GB2209119A - Screen assemblies - Google Patents

Abstract

A screen assembly for use in exhibitions or the like includes two frames which are hingeably connected together, each frame comprising an upright member (12) and having a pin (26) passing through the end of the respective upright member and through an aperture in a plate or clip (32), the pin extending above the level of the frame to provide joining pegs for a similar pair of frames mounted thereon. <IMAGE>

Description

Title: SCREEN ASSEMBLIES Field of the invention This invention relates to screen assemblies, and more particularly to a screen assembly of separable hinged frames.

Background to the invention Screen assemblies, such as for use in exhibitions or in offices, are known, which comprises at least two frames each supporting a panel or the like and each having a pair of upright edge members, wherein the adjacent upright members of the frames are hingeably mounted together.

However it has been found that the known means for hingeably mounting together the uprights of such frames is unsatisfactory.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a screen assembly in which the frames can be readily connected and disconnected at their hingeable mounting.

Summary of the invention According to the present invention there is provided a screen assembly comprising two frames each for supporting a panel and each having an upright edge member which is hingeably connected to an adjoining upright edge member of an adjoining frame by at least one connector plate, having apertures at each end which are engaged by pins secured in the upright edge members parallel to the axis about which the two panels are to pivot and protrude beyond the upper edge of the frame to provide a joining peg for a similar pair of frames mounted thereon.

The connector plate preferably has holes at each end through which the respective pins rotatably fit.

The upright edge members preferably include semicylindrical external faces which are ribbed to form teeth so that two adjoining upright edge members can mesh and rotate as would two meshing gears.

Alternatively the connector plate may be a clip, and at least one end of the clip may be formed with a C-shaped hook engageable with a pin.

The end of the hook of the clip is preferably formed with an inclined edge adapted to slide over the pin during assembly or disassembly.

The other end of the clip may be similar to the second end, being engageable with a respective pin.

The clips may be mounted in adjacent pairs with the open sides of the clips facing in opposite directions.

There may be one or a pair of clips at both the top and the bottom ends of the upright members.

Whatever form is employed, the connector plate may be made of a rigid plastics material or of metal.

Brief description of the drawings The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a screen assembly in accordance with the invention, the parts being shown in a partly exploded view, Figure 2 is a front view of a corner of one frame of the assembly, partly secured together, Figure 3 is a front view of the assembled screen; and Figure 4 is a plan view of on of the clips of the assembly Figures 1 and 3; and Figure 5 is a front view of an alternative preferred screen assembly.

Detailed description of the embodiment Referring first mainly to Figures 1 and 2, which show the top right hand corner of the a frame of a screen assembly, the frame comprises two horizontal rails 10 (only the top member of which is shown) and a pair of upright edge members 12 (of which only the right hand upright is shown). It should be noted that if the left hand side of the frame is the end of the screen assembly, (e.g. where there are only two frames) then its section may be simpler than the upright 12 shown, for reasons which will become apparent from the description below.

The horizontal rail is formed as an extrusion of a section as indicated in Figure 1, and is provided at its upper right-hand side with a round opening into which a grub screw 14 is adapted to be fitted. A connector 16 is slidable into the upper rectangular opening of the extruded section of the rail 10, the connector being provided with a hammer head 18 which can be retracted upon screwing in of the grub screw 14. The connector 16 is in fact of a standard design, and may for example be of the type "Foga" connector Type 600.

The rail 10 also carries a slot 20 in which a flat rectangular panel 22 is adapted to fit. A similar slot 24 is formed in the upright 12 to engage the vertical side of the panel 32. Within the slot 24 the section of the upright 12 is of rectangular shape adapted to receive the hammer head 18 of the connector 16.

At the side of the upright remote from the slot 24 is fitted a pin 26, which may be made of rigid plastics, or of steel. Formed radially about the pin 26, about an angle of approximately 1800, the upright 12 carries a fluted gearing 28 extending the full length of the upright. A short distance below the top of the upright a rectangular cut-out 30 is formed above the lower end of the pin, thus exposing the pin 26 in the form of a hinge pin.

The top end of the pin 26 projects a short distance above the top of the upright, for example by a distance of about 18 mm, and this may be capped if desired. The projecting portion of the pin enables the pin to be withdrawn if desired, and also allows a panel to be mounted in an aligned manner above the first, the protruding section of the pin serving as a pivot peg for the second panel.

Referring now to Figures 3 and 4 a further screen having a similar upright 12a is shown with its fluted gearing in meshing engagement with the gearing 28 of upright 12. In this position the rectangular cut-out 30 of the upright 12 confronts that of the upright 12a.

