EP0488697B1

EP0488697B1 - Improvements relating to shelving

Info

Publication number: EP0488697B1
Application number: EP19910310970
Authority: EP
Inventors: Costanzo De Gruttis
Original assignee: BELLPLEX Ltd
Current assignee: BELLPLEX Ltd
Priority date: 1990-11-28
Filing date: 1991-11-28
Publication date: 1996-08-14
Anticipated expiration: 2011-11-28
Also published as: EP0488697A1; GB9025855D0; DE69121367D1; GB2250179A; GB2250179B

Description

This invention relates to shelving of the kind suitable for securing to an existing vertical wall to provide support for a shelf and in particular to shelving in which a mounting member is received within an edge of the shelf.
Many known shelving assemblies have forms of support which are visible, such as brackets, metal strips and visible fixings or screwheads. These forms of support gather dust, are difficult to clean, obstruct free access to the whole shelf area, create difficulties in redecoration, particularly wall paper hanging, and impose difficulties for the handyman with regard to erection or dis-assembly. As a result shelving assemblies have been developed employing mounting members which in use are hidden within an opening in an edge of the shelf. Examples of a number of such assemblies are disclosed in GB-A-2,214,414 from which the known features comprising the pre-characterising part of independent claim 1 originate.
A disadvantage of the hidden shelving assemblies developed to date is that often the only force preventing accidental removal of the shelf from the mounting member in a direction parallel to that in which the mounting member extends within the opening in the edge of the shelf is the friction that exists between the mounting member and the shelf as a result of the closeness of the fit of the member within the opening. As will be readily appreciated, if, as is common, the mounting member is of metal and the shelf is of wood or plastics material the required frictional force will be small unless the opening in the shelf and the mounting member are manufactured to a high dimensional tolerance in which case they may be difficult to assemble and costly to produce.
GB-A-867322 shows a shelf supported on rods received within respective bores provided in the shelf, with the shelf carrying, for each rod, a spring loaded ball which projects into the associated bore and engages a groove on the associated rod to prevent separation of the parts.
According to the present invention there is provided a shelving assembly comprising a mounting member having a surface for attachment to a wall and a projecting portion extending substantially perpendicularly to the said surface, a shelf having an opening in an edge thereof in which the said projecting portion is received so that the shelf is supported by the projecting portion and can be moved relative to the mounting member in a direction substantially parallel to the extent of the projecting portion, and a friction bush comprising a sleeve carried on the projecting portion and so engaging with the projecting portion that the bush is held against movement in a direction substantially parallel to the extent of the projecting portion, the sleeve having an external surface provided with at least one deformable projection which engages the opening in the edge of the shelf so as to resist movement of the shelf away from the mounting member in a direction substantially parallel to the extent of the projecting portion.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the sleeve is held against said movement by the reception of at least one projection provided on a first of the sleeve or mounting member within at least one recess provided on the other of the said sleeve or mounting member.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention the sleeve may be split in a direction substantially parallel to the extent of the projecting portion.
Further particular embodiments of the invention are defined in the other dependent claims.
An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows an exploded view of a friction bush in accordance with the present invention and a mounting member for receipt thereof;
Figure 2 shows an end view of the frictional bush of Figure 1;
Figure 3 shows a cross-sectional side view of the frictional bush of Figures 1 and 2;
Figure 4 shows a side view of the mounting member of Figure 1; and
Figure 5 shows a perspective view of an edge of a shelf to be supported by the mounting member of Figure 1.

