The present invention relates to an apparatus for securing a plurality of elongated members against an upstanding wall surface which is particularly but not exclusively suited for use in a portable containment structure such as a highway transport trailer.
In one example, when shipping an unassembled kitchen cabinet system for subsequent installation at a customer site, trim pieces of the kitchen cabinet system are packaged in elongated boxes separately of larger components of the kitchen cabinet system and are usually loosely loaded into a highway transport trailer without being fixedly secured. The loose loading of these packaged trim pieces causes them to shift inside the trailer during transport which may lead to damage upon collision with other items being shipped or with the interior of the trailer, or may cause the trim pieces to shift to a position from which they may fall by gravity out of the trailer when access doors of the trailer are eventually opened for unloading.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus for supporting a plurality of elongated members on a wall defining an upstanding wall surface comprising:
a sheet extending longitudinally from a lower end to an upper end and having opposite inner and outer faces;
wherein the sheet is configured for mounting to the wall in substantially-planar upstanding orientation with the inner face disposed opposite to the wall surface and the outer face of the sheet facing away from the wall; and
a plurality of holders each arranged to receive one of the elongated members in generally horizontal orientation and connected to the outer face of the sheet in an array forming at least one column across the sheet in which the holders are disposed in generally linear fashion one above the other between the upper and lower ends of the sheet so that the elongated members are supportable generally one above the other in horizontal orientation.
In one arrangement, the sheet is flexible.
In one arrangement, the sheet is removably attachable to the wall.
In one arrangement, the holders are resiliently inwardly compressible so as to be arranged to confine movement of the elongated member received therein.
In one arrangement, each holder is in the form of a strap connected to the sheet so as to define with the outer face of the sheet a passageway through which a respective one of the elongated members can be passed.
In one arrangement, the column of the holders is formed by a common elongated strip of material extending longitudinally across the outer face of the sheet and arranged to define the holders at longitudinally spaced locations across the strip.
In one arrangement, the sheet extends between laterally opposite sides and the array of the holders includes a pair of laterally spaced apart columns on the outer face of the sheet so as to provide laterally opposite pairs of the holders through which each elongated member can be passed.
In one arrangement, the apparatus further includes a plurality of holders each arranged to receive one of the elongated members in generally horizontal orientation and connected to the inner face of the sheet.
In one arrangement, the sheet is configured for mounting to the wall by mounting devices configured for attaching to the wall and supported at the upper and lower ends of the sheet, wherein one of the mounting devices is carried by a stretchable linkage member operatively interconnecting said mounting device and the sheet at a corresponding one of the upper and lower ends.
In one arrangement, the mounting devices are configured for mating insertion into receptacles provided on the wall.
The invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.
In the accompanying figures there is shown an apparatus 10 for supporting a plurality of elongated members M such as trim pieces on a wall 1 defining an upstanding wall surface 2.
The apparatus 10 comprises a sheet 12 extending longitudinally from a lower end 13 to an upper end 14, laterally between opposite sides 15, 16 and having opposite inner and outer faces 17, 18. The sheet 12 is configured for mounting to the wall 1 in substantially-planar upstanding orientation with the inner face 17 disposed opposite to the wall surface 2, so as to be facing same, and the outer face 18 of the sheet facing away from the wall. In the illustrated embodiment, a mounting arrangement 19 in the form of a pair of clips disposed at the opposite ends 13, 14 of the sheet and distinct therefrom is provided to facilitate mounting of the sheet to the wall. Where the wall is an upstanding wall of a portable containment structure such as that of a highway transport trailer, the mounting arrangement 19 can be arranged for mating with vertically extending tracks 4 in the wall 1. In other words, the apparatus 10 includes individual mounting devices 19, collectively defining the aforementioned mounting arrangement, which are configured for attaching to the wall and are supported at each one of the lower and upper ends 13, 14 of the sheet. More specifically, the mounting devices 19 are configured for removable mating insertion into receptacles 4A defined in a respective one of the tracks 4 provided on the wall 1.
The sheet 12 is flexible so as to be foldable on itself into a compacted storage condition when detached from the wall. Thus in its working condition attached to the wall 1 the sheet 12 is stretched taut so as to substantially define a plane which is parallel to the wall surface 2. In the illustrated arrangement, the sheet is made from webbing which is a tightly woven fabric material having woven synthetic fibers. In the working condition the sheet 12 is tensioned so as to provide a relatively rigid substrate for supporting weight of the elongated members M, as will be better appreciated shortly.
The apparatus further includes a plurality of holders 25 each arranged to receive one of the elongated members M in generally horizontal orientation and connected to the outer face 18 of the sheet in an array forming at least one column 27 across the sheet 12 in which the holders 25 are disposed in generally linear fashion one above the other between the upper and lower ends 14, 13 of the sheet so that the elongated members M are supportable generally one above the other in horizontal orientation.
The holders 25 are resiliently inwardly compressible so as to be arranged to confine movement of the elongated member received therein, particularly in a transverse direction of the member M itself towards and away from the sheet.
As more clearly shown in
Still referring to
The apparatus may further include a plurality of holders 50 each arranged to receive one of the elongated members M in generally horizontal orientation and connected to the inner face 17 of the sheet. In the first illustrated embodiment, both sets of holders on the inner and outer faces 17, 18 are formed by a common elastic strip fastened to the sheet at longitudinally spaced positions to provide a series of adjacent individual elastic straps stretchable away from the face of the sheet.
The sheet 12 is removably attachable to the wall by its mounting arrangement 19 so that the apparatus can be removed when not in use.
Thus generally speaking the sheet 12 acts as a substrate for supporting the holders 25 and, when applicable those indicated at 50 also, in predetermined spatial relation to one another. The substrate 12 is mounted to the wall 1 so that the holders carrying the elongated members M are supported in generally fixed relation to the wall 1.
There is also disclosed herein a method of securing a load of separate elongated members M in a containment structure C shown in
The scope of the claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiments set forth in the examples but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the specification as a whole.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/CA2020/051333 | 10/5/2020 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62910536 | Oct 2019 | US |