GB2174231A - Display stand for knitting needles - Google Patents

Abstract

A display stand for unpacked knitting needles comprises a horizontal plate 3 supported by a pillar 2 upstanding from a base 1, the horizontal plate having a plurality of through holes 4 formed therein, the through holes being different in diameter and arranged to facilitate assortment of the needles in order of shank diameters thereof, and each of the through holes having an internal diameter corresponding to a particular shank diameter of one of the needles to be inserted thereinto and serving as a gauge for confirming a dimension of the particular shank diameter. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Display stand for knitting needles This invention relates to a display stand for knitting needles, and more particularly to a display stand of the type that permits display of unpacked knitting needles in an assorted manner at a store, a trade fair and the like place of sales promotion.

In general, many stores dealing with handicraft articles keep a stock of various sizes of knitting needles to meet the purchasers' demand therefor. For the convenience of purchasers, the needles should be displayed in a well assorted manner so that a purchaser can readily find a certain particular size of needles that she wants to buy among various sizes thereof. Therefore, a display stand for knitting needles is used at many stores to display the needles in an assorted manner.

A typical example of the conventional display stand for knitting needles is disclosed for example in Japanese Utility Model Application No. 56-120604 (laid-open on February 19, 1983 under Laid-open No. 58-26371), wherein the display stand is provided with a plurality of hooks projecting from each of a plurality of horizontal bars supported by a body frame, in order that a number of containers, each containing one or more knitting needles, are hung on the hooks for the display purpose. With this prior art device, however, it is impossible to display the needles in unpacked condition.

In the case where the needles are displayed in a sealed container, the purchaser cannot have them directly in hand for her close and careful inspection before purchase to examine whether they are satisfactory to her from her own check points such as surface finishing, net weight, size, quality of material and/or whatever properties of the needles she is interested in. Thus, the display of the needles in a sealed container is quite inconvenient to the purchasers.

Even in the case where the needles are displayed in an unsealed or openable container, the purchaser still finds inconvenience in her close examination of the needles because she has to open the container with a care not to break it and then take the contents out of it.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to solve the above discussed problem.

Another object of the invention is to provide a display stand for knitting needles which permits display of the needles in unpacked condition.

A further object of the invention is to provide a display stand for-knitting needles which permits an easy assortment of various sizes of the needles and serves as a gauge for confirming shank diameters of the needles.

A further object of the invention is to provide a display stand for knitting needles which is advantageous when utilized as a sample displayer.

A further object of the invention is to provide a display stand for knitting needles which is simple in structure, inexpensive, and compact enough to be placed on a table, a showcase and the like.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a display stand for knitting needles which is easy to assemble and disassemble and, therefore, economical in transportation and storage.

According to the invention, there is provided a display stand for unpacked knitting needles which comprises a horizontal plate supported by a pillar upstanding from a base, the horizontal plate having a plurality of through holes formed therein, the through holes being different in diameter and arranged to serve as a diameter gauge for measuring different shank diameters of the needles and facilitate assortment of the needles in order of the shank diameters thereof, and each of the through holes having an internal diameter corresponding to a particular shank diameter of one of the needles to be inserted thereinto and serving as a gauge for confirming a dimension of the particular shank diameter.

The invention will now be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a display stand for unpacked knitting needles according to the invention; Figure 2 is a front elevation of the display stand shown in Figure 1, with parts broken away for clarity; and Figure 3 is a similar view to Figure 2, but showing another embodiment of the invention.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, in particular to Figures 1 and 2 first, there is illustrated a display stand for headed knitting needles N. The display stand has a horizontal plate 3 supported by a pillar 2 upstanding from a base 1.

The horizontal plate 3 has a plurality of through holes 4 formed therein which are aligned in order of diameter. Each of the through holes 4 has a particular internal diameter slightly larger than a shank diameter of a particular knitting needle N to be inserted therein, so that the needle N can be freely inserted into and taken out of the hole 4. It is to be noted that the "shank diameter" is herein defined as a maximum diameter of an elongated body or shank S of the knitting needle N, meaning neither a diameter at an enlarged head H of the needle nor that at an reduced end portion P thereof. As is well known, the elongated shank S is generally equal in diameter along its length except at the reduced end portion P. Naturally, the diameter of each hole 4 is smaller than that of the enlarged needle head H, and thus, each needle N hangs down from the plate 3.

In the illustrated embodiment, a plurality of pairs of through holes 4 are formed in the rectangular plate 3 so as to make two rows thereof, in which each one pair thereof, located on either side of the imaginary center line C on the plate 3, is equal in diameter to each other but different from the remaining pairs thereof. The plurality of pairs of the through holes 4 are aligned in order of diameter and regularly spaced to one another. It is obvious, however, that the plate 3 may take any suitable form such as polygonal, round or oval. It is also obvious that the arrangement of the holes 4 may be varied in many ways in accordance with the form of the plate 3, conditioned that they are arranged in a certain order and not at random.

The plate 3 may be made of wood, synthetic resin or light metal, and has a fixing hole 5 formed preferably at the center thereof.

The plate 3 may preferably be provided on its upper surface with a series of numerals to indicate the shank diameters of the needles N to be displayed. Such indication 6 enables the purchaser to readily find a particular size of the needles she wants to buy. In addition, the holes 4 with such indication serve as a gauge for confirming a shank diameter of a certain needle whose shank diameter is uncertain. In the illustrated embodiment, the numerals of the indication 6 range from 3 to 15 which indicate the shank diameters by millimeter.

The pillar 2 has a threaded shaft 7 projecting upward from the top end wall 8 thereof.

