Improved shelf for shelving units

Abstract

 A shelf (10) for shelving units comprising a sheet metal plane (11) with prevalent longitudinal extension defining an upper face (11A), a lower face (11B), perimeter edges folded to form respectively a front side (12), a rear side (13) and opposed end lateral sides (14), between the lateral sides (14) and corresponding extremities (12A) of the rear (13) and front (12) sides there being defined two opposed seats (15) for housing respective brackets (16) on which the shelves is designed to rest, on the lower face (11B) of the sheet metal surface (11) there being present a longitudinal stiffening element (17) made of sheet metal which extends between said lateral sides (14), and which is in contact with said lower face (11B) of the surface and close to or in abutment with a respective lateral side (14).

Description

Technical field

[0001] The present invention relates to a shelf for shelving units, in particular but not exclusively suitable for being supported by thin cantilevered brackets.

Prior art

[0002] Sheet metal shelves are known, formed by a rectangular sheet metal plane the perimeter edges whereof are folded to form the front and the rear sides as well as the end lateral sides. Between the lateral sides and the corresponding extremities of the rear and front sides there are obtained two opposite seats for housing respective brackets on which the shelf rests. A longitudinal stiffening element made of sheet metal is fixed on the lower face of the sheet metal plane. In particular, such longitudinal element has a concave section facing toward the lower face. Such section ends with two opposite wings that in their longitudinal development practically speaking define contact flanges contacting the lower face of the flat surface. The longitudinal stiffening element develops in a rectilinear manner from a position close to one lateral side to a position close to the opposite lateral side. The terminal end sections of such stiffening element are orthogonal to the lower face of the flat surface and do not touch the lateral sides but are spaced therefrom for allowing the arrangement of the support bracket, whereon the shelf rests.

[0003] In order to ensure a certain stiffness to the shelf at the lateral sides (in particular the stiffness that opposes the unbalanced loads acting on the shelf that may generate twists thereof at the lateral sides), the flanges of the stiffening element continue from the terminal sections thereof close to, or even abutting against, respective lateral sides of the shelf. Practically speaking, two plate-shaped protuberances develop from the terminal sections to the lateral sides, remaining in contact with the lower face of the shelf; such protuberances are just the extended ends of the contact flanges of the longitudinal stiffening element contacting the flat surface.

[0004] Such stiffening system is in any case not very strong and it often causes a local deformation on the plane at the contact between flange ends and plane.

[0005] Another known solution is described in GB Patent GB1490793. Such patent shows a sheet metal shelf stiffened at the bottom by a longitudinal element the ends whereof are close to the respective transverse sides. These ends have a step-wise transverse section, that is, which develops on different planes. Such step-wise section is shaped for coupling with complementary step-wise recesses obtained on the top edges of the brackets they rest on. Such solution has the drawback of a considerable difficulty in inserting the shelves on the brackets, in particular for long shelves, as properly coupling the complementary step-wise parts/recesses is difficult. Moreover, the phase of separating the shelves from the brackets is even more difficult since after an extended use, local deformations may create that tend to interlock the complementary step-wise parts. Also, the step-wise joint tends to transmit twisting effects due to unbalanced loads from the shelf to the brackets, with possible unexpected deforming effects on the same brackets. Finally, such solution cannot reduce the local deformations on the shelves due to the twisting strains on the stiffening element.

Object and summary of the invention

[0006] The object of the present invention is to improve the stiffness of the shelves for shelving units of the known type.

[0007] A further object of the present invention is to provide a shelf for shelving units capable of reducing the local deformations on the surface at the end zone of the longitudinal stiffening elements relative to shelves of the known type.

[0008] Last but not least, an object of the present invention is to provide a shelf for shelving units which should be particularly sturdy.

[0009] These and other objects, that will appear more clearly hereinafter, are achieved with a shelf for shelving units that comprises a sheet metal plane with prevalent longitudinal extension defining an upper face, a lower face, perimeter edges folded to form respectively a front side, a rear side and opposed end lateral sides; between the lateral sides and corresponding extremities of the rear and front sides there are defined two opposed seats for housing respective brackets on which the shelf is designed to rest; on the lower face of the sheet metal plane there is a longitudinal stiffening element made of sheet metal that develops between the lateral sides; in particular, such longitudinal stiffening element has a concave section facing the lower face of the plane and ending with two opposite wings defining longitudinal flanges in contact with said lower face; it should be noted that by "longitudinally" it is meant the development direction of the shelf between two support brackets, whereas by "transverse" it is meant a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction and according to a lying substantially parallel to the shelf; characteristically, at least one end of the longitudinal stiffening element comprises a terminal tongue, continuous or discontinuous, that develops in transverse direction and that is in contact with the lower face of the plane and close to or abutting against respective lateral sides; practically speaking, such transverse terminal tongue is also a flange that has a length in transverse direction that is greater than the sum of the transverse width of the longitudinal flanges. Practically speaking, the end (or the ends) of the longitudinal stiffening element has a planar development since it consists of a flat (plate-shaped) body of sheet metal such as a terminal plate-shaped tongue or flange. Such tongue or flange, that is, the end of the longitudinal stiffening element, has a flat face thereof in contact with the lower face of the plane. The height of the end of the longitudinal element (by height it is meant the dimension orthogonal to the shelf flat surface) is substantially equal to the thickness of the sheet metal constituting the same longitudinal element.

