NZ229251A - Modular stand for supporting panel in substantially upright orientation - Google Patents

Description

239251 Priority Date(s): Comptet® Specification Filed: ..

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P.O. Journal, No: PATENTS FORM NO. 5 Fee No. 1 & 4: $250.00 PATENTS ACT 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION "MODULAR STAND" I EDWARD WOLFGANG BRELL, an Australian citizen of 24 Allworth Street, Northgate, Queensland 4013, Australia. hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed to be particularly described in and by the following statement: , * e/v>N, ;' O ;/ »^\ ;I IJULl9S9i ;This invention relates to supporting apparatus for supporting sheet-like articles and is particularly concerned with supporting apparatus for supporting signs and the like. ;For illustrative purposes only, this invention will be described primarily in relation to its application to signs, although it will be readily understood that the supporting apparatus could be adapted to support panels, railings or other articles. ;The presently available advertising stands are not effective in providing an inexpensive stand which can be readily transported to the display location and easily erected, while retaining stability sufficient to resist falling over when knocked or when used in a windy location. ;It is an object of the present invention to provide supporting apparatus which will alleviate the abovementioned and other disadvantages and which will be reliable and efficient in use. Other objects and advantages of this invention will hereinafter become apparent. ;With the foregoing and other objects in view, this invention resides broadly in one aspect in a stand assembly including:- ;a supporting base; ;a supporting arm assembly supported by said supporting base and including a pair of free standing resilient supporting arms supported in spaced relationship by said supporting base whereby said supporting arms are capable of being resiliently deflected relative to said supporting base; ;an upstanding flexible or pliant panel extending between said supporting arms, and / •... ;t>0 Ail,. . ;panel mounting means which mount said panel to said arms and maintain said panel in a substantially upstanding attitude. ;The arm may be a rigid arm which is resiliently attached to the supporting base, however it is preferred that the arm is a resilient arm which is rigidly attached to the supporting base. The arrangement is such that the arm will deflect resiliently when wind pressure is applied to the panel in order to reduce the overturning forces applied to the panel by the wind. This may be achieved by a reduction of the effective surface area of the panel presented to the wind and/or a reduction in the height of the operative centre of pressure of the wind force on the panel. The resilient attachment of a rigid supporting arm may be by way of a coil spring mounting, a rubber block mounting or by a pivotal mounting with resilient means urging the arm to its upright attitude. ;The panel may be formed of any desired shape and may be a rigid panel and the elevated mounting means may permit a variable connection to the panel in order to permit the panel to move to an inclined position under the influence of wind pressure. Preferably however, the panel is a flexible or pliable panel. ;& ;229251 ;4 ;It is also preferred that the panel be a substantially rectangular panel and that said supporting arm constitutes one of a pair of such arms supported in spaced relationship on the supporting base and that the mounting means comprises 5 panel attachment means adjacent the respective bases of said supporting arms. ;The supporting arm or arms may fit into a or respective sockets in the supporting base and if desired they could be threaded and adapted to screw into the supporting base. 10 Alternatively the supporting arms could clip or snap into suitable clips provided on the base. The supporting arms could rest against abutment members on the base and be retained in position by suitable means such as the panel, for example. ;15 The supporting base can assume any suitable configuration and can comprise any number of components. It can thus be circular, rectangular, elliptical, octagonal, or triangular in shape, and may comprise one, two, three or more pieces. The supporting base may be apertured to receive 20 formed lower ends of the supporting arms. The supporting base may include a spine member and there may be laterally extending feet for supporting the spine member the feet may support the spine member in an elevated position if desired. ;In one embodiment of the invention the lower ends of the 25 arms are formed, such as by being hook shaped, to enable the lower ends of the arms to extend through the spine member and ;229251 ;5 ;operatively retain the feet in their operative laterally extending position. The feet may be pivotally attached to the spine member and be pivotable between a stowed attitude alongside the spine member and their operative laterally extending position. Alternatively the feet may be detachably secured to the spine member by said formed lower ends of the supporting arms. ;The feet may be