GB1600701A

GB1600701A - Screen assemblies

Info

Publication number: GB1600701A
Application number: GB609878A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Bentinck & Associates Ltd R G
Current assignee: Bentinck & Associates Ltd R G
Priority date: 1978-05-22
Filing date: 1978-05-22
Publication date: 1981-10-21

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO SCREEN ASSEMBLIES (71) We, R. G. BENTINCK & Assocl- ATES LIMITED a British Company of Shire Hill, Saffron Walden, Essex, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- This invention concerns screen assemblies particularly but not exclusively serving as backgrounds for display stands and exhibition stands.

It is now commonplace for companies to exhibit their product at trade fairs and exhibitions and with the increasing tendency towards export sales, companies now wish to attend trade fairs and exhibitions in geographically widely spaced locations. With the increasing cost of travel and the high overheads represented by large groups of personnel temporarily resident in foreign countries the cost of attending exhibitions and exhibiting products on a large stand is becoming almost prohibitively expensive. It is with this in mind that the present invention seeks to provide by way of a modular assembly display stand or background for an exhibition stand which can be erected and transported by one or at most two people thereby reducing the personnel requirements to attend an exhibition.This is of particular value where the exhibition is located geographically remote from the base from which the company operates or where the value of attending the exhibition is perhaps marginal.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a form of construction which can be erected without any special skills or tools.

By keeping the size of the individual parts making up the screen to a size which can be lifted by one man, an exhibition stand can be transported and erected and manned by a single person and then dismantled and removed in the same way thereby cutting the cost of attending an exhibition quite significantly.

According to the invention, there is provided a screen assembly comprising a plurality of rectangular panel units mounted upright side by side, each panel unit having longitudinal slots in its upper and lower edges and at least one hole in the base of each slot, and in combination with said panel units, joining members linking two panel units together at their respective corresponding upper and lower edges, each joining member having an elongate bridging section seated along the corresponding edges of two units in the longitudinal slots therein and lugs extending perpendicularly to the bridging section and received in the said holes in the bases of said slots.

Rigidity can be imparted to the structure by arranging that certain of the panel units extend at angles relative to other ones of the panel units to define right angles and 45" angles and the like.

Where two panel units are to be joined in substantially planar alignement in a straight line the joining member at the top and bottom of the vertical join between the panels conveniently comprises an elongate strip of metal or plastics material having the laterally extending lugs which are adapted to be received in the holes in the bases of the slots in the upper and lower edges of the aligned panels.

Where an angle is required at the join between the two panels, the bridge section of the joining member is formed with an angle which corresponds to the angle which the two panels are required to subtend at their join.

The two sections of the bridge section which now extend at an angle to each other cause the two panels to subtend the required angle whilst simultaneously holding them together.

Preferably the depth of the slot at the upper edge of the panel is greater than the depth of the slot at the lower edge of the panel to allow the entire cross-section of the upper joining member to be accommodated therein and thus be completely hidden from view. In this case, a hook may be provided from a convenient point such as the midpoint along the length of the bridging section of the joining member, the hook comprising an upright section extending from the bridging section and a leg or arm which itself extends laterally from the upright section to hook over the edge of the panel unit into which the joining member has been pushed.

All that will be seen when the joining member is in position is the leg or arm at the upper end of the upstanding member and by forming the latter from a decorative material or from stainless steel the visual effect can be rendered quite pleasing.

No hooks are required on the joining members at the lower end of each panel since these can be removed readily once the upper edges of the panels have been separated.

According to a preferred feature of the invention each of the said panel unit types is formed from a frame of hard or semi-hard wood having laminated plastics sheeting stuck or otherwise secured to the opposite faces of the frame and sandwiching between the frame and the two laminated panels a honeycomb structure core typically of cardboard.

Preferably one or more transverse struts extend between the upright frame members to increase the rigidity of the frame.

An advantage of this form of construction is that the resulting panel unit has a relatively low weight and can be lifted by a single person without too much difficulty.

Typical dimensions for the two panel unit types for an exhibition stand are 2-4 metres high x 1 metre wide and 2-4 metres high x 5 metres wide. The thickness of each panel from front to back is preferably 19 mms.

Preferably the slot width is the same in all panels and conveniently the thickness of the material from which the joining members are formed is approximately equal to the slot width so that the joining member is a push fit into the slot.

