Load lock for rack

A load lock for a rack includes a mounting clip mounted in a recess of the mounting bracket, which makes the lock easy to install and impossible to remove without dismantling the rack. The load lock also includes a locking pin having an enlarged head, and the bracket includes a recess for receiving the enlarged head, so the locking pin can be retracted to install and remove the beam, but the recess provides a stop to prevent the lock from being retracted far enough to damage the lock.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 Storage racks generally include a plurality of vertical members, which rest
 on the floor, and a plurality of horizontal beams mounted on the vertical
 members. The beams include a mounting bracket with lugs projecting
 inwardly and downwardly from the bracket. The lugs are received in holes
 of the vertical members to support the weight of the horizontal beams.
 Load locks are commonly used to prevent the horizontal beams from becoming
 accidentally dislodged from the vertical members. The load locks generally
 include a pin which extends through a hole in the bracket and a hole in
 the vertical member to prevent the horizontal beam from lifting up enough
 to dislodge the lugs. Some problems with prior art load locks are that
 they can come loose in shipment, they may themselves be too easy to
 dislodge, or they may be too difficult to install. Also, for resilient
 load locks which are retracted to pull the locking pin back, they may be
 retracted too far, which damages the resilient member.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 The present invention provides a resilient load lock which is easy to
 install, which will not accidentally fall out, and which cannot be removed
 from the rack without disassembling the rack or destroying the lock. The
 present invention also provides an arrangement which prevents the
 resilient member from being pulled out too far, thereby protecting the
 load lock against damage during normal use.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
 FIGS. 1-17 show a first embodiment of a rack arrangement made in accordance
 with the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a storage rack 10, including
 vertical members 12 and horizontal beams 14 mounted on the vertical
 members 12. FIGS. 2-5 show a broken-away section of the vertical member 12
 with two horizontal beams 14 mounted on the vertical member. Each beam 14
 has a bracket 16 welded or otherwise secured to the end of the beam. The
 bracket 16 is an L-shaped member, and studs 18 on the bracket 16 project
 through holes 20 in the vertical member 12 to hold the beam 14 on the
 vertical member 12. While only one end of each beam 14 is shown, it is
 understood that the other end of each beam 14 is similarly mounted on the
 next adjacent vertical member 12 of the rack 10.
 Each L-shaped bracket 16 defines two legs 22, 24. The first leg 22 carries
 the studs 18 and has at least first and second holes 26, 28 (See FIG. 3),
 which will be described in more detail below. The first leg 22 abuts the
 front face 30 of the vertical member 12, and the second leg 24 abuts one
 of the side faces 32 of the vertical member 12.
 On the outer surface 33 of the first leg 22 of the bracket 16 is mounted a
 resilient locking member 34, which is mounted onto the bracket 16 by means
 of a clip 36 and which carries a locking pin 38 that extends through a
 first hole 26 in the bracket 16 and through a vertical member hole 20,
 which prevents the bracket 16 from moving up relative to the vertical
 member 12, thereby locking the horizontal beam 14 onto the column 12 of
 the rack 10.
 More details of the locking arrangement are shown in FIGS. 6-17. FIGS. 6-9
 show details of the resilient locking member 34. The main body of the
 locking member 34 is made of a resilient material, such as spring steel.
 In the upper portion is a locking pin 38, which preferably is staked to
 the main body by inserting the shank 40 of the locking pin 38 through a
 hole in the main body and deforming the shank 40 to rigidly secure the
 locking pin 38 on the resilient body. The locking pin 38 includes an
 enlarged width head 42 at the end of the narrower width shank 40. Two
 vertical reinforcing ridges 44 are stamped into the body on either side of
 the locking pin 38. The uppermost portion of the resilient body is curved
 backward to form a handle 46 for retracting the locking pin 38, as will be
 described later. In the lower portion of the locking member 34 is a
 cut-out area 48 into which projects the mounting clip 36, which also has a
 stamped ridge 50 for strength and which has left and right wings 52.
