GB2285279A - Mounting hook - Google Patents

Abstract

A mounting hook (11) is fitted to a mounting card (41) with a closure plate (30) inhibiting removal of the hook by latching engagement of opposed marginal abutment ledges (17) on a depending nose (15) which penetrates a slot (46) in the card and an aligned slot (33) in the closure plate, the plate having profiled weakening (37, 39) to allow deformation to facilitate hook insertion. The card (41) attaches to a garment and the hook provides means to mount the garment for display. <IMAGE>

Description

Mounting Hook This invention relates to mounting hooks and is particularly, but not exclusively, concerned with mounting hooks for garment mounting and display cards - such as are used to support garments upon a merchandising display rack at a point of retail sale.

Garments are commonly entrained within the embrace of a folded card and mechanically fastened thereto, for example by means of a plastics rivet or adhesive bonding.

The card itself is fitted with a support hook, by which it, and an entrained garment product item, can be hung from a post or arm of a merchandising display rack or stand.

Typically a lower depending portion of the hook penetrates a preformed aperture, such as a slit, in the card, so that the card hangs on a ledge formed by the hook profile.

The mounting and fitting security of support hooks in such cards and the attendant provision of the requisite mounting strength is problematical, in that the hook may pull out of the card when the garment is handled casually as part of pre-purchase examination by a customer.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a mounting hook, comprising a re-entrant curved hook part, an intermediate shoulder, and a depending nose, with opposed marginal abutment ledges - for co-operative engagement with the peripheral edges of a closure plate with a reception slot for the hook nose.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a closure plate for the hook according to the immediately preceding paragraph comprising a plate with an aperture for receiving the nose of the mounting hook.

The invention also provides an assembly of hook, closure plate and mounting card according to the two immediately preceding paragraphs, ready for product mounting - and with product mounted thereupon.

There now follows a description of some particular embodiments of the invention, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic and schematic drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a side elevation of a mounting hook; Figure 2 shows a plan view of a contiguous strip of mounting hooks such as shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a detail of part of the hook strip of Figure 1; Figure 4 shows a plan view of a contiguous strip of closure plates for the mounting hook of Figure 1; Figure 5 shows a contiguous strip of alternative closure plate configurations to that of Figure 4; Figure 6 shows a perspective, part-fragmentary, view of an interfitting hook and closure plate; Figure 7 shows the interfitting hook and closure plate of Figure 6, with a mounting card, part cut-away; and Figure 8 shows an end elevation of the interfitting hook, closure plate and mounting card of Figure 7.

In the present embodiments of the invention, a twoelement mounting, specifically of hook and companion closure or locking mounting plate, is employed for a mounting and display labelling card, to which are to be attached product items, for merchandising storage and point-of-sale promotional display.

The mounting card is typically a fairly frail item, in the format of an extended label, wrapped about one end of the product item and commonly pre-scored or punched to receive a mounting hook - from which it is all to easily severed by rough handling.

Problems also arise with the progressively more popular adoption of recycled board material, for both ecological and economic (ie lower cost) reasons since this tends to be softer and more susceptible to volumetric changes, which undermines a secure interfit with a hook of another material, such as synthetic plastics, with differential rates of expansion.

The overall objective is to provide a rugged and secure means of support for suspending items, in a manner which facilitates their loading upon a merchandise display rack - and yet does not unduly obstruct their removal by customers for examination and purchase.

Should the support fail, the items may readily become lost or damaged by falling from the display rack.

Thus both 'dead loads' represented by the overall weight of the item, and 'live loads' represented by casual handling, such as pulling and tugging, must be withstood - without the hook separating from the mounting card, which is otherwise a fairly frail and vulnerable item.

Moreover, as the mounting card typically bears the majority of product information, the hook assembly must not be visually intrusive or otherwise detract unduly therefrom.

