WIRE SHELF

Abstract: A metal shelf for load bearing applications. The shelf is generally rectangular with cylindrical post receiving members (10, 12, 14, 16) at the four corners to hold the shelf in place on cylindrical posts. A first embodiment is described wherein improved load bearing support members (18, 20, 22, 24) trace the perimeter of the shelf which comprise parallel lip wires and a truss wire (38) of generally serpentine shape welded to the lip wires to support them in general parallel relation to each other. A second embodiment is described similar to the first embodiment except for an additional support member (62) supporting the center of the shelf in a longitudinal direction, containing two parallel lip wires (64, 66) and two sets of truss wires (68, 74), each of a generally serpentine shape and each welded to the parallel lip wires. The deck wires (32) for supporting the load on the shelf are also welded to the support members forming the perimeter of the shelf.

Description: WIRE SHELF BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to metal 5 shelves intended for load bearing applications. These shelves contain generally cylindrical post receiving members which are intended to be mated with vertical posts acting as support members. Description of the Prior Art 10 Metal shelving of the "rack" form is well known in the art. Generally, this kind of shelving consists of a plurality of generally cylindrical metal members running generally parallel to each other in one direction, and a lesser plurality of 15 generally cylindrical members running generally parallel to each other but perpendicular to the first set of members. This second set of members act as support for the first set of members, which act as the means to hold whatever material is 20 desired to be placed upon the shelf. Additional support can be provided around the perimeter of the shelf in the form of dedicated support members. This kind of shelving can be prefabricated, so as to screw together or be held by brackets or poles. 25 An example of this kind of shelving can be "*F- found in U.S. Patent 3,523,508 to Maslow. Maslow '508 teaches an adjustable shelving system comprising four posts for holding up the shelf,, each shelf having four generally cylindrical sleeves at 30 the four corners of the shelf. These sleeves slide over the posts and are attached to the posts by some kind of affixation means. In this way, a stable base of support for the four corners of the shelf is formed. The main support structure for this shelf are four main support members tracing the perimeter of the shelf. The subsupport members and item holding members are then attached to these main support member which act as the load bearing member. A problem with this '508 patent to Maslow is that the main support members tend to deform when highly loaded, thus bending the shelf. These main support members are comprised of two generally cylindrical metal supports separated by a space, with a generally serpentine shaped metal support zigzagging between the top and bottom supports of this main support beam. This main support beam is configured such that the top support, the serpentine shaped support and bottom support are all in the same plane, serpentine being attached to top and bottom supports along the tangents of the two generally circular members. Thus, when highly loaded, the generally serpentine support will tend to become detached from the top and bottom supports towards the middle of the main support beam. A similar scheme is disclosed in U.S. Patent 3,757,705 to Maslow. This patent, while teaching basically the same shelf as the '508 patent, teaches an improved affixation means for attaching the sleeves to the posts that they are mated with. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a steel shelf of the type described above but containing improved load bearing means so as to allow the shelf to carry a larger weight load. The shelf consists of a plurality of metal deck wires running generally parallel and sufficiently close to each other so as to allow items to be placed on these deck wires. Running perpendicular to the deck wires are a lesser number of subsupports ("longitudinal wires"). At the corners of the shelf are generally cylindrical sleeves which are adapted to be fit over generally cylindrical shelf support posts. When the shelf has one shelf support post mated with each of its sleeves, it is secured into place on the posts so as to form a stable base of support. A novel item in this invention is the main support means which run between the sleeves, forming the perimeter of the shelf. These main support means consist of a top member which attaches to a location near the top of the sleeves, and a bottom member which attaches to a location near the bottom of the sleeves. These members or lip wires are generally parallel to each other. To stabilize and add further support to these lip wires, a generally serpentine shaped member ("trust wire") is attached to the inside portion of the lip wires in such a way that the position of the lip wires are further reinforced with relation to each other. These main support means run around the perimeter of the shelf such that when the post receiving member is firmly affixed to the shelf support post, a stable main support is formed between the four posts, thus supporting the shelf and the four posts in relation to one another. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS An exemplary and presently preferred embodiment of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIGURE 1 shows a top view of a first embodiment of the present invention; FIGURE 2 shows a side view of this first embodiment; FIGURE 3 shows a bottom view of this first embodiment; FIGURE 4 shows a front view of this first embodiment; FIGURE 5 shows a top view of a second embodiment of this invention; FIGURE 6 shows a side view of this second embodiment; FIGURE 7 shows a bottom view of this same second embodiment; FIGURE 8 shows a front view of the second embodiment; FIGURE 9 shows a view in perspective of a shelf according to the first embodiment of this invention; FIGURE 10 shows a perspective view of a shelf according to the second embodiment of this invention and FIGURE 11 shows a perspective view of a plurality of shelves according to this invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of this invention will be discussed with reference to FIGURES 1 through 4. This first embodiment is intended to be used with a shelf of relatively short length such that the main support members around the perimeter of the shelf and the subsupport members are sufficient to support the expected load of the shelf. Referring to FIGURE 1, it can be seen that there are four post receiving members at locations 10, 12, 14 and 16. Each of these post receiving members are adapted to be slid over a shelf support post and securely affixed into place. Running between these post receiving members, around the perimeter of the shelf are the main support means 18, 20, 22 and 24. These main support means are adapted to hold relatively large loads. Attached to main support beams 20 and 24, which form the "sides" of the shelf are three subsupport means, longitudinal wires 26, 28 and 30. Running perpendicular to these longitudinal wires and perpendicular to main support means 18 and 22, which form the front and rear of the shelf respectively. are a plurality of storage support means, deck wires as exemplified by 32. These deck wires are spaced closely together and adapted such that the items to be stored on these shelves will be place directly on the deck wires. These deck wires run from main support means 18 (front of the shelf) to main support means 22 (rear of the shelf) and are reinforced in the center by subsupport means 26, 28 and 30. In this embodiment of the present invention, the deck wires are constructed of 9 gauge steel located approximately one inch from each other and generally parallel to each other. The longitudinal wires are made of 4 gauge steel, and located with middle longitudinal wire 28 being approximately equidistant from main support means 22 and 18. Longitudinal wires 26 and 30 are located very close to the post receiving members. FIGURE 2 shows a side view of this first embodiment where post receiving members 10 and 14 are shown with main support means 20 running between them. Attached to main support means 20 and superjacent to it are seen end views of longitudinal wires 26, 28 and 30. Superjacent to these longitudinal wires are the deck wires 32. As FIGURE 2 shows, main support means 20 is comprised of a top support means, top lip wire 34 and a bottom support means, bottom lip wire 36. Bottom lip wire 36 runs from the bottom of one post receiving member 10 to the bottom of the other post receiving member 14. Top lip wire 34 runs from a point near, but not at, the top of post receiving member 10 to an analogous point on post receiving member 14. Lip wires 34 and 36 are securely welded to both post receiving members 10 and 14. To insure that top lip wire 34 and bottom lip wire 36 remain substantially parallel to each other even under stress and high load conditions, a serpentine support means, ' truss wire 38 is attached to lip wires 34 and 36. Truss wire 38 is integrated into the main support means 20 such that the top apex of the serpentine pattern is always welded to the inside of top lip wire 34. Similarly, the bottom apex of the serpentine pattern 42 is always welded to the inside of bottom lip wire 36. In effect, this truss wire 38 ensures an equal distance between top and bottom lip wires 34 and 36, and that they remain substantially parallel to each other even under loaded conditions. In the prior art, similar support structures to the serpentine