Support rack for storing or transporting plate-shaped objects, combination of a transport pallet and such a support rack, kit of parts for manufacturing such a support rack and use of such a support rack

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a support rack for storing or transporting plate-shaped objects, a combination of a transport pallet and such a support rack, a kit of parts for manufacturing such a support rack and the use of such a support rack. In particular, the invention relates to support racks for storing and transporting plate-shaped articles such as glass panels, natural stone slabs, metal plates and the like, wherein the support racks consist mainly or entirely of plate-shaped, vertical support elements which are connected to each other by connecting slats.

Claims

1. A support rack for storing or transporting plate-shaped objects, wherein the support rack has a height, a width and a length, wherein the support rack comprises two or more plate-shaped support elements extending at a distance from each other in the lateral direction and the height direction, wherein the support elements each have a top edge, wherein the top edge comprises one or two first edge portions and one or two second edge portions, wherein the one or two second edge portions are horizontal or, seen in the direction from a side of the rack toward a first edge portion, slope downwardly at a first angle (β) of 25° or less relative to an horizontal line, wherein the one or two first edge portions protrude above the one or two second edge portions, wherein the one or two first edge portions form a second angle (α) of 25° or less relative to a vertical line, wherein the support elements each have a bottom edge, wherein the support rack comprises one or more first connecting slats and comprises at least two second connecting slats, wherein the first and second connecting slats extend in the longitudinal direction and connect the support elements to each other, wherein the one or more first connecting slats are attached to a first edge portion of the top edge of each of the support elements or are attached to a vertical edge of each of the support elements, wherein the one or more first connecting slats are attached at a position higher than the lowest point of the one or two second edge portions, and wherein the second connecting slats are attached to the bottom edge of each of the support elements or to the one or two second edge portions of the top edge of the support elements.

2. The support rack of claim 1, wherein the flexural strength of the material of which the support elements are made, is higher than the flexural strength of the material of which at least one of the first or second connecting slats are made of.

3. The support rack of claim 1, wherein the lower points of the support rack lie in a horizontal geometric plane, wherein the vertical distance between the lowest point of the one or two second edge portions and this geometric plane is less than 200 mm, and preferably less than 150 mm.

4. The support rack of claim 1, wherein the bottom edge of the support elements has a lower edge portion which is horizontal and which extends over at least 50% of the width of the support rack.

5. The support rack of claim 1, wherein the bottom edge of the support elements has a lower edge portion wherein at least a part of the lowermost points of the support rack lie on the lower edge portion.

6. The support rack of claim 1, wherein the first and second connecting slats have a width and a thickness, wherein the first and/or the second connecting slats are arranged in recesses made in the edges of the support elements, wherein the recesses have a width and shape corresponding to the width and shape of the respective connecting slat, and wherein the recesses have a depth equal to or greater than the thickness of the respective connecting slat.

7. The support rack of claim 1, wherein the support rack comprises at least two first connecting slats that are located at a different height, wherein the vertical distance between the bottom of the highest first connecting slat and the bottom of the lowest first connecting slat is at least 33% of the height of the support rack and preferably at least 45% of the height of the support rack.

8. The support rack of claim 1, wherein the support rack consists of said support elements and said one or more first connecting slats and said second connecting slats and connecting means for connecting the support elements to the first connecting slats and to said second connecting slats.

9. The support rack of claim 2, wherein said at least one of the first or second connecting slats is made of OSB or chipboard or wood fibre board, wherein the support elements are made of plywood.

10. The support rack of claim 1, wherein the first connecting slats and the second connecting slats are identical in shape and size in cross-section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, wherein the first and second connecting slats have a width and a thickness, wherein the first and second connecting slats have a first surface and a second surface extending in their lateral direction and in the longitudinal direction and have a third surface and fourth surface extending perpendicular to the first surface and the second surface and extending in the longitudinal direction, wherein the first surface has rounded transitions to the third surface and the fourth surface.

11. The support rack of claim 1, wherein the first and second connecting slats are attached to the support elements by means of dowels, wherein the first and second connecting slats are provided with bores for receiving the dowels, wherein the bores are arranged at a minimum of five different positions distributed over the length, wherein a first said position is located at a first distance from one end of the first and second connecting slats, wherein a second said position is located at said first distance from the other end of the first and second connecting slats, wherein a third said position is located midway between the first and second positions, wherein a fourth said position is located between the first position and the third position, wherein a fifth said position is located between the second position and the third position, wherein the fourth position and the fifth position are located at a distance from the third position corresponding to one-sixth of the distance between the first position and the second position.

12. The support rack of claim 1, wherein the support elements are connected to each other only by means of the first and second connecting slats.

