Patent Application
20160003278
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the connection of two members together. More specifically, the present invention relates to releasable connection techniques which may be employed to rigidly couple the two members together for some length of time and then release the connection to enable disassembly.
II. Related Art
Throughout history, various devices, tools and components have been employed to couple two members together. Early examples include nails, screws, rivets, combinations of nuts and bolts. More recently, adhesives, welds and solder have been employed to couple two members together.
Traditional joints include bridle joints, butt joints, miter joints, dovetail joints, dado joints, tongue-and-groove joints, mortise and tenon joints, and spliced joints. Such joints are capable of providing a firm connection between two members. However, the use of such joints often requires the members to be joined together to be fabricated in a particular way. Such fabrication adds time and expense to the creation of the joint. Further, the suitability of such joints often depends on the materials from which the materials to be joined are made.
joining two metal parts together often requires forming tabs, pockets, flanges or the like into the metal parts adding to the fabrication cost. Thus, there is a real need for joints for coupling metal parts together which do not require the parts to be fabricated with any special tabs, pockets or flanges. Of course, such tabs pockets and flanges may sometimes be eliminated when adhesives, solder, welds or some other bonding agent is employed. The use of such bonding agents, however, makes it difficult to later break the connection to permit disassembly without damaging the connected members. As such, there is also a real need for secure and stable joints which are easy to form and permit simple, easy and non-destructive disassembly of components.
The foregoing needs are particularly acute in the shelving and storage system industry. Prior art joints were employed to create shelving and storage systems or store fixtures and often resulted in an arrangement which (a) was difficult to assemble and disassemble, (b) was difficult and costly to manufacture and ship to an installation location, or (c) lacked the desired or necessary strength and stability.
All of the foregoing problems exist in the shelving and storage industry and in the store fixture industry. In these industries there is a real need for apparatuses and methods that solve the foregoing problems.
The present invention solves all of the problems outlined above by providing components having common design elements and a novel connector assembly for releasably securing two of the components together.
For example, the components may include the vertical posts and horizontal beams of a shelving system or store fixture. The vertical posts and horizontal beams are formed in the same manner, such as by extrusion, so they have the same cross-section and other common design elements. The length of the posts may, of course, be different than the length of the beams. Likewise, different hole patterns may be punched or otherwise formed through the posts and/or beams.
The cross-section of the posts and beams may be c-shaped. More specifically, the posts and beams may each comprise an outer wall, a pair of side walls extending in the same direction (e.g., inwardly) from the opposite edges of the outer wall and lips extending toward each other from the front edges of the side walls. The aforementioned walls form a hollow chamber which is open to the opposite ends of the post or beam. A gap exists between the two lips which is wider than the length of the side walls. This permits the end of one component (e.g., a beam) to be passed between the lips and into the chamber of another component (e.g., a post). Since the gap in the post through which the end of the beam is passed is barely wide enough to receive the end of the beam, the beam cannot twist relative to the post adding considerably to the strength and rigidity of the assembly. The aforementioned holes of the post's hole pattern extend through the outer wall and are open to the front and back surfaces of the outer wall.
In one embodiment, the connector assembly includes a plate secured to a radially expanding block. The plate has a threaded bore. The block has a proximal end, a distal end, and a radially expanding section located between the proximal end and the distal end of the block. A channel extends between and is open to the proximal and distal ends of the blocks The channel is axially aligned with the threaded bore of the plate. The connector assembly also includes a bolt.
To form a connection between two components to be joined together, the plate and radially expanding section of the block are advanced through the open end of a first of the two components (e.g., a beam) until the block generally resides within the chamber of the first component. Then, the end of the first component is passed through the gap between the lips of the other component (e.g., a post) until the end of the first component engages the inside surface of the outer wall of the second component. The channel of the block is then aligned with a one of the mounting holes through the outer wall of the second component. The threaded shaft of a bolt is then inserted through the mounting hole of the second component and the channel of the block and mates with the threaded opening of the plate. Turning of the bolt in a first direction pulls the plate longitudinally toward the outer wall of the second component and causes the radially expanding section of the block to expand and press against the inside surfaces of the first component thus firmly joining the first and second components together. Disassembly is achieved by turning the bolt in the opposite direction to cause the plate to move away from the back wall of the second component permitting the radially expanding section of the block to contract such that the distal plate and the block can be pulled out of the end of the first component. Alternatively, the two joined components may be separated by removing the bolt while leaving the block and plate in place within the chamber of the first component.
In another embodiment, the connector assembly again includes a plate secured to a radially expanding block. The plate has two threaded bores. The block has a proximal end, a distal end, and a radially expanding section located between the proximal end and the distal end of the block. Two channels extend between and are open to the proximal and distal ends of the block. Each of the channels is axially aligned with a threaded bore of the plate. The connector assembly also includes two bolts.
To form a connection between two components to be joined together, the plate and radially expanding section of the block are again advanced through the open end of a first of the two components (e.g., a beam) until the block generally resides within the chamber of the first component. Then, the end of the first component is passed through the gap between the lips of the other component (e.g., a post) until the end of the first component engages the inside surface of the outer wall of the second component. The two channel of the block are next aligned with a pair of the mounting holes extending through the outer wall of the second component. The threaded shafts of the bolt are then inserted through the pair of mounting holes of the second component and the channels of the block to mate with the threaded openings of the plate. Turning of the bolts in a first direction pulls the plate longitudinally toward the outer wall of the second component and causes the radially expanding section of the block to expand and press against the inside surfaces of the first component thus firmly joining the first and second components together. Disassembly is achieved by turning the bolts in the opposite direction to cause the plate to move away from the back wall of the second component thereby permitting the radially expanding section to contract such that the distal plate and the block can be pulled out of the end of the first component. Alternatively, the two joined components may be separated by removing the two bolts while leaving the block and plate in place in the chamber of the first component.
