GB2270461A

GB2270461A - Support apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2270461A
Application number: GB9318797A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robert Johnston
Original assignee: MAGIBOARDS Ltd
Current assignee: MAGIBOARDS Ltd
Priority date: 1992-09-11
Filing date: 1993-09-10
Publication date: 1994-03-16
Also published as: GB9318797D0; EP0588573A2; EP0588573A3; GB9219219D0

Description

2270461 1 SUPPORT APPARATUS The present invention relates to support

apparatus for supporting a plurality of plane-parallel and overlapping vertical boards so that each board is slideable independently of the other(s), and to a display system including boards attached to hanging brackets supported in such apparatus.

Display boards such as whiteboards and flip chart.boards are conventionally supported, for example, on an easel-type support frame which is mounted on legs and is portable. However such display frames cannot be adapted to support more than one display board at any one time.

Accordingly the present invention provides support apparatus for suspending a plurality of plane-parallel and overlapping vertical boards so that each board is slideable independently of the other(s), the apparatus comprising: a rail adapted for attachment to a vertical surface, the rail having two parallel tracks, each track adapted to support a bracket for hanging a respective board and for longitudinal sliding movement along the track, each track having a guiding surface associated therewith for guiding the hanging bracket as it slides 2 along the track and preventing transverse disengagement of the hanging bracket from the track.

Preferably the rail is of uniform sectional shape.

The rail ca'n be extruded from aluminium, and if so the aluminium is preferably anodised.

Preferably the rail is cut to short lengths (eg. 2.4 metres) for convenient handling.

Preferably a cover is provided on the front of the rail.

Preferably, in use, an open space is provided above each track so that a hanging bracket can be hooked onto and unhooked from the track. The Invention also provides a paper sheet holder comprising a flipper blade held against a paper gripping surface so that it is thereby partially flexed and the surface of its operative edge portion is thereby constantly urged against the paper-gripping surface, the said operative edge and the opposed paper-gripping surface constituting a nip for admitting one or more paper sheets and for thereafter supporting their weight by the frictional action of the paper drawing the flipper blade back such as to make the nip narrower and lock against the paper.

3 Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying claims.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a partial end view of a display system including support apparatus, the system forming a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is an end view, to an enlarged scale, of a rail forming part of the support apparatus of figure 1; Figure 3 is an end view of a flip-chart pad support for use with a display board in the support system of figure 1.

The support apparatus comprises a rail 1 shown in detail in figure 2 which has a pair of channels 3, 5. The channels 3, 5 are spaced apart by a panel 7 at the back of the rail which is fixed by screws or the like, through holes 2 in the panel 7, to a wall (not shown). The holes are 5mm in diameter and are drilled 75mm in from each end of the rail and at approximately 750mm intervals along the rail. It will be appreciated that 4 additional or alternative holes can be drilled in the rail to suit the requirements of installation.

The rail is formed integrally as an aluminium extrusion and is cut in 2.4 metre lengths for convenient handling. The aluminium is anodised to prevent the extrusion leaving black marks in handling and this also helps to reduce sliding friction with moving parts to be described below.

Sections of rail are joined, when the system is fitted in situ, by a plate-like joining bar (not shown) which is secured by screws or the like to the internal surface of the panel 7 of each rail section.

When the rail is in use the channel 3 forms an upper channel with a track constituted by the flat floor thereof.

The upper channel 3 has an L-shaped (in section) retaining flange 9 on its outer side opposite the panel 7. The retaining flange 9 retains and guides a nylon slider block 11 which is slidingly received in the channel 3. The slider block 11 is retained at one end of an L-shaped (in section) hanging bracket 15 from whose other end a board 17a, such as a display board or a whiteboard, is hung. The slider block 11 can slide horizontally along the track so as to move the front display board 17a to the left or right.

The nylon slider block 11 is shaped to fit within the upper channel 3 and has a neck 19 which is engaged and guided by he retaining flange 9. At the upper end of the neck 19 is a horizontal bar 21 which is received with a sliding friction grip in a corresponding slot in the hanging bracket 15 so as to fit the slider block 11 rigidly to the hanging bracke 1.5.

The bracket 15 is an aluminium extrusion cut to short lengths (75 to 10Omm), and two or more such hanging brackets are fitted to the front board 17a. Each slider block 11 is fixed to the corresponding hanging bracket by self-tapping screws, rivets or the like and the hanging bracket 15 is drilled and tapped for screw fixing to the rear face of the front board 17a.

The lower channel 5 has an upwardly-extending flange 23 which forms a hook from which is hung a hanger 27. The hanger 27 has a corresponding hook 27a which is hung from the flange 23 so that the hanger 27 can be guidingly slid along the rail 1. Thus the upper edge of the flange 23 forms a horizontal track on which the hanger 27 slides. The hanger hangs a second board 17b, to which It is connected in the same way as the brackets 15 are connected to the first board 17a.

6 The outer side of the lower channel 5 has an inwardly projecting flange 29 which has a notch 29a at its free end and the retaining flange 9 has a corresponding notch 9a. A plastics clip-on cover 31 is fitted over the outer side of the rail 1 to make it more pleasing to the eye. The cover 31 has a projection 31a and 31b at each end, each projection being clipped into the corresponding notch, 9a and 29a respectively, in the rail to secure the cover 31 thereto with a resilient snap fit. The cover 31 may have a decorative surface in any colour, and in particular it may have a woodgrain effect finish.

The rail 1 has screw ports 33 for receiving screws in order to mount end covers (not shown) on each end of the rail to prevent the nylon block 19 and the hanger 27 sliding off the rail 1. The end covers can be flat bars or rounded corner bars, made from injection moulded plastics or flat anodised or powder coated aluminium bars, preferably coloured to match the cover 31.

