GB2542840A - Display device - Google Patents

Abstract

A display device 10 for securing on flexible membranes of different thicknesses, comprising a first plate 11 having a flange mount part 12 rising from the surface of the plate and a second plate 14 having a cooperating part 15 that fits inside the flange, wherein the mount parts are non-circular and the mount parts cooperate to form an interference fit to secure the device in place when the plates are pressed together from either side of the membrane, the mount parts configured to enable a gap formed between the parts to be varied by rotating the plates with respect to each other, allowing the device to be secured on membranes of different thicknesses. The display device may be a badge, and the membrane may be a textile material such as an item of clothing. The mount part of the second plate may be a second flange extending from the surface of the second plate. The first or second plate may comprise a hole 18 to allow the plates to be separated by pushing. The second plate preferably comprises a display area. The parts are preferably oval, or elliptical. Also claimed is a method of securing such a display device.

Description

Display Device

The present invention relates to display devices, for example badges, which are suitable for mounting on a membrane, for example garment fabric.

Display devices, including badges, may be temporarily or permanently secured to membranes by gluing or pinning. However, these methods inevitably damage the membrane by soiling or puncturing the membrane. This is a particular problem with decorative or informative badges, which tend to be temporarily secured to clothing, bags or other sensitive fabrics. For example, badges for wearing on clothes may be provided to attendees of events or venues to indicate a specific interest or affiliation, or to help the attendee feel part of the event. Children are often keen to wear such badges. The use of glues or pins to affix badges and other display devices on clothing creates the risk of toxicity or puncture wound, respectively, in particular for children. A prior badge is a circular badge for securing on garment material, comprising a cup formed of a substantially flat annulus and a flange rising from the outer edge of its surface, and an outer-facing display plate that snugly fits inside the flange, wherein the flange and the edge of the display plate are cooperating parts that form an interference fit between the cup and the plate to secure the badge in place when the cup and the plate are pressed together from either side of the material. Thus, the cooperating parts form a securing mount.

To ensure that the two parts of the badge stay together during handling and supply the parts are joined with an interference fit even when not secured to a garment. This necessarily requires that the gap between the parts of the prior badge is narrow. Therefore, the prior badge is only suitable for thin material, since forcing this badge onto thicker material risks damage to the material or the badge.

The present invention overcomes or at least ameliorates the above problems, and provides an improved display device that is suitable for mounting on membranes having a range of thicknesses.

Accordingly, the first aspect of the invention provides a display device for securing on flexible membranes of different thicknesses, comprising a first plate having a flange mount part rising from the surface of the plate and a second plate having a cooperating mount part that fits inside the flange, wherein the mount parts are non-circular and the mount parts form an interference fit to secure the device in place when the plates are pressed together from either side of the membrane, and wherein the mount parts are configured to enable a gap formed between the parts to be varied by rotating the plates with respect to each other, thereby configuring the device to be secured on membranes of different thicknesses.

The cooperating mount part of the second plate may be the edge of the plate or a second flange rising from the surface or edge of the plate.

The second flange may rise inwardly or outwardly from the edge of the plate.

In a specific embodiment, the cooperating mount part of the second plate comprises the edge of the plate, from which a second flange, and optionally a third flange, which flange or flanges are configured to enhance the resilience of the interference fit between the mount parts and between the parts and the membrane.

Thus, the display device of the invention, for example a badge, may be secured to a membrane, for example a garment, without the need for glue or a pin, which would otherwise damage the membrane. The display device may be advantageously adjusted to be secured to membranes having a range of thicknesses by rotating the respective parts, thus varying the minimum gap between the mount parts.

The skilled person would appreciate that the size of the mount parts may be modified to make the device suitable for different ranges of thicknesses, such as a narrow or wide range of thicknesses of generally thick or thin material. However, typically, since the cooperating parts fit one inside the other, one of the parts will be smaller than the other at the location of the interference fit.

The display device may be a badge, preferably a pop badge. Thus, an embodiment of the invention is an adjustable pop badge.

In an embodiment of the invention, the flange mount part rises from the edge of the surface of one or both of the plates, thus forming a cup or cups. This provides a simple design, which is easy to handle when securing the device to a membrane.

