Patent Publication Number: US-2007108147-A1

Title: Assembled shelf

Description:
RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS  
      Not applicable.  
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
      Not applicable.  
     REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX  
      Not applicable.  
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates generally to a structure of assembled shelf, and more particularly to a structure of an assembled shelf that has a vertical groove and bar to position the shelf and vertical side rack.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Whether it is in a home or business place, an assembled shelf has importance, and through the deliberate efforts in the industry, it now has diversified structures. The current shelf can be divided into a one-piece structure and assembled structure. The main part of the one-piece structure is fixed; therefore, it cannot be taken apart. The main part of the assembled structure is made of the separated components (such as the shelf and side racks). Therefore, it can be taken apart and restored to its separated state. Currently, the assembled shelf is widely accepted by the consumer because of its flexibility. However, the current assembled structure still has the following issues:  
      1. The components of the current shelf must rely on some hardware (such as screws, nuts) to be positioned; therefore, it must have a tool to achieve the assembling or disassembling. Because the parts of the shelf that need hardware exceeds ten places, it is time consuming.  
      2. Moreover, if the shelf needs added structure, it must have multiple shelves or stack them on top of each other. Because there is no common structure between them, it lacks a stable connection, and the cost is high as well.  
      3. The weight limitation is limited when the shelf is being used, and the shelf is unable to take objects that are too heavy. The common solution is to place a board or iron board between the boards or bars to achieve the objective; however, such a solution affects the entire look of the shelf.  
      4. Most of the time, the conventional shelf places a layer board on the frame and is unable to secure the layer board, so that layer board sometime flips, when it is under the outside force, lacking of stability.  
      Thus, to overcome the aforementioned problems of the prior art, it would be an advancement in the art to provide an improved structure that can significantly improve the efficacy.  
      To this end, the inventor has provided the present invention of practicability after deliberate design and evaluation based on years of experience in the production, development and design of related products.  
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The improved fact of the present invention is described as follows:  
      1. It is applied so that the shelf and vertical side rack do not need other positioning components to achieve positioning, making the present invention more effective and practical.  
      2. The secondary bar provides the common vertical side rack commonly used by the shelf, greatly reducing the cost for shelf and being economical.  
      3. The reinforced stand is placed between the ⊂ shaped bars are to support the strengthen layer board, so that the shelf may hold heavier objects, increasing the practicality.  
      4. The reinforced stand is assembled, so that the users can add parts.  
      5. Using the design of the insert groove formed by a bent slab to place the groove over the two sides of the shelf plank, the layer board cannot be lifted, which makes it more stable and beautiful. The bottom of the insert groove protrudes inside more than the top. One end may be inserted into the insert groove on the one side, and the other end may be inserted into the insert groove on the other side, making the assembly more convenient. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  shows an exploded perspective view of a shelf of the first embodiment.  
       FIG. 2  shows a separated perspective view of the shelf and vertical side of the first embodiment.  
       FIG. 3  shows a front elevation view of the extension of the structure of the first embodiment.  
       FIG. 4  shows a partial enlarged perspective view of  FIG. 3 .  
       FIG. 5  shows a perspective view of another extension of the first embodiment.  
       FIG. 6  shows an assembled perspective view of the second embodiment.  
       FIG. 7  shows a partial enlarged perspective view of  FIG. 6 .  
       FIG. 8  shows a perspective view of an extension of the second embodiment.  
       FIG. 9  shows a partial enlarged perspective view of  FIG. 8 .  
       FIG. 10  shows an exploded perspective view of the reinforced stand placed inside the shelf.  
       FIG. 11  shows a lateral sectional view of the reinforced stand inside the shelf.  
       FIG. 12  shows a frontal sectional view of the reinforced support inside the shelf.  
       FIG. 13  shows an assembled perspective view of the shelf.  
       FIG. 14  shows a perspective and sectional view of the bent slab inside the shelf.  
       FIG. 15  shows a side elevation view of the bent slab inside the shelf.  
       FIG. 16  shows a front elevation view of the assembling of the shelf plank as shown in  FIGS. 13-15 .  
       FIG. 17  show an exploded perspective view of the alternatives to the shelf plank as shown in  FIGS. 13-15 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      The features and the advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon a thoughtful deliberation of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
      As shown in  FIGS. 1-3 , there is the first embodiment of the improved structure of assembled shelf. The main frame comprises two vertical side racks  10  and several sets of shelves  20 . A shelf is placed between the two vertical side racks  10 , and the fixed frame (connected by welding) is the vertical side rack made by a vertical bar  30  and horizontal bar  40 . The horizontal bar  40  is placed on the pre-determined height of the shelf  20  for the shelf  20 .  
      A vertical bar  30  of the vertical side rack  10  includes a main bar  31  and an inner/outer secondary bar  32   33 . The inner/outer secondary bar is placed inside and outside of the main bar  31 , and the main bar  31  is spaced between the inner/outer secondary bar  32   33 . The space is positioned and formed by the horizontal bar  40 .  
