Offset base storage rack assembly

A storage rack assembly includes a base detachably secured to the storage rack. The base has a recessed bottom portion closest to the aisle to protect the front legs from accidentally being hit by a forklift truck.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Since warehouse space for storage of goods is expensive, there are many advantages to an efficient and well organized vertical storage rack system which will allow the storage of goods in an orderly fashion. Since the products are stacked vertically, optimum use of the floor space may be achieved. The disadvantage is that the goods to be stored must now be raised to the height of the rack where they are to be stored. The moving and especially the raising of the goods is most efficiently accomplished via fork trucks.

In as much as fork trucks require aisles to travel to the desired location to either store or retrieve goods from a particular rack, this aisle space is not available for storage. To maximize the storage area given a limited number of square feet in a building or warehouse, one must minimize the area reserved for aisle space for the fork trucks.

Unfortunately, as one reduces the size of these aisles, the room to maneuver for the fork trucks is also reduced, and the end result is that the fork trucks sometimes hit the storage racks, damaging the fork trucks as well as the storage racks.

Prior art (Konstant U.S. Pat. No. 3,785,502; Klein U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,938) has taught the use of recessed legs towards the bottom of the rack in order to give more room to maneuver to the fork trucks at the ground level. This has typically been accomplished by angling back the front legs (the legs closest to the aisles), which puts these legs out of harm's way. However, the weight of the storage rack and of the goods stacked thereupon is then concentrated on this angled leg, and substantial use of struts and reinforcing members is required. This makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to retrofit existing storage racks in the field. The retrofit, if possible, is difficult, expensive, and time consuming, and requires specialized skills, such as a good welder to complete the task. Furthermore, while the bottom of the angled legs is far removed from the aisles, the closer one gets to the top portion of the angled legs, the closer one is to the aisle and to the distinct possibility of having a fork truck run into the angled leg. Also, since the prior art designs use the same upright members for the entire storage rack, the only way to beef up one portion of the upright is to beef up the entire height of the rack.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an offset frame, which may be field-installed by bolting onto a storage rack. This design provides the following distinct advantages over the prior art:

The base is designed and manufactured as a completely separate piece from the storage rack itself. Thus, an existing storage rack may be raised (or cut off) and placed on top of the base without any additional bracing, struts, or reinforcing members being required of the existing structure. Furthermore, for completely new installations, manufacturing the top and bottom sections separately makes both of them easier to manufacture and install.

The base is designed with the front legs (closest to the aisles) offset back from the aisle. In the preferred embodiments shown here, the front legs are substantially vertical, such that the entire leg is set back and away from where the fork trucks travel.

Since the base is a completely separate member, it may be made of heavier members than the rest of the rack in order to support the cantilevered storage rack load without increasing the cost of the rest of the rack. Indeed, all the base members may be made from heavy structural members that enhance the frame's strength and abuse resistance, while the storage rack itself may be manufactured of lighter gauge materials to save on manufacturing costs and to reduce the weight of the structure.

The present invention simply bolts a cantilevered base onto the bottom of a storage rack, which readily permits modification of existing frames in the field to turn an ordinary rack into an offset rack. Using separate base and top members, using heavier structural members for the base than for the top, and the all-bolted capability contribute to this ease of retrofitting an existing storage rack.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1shows an example of a prior art rack that may be retrofitted to make a rack in accordance with the present invention. A first preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown inFIGS. 2–6. A second preferred embodiment is shown inFIGS. 7–11.

The rack10ofFIG. 1has a plurality of forward legs12, a plurality of rear legs14, and horizontal beams16interconnecting the forward and rear legs12,14to form shelves to support products. Each pair of forward and rear legs12,14also includes horizontal forward-to-rear supports18and angled forward-to-rear supports20. This rack encounters the problems discussed above with respect to prior art racks, which may be hit by forklift trucks maneuvering along the aisles in a warehouse.

FIG. 2shows a rack that is recessed at the bottom to greatly reduce the opportunity for impact with the forklift trucks. The forward portion of the rack terminates above the recess in order to create a cantilevered arrangement with the recess at the bottom. This rack110may be made in this form initially, or it may be made by retrofitting the prior art rack ofFIG. 1. This rack also has front legs12, rear legs14, horizontal beams16, horizontal forward-to-rear supports18, and angled forward-to-rear supports20. In addition, it has a base40at each pair of forward and rear legs12,14. The base40is shown in detail inFIGS. 3 and 4. Each base40has a front receptacle42and a rear receptacle44. A structural member45connects the front and rear receptacles42,44together, and a support leg46projects downwardly from the structural member45and terminates at ground level with a foot47, which bolts into the floor between the front and rear receptacles42,44.

