EP0678640A1

EP0678640A1 - Anti-theft holding-displaying device for compact discs

Info

Publication number: EP0678640A1
Application number: EP95103466A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Alberto Pesso
Original assignee: PROMAL Srl
Current assignee: PROMAL Srl
Priority date: 1994-03-29
Filing date: 1995-03-10
Publication date: 1995-10-25
Also published as: ITTO940232A1; ITTO940232A0; IT1273090B

Abstract

The CD-holding brackets (1) are U-shaped, with a shank (3) that can be laterally opened. Projections (11) are provided in the U that are adapted to secure the CD when the U is closed, and to allow the removal thereof when the U is opened by partially rotating the CD (15) with respect to an edge. The shanks (3) of said brackets (1) are hinged in holes (39) provided on a longitudinal member (25) axially running with respect to the holding device (21) base. These shanks (3) are blocked by a side bar (33) located at a medium-high height with respect to the shank (3) and operated by levers (47) controlled by another bar (43) that can be axially moved through a key (45).

Description

The present invention refers to an anti-theft holding-displaying device for compact discs, of the type particularly adapted to be used in shops that show and sell these compact discs, hereinafter also called CD.
The problem of CD holding-displaying devices is well known and real: they must simultaneously be handy and safe, handy as regards display and choice of the CD(s) of interest, and safe in order to prevent ill-disposed customers from withdrawing said CD(s) from its(their) seat and taking it(them) away.
Several attempts have been made to solve this problem; in all these arrangements, however, two hands need to be used, one to seize the CD, the other one to open the holding-displaying device or the CD-holding fork to allow the withdrawal thereof.
Object of the present invention is solving the above problems by providing a simple and practical CD holding-displaying device that allows viewing and choosing the CDs in a practical and satisfactory way and that allows withdrawing the chosen CD with a single hand only, always under maximum safety conditions.
A major feature of the present invention is that the CD-holding U-shaped brackets are composed of a shank extending below said U, said shank being adapted to be laterally opened by partially rotating it around a pivot located above the hole hinging said shank to the longitudinal member provided for that purpose in the cited holding-displaying device; the arms of said U being internally equipped with adequate projections, suitable for being inserted into corresponding slots provided in the CD-holding cassettes in order to block said cassettes when the U-arms are closed, said projections being shaped so that they allow withdrawing the CD-holding cassette contained therebetween, upon opening said U, by rotating said cassette with respect to an edge thereof.
Another major feature of the present invention is that the cited holding-displaying device is substantially composed of a box-type, for example parallelepiped-type, modular case, whose height is less than the height of said shank in said CD-holding brackets and which is equipped on its top with a longitudinal slot that is wider than the transverse thickness of the shank of the CD-holding bracket, from which slot said CD-holding brackets protrude to allow choosing the CDs, and equipped on its bottom with a central longitudinal member, shaped as an upward opened U, longitudinally running along the longer base of the body next to a lip of the above-mentioned upper longitudinal slot, said longitudinal member being made integral with a longitudinal wall of the holding device through bracings creating a lateral support box for said U-shaped longitudinal member inside the holding device; a similarly longitudinal bar, running at a height corresponding to a medium-high point of the shank of the CD-holding bracket, being movably secured so as to rotate partially around hinging points provided next to the base by means of two tongues that are normal and integral with said bar and hinged in said points integral with the base; said longitudinal member being equipped with a plurality of transverse holes suitable for hingedly housing therein the lower ends of the shanks of the CD-holding brackets; the rotatingly movable bar being able to be in contact with or at a suitable distance from the shank of the CD-holding bracket; a bar, which is axially movable by means of a locking key operating on an end of said bar, being provided parallel with said rotatingly movable longitudinal bar, on the opposite side with respect to the upper slot, said bar being equipped with lever members suitably divided in groups lengthwise, said members being on one side hinged to a fixed wall of the holding device and on the other side resting against the above-said rotatingly movable bar; the locking key, upon rotation, causing the rotation of an eccentric member located at the initial end of said bar; said eccentric member when rotated bringing said axially movable bar near to or far from the head of the holding device, thereby bringing said lever members near to or far from said rotatingly movable bar, so that, when the key is closed, said members press against said rotating bar bringing it in contact with the moving part of the shank of the CD-holding bracket and consequently blocking the opening of the shanks of said brackets, whereas, when the key is opened, the distance between said bar and the moving part of the shank of said bracket allows the partial opening, by rotation, of said shank of the CD-holding bracket, said rotation in turn enabling the withdrawal of the CD-holding cassette from the bracket itself.
Now it is useful, for a better understanding of the subject of the invention, to point out some characterizing advantages deriving from the concept of the cited holding-displaying device:

1) the CD-holding cassettes show five visible sides, one of which is completely free and can be used to identify the product;
2) the anchoring members can neither be seen nor accessed by third parties;
3) the key for closing and opening the holding device is the only control member thereof;
4) the holding-displaying device cannot be closed if all objects are not correctly placed; and it is practically impossible to place the objects in a position different from the one universally known as the correct one.

