The invention also relates to a support member intended to be secured at a chosen height along an upright using such a locking strip.

Background to the invention In shops and department stores there is a great need for stands which can be used for setting up shelves for the display and presentation of goods. The stands must be very flexible and permit simple variation of the number of shelves or the like and the distance between these. It is also desirable to be able to build up shelves or display stands using two, three, four or more uprights. In some cases, display stands with only one upright can be used.

In addition to shelves, the stands are also intended to be able to be used for other types of supports for various goods, for example bars, display prongs, etc.

The uprights must also be able to be used for attachment of signs and so-called flags with advertising offers.

It is further desirable that stands of the abovementioned type can be used for construction of, for example, shelves of any chosen configuration without using securing and locking elements which require screws or the like. In this way, a shelf can easily be constructed on site and, when so desired, can be dismantled and reconstructed at another site or altered for adaptation to other goods.

GB-12235 describes a shelf unit which can be built from three uprights and shelves which are supported by spacer elements inserted into the uprights. This construction requires at least three uprights and can only use specially constructed shelves with projecting pins with balls or plates which are displaceable in grooves in the uprights.

FR-A1-2558359 describes a stand with a central upright and modules at different levels along the latter. The central upright is in this case intended to be secured between floor and ceiling, which constitutes a serious limitation.

US-A-2677519 describes different stands for securing brackets at a desired height. In one design, use is made of a support which can be secured in a groove and which comprises two wedge elements which can be pressed apart with the aid of a pivotable wedge member in order to lock the support in the groove. The wedge elements are held together with the aid of a pin which also serves as pivot pin for the pivotable wedge member. To lock the wedge member between the wedge elements, a spring-tensioned locking ball is used which is arranged at the lower end of the support. This arrangement thus consists of several parts which require different assembly operations, and this makes production and use more expensive and more complicated.

Object of the invention A main object of the present invention is to make available a locking strip for securing a support member at a chosen height in a channel in an upright, which locking strip is very easy and inexpensive to produce and can also be easily used on site to set up, for example, shelves or other stands for display of goods without using separate fastening elements such as screws or the like which require the use of tools. The locking strip is also intended to permit construction of shelves or other displays with an esthetically pleasing appearance.

Another object is to make available a support member designed to be secured at a chosen height in a channel in an upright, using a locking strip according to the present invention which can be inserted into the channel.

The first of the abovementioned objects is achieved by means of a locking strip of the type specified in the first paragraph, which is designed in one piece, in which the two side portions are connected by means of a material portion which forms a bottom of the groove between the side portions of the locking strip along at least part of the length of the strip and in which the side portions of the strip are designed with laterally projecting flanges which, when the strip is inserted into and moved within the channel in the upright, are designed to form guides extending on the outside of the upright.

A locking strip of this type can be mass-produced at low cost and ensures that the support member in question can easily be secured at the desired height on an upright. As a result of the design of the strip, it is easy to control it when adjusting its height, thus eliminating tendencies for it to become jammed in the

channel of the upright. The side flanges of the strip also make it possible to obtain esthetically attractive stands with different decorative effects.

It is preferable that the locking strip, when it is inserted into a channel in an upright, allows a locking element to be pressed into the groove of the strip, which locking element has an edge portion which cooperates with an engagement surface in the groove so as to obtain a snap-fitting of the locking element into the groove. To do this, it is not necessary to use any separate, spring-loaded locking elements, as is the case in known constructions.

The groove of the strip preferably has a widened portion for receiving said edge portion of the press-in locking element, the transition between this widened portion and the groove expediently forming an abutment edge which can cooperate with the edge portion of the press-in locking element.

Further features of a locking strip according to the invention will become evident from the attached patent claims.

The second of the abovementioned objects of the invention is achieved by means of a support member which is designed with a part which cooperates with the locking strip and which is in the form of a plate which can be pressed through a lateral opening in the channel of the upright and into a groove in the locking strip, with an edge portion which cooperates with an engagement surface in the groove in order to obtain snap-locking of the plate in the groove.

When the support member for example has the form of a bracket, the plate which can be inserted into the groove can constitute a part of the bracket, in which case the latter can easily be positioned and thereafter

secured in the desired position by a pivoting movement, which results in the plate portion being pressed into and secured in the groove of the locking strip positioned in the upright.

Further features of a support member according to the invention are set out in the attached patent claims.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the embodiment shown by way of example in the attached drawings.

