Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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WIRE SHELF
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to metal
shelves intended for load bearing applications.
These shelves contain generally cylindrical post
receiving members which are intended to be mated
with vertical posts acting as support members.
Description of _he Prior Art
Metal shelving of the "rack" form i8 well
known in the art. Generally, this kind of shelving
consists of a plurality of generally cylindrical
metal members running generally parallel to each
other in one direction, and a lesser plurality of
generally cylindrical members running generally
parallel to each other but perpendicular to the
first set of members. This second set of members
act as support for the first ~et of members, which
act as the means to hold whatever material is
desired to be placed upon the shelf. Additional
support can be provided around the perimeter of the
shelf in the form of dedicated support members.
This kind of shelving can be prefabricated, so as to
screw together or be held by brackets or poles.
An example oE this kind of shelving can be
found in U.S. Patent 3,523,508 to Maslow. Maslow
'508 teaches an adjustable shelving system
comprising four posts for holding up the shelf, each
shelf having four generally cylindrical sleeves at
the four corners of the shelf. These sleeves slide
'3~
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over the posts and are attached to the posts by some
kind of affixation means. In this way, a stable
base of support for the four corners of the shelf is
formed. The main support structure for this shelf
are four main support members tracing the perimeter
of the shelf. The subsupport members and item
holding members are then attached to these main
support member which act as the load bearing
member. A problem with this '508 patent to Maslow
is that the main support members tend to deform when
highly loaded, thus bending the shelf.
These main support members are comprised of
two generally cylindrical metal supports separated
by a space, with a generally serpentine shaped metal
support zigzagging between the top and bottom
supports of this main support beam. This main
support beam is configured such that the top
support, the serpentine shaped support and bottom
support are all in the same plane, serpentine being
attached to top and bottom supports along the
tangents of the two generally circular members.
Thus, when highly loaded, the generally serpentine
support will tend to become detached from the top
and bottom supports towards the middle of the main
support beam.
A similar scheme is disclosed in U.S.
Patent 3,757,705 to Maslow. This patent, while
teaching basically the same shelf as the '508
patent, teaches an improved affixation means for
attaching the sleeves to the posts that they are
mated with.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a steel shelf of
the type described above but containing improved
load bearing means so as to allow the shelf to carry
a larger weight load. The shelf consists of a
plurality of metal deck wires running generally
parallel and sufficiently close to each other so as
to allow items to be placed on these deck wires.
Running perpendicular to the deck wires are a lesser
number of subsupports ("longitudinal wires"3. At
the corners of the shelf are generally cylindrical
sleeves which are adapted to be fit over generally
cylindrical shelf support posts. When the shelf has
one shelf support post mated with each of its
sleeves, it is secured into place on the posts so as
to form a stable base of support.
A novel item in this invention is the main
support means which run between the sleeves, forming
the perimeter of the shelf. These main support
means consist of a top member which attaches to a
location near the top of the sleeves, and a bottom
member which attaches to a location near the bottom
of the sleeves. These members or lip wires are
generally parallel to each other. To stabilize and
add further support to these lip wires, a generally
serpentine shaped member ("trust wire") is attached
to the inside portion of the lip wires in such a way
that the position of the lip wires are further
reinforced with relation to each other. These main
support means run around the perimeter of the shelf
such that when the post receiving member is firmly
affixed to the shelf support post, a stable main
support is formed between the four posts, thus
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supporting the shelf and the four posts in relation
to one another.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
An exemplary and presently preferred
embodiment of the invention will be described in
detail with reference to the accompanying drawings,
wherein:
FIGURE 1 shows a top view of a first
embodiment of the present.invention;
FIGURE 2 shows a side view of this first
embodiment;
FIGURE 3 shows a bottom view of this first
embodiment;
FI~URE 4 shows a front view of this first
15 embodiment
FIGURE 5 shows a top view of a second
embodiment of this invention;
FIGURE 6 shows a side view of this second
embodiment;
FIGURE 7 shows a bottom view of this same
second embodiment;
FIGURE 8 shows a front view of the second
embodiment;
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FIGURE 9 shows a view in perspective of a
shelf according to the first embodiment of this
invention;
.
FIGURE 10 shows a perspective view of a
5 shelf according to the second embodiment of this
invention and
FIGURE 11 shows a perspective view of a
plurality of shelves according to this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A first embodiment of this invention will
be discussed with reference to FIGURES 1 through
4. This first embodiment is intended to be used
with a shelf of relatively short length such that
- the main support members around the perimeter of the
15 shelf and the subsupport members are sufficient to
support the expected load of the shelf.
