Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention relates to support systems for articles
of furniture.
Many furniture support systems are known and the majority
of modern systenls comprise a plurality of uprights or standards
and a plurality of brackets that can be re:Leasably connected -to the
uprights or standards at selected horizontal levels in such a ~lay
that, when so connected, surfaces of the brackets are contained in
horizontal planes, or planes that are inclined to the horizontal
; by a few degrees, to support metallic, wooden or other shelves,
cabinets and like articles of furniture from beneath. The brackets
usually comprise simple means ~o enable the shelves, cabinets or
other articles of furniture to be releasably fastened thereto and
many of the modern systems enable each bracket to be disposed at
any chosen one of an infinite number of horizontal levels relative
to the upright or standard with which it co-operates, the form of
frictional connection between each bracket and its co-operating
; upright or standard being such that, when it is loaded from above
by a shelf or other article of furniture and also by any items
placed on or in that article of furniture, the bracket does not
tend to be displaced downwardly along the upright or standard.
Some systems are also known in which each bracket can only occupy
any chosen one of a plurality of regularly spaced apart locations
that are at corresponding horizontal levels along the uprights or
standards. With such a construction, each bracket is positively
retalned against being displaced downwardly along its co-operating
upright or standard when it is loaded from above but, of course, ~
arrangements of this kind do not have the degree of flexibility that ~ -
is inherent in systems in which the brackets can be pLaced at an
lninite number of different levels on the uprights or standards.
It is an object of the present invention to pr~vide a
support system for articles of furniture in which both the upright~
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or standards and the brackets are of a very simple and inexp~nsive
construction which neverthel~ss giv~ a strong and reliable support
to shelvin~, cabinets and other articles of furniture when they
are in use.
According to the in~rention, there is provided a support
system for articles of furniture which system comprises at least
one upright shaped to define along substantially the whole of its
length a recess which includes a rear wall having a forwardly facincJ :
substantially planar and rigid surface throughout substantially
the whole of its width and side walls which open onto the front
of the upright, the opening of the recess being flankecL at at least
one edge by a re-entrant lip turned back by substantially 180~,
and which system also comprlses at least one bracket comprising
a single limb constructed and arranged for entry in said recess,
the bracket limb comprising a turned back upright engaging portion
which is turned back by substantially 180 and which includes an
upper ri.m that hooks beind said re-entrant lip and has a free edge
which, in use, extends substantially vertically and engages the
concave surface of the lip, and a flat formed on a lower re~ion
Z0 o said turned back upright engaging portion that abuts against
the said forwardly facing substantially planar and rigid surface of
the rear wall of the recess at points defining .a finite trans-
versely and vertically extending area, said bracket also comprising
a support portion which projects forwardly from the upright when
the bracket is operatively connected to the upright.
For a better understanding of the invention, and to show
how the same may be carried into efect, reference will noW be
made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawin~s, in which:
Figure 1 is a pexspective view o~ ~n upright or standard
and a single~ bed bracket of a support system for articles o
furniture in accordancç with the invention in a disconnect~d
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condition, and
Figure 2 is a perpendicular cross-section thr~uc~h
an alternative form of upright or standard that may form a part
of a system ln accordance with the invention.
ReEerring to Figure 1 of the drawings, that Figure
illustrates an upright or standard that is generally indicated
by the references 1 and a bracket that is generally indicated
by the reference 19. The upright or standar~ 1 is formed through~
out substantially the whole of its vertical length (it may be
closed at at least one of its ends, if desired) with a recess 3
which opens onto the front of the upright or standard 1 to form
a mouth 4. The two opposite edges of the opening of the recess
that is afforded by the mouth 4 are flanked by corresponding re-
entrant lips S whose shapes can be seen best in Figure 2 o~ the
drawings to which further reference will he made below. It will
. be seen from the drawings that the extreme free edges of the lips
5 are turned back hy substantially 180 so as to be directed
rearwardly into the recess 3 towards the back of the latter, said
back preferably being substantially planar, as shown, across the
width of the recess. The upright or standard 1 is preferably :.
formed from a rigid material such as metal, such as aluminum or
an aluminum alloy, the formation.conveniently, but not essentially,
being effected by extrusion. In this connection, it will be noted
. that the internal shape of the recess 3 is particularly simple
being merely rectangular in cross-section except at the open front
of that cross-section where the moutn 4 is formed with the re-
entrant lips 5.
