US3536203A - Shelf divider - Google Patents

Description

United States Patent John Janetka Ville dAnjou, Quebec, Canada 751,823

Aug. 12, 1968 Oct. 27, 1970 New York Wire Works Limited Montreal, Quebec, Canada Aug. 15, 1967 Canada lnventor Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee Priority SHELF DIVIDER 3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl

Int. Cl Field of Search [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 935,560 9/1909 Stone 211/184 3,202,298 8/1965 Koreska 211/184X 3,241,683 3/1966 Blodee 21 1/184X FOREIGN PATENTS 177,349 11/1961 Sweden 211/184 Primary Examiner'l'homas F. Callaghan Att0rneyAlan Swabey ABSTRACT: A shelf divider having a bent main body portion of resilient wire with legs attached transversely to the ends of the main body to support the divider when mounted within channels on a shelf.

Patented Oct. 27, 1970 3,536,203

INVENTOR John JANETKA A TTORNE y; I

SHELF mvmsn This invention relates to an improved shelf divider.

Many types of shelf dividers are known which can be adjustably attached to shelves to divide and maintain upright one group of articles from another. One popular type of shelf divider is made from a single piece of bent resilient wire rod. The shelves with which such dividers are used are formed from a flat sheet of material. They have a flat top, and the edges are bent to form rectangular channels having an opening extending the length of the shelf on their inner wall. The outer vertical wall of the channel forms the edges of the shelf. These channels make the shelf more structurally rigid. The opening on the inner wall is large enough to receive the ends of the divider when it is mounted on the shelf.

The bent wire divider used with these shelves is formed to have a main body, which serves to divide the articles on the shelf, extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of the shelves when mounted on the shelves. The ends of the main body are bent in an elongated U-shaped to form transverse legs. The plane of the U-shaped legs is vertical, parallel to the outer vertical wall and the opening in the shelf, and transverse to the main body of the divider. The U-shape also extends in the longitudinal direction of the opening in the shelf. To mount the divider, the legs are inserted through the openings in the channels. The legs abut against the outer vertical edges of the shelf. The resiliency of the main body of the divider holds it in position. The plane of the legs lies flat against the outer vertical edge of the shelf and provides added support for maintaining the divider firmly in position.

Shelves are now being used which have a smaller channel and narrower opening then those previously used. The bent U- shaped leg of the previously used dividers is now too big to pass within the narrower opening. It has also been found that the bend in the U-portion of the legs cannot be satisfactorily manufactured at a small enough radius to reduce the size of the legs so they would fit in the narrow openings.

This invention relates to providing new shelf dividers which can be used with the shelves having small openings in the channels. The novel dividers are provided with legs attached transversely to the ends to the main body of the divider. The legs are formed from a fairly straight one-piece section rather than a two-piece section formed when the prior art dividers are bent double to form a U-shape. The single-length leg attached to the body portion of the divider is small enough to allow the ends of the divider to fit within the opening. The legs of the divider preferably are made and mounted to allow the ends of the divider to be locked in place when the divider is mounted on the shelf.

The novel dividers can be made more simply and cheaply than prior art dividers. The dividers are also formed in a manner to minimize or prevent scratching of the shelves when mounting the dividers.

The improved divider has a main body of bent resilient wire and a transverse relatively short leg attached to each end of the main body portion. Each leg is provided with a central longitudinally extending offset portion. The offset portion of each leg has an integral longitudinal support arm extending from each end. Each leg is attached at its approximate midpoint to the end of the main body portion. Preferably, the leg is attached to extend outwardly at an angle.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described in more detail, having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front plan view of the shelf divider;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the shelf divider;

FIG. 3 is a perspective showing in detail one end of the shelf divider; and

FIG. 4 is a front plan view showing in detail one end of the shelf divider mounted in a shelf.

