Claims
- 1. In shelving, comprising,
- a plurality of bent sheet metal columns to be vertically arranged in spaced parallel relationship, and each having at least one sheet metal side wall having at least one horizontal aperture, and
- at least one bent sheet metal shelf having a main planar support portion to be horizontally arranged within said columns, and an integrally formed generally vertically extending skirt portion having a horizontal aperture therethrough to be aligned with the horizontal aperture in an adjacent one column side wall for receiving a threaded bolt therethrough so that a nut threaded on the bolt will supportingly clamp said shelf on said one column, the improvement of:
- said skirt portion including: an upper portion integral at the top in one piece with the sheet metal of said planar support portion; an outer wall portion downwardly depending from said upper portion; a lower portion having one part extending inwardly from the bottom of said outer wall portion, another part extending upwardly from said one part for forming an upwardly facing nut locking surface spaced below said aperture in said skirt portion a distance substantially equal to a minimum nut width as measured perpendicular to the nut axis between a side wall of a central threaded bore of the nut and any adjacent closest outer side wall of the nut; and said aperture in said skirt portion being spaced below the adjacent lowermost surface of said planar support portion, a distance substantially greater than said first mentioned distance, so that a nut may be easily initially threaded onto a bolt passing through aligned apertures in said skirt portion and column side wall so that the nut will not thereafter turn during tightening and will hold against turning only due to positive interference with said nut locking surface.
- 2. The shelving of claim 1, wherein said lower portion of said skirt portion is generally J-shaped, with the long and short legs of the J-shape being horizontal, the short leg forming said upwardly facing nut locking surface;
- said skirt portion further including an upwardly extending inner wall portion generally co-extensive with, spaced from and parallel to said outer wall portion and having a through aperture therein aligned with the aperture in said outer wall portion for receiving the bolt, so that tightening of the nut and bolt will compress said inner and outer wall portions towards each other and exert a bias on the threads of said assembled nut and bolt to resist disassembly.
- 3. The shelving of claim 2, wherein said skirt portion further includes a terminal flange integrally extending outwardly from the uppermost portion of said inner wall portion and generally horizontally to the inside surface of said outer wall portion, so that compression of said inner and outer wall portions by tightening the nut and bolt will symmetrically compress the inner and outer wall portions only at their midportions as the uppermost and lowermost portions of said inner and outer wall portions are respectively held at their initial spacing by said lower return portion and said terminal flange.
- 4. The shelving of claim 3, wherein said planar support portion includes an upwardly extending integral rib at the periphery having said skirt portion, for nestingly receiving therein said terminal flange in an interlocking manner and so that said upwardly extending integral rib also both reinforces said shelf and forms a ledge to resist sliding movement of articles support on said shelf in a direction off of the periphery.
- 5. The shelving of claim 4, wherein each of said columns is, in cross-section, of a W-shape having outermost legs formed by two of said column side walls, and shorter interconnecting innermost legs, with said innermost legs being perpendicular to each other and respectively perpendicular to their adjacent outermost legs;
- said shelf being of rectangular shape, with depending skirt portions on four sides of the rectangular shape, and adjacent depending skirt portions at each corner of the shelf being spaced from each other to receive therebetween the innermost legs of the adjacent column; and
- said apertures being aligned in each skirt portion and each column outermost leg for receiving respectively two bolts at each corner.
- 6. The shelving of claim 3, further comprised of said planar support portions having an integral upwardly extending rib along all four edges for resisting sliding movement of aritcles off of said shelf.
- 7. The shelving of claim 3, wherein each of said columns is, in cross-section, of a W-shape having outermost legs formed by two of said column side walls, and shorter interconnecting innermost legs, with said innermost legs being perpendicular to each other and respectively perpendicular to their adjacent outermost legs;
- said shelf being of rectangular shape, with depending skirt portions on four sides of the rectangular shape, and adjacent depending skirt portions at each corner of the shelf being spaced from each other to receive therebetween the innermost legs of the adjacent column; and
- said apertures being aligned in each skirt portion and each column outermost leg for receiving respectively two bolts at each corner.