An external diameter of the shaft 7 is slightly smaller than the internal diameter of the fixing hole 5 of the plate 3. When assembled, the threaded shaft 7 extends through the fixing hole 5 into engagement with a threaded hole 9 of a clamping cap or cap nut 10, so that the plate 3 is tightly sandwiched between the top end wall 8 and the lower end wall 11 of the cap nut 10 and supported in position. The plate 3 can be easily removed from the pillar 2 by simply unscrewing the clamping cap 10.

In the case where the cap 10 is made of wood or synthetic resin, the internal threaded hole 9 may preferably be formed in a metallic sleeve 12 embedded in the cap body, as illustrated in Figure 2.

The pillar 2 has an internally threaded axial hole 13 formed in its lower end portion. The base plate 1 has a center hole 14 formed therein. Thus, the pillar 2 can be easily fixed to the base 1 by inserting a clamp bolt 15 through the center hole 13 into tight engagement with the threaded axial hole 12. On the other hand, the pillar 2 can be easily removed from the base 1 by simply unscrewing the bolt 15. In the case where the pillar is made of wood or synthetic resin, the threaded hole 13 may preferably be formed in a reinforcing metallic sleeve 16 embedded in the lower end portion of the pillar 2, as illustrated in Figure 2.

Thus, the display stand of the invention can be easily assembled and disassembled by screwing or unscrewing the cap nut 10 and the bolt 15.

The base 1 and the pillar 2 may be made of wood, synthetic resin or metal. The base 1 may take various forms conditioned that it ensures a stable support to the pillar 2 and the plate 3.

In the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2, a distance between the plate 3 and the base 1 should be predetermined so as to be sufficiently greater than a shank length of the headed needles N to be displayed. Naturally, the pillar 2 should be long enough to provide such sufficient distance between the plate 3 and the base 1.

Figure 3 illustrates another embodiment of the invention, wherein the display stand is designed for displaying headless knitting needles.

The display stand of this embodiment is illustrated as having a horizontal plate 3a supported by a pillar 2a upstanding a base 1a.

The plate 3a has a plurality of through holes 4a formed therein, which may be arranged in many ways as described in the foregoing. The numeral indication may also be provided to indicate the shank diameters of the needles, as also described in the foregoing.

The plate 3a further includes a mounting hole 5a whose diameter is slightly larger than the diameter of the pillar 2a so that the plate 3a is slidable up and down along the length of the pillar 2a and can be fixed in a desired position by means of a known holding means.

In the illustrated embodiment, a slide collar 17 with a clamp screw 18 is employed as such holding means. After the slide collar 17 is fixed at a desired position on the pillar 2a by tightening the screw 18, the plate 3a can be slid down onto the fixed collar 16, so that the plate 3a is well supported at the selected position on the pillar 2a, as shown in Figure 3.

If desired, the slide collar 17 may be formed integral with the plate 3a.

The base 1a may be substantially similar in form and dimension to the plate 3a. If desired, however, the base 1 a may preferably be somewhat larger in dimension than the plate 3a, as shown in Figure 3, because, in this embodiment, the base 1 a must serve as a supporter to the headless needles N' inserted into the holes 4a of the plate 3a.

The pillar 2a is connected to the base 1 a in the same manner as described in the foregoing.

The plate 3a can be easily mounted to and removed from the pillar 2a with the aid of the mounting hole 5a while the base 1a is also easily connected to and removed from the pillar 2a by means of the bolt 15. Thus, the display stand can be easily assembled and disassembled.

It is apparent that the embodiment of Figure 3 can be used as the display stand not only for the headless needles N' but also for the headed needles N, as shown in in phantom lines in Figure 3.

In operation of the first embodiment illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, each headed needle N is inserted into the respective hole 4 to hang down from the plate 3. Since the holes 4 are arranged in order of diameter, the hanging needles N are assorted in order of the shank diameters thereof.

In operation of the second embodiment illustrated in Figure 3, pach headless needle N' is inserted into the respective hole 4a and supported at its lower end on the base 1 a. The displayed needles N' are also assorted in order of the shank diameters thereof.

If the shank diameter of a certain knitting needle is uncertain, it is possible to confirm the shank diameter by trial insertion of the needle shank into one or two of the through holes 4 or 4a. Thus, the through holes serve as a diameter gauge.

The display stand according to the invention is advantageous when used as a sample displayer for various sized knitting needles.

Claims (6)

1. A display stand for unpacked knitting needles, characterized in that a horizontal plate supported by a pillar upstanding from a base, the horizontal plate having a plurality of through holes (4/4a) formed therein, the through holes being different in diameter and arranged to facilitate assortment of the needles in order of shank diameters thereof, and each of the through holes having an internal diameter corresponding to a particular shank diameter of one of the needles to be inserted thereinto and serving as a gauge for confirming a dimension of said particular shank diameter.

2. The display stand according to claim 1, wherein said horizontal plate is provided on its surface with an indication means for indicating that each of said through holes corresponds to a specific shank diameter of one of said needles.

3. The display stand according to claim 2, wherein said indication means is a series of numerals each indicating said specific shank diameter.

4. The display stand according to claim 1, wherein said horizontal plate has a fixing hole formed therein and is detachably mounted on said pillar by means of a threaded shaft projecting from an upper end wall of the pillar through the fixing hole into an cap nut disposed on the horizontal plate; and the pillar has a threaded axial hole formed in its lower portion and is detachably mounted on said base by means of a clamp bolt extending through the base into engagement with the threaded axial hole.

5. The display stand according to claim 1, wherein said horizontal plate is slidably and detachably mounted on said pillar; means is provided for holding the horizontal plate at a selected position on the pillar; and the pillar has a threaded axial hole formed in its lower portion and is detachably mounted on said base by means of a clamp bolt extending through said base into engagement with said threaded axial hole.

6. The display stand substantially as hereinbefore particularly described with reference to, and as illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.