A panel unit in the screen assembly may comprise a plain screen and serve merely as a backing sheet or display panel for advertising material. Preferably however each panel unit is both formable into a screen and when so formed also comprises a back for a cupboard or shelves or storage unit constructed according to the principles of so-called quick-fit furniture. To this end fittings such as hinge members and joints are located at intervals down the face of a panel unit and are secured to the hardwood or semi-hard wood upright frame members between the laminated plastics sheets.Complementary fittings in the form of hinge members or joint members may be attached to the rear edges of the side members of the cupboards, wardrobes and other furniture items to be constructed on the common back panel which are adapted to be fitted to the hinge units or joints mounted on the front face of the panel unit.

Alternatively the sides and tops and bottoms of the furniture units may be secured to a panel unit in the screen assembly using con ventional jointing methods involving screws and glue and may be secured in place using preferably corner bracing members such as so called Conti blocks. Hinges and other joining members may then be provided along the front edges of the permanently secured in place side members of the furniture items to enable doors to be mounted on the front of each furnture unit as required.

In one arrangement applied to the screen assembly of the invention, the side members and tops and bottoms of furniture units are hingedly joined to the front face of a panel so that they can be folded fiat one on top of the other for transporation. To this end, where doors are provided to close off the furniture unit after assembly, the doors are preferably secured to the front edges of the side members of the furniture unit by so-called drop-on hinges.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a plan view of a standard panel with one facing sheet of plastics laminate removed to reveal the interior, Fig. 2 is an edge view of the panel shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a plan view of a half width panel similar to the view shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a cross-section along a line AA of Fig. 1 drawn to an enlarged scale, Figs. 5 to 9 inclusive illustrate different forms ofjoining member forjoining two, three or four panels together along their top edges and Figs. 10 to 14 inclusive illustrate the corresponding joining members for joining the lower edges of the panels joined along their top edges by the members of Figs. 5 to 9 respectively, Fig. 15 illustrates in front elevation a wardrobe unit, Fig. 16 illustrates by way of a similar elevation a storage unit, Fig. 17 illustrates in a similar elevation a sink unit and Fig. 18 illustrates by way of a side elevation the storage unit of Fig. 16, Fig. 19 is a top plan view of the storage unit shown in Fig. 16, Fig. 20 is a diagrammatic representation of a plurality panel units assembled together to form part of a screen and illustrates by way of thickened black lines how the various joining members can be used to secure the different panel units together.

Fig. 1 shows the internal layout of a full size panel. This comprises a frame having upright members 10 and 12 and upper and lower transversely extending struts 14 and 16 each formed with a slot which extends from one end to the other as denoted by the dotted line 18 in the case of strut 14 and 20 in the case of strut 16. Holes 50 are formed in the base of each slot 18 and 20.

The structure is strengthened by means of two transversely extending intermediate struts 22 and 24.

Fig. 2 is an edge view of the panel which more clearly shows the upper and lower slots 18 and 20 respectively.

Fig. 3 shows the internal layout of a half size panel which is formed like the full size panel but from upright members 26 and 28, upper and lower transversely extending struts 30 and 32 each formed with a slot designated by 34 in the case of strut 30 and 36 in the case of strut 32, the holes in the bases of the slots 34 and 36 being designated 51. Intermediate struts 38 and 40 strengthen the assembly.

A cross-section through each of the panels on the line AA will appear the same and this is shown to an enlarged scale in Fig. 4. The central section of the panel has been removed in the enlarged section of Fig. 4 to allow the section to be condensed in size.

For simplicity it will be assumed that Fig. 4 refers to the cross-section on AA in Fig. 1.

The reference numerals employed in Fig. 4 therefore correspond to the Fig. 1 embodiment. Reference numerals in brackets in Fig. 4 refer to the corresponding sections of the Fig.

3 embodiment.

The faces of the panel are covered by means of 12 mm thick sheets of laminated plastics material such as that commerically available under the Trade Mark ARBORITE. In Fig.

4 these two sheets of laminated material are denoted by reference numerals 42 and 44. It will be appreciated that the sheets employed in the Fig. 3 embodiment will be of half the width of those employed in the Fig. 1 embodiment.

Between the two sheets of laminated plastics material 42 and 44 is sandwiched a cardboard honeycomb structure core material commonly referred to as a honeycomb filler designated by reference numeral 46. This provides the resulting structure with adequate strength but at the same time keeps the weight of the finished panel to the minimum.

