AU2004201505A1 - Improved shelving bracket mounting system - Google Patents

Description

Pool Section 29 Regulation 3.2(2)

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Application Number: Lodged: Invention Title: Improved shelving bracket mounting system The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me us: IMPROVED SHELVING BRACKET MOUNTING SYSTEM FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to an improved mounting system that is suitable for mounting retail display apparatus, such as shelving, in display panels.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Retailers and others who display goods commonly use demountable shelving for displaying goods. One requirement for commercial shelving systems is that they be versatile with respect to shelf positioning, in order to accommodate different types of displays and product lines. A commonly employed display shelving system includes a plurality of shelving panels, a display wall that features a plurality of shelf support mountings arranged in a suitable array, and a plurality of support brackets that can be inserted in selected ones of the mountings and which have a cantilevered arm that support the shelves at the display wall. The functional geometry of the interacting shelf support and mounting wall, with respect to strength, ease of installation and removal, and cost, are strong marketplace differentiators between the available systems.

A shelving system of the above-described type, well known in the art in Australia, is supplied by Australian Slatwall Industries Pty Ltd, and is known as SLATWALL. A perspective view of this system is shown in Figure 1. A shelf mounting 1, supporting a cantilevered shelf bearing arm la is inserted in a cavity 2 in a panel 7. A horizontally inclined portion 1 b of the mounting 1 bears downward in direction 3 on a lower rail 5 and outwards in a direction 4 on an upper rail 6, both rails being formed integral with the panel 7. Problems inherent with this type of system, that will be familiar to those skilled in the art, are that heavy loads can cause the upper rail 6 to break, and that similar loads can cause the panel to deform and weaken. In both cases the problem is exacerbated by a relatively large cavity size in comparison with the thickness of the surrounding panel material, which tends to weaken the supporting panel.

An attempt to overcome these shortcomings is made by the mounting system disclosed in WIPO Patent Document No. 03/101251, by IBJ Resources Pty Ltd. Disclosed therein is a panel mounting system featuring a cavity of approximately triangular cross-section in said panel, and a mount having an arcuate hook which abuts an upper, or 'ceiling' surface of said cavity. This design minimises the amount of material that must be removed from the panel, thereby improving overall strength. However, the geometry of this design presents other difficulties, namely that the shape of the hook requires the mount to be angled upward from the horizontal by up to 900 in order to effect installation and removal.

This means that mounts often cannot be removed or installed while shelves are in place above the mount. Also, the precise geometry of the hook and cavity means that if, during normal wear and tear, the hook becomes slightly deformed it becomes unusable, and cannot easily be repaired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved mounting system of good strength and robust design, which is also convenient to install and remove.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a mounting system having: a supporting panel having at least one cavity therein, the cavity having an aperture located at a front face of said supporting panel, a cavity channel portion extending from said aperture into the panel and substantially narrowing toward an anchor-receiving cavity portion, said anchor-receiving cavity portion having fore and aft surfaces located respectively nearer and further from said aperture; and a mount having a bent or curved anchor portion terminating at a distal end and having upper and lower surfaces, the anchor being adapted to fix said mount to said panel by locating said distal end within said anchor receiving portion and rotating said mount about an axis substantially collinear with said front face, so that said distal end passes through said aperture and locates within said anchor receiving cavity portion with said upper anchor surface abutting the fore surface of said anchor receiving portion and said lower anchor surface abutting a lower internal surface of said cavity channel portion when said supporting panel is oriented in a substantially vertical plane, whereby a downward load applied to said mount prevents said anchor from becoming dislodged from said cavity.

This configuration offers advantages over the prior art systems, including that of IBJ Resources Pty Ltd, in that the geometry allows a secure retention of the mount in the cavity without requiring as great a degree of upward rotation of said mount in order to insert or retract the anchor from the cavity. This means that individual mounts may be inserted or removed without the need to remove e.g.

shelves positioned above the mount.

Another significant advantage offered by the invention is relatively simple construction, which allows simple repair in case of damage. The anchor profile used in this system need not be as intricately or precisely curved as that shown in WIPO Patent Document No. 03/101251, by IBJ Resources Pty Ltd. Therefore, if the anchor is inadvertently damaged, it is less likely to be rendered unserviceable and/or is more readily repaired.

Preferably, the internal profile of the cavity narrows toward the anchor receiving portion via a curvature of the upper and lower surfaces of the cavity that tends to gradually narrow the height of the cavity to a pinch point, having a width that will substantially only allow the end of the anchor to pass through into the anchor receiving portion. Advantageously, the anchor itself features substantially the same curvature as exhibited by the lower surface of the cavity, such that when it is in an anchored position it is effectively cradled by said lower surface, thereby to spread the downward load applied to the mount evenly across said lower surface.

