US3793655A

US3793655A - Endboard attachment means

Info

Publication number: US3793655A
Application number: US00282410A
Authority: US
Inventors: G Harris; W Behnke
Original assignee: Harris Hub Co Inc
Current assignee: HARUB Corp A CORP OF DE; Dresher Inc
Priority date: 1972-08-21
Filing date: 1972-08-21
Publication date: 1974-02-26
Anticipated expiration: 1991-02-26

Abstract

An improved bed assembly includes a pair of parallel side rails, a headboard extending perpendicularly between the side rails, and a hook assembly for each side rail for joining the side rails with the headboard. The headboard is provided with respective pairs of support pins recessed beneath the headboard surfaces for engagement with a respective hook assembly. The hook assembly includes a bracket having a vertical plate secured at one side to the end of the rail and having an offset portion at its other side extending perpendicularly from the plate, and which presents a planar surface outwardly of the bracket. A hook plate is carried upon the bracket plate by means of a pair of rivets anchored in the hook plate and inserted through respective slots in the bracket plate inclined to the offset bracket portion at the same angle to maintain the hook plate in sliding engagement with the bracket plate. A portion of the hook plate protrudes through an elongated vertical slot in the offset portion and is formed into a pair of hooks by slots inclined to the offset portion in an opposite sense from the bracket plate slots. The hook portions engage the headboard pins and the vertical surface of the offset portion becomes urged under loading into abutting engagement with the confronting headboard surface to form a rigid joint.

Description

United States Patent [19] Harris et al.

[ ENDBOARD ATTACHMENT MEANS [75] Inventors: George M. Harris; Wilbert E.

Behnke, both of Chicago, Ill.

[73] Assignee: Harris-Hub Company, Inc., Harvey,

ill.

[22] Filed: Aug. 21, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 282,410

Primary Examiner-James C. Mitchell [57] ABSTRACT An improved bed assembly includes a pair of parallel [451 Feb. 26, 1974 side rails, a headboard extending perpendicularly between the side rails, and a hook assembly for each side rail for joining the side rails with the headboard. The headboard is provided with respective pairs of support pins recessed beneath the headboard surfaces for engagement with a respective hook assembly. The hook assembly includes a bracket having a vertical plate secured at one side to the end of the rail andhaving an offset portion at its other side extending perpendicularly from the plate, and which presents a planar surface outwardly of the bracket. A hook plate is carried upon the bracket plate by means of a pair of rivets anchored in the hook plate and inserted through respective slots in the bracket plate inclined to the offset bracket portion at the same angle to maintain the hook plate in sliding engagement with the bracket plate. A portion of the hook plate protrudes through an elongated vertical slot in the offset portion and is formed into a pair of hooks by slots inclined to the offset portion in an opposite sense from the bracket plate slots. The hook portions engage the headboard pins and the vertical surface of the offset portion becomes urged under loading into abutting engagement with the confronting headboard surface to form a rigid oint.

11 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDFEBZBIQH 3.793.655

1 ENDBOARD ATTACHMENT MEANS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to bed assemblies having a headboard or footboard, or both, and in particular, to a bed assembly in which such endboards are associated with the remainder of the bed by a hook assembly.

A problem has long existed in the art in simultaneously meeting both the need for a simple, easily assembled bed assembly having one or more endboards, and the need for a rigid assembly free from swaying and the magnification of such swaying motions, otherwise known as racking. Bed assemblies having the shortcoming of racking present an annoying impression of lacking strength and stability, and the effect is especially aggravated with the larger size beds and with bunk beds.

The problem of obtaining enough rigidity to combat racking has been complicated by the tendency of endboard manufacturers to neglect standardization in the placement of support pins in the headboard or footboard by which the rails are to be supported, or conversely by which the headboard is to be supported by .the rails. The effect in many cases has been that the hooks of the rails did not lock properly on the headboards, resulting in an amplification A number of attempts have been made to solve the problem of racking and lack of standardization of pin placement by the provision of adjustable connecting brackets between the end boards and the rails. Usually, hook plates of various descriptions for engagement with the support pins have been designed to move relative to yet another bracket or the like secured to a side rail or other frame member.

