Abstract:
A reinforcement unit for pallet racks wherein first and second tubular post, each having a floor bearing plate secured to a lower end thereof and a horizontal support plate secured to the upper end thereof, along with generally C-shaped connecting members for receiving an original portion of the pallet rack, may be used to reinforce the bottom of existing pallet racks and avoid having to replace the entire rack when it is damaged.

Description:
The present application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/414,222 filed Oct. 7, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,537 which is a ontinuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/149,987 filed Sep. 9, 1998, now abandoned. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to pallet racking arrangements and more particularly, relates to a method system for reinforcing pallet racks. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Pallet racks originally received wide usage in warehouses wherein typically they would extend in a plurality of rows for substantially the height of the building with space being provided between the rows for forklift trucks to move. The forklift trucks would then remove stock from the shelves for the shipping of quantities thereon or for further processing. 
     More recently, the opening of large warehouse stores to the public have utilized such pallet racks for direct access by the consumer. In this arrangement, the warehouse and retail functions are combined. 
     Inherently, there are dangers in such a system and safeguards against collapse must be provided. To date, most of the safety concerns have centered around the various design criteria to ensure that the pallet racks are capable of accepting the loads to which they are subjected. Normally, the pallet racks are of a knock down design wherein the shelves or beams are hooked onto a post. The posts are generally perforated to receive the hook elements and various designs of the post have been proposed in the art. One may, for example, refer to U.S. Pat. No. 4,064,996 illustrating such a post structure. 
     While the use of pallet racks achieves substantial economies for the user, they are very susceptible to damage. Inherently, the loaded pallets must be lifted onto the racks by fork lift trucks. Due to the sometimes limited spaces, accidents are quite frequent wherein the fork lift truck will accidentally collide with one of the support posts. With the very high loads which the pallet racks carry, this is a dangerous situation and any post even slightly damaged must be replaced. 
     In order to replace the damaged post, the loaded pallets must be removed from the structure and the rack disassembled. After repair, the pallets must then be reloaded on the structure. 
     The above process is both an expensive and time consuming one. Frequently, once the post has been damaged, the forces acting on the structure will then cause damage to some of the bracing and beams. For safety reasons, it frequently becomes necessary to replace a substantial portion of the structure. 
     Although it has been proposed in the art to provide post protectors—see U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,110, such post protectors do not assist in preventing damage to the post at a height above the protector. 
     It is also known to provide a repair system for pallet racks such as shown in Canadian Patent 2,232,178. The present invention provides an improvement to such a repair system and may be installed at the time of installation of the pallet racks. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to the present invention, there is provided a reinforcement unit which may be utilized with any known type of pallet rack system and a method for improving pallet rack systems. 
     In greater detail, the reinforcement unit of the present invention is designed to work with all standard pallet racks. In this respect, it will be understood that different pallet racks will have different dimensions and the reinforcement unit will be configured accordingly. 
     According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a reinforcement unit for pallet racks comprising a first tubular post having an upper end and a lower end, a first floor bearing plate secured to the first tubular post at the lower end thereof, a first horizontal support plate secured to the first tubular post at the upper end thereof, a first connecting member secured to the upper end of the first tubular post, the first connecting member having a portion thereof secured to the first tubular post and a further portion extending upwardly above the first support plate, a second tubular post having an upper end and a lower end, a second floor bearing plate secured to the second tubular post at the lower end thereof, a second horizontal support plate secured to the second tubular post at the upper end thereof, a second connecting member secured to the upper end of the second tubular post, the second connecting member having a portion thereof secured to the second tubular post and a further portion extending upwardly above the second support plate and a horizontal frame member extending between the first tubular post and the second tubular post. 
     The reinforcement unit of the present invention is designed to be sufficiently sturdy to withstand any damage from lift trucks and the like. Accordingly, it is constructed of sufficiently robust material and in preferred embodiments, the post and braces are made of steel between ¼ and {fraction (3/16)} inch thick. The same material will be used for the connecting members. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Having thus generally described the invention, reference will be made to the accompanying drawings illustrating an embodiment thereof, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a repair system; 
     FIG. 2 is a side elevational view thereof; 
     FIGS. 3,  3   a,    3   b  and  3   c  illustrate the replacement of a damaged post of a pallet rack; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the equipment utilized during replacement of the damaged post of the pallet rack; 
     FIG. 5 is a side view illustrating engagement of the equipment with the damaged post; 
     FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the equipment of FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 7 is a exploded view of the means of securing the repair assembly to the post; 
     FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of the assembled connector of FIG. 7; and 
     FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a reinforcement unit according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to the drawings in greater detail, and by reference characters thereto, there is illustrated in FIG. 1 a repair assembly which is generally designated by reference numeral  10 . 
     Repair assembly  10  includes a tubular post  12 , having a front wall  14 , an opposed side wall  16 , and a pair of side walls, only one side wall  18  being shown. 
     Located at the bottom of tubular post  12  is a floor bearing plate  20 . Floor bearing plate  20  extends beyond both front wall  14  and back wall  16 ; the portion extending past front wall  14  has an aperture  22  therein to receive a fastening member such as a bolt which will be secured to the floor. A C-shaped bolt guard  24  extends substantially about the periphery of the portion extending beyond front wall  14  to protect the bolt from damage. Similarly, an aperture is provided in the portion of floor bearing plate  20  extending past back wall  16 . 
