SECTIONAL RACK
A sectional rack includes at least four vertical supports, at least two shelves, and a plurality of clamping members. Each of the vertical supports includes two laterally juxtaposed posts. Each of the clamping members defines a vertically extended receiving recess and has two wing portions laterally extended from two opposite lateral edges of an open side of the receiving recess. The receiving recess is sized for one post of the vertical support to partially set therein, allowing the clamping member to assemble to the vertical support. Each of the shelves is provided at each of four corners with an outward-opened C-shaped clamping member for tightly fitting around and thereby pushing the two wing portions of the clamping member toward each other for firmly clamping the post in the receiving recess, so that the four corners of the shelf are firmly connected to the posts of the four vertical supports.
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The present invention relates to a sectional rack, and more particularly to a sectional rack, of which shelves are tightly connected to four vertical supports through tight fitting of C-shaped clamping members provided at four corners of the shelves around clamping members assembled to the vertical supports, giving the sectional rack an increased structural strength.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONVarious types of organizers are provided in homes, offices or other working places for holding or positioning different articles and items. Such organizers can be generally divided into a fixed type that could not be easily disassembled and a sectional type that can be easily disassembled and assembled again. The sectional organizers have the advantages of easy to store and transport to thereby enable reduced storing and transporting costs and accordingly upgraded market competing ability.
The sectional organizers can be further divided into two types, one of which requires tools to assemble and disassemble it while the other type can be assembled and disassembled without the need of using any tool. Among the same type of sectional organizers, products that can be assembled using fewer tools would be accepted by more consumers. A currently commercially available sectional rack with vertical supports has a left and a right vertical support, and a plurality of shelves assembled to and between the two vertical supports. Each of the two vertical supports includes a front twin-post support having two juxtaposed front posts and a rear twin-post support having two juxtaposed rear posts, and at least two vertically spaced connecting members. The connecting members are welded at front and rear ends to the front and the rear twin-post support, respectively.
Every shelf is fixedly provided at four corners with a fastening connector each. The fastening connectors are respectively an axially extended U-shaped bracket to define a U-shaped receiving space therein. The U-shaped receiving spaces of the fastening connectors located at two front corners of the shelves are forward opened, while the U-shaped receiving spaces of the fastening connectors located at two rear corners of the shelves are rearward opened. The receiving spaces of the fastening connectors at four corners of the shelves can be engaged with corresponding front and rear twin-post supports of the two side support frames, so that the front and rear fastening connectors at two lateral sides of the shelves outward push against the front twin-post supports and the rear twin-post supports of the two side support frames and are fixedly assembled to between the two side support frames. The above-structured sectional rack has relatively low structural strength and tends to wobble sidewardly. To overcome this problem, it is necessary to erect two crossed tension braces between the rear twin-post supports of the two side support frames to give the assembled sectional rack an increased structural strength. Since the crossed tension braces are not suitable for mounting to between the front twin-post supports of the two side support frames, the sectional rack could not have balanced front and rear structural strength. Thus, the whole sectional rack still has poor structural strength and tends to wobble sidewardly when an external force is applied thereto.
It is therefore tried by the inventor to overcome the problems in the conventional sectional rack having twin-post supports by developing a novel structure for assembling shelves to four vertical supports, so that the sectional rack in a fully assembled state can have increased structural strength without wobbling under sideward external force applied thereto.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA primary object of the present invention is to provide a sectional rack including at least two shelves and four vertical supports, which can be firmly connected to one another to give the fully assembled sectional rack an increased overall structural strength.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sectional rack that has increased structural strength without the need of mounting two crossed tension braces to a rear side of the rack, enabling the rack to have a neat and aesthetic appearance.
To achieve the above and other objects, the sectional rack according to the present invention includes at least four vertical supports, at least two shelves, and a plurality of clamping members. Each of the vertical supports includes two laterally juxtaposed posts. Each of the clamping members defines a vertically extended receiving recess and has two wing portions laterally extended from two opposite lateral edges of an open side of the receiving recess. The receiving recess is sized for one post of the vertical support to partially set therein, allowing the clamping member to assemble to the vertical support. Each of the shelves is provided at each of four corners with an outward-opened C-shaped clamping member for tightly fitting around and thereby pushing the two wing portions of one clamping member toward each other for firmly clamping the post in the receiving recess, so that the four corners of the shelf are separately firmly connected to the four vertical supports.