Fitting between the confronting pins 26 in the cut-outs 30 are a pair of C-shaped clips 32. As shown the lower clip is facing into the plane of the drawing while the upper clip 32 is facing away from the drawing. The clips 32 are made of a resilient material, preferably of plastics, although alternatively they could be made of a metallic spring material. At each end of the clips 32 there is an inclined cam surface 34 to facilitate springing of the clip around the pins 32. A similar pair of springs (not shown) is provided towards the bottom of the uprights 12 and 12a in corresponding cut-outs.

In operation each upright 12 and horizontal rail 10 of the frame are assembled about the panel 22 by engaging the respective hammer head 18 in the opening behind the slot 24 and screwing down the grub screw 14 into the connector 16, in order to tension the hammer head 18 and draw the upright 12 against the horizontal rail 10 The upright is then placed adjacent another upright of a screen so that the gears 28 are meshing.

The respective panels 22 should at this point be inclined at an angle towards each other of preferably less than about 900 so that the lower clip 32 (at the top and bottom of the upright) can be applied from the remote side and pushed over the pins 26. The cam surfaces 34 thus slide over the pins and can easily spring back into position in the space between the z > ins and the resPective back of the cut-out 30, The screens with the panels 22 are next swung back in the opposite position so that they are less than about 900 apart on the other side, and the second clip is then applied from the opposite end to the first clip in a similar manner.

Preferably both the horizontal rails and the upright members are formed from an extruded UPVC material, such as Lignium.

It will be apparent that the screen assembly described above has the advantage that it can be readily assembled or dissembled merely by inserting or removing the respective clips mounting the uprights together.

Figure 5 shows an alternative and preferred screen assembly, being a view comparable to Figure 3.

In this case each horizontal rail 50, 51, forming part of the frame of the screen assembly, is secured to its respective upright edge member 52, 53 by a triangular bracket 54, being secured by screws 56. Each upright and horizontal rail is formed with a groove 57 at the front and rear of the bracket 54 into which a panel, similar to the rectangular panel 22 of the previous embodiment, is adapted to fit.

The uprights 52, 53 again have semi-cylindrical external surfaces with flutes or ribs so that one upright will mesh and rotate with the other, as would meshing gears.

A slot 58 is formed near the top and bottom ends of each upright, and fitted into the slots are metal plates formed with holes at each end, one plate being shown at 60.

A pin 62, similar to the pin 26 of the previous embodiment, is positioned along the axis of each semicylindrical surface and passes through one of the two holes in the plate 60. The pin 62 is threaded at one end to allow it to be screwed into a threaded bore in the upright edge member 52 (or 53).

As in the previously described embodiment the two frames of the screen assembly can be separated by unscrewing the pins 62 for the top and bottom of one of the uprights to enable the plates 60 to be withdrawn.

Where the pin 62 projects from the upright, it may be knurled, or formed with a tool engaging feature such as a screwdriver slot to facilitate insertion and/or removal.

Also, as before, the protruding section of each pin 26 serves to locate a second frame (not shown) over and in alignment with the first frame, where two more more frame height screens are required.

It will be apparent that each frame is formed and assembled before it is hingeably linked to the adjacent frame to form the hinging screen assembly. Thus the (not shown) which fit in the slots 57 obscure the brackets 54, the upper vertical screw 56 being the last screw to assemble the respective frame together.

Although the plate 60 and the pins 62 are preferably made of metal, they may equally be made of a rigid plastics material.

Claims (8)

1. A screen assembly comprising two adjoining frames each for supporting a panel, and each having an upright edge member which is hingeably connected to the adjoining upright edge member of the adjoining frame by at least one connector plate having an aperture at each end which is engaged by a pin secured in the respective upright member, the pins protruding beyond the upper edge of the frames to provide joining pegs for a similar pair of frames mounted thereon.

2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which each upright member is slotted to receive the connector plate.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 in which the adjacent upright members have external semicylindrical cooperating surfaces which are ribbed to form teeth, so that the adjoining upright members can mesh and rotate as would two meshing gears.

4. An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 in which each apertures is a hole through which a pin can rotatably fit.

5. An assembly as claimed in any one preceding claim in which each pin is releasably screwed into a threaded bore in the upright member with which it cooperates.

6. An assembly as claimed in any one preceding claim in which the connector plate is made of rigid plastics material or of metal.

7. An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, 5 and 6 in which the connector plate is a clip, and at least one of said apertures thereof is a C-shaped hook.

8. A screen assembly substantially as herein described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.