 FIGS. 10-14 show details of the bracket 16. The first and second legs 22,
 24 lie approximately at right angles to each other. The studs 18 are
 staked onto the first leg 22 in the same manner that the locking pin 38 is
 staked to the resilient body of the locking member 34, and the studs 18
 project inwardly and downwardly from the inner surface 54 of the bracket
 16. While two studs 18 are shown in this embodiment, it is understood that
 more studs could be used, and it is expected that, for taller brackets,
 there may be three or more studs 18 on a bracket. Also, the studs 18 could
 be of other known designs, such as studs with enlarged, rounded heads
 rather than downwardly-projecting heads as shown here. The head of the
 stud should be larger than the shank at least in one direction to prevent
 it from pulling straight out of the vertical member once it has been
 installed. The inner surface 54 of the bracket 16 is flat. The first and
 second holes 26, 28 each have a greater-width portion 56 and a
 narrower-width portion 58. The greater-width portion 56 of the first hole
 26 is wide enough to permit the head 42 of the locking pin 38 to pass
 through, and the narrower-width portion 58 of the first hole 26 is wide
 enough to permit the shank 40 of the pin to pass through while not
 permitting the head 42 to pass through. In the second hole 28, the
 greater-width portion 56 is wide enough to permit the wings 52 of the clip
 36 to pass through, while the narrower-width portion 58 is wide enough to
 permit the stem portion 53 of the clip to pass through but not the wings
 52. The interior surface 54 of the bracket 16 defines a recess 60 (See
 FIG. 11 and FIG. 13) adjacent to the narrower-width portion 58 of the
 first hole 26, and it defines a recess 62 adjacent to the narrower-width
 portion 58 of the second hole 28. Each recess 60, 62 terminates short of
 its respective greater-width portion 56 leaving a non-recessed,
 narrower-width portion 64.
 FIGS. 14A and 15 show how the locking member 34 is mounted onto the bracket
 16. First, the locking member 34 is brought adjacent to the outer surface
 33 of the first leg 22 of the bracket 16, and the head 42 of the locking
 pin 38 is extended through the greater width portion 56 of the first hole
 26 while the wings 52 of the clip 36 are extended through the greater
 width portion 56 of the second hole 28. Then, the clip 36 is flexed
 inwardly, and the resilient locking member 34 is moved downwardly with the
 wings 52 of the clip moving along the interior surface 54 of the bracket
 until they pass the non-recessed portion 64 and snap into the recess 62 in
 the second hole 28. At the same time, the shank 40 of the locking pin 38
 is moving down into the narrow part 58 of the first hole 26. At this
 point, the locking member 34 is mounted on the bracket 16, as shown in
 FIG. 15. The wings 52 in the recess 62 prevent the locking member 34 from
 moving out of the second hole 28 unless the clip 36 is again flexed
 inwardly to permit the wings to get over the ridge 64, which cannot occur
 when the bracket 16 is mounted on the vertical member 12. When the clip 36
 is installed on the bracket 16, it is recessed so that it does not project
 inside the flat inner surface 54 of the bracket 16.
 Now, the assembled beam 14 is mounted onto the vertical member 12, moving
 in the direction shown in FIG. 4, toward the vertical member 12 and then
 downwardly along the vertical member, as shown in FIG. 16. The studs 18
 enter their respective vertical member holes 20A and 20C. The locking pin
 38 is pushed outwardly by the body of the vertical member, and the bracket
 16 is moved downwardly until the locking pin 38 reaches the vertical
 member hole 20B. The resilience of the locking member body then pushes the
 locking pin 38 inwardly into the hole 20B. This then locks the beam 14
 onto the vertical member 12. The locking pin 38 is located so that it is
 near the top of its respective hole 20B when the studs 18 are near the
 bottom of their respective holes 20A, 20C. The locking pin 38 thus
 prevents the beam 14 from moving upwardly a sufficient distance to permit
 the studs to be removed from the vertical member 12. When the bracket 16
 is mounted on the vertical member 12, the body of the vertical member 12
 prevents the clip 36 from flexing inwardly, so the resilient locking
 member 34 cannot become dislodged from the bracket 16 without first
 removing the beam 14 from the vertical member 12.
 In order to remove the beam 14 from the vertical member 12, a person has to
 pull outwardly on the handle 46 of the resilient locking member 34,
 retracting the locking pin 38 to a position in which it is flush with the
 flat inner surface 54 of the bracket, so the locking pin 38 is removed
 from the hole 20B. The recess 60 in the narrow part 58 of the first hole
 26 stops the head 42 of the locking pin 38 from coming completely out of
 the bracket 16, thereby preventing the operator from retracting the
 locking member 34 far enough to damage it. Then, the bracket 16 can be
 lifted up to a point at which the studs 18 can be removed from the holes
 20A, 20C in the vertical member to remove the beam 14 from the vertical
 member 12.
 FIGS. 18-21 show a second embodiment of a resilient locking member 134.
 This locking member 134 is very similar to the member of the first
 embodiment, except that the enlarged head portion 142 of the locking pin
 138 is formed by making two cuts along the pin 138. This design also
 includes stiffening ridges 144, 150, a clip 136 with a stem 153 and wings
 152. It should be noted that the lowermost portion 155 of the wings 152 is
 flared forwardly to help ramp the wings 152 over the non-recessed portion
 64 to install the locking member 134 onto the bracket 116. The bracket
 116, shown in FIGS. 22-25, is very similar to the first bracket 16, with
 studs 118, a first hole 126, a second hole 128, greater-width portions 156
 and narrower-width portions 158 of the holes 126 and 128, and
 non-recessed, narrower-width portions 164. The locking member 134 is
 assembled onto its bracket 116 in the same manner as the first embodiment.
