US20130175233A1

US20130175233A1 - Shelving Unit

Info

Publication number: US20130175233A1
Application number: US13/345,880
Authority: US
Inventors: Din-Hwa WU
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2012-01-09
Filing date: 2012-01-09
Publication date: 2013-07-11

Abstract

The shelving unit includes a post, a sleeve and a fastener. The post has a plurality of positioning slots. The sleeve has an inner side formed with a flange, an outer side formed with a slant trough, and a foolproof block being protrudent from the slant trough. The fastener for being mounted on a shelf has two parallel slant ribs and an intermediate trough formed between the two slant ribs. The fastener is seated around and engaged with the sleeve by inserting the slant ribs and the foolproof block into the slant trough and intermediate trough, respectively.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to shelves, particularly to freestanding shelving units.
2. Related Art
A freestanding shelving unit is composed of posts and shelves. The shelves are detachably fastened to the posts, so that shelving units can be disassembled for storage or transit.
A typically conventional shelving unit includes a post, a sleeve and a shelf. The post is formed with a plurality of positioning slots. The sleeve is composed of two half sleeves and is formed with a flange. The sleeve can be seated around the post by engaging the flange into one of the positioning slots. An outer side of the sleeve is shaped into a slightly conical frustum. That is to say, the outer diameter of the bottom of the sleeve is slightly larger than that of the top of the sleeve. Finally, the shelf with a ring can be fastened to the sleeve by putting the ring around the sleeve because the outer diameter of the bottom of the sleeve is larger than the inner diameter of the ring. A main drawback of such a shelving unit is that the two half sleeves are completely the same in shape. When assembling, the end with a larger diameter of the sleeve must be directed downwards. However, this is hard to be identified and false assembly is hard to be avoided.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Abstract of the Disclosure

An object of the invention is to provide a shelving unit which is provided with a foolproof block to function as a direction indicator so that false assembly can be absolutely avoided.
To accomplish the above object, the shelving unit of the invention includes a post, a sleeve and a fastener. The post has a plurality of positioning slots. The sleeve has an inner side formed with a flange, an outer side formed with a slant trough, and a foolproof block being protrudent from the slant trough. The fastener for being mounted on a shelf has two parallel slant ribs and an intermediate trough formed between the two slant ribs. The fastener is seated around and engaged with the sleeve by inserting the slant ribs and the foolproof block into the slant trough and intermediate trough, respectively.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the sleeve is composed of a first half sleeve and a second half sleeve, and the first half sleeve is the same as the second half sleeve in shape.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the fastener is composed of a first half fastener and a second half fastener, and the first half fastener is the same as the second half fastener in shape.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the outer side of the sleeve and an inner surface of the fastener are correspondingly shaped into a partially conical outline.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of combination of the post and sleeve of the invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the sleeve;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the combination of the first half fastener, the sleeve and the post;

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a side view of the first half fastener;

FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the first half fastener;

FIG. 9 is a top view of the fastener and the sleeve;

FIG. 10 is an exploded view of the fastener and the sleeve;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the auxiliary member; and

