GB2163944A - Shelf assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

A shelf is attachable to a support rail without the need for separate brackets. A shelf 12 may have support arms 15, 16 integrally formed therewith, and a tongue 30, Fig 4, for engagement within a narrow-mouthed channel in the support rail 10. The ends of the arms 15, 16 abut the rail 10, and may positively engage it. A plurality of such shelves may be located at any desired positions along a rail 10. An alternative form of shelf (90, Fig 9) engages at the top of a rail 10, having a tongue (130) which extends downwardly into the channel from the bottom of the shelf. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATIONS Shelf assembly The present invention relates to a shelf assembly.

According to the present invention there is provided a shelf assembly comprising at least one shelf member having in a rear region a tongue and abutment means providing abutment surface portions at either lateral side of the tongue; and a support member for attachment to a wall and having means for engaging a said tongue so that the shelf member is supportable by a single support member by engagement of the tongue and by abutment by the abutment surface portions. Preferably the abutment surface portions extend downwardly, and the support member has respective portions which they abut. Such an assembly is well suited to providing shelving at a corner.

In one form, a shelf member has a downwardly extending tongue, and the support member has an upwardly open cavity for receiving it. The arrangement is such that insertion of the tongue is limited by mutual abutment of portions of the shelf and support members.

In another form, the support member provides a narrow-mouthed channel which in use extends up the wall and is open forwardly. A shelf member then has a tongue which can be held captive within the channel against outward movement by engagement at the mouth. There may be a plurality of such shelf members, locatable at desired locations along the support member by sliding. Of course there could also be a shelf member of the previous type mounted at the top of the channel.

In order to resist accidental movement of a shelf member relative to a support member, there may be positive engagement between them. For example, mutually abutting portions of the tongue and the support member may have mutually engageable projections and apertures. Alternatively, there could be friction pad means on the abutment surface portions of the shelf member. Preferably the arrangement is such that loading on a shelf member urges the abutment surface portions to abut more strongly, and hence resist displacement.

Some embodiments of the invention will now be described in greater detail, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a shelf assembly according to the invention; Figure 2 is a plan view of the rail shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view of the shelf; Figure 4 is an isometric view of the shelf viewed upwardly from the rear, showing the formations for engagement; Figure 5 is a plan view of a cover strip; Figures 6a, 6b and Sc show other shelves for mounting in a corner; Figure 7 shows a further type of shelf; Figures 8a and 8b are elevation and plan views of a bracket; and Figure 9 is a plan view from beneath of another form of shelf It will be appreciated that in order to show certain features more clearly, the figures are not to the same scale.

Figure 1 shows a wall shelf system suitable for the corner of a room. It includes a single support member comprising a channel-shaped rail 10.

There may be a plurality of shelves 12, only one being shown in the drawing. The shelf 12 has a flat, substantially triangular, surface 14. A pair of triangular support arms 15,16 extend beneath respective side portions of the triangular surface 14.

The arms 15,16 may be integrally formed with the flat surface 14, which may be fabricated from sheet material or injection moulded plastics material, suitably ABS.

The rail 10 is shown in greater detail in Figure 2.

It is an extrusion, suitably of aluminium. It comprises two side sections 20,22 which are at rightangles to one another. The outer surfaces of these sections are designed to be flush with the two walls of a corner in which the rail is to be mounted. They are joined by a central section 24 which extends across the corner without contacting the walls. Each of the side sections 20,22 carries a respective inwardly projecting flange 26,27.

The flanges and the side and central sections partly enclose an area 28.

The shelf 12, which is shown in plan view in Figure 3, has a tongue 30 which projects rearwardly of a pair of lateral slots 32,34. The tongue 30 is designed to fit into the area 28, the projecting flanges 26,27 locating in the slots 32,34.

Referring now to Figure 4, the end edges 40,42 of respective support arms 15,16 engage against the outer surfaces of respective projecting flanges 27,26. This engagement together with the fitting of the tongue 30 in the area 28 causes the shelf 12 to be held horizontal by the rail 10.

In one preferred form, the respective edges 40,42 carry small cylindrical studs 44,46. The studs are provided to engage in apertures (not shown) in the projecting flanges 26,27. When the studs are locked into the apertures, the shaft 12 is rigidly fixed on the rail 10.

As shown in Figure 4, the edges of the groove portions are bevelled at the edges 47,48 in order to enable the shelf to be readily engaged at any required position on the rail by tilting it to get the tongue 30 engaging properly in the area 28. In the absence of such bevelling, engagement of a shelf would require it to be passed along the rail from one end.

Shelves can be placed at any desired positions along the rail. The rail between adjacent shelves or between a shelf and an end of the rail can be screened by a strip of appropriate length cut from a cover strip 50 (Figure 5). The cover strip 50 comprises a long thin central section 52 bounded at either side by projecting portions 54,55. Grooves or notches 56,57 on outer edges of the projecting portions 54,55 are arranged to embrace inwardly projecting corners of the projections 26,27. Thus an appropriate length of cover strip 50 can be fed down the channel-shaped rail 10 from the top.

Such a strip 50 can serve both to conceal the interior of the rail and to maintain the spacing between shelves, Thus it is not necessary for all of the shelves to have means such as studs 44,46 to prevent accidental displacement. If the bottom shelf is located in this way, higher shelves can be held at the correct spacings by portions of cover strip 50 extending between the tongues 30.