 FIGS. 26-30 show a third embodiment. Again, the locking pin 238 of the
 locking member 234 has a slightly different shape, with a shank 120 and a
 wide head 242. In this embodiment, there are additional handles 247 on the
 sides of the resilient body. There still are ridges 244, 250 for strength,
 and the clip 236 has wings which are flared inwardly at the bottom 255.
 The bracket 216 includes studs 218 and first and second holes 226, 228 in
 its first leg 222. The first hole 226 receives the locking pin 238 and has
 a wide upper portion 256 and a narrower lower portion 258. The second hole
 228 receives the clip 236 and has a wide upper portion 256 and a narrower
 lower portion 258. The interior surface 254 of the bracket 216 defines a
 recess 260 adjacent the narrow lower portion 258 of the first hole 226
 which does not terminate before it reaches the wide part 256 of the hole.
 The recess 262 formed adjacent to the narrow part 258 of the second hole
 228 does terminate short of the wide portion 256 of the hole, leaving a
 non-recessed, narrow width portion 264 for retaining the clip, as was
 explained with respect to the first embodiment.
 FIGS. 31-35 show a fourth embodiment of the invention. In this case, the
 resilient locking member 334 is installed with the clip 336 above the
 locking pin 338. The first, pin-receiving hole 326 in the bracket 316 is
 then below the second, clip-receiving hole 328. The holes 326, 328 have
 enlarged portions 356 and narrow portions 358 and recesses 360, 362, and
 non-recessed, narrow width portions 364 as described with respect to the
 previous embodiments. The locking member 334 is installed downwardly on
 the bracket 316 as in the previous embodiments. The handles 355 are
 located in the lower portion of the locking member 334 to help retract the
 locking pin 338. In this embodiment, and in some others, the cut-out 348
 aligns with an opening 366 in the bracket. This permits the operator to
 insert a drift pin through the locking member 334 into the opening 366 and
 to pry the bracket 316 upwardly with the drift pin while holding the
 locking member 334 in a retracted position to help dislodge the bracket
 316 from its respective vertical member 12.
 FIGS. 36-40 show a fifth embodiment. In this embodiment, there is no clip
 436 on the locking member 434. Instead, the locking member 434 is staked
 to the bracket 416 by means of the upper stud 418. The locking pin 438
 functions in the same manner as the previous embodiments, being retracted
 into a recess 460 in the narrow portion of the first hole 426. In this
 case, the hole 426 has upper and lower narrow portions and upper and lower
 recesses 460, which permits the same bracket piece to be used for left and
 right ends of the beam 14. It is possible to provide a second hole (not
 shown) in the bracket 416 even when the locking member 434 is staked so
 that, if the locking member 434 becomes damaged for any reason, it can be
 cut off and replaced in the field with a clip-type locking member as in
 the previous embodiments.
 FIGS. 41-45 show a sixth embodiment of the invention. In this case, the
 resilient locking member 534 includes a lower clip 536 and an upper
 locking pin 538. The holes 526, 528 have enlarged portions 556 and
 narrower portions 558 and recesses 560, 562, and the lower hole 528 has a
 non-recessed, narrow width portion 564. The studs 518 are the same as in
 previous embodiments. What is different in this embodiment is that there
 are two outwardly-projecting ears 580 in the bracket 516, adjacent to the
 bottom of the lower hole 528. Once the locking clip member 534 is
 installed on the bracket 516, these ears 580 catch in an opening 582 of
 the clip, making it impossible to remove the clip 534 simply by pressing
 in on the clip 536 and lifting up. Instead, a screwdriver or other tool
 must be used to lift the bottom of the clip body 534 over the ears 580.
 The ears 580 are formed by displacing some of the material of the bracket
 516 outwardly.
 FIGS. 46-50 show a seventh embodiment of the invention, which is similar to
 the embodiment of FIGS. 31-35. This embodiment differs in that its upper
 hole 628 has an open top, so it is actually a slot. The holes 626, 628
 have enlarged portions 656 and narrow portions 658 and recesses 660, 662,
 and non-recessed, narrow width portions 664. It would, however, be
 possible for the narrow portion 658 of the top hole 628 to have no
 enlarged portion 656 and to simply extend straight up. The studs 618 and
 handles 655 are as in previous embodiments.
 It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that modifications may be
 made to the embodiments described above without departing from the scope
 of the present invention.