[0010] Practically speaking, according to the invention, the terminal end (and preferably, both terminal ends) of the longitudinal stiffening element develop on a single level parallel to and in contact with the lower face of the shelf.

[0011] Such end of the longitudinal element (that is, the terminal flange or tongue) is preferably continuous, that is, it has a plate-shaped trend (preferably rectilinear) for the entire transverse development thereof, that is, from one extremity of a longitudinal wing of the longitudinal stiffening element to the opposite longitudinal wing. Practically speaking, longitudinal wings and transverse terminal flange coincide at their ends and have the same thickness, that is, the thickness of the sheet metal forming the longitudinal stiffening element.

[0012] Suitably, the longitudinal wings and the transverse ends (tongues or flanges) of the longitudinal stiffening element preferably form a continuous plate-shaped band in contact with the lower face of the shelf surface, which runs around the complex formed by the intermediate portion and the opposite terminal portions of the longitudinal stiffening element, surrounding it.

[0013] In other embodiments, the end of the longitudinal element (that is, the terminal tongue or flange) may be discontinuous, that is, it may preferably consist of coplanar plate-shaped portions transversally aligned but spaced from each other.

[0014] The fact that the terminal tongue/terminal flange has a greater transverse length than the transverse width of the longitudinal flanges means that the contact end between stiffening element and the plane zones close to the lateral sides is greater than the case of known shelves. It has been proven that a larger contact surface has led to an increase in the stiffness of such zone and in particular the twisting stiffness of the plane around the longitudinal stiffening element. Moreover, a reduction of deformations has been observed in such zone.

[0015] Moreover, the fact that the terminal tongue/terminal transverse flange is plate shaped (that is, both the upper face thereof in contact with the plane shelf and the lower face thereof in contact with the bracket, are flat) and close to or in abutment against the shelf side, allows the bracket whereon the shelf rests to be produced with a substantially rectilinear support edge for the shelf, thus preventing all the problems related to a step-wise configuration, for example as those described in GB1490793.

[0016] The present invention also relates to a system for coupling a thin cantilevered bracket to a shelf according to one or more of the configurations described above, wherein the bracket is adapted for being housed in said seat defined between one lateral side and the corresponding extremities of the rear and front sides, with said shelf that rests on the top edge of said bracket.

[0017] According to a preferred embodiment, in such coupling system the upper edge of said bracket adapted for resting the shelf develops in a prevalently or completely rectilinear manner; the corresponding plate-shaped terminal flange that forms the end of the longitudinal stiffening element of the shelf rests on the prevalently or completely rectilinear portion of the upper edge. By the term "prevalently rectilinear" it is meant that most of the bracket edge is rectilinear and it can have recesses or projections for locking the shelf, for preventing it from moving forward. Such recesses or projections may be obtained mostly in the proximity of the terminal parts of the edge.

[0018] Practically speaking, the shelf mainly rests on a respective bracket according to a single contact plane (except for slight deformations) defined with the respective plate-shaped terminal tongue/flange of the longitudinal stiffening element.

Brief description of the drawings

[0019] Further features and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the description of a preferred but non-exclusive embodiment thereof, illustrated by way of a non-limiting example in the annexed drawings, wherein:

figure 1 shows a plan bottom view of a shelf according to the invention;

figure 2 shows a cross section view of the shelf of figure 1, cut along line II-II;

figure 3 shows a longitudinal section view of the shelf of figure 1, cut along line III-III;

figure 4 shows a perspective view of the longitudinal stiffening element of the shelf according to the invention, shown with the concavity thereof facing upwards, that is, towards the lower face of the shelf;

figure 5 shows an enlarged view relating to the longitudinal stiffening element of the cross section of figure 2;

figure 6 shows a cross section view of the shelf of the invention, cut along line VI-VI;

figure 7 shows a perspective bottom view of the shelf according to the invention.

Detailed description of an embodiment of the invention

[0020] With reference to the above figures, a shelf for shelving units according to the invention is globally indicated with reference numeral 10.