The particular product items are not shown themselves in the following examples, but admit of considerable variation. A typical example would be single or multiple pairs of socks. Such items are typically attached to the mounting card by a separate process, such as a plastics rivet or tailed loop.

Similarly, the size and configuration of the hook assembly may be varied to suit the items to be supported.

Referring to the drawings, and in particular Figures 1 and 2, the mounting hook 11 comprises an 'upper' reentrant curved hook part 12, an intermediate shoulder 13 with opposed limbs 14, and a 'lower' depending nose 15, with a shallow curved end edge profile 16 and marginal re-entrant ledges 17 at opposite ends thereof.

The orientations or relative dispositions referred to are those relating to the normal intended use.

The hook 12 is progressively waisted from the shoulder 13 to a slightly flared nose 19 at the opposite remote end thereof.

The depth 'd' of the shoulder formed by the opposed ledges 17 from the underside of the limbs 14 equates approximately to the combined depth of a mounting card 41 and closure plate 30, described later.

The entire hook 11 is fabricated, for example by a stamping with an outline profile cutter from a flat sheet, or by open tray casting or moulding, as a generally flat, shallow, even depth strip.

Figure 2 shows a succession of such flat hooks 11 entrained in continuous strip form, which may be coiled into a reel or drum for convenience of storage and payed out to an installation machine (not shown) for assembling hooks, mounting cards and closure strips or plates, described later.

This enables faster and potentially lower cost continuous production than, say, injection moulding over repeated discrete moulding cycles.

More specifically, each hook 11 is located between parallel runners 21, 23 on opposite sides thereof, and to which the opposed limbs 14 are connected through frangible bridge elements or spikes 25, 27.

The longitudinal spacing of successive hooks 11 and their limited marginal entrainment, allows continuous moulding in an open mould tray on a rotary drum (not shown), with the strip pulled longitudinally, as indicated by arrow 22, as the strip is formed.

As shown in the enlarged detail of Figure 3, the runners 21, 23 may have a slightly waisted or tapered profile 29, to facilitate discharge from the continuous mould.

Figures 4 and 5 show alternative configurations of mounting or closure plate for co-operative interfitting with the hook 11.

More specifically, in Figure 4, a series of generally flat plates 29, each with a central rectangular aperture or slot 31 are mutually entrained in a longitudinal strip array, produced by a continuous moulding process, as with the captive hooks of Figure 2.

The nose 15 of the hook 11 is locatable within the boundaries or confines of the slot 31, with a slight interference fit at the marginal opposed edge shoulders 17. These shoulders 17 are slightly flexed or resiliently deformed, to allow full insertion of the nose 15, whereupon the shoulders 17 spring back, forming a locking ledge or latching abutment, which inhibits subsequent removal of the nose 15 and thus separation of the hook 11 from the closure plate 29.

The hook 11 and closure plate 29 are of generally similar depth, somewhat less than the clearance depth 'd' of the shoulders 17 from the undersides of the limbs 14, by an amount sufficient to accommodate, with a certain tolerance, a mounting card, as shown in Figures 6, 7 and 8.

The interfit of the hook 11, and in particular the hook nose 15, and closure plate 29 is critical. There is a risk of insertion damage to the marginal locking ledges 17 by casual or undue insertion forces - and attendant undermiming of the security of locking obstruction formed thereby, so that the closure plate 29 could be prised off under severe or extreme hook suspension or mounting loads.

To allow for this, a more elaborate closure plate 30 profile is shown in Figure 5, in which re-entrant notches 37 are formed along the outer side edges of the plate 30 and co-operative intermediate notches 39 in the slot 33 profile itself.

The consequent localised reduction and attendant structural weakening of the resultant residual peripherai wall thickness around the mounting slot 33, allows that wall to flex or resiliently deform somewhat more readily upon insertion of the nose 15 of a hook 11, to accommodate the otherwise intrusive shoulders 17, without damage thereto.

