WO2012022350A1

WO2012022350A1 - A support device and method for manufacturing a support device

Info

Publication number: WO2012022350A1
Application number: PCT/DK2011/000093
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michael Toftmann Schmidt
Original assignee: Michael Toftmann Schmidt
Priority date: 2010-08-19
Filing date: 2011-08-10
Publication date: 2012-02-23

Abstract

The present invention relates to a support device for mounting on a substantially planar surface comprising a mounting plate adapted to be mounted toward a substantially planar surface, and a support frame extending substantially perpendicular from the mounting plate said support frame comprises a plate material comprising at least two bends forming a first and a second surface converging towards each other with an acute angle and a third surface formed between the bends, wherein a least 20% of the plate material in the third surface has been removed to form at least one opening in the third surface. The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing a support unit by joining two support devices.

Description

A support device and method for manufacturing a support unit

The present invention relates to support device for mounting on a substantially planar surface comprising a mounting plate adapted to be mounted toward a substantially planar surface, and a support frame extending substantially perpendicular from the mounting plate said support frame comprises a plate material comprising at least two bends forming a first and a second surface converging towards each other with an acute angle and a third surface formed between the bends. When mounting pipes and other parts used in e.g. unit operations it is normal procedure to use supports which are mounted in walls and ceilings and the like and adapted to carry e.g. the pipes and wires to a desired location.

From the international patent application WO 93/04612 a bracket is known. The bracket is designed to support shelf and is intended to be mounted on a special mounting bar. European patent application EP 0 813 280 Al discloses a support structure for cable trays. However, the support structure comprises several overlays which may provide shelter for bacteria and the structure is not suitable for use in environments where bacteria are undesired. Such places may e.g. be dairies, slaughterhouses and other food producing companies were there are special demands to the cleaning and it is required that machine parts, pipelines and other production material are easy to clean and can withstand cleaning with e.g. a water pressure cleaner. The demands to the material is, thus, it should have smooth surfaces and as few joints, corners and edges as possible. Joints, corners and edges provide suitable locations for bacteria to settle and may therefore cause undesired growth of bacteria.

An object of the present invention is to provide a support that is simple and uncomplicated to produce with very few edges and joints to achieve a support that is very easy to clean, while the support at the same time has a good strength to carry pipes etc.

Consequently, in a first aspect the present invention relates to a support device for mounting on a substantially planar surface comprising a mounting plate adapted to be mounted toward a substantially planar surface, and a support frame extending substantially perpendicular from the mounting plate said support frame comprises a plate material comprising at least two bends forming a first and a second surface converging towards each other with an acute angle and a third surface formed between the bends, wherein a least 20% of the plate material in the third surface has been removed to form at least one opening in the third surface.

The mounting plate is adapted to be mounted on a flat surface such as a wall or a ceiling and may be provided with suitable holes for screws or bolts. The support frame extends substantially perpendicular from the mounting plate and the plate material of the support frame has been bended to comprise at least two bends. The two bends, i.e. the first and the second bend provide three distinct surfaces or areas on the support frame. A first surface next to the first bend and a second surface next to the second bend. Between the first and the second bend the third surface or area is formed. Preferably the first and the second surface form a tapering structure, tapering away from the mounting plate with an acute angle. The tapering structure provides for good strength of the support frame.

The third surface between the first and the second bend may have the shape of a triangle or preferably a trapezium. Moreover, at least 20% of the plate material in the third surface has been removed to provide an opening. The opening facilitates cleaning and makes it easier to properly remove bacteria. The opening may suitable have a shape substantially corresponding to the shape of a triangle. According to embodiments of the support device at least 30%, preferably at least 40% of the plate material in the third surface has been removed.

In a preferred embodiment at least 50% of the plate material in the third surface has been removed.

The above embodiments providing larger openings in the third surface are advantageously due the fact that they allow for better cleaning of the support device, e.g. when a water pressure cleaner is used for cleaning. Moreover, the removal of plate material in third surface does not appear to have any substantial impact on the strength of the support device.

Although, the plate material in the third surface of the support device may be removed by any suitable means such as an angle grinder or other cutting devices, it is preferred that the plate material is removed by punching out the material, laser cutting, drilling or water beam cutting. Laser cutting and water beam cutting are particular suitable as they result in very smooth edges which dirt does not stuck to very easy. Plate material may also be removed from the first and second surface, e.g. in the form of holes for bolts and screws, which may be used for fastening fittings for pipes.

In principle the angle between the first surface and the third surface may be any desired angle it is preferred the angle between the first surface and the third surface is approximately 90 degrees.

In a similar manner it is preferred that the angle between the second surface and the third surface is approximately 90 degrees. A bend of 90 degrees easy to make in a production line and provides good strength to the bended material.

