EP0195527B1

EP0195527B1 - Adjustable shelving

Info

Publication number: EP0195527B1
Application number: EP86301232A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Kenneth James Gutteridge
Original assignee: N Greening Ltd
Current assignee: N Greening Ltd
Priority date: 1985-02-23
Filing date: 1986-02-21
Publication date: 1989-07-26
Also published as: EP0195527A1; ES296072Y; GB8604188D0; GB2171291B; ATE44859T1; DE3664553D1; ES296406Y; ES296406U; ES296072U; GB8504735D0; GB2171291A

Abstract

Adjustable shelving comprises a shelf (10) on support posts (12) passing through corners thereof. The corners of the shelf have corner pieces (16) of plastics material therein that sit on collets (20). Each collet has an internal annular rib (22) that engages one of a series of circumferential grooves (14) of the support part 12. The weight of the shelf presses the corner piece downwards and that in turn squeezes the collet to secure its grip on the support post. Lifting the shelf releases the collets so that they may each be repositioned on another groove of the support posts, in order to set the shelf at a different height.

Description

This invention concerns adjustable shelving of the kind indicated in the preamble of Claim 1, which may be readily adjusted to various desired heights or readily assembled and disassembled.
Adjustable shelving is known in which support posts pass through corners of the shelves or through members on the corners of the shelves, the shelves being secured by means of screws or bolts through the shelf corners or members that engage the support posts.
In another form of adjustable shelving (US-A-4 138 953) collets are positioned around the support posts and have an internal rib that engages a selected one of a series of grooves of the support post. The two parts of the collet are held together by a ring thereabout. The combined collets are in the form of truncated cones and corresponding openings in the shelf corners enable the shelf to sit on the combined collets.
Fitting of the split collets can be awkward and time consuming in view of the need to secure the collet parts together with a split ring first.
The object of this invention is to provide adjustable shelving that may be more readily assembled and disassembled than the above-mentioned shelving types.
According to this invention there is provided adjustable shelving comprising one or more shelves and support posts passing through corners thereof, the shelf or shelves resting on tubular collets of tapered outer shape each having a longitudinal split whereby it can be opened out for movement along a support post and the collets and the support posts having mutually engaging grooves and ribs the, shelf or shelves having corner pieces of tapered internal shape corresponding to the outer shape of the collets in corner openings thereof to receive the collets on the support posts, characterised in that the corner pieces have longitudinal slits therein to allow compression for fitting into said corner openings and upper and lower flanged ends to lie above and below the shelf or shelves respectively.
For engagement with the support post mutually engaging grooves and ribs on the support posts and the collets are provided. Preferably the collet will have an annular rib on its inner surface and the support post will have a series of circumferential grooves along its length for selective engagement of a collet therewith. The collet may also have longitudinal slots therein that are not the full length collet but which will aid opening out thereof for movement along a support post. Alternatively, the collet may have a line of weakness, say formed by thinning, longitudinal on the opposite side thereof to the longitudinal split. That weakening forms a sort of hinge that facilitates opening out of the collet for fitting onto the post.
The pressure of the corner pieces on the collets enhances engagement between the collets and supports posts to provide a firm shelf.
The shelving of the invention may be suitable for free standing shelving or for trolleys. For either the support posts are preferably hollow at least at their lower ends so that wheels or feet can be fitted thereto, as desired.
The shelving of the invention is readily adjustable by removal of the shelf to release the collets, which are themselves easily moved along the support posts to engage other grooves at the desired position, and repositioning of the shelf.
This invention will now be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a corner arrangement for adjustable shelving;
Figure 2 is a side view of a collet;
Figure 3 is a longitudinal section through the collet of Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a plan view of the collet of Figure 2;
Figure 5 is a side view of an alternative collet;
Figure 6 is a longitudinal section through the collet of Figure 5;
Figure 7 is a side view of a corner piece for the arrangement of Figure 1;
Figure 8 is a longitudinal section through the corner piece of Figure 7;
Figure 9 is a plan view of the corner piece of Figure 7;
Figure 10 shows a corner arrangement for a trolley; and
Figure 11 shows a corner arrangement for free standing shelving.

Referring to the drawings, a shelf 10 is mounted on a support post 12. The support post has circumferential grooves 14 at spaced intervals along its length. The shelf 10 has openings 15 at its corner in which are fixed corner pieces 16' of plastics. the corner pieces 16' have longitudinal slits 30 therein to allow compression of the corner pieces for fitting into ther appropriate openings of the shelves. The corner pieces 16' also have upper and lower flanged ends 32 and 34 respectively that are bevelled and which give a neat appearance to the corners of the shelves.
Each corner piece 16' rests on a collet 20 of plastics material that engages a groove 14 of the support post 12 by means of an internal annular rib 22. The collet 20 has a longitudinal split 24 so that it can be opened out sufficiently for moving along the post 12 to engage a different groove 14 if the height of the shelf is to be altered. The collet 20 also has longitudinal slits 26 therein which extend only partially along the length of the collet. These splits 26 are to assist opening out of the collet. The resilience of the collet due to its material of construction helps it to engage the support posts but also it has an external tapered shape that corresponds to the internal shape of the corner piece 16', so that, when the shelf is put onto the support posts, the corner pieces compress the collets to ensure firm engagement with the support posts.
It should be noted that the rib 22 of the collet of Figures 2 to 4 is near the lower end of the collet as fitted but that the rib may be at any other position relative to the ends of the collet. For example, and as shown in other Figures of the accompanying drawings, tbe rib may be nearer the upper end of the collet 5.
As has already been mentioned the collet 20 of Figures 1, 5 and 6 differs from that in Figures 2 to 4 in that the rib 22 is near the upper end of the collet as fitted. This is particularly useful for the lowest shelf in any shelving system or trolley as the lowest groove in the support posts can be higher up the post than otherwise. As the grooves are usually pressed into the tubular support posts, that leaves a greater length of tube below the last groove in which a trolley wheel or shelf foot fitting can extend so that the fitting can be more secure (see Figures 10 and 11).
Finally in Figures 10 and 11 the embodiment of Figures 1-4 is shown with a trolley wheel 40 fitted and with a support foot 50 fitted respectively. The trolley wheel and support foot fittings are of known design.

Claims

1. Adjustable shelving comprising one or more shelves (10) and support posts (12) passing through corners thereof, the shelf or shelves resting on generally tubular collets (20) of tapered outer shape and having a longitudinal split (24) whereby it can be opened out for movement along a support post (12) and the collets and the support posts having mutually engaging grooves and ribs, the shelf or shelves (10) having corner pieces (16') of tapered internal shape corresponding to the outer shape of the collets in corner openings thereof to receive the collets (20) on the support posts (12), characterised in that the corner pieces have longitudinal slits (30) therein to allow compression for fitting into said corner openings and upper (32) and lower (34) flanged ends to lie above and below the shelf or shelves respectively.

2. Shelving as claimed in claim 1 characterised in that the collets each have an internal rib (22) and the posts have a series of circumferential grooves (14).

3. Shelving as claimed in claim 2 characterised in that the collet also has longitudinal slots (26) therein that are not full length.

4. Shelving as claimed in claim 2 characterised in that the collet has a line of weakness opposite to the longitudinal split.