Such expedients have not been fully satisfactory, since they either fail to fully engage the support pins, and often wedge deeper into the wood of the head-v board behind the support pins, or conversely, although gripping the support pins fully, they have failed to provide sufficient lateral stability to obviate the racking problem. Accordingly, a need has remained for a quickly assembled bed assembly which would accommodate to many variations in support pin placement to securely grip any of such pins, as well as providing sufficient rigidity so that substantial freedom from sway is obtained.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the bed assembly of the present invention includes a pair of spaced parallel horizontally dis posed elongated side rails, and'at least one upstanding endboard extending perpendicularly between the side rails. An interlocking relationship between these members is effected which is highly resistant to sway and racking, yet is quickly assembled and disassembled.

The endboard of the assembly includes a pair of planar surfaces respectively in confronting relationship with the ends of the side rails, with the endboard being further provided with a vertical slot in each of the confronting surfaces and oriented perpendicularly thereto. A pair of vertically spaced support pins is provided for each slot and each pin is mounted transversely therein and recessed beneath the planar headboard surface.

The assembly also includes a vertically disposed bracket for each of the side rail ends, with the brackets each having means thereon for fixedly connecting the bracket to the side rail end, and with each bracket including a main body portion extending beyond the rail end to which it is connected and parallel thereto. The bracket further comprises an offset portion extending transversely with respect to the main body portion and having a planar surface facing the confronting endboard surface. The bracket offset portion is provided with an elongated vertically extending slot, while the main body portion includes a pair of elongated parallel slots both inclined at the same given angle to the planar surface of the offset portion.

The bed frame assembly further includes a hook plate having a mounting portion positioned in face abutting engagement with the main body portion of the bracket and a laterally offset portion including an end section extending outwardly and protruding through the slot in the bracket offset portion so as to be movable therein. The hook plate offset portion is adapted to be received into the endboard slot, and its protruding end section includes a pair of hooked portions defined by respective elongated slots inclined with respect to the planar surface of said offset bracket portion oppositely to the given angle of the slots of the main body portion. The hooked portions of the protruding section are vertically spaced from each other similarly to the support pin pair.

The assembly finally includes fastening means impaling the slots of the main body portion of the bracket for joining the hook plate and the bracket to maintain the hook plate mounting portion in slidable face abutting engagement with the bracket. The hook plate, together with the attached bracket and rail is joined to the endboard by inserting the hook portions of the hook plate into the endboard slot to engage the support pins fully. The bracketand endboard are moved together under loading to position the vertical surfaces of the endboard and offset portion in tight abutting engagement on both sides of the hook portion of the hook plate.

The bracket and hook plate are secured to the side rails with the hook portions opening downwardly, for connecting side rails of a slotless bed to an endboard. Alternatively, for a so-called Hollywood bed frame where the endboards are themselves supported upon the bed frame, the bracket and hook plate are secured to the bed frame with the hook portions facing upwardly. In either case, the slots of the main body bracket portion are inclined in the opposite sense from the hook portion slots, so that with loading, the endboard and bracket offset portion are drawn into increasingly close engagement on either side of the hook plate into rigid angular relationship, while at the same time the support pins are fully engaged. In this manner a rigid joint is created between the side rails and endboard which is highly resistant to racking.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the bed assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail view partially in cross section and taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 showing the hook assembly of the present invention and the manner of connection of an endboard to a bed frame;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the hook assembly of FIG. 2 taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the invention and a modification thereof, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawings, a bed frame assembly is shown in completely assembled form at in FIG. 1; it comprises a pair of spaced parallel side frame rails 1 l and 11' spanned by a pair of perpendicularly extending

cross frame rails

12 and 12, together with an upstanding headboard attached to the

ends

13 and 13 of side rails 1 1 and II. The rails may be L-shaped or any other convenient shape in cross section, and are adapted to support bedding consisting of a box spring and mattress. The rails are secured to each other at or near their ends by any conventional means, such as rivets or bolts. The side rails 11 and 11' are joined by cross rail 12 inwardly of the ends 13 and 13' so that those ends protrude outwardly to join the headboard of the assembly.

The headboard 15 includes a pair of vertically extending

support members

16 and 16 at either side of the headboard, each respectively including a planar surface indicated at 17 and 17' extending vertically and transversely in confronting relationship to side rail ends 13 and 13'. Within each of the support members are a pair of transverse support pins 42 within a vertical slot 40 which is oriented perpendicularly to the surface. This may best be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, showing details of rail end 13 and support 16, also respresentative of rail end 13' and support 16. The support pins 42 within slot 40 are vertically spaced with respect to each other and recessed from the surface 17 as is typical of most conventional headboards and footboards.

