The present invention relates to a rack for holding bins and in particularly to a racking system for mounting in vans and other restricted places.

In one broad form the invention comprises a racking system for mounting in vans comprising substantially vertical posts, each having a plurality of slots located thereon; -at least two horizontal rails adapted to engage with the said vertical posts; a plurality of horizontally extending trays adapted to be connected with connector means which engage with the slots of said vertical posts, said tray extending beyond the vertical post; and storage bins adapted to fit onto and to be secured to the said metal trays.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a prior art racking system installed in a van;

Figure 2 illustrates one view of a racking system according to one embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 3 and Figure 4 illustrate a connector means according to one embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 5 illustrates an exploded view of the one embodiment of the present invention. In the prior art racking systems for vans, as illustrated in figure 1, the side racks 1 were placed on a slant so as to avoid the wheel bulge 2, thereby substantial floor area of the van was taken up. Further the racking systems had posts 3 connected from the roof to the floor with panels 4 in between. These panels comprised metal sheets with slots 5 located tnereon. The storage bins 6 clipped into these slots 5. As can be seen the storage bins extended from the panels 4 into the interior of the van.

These types of racking have the disadvantage that they inefficiently use the space available within the van as the storage bins extend well into the interior of the van. Further the storage bins are only secured on their back edge to the panels by clipping into the slots 5. This type of connection allowed for flexure of the bins during motion of the van which sometimes resulted in the bins working loose from the panels.

The present invention overcomes these problems in that the posts are substantially vertical, straddling the wheel bulge, and the bins are located in trays which project on both sides of the posts, thereby effectively using the space available within the interior of the can and ensuring adequate fastening of the bins. Turning now to Figure 2 of the drawings it is seen that the posts 7 extend substantially vertically from the floor of the van to the roof. In the embodiment illustrated are five posts two of which straddle the wheel bulge 16. Joining these posts are an upper horizontal member 8 and a lower horizontal member 9. Metal trays 10 are secured to the posts 7 by any suitable means. However in the embodiment shown the trays 10 are connected by bolts to a connector means 11, which has extensions which mate with the slots 12 in the vertical posts 7.

In another embodiment there can be employed a connector means as illustrated in figures 3, 4 and 5. This connector means 17 comprises a plate section 18 having two projections 19 extending therefrom. Connected to the plate section 18 is a resilient plate 20 having a projection 21 extending through an opening 22 in the plate section 18. The resilient plate 20 is fixed at one end to the plate section such that the projection 22 can be withdrawn from the opening 22 but

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because of the resilient nature of the plate 20 is biased into engagement with the opening 22 and extends therethrough, as shown in figure 4.

The metal trays 10, as shown in figure 5 are connected to the connectors 17 by engagement of the projections 19 into slots 23 in the side walls of the trays 10. The projection 21 mates with the opening 24 to secure the tray 10 to the connector 17.

The connector 17 also comprises reentrant projections 25 which mate with the slots 12 of the uprights 7. The recesses 26 looking behind the material of the upright below to slots 12 to secure the connectors to the uprights.

Each tray 10 has a connector 17 on each side to affix it securely to the uprights 12.

Plastic storage bins 13 are then fitted onto the metal trays 10. The raised lip 27 (figure 5) abuts against the front edge of the bin 13 while the lip 28 of the tray 10 is resiliently held by a reentrant lip 29 of the storage bin to securely hold the storage bin or bins in position in the racking.

A cable storage tray 16 and a gas cylinder storage area 30 can be incorporated into the racking system. A single storage bin can be fitted to a tray as described or two or more storage bins can be supported per tray as shown in figure 2.

The present invention thereby has the storage bin positioned as close as possible to the walls of the van so as to provide the maximum free floor area. It is obvious to people skilled in the art that modifications can be made to the invention described without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

/ OMP