Shelf-supporting Standard

Abstract

Standard comprising an upright tubular bar of polygonal cross-section having vertical slits in at least two nonadjoining faces to receive shelf-carrying brackets extending in different directions, a possibly unslitted intermediate face having holes to receive screws for fastening the bar to a supporting wall.

Parent Case Text

This application a Division of application Ser. No. 649,627, filed June 28, 1967 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,502,293.

Description

My present invention relates to improvements in self-supporting standards of the type disclosed in my copending application Ser. No. 486,033 filed Sept. 9, 1965, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,751, issued Sept. 5, 1967.

In that earlier application I have disclosed a standard in the form of an upright tubular bar with a flat forward face forming a vertical land provided with vertical slits for the insertion of shelf-supporting brackets and with mounting holes for the passage of screws designed to secure the bar to a supporting wall. This apertured forward face is flanked by a pair of lateral wings with rearwardly facing longitudinal edges forming wall-contacting surfaces.

A principal object of my present invention is to provide a standard of this general type adapted to support several sets of shelf-carrying brackets extending in different directions, for the purpose of affording greater versatility in the mounting of the shelves and/or reducing the number of standards required to support a given number of shelves.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide a standard of the type described whose mounting holes are offset from its bracket-receiving slits so as to afford greater freedom in the positioning of the brackets without interfering with the tightening or removal of fastening screws.

It is also an object of my present improvement to provide a standard for the purpose described which is of attractive appearance and wherein the heads of fastening screws or the like are hidden from view.

A shelf-supporting standard according to my instant invention comprises an upright tubular bar of polygonal cross-section forming two or more nonadjacent faces which are provided with respective sets of bracket-receiving slits and are separated by at least one intervening face having mounting apertures for the passage of fastening screws or the like.

The slitted nonadjacent faces may include with each other an angle of approximately 90.degree., which is particularly advantageous since it allows the bar to be placed in a corner of the room with a bracket extending along adjoining walls. In that event the polygonal cross-section of the bar need have only three sides, preferably adjoining sides of a regular octagon, the two outer sides bearing directly upon the respective walls. If the cross-section is extended to include two further, opposite sides (or parts thereof) of the octagon, the last-mentioned sides will be parallel to each other so as to bear octagonally upon a single wall surface against which the standard is placed; in this case the brackets will extend at 45.degree. angles in two directions so that shelves may be placed thereon. Finally, the cross-section of the bar may also be a complete polygon with an even number of sides, preferably an octagon, bisected substantially symmetrically so as to form two halves with longitudinal sliding fit whereby one half can be fastened to the wall by screws whose heads will be concealed after the other half has been slid into engagement with the first one. The joints between the two halves may be covered by decorative facings, e.g. of plastic material.

The invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of part of a shelf-supporting standard according to my present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the assembly of FIG. 1 shown fastened to a wall;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, showing an assembly with two standards of the type illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is another top view, illustrating a modification of the standard shown in the preceding figures;

FIG. 5 is a front-elevational view of a standard with a removable head secured thereto; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an octagonal standard embodying the invention.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 I have shown a standard in the form of a thin-walled tubular metal bar 10 of polygonal cross-section, more specifically a section which will be recognized as half of a regular octagon. Bar 10 has two faces 11a, 11b, formed with vertical slits 12a, 12b to accommodate brackets 13a, 13b at different elevations; the brackets extend at right angles to each other and support a shelf 14 indicated in dot-dash lines. It will be understood that additional pairs of brackets and shelves supported thereby may be secured to the standard 10 at other levels.

An intervening face 11c of bar 10 is provided with mounting holes 15 for the passage of fastening screws 16 which enter a supporting wall 17. Faces 11d and 11e of the bar, each having a width equal to half that of faces 11a, 11b and 11c, terminate in a pair of enlarged flanges 18 which lie in a common plane and bear flat upon the wall 17.

In FIG. 3 I have shown two standards 10', 10", each similar to the standard 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2, fastened by screws 16', 16" to respective walls 17', 17", meeting at a corner of a room. Brackets 13' and 13", respectively supported on bars 10' and 10", carry a diagonally positioned shelf 14'.

In FIG. 4 I have shown a slightly modified bar 110 whose polygonal cross-section, extending over a horizontal arc of 135.degree., has only three sides 110 a, 110b, 110c terminating in enlarged flanges 118a, 118b which bear upon respective walls 117a, 117b. Screws 116 (only one shown) pass diagonally from face 110c into the corner between walls 117a and 117b. A sector-shaped shelf 114 is supported by diverging brackets 113a, 113b respectively extending from the mutually perpendicular faces 110a and 110b alongside and parallel to walls 117a and 117b. As in FIGS. 1 - 3, the adjoining faces include angles of 135.degree. with each other.

FIG. 5 shows the bar 10 topped by a removable head 19, e.g. of wood, having a pair of depending spring clips 20 which straddle the shank of screw 16 near the top of the bar to hold the head 19 in position. Similar terminations can, of course, be provided at the lower end (not shown) of the bar 10 as well as on the modified standards depicted elsewhere in the drawing and in my prior application identified above.

In FIG. 6 I have illustrated two complementary bars 210', 210", each of generally the same transverse profile as the bar 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2 except for the presence of interfitting formations 218', 218" (i.e. a rib and a complementary groove)on the end faces 211d', 211e", and 211d", 211e" of the two bars. The ribs and grooves, which preferably extend over the full length of the bars, provide a sliding fit whereby the two bars may be interconnected or separated by relative longitudinal displacement.

In the assembly of FIG. 6, in which the two bars 210', 210" are joined to form an octagonally contoured standard, the central face 211c' of standard half 210' is disposed next to a supporting wall 217 to which it is fastened by screws 216 passing through mounting holes 215'. The corresponding mounting holes 215" in standard half 210" are not used and are covered up by a decorative facing 221, e.g. of thermoplastic material, received in a forward depression of face 221c". Similar facings 221', 221" may be laid into recesses of adjoining faces 211d', 211e", and 211d", 211e' to conceal the joints 218', 218" thereof. The facings 221, 221', 221" may be held in position by adhesive bonding or other means. Faces 221a", 221b" of bar 210" have some of their slits 212a", 212b" occupied by brackets 213a, 213b supporting shelves not shown. It will be noted that the heads of screws 216 are not visible after the semi-octagonal bar 210" has been slid into engagement with bar 210' fixed to the wall 217.

The interior of standard 210', 210" in FIG. 6, as also the spaces between the bar profiles and the supporting figures, in preceding FIGS. may be used to accommodate wiring or other structures associated with objects to be placed on the shelves.

Claims

I claim:

1. A shelf-supporting standard comprising a thin-walled upright bar extending over a horizontal arc of 90.degree. and terminating a pair of vertical edges engageable with two orthogonally adjoining walls, said bar being formed with three angularly adjoining faces including an intermediate face and two mutually perpendicular outer faces bounded by said edges, said outer faces being provided with respective sets of vertical slits for the mounting of diverging shelf-carrying brackets therein respectively extending next to said walls, said intermediate face being provided with apertures for the passage of fastening means to secure said bar to said walls.

2. A standard as defined in claim 1 wherein said faces adjoin one another at angles of 135.degree..

3. A standard as defined in claim 1 wherein said bar is formed with enlarged wall-engaging flange portions at said edges.