US3342347A

US3342347A - Rack, shelf and other like structures

Info

Publication number: US3342347A
Application number: US525873A
Authority: US
Inventors: Berend Paul Christopher
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1965-02-19
Filing date: 1966-02-08
Publication date: 1967-09-19
Anticipated expiration: 1984-09-19
Also published as: ES323047A1; GB1139414A; AT261138B

Description

Sept. 19, 1967 P. c. BEREND RACK, SHELF AND OTHER LIKE STRUCTURES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 8, 1966 INVENTOR PAUL CHRISTOPHER BEREND 7 MM W Sept. 19, 1967 P. c. BEREND RACK, SHELF AND OTHER LIKE STRUCTURES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 8, 1966 INVENTOR PA UL CHRISTOPHER BEREND United States Patent C) 3,342,347 RACK, SHELF AND GTHER LUKE STRUQTURES Paul Christopher Berend, 14 Roebuck House, Stag Place, London SW. 1, England Filed Feb. 8, 1966, Ser. No. 525,873 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Feb. 19, 1965, 7,321/ 65 8 Claims. (Cl. 211-148) This invention relates to rack, shelf and other like structures and is more particularly, although by no means exclusively, concerned with so-called pallet racking for use in conjunction with fork-lift trucks and like load-handling devices in which articles being handled are placed upon pallets which are then lifted by a forklift device to and from storage racks which comprise horizontal load supporting members extending between spaced vertical supports. To facilitate the rapid erection and dismantling of such storage racks and also to allow easy adjustment of the vertical height of the various horizontal load supporting members, it is usual to provide each vertical support with facilities for interconnection in a readily attachable and detachable manner with such horizontal members at regularly spaced intervals.

One object of the present invention is the provision of an improved and simplified construction for such rack or shelf structures whereby the cost of production is reduced to a minimum while at the same time providing a rugged design resistant to the rough treatment to which such structures are liable to be subjected.

In accordance with this invention a knock-down rack or shelf structure comprises at least one vertical support member and at least one horizontal load-support member detachably connectible to said vertical support member and is characterised in that said vertical support member consists of a bar of angle section, preferably right-angle section, material having a series of longitudinally aligned slots in each of its two flanges and also in that the horizontal load support member is provided at the or each end which is to be connected to a vertical support member with an anchor plate having a first planar surface portion adapted to have surface-to-surface engagement with the outwardly facing surface of the one of the flanges of said vertical support member, said first portion being provided with at least one lateral extension from that one of its side edges which is disposed adjacent the apical region of the vertical support member, such extension being shaped to engage and interfit with the outwardly facing surface of the other flange of said vertical support member around the apical edge of the latter, said anchor plate being also provided with at least one hooked-form tongue projecting from that surface of the first portion which engages the vertical support flange, said tongue being disposed in a plane which is parallel with that which bisects the angle between the planes of said first portion and its lateral extension and being adapted to pass through and then hook on to the lower end of any one of said vertical slots in one of the flanges of said vertical support member.

In order that the nature of the invention may be properly understood, two practical embodiments thereof will now be described by way of illustrative example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a collapsible pallet racking embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the vertical support member;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken in a horizontal plane through said vertical support member and two attached load support members of the pallet racking construction of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view illustrating the initial shape of and one convenient method of manufacture of the anchor plates of the construction shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the invention as applied to an adjustable shelf support.

Referring first to FIGS. 14, the pallet rack construction shown comprises a plurality of vertical support members 10 arranged at spaced positions and between which extend horizontal load support members 11. The latter are readily attachable to and detachable from the vertical support members at any one of a number of difierent vertical positions. Conveniently and as shown, two, front and rear, rows of members 11 are provided extending respectively between pairs of front and rear vertical support members 10, the latter being arranged as end frames 12 by the interconnection of the front and rear vertical support members It by horizontal spacing bars 13 and diagonal bracing strips 14.

Such end frames may be made as unitary structures as by welding the various parts together. Alternatively, they may be made collapsible for ease of packaging and transportation by employing bolted or similar connections between the parts. Each vertical support member is preferably provided with a foot plate 15.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 2 each vertical support member 10 comprises a length of right-angle section metal, e.g. steel,

bar having flanges

10a, 10b of equal width. Each flange is provided at regular intervals, e.g. every three inches, with rectangular slots 16 which are aligned longitudinally to the bar and are approximately coincident with the median line of each flange. The angle bars are arranged so that the apical edge faces forwardly, i.e. towards the position from which loading and unloading is to take place.

