SUPPORT STRUCTURE

Abstract: A bracket (6) for use with a closed section tubular upright (1) having a row of axially aligned elongated slots (3) in its front wall. The bracket (6) has an upper tongue (7) which is preferably hook-shaped with a first portion (12) adapted to engage with the rear face of the front wall (2) of the slotted upright between two juxtaposed slots (3) therein and an arcuate second portion which includes a camming surface (10) adapted to engage with the rear wall (4) of the upright (1) with a camming action when the bracket (6) is pivoted in the plane thereof. The tongue (7) is configured so that the bracket is inserted into a slot (3) in the upright (1) at an angle thereto and then pivoted into a locked position in which the first portion (12) of the tongue (7) engages with the rear face of the front wall (2) of the upright (1) above the slot (3) in which the tongue (7) is inserted, the camming surface (10) on the second portion of the tongue engaging with the rear wall (4) of the upright (1) with a camming action whereby the tongue is gripped between the front wall (2) and the rear wall (4) of the upright to make a tight fit therewith.

Description: SUPPORT STRUCTURE This invention relates to a support structure in which a bracket is removably fitted into one or more of a plurality of vertically aligned elongate apertures in the front wall of a tubular upright to attach and anchor it thereto. A support structure of this type provides for easy vertical adjustability of the bracket within predetermined locations. However, owing to the fact that the locating tongues or teeth formed on it are held in the apertures in the upright only by their engagement with the wall portions adjacent the ends of the apertures, these wall portions are subjected to forces which tend to bend or wear when a predetermined load on the bracket is exceeded. Consequently, unless the apertured upright is made of a robust construction (often undesirable in view of cost and weight considerations), the admissible loading of the bracket is somewhat limited and anchoring it in the slotted upright lacks the desired stability. The Applicant overcame the aforementioned problems as described in their European patent No.004196 by providing a bracket assembly in which the rear wall of the tubular upright is deformed to provide bracket locating means therein in the form of a continuous internal indentation extending longitudinally of the upright. Deforming the rear wall to provide this indentation enabled the upright to be formed in a single operation as a closed section with the indentation taking up the minimum amount of space and being capable of being very accurately dimensioned. In use, the tongues at the end of each bracket were inserted in the vertically aligned slots in the upright with their ends in contact with and located in the indentation in the rear wall of the upright. This engagement of the tongues with the indentation in the rear wall of the upright provided lateral stability for the bracket as it restricted its lateral movement relative to the upright and it also improved the load bearing capabilities of the bracket as the load was carried by both the front and rear walls of the upright. However, because of manufacturing tolerances, it has been found that the bracket can sometimes be a loose fit in the indentation in the rear wall of the upright so in certain circumstances e.g. where there is a lot of vibration, the bracket can vibrate and jump out of the slots so any merchandise on shelves supported by the brackets can fall off with disastrous consequences. It is an object of the present invention therefore to provide an improved support structure in which the bracket has one or more tongues or teeth thereon which are gripped between the front and rear walls of the upright when fitted therein to make a tight fit therewith and prevent accidental or inadvertent removal of the bracket from the upright. According to the invention there is provided a support structure comprising a support bracket and a tubular upright having a rear wall and a front wall with a row of axially aligned apertures therein characterised in that the bracket has a tongue at one end thereof with a first portion which engages with an inside face of the front wall of the upright and a second portion which engages with the rear wall of the upright when the bracket is fitted to the upright, the tongue being configured so that the bracket can be initially inserted into an aperture in the upright at an angle thereto and then pivoted in the plane of the upright into a locked position whereby the first tongue portion engages with the inside face of the front wall of the upright and the second tongue portion engages with the rear wall of the upright with a camming aαion so that the tongue is gripped between the front and rear walls of the upright to make a tight fit therewith. The apertures can be of any configuration but slots or circular openings are preferred. Preferably the front portion of the tongue is hook shaped. In a preferred embodiment, the hook shaped tongue has a rebate therein shaped to cooperate with and receive and locate the portion of the front wall of the upright above the slot in which the tongue is inserted, the length of the rebate being substantially equal to said portion of the front wall. Preferably the bracket is initially fitted in the upright and then pivoted downwardly in the plane of the upright into