- 8. The shelving of claim 7, said planar support portion having an integral upwardly extending rib along all four edges for resisting sliding movement of articles off of said shelf.
- 9. The shelving of claim 1, wherein the outer wall portion of said skirt includes an inwardly extending rib horizontally aligned with the nut locking surface and parallel thereto.
- 10. The shelving of claim 1, further comprising of said column side wall being planar and adapted to tightly clamp in engagement with said skirt outer wall portion by the nut and bolt.
- 11. Shelving, comprising:
- a plurality of bent sheet metal columns to be vertically arranged in spaced parallel relationship, and each having at least one sheet metal side wall having at least one horizontal aperture;
- at least one bent sheet metal shelf having a main planar support portion to be horizontally arranged within said columns, and an integrally formed generally vertically extending skirt portion having a horizontal aperture therethrough to be aligned with the horizontal aperture in an adjacent one column side wall for receiving a threaded bolt therethrough so that a nut threaded on the bolt will supportingly clamp said shelf on said one column;
- said skirt portion including an upper portion integral in one piece with the sheet metal of said planar support portion, and a depending generally planar outer wall portion;
- each of said columns being in cross-section, of a W-shape having outermost legs formed by two of said column side walls, and shorter interconnecting innermost legs, with said innermost legs being perpendicular to each other and respectively perpendicular to their adjacent outermost legs;
- said shelf being of rectangular shape, with depending skirts on four sides of the rectangle, adjacent depending skirt portions at each corner of the shelf being spaced from each other to receive therebetween the innermost legs of the adjacent column;
- said apertures being aligned in each skirt portion and each column outermost leg for receiving respectively two bolts at each corner;
- for each column, the outermost portion of each of said outermost legs having a major side wall portion, as seen in cross-section, integral at one end with the remainder of said W-shape and integral at its other end with a transversely extending flange, and U-shaped return terminal flange, serially connected together; and
- said U-shaped return terminal flange being of a width, as measured perpendicular to said major side wall portion, substantially equal to the width of said transversely extending flange, so that said column side wall in its entirety may be tightly clamped against and in engagement with a planar surface of said skirt.
- 12. The shelving of claim 11, wherein the orientation of the outermost legs of the W-shape of each of said columns is substantially perpendicular when assembled, and said legs are oriented from the assembled perpendicular orientation toward a co-planar relationship when in a relaxed and unassembled position, whereby when assembled each column will exert a bias on the threads of said bolt to resist disassembly.
- 13. The shelving of claim 12, wherein said skirt portion includes a lower portion having one part extending inwardly from the bottom of said outer wall portion, another part extending upwardly from said one part for forming an upwardly facing nut blocking surface spaced below an aperture in said skirt portion for accommodating placement of a central threaded bore of a nut upon a correspondingly threaded shaft of a fastener extending through aligned apertures in said skirt portion and said side wall, for subsequently engaging said nut as threaded along said shaft and for impeding rotation of said nut as said nut is drawn toward said aligned apertures, said aperture in said skirt portion being spaced below the adjacent lower most surface of said support portion for accommodating said placement and rotation of the nut wherein a nut maybe easily initially threaded onto a fastener passing through aligned apertures in said skirt portion and said column side wall whereby the nut will not thereafter turn when threaded along said shaft and drawn toward said aligned apertures, and will hold against turning through positive interference with said nut locking surface.
- 14. The shelving of claim 13, wherein said lower portion of said skirt is generally J-shaped, with the long and short legs of the J-shape being approximately horizontal, the short leg forming said upwardly facing nut locking surface;
- said skirt portion further including an upwardly extending inner wall portion generally co-extensive with, spaced from and parallel to said outer wall portion and having a through aperture therein aligned with the aperture in said outer wall portion for receiving the fastener, whereby tightening of the nut and fastener will compress said inner and outer wall portions toward each other and exert a bias on the threads of said assembled fastener and nut to resist disassembly.
