GB2202069A - Display unit - Google Patents

Abstract

A display unit for displaying a display card 54 includes a front cover 14 in the form of a shallow pan of a plastics material. The pan has a transparent window panel 36 having an upstanding peripheral wall 38 of relatively small depth. The display card 54 is held in position against the window panel by a shallow, closely-fitting support frame 12 which is releasably engaged in the pan. The frame and the peripheral wall of the pan have, on one side of the pan, separable hinge parts, such as pegs 28 in apertures 42, for enabling the pan and the frame to be separated and hinged relative to one another into and out of engagement, and on the opposite side of the pan, releasable locking means, such as spring-loaded plungers 34, for releasably securing the pan and frame in engagement with one another. The frame is provided with an inverted channel 56 for receiving upwardly-directed frame supports or suspension devices 58. <IMAGE>

Description

DISPLAY MEANS This invention relates to a display means for displaying for example advertising material or exhibits.

In many public access buildings (for example, departmental stores, travel agencies and exhibitions) display material or exhibits are constituted by matter printed or secured on cards or boards of a cardboard material. Such cards or boards (referred to hereafter for simplicity's sake as cards) are often secured on a wall or are suspended from a ceiling, without any protection against the surrounding atmospheric conditions and, in the interest of lightness, without any form of strengthening means to prevent warping.

In the course of time, such cards do warp and become unsightly, particularly when many such cards are displayed and seen together. Such cards may be as large as one metre square, or of even greater size.

At present such cards are frequently found suspended by means of fine suspension threads or wires, or secured to a vertical wall by means of a double-sided adhesive tape or a putty-like adhesive material (such as is commercially available under the trade name 'Blu Tack'). Moreover, where such cards are used to display products (or services) currently on offer to the public, they have limited life, since they need to be changed whenever different products or services are to be offered instead. Thus, in the interests of economy and handlability, they need to be of simple construction, light in weight, easy to support or suspend, and easy to replace.

The present invention seeks to provide a novel display means or unit in which such cards may be secured against atmospheric pollution and warping, be readily suspended or otherwise supported, and be readily replaced whenever desired.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a display unit comprises (a) a cover in the form of a shallow tray or pan of a transparent plastics material, said pan comprising a transparent window panel having upstanding therefrom a peripheral wall (or wall parts) of relatively small depth, and said pan being of a size suitable to receive within it a said card placed against said window panel, and (b) a shallow support frame of shape and size complementary to hose of said pan and arranged to removably engage in said pan with small clearance therefrom and to secure and retain therein a said card when positioned in said pan against said window panel, said frame and said peripheral wall or wall parts of said pan having on one side of said pan cooperating hinge parts for enabling said pan and said frame to be hinged relative to one another into or away from interengaging relationship, and said frame and said peripheral wall or wall parts of said pan having at an opposite side of said pan cooperating releasable locking means for releasably securing said pan and said frame in said inter-engaging relationship, and said frame having means for receiving a frame supporting or suspending means.

Preferably, said hinge parts are separable, so as to permit separation of said pan and said frame. Said hinge parts may comprise respectively a peg or other projection secured on one of said pan and frame members, and a cooperating aperture or recess formed in the other of said pan and frame members.

Said releasable locking means may comprise for example a spring-loaded plunger secured on one of said pan and frame members and arranged to withdrawably engage in an aperture or recess formed in the other of said pan and frame members.

Said frame may be provided with at least one transverse member in which a downwardly directed slot constitutes a said means for receiving a frame supporting or suspending member.

Preferably, said pan may have any combination of the following additional features: (a) said pan is of integral construction; (b) the external viewing surface of said window panel is a non-reflecting or anti-glare surface; (c) said pan is made of a shatter-proof material, which material has preferably a (UK) Class 0 fire resistance; (e) said pan is vacuum-formed, and in such a manner to provide at the junction of said window panel with said peripheral wall or wall parts externally a sharp edge or corner, and internally a rounded corner of small radius.

