Patent ID: 12234056

Throughout the description, the rack1according to the invention is considered to rest on a support, ready to be loaded/unloaded, which makes it possible to define its “bottom” and “top” parts. The aperture for access to the glazing elements is inscribed in a longitudinal plane, and is positioned on the anterior part of the rack1, that is to say in proximity to an operator required to load/unload the glazing elements. By contrast, the posterior part of the rack1is the part furthest away from the operator. The glazing elements are therefore loaded from the posterior part of the rack1to the anterior part of the rack1, in a transverse direction, and are oriented, for each of them, in a substantially longitudinal direction. The expressions “bottom”, “top”, “anterior”, “posterior”, longitudinal” and “transverse” should thus be considered relative to this orientation.

The rack1according to the invention which, in the present implementation, is made of mechanically welded tubes, comprises a frame3whose base is of substantially rectangular form and whose anterior face is provided with a toeboard5awhich is slightly wider than the frame3and whose lateral faces are provided with a toeboard5b.

The toeboards5aand5bare respectively pierced with two apertures7aand7bwhich are intended to allow the passage of the arms of a lifting operator of pallet truck type. The part of the anterior toeboard5aand the anterior part3aof the frame3situated between the two apertures7aare interrupted so as to create a controlled access space6opening onto the interior of the rack1.

The two ends of the anterior toeboard5aend with anterior vertical uprights11awhose tops are respectively joined by crossmembers13to the tops of two vertical uprights11bstanding at the posterior corners of the frame. Moreover, the tops of the two posterior vertical uprights11bare joined to one another by a crossmember14, oriented in a transverse direction.

The base frame3is provided with two transverse uprights15, the top face of which is provided over all its length with notches17which are intended to receive the rims of the glazing elements16in a longitudinal direction, in particular the windshields or the back windows of vehicles, which are intended to be stored/transported, so as to hold them in a substantially vertical position.

The controlled access space6of the rack1comprises means which make it possible to close it off during transportation or storage, which makes it possible to ensure the protection of the glazing elements16, and which also make it possible to free it up during the loading/unloading operation, which improves the access to the glazing elements, in particular those which are stored in the posterior part of the rack, that is to say away from the operator.

The racks according to the invention are intended to be stacked one on top of the other and, for this, comprise, on the one hand, receiving means, or guiding means, that can promote the implementation of this superpositioning and securing means that can prevent the movement of the racks once the latter are in place.FIG.1shows securing means50.

As represented inFIGS.4and5, the receiving means consist of two anterior guides18and of two posterior guides20.

Each anterior guide18, which is disposed on the anterior part of the crossmember13, comprises a base18aprovided with two wings which are inclined from top to bottom and from the outside to the inside of the guide, namely a wing18bof transverse direction and a wing18cof longitudinal direction. The inclination of these wings confers upon them a deflector function that makes it possible, when one rack is being stacked on another, to push back the rack to be positioned when it is not perfectly centered relative to the receiving rack in order to deflect it and bring it into the correct position, as explained hereinbelow.

Likewise, each posterior guide20which is disposed on the posterior crossmember14comprises a base20aprovided with two wings which are inclined from top to bottom and from the outside to the inside of the guide, namely a wing20bof transverse direction and a wing20cof longitudinal direction.

The securing means which are disposed in the anterior guides18comprise, as represented inFIGS.3,7and9, two dog points, namely an anterior dog point22and a posterior dog point23, aligned in a transverse direction. These dog points comprise a cylindrical base22atopped by a cone22b. The base22ais provided with a bottom boss22cwhich comes to be embedded in a hole of the base18aof the guide with which it is welded.

The dog points22and23have a diameter such that they can be introduced into holes25provided at the bottom end of the anterior vertical uprights11a, as represented inFIG.3a.

FIG.6shows a stack of two identical racks whose width a, or transverse dimension, is greater than that a′ of the standard racks of the prior art, namely a bottom rack1on which there is disposed a top rack1′, a disposition which thus makes it possible to very substantially increase the number of elements transported. In such an implementation of the invention and as represented inFIG.7, the anterior dog point22of the guide18of the bottom rack1fits into the hole25of the base of the anterior vertical upright11aof the top rack1′.

FIGS.8and9show a stack of two racks of different transverse dimensions, namely a bottom rack1of width a on which there is disposed a top rack1′ of smaller width a′ corresponding to that of the racks of the prior art. In this disposition and as represented inFIG.9, the posterior dog point23of the guide18of the bottom rack fits into the hole25of the base of the anterior vertical upright11aof the top rack.

The present invention is particularly advantageous in that it makes it possible to stack not only identical racks as represented inFIGS.6and7, but racks of different transverse dimensions as represented inFIGS.8and9.

The present invention thus allows the user, based on the surface area available in the transport vehicle, to combine racks of conventional type of width a′ with racks of greater width a so as to occupy all of the available space. It is understood that the separation e that will be produced between the dog points22and23will correspond to the difference that exists between the transverse dimensions a and a′ of the racks1and1′.

Obviously, according to the invention, the guides can comprise a greater number of pins. Thus, inFIG.10, the anterior guide18′ comprises three dog points, namely an anterior dog point22, an intermediate dog point24and a posterior dog point23, all three aligned in a transverse direction. The distance separating two adjacent dog points can be different, as represented inFIG.10in which the anterior22and intermediate24dog points are separated by a length e′ and the intermediate24and posterior23dog points are separated by a greater distance e.

Such a disposition makes it possible to further increase the combinations of arrangement available to the user in order to allow him or her to produce an optimal loading of the means for transporting his or her racks.

Finally, it is known that the number of racks that the transport vehicle can transport may be limited by the weight thereof.

Now, it is understood that the weight of the racks can vary as a function of the glazing elements that are to be transported. The present invention, by allowing racks of different dimensions, and therefore of different weights, to be combined, allows the carrier to best adjust the total weight of the racks disposed in the transport vehicle with the weight capacity thereof.