support means 38 have existed, but were attached to the top and bottom support means such that the truss wire within the same plane as the lip wires,-and the only attachment between the truss <_nd up wires were the tangent point between the tip of the apex of the serpentine pattern, and the tangent point of the outer circumference of the lip wires. This resulted in a very small area of contact and thus a very small area which could be welded to. Furthermore, in the prior art, when under load, the parallel top and bottom support means would tend to bend downward. When this bending downward occurs, the truss wire would tend to be displaced outward. This problem is overcome by the current design where the truss wire 38 is placed behind the plane comprising the lip wires 34 and 36.. One advantage of this is that a much larger area of welding can be obtained. This is because a larger portion of the truss wire 38 is in contact with the lip wire 36. For instance, top lip wire 34 is in contact with truss wire 38 from the location labelled 44 until the location labelled 46 in FIGURE 2. This provides a very large bonding surface area so that a much stronger weld can be attached. 5 Furthermore, as the device is placed under tension, the truss wire 38 cannot be displaced outward because it is behind the plane comprising the top and bottom beam means. Thus, truss wire 38 provides the function of stabilizing top lip wire 34 relative U j ; to bottom lip wire 36 in a much more effective manner than found in the prior art. A further advantage of this truss wire being outside the plane of the lip wires is that it can be of a larger size, and thus greater strength. 15 It should further be noted that deck wires 32 extend from main support means 20 to main support means 24 which cannot be seen from FIGURE 2. These deck wires do not attach to post receiving members 10 and 14. Also, truss wire 38 does not extend 20 along the complete length of the main support means 20, for instance, in FIGURE 2, they end at points 48 and 50. Referring to FIGURE 3, a bottom view of this first embodiment is depicted. As can be seen 25 from FIGURE 3, the deck wires, 52 for instance, extend from main support means 22 to main support means 18 and are attached to both of those support means by welds. Furthermore, these deck wires 52 are also welded to the longitudinal wires 26, 28 and 30 30. The deck wires curve in the general area of the top lip wire part of the main support means such that the ends can be seen in FIGURE 3 as labelled by number 54. Curvature of the deck wires 52 can be 35 further seen with reference to FIGURE 4. A representative deck wire 52 is shown curving around top lip wire 34 and being connected thereto at location 56. The deck wires 52 then curve around this top lip wire 34 so as to be parallel to the plane comprised of the top and bottom lip wires 34 and 36. The deck wires terminate at the location of the bottom lip wire and are attached thereto at location 58. In effect, this serves to stabilize the shelf by forming a box-like structure, the box consisting of top and bottom lip wires 34 and 36, and the plurality of deck wires. Each deck wire is welded both to top and bottom lip wires 34 and 36 at locations 56 and 58. Furthermore, the curvature of the deck wires in this manner functions to aid in load bearing ability of the shelf. When weight is placed on the deck wires, they will naturally tend to bow downward, thus causing- a force to be applied to the area of the welds. Even if welds 56 and 58 did not exist, the curvature of these storage support means would help keep them from bowing in the center as they would be attached by virtue of their shape to main support means 20. A second embodiment of this invention is depicted in FIGURES 5, 5A, 6, 7 and 8. This second embodiment is adapted for use with relatively long shelf lengths such that extra supports is necessary towards the center portion of the shelf length to aid in ensuring that the shelf does not sag in the center portion. As an example, with a 14-18 inch wide shelf, this second embodiment should be used for lengths greater than 60 inches, and with a 21-24 inch wide shelf, this extra support is advantageous for a length greater than 36 inches. Referring to FIGURE 5, a diagram of a shelf utilizing this second embodiment is shown. In FIGURE 5, the main support means 18 and 22 are longer than the comparable support means in FIGURE 5 1, and thus additional support is needed for the shelf to be sure that it will not sag in the center portion 60. The additional support means 62 is used in this second embodiment in place of the middle subsupport means, longitudinal wire 18 of the first 1.0 embodiment. This second embodiment as shown by FIGURE 5 has four post receiving members 10, 12, 14 and 16, and main support means 18, -20, 22 and 24 running between them to form the perimeter of the shelf, 