Pillar for supports and wall elements

A pillar comprises a profiled metal core with a plurality of radial arms distributed over the circumference, the arms being provided with longitudinally extending slots limited by lateral wall members, the slots being adapted for the insertion of portions of supports and/or wall elements. A plurality of filling members, which may have a decorative finish, are inserted and fitted by means of groove and rib connections in sector-shaped spaces between adjacent wall members.

This invention relates to a pillar for supports and wall elements. 
Pillars or uprights of this kind are provided with profile elements at 
least in the region of connectors for the supports or wall elements, or 
have a profiled core containing cut-outs for connection or centering, and 
may advantageously be used for erecting temporary room partitions or as 
uprights in goods display shelving. The profile elements or cores which 
are almost always made of metal, for safety reasons, have to be as small 
as possible in cross-section in order to save materials, and therefore 
have at least some surface areas with sharp edges and/or an aesthetically 
unsatisfactory appearance. 
An object of the invention is to provide a pillar of the kind described 
above, which avoids sharp edges and areas which are not adapted in 
appearance to the surroundings. 
A further object of the invention is to provide a pillar with radial 
connectors, more particularly for supports and wall elements, with a 
profiled core which ensures that the pillar has the required dimensions 
and stability, whilst the appearance of the pillar should be adaptable to 
suit the requirements of construction, for example by means of replaceable 
surface elements, and which can be adapted to suit the environment or the 
desired appearance of the equipment in which the pillar is to be used. 
According to the invention, there is provided a pillar for supports and/or 
wall elements, comprising an elongate profiled core having a plurality of 
arms extending along the length of the core and extending outwardly of the 
core, each arm comprising at least two wall members defining at least one 
slot therebetween adapted to receive a portion of a support or wall 
element; and a plurality of filling members, each filling member extending 
over at least part of the length of said core and being secured in 
recesses defined by at least two walls of said core by means of 
interlocking portions provided on the surfaces of the core and the filling 
member.

As shown in FIG. 1, a pillar comprises a profiled core 1 having four 
radially extending arms 2, each of which is formed by two parallel wall 
members 3 which are connected to each other approximately halfway along 
their radial length by means of a transverse way along their radial length 
by means of a transverse rib 4. The transverse rib 4 determines the width 
of a slot 5 in which the brackets or engagement hooks of wall elements and 
the like (not shown) can be inserted and/or centered. The profiled column 
1 is preferably made of metal or a plastics material, for example by 
extrusion, whilst the ends may be provided with connectors or end pieces. 
Each wall member 3 of each arm 2 is provided with an engaging groove 6 on 
its outer surface. The engaging grooves 6 provided in the facing wall 
members 3 of adjacent arms 2 form a pair of co-operating grooves which 
serve to hold a filling member 8 inserted in the corner space 7 between 
the two adjacent arms 2. 
Each filling member 8 is sector-shaped in cross-section, having two radial 
faces 9 formed so as to fit tightly against the outer surfaces of the 
abutting wall members 3 of adjacent arms 2, and the circumferential 
surface 10 is designed in accordance with the desired cross-sectional 
configuration of the pillar. The quadrant shape shown in FIG. 1 
corresponds to the circumferential shape needed to give a substantially 
cylindrical shape to the pillar. It will be appreciated that virtually any 
desired shape and decorative effect can be obtained, owing to the 
inherently free shape of the circumferential surface 10. Since, moreover, 
the filling members 8 can simply be fitted to the column profile 1 and 
removed again without doing any damage, the configuration of the pillar 
can subsequently be altered as desired, simply by changing the filling 
members 8. The length of the filling members 8 may be freely chosen, so 
that any portions of the corner space 7 not covered up may be available 
for securing or receiving any wall elements or supports. 
Each radial face 9 of the filling member 8 has an anchoring rib 11 thereon, 
the form and position of which are designed to be at least approximately 
complementary to the grooves 6 provided facing one another in the corner 
spaces 7. Depending on the elasticity of the material used to produce the 
filling member 8, the filling member may be inserted by pressing it in 
laterally, whilst the filling member is held in place by the flexible 
snap-fitting of the anchoring ribs 11 in the engaging grooves. This method 
of assembly is suitable when soft plastics materials are used for the 
filling members. In the case of filling members made of hard or 
incompressible materials, such as wood, hard plastics and the like, the 
filling member is fitted by being axially inserted in the angular space 7 
in question. 
FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of a pillar according to the invention 
comprising a box-shaped profile 21 forming a profiled core, the pillar 
being in the form of a substantially rectangular support post with rounded 
edges between two wall elements 22. Lateral wall members 23 are formed as 
support surfaces for a guide channel arrangement 24 in which centering 
and/or locking members 25 provided on the ends of the wall elements 22 are 
guided or held. The outer walls 26 of the guide channel arrangement 24 and 
the lateral wall members 23 are arranged in the same configuration as the 
wall members 3 of the embodiment of FIG. 1 and define a corner space 27 
similar to the corner space 7 in FIG. 1. 
Engaging grooves 28 provided in the lateral wall members 23 and in the 
walls 26 serve to hold filling members 29 which are formed analogously to 
the filling members 8 in FIG. 1 and comprise, on their radial sides 30, 
anchoring ribs like those designated 11 in FIG. 1. 
The groove and rib arrangement 6/11 may alternatively be the other way 
round, and instead of a single anchoring region for each wall 3, 23 and 
radial side 9, 30, a plurality of ribs may be provided. Furthermore, the 
filling members 8, 29 may be hollow structures and the ribs 11 of the 
filling members may be made from a different material from that of the 
remainder of the filling members.