Further characteristics and advantages will clearly appear from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the holding-displaying device of the invention;
Figure 2 is a bottom plan view, partially in section, of the holding device in Figure 1 in its closed position;
Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the device in its opened position;
Figure 4 is a partial, enlarged view of Figure 2;
Figure 5 is a partial, enlarged view of Figure 3;
Figure 6 is a partial side view of the holding device of the invention with the CD-holding brackets inserted;
Figure 7 is a front view of a cross section, showing the bracket hooked to the holding device in its closed and opened position;
Figure 8 is a front, partially sectioned view showing a bracket and a CD-holding cassette inserted therein in a detaching position.

As shown in the figures, the CD-holding U-shaped brackets 1 are composed of a shank 3 extending below said U 5, said shank 3 being adapted to be laterally opened by partially rotating it around a pivot 7 located above the hole 9 hinging said bracket shank to the respective hinging point provided in the holding device.
The arms 5 of said U are internally equipped with adequate projections 11, suitable for being inserted into corresponding slots 13 provided in the CD-holding cassettes 15 in order to block said cassettes 15 when the U-arms 5 are closed.
Said projections 11 are shaped so that they allow withdrawing the CD-holding cassette 15 contained therebetween, upon opening said U, by rotating said cassette 15 with respect to an edge 17 thereof.
The anti-theft holding-displaying device 19 of the invention provided for said CD-holding brackets 1 is substantially composed of a box-type, in the example shown a parallelepiped-type, modular case 21, whose height is less than the height of said shank 3 in said CD-holding brackets 1 and which is equipped on its top with a longitudinal slot 23 that is wider than the transverse thickness of the shank 3 of the CD-holding bracket 1, from which slot 23 the U of the CD-holding brackets 1 can protrude to allow choosing the CDs.
The box-type case 21 is equipped on its bottom with a central longitudinal member 25, shaped as an upward opened U, longitudinally running along the longer base 27 of the body next to a lip of the above-mentioned upper longitudinal slot 23; said longitudinal member 25 being made integral with a longitudinal wall 29 of the holding device through bracings creating a lateral support box 31 for said U-shaped longitudinal member 25 inside the box-type case 21.
A similarly longitudinal bar 33, running at a height corresponding to a medium-high point of the shank 3 of the CD-holding bracket 1, being movably secured so as to rotate partially around hinging points 35 provided next to the base 27 by means of two tongues 37 that are normal and integral with said bar 33 and hinged in said points 35 integral with the base 27.
The longitudinal member 25 is equipped with a plurality of transverse holes 39 suitable for hingedly housing therein the lower ends 41 of the shanks 3 of the brackets 1.
The rotatingly movable longitudinal bar 33 can obviously be in contact with or at a suitable distance from the shank 3 of the CD-holding bracket 1.
An axially movable bar 43, that can be moved by means of a locking key 45 operating on an end of said bar 43, is provided parallel with said rotatingly movable bar 33, on the opposite side with respect to the upper slot 23. Said bar 43, in the example shown, is equipped with three lever members 47 suitably divided in groups lengthwise, said members 47 being on one side hinged in 49 to a fixed wall of the holding device 21 and on the other side resting in 51 against the rotatingly movable bar 33.
The locking key 45, upon rotation, causes the rotation of an eccentric member 53, located at the initial end of said bar 43; said eccentric member 53 when rotated brings said axially movable bar 43 near to or far from the head 55 of the holding device 21, thereby bringing said lever members 47 near to or far from said rotatingly movable bar 33, so that, when the key 45 is closed, said three members 47 press against said rotating bar 33, bringing it in contact with the moving part of the shank 3 of the CD-holding bracket 1 and consequently blocking the opening of the shanks 3 of said brackets 1, while, when the key 45 is opened, the distance between said bar 33 and the moving part of the shank 3 of said bracket 1 allows the partial opening, by rotation, of said shank 3 of the CD-holding bracket 1, said rotation in turn enabling the withdrawal of the CD-holding cassette 15 from the bracket itself.
It must be noted that the above-said lever members 47, that by their positioning block the rotating bar 33 or not, are equipped with threaded end members 51, in order to allow adjusting the stress that can be applied by said members 47 to said rotating bar 33.
It is clear that the invention is not limited to the embodiment that has been described and shown, but that numerous variations and further improvements can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

