Patent Publication Number: US-2006011107-A1

Title: Shelf adjusting and fixing structure of a rack

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to racks, more particularly to a structure capable of adjusting and fixing the shelf of a rack.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      At present, many racks for storing objects adopt the design of shelves: to increase the storage space. In other words, a number of shelves are fixed onto a main frame level by level. The shelf is divided into two types: fixed type and adjustable type. For the fixed shelf, users cannot rearrange the storage space and thus the fixed shelf has more restrictions on the volume of the storing objects as well as the way of putting these objects. For the adjustable shelf, users can make appropriate adjustment to the storage space according to their actual needs, and thus the adjustable shelf provides a more flexible arrangement of the storage space. There are many prior-art adjusting and fixing structures for racks already and the convenience and the stability of the fixture is of top priority. This invention bases on these two principles to design a novel structure for adjusting and fixing the shelves.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a structure for adjusting and fixing a shelf of a rack, such that the shelf can be mounted at a predetermined position of the front end of a main frame of the rack. The adjusting function uses a simple operation to change the vertical position of the shelf, and the fixing function provides more supporting points for the shelf to improve the stability and the load-carrying capacity.  
      The shelf adjusting and fixing structure of a rack according to the present invention comprises a shelf disposed at the front side of two vertical rods one on the left side and the other one on the right side, and the adjusting and fixing structure comprises a plurality of through holes arranged correspondingly on both left and right sides of the back side of two vertical rods; a transversal rod having at least one fixed hole passing along the radial direction of a rod body proximate to both ends, such that a fixing device is secured into a through hole of one of the two vertical rods to transversally mount the transversal rod on the back side of the two vertical rods; two connecting boards each having a first end and a second end and each first end being connected to an end of the transversal rod and each second end being extended towards the front side of the two vertical rods and pivotally coupled to a rack at the bottom of the shelf, and the second end of the connecting board is acted by the weight of the shelf and the frame, so that the first end is used as a fulcrum to be drooped to the back of the frame until the first end leans against the two vertical rods or any part of the main frame. Thus, the height of the second end is lower than that of the first end, and the shelf is positioned on the front side of the main frame.  
      To make it easier for our examiner to understand the objective of the invention, its structure, innovative features, and performance, we use a preferred embodiment including but not limited to the attached drawings for the detailed description of the invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is an exploded view of part of the structure of the present invention.  
       FIG. 2  is a back view of the structure of the present invention.  
       FIG. 3  is a front view of the structure of the present invention.  
       FIG. 4  is a side view of the structure of the present invention.  
       FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the transversal rod being connected to the vertical rods according to the present invention.  
       FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of Section  6 - 6  and the section indicated by the arrows as depicted in  FIG. 5 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      The present invention discloses a shelf adjusting and fixing structure of a rack, comprises a plurality of shelves  10  installed onto a main frame  20  level by level, and an adjusting and fixing structure  30  is used to move, adjust and fix the shelves  10 . For simplicity, the present invention uses a shelf  10  being disposed onto a partial structure of the main frame  20  as a preferred embodiment for the description. However, people skilled in the art can vary the number of levels, the installed position and the stylish appearance of the shelf  10 .  
      Please refer to the  FIG. 1 , the main frame  20  comprises two vertical rods  21  one on the left side and the other on the right side of the main frame  20  and the front side of the two vertical rods  21  correspond to the shelf  10  and the adjusting and fixing structure  30  is disposed on the back side of the two vertical rods  21 , and the adjusting and fixing structure  30  comprises:  
      a plurality of through holes  31 , being equidistantly from each other and disposed on the corresponding left and right sides of the back side of the two vertical rods  21 , and a through hole  31  being disposed on a rod body and a slight recess  311  being formed on the wall of the vertical rod  21  as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 ;  
      a transversal rod  31  as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  has at least one fixed hole  33  passing through the rod body disposed proximate to both ends of the transversal rod  31  along a radial direction, and a first end  341  of a connecting board  34  is disposed on both ends of the transversal rod  31 , and the transversal rod being disposed across the left and right rods  21  and the fixed hole  33  of the transversal rod  31  is corresponsive to one set of through holes  31  of one of the two vertical rods and secured by a manually rotatable fixing device  35  to fix the transversal rod  32  onto the back side of the two vertical rods  21 , and part, of the surface of the transversal rod  32  is embedded into the recess  311  and restricted by the recess  311  as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . A second end  342  of the two connecting boards  34  is extended towards the front side of the two vertical rods  21  as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , and a fixing device  86  is pivotally coupled to a frame  11  of a shelf  10 . Since the second end  342  of the connecting board  34  is acted by the weight of the shelf  10  and the frame  11 , the first end is used as a fulcrum to droop to the back edge of the frame  11  and lean against the two vertical rods  21  or any part of the frame  20 . Thus, the height of the second end  342  of the connecting board  34  is lower than that of the first end  341 , and the shelf  10  is fixed at the front side of the main frame  20 .  
      The shelf  10  and the frame  11  could be of various shapes and the shape as shown in the figure is used as an example for the embodiment and is not an important point of the invention or intended to limit the scope of the patent claim of this invention.  
      The shelf  10  is fixed onto a predetermined position at the front of the main frame  20  by the adjusting and fixing structure  20 , so that users can manually rotate the fixing device  35  to vertically move the transversal rod  32  and the fixed hole is corresponsive to another through hole  31  of the vertical rod  21  for changing the vertical position of the shelf  10  to a predetermined height and the fixing device  35  is secured again. It is obvious that the method for adjusting and fixing the shelf  10  according to the present invention is very simple, and people skilled in the art can implement the invention. A preferred embodiment of the present invention discloses three equidistant through holes  31 , and thus the shelf  10  can be adjusted to the positions provided by these three through holes  31 . Of course, the more number of through holes, the larger is the adjustable distance of the shelf  10 .  
      The present invention builds a connecting board  34  individually on both ends of a transversal rod  31  to fix the transversal rod  32  onto the back side of the main frame  20 , and the connecting board is extended towards the front side of the shelf  10  and coupled to the frame  11  of the shelf  10 . The weight of the shelf  10  and the frame  11  is used to make the first end  341  of the connecting board  34  as a fulcrum to droop the second end  342 , such that the frame  11  leans against the main frame  20 . After the fixing device  35  is secured to the transversal rod  32 , the frame  11  and the transversal rod  32  are restricted to the front and back sides of the main frame  20  respectively. Therefore, the shelf  10  has a plurality of fixing and supporting points to improve the stability and the load-carrying capacity.  
      In summation of the above description, the present invention herein enhances the performance than the conventional structure and further complies with the patent application requirements and is submitted to the Patent and Trademark Office for review and granting of the commensurate patent rights.  
      While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.