Abstract:
A multi-hook bracket for supporting shelving furniture, and the like, includes a horizontally moveable lock that can engage into an aperture in the support standard in which the bracket is mounted. 
     The lock has a key-hole opening to receive a tool that enables a force to be applied between the lock and the main body of the bracket to move the lock horizontally to engage and disengage it from the aperture in the standard.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present patent relates to multi-hook brackets for supporting shelving, furniture, and the like. 
     One common form of support for shelving, office equipment, furniture and the like comprises a series of vertically extending support standards that are spaced horizontally apart and each of which has an array of vertically spaced apertures that receive hooks extending from a vertical edge of a generally horizontally disposed cantilever support arm. Examples of this type of support system can be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,022,621 (Quest) and 4,387,872 (Hogue). 
     OBJECT OF THE INVENTION 
     Quest and Hogue also show locking arrangements that prevent inadvertent removal of the hooks of the cantilever arm from the support standards. 
     A disadvantage of the locking device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,621 is that when the lock 40, shown in FIG. 4 of the &#39;621 Patent, is engaged in the partially occupied aperture 96 of the standard 90, as shown in phantom in FIG. 4 of the Patent, it cannot readily be retracted to remove the bracket 10 from the standard. 
     An object of the present invention is to improve on the type of system shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,621 by providing a way of engaging and disengaging the lock. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to the present invention there is provided a support bracket for shelving and the like, comprising: a main body having a vertical edge from which extend a plurality of spaced apart outwardly directed hooks for engaging the bracket on a vertical support standard with said hooks extending into vertical spaced apertures on the standard; a lock for preventing removal of the bracket from the standard, said lock comprising a member that is movably mounted on the body of the bracket for displacement towards and away from the support standard between a locked and unlocked position and including a portion that is adapted to engage in an aperture of the support standard, the lock having an aperture for receiving a tool for moving the lock towards and away from the said vertical edge to engage and disengage the lock with a standard aperture respectively. The aperture is so positioned that when the lock is engaged the tool can apply a force between the lock and the body in a direction to move the lock from the locked to unlocked position and when the lock is disengaged in a direction to move the lock from the unlocked to the locked position. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a vertical section of the line 2--2 in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a second embodiment; 
     FIG. 4 is a horizontal section on the line 4--4 in FIG. 3; and 
     FIG. 5 is a side elevation of part of the second embodiment in the direction 5--5 in FIG. 3. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIG. 1 shows part of a support system for office furniture which comprises a series of vertically extending standards 11, one of which is shown in FIG. 1, secured, in a manner well known in the art, to a wall or other structure and horizontally spaced apart at distances dictated by the size and weight of the objects to be supported by the system. 
     Each standard 11 comprises a channel section member which has a vertically spaced-apart series of apertures 13 for receiving hooks 15 of a horizontal support bracket 17. As seen in FIG. 1, the bracket 17 has a plurality of spaced apart hooks 15 extending from a rear vertical edge 19 of the bracket 17. The spacing of the hooks 15 and their size and shape is such that each hook is adapted to engage in an aperture 13 of the standard 11 to mount the bracket 17 on the standard 11, as seen in FIG. 1. 
     The invention of U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,621 provides a lock that can be engaged to fill the unoccupied space between the upper edge of a hook 15 and the margin of the aperture 13 in which the hook 15 is engaged to prevent vertical upward movement, and hence disengagement, of the hook 15. As seen in FIG. 1, the embodiment of the present invention includes a lock 21 comprising a flat plate 23 having a forward locking edge 25 which may be stepped, as shown in FIG. 1. In other forms of the invention, not shown on the drawings, the forward locking edge 25 may be chamfered to engage in different sizes of apertures 13, or may be of a single thickness. 
     The plate 23 is accommodated in a channel 26 formed by an omitted portion in the vertical edge 19 of bracket 17. The channel 26 extends from the edge 19 of the bracket essentially horizontally and has a series of sections 26a, 26b, 26c, 26d, and 26e of different vertical dimension or width. As seen in FIG. 2, Sections 26a and 26e are of the same vertical dimension, h1, and sections 26b and 26d are of the same vertical dimension, h2. 
     A portion of the bracket 17 is displaced from the plane of the bracket to form a bridge 27 between the two sides of the channel 26 in the region of the section 26c. The plate 23 has the form of a U, having limbs 28a and 28b surrounding, and slidably mounted on, the bridge 27. The limb 28a of the U has an extension which forms the locking edge 25. In the main spaced-apart portions of the limbs 28a and 28b are formed two rectangular openings 29, one in each limb of the U. The openings 29 are in register with each other. 
     The vertical dimension of the main portion of the plate 23 is just slightly less than that of the width h1 of the channel sections 26b and 26d, but is greater than the width h2 of the channel sections 26a and 26e. This means that the plate 23 is free to move between an unlocked position, shown in FIG. 1, in which the locking portion 25 is disengaged from the aperture 13 of the standard 11 and a locked position, shown in FIG. 2, in which the outer end of the locking portion 25 fills the unoccupied part of the aperture 19 above the hook 15. 
     As seen in FIG. 2, when the lock 21 is engaged, there is a space 31 between the vertical side of the bridge 27 and the margins of the openings 29 in which a tool, for example a screwdriver, can be inserted to apply a separating force between the bridge 27 and the plate 23 to move the plate 23 to the right as seen in FIG. 2 and unlock the lock 21 to allow the bracket 17 to be moved vertically and disengaged from the standard 11. Similarly, when the lock 21 is disengaged, as in FIG. 1, there is a space 33 between the end of the plate 23 and the inner end of the channel 26 which can receive the tool, and enable a force to be applied between the bracket 17 and the plate 23 to move the plate 23 to the left as seen in FIG. 1. 
     FIGS. 3-5 show a second preferred embodiment of the invention. The second preferred embodiment is similar to the first embodiment previously described and similar parts have been given the same reference number in the drawings. 
     The major difference between the first and second embodiments is that in the second embodiment, the lock 21 is disposed at a position on the vertical edge 19 of the bracket 17 where it is spaced away from the hooks. Thus, as best seen in FIG. 5, when the bracket 17 is mounted on a standard 11, and the lock 21 is engaged, the forward locking edge 25 enters and occupies an aperture 13 of the standard 11 which is not partially occupied the one of the hooks 15.