SHELVES FOR A SHELVING UNIT

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a shelf, in particular a wire mesh shelf for a shelving unit. with a first longitudinal beam and a second longitudinal beam, with crossbeams arranged between the first and the second longitudinal beam.

[0002] Such shelves, or wire mesh shelves, are known from the prior art, e.g., US 4,852,501 A. Shelves, including wire mesh shelves, are used in shelving units. There, they form horizontal supports on which objects can be placed. Shelves form a horizontal structure, meaning that they exhibit stiffness against forces and moments acting in the horizontal plane.

[0003] The shelves are attached to uprights, which are positioned vertically. Items can then be placed on the shelves. They are often attached using hooks or shelf supports that are hooked onto the uprights and / or the shelves themselves. Due to the way the shelves are attached to the uprights, torque transmission is limited. The uprights and the shelves, or parts of the shelves, act together as a vertical support structure, with the shelves acting as a compression member within the static system. This distinguishes shelving units from wide-span shelving.

[0004] Common wire mesh shelves are typically designed so that horizontal bracing is achieved through the connection between the longitudinal beams and the crossbeams. These shelves often feature a welded frame construction to absorb horizontal forces. Alternatively, the crossbeams and longitudinal beams may only be connected by hinges, requiring additional components within the shelving system to absorb the horizontal forces. Connection points between the longitudinal and crossbeams are frequently difficult to access, making welding, for example, challenging. Furthermore, common wire mesh shelves often exhibit low shear stiffness, which negatively impacts the overall stability of the shelving unit.

[0005] The invention was therefore based on the objective of proposing a shelf, and in particular a wire mesh shelf, that is similarly shear-resistant to a monolithic sheet metal shelf known from the prior art, but which is simpler in construction and in which the connections necessary for creating the horizontal bracing are easily accessible and can be made. Only through the corresponding shear stiffness of the shelves can the rear bracing of the racks by the vertical bracing be transferred to the front supports.

[0006] This problem is solved according to claim 1 of the invention in that the shelf is designed with at least one diagonal bar which runs diagonally to the longitudinal and transverse beams, which is arranged on a first side of the transverse beams and connected to at least two of the transverse beams, that the ends of the diagonal bar each at least partially enclose a transverse beam, and that a portion of the ends lying on the upper side of the transverse beam is attached to the transverse beam. Preferably, the shelf can have two crossed diagonal bars. The at least one diagonal bar can be arranged below the transverse and longitudinal beams.

[0007] The shelf according to the invention can be a wire mesh shelf with a wire mesh mat made of longitudinal bars and transverse bars, which are mounted on the longitudinal beams and the transverse beams.

[0008] In a shelf according to the invention, ends of at least some of the crossbars of the wire mesh mat can be welded to a top side of the longitudinal beams, and at least some of the longitudinal bars of the wire mesh mat can be welded to the top side of at least some of the crossbars.

[0009] By welding between the longitudinal beams and the crossbars, and between the crossbars and the longitudinal beams, as well as between the crossbars and the longitudinal bars of the wire mesh panel, and / or by attaching at least one diagonal bar to the crossbeams, a horizontal bracing system with sufficient shear stiffness is created to absorb the forces and moments acting in the horizontal plane. For this purpose, the longitudinal beams and the crossbeams do not need to be welded together. It is sufficient if they are connected by positive-locking plug connections that could be disassembled if the welds to or within the wire mesh panel were not present.

[0010] In a shelf according to the invention, the longitudinal bars can be arranged between the transverse bars and the crossbeams. The crossbeams, the longitudinal bars, the transverse bars, and the welds provided between the transverse bars and the longitudinal bars, and between the longitudinal bars and the transverse bars, ensure that a stable, three-layer composite structure is created, which is reinforced by the welding between the transverse bars and the longitudinal bars and, if necessary, by a plug-in connection between the transverse bars and the longitudinal bars. The transverse bars and longitudinal bars have, among other things, the function of bearing the load of the shelf and the objects arranged on the shelf and transferring it to the supports of a shelving unit.