The panels are intended to be arranged as a backing for an exhibition stand and reference is now made to Fig. 20 which illustrates in dotted outline how a number of these panels can be arranged to form a self supporting structure in the form of a screen which may for example form part of the backing screen on an exhibition stand. Full size panels 48 and 50 form part of a first wall section, two other full size panels 52 and 54 form another parallel wall section and a half size panel 56 located at right angles to the two lines of full size panels 50 and 48 and 52 and 54 respectively so as to infill the space between the two lines and another full size panel 58 serves to add rigidity to the structure to prevent it from tipping.

In accordance with the invention joining members are located between adjoining panels and depending on the type of joint between the adjoining panels so different types of joining member are used.

Figs. 5 to 14 illustrate the different types of joining member which may be employed.

Fig. 5 illustrates a straight joining member 60 having downwardly extending lugs 62 and 64 and a hook 66. The member 60 is used at the top of the panels to join two in-line panels such as 48 and 50.

Fig. 6 illustrates a right-angled joining member 68 in which the briding section is formed with a right angle at 70. It also includes downwardly turned lugs 64 and 62 and a hook 66. A right-angled joining piece such as shown in Fig. 6 is employed to secure together two panel members which are to be joined at right angles such as 48 and 56 in Fig. 20.

Fig. 7 illustrates a further type of joining member which will be referred to as a Tpiece joining member generally designated 72.

This is similar to the straight joining member shown in Fig. 5 in that it includes a straight elongate bridging section 74 having a central hook 66 and downwardly turned lugs 62 and 64. However in addition a central leg 76 extends perpendicularly from the mid-point of the bridging section 74 and includes its own down turned lug 78. Such a T-piecejoining member is used to join together three panels which together form a T-joint. An example of such a join is the one between the panels 52, 56 and 58 in Fig. 20.

Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate two further types of joining member.

Fig. 8 shows a cross piece joining member which is a development of the T-piece joining member shown in Fig. 7. The only difference lies in the provision of an extra leg 80 which extends opposite to the leg 76 on the other side of the bridging member 74 and which includes its own down turned lug 82. No cross piece intersection is shown in Fig. 20 but it will be appreciated that if for example another panel were to extend in line with panel 52 on the other side of the T-junction formed by the panels 52, 56 and 58, the joining member 72 would have to be replaced by a cross-piece joining member such as shown in Fig. 8.

In Fig. 9 a 135 joining member is shown having two angularly inclined sections 84 and 86 which constitute the bridging member each having down turned lugs 62 and 64 and a central hook 66. This member would be used to join together two panels which are to subtend an angle of 135".

All the joining members so far described in Figs. 5 to 9 are employed at the upper ends of the panels and are designed to fit tightly into the slots 18 and 34 formed in the upper edges of the transverse struts such as 14 and 30.

Since these struts and the lower struts 16 and 32 have to resist any twisting or turning torque about the vertical joints between ad joining panels, the upper and lower transverse struts such as 14 and 30 and 16 and 32 are formed from hardwood.

It is not sufficient merely to join the panels along the upper edges and to this end a further set ofjoining members are provided as shown in Figs. 10 to 14 which correspond to the upper joining members shown in Figs. 5 to 9 respectively and are fitted across the join between two or more panels as the case may be at the lower end of the junction.

Thus Fig. 10 illustrates a straight cross joining member comprising an elongate bridge section 88 having upstanding lugs 90 and 92 which is used at the lower end of an in-line junction as between panels 50 and 48 in Fig. 20.

Fig. 11 shows a right-angled lower joining piece designated by reference numeral 94 which includes two right-angled legs 96 and 98 with upstanding lugs 90 and 92 for fitting into the holes 50 and 51 in the bases of the slots at the lower end of two right-angled panels such as 48 and 56 in Fig. 20.

A T-piece joining member for use at the lower end of a Tjunction is shown in Fig. 12 and is designated by reference numeral 100.

It also includes a bridging section 102 similar to 88 in Fig. 10 with upstanding lugs 90 and 92 and also includes a T-piece leg 104 with a corresponding upstanding lug 106 for fitting into a hole in the base of the slot in the lower edge of the panel forming the T-section. A joining member such as 100 in used at the lower end of a T-section join such as that between panels 56, 58 and 52 in Fig. 20.

Fig. 13 illustrates a cross-piece joining member which is a simple development of that shown in Fig. 12 and includes an additional leg 108 which extends from the centre of the cross member 102 on the opposite side and in line with the leg 104 and includes its own upstanding lug 110.

Fig. 14 illustrates a 135 joining member which serves as a complementary lower joining member for the upper joining member shown in Fig. 9 and includs 135 angle arms 112 and 114 forming the bridging member having upstanding lugs 90 and 92.

