GB2133685A

GB2133685A - Retail display device

Info

Publication number: GB2133685A
Application number: GB08402202A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Bernd Korth
Original assignee: Fehlbaum and Co
Current assignee: Fehlbaum and Co
Priority date: 1983-01-28
Filing date: 1984-01-27
Publication date: 1984-08-01
Also published as: GB2133685B; FR2539972A1; FR2539972B1; ATA432183A; DE3345905A1; DE3345905C2; GB8402202D0; AT391070B; CH658983A5

Abstract

A display device (e.g. for clothing) is provided with a support element (5) which can be hooked to a pillar or supporting base member (1). A rail (7) disposed, in use, substantially horizontal and parallel to the supporting base member (1), is connected to the support element (5). The rail (7) has an at least partially C-shaped cross-section and is adapted to receive display supports (10). A receiving chamber (8) within the rail (7) is shaped so that a locking section (12'', 13) of an anchorage member (9) present on each display support (10) is locked by the effect of gravity in the receiving chamber (8) and thereby anchors the display support (10) in its chosen position along the rail (7). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Retail display device The invention relates to a display device for use in retailing to display articles for sale such as readymade clothing.

A problem in the display of articles for sale in retail outlets is the optimum use of the available sales area with the goods offered for sale. In this context, "optimum" means that in the case of rapidly changing goods categories the display means is adaptable to a new situation without any great outley of time and without exchange or additional use of frames.

Rail and support bar constructions have already been proposed for this purpose, wherein marginal components are coordinated with specific categories and'our sizes of goods. When changes occur in the goods on offer, it is not possible to modify the prior art display devices without substantial effort. Adaptations to changed space requirements in a store can therefore generally not be performed rapidly, and frequently only by recourse to a substantial stock of different fixings for the modified display device.

It is proposed to overcome this disadvantage by the display device according to the invention. What constitutes the invention is apparent from the following claim 1. Preferred embodiments thereof are defined in the following sub-claims.

A preferred embodiment of display device for ready-made clothing according to the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein: Figure 1 shows a sectional side elevation of part of the display device using a support element shaped as a rail, Figure 2a shows, on a larger scale, the section of a C-shaped support rail, Figure 2b shows the process of introducing a display support into the C-shaped support rail, and Figure 3 shows the display device of Figure 1 viewed in the direction of the arrow Ill therein.

In the drawing, 1 designates generally a base member in the form of an assembly pillar or of a supporting wall, which base member is provided with, for example, grooves 2 for the (releasable) reception of engaging cams 3 on the bracket 4 of a support element 5. The grooves 2 are preferably formed as elongate slits in a wall section of a profile pillar or in a supporting wall, which are conformed in known mannerforthe reception of push-on assembly elements. A, for example, tubular connecting element 6, which is connected to the bracket 4, has lateral assembly surfaces (6') (see Figure 3), of which at least one is provided with an elongate rail 7 extending at right angles to the axis 5' of the support element.The rail 7 has a cross-sectional shape which exhibits at least approximately or partially the configuration of an (inverted) C and will therefore be called the C-shaped rail hereafter. A cross-sectional illustration of a specific embodiment of the C-shaped rail 7 with its receiving chamber 8 is shown on a larger scale in Figure 2a and is described in detail later.

An anchorage member, generally designated 9, of a display support 10 is engaged in the receiving chamber 8, which opens towards the base member 1. The support 10 is shown as an assembly part with horizontally stepped arm sections 10', 10", which are rigidly connected by a vertical connection element 10"'. The steped arm sections 10', 10" permit an arrangement of garments to be hung at different heights whilst each step may be limited outwards by a stop element 11, 11'.

The anchorage member 9 consists, as Figure 1 shows, of a hook part 12 bent in an inverted L-shape, oriented vertically and connected to the display support 10. The top arm section 10' of the display support 10 is connected to a major part 12' of the hook part 12. A locking end member 13 shaped as an elongate angle member, which is connected to the shorter part 12" of the hook part 12, has its limb 13' coordinated with a base surface 15 of the receiving chamber 8. The shorter part 12" of the hook part 12 is attached to the outer end of a longer part 13" of the locking end member 13. The shorter part 13', together with the base surface 15, determines the vertical alignment of the-display support 10 in the receiving chamber 8 of the C-shaped rail 7.As Figure 2a shows, the C-shaped rail 7 provides a torsionally rigid component which can be of extruded metallic alloy. The chamber 8 intended to receive the anchorage member 9, which owing to its function as an engagement zone for the anchorage member 9 is simply described below as the engagement throat 8, is bounded internally by a rearwall 14' of a profile web 14, the base surface 15, a roof wall 16, a lower stop rib 17 and an upper stop rib 18. Of these boundary elements, which extend along the entire C-shaped rail 7, the following are significant in the context of the explanations of Figure 2b: 1 ) the width a of the base surface 15, 2) the vertical space h1 between the base surface 15 and the lower end of the upper stop rib 18, and 3) the passage width w between the upper and the lower stop ribs 17,18.