Said frame may comprise a series of angle-section frame members of a light weight material (preferably, aluminium) having mitred corners which are butted together and secured by means of corner web pieces, preferably by means of a hot glueing process.

The said hinge pegs and said spring-loaded plungers preferably comprise discrete components formed of plastics materials and secured in apertures formed at respective positions in peripheral wall parts of said frame.

Other features of the present invention will appear from the description that follows hereafter, and from the claims appended at the end of that description.

One display unit embodying the present invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a pictorial view of the unit as seen from the front or viewing side of the unit; Figure 2 shows a pictorial view of the unit as seen from the rear or suspension side of the unit; and Figure 3 shows to a larger scale a cross sectional view taken on the vertical plane indicated in the Figure 2 at Til-Ill.

Referring now to the drawings, the display unit 10 there shown comprises two inter-engaging, male and female components, a frame 12 and a cover 14. The frame 12 is of aluminium, and is constituted by four angle-section members 16, 18 having mitred corners 20 and being secured together by corner web pieces 22. The frame is provided with at least one and preferably two transverse suspension members 24 each having an h-section and each being secured at its respective end parts to the rear surfaces of the respective upright frame members 18.

An upper transverse peripheral wall part 26 of the frame carries in spaced apertures two upwardly-projecting hinge pegs or pins 28 made of a plastics material. A lower transverse peripheral wall part 30 of the frame carries in spaced apertures two releasable locking devices 32 which have downwardly protruding, spring-loaded plungers 34.

The cover 14 is of unitary construction and is formed of atransparent plastics material (preferably, a poly-carbonate material). That cover comprises a plane transparent window panel 36 having a shallow peripheral wall 38 upstanding therefrom.

The upper transverse peripheral wall part 40 of the cover is provided with two spaced apertures 42 through which the hinge pegs 28 of the frame project with slight clearance therefrom. The lower transverse wall part 44 of the cover is provided with two spaced apertures 46 into which the respective downwardly-projecting spring-loaded plungers 34 engage in a releasable locking manner, whereby to retain the cover in position on the frame. Those apertures 46 are provided on their rearward sides with depressed runways 48 for facilitating entry and exit of the locking plungers 34 into and out of their respective apertures 46.

The cover when engaged on the frame in the manner indicated defines between its internal surface 50 and the adjacent internal surface 52 of the frame a space in which a display or advertising card 54 may be confined and displayed.

The display unit may be put into use by engaging in the downwardly-directed slots 56 of the transverse support members 24 the upwardly-pointing free ends 58 of various suspension or support hook members. Such hook members may form part of a display structure arranged for the wall mounting of such display units, or for the suspension of such display units from a ceiling. Alternatively, such a structure may be arranged to utilise a display unit as a free-standing item, standing for example on the floor, or on a shelf, or on a counter top.

To replace a display card 54, the bottom edge of the cover 14 is pulled sharply away from the frame so as to disengage the spring-loaded plungers 34 from their associated apertures 46, and the cover is then hinged about its upper edge (by virtue of the clearance fit of the hinge pegs 28 in their associated apertures 42) to an extent sufficient to allow the display card 54 to be slipped out of the cover downwardly, and a replacement card to be inserted upwardly in its place. That new card is then retained in position by hinging and snapping the cover back into place on the frame.

The viewing surface of the cover is of the non-reflecting (anti-glare) kind, and the cover material has a (UK) Class O fire resistance, and is shatter-proof.

The cover is preferably formed from a sheet of a plastics material by a vacuum drawing process using male and female moulds which are arranged so as to provide on the external surface of the cover a sharp edge at the junction of window panel with its associated peripheral wall, and on the internal surface at that junction a rounded corner of small radius.

Alternatively, the cover may be formed by cold bending the peripheral parts of a plane square sheet of a plastics material so as to form the upstanding peripheral wall 38, after first notching away the corner portions of that sheet so as to enable adjacent peripheral wall portions to meet neatly at the corners of the peripheral wall.