- 15. The shelving of claim 14, wherein the outer wall portion of said skirt includes an inwardly extending rib horizontally aligned with and parallel to the nut locking surface.
- 16. The shelving of claim 14, wherein said skirt portion further includes a terminal flange integrally extending outwardly from the uppermost portion of said inner wall portion and being generally horizontal to the inside surface of said outer wall portion, whereby compression of said inner and outer wall portions by tightening the nut and fastener will symmetrically compress the inner and outer wall portions only at their mid portions as the uppermost and lower most portions of said inner and outer wall portions are respectively held at their initial spacing by said lower return portion and said terminal flange.
- 17. The shelving of claim 16, wherein said planar support portion includes an upwardly extending integral rib at the periphery having said skirt portion, for nestingly receiving therein said terminal flange in an interlocking manner whereby said upwardly extending integral rib also both reinforces said shelf and forms a ledge to resist sliding movement of articles support on said shelf in a direction off of the periphery.
- 18. The shelving of claim 16, further comprised of said planar support portion having an integral upwardly extending rib along all four edges for resisting sliding movement of articles off of said shelf.
- 19. The shelving of claim 16, wherein the outer wall portion of said skirt includes an inwardly extending rib horizontally aligned with and parallel to the nut locking surface.
- 20. The shelving of claim 11, further comprised of said column side wall being planar and adapted to be tightly clamped in engagement with said skirt outer wall portion by a nut and fastener.
- 21. Shelving, comprising:
- a plurality of bent sheet metal columns to be vertically arranged in spaced parallel relationship, and each having at least one sheet metal side wall having at least one aperture;
- at least one bent sheet metal shelf having a main planar support portion to be horizontally arranged within said columns, and an integrally formed generally vertically extending skirt portion having a horizontal aperture therethrough to be aligned with the horizontal aperture in an adjacent one column side wall for receiving a threaded bolt therethrough so that a nut threaded on the bolt will supportingly clamp said shelf on said one column;
- said skirt portion including an upper portion integral in one piece with the sheet metal of said planar support portion, a depending outer wall portion, an inwardly and upwardly bent sheet metal portion, and an upwardly extending inner wall portion generally co-extensive with, spaced from and parallel to said outer wall portion and having a through aperture therein aligned with and substantially the same size as the aperture in said outer wall for receiving the bolt, so that tightening of the nut and bolt will compress said inner and outer wall portions towards each other and exert a bias on the threads of said assembled nut and bolt to resist disassembly.
- 22. The shelving of claim 21, wherein said skirt portion further includes a terminal flange intergrally extending outwardly from the uppermost portion of said inner wall portion and generally horizontally to the inside surface of said outer wall portion, so that compression of said inner and outer wall portions by tightening the nut and bolt will symmetrically compress the inner and outer wall portions only at their midportions as the uppermost and lowermost portions of said inner and outer wall portions are respectively held at their initial spacing by said inwardly and upwardly bent sheet metal portion and said terminal flange.
- 23. The shelving of claim 22, wherein said planar support portion includes an upwardly extending integral rib at the periphery having said skirt portion, for nestingly receiving therein said terminal flange in an interlocking manner and so that said upwardly extending integral rib also both reinforces said shelf and forms a ledge to resist sliding movement of articles supported on said shelf in a direction off of the periphery.
- 24. The shelving of claim 23, wherein each of said columns is, in cross-section, of a W-shape having outermost legs formed by two of said column side walls, and shorter interconnecting innermost legs, with said innermost legs being perpendicular to each other and respectively perpendicular to their adjacent outermost legs;
- said shelf being of rectangular shape, with depending skirt portions on four sides of the rectangular shape, and adjacent depending skirt portions at each corner of the shelf being spaced from each other to receive therebetween the innermost legs of the adjacent column; and
- said apertures being aligned in each skirt portion and each column outermost leg for receiving respectively two bolts at each corner.
