GB2256787A - Cantilevered bar rack - Google Patents

Abstract

An adjustable cantilevered bar rack comprises a plurality of vertical support columns 1, each formed from a pair of spaced apart U-shaped channel sections 5 arranged back to back, and a plurality of horizontal support arms 2. The horizontal arms 2 each have at one end a narrow tongue portion 13 which extends from a flange 17 and is received between the channel web panels 9. The channel sections 5 have a plurality of uniformly spaced holes 11 along the channel web panels 9 which are aligned in the support column 1. A pin 16 is passed through a bore 15 in the tongue portion 13 through the aligned holes 11 in the support column 1 and is secured by locking washers 21 to anchor the arm 2 to the support 1. <IMAGE>

Description

BAR RACKS The present invention relates to bar racks and more particularly to cantilever bar racks.

Cantilever bar racks are used to store lengths of materials at different levels. They comprise a series of vertical support columns braced together, each support column having cantilevered arms mounted thereon. The advantage of cantilever bar racks is that they have an open structure. This does not cause a restriction when loading and unloading the racking, such as is caused by the presence of a second arm support column in other sorts of racking, for example pallet racking.

The cantilevered arms may be fixed by welding or adjustably mounted on the vertical support columns.

One sort of adjustable cantilever bar rack enables the arms to be adjusted in fixed increments to different levels along the height of the vertical support column.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved cantilever bar rack which is adjustable in fixed increments along the height of the vertical support.

According to the present invention there is provided an adjustable bar rack comprising: a plurality of support columns each comprising a pair of substantially parallel, spaced apart panels, each panel having a plurality of holes spaced along its length, the holes in one panel being aligned with respective holes in the other panel; and a plurality of support arms, each arm being anchored at one end thereof to a support column, wherein the end of an arm is anchored between a pair of panels by a pin which passes through aligned holes in the pair of panels.

Preferably the support columns each comprise a pair of U-shaped channel sections arranged back to back and having a gap between the webs of the respective channel sections to receive the anchored end of the arm.

Preferably the anchored end of each arm is in the form of a tongue extending from a shoulder which bears on the column, the tongue being anchored between the panel pair.

Preferably the plurality of holes are spaced uniformly along each panel.

Other preferred features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying claims.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a part of a bar rack forming an embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 2 is a side view of figure 1.

The figures illustrate an embodiment of the invention.

A cantilevered bar rack comprises a plurality of vertical support columns each indicated generally by reference numeral 1, and a plurality of horizontal support arms indicated generally by reference numeral 2, (only one column and one arm are shown in the drawings).

The vertical support columns 1 each comprise a pair of U-shaped channel sections 5 having a channel web panel 9 and two channel side portions 10. The two channel sections 5 are fixed together, eg. by welding bracing pieces between them at intervals, and are arranged back to back and spaced apart to form a narrow slot 7 between the channel web panels 9. Each channel web panel 9 is provided with a plurality of circular holes 11 uniformly spaced along its length, for example at 75mm increments, the holes 11 of the panel pairs being aligned.

The horizontal support arms 2 each have at one end a narrow tongue portion 13, adapted to fit snugly within the slot 7 between the panels 9, which extends from a flange 17 which forms a shoulder for bearing against the vertical support column 1. The tongue portion 13 has a bore 15 which is aligned with the holes 11 in the panels 9 when the tongue portion 13 is fully inserted into the slot 7, that is, when the flange 17 abuts the adjacent side portions 10 of the two U-shaped channel sections 5 which form the vertical support column 1.

A pin 19 is received through the bore 15 in the tongue 13 and the holes 11 in the two channel web panels 9 to anchor the arm 2 on the vertical support column 1. The pin 19 is held in place by locking washers 21, (for example, washers having inwardly projecting tabs which grip the pin), positioned on the outer sides of the panels 9.

When the arm 2 is loaded (as indicated by the arrow in figure 2) the load is taken by a single pin 19 and is transferred directly to the channel web panels 9 without imposing bending stresses on the side portions 10 of the channel sections 5. This enables low weight (and hence low cost) steel channel sections to be used.

It will be understood that a plurality of vertical support columns 1 can be braced together to form a bar rack of the appropriate dimensions and a number of horizontal support arms 2 may be secured to each vertical support column 1.

A second set of aligned holes 11 may be provided on the opposite side of each vertical support column 1 so that cantilevered arms 2 may be anchored on both sides of the bar rack.

One advantage of the above-described cantilevered bar rack is the ease of adjustment of the arms 2 to different levels by knocking the pin 16 out, moving the arm up or down and replacing the pin in the new position. The locking washers 21 are easily removed, as the pin 16 is knocked out, and replaced. The washers themselves do not carry any load.

If preferred the pin 19 and washers 21 could be replaced, for example by a threaded nut and bolt assembly.

It will be appreciated that various modifications may be made to the described embodiment and it is intended to include all such modifications as fall within the scope of the accompanying claims.

Claims (7)

CLAIMS:

1. An adjustable bar rack comprising: a plurality of support columns each comprising a pair of substantially parallel, spaced apart panels, each panel having a plurality of holes spaced along its length, the holes in one panel being aligned with respective holes in the other panel; and a plurality of support arms, each arm being anchored at one end thereof to a support column, wherein the end of an arm is anchored between a pair of panels by a pin which passes through aligned holes in the pair of panels.

2. An adjustable bar rack as dlaimed in claim 1, wherein the support columns each comprise a pair of U-shaped channel sections arranged back to back and having a gap between the webs of the respective channel sections to receive the anchored end of the arm.

3. An adjustable bar rack as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the plurality of holes are spaced uniformly along each panel.

4. An adjustable bar rack as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the pin is held in place by locking washers.

5. An adjustable bar rack as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the anchored end of each support arm is in the form of a tongue extending from a shoulder which bears on the column, the tongue being anchored between the panel pair.

6. An adjustable bar rack as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a second plurality of aligned holes is provided on each support column so that support arms may be anchored on both sides of each column of the bar rack

7. An adjustable bar rack substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.