Referring to FIGURE 1, it can be seen that
there are four post receiving members at locations
10, 12, 14 and 16. Each of these post receiving
20 members are adapted to be slid over a shelf support
post and securely affixed into place. Running
between these post receiving members, around the
perimeter of the shelf are the main support means
18, 20, 22 and 24. These main support means are
25 adapted to hold relatively large loads. Attached to
main support beams 20 and 24, which form the "sides"
of the shelf are three subsupport means,
longitudinal wires 26, 28 and 30. Running
perpendicular to these longitudinal wires and
30 perpendicular to main support means 18 and 22, which
form the front and rear of the shelf respectively,
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.
are a plurality of storage support means, deck wires
as exemplified by 32. These deck wires ~re spaced
closely together and adapted such that the items to
be stored on these shelves will be place directly on
the deck wires. These deck wires run from main
support means 18 (front of the shelf) to main
support means 22 (rear of the shelf) and are
reinforced in the center by subsupport means 26, 28
and 30. In this embodiment of the present
lO invention, the deck wires are constructed of 9 gauge
steel located approximately one inch from each other
and generally parallel to each other. The
longitudinal wires are made of 4 gauge steel, and
located with middle longitudinal wire 28 being
15 approximately equidistant from main support means 22
and 18. Longitudinal wires 26 and 30 are located
very close to the post receiving members.
FIGURE 2 shows a side view of this first
embodiment where post receiving members 10 and 14
20 are shown with main support means 20 running between
them. Attached to main support means 20 and
superjacent to it are seen end views of longitudinal
wires 26, 28 and 30. Superjacent to these
longitudinal wires are the deck wires 32.
As FIGURE 2 shows, main support means 20 is
comprised of a top support means, top lip wire 34
and a bottom support means, bottom lip wire 36.
Bottom lip wire 36 runs from the bottom of one post
receiving member 10 to the bottom of the other post
30 receiving member 14. Top lip wire 34 runs from a
point near, but not at, the top of post receiving
member 10 to an analogous point on post receiving
member 14. Lip wires 34 and 36 are securely welded
to both post receiving members 10 and 14. To insure
35 that top lip wire 34 and bottom lip wire 36 remain
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substantially parallel to each other even under
stress and high load conditions, a serpentine
; support means, truss wire 38 is attached to lip
wires 34 and 36.
Truss wire 38 is integrated into the main
support means 20 such that the top apex of the
serpentine pattern is always welded to the inside of
top lip wire 34. Similarly, the bottom apex of the
serpentine pattern 42 is always welded to the inside
10 of bottom lip wire 36.
In effect, this truss wire 38 ensures an
equal distance between top and bottom lip wires 34
and 36, and that they remain substantially parallel
to each other even under loaded conditions. In the
15 prior art, similar support structures to the
serpentine support means 38 have existed, but were
attached to the top and bottom support means such
that the truss wire within the same plane as the lip
wires, and the only attachment between the truss and
20 lip wires were the tangent point between the tip of
the apex of the serpentine pattern, and the tangent
point of the outer circumference of the lip wires.
This resulted in a very small area of contact and
thus a very small area which could be welded to.
25 Furthermore, in the prior art, when under load, the
parallel top and bottom support means would tend to
bend downward. When this bending downward occurs,
the truss wire would tend to be displaced outward.
This problem is overcome by the current
30 design where the truss wire 38 is placed behind the
plane comprising the lip wires 34 and 36. One
advantage of this is that a much larger area of
welding can be obtained. This is because a larger
portion of the truss wire 38 is in contact with the
35 lip wire 36. For instance, top lip wire 34 is in
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contact with truss wire 38 from the location
labelled 44 until the location labelled 46 in FIGURE
2. This provides a very large bonding surface area
so that a much stronger weld can be attached.
5 Furthermore, as the device is placed under tension,
the truss wire 38 cannot be displaced outward
because it is behind the plane comprising the top
and bottom beam means. Thus, truss wire 38 provides
the function of stabilizing top lip wire 34 relative
10 to bottom lip wire 36 in a much more effective
manner than found in the prior art. A further
advantage of this truss wire being outside the plane
of the lip wires is that it can be of a larger size,
and thus greater strength.
It should further be noted that deck wires
32 extend from main support means 20 to main support
means 24 which cannot be seen from FIGURE 2. These
deck wires do not attach to post receiving members
lO and 14. Also, truss wire 38 does not extend
20 along the complete length of the main support means
20, for instance, in FIGURE 2, they end at points 48
and 50.
