Patent Description:
In the context of energy saving and environmental protection, LED lamps are more and more used in the fields of home and commercial lighting because of their high light emission efficiency and good light-gathering performance. Among them, shelf lighting is a kind of commercial lighting. In the installation of existing shelf lighting, there are problems of messy and scattered power wiring methods, complicated installation process, and time-consuming problems, and it takes up more shelf space after installation, resulting in unnecessary waste of space and the problem of low utilization rate. In order to solve these problems, it has been proposed to set up power supply rails (tracks) in shelves or shelf systems, which can be used with the power supply head to avoid messy and scattered power supply wiring. However, the power supply rails are usually all exposed, so that they can easily corrode and be damaged. Moreover, the power supply rails are not waterproof, so it is difficult to apply such shelves or shelf systems in areas under high moisture conditions and humidity, where watertightness is needed.

Therefore, it is important to develop a waterproof and easy to install and dismantle power supply method and setup with important application value for power supply shelves and shelf systems with at least one power supply.

<CIT> discloses a shelf system, which is embodied as a refrigerated display cabinet comprising a vertical back board and a plurality of shelves mounted to the back board in a stacked configuration. At the front end of each shelf lighting fixtures are provided. For electric power supply, a central (fixed) power supply is provided, which is, however, not mounted to the back board but in a bottom air plenum of the display cabinet.

Vertical mounting slots are provided in the back board, in which electric outlet assemblies are slidably mounted, which consist of two parts and are mounted to each other and resiliently biased against each other.

The electric outlet assemblies are electrically connected in series by means of electric lines, each having identical lengths, resulting in different lengths. The electric lines are not provided with at least one magnetic element to be attracted by the back board.

<CIT> discloses a shelf system with conducting rails integrated into support columns and carriers.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a shelf system comprising a back board with stacked configuration of the shelves including a power supply shelf, configured to reliably provide electric power to at least one shelf of the shelf system with a low-cost set-up that can be assembled, disassembled and modified in a versatile manner. According to a further aspect of the present invention there is to be provided a method for supplying electric power to at least one shelf in such a shelf system comprising a back board.

This problem is solved by a shelf system as claimed by claim <NUM>, and by a method for supplying electric power to at least one shelf in such a shelf system as claimed by claim <NUM>. Further advantageous embodiments are the subject-matter of the dependent claims.

According to a further embodiment, the first fixing member may be a T-shaped bump or protrusion provided on one side of the fixed power supply unit, configured to be inserted into a corresponding mounting hole of a back board. More specifically, by first tilting the fixed power supply unit relative to the plane of the back board, then inserting one of the two arms of the T-shaped bump or protrusion, then the protrusion itself and then the second of the two arms of the T-shaped bump or protrusion and then tilting backward the fixed power supply unit so as to be disposed in parallel with the plane of the back board, the T-shaped bump or protrusion may be fixed in a positive-fit manner in the mounting hole of the back board, so as to be disposed fixed at the location of the mounting hole on the back board. As an alternative, the two arms of the T-shaped bump or protrusion may be resiliently biased against a shaft of the T-shaped bump or protrusion, and may be pushed inward towards the shaft so that the shaft may be inserted into a mounting hole of the back board, and after releasing the two arms again, they may return back to their biased home position, to thereby fix the fixed power supply unit in a positive-fit manner in the mounting hole of the back board.

According to a further embodiment, the fixed power supply unit may be provided with a second socket, which may be disposed in particular on a side opposite to that side of the fixed power supply unit where the first socket is provided. Thus, power may also be supplied at the rear side of e.g. a back board of the shelf system.

According to a further embodiment, the fixed power supply unit may further comprise: a second base, one side of which is provided with the second socket; and a second top cover connected to the second base with a space or gap formed therebetween, and having a second insertion hole aligned with the second socket.

According to a further embodiment, the second base and the second top cover may be connected to each other through second connecting pieces arranged on both sides of the second socket.

According to a further embodiment, the sliding power supply unit may comprise: a first base, one side of which is provided with the first socket; a first top cover connected to the first base with a space or gap formed therebetween, and having a first insertion hole <NUM> aligned with the first socket.

According to a further embodiment, the first base and the first top cover may be connected through first connecting pieces arranged on both sides of the first socket.

