GB2031269A - Improvements relating to structures composed of a plurality of panels - Google Patents

Abstract

A profiled metal edge member of channel cross section has a longitudinal inwardly projecting lip adjacent to a free edge of one flange of the channel section, and is also furnished with formations (on the outside of the channel section), for engaging with complementary formations of another said edge member, whereby the edge member may be secured over the edge of a panel by the engagement of the lip with a groove in the panel, and whereby a plurality of panels thus edged may be interconnected. The edge members may also be provided with a system of slots where from shelf brackets depend. An edging strip for shelf boards is disclosed which has slots for positive engagement with the brackets and which has provision for suspending dividers therefrom. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements relating to structures This invention concerns improvements relating to structures, particularly but not exclusively racking, shelving, cabinets, office partitions, modules or like standing structures. It seeks to provide a structure and structure components which permit of simple assembly, without the necessity for operations such as bolting or riveting, which affords strength and rigidity in conjunction with economic use of material, as well as versatility with respect to the nature and size of structures which can be easily produced from a limited number of standard components by unskilled labour and which enables structures of attractive, smooth, appearance to be provided.

In accordance with the invention, an edge member for use in a self-supporting structure consisting of panels each comprising a board and profiled metal edge members attached to respective edges of the board, is of channel-cross section with a longitudinal inwardly projecting lip, for engaging in a groove adjacent to an edge of a panel board, adjacent to a free edge of one flange of the channel section and with longitudinal formations, on the outside of the channel section, for engaging with complementary formations of another profiled-section member. Such longitudinal formations may be provided on the outside of the base of the channel section.

Also for use in such a structure an edge member may be of double-channel, or H, section having a said lip adjacent to a free edge of one flange of each channel and with said longitudinal formations, in the form of undercut slot formations, on the outside of at least one long side of the double-channel cross section.

Also in acordance with the invention, a selfsupporting structure consists of panels which each comprise a board and profiled metal edge members of channel cross section which are fixed to and closely embrace respective edges of the board and are rigidly locked thereto by projecting lips extending longitudinally of the respective members and engaged with complementary grooves formed in the board adjacently to respective edges thereof, at least two said members being further provided with longitudinally extending formations by way of which each of said two members can be engaged with complementary formations of an other member by which at least one connection can be established with a respective edge of another panel. Said other member may be a member of double-channel cross section as set forth above.

It is an advantageous feature of the invention that the structures do not involve the use of a supporting framework assembled from, for instance by bolting, a number of vertical, horizontal and, possibly, bracing members on which separate cladding, shelving or like panels are suspended after such assembly. In contrast, in structures in accordance with the invention, the board and edge-section elements of the panels complement each other to form a strong, rigid, structure. As the boards are effective in bracing the vertical metal edge sections upright, it is not necessary to make the latter with uneconomically large cross-sectional areas designed to give them complete resistance to vertical loading by themselves. However, in some cases, horizontal beams or bracing members may be used in some locations in place of panel boards.

Ways of carrying the invention into effect will now be more fully described, by way of exampie, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a horizontal section through one portion art a corner of a racking structure, Fig. 2 is a vertical section, on Il-Il in Fig. 1, through a shelf panel, Fig. 3 is a front elevation of an end portion of a shelf panel, and Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of one end of the racking structure.

An open-fronted portion of a racking structure such as is shown in Fig. 1 comprises a rear panel 1, a partition panel 2 and an end panel 3 which are similar to each other, a shelf panel 4 and, generally, an upper shelf panel (not seen). Each of the panels 1,2, 3 consists of a board, 5, 6, 7 respectively, suitably of chipboard with facings of hard plastics material such as that available under the Trade Mark "Melamine" and/or any other decorative surface, and profiled metal edge sections 8, suitably aluminium extrusions.Each front and each rear edge section 8 is of generally channel cross section with a wider outer portion which firmly accommodates the respective vertical edge of the board, 6 or 7, the channel section having, near the free edge of one flange 9, a rectangular lip 10 which engages tightly in a complementary groove 11 adjacent to the respective edge of the board. The channel section may be designed to receive the edge of the board longitudinally with a snug sliding fit or, in some cases, to be snapped over that edge.A narrower inner portion of the channel section has vertical series of vertical slots 12, serving for the support of shelf-supporting means as hereinafter described, and inturned flanges 13, which, with ribs 14, form undercut longitudinal depressions 1 5 in which the said supporting means are accommodated in at least partially masked fashion.