Thus, when the closure plate 30 reverts to its relaxed condition, the shoulders 17 provide a secure locking abutment, and the hook 11 and closure plate 30 cannot be prised apart - at least without severing one or other element.

Figure 6 shows a hook 11 fitted with a closure plate 30, of re-entrant profile, with the nose 15 penetrating the mounting slot 33 and the abutment ledges 17 lying underside the walls of the slot 33 - the opposed shoulders 14 sitting astride the other side of the plate 30.

Figure 7 shows the interfitted hook 11 and closure plate 30 sandwiching therebetween an intervening mounting card 41.

A slot 44 in the card 41 accommodates the nose 15 with opposed creases or folds 43 on either side thereof, at a marginally greater spacing than the width of the closure plate 30, to allow depending side panels 49, 51 of the card on opposite sides thereof.

For example, a closure plate width of 9mm would be accommodated by a mounting card fold spacing of 1 Omm.

Figure 8 shows the mounting card 41 held securely captive between the opposed shoulders 14 of the hook 11 and a closure plate 30, in turn supported by the opposed abutment ledges 17 of the hook nose 15.

Although a configuration of hook 11 utilising a single depending nose or tongue 15 has been described in the foregoing example, in principle for certain applications, and in particular larger scale, heavier and stronger constructions, multiple tongues could be employed - for example in an aligned array - for their co-perative strength in distributed suspension loading.

Similarly, the closure plate 30 could incorporate a corresponding array of multiple aligned slots 33 for reception of the multiple tongues 15.

Moreover, the configuration of the mounting card 41, including the width and shape of the central region over the closure plate 30, admits of considerable variation, along with the plate 30.

Thus, for example, a wider 'throat' of the mounting card 41 would enable greater 'storage' capacity whose attendant weight load could be spread over a wider closure plate 30.

The depth of thickness of material from which the hook 11 and closure plate 30 are formed could be varied to suit the loading requirement; a typical plate profile being 30mm by 9mm by 1.25mm thickness with a hook depth of between 30 and 35mm and similar span.

Some form of localised 'weakening' of the nose 15, such as by the incorporation of a re-entrant profile as used on the plate 30 slot 33, could be deployed, in order to facilitate local resilient deformation - allowing the abutment ledges 17 to move marginally together for insertion of the nose 15 in the slot 33.

The configuration of ledges 17 also admits of some variation to achieve a secure latching action.

The hook 11 and closure plate 33 admit of automated installation in a mounting card 41. Thus a wound reel of hooks 11 in strip form as shown in Figure 2 would be progressively unwound and the frangible limbs 25, 27 broken to separate individual hooks 11 from the side runners 21, 23.

The nose 15 of a released hook 11 is inserted into pre-punched or pre-scored slot 40 in a flat mounting card 41.

A strip of closure plates 30, such as shown in Figure 5, is unwound from a coiled storage reel, brought to the opposite side of the card 41 and an individual plate 30 severed from the strip and pressed over the nose 15 until it snaps securely into place over the abutment ledges 17.

The card 41 can then be folded over the plate 30 into the configuration of opposed depending panels between a central bridge supported by the plate 30, as shown in Figure 7.

The assembled hook 11, closure plate 30 and mounting card 41 is then ready for attachment to an item to be supported thereby.

Claims (5)

Claims

1. A mounting comprising an interfitting hook and closure plate, the hook incorporating a depending nose (15) with a latching profile such as opposed marginal lateral abutment ledges (17) - for location in an aperture or slot (33) in a mounting or closure plate (30).

2. A mounting as claimed in Claim 1, in which the closure plate incorporates local weakening in or around the hook insertion slot to allow resilient deformation of thereof to accommodate the hook nose upon insertion therein.

3. A mounting as claimed in Claim 1, in which the hook and closure plate comprise pre profiled, generally flat strip material.

4. A mounting, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.

5. A mounted product using a mounting according to any of the preceding claims.