- 25. The shelving of claim 21, wherein each of said columns is, in cross-section, of a W-shape having outermost legs formed by two of said column side walls, and shorter interconnecting innermost legs, with said innermost legs being perpendicular to each other and respectively perpendicular to their adjacent outermost legs;
- said shelf being of rectangular shape, with depending skirt portions on four sides of the rectangular shape, and adjacent depending skirt portions at each corner of the shelf being spaced from each other to receive therebetween the innermost legs of the adjacent column; and
- said apertures being aligned in each skirt portion and each column outermost leg for receiving respectively two bolts at each corner.
- 26. The shelving of claim 25, wherein the orientation of the legs of the W-shape of each of said columns is perpendicular when assembled; and said legs being oriented from the assembled perpendicular orientation toward a coplanar relationship when in a relaxed unassembled position, so that when assembled, each column will exert a bias on the threads of said assembled nut and bolt to resist disassembly.
- 27. The shelving of claim 21, wherein:
- said inwardly and upwardly bent sheet metal portion including an approximately J-shape with long legs and short legs of the J-shape being generally horizontal;
- said long leg of the J-shape extending inwardly from the bottom of said outer wall portion;
- said short leg of the J-shape forming an upwardly facing fastener engaging surface spaced below said through aperture for accommodating engagement of a nut with a correspondingly threaded shaft of a fastener extending through aligned apertures in said skirt portion and said inner wall portion, and for engaging the nut and impeding rotation of the nut as the nut is drawn toward the aligned apertures, said aperture in said inner wall portion being spaced below the adjacent lowermost surface of said planar support portion for accommodating placement and rotation of the nut, whereby the nut may be easily initially threaded onto a fastener passing through aligned apertures in said skirt portion and said inner wall portion whereby the nut will subsequently engage and not thereafter rotate when threaded along the shelf as drawn toward said aligned apertures, and will be impeded in rotation due to positive interference with said fastener locking surface.
- 28. The shelving of claim 27, wherein said planar support portion includes an upwardly extending integral rib at the periphery having said skirt portion, for nestingly receiving therein said terminal flange in an interlocking manner, whereby said upwardly extending integral rib also both reinforces said shelf and forms a ledge along the periphery.
- 29. The shelving of claim 27, wherein said upwardly extending inner wall portion includes a terminal flange integrally extending outwardly from the uppermost portion of said inner wall portion and generally horizontally to the inside surface of said outer wall portion, whereby compression of said inner and outer wall portions by tightening the nut and bolt will symmetrically compress the inner and outer wall portions only at their midportions as the uppermost and lowermost portions of said inner and outer wall portions are respectively held at their initial spacing by said lower return portion and said terminal flange.
- 30. A shelving unit, comprising:
- a plurality of bent sheet metal columns to be vertically arranged in spaced parallel relationship, each of said columns having at least one sheet metal side wall perforated by at least one horizontal aperture;
- at least one bent sheet metal shelf having a main planar support portion to be horizontally arranged within said columns, and an integrally formed generally vertically extending skirt portion having a horizontal aperture therethrough to be aligned with the horizontal aperture in an adjacent side wall of one of said plurality of columns for receiving a threaded fastener therethrough wherein a nut threaded on the fastener will supportingly clamp said shelf on said one of said plurality of columns;
- said skirt portion including an upper portion providing a top integral and in one piece with the sheet metal of said planar support portion, an outer wall portion downwardly depending from said upper portion, a lower portion having one part extending inwardly from the bottom of said outer wall portion, another part extending upwardly from said one part for forming an upwardly facing nut locking surface spaced below said aperture in said skirt portion for accommodating placement of a central threaded bore of a nut upon a correspondingly threaded shaft of a fastener extending through aligned apertures in said skirt portion and said side wall, and as said nut is threaded along said shaft, for subsequently engaging said nut and impeding rotation of said nut as said nut is drawn toward said aligned apertures; and said aperture in said skirt portion being spaced below the adjacent lowermost surface of said planar support portion for accommodating said placement and rotation of the nut, whereby a nut may be easily initially threaded onto a fastener passing through aligned apertures in said skirt portion and column side wall so that the nut will not thereafter turn when threaded along said shaft and drawn toward said aligned apertures, and will hold against turning only due to positive interference with said nut locking surface.
