Method of making a shelving standard

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6497033
  • Patent Number
    6,497,033
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, February 22, 2000
    25 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, December 24, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Bryant; David P.
    • Cozart; Jermie E.
    Agents
    • Faggetter; Ronald D.
    • Wisner; Mark R.
Abstract
A shelving standard is fabricated from a single plate with portions of the plate folded back on themselves, preferably utilizing roll forming operations. This allows bores formed in the plate before roll forming to be aligned in pairs as through holes when portions of the plate are folded over on themselves. By forming one bore of a pair larger than another, the bore pair becomes a countersunk hole. Such a shelving standard may be screwed to a stud which has a gap therein so that a line of slots in the standard is aligned with the gap. The stud also has a transverse through hole supporting a cross-member. Wall panels are provided with clips which rest on the cross-member so that wall panels may be mounted without being screwed to the stud.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




This invention relates to a shelving standard, to a method of making a shelving standard and to a shelving system.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




Shelving assemblies are commonly used in a retail environment. An assembly typically comprises a pair of side-by-side vertically disposed slotted shelving standards with cantilever brackets hooked into the slots and shelves resting on pairs of brackets. The assembly is secured to a wall with screws which extend through bores in the standards.




Shelving standards are currently typically formed from three metal pieces: a rectangular plate with a medial line of slots stamped therein, and two L-shaped pieces spot welded to the plate on either side of the line of slots so as to result in a “Π”-shaped profile. After welding, bores are drilled through the standard where the L-shaped pieces join to the plate to provide screw holes to affix the standard to a wall. Often the bores are countersunk. Such a standard is of relatively expensive manufacture.




With a shelving standard having a “Π”-shaped profile, it is necessary to provide a gap in the wall behind the standard to accommodate the hooks of the brackets which extend through the slots of the standard. Additionally, to ensure a secure mount to a wall, it is preferable to screw a standard into a wall stud. To meet these criteria, in setting up a wall for supporting a shelving assembly, pairs of studs are erected with a small gap between them. Next, a shelving standard is screwed into a pair of adjacent studs such that the medial line of slots overlies the gap between the pair of studs. Now wall panels may be screwed to the studs such that a side edge of a wall panel abuts a depending leg of one of the L-shaped pieces of the shelving standard. Lastly, brackets may be hooked into slots in the shelving standard and shelves erected between brackets of adjacent shelving standards. Such a shelving standard system is relatively costly.




This invention seeks to overcome drawbacks of known methods of forming shelving standards and of known shelving standard systems.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The present invention fabricates a shelving standard from a single plate with portions of the plate folded back on themselves, preferably utilizing roll forming operations. This allows bores formed in the plate before roll forming to be aligned in pairs as through holes when portions of the plate are folded over on themselves. By forming one bore of a pair larger than another, the bore pair becomes a countersunk hole. Such a shelving standard may be screwed to a stud which has a gap therein so that a line of slots in the standard is aligned with the gap. The stud also has a transverse through hole supporting a cross-member. Wall panels are provided with clips which rest on the cross-member so that wall panels may be mounted without being screwed to the stud.




Accordingly, the present invention provides a method of making a shelving standard comprising: forming a medial line of longitudinal slots in a metal plate; roll forming said metal plate to fold said metal plate into a configuration suitable for use as a shelving standard.




According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a shelving standard comprising: a web bent from a single plate so as to have a profile with a “Π” shape, said “Π” shape having a pair of legs and a pair of wings, each wing having a lower layer from which one of said legs depend and an upper layer overlying said lower layer; a plurality of slots in said web between said pair of legs; a plurality of bores in said upper layer of said each wing and a plurality of bores in said lower layer of said each wing, said bores in said upper layer aligned with said bores in said lower layer so as to form through holes in said each wing.




According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a shelving system, comprising: a wall stud having a wall with a gap or indentation; a shelving standard having a “Π”-shaped profile with a base and a pair of depending legs and a line of slots extending along said base between said legs; said base of said standard joined to said stud across said gap or indentation of said stud such that said slots are aligned with said gap or indentation.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




In the figures which illustrate the invention,





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a shelving standard made in accordance with this invention,





FIG. 2

is a bottom view of

FIG. 1

,





FIG. 3

is a cross-sectional view along the lines


3





3


of

FIG. 2

,





FIG. 4

is a front view of a plate from which the shelving standard of

FIG. 1

is formed,





FIG. 5

is a side view of

FIG. 4

,





FIG. 6

is a side view of a plate partially folded into the shelving standard of

FIG. 1

,





FIG. 7

is a side view of the shelving standard of

FIG. 1

,





FIG. 8

is a cross-section view of a shelving standard made in accordance with another embodiment of this invention, and





FIG. 9

is a cross-sectional view of a shelving system utilizing the shelving standard of FIG.