13. The support rack of claim 1, wherein the highest first connecting slat and the lowest first connecting slat are both attached to the same first edge portion or to the same vertical edge, wherein the vertical distance between these two first connecting slats is at least 15% of the height of the support rack.

14. The support rack of claim 1, wherein the second connecting slats are attached to the bottom edge of each of the support elements.

15. Combination of a transport pallet and a support rack according to claim 14, wherein the support rack is placed on the transport pallet, wherein the second connecting slats are attached to the transport pallet.

16. A kit of parts for manufacturing a support rack according to claim 1, wherein the kit of parts comprises all parts necessary for manufacturing the support rack according to claim 1, wherein the kit of parts comprises two or more plate-shaped support elements, wherein the kit of parts comprises three or more connecting slats, wherein the support elements, at positions where they are provided for attachment of a first or second connecting slat, are provided with dowels which are attached to the support elements.

17. The kit of parts of claim 16, wherein the first connecting slats and the second connecting slats are geometrically identical.

18. The kit of parts of claim 16, wherein the connecting slats have a thickness, wherein the support elements have a thickness, wherein the thickness of the support elements is equal to the thickness of the connecting slats.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0062] In order to better explain the invention, a preferred embodiment of a support rack according to the invention is described, without the invention being limited to this embodiment, with reference to the following figures.

[0063] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a support rack according to the invention;

[0064] FIG. 2 is a front view along F2 of the support rack of FIG. 1;

[0065] FIG. 3 is a side view along F3 of the support rack of FIG. 1;

[0066] FIG. 4 is a front view of a part of the support rack of FIG. 1;

[0067] FIG. 5 is a side view of another part of the support rack of FIG. 1;

[0068] FIG. 6 is a side view along F6 showing the part of FIG. 5;

[0069] FIGS. 7 and 8 are a perspective view of a use of the support rack of the preceding figures.

[0070] All figures are shown to the same scale, with the exception of FIG. 6 which is scaled to 500% of the other figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0071] The support rack 1 of the figures has a height H of 1083 mm, a width B of 800 mm and a length L of 1200 mm.

[0072] The support rack 1 mainly consists of three support elements 2, three first connecting slats 3 and two second connecting slats 4.

[0073] The support elements 2 extend in the height direction h and the lateral direction b and are located at a mutual centre-to-centre distance A of 450 mm.

[0074] The support elements 2 are made from plywood boards with a thickness d1 of 18 mm by means of milling. The plywood is made of birch wood and has a flexural strength of 60 N/mm 2 measured in the direction of the fibres of its top layer and a flexural strength of 30 N/mm 2 measured in the direction perpendicular to these fibres.

[0075] The support elements 2 have an top edge 5 and a bottom edge 6 and side edges 7.

[0076] The top edge 5 of the support elements 2 mainly consists of four edge portions, i.e. two first edge portions 8, which form an angle α of 5° with a vertical line and which converge from bottom to top, and two second edge portions 9 which form an angle β of 5° with a horizontal line and which slopes downwardly from the side edges 7 of the support elements 2 in the direction of the first edge portions 8. The distance a over which the second edge portions 9 extend in the lateral direction b is 267 mm for each second edge portion 9.

[0077] In the first edge portions 8 of the top edge 5 and in the bottom edge 6 recesses 10 are provided with a depth d2 of 19 mm and a width b2 of 91.5 mm. Two dowels 12 are arranged in each of these recesses 10 by drilling holes in the support elements 2 at the location of the recesses 10 with a slightly smaller diameter than the diameter of the dowels 12 and then pressing the dowels 12 into these holes.

[0078] The bottom edge 6 has a straight and horizontal lower edge portion 13 and is, in this example, but not necessarily, completely formed by the lower edge portion 13 and the edges of the recesses 10.

[0079] The lowest point 14 of the top edge 5, i.e. the transition between the second edge portions 9 and the first edge portions 8, has a height X of 70 mm above the bottom edge 6.

[0080] The first and second connecting slats 3,4 are, in this example, but not necessarily, identical. Only their position and their orientation is different.

[0081] The connecting slats 3,4 are made of ‘Oriented Strand Board’ or OSB, in OSB3 quality with a thickness d3 of 18 mm. The OSB3 used has a flexural strength of 18 N/mm.sup.2 measured in the direction of the wood chips of the outer layer and a flexural strength of 9 N/mm.sup.2 measured in the direction perpendicular thereon.

[0082] The connecting slats 3,4 have a width b3 of 91.5 mm.