All the joining members shown in Figs. 5 to 14areformed from strip or rod or bar material or moulded from plastics material and are dimensioned so as to be a close fit within the walls of the slots 18, 34, 20 and 36 respectively in the upper and lower ends of the panels. The hooks 66 on the upper joining members allow the members to be lifted out of the slots when an assembly of panels is to be dismantled or rearranged.

The panels not only serve as a screen such as shown in Fig. 20 but when formed into such a screen can also serve as backing members for furniture units. It is not intended that the panels serve to carry the entire weight of the furniture units (which it is intended will include side walls down to the ground and extending perpendicular to the panels) but will provide the necessary degree of support to allow the furnture units to be assembled thereon and to maintain the assembled furniture units in an upright condition.

Various different arrangements are shown in Figs. 15 to 19.

To reduce the number of views required, a single side elevation is shown in Fig. 18 and a single plan view is shown in Fig. 19. Fig. 18 indicates one of the upright side walls of a furniture unit, designated by reference numeral 116. A complementary side wall 118 is arranged on the opposite vertical edge of a panel of the screen assembly (not shown in Figs. 15 to 18) and these are shown in Fig. 16 which is a front view of the unit shown in end elevation in Fig. 18.

At the top othe two side walls 116, 118 are bridged by a top panel 120 which also forms the top of a cupboard unit having hinged door 122 and 124 which are hingedly joined to the front edges of the two side walls 116 and 118 respectively by means of drop-on hinges designated by reference numeral 126.

A floor or shelf member 128 extends between the two side walls 116 and 118 to form the base of the cupboard unit.

Vertical battens 130 and 135 (see Fig. 16) extend from top to bottom and are adapted to be secured to the front face of a full size panel (such as shown in Fig. 1) of the screen assembly.

The side walls 116 and 118 are hinged to the battens as shown in Fig. 19 by means of hinges such as piano type hinges 134 and 136.

Blocks such as 138 and 140, 142 and 144 are secured to the side walls 116 and 118 and allow the transverse member such as top 120 and shelf 128 to be secured to the side walls by means of screws or bolts or pins or simple doweljoints.

Shelf supporting pegs are provided at 146, 148, 150 and 152 to support intermediate shelves 154 and 156.

Blocks 158, 160, 162 and 164 on each of the side walls 116 and 118 serve to support a working surface 166 and a floor 168 for a lower cupboard unit closed by two doors 170 and 172 also hingedly joined to the front edges of the side walls 116 and 118 by means of drop-on hinges 126.

A similar form of construction is shown in Fig. 17 with the addition of a sink unit shown in outline at 174 let in to the working surface 166. In the event that this is used, the shelves 1541 and 1561 may either be removed or as shown in Fig. 18 may be of reduced depth and extend only to the points marked by reference numerals 176 and 178 respectively. It is to this end that the two intermediate shelf units in Fig. 17 are denoted by 1541 and 1561, to indicate that these are not exactly the same as the shelves 154 and 156 of Fig. 16.

Where half width panels are used for the intermediate shelves the fixings 148 and 162 have to be moved inboard to support the front edges of the half width shelf panels.

Using a similar form of overall construction, a wardrobe unit can be constructed as shown in Fig. 15. In this arrangement the upper end of the assembly is the same as shown in Fig. 16 but below the shelf 128 the unit is left completely unobstructed except for a floor member designated by reference numeral 180 secured to the opposite side walls by means of blocks (not shown) such as 162 and 164 in Fig. 18 and the lower section below the shelf 128 and above the floor 180 is enclosed by a pair of hinged doors 182 and 184 hingedly joined to the front edges of the side walls 116 and 118 by means of further drop-on hinges 126.

Fig. 19 illustrates how the two side walls 116 and 118 can be swung inwardly as denoted by the curved arrows 186 and 188 to lie flat on a back panel of the screen assembly for transportion when the screen assembly is dismantled.

Reference is made to specification (application 1600702) which claims a joining member for location between two adjoining panels of a screen assembly, said joining member being an integral structure comprising a bridging section having a coplanar straight portions to be received in grooves in corresponding edges of the two panels, lugs extending in parallel relationships from the straight portions at right angles thereto to be received into the material of the panels and hook means extending from the bridging section from a point between the lugs and in the opposite direction to the lugs.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. A screen assembly comprising a plurality of rectangular panel units mounted upright side by side, each panel unit having longitudinal slots in its upper and lower edges and at least one hole in the base of each slot, and in combination with said panel units, joining members linking two panel units together at their respective corresponding upper and lower edges, each joining member having an elongate bridging section seated along the corresponding edges of two units in the longitudinal slots therein and lugs extending perpendicularly to the bridging section and received in the said holes in the bases of said slots.

