Shelving connector

Abstract

An improved sleeve for a shelving unit having an annular collar wedge the sleeve against a post, wherein the sleeve has one of a retaining wall encircling the bottom of the sleeve or a retaining latch extending from a bottom of the sleeve, both to position and retain the collar during assembly and to support the collar during use.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 292,141 filed Feb. 5, 2016, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND[0002]The present invention relates generally to a support structure that can be used to support shelving on posts. More particularly, the present invention relates to a support assembly for use in, for example, a knock-down shelving system to adjustably support shelves.[0003]Current knock-down shelving systems include a plurality of support posts for supporting one or more shelves at corner support assemblies. These shelving systems have a sleeve or wedge member and an encircling collar both adapted to be secured to a generally cylindrical support post having a circular cross-section. The sleeve has an inner surface that is configured to embrace the support post and has an outer surface that is wedge shaped usually taking the form of a f...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent describes a connector for attachment of a shelf or collar to a post. The connector includes a first collar part and a second collar part that fit together to secure the shelf to the post. The connectors are designed to interlock to prevent lateral or radial separation, and a retaining coupler can be used to further secure the shelf to the post. The technical effects of this design are a more secure attachment of the shelf to the post, increased stability and reliability, and improved user experience.

Problems solved by technology

That requires assembling the shelving from the bottom up or the top down since the collars cannot be positioned between two previously installed shelves.

Further, a shelf cannot be inserted between pre-installed shelves since the collars cannot slide over previously installed sleeves or collars.

But the open slotted collars provide a weaker connection than unslotted collars because the slot weakens the collar and sufficient weight on the shelf and collar may spread or splay the unconnected parts of the collar apart in the circumferential direction, releasing the support and reducing the clamping force on the sleeve.

Making the collars to mate with shaped sleeves also required more expensive manufacturers and stronger sleeves.

The collars using vertical joints to interconnect mating collar parts require precise alignment of the vertical joints making them difficult to align and assemble.

These collars required assembling the shelving from the bottom up since the collars cannot be positioned between two previously installed shelves.

Further, a shelf cannot be inserted between pre-installed shelves since the collars cannot slide over previously installed sleeves or collars.

But the collar interconnections are difficult to make accurately and may be imperfectly mated by the user, resulting in inconsistent clamping pressure urging the inner sleeve against the post, which can in turn cause variations in the strength of the connection between the connector and the post.

But these collar and sleeve parts are difficult to make consistently and difficult to connect consistently as the collars may abut the inner sleeves at various locations which results in uneven loading of the collar and uneven loading of the inner sleeve, causing variation in the load-carrying capability, light variations in the location of the shelf, and slight downward movement of the connectors as the load on the shelf increases.

Also, the shear strength of the localized and outward extending protrusions is limited by the strength of the sleeve material, which is commonly a plastic material of relatively low strength compared to metal.

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