Patent ID: 8887647

Claim:
A connector assembly for use with posts having a cylindrical cross-section of diameter D with a wedging sleeve to position shelves along a longitudinal axis of the post, the sleeve having a frusto-conical outer surface with a first, small sleeve end and a second, larger sleeve end with both ends encircling the longitudinal axis during use, the connector comprising: a collar having first and second mating parts which when mated form a frusto-conical surface sized to encircle and wedge against the sleeve during use, each collar part having two distal ends with projections having an inner surface extending along the frusto-conical surface of the collar, the distal ends being separated by a gap sufficiently large to allow the post to pass laterally through the gap during use, each projection forming a side of a recess located circumferentially inward of and adjoining each projection, the recess configured to receive a projection on the other collar part, each projection having an end extending a distance beyond a bottom of the adjoining recess as measured along a line parallel to the longitudinal axis.