FIGS. 5 and 6show how the rack is assembled onto the base40. The front leg12of the rack is a channel, which is shorter than the rear leg14. If the rack10ofFIG. 1is being retrofitted, the front leg12would be cut off at the desired height, and any cross members18,20that were connected to the portion of the front leg that is cut off would also be removed. The front leg12receives internally the upper portion of a splice member12A, which preferably is a rectangular or C-shaped structural member. The lower portion of the splice member12A is received in the front receptacle42. The receptacle42and the front leg12are secured to the splice member12A by fasteners, which, in this preferred embodiment, are bolts48, extending through holes50in the leg12and the splice member12A or through holes50in the receptacle42and the splice member12A. The rear leg14of the rack extends through the rear receptacle44to the ground level and is secured to the rear receptacle44by bolts48extending through holes50in the rear leg and the rear receptacle44. As shown inFIG. 4, in this preferred embodiment, the front receptacle42is a rectangular-shaped structural beam, and the rear receptacle44is a C-channel-shaped structural beam.

FIG. 6shows the bottom portion of the assembled offset rack110. It can be seen that the support leg46of the beam45and the rear leg14of the rack rest on the ground, while the front leg12and front receptacle42are elevated off of the ground a desired distance, which usually is in the range of six inches to thirty-six inches for a rack that is retrofitted and six inches to ninety-six inches for a new rack. The support leg46is recessed back from the front receptacle42a distance of about six to twenty-four inches.

The base40has a front-to-rear width at an elevated position (i.e. at the elevation of the front receptacle42) that is substantially greater than its front-to-rear width at an elevation closer to the ground, due to the cantilevered nature of the base40. As was explained earlier, by being cantilevered, the front portion of the base40defines an open space between the base and the ground that usually has a height in the range of six inches to thirty-six inches for a retrofitted rack and in the range of six inches to ninety-six inches for a new rack. That open space extends from an imaginary vertical line extending through the front of the front receptacle a distance of about six to twenty-four inches in a direction toward the rear of the base.

When a prior art rack10ofFIG. 1is being retrofitted to make the offset rack ofFIG. 2, it is not necessary to move the original rack10or even to unload it. The retrofit may be done simply by providing an external support for the front legs12above the point where they are to be cut off, cutting them off, and installing the splice member12A and the base40. This does not require welding or a substantial amount of labor and can be accomplished quickly and easily.

FIGS. 7–11show a second embodiment of a rack210made in accordance with the present invention. In this design, the base240includes a front receptacle242and a rear receptacle244connected together by a structural member245. Projecting downwardly from the structural member245between the front and rear receptacles242,244is a support leg246, which extends to the ground and terminates at a flat plate247. This base differs from the previous embodiment in that the rear receptacle244also serves as a rear support leg, extending all the way to the ground level and terminating at a foot247. If the base240is tall, as shown here, it will have additional bracing218,220. (The height of the base may be tall or short in either embodiment.) Very tall bases may require additional bracing218,220. The rack that is assembled onto this base240has front and rear legs12,14cut to the same length and inserted into their respective receptacles242,244. The legs12,14preferably are secured to the receptacles242,244by fasteners, which, in this preferred embodiment, are bolts48, extending through holes50in the respective members that are being joined. In this preferred embodiment, both the front and rear receptacles242244are preferably rectangular cross-section structural members, although other shapes of structural members could be used instead. The base240may be made of much thicker-walled, heavier-duty material than the legs12,14of the rack.

In order to retrofit the rack10ofFIG. 1to form the rack210shown here, the foot plates at the bottoms of the legs12,14are cut off, the rack10is lifted up, and the legs12,14are inserted into the receptacles242,244of the base240and secured in place. Of course, if this rack were being made originally, the foot plates would not be added to the legs12,14, and the legs12,14would simply be inserted into their respective receptacles242,244and secured in place.

The rack210shown inFIGS. 7–11has the front leg12and its front receptacle242terminating at a desired elevation above the ground level, in this embodiment approximately three to six feet, and the support leg246is recessed from the front of the rack approximately six to twenty-four inches.

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.