The result of either of the two embodiments described above is a low cost, sturdy connection which is easily made and easily released using only a single tool such as a wrench or screw driver to tighten or loosen the bolt(s), Other arrangements may be employed to eliminate the need for tools when connecting the first and second components together.
These and other advantages will be more readily appreciated and understood from a review of the following detailed description in view of the accompanying drawings.
The foregoing features, objects and advantages of the invention 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 connection with the accompanying drawings, which are to be considered part of the entire written description of this invention. in the description, relative terms such as “lower”, “upper”, “horizontal”, “vertical”, “above”, “below”, “up”, “down”, “top” and “bottom”, “under”, as well as derivatives thereof (e.g., “horizontally”, “downwardly”, “upwardly”, “underside”, etc.) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawings under discussion. These relative terms are 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 to another structure or surface or integrally fabricated in one piece unless expressly described otherwise.
The vertical posts 12, the horizontal beams 13 and even the horizontal rails 14 may all have the same structure, the only difference being their respective lengths. For example, all may be formed as an identical extrusion and cut to a desired length. Alternatively, the horizontal rails 14 may have a different structure than the posts 12 and beams 13. For example, the rails 14 may have an inverted V-shape which prevents twisting of the rail when extreme weight is placed on the shelf.
As illustrated in
One form of connector 40 is illustrated in
As best seen in
Turning (or tightening) of the bolt 70 with respect to the distal plate 42 initially serves to draw the flange 54 of the block 50 into contact with the inside surface 28 of the outer wall section 21 of the vertical post 12. Continued tightening of the bolt 70 longitudinally compresses and radially expands the radially expanding section 56 of the block 50 such that block 50 transitions from the shape shown in
Alternatively, some sort of lock-down bolt actuated by a lever may be employed to eliminate the need for a tool to turn the bolt. When such a lock-down bolt is employed, the threads join the bolt to the plate 42 and actuation of the lever pulls on the bolt's shaft to draw plate 42 toward the proximal end 60 of the block 50 to radially expand the block 50.
Forming the connection described above is hastened by the arrangement illustrated in
When one wishes to disconnect the post 12 and beam 13 from each other, one simply loosens the bolt 70. Removing the bolt 70 entirely detaches the post 12 from the beam 13 while leaving the distal plate 42 and block 50 in place within the beam 13. Alternatively, one can simply loosen the bolt 70, thereby permitting contraction of the radially expanding section 56 of block 50, without decoupling the bolt 20 from the distal plate 42. Once the radially expanding section 56 of block 50 has contracted, one can easily slide the distal plate 42 and block 50 out of the beam 13 such that these parts, but not the beam, remain connection to the post 12.
As best is illustrated in
The post can be decoupled from the beam by simply loosening the bolts 70 and 71 to reduce the radial dimensions of the block 50 and then sliding the assembly of of the bolts 70 and 71, the block 50 and plate 45 out of the end 30 of the beam 13. Alternatively, the bolts 70 and 71 can be entirely removed while leaving the block 50 and plate 42 within the chamber 29 of beam 13.
Various advantages are achieved using the connectors described above. First, use of the connectors eliminates the need for brackets or welds on the vertical posts 12, horizontal beams 13 or horizontal rails 14. Second, fabrication of the posts 12 and beams 13 is simplified because they all may be constructed to have the same profile and cross-section such that the only difference between the posts 12 and beams 13 is their respective lengths and the existence and position of holes punched through the post or beam. Third, no welding is required to couple the beams 13 to either the posts 12 or the rails 14. Fourth, the assembly results in each shelf being capable of carrying a load in excess of 2000 pounds. Fifth, packaging of the rack for shipment prior to assembly is simplified. Sixth, assembly is carried out quickly and with ease. Finally, the overall result is a heavy duty rack or store fixture which is aesthetically acceptable, having no exposed sharp edges which may be provided at a lower cost.
The foregoing description is intended to explain the various features and advantages, but is not intended to be limiting. The connectors, for example, can be applied in a number of ways other than to construct a rack of shelves.
Also, various modifications may be made without deviating from the invention. For example, the distal plate may be in the form of a nut or, to increase the surface area, a nut and a washer located within the radially expanding member 50 or adjacent the distal end 52 of the radially extending member 50 cooperating with the bolt 70 to cause the radially expanding member 50 to expand radially. Also, the bolt can be embedded into the block 50 such that the bolt head 72 acts as the distal plate and the threaded shaft 74 extends past the proximal flange 54 of the block 50. When this alternative arrangement is employed, the block 50 is inserted through the end of horizontal beam 13 until the proximal flange 54 engages the end of beam 13. The end of the beam 13 is then passed through the channel 26 into the chamber 29 of the post 12 and the threaded shaft 74 of the bolt 70 is passed through a selected one of the openings 32 in the outer wall section 21 of the post 12. A nut is then tightened onto the bolt 70 such that the bolt head 72 is drawn toward the outer wall section 21 of the post 12 radially expanding the block 50 to form a secure connection between the post 12 and beam 13. The nut can be in the form of a wing nut so that it is easily gripped and turned without any tool being required. The scope of the invention is defined by the following claims which are also intended to cover a reasonable range of equivalents.