In an embodiment of the invention, the second plate comprises a display area, and thus the second plate would be in a more prominent position, such as the outside surface of a garment. When the cooperating mount part of this plate is at the edge, this advantageously minimises the amount of device material on show, providing a sleeker aesthetic.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first plate (with the flange mount part) comprises a display area. This advantageously makes the device protrude from the membrane, providing a more prominent display.

In this configuration, the flange may rise from a position inwards of the edge of the surface of the plate so that a larger display device may be affixed using smaller fixing parts. This arrangement would minimise the material to which a large device is secured, further minimising the risk of damage.

The first plate or the second plate of the device may comprises a hole to assist in removal of the device, by enabling a finger or tool to be inserted through the hole to push the facing plate away from the plate with the hole.

In an embodiment, the flange mount part of the first plate and/or the cooperating mount part (e.g. the edge or flange) of the second plate comprises a rebate to facilitate the interference fit by gripping onto the membrane and/or the other part of the device.

The interference fit may be a friction fit or snap fit (also known as a pop fit).

In an embodiment of the invention, the edge of the second plate may alternatively or additionally be thickened to increase the degree of cooperation between the edge on the second plate and the flange mount part on the first plate.

The device may be made of a flexible material, such as plastic, to facilitate the formation of a tight interference fit without damaging the device or the membrane. A suitable general shape for the mount parts is a simple, closed curve, preferably a convex, simple, closed curve, to ensure adequate cooperation between the parts. However, shapes incorporating non-convex e.g. concave or scalloped elements may be included where the overall design, e.g. aesthetic design, requires it. A simple curve is a curve with no crossing elements.

In particular embodiments, the shape has rotational or reflectional symmetry. Rotational symmetry ensures that the device would be evenly secured at multiple points. Preferably, the curve has a rotational symmetry of 180°, 120°, 90°, 12°, 60° or 45°, which would provide at least 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 8 potential points that project from the shape. These points may thus form points of contact between the mount parts suitable for securing the device.

In embodiments of the invention, the curve is an oval or an ellipse, or a shape approximating an oval or an ellipse.

By increasing the difference in size between the flange mount part and the cooperating mount part of the other plate (e.g. the edge or flange), the device may be secured to larger thicknesses of membranes. Independently, by increasing the deviation of the shape of the mount parts from a circle, the device may be adjusting to be secured to a larger range of thicknesses of membranes. Thus, in embodiments of the invention, the display device may be configured to be securable to around a 1.5-fold, two-fold, three-fold or wider range of membrane thicknesses. A non-circular closed curved shape necessarily has longer and shorter dimension axes. By way of example, an ellipse has one long axis and one short axis at right angles to each other. In an embodiment of the invention, where the shape permits, such shapes being apparent to the skilled person, the length of the long axis of the cooperating mount part is configured to cooperate and form an interference fit with the short axis of the flange mount part in the absence of the membrane. This ensures that the two parts of the device stay together during handling and supply, while preserving the ability of the device to be secured to membranes of a range of thicknesses.

In embodiments of the invention, the shapes of the parts are configured to provide continuous adjustment of the gap between the parts. This may be achieved by ensuring that the shapes of the parts are not stepped. This provides fine adjustment to precisely accommodate varying thicknesses of membrane.

In alternative embodiments of the invention, the shapes of the shapes of the parts are configured to provide discontinuous, stepped adjustment of the gap between the parts. Typically, in these embodiments, at least one part has a shape in which the distance from the centre increases from its shorter axis to its longer axis in a discontinuous manner, thereby providing an increasingly or decreasingly tight interference fit in a stepped matter as the parts are rotated relatively. This advantageously provides an indexed adjustment, which defines discrete points of inter-plate orientation, and providing a more reproducible fit.

In embodiments of the invention, the shapes of the mount parts that cooperate may be scaled versions of each other, or the mount parts may have non-identical shapes.

In embodiments of the invention, the display device further comprises markers on the plates to indicate the relative rotational position of the plates. Typically, one of the plates may have a plurality of markers separated by 2°, 5°, 10°, 20° and 30°, preferably 10° of rotation. The markers may be labelled with letters, for example A, B, C, etc, or numbers, for example sequential integers or numbers relating to the degrees of rotation. The markers may be present around the whole or part of the flange or edge, and may be read with respect to a reference marker on the other plate. Markers assist in estimating and reproducing the required rotational alignment. A second aspect of the invention provides a method of securing the display device of the invention to a flexible membrane, comprising: (i) pressing the cooperating parts of the plates towards each other while the membrane is between the plates; (ii) assessing whether the device may be secured by the interference fit without damaging the membrane; (iii) if necessary, separating the plates, rotating the first plate relative to the second plate to adjust the gap, and repeating steps (i) and (ii); and (iv) repeating step (iii) as often as necessary to achieve the interference fit without damaging the membrane. Thus, the user iteratively by trial-and-error adjusts the relative rotational position of the plates prior to pushing the plates together to try to find the best fit to secure the device to the membrane without damaging the device or the membrane.

