarly disposed in a blind hole drilled into the upper side or face of one of the main shelves 18.

Figure 4 also shows how the lower shelves 22 are fitted in place. The lower shelves 22 are supported at the rear by battens 48 screwed to the wall 10. (In the case of the right hand one of the lower shelves 22 shown in Figure 1, the edge extending along the wall 12 could be similarly supported by a batten.) Though the lower shelves 22 could be pinned to the wall 10 (and, in the case ofthe right hand one ofthe shelves, to the wall 12) in like mannertothe main shelves 18 and corner shelves 20, the use of a very strong support technique as provided by battens is preferred if, as in the illustrated arrangement, the lower shelves 22 are large as compared to the other shelves and intended to accommodate heavy objects such as television receivers, video tape recorders and music centres.In the case of the lower shelves 22, the use of the support battens 48 does not detract from the appearance of the shelving system because they are visible only to someone lying on the floor.

The lower shelves 22 are further supported, at positions spaced outwardly of their rear faces, by the lower rails 26, the upper ends of which are fitted into blind holes 50 drilled in the underside of the shelves 22 and the lower ends of which are fitted into blind holes 52 drilled into the floor 16 (floorboards or screed).

As mentioned above, the shelving system described above is custom designed, made and installed in accordance with the user's requirements. The particular arrangement shown in Figure 1 is given by way of example and can be modified in a variety of ways. For instance, the provision of two spaced lower shelves 22 in the illustrated arrangement defines a recess in which an object, e.g. an article of furniture, can be accommodated against the wall 10. If such a recess is not required, the gap between the two illustrated lower shelves 22 can be bridged by the provision of a single rather longer lower shelf. Instead, if desired, more than two lower shelves could be provided.

Further, if desired, the lower shelves could be dispensed with altogether or replaced by further main shelves 18, in which case the lower rails 26 would not be used and the main rails 24 would be extended downwardly to that their lower ends could be located in blind holes drilled into the floor 16.

The illustrated arrangement could further be modified, if it is not required to extend into the corner of the room where the walls 10 and 12 meet, by removing the corner shelves 20 and, if desired, by shortening or moving the right hand lower shelf 22 so that it does not extend into the corner.

Further, the illustrated arrangement could be modified in that, while the rear faces of the main shelves 18 are pinned to the wall 10 in the manner described with reference to Figure 2, the shelves 18 are supported at positions spaced outwardly of the rear faces in some other manner than the abovedescribed technique of interengagement of rails 24 within apertures 34 in the shelves.

Figures 5 and 6 show a shelving system fitted into a room so as to extend outwardly from a wall 100 of the room so that it can be used, for example, as a room divider. The shelving system comprises a wooden bottom shelf 102, secured on a plinth 104 that rests on the floor 106 of the room, wooden main shelves 108, and vertically extending rails 110, in the form of chrome-plated metal tubes of circular crosssection, that extend between the ceiling 112 of the room and the bottom shelf 102 and are maintained in position with respect to the ceiling and bottom shelf in a manner described hereinbelow with reference to Figures 8 and 9. The number of shelves and their sizes and layout can be selected in accordance with a user's requirements. The shelves and the rails 110 are pre-fabricated and then fitted in the room (as described below) in the desired position.

The way in which the main shelves 108 are supported will now be described with reference to Figure 7. Two of the rails 110 extend through two apertures 114 drilled through each of the shelves 108. To position each shelf 108 at the desired height on the associated rails 110, a hole is drilled through each rail (preferably diametrically) and a steel pin 116 is passed through it such that its ends form projections that extend outwardly from opposite sides of the rail to support the shelf. Preferably, as shown in Figure 7, a recess 118 is formed in the underside of the shelf 108, for each pin, and the pin is disposed in the recess so that the fixing of the shelf to the rails is unobtrusive.

As can be seen from Figure 6, the two rails 110 that extend through each of the shelves 108 are spaced both longitudinally and transversely of the longitudinal axis of the shelf, which enhances the rigidity of the structure. (So that the four shelves 108 visible in Figure 6 can more readily be identified with the corresponding shelves in Figure 1, they are designated 108A, 108B, 108C and 108D in both figures.) The rigidity of the structure is further enhanced in that, for each three adjacent rails 110, any shelf 108 through which first and second ones of the three rails extend is vertically adjacent a shelf through which the second and third rails extend.

The structure illustrated in Figure 5 is in fact of such rigidity that it is practicable to extend its length (the left to right dimension in Figure 5) more or less indefinitely by lengthening the bottom shelf 102 and plinth 104 and adding further main shelves 108 and rails 110.