The projecting ends 13 and 13' of the side rails each carry a respective hook assembly 20 by which headboard 15 is joined to the rail ends. More particularly, an exemplary hook assembly 20, as shown to best advantage in FIG. 2, comprises a vertically disposed bracket 21 comprised of a main support plate 24 which .at one side includes an apertured, laterally offset tab 23 and which at the opposite side includes an offset flat portion 27. Tab 23 is provided with holes through which rivets 25 are inserted to secure the bracket 21 at one side thereof to end rail portion 13 over an outer vertical surface thereof. Offset 27, opposite tab 23 and rail end 13, extends transversely inwardly of the plane of plate 24 and rail end 13 at right angles thereto, as may best be appreciated from FIG. 3, and includes a flat planar surface 29 on its side opposite that facing rail end 13, for engaging the corresponding confronting surface 17 of headboard 15. Offset bracket portion 27 is provided with an elongated relatively narrow slot 28 the rivets 25 and offset portion 27, and which are inclined at the same angle to the vertical and to offset portion 27 so as to slope upwardly toward offset 27 and away from rivets 25 and rail end 13.

The hook assembly 20 further includes a hook plate 32 having a mounting portion 31 and an offsetportion 34. The latter portion is narrower than slot 28 and laterally offset from portion 31 a distance matching the spacing of slot 28 from support plate 24, so that when portion 31 is positioned in face abutting engagement with the inside surface of main bracket plate 24 adjacent rail end 13, laterally offset portion 34 at the same time extends through slot 28 of offset 27 to provide an end section 35 protruding outwardly of offset 27. Hook plate 32 is fastened in such position to the inside surface of plate 24 adjacent end rail portion 13 by means of a pair of rivets 33 impaled respectively through clearance openings in mounting portion 31 and through slots 30 in book plate 32, while the rivet heads overlap the outside surface of plate 24. The shank portions of the rivets within the slots 30 are slidable therein, so that the mounting portion of .hook plate 32 anchoring the rivets 33 is maintained in sliding engagement with the inside surface of plate 24.

The offset construction of hook plate 32 together with the inclination of slots 30 allow the plate to be slidably movable up and outwardly, or down and inwardly, with respect to bracket 21, and to be recessed from end rail portion 13 so that such movement may take place without interference with end 13. Also, the offset of hook plate 32 and bracket offset portion 27 provide portions of offset 27 on either side of the hook section 35 protruding therethrough. When assembled with headboard 15, the elements are fixed in angular relationships which are perpendicular and which are of great stability; specifically, as best seen in FIG. 3, protruding hook section 35 is at right angles to surface 29 as well as to surface 17.

The hook section 35 of offset hook plate portion 34 is of thickness less than the width of slot 40 in the headboard 15 so that it may be received within the slot 40, and is itself slotted to form

hook portions

36 and 37 for engaging a respective one of pins 42 of the headboard support 16. The

hook portions

36 and 37 are at the leading edge of the hook plate opposite the mounting portion 31 and are vertically separated by a distance generally matching the vertical separation of the pins 42. The slots forming the

hook portions

36 and 37 have respectively

inclined sections

38 and 39 within which pins 42 are ultimately engaged, and which are inclined with respect to the offset 27 in an opposite sense to that of the slots 30 of plate 24. The

slot sections

38 and 39 are parallel to each other and make equal angles with the vertical and with offset portion 27, with an inclination inwardly and upwardly toward offset portion 27. Thus, both

slots

38 and 39 and slots 30 of plate 24 are spaced from offset portion 27 a greater distance at their lower ends than at their upper ends.

After assembly of the side rails 11 and 11' with

cross rails

12 and 12, the bed assembly is completed by the addition of headboard 15. To this end, headboard l5 is positioned with hook plates 32 inserted within vertical slots 40 of

support members

16 and 16 so that

hook portions

36 and 37 respectively engage one of the support pins 42, thereby connecting rail 11 with headboard 15, with rail 11' being also connected to the headboard in similar fashion. Initially, of course, hook plates 32 are moved to the uppermost position where rivets 33 bottom out at the upper ends of slots 30. If necessary, the hook plates may be positively held in the uppermost position, or at least in a position whereinrivets 33 are spaced a substantial distance above the lower ends of slots 30, by insertion of a suitable instrument through the lower ends of slots and beneath hook plates 32. Once the headboard has been positioned with the hook plates in the aforedescribed raised position, pins 42 move down the

