Patent ID: 8784098

Claim:
A shelf assembly for firing comprising: a plurality of struts for supporting shelf boards arranged upright in two or more rows in a cross direction and in three or more rows in a longitudinal direction on a longitudinally-long car; a plurality of tie-beams connected between all of the upper ends of the struts, wherein at least each respective set of end struts arranged in two or more rows in the cross direction are connected by a tie-beam from the plurality of tie-beams which is not slanted in the cross direction; and at least one thermal stress relief structure in which two of the plurality of struts arranged upright in the three or more rows in the longitudinal direction are connected only by tie-beams from the plurality of tie-beams, and those tie-beams are slanted in a cross direction between the struts, whereby the at least one thermal stress relief structure prevents at least one of warpage and damage of the struts by reducing longitudinal bending stress that is generated at tops of the struts when the shelf assembly is used for firing.