GB2562798A

GB2562798A - Magnetic display

Info

Publication number: GB2562798A
Application number: GB1708494.8A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ashton James
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2017-05-26
Filing date: 2017-05-26
Publication date: 2018-11-28
Also published as: GB201708494D0

Abstract

A magnetic display 10 comprises an anchor piece 14 and a plurality of display pieces 12. The anchor piece has a front surface, at least one lateral side, a magnet provided along the lateral side and fixing means 18, such as a screw, for fixing the anchor piece to a wall 100. Each display piece has a front display surface, at least two lateral sides and a magnet provided along at least one lateral side with the north pole of the magnet facing towards the lateral side. Each display piece further comprises a magnet provided along at least one other lateral side with the south pole of the magnet facing towards the lateral side. At least one lateral side with the north pole facing the lateral side is being shaped to conform with at least one lateral side with the south pole facing the side on another display piece. The display pieces may include a video display screen. A lamina display surface may be fixed to the anchor piece to hide the screw when the anchor piece is fixed to the wall and standoffs 16 or spacers may be provided to space the anchor piece from the wall.

Description

(71) Applicant(s):

James Ashton

De Pool Way, Brentwood, Essex, CM14 4FT, United Kingdom (72) Inventor(s):

James Ashton (74) Agent and/or Address for Service:

Albright IP Limited

County House, Bayshill Road, CHELTENHAM, Gloucestershire, GL50 3BA, United Kingdom (51) INT CL:

A47G1/06 (2006.01) (56) Documents Cited:

CN 205072553 U US 20170084208 A1

US 20160135619 A1 US 20150239203 A1 (58) Field of Search:

INT CLA47G

Other: WPI, EPODOC, Patent Fulltext, Internet (54) Title of the Invention: Magnetic display

Abstract Title: Magnetic display (57) A magnetic display 10 comprises an anchor piece 14 and a plurality of display pieces 12. The anchor piece has a front surface, at least one lateral side, a magnet provided along the lateral side and fixing means 18, such as a screw, for fixing the anchor piece to a wall 100. Each display piece has a front display surface, at least two lateral sides and a magnet provided along at least one lateral side with the north pole of the magnet facing towards the lateral side. Each display piece further comprises a magnet provided along at least one other lateral side with the south pole of the magnet facing towards the lateral side. At least one lateral side with the north pole facing the lateral side is being shaped to conform with at least one lateral side with the south pole facing the side on another display piece. The display pieces may include a video display screen. A lamina display surface may be fixed to the anchor piece to hide the screw when the anchor piece is fixed to the wall and standoffs 16 or spacers may be provided to space the anchor piece from the wall.

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MAGNETIC DISPLAY

The present invention relates to a magnetic display.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

It is known to use magnets to rearrange the elements of a display. For example, ‘fridge magnets’ have images, letters, or another display on one side, and magnets on the other side. The magnets are used to attach the fridge magnets to a fridge or other kitchen appliance. The fridge magnets can be arranged and rearranged on the surface into any configuration.

It is also known to provide special-purpose magnetic display boards. For example, whiteboards often have a magnetic surface so that magnetic displays can be arranged on them.

However, these known magnetic displays all rely on a large metallic board or surface. The board is generally fixed to the wall with screws or other permanent fixings, and is present whether or not it is being used. Even when only a small display is being made, the whole board will remain visible with significant blank space.

It is an object of the invention to provide a configurable and expandable magnetic display, in which there is no visible board or other substrate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, there is provided a magnetic display, comprising:

an anchor piece having a front surface, at least one lateral side, a magnet provided along the lateral side, and fixing means for fixing the anchor piece to a wall;

a plurality of display pieces, each display piece having a front display surface, at least two lateral sides, a magnet provided along at least one lateral side with the north pole of the magnet facing towards the lateral side, and a magnet provided along at least one other lateral side with the south pole of the magnet facing towards the lateral side, at least one lateral side with the north pole facing the side being shaped to conform with at least one lateral side with the south pole facing the side on a similar display piece.

In the magnetic display of the invention, only the anchor piece, which may be small, needs to be fixed to a wall. Any number of display pieces can then be attached to the anchor piece magnetically, to make large or small tiled displays. Whatever the size of the display, there is no blank board visible.