As shown in Figure 8, each rail 110 is maintained in position at its upper end by being passed into a hole 120 in the ceiling 112. In the arrangement shown in Figure 8 the ceiling 114 is assumed to comprise a ceiling board 122 and the hole 120 is a through hole drilied in the ceiling board. However, in the event of the ceiling being of a more solid construction, a blind hole would suffice.

As shown in Figure 9, each rail 110 is maintained in position at its lower end by being disposed in a blind hole 124 drilled into the upper side or face of the lower shelf 102.

As mentioned above, the shelving system shown in Figure 5 is custom designed, made and installed in accordance with the user's requirements. The particular arrangement shown in Figure 5 is given by way of example and can be modified in a variety of ways. For instance, though the illustrated arrangement is shown positioned in abutment at one end with the wall 100 to extend outwardly therefrom in the manner of a peninsula, the essentially free-standing nature (only the upper ends of the rails 110 and, if desired, the plinth 104 and/or bottom shelf being maintained in position with respect to the building structure) of the system enables it readily to be positioned remote from any wall in the manner of an island.

The system shown in Figure 5 can further be modified in the following ways. If desired, in particular in the case of longer shelves, more than two of the rails 110 can extend through at least some of the shelves 108 in the manner described with reference to Figure 7. Further, if desired, the lower shelf 102 and plinth 104 could be divided up to form two or more spaced shelf/plinth units; or the lower shelf 102 and plinth could be dispensed with and the rails 110 extended so that their lower ends can be fitted into holes drilled into the floor 106.

Claims (22)

1. A shelving system including a plurality of shelves each supported by means of at least one substantially vertically extending rail that passes through an aperture in the shelf.

2. A shelving system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the shelves has a face abutting a wall and is additionally supported by at least one pin that is received in said face and in the wall.

3. A shelving system according to claim 2, wherein a said rail that supports the at least one shelf passes through an aperture that is spaced from said face of the shelf, and such rail is a tight or snug fit in such aperture and is not provided with shelf support means where it passes through the aperture.

4. A shelving system according to claim 3, wherein the aperture in which the rail is a tight fit is spaced farther from said face of the shelf than from an opposite face of the shelf that is remote from the wall.

5. A shelving system according to claim 2, claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the at least one shelf extends along the wall with a rear face abutting the wall and is supported by at least two said pins received in said face and in the wall at mutually horizontallyspaced positions.

6. A shelving system according to claim 5, wherein at least two said rails pass through respective apertures in the at least one shelf at mutually horizontally-spaced positions.

7. A shelving system according to claim 6, wherein the apertures through which the at least two rails pass are spaced by like distances from the rear face of the shelf.

8. A shelving system according to claim 1, wherein at least two said rails pass through respective said apertures in at least one of the shelves and, where it passes through the associated aperture, each rail is provided with shelf support means recessed within the shelf for taking the weight of the shelf.

9. A shelving system according to claim 8, wherein the shelf support means is disposed within a recess in the lower surface of the shelf.

10. A shelving system according to claim 9, wherein the shelf support means comprises at least one projection extending outwardly from the rail.

11. A shelving system according to claim 9 or claim 10, wherein the shelf support means comprises a pin extending through a hole in the rail and projecting outwardly from at least one side of the rail.

12. A shelving system according to any one of claims 8 to 11, wherein the apertures in the at least one shelf through which the at least two rails pass are mutually spaced both longitudinally and transversely of a longitudinal axis of the shelf.

13. A shelving system according to any one of claims 8 to 12, wherein there are at least three rails, first and second of the three rails pass through apertures in a first shelf, and the second and third of the three rails pass through apertures in a second shelf which is vertically adjacent said first shelf.

14. A shelving system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the upper end of the at least one rail is maintained in position by a ceiling structure of a room in which the shelving system is located.

15. A shelving system according to claim 14, wherein the upper end of the rail is disposed in a hole formed in the ceiling structure.

16. A shelving system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the lower end of the at least one rail is maintained in position by a lower shelf of the system.

17. A shelving system according to claim 16, wherein the lower end of the rail is disposed in a recess formed in the lower shelf.

18. A shelving system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one rail is of circular outline in cross-section.

19. A shelving system according to claim 18, wherein the rail is a tube.

20. A shelving system substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1 to 4 of the accompanying drawings.

21. A shelving system substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 5 to 9 of the accompanying drawings.

22. A kit of parts capable of being assembled to form a shelving system according to any one of the preceding claims.