ID shelves stacking system with prov. patent number  

I right clicked a different p...
I right clicked a different picture of those a while ago, will try and find it but it came up on an image search for 'stacking shelves system design' or something like that.

close..
close..but not quite

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No, not those, if I had something approaching rational organisation of folders on here I might be able to find it.
If there is a sticker stating country of manufacture you should be able to find it with a patent search.

searched all day!
No joy, does anyone recognize the patent style, maybe to refine the search? english , american?

Shelving designs
which include no visible provision for resistance to racking (side-to-side movement) make me nervous.
Both of these units could easily have included a stretcher placed on edge beneath one or more of the shelves . . . it would seem. The brass fasteners in the first instance are nice looking -- and tightenable ?

Brass ends are plugs to cover the bolt/screw inside
Below is a picture of the underside of the shelf with the nut visible, and the patent number.
The unit is quite sturdy, there is a type of 'tongue & groove' idea where they fit together.

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Just find the patent/design registry websites for Canada, the UK, US or wherever you think and type in the numbers, even if its a foreign language you can usually make it out or transate the page.

Provisional Patents
It's interesting to note that there does not seem to be a ready means of searching through the provisional patent application database with the exception of some truly arcane terminal based code searches.

Provisional patent applications aren't published in the US
unless they're later perfected.

Theres a hint in the terms?...
Theres a hint in the terms? Who used patent pending and who provisional patent? Are they the same thing?

In the US, you can file a...
In the US, you can file a provisional application in order to establish an early filing date before you file your regular patent app. Once a provisional is filed, you have one year to file a regular non-provisional application based on it; if you don't file within a year, you lose the provisional's early date.
Provisional applications were introduced to the US in the early 90s, so if the OP's shelves are older than that, the provisional patent number is from some other country's patent office (where "provisional" might mean something different than it does in the US).

Okay, so I've found some more of these shelves now in 2016 and I'm thinking they are South African made & designed as there is evidence of them turning up anywhere else in the world!