Preferably, the cavity narrows to about 60% of the aperture height at the pinch point. Preferably the uppermost point of the anchor receiving portion extends upward from the aperture centre-line a perpendicular distance 1.4 times the distance the upper point of the aperture extends upward from said centre-line, or in other words 0.7 times the total width of the aperture at said front wall. These proportions tend to provide good strength and ease of manufacture.

Preferably, aperture height is 5mm, the width of the cavity at the pinch point is 3mm, the thickness of the anchor material is 1.2mm, the anchor receiving portion extends 3.5mm above the aperture centre-line and the radius of curvature of both the lower surface of the cavity and the lower surface of the anchor is 6.4mm.

The cavity may advantageously be defined by an elongate slot adapted to receive a plurality of mounts having anchors of suitable geometry, allowing the mounts to be positioned at any point along the width of the panel. Said panel may feature a plurality of substantially parallel elongate slots.

Alternatively, said mounting system includes a plurality of said cavities spaced apart from one another in a horizontal plane.

Preferably, said panel is formed of custom wood or particle board.

Preferably, said mount forms part of a bracket suitable for supporting display goods.

Now will be described, by way of a specific non-limiting example, an embodiment of a mounting system according to the invention, with reference to the figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a prior art mounting system, commonly known by the name SLATWALL.

Figure 2 shows a cross-sectional side view of an installed mounting system according to the invention.

Figure 3 shows a cross-sectional side view of an installed mounting system according to the invention, with dimensions according to a particularly preferred embodiment marked.

Figure 4 shows a cross-sectional side view of an installed mounting system according to the invention, viewed from a greater distance than in Figure 2, showing the mount and bracket in its entirety.

Figure 5 shows a perspective view of a mount according to the invention, attached to a bracket for supporting a shelf.

Figure 6 shows a perspective view of a panel with a cavity according to the invention.

Figure 7 shows a side view of a mount and cavity according to the invention, wherein the mount is tilted for insertion into the cavity.

Figure 8 shows a side view of a mount and cavity according to the invention, wherein the mount is partly inserted into the cavity.

Figure 9 shows a variety of different brackets and other display devices attached to a mount according to the invention.

Figure 10 shows a typical display unit, featuring a mounting system according to the invention, wherein the cavity extends throughout the mounting panel.

Figure 11 shows a typical display unit, featuring a mounting system according to the invention, wherein there numerous individual cavities of finite length in the mounting panel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Turning first to figure 2, there is shown a wall mounting system for mounting a bracket 10 in a panel 15. The panel 15 features a cavity 20. Said cavity 20 opens to an aperture 25, narrows to a pinch point 30, beyond which is located an anchor receiving portion 35. The upper surface 45 and lower surface of said cavity 20 are curved toward each other (having a radius of curvature R) to produce the narrowing of the cavity 20 at the pinch point 30. The anchor receiving portion 35 is defined by a fore wall 36 and an aft wall 37.

An anchor 40 is attached to said bracket 10. Said anchor 40 is curved (also having a radius of curvature R) such that its lower surface 55 is cradled by the lower surface 50 of the cavity 20. The extremity of the anchor 40 is received in said anchor receiving portion 35 and contacts in particular the fore wall 36.

In use, when a load 60 is applied to the bracket 10, the anchor 40 tends to exert a downward force 65 on the lower surface of the cavity 50 and an outward force 70 on the fore wall 36 of the anchor receiving portion It will be apparent that accommodation of the cavity 20 in the panel does not does not require the degree of removal of material from the panel that is apparent from the diagram of the SLATWALL system in Figure 1. This allows the panel to retain a greater degree of strength than in those types of prior art systems. It will also be apparent that the matching curvature of the anchor 40 and the cavity wall 50 tends to spread the downward load 65 across a greater area, tending to reduce the likelihood of this force causing the panel material to fail at any given point.

Typically, the panel will be made from custom wood or particle board, however any suitable material may be used. The mount and anchor will typically be made of steel, but may alternatively be made from Perspex, nylon or other suitable materials.

Figure 3 indicates an especially preferred embodiment, where the anchor is constructed from 1.2mm steel, and particularly indicates advantageous dimensions for both the cavity and the mount.

Figure 4 gives an overall view of how the mounting system may be used to anchor a typical display shelf bracket 10 to a mounting panel 15. Figure 5 shows the shape of the typical display shelf bracket 10 when removed from the mounting. Figure 6 gives an overall impression of the shape and profile of the cavity 20 in the panel 15, with the bracket removed.

