Shelving Unit
The shelving unit includes a post, a sleeve and a fastener. The post has a plurality of positioning slots. The sleeve has an inner side formed with a flange, an outer side formed with a slant trough, and a foolproof block being protrudent from the slant trough. The fastener for being mounted on a shelf has two parallel slant ribs and an intermediate trough formed between the two slant ribs. The fastener is seated around and engaged with the sleeve by inserting the slant ribs and the foolproof block into the slant trough and intermediate trough, respectively.
1. Technical Field
The invention relates to shelves, particularly to freestanding shelving units.
2. Related Art
A freestanding shelving unit is composed of posts and shelves. The shelves are detachably fastened to the posts, so that shelving units can be disassembled for storage or transit.
A typically conventional shelving unit includes a post, a sleeve and a shelf. The post is formed with a plurality of positioning slots. The sleeve is composed of two half sleeves and is formed with a flange. The sleeve can be seated around the post by engaging the flange into one of the positioning slots. An outer side of the sleeve is shaped into a slightly conical frustum. That is to say, the outer diameter of the bottom of the sleeve is slightly larger than that of the top of the sleeve. Finally, the shelf with a ring can be fastened to the sleeve by putting the ring around the sleeve because the outer diameter of the bottom of the sleeve is larger than the inner diameter of the ring. A main drawback of such a shelving unit is that the two half sleeves are completely the same in shape. When assembling, the end with a larger diameter of the sleeve must be directed downwards. However, this is hard to be identified and false assembly is hard to be avoided.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Abstract of the DisclosureAn object of the invention is to provide a shelving unit which is provided with a foolproof block to function as a direction indicator so that false assembly can be absolutely avoided.
To accomplish the above object, the shelving unit of the invention includes a post, a sleeve and a fastener. The post has a plurality of positioning slots. The sleeve has an inner side formed with a flange, an outer side formed with a slant trough, and a foolproof block being protrudent from the slant trough. The fastener for being mounted on a shelf has two parallel slant ribs and an intermediate trough formed between the two slant ribs. The fastener is seated around and engaged with the sleeve by inserting the slant ribs and the foolproof block into the slant trough and intermediate trough, respectively.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the sleeve is composed of a first half sleeve and a second half sleeve, and the first half sleeve is the same as the second half sleeve in shape.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the fastener is composed of a first half fastener and a second half fastener, and the first half fastener is the same as the second half fastener in shape.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the outer side of the sleeve and an inner surface of the fastener are correspondingly shaped into a partially conical outline.
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When assembling the invention, the flange 57 of the sleeve 5 is engaged with one of the positioning slots 31 to seat the sleeve 5 on the post 3 first. Then the slant ribs 44 of the fastener 4 in the shelf 2 are engaged with the slant trough 53. Thus the shelf 2 is fastened to the post 3 by the slant engagement formed between the slant ribs 44 and the slant trough 53. Further because of the foolproof block 54, false assembly can be absolutely avoided. Accordingly, the invention can be assembled easily and firmly.
It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiment has been described by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, and that various alterations and modifications are possible without departure from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Claims
1. A shelving unit comprising:
- a post, having a plurality of positioning slots;
- a sleeve, having an inner side and an outer side, the inner side being formed with a flange, the outer side being formed with a slant trough, and a foolproof block being protrudent from the slant trough; and
- a fastener for being mounted on a shelf, having two parallel slant ribs and an intermediate trough formed between the two slant ribs;
- wherein the sleeve is seated around the post by engaging the flange with one of the positioning slots, the fastener is fastened around and engaged with the sleeve by inserting the slant ribs and the foolproof block into the slant trough and intermediate trough, respectively.
2. The shelving unit of claim 1, wherein the sleeve is composed of a first half sleeve and a second half sleeve, and the first half sleeve is the same as the second half sleeve in shape.
3. The shelving unit of claim 1, wherein the fastener is composed of a first half fastener and a second half fastener, and the first half fastener is the same as the second half fastener in shape.
4. The shelving unit of claim 1, wherein the outer side of the sleeve and an inner surface of the fastener are correspondingly shaped into a partially conical outline.
5. A shelving unit comprising:
- a post, having a plurality of positioning slots;
- a sleeve, having an inner side and an outer side, the inner side being formed with a flange, the outer side being formed with a slant trough, and a foolproof block being protrudent from the slant trough;
- a fastener for being mounted on a shelf, having two parallel slant ribs and an intermediate trough formed between the two slant ribs; and
- an auxiliary member having a seat for supporting the shelf;
- wherein the sleeve is seated around the post by engaging the flange with one of the positioning slots, the fastener is fastened around and engaged with the sleeve by inserting the slant ribs and the foolproof block into the slant trough and intermediate trough, respectively, and the shelf is fastened to the fastener through the auxiliary member.
6. The shelving unit of claim 5, wherein the sleeve is composed of a first half sleeve and a second half sleeve, and the first half sleeve is the same as the second half sleeve in shape.
7. The shelving unit of claim 5, wherein the fastener is composed of a first half fastener and a second half fastener, and the first half fastener is the same as the second half fastener in shape.
8. The shelving unit of claim 5, wherein the outer side of the sleeve and an inner surface of the fastener are correspondingly shaped into a partially conical outline.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 9, 2012
Publication Date: Jul 11, 2013
Inventor: Din-Hwa WU (Taipei City)
Application Number: 13/345,880