The horizontal load support members 11 may be of angle, channel or box section material, e.g. steel, and have their respective ends cut at 45 in a vertical plane. To each such end is attached, as by welding, an anchor plate 17. Each anchor plate comprises a first planar surfaced portion 18 which is secured to the chamfered end of the member 11 and which is adapted to enter into surface-to-surface contact with one of the

flanges

10a, 10b of a vertical member lit. Such portion 18 has at least one lateral extension 19 projecting from that vertical side edge which lies nearest the apical edge 10c of the associated vertical support 10, such extension being bent over at right-angles so as to interfit with the apical edge region of the vertical support 10 and with the terminal end 20 of the extension engaging with the opposite flange of the vertical member 10.

In the portion 18 a hook-form lug or tongue 21 is punched out and is bent rearwardly along the line 21a, FIG. 4, so as to lie at 45 to the plane of the portion 18 and therefore, parallel with the bisecting plane be p tween such portion 18 and the terminal end 20 of the extension 19.

The tongue 21 is shaped as shown more particularly in FIG. 4 to include an inclined cam surface region 22 at its lower end and an outwardly directed recess or notch 23 at its upper end. The tongue 21 is so positioned and dimensioned that, when the end of the member 11 is presented to the vertical support member 10 by movement towards the apical region of the latter in a horizontal direction, such tongue 21 can pass into one of the slots 16 of the member 10. Upon release after such insertion the tongue 21 hooks over the lower end of the slot 16 and the cam surface region 22 serves, under the downward pressure of any load applied to the member 11 to draw the anchor plate 17 into firm contact with the vertical member. The surface of the first portion 18 enters into firm surface contact with the facing surface of the adjacent flange 10a or 16b and the associated extension 19 likewise enters into tight embracing engagement with the apical edge region 100 and the

other flange

10b or 10a of the vertical member.

The notch 23 at the top of each tongue 21 operates as a safeguard against dislodgment of the horizontal member 11 in the event of any accidental upward movement of the latter followed by a horizontal forward withdrawal movement as may easily occur should the fork of the fork-lift device being used to withdraw a load from the racking, be placed accidentally under the member 11 itself instead of under a pallet which is resting upon such member.

As shown more clearly in FIG. 4 the respective anchor plates 17 for use at opposite ends of each load support member 11 have their respective extensions 1 staggered vertically with respect to one another so as to allow the fitting of two anchor plates associated respectively with separate horizontal members 11 on opposite sides of a single vertical member 10 with the two members 11 at the same horizontal level.

The number of tongues 21 and the number of extensions 19 provided on each anchor plate 17 may be varied according to load requirements. Thus such anchor plate may comprise only one tongue 21 and one associated extension 19 as shown at A in FIG. 4 or may include two (or more) tongues 21 each with an associated extension 19 as shown at B in FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 also indicates how the complementary pairs of right and left-hand anchor plates 17 may be economically stamped from a length of metal strip.

Although the invention has been particularly described above with relation to the construction of collapsible pallet racking, it is also applicable to other uses such as the formation of shelving, mezzanine floors and other structures.

FIG. illustrates an adjustable shelf support arrangement in which the vertical support member secured, for instance to a wall, or alternatively, forming a freestanding vertical column, is shaped as already described in connection with FIG. 2. Each shelf bracket 24 includes an anchor plate 17a having a pair of planar surfaced portions 18a, 18b, one of which may be regarded as the equivalent of the lateral extension 19 of the construction shown in FIGS. 1-4. These portions 18a, 18b, interfit over the apical region 10c of the vertical support and each is provided with a stamped-out tongue 21 which enters and engages respectively with the one of the slots 16 which are formed in the two

flanges

10a, 10b, of the vertical support member 10.

