US2160457A - Folding easel - Google Patents

Description

y 30, 1939- A. J. HOUSMAN ET Al. 2,160,457

FOLDING EASEL Filed July 50, 19:57

INVENTOR ALFRED J. HOUSMAN 25 WAYNE S. EVANS ATTORNEY Patented May 30, 1939 UNIT-ED s'rArss FOLDING ZEASEL I Alfred J Housman, Hollis, N-. Y., and Wayne S.

Evans, Philadelphia, Pa., assignors .to National Carbon Company, Inc., a corporation of New York Application July 30, 1937, Serial No. 156,496

9 Claims. (Cl. 125) The object of this invention is to provide an easel, but more particularly in the type which is especially adapted for maintaining in open or extended .position broadly, posters and similar display or advertising material especially in the form of flexible webs or sheets and supporting said extended display material.

Another object is to providean'easelwhichcan be produced at relatively low cost, and which shall be light in weight and which can be readily fashioned from'such pieces of metal, as the channeled ribs commonly used in the manufacture of umbrellaiframes, 'or wires or rods, of round, oval, tubular, or other type of'curviform cross-section.

A still further object is to provide an easel which can be shipped in the smallest possible space, and which whendisassembled or folded can be shipped in a-so-called mailing tube of very small diameter and of a lengthnot greater than the shortest dimension of'the' display material.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an easel which is rug ged andcapable of supporting sheets or the like of relatively great weight and area. This embodiment "comprises a triangular base portion, which portion comprises a forward stretcher element which is flexible, a leg element pivotally 'connectedto the forward stretcher element, and a brace element formed of a plurality 'of sections hingedly connected to said previously named elements, said base portion having a resilient extension on said forward element which ispreferably pivotally attached thereto.

These and other objects of our invention will be evident from the following specification when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an easel, illustrating one embodiment of our invention shown in combination with a poster or the like in the form of a flexible web or sheet operatively supported thereby.

Fig. 2 is an enlarge-d fragmentary view of the extremity of the easel which engages the material to be displayed.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a section showing the arrangement whereby each end of the easel detachably engages a transversely extending stiffening member with which the material to be displayed is preferably provided; and I Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of the easel in folded and almost completely collapsed form for storage and shipping purposes.

The easel here shown comprises a substantially triangular base sectionformed of a forwardly positioned element ID, a rearwardly extending leg element H pivotally secured to said forward element at l2, and a lower substantially horizontally extending spacer element which comprises sections .53 and i l, the opposite ends of which are pivotally connected at l6 and I1 to said forward and leg elements, respectively, while 'the adjacent end portion of said spacer sections A free *5 are pivotally connected together at l5. end portion 58 of oneof said sections normally 7 extends over and in contact with the other of said sections, so as to maintain said sections in normal alignment.

Each of said elements is of channeled crosssection as clearly shown in Fig. 3, and they are preferably formed in amanner similar to 'that employed in the construction of umbrella frames.

"The lower end 2! of the forward element [0 is preferably flattened so as to engage a transverse- 15 stiffening member 22 secured to the lower edge portion of the normally planarsheet or web23,

"the opposite-end of said sheet or web being provided with a transversely extending stiffening member 24, to which is detachably secured"a=':20

the upper free projecting portion 28 of the for- Ward element it. Adownwardly projecting portion 29' of said extension element overlaps and normally engages the projection 28 to limit the forward angular movement of said elementffZB with respect to said lower forward element [0.9.9

'From the position ofthe easel as sh'own'in Fig. 1, it may beflex-ed so as to permit the withdrawal of members 2! syn-(1 25 from thetransversely stiffening extraneous members 22 and 24 respectively, after which the stretcher sectiohsgg I3 and M are folded with respect to each other,

and the extension element 26 is moved angularly rearwardly with respect to the forward base ele- 'ment HL'flrst throughthe intermediate position indicated by Fig. 5', and then into a totally col-e14 lapsed'structure for storage, or for inserting the same into a slender mailing tube or the like,

either alone or with the sheet or Web 23.

'We claim: 7

1. An easel formed of channeled metal pieces, ;-g

' such as those commonly usedin the manufacture of umbrella frames, comprising a generally triangularpbase formed of a front element, a leg element and a sectional spreader element, in comfront element and means to operatively connect the oppositely directed free end portions of said front and extension elements to spaced regions of bination with a fourth element movably connect-2:5 ed to andnormally forming an extension of said a planarmember; the sections of said sectional g 2. An easel comprising a generally triangular 60 base formed of a front element, a leg element pivotally connected at its upper end to said front element and a spreader element comprising a pair of angularly movable sections pivotally connected together and at their opposite ends being pivotally connected to said front and leg elements respectively, a flexible extension element pivotally attached to the upper portion of said front element, and means to limit the relative motion between said front and extension elements in one direction.

