Patent Application
20150076779
Not applicable
Not applicable
I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for storing and transporting shelving. More specifically, the invention relates to a wheeled cart upon which a large number of shelves may be stacked at a first location, safely transported to a second location, and safely unstacked at the second location.
II. Related Art
Gondola-type shelving is used in retail stores throughout the world. A significant advantage of gondola-type shelving is that the shelving is modular in design allowing the shelving to be assembled in units ranging in width from as short as two to three feet to as long as a hundred feet or more. Another significant advantage is that the number of shelves in a particular section of the unit may be altered and the spacing between the shelves in a particular section of the unit may also be altered.
Still another advantage of gondola-type shelving is that a shelving unit and sections of the shelving unit may be quickly assembled and disassembled. This is important because time is of the essence when rearranging the shelves of a retail store. This work must typically be accomplished between the time a store closes in the evening and the time the store opens in the morning. When a store is open 24 hours per day, like many big box retail department stores such as those operated by Walmart or drug stores such as those operated by Walgreens, the task of disassembling, moving and reassembling shelving units must be accomplished when customers are in the store. Whether the shelving units are moved or reconfigured when customers are present or not, safety is an issue.
Significant safety concerns arise when the shelves of a gondola-type shelving unit are stacked and transported. Gondola-type shelves are not perfectly flat and when stacked they tend to be relatively unstable. The degree of instability increases with each shelf added to the stack. Stacks have been known to collapse, causing damage to the shelves and even bodily injury to workers or others adjacent the stack. This problem is particularly acute when the stack rests on a flat bed cart used to transport the stack of shelves. This problem is exacerbated by laborers trying to speed the process by stacking a larger number of shelves than they should or being careless when adding or removing shelves from a stack.
The present invention addresses these important safety concerns by providing a cart specifically designed to transport a plurality of gondola-type shelves. The cart provides lateral support along each of the four sides of a stack preventing the stack from collapsing during transport. Likewise, because the cart divides the stack into separately supported increments, all portions of the composite stack are generally stable even in the absence of such lateral support.
More specifically, the present invention comprises a cart including a frame, a plurality of dividing shelves on which the gondola shelves are to be loaded, and four wheel assemblies, at least two of which are typically castered. The frame has a front pair of pillars consisting of vertical right front and vertical left front pillars. These pillars are joined together by a plurality of vertically spaced horizontal supports. The frame also has a back pair of pillars consisting of vertical right rear and vertical left rear pillars joined together by a plurality of vertically spaced horizontal supports. The distance between the two pillars of each pair is preferable slightly longer than the length of the shelves to be supported by the cart. The frame also includes a pair of horizontal side supports joining the vertical right front and rear pillars and a pair of horizontal side supports joining the vertical left front and rear pillars. The frame further includes a first oblique support extending between one of the left vertical pillars near the top and the other of the left vertical pillars near the bottom. Likewise, a second oblique support extends between one of the right vertical pillars near the top and the other of the right vertical pillars near the bottom. The lengths of the horizontal side supports are slightly longer than the depth of the gondola shelves to be stacked. The frame supports a plurality of fixed shelves. More specifically, the shelves may be supported by the vertically spaced horizontal supports extending between the front and the back pairs of pillars. The wheels of the wheel assemblies support the frame.
The shelves provide a significant safety feature because they prevent too many gondola shelves from being stacked directly on top of each other. To provide additional safety, vertical guard rails and horizontal guard rails are provided and may be employed.
A first vertical guard rail is provided between the bottom and top horizontal supports that extend between the front pair of pillars. A second vertical guard rail extends between the bottom and top horizontal supports extending between the back pair of pillars. More specifically, these bottom horizontal supports have a cup attached to the outer face which is open to the top and receives and supports the bottom of a vertical guard rail. The top horizontal supports have a U-shaped bracket attached to the outer face which is open to both the top and bottom and receives and supports the top of the vertical guard rail.
The horizontal guard rails each comprise a flat plate having knobs extending perpendicularly in a first direction from an inside surface of the plate adjacent the opposite ends of the plate. The knobs may be hook-shaped or terminate in a flange. The pillars each have a plurality of holes positioned along the length of the pillars. The holes are sized and shaped to receive the knobs and cooperate with the knobs to temporarily, yet securely, fasten the horizontal guard rails to the frame of the cart. The horizontal guard rails can be attached to the frame as the gondola shelves are added such that the stack receives lateral support from the guard rails, but the guard rails do not interfere with stacking of shelves on the cart. Likewise, the horizontal guard rails may be removed from the frame as the gondola shelves are removed to provide adequate lateral support at all times to prevent the stack of gondola shelves from tipping and yet permit the shelves to be unstacked from the cart without undue interference from the horizontal guard rails.
The foregoing features, objects and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description and with reference to the following drawings in which like numerals in the several views refer to corresponding parts.
