Sandwich panel structures for supporting shelves

Claim 1

A panel and shelving structure adapted to support relatively heavily loaded removable and adjustable shelving units which comprises a first, substantially planar skin, a second, substantially planar skin, a core structure between said skins, said first skin having a plurality of perforations therein arranged in a plurality of vertical columns of said perforations for receiving studs or hooks projecting rearwardly from the rear portion of a shlf structure, said core structure having a plurality of vertical, parallel, straight, elongated strips respectively extending from the top to the bottom of said panel structure and adhesively bonded substantially continuously along opposite side edges thereof to respective rear faces of said skins, said opposite edges having a depth of at least 1/8 inch, the respective strips being disposed contiguous to the respective side edges of said perforations in respective columns, the spacing between the respective edges of said strips or slabs and the respective side edges of said perforations is zero to about 1/2 inch, said core having free spaces behind said perforations to permit insertion of hooks or studs of said shelving units, and at least one shelf mounted on said first skin and supported thereon by shelf mounting means embodying hooked members extending through respective perforations in said first skin with leg portions of said hooked members lying against the inner face of said first skin adjacent the respective perforations, whereby the joinder of the two skins by the vertical strips with substantially continuous joinder of the respective edges to the skins and close spacing between the skin-bonded strips and side edges of the perforations provides an integrated structure wherein the opposite skin and the contiguous strips coact to eliminate essentially bowing in the shelf-supporting skin due to torque forces which occur under heavy loading of shelves cantilivered from the shelf-supporting skin by said shelf mounting means with the hooked members extending into said perforations and hooked behind said last-mentioned skin.