Modular heavy duty support system

An adjustable spindle assembly mounted to a tube-shaped upright element of a modular support system, the adjustable spindle assembly comprising:

• a spindle provided with a thread being capable of carrying a high load, which is provided at its upper end with guiding strips serving for the inner concentric positioning and mounting of the spindle in a lower and/or upper end opening of the tube-shaped upright element,
• a foot element configured to position and anchor a free end of the spindle, the foot element comprising a foot plate which at its upper part is provided with welded vertical reinforcement plates and configured to anchor the free end of the spindle,
• a butterfly nut, mounted on the spindle, comprising a hollow cylindrical housing internally provided with screw thread while its bottom part is provided with a plurality of radially protruding handgrips for the adjustment of the upright assembly at the desired height and for fast dismounting by means of its rotation, having mounted on its top side a free rotatable ring, which on its outside is provided with a set of sheet shaped screw holders welded thereto for locking screws for anchoring into the lower end opening of the tube-shaped upright element, in such a way, that the butterfly nut may be mounted to the lower and/or upper side of the upright element without blocking the rotation of the butterfly nut, and
• a coupling and anti-flexure piece movably positioned on the spindle between the butterfly nut and the foot clement and comprising a hollow cylindrical housing internally provided with guiding strips for its vertical guiding on the spindle, and further provided with four C-shaped coupling members welded on the outer circumference in such a way that in its mounted position one or more intermediate frames may be coupled up on the coupling parts and also on the upright elements thereby considerably reducing the free flexing length of the spindle, in such a way, that the modular support system in its assembled position may be adjusted in height and also may be subjected to a high stress.

A coupling assembly for use in coupling of intermediate frames on spindle assemblies of a modular support system, the coupling assembly comprising:

• at least one coupling device comprising at least an upper claw and a lower claw, each positioned on all four free ends of said intermediate frames;
• which upper claw in a cross section is constructed as an L-shaped sheet element whereby the longest portion of the L is welded upon the free upper end of the horizontally positioned girders of the intermediate frame and the shorter part of the L is pointing downward, whereby the lower claw is formed as a loose L-shaped sheet element provided with a hollow cylindrical protrusion being internally threaded and a guide for positioning or centering thereof whereby each lower claw is fixed by a screw member against the free lower side of the horizontally positioned girders of the intermediate frame, which at a certain distance from their free end openings are each internally provided with a guiding tube element for guiding the lower claw;
• C-shaped coupling members, positioned on upright elements and/or coupling parts of the spindle assemblies, whereby the inside of said coupling members offers sufficient space for locating therein the specially shaped free end of the upper claw and also the specially shaped free end of the lower claw for intercoupling of the intermediate frames with the upright elements;
• and
• corner struts in an inclined position on two adjacent intermediate frames near the free upper openings thereof;
• such that each of the four free end openings of the intermediate frame may be connected into a strong, stable and robust unit with an adjacent other vertical upright clement and/or spindle assembly, while preventing twisting of the modular support system in its assembled position.

A system for mutually coupling two upright elements of a modular support system, the system comprising:

• a tube-shaped connecting member comprising a tube profile provided with one or more guides for internal mounting into the upright elements and a ring disposed substantially half way along the length of the tube profile and having a greater outer diameter than the upright element has;
• and
• a locking member for locking the connecting member to the upright elements, wherein the connecting member is provided with pass through openings for receiving a locking pin in such a way that the lower end of the locking member is mounted from the upside down into an upright element until the ring, whereafter on its upper end a next upright element is located and locked respectively by means of locking pins each with a non-circular oblong body in cross section, which locking pins are each provided with a handgrip which is positioned at a certain mutual distance by means of a perforated rectangular plate welded on said ring, and whereby said mutual distance corresponds to the mutual distance between the passing through openings on both ends of the connecting member and the passing though openings of two upright elements one positioned upon the other in mounted position;
• which locking pins are each provided with a round head rivet for securing the connection between the locking pin and with the connecting piece and also with the vertical upright elements in such a way that an undesired release of both locking pins and their removal from the sheet shaped pin holder will not be possible.