Shelf and Shelving System Thereof

Abstract

A shelf and a shelving system thereof. The shelf comprises a shelf main body having a top surface and a bottom surface; wherein, the shelf main body has one or more strip-shaped recesses on the top surface of the shelf main body; at least one of the two sidewalls has two or more first opening regions arranged longitudinally along the sidewall, and at least one of the two or more first opening regions is adjacent to the bottom wall of the recess. The first opening regions on the sidewalls of the recesses of the shelf main body can be used as water drain ports for draining water accumulated in the strip-shaped recesses. On the other hand, due to the first opening regions, the material cost is saved, and the weight of the shelf and shelving system become lighter, thereby facilitating transportation and storage.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a field of a shelving system for placing articles, and in particular to a shelf for shelving systems and a shelving system thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The shelving system for placing articles generally comprises a plurality of shelves assembled in parallel, and each shelf is connected to and separated from a next adjacent shelf through support columns arranged at corners of the shelf. In order to increase the efficiency of the storage and transportation of shelves after being packaged, shelves and columns are detachable and can be separated from each other. Specifically, the shelves are stacked up, and the support columns are stored between two adjacent shelves, so that the overall size of the shelving system is smaller and more compact.

For example, a U.S. Pat. No. 9,538,846B2 disclosed such a shelving system, comprising a primary shelf having a longitudinal size larger than a lateral size, wherein a pair of rails extends longitudinally on a bottom surface of the primary shelf, and each rail defines a plurality of recesses in the primary shelf surface. Since the multi-shelf shelving system is commonly used in an outdoor environment, in order to avoid water accumulation on the shelves, each recess has a bottom surface and a drain hole formed on the bottom surface of the recess.

However, the shelving system of the above invention still has some shortcomings. In the shelves of such shelving system, only the bottom surface of the shelf has the drain holes, and other regions of the shelf are solid, so that the overall shelf is thick and heavy, resulting in the increase of material cost. On the other hand, since only the bottom surface of the shelf has the drain holes, due to the limitation of a size of the drain hole, in the case of a large amount of rainwater, the water in the recesses cannot be drained in time, and water accumulation still may occur.

Therefore, it is necessary to further improve the existing shelves and shelving system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a first object of the present invention to provide a shelf which has low material cost in manufacture and can effectively avoid water accumulation when used.

It is a second object of the present invention to provide a shelving system using the said shelf.

For achieving the first object, the shelf comprises a shelf main body having a top surface and a bottom surface; wherein, the shelf main body has one or more strip-shaped recesses on the top surface of the shelf main body, each recess has a bottom wall below the top surface and two sidewalls respectively extending from one of two longitudinal edges of the bottom wall to the top surface;

And at least one of the two sidewalls has two or more first opening regions arranged longitudinally along the sidewall, and at least one of the two or more first opening regions is adjacent to the bottom wall of the recess.

The “first opening region” refers to a region on the sidewalls of the strip-shaped recesses where the openings located, and it may mean that only one opening is formed in the first opening region, then, the area of the one opening may refer as the first opening region. Of course, the first opening region may also refer to a whole region where a plurality of openings is distributed.

In order to improve the overall strength of the shelf main body, preferably, a plurality of spacer plates is disposed across the two sidewalls and inside each recess, and arranged at regular intervals longitudinally along the recess. Due to the arrangement of the spacer plates, supporting effect may be realized inside the strip-shaped recesses, thereby improving the strength of the strip-shaped recesses and avoiding deformation.

Preferably, each recess has two end walls at two ends of the strip-shaped recess, a recess unit is defined between two adjacent spacer plates or/and between one end wall of the recess and the spacer plate adjacent to the end wall, the two or more first opening regions are located inside the recess units. The first opening region on the sidewalls of each recess unit avoids water accumulation in each recess unit, thereby ensuring the strength of the shelf main body and the water drainage effect.

In order to further save the material cost, preferably, each recess has one or more thin-wall regions or one or more thin-film regions partially arranged on the bottom wall of the recess, a thickness or a size of the bottom wall is greater than that of a region where the one or more thin-wall regions or the one or more thin-film regions is located. The user can pierce the thin-wall regions or the one or more thin-film regions based on the actual needs, so that the water accumulated in the strip-shaped recess can directly flow out through the bottom wall of the recess.

In order to further improve the water drainage effect, preferably, each recess unit has one thin-wall region or one thin-film region.

In order to make the water accumulated in the recess unites flow around quickly and then drain the water through the first opening regions on the sidewalls of the recess unites, preferably, the bottom wall of each recess unite is an arc-shaped wall with a middle portion of the bottom wall arching upward.