According to a further embodiment, a damping unit may be provided between the first base and the first top cover.

According to a further embodiment, the mounting hole may be a square hole.

According to a further embodiment, the power supply module may be provided with at least two fixed power supply units for each power supply module, and the fixed power supply units of each power supply module are electrically connected in sequence.

The shelf system of the present invention have a simple structure, provide a convenient installation, are easy to disassemble and be modified, provide a good waterproof effect, are convenient in use, and provide excellent reliability and low manufacturing cost.

Hereinafter, the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:.

Throughout the drawings, the like reference numerals designate the same or technically equivalent members or groups of members.

Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in further detail below based on the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the following description of the embodiments of the present invention shall not be construed to delimit the scope of protection of the present invention.

As shown in <FIG>, the power supply device of the claimed shelf system is generally suitable for supplying electric power to shelves. The power supply device includes two power supply modules <NUM>, which are preferably electrically connected to each other by a common power supply wire or strip, as shown in <FIG>. The total number of such power supply modules <NUM> may be set e.g. according to the total number of layers (shelves) of the shelf system. Generally, one power supply module <NUM> may be provided for each layer of the shelf system. Of course, multiple layers or power supply modules <NUM> may also be set for a single layer.

Each power supply module <NUM> includes: a fixed power supply unit <NUM> intended to be fixedly positioned, stationary, at a predetermined location of a back board as outlined hereinafter, a sliding power supply unit <NUM> that can be moved on a back board by sliding to a desired position, if required, and a flexible conductive strip <NUM>, which electrically connects the fixed power supply unit <NUM> and the associated sliding power supply unit <NUM>. The fixed power supply unit <NUM> comprises a first fixing member <NUM> and is connected to a power supply (not shown in the drawings). The sliding power supply unit <NUM> comprises a first socket or plug-in interface <NUM> (see <FIG>), and the two ends of the flexible conductive strip <NUM> are electrically connected to the fixed power supply unit <NUM> and the sliding power supply unit <NUM>, respectively.

After the power supply module <NUM> of this embodiment has been installed, e.g. fixedly mounted on a back board as outlined hereinafter in more detail, the fixed power supply unit <NUM> is connected to an external power supply for power supply, whereas the sliding power supply unit <NUM> can be moved relative to the fixed power supply unit <NUM> by sliding, e.g. along grooves or slots provided in the back board, so as to provide a power supply function at a specific position as actually required by the geometry of the shelf system to be supplied with electric power, while the flexible conductive strip <NUM> is bent accordingly by bending to supply electric power to the sliding power supply unit <NUM>. For this purpose, the length of the flexible conductive strip <NUM> may basically correspond to the length of a longitudinal guiding slot <NUM>, <NUM> provided in the back board <NUM> plus the distance between the mounting position of the fixed power supply unit <NUM> at the back board to the associated guiding slot <NUM>, <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>.

The fixed power supply units <NUM> of each power supply module <NUM> are electrically connected sequentially, and in this embodiment, the power supply modules <NUM> are electrically connected through the flexible conductive strip <NUM>, which is convenient for folding and transportation.

All the above-mentioned components can be conveniently completed to provide a waterproof setting, that is, a flexible waterproof layer may be wrapped on the outside of all the components of a power supply module <NUM>. In this embodiment, the flexible conductive strip <NUM> is a wire with an insulating layer applied directly upon it, and the waterproof effect can be realized as long as the insulating layer is waterproof. Other parts or components of the power supply module <NUM> are generally waterproofed by encapsulation.

According to the invention, the flexible conductive strip <NUM> is provided with at least one magnetic element <NUM>. The magnetic element <NUM> can be attracted by the back board of the shelf system including e.g. a ferro-magnetic layer, so that the flexible conductive strip <NUM> can always maintain a general shape and does not project too far from the rear surface of the associated back board <NUM>, and is not easily entangled.

The first fixing member <NUM> should be easy to assemble and disassemble. In this embodiment, the first fixing member <NUM> is embodied as a T-shaped bump arranged on one side of the fixed power supply unit <NUM>. The T-shaped bump may be fixedly mounted into a mounting hole of the back board, as outlined above.