inclined slot sections

38 and 39 to the bottom thereof, with substantially half the circumferences of pins 42 being embraced by

hook portions

36 and 37. The hook plate is initially moved upwardly an amount sufficient to extend the protruding section of the hook plate as'much as is necessary to accomplish such full engagement of the pins with the hook portions. Thereafter, a downward force is supplied to the headboard 15 to move hook plate 32 downwardly. Because the plate is guided by rivets 33 within the inclined slots 30, the downward movement of the hook plate 32 will also cause support plate 24 to be pulled outwardly toward headboard member 16 (or headboard member 16 to be pulled inwardly toward support plate 24), until the confronting surface 17 of support 16 comes into abutting engagement with the outside surface 29 of offset portion 27. The assembly is thereby firmly wedged with great rigidity and strength, since the pins 42 have been fully engaged by

hook portions

36 and 37, while portions of offset 27 and surface 29 on both sides of hook plate 32 are in tight abutting engagement with surface 17.

The aforedescribed hook assembly may also be used to join the headboard and footboard to the side rails of a slotless bed assembly. With reference to FIG. 4, the bed assembly is shown in fully assembled form at it comprises a pair of spaced parallel side rail members 41 and 41' spanned at respective ends thereof by a headboard 43 and a footboard 44. Bed assembly 40' differs from assembly 10 in that it has no cross rails, instead relying on head-board 43 and footboard 44 both to perform the function of cross rails, as well as to support the

rails

41 and 41 and the entire assembly. The headboard and footboard are similar in construction to the headboard 15 of the FIG. 1 embodiment, each having at either side a vertically extending support memher, an exemplary one of which is shown at (FIG. 5). Each such endboard support member is provided with a planar surface oriented vertically and transversely so as to confront the ends of rails 41 and 41'; an exemplary one of such surfaces is indicated at 49 upon support 45. Vertical slots and a pair of transverse support pins are provided inwardly of the confronting surfaces of each of the endboard support members; a typical one of such slots within support 45 and surface 49 is shown at in vertical cross section in FIG. 5. Within the slot 50 is mounted a pair of transverse support pins 42 in a manner similar to that of slot 40 in FIG. 2, except that pins 42' are set generally lower in the slot than the pins 42, to accommodate a hook plate to be secured over rather than under the pins.

The hook assembly 20' (FIG. 5) for

bed rails

41 and 41 is similar to the hook assembly 20 of FIGS. 2 and 3 in its principle of operation and in most details, except that it is inverted as compared to FIG. 2, and is designed to transmit the load (box spring, mattress and sleeper or sleepers) borne by the side rails 41 and 41 to support members of headboard 43 and footboard 44. Accordingly, hook assembly 20 corresponds to assembly 20 in including a bracket 21 having a vertical support plate 24 secured to rail 41 by rivets 25', and a transversely offset portion 27 having a vertically extending, elongated, midway-positioned slot. Hook assembly 20' also corresponds to assembly 20 in having a hook palte 32 carried on plate 24' by meansof rivets 33 in sliding engagement with a pair of inclined slots 30, with a laterally offset portion 34' of the hook plate extending outwardly from the bracket 21 through the slot within offset 27 and provided with hook sections 36 and 37' for engaging support pins 42'.

However, because of the load bearing task of the endboards in the bed assembly 40, the

hook sections

36 and 37 open downwardly for positioning over the pins 42'. Similarly, the

slots

38 and 39 forming the

hook portions

36 and 37 in hook plate 32', as well as the slots 30 within support plate 24 are reversed in inclination as compared to their FIG. 2 counterparts, with the slots 30 slanting away from rivets 25 downwardly toward offset portion 27', while the slots 38' and 39' also slant downwardly and inwardly toward the offset portion 27. Thus, both slots 30' and slots 38' and 39' are spaced from offset portion 27' a greater distance at their upper ends than at their lower ends.