Preferably, the display pieces may include means for interchangeably providing different displays on the front surface. For example, a transparent front panel could be provided, with a space for holding a printed photograph, drawing or sign behind the transparent front panel. As an alternative, each display piece may have a photograph or other display printed substantially permanently on the front surface.

The corresponding sides may be straight sides, with display pieces shaped to tessellate. For example the display pieces could be square, rectangular, or hexagonal. In an embodiment with square tiles, preferably a magnet is provided along all four lateral sides. The magnets on opposing sides may be oriented with like polarity, i.e. with both magnets having north poles facing towards their respective side or with both magnets having south poles facing towards their respective side. In this embodiment, multiple similar display pieces may be attached to each other by magnetic attraction, with adjacent pieces being rotated 90 degrees with respect to each other. The orientation of the display on the front surface can take this into account, with some display pieces being produced with the top and bottom of the display aligned with the north pole magnetic sides, and an approximately equal number of display pieces being produced with the top and bottom of the display aligned with the south pole magnetic sides.

Alternatively, the magnets on opposing sides may be oriented with opposite polarity,

i.e. with one magnet having its north pole facing its respective side and with the magnet on the opposing side having its south pole facing its respective side. In this embodiment, all the pieces may be substantially identical in the sense that the image on every piece is orientated in the same way relative to the configuration of the magnets.

The display may be a photograph, drawing, printed image, or any other visual display.

The display could even be a video display on a suitable screen. Multiple different types of display piece may be combined to make up a display.

Preferably, the anchor piece has all the same features as a display piece, i.e. the anchor piece has a display surface for displaying an image, magnets configured to match the configuration on the display pieces, as well as a fixing means for fixing the anchor piece to the wall. The fixing means may be for example a screw and a conventional fixing chosen depending on the type of wall being fixed to (for example, depending on whether the wall is solid or hollow). Preferably, the fixing means is not visible on the front surface of the anchor piece. This could be achieved by providing as image to be displayed on a lamina medium, e.g. paper, for example, in front of the screw heads. The image could be held behind a transparent front panel, which may be removable to access the screw heads.

Preferably, the anchor piece includes a spacer for spacing the front surface of the anchor piece away from the wall. The spacer may be in the form of a simple standoff for each screw used to fix the anchor piece to the wall. Spacing the anchor piece from the wall means that the whole display, in turn, can be spaced from the wall. This provides a pleasing “floating” effect, and shadows behind the display cast by the room lighting will add to the visual effect of the display.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention, and to show more clearly how it may be carried into effect, preferred embodiments will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the magnetic display of the invention, fixed to a wall;

Figure 2a is a perspective schematic of an embodiment of the magnetic display of the invention, showing in particular the arrangement of the anchor piece;

Figure 2b is a cross section through the anchor piece of Figure 2a;

Figure 3 is a schematic showing the arrangement of magnets in an embodiment of the invention; and

Figure 4 is a schematic showing an alternative arrangement of magnets in another embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Referring firstly to Figure 1, a magnetic display is indicated generally at 10. The magnetic display comprises a plurality of display pieces 12, and an anchor piece 14. Each of the pieces, including the anchor piece, has a front display surface. In this embodiment a photograph is printed directly onto the front display surface of each of the pieces 12, 14.

Each of the pieces is substantially square, measuring about 100mm along each side. The depth of each piece is around 5mm. Each side therefore has a surface measuring about 100mm x 5mm. This side area is substantially magnetic, i.e. is formed substantially as the surface of one pole of a magnet.

As illustrated in Figure 1, the display pieces join to each other and to the anchor piece via the magnets on the lateral side surfaces of the pieces. A large or small display can be made, and display pieces 12 can extend around all sides of the anchor piece 14. It will be noted that the display is spaced from the wall, for example by around 25mm. This “floating effect” is clearly visible due to the shadows cast on the wall, behind the pieces.

In Figures 2a and 2b, further detail of the anchor piece 14 is shown. The anchor piece is attached to the wall 100 using a conventional screw fixing 18. Of course, the type of screw and any plug may be chosen according to the construction of the wall 100. Standoffs 16 are provided between the back surface of the anchor piece 14 and the wall 100. The screw is countersunk into the front surface of the anchor piece, and the front display surface of the anchor piece has been affixed over the top of the screw head, so that the screw 18 is invisible from the front of the product when fixed to the wall (as shown in Figure 1).

