US3493202A

US3493202A - Shelf brackets and the like and blanks

Info

Publication number: US3493202A
Application number: US691637A
Authority: US
Inventors: George W Jensen
Original assignee: GEORGE W JENSEN
Current assignee: GEORGE W JENSEN
Priority date: 1967-12-18
Filing date: 1967-12-18
Publication date: 1970-02-03
Anticipated expiration: 1987-02-03

Description

G. w. JENSEN Feb. 3, 1970 Filed Dec. 18, 1967 ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,493,202 SHELF BRACKETS AND THE LIKE AND BLANKS George W. Jensen, 9533 Densmore Place, Norfolk, Va. 23503 Filed Dec. 18, 1967, Ser. No. 691,637 Int. Cl. A47b 96/06; Alllk 97/10; A47c 25/12, 33/12 US. Cl. 24842 'Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A bracket formed from a single piece of sheet material having a flat portion adapted to be mounted on a support surface and a staff receiving portion extending at an angle from the mounting portion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention pertains to the art of supporting shelves or like structures by means of various hardware components which may be attached to the shelves to support them rigidly. While the prior art contains numerous teachings of brackets and like components for this broad purpose, a notable deficiency of the art has resided in the fact that the proposed supporting structures tend to become complex and costly and are frequently comprised of a number of small parts which are awkward to assemble. Additionally, there is a need in the art for standardization of parts, in the sense that a single bracket may be utilized in several different ways or in different positions and at a number of points in a given assemblage of shelving or the like. The invention, to a great extent, satisfies this need and overcomes the known disadvantages of prior art devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A one-piece, initially flat, sheet metal blank is provided with punched openings to receive nails or screws in the finally assembled structure. The blank is notched to facilitate bending and forming and a clearance opening is provided in the blank to allow the passage of a rod through the assembled structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of shelving employing the supporting bracket means of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of a blank from which an invention bracket is produced;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged side elevation of a bracket showing one use position thereof;

FIGURE 4 is a transverse section taken on line 4-4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of a modified blank;

FIGURE 6 is a side elevation of a bracket produced from the blank in FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a plan view of a further modified blank; and

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of a bracket formed from the blank in FIGURE 7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings in which like numerals designate like parts, and initially to FIGURES 1 through 4, a fiat sheet metal blank 20 is depicted in FIGURE 2 and this blank is subsequently formed to produce the shelfsupporting bracket 21 shown in FIGURES 1 and 3.

The blank 20 is generally rectangular and elongated and includes

rectangular end portions

22 and 23 separated by notches 24 which facilitate the subsequent bending and forming operations on the blank. A somewhat elongated clearance slot 25 having rounded ends is formed through the rectangular portion 23 near the longitudinal center of the blank and a tongue 26 having a concave leading edge 27 is struck from the blank portion 23 and is adapted to subsequently form a brace after bending on a transverse line 28. The entire blank 20 is adapted to be bent substantially in two on a transverse bending line 29. Each

portion

22 and 23 of the blank 20 has openings 30 punched therein near the corners of the blank and at interventing points to facilitate the subsequent attachment of the finished bracket 21 to shelves or to a wall or other panel structure.

Referring now to FIGURES 1, 3 and 4 showing the completed bracket 21 made from the blank 20, this bracket comprises a fiat mounting plate portion 31 for attachment to the bottom of a

shelf

32 or 33 or to the face of a supporting wall 34, as depicted in FIGURE 1. The mounting plate portion 31 is formed from or consists of the rectangular blank portion 23, previously described, after the blank has been bent at 35 upon the transverse line 29. This bending operation causes the mounting plate portion 31 of the bracket to assume an acute angle, such as 45, to the remainder of the blank. It will be noted that the clearance opening 25 now lies in the flat mounting plate portion 31 immediately above the bend or apex 35 of the bracket.

The opposite side of the bracket 21 produced by the bending operation comprises an inclined open-ended cylindrical tubular socket or sleeve 36 including half sections 37, FIGURE 4, whose edges meet and abut at 38 at the top side of the sleeve 36. This sleeve or socket is produced by a rolling formation of the two wings 22' of the blank portion 22 which extend outwardly of the corners 24' of notches 24 of the blank 20. The openings 30 of wings 22' after formation of the sleeve 36 lie on diametrically opposite sides of the sleeve, as shown. The sleeve 36 of the bracket remains integrally joined at its lower end with a short extension 39 which remains substantially flat after the forming operations and this extension is produced from the original neck portion 24a of the blank 20 lying between the notches 24.