[0011] The longitudinal bars can have a substantially circular cross-section and a diameter of 4.0 mm to 5.0 mm, and / or the transverse bars can have a substantially circular cross-section and a diameter of 2.5 mm to 3.0 mm. Wire mesh panels with such longitudinal and transverse bars can be manufactured in large quantities by various producers. Therefore, using such standard products is advantageous.

[0012] The longitudinal beams of a shelf according to the invention can have a web that projects beyond the top surface of the longitudinal beams and is either flush with the top surface of the crossbars or projects beyond the top surface of the crossbars. The wire mesh panel then rests between the webs of the first and second longitudinal beams on the top surface of the longitudinal beams. Because it does not project beyond the webs of the longitudinal beams, objects can be pushed or pulled over a front or rear upper edge of the wire mesh shelves without being damaged by the ends of the crossbars. This prevents injuries to people from the ends of the crossbars. The webs can each be an extension of a side of the longitudinal beams located on an outer surface of the wire mesh shelf. The front surface of the longitudinal beams provides sufficient area for attaching labels or label strips.

[0013] The longitudinal beams can be hollow sections, and at least one longitudinally extending rib can be provided on their upper surface, to which the ends of the transverse bars connected to the longitudinal beams are attached, preferably welded. The rib facilitates easy welding between the longitudinal beams and the transverse bars.

[0014] Recesses may be provided on the inner side of the longitudinal beams, into which the ends of the crossbeams are inserted. Loads introduced into the crossbeams via the wire mesh mesh can be transferred to the longitudinal beams via this connection. The recesses may be slots. Depending on the prevailing load, the number of recesses and the number of crossbeams may vary.

[0015] The crossbeams can have a tubular central section located between their ends. The ends of the crossbeams can be formed by compressing tubular sections. In other words, the crossbeams can be made from a tube whose ends are compressed. These compressed ends can then be inserted into the recesses of the longitudinal beams.

[0016] Further features and advantages of an embodiment of the invention are described below with reference to the drawings. It shows: Fig. 1 a perspective view of a wire mesh shelf, Fig. 2 an enlarged section from Fig. 1 , Fig. 3 a top view of the wire mesh shelf, Fig. 4 an enlarged section from Fig. 3 , Fig. 5 a view of the wire mesh shelf from below, Fig. 6 an enlarged section from Fig. 5 , Fig. 7 a view of the wire mesh shelf from the right side and Fig. 8 an enlarged section from Fig. 7

[0017] The wire mesh shelf B shown in the figures has a first longitudinal beam 1, a second longitudinal beam 2, crossbeam 3, a wire mesh mat 4 and two struts 5.

[0018] The first longitudinal beam 1 and the second longitudinal beam 2 are identical. They are made of sheet steel by bending or roll forming. The bent sheet steel forms a hollow profile, with the longitudinal seam of the longitudinal beam being welded. An inner free cross-section of the hollow profile is essentially rectangular. On an outer side facing the wire mesh shelf, an upwardly projecting fold is provided as a web 11, 21. Ribs 12, 22 are formed on an upper surface. Slots 13, 23 are provided on an inner side of the longitudinal beams.

[0019] The crossbeams 3 are made of steel tubes, the ends of which 31 are compressed, so that the crossbeams 3 are only tubular in a middle section 32.

[0020] The compressed ends 31 of each crossbeam 3 are inserted either into one of the slots 13 of the first longitudinal beam or into one of the slots 23 of the second longitudinal beam. The ends of each crossbeam 3 preferably abut the inside of the longitudinal profiles 1, 2. This creates a positive-locking connection between the longitudinal beams 1, 2 and the crossbeams 3.

[0021] The wire mesh mat 4 is made of crossed longitudinal bars 41 lying in a first layer and transverse bars 42 lying in a second layer, which are welded together at the intersection points.

[0022] The longitudinal bars 41 lie parallel to the longitudinal beams 1, 2 and at right angles to the crossbeams 3. They rest on the crossbeams 3. At the intersections, the longitudinal bars 31 and the crossbeams 3 are welded together. The crossbeams 42, which lie above the longitudinal bars 41, have ends that rest on the ribs 12, 22 on the upper surface of the longitudinal beams 1, 2. They project to or almost to an inner surface of the webs 11, 21 of the longitudinal beams. The ends of the crossbeams 42 and the ribs 12, 22 are welded together.