Referring now to Figure 3, the arrangement of magnets along the sides of each piece is illustrated. Note that, for this purpose, the anchor piece may be exactly the same as the display piece in terms of the arrangement of magnets. Each magnet is preferably in the form of an elongate bar, having the poles at either long side of the bar. Either the north pole or the south pole of the magnet will face towards the edge along which the magnet is disposed. In Figure 3 and Figure 4, an ‘N’ next to an edge indicates a magnet with the north pole facing towards the edge, and an ‘S’ next to an edge indicates a magnet with the south pole facing towards the edge.

In Figure 3, magnets are arranged with like poles facing the edge on opposing sides of the substantially square display pieces. For the pieces to be magnetically attracted to each other, therefore, alternate pieces have to be rotated through 90 degrees. It will be apparent that the display (e.g. photograph) must be oriented with the top of the image on a north pole side for half of the pieces, and the top of the image on a south pole side for the other half. This configuration does have the advantage that the arrangement of magnets will tend to cause the square pieces to be lined up into a neat tiled grid pattern, which may be desirable in some cases.

Figure 4 shows an alternative arrangement of the magnets, in which opposite poles are provided facing their respective edges on opposing sides of the pieces. In this embodiment, all of the photographs or images may be printed the same way up. This may lead to manufacturing efficiencies where images are printed directly onto display surfaces of the pieces. Also, the arrangement of magnets allows for more flexible arrangements, for example, since a horizontal bottom edge along a row of pieces will have continuous magnets with the south pole facing the edge, further pieces can be joined on to the bottom of the row in substantially any position. This allows for brick bond style patterns and other more complex designs. In Figure 4, display piece 12a has been placed in a position abutting two other display pieces 12b, 12c along its top edge. Also, tiles of different sizes can be introduced into the configuration, for example the double-width tile 12d as shown in Figure 4.

Alternative shapes of display pieces may be provided in other embodiments. For example, display pieces in the shape of regular hexagons would also tessellate, with north or south pole facing magnets being places alternately around the perimeter of each hexagonal display piece, i.e. with opposite poles on opposing sides.

The magnetic display of the invention allows for flexible and reconfigurable displays of different shapes. Small and large displays can be made, and only the single anchor piece 14 needs to be permanently attached to the wall.

It will be understood that the embodiments described are only examples, and in particular features from various different described embodiments may be combined to make other embodiments. The invention is defined by the claims.

Claims

1. A magnetic display, comprising:

an anchor piece having a front surface, at least one lateral side, a magnet provided along the lateral side, and fixing means for fixing the anchor piece to the wall;

a plurality of display pieces, each display piece having a front display surface, at least two lateral sides, a magnet provided along at least one lateral side with the north pole of the magnet facing towards the lateral side, and a magnet provided along at least one other lateral side with the south pole of the magnet facing towards the lateral side, at least one lateral side with the north pole facing the side being shaped to confirm with at least one lateral side with the south pole facing the side on a similar display piece.

2. A magnetic display as claimed in claim 1, in which the display pieces include means for interchangeably providing different displays on the front surface.

3. A magnetic display as claimed in claim 2, in which the display pieces each include a transparent front panel behind which a printed photograph or other image may be displayed.

4. A magnetic display as claimed in claim 1, in which a photograph or other image is printed directly onto the front surface of each display piece.

5. A magnetic display as claimed in claim 1, in which each display piece has at least four lateral sides, including at least two pairs of sides which oppose each other.

6. A magnetic display as claimed in claim 5, in which the magnets along opposing lateral sides are orientated with the same pole of each magnet facing towards its respective side.

7. A magnetic display as claimed in claim 5, in which the magnets along opposing lateral sides are oriented with opposite poles of the opposing magnets facing towards their respective sides.

8. A magnetic display as claimed in any preceding claim, in which a video display screen is provided on the display surface of at least some of the display pieces.

5

9. A magnetic display as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which the fixing means of the anchor piece includes an aperture for a screw.

10. A magnetic display as claimed in claim 9, in which a lamina display surface is affixed to the anchor piece for hiding the screw when the anchor piece is fixed

10 to a wall.

11. A magnetic display as claimed in claim 9 or claim 10, in which standoffs or spacers are provided for spacing the anchor piece from the wall, when fixed to the wall.

Intellectual

Property

Office

Application No: GB1708494.8 Examiner: Miss Cassandra Fraser