- 31. The shelving of claim 30, wherein said portion of said skirt portion is generally J-shaped, with the long and short legs of the J-shape being horizontal, the short leg forming said upwardly facing nut locking surface;
- said skirt portion further including an upwardly extending inner wall portion generallyl-co-extensive with, spaced from and parallel to said outer wall portion and having a through aperture therein aligned with the aperture in said outer wall portion for receiving the fastener, whereby tightening of the nut and fastener will compress said inner and outer wall portions toward each other and exert a bias on the threads of said assembled nut and fastener to resist disassembly.
- 32. The shelving of claim 31, wherein said skirt portion further includes a terminal flange integrally extending outwardly generally horizontally to the inside surface of said outer wall portion, so that compression of said inner and outer wall portions by tightening the nut and fastener will symmetrically compress the inner and outer wall portions only at their midportions as the uppermost and lowermost portions of said inner and outer wall portions are respectively held at their initial spacing by said lower return portion and said terminal flange.
- 33. The shelving of claim 32, wherein said planar support portion includes an upwardly extending integral rib at the periphery having said skirt portion, for nestingly receiving therein said terminal flange in an interlocking manner and whereby said upwardly extending integral rib also both reinforces said shelf and forms a ledge to resist sliding movement of articles supported on said shelf in a direction off of the periphery.
- 34. The shelving of claim 33, wherein each of said columns is, in cross-section, of a W-shape having outermost legs formed by two of said column side walls, and shorter interconnecting innermost legs, with said innermost legs being perpendicular to each other and respectively perpendicular to their adjacent outermost legs;
- said shelf being of rectangular shape, with depending skirt portion on four sides of the rectangular shape, and adjacent depending skirt portions at each corner of the shelf being spaced from each other to receive therebetween the innermost legs of the adjacent column; and
- said apertures being aligned in each skirt portion and each column outermost leg for receiving respectively two fasteners at each corner.
- 35. The shelving of claim 32, further comprised of said planar support portion having an integral upwardly extending rib along all four edges for resisting sliding movement of articles off of said shelf.
- 36. The shelving of claim 32, wherein each of said columns is, in cross-section, of a W-shape having outermost legs formed by two of said column side walls, and shorter interconnecting innermost legs, with said innermost legs being perpendicular to each other and respectively perpendicular to their adjacent outermost legs;
- said shelf being of rectangular shape, with depending skirt portions on four sides of the rectangular shape, and adjacent depending skirt portions at each corner of the shelf being spaced from each other to receive therebetween the innermost legs of the adjacent column; and
- said apertures being aligned in each skirt portion and each column outermost leg for receiving respectively two fasteners at each corner.
- 37. The shelving of claim 36, said planar support portion having an integral upwardly extending rib along all four edges for resisting sliding movement of articles off of said shelf.
- 38. The shelving of claim 30, wherein the outer wall portion of said skirt includes an inwardly extending rib horizontally aligned with the nut locking surface and parallel thereto.
- 39. The shelving of claim 30, further comprised of said column side wall being planar and adapted to be tightly clamped in engagement with said skirt outer wall portion by the nut and fastener.