In the sectional rack of the present invention, each of the wing portions has a width that is increased from an upper end to a lower end of the wing portion, such that a laterally outer end surface of the wing portion is a gradually downward outward inclined surface; and the wing portion has an outside surface that is also a gradually downward outward inclined surface. Each of the C-shaped clamping members includes a pair of hooking portions facing toward each other to define an opening therebetween. Two opposite inner end surfaces of an inner space enclosed in the C-shaped clamping member are downward outward inclined surfaces, so that a width of the inner space of the C-shaped clamping member measured between the two opposite inner end surfaces gradually increases from top to bottom; and an inside surface of each of the two hooking portions facing toward the inner space of the C-shaped clamping member is a downward and outward inclined surface. With the inclined surfaces on the C-shaped clamping member correspondingly and fitly bearing on the inclined surfaces on the wing portions of the clamping member, the C-shaped clamping member is able to produce a tightening effect on the two wing portions and pushes them toward each other, so that the clamping member can more tightly clamp the post in the receiving recess.
In the sectional rack of the present invention, each of the clamping members is provided on a wall of the receiving recess near an upper end thereof with an inward protrusion extended into the receiving recess, and each of the posts of the vertical supports to be clamped in the receiving recesses is correspondingly provided with a recess for engaging with the protrusion. Through engagement of the protrusion on the clamping member with the recess on the post, the clamping member is held in place on the post without the risk of moving upward, downward, leftward or rightward relative to the post.
In the sectional rack of the present invention, each of the clamping members further includes two vertically extended protruded blocks laterally symmetrically provided at the two opposite lateral edges of the receiving recess for partially clamping the post therebetween; and a portion of the post being located outside the receiving recess and exposed from the two protruded blocks is smaller than a half circle; and a distance between the two protruded blocks on each of the clamping members is slightly smaller than an outer diameter of the posts of the vertical supports, so that the post is forced through the two protruded blocks and clamped in the receiving recess.
In the sectional rack of the present invention, the clamping members are formed by bending a metal plate, and the protruded blocks are formed by molding a plastic material.
The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein
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The vertical supports 30 respectively include two laterally juxtaposed posts 31, and a plurality of vertically equally spaced connecting members 32. The connecting members 32 are provided between the two laterally juxtaposed posts 31 of each of the vertical supports 30 to connect the two posts 31 into an integral unit.
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To assemble the shelf 10 to the vertical supports 30, first assemble the clamping members 40 to the posts 31 of the vertical supports 30. Then, externally fit the C-shaped clamping members 50 of the shelf 10 around the two wing portions 42 of the clamping members 40 from a top thereof, and push the shelf 10 downward for the C-shaped clamping members 50 to tightly connect to the clamping members 40. More specifically, the C-shaped clamping members 50 at the front and rear corners of the two lateral sides of the shelf 10 are respectively fitted around the wing portions 42 of the clamping members 40 on the four vertical supports 30 to assemble the shelf 10 to between the four vertical supports 30.
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The sectional rack illustrated in
In the sectional rack assembled from vertical supports 30 and shelves 10, 20 according to the present invention, when the C-shaped clamping members 50 on the shelves 10, 20 are fitted around the clamping members 40 on the vertical supports 30 to produce a tightening force against the clamping members 40, the clamping members 40 are brought to tightly clamp on the posts 31 of the vertical supports 30. Therefore, the shelves 10, 20 are firmly connected to the vertical supports 30 via the firm engagement of the C-shaped clamping members 50 with the clamping members 40. In this manner, the fully assembled sectional rack has upgraded structural strength and is able to resist increased lateral force applied thereto without wobbling sidewardly.