      The sides of the shelf that are corresponding to the vertical side rack has a frame  50 , and a vertical groove  51  is placed between two ends of the frame. The position of the groove is connected with the inner second bar  32  of the vertical side rack  10  mentioned above, and the surface  52  of the frame is pushed against the side of the main bar  31 .  
      Through the above structure and design, the shelf  20  and the two vertical side racks  10  do not need other positioning components and assisting tools to achieve positioning. Moreover, the outer secondary bar  33  provides extendable vertical side racks for the shelf as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . When the present invention extends to another set of shelves, it can just place another set of vertical side racks  10 B between the space of one side of a vertical side rack  10  of the original side rack. Another shelf  20 B is placed between that vertical side rack  10 B and the original vertical side rack  10 , using the connection between the groove  51  of the frame  50  and the inner secondary bar  32  inside the vertical side rack  10  to assemble the extension of the shelf. As shown in  FIG. 5 , there is a structure using the above mentioned principles to assemble a triple shelf.  
      As shown in  FIGS. 6, 7 , there is the second embodiment of the improved structure of an assembled shelf. The features of the shelf comprise two vertical side racks  10  and several shelves  20 , being the same as the first embodiment mentioned above. Therefore, it is not repeated herein.  
      The difference is that a vertical bar  30  of the vertical side rack  10  includes a main bar  31  and a secondary bar  31 B. The main and secondary bar are placed in parallel and spaced in between, the space being formed by the horizontal bar  40 .  
      The sides of the shelf  20  that are corresponding to the vertical side rack  10  have a frame  50 . A vertical groove  51  is placed between two ends of the frame, and the position of the groove is connected with the main and secondary bar  31   31 B mentioned above.  
      Through the above structure and design, the shelf  20  and the two vertical side racks  10  do not need other positioning components and assisting tools to achieve the positioning. Moreover, the secondary bar  31 B provides an extendable vertical side rack for the shelf as shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 . When the present invention extends into another set of shelves, it can just place another set of vertical side racks  10 B between the space of one side of a vertical side rack  10  of the original side rack. Another shelf  20 B is then placed between that vertical side rack  10 B and the original vertical side rack  10 , using the connection between the groove  51  of the frame  50  and the secondary bar  31 B inside the vertical side rack  10  to assemble the extension of the shelf for quick assembly.  
      On the other hand, with regard to taking apart the above mentioned structure, the shelf  20  and its vertical side racks  10  may be disassembled into its independent components. When taking it apart, one end of the shelf  20  that has frame  50  is picked up, which makes the groove  51  separate from the inner secondary bar  32 . All shelves  20  may be collapsed according to this operational procedure, so it is not repeated.  
      The main bar  31  and the secondary bars  31 B,  32 ,  33  of the vertical side rack  10  can be circular bars. The sectional surface of the groove  51  of the frame is semi-circular.  
      Among them, the application for the above mentioned embodiments is that the vertical section of the frame  50  by both sides of the shelf  20  can have a ⊂ shape. Also, a reinforced stand  60  may be placed between the frame  50  on both sides, as shown in  FIGS. 10, 11 ,  12 . The reinforced stand has a long board with predetermined width, and the top end of its short end extends as a horizontal surface. The reinforced stand  60  extends a bent section  62  on both ends along the long end, so that the reinforced stand may stand from the short end. Thus, the ⊂ shaped frame on both sides of the shelf opens shelf plank  53 , forming a frame space A between the bottom of the shelf plank to the bottom of the frame  50 . The frame space is for the bent section  62  of the reinforced stand  60  to insert, so that the reinforced stand  60  is placed between the frame on both sides. The top horizontal support  61  at the top side of the reinforced stand  60  supports the bottom of the layer board. By so doing, it forms a reinforced structure, so that the shelf plank  53  can handle greater weight.  
      Among them, as shown in  FIGS. 13, 14 ,  15 , the frame  50  on two sides of the shelf  20  may have a bent slab  70 . The top and bottom of the bent slab can be a horizontal slab  71 , and a vertical slab  72  is connected between the top and bottom to make the section of the bent slab  70  like a step. The top of the frame  50  on two sides of the shelf  20  form a bent edge  54 , and the horizontal slab  71  of the top end of the bent slab  70  is connected to the bottom of the bent edge  54 .  
      By so doing, a ⊂ shaped insert groove  55  is formed at the bottom of the bent edge  54 , and the end of the horizontal slab  71  at the bottom of the bent slab  70  sticks out at the end of the bent edge  54 . The insert groove  55  may be placed on both corresponding sides of the bent slab  70 , so that the shelf plank  21  can be assembled. Therefore, the shelf can be assembled as different styles of shelf planks (as shown in  FIG. 17 ) to make the product more plentiful. The bottom of the insert groove  55  protrudes inner more than top end, when it is assembling the shelf plank  21 , as shown in  FIG. 16 . After one end is inserted into the insert groove at a tilted angle, inserting another side of shelf plank into the insert groove on the other side is more effective.