US3097746A - Tray shelving - Google Patents

Description

J l 16 M. E. HANDLER ETAL TRAY SHELVING Original F i1ed June 20, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS. MILTON E. HANDLER RALPH ,1. B LLON July 16, 1963 M. E. HANDLER ETAL 3,097,746

TRAY SHELVING Original Filed-June 20, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS. MILTON E. HANDLER RALPH J. BELLON United States Patent 3,097,746 TRAY SHELVING Milton E. Handler, Evanston, and Ralph J. Bellon, Glenview, 111., assignors to S. A. I-Iirsh Manufacturing Company, Skokie, 1th, a corporation of Illinois Original application June 20, 1957, Ser. No. 666,962, now Patent No. 2,982,423, dated May 2, 1961. Divided and this application Aug. 25, 1960, Ser. No. 56,330

1 Claim. (Cl. 211-126) This invention relates to tray shelving, and more particularly to tray shelving which can be readily assembled and disassembled and which has internal and external reinforcing means to assure stability and longevity under conditions of heavy use.

The present application is a division of co-pending application U.S. Serial No. 666,962, filed June 20, 1957, now U.S. Patent No. 2,982,423, granted May 2, 19:61.

Heretofore, tray shelving has been available which could be assembled and notched down with relative ease, but this shelving has been subject to the difiiculty that the connection between the shelf structures and the supports has often required special care in adjustment, while special under-supports have often been required for the shelves themselves,

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a tray shelving assembly, wherein the shelf structure can be readily inserted in the support elements in guided relationship without the necessity for accurate estimation of the relationship of the parts.

Another object of the invention is to provide tray shelving as described, which can be readily assembled and disassembled without the need for adjustment of parts.

Another object of the invention is to provide tray shelving as described, wherein the shelving is substantially self-sustaining with respect to the upright supports therefor, and is provided with means for connection with the supports effective against both stress and tension forces at a plurality of points.

Another object of the invention is to provide tray shelving, which in its weight-bearing condition is even more securely lodged and supported with respect to the support elements therefor than within the non-weight-bearing condition, and which is proof against accidental misalignment of parts or warping.

Another object of the invention is to provide tray shelving as described, wherein the shelf itself is structured to overcome downward stress, and wherein end walls are provided which both maintain articles against movement outwardly of the shelf and afford additional reinforcing for the shelf.

Another object of the invention is to provide end Walls as described, having an inwardly configured reinforcing structure affording further strength in supporting articles placed on the shelf.

Another object of the invention is to provide tray shelving as described, and partitions for use therein which in themselves afford effective struts having a three-point stress relationship with the shelf to rigidify and solidify the shelf against stresses exerted thereon.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become aparent as the description proceeds in accordance with the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective View of a shelf according to the present invention, in assembled condition;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view showing the shelf as it is placed in guided relationship with respect to the vertical supports therefor upon introduction of the shelf into supported relationship with the supports;

FIGURE 3 is a view corresponding to the view of FIG- URE 2, showing the shelf after it has been brought 3,097,746 Patented July 16, 1963 into proper angular relationship with the support for the shelf;

FIGURE 4 is a further view corresponding to the views of FIGURES 2 and 3, and showing the shelf in assembled condition;

FIGURE 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along the lines 5-5 of FIGURE 1, and showing the relationship of a pair of end walls abuttingly received within slots formed in the support for the shelf;

FIGURE 6 is a vertical sectional view taken along the lines 66 of FIGURE 1, and showing struts having a three-point bearing and support relationship with the shelf for further reinforcing thereof and for compaitmentation 0f the shelf; and

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention showing the trays in cooperative relationship with rails, and having the trays and rails telescopically adjustable.

"Referring now to FIGURE 1, the shelf assembly according to the invention comprises a plurality of vertical support elements, such as the elements 10 and 12, which are preferably formed with a U-shaped cross sectional configuration for added strength. These supports are provided with a plurality of vertically spaced, rectangular apertures 14 for engagement with one or more trays or shelves 16 and 18, as hereinafter further set forth. Each of the shelves is provided with end wallssuch as the end walls 20 and 22 for the shelf or tray 16, and the end walls 24 and 26 for the tray 18; preferably the end walls are formed integral with the bottom portions of the respective trays and each of the end walls has formed axially thereon a pair of ears or lugs, such as the cars 28 and 30, it being seen that the vertically spaced apertures 14 in the supports are sufiiciently wide to receive the pair of end walls and their ears 28 and 30 therein in side-toside abutting relationship (FIG. 5), and the ears 28 and 30 being spaced apart a predetermined distance suflicient to permit them to engage in immediately and vertically adjacent apertures 14, as shown.

The trays 16 and 18 are given a dished configuration such that a rear Wall 32 and 34 for each of the trays is adapted to rest in abutting relationship against the supports when the trays are in assembled condition as shown, and the walls 32 and 34 have a predetermined width sufilcient to distribute weight supported by the shelves over a relatively wide area against the support members 10 and 12 during use. A bottom wall for the shelves, such as the bottom walls 36 and 38, extends forwardly a predetermined distance to provide a working surface for holding supplies of medicines or the like; and at the forward end of the trays, upstanding and preferably outwardly inclined walls 40 and 42 are provided having a relatively reduced height, in accordance with the over-all construction of the shelves as a reinforcing member in itself, and the downwardly inclined reinforcing character of the top edges 44-, 46, 48 and 59 of the respective end walls 20 through 26. In order to strengthen the shelf structure further against lateral bending, as well as to provide a smooth edge surface, the rear edges 52 and 54 of the rear walls 32 and 3-4 are rolled or beaded, and the front walls 40 and 42 are correspondingly rolled or beaded (as indicated at 56 and 58).

In accordance with the invention, each of the ears 28 and 30 has a depending locking extension designated by numbers 60 and 62, spaced from the back walls of the respective trays a distance substantially corresponding to the width of the adjacent portion of the vertical supports 10 and 12. However, in order that any possibility of sheer or tension forces effecting ripping of the metal connection 64 between the ear 28 and the wall with which it is formed may be prevented, an upstanding extension 66 is provided on the ear 28 whose function will be hereinafter further described. At the same time, the depending element 68 is bevelled at its outer edge 68 for ease in inserting the ear 28 into the support.

Referring now to FIGURES l and 6, a plurality of reinforcing struts, such as the struts 7t} and 72, may be removably inserted in perpendicular relationship to the bottom walls 36 and 38 of the trays and in spaced apart, parallel relationship to the side walls 20 through 26. These walls 70 and 72 cooperate with the side walls 20 and 22 in distributing forces exerted on the tray bottom wall 36 by materials placed thereon, in a manner hereinafter set forth. Each of the struts or reinforcing partitions 78 and 72 is provided at its forward end with a lug (such as the lugs 74 and 76) adapted to be received in complementary apertures 78 and 80, and has formed at its rearward end an upstanding lug 82 and 84 for engagement with the upstanding rear wall 32 in apertures 86 and 88-corresponding apertures (such as the apertures 90 and 92) being provided at predetermined spaced intervals. Each of the apertures, such as the apertures 98 and 92, is of course formed opposite a corresponding forward aperture such as the apertures 94 and 96.

The manner of inserting the tray into supported position on the upright supports 10 and 12 may be seen by reference to FIGURES 2 through 4. First, the ear 28 is inserted into one of the apertures 14, with the upstanding extension 66 pointed at an angle parallel to the back wall of the tray. At such time, the beveled lower edge 68 of the ear 28 permits the ear to cam freely over the lower edge of the aperture 14, as shown in FIGURE 2. Thereupon, the tray is pivoted inwardly until the cars 28 and 30 are received behind the wall of the upright in which they are being inserted, and the ear 30 has its extension 62 still spaced above the lower edge of the aperture into which it has been inserted. This relationship is shown in FIGURE 3.

The tray will thereupon of its own accord slide downwardly into supported relationship upon the vertical sup port herein designated by reference numeral 12, and it will be appreciated that the upper extension of the ear 28 must have a length substantially greater than the length of the lower extension 62 on the ear 30 so that it may be maintained in abutting engagement behind the support 12, as shown in FIGURE 4, when the tray is in the seated position.

The ear 28, therefore, provides two stress-resisting engagements with the suport 12one afforded by the upstanding ear extension 66, and the other afforded by the depending ear extension 60whereas in previously available constructions the tray, if engaged in a key-and-slot relationship, tended to pull away from the shelf due to the tearing of one of the keys used therefor. The present construction precludes any such possibility by virtue of the double engagement of the ear 28 with the vertical supoprt. Because the ear 28 is spaced a predetermined distance above the ear 30, it will be appreciated that the ear 30 in effect acts as a pivot point for forces tending to move the tray outwardly of the vertical support and, accordingly, a greater degree of stress and tension is placed upon the ear 28 than is placed upon the ear 30. Thus, this double stress resistance afforded by the separate ears 66 and 60 is extremely advantageous in a construction as shown. On the other hand, the ears 30 when in engaged position (as seen in FIGURE 4) must resist primarily forces of sheer exerted by the bottom edge of the aperture 14 in which it is placed so that, if the relative height above the said bottom edge of the aperture 14 is sufficiently great, there will be relatively little danger of tearing with respect to this ear.