FIG. 12 shows how the auxiliary member engages with the sleeve.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Please refer to FIG. 1. The shelving unit 1 of the invention includes a post 3, a sleeve 5 and a fastener 4. The fastener 4 is used for being mounted on a shelf 2. The sleeve 5 is firmly seated around the post 3 and the fastener 4 engages with the sleeve 5. Thus the shelf 2 can be perpendicularly fastened onto the post 3. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The sleeve 5 is composed of a first half sleeve 51 and a second half sleeve 52. The first half sleeve 51 and second half sleeve 52 are the same in structure and can be assembled to an integral annular sleeve. The first half sleeve 51 includes a slant trough 53, a foolproof block 54, an upper groove 55, a lower groove 56, a flange 57 and two protrusions 58. The upper groove 55 can combine with the lower groove 56 to constitute an integral groove. The upper groove 55 and lower groove 56 are separately located at two opposite sides of the first half sleeve 51. The protrusions 58 separately extend from the upper groove 55 and lower groove 56. The flange 57 is formed on the inside of the first half sleeve 55. The post 3 is provided with a plurality of annular positioning slots 31. The flange 57 can engage with one of the positioning slots 31. The slant trough 53 is located between the upper groove 55 and the lower groove 56. The foolproof block 54 is protrudent from the slant trough 53. The foolproof block 54 functions as an indicator pointing the slant direction of the slant trough 53 to avoid reversed assembly.
Please refer to FIGS. 5-10. The fastener 4 is a hollow cylinder in shape and composed of a first half fastener 41 and a second half fastener 42. The first half fastener 41 is the same as the second half fastener 42 in structure. The two half fasteners 41, 42 may be put around the sleeve 5 to form an integral tube. The half fastener 41 or 42 includes two hooks 43, two slant ribs 44, a recess 45, an intermediate trough 46, an inner side 47 and two screw holes 48. The hooks 43 are separately located at two opposite sides of the half fastener 41 or 42 to engage with the upper groove 55 and lower groove 56. The slant ribs 44 are formed between the hooks 43. The intermediate trough 46 is formed between the slant ribs 44. The foolproof block 54 of the sleeve 5 can be embedded into the intermediate trough 46. Additionally, the outer surface of the sleeve 5 and the inner surface of the fastener 4 may be correspondingly shaped into a conical outline. The two screw holes 48 are located beside the slant ribs 44. The shelf 2 may be fastened to the fastener 4 by screwing two bolts 6 into the screw holes 48. Alternatively, the shelf 2 may be welded to the fastener 4. Any other connection manners are available. The shelf 2 is made of wood or metal.
Please refer to FIGS. 11 and 12. The invention further includes an auxiliary member 7. The auxiliary member 7 has a seat 71 for supporting the shelf 2 and holes 72 corresponding to the holes 48 of the fastener 4. The shelf 2 can be fastened to the fastener 4 by screwing bolts 6 into the holes 72 and 48. Additionally, the auxiliary member 7 is formed with salient 73 for filling gaps.
When assembling the invention, the flange 57 of the sleeve 5 is engaged with one of the positioning slots 31 to seat the sleeve 5 on the post 3 first. Then the slant ribs 44 of the fastener 4 in the shelf 2 are engaged with the slant trough 53. Thus the shelf 2 is fastened to the post 3 by the slant engagement formed between the slant ribs 44 and the slant trough 53. Further because of the foolproof block 54, false assembly can be absolutely avoided. Accordingly, the invention can be assembled easily and firmly.
It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiment has been described by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, and that various alterations and modifications are possible without departure from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A shelving unit comprising:

a post, having a plurality of positioning slots;

a sleeve, having an inner side and an outer side, the inner side being formed with a flange, the outer side being formed with a slant trough, and a foolproof block being protrudent from the slant trough; and

a fastener for being mounted on a shelf, having two parallel slant ribs and an intermediate trough formed between the two slant ribs;

wherein the sleeve is seated around the post by engaging the flange with one of the positioning slots, the fastener is fastened around and engaged with the sleeve by inserting the slant ribs and the foolproof block into the slant trough and intermediate trough, respectively.

2. The shelving unit of claim 1, wherein the sleeve is composed of a first half sleeve and a second half sleeve, and the first half sleeve is the same as the second half sleeve in shape.

3. The shelving unit of claim 1, wherein the fastener is composed of a first half fastener and a second half fastener, and the first half fastener is the same as the second half fastener in shape.

4. The shelving unit of claim 1, wherein the outer side of the sleeve and an inner surface of the fastener are correspondingly shaped into a partially conical outline.

5. A shelving unit comprising:

a post, having a plurality of positioning slots;

a sleeve, having an inner side and an outer side, the inner side being formed with a flange, the outer side being formed with a slant trough, and a foolproof block being protrudent from the slant trough;

a fastener for being mounted on a shelf, having two parallel slant ribs and an intermediate trough formed between the two slant ribs; and

an auxiliary member having a seat for supporting the shelf;

wherein the sleeve is seated around the post by engaging the flange with one of the positioning slots, the fastener is fastened around and engaged with the sleeve by inserting the slant ribs and the foolproof block into the slant trough and intermediate trough, respectively, and the shelf is fastened to the fastener through the auxiliary member.

6. The shelving unit of claim 5, wherein the sleeve is composed of a first half sleeve and a second half sleeve, and the first half sleeve is the same as the second half sleeve in shape.

7. The shelving unit of claim 5, wherein the fastener is composed of a first half fastener and a second half fastener, and the first half fastener is the same as the second half fastener in shape.

8. The shelving unit of claim 5, wherein the outer side of the sleeve and an inner surface of the fastener are correspondingly shaped into a partially conical outline.