Abstract:
A rack assembly has two support frames, each support frame having at least one connecting member comprising a short tube welded on the support frame and an insertion tube inserted in the short tube. At least one shelf is positioned between the two support frames, each end of each shelf having at least one hook that is received in a corresponding short tube to detachably connect the shelf with the support frame. The shelves can be conveniently attached and detached from the support frames.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field Of The Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a rack, and in particular, to a modular rack that may be freely assembled into different shapes according to the desired placement space. 
         [0003]    2. Description Of The Related Art 
         [0004]    As one of many conventional organizer products, shoe racks have been used in numerous homes. Conventional shoe racks are typically provided in a fixed shape. Consumers may assemble and combine shoes racks into a fixed shape with tools according to instructional drawings and fittings provided by manufacturers after purchase, or purchase a fully-assembled shoe rack for direct use. Although all of these conventional shoe racks perform the basic functions of a shoe rack, they cannot be freely assembled, dis-assembled and expanded, thereby being monotonous in shape and inconvenient in use. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    To overcome the above-mentioned deficiencies, an object of the present invention is to provide a modular rack that may be easily assembled and dis-assembled without the use of any tools. 
         [0006]    To accomplish these objectives, the present invention provides a rack that has support frames that are provided with connecting members and connecting holes. Hooks are provided on the shelves, so that the support frames can connect and disconnect with the shelves conveniently. When multiple layers of connecting members of different vertical heights are provided on the support frames, a multi-layer rack may be freely combined, assembled and disassembled conveniently. 
         [0007]    To achieve the above purpose, the present invention provides a freely-combinable rack that comprises at least two support frames and at least one shelf connected with the two support frames. Each support frame has at least one connecting member, each end of the support frames is provided with at least one hook detachably connected with the connecting members on the support frames, the support frames are detachably connected with the shelf, and the connecting member comprises a short tube welded on or otherwise secured to the support frame and an insertion tube inserted in the short tube. 
         [0008]    Each support frame comprises two identical vertical tubes and at least one horizontal tube for connecting the two vertical tubes, at least one connecting member is disposed on the medial surface of each vertical tube, the vertical heights of the connecting members disposed on the two vertical tubes are the same; and two ends of each shelf are provided with hooks for detachable connection with corresponding connecting members disposed on the support frames. 
         [0009]    The short tube is welded onto or otherwise secured to the medial face of each vertical tube of the support frames, and the cross-section of the short tube can be square or rectangular. 
         [0010]    An insertion hole is provided at the upper end of each vertical tube forming the support frames, while a threaded hole is provided at the lower end thereof; and when there are two or more support frames connected in a stacked manner with one above and one below, each vertical tube is connected with a corresponding vertical tube above or beneath this vertical tube by a connector. 
         [0011]    The connector comprises a screw rod and a connection peg. 
         [0012]    Two or more than two connecting members are provided on the medial face of each vertical tube forming the support frames, and the vertical heights of the connecting members on each vertical tube are the same as those of the connecting members at corresponding vertical positions on the other vertical tube. 
         [0013]    There are two horizontal tubes for connecting the two vertical tubes on each support frame, one of the horizontal tubes is connected with the top medial faces of the two vertical tubes, while the other one thereof is connected with the lower medial faces of the two vertical tubes; and the connecting members provided on the medial faces of the vertical tubes are located on connecting portions between the two horizontal tubes and the vertical tubes. 
         [0014]    The present invention provides the following advantages. The medial surface of each support frame is provided thereon with multiple layers of hooks. Each of the multiple layers comprises two hooks disposed at corresponding positions on medial faces of two vertical tubes on the same support frame, so that multiple shelves may be placed to form a multi-layer rack. Insertion holes are provided at upper ends of the vertical tubes forming each support frame, while threaded holes are provided at lower ends thereof, so that each support frame can be conveniently extended upwards by connectors. Multiple layers of connecting members, disposed on the medial face of each support frame, may be detachably connected with the shelves on the left and right sides of the support frame, so that the rack may be extended left and right. Compared with the conventional racks, the rack of the present invention may be assembled into various shapes at will without using any tools, and both the assembly and disassembly thereof are convenient. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a rack according to the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 2A  is an exploded view of the rack of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 2B  is another exploded view of the rack of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view illustrating a multi-layer rack formed of a plurality of the racks of  FIG. 1  stacked vertically. 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  is an exploded view of a multi-layer rack of  FIG. 3 . 
           [0020]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view illustrating another rack formed by assembling a plurality of the racks of  FIG. 1  side-by-side thereof. 
           [0021]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view illustrating yet another rack formed by assembling a plurality of the racks of  FIG. 1  stacked vertically and connected on the sides thereof. 
           [0022]      FIG. 7  is an enlarged view of the area labeled A in  FIG. 2B . 
           [0023]      FIG. 8  is an enlarged view illustrating the side-by-side connection of shelves in  FIG. 5 . 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0024]    The following detailed description is of the best presently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating general principles of embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims. 
         [0025]    Even though the present invention is illustrated as being used as a shoe rack, it is also possible to use the rack of the present invention for purposes other than for storing or organizing shoes. 
