GB2187587A

GB2187587A - Greetings card display

Info

Publication number: GB2187587A
Application number: GB08605640A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Allez; Karin Heath; Robert Andrew Borzello
Original assignee: CAMDEN GRAPHICS Ltd
Current assignee: CAMDEN GRAPHICS Ltd
Priority date: 1986-03-07
Filing date: 1986-03-07
Publication date: 1987-09-09
Also published as: GB8605640D0

Abstract

A greetings card display comprises a holder defining a plurality of recesses 6 arranged in tiers one behind another, each recess having front and back walls 2, and a plurality of dividers 7 arranged to fit into a respective recess and having integrally formed upstanding pillars 9 which are located at intervals across the recess and extend between the front and back walls to divide the recess into a plurality of pockets. In an alternative arrangement the dividers are formed as an integral part of the holder. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Greetings card display This invention relates to a greetings card display and to a divider for use in such a display.

It is common procedure to display greetings cards by placing them in tiered rows, each row being long enough to contain several cards side by side. When the display is set up there is no difficulty in placing cards neatly in position, but after customers have taken cards from the display and put them back a number of times, the display can become very untidy.

According to the invention there is provided a greetings card display comprising a holder defining a plurality of recesses arranged in tiers one behind another, each recess having front and back walls, and a plurality of dividers, each made separately from the holder, being arranged to fit into a respective recess, and having integrally formed upstanding pillars which are located at intervals across the recess and extend between the front and back walls to divide the recess into a plurality of pockets.

The width of the pockets formed by the dividers can be selected to suit the width of the cards being displayed so that the cards are prevented from moving sideways. As a result the appearance of the display remains very tidy even after a large number of cards have been removed and replaced by customers. The spacing of the pillars can be varied either from one divider to another, or even within a single divider to allow different sizes of card to be displayed. Surprisingly we have found that providing such dividers need not unduly restrict the sizes of cards that can be displayed. Also, because the dividers are made separately from their holders, they can be changed as required to suit whatever size of card is to be displayed.

Preferably each divider is made in one piece from plastics material, for example by vacuum forming. An alternative construction, however, would be to make each divider from paper or board by suitable folding thereof.

Preferably the pillars of the dividers are of a significant width, for example at least 4 mm wide. Since this space is not available for display it could be thought that the space should be reduced to a minimum but surprisingly we have found that the appearance of the cards is enhanced by providing a discrete distance between them and also that the distance can still be relatively small compared with the width of the pocket so that only a small proportion of the available width is taken up by the pillars.

Preferably each divider has an elongate generally lamellar body which is fitted against the back wall of a recess and from which the pillars project forwardly. The pillars may be defined by forwardly projecting parts of the lamellar body and may be open at the rear.

Such a divider can be made particularly economically.

The back wall of each recess will typically be higher than the front wall and the divider will preferably also extend above the level of the front wall. Each pocket defined by the divider may bear an indication of the cards to be placed therein and that indication is preferably above the level of the front wall whereby, when the pocket is empty, it can readily be seen.

The present invention also provides a greetings card divider comprising an elongate generally lamellar body having a longitudinal dimension several times its transverse dimension and a plurality of integrally formed pillars which extend across the body at intervals along its length, the pillars projecting forwardly out of the plane of the lamellar body and dividing the body into a plurality of separate portions, each being sized to provide a respective pocket for greetings cards.

In the arrangement described above, modification of an existing greetings card display is envisaged. It should be understood, however, that another possibility is to make the display in the first place with the dividers and in this case the dividers need not be formed separately from the holder.

Thus, the present invention also provides a greetings card display comprising a holder defining a plurality of recesses arranged in tiers one behind another, each recess having front and back walls, and being divided into a plurality of pockets by dividers extending at intervals along the length of the recess between the front and back walls.

By way of example an embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional holder for displaying greetings cards, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a divider for use with the conventional holder of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 2 showing part only of the divider and showing cards received in a pocket of the divider, and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the holder of Fig. 1 fitted with dividers of the kind shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

The holder shown in Fig. 1 has four storage drawers 1 in its base and, above the drawers a series of vertical walls 2 which extend across the holder from one side wall 3 to the opposite wall 4. The walls 2 are interconnected by horizontal walls 5 which generally are not visible in Fig. 1, but one of which is shown in dotted outline. The walls 2, 3, 4 and 5 define a series of recesses 6 arranged in tiers one behind another. Each recess 6 has a front wall formed by the back of a vertical wall 2, a back wall formed by the front of an adjacent vertical wall 2, a bottom wall formed by one of the walls 5 and end walls formed by portions of the side walls 3, 4.