adapted to inter-fit the longitudinally extending spine section and be retained in their inter-fitted positions by the lower ends of the supporting arms. If the stand is particularly adapted for erection on a soft ground surface such as a lawn then spikes or the like and or suitable retaining means therefor may be provided on the feet to enable securement to the ground. Also, in the case where the stand is adapted to rest on a smooth surface, suction caps or the like may be provided on the feet. ;The resilience of the supporting arm or arms is suitably such that each is sufficiently rigid to support whatever weight the sheet-like article has in a substantially vertical orientation and being resilient enough to be manually deformed for attachment to the panel and then when released to retain the panel in a taut condition. That is, the arrangement will generally be such that the each supporting arm needs to be flexed inwardly to enable attachment to the panel. ;The lower end of each arm may have means for attaching ;229251 ;6 ;the sheet-like article thereto. This may comprise a separate clip or clamp means but is preferably formed integrally with the support element. The most preferred attachment means comprises a deformation in the support element such as a hook 5 or the like. ;The sheet-like article may assume any desirable configuration such as oval, polygonal or the like. ;Preferably it is square or rectangular. In this letter form, the sheet-like article may be supported at its two top 10 corners. This may be achieved by connecting the ends of the support elements directly thereto by clips of the like, but is preferably achieved by the simple means of providing holes in the corners of the sheet-like article and hooking the ends of the support elements into these holes. Loops or the like 15 on the sheet-like article could also achieve a similar result but because additional pieces are required, these are not generally as preferred as the former construction. ;It is further preferred that the bottom or lowermost sections of the sheet-like article be retained and this will 20 generally be essential when the stand is used in windy situations. To this end, the bottom corners are tied to the base member such as by hooking an elastic strap, for instance, an elastic strap, between each corner and the base member. ;25 The sheet-like article can be made of any material suitable to the end use. In the case of a panel in the form ;7 ;of a road sign, the preferred material is a plastics material, most preferably a composite plastics material. An example of a composite plastics material is two layers of clear polyvinylchloride with a paper sheet laminated in 5 between. Preferably, the paper sheet does not extend to the very edges of the plastic layers or to the holes in the corners which are provided to enable connection to the stand. The holes are, furthermore, preferably reinforced with eyelets or the like. ;10 In order that this invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, wherein ;FIG. 1. is an isometric view of a modular stand 15 according to the present invention; ;FIG. 2. is a partial exploded isometric view of the connecting means depicted in Fig. 1; ;FIG. 3. is a partial isometric view of the elements shown in Fig. 2 but in a connected mode; 20 FIG. 4. is a partial exploded isometric view of a different connecting means to Fig. 2; ;FIG. 5. is a partial isometric view of the connecting means shown in Fig. 4 but in a connected mode, and FIG. 6 and 7 are end and side views of one end portion 25 of a further embodiment of the invention. ;Referring to Fig. 1, there is illustrated a stand 9 ;229251 ;8 ;comprising a longitudinally extending channel section spine member 10 which retains two spring steel arms 11, 12 in an upright orientation. Associated with the base member 10 are two substantially rectangular wing-like feet 13, 14 which 5 provide stability for the stand. The arms 11, 12 support a sign panel 15 in the form of a flexible membrane 15 which is retained at its lower edge by elastic straps 16, 17 or springs, as desired. The straps 16, 17 pass beneath the spine 10. ;10 The sign panel 15 is a plastic-paper laminate with holes ;18, 19, 20, 21 in each corner for the purpose of connecting to hooked ends 22, 23 on the arms 11, 12 and to the base member 10 by means of the elastic straps 16, 17. ;Each spring steel arm 11, 12 is associated with the 15 spine member 10 in such a manner so as to exert a slight outward tensioning force on the flexible sign panel 15, thereby retaining it in a taut state. The manner in which this is achieved can be readily seen in the remaining drawings. ;20 Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, where like reference numerals indicate like parts in Fig. 1, the rectangular winglike feet 13, 14 each has a mid-section deformation 24 formed with a indent section 25. This indent section 25 permits the end of the respective spring steel arm 12 to be retained in 25 position without slippage while mid-section deformation 24 fits within the side flanges of the spine and enables the ;(1* Sfi 2292G1 9 foot 14 to be held non-rotatably against the bottom of the spine member 10.

