GB2198803A - Connector for framework structures - Google Patents

Abstract

A connector 18 for framework structures, particularly for supporting shelves and the like for use in shop-fitting, includes a sliding collar 20 having projecting therefrom at least one dovetail member 22, 24 engageable with recesses 30 in bars 14. There is a friction plate 28 within the collar 20, and a bolt 26 for moving the friction plate 28 into engagement with a post 10 located within the collar 20. Using such connectors, shelves can be located at any desired height on a post. Alternatively, the connector 18 could be slidable on a horizontal bar, and the dovetail recesses 30 provided in vertical posts. The collar 20 may be square, rectangular, triangular, oval, circular or hexagonal. <IMAGE>

Description

CONNECTOR FOR STRUCTURES This invention relates to a connector for use in assembling structures.

The connector finds particular although not exclusive application in the erection of frameworks which can support shelves, bins, rails or other shopfitting equipment. The connector could also be used in exhibition equipment or in a domestic environment.

Many connectors for structures are known. However, among the multitude of known connectors there are, to the best of Applicant's knowledge and belief, none which are (a) substantially hidden when the structure is erected (b) can be placed at any position along the length of a horizontal beam or vertical post (c) are robust and durable (d) can be fixed or adjusted by an unskilled person and (e) can be fixed or adjusted merely using a simple screwdriver.

According to the invention in its broadest aspect, there is provided a connector for structures which includes a collar having at least one member of re-entrant shape projecting therefrom, a friction plate within the collar, and a means for moving the plate in a direction towards or away from the collar. A member of re-entrant shape is to be taken as being a member having a wider portion remote from the collar joined to a narrower portion nearer to the collar.

According to the present invention, there is provided a connector for structures which includes a collar having projecting therefrom at least one and preferably at least a pair of dovetail members, a friction plate within the collar, and a means for moving the friction plate into engagement with a post or bar within the collar.

The collar may be square, triangular, rectangular, oral, circular or polygonal but square is preferred for most shopfitting applications. The dovetail members extend outwardly from the collar and may extend for example at right angles to each other in the case of a square or rectangular collar, or at 1200 to each other in the case of a triangular collar, or at 600 to each other in the case of a hexagonal collar.

The means for moving the friction plate is preferably a bolt having a slotted head to receive a screwdriver and extending through one of the dovetail members. The inner end of the bolt may be connected to the friction plate in such a way as to allow relative rotation but prevent detachment or removal of the plate. The bolt is of such a length that its slotted head is located within the body of the dovetail member when the bolt is tightened to urge the friction plate into gripping relationship with the bar or post.

The connector is preferably of metal. Brass or stainless steel are suitable. Alternatively it may be made of a relatively rigid plastics material, e.g. by an extrusion process. The friction plate is preferably metal.

In a particular and presently-preferred embodiment of the invention, a shelf system for use in shop fitting includes a series of wooden uprights or posts each having a back groove. A collar according to the invention is slipped over one of these posts and located at any height where a connection to a horizontal bar or other member is desired. The collar has an inner friction plate which may be of metal and this may be tightened onto the base of the groove in the wooden post to produce a friction grip. The fixes the collar at the desired vertical position. There may be one, two, three or four dovetail members projecting from the collar. A horizontal bar or shelf or other member which is desired to be connected to the vertical post has a recess of shape complementary to the dovetail member.When assembled, the inclined surfaces of the dovetail member are preferably substantially vertical. The recess is preferably let in upwardly from the base surface of the horizontal bar and if desired a closure plate may be provided beneath the dovetail member.

Alternatively one may rely upon gravity to prevent disassembly of the structure. The horizontal bars may be provided if desired with grooved channels or recesses to receive the edges of shelves.

Due to the unlimited range of adjustability of each collar on each post, arrays of shelving, cupboards, display bins or other shopfitting equipment may be errected even though the floor or support surface is not horizontal. By appropriate vertical adjustment of the collars on the posts, one can readily ensure that the shelves themselves are horizontal whatever the configuration of the supporting surface upon which the posts rest. Each post may if desired be provided with a metal, e.g. brass crapping. An important advantage of the invention is that each collar is completely reversible, so avoiding problems in choice of orientation of collar when assembling a structure.

The invention will be better understood from the following description of an illustrative and non-limiting embodiment, given with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an elevation showing a post, a connector according to the invention, two horizontal bars, and a capping; Figure 2 is an exploded view illustrating the co-operation between a post, a connector according to the invention, and a horizontal bar; Figure 3 is an elevation showing-an end elevation of a horizontal bar and a illustrating employment of a substantially triangular metal corner plate for further increasing the stability of the structure; and Figure 4 is a plan view showing a vertical post, a connector according to the invention, two horizontal bars mutually at right angles, the manner in which they support a shelf and the location of the metal corner plate referred to.

Referring firstly to Figure 1, this illustrates part of a shop fitting system incorporating the invention and shows a vertical post 10, having a capping 16 on its other end, and connected by a connector 18 to horizontal bars 12 and 14. The connector 18 is from a geometrical point of view based on a square in this embodiment of the invention, and the post 10 is accordingly of square cross section as are the horizontal bars 12 and 14. Desirably the post and the bars are of wood.