Figure 2b shows how the anchorage member 9 of the display support 10 is introduced into the Cshaped rail 7. Some preparatory remarks on this subject are required. In order to achieve a positive and secure engagement of the anchorage member 9, it is necessary for the abovementioned width a (Figure 2a) of the base surface 15 and the width a' of the shorter part 13' of the locking end member 13, and also the vertical dimension h1 (Figure 2a) between the base surface 15 and the underside of the upper stop rib 18, likewise the vertical dimension h2 between the underside of the shorter part 13' of the locking end member 13 and the upper side of the shorter member 12" on the hook part 12, to be correctly mutually coordinated.In the case of engagement, the "rear side" of the locking end member 13 abuts the rear wall 14' (Figure 2a) of the profile web 14, so that an engagement of the anchorage member 9 substantially without play is obtained in the C-shaped rail. The width dimensions a, a' and the vertical dimensions h1, h2 must further be mutually coordinated so that a free passage between the confronting edges of the stop ribs 17 and 18 (passage width w) is possible for the locking section 12', 13 of the anchorage member 9.

When these preliminary conditions are fulfilled, the insertion of the display support 10 into the C-shaped rail can occur by the display support 10 first of all being raised counter-clockwise until the shorter end 13' of the locking end member 13 can pass through the passage orifice (pasage width w) between the two stop ribs 17, 18. The shorter end 13" of the locking end member 13 is then rested upon the base surface 15, and the anchorage member 9 is inserted into the engagement throat 8 of the Cshaped rail 7 by pivoting the display support 10 clockwise. The securing of the connection between the C-shaped rail 7 and the display support 10 occurs by gravity even in the unloaded state of the arm sections 10', 10". A plurality of display supports 10 can be inserted at chosen intervals along the Cshaped rail 7.

Horizontal adjustability between the C-shaped rail and the display support 10 is obtained if the latter is raised slightly counter-clockwise (Figure 1) and then impelled in the desired sliding direction R or Las shown in Figure 3.

In order to secure the support element 5 against falling off the base member 1 during manipulation of the display supports 10 along the C-shaped rail 7, the bracket 4 may be provided with a locking device 19 operable from the front, which is shown in Figures 1 and 3 in the form of an assembly block 20 and a set screw 21.

The locking device 19 may also be provided with a securing device that does not need tools to operate it.

Obviously, the shape of the support element 5, the profile shape of the C-shaped rail and the details of the anchorage member 9 may be varied considerably within the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims. Thus, for example, the Cshaped rail may be arranged continuously on the support element 5 and the latter be conformed by means of a recess (not shown), so that the display supports 10 are also slidable along a continuous (two-armed) C-shaped rail without disengagement.

The anchorage members may further be secured against accidental or undesired release by locking elements (not shown), such as screws or wedges, acting, for example, between the hook part 12 and the C-shaped rail 7.

Claims

1. A display device comprising a base member and at least one support element which can be anchored to the base member, a plurality of display supports engageable with the at least one support element, characterised in that the or each support element includes a bracket which can be hooked to the base member and an elongate rail supported by the bracket and extending at right angles thereto, each said rail providing a receiving orifice for the self-locking reception of an anchorage member on each of said display supports.

2. A display device according to claim 1, in which the rail is secured by a connecting element to the bracket of the or each support element and projects beyond the connecting element on at least one side thereof.

3. A display device according to claim 2, in which the rail exhibits a cross-section which is at least approximately or partially L-shaped with an access opening facing the base member, and a receiving chamber for the anchorage members communicating with the access opening.

4. A display device according to claim 3, in which each anchorage member comprises an inverted L-shaped hook part connected to the respective display support, with a vertically oriented major member and with a horizontally oriented shorter member, and with a locking end member of Lshaped cross-section, which is attached to said shorter member and forms conjointly with the latter a locking section anchorable in the receiving chamber of said rail.

5. A display device according to claim 4, in which the locking end member is an elongate L-shaped component and when locked in the receiving chamber has one member oriented horizontally and resting on a base surface of the receiving chamber.

6. A display device as claimed in claim 3 or any claim dependent thereon, in which the cross-section of the rail is substantially C-shaped having an access opening defined by a pair of ribs projecting one towards the other.

7. A display device for clothing substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.