Tray fastening devices for modular shelving
A shelving assembly includes four spaced apart posts each having a narrow top end and a wide bottom end; a plurality of trays each including four positioning tubes on its four corners adapted to securely sleeve onto the posts; and a plurality of sets of four tray fastening members each including a truncated conic inner sleeve having a first element and a mated second element adapted to matingly engage with the first element for securely sleeving onto the positioning tube; and a truncated conic outer sleeve having a first member and a mated second member adapted to matingly engage with the first member for securely sleeving onto the inner sleeve. Preferably, the inner sleeve is plastic and the outer sleeve is metal. In a case of detaching one or more broken inner sleeves, a user may simply detach one or more outer sleeve(s) prior to removing the broken inner sleeve(s)
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to modular shelving and more particularly to an adjustable shelving assembly having a plurality of sets of four improved fastening members in which each set is adapted to releasably secure a tray to four posts of the shelving assembly.
2. Related Art
Adjustable shelving assemblies are very popular because they are adapted to provide a user with the flexibility to assemble or build shelving units to the desired configurations and needs. A well known adjustable shelving assembly as disclosed in China Utility Model Patent No. CN2658455Y is shown in
But this is unsatisfactory for the purpose for which the invention is concerned for the following reason: For example, in a case of detaching one or more sleeves 2 (e.g., broken ones) of equal height, a user has to detach any tray and sets of four sleeves 2 (if any) above the desired sleeve(s) 2 and the tray secured to the desired sleeve(s) 2 in advance. This is very inconvenient especially when the number of trays to be detached is large. Thus, a need for improvement exists.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a shelving assembly comprising four spaced apart posts each having a narrow top end and a wide bottom end; a plurality of trays each including four positioning tubes on its four corners adapted to securely sleeve onto the posts; and a plurality of sets of four tray fastening members each including a truncated conic inner sleeve having a first element and a mated second element adapted to matingly engage with the first element for securely sleeving onto the positioning tube; and a truncated conic outer sleeve having a first member and a mated second member adapted to matingly engage with the first member for securely sleeving onto the inner sleeve. By utilizing the present invention, in a case of detaching one or more inner sleeves (e.g., broken ones) of equal height, a user may simply detach one or more outer sleeve(s) prior to removing the broken inner sleeve(s).
In one aspect of the present invention the inner sleeve is formed of plastic and the outer sleeve is formed of metal.
In another aspect of the present invention the first element comprises a projection on one side and a recess on the other side, and the second element comprises a projection on the other side and a recess on one side, and wherein the projection of the first element is adapted to matingly engage with the recess of the second element, and the projection of the second element is adapted to matingly engage with the recess of the first element.
In a further aspect of the present invention the first member comprises an upper protrusion on either side and the second member comprises a lower protrusion on either side, and wherein the upper protrusions of the first member are adapted to matingly engage with the lower protrusions of the second member.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
The tray fastening member 100 further comprises an outer sleeve 20 of truncated conic shape. The outer sleeve 20 is formed of metal and consists of two mated pieces 21 and 22 in which one piece 21 includes a lower protrusion 23 on either side and the other piece 22 includes an upper protrusion 23 on either side. Thus, two pieces 21 and 22 of the outer sleeve 20 can be matingly engaged together.
Referring to
In a case of detaching one or more inner sleeves 10 (e.g., broken ones) of equal height, a user may simply detach one or more outer sleeve(s) 20 prior to removing the broken inner sleeve(s) 10.
While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.
Claims
1. A shelving assembly comprising:
- four spaced apart posts each having a narrow top end and a wide bottom end;
- a plurality of trays each including four positioning tubes on its four corners adapted to securely sleeve onto the posts; and
- a plurality of sets of four tray fastening members each including a truncated conic inner sleeve having a first element and a mated second element adapted to matingly engage with the first element for securely sleeving onto the positioning tube; and a truncated conic outer sleeve having a first member and a mated second member adapted to matingly engage with the first member for securely sleeving onto the inner sleeve.
2. The shelving assembly of claim 1, wherein the inner sleeve is formed of plastic.
3. The shelving assembly of claim 1, wherein the first element comprises a projection on one side and a recess on the other side, and the second element comprises a projection on the other side and a recess on one side, and wherein the projection of the first element is adapted to matingly engage with the recess of the second element, and the projection of the second element is adapted to matingly engage with the recess of the first element.
4. The shelving assembly of claim 1, wherein the outer sleeve is formed of metal.
5. The shelving assembly of claim 1, wherein the first member comprises an upper protrusion on either side and the second member comprises a lower protrusion on either side, and wherein the upper protrusions of the first member are adapted to matingly engage with the lower protrusions of the second member.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 9, 2006
Publication Date: Jul 26, 2007
Inventor: Chi-Tsung Huang (Fenyuan Township)
Application Number: 11/449,600