It may be preferred for some particular embodiments that the angle differs slightly from 90 degrees as this may facilitate water to run away from the surface. Thus, the angle for bending may be in the range of 85 to 95 degrees. The support device according to the invention may be made from several parts which may be glued, welded or assembled by other means such as screws or rivets it is, however, preferred that the support device is made from one coherent plate. Thus, it is possible to produce the support from a single plate, whereby it is possible to avoid joints and other potential breeding places for bacteria.

The support is made preferably made from iron, steel, aluminium, plastic, composite material or combinations thereof. Preferred material for the support device is steel, in particular stainless steel, and aluminium. In a preferred embodiment of the support device at least a part of the mounting plate or the support frame has been punched out to form hook-like members. The hook-like members are formed to be suitable for mounting e.g. trays for cables and the like.

The present invention also provides a method for manufacturing a support unit comprising the steps:

providing a first support device as described above; providing a second support device as described above, where the structure of the second support device is reversed in respect or the structure of the first support device; and attaching the first support device to the second support device. Consequently, two support devices which are mirror images in respect of each other are provided and attached to each other to form a support unit which is highly suitable for supporting pipes and other devices while the support unit also is easy to clean and keep bacteria growth at a low level. In a preferred embodiment of the method the first support is attached to the second support device by gluing or welding, such as laser welding. Welding, such as laser welding has proven to be highly efficient in joining metal parts to each other.

The invention will now be described in further details with reference to drawings where

Fig. 1 shows a support device according to the invention;

Fig. 2 shows a sketch of the punched out plate from which the support device in figure 1 is manufactured;

Fig. 3 shows an alternative embodiment of the support device according to the invention; Fig. 4 shows a sketch of the punched out plate from which the support device in figure 3 is manufactured;

Fig. 5 shows a support unit according to the invention mounted with pipes.

Fig. 6 shows a support unit according to the invention mounted with trays, e.g . trays for cables; and

Fig. 7 shows a support unit mounted with pipes and cable trays.

The following examples are illustrative for the invention. The shown parts may be produced from stainless steel plates having a plate thickness of about 1,5mm, which provides supports with high strength and capable of withstanding frequent cleaning. Alternatively the parts may be produced from aluminium or plastic. The support devices and support units according to the invention can be produced in a simple fashion by punching out and bending a single plate. By this procedure it is possible to produce a support device with high strength which at the same time is easy to clean with relatively few working procedures and reduced costs. According to the desired use the support device may be produced in several different sizes. With larger sizes of the support device it may be required to dimension the used plate, e.g. in respect of thickness. Figure 1 shows an example of a support device 1 according to the invention. The support device 1 has a mounting plate 2 to be mounted on a planar surface that may be e.g. a wall. From the mounting plate 2 extends a support frame 3 with a first surface 4 and a second surface 5 bended around bends 7 and 8 in a manner so they are substantially perpendicular to the third surface 6. The surfaces 4 and 5 may have an angle which differs slightly from 90 degrees in respect of the surface 6 whereby the surfaces may become self draining when the support device 1 is mounted on a wall. Moreover, the surfaces 4 and 5 are converging in a direction away from the mounting plate 2 in such a way that the surface 6 has a tapering shape.

The mounting plate 2 and the support frame 3 with the third surface 6 are perpendicular with respect to each other in bending 9.

In this example plate material has been removed from the surface 6 to form an opening 10 substantially shaped as a triangle in the surface 6. Approximately 50% of the plate material in the surface 6 has been removed. Moreover, plate material 11 and 12 has been removed from the surfaces 4 and 5. Furthermore, holes 13 have been drilled in the mounting plate 2 for bolts or screws. The opening 10 contributes to make the support device 1 easier to clean. Figure 2 shows a sketch of the punched out plate from which the support device 1 is formed. The mounting plate 2 is connected with the support frame 3 by a bend marked by line 9. The first surface 4 and the second surface 5 are connected with the third surface 6 by bends marked by the lines 7 and 8. In figure 2 the lines 7 and 8 are extended beyond the cut off of the support frame 3 to meet in an acute angle a. This angle corresponds to the angle by which the surfaces 4 and 5 when bended converge towards each other.

In figure 2 it is seen that the surface 4 has an extension part 15 which is bended at the line 9 so it will be in the same plane as the mounting plate 2. This contributes to the strength of the support device 1.

Figure 3 shows an example of a support device 20 where the plate material constituting the support frame 23 comprises four bends.