This description of the preferred embodiment is intended to be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which are to be considered part of the entire written description. In the description, relative terms such as lower, upper, horizontal, vertical, above, below, up, down, top, bottom, front and back as well as derivatives thereof (e.g., horizontally, downwardly, upwardly, etc.) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or shown in the drawings under discussion. These relative terms are employed for convenience of description and do not require that the apparatus be constructed or operated in a particular orientation. Terms such as connected, connecting, attached, attaching, joined and joining are used interchangeably and refer to one structure or surface being secured directly or indirectly to another structure or surface or integrally fabricated in one piece, unless expressly described otherwise.
Cart 30 comprises a frame 32. Frame 32 has a front pair of pillars consisting of a left front vertical pillar 34 and a right front vertical pillar 36. Frame 32 also has a back pair of pillars consisting of a left back vertical pillar 38 and a right back vertical pillar 40. Each of pillars 34, 36, 38 and 40 is in the form of an elongate U-shaped channel having first and second legs 42 and 44 joined by a cross member 46. The first and second legs 42 and 44 have a plurality aligned bolt holes 48 which permit the shaft of a bolt or screw 50 to pass through the first and second legs 42 and 44. Each cross member 46 also has a series of spaced holes 52 passing through the cross member 46. These holes 52 may be rectangularly shaped as illustrated in
The frame 32 of cart 30 also includes a plurality of vertically space apart horizontal supports. These include front horizontal supports 54, 56, 58 and 60 which have opposing ends joined to pillars 34 and 36 of the front pair of pillars and hack horizontal supports 55, 57, 59 and 61 which have opposing ends joined to pillars 38 and 48 of the back pair of pillars. The shaft of a bolt or screw 50 is passed through holes 48 in a pillar 34, 36, 38 or 40 to couple the end of a horizontal supports 54-61 to the pillar. The horizontal supports 54-61 each comprise an extruded metal bar having a longitudinally extending groove into which a shelf edge is fitted.
The frame also includes a plurality of left and right horizontal side supports. Horizontal side supports 62 and 64 are used to join pillars 34 and 38 and horizontal side supports 66 and 63 are used to join pillars 36 and 40. Two oblique supports 70 and 72 are also provided. As shown in the drawings, oblique support 70 extends between. and is attached to a top section of pillar 38 and a bottom section of pillar 34. Oblique support 72 extends between and is attached to a top section of pillar 36 and a bottom section of pillar 40. The oblique supports 70 and 72 are also U-shaped channels and the opposed ends of the oblique supports 70 and 72 are received within the U-shaped channel of the respective pillar. Once so positioned, bolts can be passed through aligned holes in the oblique supports 70 and 72 and pillars 34, 36, 38 and 40 to complete the frame 32. The bolts are held in place in a typical fashion using nuts, washers or lock washers (not shown) as needed.
As illustrated, the frame 32 is supported by four wheel assemblies 80-83. Wheel assemblies 81 and 82 are castered to make it easy to turn the cart around corners. Wheel assemblies 81 and 82 each also include a lock 84. A handle 86 is joined to pillars 36 and 40 at a convenient height above wheels 31 and 82 to aid in moving and steering the cart.
The cart 30 includes a plurality of horizontal shelves 88. The shelves 88 are vertically spaced and are supported by the frame 32 and more specifically by the horizontal supports 54-61. The shelves 38 are a significant safety feature of the cart 30. Shelves 88 support a stack of gondola shelves 16 loaded on the cart 30 and prevent any stack of shelves from becoming dangerously high. The height of the stacks is regulated by the distance between the shelves 88. For safety reasons, shelves 16 should not be loaded on the top shelf 88 even though this shelf does provide a stable platform for tools, hardware or other items with a flat bottom surface.
Lateral support for any stack of shelves 16 placed on the cart 30 may be provided in either or both of two ways. As illustrated in
The vertical guard rails 92 provide lateral support to a stack of shelves 16 while the shelves are on the cart 30. However, their design requires they be removed before loading or unloading of the cart 30 may take place. Thus, they provide no safety or security during the loading and unloading process. For this reason, horizontal guard rails 100 are also provided.
As shown in
As shown in
Based on the foregoing, it should be apparent that a user can elect not to use either the vertical or the horizontal guide rails, can select between the horizontal and vertical guide rails or can elect to use the vertical and the horizontal guide rails. Maximum security is achieved when the shelves 88, horizontal guard rails 100 and vertical guard rails 92 are all employed. When all these are employed, the vertical guard rails 92 are affixed after the horizontal guard rails 100 have been attached to the cart 30. The cart 30, shelves and the horizontal and vertical guard rails can, of course, be sold as a kit to enable the user to determine which of the safety features to employ.
The invention has been described herein in considerable detail, in order to comply with the patent statutes and provide those skilled in the art with information needed to apply the novel principles and to construct and use embodiments of the example as required. However, it should be understood that the invention can be carried out by specifically different devices and modifications can be accomplished without departing from the scope of the invention itself.