To assemble the bed 40, each end of the side rails 41 and 41, respectively equipped with a hook assembly 20', is positioned with respect to one of the vertical support members of the endboards so that hook plate 32' of the hook assembly may be inserted and engaged over the support pins 42. Hook plate 32' normally assumes the lowermost position with respect to plate 24' so that the rivets 33 are bottomed out within slots 30. This causes a maximum portion of the plate 32 to protrude from offset portion 27 to facilitate this operation of engagement with the support pins 42. Thereafter, the side rails 41 and 41' are loaded, causing the rails and plate 24 to move downwardly relative to the hook plate 32 and the endboard, guided by the camming action of slots 30' against rivets 33. Because of the inclination of slots 30, the downward movement of the bracket 21 pushes the outside surface of offset portion 27' outwardly into abutting engagement with the confronting surface 49 of the vertical support member 45 (or causes support member 45 to be pulled inwardly toward offset portion 27'). Again, the bracket 21 along with its associated side rail is wedged firmly together with vertical support member 45.

In both the FIGS. 1 and 4 bed assemblies, the full engagement of the hook portions with the support pins insures greatly improved strength over prior expedients, and at the same time, the presence of portions of the bracket offset on both sides of the hook plate in tight abutting engagement with the confronting surface of the endboard support member results in a freedom from sway and rack effects not heretofore achieved. Yet the strength and rigidity of the assembly improves with loading, and is achieved with means that are at least as conveniently assembled and disassembled and as conveniently fabricated as ordinary bed frame assemblies.

What is claimed is:

l. A bed assembly, comprising: a pair of spaced parallel horizontally disposed elongated side rails; at least one upstanding endboard extending perpendicularly between the side rails and having a pair of planar surfaces respectively in confronting relationship with the ends of said side rails, said endboard being further provided with a first vertical slot in each of said confronting surfaces and oriented perpendicularly thereto, and a pair of support pins for each slot mounted transversely therein and recessed beneath said surfaces, with each pin of a pair being vertically spaced from the other; a vertically disposed bracket for each of said side rails, each bracket having means thereon for connecting the bracket to a side rail end, each bracket including a main body portion extending beyond its respective rail end, said brackets further comprising an offset portion extending transversely with respect to the end of the main body portion thereof and having a planar surface facing one of said endboard surfaces, said offset portions being provided with an elongated vertically extending slot, said main body portions each having a pair of elongated generally parallel slots both inclined at the same given angle to the planar surface on said offset portion; a hook plate for each of said side rails, each hook plate having a mounting portion positioned in face abutting engagement with the main body portion of one of said brackets and further having a laterally offset portion extending outwardly through the slot in the offset portion of the bracket so as to be movable therein, said hook plate offset portions each being adapted to be received into one of said endboard slots and including a pair of hooked portions defined by respective elongated slots inclined with respect to the planar surface on said offset bracket portion oppositely to said given angle, said hooked portions being vertically spaced from each other similarly to said support pin pair; and vertically spaced fastening means fixed to said hook plates and impaling said inclined slots of said brackets for joining said hook plates and said brackets to maintain said hook plate mounting portions in slidable face abutting engagement with said brackets, said hook portions of said hook plates each being insertable into one of said endboard slots to engage the pins therewithin fully, said hook plates and endboard moving together under loading to position the vertical surfaces of said headboard and offset portions of said hook plates in tight abutting engagement on both sides of said hook portions of said hook plate, thereby creating a rigid joint between said rail and said endboard which is highly resistant to racking.

2. A bed assembly as in claim 1, which further includes legs secured to said side rails for supporting the bed assembly.

3. A bed assembly as in claim 2, which further includes a pair of cross rails extending perpendicularly between said side rails.

4. A bed assembly as in claim 1, in which said endboard includes at opposite sides thereof a pair of vertically extending support members, said support members each including one of said confronting surfaces together with one of said slots and supporting pin pairs for engaging one of said hook plates together with an associated bracket and side rail therewith, said headboard thereby supporting said bed frame assembly.

5. A bed assembly as in claim 1, in which each of said pair of support pins are recessed below each of said confronting surfaces, and said hook portions engage said support pins fully about a substantial portion of their circumferences.

