Shelving and display systems and the like

Claim 2

A bracket device for shelving systems, display systems and the like, comprising: a body; said body having a plurality of recesses disposed in and about the periphery thereof with the axes of said recesses being substantially parallel; said recesses being opened at both ends of the body; at least one support member for supporting an element of said systems from said body; said support member comprising a body - engaging part and a projecting part; said body-engaging part being slidable into a selected recess via either one of said open ends thereof with said projecting part projecting from the periphery of said body; cooperating means on said body-engaging part and said body for retaining said support member in position when said support member is inserted into said recess, said cooperating means including shoulders on said body-engaging part and said body, each recess in the body having one of said shoulders adjacent each open end thereof, whereby when said body-engaging part is inserted into a selected recess via either open end, the shoulder on the body-engaging part abuts one of said shoulders adjacent the ends of said recess to retain said body-engaging part in said recess.

Claim 3

A bracket device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said recesses are disposed at substantially equally spaced positions around said body in a generally circular array, each of said recesses being of generally part-circular shape and subtending an angle of more than 180° at said axis thereof so that each recess includes a mouth of restricted width at the periphery of said body, and wherein said body-engaging part of said support member is part-circular in cross-section.

Claim 4

A bracket device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said body-engaging part of said support member is tapered to facilitate sliding it into said selected recess.

Claim 5

A bracket device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said support member includes an intermediate flange between said body-engaging part and said projecting part, said intermediate flange being wider than said mouth of each recess, whereby when said body-engaging part is located in a recess said intermediate flange abuts the periphery of the body on opposite sides of said mouth to provide additional support.

Claim 6

In a system including at least one bracket device as claimed in claim 1, at least one upright, pedestal means for supporting said upright in upright position, said upright comprising a plurality of upright members disposed in end-to-end relation, means fastening said upright members together in end-to-end relation, the body of said bracket device having a central hole, said bracket device being secured in position adjacent the junction between opposing ends of adjacent end-to-end upright members with said upright extending through said central hole in said bracket device, said fastening means including means for supporting said bracket device adjacent said junction.

Claim 7

In a system as claimed in claim 6, said upright is tubular, the lower end of the upper one of the adjacent end-to-end upright members is internally threaded, stud means extends upwardly from the lower one of said adjacent upright members, the upper end of said stud means is threaded, a collar, said collar is internally threaded, said lower end of the upper adjacent upright member is screwed onto the threaded upper end of said stud means so that said two upright members are fastened together, said collar is located between the lower end of said upper upright member and the upper end of said lower upright member and screwed onto the threaded stud means so as to form the supporting means for said bracket device, the lower end of said upper upright member extends downwardly into the central hole of the said bracket device and said bracket device is supported on said collar.

Claim 8

In a system as claimed in claim 6, said upright is tubular, the lower end of the upper one of the adjacent end-to-end upright members is internally threaded, stud means extends upwardly from the lower one of said adjacent upright members, the upper end of said stud means is threaded, said lower end of the upper adjacent upright member is screwed onto the threaded upper end of said stud means so that said two upright members are fastened together, said central hole of said bracket device is fitted over the threaded end of said stud means and said bracket body is clamped between the lower end of said upper upright member and the upper end of said lower upright member.

Claim 9

A bracket device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said body and at least one support member are made of plastics material, the recesses in the body are disposed at substantially equally spaced positions around the periphery of the body in a generally circular array, each of said recesses are of generally part-circular shape and subtend an angle of more than 180° at said axis thereof whereby each recess includes a mouth of restricted width at the periphery of said body, said body-engaging part of said support member is correspondingly part -- circular in cross-section and tapered to facilitate sliding it into said selected recess, said support member includes an intermediate flange between said body-engaging part and said projecting part, said flange being wider than said mouth of each recess, whereby when said body-engaging part is located in the selected recess said flange abuts the periphery of the body on opposite sides of said mouth, said body includes a generally central hole and a coaxial annular recess on at least one side of said body.

Claim 10

In a system including a plurality of bracket devices as claimed in claim 8, a plurality of tubular uprights, pedestal means made of plastics material for supporting said uprights in upright positions, each of said uprights comprises a plurality of tubular upright members disposed in end-to-end relation, stud means engaged in juxtaposed ends of adjacent end-to-end upright members to fasten said adjacent upright members together, collar means for supporting bracket devices adjacent the junction between the juxtaposed ends of adjacent end-to-end upright members, each of said pedestal means has upstanding means which are located in the associated lowermost tubular upright member thereby to support the respective tubular upright, said bracket devices are secured in position adjacent junctions between juxtaposed ends of adjacent end-to-end upright members with the stud means passing through the central holes of the bodies of said bracket devices, an upper part of each collar means is seated in the annular recess in each associated body thereby to support each said body, the uppermost upright member of each tubular upright has stud means extending upwardly from the upper end thereof and through the central hole of one said bracket device and an associated means fixing the body of each said latter bracket device at the upper end of each uppermost upright member.