US20110220602A1

US20110220602A1 - Shelf to twin-post support assembling structure for sectional rack

Info

Publication number: US20110220602A1
Application number: US12/720,985
Authority: US
Inventors: Henry Chen
Original assignee: Protrend Co Ltd
Current assignee: Protrend Co Ltd
Priority date: 2010-03-10
Filing date: 2010-03-10
Publication date: 2011-09-15

Abstract

In a shelf to twin-post support assembling structure for sectional rack, the sectional rack includes at least two side support frames and at least two shelves, the shelves are provided at four corners with fastening connectors for engaging with front and rear twin-post supports of the side support frames, and the shelf to twin-post support assembling structure includes transverse metal bars connected to lower front and lower rear end of every shelf as well as a movable bracket rotatably connected to each of two lateral ends of the transverse metal bars. The movable brackets have upper ends connected to the transverse metal bars of the shelves and lower ends to the twin-post supports of the side support frames to provide a sideward support effect between the shelves and the side support frames, so that the sectional rack has increased structural strength without wobbling under a sideward external force applied thereto.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a shelf to twin-post support assembling structure for sectional rack, which mainly includes four additional movable brackets provided at four corners of every shelf of a sectional rack, and the movable brackets are connected at upper and lower ends to between the shelves and twin-post supports of the sectional rack to provide sideward supporting strength, enabling the assembled sectional rack to withstand increased sideward external force without wobbling.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various types of organization products are provided in homes, offices or other working places for holding or positioning different articles and items. Such organization products can be generally divided into a fixed type that could not be easily disassembled and a sectional type that can be easily disassembled and assembled again. The sectional organization products have the advantages of easy to store and transport to thereby enable reduced storing and transporting costs and accordingly upgraded market competing ability.
The sectional organization products can be further divided into two types, one of which requires tools to assemble and disassemble it while the other type can be assembled and disassembled without the need of using any tool. Among the same type of sectional organization products, the products that can be assembled using fewer tools would be accepted by more consumers. FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional sectional rack 1 that has been marketed for many years. The sectional rack 1 has a left and a right side support frame 10, and a plurality of shelves 11 assembled to and between the two side support frames 10. Each of the side support frames 10 includes a front twin-post support having two juxtaposed front posts 101 and a rear twin-post support having two juxtaposed rear posts 102, and at least two vertically spaced horizontal metal braces 103. The horizontal metal braces 103 are welded at front and rear ends to the front posts 101 and the rear posts 102, respectively.
Every shelf 11 is fixedly provided at four corners with a fastening connector 111 each. The fastening connectors 111 each are an axially extended U-shaped bracket to define a U-shaped receiving space therein. The U-shaped receiving spaces of the fastening connectors 111 located at two front corners of the shelves 11 are forward opened, while the U-shaped receiving spaces of the fastening connectors 111 located at two rear corners of the shelves 11 are rearward opened. When measuring at the same lateral side of the shelf 11, a distance between an inner end of the forward opened receiving space of the front fastening connector 111 and an inner end of the rearward opened receiving space of the rear fastening connector 111 is slightly smaller than a distance between the front posts 101 of the front twin-post support and the rear posts 102 of the rear twin-post support of the side support frame 10. The receiving spaces of the fastening connectors 111 at four corners of the shelves 11 can be engaged with corresponding front and rear posts 101, 102 of the side support frames 10, so that the shelves 11 outward push against the front posts 101 and the rear posts 102 of the side support frames 10 and are fixedly assembled to between the two side support frames 10. The above-structured sectional rack 1 has relatively low structural strength and tends to wobble sidewardly. To overcome this problem, two crossed tension braces 12 are further erected between the rear posts 102 of the two side support frames 10 to give the assembled sectional rack 1 an increased structural strength. Since the crossed tension braces 12 are not suitable for mounting to between the front posts 101 of the side support frames 10, the sectional rack 1 does not have balanced front and rear structural strength. Thus, the whole sectional rack 1 still has poor structural strength and tends to wobble sidewardly when an external force is applied thereto. In brief, the structure for assembling the shelves 11 to the side support frames 10 of the conventional sectional rack 1 is not suitable for forming a sectional rack with increased height and width.
It is therefore tried by the inventor to overcome the problems in the conventional sectional rack having twin-post supports by developing a shelf to twin-post support assembling structure for sectional rack, so that the sectional rack with the assembling structure of the present invention in a fully assembled state can have increased structural strength without wobbling under sideward external force applied thereto.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a shelf to twin-post support assembling structure for sectional rack, so that shelves and twin-post supports of the sectional rack are firmly connected to one another to give the whole assembled sectional rack an increased structural strength.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a shelf to twin-post support assembling structure for sectional rack, so that crossed metal tension braces required in the conventional sectional rack can be now omitted from the back of the sectional rack with the shelf to twin-post support assembling structure according to the present invention, enabling the sectional rack to have a neat and aesthetic appearance.
The sectional rack includes at least two side support frames and at least two shelves. The side support frames respectively includes a front twin-post support having two juxtaposed front posts and a rear twin-post support having two juxtaposed rear posts. The shelves are provided at four corners with a fastening connector each for engaging with the front and rear twin-post supports of the side support frames.
To achieve the above and other objects, the shelf to twin-post support assembling structure for sectional rack according to the present invention includes a front and a rear transverse metal bar respectively connected to lower front and lower rear end of every shelf, and a movable bracket rotatably connected to each of two lateral ends of the front and rear transverse metal bars. Each of the movable brackets has an upper end connected to the transverse metal bar of the shelf and a lower end connected to the twin-post support of the side support frame. While the fastening connectors allow a user to primarily assemble the shelves to the two side support frames, the use of the movable brackets further increases the connection strength between the shelves and the side support frames, enabling the fully assembled sectional rack to have increased structural strength without wobbling under a sideward external force applied thereto.
The fastening connectors provided at four corners of the shelves each are an axially extended U-shaped bracket to define a U-shaped receiving space therein. When the U-shaped receiving spaces of the fastening connectors are engaged with the front posts and rear posts of the side support frames on two lateral sides of the shelves by force fitting, the shelves function to outward push against the front posts and the rear posts of the twin-post front and rear supports of the two side support frames, so that the shelves are primarily assembled to the two side support frames.
In the shelf to twin-post support assembling structure for sectional rack according to the present invention, each of the movable brackets has an upper end rotatably fitted around one corresponding front or rear transverse metal bar, and a lower end formed into a U-shaped section to define a U-shaped engaging space therein. With the U-shaped engaging spaces at the lower ends of the movable brackets being correspondingly tightly engaged with the front and the rear posts of the side support frames, the movable brackets provide additional sideward supporting strength between the shelves and the side support frames to increase the overall structural strength of the fully assembled sectional rack.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein

FIG. 1 is an assembled perspective view of a conventional sectional rack;

FIG. 2 is an assembled perspective view of an embodiment of a sectional rack with the shelf to twin-post support assembling structure according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of a shelf for the sectional rack of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary bottom perspective view showing the shelf of FIG. 3 is first assembled to two twin-post supports of the sectional rack of FIG. 2 via fastening connectors;

FIG. 6 is another fragmentary bottom perspective view showing the shelf of FIG. 5 is further securely assembled to the twin-post supports of the sectional rack via movable brackets; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the sectional rack with the shelf to twin-post support assembling structure according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described with some preferred embodiments thereof. For the purpose of easy to understand, elements that are the same in the preferred embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals.
Please refer to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. A shelf to twin-post support assembling structure for sectional rack according to the present invention enables the assembling of a shelf 30 at four corners to two side support frames 20 to thereby form a sectional rack 2 for use. A fully assembled sectional rack 2 includes at least two side support frames 20, and at least two shelves 30. A first embodiment of the sectional rack 2 illustrated in FIG. 2 is assembled from two side support frames 20 and three shelves 30.
Each of the side support frames 20 includes a front twin-post support having two juxtaposed front posts 21, a rear twin-post support having two juxtaposed rear posts 22, and at least two (three are shown in the drawings) vertically spaced horizontal braces 23 arranged from top to bottom. Each of the horizontal braces 23 has a front and a rear end welded to the front posts 21 and the rear posts 22, respectively. More specifically, the front ends of the horizontal braces 23 are fixedly welded to between the two juxtaposed front posts 21, and the rear ends of the horizontal braces 23 are fixedly welded to between the two juxtaposed rear posts 22.
Each of the shelves 30 is provided at a lower front and a lower rear end with a front and a rear transverse metal bar 33 and 34, respectively. The shelves 30 in the illustrated embodiment are metal shelves made of a plurality of metal bars. Every shelf 30 is fixedly provided at four corners with a fastening connector 31 each. The fastening connectors 31 are respectively an axially extended U-shaped bracket to define a U-shaped receiving space 32 therein. The U-shaped receiving spaces 32 of the fastening connectors 31 located at two front corners of the shelf 30 are forward opened, while the U-shaped receiving spaces 32 of the fastening connectors 31 located at two rear corners of the shelf 30 are rearward opened. When measuring at the same lateral side of the shelf 30, a distance between an inner end of the forward opened receiving space 32 of the front fastening connector 31 and an inner end of the rearward opened receiving space 32 of the rear fastening connector 31 is slightly smaller than a distance between the front posts 21 of the front twin-post support and the rear posts 22 of the rear twin-post support of the side support frame 20. When the fastening connectors 31 located at front corners and rear corners of the shelves 30 are engaged at their U-shaped receiving spaces 32 with front posts 21 and rear posts 22, respectively, of the side support frames 20 on two lateral sides of the shelves 30 by force fitting, the shelves 30 function to outward push against the front posts 21 and the rear posts 22 of the twin-post front and rear supports of the two side support frames 20, so that the shelves 30 are primarily assembled to the two side support frames 20, as shown in FIG. 5. The sectional rack 2 so assembled through engagement of the fastening connectors 31 of the shelves 30 with the front and rear posts 21, 22 of the side support frames 20 now has a structural strength generally similar to that of the conventional sectional rack 1 illustrated in FIG. 1. The horizontal braces 23 of the side support frames 20 not only connect the front posts 21 to the rear posts 22, but also produce an effect of locating the shelves 30 in place.
A movable bracket 40 is rotatably connected to each of two lateral ends of the front and rear transverse metal bars 33, 34 arranged at the lower front and lower rear end of every shelf 30. The movable bracket 40 has an upper end 41 rotatably fitted around one corresponding front or rear transverse metal bar 33, 34, and a lower end formed into a U-shaped section 42 to define a U-shaped engaging space 43 therein. The U-shaped engaging spaces 43 of the movable brackets 40 provided on the front transverse metal bars 33 of the shelves 30 are forward opened, while the U-shaped engaging spaces 43 of the movable brackets 40 provided on the rear transverse metal bars 34 of the shelves 30 are rearward opened.