its locked position. However, with suitably shaped apertures, the bracket member could be manipulated laterally into its locked position. In the preferred embodiment, the width of the tongue between where it engages with the front and rear walls of the upright is greater than the internal width of said upright so that as the bracket is rotated into its horizontal position, the cam surface on the tongue distorts said upright to wedge the tongue in position therebetween. The bracket can have only a single tongue but two or more spaced tongues are preferred depending on the load to be applied to the bracket in use. In a preferred embodiment with only two tongues, the second tongue has parallel arcuate opposite side edges, the distance between said edges being slightly greater than the length of a slot in the upright, the or each tongue also having a flat end face which engages with the rear wall of the upright in the bracket locating means. Alternatively, the end face of the or each additional tongue can abut the front face of the upright instead of being received in an aperture therein. The upright is preferably formed as a closed box section with its rear wall deformed to provide bracket locating means therein, preferably in the form of a continuous internal indentation extending longitudinally of the upright. A notch can be provided on the underside of the or each tongue to allow the bracket to drop down and positively locate in a slot in the upright when the bracket reaches its locked position thereby providing the bracket member with additional strength. In the embodiment where two tongues are provided at the end of the bracket, the end face of the bracket between said tongues can include a rebate to space said end face from the outside front face of the upright when the bracket is inserted in the slots therein and mounted in its horizontal fitted position. A major advantage of the support structure of the invention over the prior art is that it is much stronger and it cannot rattle or work loose because it is wedged in position within the upright so it cannot move once it is in place. The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a cross section on the line II-II of the support structure of Figure 2 showing a preferred bracket in position in a slotted upright; Figure 2 is a top plan view of the bracket illustrated in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side view of the bracket shown in Figures 1 and 2; and Figure 4 shows an alternative bracket design. Referring to the drawings, there is shown in Figure 1 a support structure comprising a bracket member and a tubular steel upright 1 of a substantially rectangular closed cross section which has a front wall 2 in which a plurality of vertically aligned elongate slots 3 are formed. The upright has a rear wall 4 which is provided with bracket locating means in the form of a continuous longitudinal indentation 5 located directly opposite the row of slots 3. The indentation 5 has a flat bottom whose width substantially corresponds to that of the slots 3 for reasons which will be explained shortly. The indentation 5 in the rear wall and the slots 3 have a common centre line which extends normally to the front wall 2. A generally planar elongate bracket 6 of a thickness substantially corresponding to the width of the slots 3 comprises a main section 6a formed at one end with a pair of spaced projecting teeth or tongues 7 and 7'. The upper tongue 7 is preferably hook- shaped and provided with a second or rear portion which includes a cam surface 10 at its edge which engages with the rear wall 4 of the upright. The free end of the hook- shaped tongue 7 has a first or nose portion 12 with an elongate rebate 8 formed therein dimensioned to receive and locate portion 23a of the front wall of the upright between slots 3b and 3c. The rebate 8 can however be omitted in which case the free end of the nose portion 12 will engage directly with the inside face of the front wall 2. The cam surface 10 is defined by an increasing radius about point 11. Thus, the distance between point 11 and the far corner tip 12b of the nose portion 12 is less than the width of the tongue portion 9 received in slot 3b. End face 13 of the bracket 6 is spaced from the front wall 2 of the upright 1 by a short distance as illustrated. The tongue 7' formed at the bottom of the bracket has a curved outer edge 15' which terminates in an end face 16. Preferably inner edge 15' is also curved and concentric with outer curved edge 15. Preferably, the width of the tongue 7' is the same as one of the vertical slots 3 in the upright 1. In order to insert the bracket 6 into the upright 1, it has to first be orientated into position I shown in Figure 1 at an angle of approximately 20° relative to the upright as shown in phantom thereby allowing the nose portion 12 of the upper tongue 7 to be inserted into one of the slots 3 at the desired height at which the bracket is required to be mounted on the upright 1. In the illustrated arrangement, the tongue 7 is inserted into slot 3b. The bracket 6 is then pivoted downwardly about pivot point 11 in the direction of arrow A to position II shown in Figure 1 in phantom. When the bracket reaches its horizontal locked position III in Figure 1, the nose portion 12 has rotated in a clockwise direction so that the free end thereof has located in the slot 3a immediately above the slot 3b in which the tongue 7 was originally inserted, end