[0083] As may be seen from FIG. 6, the connecting slats 3,4 have a substantially rectangular shape in cross-section, with rounded corners on one side. This means that in their longitudinal direction 1 they have substantially four mutually perpendicular surfaces, i.e. a first surface 15, a second surface 16, a third surface 17 and a fourth surface 18. The transitions between the first surface 15 and the third and fourth surfaces 17, 18 are rounded with a radius of curvature r of 10 mm.

[0084] The connecting slats 3,4 are provided at five positions along their longitudinal direction 1 with three bores at each of the said positions. These bores concern upper and lower bores 19, not extending through the full thickness d3, provided in the first surface 15 for fittingly receiving the dowels 12, and middle bores 20 passing through the full thickness d3 of the connecting slats 3,4 and which serve to serve, if necessary, as screw holes for the fixed attachment of the connecting slats 3,4 to the support elements 2.

[0085] These five positions are a first position P1 and a second position P2, each at a distance A1 of 150 mm from one end of the connecting slats 3,4, a third position P3 in the middle of the connecting slats 3,4 and a fourth position P4 and a fifth position P5, each at a distance A2 of 150 mm from the third position P3.

[0086] The first connecting slats 3 are arranged in the recesses 10 in the first edge portions 8 of the support elements 2. As a result, their lateral direction is parallel to the first edge portions 8, i.e. 5° deviating from vertical. The bottom sides of the first connecting slats 3 are located at heights h1, h2, h3 of 300, 600 and 900 mm, respectively. This allows the first connecting slats 3 to provide optimum rigidity to the support rack 1 in the vertical plane in the longitudinal direction 1.

[0087] The second connecting slats 4 are arranged in the recesses 10 in the bottom edge 6 of the support elements 2 and have a mutual centre-to-centre distance A3 of 600 mm. Their lateral direction is horizontal. As a result, the first connecting slats 3 can provide optimum rigidity to the support rack 1 in the horizontal plane.

[0088] The connecting slats 3,4 are arranged such that the dowels 12 attached to the support elements 2 slide into the bores 19 in the first surface 15 of the connecting slats 3,4. A rigid but releasable connection is hereby obtained. In this example, the connecting slats 3,4 are not screwed onto the support elements 2, although this is optionally possible.

[0089] Since the depth d2 of the recesses 10 is exactly 1 mm greater than the thickness d3 of the connecting slats 3,4, the connecting slats 3,4 are slightly recessed in the recesses 10. As a result thereof, the lower points of the support rack 1 are formed by the lower edge portions 13 of the bottom edges 6 of the support elements 2, and the support rack 1 thus rests on these lower edge portions 13.

[0090] The use of the support rack 1 is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

[0091] First, as shown in FIG. 7, the support rack 1 is placed onto a transport pallet 22, on which it is fixed, but not necessarily in this example. This may be done, for example, by screws, whereby the middle bores 20 at the fourth and fifth positions P4, P5 of the second connecting slats 4 can be used.

[0092] Of course, this may also be done in other ways, for example by applying nails or staples or screws at random places in the second connecting slats 4, or by applying tensioning straps over the second connecting slats 4 and under the upper layer of the transport pallet 22.

[0093] Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 8, plate-shaped articles, such as glass panels 23 in this example, are placed on the support rack 1, the articles resting on the second edge portions 9.

[0094] Although in the above example the support elements 2 are made as a single piece, they may also consist of two or more parts which are attached to each other.

[0095] Although the second connecting slats 4 in the above example are arranged in the bottom edge 6, they may also provide sufficient rigidity to the support rack 1 if they are arranged at the second edge portion 9 of the top edge 5, for instance in recesses 10 in this second edge portion 9.

[0096] Although the support rack 1 comprises three support elements 2 in the above example, any number of support elements 2 may be used, in which case in particular two or three or four support elements 2 provide a good balance between stiffness and cost.

[0097] The dimensions of the support rack 1 of the example are not limiting. Similar support racks 1 of any desired size may easily be manufactured. Thereby, it is desirable to increase the number of first connecting slats 3 proportionally for greater heights.

[0098] Although the support rack 1 in the above example is symmetrical and has two equal first edge portions 8 and two equal second edge portions 9, a support rack 1 according to the invention may also be asymmetrical. It is also possible for a support rack 1 according to the invention to have only one first edge portion 8 and one second edge portion 9.

[0099] Although the support elements 2 in the above example have a straight bottom edge portion 13 which, with the exception of the edges of the recesses 10 in the bottom edge 6, extends over the full width of the support rack 1, the bottom edge 6 may also be other than straight, for instance corrugated, such that only a limited fraction of the bottom edge 6 forms the lower edge portion 13.