Claims
1. A sectional rack, comprising at least four vertical supports, at least two shelves, and a plurality of clamping members;
- each of the vertical supports including two laterally juxtaposed posts, and a plurality of vertically equally spaced connecting members connected to between the two laterally juxtaposed posts;
- each of the clamping members defining at an inside with a vertically extended receiving recess, and having two wing portions separately laterally extended from two opposite lateral edges of an open side of the receiving recess; the receiving recess being sized for one post of the vertical support to partially set therein, allowing the clamping member to assemble to the vertical support with the open side of the receiving recess facing toward the shelf connected to between the four vertical supports and be supported on the vertical supports; each of the two wing portions having a width that is increased from an upper end to a lower end of the wing portion, such that a laterally outer end surface of the wing portion is a gradually downward outward inclined surface; and the wing portion having an outside surface that is also a gradually downward outward inclined surface; and
- each of the shelves being provided at front and rear corners at two lateral sides thereof with a C-shaped clamping member each; the C-shaped clamping members being located on the shelf with an opening thereof facing laterally outward; each of the C-shaped clamping members including a pair of hooking portions facing toward each other to define the opening therebetween; two opposite inner end surfaces of an inner space enclosed in the C-shaped clamping member being downward outward inclined surfaces, so that a width of the inner space of the C-shaped clamping member measured between the two opposite inner end surfaces gradually increases from top to bottom of the C-shaped clamping member, and the two inclined inner end surfaces of the C-shaped clamping member having a gradient the same as that of the two laterally outer end surfaces of the two wing portions; an inside surface of each of the two hooking portions facing toward the inner space of the C-shaped clamping member being a downward and outward inclined surface, and the inside surfaces of the hooking portions having a gradient the same as that of the two outside surfaces of the two wing portions of the clamping member;
- whereby when the C-shaped clamping members provided at the front and rear corners at two lateral sides of the shelf are correspondingly externally fitted around the clamping members assembled to the posts of the four vertical supports, the two inclined inner end surfaces of each of the C-shaped clamping members tightly bear on the laterally outer end surfaces of the two wing portions of the corresponding clamping member, and the inclined inside surfaces of the two hooking portions of each of the C-shaped clamping members tightly bear on the outside surfaces of the two wing portions of the corresponding clamping member, so that the wing portions are pushed toward each other to move toward the shelf and reduce a size at the open side of the receiving recess on the clamping member, enabling the clamping members to tightly clamp on the posts of the vertical supports.
2. The sectional rack as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the clamping members further includes two vertically extended protruded blocks that are laterally symmetrically provided at the two opposite lateral edges of the receiving recess for partially clamping the post of the vertical support therebetween; and a portion of the post being located outside the receiving recess and exposed from the two protruded blocks being smaller than a half circle.
3. The sectional rack as claimed in claim 2, wherein the clamping members are formed by bending a metal plate, and the protruded blocks are formed by molding a plastic material.
4. The sectional rack as claimed in claim 2, wherein a distance between the two protruded blocks on each of the clamping members is slightly smaller than an outer diameter of the posts of the vertical supports, so that the post is forced through the two protruded blocks and clamped in the receiving recess.
5. The sectional rack as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the clamping members is provided on a wall of the receiving recess near an upper end thereof with an inward protrusion extended into the receiving recess, and each of the posts of the vertical supports to be clamped in the receiving recesses is correspondingly provided with a recess for engaging with the protrusion, so that the clamping member is held in place on the post through engagement of the protrusion with the recess.
6. The sectional rack as claimed in claim 5, wherein the wall of the receiving recess is an arc-shaped wall, and the protrusion extended from the wall of the receiving recess has a flat front end.
7. The sectional rack as claimed in claim 6, wherein the wall of the receiving recess of the clamping member is provided with a through hole, which is located immediately below the protrusion.
8. The sectional rack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connecting members connected to between the two laterally juxtaposed posts of each of the vertical supports are respectively in the form of a vertically extended flat plate.
9. The sectional rack as claimed in claim 8, wherein each of the clamping members is provided at a lower edge with a notch for engaging with an upper end of one flat-plate connecting member located between the two laterally juxtaposed posts.
10. The sectional rack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connecting members connected to between the two laterally juxtaposed posts of each of the vertical supports are respectively in the form of a round bar, and the round bars being horizontally extended between each pair of a front and a rear vertical support with front ends and rear ends of the round bars connected to the front and the rear vertical support, respectively.
Type: Application
Filed: May 26, 2011
Publication Date: Nov 29, 2012
Applicant: Protrend Co., Ltd. (Taipei)
Inventor: Henry Chen (Taipei)
Application Number: 13/116,302