GB2295915A - A shoe display device - Google Patents

Abstract

A shoe display device (10) comprising a support member (20); and a cradle (50) mounted on the support member, the cradle comprising an elongate member having first and second arms (60, 70) engageable with the sole of a shoe, wherein the first arm (60) includes a pair of spaced sole-engaging regions the sole-engaging regions being spaced at different distances from a transverse axis of the first arm. The support member and the cradle may include elongate slots, with fixing means (92) to enable the cradle to be rotated at or moved to selected positions on the support member. <IMAGE>

Description

A SHOE DISPLAY DEVICE The present invention relates to a shoe display device.

Throughout the specification, the term "shoe" should be construed broadly so as to include sandles, slippers, boots and the like.

In a first aspect, the present invention provides a shoe display device comprising: a support member; and a cradle mounted on the support member, the cradle comprising an elongate member having first and second arms engageable with the sole of a shoe, wherein the first arm includes a pair of spaced sole-engaging regions, the sole-engaging regions being spaced at different distances from a transverse axis of the first arm.

Preferably, the cradle is curved, and the sole-engaging regions of the first arm and the sole-engaging region or regions of the second arm are formed on opposite end edges of the cradle.

The cradle can be provided with a slot extending longitudinally therealong and may be mounted on the support member by a pivot means, the pivot means permitting the rotation of the cradle about the pivot axis and/or permitting the cradle to slide relative to the support member to an extent defined by the slot of the cradle. To this end, the support member may be provided with an aperture through which the pivot means passes.

Alternatively, the support member may be provided with a slot and fixing means by which the support member can be fixed at selected positions along the slot of the support member. The fixing means may comprise the above-mentioned pivot means.

In a second aspect, the present invention provides a shoe display device comprising: a support member in which a slot if formed; a cradle for supporting a shoe; and a means for fixing the cradle to the support member at selected positions along the slot of the support member.

To this end, the cradle can include an aperture through which the fixing means passes.

The first and second aspects of the invention can form a freestanding structure including a single shoe display device of the present invention or form part of a larger free-standing tree-like structure in which a number of shoe display devices of the present invention form individual branches of the tree.

In a third aspect, the present invention provides a shoe display device comprising: a support member including an attachment means adapted to engage detachably a support structure; a cradle for supporting a shoe and comprising an elongate member having a slot extending longitudinally therealong; and a pivot means cooperable with the slot in the cradle pivotally to mount the cradle on the support member, the pivot means permitting the rotation of the cradle about the pivot axis relative to the support member and/or permitting the cradle to slide relative to the support member to an extent defined by the slot of the cradle, whereby the cradle can be selectively adjusted relative to the support member and secured in an adjusted position.

To this end, the support member can be provided with an aperture through which the pivot means passes.

The slat board is preferably positioned in a generally vertical orientation and may be in the form of slat board or peg board, for example.

Features from any one aspect can be used in combination with a feature from one or both of the other two aspects.

Aspects of the present invention are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings of a preferred exemplary embodiment, in which: Figure 1 shows a plan view of a shoe display device of the present invention; Figure 2 shows an end view of the device from the line II-II in Figure 1; Figure 3 shows an end view of the device from the line III-III in Figure 1; Figure 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the device along the line IV-IV in Figure 1; Figure 5 shows a view of the device from below Figure 1; and Figure 6 shows a side view of the device from the right-hand side from the Figure 1 viewpoint.

A shoe display device in accordance with the present invention is generally designated 10. The device 10 comprises a support member 20 on which is mounted a cradle 50 for supporting a shoe.

The support member 20 comprises a planar support surface 22 having a central longitudinal axis illustrated by the line IV-IV. The planar support surface 22 is provided at one end thereof with an attachment means 24 for attaching the device 10 to a slat board for display purposes.

The attachment means, as may be seen best in Figure 4 and 6, comprises a planar extension portion 25, which is co-planar with the planar support surface 22 and an upstanding lip 26 which is generally orthogonal to the planar support surface 22. The planar support surface 22 is provided at the opposite end thereof with a slot 30 which extends along a longitudinal axis of the support member 20. The support member 20 also comprises reinforcement flanges 28 which skirt around the edge of the planar support surface 22 and project orthogonally thereto, and a reinforcement rib 29 which skirts around the slot 30 and also projects orthogonally to the planar support surface.

The cradle 50 is a curved elongate member having a central longitudinal axis indicated by the line A-A. The cradle 50 comprises first and second arms 60,70 at opposite ends thereof and a slot 80 which extends along a longitudinal axis of the cradle 50.