Anti-theft holding-displaying device for compact disc cassettes, substantially composed of a box-type case adapted to contain therein a desired number of CD-holding brackets depending on the holding device size and of brackets that are suitably shaped so as to be inserted into said holding-displaying device, characterized in that the CD-holding U-shaped brackets (1) are composed of a shank (3) extending below said U (5), said shank (3) being adapted to be laterally opened by partially rotating it around a pivot (7) located above the hole (9) hinging said shank (3) to the longitudinal member provided for that purpose in said holding-displaying device; the arms (5) of said U being internally equipped with projections (11), suitable for being inserted into corresponding slots (13) provided in the CD-holding cassettes (15) in order to block said cassettes (15) when the U-arms (5) are closed, said projections (11) being shaped so that they allow withdrawing the CD-holding cassette (15) contained therebetween, upon opening said U, by rotating said cassette (15) with respect to an edge (17) thereof.
Anti-theft holding-displaying device for compact disc cassettes according to claim 1, characterized in that said holding-displaying device (19) is substantially composed of a box-type, for example parallelepiped-type, modular case (21), whose height is less than the height of said shank (3) in said CD-holding brackets (1) and which is equipped on its top with a longitudinal slot (23) that is wider than the transverse thickness of the shank (3) of the CD-holding bracket (1), from which slot (23) said CD-holding brackets (1) protrude to allow choosing the CDs, and equipped on its bottom with a central longitudinal member (25), shaped as an upward opened U, longitudinally running along the longer base (27) of the body next to a lip of said upper longitudinal slot (23), said longitudinal member (25) being made integral with a longitudinal wall (29) of the holding device (21) through bracings creating a lateral support box (31) for said U-shaped longitudinal member (25) inside the holding device (21); a similarly longitudinal bar (33), running at a height corresponding to a medium-high point of the shank (3) of the CD-holding bracket (1), being movably secured so as to rotate partially around hinging points (35) provided next to the base (27) by means of two tongues (37) that are normal and integral with said bar (33) and hinged in said points (35) integral with the base (27); said longitudinal member (25) being equipped with a plurality of transverse holes (39) suitable for hingedly housing therein the lower ends (41) of the shanks (3) of the CD-holding brackets (1); the rotatingly movable bar (33) being able to be in contact with or at a suitable distance from the shank (3) of the CD-holding bracket (1); a bar (43), which is axially movable by means of a locking key (45) operating on an end of said bar (43), being provided parallel with said rotatingly movable longitudinal bar (33), on the opposite side with respect to the upper slot (23), said bar being equipped with lever members (47) suitably divided in groups lengthwise, said members (47) being on one side hinged (in 49) to a fixed wall of the holding device (21) and on the other side resting (in 51) against said rotatingly movable bar (33); the locking key (45), upon rotation, causing the rotation of an eccentric member (53) located at the initial end of said bar (43); said eccentric member (53) when rotated bringing said axially movable bar (43) near to or far from the head (55) of the holding device (21), thereby bringing said lever members (47) near to or far from said rotatingly movable bar (33), so that, when the key (45) is closed, said members (47) press against said rotating bar (33) bringing it in contact with the moving part of the shank (3) of the CD-holding bracket (1) and consequently blocking the opening of the shanks (3) of said brackets (1), whereas, when the key (45) is opened, the distance between said bar (33) and the moving part of the shank (3) of said bracket (1) allows the partial opening, by rotation, of said shank (3) of the CD-holding bracket (1), said rotation in turn enabling the withdrawal of the CD-holding cassette (15) from the bracket itself.
Holding-displaying device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the lever members (47), blocking or not through their positioning the rotating bar (33), at least two of them being provided, are equipped with threaded end members (51), in order to allow adjusting the stress that can be applied by said members (47) to said rotating bar (33).
Holding-displaying device according to claim 3, characterized in that at least three lever members (47) are provided.
Holding-displaying device according to claim 1, characterized in that at least two projections (11), adapted to be inserted into the slots (13) provided in the CD-holding cassettes (15), are convex-shaped with a bevel.
Holding-displaying device according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that the CD-holding cassettes (15) contained in said holding-displaying device (19) have five visible sides, one of which is completely free and can be used to fully and easily identify the product.