subject: New Invention For Random Storage [print this page] Briefly stated, the invention in a preferred form is a retractable net guard system adapted for mounting to a pallet racking. The net guard system comprises a pair of laterally spaced vertically extending tracks. The tracks are mounted to the pallet racking in offset relationship to one side of the pallet racking. The carriers, which in a preferred embodiment, comprise a plurality of rollers traverse along the tracks. The rollers connect with clips which attach to the net. The net is vertically raised or lowered by either a motor mounted apparatus mounted generally above the pallet racking or a manually operated retracting mechanism.
With reference to the drawings, wherein like numerals represent like parts throughout the figures, a pallet racking designated generally by the numeral 10 has been affixed with a retractable rack guard designated by the numeral 12. The rack guard employs a safety net 20 which is extendable in a guard mode (FIG. 2) to substantially cover a front face or side of the pallet racking. The net also upwardly or vertically retracts to provide access to the pallet racking through the front face. The pallet guard system is adapted for mounting to a wide variety of pallet racking. Multiple rack guard systems may be mounted for a given pallet racking installation.
The specific dimensions and number of retractable net guard units required for a given pallet racking system will vary in accordance with the specific dimensional and structural constraints of the pallet racking. In conventional warehousing type configurations, wherein multiple pallet racking are interconnected along an extended aisle, multiple rack guard units 12 will be assembled in side-by-side relationship. The rack guard systems could either be independently operable, i.e., to both retract or extend the safety net as well as to pivot the tracks against the pallet racking, and/or two or more of the units could be ganged, i.e., shafts operatively connected so that the nets would either be raised or lowered in multiple and/or the associated tracks 40,42 pivoted against the pallet racking in cooperative fashion.