Referring to Figure 6, the first arm 60 has a concave edge on which a pair of spaced sole-engaging regions 62,64 are formed. The soleengaging regions 62,64 are positioned to be at different distances from a transverse axis of the first arm 60, indicated by the line B-B, for reasons which will be explained later.

Referring to Figure 4, the second arm 70 also includes a pair of spaced sole-engaging regions 72,74 on a concave edge thereof, but these regions are spaced from a transverse axis of the second arm 70, as indicated by a line C-C, by equal distances.

The cradle 50 is mounted to the support member by a nut and bolt 90,92. The bolt 92 passes through the slot 30 of the support member 20 and the slot 80 of the cradle 50. In a loosened condition, the nut and bolt 90,92 permit: (i) the rotation of the cradle 50 about the axis of the bolt 92, as indicated by arrow R in Figure 1; (ii) the linear displacement by sliding of the nut and bolt 90,92 and the cradle 50 along the axis of the slot 30 of the support member 20, as indicated by arrow S in Figure 1; and (iii) the sliding of the cradle 50 relative to the support member 20 such that nut and bolt 90,92 occupy various positions along, but within the confines of, the slot 80 of the cradle 50, as indicated by arrow T in Figure 2.

In this way, the cradle 50 can be arranged or adjusted to adopt a wide range of positions relative to the support member 20. Once the required position has been selected, the nut and bolt 90,92 can be tightened to secure the cradle 50 in this adjusted position.

In use, the device 10 is attached to a slat board by inserting the attachment means 24 into a receiving slot aperture in the slat board. The cradle 50 is then arranged in the desired position relative to the support member as previously described. A right shoe for display is then placed on the cradle 50 such that the heel of the shoe hooks over the second arm 70 and the two sole-engaging regions 72,74 engage a portion of the shoe sole adjacent the heel, and the two sole-engaging regions 62,64 engage a portion of the shoe sole which is closer to the toe region of the shoe.The shaping of the edges of the cradle 50 accommodates the bowed nature of a shoe sole and facilitates the positive retention of the shoe on the display device 10 by discouraging the tendency of the shoe to wobble whilst on the cradle 50 due to the fact that both regions 62,64; 72,74 of the arms 60,70 engage the sole.

Although it is not by conventional trade practice to do so, if it were desired to display a left shoe, the spacing of the shoe-engaging regions 62,64 would need to be reversed, such that the shoe-engaging region 64 is closer to a transverse axis of the first arm 60 than is the region 62 in order to obtain the benefits of the present invention.

The bowing of a shoe is usually not so marked in the region of the heel where the second arm is intended to engage. Hence, should it be necessary for a particular type of shoe, in other embodiments of the invention, the spacing of the shoe-engaging regions 72,74 from a transverse axis of the second arm 70 can be different, if appropriate, to promote positive retention of the shoe.

The described embodiment employs a nut and bolt 90,92 to connect the support member 20 and cradle 50 together and permit the desired degree of positional freedom between the cradle and support member. In other embodiments, other suitable analogous means may be employed in this role. Such means need not have the facility of tightening as provided by the nut and bolt, the resilience to remain in a selected position being provided, instead, by friction between the component parts of the shoe display device 10.

Claims (5)

1. A shoe display device comprising a support member; and a cradle mounted on the support member, the cradle comprising an elongate member having first and second arms engageable with the sole of a shoe, wherein the first arm includes a pair of spaced sole-engaging regions, the sole-engaging regions being spaced at different distances from a transverse axis of the first arm.

2. A device as in claim 1, wherein the cradle is curved, the soleengaging regions of the first arm and the sole-engaging region or regions of the second arm are provided on opposite end edges of the cradle.

3. A shoe display device comprising: a support member in which a slot if formed; a cradle for supporting a shoe; and a means for fixing the cradle to the support member at selected positions along the slot of the support member.

4. A shoe display device comprising: a support member including an attachment means adapted to engage detachably a support structure; a cradle for supporting a shoe and comprising an elongate member having a slot extending longitudinally therealong; and a pivot means cooperable with the slot in the cradle pivotally to mount the cradle on the support member, the pivot means permitting the rotation of the cradle about the pivot axis relative to the support member and/or permitting the cradle to slide relative to the support member to an extent defined by the slot of the cradle, whereby the cradle can be selectively adjusted relative to the support member and secured in an adjusted position.

5. A shoe display device constructed, arranged and adapted to operate substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.