15 similar to the first embodiment. Additionally attached to these main support means are two subsupport means, longitudinal wires 26 and 30. Additional support for the shelf is provided by additional support means 62. This 20 additional support means is welded to the main support means 20 and 24. A drawing of this additional support means 62 is shown in FIGURE 5A. The additional support means consists of a top support means lip wire 64 25 and a bottom support means, lip wire 66, thus similar in structure to the main support means. However, this additional support means has two serpentine support means for increased load bearing strength. The first serpentine support means, first 30 truss wire 68 as shown in FIGURE 5A, is located above the plane comprising lip wires 64 and 66. This first truss wire 68 is welded to the top lip wire 64 at location 70 and welded to bottom lip wire 66 at location 72. Thus as in the main support 35 means, a very large welding area is obtained. The second serpentine support means, second truss wire 74 is located behind the plane comprising lip wires 64 and 66. The truss wires are placed with respect to each other such that their generally sinusoidal shapes are also located 180° out of phase with each other. Thus, the apexes of first truss wire 68 and second truss wire 74 will never be adjacent to each other on the same lip wire. At the location where first truss wire 68 is welded to top lip wire 64, second truss wire 74 is welded to bottom lip wire 66. This design provides many advantages. Firstly, an increased amount of support tending to keep top and bottom lip wires 64 and 66 generally parallel to each other is obtained. Secondly, truss wires 68 and 74 being offset from each other in this way tends to reinforce their position to each other as well as the lip wires 64 and 66. If one truss wire were stressed, thus being deformed outward and stressing the weld connections, that deformation would be resisted by the other truss wire. This other truss wire, while also welded, would have to be physically deformed in order to break the weld holding the first truss wire. The top lip wire 64 of this additional support means 62 is welded to the top lip wire 34 of main support means 20 and the top support means of main support means 24. The bottom lip wire 66 of additional support means 62 is similarly welded to bottom lip wires of main support means 20 and 24. Referring to FIGURE 6, a side view of this second embodiment is seen. While the left side is shown, the view would be exactly analogous to the right side. This view is very similar to that in the first embodiment (FIGURE 2) except for the side view of additional support means 62. An end view of top support means 64 of additional support means 62 can also be seen in FIGURE 6. FIGURE 7 shows a bottom view of this second embodiment of the shelf. This bottom view is very similar to FIGURE 3 (which shows a bottom view of the first embodiment) except for additional support means 62 being installed instead of subsupport means (longitudinal wire) 28. The deck wires 52 can be seen as being supported by longitudinal wires 26 and 30, and additional support means 62. As in the first embodiment, these deck wires also bend around main support means 18 and 22, and an end view of these deck wires is labelled by number 54. A front view of this second embodiment is shown in FIGURE 8. While this is a front view, it should be noted that an analogous view wouli be. seen looking from the rear .of the shelf. From this view, • main support means 20 is seen with its top support means, top lip wire 76 and bottom support means, bottom lip wire 78. Also depicted is the serpentine support means, truss. wire 80 of main support means 20. Finally, a perspective view of additional support means 62 (as a back drop) can be seen from FIGURE 8. In both the first and second embodiments of this shelf, the main support means on the front and back of the shelf (18 and 22) have their main support means welded to the respective post receiving members at a location higher than main support means (20 and 24) are welded to the post receiving members on the sides of the shelf. The purpose of this offset is that the side main support means 20 and 24 have the longitudinal wires directly superjacent to them, and the deck wires are placed directly superjacent to the longitudinal wires. Thus, for the top lip wire 34 of the front main support means 18 to be at the same height as the deck wire 52, the top lip wire 34 must be welded at a position slightly higher than the position at which the side main support means (20 and 24) are welded. This slightly higher height should be generally equal to the diameter of the longitudinal wire. FIGURE 9 shows a top view of an inverted shelf of the first embodiment of this invention. Post receiving members 10, 12, 14, and 16 can be seen in the four corners of the