GB2090131A

GB2090131A - Picture display apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2090131A
Application number: GB8136778A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1980-12-05
Filing date: 1981-12-07
Publication date: 1982-07-07

Abstract

Apparatus for the temporary display of a print or the like comprises a back plate 10, a sheet of transparent material, and four corner elements 17 are fitted over the corners to hold the two together, the whole being kept together by a cord passed over bosses 20 provided on the corner elements and the ends tied, whereafter the cord is tensioned by being passed around a tensioning post 12. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Temporary display apparatus This invention relates to apparatus for the temporary display of a painting, picture, print or the like - by which latter term is meant any form of work on a flexible medium which may be required to be hung for display purposes. Thus, in addition to those items mentioned above, the invention equally is applicable to the temporary display of posters, drawings, plans, maps, charts and so on. All such laminar works will hereinafter be referred to as a 'print or the like'.

It is frequently required to hand a print or the like for display purposes, but for various reasons it may be undesirable to mount the print of the like in a permanent or semi-permanent manner. If a print or the like is being offered for sale, the.

ultimate purchaser may wish to choose a particular type or style of mounting and consequently a vendor tends to leave the final choice of mounting to the purchaser. For example, if a print or the like is block-mounted, it is virtually impossible for the purchaser subsequently to employ some other means of displaying the print.

Also, semi-permanent framing is expensive, and a purchaser may wish a print or the like to be displayed in a frame dissimilar to that chosen by the vendor. Especially in the case of non-original works such as prints, photographs and so on, when such items are being offered for sale it is not uncommon for the print to be placed in a transparent plastic bag and then displayed by means of spring-metal clips attached to the print within the plastic bag and hung on a wall, so as to overcome the problems associated with semipermanent or permanent forms of mounting.

It is a general object of this invention to provide a temporary display system which may be used for the display of a print or the like to display the print or the like in an attractive manner and yet which does not damage the print or otherwise render it unsuitable for subsequent, more permanent mounting. It is a further object to provide display apparatus for the temporary mounting of a print or the like, which apparatus may be re-used repeatedly.

According to this invention, there is provided display apparatus for the temporary display of a print or the like, which apparatus comprises a rigid polygonal back plane, a plurality of corner elements, one for each corner of the back plane and each adapted to fit over a corner thereof, each corner element having a portion adapted to upstand from the rear face of the back plane when the corner element has been fitted to a corner of the back plane, a flexible tension member adapted to pass around all the corner element upstanding portions when said elements are fitted to the back plane, and means to tighten the tension member, so as to retain the corner elements in position on the back plane.

It will be appreciated that to use the temporary display apparatus of this invention, a print or the like is positioned on the front face of the back plane, whereafter the corner elements are fitted over the corners of the back plane, thereby retaining the print or the like in position. Then, the flexible tension member - for example a suitable length of cord - is passed around the upstanding portions of all the corner elements and if the tension member is not endless, the two ends thereof are secured together. Finally, the tightening means is operated, so as firmly and securely to hold the corner elements in position.

For satisfactory operation in the manner just described above, the print or the like must be of substantially the same shape and size as the back plane. Though the print or the like may not be larger than the back plane, it could be slightly smaller than the back plane, provided that the corners of the print are still securely held by the corner elements. However, to allow the temporary display apparatus to be used with any print or the like smaller than the back plane, it is preferred to provide a rigid or semi-rigid sheet of transparent material of the same shape and size as the back plane and adapted to lie against the front face thereof, with the print or the like between the back plane and the sheet of transparent material.The corner elements should be able to fit over the back plane and the transparent material to hold that material against the back plane rather than directly to hold the print itself. In this way, any size and shape of print or the like can be accomodated between the back plane and the transparent material, provided the print or the like is not of a larger size than the back plane itself.

The sheet of transparent material preferably is of good-quality glass, so as not to distort viewing of the print or the like therethrough. However, a sheet of a plastics material, such as Perspex (Registered Trade Mark), may be used instead.

Ordinarily, and especially if a transparent front plane is employed, the back plane will be of rectangular shape. Conveniently, the back plane may be made of wood, or a wood-like material such as chip-board or block board, though of course other rigid materials could be used. At least the front face of the back plane may be given an attractive finish - for instance by painting or coating with a plastics material, but it would be possible to use the back plane in conjunction with a conventional 'mount' adapted to fit the print or the like.