[0023] The various welds create a connection between the longitudinal beams 1, 2, the crossbeams 3 and the wire mesh mat 4 that cannot be easily separated, with only a plug connection directly between the longitudinal beams 1, 2 and the crossbeams 3.

[0024] The shear stiffness of the wire mesh shelf B is increased by the struts 5. These are located essentially in a single layer beneath the crossbeams. At an intersection point, the struts are guided past each other in a manner not shown. The struts lie diagonally to the longitudinal beams 1, 2 and the crossbeams 3. The ends 51 of the struts 5 are bent into a circular arc and placed around each crossbeam. The ends 51 also enclose the top surface of the crossbeams 3. The ends 51 and the enclosed top surface of the crossbeams 3 are joined together by welding.

[0025] All welds can be accessed from the top of shelf B. The welds can be made without having to bring welding tools to shelf B from different sides.

Claims

1. Shelf (B) for a shelving unit - with a first longitudinal beam (1) and a second longitudinal beam (2), - with cross beams (3) which are arranged between the first and the second longitudinal beam (1, 2) and - characterized in that the shelf is formed with at least one diagonal rod (5) which runs diagonally to the longitudinal beams (1, 2) and cross beams (3), which is arranged on a first side of the cross beams (3) and is connected to at least two of the cross beams (3), and in that ends (51) of the diagonal rod (5) each at least partially enclose a cross beam (3) and a region of the ends (51) located on a second side of the cross beam (3) is fastened to the cross beam (3).

2. Shelf (B) according to claim 1, characterized in that the shelf (B) has two crossed diagonal rods (5).

3. Shelf according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the shelf is a wire mesh shelf and has a wire mesh mat (4) composed of longitudinal rods (41) and cross rods (42), which lies on the longitudinal beams (1, 2) and the cross beams (3), and in that ends of at least some of the cross rods (42) of the wire mesh mat (4) are welded to an upper side of the longitudinal beams (1, 2) and in that at least some of the longitudinal rods (41) of the wire mesh mat (4) are welded to the upper side of at least some cross beams (3).

4. Shelf (B) according to claim 3, characterized in that the cross beams (3) are arranged between the at least one diagonal rod (5) and the wire mesh mat (4).

5. Shelf (B) according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the longitudinal rods are arranged between the cross rods and the cross beams.

6. Shelf (B) according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the ends of the cross rods (42) are arranged on the shoulder of the longitudinal beams (1, 2).

7. Shelf (B) according to any one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that the longitudinal rods (41) have a substantially circular cross-section and a diameter of 4.0 mm to 5.0 mm and / or the cross rods (42) have a substantially circular cross-section and a diameter of 2.5 mm to 3.0 mm.

8. Shelf (B) according to any one of claims 3 to 7, characterized in that the longitudinal beams (1, 2) have a web (11, 21) which protrudes beyond the upper side of the longitudinal beams (1, 2) and which ends flush with upper sides of the cross rods (42) or projects beyond the upper sides of the cross rods (42).

9. Shelf (B) according to claim 8, characterized in that the webs (11, 21) are each an extension of a side of the longitudinal beams (1, 2) located on an outer side of the wire mesh shelf (B).

10. Shelf (B) according to any one of claims 3 to 9, characterized in that the longitudinal beams (1, 2) are hollow profiles and on the upper side at least one rib (12, 22) is provided which extends in the longitudinal direction and to which the ends of the cross beams (42) connected to the longitudinal beams (1, 2) are fastened, preferably welded.

11. Shelf (B) according to any one of claims 3 to 10, characterized in that recesses (13, 23) are provided on an inner side of the longitudinal beams (1, 2), into which recesses the ends (31) of the cross beams (3) are inserted.

12. Shelf (B) according to any one of claims 3 to 11, characterized in that the cross beams (3) have a tubular middle portion (32) located between the ends (31).

13. Shelf (B) according to claim 11 and 12, characterized in that the ends (31) of the cross beams (3) are made by pressing together tubular portions.

14. Shelving unit with at least four uprights and at least one shelf (B), characterized in that the shelf is a shelf (B) according to any one of claims 3 to 13.