When the fastening connectors 31 at four corners of the shelves 30 have been connected to the left and right side support frames 20 with the receiving spaces 32 of the fastening connectors 31 engaged with corresponding front and rear posts 21, 22, the movable brackets 40 connected to the front transverse metal bars 33 of the shelves 30 can be sequentially turned forward about the front transverse metal bars 33, so that the U-shaped engaging spaces 43 at the lower ends of the movable brackets 40 are correspondingly tightly engaged with the front posts 21 of the side support frames 20; and then, the movable brackets 40 connected to the rear transverse metal bars 34 of the shelves 30 are sequentially turned rearward about the rear transverse metal bars 34, so that the U-shaped engaging spaces 43 at the lower ends of the movable brackets 40 are correspondingly tightly engaged with the rear posts 22 of the side support frames 20, as shown in FIG. 6. At this point, the upper ends 41 and the U-shaped sections 42 at the lower ends of movable brackets 40 are pressed against the shelves 30 and the twin-post supports of the side support frames 20, respectively, to provide additional sideward supporting strength to the sectional rack 2. Therefore, the assembled sectional rack 2 would not easily wobble sidewardly even when the sectional rack 2 is subjected to a sideward external force. That is, the whole sectional rack 2 with the shelf to twin-post support assembling structure according to the present invention in a fully assembled state has largely increased overall structural strength.
The movable brackets 40 are rotatably connected at respective upper ends 41 to the front and the rear transverse metal bars 33, 34, and can therefore be pivotally turned about the corresponding front and rear transverse metal bars 33, 34. When the U-shaped engaging spaces 43 of the movable brackets 40 are engaged with corresponding front and rear posts 21, 22, the upper ends 41 of the movable brackets 40 are respectively pressed at a lateral outer end against a stopper 35. That is, the movable brackets 40 located closer to a left side of the shelves 30 are pressed at their respective upper left end against a stopper 35, and the movable brackets 40 located closer to a right side of the shelves 30 are pressed at their respective upper right end against another stopper 35. With these arrangements, the movable brackets 40 are securely connected to and between the front and rear posts 21, 22 and the shelves 30 to pull the front and rear posts 21, 22 toward the shelves 30, ensuring a stronger and more stable connection between the shelves 30 and the side support frames 20. In practical implementation of the present invention, the stoppers 35 can be respectively fixedly coupled with one corresponding fastening connector 31 to form an integral unit, and the fastening connectors 31 are connected to the shelves 30 to form an integral unit by welding the stoppers 35 to the shelves 30.
The first embodiment of the sectional rack 2 shown in FIG. 2 is assembled from two side support frames 20 and three shelves 30. In a second embodiment of the sectional rack, additional side support frames 20 and shelves 30 can be further assembled to the sectional rack 2 in FIG. 2 to obtain a transversely extended sectional rack 3 as shown in FIG. 7.
The shelf to twin-post support assembling structure for sectional rack according to the present invention is characterized in the movable brackets 40 added to the shelves 30. With the movable brackets 40, an additional sideward supporting structure between the shelves 30 and the side support frames 20 is created, allowing the fully assembled sectional rack to withstand increased sideward external force applied thereto without wobbling. Thus, the object of providing the sectional rack with increased structural strength is successfully achieved.
The present invention has been described with some preferred embodiments thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A shelf to twin-post support assembling structure for sectional rack; the sectional rack including at least two side support frames and at least two shelves; each of the side support frames including a front twin-post support having two juxtaposed front posts, a rear twin-post support having two juxtaposed rear posts, and at least two vertically spaced horizontal braces, the horizontal braces each having a front and a rear end welded to the front posts and the rear posts, respectively, to form an integral side support frame; each of the shelves being fixedly provided at four corners with a fastening connector each, the fastening connectors respectively defining a receiving space therein, the receiving spaces of the fastening connectors at four corners of the shelves being adapted to engage with front posts and rear posts corresponding thereto to thereby produce an effect of pushing the front and rear posts of the same side support frame forward and rearward, respectively; the shelf to twin-post support assembling structure comprising:

a front and a rear transverse metal bar connected to a lower front and a lower rear end of every shelf, respectively; and

a movable bracket rotatably connected to each of two lateral ends of the front and rear transverse metal bars; each of the movable brackets having an upper end rotatably fitted around one corresponding front or rear transverse metal bar to allow the movable bracket to pivotally turn about the front or rear transverse metal bar, and a lower end formed into a U-shaped section to define a U-shaped engaging space therein; the U-shaped engaging spaces of the movable brackets connected to the front transverse metal bars of the shelves being forward opened, while the U-shaped engaging spaces of the movable brackets connected to the rear transverse metal bars of the shelves being rearward opened; the movable brackets connected to two lateral ends of the front transverse metal bars of the shelves being forwardly turnable about the front transverse metal bars for the U-shaped engaging spaces at the lower ends of the movable brackets to correspondingly engage with the front posts of the side support frames by force fitting; and the movable brackets connected to two lateral ends of the rear transverse metal bars of the shelves being rearwardly turnable about the rear transverse metal bars for the U-shaped engaging spaces at the lower ends of the movable brackets to correspondingly engage with the rear posts of the side support frames by force fitting; whereby, with the upper and lower ends of the movable brackets being securely connected to the shelves and the twin-post supports of the side support frames, respectively, an additional sideward supporting strength is provided to the sectional rack.

2. The shelf to twin-post support assembling structure for sectional rack as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the U-shaped engaging spaces of the movable brackets are engaged with corresponding front and rear posts, the movable brackets located closer to a left side of the shelves are pressed at their respective upper left end against a stopper, and the movable brackets located closer to a right side of the shelves are pressed at their respective upper right end against another stopper.

3. The shelf to twin-post support assembling structure for sectional rack as claimed in claim 2, wherein the stoppers are respectively fixedly coupled with one of the fastening connectors to form an integral unit, and the stoppers are respectively welded to the shelves to form an integral part of the shelves.

4. The shelf to twin-post support assembling structure for sectional rack as claimed in claim 1, wherein, when measuring at the same lateral side of the shelf, a distance between an inner end of the forward opened receiving space of the front fastening connector and an inner end of the rearward opened receiving space of the rear fastening connector is slightly smaller than a distance between the front posts of the front twin-post support and the rear posts of the rear twin-post support of the side support frame.

5. The shelf to twin-post support assembling structure for sectional rack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shelves are metal shelves made of a plurality of metal bars.