In this embodiment, the sliding power supply unit <NUM> includes at least the following: a first base <NUM> provided with the first socket <NUM> on one side; a first top cover <NUM> connected to the first base <NUM> with a gap for accommodating a back board <NUM> or similar holding plate, having a first insertion hole <NUM> aligned with the first socket <NUM>.

In this embodiment, the first base <NUM> and the first top cover <NUM> are connected through first connecting pieces <NUM> arranged on both sides of the first socket <NUM>. In this embodiment, a damping unit is provided between the first base <NUM> and the first top cover <NUM> so as to maintain a positional relationship and gap between the first base <NUM> and the first top cover <NUM>, e.g. including resilient members such as springs to resiliently bias the first base <NUM> and the first top cover <NUM> against each other. The damping unit may be also embodied as a plurality of protrusions, in particular elastic or resilient protrusions, but it may also be realized in a tight fit manner, and there are many ways, so that it is not necessary to go into the details.

The shelf system of this embodiment includes a back board <NUM> and multiple shelves <NUM> arranged e.g. one above the other as shown in <FIG>. The corresponding back board <NUM> above each shelf <NUM> is provided with a mounting hole <NUM> to be connected to the first fixing member <NUM> of an associated fixed power supply unit <NUM>. Moreover, the back board <NUM> comprises at least one strip-shaped through-hole or guiding slot <NUM> extending in a longitudinal direction (which may be a vertical direction of the shelf system to be supplied with electric power), so that each sliding power supply unit <NUM> can be moved by sliding along the corresponding slot <NUM> to a desired position, e.g. a desired vertical position of a shelf system, for power supply, and hence is movably installed on the strip-shaped hole or guiding slot <NUM>.

In this embodiment, the mounting hole <NUM> may be embodied as a square hole, of a shape corresponding to the shaft of a T-shaped bump or protrusion of an associated first power supply unit to be fixed on the back board.

As shown in <FIG>, in another embodiment, the fixed power supply unit <NUM> is provided with a second socket <NUM> to enable a power supply in a shelf system, e.g. on the rear side or also front side of a back board of the shelf system.

The fixed power supply unit <NUM> further comprises a second base <NUM> and a second top cover <NUM> connected to each other. One side of the second base <NUM> is provided with the second socket <NUM>, and the second top cover <NUM> is connected to the second base <NUM> with a gap between them, with the first socket aligned with the second socket <NUM> and including two jacks <NUM>.

The second base <NUM> and the second top cover <NUM> are connected through second connecting pieces <NUM> disposed on both sides of the second socket <NUM>. Here, the second connecting piece <NUM> serves also as the first fixing member <NUM>, and the second connecting piece <NUM> can be fixed through the square hole on the back board <NUM>.

The connectors in this embodiment may be in the form of buckles, etc., which are prior art and will not be described in detail.

Claim 1:
A shelf system, comprising a back board (<NUM>), a plurality of shelves (<NUM>) mounted to the back board (<NUM>) one above the other and supplied with electric power, and a power supply device for supplying electric power to the plurality of shelves (<NUM>), wherein the power supply device comprises at least one power supply module (<NUM>), wherein
the back board (<NUM>) comprises a strip-shaped through-hole or guiding slot (<NUM>) extending in a longitudinal direction, and
each power supply module (<NUM>) comprises:
a fixed power supply unit (<NUM>) having a first fixing member (<NUM>) and configured to be electrically connected to a power supply,
at least one sliding power supply unit (<NUM>) having a first socket (<NUM>), each sliding power supply unit (<NUM>) being slidably mounted on an associated strip-shaped through-hole or guiding slot (<NUM>), and
at least one flexible conductive strip (<NUM>) the two ends of which are electrically connected to the fixed power supply unit (<NUM>) and the at least one sliding power supply unit (<NUM>), respectively; wherein
a mounting hole (<NUM>) is associated to said strip-shaped through-hole or guiding slot (<NUM>),
the first fixing member (<NUM>) of each fixed power supply unit (<NUM>) is mounted to the associated mounting hole provided at the back board so as to fixedly mount the fixed power supply unit (<NUM>) at a fixed location at the back board (<NUM>), and
wherein each flexible conductive strip (<NUM>) is provided with at least one magnetic element (<NUM>) configured to be attracted by the back board (<NUM>).