[0021] Such shelf 10 is provided with a rectangular sheet metal plane 11, that is, with a prevalent longitudinal development. By longitudinal it is meant in this case the direction of the larger side of the plane, that is, the direction between two support brackets for the same.

[0022] Plane 11 defines an upper face 11A, a lower face 11B, perimeter edges folded substantially by 90° for respectively forming a front side 12, a rear side 13 and opposite end lateral sides 14. By the term "folded" it is generally meant a process suitable for creating or tipping on the perimeter zone of the surface, portions that are incident to the surface (forming the lateral sides/sides) and that may be obtained both by folding thereof or through other operations for processing/forming sheet metal, up to the hypothesis of an optional welding of the lateral sides/sides to the plane.

[0023] Between the lateral sides 14 and the corresponding extremities 12A and 13A of the rear 12 and front 13 sides there are obtained two opposite seats 15 for housing respective brackets on which the shelf rests. In figure 3, the profile of a bracket is schematized with the dash-dot line and is indicated with reference numeral 16.

[0024] On the lower face 11B of the sheet metal plane there is arranged a longitudinal stiffening element 17, made of sheet metal, which develops between lateral sides 14.

[0025] As is well visible, such longitudinal stiffening element 17 has a concave transverse section, with concavity 18 facing the lower face 11B of plane 11. Such concave section ends with opposite plate-shaped wings 19. Since the stiffening element 17 has a longitudinal development, such wings also develop longitudinally and are therefore also defined as longitudinal flanges 19 hereinafter. In particular, such flanges 19 are in contact with the lower face 11B of plane 11, fixed thereto for example ad by welding spots 20A.

[0026] From the figures it is clear that the longitudinal stiffening element 17 has a rectilinear development and substantially is formed by three portions, an intermediate portion 17A, with constant transverse section, and two opposite terminal portions 17B with variable transverse section from the intermediate portion 17A towards a respective side lateral 14, and in particular increasing in transverse width and decreasing in height substantially up to the lower face 11A of flat surface 11, as better explained hereinafter.

[0027] The transverse section of the intermediate portion 17A of the longitudinal stiffening element is formed, in this example, by a first wing/flange 19 in contact with the lower face 1B of the surface, and a subsequent rectilinear shoulder 17' moving away from flat surface 11, a subsequent bottom 17" substantially parallel to the flat surface, a subsequent shoulder 17''' and the opposite second wing/flange 19. It should be noted that on bottom 17" there are two parallel longitudinal stiffening recesses C.

[0028] According to the invention, the two ends of the stiffening element 17 are each formed by a plate-shaped tongue, that is, a terminal flange 21 that develops in transverse direction and that is in contact with the lower face 11B of the plane and close to or in abutment with a respective side lateral 14.

[0029] The plate-shaped configuration of such terminal tongues/flanges 21 is such that the faces thereof in contact with the lower face 11B of the shelf and the opposite faces are flat. This allows bracket 16 to rest on a single level.

[0030] In particular, such transverse terminal flange 21 develops between the ends of the longitudinal flanges 19 and has a transverse length that of course is greater than the sum of the transverse width thereof. The transverse terminal flange 21 is rectilinear and continuous as well as parallel and preferably in contact with lateral side 14. It should be noted that each terminal portion 17B of the stiffening element 17 has a decreasing height and an increasing transverse width up to coinciding with said transverse terminal flange 21.

[0031] From a production point of view, the longitudinal stiffening element 17 may for example be made by folding a sheet metal and then deforming the end portions 17B or directly deforming in a mould a metal sheet in a single step. Of course, other operating methods may be equally used.

[0032] Practically speaking, since the ends of the stiffening element 17, that is, the plate-shaped transverse terminal flanges 21, consist of the edges of the sheet metal from which the entire longitudinal stiffening element 17 is obtained, they have a height substantially equal to the sheet metal thickness and thus equal to the height of the longitudinal flanges 19. It should be noted that in this example, the longitudinal flanges 19 and the transverse terminal flanges 21 form a single plate-shaped metal band or stripe that forms the contact surface of the stiffening element 17; such band or stripe surrounds the complex of the intermediate 17A and terminal 17B portions, in practice for surrounding such complex, that is, they form a single continuous annular flange.

[0033] According to the invention, the transverse terminal flange 21 may also be discontinuous, that is, formed by aligned portions the transverse ends whereof do not touch or do not coincide: it is important that the overall length of such portions (that is, the sum of the length of such portions) is greater than the sum of the transverse width of the longitudinal wings/flanges 19.

[0034] Each transverse terminal flange 21 is preferably and suitably fixed to the lower face of plane 11 by welding spots 20B (preferably in the central and end zone of flange 21).

[0035] Such transverse terminal flange 21 allows a special stiffening of the plane in the zone close to the side and prevents or limits the possibility of deformations in the same zone.

