US1219405A - Display device. - Google Patents

Description

O. L. SMITH.

DISPLAY DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20. 1912.

1,21 9,405. Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

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0. L. SMITH.

DISPLAY DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20. l9l2.

1 ,21 9,405. Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

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OSCAR I1. SMITH, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR T0 SAMUEL D. YOUNG,

TRUSTEE, or GRAND DISPLAY Application filed May 20, 1

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ()soan L. SMrrr-r, a citizen of the United States, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, have invented an Tmprovement in Display Devices, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

The invention to be hereinafter described relates to display devices for exhibiting goods, such, for instance, as ready-made garments in stores and other places, and more particularly to that type of such devices wherein a rotatable rack is movable to and from a position within a case or cabinet, and is capable of rotative movement to bring all parts of the rack to front while the rack remains in front position.

It is desirable that a rack of general rec tangular form be employed on account of economy of floor space and other considera tions, and that when in front position it be capable of free rotation, that is, rotation through three hundred and sixty degrees. It is likewise desirable that such rack be prevented from injuring the case or cabinet when moved to and from its position within the same; such results broadly being secured by the patent to Smith No. 987,183, dated March 21, 1911. In the application of Anthony Vanderveld, Serial No. 647,340, filed September 2, 1911, as a further development of this same characteristic, means were employed which, while permitting free rotative. movement of the rack when at front position, would prevent or restrict such free rotative capacity as the rack was moved to and from its position within the case or cabinet. In the Vanderveld application these characteristics of invention were embodied as one form of the invention, in a member secured to the case or cabinet cooperating with a member secured to the rotatable rack, where as the rack was being moved to or from its position within the case or cabinet, the glass of the case or cabinet would not be injured, and such invention in its generic character is covered by the claims of said Vanderveld application.

With these facts in mind, the aims and purposes of the present invention are to improve certain features of the device of the Vanderveld application, which improve Specification of Letters Patent.

RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

DEVICE.

Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

912. Serial No. 698,361.

ments, although subordinate to the broad invention of said application, possess certain advantages of structure and operation, all of which will be made clear from the following description and accompanying drawings setting forth one form or embodiment of means embraced by the present invention.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation showing a display device containing the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 22, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2, showing another position of the rotatable rack;

Fig. 4 is a detached detail showing one form of buffer.

The case or cabinet comprises a suitable base portion 1 having a false bottom 2 below which suitable tracks or guideways 3 (Fig. 2) may be provided for guiding a carriage 4, which carriage is movable to and from a position within the case, and may be preferably limited in these movements by means of a slot 5 formed in the false bottom 2 of the case.

From the bottom of the case or cabinet rise the corner posts 6 between which are the glass panels 7 The top of the case, as usual, is provided with a similar glass panel supported in a suitable frame. The front of the case or cabinet may be closed when desired by doors 8, said doors being shown by Figs. 2 and 3 in open position, and said doors may each comprise a usual framework for supporting a panel of glass.

From the construction thus far described, it will be apparent that regardless of specific detail, the case or cabinet comprises side, back and top portions formed mainly of glass, or if desired, they may be formed entirely of glass panels properly secured together at their edges, and as such construction is well known in the art further descriptions thereof will be unnecessary.

Suitably mounted on the carriage 4 and rotatable with respect thereto, is a rack for supporting garments and the like. The manner of thus rotatably supporting the rack upon the carriage 4 is not of the es-' sence of the present invention, and may be of any character desired, but as shown in the drawings which present one form of means to this end, the carriage 4 has projecting upwardtherefrom, a suitable supporting stud-9 which-passes through the slot of the falserbottom 2 and 011 which-are mounted the rigid arms 10 forming the lower supporting element for the rack. Rising from the "sup porting arms 10 are the uprights 11 carrying at their upper portions the cross arms 12' which sustain the rack bars 13 and 14, said rack bars being preferably connected at their ends by a guard 15 in order to confine the clothing supported by the rack from swingingr unduly outward as the rack is rotated v and from coming in contact with the case.

' rear wall of the case.

The rack thus presents a rectangular form of supporting frame, upon the rack bars 13 and 1 1 of which garment hangers may be sustained and they in turn, may support the garments to be displayed.

From the construction thus far described, itwill be noted'that when the rack is drawn to front positionby. movement of the .carriage 4, said rack may berfreely rotated, that is, may be rotated through three hundred and sixty degrees in either direction in order to bringxall parts of the rack to front position for inspection, cleaning, and other wise examining or manipulating the garments hung: thereon; 'and that such rack thus rotatable may be moved into the case into such position that the doors 8 may be closed and the rack witlrits garments therein be protected from unauthorizedhandling, dust and dirt. V

In a rack of this character, it isessential that some means be provided for preventing the rack bars or parts connected therewith from coming in contact with the glass. panels of the case, more especially the rear glass panel, in order to prevent breakage thereof. In all devices heretofore known, some means has been secured to the case to coact with a member attached to and rotatable with the. rack, to prevent this injurious contact and breakage of the glass.