Referring to FIGURE 3, a bottom view of
this first embodiment is depicted. As can be seen
25 from FIGURE 3, the deck wires, 52 for instance,
extend from main support means 22 to main support
means 18 and are attached to both of those support
means by welds. Furthermore, these deck wires 52
are also welded to the longitudinal wires 26, 28 and
30 30. The deck wires curve in the general area of the
top lip wire part of the main support means such
that the ends can be seen in FIGURE 3 as labelled by
number 54.
Curvature of the deck wires 52 can be
35 further seen with reference to FIGURE 4. A
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representative deck wire 52 is shown curving around
top lip wire 34 and being connected thereto at
location 56. The deck wires 52 then curve around
this top lip wire 34 so as to be parallel to the
5 plane comprised of the top and bottom lip wires 34
and 36. The deck wires terminate at the location of
the bottom lip wire and are attached thereto at
location 58.
In effect, this serves to stabilize the
shelf by forming a box-like structure, the box
consisting of top and bottom lip wires 34 and 36,
and the plurality of deck wires. Each deck wire is
welded both to top and bottom lip wires 34 and 36 at
locations 56 and 58. Furthermore, the curvature of
the deck wires in this manner functions to aid in
load bearing ability of the shelf. When weight is
placed on the deck wires, they will naturally tend
to bow downward, thus causing a force to be applied
to the area of the welds. Even if welds 56 and 58
did not exist, the curvature of these storage
support means would help keep them from bowing in
the center as they would be attached by virtue of
their shape to main support means 20.
A second embodiment of this invention is
depicted in FIGURES 5, 5A, 6, 7 and 8. This second
embodiment is adapted for use with relatively long
shelf lengths such that extra supports is necessary
towards the center portion of the shelf length to
aid in ensuring that the shelf does not sag in the
center portion. As an example, with a 14-18 inch
wide shelf, this second embodiment should be used
for lengths greater than 60 inches, and with a 21-24
inch wide shelf, this extra support is advantageous
for a length greater than 36 inches.
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Referring to FIGURE S, a diagram of a shelf
utilizing this second embodiment is shown. In
FIGURE S, the main support means 18 and 22 are
longer than the comparable support means in FIGURE
5 1, and thus additional support is needed for the
shelf to be sure that it will not sag in the center
portion 60. The additional support means 62 is used
in this second embodiment in place of the middle
subsupport means, longitudinal wire 18 of the first
10 embodiment.
This second embodiment as shown by FIGURE 5
has four post receiving members 10, 12, 14 and 16,
and main support means 18, 20, 22 and 24 running
between them to form the perimeter of the shelf,
15 similar to the first embodiment. Additionally
attached to these main support means are two
subsupport means, longitudinal wires 26 and 30.
Additional support for the shelf is
provided by additional support means 62. This
20 additional support means is welded to the main
support means 20 and 24.
A drawing of this additional support means
62 is shown in FIGURE 5A. The additional support
means consists of a top support means lip wire 64
25 and a bottom support means, lip wire 66, thus
similar in structure to the main support means.
However, this additional support means has two
serpentine support means for increased load bearing
strength. The first serpentine support means, first
30 truss wire 68 as shown in FIGURE 5A, iS located
above the plane comprising lip wires 64 and 66.
This first truss wire 68 is welded to the top lip
wire 64 at location 70 and welded to bottom lip wire
66 at location 72. Thus as in the main support
35 means, a very large welding area is obtained. The
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11
second serpentine support means, second truss wire
74 is located behind the plane comprising lip wires
64 and 66. The truss wires are placed with respect
to each other such that their generally sinusoidal
5 shapes are also located 180 out of phase with each
other. Thus, the apexes of first truss wire 68 and
second truss wire 74 will never be adjacent to each
other on the same lip wire. At the location where
first truss wire 68 is welded to top lip wire 64,
10 second truss wire 74 is welded to bottom lip wire
66.
This design provides many advantages.
Firstly, an increased amount of support tending to
keep top and bottom lip wires 64 and 66 generally
15 parallel to each other is obtained. Secondly, truss
wires 68 and 74 being offset from each other in this
way tends to reinforce their position to each other
as well as the lip wires 64 and 66. If one truss
wire were stressed, thus being deformed outward and
20 stressing the weld connections, that deformation
would be resiRted by the other truss wire. This
other truss wire, while also welded, would have to
be physically deformed in order to break the weld
holding the first truss wire.
The top lip wire 64 of this additional
support means 62 is welded to the top lip wire 34 of
main support means 20 and the top support means of
main support means 24. The bottom lip wire 66 of
additional support means 62 is similarly welded to
30 bottom lip wires of main support means 20 and 24.