shelf with main support members 18, 20, 22 and 24 running between the post receiving members to form the perimeter of the shelf. Main support members 18 and 22 comprise the front and rear of the shelf respectively, and main support members 20 and 24 comprise the size of the shelf. Running between the main support member means 20 and 24 are longitudinal wires 26, 28, and 30. Deck wires 32 can be seen running perpendicularly to these longitudinal wires. The curving of deck wires 32 around the front and rear main support means can be seen in FIGURE 9. When deck wire 32 reaches top lip wire 82 of main support means 18, it curves around top lip wire 82 so as to form a generally perpendicular bend. The area of this bend in deck wire 32 is then welded to lip wire 82. After undergoing this perpendicular bend deck wire 32 continues until it reaches the general area of bottom lip wire 84. At this point deck wire 12 terminates and is welded to bottom lip wire 84. Both sides of all deck wires are curved and welded in this manner, thus forming a "box" arrangement which greatly increases the strength of the shelf. FIGURE 10 shows a top perspective view of an inverted shelf of the second embodiment of this invention. It can be seen from FIGURE 10 that additional support means 62 is substituted for longitudinal wire 28 so as to provide additional support for the shelf in its midportion. Additional support means 62 is welded to the top and bottom lip wires of side support means 20 and 24. These points of welding in connection are labelled in FIGURE 10 as 86, 88, 90 and 92. The shelf as in FIGURE 10 is similar to the first embodiment except for the additional support of additional support means 62. A perspective view of plurality of. shelves, the shelves being of the kind described in the second embodiment, can be seen with reference to FIGURE 11. FIGURE.11 shows 3 of the plurality of shelves, 100, 102, and 104, comprising a shelving unit. Shelf support poles 106, 108, 110, and 112 can also be seen in FIGURE 11. The post receiving members at the four corners of each shelf fit over these generally cylindrical posts and are affixed into place through use of devices attached to the posts over which the post receiving members fit. In the embodiment of these shelves discussed above, the deck wires are formed of 9 gauge steel, truss wires of 7 gauge steel, and all other wires of 4 gauge steel. Although only a few exemplary embodiments of this invention have been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible . in the exemplary embodiment without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the following claims.

Claims: WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1. A metal shelf, having a top surface, four edge portions, and four corners, for attachment to a plurality of shelf support posts, said shelf comprising in combination: post receiving members at each of said four corners each being shaped to fit over one of said plurality of self support posts; each of said edge portions including a main support element for supporting the load placed on said shelf, each of said main support elements being securely attached to at least two of said post receiving members, thereby defining the perimeter edge of said shelf, each of said main support elements comprising top and bottom, spaced apart, parallel extending members, each of said top and bottom members having an interior side facing toward the space between said top and bottom members as well as front and rear sides, said top and bottom members also including top and bottom sides, respectively, each of said main support elements further including a serpentine shaped truss wire attached to the rear sides of said top and bottom members so as to extend beyond the area defined between said interior sides, a plurality of support members extending between said opposing side edges to support said deck wires, and wherein said four edge portions include opposing front and rear edges, and opposing side edges, said shelf further including horizontally positioned spaced apart deck wires extending between said front and rear edges, said deck wires having end portions which extend over said top member so as to be fixed to the top side thereof and downwardly so as to engage and be fixed to the front side of said top member and to front side of said bottom member. 2. A shelf as in claim 1 wherein each said deck wires are located approximately 1 inch from one another. 3. A shelf as in claim 1 wherein said main support elements forming the sides of said shelf are attached to said post receiving members at a lower point than said main support elements forming the front and rear of said shelf are attached to said post receiving members.

Inventors: REMMERS LEE E, REMMERS, LEE, E.
Applicants: CLAIRSON CORP, CLAIRSON CORPORATION
Application year: 1986
Main classification: A47F5
IPC codes: A47B55