In conventional use of the holder shown in Fig. 1 cards are simply placed in selected ones of the recesses 6. The cards can initially be positioned neatly in selected positions along a given recess, but once cards have been taken out, examined and put back into the holder they are liable to be spread across the whole width of the holder with cards partially overlapping other cards. As a result the appearance of the display rapidly becomes untidy.

Figs. 2 and 3 show a divider 7 for use with the holder just described. The divider is moulded in one piece from plastics material for example by vacuum forming and comprises an elongate lamellar body 8 and a plurality of pillars 9 extending across the body at intervals along its length and projecting forwardly out of the plane of the body. The pillars 9 are hollow and their back side (not visible in Figs.

2 and 3) is open while their top and bottom is closed. In one particular example of the invention the divider 7 has an overall length of 1.0 m, an overall height of 180 mm and eight pillars are provided each about 6 mm wide and projecting about 20 mm out of the plane of the body 8. The pillars leave gaps of width 136 mm between them. A divider having these dimensions is suitable for the display of cards 5 inches (127 mm) wide and 7 inches (178 mm) high. The pillars are tapered towards their front so that similar dividers can be stacked one upon another to facilitate storage.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, towards the top of a divider between adjacent pillars 9, in a panel 12, information such as a company name or logo, or the particular cards to be displayed in that section of the divider may be shown either by embossing or for example by sticking or clipping a label onto the divider.

Fig. 4 shows the holder of Fig. 1 with a plurality of dividers of the general kind shown in Figs. 2 and 3 installed therein. The dividers actually shown in Fig. 4 have nine pillars rather than eight but are otherwise substantially the same as those shown in Figs. 2 and 3. A respective divider 7 is dropped into each of the recesses 6 and seats on the bottom wall 5 thereof with the lamellar body 8 of the divider abutting the back wall of the recess and the pillars 9 projecting forwardly to a position close to the front wall of the recess; The dividers 7 are a snug fit within the recess 6 so that no specific fixing is required but, if desired, strips of double sided adhesive tape may be used to fix the body 8 of the divider to the back wall of the recess.

The pillars 9 divide each recess 6 into a plurality of pockets 10, the width of which is dictated by the separation of the pillars. Although in Fig. 4 all the dividers shown have the same number and spacing of pillars it is possible to vary this spacing either from one divider to another or within the same divider.

Each of the pockets 10 is designed to receive a number of greetings cards 11 in a stack, as indicated in Fig. 3. The stack may consist of cards alone or cards and envelopes. The width of the cards and envelopes is desirably a little less than the width of the pocket defined between adjacent pillars 9.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 4 the dividers project above the level of the vertical walls 2 but it will be appreciated that this is not essential. Preferably, the dividers are of the same depth as cards that are to be displayed.

In addition to keeping the appearance of the display neat and tidy the divider of the invention has another advantage: because the pillars are of significant width there is a clear gap between one card and the next and this considerably improves the quality of the display projecting designs on individual cards clearly. The colour of the dividers may be chosen to enhance the appearance of the cards and/or to act as a trademark of the manufacturer of the cards being displayed.

Claims

1. A greetings card display comprising a holder defining a plurality of recesses arranged in tiers one behind another, each recess having front and back walls, and a plurality of dividers, each made separately from the holder, being arranged to fit into a respective recess, and having integrally formed upstanding pillars which are located at intervals across the recess and extend between the front and back walls to divide the recess into a plurality of pockets.

2. A display as claimed in claim 1 in which the spacing of the pillars varies from one divider to another.

3. A display as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which each divider is made in one piece from plastics material.

4. A display as claimed in any preceding claim in which the pillars of the dividers are at least 4 mm wide.

5. A display as claimed in any preceding claim in which each divider has an elongate generally lamellar body which is fitted against the back wall of a recess and from which the pillars project forwardly.

6. A display as claimed in claim 5 in which the pillars are defined by forwardly projecting parts of the lamellar body and are open at the rear.

7. A display as claimed in any preceding claim in which the back wall of each recess is higher than the front wall and the divider extends above the level of the front wall.

8. A display as claimed in claim 7 in which each pocket defined by the divider bears an indication of the cards to be placed therein and that indication is above the level of the front wall whereby, when the pocket is empty, it can readily be seen.

9. A greetings card divider comprising an elongate generally lamellar body having a longitudinal dimension several times its transverse dimension and a plurality of integrally formed pillars which extend across the body at intervals along its length, the pillars projecting forwardly out of the plane of the lamellar body and dividing the body into a plurality of separate portions, each being sized to provide a respective pocket for greetings cards.

10. A greetings card divider substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

11. A greetings card display comprising a holder defining a plurality of recesses arranged in tiers one behind another, each recess having front and back walls, and being divided into a plurality of pockets by dividers extending at intervals along the length of the recess between the front and back walls.

12. A greetings card display substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.