Brief description of the drawings Fig. 1 shows an end view of a locking strip according to the invention, and stand parts cooperating with it.

Figs 2A-2E show different views of the locking strip in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 illustrates how two bracket arms are secured in a locking strip.

Fig. 4 illustrates the fitting of a locking strip with two bracket arms on an upright.

Fig. 5 is a cross section through an upright, and a view of a part which is connected to two bracket arms and is intended to be inserted into a channel in the upright.

Fig. 6 shows in cross section, and on a larger scale, the securing of the bracket in the channel of the upright with the aid of a locking strip according to the invention.

Fig. 7 illustrates an application of a stand according to the invention.

Fig. 8 illustrates another example of an application of a stand according to the invention.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiment Fig. 1 shows a cross section through an upright 1 designed in the form of an injection-molded profile and intended for a stand. In the design shown, the profile has four longitudinal channels 2, each with a lateral opening 3 whose width is smaller than the width of an inner part of the associated channel 2. Reference number 4 designates two bracket arms for a shelf, for example a glass panel. The bracket arms 4 are connected to a common fixture part 6 which is intended to be inserted into a locking strip 7 and is provided with a pivot pin 10. The locking strip is then in turn intended to be inserted into a channel 2 in the upright 1. The design of the locking strip 7 is shown in more detail in Fig. 2.

In Fig. 2, A shows the locking strip in a perspective view obliquely from behind, B shows it straight from behind, C shows it from the side, D shows it from the front, and E shows it in a perspective view obliquely from the front. The locking strip is made in one piece of plastic material with a certain elasticity and consists of two side portions 20,21 which delimit a groove 22 running between them. The side portions are held together by means of a material portion 23 which forms a bottom in the groove along a certain part of the length of the locking strip. At their upper ends, the side portions of the strip are designed with rearwardly open recesses which together form a seat 24 for receiving the pivot pin 10 on the bracket, as will

be described below. As can be seen from Fig. 2C, the seat 24, viewed from the side, has a keyhole shape with an inner portion 25 in which the pivot pin can be secured by snap-fitting.

On their front faces, the side portions 20 and 21 defining the groove 22 are designed with flanges 26,27 which project laterally from the opening of the groove and have a desired decorative structure. These flanges also constitute one boundary wall of a guide track 28, 29 which is formed in each side portion and whose function will be described below.

Fig. 3 shows how the bracket arms 4 according to Fig. 1 are joined to a locking strip 7. The pivot pin 10 arranged on the common part 6 of the bracket arms is introduced into the seat 24 of the locking strip 7 so that it is secured by a-snap-fit in the inner portion 25 of the seat. In the process, the bracket arms 4 are held in an upwardly angled position. The locking strip together with the mounted bracket arms can thereafter be handled as one unit.

When fitting the bracket arms 4 on an upright 1, the bracket arms are thus first coupled together with a locking strip 7, as has been shown in Fig. 3, after which the locking strip, with the bracket arms in an upwardly pivoted position, is driven down in one of the channels 2 in the upright 1 from its upper end (see the upper position in Fig. 4). The seat of the pivot pin 10 is thus closed off by a bottom in the channel of the upright. The bracket arms are thereafter driven down in the channel in the upwardly pivoted position until the desired position is reached. When this has been reached, the bracket arms are pivoted downward (see the lower position in Fig. 4) to a working position for these arms. Upon this downward pivoting, the part 6 connected to the bracket arms 4 is pressed into the groove 22 in the locking strip 7 and is secured in the

latter while pressing the locking strip tightly into the adopted position in the channel of the upright 1.

Fig. 5 shows the locking strip 7 inserted into the upright profile 1, while the brackets 4 with the common part 6 with pivot pin 10 have been shown separately for reasons of clarity. As will be seen, the flanges 26,27 of the locking strip fit closely to the peripheral surface of the upright profile 1, which contributes to an attractive appearance. The tracks 28,29 formed under the flanges 26,27 receive projecting flange portions 31,32 of the upright profile 1, which flanges delimit the width of the channel opening in the upright. This design affords very good control of the strip 7 upon vertical adjustments of the associated bracket, without its tending to jam in the channel of the upright. The flanges 26,27 and 31,32 and the tracks 28,29 also form labyrinth seals for the channels in the upright 1, which is an advantage from the point of view of hygiene, among other things.

