1. A housing for use as a vehicle driveline component, comprising:
a sidewall establishing an open end of the housing, the sidewall having a plurality of spaced splines and a strengthening member near the open end that is formed of the sidewall material having a folded over portion that is at least partially aligned with and adjacent the sidewall, an inner surface of the sidewall near the open end extending continuously and uninterrupted once the strengthening member and establishing at least one surface of the strengthening member.
2. The housing of claim 1, including a plurality of the strengthening members.
3. The housing of claim 2, wherein at least some of the plurality of the strengthening members are aligned with the splines.
4. The housing of claim 2, wherein the plurality of strengthening members are spaced about a periphery of the open end.
5. The housing of claim 2, wherein the splines have an exposed surface at a first radial distance from a center of the housing and spaces between the splines have an exposed surface at a second radial distance from the center of the housing and wherein the folded over portion of each of the strengthening members is received at least partially against the exposed surface of the spaces.
6. The housing of claim 5, wherein an exposed surface of the strengthening members is at a radial distance from the center of the housing that is one of the first radial distance or the second radial distance.
7. The housing of claim 5, wherein the folded over portion of each of the strengthening members is nested between the splines.
8. The housing of claim 1, wherein the folded over portion of the strengthening member is adjacent an outer surface of the sidewall.
9. A housing for use as a vehicle driveline component, comprising:
a sidewall establishing an open end of the housing, the sidewall having a first plurality of spaced splines projecting toward an interior of the housing and a second plurality of spaced splines projecting toward an exterior of the housing and a plurality of strengthening members near the open end that are extensions of at least some of one of the pluralities of splines, each strengthening member having a folded over portion that is at least partially aligned with and adjacent the sidewall and at least partially nested between corresponding adjacent ones of the other of the pluralities of splines.
10. The housing of claim 9, wherein an inner surface of the sidewall near the open end extends continuously and uninterrupted onto the strengthening member and establishes at least one surface of the strengthening member.
11. The housing of claim 9, wherein the strengthening members are extensions of the sidewall material forming the first plurality of splines and the folded over portions are at least partially nested between corresponding ones of the second plurality of splines.
12. The housing of claim 9, wherein the strengthening members are spaced about a periphery of the open end.
13. A housing for use as a vehicle driveline component, comprising:
a side wall establishing an open end of the housing, the side wall having a plurality of spaced splines that have an exposed surface at a first radial distance from a center of the housing and spaces between the splines that have an exposed surface at a second radial distance from the center of the housing, and a plurality of strengthening members near the open end that are formed of the side wall material having a folded over portion that is received at least partially against the exposed surface of the spaces and is nested between the splines, and an inner surface of the side wall near the open end extending continuously and uninterrupted onto the strengthening members and establishing at least one surface of the strengthening members.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
I claim:
1. An assembly of shelving units that are interconnected without fasteners to form a free standing piece of furniture, comprising,
a base shelf having a planar upper surface, first and second ends and front and rear edges,
at least one additional shelf having a planar upper surface, first and second ends and front and rear edges,
a first plurality of spaced apart elongated mutually parallel slots disposed transversely in the rear edge of each of said shelves intermediate the first and second ends thereof, each having parallel sides and a lengthwise axis,
at least one brace-receiving slot having parallel sides and disposed in the rear edge of the base shelf, where the sides of the brace-receiving slots are not perpendicular to the planar surface of the base shelf,
a first plurality of support members having parallel planar surfaces and each having front and rear edges,
a plurality of elongated mutually parallel slots disposed in the front edge of each of said support members, whereby the slots in the support members are sized and adapted for interlocking engagement with corresponding slots in the shelves,
at least one brace-receiving slot in the rear edge of each of said support members, said slot having sides that are not perpendicular to the planar surfaces of the support members, and
at least one brace member having ends that are respectively adapted to be disposed in the brace-receiving slot of the base shelf and the support member.
2. The assembly of claim 1 where the lengthwise axes of the slots disposed transversely in the rear edge of each of said shelves are perpendicular to the rear edge thereof.
3. The assembly of claim 1 where at least one of the support members includes at least one pair of spaced apart, parallel, and elongated surface recesses that are substantially aligned with one of said slots in the support member.
4. The assembly of claim 3 where the contour of the sides of the shelf slot that is adapted to interconnect with the slot in the support member that is aligned with the said pair of surface recesses is shaped to match the contour of the recess.
5. The assembly of claim 4, where the contour of each of the recesses is curved.
6. The assembly of claim 1 where the brace member extends through the brace-receiving slot in the support member to engage the at least one additional shelf.
7. An improved interlocking slot-to-slot connection between two planar objects, comprising,
a first planar object having front and rear edges and having an elongated transverse first slot extending from the rear edge thereof, said first slot having parallel sides, at least one of which is contoured,
a second object having at least two opposing planar surfaces and front and rear edges and having a transverse second slot extending from the front edge thereof with parallel sides and a terminal end, said second object also having a contoured recess in at least one of said surfaces that extends from the terminal end of the second slot toward the rear edge of the second object, where the contour of the recess corresponds to the contour of the side of the first slot.
8. A shelving assembly, comprising,
at least one horizontally disposed shelf member having front and rear edges and having an elongated transverse shelf slot extending from the rear edge thereof, said first slot having parallel sides, at least one of which is contoured,
a vertically disposed support member having at least two opposing planar surfaces and front and rear edges and having a transverse support slot extending from the front edge thereof with parallel sides and a terminal end, said support member also having a contoured recess in at least one of said surfaces that extends from the terminal end of the second slot toward the rear edge of the support member, where the contour of the recess corresponds to the contour of the side of the first slot.