In order to simplify the structure of the first opening region and reduce the production cost, preferably, each first opening region of each recess is configured with a square hole having a bottom edge connected to the bottom wall of the corresponding recess.

In order to further save the material cost and reduce the overall weight of the shelves, preferably, each of the two sidewalls of each recess has the two or more first opening regions.

In order to further save the material cost, preferably, each recess extends lengthwise along the shelf main body and is spaced apart from other recesses widthwise of the shelf main body; the shelf main body has one or more second opening regions on the top surface of the shelf main body between two adjacent recesses, running through the top surface and the bottom surface.

The “second opening region” refers to a region on the sidewalls of the strip-shaped recesses where the openings located, and it may mean that only one opening is formed in the second opening region, then, the area of the one opening may refer as the second opening region. Of course, the second opening region may also refer to a whole region where a plurality of openings is distributed.

Preferably, the shelf main body has multiple second opening regions arranged lengthwise along the shelf main body. A plurality of second opening regions facilitates the water drainage effect of the shelf main body to a certain extent.

Preferably, the second opening regions of the shelf main body are configured as at least one of square holes or circular holes.

In order to improve the overall strength of the shelf main body, preferably, the shelf main body has one or more support plates arranged on the bottom surface of the shelf main body and located between adjacent recesses, each support plate extends downward and is disposed across back surfaces of each of the two facing sidewalls of two adjacent recesses.

In order to facilitate the storage and transportation of the shelves together with other components such as support columns, preferably, a receiving groove is defined on the bottom surface of the shelf main body and between the back surfaces of the two facing sidewalls of two adjacent recesses; and the support plate has a receiving latch opened downward for receiving a support column.

The commonly accommodated components such as support columns are tubular. In order to adapt to such components, firmly limiting the components to avoid shaking is needed, preferably, the receiving latch is semicircular in shape.

To realize the connection to external support columns, preferably, the plurality of support columns can insert into a plurality of insertion holes disposed on the shelf main body, via an end on each of the plurality of support columns matched to a corresponding insertion hole.

In order to shield the recesses and other parts of the shelf main body from the edge of the shelf main body and ensure the overall aesthetics of the shelf, preferably, the shelf main body has a skirt edge, at least a part of the skirt edge extends downward from a circumferential edge of the shelf main body.

For achieving the second object, the shelving system comprises at least two above-described shelves, and a plurality of support columns detachably connected to the two adjacent shelves, wherein one shelf is disposed atop the other shelf.

In order to improve the efficiency of packaging, transportation and storage of the components of the shelving system, preferably, each recess extends lengthwise along the shelf and is spaced apart from other recesses widthwise of the shelf main body; the shelf main body has a support plate arranged on the bottom surface of the shelf main body and located between the two adjacent recesses, the support plate extends downward and is disposed across a back surface of each of the two facing sidewalls of two adjacent recesses, and the support plate has a receiving latch opened downward for receiving one of the plurality of support columns; the shelving system has a packed state where the at least two shelves and the plurality of support columns are disassembled: the at least two shelves are stacked with their bottom surfaces being face to face, and the plurality of support columns are located inside receiving grooves defined on the bottom surface of the shelf main body and between two adjacent recesses, two ends of each support column are located inside the receiving latches and between the support plates on the two shelves.

Compared with the prior art, the shelf of the present invention has the following advantages. The first opening regions on the sidewalls of the recesses of the shelf main body can be used as water drain ports for draining water accumulated in the recesses. Particularly, each first opening region is arranged adjacent to the bottom wall of the recess. Thus, it can be ensured that water can be drained quickly even if a small amount of water is accumulated in the recesses, so that the water drainage efficiency is improved. On the other hand, due to the corresponding first opening region is provided on the sidewalls of the recesses of the shelf main body, the material cost of the product is saved, and the shelf and the shelving system become lighter as a whole, thereby facilitating transportation and storage after being packaged.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shelving system using a shelf of Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partially exploded view of the FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the shelf according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention showing a top surface;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the shelf according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention showing a bottom surface;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the shelf according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the shelf along A-A in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a part of a shelf according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a part of a shelf according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention (a bottom wall of each strip-shaped recess is an arc-shaped wall arching upward).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will be further described below in detail by embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It should be noted that in the description and claims of the present invention, the terms used to indicate direction, such as “front, back”, “up, down”, “left, right”, “side, top, bottom”, etc. are used to describe structures and elements of the present invention for better explanation. And these terms used here are based on an orientation in the accompanying drawings. Since the embodiments disclosed by the present invention can be set in different directions, these terms indicating directions are only used as explanations and should not be used as restrictions. For example, the verbs “up”, “down” should not be limited to the direction opposite or consistent with the gravity.