Referring to FIGURE 6, a side view of this
second embodiment is seen. While the left side is
shown, the view would be exactly analogous to the
right side. This view is very similar to that in
35 the first embodiment (FIGURE 2) except for the side
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12
view of additional support means 62. An end view of
top support means 64 of additional support means 62
can also be seen in FIGURE 6.
FIGURE 7 shows a bottom view of this second
5 embodiment of the shelf. This bottom view is very
similar to FIGURE 3 (which shows a bottom view of
the first embodiment) except for additional support
means 62 being installed instead of subsupport means
(longitudinal wire) 28. The deck wires 52 can be
10 seen as being supported by longitudinal wires 26 and
30, and additional support means 62. As in the
first embodiment, these deck wires also bend around
main support means 18 and 22, and an end view of
these deck wires is labelled by number 54.
A front view of this second embodiment is
shown in FIGURE 8. While this is a front view, it
should be noted that an analogous view would be seen
looking from the rear of the shelf. ~rom this view,
main support means 20 is seen with its top support
20 means, top lip wire 76 and bottom support means,
bottom lip wire 78. Also depicted is the serpentine
support means, truss wire 80 of main support means
20. Finally, a perspective view of additional
support means 62 (as a back drop) can be seen from
25 FIGURE 8.
In both the first and second embodiments of
this shelf, the main support means on the front and
back of the shelf (18 and 22) have their main
support means welded to the respective post
30 receiving members at a location higher than main
support means (20 and 24) are welded to the post
receiving members on the sides of the shelf. The
purpose of this offset is that the side main support
means 20 and 24 have the longitudinal wires directly
35 superjacent to them, and the deck wires are placed
.
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directly superjacent to the longitudinal wires.
Thus, for the top lip wire 34 of the front main
support means 18 to be at the same height as the
deck wire 52, the top lip wire 34 must be welded at
5 a position slightly higher than the position at
which the side main support means (20 and 24) are
welded. This slightly higher height should be
generally equal to the diameter of the longitudinal
wire.
FIGURE 9 shows a top view of an inverted
shelf of the first embodiment of this invention.
Post receiving members 10, 12, 14, and 16 can be
seen in the four corners of the shelf with main
- support members 18, 20, 22 and 24 running between
15 the post receiving members to form the perimeter of
the shelf. Main support members 18 and 22 comprise
the front and rear of the shelf respectively, and
main support members 20 and 24 comprise the size of
the shelf. Running between the main support member
20means 20 and 24 are lon~itudinal wires 2~, 28, and
30. Deck wires 32 can be seen running
perpendicularly to these longitudinal wires.
The curving of deck wires 32 around the
front and rear main support means can be seen in
2sFIGURE 9. When deck wire 32 reaches top lip wire 82
of main support means 18, it curves around top lip
wire 82 so as to form a generally perpendicular
bend. The area of this bend in deck wire 32 is then
welded to lip wire 82. After undergoing this
30perpendicular bend deck wire 32 continues until it
reaches the general area of bottom lip wire 84. At
this point deck wire 12 terminates and is welded to
bottom lip wire 84. Both sides of all deck wires
are curved and welded in this manner, thus forming a
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"box" arrangement which greatly increases the
strength of the shelf.
FIGURE 10 shows a top perspective view of
- an inverted shelf of the second embodiment of this
5 invention. It can be seen from FIGURE 10 that
additional support means 62 is substituted for
longitudinal wire 2~ so as to provide additional
support for the shelf in its midportion. Additional
support means 62 is welded to the top and bottom lip
wires of side support means 20 and 24. These points
of welding in connection are labelled in FIGURE 10
as 86, 88/ 90 and 92. The shelf as in FIGURE 10 is
similar to the first embodiment except for the
additional support of additional support means 62.
A perspective view of plurality of shelves,
the shelves being of the kind described in the
second embodiment, can be seen with reference to
FIGURE 11. FIGURE 11 shows 3 of the plurality of
shelves, 100, 102, and 104, comprising a shelving
20unit. Shelf support poles 106, 108, 110, and 112
can also be seen in FIGURE 11. The post receiving
members at the four corners of each shelf fit over
these generally cylindrical posts and are affixed
into place through use of devices attached to the
2sposts over which the post receiving members fit.
In the embodiment of these shelves
discussed above, the deck wires are formed of 9
gauge steel, truss wires of 7 gauge steel, and all
other wires of 4 gauge steel.
Although only a few exemplary embodiments
of this invention have been described in detail
above, those skilled in the art will readily
appreciate that many modifications are possible in
the exemplary embodiment without materially
-
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departing from the novel teachings and advantages of
this invention.
Accordingly, all such modifications are
intended to be included within the scope of this
invention as defined in the following claims.