I claim:

1. A knock-down rack or shelf structure comprising a vertical support member and at least one horizontal load support member detachably connectible to said vertical support member characterised in that said vertical support member consists of a bar of angle section material having a series of longitudinally aligned slots in each of its two flanges and in that the horizontal support member is provided at each end which is to be connected to a vertical support member with an anchor plate having a first planar surfaced portion adapted to have surface-to-surface engagement with the outwardly facing surface of one of the flanges of said vertical support member, said first portion being provided with at least one lateral extension from that one of its side edges which is disposed adjacent the apical region of the vertical support member, such extension being adapted to engage and interfit with the outwardly facing surface of the other flange of said vertical support member around the apical edge of the latter, said anchor plate being also provided with at least one hooked-form tongue projecting from that surface of said first portion which engages said vertical support flange and lying in a plane which is parallel with that plane which bisects the angle between the planes of said first portion and its lateral extension and being adapted to pass through and then hook on to the lower end of any of said vertical slots in the flanges of said vertical support member.

2. A knock-down rack or shelf structure according to claim 1 which includes at least two of said vertical support members in spaced apart positions and in which said horizontal support member has one of said anchor plates at each end in engagement with one of said vertical support members.

3. A knock-down rack or shelf structure according to claim 2 which includes at least two vertical support frames each comprising a pair of said vertical support members rigidly interconnected With each other at spaced apart positions in a plane lying at right angles to the longitudinal direction of said horizontal support member and in which at least one of said horizontal support members is arranged to extend between each of the vertical support members of one frame and the corresponding vertical support member of the other frame.

4. A knock-down rack or shelf structure according to claim 3 in which the apical edges of the vertical support members of each frame face in the same direction.

5. A knock-down rack or shelf structure according to claim 1 in which the said first portion of the anchor plate is shaped to provide recesses in the side edge from which said lateral extension or extensions extend suflicient to accommodate the lateral extension or extensions of another similar anchor plate attached to another horizontal support member and Whose tongue or tongues is/are engaged with the corresponding slot or slots in the opposite flanges of a common vertical support memher.

6. A knock-down rack or shelf structure according to claim 1 in which said tongue is of an overall length in the vertical direction such that it will only just pass through the complementary slot in the flange of the vertical sup port member.

7. A knock-down rack or shelf structure according to claim 6 in which the upper end surface of said tongue is formed with a downwardly directed notch in that region thereof which coincides with the thickness of the flange of the vertical support member.

'8. A knock-down rack or shelf structure according to claim 1 in which the hook region of said tongue is shaped to provide an upwardly directed sloping surface adapted to operate cam-wise upon the lower end surface of any slot in said vertical support member to draw said anchor plate into tight engagement with said vertical support member upon the application of any downward load on said horizontal support member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,944,676 7/1960 Bell 211-148 2,948,409 8/ 1960 Wroblewski et al. 211-176 2,950,826 8/1960 Degener -1-- 211148 3,273,720 9/1966 Seiz 2l1148 CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Primary Examiner,

W. 1). LOULAN, Assistant Examiner,

Claims

1. A KNOCK-DOWN RACK OR SHELF STRUCTURE COMPRISING A VERTICAL SUPPORT MEMBER AND AT LEAST ONE HORIZONTAL LOAD SUPPORT MEMBER DETACHABLY CONNECTIBLE TO SAID VERTICAL SUPPORT MEMBER CHARACTERISED IN THAT SAID VERTICAL SUPPORT MEMBER CONSISTS OF A BAR OF ANGLE SECTION MATERIAL HAVING A SERIES OF LONGITUDINALLY ALIGNED SLOTS IN EACH OF ITS TWO FLANGES AND IN THAT THE HORIZONTAL SUPPORT MEMBER IS PROVIDED AT EACH END WHICH IS TO BE CONNECTED TO A VERTICAL SUPPORT MEMBER WITH AN ANCHOR PLATE HAVING A FIRST PLANAR SURFACED PORTION ADAPTED TO HAVE SURFACE-TO-SURFACE ENGAGEMENT WITH THE OUTWARDLY FACING SURFACE OF ONE OF THE FLANGES OF SAID VERTICAL SUPPORT MEMBER, SAID FIRST PORTION BEING PROVIDED WITH AT LEAST ONE LATERAL EXTENSION FROM THAT ONE OF ITS SIDE EDGES WHICH IS DISPOSED ADJACENT THE APICAL REGION OF THE VERTICAL SUPPORT MEMBER, SUCH EXTENSION BEING ADAPTED TO ENGAGE