As shown in FIG. 4, the shelves 1 have a flat horizontal top wall 3. Each edge of the shelf is formed into an open channel having a vertical outerwall 5, a horizontal bottom wall 7 and an upwardly extending inner wall 11. Since both edges of the shelf are the same, only one is shown in FIG. 4. The inner wall 11 ends a short distance from the top wall leaving an opening 13. The top wall 3 of the shelf supports objects such as books or file folders. A divider 17, to be described, is mounted on the shelf in the openings on both sides, one such mounting shown in FIG. 4. The divider extends down from the shelf to divide and support objects on the shelf located below.

The divider 17 has a main body 19 of bent resilient wire, preferably bent in a W-shape, as shown in FIG. 1, and located in one plane. The wire is of a size to provide sufficient strength to maintain the shape of the divider and hold the objects in place and yet has sufficient resiliency so that it may be easily manipulated. The main body portion 19 has outer arms 21, the free ends 23 of which are bent outwardly to extend nearly horizontally as shown in FIG. 4. Attached to the ends 23 are transverse legs 25. These legs preferably are made of the same wire as the main body. The transverse legs are relatively short as compared to the length of the main body portion. Each transverse leg has a longitudinally extending central offset portion 27. An arm 29 extends from each end of the offset portion in substantially the same longitudinal direction. The transverse leg 25 is attached at its approximate centre to the end 23 of the arm 21 by welding. The leg is attached so that its plane 31, as shown in FIG. 4, extends at an angle A to the direction of the end 23 of the main body of the divider. Preferably, the angle A is 45. The leg is also attached so that a portion of it extends past the edge 33 of end 23 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. This prevents the edge 33 of the arms 21 from scratching the inside surface of the outer wall 5 of the shelf.

The offset construction of the leg 25 along with its angular mounting provides a snug fit of the ends of the divider within the shelf opening. The amount of offset and mounting angle A preferably are chosen to cause the divider to bear on the shelf in two locations when mounted through the opening. As shown in FIG. 4, when the arms 29 of the legs are pushed into the upper corner 35 of the channel, the ends 23 of the outer arms simultaneously bear against the edge 37 of inner wall 11. The inherent resiliency of the divider simultaneously pushes the ends of the arms against the corner and edge to lock the divider in place. As shown in FIG. 4, the ends 23 of the divider do not extend directly horizontally but are angled up slightly from the horizontal to allow contact to be made with the edge 37 of the shelf. The arms 29 of the legs 25 can be bent back a few degrees from the longitudinal, as shown exaggerated in FIG. 2, so that the ends 39 of the arms do not scratch or rub against the inner surfaces of the top wall 3 or outer wall 5 of the shelf.

The divider is formed to have a distance between the arms 29 which is slightly greater than the distance between the corners 35 of the shelf. This permits the divider to be held in place by the resiliency of the wire when mounted in the shelf.

When it is desired to move the shelving, the outer arms 21 are grasped and pushed against each other so that the transverse legs 25 are withdrawn from the openings 13 in the shelves as is well known. The divider is made of wire having sufi'icient resiliency or spring to hold the legs 25 firmly against the corners 35 and the ends 23 of the main body against the edge 37 of the shelf opening to properly position the shelf divider.

Various modifications of the invention can be made. For example, the main'body 19 of the divider can be bent in any desired shape provided that it supports or divides the objects and provides the necessary resiliency to hold the divider in place.

lclaim:

l. A shelf divider comprising a resilient wire or rod body member, the body member terminating in free ends extending in opposed directions, a wire or rod leg rigidly connected on each free end of the body member, each leg comprising a central portion, by which it is connected to an end of the body member, and an arm extending from each end of the central portion, the arms laterally offset from the central portion and extending in opposed directions substantially parallel to the central portion, each leg extending substantially trans versely to the plane of the body member, the plane of each legextendin; at an angle, to the'direction of thefree ends of the body member, away from the bodymember, and the arms of each leg located outwardly of the body member; t

2. A shelf divider as claimed in claim l; wherein thbtfset arms extending from the ends of the offset portion of each leg

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