The bracket 19 that is illustrated in Figure 1 of the
drawings is pr~ferably formed from the same metallio material as
is the upright.or standard 1 but, in the case of the bracket 19,
it is stamped or punched from sheet metal and is
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bent to shape. The bracket l9 is of basically trian~ular con-
figuration ancl comprises a flat upper support 17 which will project
forwardly from the upright or standard l when the bracket 19 is
operatively connected to that uprigh-t or st:andard. In the parti- :
cular embodiment which is being described, the supPort 17 will be
substantially horizontally disposed under the circumstanc~s which
have just bee~ mentionecl. The support 17 is formed, towards the
. end thereof that will be furthest from the upright or standard 1
when the bracket 19 is in use, with a keyhole-shaped slot 18 that
may be employed in releasably connecting the bottom of an over-
lying shelf, cabinet or other article of furniture to said support. ~:
.~ The bracket l9 comprises a sinyle limb 20 that will be
vertically disposed in thé use of the bracket and an uppermost
edge region of which is perpendicularly bent over to form the
l support 17. One end of the limb 20 is constructed and arranged
......... for entry in the recess 3 of the upright or standard l and is
. formed with an end portion 21 which portion 21 is, in fact, bent
over through 180 about an axis that is inclined hy a. few degrees .:
.~ to the vertical relative to the remainder of the limb 20. An . .:
. upper rim 22 of the portion 21 has a substantially vertically
disposed and forwardly directed free edge andis arranged ~or
hooking co-operation with one of the re-entrant lips 5 of the
upright or standard.l so that said free edge engages the concave
surface of that lip whilst the back o~ a lower region 23 of the
portion 21 is cut, filed machined or otherwise formed as a flat,
i.e., a portion having points lyin~ in a vertical plane which
define a finite transversely and ~ertically extending area, that is
. intended to abut strictly vextically against the forwardly facing : .
sur~ace of the rear of the recess 3 when the upright or standard 1
3a is also strictly vertically disposedc The substantially vertical
flat that is comprised by the lower region 23 of the li.mb portion 21
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is, in fact, foxmed by removing material from the r~arwardly
facin~ convex surface o.~ the 180 bend which interconnects the
planar part of the end portion 21 and the planar limb 20, proper.
The bracket 19 that i5 illustrated in Figure ]. of the
drawings is connected to the upright or stand~rd 1 merely by
entering the end of the limb 20 that comprlses the portion 21 into
the recess 3. The upper rim 22 is then brought into hoo~ing
engagement with the appropriate re-entrant lip 5 which, in the
example illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawings, will be the left-
hand lip 5 as seen in that Figure. Establishing the hooking engage-
ment will involve turning the bracket 19 downwardly through a few
degrees about an imaginary substantially horizontal axis that per-
pendicularly interconnects the two limbs of the upright or standard
1 so that the flat at the back of the lower region 23 of the end
portion 21 will come into abutting engagement against the forwardly .:
facing surface of the rear of the recess 3 at substantially the :.
same time as the leading substantiall~ vertical edge of the upper
rim 22 comes into hooking engagement with the co-operating and
similarly disposed re-entrant lip 5. The frictional co-operation
between the rim 22 and the lip 5 of the upri~ht or standard 1 is
such that the metal of the bracket 19 and/or of the upright or -~
1 would bend or break due to overloading before a weight carried
by the support 17 of said bracket would cause that bracket to slide
downwardly along the co-operating limb of the upright or standard
1~ ~evertheless, the bracket 19 can readily be moved upwardly
ox downwardly along the upright or standard 1 to a new horizontal
levèl merely by gripping its outer end, tilting it upwardly through
a few.degrees about an imaginary horizontal axis relative to the
upright or standard 1 and simultaneously pushing it towards the
interior o.~ the recess 3 to break the hooking engagement between the
upper rim 22 and the co-operating re-entrant lip 5. Once this has
been done, the bracket 19 is free of positive engagement with the
upright or standard 1 and can be raised or lowered to the desired
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new level without difficulty.
The bracket 19 that is illustrated in Figure 1 of the
drawings is only one example of a number of different single-
limbed brackets that may be constructed for use in a system
in accordance with the invention. Firstly, it will be reali~ed
that a bracket of symmetrically opposite construction to the '
bracket 19 that is illustrated in Figure 1 could readily be
employed. The upper rim 22 of the end portion 21 oE such a bracket
would, of course, co-operate with the right-hand, rather than the'
left-hand, re-entrant lip 5 as illustrated in Figure 1 of the
drawings and it will be noted that two such left-hand and right-
hand brackets can be used alongside one another at the same,
or or substantially the same, horizontal level, it still beinq
possible to install and/or remove one of those brackets without '' ~'
havinq to interfere with the other neiyhboring bracket in any way.