The vertical edges of the board 5 of the rear panel are each received in one channel 16 of an H-section member 1 t, suitably also an aluminium extrusion. Each of the channels 1 6 has one lip 18 disposed similarly to the lip 1 0 for engaging in a groove 19 in a board 5. Both long sides of the Hsection have projecting ribs with inturned flanges 20 for inter-engaging firmly with out-turned ribs 21 at the base of the channel section of an edge member 8. In Figs. 1 and 4, these ribs 21 are shown on members 8 at the rear edges of panel boards 6, 7. Preferably, however, they are provided also on members 8 at the front edges of those boards and, indeed, for convenience in manufacture and forth sake of interchangeability, on all edge members 8.The members 8 and 1 9 can be interengaged by sliding one longitudinally in relation to the other. As shown on the left-hand side of Fig. 1 each channel 1 6 accommodates a board 5. Where, as shown on the right-hand side of that figure, one channel 16 is unoccupied, it may be masked by a trim strip 22 of plastics material or a metal extrusion clipped over the channel. An unoccupied depression 1 5 may be similarly masked by a sprung-in strip 23.

The inturned flanges 20 on the outer long side of a member 17, shown unused in Fig. 1, may be utilised for interengagement with the out-turned ribs 21 of a further edge member 8', shown in broken lines in Fig. 1, for receiving a vertical edge of a further grooved board (not shown) extending in the plane of a board 6, 7 but in opposite direction thereto, as in the case of a racking structure with two ranges of shelves back to back.

For some purposes use may be made of an integral T section member comprising a stem of the channel shape of a member 8 and a crosspiece of the H shape of a member 17, the rear panel comprising a board 5 provided with grooves 1 9 near the side edges.

Fig. 2 illustrates channel-shaped edge sections 24 attached to the front and rear edges of a board 25, similar to the boards 6, 7, of a shelf panel 4, but having rebated edges to provide a flushtopped shelf. One flange of the channel has an inwardly facing lip engaged in a groove in the board, as in the case of the edge members 8.

Inturned flanges 26 form a shallow channel 27 which may be used to receive a strip bearing identification information relating to a shelf section or its contents. A ledge 28 below the lower flange of the channel forms a longitudinal channel 29 which may serve for receiving a respective, horizontally bent, end of a simple hanging wire shelf divider 30 (shown by chain lines) of bow shape.

For supporting a shelf panel 4 at each corner, use may be made, as shown in Fig. 3, of a hook-in bracket 31 having a vertical limb 32 provided with superposed downward hooks 33 engageable in a selected pair of slots 12 in an adjacent upright member 8 and a horizontal limb 34 with an upturned hook 35 engageable in a single slot 36 in the iowerflange of the adjacent shelf-edge member 24. At its inner edge, the bracket 3 1 has a stiffening flange 37 whose vertical portion 38 abuts against the member 8.

As illustrated for the left-hand end of the racking structure in Fig. 4, an end-board 7 extending for the whole or part of the height of the structure has vertically extending front-edge and rear-edge metal sections 8. A metal H-section 1 7 is also provided for a rear board 5 (not shown in Fig. 4). An upper metal capping piece 39 of downwardiy open channel section covers the upper edge of the board 7 and, by end parts 40 of reduced height, the upper ends of the members 8 and 17. The capping piece 39 is secured by screws 41 to the board 7. A lower capping piece 42 of similar or identical shape is also secured to the board 7 by screws 41. The capping piece may also be secured by rivet or by crimping.Welded or crimped into the extremities 40 of the lower capping piece 42 are square nuts 43 which serve to receive the shanks 44 of adjustable feet 45 or castors for the structure. Such capping pieces with feet or castors may be provided also at the position of one or more partition panels 2.