FIGS. 1-6 show a first preferred embodiment (Embodiment 1) of the shelf of the present invention. The shelf comprises a shelf main body 10 having a top surface 101 for placing articles and a bottom surface 102 opposite to the top surface 101.

The shelf main body 10 has a plurality of strip-shaped recesses 20 extending in parallel on the top surface 101 of the shelf main body 10 (in this embodiment, each shelf main body 10 has four strip-shaped recesses 20), and each recess 20 extends lengthwise along the shelf main body 10 and is spaced apart from other recesses 20 widthwise along the shelf main body 10; each recess 20 is recessed from the top surface 101 of the shelf main body 10, accordingly, the shelf main body 10 has a plurality of strip-shaped rails 20a protruding downward on the bottom surface 102 of the shelf main body 10, as shown in FIG. 4.

Specifically, each recess 20 has a bottom wall 201 below the top surface 101 and two sidewalls 202, 203 respectively extending from one of two longitudinal edges of the bottom wall 201 to the top surface 101, the two sidewalls 202, 203 are named as a front sidewall 202 and a rear sidewall 203, respectively. Furthermore, the front sidewall 202 of the strip-shaped groove 20 is gradually inclined backward from top to down, and the rear sidewall 203 is inclined forward from top to down, that is, a distance between the front sidewall 202 and the rear sidewall 203 is gradually reduced from top to bottom, so that the cross-section of each recess 20 is an inverted trapezoid.

As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of spacer plates 21 are disposed across the two sidewalls 202, 203 and inside each recess 20, and arranged at regular intervals longitudinally along the recess 20. Each spacer plate 21 is vertically connected to the front and rear sidewalls 202, 203 of the recess 20. The spacer plates 21 provide supporting strength to the shelf main body 10 inside each recess 20, thereby improving the strength of the shelf main body 10 with recesses 20 and avoiding deformation of the shelf main body 10.

In order to further improve the strength of the shelf main body 10, the shelf main body 10 has a plurality of support plates 13 arranged on the bottom surface 102 of the shelf main body 10 and located between adjacent recesses 20, each support plate 13 extends downward and is disposed across back surfaces of each of the two facing sidewalls 202, 203 of two adjacent recesses 20, as shown in FIG. 4.

Each recess 20 has two end walls 205 at two ends of the recess 20, a recess unit 22 is defined between one end wall 205 of the recess 20 and the spacer plate 21 adjacent to the end wall 205 or/and between two adjacent spacer plates 21, the two or more first opening regions 204 are located inside the recess units 22. As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of recess units 22 are distributed in the lengthwise direction of the recess 20.

Since the shelving system is commonly used in an outdoor environment, in order to avoid water accumulation in the recesses 20, each of the two sidewalls 202, 203 of each recess 20 has the first opening regions 204. Specifically, the first opening region 204 has a square hole, and the area of the square hole is slightly smaller than the area of the front sidewall 202 or rear sidewall 203 of the recess unit 22. The square hole has a bottom edge connected to the bottom wall 201 of the corresponding recess 20. Specifically, the bottom edge of the square hole may be slightly higher than the bottom wall 201 of the recess 20, as shown in FIG. 6. Thus, when water is accumulated in the recesses 20, the water can flow out through the square holes on the sidewalls 202, 203. A plurality of first opening regions 204 are arranged successively on the front sidewall 202 and the rear sidewall 203 of each recess 20 of the shelf main body 10. Specifically, the number of the first opening regions 204 on the two sidewalls 202, 203 of the recess 20 is the same as the number of the recess units 22 of the recesses 20. That is, the front and rear sidewalls 202, 203 of each recess unit 22 have the square holes (where the reference number 204 located in the figures). Due to the arrangement of the first opening regions 204, the material cost is further saved, the overall weight of the shelves is reduced, and it is convenient for storage and transportation. Particularly, on the basis of ensuring enough strength of the shelf main plate 10, the problem of water accumulation in each recess unit 22 is avoided.

As shown in FIG. 6, each recess 20 has a plurality of thin-wall regions or a plurality of thin-film regions 23 partially arranged on the bottom wall 201 of the recess 20, a thickness of the main bottom wall 201 is greater than that of a region where the thin-wall regions or the thin-film regions 23 are located. Specifically, the bottom wall 201 of each recess unit 22 of the recess 20 has the thin-wall regions or the thin-film regions 23. The user can pierce the thin-wall regions or the thin-film regions 23 according to his needs, forming a hole on the bottom wall 201, so that the water accumulated in the recess 20 can directly flow out through the bottom wall 201 of the recess 20, accordingly, greatly improving the water accumulation efficiency.