7 To complete the construction of the bracket 21, the tongue 26 of blank portion 23 is bent outwardly to produce a diagonal brace 40 extending between the mounting plate portion 31 and the upper side of sleeve 36 substantially at the longitudinal center of the sleeve. The arcuate edge 27 engages the rounded top of the sleeve 36, FIGURE 4, and the brace 40 is welded to the sleeve as at 41 to secure the bracket rigidly and permanently in its final configuration. The two halves 37 of the sleeve 36 are now secured together by means of the welded brace 40 and the entire bracket is rigid and has been formed in its entirety from the one-piece blank 20.

As shown in FIGURE 1, the bracket 21 is employed in the construction of platforms or

shelves

32 and 33 extending horizontally at right angles to the wall 34. The lowermost bracket 21 in this structural assembly has its mounting plate portion 31 anchored to the wall 34 by nails or the like engaging within the openings 30 of the mounting plate portion. The socket or sleeve 36 extends upwardly at 45 to the wall and receives a continuous rod 42, common to the several shelves or

platforms

32, 33, etc. and rigidly interconnecting the forward ends thereof in assembly. The rear edges of the shelves are anchored to the wall in any conventional manner. The lower end of the rod 42 is anchored within the sleeve 36 or socket of the lowermost bracket 21 by means of nails 43 or like fastener elements which extend through the side openings 30 of the sleeves and diametrically through the rod, FIGURE 4.

The brackets 21 above the lowermost bracket in FIG- URE 1 are arranged with their mounting plate portions 31 horizontally disposed and lying against the bottoms of the shelves and anchored thereto with nails or the like through the openings 30. These brackets are arranged just inwardly of the leading edges of the shelves and the sleeves 36 receive the continuous rod 42 therethrough and are anchored to the rod by additional nails 43 or the like. The rod 42 extends through the clearance opening 25 of all brackets 21 except the lowermost bracket which abuts the wall 34. Thus the supporting rod 42 need not be formed in sections but may be continuous, as explained. Depending upon the length of the shelves along the wall, additional rods and sets of supporting brackets 21 may be employed to meet the needs of the installation.

Although not shown in the drawings, in some instances, the socket portion 36 of the bracket need not be formed circular in cross section, although this is preferred. The wings 22 of the blank 20 may simply be bent upwardly from the plane of portion 22 along parallel lines beginning at the corners 24' and this will produce a socket which is roughly triangular and which is capable of receiving a rod similar to the rod 42. In such a bracket, the brace 40 would still be utilized and would be tack welded to the edges of the bent up socket sides which would simply be flat instead of curved.

It may now be understood that the bracket produced from the unitary blank 20 is versatile in its construction and usage and may be employed in at least two different ways in the construction of shelves or like devices.

FIGURES and 6 show a modified form of blank and bracket in accordance with the invention. In FIGURE 5, a fiat rectangular blank 44 is provided with punched openings 45 and is cut to form a pair of diverging diagonal tongues 46 near the center of the blank, said tongues bendable from the plane of the blank 44 on spaced parallel lines 47.

In FIGURE 6, the bracket produced from the blank 44 includes a mounting plate portion 48 adapted to be anchored to a flat surface by fastener means 49. The tongues 46 are bent upwardly from the plane of the blank at right angles to produce spaced parallel holders 50 for a rod member 51 anchored therebetween by suitable fasteners 52 engaging through registering openings 45 of the opposed holders or tongues. The construction is extremely simple and the one-piece blank produces a one-piece bracket mountable to a wall or the like for securing a rod member at a precise angle to the wall, such as 45. The bracket in FIGURE 6 finds utility in shelf construction and in other situations.

FIGURES 7 and 8 show another modified blank 53 which is rectangular and elongated and has punched openings 54 near and inwardly of its longitudinally edges and also in a pair of tandemly arranged rectangular tongues 55 extending longitudinally at the center of the blank by suitable cutting of the blank. The tongues 55 are bendable on transverse lines 56.