- 40. A shelving unit, comprising:
- a plurality of columns to be vertically arranged in spaced parallel relation, each of said columns having a side wall perforated by an aperture;
- a shelf having a main planar support portion to be horizontally arranged within said columns, and an integrally formed generally vertically extending skirt portion having a horizontal aperture therethrough to be aligned with the horizontal aperture in an adjacent one of said column side walls for receiving a first fastener therethrough whereby the first fastener may engage a second fastener and supportingly clamp said shelf on said one column;
- said skirt portion including an upper portion providing a top integral and in one piece with the sheet metal of said planar support portion, and an outer wall portion downwardly depending from said upper portion,
- a lower portion having one part extending inwardly from the bottom of said outer wall portion, another part extending upwardly from said one part for forming an upwardly facing fastener engaging surface spaced below said aperture in said skirt portion for accommodating engagement of a second fastener with a corresponding first fastener extending through aligned apertures in said skirt portion and said side wall, for subsequently engaging the second fastener and impeding rotation of the second fastener as the second fastener is drawn toward said aligned apertures, and said aperture in said skirt portion being spaced below the adjacent lowermost surface of said planar support portion for accommodating said placement and rotation of the second fastener whereby a second fastener may easily initially engage a first fastener passing through aligned apertures in said skirt portion and column side wall so that the second fastener will not thereafter rotate relative to the first fastener drawn toward said aligned apertures, and will hold against turning due to positive intereference with said fastener engaging surface.
- 41. The shelving unit of claim 40, wherein:
- said lower portion of said skirt position has an approximate J-shape, with a long leg and a short leg of said J-shape being generally horizontal, said short leg forming said upwardly facing fastener engaging surface; and
- skirt portion further including an upwardly extending inner wall portion generally co-extensive with, spaced-apart from and parallel to said outer wall portion, and having a through aperture therein aligned with the aperture in said outer wall portion for receiving the first fastener, whereby final disposition of the first fastener relative to the second fastener will compress said inner and outer wall portions towards each other and excerpt a bias on the assembled first and second fastener to resist disassembly.
- 42. The shelving of claim 41, wherein said skirt portion further includes a terminal flange integrally extending outwardly from the uppermost portion of said inner wall portion and generally horizontally to the inside surface of said outer wall portion, whereby compression of said inner and outer wall portions by final disposition of the first and second fasteners will symmetrically compress the inner and outer wall portions only at their midportions as the uppermost and lowermost portions said inner and outer wall portions are respectively held at their initial spacing by said lower return portion and said terminal flange.
- 43. The shelving of claim 41, wherein said planar support portion includes an upwardly extending integral rib at the periphery having said skirt portion, for nestingly receiving therein said terminal flange in an interlocking manner, whereby said upwardly extending integral rib also both reinforces said shelf and forms a raised ledge along said periphery.
- 44. The shelving of claim 40, wherein each of said columns is, in cross-section, of a W-shape having outermost legs formed by two of said column side walls, and shorter interconnecting innermost legs, with said innermost legs being perpendicular to each other and respectively perpendicular to their adjacent outermost legs;
- said shelf being of rectangular shape, with depending skirt portions on four sides of the rectangular shape, and adjacent depending skirt portions at each corner of the shelf being spaced from each other to receive therebetween the innermost legs of the adjacent column; and
- said apertures being aligned in each skirt portion and each column outermost leg for receiving respectively two of the first fasteners at each corner.
- 45. The shelving of claim 40, further comprised of said planar support portion having an integral upwardly extending rib along all four edges of resisting sliding movement of articles off of said shelf.
- 46. The shelving of claim 45, wherein said upwardly extending inner wall includes a terminal flange integrally extending outwardly from the uppermost portion of said inner wall portion and generally horizontally to the inside surface of said outer wall portion, whereby compression of said inner and outer wall portions by tightening the nut and bolt will symmetrically compress the inner and outer wall portions only at their midportions as the uppermost and lowermost portions of said inner and outer wall portions are respectively held at their initial spacing by said lower return portion and said terminal flange.
- 47. The shelving of claim 45, wherein the outer wall portion of said skirt includes an inwardly extending rib horizontally aligned with and parallel to the nut locking surface.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 631,399, filed July 16, 1984, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (19)
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
631399 |
Jul 1984 |
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