1


.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Referencing

FIGS. 1

to


3


, a shelving standard


10


comprises a web


12


formed from a metal plate with a profile generally shaped as the capital Greek letter “Π”. The web has a pair of legs


14




a


,


14




b


depending from a base


15


having a pair of wings


16




a


,


16




b


. Each wing


16




a


,


16




b


has a lower layer


18




a


,


18




b


from which a leg


14




a


,


14




b


depends and an upper layer


20




a


,


20




b


overlying the lower layer. A line of longitudinally elongated slots


22


extend in the base of the web between the legs


14




a


,


14




b.






Each of the upper


20




a


,


20




b


and lower


18




a


,


18




b


layers of wings


16


a,


16




b


have bores


24




u


and


241


, respectively. The bores


241


in the lower layer


18




a


,


18




b


of the wings have a larger diameter than the bores


24




u


in the upper layer


20




a


,


20




b


of the wings. Also, each bore


24




u


in the upper layer


20




a


,


20




b


of a wing is aligned with a bore


241


in the lower layer


18




a


,


18




b


of a wing so as to form through holes in each wing. It will be apparent that these through holes are countersunk holes due to bores


241


having a larger diameter than the bores


24




u.






As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the slots


22


of shelving standard


10


are adapted to receive the hooks of cantilever brackets such that a shelving assembly may be made from shelving standards


10


with such brackets and suitable shelves. Optionally, the shelving standard may also be used with cantilever trees which hook to the standard and provide structure (typically knobs) to support wares (such as hangars carrying clothing).




Shelving standard


10


may be formed from the metal plate illustrated in FIG.


4


. Turning to

FIGS. 4 and 5

, a plain metal plate


30


may be provided with a medial line of slots


22


in a medial portion


33


of the plate by stamping or in any other convenient manner. At the same time, or in a subsequent operation, a plurality of first


32




f


and second


32




s


pairs of bores


24




i


,


24




o


may be formed in plate


30


, again by stamping, drilling, or in any other convenient manner. The outer bore


24




o


of each pair


32




f


,


32




s


of bores lies in a marginal portion


36




f


,


36




s


of the plate and the inner bore


241


of each pair of bores lies in an intermediate portion


38




f


,


38




s


of the plate. The intermediate portion


38




f


,


38




s


of the plate extends between the marginal portion


36




f


,


36




s


and the medial portion


33


of the plate. The outer bore


24




o


of each bore pair


32




f


,


32




s


has a larger diameter than the inner bore


24




i


of the pair.




To form shelving standard


10


(

FIG. 1

) from plate


30


, an outer strip


40




f


,


40




s


of each marginal portion


36




f


,


36




s


of the plate is first bent forwardly to make a right angle with the rest of the plate, as illustrated schematically in FIG.


6


. This bending may be accomplished with a series of roll forming operations. Next, each marginal portion


36




f


,


36




s


is bent backwardly, preferably by roll forming, so that an inner strip


44




f


,


44




s


of each marginal portion


36




f


,


36




s


underlies intermediate portion


28




f


,


38




s


, as illustrated in FIG.


7


. In the result, the outer strips


40




f


,


40




s


, have become legs


14




a


,


14




b


; the inner strips


44




f


,


44




s


have become the lower layers


18




a


,


18




b


of wings


16




a


,


16




b


; and the intermediate portions


38




f


,


38




s


have become the upper layers


20




a


,


20




b


of wings


16




a


,


16




b


. Additionally, bores


24




i


have become bores


241


and bores


24




o


have become bores


24




u.







FIG. 8

illustrates a modification wherein the lower bores


1241


have a truncated conical shape with at least the base of the conical shape having a larger diameter than the diameter of the upper bores


124




u.






In use, turning to

FIG. 9

, one or more C-shaped wall studs


50


may be erected in a wall frame structure. The studs


50


are oriented such that the gap


52


between legs


54




a


,


54




b


of the stud faces outwardly. A cross-bar


58


may be inserted through transversely aligned openings (not shown) in a stud


50


. Also, the base


15


of a shelving standard


10


may be placed against legs


54




a


,


54




b


and screws may be received in the through holes in the standard provided by bore pairs


241


,


24




u


(

FIG. 3

) and screwed into the legs


54




a


,


54




b


of the stud


50


. In this regard, the larger diameter of bore


241


allows the screw head to be countersunk. A wall panel


66


provided with a clip


68


may then be clipped to nross-bar


5




n


either side of legs


14




a


,


14




b


of the standard such that the edge of each wall panel abuts a leg


14




a


,


14




b


of the standard. Abutments


70


at the ends of cross-bar


58


help to support the wall panels. Next, the hooks of cantilever brackets or cantilever trees may be inserted in the elongated slots


22


(

FIG. 2

) in the standard with the gap


52


in the wall


55


of stud


50


permitting full insertion. In the case of cantilever brackets, shelves may be supported on such brackets of two side-by-side standards.