Generally as described above, panels of the full height of the structure will be used. If however, it is desired to make up a required height with superposed boards, for example for increasing the height of a structure, the join between boards may be masked by a metal extrusion of simple Hsection.

Apart from racking or shelving structures as such, the invention may be applied to other standing structures comprising panel cladding, for example cabinets closeable at the front by, for instance, doors hinged to the end panels. In place of one or more shelves, supports for documentfiling means may be provided, for example horizontal round rods on which filing envelopes can be slidably supported in per se known manner The invention may further be utilised in partition structures generally such as office work modules.

Structures can not only be simply assembled, but also dismantled and reassembled, if required in a different structure, by unskilled labour. The component parts can be compactly disposed for storage and transport. Structures have a neat smooth appearance without projecting or unsightly features. Shelves may be flush with the front of the structures.

Production may be carried out by relatively simple economical operations. Thus the cutting of the panel boards to size and the cutting of the grooves therein may be performed in a singie operation. Side and shelf boards of a structure may be of a standard size with the same distance of groove from board edge. Panels may be assembled from the boards and edge sections in the factory and despatched ready for assembly of the structure.

Claims (14)

1. For use in a self-supporting structure consisting of panels each comprising a board and profiled edge members attached to respective edges of the board, a profiled metal edge member of channel cross section with a longitudinal inward projecting lip, for engaging in a groove adjacent to a said edge of a panel board, adjacent to a free edge of one flange of the channel section and with longitudinal formations, on the outside of the channel section, for engaging with complementary formations of another, profiled-section, member.

2. An edge member according to claim 1, wherein the said longitudinal formations are on the outside of the base of the channel section.

3. An edge member, according to claim 1, which is of double-channel cross section with a said lip adjacent to a free edge of one flange of each channel and with said longitudinal formations, in the form of undercut slot formations on the outside of at least one long side of the double-channel cross section.

4. A self-supporting structure consisting of panels which each comprise a board and profiled metal edge members of channel cross section which are fixed to and closely embrace respective edges of the, board and are rigidly locked thereto by projecting lips extending longitudinally of the respective members and engaged with complementary grooves formed in the board adjacently to respective edges thereof, at least two said members being further provided with longitudinally extending formations by way of which each of said members can be engaged with complementary formations of an other member by which at least one connection can be established with a respective edge of another panel.

5. A structure according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the said longitudinally extending formations are on the outside of the base of the channel cross section.

6. A structure according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the said other member is of doublechannel cross section and the said longitudinally extending formations are on the outside of each long side of the double-channel cross-section.

7. An open-fronted racking structure according to claim 5 or 6, comprising at least one rear panel, at least one shelf panel and at least two upright side panels, whether end or partition panels, at least the front and rear edges of the boards of the shelf panel and the upright edges of the boards of the side and rear panels being embraced by said members of channel cross section.

8. A structure according to claim 5 or 6 and claim 7 wherein the upright edges of the board of the rear panel are embraced by one channel of a connector member of the double-channel cross section whose said complementary formations are engaged with said longitudinal formations of the sdge members at the rear edges of the boards of the side panels.

9. A structure according to any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein said members embracing the upright edges of the boards of side panels are provided with series of slots serving to accommodate hooks of brackets supporting a shelf panel.

10. A structure according to claim 9, wherein each said bracket has an upstanding hook engaged in a slot in the lower flange of the channel-section member embracing an adjacent front or rear edge of the board of a shelf panel.

11. A structure according to any one of claims 5 to 10, wherein a channel-section member embracing the front edge of a shelf board has a recess for accommodating an information strip.

12. A structure according to any one of claims 5 to 11, wherein channel-section members embracing front and rear edges of the bases of a shelf panel have formations for the suspension of one or more shelf dividers.

13. A structure according to any one of claims 6 to 12 and comprising two ranges of shelves disposed back to back and connected together by said members of said double-channel crosssection common to the said ranges.

14. A self-supporting standing structure substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.