Multi-Position Display Rack Shelves With Easy Angle Locking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing display racks with adjustable shelving are often complex to use, requiring significant force or multiple people to adjust, leading to instability and inefficiency, and lack the ability to easily lock shelves into desired inclined positions for optimal item display.
Innovation Solution
A display rack design featuring a frame with vertically-spaced apertures and a single-piece cross-member that allows shelves to be easily adjusted in angular position between 0° and 60° relative to horizontal, using movable and nonmovable engagers for secure engagement with the frame, enabling simple and stable adjustment of shelf orientation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If prior rack arrangements use complicated manipulation of multiple rack and/or shelf parts for shelf adjustment, then shelf adjustability is achieved, but operation complexity increases and stability may be insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The shelf is divided into a first end portion with movable engagers and a second end portion with nonmovable engagers. This segmentation allows the first end to be adjustable while the second end remains fixed, simplifying the adjustment mechanism by eliminating the need for complex multi-point adjustment systems while maintaining shelf adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of making both ends of the shelf movable as in traditional designs, this invention makes one end movable and the other end nonmovable. This inversion simplifies the adjustment mechanism by providing a fixed reference point, reducing operation complexity while maintaining adjustability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If prior rack arrangements require significant force to adjust shelves, then shelf repositioning is achieved, but ease of operation deteriorates and multiple people may be needed
Solution Approach 1:
The movable engagers are designed to move between engaged and disengaged states, allowing the shelf to be easily repositioned. The dynamic nature of the engagers enables simple one-handed operation where the user can disengage, move, and re-engage the shelf without requiring significant force or multiple people.
Solution Approach 2:
The adjustment function is extracted from a complex multi-part manipulation system and concentrated into the movable engagers at the first end portion. This extraction simplifies the operation to a single action of moving the engagers, eliminating the need for significant force while maintaining repositioning capability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If prior rack arrangements lack easy locking mechanism for desired shelf positions, then shelf adjustability is limited, but locking reliability is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The movable engagers automatically lock into the desired shelf position through their engagement with the upright elements at different heights. The design allows the shelf to self-lock at any position where the engagers can engage with the upright elements, providing both position flexibility and stability without requiring additional locking mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The upright elements are pre-configured with multiple engagement points at different heights and angles. This preliminary arrangement allows the movable engagers to automatically lock into the appropriate position based on the desired shelf orientation, ensuring both flexibility and reliability without complex locking systems.
4Adaptability or versatility
If shelf adjustment requires deformation of shelf and/or rack parts, then shelf repositioning is achieved, but structural integrity may be compromised and operation becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The movable engagers provide a dynamic adjustment mechanism that allows shelf repositioning through movement rather than deformation. The engagers can move between engaged and disengaged states, enabling repositioning while maintaining the structural integrity of the shelf and rack parts without requiring forceful deformation.
Data Source
AI summary
A display rack and display rack shelf. The display rack includes a frame which supports one or more of the shelves. The frame has first, second and lateral sides and defines a plurality of vertically-spaced pairs of horizontally-aligned apertures. The shelf includes first and second end portions. The first end portion includes a movable support element with a single piece cross member and a pair of movable engagers at opposite lateral sides of the shelf for engagement with a selected pair of apertures along the first or second sides of the frame. The single-piece cross member and each movable engager of the movable support element is slidable toward and, alternatively, away from the second end and is rotatable about a corresponding axis to permit setting of the angular position of the shelf. The second end portion side is configured for pivotal engagement with one of the front and rear sides of the frame. The shelf of the rack is adjustable for a plurality of angular orientations by a selective positioning of the first end portion with respect to the second end portion.