     At the upper end of tubular post  12  there is a horizontal plate  26  welded thereto. Also surrounding horizontal plate  26  and the upper portion of tubular post  12  is a C-shaped connector  28  having a front wall  30 , a portion of which lies in juxtaposition with front wall  14  of tubular post  12 , there remaining portion extending upwardly to receive the existing post of the pallet rack as will be discussed in greater detail hereinbelow. Similarly, side wall  32  lies in juxtaposition to side wall  18  of tubular post  12 . 
     A horizontal brace  34  extends outwardly from back wall  16 . Horizontal brace  34  has an upper wall  36  and a bottom wall  38  which are substantially the same as back wall  16  to thereby provide a very strong connection. Similarly, a diagonal brace  46  extends diagonally outwardly and upwardly from back wall  16 . In this respect, it will be noted that diagonal brace  46  is located a distance above horizontal brace  34  and extends at an angle of approximately 26 degrees. Diagonal brace  46  includes a top wall  48  and a bottom wall  50  which are slightly narrower than back wall  16  of tubular post  12 . 
     A C-shaped connector generally designated by reference numeral  40  is located at the distal end of horizontal beam  34  and includes a front wall  42  and a pair of side walls, only one side wall  44  being shown. Similarly, a C-shaped connector  52  is provided at the distal end of diagonal brace  46 . 
     Repair assembly  10 , in FIGS. 1 and 2, is shown after having replaced a portion of a damaged post  54  as used in a conventional pallet rack arrangement. In the pallet rack arrangement there is also provided a rear post  56  and an upper horizontal brace  58 . 
     Each of posts  54  and  56 , and as may be best seen in FIG. 4, is of a formed steel having an inwardly extending channel  64  with apertures  66  located therein. This is similar to the arrangement shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,064,996 to Shillum. 
     In practicing the method of the present invention, reference will now be made to the steps involved therein. 
     There is provided a lifting mechanism generally designated by reference numeral  68  and which includes a base  70  having a recess  72  formed therein to permit placement of the lifting mechanism proximate to front post  54 . Mounted on base  70  is a hydraulic jack  74  having an arm  76  extending upwardly therefrom. At the distal end of arm  76  there is provided a post engaging attachment generally designated by reference numeral  78 . Post engaging attachment  78  will be specific to the type of post being repaired and thus a number of different attachments may be employed. 
     Post engaging attachment  78  includes a front wall  80  from which a plurality of members  82  extend. Each member  82  has a horizontal portion  84  which is substantially perpendicular to front wall  80  and an upwardly extending portion  86 . A pair of side walls  88  extend rearwardly from front wall  80 , each side wall  88  having an aperture  90  formed therein to receive a pin  92  for attachment to arm  76 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 3,  3   a,    3   b  and  3   c,  there is illustrated front post  54  which has been hit by a lift truck and has a lower damaged portion  96  and an upper undamaged portion  98  (horizontal and diagonal braces not shown). Initially, lifting mechanism  68  is placed into position whereby members  82  extending from front wall  80  will engage with upper undamaged portion  98  through apertures  66 . Hydraulic jack  74  is then operated to lift post  54  to the extent necessary to remove any weight bearing on lower damaged portion  96 . Lower damaged portion  96  is then removed as indicated by cut line  100 . 
     Subsequently, repair assembly  10  is moved into position as shown in FIG. 3 b  and hydraulic jack  74  is then lowered to permit the bottom end of upper undamaged portion  98  to rest on horizontal plate  86 . A rear C-shaped reinforcing plate  106  is placed inwardly of channel  64  and bolts  104  are then secured through C-shaped connector  28 . A similar procedure is followed with respect to connectors  40  and  52  located at the distal ends of horizontal brace  34  and diagonal brace  46  respectively. 
     Referring to FIG. 9, there is illustrated a reinforcement unit which is generally designated by reference numeral  110 . 
     Reinforcement unit  110  is designed to support the front and back legs of a pallet rack and any number of such units may be used when the pallet racks are being installed. 
     Reinforcement unit  110  includes a tubular post  112  preferably of a non-apertured configuration and made of material sufficiently strong to withstand impacts from fork lift trucks and the like. Tubular post  112  is rectangular in configuration and includes a side wall  114  and an inner wall  116 . At the bottom of tubular post  112  there is provided a floor bearing plate  118  having apertures  120  therein for securing floor bearing plate  118  to the floor which is normally of a concrete material. As in the description relating to the repair system, there is provided a C-shaped bolt guard  122 . 
     At the upper end of tubular post  112  there is provided a horizontal bearing plate  124 . A C-shaped connector  126  extends upwardly therefrom and includes apertures  128  for connection to a conventional pallet rack. A horizontal beam  130  is secured to inner wall  116  and there is provided a triangular brace  132 . 
     At the other end of horizontal beam  130 , there is provided a second tubular post  212  which is identical to tubular post  112  and thus will not be described in detail. However, similar reference numerals in the  200 s have been employed for identical components. 
     In use, reinforcement units  110  are placed in position such that horizontal bearing plates  124  and  224  will receive the legs of a conventional pallet rack. C-shaped connectors  126  and  226  are used for securing the legs of the conventional pallet rack. 
     It will be understood that the above described embodiment is for purposes of illustration only and that changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.