3. An easel, comprising a generally triangular base, formed of a front element, a leg element pivotally connected at its upper end to said front element, said front element extending beyond said pivotal connection, and a spreader element comprising a pair of angularly movable sections pivotally connected together and at their opposite ends being pivotally connected to said front and leg elements respectively, a flexible extension element pivotally attached to the free end of the extension of said front element, and means to limit the angular movement between said front and extension elements.

4. An easel, comprising a generally triangular base formed of a front element, a leg element pivotally connected at its upper end to said front element, said front element extending beyond said pivotal connection, and a spreader element comprising a pair of angularly movable sections pivotally connected together and at their opposite ends being pivotally connected to said front and leg elements respectively, a flexible extension element pivotally attached to the free end of the extension of said front element, and means to limit the angular movement between said front and extension elements, the oppositely directed ends of said front and extension elements being flattened and adapted to detachably engage transversely extending extraneous members, supporting between them a web or sheet.

5. An easel, comprising a generally triangular base formed of a front element, a leg element pivotally connected at its upper end to said front element, said front element extending beyond said pivotal connection, and a spreader element comprising a pair of angularly movable sections pivotally connected together and at their opposite ends being pivotally connected to said front and leg elements respectively, a flexible extension element pivotally attached to the free end of the extension of said front element, and means to limit the angular movement between said front and extension elements, in combination with a flexible planar element, means to transversely stiffen the upper and lower portions of said lastnamed element, and means to detachably connect the oppositely directed ends of said front and extension elements to said upper and lower stiffening means respectively.

6. A display device, comprising a resilient normally straight element of curviform cross-section an extension element also of curviform crosssection, a pivotal connection between said elements, means carried by one element and overlapping the other element, to limit the relative movement between said elements in one direction, a display member extending between the spaced ends of said elements to hold at least one of them bowed against said movement limiting means, and means connected to one of said elements for supporting the same in a substantially upright position.

7. A display device, comprising a resilient substantially upright element of curviform crosssection, an extension element of curviform crosssection pivoted thereto, means to normally maintain said elements in substantially aligned operative relationship, a leg element connected at its upper end to one of said elements, a folding spreader including two sections pivoted to each other, one of said sections being pivoted to the leg element and the other to the upright element, said leg element, said upright element, said extension element and the sections of said spreader being adapted to be folded substantially in parallelism when not in use, and a display member extending between the opposite ends of the upright element and the extension element and holding them bowed.

8. An easel for spring tensioning and support-' ing a display sheet in inclined position, said easel comprising a spring element having one end conformed for engagement with one edge of the sheet to be supported, an extension element having one end conformed for engagement with the opposite edge of said sheet, said elements being of substantially equal length, means connecting said elements to provide a bow in use and so that said elements are collapsible when not in use, the transverse size of said means being not greater than substantially that of said elements when collapsed, a base element connected to said spring element so that it is collapsible therewith when not in use to lie within the extremities of said spring element, said elements consisting of light weight normally rectilinear channeled metal ribs of the type commonly used in the manufacture of umbrella frames, each element being of U- cross section substantially throughout its length and having spaced parallel side flanges merging into a transversely arched central web, said spring and extension elements being arranged for use with their flanges disposed substantially at right angles to the display sheet so that substantially all of the potential reaction spring force of the material and section is developed when said spring and extension elements are bow-sprung out of alignment to bring the outer ends thereof 7 toward each other for engagement with opposite edges of the sheet, said reaction spring force being used to tension the sheet and being remarkably powerful and eifective considering the light weight and small size of the channeled ribs constituting such elements, the arrangement being such that said elements when collapsed provide a short, compact and light-weight bundle.

9. A display device comprising a resilient normally straight element of curviform cross section, a resilient normally straight extension element also of curviform cross section, connecting means for collapsing said elements for shipment, said means comprising means carried by one ele ment and overlapping the other element to limit relative angular movement between said elements in one direction, a display member extending between the spaced ends of said elements to hold at least one of them bowed against said angular movement limiting means, and means connected to one of said elements. for supporting the same in substantially upright position.

ALFRED J. HOUSMAN. WAYNE S. EVANS.

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