[0036] The thin plate-shaped development of the terminal ends 21 of the longitudinal stiffening element, that is, with both their faces that have a flat development, allows the upper edge of bracket 16 to be rectilinear or in any case mainly rectilinear. In practice, the contact between upper edge of bracket 16 and shelf takes place on a single level defined by the lower face of the terminal ends 21 of the longitudinal stiffening element, except for slight deformations of the shelf plane. Practically speaking, the corresponding plate-shaped terminal flange that forms the end of the longitudinal stiffening element of the shelf rests on the mainly or completely rectilinear portion of the upper edge. Such shelf/bracket configuration actually defines an innovative coupling system of the shelves to the brackets, and also an innovative shelving system that comprises shelves and brackets as described.

[0037] It is understood that the description above only represents practical non-limiting embodiments of the invention, which can vary in forms and arrangements without however departing from the scope of the concept on which the invention is based. Any use of reference numbers in the attached claims is made exclusively for the purpose of facilitating the reading of the claims in the light of the above description and attached drawings, and shall not be deemed to restrict the scope of the invention in any way.

Claims

1. A shelf (10) for shelving units comprising a sheet metal plane (11) with prevalent longitudinal extension defining an upper face (11A), a lower face (11B), perimeter edges folded to form respectively a front side (12), a rear side (13) and opposed end lateral sides (14), between the lateral sides (14) and corresponding extremities (12A) of the rear (13) and front (12) sides there being defined two opposed seats (15) for housing respective brackets (16) on which the shelves is designed to rest, on the lower face (11B) of the sheet metal surface (11) there being present a longitudinal stiffening element (17) made of sheet metal which extends between said lateral sides (14), said longitudinal stiffening element (17) having a concave section facing toward said lower face (11B) and terminating with two opposite wings defining longitudinal flanges (19) in contact with said lower face (11B), characterized in that at least one end of said longitudinal stiffening element (17) has a planar development, said at least one end consisting of a terminal flange (21), continuous or discontinuous, which extends in transverse direction and which is in contact with said lower face (11B) of the plane and close to or abutting against a respect lateral side (14), said transverse terminal flange (21) having a length in transverse direction greater with respect to the sum of the transverse width of said longitudinal flanges (19).

2. The shelf according to claim 1, characterized in that the height of said at least one end of said longitudinal stiffening element is substantially equal to the thickness of the sheet metal forming the same longitudinal element.

3. The shelf according to claim 1, characterized in that said longitudinal stiffening element (17) has, from an intermediate portion (17A) toward at least one end, a height decreasing until it coincides with said transverse terminal flange (21) in contact with said lower face (11B) of the sheet metal plane.

4. The shelf according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said longitudinal stiffening element (17) has, from an intermediate portion (17A) toward at least one end, a transverse width increasing until it coincides with said transverse terminal flange (21) in contact with said lower face (11B) of the sheet metal plane.

5. The shelf according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said transverse terminal flange (21) is continuous along the whole transverse width of the longitudinal stiffening element (17).

6. The shelf according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said longitudinal stiffening element (17) is welded to the lower face of the sheet metal plane.

7. The shelf according to claim 5, characterized in that said longitudinal stiffening element (17) is welded at said transverse terminal flange (21) and said longitudinal flanges (19).

8. The shelf according to claim 6, characterized in that said longitudinal stiffening element (17) is spot welded (20B) in at least three areas of said transverse terminal flange (21), two spots at the ends and one spot in the central area.

9. The shelf according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said longitudinal stiffening element (17) has an intermediate portion (17A) with a constant cross section, which extends in a substantially rectilinear manner, and two terminal portions (17B) which have, from said intermediate portion (17A) toward respective transverse terminal flanges (21) a transverse width increasing and a height decreasing until they coincide with these transverse terminal flanges (21).

10. The shelf according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said at least one end of said longitudinal stiffening element (17) develops on a single level in the form of a plate-shaped terminal flange with flat upper and lower faces.

11. The shelf according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that both ends of said longitudinal stiffening element (17) have a planar development and consist of respective plate-shaped terminal flanges.

12. System for coupling a thin projecting bracket to a shelf according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein said bracket is suitable for being housed in said seat (16) defined between one lateral side (14) and the corresponding extremities (12A, 13A) of the rear (13) and front (12) sides, with said shelf that rests on the top edge of said bracket.

13. System according to claim 12, wherein said upper edge of said bracket suitable for resting the shelf develops in a prevalently or completely rectilinear manner; the corresponding plate-shaped terminal flange that forms the end of said longitudinal stiffening element of the shelf contacting the prevalently or completely rectilinear portion of said upper edge.

Drawing