Now will be described the means by which insertion and removal of the anchor 40 from the cavity 20 is effected. Figure 7 shows a mounting anchor attached to a bracket 10, which is to be inserted into cavity 20 in panel 15. The bracket is angled upward from the horizontal at approximately 30 It can be seen with reference to dotted lines 75 and 80 that when the anchor 40 is presented to the cavity 20 at this angle, it will be received entirely within the cavity 20, without further rotation upward, when moved in the direction of arrow Figure 8 shows the anchor 40 positioned as far into the cavity as necessary in the direction of arrow 85. It will be noted that the lower surface 55 of the anchor 40 is nested in the lower surface 50 of the cavity 20. From this point in the installation procedure, the bracket 10 is rotated towards the horizontal, in the direction of arrow 90. This causes the end of the anchor 40 to move into the anchor receiving portion 35 in the direction of arrow 95. Once in this position, the end of the anchor positively engages with the fore wall 36 of the anchor receiving portion 35. Removal of the bracket is effected by reversing the above described procedure.

While the example above has depicted the mount attached to a horizontal shelf support bracket, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the same mounting system may equally be applied to a wide variety of other display apparatus. A selection of such apparatus is shown in Figure 9.

A common form of display unit 100 to which the above described mounting system is shown in Figure 10. In this unit, a plurality of cavities 20 are shown running throughout the width of the panel 15. Brackets 10 attached to a mounting according to the invention are shown inserted into the cavities An alternate form of display unit is shown in Figure 11, where the cavities are of finite length.

7 It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that many of the above described aspects of the mounting system may be modified or substituted while remaining within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (11)

1. According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a mounting system having: a supporting panel having at least one cavity therein, the cavity having an aperture located at a front face of said supporting panel, a cavity channel portion extending from said aperture into the panel and substantially narrowing toward an anchor-receiving cavity portion, said anchor-receiving cavity portion having fore and aft surfaces located respectively nearer and further from said aperture; and a mount having a bent or curved anchor portion terminating at a distal end and having upper and lower surfaces; wherein the anchor is adapted to fix said mount to said panel by locating said distal end within said anchor receiving portion and rotating said mount about an axis substantially collinear with said front face, so that said distal end passes through said aperture and locates within said anchor receiving cavity portion with said upper anchor surface abutting the fore surface of said anchor receiving portion and said lower anchor surface abutting a lower internal surface of said cavity channel portion when said supporting panel is oriented in a substantially vertical plane, whereby a downward load applied to said mount prevents said anchor from becoming dislodged from said cavity.

2. The mounting system of claim 1, wherein the internal profile of the cavity narrows toward the anchor receiving portion via a curvature of the upper and lower surfaces of the cavity, said curvature tending to gradually narrow the width of the cavity to a pinch point, said pinch point having a width that will substantially only allow the end of the anchor to pass through into the anchor receiving portion.

3. The mounting system of claim 1 or 2, wherein curvature of the anchor and the curvature of the lower surface of the cavity are substantially concentric, such that when said anchor is located in an anchored position in intimate cradled contact with said lower surface, the load transmitted by said anchor to said lower surface is spread substantially evenly across said lower surface.

4. The mounting system of claim 2 or 3, wherein the width of the cavity at the pinch point is about 60% of the width of said aperture located at a front face of said supporting panel. The mounting system of claim 4, wherein the uppermost point of the anchor-receiving portion is located at a perpendicular distance from the centre- line of said aperture of 0.7 times the total width of the aperture at said front face of said supporting panel.

6. The mounting system of claim 5, wherein said aperture width is about the width of the cavity at the pinch point is about 3mm, the thickness of the anchor material is about 1.2mm, the uppermost point of the anchor-receiving portion is located about 3.5mm above the aperture centre-line and the radius of curvature of both the lower surface of the cavity and the lower surface of the anchor is about 6.4mm.

7. A mounting system featuring a cavity, wherein the cavity is defined by an elongate slot adapted to receive a plurality of mounts, and wherein the profile of said cavity conforms with the geometry of a cavity defined in any preceding claim.

8. A supporting panel for a mounting system, said panel featuring one or more cavities substantially as defined in any.preceding claim.

9. A mount for a mounting system, said mount substantially as defined in any one of claims 1 to 6. A mounting system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to figures 2, 3, 4, 7, 8 or

11. A mount for a mounting system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to figures 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 or

12. A cavity for a mounting system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to figures 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11.

13. A supporting panel for a mounting system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to figures 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11. DATED this 8th day of April 2004 JOHN HOPKINS WATERMARK PATENT TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS 290 BURWOOD ROAD HAWTHORN VICTORIA 3122 AUSTRALIA