         [0026]    As shown in  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2A ,  FIG. 2B ,  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8 , a basic module of the rack according to the present invention can include two support frames  1  and two shelves  2  connected between the two support frames  1 . Each support frame  1  comprises two identical vertical tubes  101  and two horizontal tubes  102  for connecting the two vertical tubes  101 . Two connecting members  3  are provided on the medial surface or wall  109  (i.e., the surface or wall that faces the opposite vertical tube  10  of the same support frame  1 ) of each vertical tube  101 . The vertical height  101  the locations of the connecting members  3  on the two vertical tubes  101  are the same; in other words, the location of the connecting members  3   a ,  3   b  on the left vertical tube  101  are at the same vertical level as that of the connecting members  3   a ′,  3   b ′ correspondingly disposed on the medial face of the right vertical tube  101 . Each end of each shelf  2  is provided with two hooks  4  for detachable connection with corresponding connecting members  3  disposed on the support frames  1 , so that the shelves  2  can be detachably connected between two support frames  1 . 
         [0027]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , each connecting member  3  can include a short tube  301  with a square or rectangular cross-section, that is welded on the medial face of the corresponding vertical tube  101  (i.e., facing the opposite vertical tube  101 ), and an insertion tube  302  that is adapted to be inserted in the short tube  301 . The hooks  4  are welded on lower surfaces of the end frames of the shelves  2 , slightly offset from the corner thereof, and each hook  4  is adapted to be fitted into a corresponding insertion tube  302 . The short tubes  301  and the insertion tubes  302  are sized and configured to allow two hooks  4  to fit inside on a side-by-side basis. 
         [0028]    Even though the drawings show the short tubes  301  as being four-sided, it is possible for the short tubes  301  to assume any configuration that has opposing straight segments. As shown in  FIG. 8 , the two opposing straight segments would be segments  3011  and  3012 , which happen to be opposite sides of the square shown in  FIG. 8  for the short tube  301 . 
         [0029]    There are two horizontal tubes  102  on each support frame  1  for connecting the two vertical tubes  101 . One of the horizontal tubes  102  is connected with the top medial faces of the two vertical tubes  101 , respectively, while the other horizontal tube  102  is connected with the lower medial faces of the two vertical tubes  101 . The connecting members  3  disposed on the medial faces of the vertical tubes  101  are located at connecting portions between the two horizontal tubes  102  and the vertical tubes  101 . 
         [0030]    Insertion holes  101   a  are provided at upper ends of all vertical tubes  101  forming the support frames  1 , while threaded holes (not shown) are provided at lower ends of the vertical tubes  101 . The insertion holes  101   a  are sealed by detachably connected plugs  5 . Each threaded hole at the bottom of the vertical tubes  101  is detachably connected with a foot  6 . 
         [0031]    The shelves  2  can be conventional shelves, or can be the shelves illustrated in U.S. Pub. No. 2011/0290740-A1, whose disclosure is incorporated by this reference as though set forth fully herein. 
         [0032]    The present invention provides a unique mechanical interlocking assembly which allows two support frames  1  to support two or more shelves  2  in a stable manner without the use of any further rear or front support or bar that would otherwise be needed to couple the two support frames  1 . Referring to  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8 , the fitting of the hook  4  into the corresponding short tube  301 creates two transverse engagement forces F 1  and F 2 . F 1  is the engagement of the outer surface  205  of the end wall of the shelf  2  (and in particular, at the corner of the shelf  2 ) against one wall  108  of the vertical tube  101 , and F 2  is the engagement of the side of the hook  4  against another wall  109  (that is adjacent and transverse to the wall  108 ) of the vertical tube  101 . The hook  4  is positioned on the end of the shelf  2  at a location that is slightly offset from the corner of the shelf  2  so as to facilitate this interlocking engagement between the hook  4 , the outer surface  205 , and the walls  108  and  109 . The transverse engagement forces F 1  and F 2  at the four corners of each shelf  2  allow the shelves  2  and the support frames  1  to be secured in a stable manner without the need for any rear bracing. 
         [0033]    As shown in  FIG. 3  to  FIG. 4 , two or more support frames  1  can be connected in a stacked fashion (i.e., one connected above the other), the top of each vertical tube  101  of the lower support frame  1  is connected with a corresponding vertical tube  101  of the upper support frame  1  by a connector  7  that comprises a screw rod  701  (which screws into the threaded hole at the bottom of the vertical tube  101 ) and a connection peg  702  (which can be inserted into the insertion holes  101  at the top of the lower support frame  1 ). 
         [0034]      FIG. 5  and  FIG. 8  illustrate how the rack of the present invention can be extended sideways. A common support frame  1  (see the center support frame  1  in  FIG. 5 ) can be used to support the ends of two adjacent shelves  2  by inserting the hooks  4  of the two adjacent shelves  2  into the short tubes  301  and the insertion tubes  302  of the common (i.e., the center) support frame  1 . 
         [0035]      FIG. 6  illustrates a rack that is formed by incorporating the stacking and connection principles shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . 
         [0036]    While the description above refers to particular embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof.