AU3795299A - Cantilever arm attachment - Google Patents

Description

.11 0 00 s**

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT CANTILEVER ARM ATTACHMENT AND LOAD RETENTION SYSTEM The invention is described in the following statement: 1 SYSTEM FOR ATTACHING A CANTILEVER ARM, WITH OPTIONAL MEANS OF LOAD RETENTION This invention is a new method of attaching a cantilever arm to a column or post which has at least one flat side (or web), involving utilising new, specially manufactured components. The invention involves an inventive step and is useful, in that it can be commercially applied in manufacturing racking and shelving, other storage systems, and other structures.

Currently used methods of attaching a cantilever arm to a column or post have the following disadvantages: welding cantilever arms directly to posts results in sections which are large and awkward to handle and difficult to transport; attaching cantilever arms to steel H sections involves a complex method of manufacture, requiring two sections per arm for each arm unit therefore making each arm unit costly to produce; S(c) in addition such cantilever arms attached to steel H sections tend to slip over time, 20 therefore reducing the performance of the cantilever arm due to non-uniform slip on adjacent trees which results in additional loads on adjacent arms; cantilever arms attached to columns or posts using only bolts and nuts tend to wobble S" due to clearance between the bolt and the internal edge of the hole which the bolt S 25 passes through, again reducing the performance of the cantilever arm.

e) a danger exists that elevated loads on racks can be dislodged by earthquake or other forces, These problems are overcome by this invention, which is a means of attaching cantilever arms to a column or post which has at least one flat side (or web) utilising new, specially manufactured components and fasteners or preformed hook and eye S"type means of attachment. The specially manufactured components consist primarily of a connector and a stop attached to the cantilever arm, along with additional components as described in more detail below. The connector is attached to the cantilever arm. It has one or more holes or hooks and is attached to the web of the column or post. The stop is attached to the cantilever arm at an appropriate distance from the connector such that the stop rests against the flange of the post or column (the side which is at right angles to the web). The connector is attached to the web of the post or column at a level that is higher than the stop. The point or points of connection of the connector to the web of the column are also closer to the longitudinal axis of the post or column than the stop. The stop rests against the flange of the post or column to thus prevent rotation of the arm about its centre of rotation.

To assist with understanding the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which show several examples of the invention.

In the drawings: PIG.'s 1, 2 and 3 are respectively isometric, top and front views of one example of the invention. In FIG. 1, and 2 the stop, cantilever arm and connector are labelled 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The stop comprises an angle attached to the web of a cantilever arm at a suitable distance from the connector of the arm such that the stop protrudes at right angles from the web of the cantilever arm. The connector comprises a second angle which is attached to the back end of the cantilever arm such that one leg of the angle (3a) is at right angles to the web of the cantilever arm and is affixed to the end of the cantilever arm. The connector has at least one hole Method of attachment: the web of the arm is placed against the web of the column in such a manner that the hole in the connector is substantially in alignment with a hole in the web of the column, so that the stop engages the flange or face of the column. A fastener is passed through the connector and web of the column to attach the arm to the post or column and a nut may be attached.

As a further example of the invention, the fastener may be passed through a hole in a third angle which is placed between the inside of the web of the post or column and the nut. If required, that angle would serve as a web stiffener and may provide additional support to the flanges of the column or post.

S"As a further example of the invention, a hook bolt may also be fitted around the flange of the post or column and through a hole in the stop to prevent lateral movement of the stop and the cantilever arm.

As a further example of the invention, if the post or column is a hot rolled channel section with sharp corners, a stiffener plate can be attached to the leg of the stop which protrudes at right angles from the cantilever arm (la, being the leg of the stop). The stiffener plate serves to create a sharp corner of engagement between the flange of the post or column and the stop.

Loose clip form packing plates of various thicknesses may be fitted between the stop and the flange of the post or column to fill any gaps which exist as a result of variations in post or column depths due to tolerances in manufacture. The stop may be reinforced with a plate fixed between the two legs of the stop.

FIG.'s 4, 5 and 6 are respectively side, top and front views of another example of the invention. A gusset plate may be attached to the bottom flange of the cantilever arm at a point which is near to the post or column. The gusset plate serves to reduce the deflection of the cantilever arm under load, or to increase the load carrying capacity of the cantilever arm. The gusset plate may take the form of an angle with one leg oriented parallel to the web of the cantilever arm and affixed to the web of the cantilever arm or the junction between the web and bottom flange of the cantilever arm. The other leg of the gusset plate is located horizontally and substantially lower than the first leg so as to present a flat surface to goods being loaded onto the cantilever arm or base below, which otherwise may have been damaged if there was a sharp edge. An additional benefit of the angle gusset plate is that a synergy may be achieved by attaching the lower flange of the angle gusset plate (7a) to the stop, thereby providing additional rigidity and strength to the stop.

A further example of the invention relates to a situation where it is desired to have a cantilever arm extending from a post or column in opposite directions, to thereby create a double-sided cantilever tree. To achieve this, the flange of each connector may be lapped one over the other (12) such that the holes in each connector and the hole in the web of the post or column are substantially in alignment with each other. The flange of one of the connectors is attached appropriately offset from the web of the cantilever arm it is attached to so that the flange of the connector and the web of the cantilever arm are not flush. This is done to accommodate the thickness of the connector flange on the other cantilever arm As an alternative to offsetting the flange of one of the connectors, in another form of the invention the stop on one cantilever arm may be reversed in orientation FIG 7 (14) so that the flange of that stop (which is attached to the web of the cantilever arm) is located adjacent to the web of the post or column and acts as a packer. If the second option is preferred, a hole at a suitable location in the vertical leg of the gusset plate or reinforcing plate previously referred to could provide a fixing point for the afore-mentioned hook bolt FIG. 8 is a side view of another example of the invention. In this example the cantilever arm is made to slope upwards, thereby preventing stored goods such as cylindrical steel or copper rods from rolling off the cantilever arm. This is achieved by ensuring that the flanges of the stop and connector which are transverse to the web of the arm are substantially parallel with each other, but are not at right angles to the flanges of the cantilever arm, being offset the required number of degrees from 90 degrees to the longitudinal axis of the cantilever arm and by reducing the diagonal distance from the centre of rotation to the stop.

In another form of the invention, flat plates affixed to the web of the cantilever arm are substituted for the connector or the connector is affixed to the top flange of the cantilever arm with a packing angle beneath one connector to permit lapping of the flanges of the connectors.

FIG. 9 is a side view of another example of the invention, for use in double sided cantilever trees where the cantilever arms are required to be on the same level on both sides of the tree.

The cantilever arm is continuous across the web of the post or column and a connector is attached to the top flange of the cantilever arm. An additional connector may be attached to the bottom flange of the cantilever arm. The connector or connectors together with the arm are then attached to the web of the column.

FIG. 10 is a top view of another example of the invention, for use when very heavy loads are contemplated. If individual cantilever arms on one or both sides of the rack are required, in S: ".one form of the invention the connectors are replaced with nesting U sections (15) to facilitate attachment to the web of a post or column on each side of the arm. Alternatively, if continuous cantilever arms are required, in one form of the invention the horizontally oriented connector i is again replaced with a U section to facilitate attachment to the web of a post or column on each side of the cantilever arm.

In addition, in a further form of the invention as shown in FIG 11, the stop is attached to the bottom flange of the cantilever arm such that its longitudinal axis is oriented in a horizontal plane and may protrude from both sides of the cantilever arm to engage the flange of one or both posts or columns. The flanges of the stop may be reinforced with plates as previously described above.

FIG 12 is a side view of another form of the invention for use where cantilever arms are required on one side only of a tree, or when it is acceptable for cantilever arms to be at different levels on each side of a tree. Two stops and a connector can be utilised instead of only one stop and a connector. The first stop and the connector are utilised as described above.

The second stop (16) is inverted and attached to the cantilever arm at a point which is on the side of the column or post which is opposite to the flange which the first stop engages. The cantilever arm thus extends at least across the full width of the web of the post or column, and so the second stop engages the flange of the post or column which is furthest from the tip of the cantilever arm, but at a point which is horizontally higher than the first stop. The connector would be oriented parallel with the longitudinal axis of the arm and either two hook bolts could be utilised or an additional connector (17) could be affixed to the bottom flange of the arm. A synergy may be achieved by making the connector extend across the full width of the column web so as to reinforce the flanges of the arm between the two stops.

FIG.'s 13, 14 and 15 are top, side and top views respectively of another form of the invention for use on posts or columns having more than one web. A cantilever arm, either single sided or continuous across the web of the post or column, is attached to each side of the post or column by any of the methods described above some examples of which are shown in FIG.'s 7, 9 and 13. As shown in FIG.'s 14 and 15 the arms may consist of flat plates (18) for example and may have a common stop (19) affixed between them at the appropriate point along the longitudinal axis of the arm.

The system for retention of loads is now described with reference to FIG.s 16, 17, 18 and 19 being top, front, top perspective and side views respectively.

In one example of the load retention system a U section (20) or other suitably shaped section is attached at the front end of the arm to the webs of the top arm in such a manner that an aperture or eye is created through which a rod or bar (21) can pass with sufficient clearance on either side to permit the rod or bar of suitable length to be passed through the aperture while being diagonally oriented in one plane. Near the bottom of the rack, vertically below the aperture (20) a cup (22) or other suitable means are provided to locate the lower end of the rod or bar so that lateral movement is restricted.

S" Method of fitting: The bar is held vertically and its lower end is moved laterally until the top is at a lower level than the aperture. The top is inserted through the aperture and the bar is brought to a substantially vertical position. The bar is raised and its lower end is located in the cup (22).

Additional angle, hook or similar shaped sections (23) may be attached to the front ends of intermediate cantilever arms to provide additional support to the rod or bar which is located in the hook type sections prior to lowering.

S' The above outlined system illustrated by drawings (20) to (23) may also be adapted for use on conventional racks and structures by attachment of the eye and hooks to the sides or other suitable location of conventional beams.

oooo It will be understood that modifications to the system that would be apparent to the skilled addressee are within the scope of the present invention.

IVAN GLENFIELD QUAIL Iq JULY 1999