Each corner element preferably is metallic and, for the preferred arrangement for use with a rectangular back plane, comprises two substantially flat triangular plates, held at an appropriate spacing to accommodate therebetween the back plane, a print or the like and any transparent front plane (if employed). The two triangular plates may have integrally-formed webs to hold the two plates at the appropriate spacing, or separate spacing members may be attached to the two plates.

Each upstanding portion may conveniently comprise a boss attached to one triangular plate so as to project therefrom, and preferably is provided with a head - for instance, a flange - at its end remote from the triangular plate, so as to retain the flexible tension member thereon. An alternative is to form the material of one of the triangular plates to serve as the upstanding portion. For instance, a section of the plate may be pressed out of the general plane of the plate in order in provide a portion which may receive the flexible tension member, and for such a case it is preferred for the pressed-out section to be turned over at its free end, to lie parallel to the major part of the plate, so as to retain the tension member thereon.Conveniently, the plate has three such pressed-out sections in order smoothly to transfer the direction of the tension element.

The preferred form of tightening means for the flexible tension member comprises an abutment adapted for mounting on the rear face of the back plane and around which the flexible tension member may be passed once the member has been passed round the upstanding portions of the corner elements. For example, this abutment may be in the form of a boss similar to that on each corner element but attached to a flat plate, which plate may be attached by means of screws to the rear face of the back plate. An alternative is to fasten a pulley to the back plane directly by means of a single screw, at an appropriate location.

The flexible tension member itself may be used to hang a print or the like mounted by the display apparatus. Alternatively, a separate hanging arrangement may be secured to the rear face of the back plane.

By way of example only, one specific embodiment of this invention will now be described in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a front view of a temporary mounting arrangement of this invention, partially cut away for clarity; Figure 2 is a rear view of the mounting arrangement of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a rear view of a second embodiment of corner element partially cut-away; and Figure 4 is a side view of Figure 3.

The temporary mounting arrangement for a print or the like and shown in the drawings comprises a back plane 10, made for example from chip-board or block-board of about 2 inch (12.5 mm) thickness, the back plane being of rectangular shape. On the rear face 11 of the back plane 10 there is screwed a flatplate 12 mid-way between the short sides of the back plane but nearer one long side of that back plane; the plate 12 supports a boss 1 3 which boss has a flange provided at its free end remote from the back plane. Thus, a cord may be passed around the boss, between the flat plate and the flange.

A print such as that shown diagrammatically at 14 is placed at the desired location on the front face 1 5 of the back plane, and then a flat rectangular sheet of glass 1 6 is placed thereover, the sheet of glass having the same shape and size as the back plane 10. If required, a mount having a suitable aperture may be placed over the print 14, so as to cover that part of the back plane not covered by the print itself. The glass - and hence the print - is held to the back plane by means of four corner elements 17 each of which is similar and is adapted to receive therewithin a corner portion of the back plane 10 as well as a corresponding corner portion of the glass 1 6.

Thus, each corner element 1 7 comprises a pair of triangular plates 1 8 held parallel at the required spacing by means of webs 1 9 extending between the two plates, along the two shorter sides thereof. The angle between the two webs of each corner element corresponds to the corner angle of the back plane 10, and thus for this embodiment is a right angle.

Mounted on one triangular plate of each corner element is a boss 20 (Figure 2), which boss upstands from the associated plate and is provided with a flange 21 at its end remote from the plate. The configuration of the boss 20 and flange 21 is thus similar to that of the boss on the flat plate 12, and a cord may be passed around the boss, between the triangular plate 18 and the flange 21.

To use the above described apparatus, a print is positioned on the back plane 10 at the required position, and then the sheet of glass 1 6 is laid thereover. The four corner elements are fitted over the corners of the back plane 10 and glass 1 6, and thus the print is clamped at the required place, between the glass and the back plane. Next, a cord is passed around the four bosses 20 of the corner elements, and the two ends thereof tied or otherwise secured together. Finally, the cord is stretched over the boss 13 of the flat plate 1 2, and this tightens the cord around the four bosses 20, securely to hold the four corner elements 1 7 in place.