The support device has a mounting plate in two parts 22a and 22b, from which the support frame 23a and 23b extends from the bends 29a and 29b. The support frames 23a and 23b have surfaces 26a and 26b which are mutual parallel and have tapering shapes. The support frames 23a and 23b each have two bends. The support frame 23a has the bends 27a and 28a and the support frame 23b has the bends 27b and 28b. The bends provides two surfaces 24 and 25 that converge towards each other in the direction away from the mounting plate 22. The surface 25 is in this example formed by two surfaces 25a and 25b joined to form the surface 25, e.g. by use of laser welding.

In the surface 24 of this embodiment there are elongated openings 31 and 32. These openings may be used for mounting of e.g. fittings for pipes. Alternatively these fittings may be welded directly onto the surface 24, which in such case do not need openings or holes.

Figure 4 shows a sketch of the punched out plate from which the support device 20 in figure 3 is formed. Figure 4 shows the support frames 23a and 23b with lines 27a and 28a, and 27b and 28b according to which the support frames are bended to form the surfaces 24, 25a and 25b.

All the lines 27a, 28a, 27b and 28b are extended so it can be seen that the extensions of the lines 27a and 28a meet with an acute angle a. The extensions of the lines 27b and 28b meet with an acute angle a. This angle corresponds to the angle by which the surfaces 24 and 25 converge toward each other when the surfaces 24, 25a and 25b are bended in respect of the surfaces 26a and 26b. The bended surfaces 24 and 25 are substantially perpendicular to the surfaces 26a and 26b.

In the punched out plate for the support device 20 in figure 4, the surface 24 has an extension 35 that can be bended along the line 29 in such a way that the extension 35 is in the same plane as the mounting plate 22. The bended extension 35 may contribute to the strength of the support device 20.

Figure 5 shows support units 40 that carry the pipes 53a and 53b. The pipes 53a and 53b are mounted to the support units 40 by use of standard fittings 54a and 54b. The fitting 54a is mounted in the opening 51 in the surface 44, while the fitting 54b is mounted in the opening 52 on the surface 44. The fittings 54a and 54b are mounted the support unit 40 by use of not visible bolts. In figure 5 the support unit 40 is shown with two pipes having different diameters. The support unit may also carry only one pipe or several pipes having the same or different diameters. It is also possible to mount several fittings in the openings 51 and 52. The support units 40 in figure 5 are a special embodiment of the support device according to the invention. In this embodiment the support frame 43 has been further punched out and bended so that hook-like members 48 have been formed. The members 48 may e.g. be mounted with a cable tray 49. The surface 44 on the support unit 40 may still be used for mounting of pipes with fittings mounted in the openings 51 and 52.

Figure 6 also shows the special embodiment of the support device according to the invention. In the embodiment the support frame 43 has been further punched out and bended so that hook-like members 48 have been formed . The members 48 may e.g. be mounted with a cable tray 49. The surface 44 on the support unit 40 may still be used for mounting of pipes with fittings mounted in the openings 51 and 52.

Figure 7 shows the support unit of figure 6 mounted with a cable tray 49 in members 48 and pipes 53a and 53b by use of fittings 54a and 54b. As it can be seen the support unit 40 is very useful as it can be used for pipes and cables, and the functions can be used in combination or separately. In addition the support unit is very easy to clean.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to only a few embodiments, it will easily be envisaged by a skilled person that several other embodiments and variations are possible within the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A support device for mounting on a substantially planar surface comprising a mounting plate adapted to be mounted toward a substantially planar surface, and a support frame extending substantially perpendicular from the mounting plate said support frame comprises a plate material comprising at least two bends forming a first and a second surface converging towards each other with an acute angle and a third surface formed between the bends, wherein a least 20% of the plate material in the third surface has been removed to form at least one opening in the third surface.

2. A support device according to claim 1, wherein at least 30%, preferably at least 40% of the plate material in the third surface has been removed.

3. A support device according to claim 1, wherein at least 50% of the plate material in the third surface has been removed.

4 A support device according to any of the claims 1 to 3, wherein the plate material has been removed by punching, laser cutting, drilling or water beam cutting.

5. A support device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the angle between the first surface and the third surface is approximately 90 degrees.

6. A support device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the angle between the second surface and the third surface is approximately 90 degrees.

7. A support device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the support device is made from one coherent plate.

8. A support device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the support device is made from iron, steel, aluminium, plastic, composite material or combinations thereof.

9. A support device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least a part of the mounting plate or the support frame has been punched out to form hook-like members.

10. A method for manufacturing a support unit comprising the steps:

providing a first support device according to any of the claims 1 to 8;

providing a second support device according to any of the claims 1 to 8, wherein the structure of the second support device is reversed in respect or the structure of the first support device; and

attaching the first support device to the second support device.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the first support is attached to the second support device by gluing or welding, such as laser welding.

A support device and method for manufacturing a support unit