In the illustrated bracket 19, its support 17 is formed at the -'
top.thereof but this is by no means essential and both left-hand
. and right-hand brackets may be formed at the bottom with supports '.
that are equivalent to the illustrated support 17. It is not .
necessary to illustrate a bracket of this kind since the end por-
tion thereof will be identical to the described and illustrated
end portion 21 whilst its single limb will be effectively inverted '
as compared with the illustrated limb 20 and wiIl thus ha~e a
. ~ substantially horizontal lower edge formed with a perpendicularly
. bent-over support that corresponds to the support 17 and an out-
wardly and downwardly inclined upper edge. However, to ensure
that the back of the lower region 23 of the end portion 21 of such
a bracket will always reliably abut against the forwardly facing
J surface of'the back of the recess 3 of the co-operating upright
or standard 1, a small substantially semicircular'recess is pre-
ferabIy formed in the inner end of the support that corresponds
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to the support 17, said recess heing in register with the co-
operating re-entrant lip 5 in the use of the bracket so that
said end of the support shall always remain clear of contact with
said lip 5. It iwll be realised that, if contact between th~
support and the lip 5 were to be made at this point, it would
interfere with the frictional enyagement o the back of the lower
region 23 of the end portion 21 with the upright or standard 1.
The illustrated bracket 19 has an overall front to rear
length of substantially 31.5 centimetres but, clearly, this is
not essential and both longer and shorter ~rackets may be provided
for co-operation with articles of furniture of different kinds.
Purely as one example, shorter brackets with overall lengths of
substantially 8.5 centimetres may be provided, such brackets being
furnished with supports in both left-handed and right-handed form
with those supports at either their tops or their bottoms.
Brackets of this kind may additionally, or as an alternative, be
formed with means for the connection thereto of projections at
the sides of articles of furniture, such as cabinets.
The illustrated upright or standard 1 may be fastened
in its position of use in any convenient manner. For example, the
back of its recess 3 may be formed at more or less regular intervals
; with countersunk holes for cooperation with the heads of wood
screws or machine screws. The heads of such screws are, of course,
readily accessible to a screwdriver through the mouth 4 of the
; recess 3~ Figure 2 of the drawings shows a modification in which
a double upright or standard 15 is provided. The backs or bases of
the two uprights or standards of this double unit 15 are integrally
; interconnected by a strong vertical rib 16 which may9 if desired,
be formed at regular intervals along its length with vertical slots
. 30 ~not shown) to save material and weight and to assist in fastening.
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It will be appreciated that the double upright or standard 15
of Figure 2 of the drawings can be formed by the extrusion of
aluminum, aluminum alloy or the like just as easily as can the
sinqle upriqht or standard 1. Other multiple upriqhts or standard.s
can, of course, also be provided and, in this connection, it is
noted that a single upri~ht or standard having only one of the
re-entrant lips ~ would co-operate entirely satisfactorily wi-th a
single-limbed bracket such as the bracket 17 of Figure 1. An
upright or standard of this kind could have the configuration of
either the right-hand, or the left-hand, hal~ of the illustrated
upright or standard 1, its recess then being afforded by the sub-
stantially right-angled space that is enclosed between the limb
having the re-entrant lip 5 and a limb corresponding to the rear
o~ the illustrated upright or standard 1. Multiple units could
comprise three, four, or even more such uprights or standards
appropriately interconnected by ribs. It is noted here that,
althouqh an integral construction will usually be most convenient,
it is not essential that the rear of the upright or standard should
be inteqral with its one or two lip-carrying limbs.
It will be appreciated that, when a support equivalent
to one of the support 17 is formed at the bottom of the bra~ket 19,
said support is usable to sustain one end of a shelf from beneath
whilst the upriqht limb of the bracket to whiich said support is
. connected will extend upwardly above that shelf at one end thereof.
.1 The limb in question will thus function as a "book-end'l for a row
:.~ of books placed on the shelf or as a divider between items such
.} as box files and the like. Although not forming part of the present
invention, it is noted that the uprights or standards 1 or 15 can
be used in carrying quite heavy cabinets and like art:icles of
furniture by employing suspension clip5 each of which comprises
a hooking rim constructed for hookinq engagement with one of th.e
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re-entrant lips 5 and a machine screw which can be tightened 50
as very firmly to retain the clip at a chosen level along the lip
5 concerned. The clips incorporate upward].y facing recesses which
will co-operate with appropriately positioned openings in cabinets
and like articles of furniture so tha-t the system which has been
described can include such clips and is then capable of supporting
shelves, light cabinets, heavy cabinets, book and magazine racks,
storage racks, radio, phonograph and television set plinths, work
boxes, desk units and a variety of other articles of home and/or
office furniture, such articles bein~ formed wholly or principally
from wood and/or wholly or principally from metal and/or synthetiC
; plastics materials.
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