In figure 1 the system includes a further rail 35, mounted on top of the rail 1, and having a channel 37, similar to the upper channel 3 of the rail 1, in which is slidingly mounted a further hanging bracket 39, similar to hanging bracket 15 but larger, by a nylon slider block 41.

7 The brackets 15, 39 and the hanger 27 each hang a board 17a, 17b and 17c by means of screws or the like so that the boards are held one behind the other substantially parallel with the wall. The line on the track which supports each hanging bracket 39, 15, 27 is at the same transverse distance from the wall, but the hanging brackets all have different transverse lengths. Each board 17a, 17b and 17c is slideable to the left or right along the rail so that the boards 17a and 17b can be revealed from behind the front board 17c.

With reference to Figure 1, in a further channel 5a adjacent the lower channel 5, the rail is formed so as to receive a paper holder 45. The paper holder 45 is in the form of a synthetic rubber flipper, an extrusion of uniform cross-sectional shape, which is installed along the full length of the rail.

The flipper 45 is T-shaped in section, with a resilient, tapered blade portion whose tip is a sharp edge. As illustrated, the flipper blade is longer than the gap provided for it, and it is resiliently deformed upwardly so as to be continuously urged against the inner wall surface of the panel 7, which in this example has three semicylindrical ridges 46 to improve gripping action on the paper sheets to be inserted. The lowest ridge has an inclined surface 47 acting as a paper-guiding ramp.

8 Paper sheets inserted singly or as a stack from below slide between the ramp 47 and the flipper blade 45, against the resilient bias of the latter, and can be pushed further until their edges abut against an upper internal wall surface 48. When released, the weight of the paper causes it to pull down on the flipper blade, locking it against the paper which is thereby trapped frictionally between the ridges 46 and the blade 45. The paper is thereby retained between the paper holder 45 and the lower end of the panel 7, until it is pulled out, either by exerting a strong downwards force on the paper (usually the front sheet only, but optionally more sheets), or else by sliding the paper sheets to release the lock and drawing them away from the panel 7 and downwardly.

Figure 4 shows a flip chart pad support 50 which can be clipped onto a display board suspended on the rail 1. A cover panel 51 is hinged to a main support 52 which has a channel 53 for receiving and supporting the studs on the back of a conventional flip-chart replacement pad.

The invention can be used by fitting the rail at a convenient height across one or more of the walls of an office or conference room, allowing up to three or more display items (panels, boards, shelves, etc.) to be suspended and slid independently of each other at any one position, without interfering with each other.

9 Various modifications may be made to the described embodiments without departing from scope of the accompanying claims.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. Support apparatus for suspending a plurality of plane-parallel and overlapping vertical boards so that each board is slideable independently of the other(s), the apparatus comprising: a rail adapted for attachment to a vertical surface, the rail having two parallel tracks, each track adapted to support a bracket for hanging a respective board and for longitudinal sliding movement along the track, each track having a guiding surface associated therewith for guiding the hanging bracket as it slides along the track and preventing transverse disengagement of the hanging bracket from the track.

2. Support apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rail is of uniform sectional shape.

3. Support apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the rail is extruded from aluminium.

4. Support apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the aluminium is anodised.

5. Support apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the rail is cut to 2.4 metre lengths.

6. Support apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein, in use, an open space is provided above each track so that a hanging bracket can be hooked onto and unhooked from the track.

7. Support apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the configuration of each track is such that each track is substantially the same transverse distance from the vertical surface in use.

8. Support apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, comprising: a hanging bracket associated with each track of the support apparatus adapted for attachment to a respective board, each hanging bracket having a sliding surface which slides along the track and rests against the guiding surface associated with the track so that the hanging bracket is slidingly guided by that guiding surface.

9. Support apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein at least one of the tracks constitutes the base of a channel which is open upwardly to receive the hanging bracket.

10. Support apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the guiding surface associated with the at least one track is formed by a side wall of the channel.

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11. Support apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 10, including a further rail having a further track for a hanging bracket.

12. Support apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 11, wherein at least one hanging bracket comprises a slider block connected to an angle bracket element which is adapted to be connected to the board.

13. Support apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 12, wherein at least one hanging bracket is suitable for directly hanging a board from a lower track of the support rail in use, the hanging bracket having a hook portion which hooks over the lower track, the lower track being the upper edge of an upwardly projecting flange of the rail.

14. Support apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 13, wherein the longitudinal length of each hanging bracket is shorter than the length of the rail.

15. Support apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 14, wherein the transverse length of each hanging bracket is different so that boards hung from the brackets overlap each other at different distances from the vertical surface in use.

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16. Support apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein the further hanging bracket has a transverse length larger than the other hanging brackets so that an outer board can be hung therefrom.

17. Support apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein the configuration of the further rail is such that the further track is substantially the same transverse distance as the other tracks from the vertical surface in use.

18. A display system comprising support apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 17, and a board attached to each hanging bracket and hung from the corresponding track.

19. A paper sheet holder comprising a flipper blade held against a paper gripping surface so that it is thereby partially flexed and the surface of its operative edge portion is thereby constantly urged against the paper-gripping surface, the said operative edge and the opposed papergripping surface constituting a nip for admitting one or more paper sheets and for thereafter supporting their weight by the frictional action of the paper drawing the flipper blade back such as to make the nip narrower and lock against the paper.

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20. A paper sheet holder as claimed in claim 19, wherein the said paper- gripping surface has formations enhancing the frictional grip.

21. Support apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 18, provided integrally with the paper sheet holder of claim 19 or claim 20.

22. Support apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, figures 1, 2 or 3 of the accompanying drawings.

23. A display system comprising a support rail, hanging brackets and a plurality of boards, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.