6. A hook assembly for joining a horizontal bed rail with an upstanding endboard, wherein said endboard has a planar surface provided with a vertical slot within which are mounted at least a pair of transversely positioned vertically spaced pins, said hook assembly comprising: a bracket including a main body portion having means thereon for connecting said bracket to one end of said rail so as to dispose said bracket vertically with an end thereof extending beyond said rail end, said bracket further comprising an offset portion extending transversely with respect to the end of said main body portion and having a planar surface adapted to face said endboard surface, said bracket offset portion being provided with an elongated slot, said main body portion having a pair of elongated parallel slots both inclined at the same given angle to the planar surface on said offset portion; a hook plate having a mounting portion positioned in slidable face abutting engagement with said main body portion of said bracket plate, and a laterally offset portion having an end section extending outwardly through the slot in said bracket offset portion and adapted to be received into said endboard slot, said end section including a pair of hooked portions defined by respective elongated slots having sections inclined with respect to the planar surface of said offset bracket portion oppositely to said given angle, said hooked portions being spaced from each other similarly to said transversely positioned pins; and vertically spaced fastening means fixed to said hook plate and impaling said inclined slots of said bracket plate for joining said hook plate and said bracket plate to maintain said hook plate mounting portion in slidable face abutting engagement with said bracket, said hook portions of said hook plate being insertable into said endboard slot to engage said pins fully, whereby said hook plate and end-board move together under loading to position the vertical surfaces of said endboard and bracket offset portion in tight abutting engagement on both sides of said hook portions of said hook plate, thereby creating a rigid joint between said rail and said endboard which is highly resistant to racking.

' 7. A hook assembly as in claim 6, wherein said vertical slot is positioned midway of said transversely offset bracket portion to distribute said offset portion planar surface generally equally on either side of said slot and hook plate end section.

8. A hook assembly as in claim 6, wherein said bracket offset portion and said bracket body portion, said hook plate end section and said planar surface of said offset portion are oriented perpendicularly with respect to each other.

9. A hook assembly as in claim 6, wherein the offset of said laterally offset hook portion from said mounting portion matches the transverse spacing of said bracket offset portion slot from said bracket body portion.

10. A hook assembly as in claim 6, in which said fastening means includes rivets impaled through said body portion slots and anchored within said hook plate and having ends engaging the outside surface of said body portion opposite said hook plate.

11. A hook assembly as in claim 10, in which said rivets slidably engage said body portion slots and are movable therein to guide the movement of said hook plate with respect to said bracket.

Attest:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- v CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 33930555 Dated February 26,- 1974 Inventor) George M. Harris & Wilbert E. Behnke It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column l,' line 27, after the word "amplification" insert the words of the rackin g effect.

Signed and sealed this 22nd day of October 1974..

('SAL) MeCOY M, GIBSON J'R. c. MARSHALL DANN Arresting Officer Commissioner of Patents

Claims

1. A bed assembly, comprising: a pair of spaced parallel horizontally disposed elongated side rails; at least one upstanding endboard extending perpendicularly between the side rails and having a pair of planar surfaces respectively in confronting relationship with the ends of said side rails, said endboard being further provided with a first vertical slot in each of said confronting surfaces and oriented perpendicularly thereto, and a pair of support pins for each slot mounted transversely therein and recessed beneath said surfaces, with each pin of a pair being vertically spaced from the other; a vertically disposed bracket for each of said side rails, each bracket having means thereon for connecting the bracket to a side rail end, each bracket including a main body portion extending beyond its respective rail end, said brackets further comprising an offset portion extending transversely with respect to the end of the main body portion thereof and having a planar surface facing one of said endboard surfaces, said offset portions being provided with an elongatEd vertically extending slot, said main body portions each having a pair of elongated generally parallel slots both inclined at the same given angle to the planar surface on said offset portion; a hook plate for each of said side rails, each hook plate having a mounting portion positioned in face abutting engagement with the main body portion of one of said brackets and further having a laterally offset portion extending outwardly through the slot in the offset portion of the bracket so as to be movable therein, said hook plate offset portions each being adapted to be received into one of said endboard slots and including a pair of hooked portions defined by respective elongated slots inclined with respect to the planar surface on said offset bracket portion oppositely to said given angle, said hooked portions being vertically spaced from each other similarly to said support pin pair; and vertically spaced fastening means fixed to said hook plates and impaling said inclined slots of said brackets for joining said hook plates and said brackets to maintain said hook plate mounting portions in slidable face abutting engagement with said brackets, said hook portions of said hook plates each being insertable into one of said endboard slots to engage the pins therewithin fully, said hook plates and endboard moving together under loading to position the vertical surfaces of said headboard and offset portions of said hook plates in tight abutting engagement on both sides of said hook portions of said hook plate, thereby creating a rigid joint between said rail and said endboard which is highly resistant to racking.

7. A hook assembly as in claim 6, wherein said vertical slot is positioned midway of said transversely offset bracket portion to distribute said offset portion planar surface generally equally on either side of said slot and hook plate end section.