With reference to FIGS. 4 and 6, in this embodiment, in order to make one shelf 1 to accept four support columns 30 (specifically described hereinafter), one and more receiving grooves 12 are defined on the bottom surface 102 of the shelf main body 10 and between the back surfaces of the two facing sidewalls 202, 203 of two adjacent recesses 20. In this embodiment, four receiving grooves 12 are symmetrically distributed on two sides of a central line of the bottom surface 102 of the shelf 1. Since the support columns 30 are generally tubular in shape, in order to fit to the support columns 30 so as to successfully limit such tubular components to avoid malposition or shaking inside the receiving grooves 12, the support plate 13 has a receiving latch 130 opened downward for receiving a support column 30. The receiving latch 130 is semicircular in shape and fits to the cross-section of the support column 30. Furthermore, the support plate 13 at a position where a lateral center line of the bottom surface 102 of the shelf 1 located has no such receiving latch 130 and acts as a retaining wall for blocking the ends of the support column 30. Thus, two ends and the periphery of each support column 30 are limited inside the corresponding receiving groove 12.

As shown in FIG. 3, the length of the shelf main body 10 is greater than its width. The shelf main body 10 has four insertion holes 14 for receiving four support columns 30 arranged at four corners of the shelf main body 10, respectively, and the end of each support column 30 can be inserted into the insertion holes 14 from an upper side or a lower side of the insertion hole 14.

With continued reference to FIG. 3, the shelf main body 10 has a skirt edge 15, at least a part of the skirt edge 15 extends downward from a circumferential edge of the shelf main body 10. In this embodiment, the whole outer circumferential edge of the shelf main body 10 is covered by the skirt edge 15, and the skirt edge 15 can shield the recesses 20 or other parts of the shelf main body 10 from the side, thereby ensuring the overall aesthetics of the shelf 1.

As shown in FIG. 6, the shelf main body 10 has a plurality of second opening regions 11 on the top surface 101 of the shelf main body 10 between two adjacent recesses 20. In this embodiment, the second opening region 11 also has a square hole (of course, it can be a circular hole or a hole in other shapes) running through the top surface 101 and the bottom surface 102 of the shelf main body 10, wherein the area of the square hole of the second opening regions 11 is substantively the same as the area of the square hole of the first opening region 204. The shelf main body 10 has multiple second opening regions 11 arranged lengthwise along the shelf main body 10. The plurality of second opening regions 11 can also play a role in water drainage, improving the water drainage effect of the shelf main body 10 to a certain extent and realizing the purpose of saving material.

FIG. 7 shows a second preferred embodiment (Embodiment 2) of the present invention. In this embodiment, the bottom edge of the square hole (where the reference number 204 located in the figures) is connected to the outer circumferential edge of the bottom wall 201 of the recess 20, that is, the edge at a lowest position of the square hole is at the same height position as the outer circumferential edge of the bottom wall 201 of the recess 20. The remaining structures are the same as those in the first preferred embodiment.

FIG. 8 shows a third preferred embodiment (Embodiment 3) of the present invention. In this embodiment, the bottom wall 201 of each recess unit 22 is an arc-shaped wall with a middle portion of the bottom wall 201 arching upward. The arc-shaped wall can realize flow guidance of the water quickly, so that the water accumulated in the recess unit 22 quickly flows around and is then drained through the first opening regions 204 on the sidewalls 202, 203 of the recess unit 22, thereby further improving the water drainage efficiency. The remaining structures are the same as those in the first preferred embodiment.

FIGS. 1-2 show a shelving system using the shelf of Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The shelving system comprises at least two shelves 1 assembled up and down in parallel, and a plurality of support columns 30 detachably connected to the two adjacent shelves 1. Each shelf 1 is connected to adjacent one shelf 1 through four support columns 30. Specifically, each shelf 1 has insertion holes 14 at four corners of the shelf 1. Each support column 30 has an upper end and a lower end, the insertion hole 14 has an upper port and a bottom port, the upper end of each support columns 30 can be inserted into the bottom port of the insertion holes 14 of the shelf 1 in an upper layer from down to up. Similarly, the lower ends of the support columns 30 can be inserted into the bottom ports of the shelf 1 in a lower layer from up to down. As shown in FIGS. 1-2, the upper ports of the four insertion holes 14 of the shelf 1 in the topmost layer of the shelf 1 can be plugged by corresponding plugs 31, thereby avoiding foreign objects from entering the insertion holes 14 and ensuring the overall aesthetics of the shelf 1.