The bracket 57, FIGURE 8, produced from the blank 53 is a right angular bracket having perpendicular

mounting plate portions

58 and 59 formed by bending the blank 53 transversely at its longitudinal center between the lines '56. The tongues 55 are bent upwardly from the plane of the blank and at 45 to the

portions

58 and 59 to form spaced parallel apertured holders 60 for a rod element or the like. Separately formed gussets 61 may be welded in the corner of the bracket 57 between the

portions

58 and 59 and on opposite sides of the slots 62 produced by the formation of the elements 60. In view of the foregoing descriptions, the utility of the bracket 57 should require no further description and the bracket may be utilized to anchor a rod member or the like in a situation where two supporting surfaces at right angles to each other are involved.

It is to be understood that the forms of the invention herewith shown and described are to be taken as preferred examples of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A bracket for shelving and the like formed fro an initially flat unitary blank comprising a substantially flat mounting plate portion adapted for attachment to' a supporting surface, a socket member extending from the mounting plate portion in divergent relation thereto at an acute angle and being open ended for the reception--of a structural rod member, an extension part interconnecting the mounting plate portion and socket member ,at one end of the socket member, and a portion struck from said mounting plate to form a diagonal brace rigidly interconnecting the socket member near its longitudinal center with said mounting plate portion.

2. A bracket for shelving and the like formed from an initially flat unitary blank comprising a substantially fiat mounting plate portion adapted for attachment to a supporting surface, a socket member extending fromthe mounting plate portion in divergent relation thereto at an acute angle and being open ended for the reception of a structural rod member, an extension part interconnecting the mounting plate portion and socket member at one end of the socket member, a diagonal brace rigidly interconnecting the socket member near its longitudinal center with said mounting plate portion, wherein the socket member is substantially cylindrical and tubular and includes opposing substantially semi-circular halves having abutting edges, and said brace spanning the abutting edges and welded to said halves.

3. A bracket for shelving and the like as defined by claim 2, and wherein the abutting halves of the socket member have registering transverse openings adapted to receive fasteners, whereby a rod member may be rigidly secured in the socket member.

4. A bracket for shelving and the like as defined by claim 3, and wherein the mounting plate portion has a clearance opening formed therethrough in alignment with the axis of the socket member so that a continuous rod member may extend through a series of brackets forming parts of shelving or the like.

5. A blank for producing a unitary shelf bracket or the like comprising a substantially fiat generally rectangular elongated body portion having apertures arranged substantially in rows near and inwardly of the longitudinal edges of the body portion, the blank having a longitudinally tapered reduced neck near its longitudinal center forming opposed notches on opposite sides of the neck and having a clearance opening at its transverse center adjacent the wider end of the neck, said body portion being cut to produce an elongated longitudinal tongue at its transverse center bendable from the plane of the body portion on a transverse line at one end of the tongue, the tongue disposed in the end portion of the blank separated from the neck of the blank by the clearance opening, said transverse line at one end of the tongue at which said tongue is bendable being located at the opposite end of said tongue from said clearance opening.

6. A blank for producing a unitary shelf bracket or the like comprising a substantially flat generally rectangular elongated body portion having apertures arranged in rows near and inwardly of the longitudinal edges of the body portion, the blank having a longitudinally tapered reduced neck near its longitudinal center forming opposed notches on opposite sides of the neck and having a clearance opening at its transverse center adjacent the wider end of the neck, said body portion being cut to produce an elongated longitudinal tongue at its transverse center bendable from the plane of the body portion on a transverse line at one end of the tongue, the tongue disposed in the end portion of the blank separated from the neck of the blank by the clearance opening, wherein said cutting of the body portion includes a curved cut producing a concave edge on the free end of said tongue.

7. A unitary bracket formed from sheet material comprising a mounting portion disposed at substantially right angles relative to each other, tongue portions struck from said mounting portions extending in substantially parallel relationship, said tongue portion being at an angle to both of said mounting portions and a reinforcing member connected between at least one of said mounting portions and said tongue portions.

8. A unitary bracket formed from sheet material as defined by claim 7, wherein said reinforcing member is connected between both of said mounting portions.

9. A unitary bracket formed from sheet material as defined by claim 8, and wherein said tongues are apertured at spaced points and lie substantially equidistant on opposite sides of a center line through the body portion.

10. A unitary bracket formed from sheet material as defined by claim 7, and wherein said tongues are apertured at spaced points and lie substantially equidistant on opposite sides of a center line through the body portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,053,255 2/1913 Ward 248-42 1,268,488 6/1918 Pullen 24-8300 X 2,502,049 3/1950 Kaminski 248300 X 2,899,225 8/1959 Birr 28720 ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner I. FRANKLIN FOSS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.