To ensure reliable locking of the common part 6 of the brackets in the pivoted-in position in the channel 2 of the upright profile 1, at least the lower part of the free edge of the common part 6 is designed with a projecting portion 33. The latter can, for example, be obtained by upsetting or bending, so that an engagement edge 34 on the opposite side of the part 6 is also obtained.

In the initial position, i. e. before the part 6 has been pivoted into the groove 22, the strip 7 has a slightly smaller width than the corresponding dimension of the channel 2 in the profile 1. There is therefore a slight play between the side walls of the channel 2 and the side portions 20,21 of the strip 7. The groove 22 is also expediently widened slightly at its lower end so as to form an engagement surface for the projecting portion 33 and the engagement edge 34 of the common

part 6 of the brackets.

Fig. 6 shows a cross section on a larger scale through a channel 2 in the profiled upright 1 with mounted locking strip 7, after the common part 6 of the brackets has been pressed into the groove 22 in the locking strip. This view is in the opposite direction from Fig. 5.

In the embodiment according to Fig. 6, the side portion 21 of the locking strip 7 is designed with a recess 35 which widens the inner part of the groove 22 and generates an abutment surface 36 for cooperation with the engagement edge 34 of the common part 6.

In this embodiment, the second side portion 20 of the locking strip 7 is designed with a beveled engagement surface 37 for cooperation with the projecting portion 33 of the common part 6.

When the part 6 is pivoted into the groove 22 between the side portions 20 and 21 of the locking strip, these are pressed out to bear against the walls of the channel 2 in the upright 1 so as to secure the strip in the channel. When the part 6 is pivoted in completely into the groove 22 in the locking strip, it is locked securely in the pivoted-in position by means of a snap- locking action, because the side portions 20 and 21 of the locking strip can spring back slightly once the outwardly projecting portions 33 and 34 have been received in the widened part of the groove 22. This creates a secure locking of the part 6 in the pivoted- in position without the need for separate locking elements.

The projecting portions 33 and 34 of the part 6 can be obtained in many different ways. In addition to upsetting, bending or pressing out, they can also be obtained by applying extra material on only one side or

both sides of the part 6. To permit the necessary movement of the side portions 20,21 of the locking strip, they are not joined together by a bottom portion at the position for engagement between the outwardly projecting portions 33 and 34 of the part 6 and the walls of the groove 22 in the locking strip 7.

As is illustrated in Fig. 5, decorative strips and spacer strips in the form of extruded profiles 13 can be arranged in the channels 2 in the upright or in parts of these channels which are unused. They are expediently snapped into the channels from the side.

These profiles too have an outer main portion 14 which can have a desired decoration and closely fits the peripheral surface of the profiled bar 1.

When setting up a shelf, for example, comprising several uprights, such profiled strips 13 can be used to facilitate the leveling of the shelf. Profiled strips 13 of a height corresponding to the height at which a shelf is to be arranged are first snapped in the channels of the uprights where a bracket is to be mounted. The bracket with its locking strip is then driven down in the channel until the locking strip strikes against the underlying profiled strip. In this way, the locking strips in all the stands can be easily driven down to the same level, where they are then securely locked by being pivoted downward in the manner which has been described above. The mutual spacing between shelves lying one above the other can also be easily adjusted using the same technique.

Fig. 7 shows an application of brackets 4 in accordance with the above for fitting two glass shelves 15 on two uprights 1. By fitting such brackets in two oppositely directed channels in an upright 1, a shelf can be mounted using just one upright 1. If so desired, brackets can also be mounted in the other channels of the upright. Although the figure shows the use of

brackets comprising two bracket arms 4 arranged at an angle to one another, it is of course also possible, according to the invention, to fit single brackets or brackets which have more than two arms.

Fig. 8 shows another stand comprising both inclined shelves 16 and horizontal shelves 17 which have been fitted according to the invention. Reference number 18 illustrates a display panel which is secured between the uprights 1 and which, along its vertical edges, is designed with projections (not shown) which have been introduced into holes in the legs of decorative and spacing strips 13 inserted into the channels 2 in the uprights 1, so that the edges of the panel are fitted in behind the head portions 14 of the strips 13.

Reference number 19 indicates a top panel.

The invention has been described above in connection with the illustrative embodiments shown in the drawing.

These can be varied in several respects within the scope of the patent claims, especially as regards the application of the invention on different types of stands. The invention can thus be used for fitting shelves regardless of the number of uprights which are used. The invention can also be used for fitting other types of support members, for example bars, which run between uprights, or outwardly projecting display prongs or the like.