Figure 1 shows a mounting member 10 for attachment to a vertical wall (not shown). The mounting member 10 includes a plate 12 provided with fixing holes 14 and 16 and fixing slot 18 for receiving screws or nails to fix the mounting member 10 against the wall with a rear surface of the plate 12 bearing against the wall. The mounting member 10 also includes two cylindrical rods 20 that project substantially perpendicularly from a front surface of the plate 12 for receipt within corresponding openings 22 in an edge of a shelf 24 so that the shelf 24 is supported by the projecting rods 20 and can be moved relative to the mounting member 10 in a direction substantially parallel to their length. A circumferential groove 26 is provided on each of the projecting rods 20 at an end adjacent the plate 12 while the end of each projecting rod 20 remote from the plate 12 is provided with a rounded surface 30.
A friction bush 32 is carried by each projecting rod 20 and comprises a cylindrical sleeve 34 having an internal surface 36 and an external surface 38. The internal surface 36 is provided with a radially inwardly projecting circumferential rib 40 while the external surface 38 is provided with a plurality of axially extending, angularly spaced, deformable ribs 42 which are bevelled at both ends. The sleeve 34 of the friction bush 32 is split axially at 44. Each bush 32 is preferably made of a deformable plastics material.
In use a separate friction bush 32 is pushed onto each projecting rod 20, facilitated by the rounded end surface 30 of the rod and the axial split 44 of the bush, and is slid along the rod 20 until the radially inwardly projecting circumferential rib 44 is received in, and mates with the circumferential groove 26. Having mated with the groove 26, the friction bush 32 is prevented from movement relative to the mounting member 10 in a direction substantially parallel to the length of the projecting rod 20.
The openings 22 in the edge of the shelf 24 are then pushed over the projecting rods 20 so that the edge of the shelf is slid toward the plate 12. As the edge approaches the plate 12 the internal surfaces of the openings 22 are engaged by the axially extending, angularly spaced, deformable ribs 42 of the friction bushes 32 which then grip the shelf 24. The friction bushes 32 thus hold the shelf 24 on the mounting member 10 in such a way as to resist the accidental removal of the shelf in a direction substantially parallel to the length of the projecting rods 20.
It will be apparent that the engagement between each bush 32 and the associated rod 20 need not necessarily be by the use of a single circumferential rib as shown but may be replaced by a plurality of projections that engage a corresponding plurality of recesses provided on the associated projecting rod 20. If these projections on the internal surface 36 are in the form of ribs they of course need not necessarily extend circumferentially. In either case the projections, whether in the form of ribs or not, or whether extending substantially circumferentially or not, need not necessarily be provided on the internal surface 36 of the sleeve 34 but may be provided on the projecting rod 20 adjacent the plate 12 and received within corresponding recesses provided on the internal surface 36 of the sleeve 34.
The ribs 42 are sized so as to enable the bush 32 to be received within and engage openings of differing internal diameters thereby diminishing the dimensional tolerance to which the openings have to be manufactured. It will be apparent that the number of projections 42 may vary and need not be in the form of ribs or if they are in the form of ribs they need not necessarily extend axially.
The projections provided on either surface of the friction bush 42 or on the surface of the projecting rod may be in the form of barbs to prevent accidental removal of the shelf in a direction substantially parallel to the length of the rod.
The sleeve 34 need not necessarily be split nor need it necessarily be cylindrical provided that it substantially conforms to the cross-section of that portion of the rod member that is received within the edge of the shelf. This of course reflects the fact that the rod need not be of circular cross- section, but could be of any suitable cross-section.
A shelving assembly in accordance with the present invention need not necessarily comprise a mounting member having two projecting portions but may comprise one or more mounting members each of which may have one or more projecting portions.

Claims

A shelving assembly comprising a mounting member (10) having a surface for attachment to a wall and a projecting portion (20) extending substantially perpendicularly to the said surface, a shelf (24) having an opening (22) in an edge thereof in which the said projecting portion (20) is received so that the shelf (24) is supported by the projecting portion (20) and can be moved relative to the mounting member (10) in a direction substantially parallel to the extent of the projecting portion (20) characterized in that a friction bush (32) is provided comprising a sleeve (34) carried on the projecting portion (20) and so engaging with the projecting portion (20) that the bush (32) is held against movement in a direction substantially parallel to the extent of the projecting portion (20), the sleeve (34) having an external surface (38) provided with at least one deformable projection (42) which engages the opening (22) in the edge of the shelf (24) so as to resist movement of the shelf (24) away from the mounting member (10) in a direction substantially parallel to the extent of the projecting portion (20).
A shelving assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein the sleeve (34) is held against said movement by the reception of at least one projection (40) provided on a first of the sleeve (34) or projecting portion (20) within at least one recess (26) provided on the other of the said sleeve (34) or projecting portion (20).
A shelving assembly in accordance with claim 2 wherein the said at least one projection (40) is provided on an internal surface of the sleeve (34) and the said at least one recess (26) is provided on the projecting portion (20).
A shelving assembly in accordance with claim 2 wherein the said at least one projection is provided on the projecting portion and the said at least one recess is provided on an internal surface of the sleeve.
A shelving assembly in accordance with any preceding claim wherein the sleeve (34) is split (44) in a direction substantially parallel to the extent of the projecting portion (20).
A shelving assembly in accordance with claim 3 wherein the said at least one projection comprises a rib (40) extending around the internal surface of the sleeve (24) in a plane substantially normal to the axis of the sleeve (24) and the said at least one recess comprises a cooperative groove (26) extending around the projecting portion (20) in a plane substantially normal to the extent of the projecting portion (20).
A shelving assembly in accordance with any preceding claim wherein the projecting portion is an elongate rod (20).
A shelving assembly in accordance with any preceding claim wherein the said at least one deformable projection comprises a plurality of axially extending, angularly spaced ribs (42).
A shelving assembly in accordance with any preceding claim wherein the sleeve (24) is of a deformable plastics material.