2. A screen assembly as claimed in Claim 1 including two panel units which are in substantially planar alignment, the joining members at the top and bottom of the vertical join between the panel units each comprising a straight elongate member.

3. A screen assembly as claimed in Claim 1 including two panel units subtending an angle therebetween which is less than 1 80O.

4. A screen assembly as claimed in Claim 3 in which the bridging section of each joining member is formed with an angle which corresponds to the angle the two panel unit subtend at their join.

5. A screen assembly as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4 in which the depth of the slots in the upper edges of the panels is sufficient to accommodate the entire cross-section of the bridging section of a joining member located therein.

6. A screen assembly as claimed in claim 5 in which a hook is provided along the length of the bridging section of the joining member, the hook comprising an upright section extending from the bridging section and a leg or arm which itself extends laterally from the upright section to hook over the edge of the slot in a panel unit into which the joining member has been fitted.

7. A screen assembly as claimed in any of the preceding claims in which each of the said panel units is of sandwich construction, being formed with a peripheral frame having laminated plastics sheet material secured to the opposite sides of the frame and a honeycomb core sandwiched between the two laminated sheets.

8. A screen assembly as claimed in claim 7 in which the honeycomb core is formed from cardboard.

9. A screen assembly as claimed in claim 7 or 8 in which the frame is made of a hard wood.

10. A screen assembly as claimed in any of claims 7 to 9 in which at least one transverse strut extends between the opposed longer sides of the frame to increase its rigidity.

11. A screen assembly as claimed in any of claims 1 to 10 in which the slot width is the same in all panels and the thickness of the joining member is commensurate with the slot width so that the joining members push fit into the slots.

12. A screen assembly as claimed in any of the preceding claims in which at least one of the panel units comprises a rear panel for a furniture unit.

13. A screen assembly as claimed in claim 12 having fittings secured to the upright side members of the peripheral frame of said at least one panel unit and complementary fittings on the rear of the furniture unit to allow said unit to be attached to the panel unit.

14. A screen assembly as claimed in claim 12 in which the sides and tops and bottoms of the furniture unit are secured to the panel unit using conventional jointing methods.

15. A screen assembly as claimed in claim 14 in which there are provided corner bracing members.

16. A screen assembly as claimed in any

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. Where half width panels are used for the intermediate shelves the fixings 148 and 162 have to be moved inboard to support the front edges of the half width shelf panels. Using a similar form of overall construction, a wardrobe unit can be constructed as shown in Fig. 15. In this arrangement the upper end of the assembly is the same as shown in Fig. 16 but below the shelf 128 the unit is left completely unobstructed except for a floor member designated by reference numeral 180 secured to the opposite side walls by means of blocks (not shown) such as 162 and 164 in Fig. 18 and the lower section below the shelf 128 and above the floor 180 is enclosed by a pair of hinged doors 182 and 184 hingedly joined to the front edges of the side walls 116 and 118 by means of further drop-on hinges 126. Fig. 19 illustrates how the two side walls 116 and 118 can be swung inwardly as denoted by the curved arrows 186 and 188 to lie flat on a back panel of the screen assembly for transportion when the screen assembly is dismantled. Reference is made to specification (application 1600702) which claims a joining member for location between two adjoining panels of a screen assembly, said joining member being an integral structure comprising a bridging section having a coplanar straight portions to be received in grooves in corresponding edges of the two panels, lugs extending in parallel relationships from the straight portions at right angles thereto to be received into the material of the panels and hook means extending from the bridging section from a point between the lugs and in the opposite direction to the lugs. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1. A screen assembly comprising a plurality of rectangular panel units mounted upright side by side, each panel unit having longitudinal slots in its upper and lower edges and at least one hole in the base of each slot, and in combination with said panel units, joining members linking two panel units together at their respective corresponding upper and lower edges, each joining member having an elongate bridging section seated along the corresponding edges of two units in the longitudinal slots therein and lugs extending perpendicularly to the bridging section and received in the said holes in the bases of said slots.

16. A screen assembly as claimed in any

of claims 12 to 15 in which the side members and tops and bottoms of furniture units are hingedly joined to the front face of a panel unit so that they can be folded flat one on top of the other for transporation.

17. Screen assemblies constructed and arranged substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.