Optionally, the C-shaped stud may be modified so that a wall


56


of the stud opposite wall


55


has an indentation shown in phantom at


59


. With this modification, a shelving standard


10


may be screwed to wall


56


so tat legs


14




a


,


14




b


, of the standard are aligned with the indentation


59


. The indentation then accommodates full insertion of cantilever brackets or cantilever trees in the elongate slots


22


of the standard. Thus, with the modified stud, a standard


10


may be attached at either one of the two opposite walls


55


,


56


of the stud.




A suitable wall board clip and cross-bar system is more fully described in Canadian patent application no. 2,120,405 filed Mar. 31, 1994, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.




Other modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art and, therefore, the invention is defined in the claims.



Claims
  • 1. A method of making a shelving standard, comprising:providing a metal plate; forming a plurality of slots in a medial portion of said plate for receiving cantilever bracket hooks; forming a plurality of first pairs of bores in said plate, one of each first pair lying in a first marginal portion of said plate and another of each first pair lying in a first intermediate portion of said plate, said first intermediate portion extending between said medial portion and said first marginal portion; forming a plurality of second pairs of bores in said plate, one of each second pair lying in a second marginal portion of said plate, said second marginal portion opposite said first marginal portion, and another of each second pair lying in a second intermediate portion of said plate, said second intermediate portion extending between said medial portion and said second marginal portion; performing a series of roll forming operations to fold said first marginal portion of said plate over said first intermediate portion of said plate and said second marginal portion of said plate over said second intermediate portion of said plate such that bores of each pair of bores are aligned to provide a through hole.
  • 2. The method of claim 1 wherein each bore forming step forms a given pair of bores so that one bore of said given pair of bores is larger than another bore of said given pair of bores.
  • 3. The method of claim 1 wherein said forming a plurality of first pairs of bores forms a given pair of bores so that a bore of said given pair in said first marginal portion of said plate is larger than a bore of said given pair in said first intermediate portion of said plate.
  • 4. The method of claim 3 wherein said forming a plurality of first pairs of bores forms said bore of said given pair in said first marginal portion of said plane so as to have a truncated cone shape.
  • 5. The method of claim 1 wherein said slots are formed by stamping and said bores are formed by one of stamping and drilling.
  • 6. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing a series of roll forming operations includes performing a second series of roll forming operations and further comprising:prior to performing said second series of roll forming operations, performing a first series of roll forming operations to fold an outer strip of said first marginal portion forwardly to make a right angle with a remainder of said first marginal portion and an outer strip of said second marginal portion forwardly to make a right angle with a remainder of said second marginal portion; and wherein said second series of roll forming operations folds said marginal portions backwardly.
  • 7. A method of making a shelving standard, comprising:providing a metal plate; forming a plurality of slots in a medial portion of said plate for receiving cantilever bracket hooks; performing a first series of roll forming operations to fold an outer strip of a first marginal portion of said plate at a right angle to a remainder of said first marginal portion and an outer strip of a second marginal portion of said plate at a right angle to a remainder of said second marginal portion, said second marginal portion being opposite said first marginal portion; performing a second series of roll forming operations to fold said first marginal portion of said plate over a first intermediate portion of said plate which extends between said first marginal portion and said medial portion, and said second marginal portion of said plate over a second intermediate portion of said plate which extends between said second marginal portion and said medial portion, so that said first marginal portion outer strip and said second marginal portion outer strip are opposed on either side of said slots.
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Number Name Date Kind
2771077 Karlsson et al. Nov 1956 A
3202467 Eckstein Aug 1965 A
3470598 Berthelsen Oct 1969 A
3788490 Featherman Jan 1974 A
4158998 Clement Jun 1979 A
4197952 De Fouw et al. Apr 1980 A
4285436 Konstant et al. Aug 1981 A
4406374 Yedor Sep 1983 A
4708252 Azzi Nov 1987 A
5004201 Bessinger Apr 1991 A
5069408 Bessinger Dec 1991 A
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5970769 Lipari Oct 1999 A
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Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number Date Country
2120405 Oct 1995 CA