Coupling device for light-duty metal set of shelves

Abstract: A coupling device for light-duty metal sets of shelves provided with uprights with which the shelves are associated directly, the device having a male component (14;103;203;314) that is formed directly on, or fixed to, a shelf (13;102;202;313) or an upright (12;101;201;312) and is constituted by a bracket (15;103;204;320) in which at least one portion is joined to the element from which it protrudes and has an inclined arrangement; the bracket has a transverse dimension that tapers along the direction for insertion in a corresponding and complementarily shaped female component (22;104;205;328) formed directly on the complementary component of the set of shelves or on an element that is fixed thereto.

Description: The present invention relates to a coupling device particularly but not exclusively useful for light-duty metal sets of shelves. Metal sets of shelves that can be assembled on site are currently widely used in the industrial and commercial field as well as in households. Such sets of shelves are used either to support miscellaneous lightweight items, such as for example ornaments, books, etcetera, but are also used to support items that are heavier and most of all moved frequently. Despite their wide variety of constructive types, said so-called "light-duty" sets of shelves are currently substantially constituted by uprights, possibly reinforced with cross-members, whereon the metallic shelves are fixed by means of coupling devices. Currently commercially available sets of shelves substantially have two different coupling devices. A first coupling device substantially entails the use of bolts insertable in holes formed in the uprights and in the shelves. This coupling device, despite performing its task, is not free from drawbacks, the first one residing in the considerable complexity of the assembly operations, and of the optional disassembly operations, that it entails. Furthermore, in sets of shelves whereon the stored items are moved often, the tightness of the bolts tends to decrease in the course of time and must be restored periodically, with an obvious waste of time and possibly, in the commercial and industrial field, of labor. In order to obviate the above-mentioned drawbacks, a second coupling device substantially provides for cantilevered brackets that are formed directly either in the shelf or in the uprights. Such cantilevered brackets fit in appropriately provided holes, which are also formed in the uprights or in the shelves. This second coupling device, despite being easy to assemble and disassemble, has drawbacks that can be substantially identified at a structural level. The bracket, in view of its cantilevered structure and because of the mechanism for its insertion in the corresponding hole, in fact undergoes, during use, considerable shearing stresses that considerably limit its overall load-bearing capacity. DE-A-15 54 465 discloses a coupling device for coupling upright members (1) with horizontal members (1a). The coupling device includes a U-shaped clip (6) having two parallel limbs (9) inserted through a pair of oblong apertures (5) formed in the upright member (1). Each limb (9) is folded outward to form a U-shaped wedge channel whose bottom (10) forms an angle with the longitudinal vertical axis of the upright member. The coupling device also includes a U-shaped channel assembly piece (7) fastened (e.g. by welding) to the end of the horizontal member (1a). The U-shaped piece (7) has a base (11) and parallel sides (12) whose edges are folded over in U-shaped each forming a wedge (13) which is engaged in a respective wedge channel (10) of the clip (6), thereby to connect the horizontal member (1a) to the upright member (1). US-A-2 147 759 discloses a demountable stand having fastening means for fastening upright walls (6,8,9a,10,13,15) of horizontal shelves (4,9,12,14) to vertical angle bar corner standards (1,2,11). The fastening means include sockets (17) pressed from the upright walls of the shelves to leave the top (17a) open and the bottom bent as a stop, and vertically disposed pairs of tongues (16) cutaway from the standards at tops and sides to leave a lower end inward shoulder with the tongues projecting thence upwardly spaced from the standard walls. The shelves may be releasably interlocked with the uprights in which the tongues are inserted in the sockets to engage or contact tightly against the upright walls of the shelves, and in which the coengaged parts may be pressed together by suitable tools to engage tightly together. GB-A-1 287 394 discloses a shelving frame structure having horizontal crosspieces (12) connected to upright members (10) by couplings. The couplings comprise L-shaped end portions (14) connected to the ends of the crosspieces and provided with nearly square shaped perforations (40) having tapered tongues (41 ) extending bent beyond the surface from which they project, and slots (30) formed on the face of the uprights with inwardly and outwardly projecting boundaries (31,32). To connect the crosspieces to the uprights, the tongues are slid into the slots in a direction (B) forming an angle (α) with respect to the vertical axis of the uprights. A principal aim of the present invention is to provide a coupling device for light-duty metal sets of shelves that solves the drawbacks described above in conventional devices, particularly by combining very easy assembly and disassembly of said sets of shelves, considerable mechanical strength, and a substantially complete lack of shearing stresses, which would severely compromise the maximum load that could be supported. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a coupling device the execution whereof entails production costs and times that are competitive with respect to conventional coupling devices. Another object of the present invention is to provide a coupling device that is reliable over time and does not require maintenance. Another object of the present invention is to provide a coupling device that can be easily adapted to the various types of set of shelves provided particularly for various fields of use. Another object of the present invention is to provide a coupling device that can be manufactured with conventional technologies and can be assembled even by unskilled personnel having no particular technical knowledge. In accordance with the invention, there is provided a coupling device as defined in appended claim 1. Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of two embodiments thereof, illustrated only by way of non-limitative example in the accompanying drawings, wherein: figure 1 is a perspective view of a metal set of shelves of the light-duty type; figure 2 is a lateral view of the corner portion of a shelf in a first embodiment of the present invention; figure 3 is a top view of the shelf portion of figure 2; figure 4 is a view of the shelf portion of figures 2 and 3 assembled to an upright; figure 5 is a partially sectional side view of the parts to be coupled between the upright and the shelf in a second embodiment of the present invention; figure 6 is a top view of the shelf portion of figure 5; and figure 7 is a front view of the upright portion of figure 5; With particular reference to figures 1 to 4, a whereof is the vertical (angle β), so that an end portion 20, related to the end 16, located in an upward region when the set of shelves 10 is assembled, is transversely larger than an end portion 21 related to the end 17 and arranged downwardly when the set of shelves 10 is assembled. The median portion 18 is inclined, when the set of shelves 10 is assembled, with respect to the corresponding shelf 13 so as to diverge downwardly from said shelf. A coupling device 11 furthermore comprises a female component, generally designated by the reference numeral 22, which in this case is formed in the corresponding upright 12. More specifically, in each one of the uprights 12 there is provided a plurality of female components 22 arranged mutually in succession along two vertical directions, each direction being related to a corresponding wing of the respective upright 12. Each one of the female components 18 is constituted by a slotted hole comprising an insertion section 23, to be arranged upwards, the transverse dimensions whereof are adapted to allow the easy insertion of the bracket 15, the transverse dimension whereof is also set by the corresponding teeth 19. The slotted hole is shaped so as to taper sharply, starting from the insertion section 23, so as to form an anchoring section 24 where the teeth 19 perform their fixing action when the bracket 15 is inserted. The anchoring section 24 tapers in a linear fashion and is arranged with respect to the insertion section 23 so as to form an interference-fit coupling with a coupling device for light-duty metal sets of shelves, according to the invention, is used in a first embodiment in a set of shelves generally designated by the reference numeral 10 and is generally designated by the reference numeral 11. The set of shelves 10 has, in this case, uprights 12 with an L-shaped cross-section and shelves designated by the reference numeral 13. The coupling device 11 comprises, in this first embodiment, a male component that is generally designated by the reference numeral 14 and is formed by cutting and plastic deformation from the edge of a corresponding shelf 13. Each one of the male components 14 comprises a bracket 15 protruding from the corresponding shelf 13 and having ends 16 and 17 monolithically joined to said shelf. The bracket 15 is constituted, in this case, by a strip that is curved at the ends 16 and 17 and in which the convex portion protrudes with respect to the corresponding shelf 13. On the whole, the bracket 15 is arranged, when the set of shelves 10 is assembled, in a direction diverging downwards (angle α). A median portion 18 of the bracket 15 is substantially flat and two mutually opposite teeth 19 protrude from said portion, said teeth being arranged along a straight line that is substantially perpendicular to the line along which said bracket 15 lies. Furthermore, the bracket 15 has lateral edges that form an angle diverging upwardly and the bisecting line corresponding bracket 15. It should also be noted that said interference-fit coupling, in addition to substantially completely eliminating shearing stresses, causes heavy loads arranged on a shelf 13 to produce self-locking of the coupling device 11. The slotted hole related to the female component 22 is arranged, as regards its overall longitudinal extension, in a substantially vertical direction when the set of shelves 10 is assembled. With particular reference to figures 5 to 7, a coupling device for light-duty metal sets of shelves, according to the invention, in a second embodiment thereof, is generally designated by the reference numeral 200. The device 200, in this case, is applied to a set of shelves provided with uprights 201 with which shelves 202 are associated. The device 200 comprises a male component that is generally designated by the reference numeral 203 and is connected to a corresponding shelf 202; said male component is constituted by two symmetrical vertical wings 204 the free edges whereof are opposite to each other and are folded so as to diverge downwardly from the plane from which they protrude (angle α"). The wings 204 are formed by cutting and plastic deformation directly from the edge of the corresponding shelf 202. Furthermore, the cut of the part that becomes the free edge once deformation has occurred is diagonal with respect to the vertical direction, so that the final overall bulk of the male component 203 tapers substantially downwards (angle β"). The male component 203 