Referring again to FIGURES 1 through 6, the reinforcing struts 70 and 72 cooperate, as stated, with the means provided by the shelves 16 and 18 themselves as well as their end walls 20 through 26, as hereinafter set forth. Thus, each of the struts 70 and 72 affords a three-point stress relationship with the shelf to overcome forces which would tend to deform the shelf and which would warp its bottom wall 36 downwardly. Assuming a downward force on the wall 36, the upper rear portion of the strut, and in particular the tab 82 or 84, would engage with the wall 32; and at the same time, the lower rear interior portion of the strut (designated by numerals 94 and 96) would bear against the wall 36. Thus, a soundly based upward force would be brought along the beam or strut itself to permit the tabs (such as the abs '74- and 76) to exert upward force against the tendency of the tray to move downwardly, and to bend. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the manner of connecting the individual partitions 7:? and 72 into the tray may be varied, and for example, cars 82 and 84 could be formed Within the tray itself, with their upstanding ends adapted to engage Within slots in the head 52. The stress relationships described would remain the same.

Referring to FIGURES l and 2, it will be seen that each of the illustrated end walls 28 through 24 is preferably dished inwardly in order to strengthen the beam characteristic of the end wall. That is, the end walls are configured so that one or more portions thereof is displaced laterally with respect to the plane defined by the end Wall as a whole. In particular, this prevents warping of the end wall in response to stresses exerted thereon; and as a particular form of the dished or laterally displaced configuration, it is possible to have this displacement extend or occur at the innermost edge 98 (as shown in FIGURE 1) so that in effect a shoulder is provided, adapted to abut the support to be secured thereto. Thus, a shoulder formed by the lateral warping or displacement of the end wall will permit a solid engagement, threedimensionally, with the vertical support to further stabilize the shelf structure.

Referring now to FIGURE 7, it will be seen that trays 16a may be used which are adapted to telescope, and that rails may be used in conjunction with the trays, here shown in telescopic form also. The rails 100, which may be used for preventing bottles and the like from tumbling, and for holding such articles at a position above the bottoms of the trays, have their end extensions 102 configured to be inserted within the slots 14 in the manner described with respect to the end walls 20 through 26. Preferably, such end extensions are dished as at 104 for additional strength, as hereinbefore described.

The telescoping form of the shelving thus permits the trays to be adjusted to a predetermined alignment of the uprights without difficulty, and generally contributes to the ease of adjustment and assembly thereof, particularly where variations in shelf widths may be desired.

Accordingly, there has been provided a shelf construction which is easy to assemble and disassemble, the guide ears 28 serving to guide the tray as a whole during the initial stages of insertion into the supports. After the ear 28 has thus guided and aligned the tray relative to the supports, the ears 32 automatically will be in registration with their apertures immediately subjacent the apertures receiving the ears 28. Thus, the entire assembly will take place substantially automatically, and where a telescoping construction is used, as stated, any desired adjustment may be made without difficulty.

Although we have herein set forth and described our invention with respect to certain principles and details thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these may be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the hereunto appended claim. I

We claim:

A tray shelving structure comprising a plurality of upright suports having a substantially U-shaped cross sectional configuration with the central portion thereof mounted outwardly and defining a plurality of longitudinally aligned, evenly spaced slots of uniform dimensions, a tray having horizontally spaced end wall members each defining an outwardly and downwardly inclined upper edge and an upper ear and a lower ear in coplanar relationship therewith for each support and spaced apart a vertical distance substantially corresponding to the distance between said slots, each of said ears having a depending extension and each of said upper ears being above the level of the front end of its end wall member and having an upwardly disposed extension, and a rail for said tray disposed above the level of said front end and having a pair of end piece members parallel to the end wall members on said tray, each of said end piece members having an ear constructed like the said upper ears, said members being paired in side by side contacting relationship for 7 relative movement in parallel planes with their respective adjacent ears adapted to be received in side by side relationship for their relative movement in one of said slots 6 selectively for individual and concurrent insertion and removal, said slots being wide enough to receive and support thereby the adjacent ears and paired members in face to face contact with each other respectively.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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