Referring now to Figure 2, the illustrated connector according to the invention, for co-operation with the post 10, includes a square collar 20 having four sides from two of which project dovetail members 22 and 24. As will be appreciated from the following discussion, a connector according to the invention can have one, two3 three or four dovetail members in the instance where it is based on a square design. One could equally well have connectors based on a triangular, hexagonal, or other shaped design in which event an appropriate number of dovetail members would be provided per collar.

Each dovetail member 22, 24, has side walls which are in vertical planes and is narrower at its base near to the collar and wider at its end remote from the collar. The vertical height of each dovetail member may for example be approximately one third of the height of the collar. In a connector 18 according to the invention, one of the dovetail members has a central threaded bore therethrough, to receive a non-headed threaded bolt 26 which has a cross-slot to receive a screwdriver at its outer end. A friction plate 28 is connected to the inner end of the bolt in such a manner that the bolt 26 can rotate relative to the friction plate 28. As will be understood, such relative rotation moves the friction plate inwardly or outwardly.Each vertical post 10 has a vertical groove 11 in one side thereof, dimensioned and shaped to receive the friction plate 28 and of a depth slightly greater than the thickness of the plate 28.

These parts form a means for fixing the connector 18 in any desired longitudinal position on the post 10, merely by tightening the bolt 26 with a screwdriver.

Unlike many prior known shop-fitting systems, there is no need to have a series of uniformly spaced recesses or notches in the vertical post and the choice of vertical position is consequently not limited or constrained by the need to engage some part in or with such a series of recesses or notches.

One form of horizontal bar 14 is seen in dotted outline, and its shape may be better understood by viewing Figure 3 which is an end elevation. The bar 14 has a recess in its end of complementary shape to the dovetail member, e.g. 24, with which it is to co-operate. The roof of the recess is formed by the material of the bar 14 and the recess opens at the lower surface of the bar 14.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a closure plate 32 may be provided to close off this recess once the bar 14 has been connected to the collar 20 by dropping the end of the bar over the dovetail member 24. The plate 32 may be connected to the bar 14 by any suitable means, e.g. adhesive, screws or tacks.

One of the upper longitudinal edges of the bar 14 is recessed as seen at 33, in order to provide a space which can receive the edge of a shelf. Beneath this recess 33 is a shelf supporting portion 34 of the bar 14. In the erection of a structure using connectors in accordance with the invention, a metal corner plate 36 may be included beneath the shelf 38 and fixed, e.g. by two screws as seen in Figure 4, to the shelf supporting portion 34 of the bar 14 and an adjacent bar 15 at right angles to it. The bar 15 is not shown in Figure 2.

As can be seen from Figure 1, once the structure is erected, the dovetail members 22 and 24 are entirely concealed and the only part of the connector 18 that is visible is a slim upper edge surface of the collar 20 and a coresponding slim lower edge surface of the collar 20. The latter surface could only be viewed by looking upwardly underneath a shelf at the region where it abuts a post 10. This is a significant and distinctive feature of the invention, most prior known designs of connector for shelf support systems being visually obtrusive and in general aesthetically unattractive. It will be understood that the connector 18 can readily be placed at any point along the height of a vertical post 10.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, at present not preferred, the system could be turned through 900 and the connectors 18 located on horizontal bars. Vertical posts would then be provided with appropriately located dovetail shaped recesses.

While mention has been made of circular, oval, and polygonal shapes as bases for the connectors according to the present invention, it is believed that the connector based upon a square will be in practice of the widest application and the greatest utility.

Of course it is not essential to the invention that the dovetail shaped members should be of precisely the configuration illustrated. Any member having a narrower portion nearer to the post and a wider portion spaced from the post, for example a headed stud, could be employed instead. It is however believed that the dovetail shape offers, in practice, a desirable structural ridigity coupled with ease of assembly by unskilled persons.

Structures erected using connectors of the present invention can readily be built and can be easily disassembled, and, once disassembled, all the parts are re-usable. No tool other than a screwdriver is required for assembling a display system utilizing connectors according to the invention. Accordingly the formerly expensive and time consuming operation of shop-fitting can be carried out utilizing connectors according to the invention relatively quickly and inexpensively.

Claims (9)

1. A connector for structures which includes a collar having at least one member of re-entrant shape projecting therefrom, a friction plate within the collar, and a means for moving the plate in a direction towards or away from the collar.

2. A connector for structures which includes a collar having projecting therefrom at least one and preferably at least a pair of dovetail members, a friction plate within the collar, and a means for moving the friction plate into engagement with a post or bar within the collar.

3. A connector according to claim 1 or 2 in which the collar is square.

4. A connector according to claim 1, 2 or 3 in which dovetail members extend outwardly from the collar with their inclined dovetail surfaces substantially vertical in use.

5. A connector according to any preceding claim in which the means for moving the friction plate is a bolt having a slotted head to receive a screwdriver and extending through one of the dovetail members, the inner end of the bolt being connected to the friction plate in such a way as to allow relative rotation but prevent detachment or removal of the plate.

6. A connector according to claim 5 in which the bolt is of such a length that its slotted head is located within the body of the dovetail member when the bolt is tightened to urge the friction plate into gripping relationship with the bar or post.

7. A shelf system for use in shop fitting including a series of wooden uprights or posts each having a back groove, and further including a plurality of connectors according to any one of the preceding claims.

8. A connector for structures substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

9. Any novel combination or sub-combination disclosed and/or illustrated herein.