The complete assembly may be hung from length 22 or 23 of the cord, in a case where the overall weight of the assembly is not too great. If however the weight is quite considerable, a separate hanging cord may be attached to the back plane 10, for instance by eyes screwed therein, or any other conventional hanging arrangement may be employed.

Each corner element 1 7 may be modified, so as to make the fitting thereof to a back plane and so on, more easy, by cutting away the extreme corner portion thereof. Thus, referring to the top left-hand corner element 17 shown in Figure 1, the corner portion thereof may be removed by cutting along line 25. Of course, rather than modifying a preformed corner element, the element may be made in the first instance to have such a truncated form.

The flat plate 12 carrying the boss 13 may be replaced by a simple pulley, for instance of a plastics material fixed to the back plane by a single centrai screw. Such a pulley is relatively cheap and easier to affix to the back plane that the plate 12, but is equally effective for tightening the cord.

Referring now to Figures 3 and 4, there is shown an alternative embodiment of corner element to replace that shown in Figures 1 and 2.

The corner element 30 comprises two flat triangular plates 31 and 32 held in the required spaced-apart and parallel disposition by webs 33 and 34. One of the plates 31 has three lugs 35, formed by locally pressing the material of the plate out of the general plane of the plate, and then turning the free end of each pressed-out portion to lie parallel to the general plane of the plate. The three lugs 35 are equi-spaced with one lug disposed close to the element corner 36, and each lug has a slightly curved profile as shown, so as to ensure a cord passing around four such corner elements and also around a tensioning device such as a pulley is smoothly transferred.

The corner element shown in Figures 3 and 4 is conveniently made by punching a blank from sheet metal which blank then has the three lugs 35 formed therein, whereafter the blank is folded to form the corner element. Overlapping webs may be spot-welded together to prevent distortion of the element in use, and then the element may be given an attractive finish such as chromeplating or plastic-dipping.

Claims

1. Display apparatus for the temporary display of a print or the like, which apparatus comprises a rigid polygonal back plane, a plurality of corner elements, one for each corner of the back plane and each adapted to fit over a corner thereof, each corner element having a portion adapted to upstand from the rear face of the back plane when the corner element has been fitted to a corner of the back plane, a flexible tension member adapted to pass around all the corner element upstanding portions when said elements are fitted to the back plane, and means to tighten the tension member, so as to retain the corner elements in position on the back plane.

2. Display apparatus according to claim 1, additionally comprising a rigid or semi-rigid sheet of transparent material of the same shape and size as the back plane and adapted to lie against the front face thereof, so that the print of the like may be located between the back plane and the sheet of transparent material.

3. Display apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the sheet of transparent material is a glass sheet.

4. Display apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the back plane is of rectangular shape.

5. Display apparatus according to claim 4, wherein each corner element comprises two substantially flat triangular plates, held at an appropriate spacing to accommodate therebetween the back plane, a print or the like and, if employed, a transparent front plane.

6. Display apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the two triangular plates have integrallyformed webs to hold the two plates at the appropriate spacing.

7. Display apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the upstanding portion of each corner element comprises a boss attached to one surface of the element so as to project therefrom.

8. Display apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the boss has a flange provided at its end remote from the surface from which it projects, so as to allow retention of the flexible tension member thereon.

9. Display apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the material forming one surface of a corner element is shaped directly to form the upstanding portion.

1 0. Display apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a section of the corner element is pressed out of the general place of a surface of the element in order to provide the upstanding portion which may receive the flexible tension member.

11. Display apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the pressed-out section is turned over at its free end, to lie parallel to the major part of the adjacent surface of the corner element.

12. Display apparatus according to claim 10 or claim 11 , wherein the corner element has three sections pressed-out of one surface.

1 3. Display apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the tightening means for the flexible tension member comprises an abutment adapted for mounting on the rear face of the back plane and around which the flexible tension member may be passed once that member has been passed round the upstanding portions of the corner elements.

14. Display apparatus according to claim 13, wherein a pulley is fastened to the back plane directly by means of a single screw, at an appropriate location to serve as said abutment.

1 5. Display apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 or in Figures 1 and 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.