can be inserted in one of a plurality of female components 205 (holes) that are formed in one of the wings of a respective upright 201; said female component is constituted by a through hole having a substantially trapezoidal shape. More specifically, the hole 205 tapers downwards so as to match the taper of the male component 203, so that when the corresponding set of shelves 202 is mounted on corresponding uprights 201, any load placed thereon increases the interference fit between the free edge of the wings 204 and the edge that forms the corresponding hole 205. In practice, it has been observed that the present invention has solved the intended aim and objects. In particular, it should be noted that the coupling device according to the invention, despite being very simple and quick to assemble and disassemble without damaging its components, ensures stable anchoring to the set of shelves, since it is self-locking when heavy objects are positioned; indeed, said objects, by bearing on the corresponding brackets, increase the interference forces that said brackets perform with the anchoring section. The coupling is in fact performed through the action of a double inclination of the components (produced by their arrangement and/or tapered configuration), so that during snap-action coupling between the upright and the shelf there is provided a double intervention of forces acting in mutually perpendicular directions that are at right angles to the insertion direction. It should also be noted that the device can be assembled even by unspecialized personnel and that it can be produced with great economy of scale due to the simplicity of the machining operations it entails. Another remark regarding the present invention relates to the fact that it entails, due both to its easy and quick production and to its basic structural simplicity, extremely low costs that are in any case competitive with respect to conventional devices. The present invention is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations that are within the invention as defined by the appended claims; thus, for example, both the male and the female components can be conveniently swapped, according to the element from which they are obtained, with respect to what has been described above. The materials and the dimensions may be any according to the requirements. Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly, such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.

Claims: A coupling device (11,200) for light-duty metal sets of shelves (10) provided with uprights (12,201) with which the shelves (13,202) are associated directly, comprising a male component (14,203) that is formed directly on, or fixed to, a shelf or an upright and is constituted by a bracket (15,204) in which at least one portion is joined to and cut and deformed directly from the element from which it protrudes and has an inclined arrangement forming an angle (α,α") with respect to the plane of said element from which it protrudes, said bracket having a transverse dimension that tapers linearly along an angle (β,β") with respect to the vertical insertion direction of a corresponding and complementarily shaped female component (22,205) formed as a tapered vertically extending through hole directly on the complementary component of the set of shelves. A coupling device according to claim 1, characterized in that said bracket is constituted by a strip (15) that is curved at least proximate to its ends, which are both fixed to the element from which it extends, so that its convex portion protrudes with respect to said element. A coupling device according to claim 2, characterized in that said strip (15) is formed by cutting and plastic deformation from the element from which it protrudes and is arranged approximately vertically when the set of shelves is assembled. A coupling device according to claim 3, characterized in that a median portion (18) of said bracket is substantially flat and that two mutually opposite teeth (19) protrude therefrom. A device according to claim 4, characterized in that the end portion (16) of said bracket that lies upward when the set of shelves is assembled is transversely larger than the transverse dimensions of a lower end portion (17) arranged opposite to said teeth (19). A coupling device according to claim 5, characterized in that said median portion (18) is inclined along a substantially vertical direction when the set of shelves is assembled, so as to diverge from the element on which it is formed. A coupling device according to claim 6, characterized in that said female component is constituted by a slotted hole (22) comprising an insertion section (23) and an anchoring section (24) that tapers starting from said insertion section and wherein said teeth (19) perform their fixing action. A coupling device according to claim 7, characterized in that said anchoring section (24) tapers in a linear fashion in the opposite direction with respect to said insertion section (23), so as to provide an interference- fit coupling with said corresponding bracket. A coupling device according to claim 8, characterized in that said slotted hole (22) is arranged along a vertical axis when the set of shelves is assembled. A coupling device according to claim 1, characterized in that said bracket is constituted by two vertically arranged symmetrical wings (204) the free edges whereof are opposite to each other and folded so as to diverge from the plane from which they protrude. A coupling device according to claim 1, characterized in that said female component is constituted by a slotted hole (205) lying substantially vertically and having an approximately trapezoidal shape that tapers downwards upon assembly.

Inventors: FILIPPI GIUSEPPE, FILIPPI, GIUSEPPE
Applicants: ANEMOS S P A, ANEMOS S.P.A.
Application year: 1996
Main classification: A47B57
IPC codes: A47B57