As an alternative to studs and apertures, there could be friction pads on the end faces 40,42 of supporting arms 15,16 and/or on the rail. If, for example, every shelf has friction pads, the cover strips 50 might not be necessary, though they might still be employed for the sake of appearances. Of course, it would also be possible for each shelf to have studs 44,46, with the rail 10 having pairs of apertures along its length.

Of course, it is possible to dispense with any such means, and rely on the normal friction. This is enhanced by loading the shelf at a forward region, which urges the end faces 40,42 against the rail.

The shelf shown in Figure 3 is substantially triangular. However a shelf may have any desired form.

Figures 6a,6b and 6c show further examples of shelves shaped to fit into a right-angled corner. Of course they could be mounted elsewhere, e.g.

projecting from a single wall or post. The invention is also applicable to shelves which are intended to lie flush with a single wall. Such an arrangement is shown in Figure 7, where a set of shelves 70 can be secured to a wall by means of a single rail which may be generally similar to the one shown in Figure 2.

The shelf 70 is generally rectangular, and is provided with a tongue 71 and grooves 72,74 of similar construction to the tongue 30 and the grooves 32,34 of the shelf shown in Figure 3. Underneath the shelf 70 there are a pair of support arms 75,76 similar to those shown in Figure 4. They subtend a right-angle between them, and each is at 45 to the rear edge of the shelf. As before, features such as studs or friction pads may be provided. The Dractical length of such a shelf is limited, because of the strain if a heavy object were placed at one end far from the rail. Should it be desired to support a long shelf using rails from shelf assemblies according to the invention, use may be made of brackets as shown in Figures 8a and 8b.The illustrated bracket has an upper surface 80, side triangular surfaces 81 and 82 with outwardly extending flanges 83,84 at the wall end, a tongue 85 and grooves 86,87. It will be appreciated that such a bracket can fit to the rail already described.

Figure 9 shows an example of a different type of shelf which is designed to fit at the top of a support member. The illustrated shelf 90 can be mounted at the top of a rail 10 as previously described. The shelf 90 is very similar to the shelf 12 shown in Figure 3. It has a flat triangular surface 114 (which, unlike the surface 14, extends fully to the rear vertex). A pair of triangular support arms 115,116 extend beneath respective side portions.

There is a tongue 130 at the rear, in the same position (as viewed in plan) as the tongue 30 of the shelf 12. However, it projects downwardly from the underside of the surface 114. Thus it will be appreciated that the shelf 90 can be located at the top of a rail 10, by placing it so that the tongue 130 projects down into the channel area 28. As with previously described shelves, end edges 140,142 of the support arms 115,116 engage against the outer surfaces of the flanges 27,26 of the rail. The top of the rail abuts the underside of the triangular surface 114, thus limiting the depth of insertion of the tongue 130. Thus it is not necessary to provide means such as studs 44,46 and apertures to determine the position of the shelf. However, such formations may still be desired so that the shelf can lock positively in place.

It will be appreciated that shelves which engage in the same way as the shelf 90 can have the various forms and features as described in connection with earlier embodiments. A shelf of this type could be used at the top of an assembly as previously described. Alternatively, the rail 10 could be short, so that it served only to accommodate a shelf of this last type. In such a case, the rail could be of a different form. For example, it could be tubular, with the tongue 130 projecting from above.

(However, a shelf may have a form such as would be obtained by taking a shelf 14 as shown in Figure 3 and placing a fully triangular surface portion 114 on top. It would then be necessary for the rail to be an open-fronted channel.)

Claims (10)

1. A shelf assembly comprising at least one shelf member having in a rear region a tongue and abutment means providing abutment surface portions at either lateral side of the tongue; and a support member for attachment to a wall and having means for engaging a said tongue so that the shelf member is supportable by a single support member by engagement of the tongue and by abutment of the abutment surface portions.

2. An assembly according to claim 1 wherein at least one shelf member has a pair of said abutment surface portions extending downwardly, and wherein the support member has respective portions which they abut.

3. An assembly according to claim 2 wherein the abutment surface portions of the tongue and the support member have mutually engageable projections and apertures.

4. An assembly according to any preceding claim constructed and arranged to be mounted at a corner.

5. An assembly according to any preceding claim wherein a said shelf member has a downwardly extending said tongue and the support member has an upwardly open cavity for receiving it, the arrangement being such that insertion of the tongue is limited by mutual abutment of portions of the shelf and support members.

6. An assembly according to any preceding claim wherein the support member provides a narrow-mouthed channel which in use extends up the wall and is open forwardly, and wherein a shelf member has a tongue which can be held captive within the channel against outward movement by engagement at the mouth.

7. An assembly according to claim 6 including a plurality of said shelf members with capturable tongues, and spacer means locatable in the support member to maintain the spacing of the shaft members.

8. An assembly according to claim 7 wherein the spacer means comprise at least one strip adapted to bridge the mouth of the channel.

9. An assembly according to any preceding claim wherein at least one said shelf member has a pair of support arms which extend generally be neath it, and whose rear portions constitute said abutment means.

10. A shelf assembly substantially as any de scribed herein and illustrated with respect to the accompanying drawings.