The runways 48 leading into the apertures 46 formed in the lower peripheral wall part 44 of the cover may be dispensed with, and if desired those apertures may instead be countersunk on the internal surface of that wall part 44 to ease the movement of the spring-loaded plungers 34 into and out of engagement with those apertures.

The frame may be formed by glueing the constituent members together using a hot glueing technique, or a two-part cold glueing technique, or by rivetting those members.

Such display units may be made in varying sizes to accommodate display cards of different sizes. For example, they may accommodate display cards of sizes up to one metre square; even larger sizes may also be made.

Though the display unit illustrated and described above has a square configuration, other display units embodying the present invention may have any other desired and practical configuration, for example a configuration which is of rectangular or of other polygonal shape, or of a circular or elliptical shape.

Display cards displayed in such display units are protected against pollution by the surrounding atmosphere, and so do not become discoloured, and moreover are less apt to distort due to temperture and humidity changes. Furthermore, any tendancy to warp is countered by the restraint placed upon them by the inter-engagement of the frame within the cover.

Claims (13)

1. A display unit arranged for displaying a display card or board comprises (a) a cover in the form of a shallow tray or pan of a plastics material, said pan comprising a transparent window panel having upstanding therefrom a peripheral wall, or wall parts, of relatively small depth, and said pan being of a size suitable to receive within it a said card placed against said window panel, and (b) a shallow support frame of shape and size complementary to those of said pan and arranged to removably engage in said pan with small clearance therefrom and to secure and retain therein a said card when positioned in said pan against said window panel, said frame and said peripheral wall or wall parts of said pan having on one side of said pan cooperating hinge parts for enabling said pan and said frame to be hinged relative to one another into or away from interengaging relationship, and said frame and said peripheral wall or wall parts of said pan having at an opposite side of said pan cooperating releasable locking means for releasably securing said pan and said frame in said inter-engaging relationship, and said frame having means for receiving a frame supporting or suspending means.

2. A display unit according to claim 1, wherein said hinge parts are separable, so as to permit separation of said pan and said frame.

3. A display unit according to claim 2, wherein said hinge parts comprise respectively a peg or other projection secured on one of said pan and said frame, and a cooperating aperture or recess formed in the other of said pan and said frame for receiving said peg or other projection.

4. A display unit according to any preceding claim, wherein said releasable locking means comprise a springloaded plunger secured on one of said pan and said frame and arranged to withdrawably engage in a cooperating aperture or recess formed in the other of said pan and said frame.

5. A display unit according to any preceding claim, wherein said frame is provided with at least one transverse member in which a downwardly directed slot constitutes a means for receiving an upwardly directed part of a frame supporting or suspending member.

6. A display unit according to any preceding claim, wherein said pan has any combination of the following additional features: (a) said pan is of integral construction; (b) the external viewing surface of said window panel is a non-reflecting or anti-glare surface; (c) said pan is made of a shatter-proof material, (d) said shatter-proof material has a (UK) Class 0 fire resistance; (e) said pan is vacuum-formed, and in such a manner as to provide at the junction of said window panel with said peripheral wall or wall parts externally a sharp edge or corner, and internally a rounded corner of small radius.

7. A display unit according to any preceding claim, wherein said frame comprises a series of angle-section frame members of a light-weight material, said members having mitred corners which are butted together and secured by means of corner web pieces.

8. A display unit according to claim 7, wherein said corner pieces are secured by means of a glueing process.

9. A display unit according to any preceding claim, wherein said frame members are made of aluminium.

10. A display unit according to claim 3 or any claim dependent directly or indirectly thereon, wherein said hinge pegs comprise discrete components formed of plastics materials and secured in apertures formed at respective positions in peripheral wall parts of said frame.

11. A display unit according to claim 4 or any claim dependent directly or indirectly thereon, wherein said spring-loaded plungers comprise discrete components formed of plastics materials and secured in apertures formed at respective positions in peripheral wall parts of said frame.

12. A display unit substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.

13. A display unit comprising any operable combination of the various features disclosed in the present specification, other than a combination that is claimed in any one of the preceding claims.