The invention is now illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows isometric views of a badge made according to the invention in which panel A shows two plates of the badge separated, panel B shows the plates coaxially assembled with the longer and shorter axes of the plates aligned, and panel C shows the plates assembled with the longer axis of one plate aligned with the shorter axis of the other plate (i.e. the plates are rotated 90° with respect to each other compared to panel B);

Fig. 2A shows the plates of the badge of Fig. 1 coaxially assembled with the longer and shorter axes of the plates aligned, with the upper subpanel showing the front view of the assembled badge and the lower subpanel showing section a-a at the position indicated in the upper subpanel; and

Fig. 2B shows the plates of the badge of Fig. 1 assembled with the longer axis of one plate aligned with the shorter axis of the other plate (i.e. the plates are rotated 90° with respect to each other compared to Fig. 2A), with the upper subpanel showing the front view of the assembled badge and the lower subpanel showing section b-b at the position indicated in the upper subpanel. A badge 10 made according to the invention consisted of two plates (Fig. 1A): a first plate 11 having a flange 12 rising from the edge surface 13 of the plate forming a cup and a second plate 14, comprising a display area.

The plates 11,14 were made of semi-hard plastic of around 1.5 mm thick imparting some flexibility, and formed by conventional injection moulding. The inner aspect of the flange 12 of the first plate 11 and the outer edge 15 of the second plate 14 were both substantially elliptical. The edge 15 of the second plate 14 had a longer axis length of around 45 mm and a perpendicular shorter axis length of around 44 mm. Thus, the second plate 14 fitted inside the flange 12 of the first plate 11 (Figs 1B, 1C and 2). The flange 12 of the first plate 11 had a longer axis length of around 46 mm and a perpendicular shorter axis length of around 45 mm. The length of longer axis of the second plate 14 was selected to enable the formation of an interference fit when the longer axis of the second plate 14 was aligned with the shorter axis of the flange 12. This enabled the two parts to be snapped together, thus enabling handling without the parts falling apart (Figs 1C and 2B).

The flange 12 of the first plate 11 had a rebate on its inside aspect, which is best seen in cross-section (Fig. 2). The edge 15 of the second plate 14 had a first additional flange rising inwardly perpendicular from the plane of the plate 14, and a second smaller additional flange rising outwardly perpendicular from the plane of the plate 14, which features are best seen in cross-section (Fig. 2). The rebate and additional flanges improved the resilience of the interference fit.

The ridge 16 of the flange 12 of the first plate 11 had 10 position markers (not shown) consisting of a radial line every 10°, thus covering a quarter turn of the part. The position markers were labelled sequentially from 0 to 9 for ease of reference. The edge 15 of the second plate 14 had 4 reference markers (not shown) consisting of a radial line every 90°, thus ensuring that one of the reference markers always fell on the range of position markers. The reference markers were labelled sequentially from A to D for ease of reference.

The badge 10 of this example was secured to a thick, cotton sweatshirt having a fabric weight of 300 gsm. The flange 12 of the first plate 11 was loosely offered up to the edge 15 of the second plate 14, and the plates 11,14 were rotated until the minimum gap 17 between the flange 12 and edge 15 appeared to be just smaller than required to accommodate the thickness of the fabric of the sweatshirt. The coordinates of the closest reference and indicator markers was read, e.g. “A7”. Then, the first plate 11 was held at the inside surface of the fabric at the position required, and the second plate 14 was urged towards the outside surface of the fabric, aligning the two plates 11,14 so that the flange 12 and the edge 15 are pressed together, and approximately aligning marker “A” with marker “7” on the respective plates 11,14. This motion trapped the fabric between the plates 11,14. When the two parts snapped together, forming a satisfactory interference fit without apparently stressing the badge 10 or fabric, and without falling apart, then the badge 10 was deemed to be secured.