The end of the respective spring steel arm 12 is retained in the mid-section deformation 24 when the hooked 5 end 26 of the spring steel arm 12 is inserted through the openings 27, 28 in the base member in the manner depicted in Fig. 3. This action is reinforced by a curve 29 formed in the spring steel rod 12 adjacent the hook. A further function of this curve is to spring the steel rod 12 in a 10 direction slightly away from the vertical (see Fig. 2) so as to exert a tensioning effect on the flexible membrane 15 when the steel rod 12 is forced to assume a substantially vertical orientation. A still further function of the curve is to ensure adequate contact with the feet 13 and 14 independent 15 of manufacturing tolerances and service deflections.

Figs. 4 and 5 show a very similar embodiment to the preceding embodiment and like parts are accordingly similarly numbered. The only differences are found in the shape of the hook end 31 of the spring steel rod 12, and the provision of 20 one opening 32 in the base support instead of two openings and a slot. The function in both instances is substantially the same.

The provision of the spring steel rod 12 with the particular configuration at its lower end, enables ready 25 assembly and disassembly of the stand and enables the flexible membrane to deflect from its vertical position . "r L N ' /'•V f 2 7 JUNI989' \A 229251 during windy conditions. The feet 13, 14 function to resist toppling of the stand when it is knocked or erected in a windy location, and thereby meet the objectives of the invention previously recited.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, the spine member 40 is in the form of an angle member which is supported in an elevated position by the inclined legs 41 which can pivot between their operative position, as illustrated, and a stowed position alongside the spine 40. The legs pivot about a cross bar 43 fitted between the flanges 44. The lower end of the supporting arm 45 is also pivotally connected about the cross bar 43 and it is adapted to pivot from a stowed position between the flanges 44 and an upright supporting attitude. The end of the spine is notched at 46 to secure the arm 45 in position and the inner ends of the legs 41 are notched at 47 to engage with the arm 45 when in their operative position to thereby hold them in their operative position. The arrangement is such that the arm 45 is held in the notch 46 by its attachment to the sign panel and the legs are held extended by their engagement with the notch 47 and cannot be freed therefrom to swing to their stowed position until after the arm 45 has been disengaged from the notch 46.

II 229251 It will be seen in the abovedescribed embodiments, that as the top edge of the sign is flexible and stretched between the upper ends of the supporting arms, wind pressure on the sign will cause its upper portion to belly while its lower edge is held straight. Such bellying is accompanied by inward movement of the supporting arms and a consequent reduction in the effective frontal area of the sign panel towards its upper end. Such reduction in frontal area due to transverse deflection increases with increases in wind pressure. In addition, as described above, the supporting arms will deflect in the direction of the applied wind force whereby the overall height of the sign decreases with increasing wind pressure.

Both of these effects also result in a reduction in the height of the centroid of the wind force. As the overturning moment applied to the sign is a product of the centroid height and the force, the combination of the above effects greatly contributes to the ability of the sign to bend to wind pressure and subsequently return to an upright position without tipping the sign about its supporting base.

Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative example of the invention, many modifications and variations may be made thereto by persons skilled in the art without departing from the broad scope and ambit of the invention as herein defined in the appended claims.

Claims (4)

229251 WHAT T CT.ATM IS:

1. A stand assembly including:-a supporting base; a supporting arm assembly supported by said supporting base and including a pair of free standing resilient supporting arms supported in spaced relationship by said supporting base whereby said supporting arms are capable of being resiliently deflected relative to said supporting base; an upstanding flexible or pliant panel extending between said supporting arms, and panel mounting means which mount said panel to said arms and maintain said panel in a substantially upstanding attitude.

2. A stand assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said panel is a substantially rectangular panel formed with mounting apertures at each corner and said panel mounting means includes respective connections for connecting the upper said mounting apertures to the upper ends of said arms.

3. A stand assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said supporting base includes a spine member and laterally extending feet which stabilize said spine member.

4. A stand assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein said feet are pivotally attached to said spine member and pivot between a stowed attitude alongside said spine member and a stabilizing attitude at which said feet extend laterally from said spine member. / . \ -7 A stand according to claim 4, wherein each said supporting arm is pivotally connected to said spine for movement from their free standing attitude to a stowed attitude alongside said spine member. A stand according to claim 5, wherein each said supporting arm and respective ones of said feet are pivotally attached to said spine member by a respective common pivot assembly and wherein said feet when disposed in said stabilizing attitude interlock with said arms. A stand as claimed in claim 6, wherein said arms free standing each pass from their respective said pivot assembly through a respective restraining slot in said spine. A stand as claimed in claim 3, wherein said feet comprise a pair of elongated members each extending transversely on either side of said spine member, the end portions of said spine member and the central portion of each said elongated member being releasably locked against each other by said supporting arm assembly. A stand assembly including:- a supporting base; a supporting arm assembly supported by said supporting base and including a pair of free standing resilient supporting arms supported in spaced relationship on said supporting base whereby said supporting arms are capable of being resiliently deflected relative to said supporting base, said supporting arm assembly constituting an elevated mounting for a panel and mounting means for mounting a resilient panel between said arms. A stand assembly including:-a support base; a free standing resilient supporting arm supported by said supporting base whereby said supporting arm is capable of being resiliently deflected relative to the supporting base, said supporting arm constituting an elevated mounting for a panel; a panel having its upper portion supported by the upper end of said supporting arm, and mounting means on said supporting base for mounting the lower end of said panel. EDWARD WOLFGANG BRELL by his Attorneys JAMES & WET T »S