When it is necessary to packed to store or transport the shelving system, the shelf 1 and the support columns 30 of the shelving system can be stored together. Specifically, when the shelving system is in a folded state, the bottom surface 102 of one shelf 1 faces the bottom surface of the adjacent shelf 1, and each support columns 30 is accommodated between the receiving latches 130 of the support plates 13 on the two shelves 1. In this state, it is only necessary to pack the two shelves 1 atop each other. Since the support column 30 is limited by the support plates 13 of the two shelves 1, it is not likely to cause shaking. When in a folded state, the components of the shelving system are smaller in volume and more compact in structure, so that the efficiency of packaging, transportation and storage of the components of the shelving system is improved.

Claims

1. A shelf, comprising a shelf main body having a top surface and a bottom surface; wherein,the shelf main body has one or more strip-shaped recesses on the top surface of the shelf main body, each recess has a bottom wall below the top surface and two sidewalls respectively extending from one of two longitudinal edges of the bottom wall to the top surface;at least one of the two sidewalls has two or more first opening regions arranged longitudinally along the sidewall, and at least one of the two or more first opening regions is adjacent to the bottom wall of the recess.

2. The shelf of claim 1, wherein a plurality of spacer plates is disposed across the two sidewalls and inside each recess, and arranged at regular intervals longitudinally along the recess.

3. The shelf of claim 2, wherein each recess has two end walls at two ends of the strip-shaped recess, a recess unit is defined between two adjacent spacer plates or/and between one end wall of the recess and the spacer plate adjacent to the end wall, the two or more first opening regions are located inside the recess units.

4. The shelf of claim 1, wherein each recess has one or more thin-wall regions or one or more thin-film regions partially arranged on the bottom wall of the recess, a thickness or a size of the bottom wall is greater than that of a region where the one or more thin-wall regions or the one or more thin-film regions is located.

5. The shelf of claim 4, wherein each recess unit has one thin-wall region or one thin-film region.

6. The shelf of claim 3, wherein the bottom wall of each recess unit is an arc-shaped wall with a middle portion of the bottom wall arching upward.

7. The shelf of claim 1, wherein each first opening region of each recess is configured with a square hole having a bottom edge connected to the bottom wall of the corresponding recess.

8. The shelf of claim 1, wherein each of the two sidewalls of each recess has the two or more first opening regions.

9. The shelf of claim 1, wherein each recess extends lengthwise along the shelf main body and is spaced apart from other recesses widthwise of the shelf main body; the shelf main body has one or more second opening regions on the top surface of the shelf main body between two adjacent recesses, running through the top surface and the bottom surface.

10. The shelf of claim 9, wherein the shelf main body has multiple second opening regions arranged lengthwise along the shelf main body.

11. The shelf of claim 9, wherein the second opening regions of the shelf main body are configured as at least one of square holes or circular holes.

12. The shelf of claim 9, wherein the shelf main body has one or more support plates arranged on the bottom surface of the shelf main body and located between adjacent recesses, each support plate extends downward and is disposed across back surfaces of each of the two facing sidewalls of two adjacent recesses.

13. The shelf of claim 12, wherein a receiving groove is defined on the bottom surface of the shelf main body and between the back surfaces of the two facing sidewalls of two adjacent recesses; and the support plate has a receiving latch opened downward for receiving a support column.

14. The shelf of claim 13, wherein the receiving latch is semicircular in shape.

15. The shelf of claim 1, wherein a plurality of support columns can insert into a plurality of insertion holes disposed on the shelf main body, via an end on each of the plurality of support columns matched to a corresponding insertion hole.

16. The shelf of claim 1, wherein the shelf main body has a skirt edge, at least a part of the skirt edge extends downward from a circumferential edge of the shelf main body.

17. A shelving system, comprising at least two shelves of claim 1, and a plurality of support columns detachably connected to the two adjacent shelves, wherein one shelf is disposed atop the other shelf.

18. The shelving system of claim 17, wherein each recess extends lengthwise along the shelf and is spaced apart from other recesses widthwise of the shelf main body; the shelf main body has a support plate arranged on the bottom surface of the shelf main body and located between the two adjacent recesses, the support plate extends downward and is disposed across a back surface of each of the two facing sidewalls of two adjacent recesses, and the support plate has a receiving latch opened downward for receiving one of the plurality of support columns;the shelving system has a packed state where the at least two shelves and the plurality of support columns are disassembled: the at least two shelves are stacked with their bottom surfaces being face to face, and the plurality of support columns are located inside receiving grooves defined on the bottom surface of the shelf main body and between two adjacent recesses, two ends of each support column are located inside the receiving latches and between the support plates on the two shelves.