However, if the parts 12,15 could not be easily pushed together or if pushing the parts 12,15 together apparently stressing the badge 10 or fabric, then one part 12 was rotated relative to the other 15 to widen the minimum gap 17 between the cooperating parts 12,15. Inversely, if the parts 12,15 did not form an interference fit due to being too loose, then one part 12 was rotated relative to the other 15 to tighten the minimum gap 17 between the cooperating parts. Then, the user tried again to secure the badge 10. This trial and error approach was repeated iteratively until a satisfactory interference fit was achieved.

The mount parts 12,15 of the exemplified badge 10 have 180° rotational symmetry, thus providing 2 points of contact between the cooperating parts that secured the badge 10.

The initial rotational alignment using the coordinates during securing was approximate because the fabric was opaque and so precise alignment was not possible. In any case, the coordinates were approximated by eye to be suitable to form a satisfactory interference fit, and a satisfactory fit was generally achieved by trial and error.

The badge 10 as described was secured to a thinner, 150 gsm t-shirt using the method as described. In this case, the plates 11,14 of the badge were at different respective positions than for the sweatshirt, and the minimum gap 17 was smaller.

Removal of the badge 10 was facilitated by the hole 18 in the first plate 11, through which a finger was inserted, while holding the first plate 11, and pressure was applied with the finger on the second plate 14, overcoming the interference fit between the parts 12,15 and separating the two plates 11,14.

Thus, the invention provides a display device for securing on flexible membranes of different thicknesses, and a method of securing the display device to a flexible membrane.

Claims (17)

Claims

1. A display device for securing on flexible membranes of different thicknesses, comprising a first plate having a flange mount part rising from the surface of the plate and a second plate having a cooperating part that fits inside the flange, wherein the mount parts are non-circular and the mount parts cooperate to form an interference fit to secure the device in place when the plates are pressed together from either side of the membrane, and wherein the mount parts are configured to enable a gap formed between the parts to be varied by rotating the plates with respect to each other, thereby configuring the device to be secured on membranes of different thicknesses.

2. A display device according to claim 1, wherein the cooperating mount part of the second plate is the edge of the plate or a second flange rising from the surface of the second plate.

3. A display device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the flange mount part rises from the edge of the surface of the plate, thus forming a cup.

4. A display device according to any preceding claim, wherein the first plate or the second plate comprises a display area.

5. A display device according to any preceding claim, wherein the first plate or the second plate comprises a hole located to enable one plate to be pushed away from the other by inserting a finger or tool through the hole and holding the other plate.

6. A display device according to any preceding claim, wherein the flange mount part of the first plate comprises a rebate to facilitate the interference fit.

7. A display device according to any preceding claim, wherein the cooperating mount part of the second plate comprises a rebate to facilitate the interference fit.

8. A display device according to any previous claim, wherein the mount parts form a simple, closed curve, preferably a convex, simple, closed curve.

9. A display device according to claim 8, wherein the curve has rotational or reflectional symmetry.

10. A display device according to any previous claim, wherein the cooperating parts are oval or elliptical.

11. A display device according to any preceding claim configured to be securable to a 1.5-fold, two-fold or three-fold range of membrane thicknesses.

12. A display device according to any preceding claim, wherein the shapes of the mount parts are configured to provide discontinuous, stepped adjustment of the gap between the parts.

13. A display device according to claim 12, wherein at least one part has a shape in which the distance from the centre increases from its shorter axis to its longer axis in a discontinuous manner, thereby providing an increasingly or decreasingly tight interference fit in a stepped matter as the parts are rotated relatively.

14. A display device according to any preceding claim further comprising markers on the plates to indicate the relative rotational position of the plates.

15. A method of securing the display device defined in any preceding claim to a flexible membrane, comprising: (i) pressing the interference fit-forming parts of the plates towards each other while the membrane is between the plates; (ii) assessing whether the device may be secured by the interference fit without damaging the membrane; (iii) if necessary, separating the plates, rotating the first plate relative to the second plate to adjust the gap, and repeating steps (i) and (ii); and (iv) repeating step (iii) as often as necessary to achieve the interference fit without damaging the membrane.

16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising the preliminary step of estimating the relative rotational position of the plates required to achieve an interference fit on a particular material thickness with reference to position and reference markers on the plates.

17. The display device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.