face 12a of the nose portion 12 resting on the top edge of the material 23a of the upright 1 located immediately below the upper slot 3 a, the upright material 23 a being a tight fit in the rebate 8 in the nose portion 12 in hook-shaped portion 7 of the tongue. During this downward movement, the lower tongue 7' enters slot 3d until its end face 16 contacts the rear wall 4 of the upright 1 and locates in the indentation 5. It will be appreciated, it is not essential that the bracket be pivoted in the plane of the upright to reach its locked position III. If, for instance, the apertures 3 in the upright are circular, the tongue 7 can be inserted into an aperture 3 in the upright with the bracket 6 laterally offset with respect to the upright 1 and the bracket 6 can then be laterally pivoted from this position into its upright locked position III. It should be noted that as the bracket 6 is rotated downwardly in the direction of arrow A, the camming surface 10 of the upper hook-shaped tongue 7 also locates in the indentation 5 in the rear wall of the upright 2. Due to the increasing radius of this camming surface 10, it will be appreciated that as the bracket 6 is rotated, the camming surface 10 engages in the bottom of the indentation 5 and pushes the nose portion 12 forwardly relative to the rear wall 4 of the slotted upright 1 and into tighter engagement with the front wall 2 thereof which slightly distorts and ensures that the tongue 7 is an extremely tight fit between the front and rear walls 2 and 4 of the upright 1. Once in its horizontal position shown in Figure 1 in which the upper and lower tongues 7 and 7' are located in the indentation 5, the bracket 6 is firmly wedged and locked in position against movement in three planes namely lateral, vertical and horizontal. As can be seen from Figure 1, when the bracket 6 is locked in its horizontal locked position, the slots 3b and 3d the front wall 2 of the upright 1 are completely filled by the material 9 and 9' of the bracket tongues so the bracket cannot move vertically relative to the upright and any vertical load applied to the bracket will be transferred from the lower edge of the tongues 7 and 7' to the immediately adjacent material 23b,23d of the front wall 2 of slotted upright 1 located immediately beneath it. Because the slots 3b and 3d are completely filled with the material 9,9' of the bracket tongues 7,7', it can be seen that the bracket 6 cannot move vertically. Thus, there is no risk it jumping out of the slots 3 due to vibration or if it is accidentally knocked. Horizontal movement of the bracket 6 relative to the upright 1 is also not possible because the upper tongue 7 is tightly wedged between the front and rear walls 2 and 4 of the upright 1. Horizontal and vertical movement is further resisted due to the engagement of the nose portion 12 of the upper tongue 7 with the rear face of the portion 23a of the front wall 2 of the upright 1 between the slots 3a and 3b and the location of the portion 23a in the rebate 8 in the hook-shaped tongue 7. Lateral movement of the bracket 6 relative to the upright 1 is prevented due to the camming surface 10 wedging the upper hook-shaped tongue 7 between the front wall 2 and the indentation 5 in the rear wall 4 of the upright 1 and similarly due to the engagement of the end face 16 of the lower tongue 7 in said indentation 5. Whilst it is preferred that the bracket should have upper and lower tongues 7 and 7', it can work perfectly satisfactorily if the lower tongue 7' is omitted. However, it is preferable to provide the lower tongue 7' as this increases the general stability of the bracket 6. If desired, still further additional tongues 7 can be provided. For instance, a third tongue could be provided to fit into slot 3f in the upright 1. It should also be noted that it is not essential that the bottom tongue 7' or any other additional tongues (not shown) beneath it contact the rear wall 4 of the upright 1. They could in fact rest against the outside face of the front wall 2 of the upright 1. If desired, a cutting edge or serrations can be provided on the camming surface 10 to enable it to cut its own tolerance fit with the internal walls of the slotted upright 1 as it is pivoted through positions I-III. Furthermore, the camming surface 10 can include a flat surface (not shown) which will engage with the rear wall of the upright to provide a positive "snap" locking action. An alternative bracket design is shown in Figure 4 in which all the same or similar parts are identified by the same reference numerals as those used in Figures 1-3. The main difference is that rebate 8 is omitted from the upper tongue 7 so front edge 12c is planar. Additionally, notches 20a and 20b are provided on the underside of each of the tongues 7 and 7' and axially aligned with the planar front edge 12c of the nose portion 12. Thus, an insertion in the upright 1, once the planar front edge 12c engages with the rear face of the front wall 2 of the upright, the whole bracket can then be pushed downwardly so that the notches 20a and 20b engage with the top portions of the upright sections 23c and 23d of the slots 3c and 3d in the upright 1. The benefit of this arrangement is that there is no bending moment under load on the top tongue 7 and the bracket is more positively located in position in the upright so the risk of it coming out of the slots 3 is minimal should it be knocked or subjected to vibration.