The present invention, however, contemplates the elimination of any special means for-this purpose and to provide for this wrong contact of the rack and its connectcd'parts with the glass portions of thecase,

by a portion of the case or cabinet frameextended beyond" the point where the uprights 11 rise therefrom, as at 17, and the end portions of these extensions 17, one at eachend .ofthe supporting arms 10, are provided with the center guard members 18 preferably formed on the arc of a circle with the center at the axis of the rotatable rack and of a radius greater than the distance be: tween said axis and the extreme ends of the rack bars 18 and 1a. The end portion-s of these center guard members 18. may be provided with buffers 19, which are preferably formed'as rubber rollers, mounted on suitable axes 20, on the side portions of the guard members 18, as more fully shown by Fig. 1. The guard members 18 which for identification may be termed the center guard me1nbers,have a guard surface formed preferably curved and also preferably on the are of a circle of a radius greater than the distance of the ends of the rack bars from the axis of rotation of the rack, and such guards are preferably extended at each side beyond the vertical planes passing longitudinally through the rack bars. Fromthe constructiondescribed, it will be apparent that should the rack be turned upon its axis at its inner position, '(as indicated in Fig. 2), one of the rubber buffers 19 onan end portion of'rthe center guard members 18 will contact with the back'member- 16 of the case and prevent contact of the rack bars and portions connected therewith from breaking the glass, or contacting with the glass panels; and should the rack be moved into the case without lining the rack bars 13 and lt parallel-with the back wallof the case, the curved guard members 18 or the side buffers 19 mounted thereon, would similarly contact with the back member 16 of the case, and cause the rack to rotate into proper position, as indicated by Fig. 2. 7

By reason of' the formation of the center guard members 18', as hereinbefore described,

it will likewise be apparent that when the.

rack is in outer position, should it be turned so-that the rack bars are perpendicular to the rear glass wallof the case and the rack, at such time, be forced inward, the center guard members 18-by their curved portion or edge,'which' extends longitudinally beyond the ends of the rack bars would contact with the back member 16 of the'case and prevent the rack bars from breaking the glass. Should the-rotatable rack be pushed inward from front position with the rack bars in any other than perpendicular relation with the back glass wall of the case, one'ofthe buffers 19 on the side extensions of the center guard members 18 will contact with-the member 16 of the case and cause the rack to be properly alined in the case as it reaches its inner position.

As apreferred" form of construction, the supporting arms 10, the extensions 17 and the center guard members 18 may be integrally formed or cast, but obviously the present invention is not restricted in this respect, as they might be otherwise formed and connected together. It will also be noted that, since the radial distance of the buffers 19 from the axis of the rack, as well as the radial distance of the outer surface of the center guard members 18 from said axis, is greater than the radial distance of the extreme end portions of the rack bars from said axis, in no position of the rack can the rack bars or the guards connected thereto come in contact with and injure the glass panels of the case.

Obviously, changes may be made in the details pointed out as the present embodiment of the invention without departing materially from the invention as pointed out by the claims.

hat is claimed is 1- 1. In a display device, the combination of a case or cabinet having a bumper extending along its lower part, a rotatable rack having rack bars and movable in and out of the cabinet, supporting arms for the rotatable rack raving longitudinal extensions, and lower guard members connected to the supporting arms and having central and side extensions each projecting a greater distance radially from the axis of rotation of the rack than the end of the rack bars that the lower guard members may engage the bumper before the rack bars engage the glass should the rack be moved into the cabinet when not parallel with the rear of the cabinet.

2. In a display device, the combination of a case or cabinet having a bumper at its lower part, a rotatable rack having parallel rack bars, supporting arms at the lower part of the case carrying said rack bars and provided with end extensions, and center and side guard members the outer guarding surfaces of which are formed in the arc of a circle about the axis of the rack as a center and of greater radius than the distance from the axis of rotation to the ends of the rack bars, that the guarding surface of the guard members may contact with the bumper be fore the rack bars engage the glass should the rack be moved into the cabinet when not parallel with the rear of the cabinet.

3. In a display device, the combination of a case or cabinet having a bumper at its lower part, a rack movable to and from a position within the case or cabinet and revoluble about a vertical axis centrally of the rack, a lower supporting rack arm revoluble with the rack and projecting beyond the rack at each end thereof, said arm terminating at its ends in curved members transversely of the arm, all parts of which extend beyond the rack that the said curved members may engage the bumper before the rack bars engage the glass should the rack be moved into the cabinet when not parallel with the back wall of the cabinet.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

OSCAR L. SMITH. Vitnesses:

ARTHUR J. SPELLMAN, BEATRICE I. SMITH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

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