Claims: Claims: 1. A support structure comprising a support bracket and a tubular upright having a rear wall and a front wall with a row of axially aligned apertures therein characterised in that the bracket has a tongue at one end thereof with a first portion which engages with an inside face of the front wall of the upright and a second portion which engages with the rear wall of the upright when the bracket is fitted to the upright, the tongue being configured so that the bracket can be initially inserted into an aperture in the upright at an angle thereto and then pivoted in the plane of the upright into a locked position whereby the first tongue portion engages with the inside face of the front wall of the upright and the second tongue portion engages with the rear wall of the upright with a camming action so that the tongue is gripped between the front and rear walls of the upright to make a tight fit therewith. 2. A support structure as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the tongue is hook shaped, the front portion of the tongue having a rebate therein shaped to cooperate with and receive and locate the portion of the front wall of the upright between juxtaposed apertures. 3. A support structure as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the length of the rebate is substantially equal to the portion of the front wall between two juxtaposed apertures. 4. A support structure as claimed in any preceding claim, characterised in that the width of the tongue between where it engages with the front and rear walls of the upright is greater than the internal width of said upright so that when the bracket is pivoted into its locked position, the cam surface on the tongue distorts said upright to wedge the tongue in position therebetween. 5. A support structure as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4 characterised by at least one additional tongue shaped to fit into an aperture in the upright. 6. A support structure as claimed in claim 5 characterised in that the or each additional tongue has parallel arcuate opposite side edges, the tongue being adapted to fit into an aperture in the upright. 7. A support structure as claimed in claim 6, characterised in that the distance between said opposite side edges on the or each additional tongue is such that the or each tongue will make a clearance fit in an aperture in the upright. 8. A support structure as claimed in claim any of claims 5-7, characterised in that the or each additional tongue has a flat end face which engages with the rear wall of the upright. 9. A support structure as claimed in claim 5 characterised in that the end face of the or each additional tongue abuts the front face of the upright. 10. A support structure as claimed in claim 5 characterised in that the or each additional tongue is received in an aperture in the upright. 11. A support structure as claimed in any preceding claim characterised in that a notch is provided on the underside of the or each tongue to allow the bracket to drop down and positively locate in the aperture in the upright in which it is fitted when the bracket reaches its locked position. 12. A support structure as claimed in any preceding claim, characterised in that the upright is formed of a closed box section, the rear wall of the upright being deformed to provide bracket locating means therein in the form of a continuous internal indentation extending longitudinally of the upright. 13. A support structure as claimed in any of claims 5-12 characterised in that the end portion of the bracket intermediate the first and the or each additional tongue is spaced from the exterior front face of the upright when the bracket is in its locked position thereon. 14. A support structure as claimed in any preceding claim characterised in that the apertures in the upright are elongated slots.

Inventors: CLARK TIMOTHY JAMES, CLARK, TIMOTHY, JAMES
Applicants: CIL INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, CLARK TIMOTHY JAMES, CLARK, TIMOTHY, JAMES
Application year: 1998
Main classification: A47B57
IPC codes: A47B57