US2106839A - Merchandising display stand - Google Patents

Description

Feb. i938. A. c. GlLBERT I MERCHANDISING DISPLAY STAND Filed June 18, 1935 2- Sheets-Sheet l,

INVENTOR.

A TToRNEY Feb. l, 1938. A. c, GILBERT MERCHANDISING DISPLAY STAND Filed June 18, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Patented Feb. l, 1938 UNITED STATES PATET OFFICE- MERCHANDISING DISPLAY STAND Application June 18, 1935, Serial N0. 27,169

9 Claims.

This invention relates to merchandising display stands and particularly concerns stands for this purpose of durable and portable construction suited to hold and display changeable items of merchandise.

An object of the invention is to provide a display stand of this nature which will afford a maximum capacity for holding articles of merchandise while occupying a minimum space on a sales counter.

A further object is to equip a stand of this nature with shelves or other means for carrying the displayed merchandise and with lights for illuminating the merchandise at close range to both the customer and the salesperson standing on respectively opposite sides of the sales counter.

A further object is to arrange such lights in a manner to also illuminate the sales person and to conceal such lights from the direct View of the customer.

A further object is to provide diierent backgrounds for diierent articles of merchandise in Varying proximity to the lights so that in one case this background may be more brightly illuminated than the merchandise in front of it and so that in other cases the merchandise itself may be more brightly illuminated than its background.

A further object is to equip such display stand with power means and electric wiring connec tions both for the. power means and for` the lights, and to arrange driving connections-whe by the power means may motivatel article merchandise such as animated toysilcyI way-of demonstrating their operation tothe customer.

A further object is to construct aldispl'ayst'and of this nature in units whichmaybe'detached from one another and to construct theunits to be, in part, collapsable and of such individual relative size and proportion that when "thefstan'd is knocked down the unitsthereof-mayfb'e packed together in a manner-itc require.` minimum space. To this end, it is Aan object tomak'e; the-'electrical connections between Y the units ,9 of quick detach."- able type 'andf tot provide i wiring devices for "this purpose shall 'aordy extray 'current taps for :convenience making Lu s'ejig electric",l 1'I'Joys'fe'r Yfor`Qdeinensti/"ating electric appliances onfthe fsalesg counter-in* proximity" to the display stand. f^ j A stillfiuitheifobject'V is toqeduipfthe'fdifsplay stand'jiwith means receptivefto interchangeable "andmovable signt devices Aso "positi'oned` "ast falso be illuminated by the lights of the displayi'stan'd with a3 unique ee'c't i' VO''l brightness and-- sh'a'fd"A J Iflie'seE Earidi other "obj ectsfof'fth' "n'vention'are (Cl. 24U-2) attained by novel features of construction and arrangement which will be plain from the following' description of an illustrativey embodiment. Referring to the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is an isometric front view showing one 5 form of display stand embodying4 the present improvements as it, together with the sales counter on which it rests, in general appears from a point higher than the top of the stand. r

Fig. 2 is an edgewise View of the stand taken 10 in section on a central vertical .plane looking from left to right and lengthwise of the c un r in Fig. 1. e

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view o-ith bac the stand on va much smaller scale sh wiringI connections and indicating the-plan' which the units oi the standareiconstructe be separated or to collapse or shipping o storL 'arrws l :.uz u In Fig'. 1"the-disp'layA standV as# "assembledf vand; supported one P to If'zorn'p'rise anflarchalih t'rudturefs vportion "of thedn'gthv(if-the counter; n neiet neigmnL and f Wiath'-z to define" anarl @for er ruponafspace*iabovethecounter"A *to* enable-a customer-'standing' nffro'nt o counter to yViewand?"converse'i'with' a sales? per' n standing behind the counterand lcentral 'the stamm-'arnestand-is-fcomprise (columns.f of i yslielvesfflf' "s'upportin l by'a 'horiaontalheader'lZlprovi'ding he narrow 1250 lengthwise sheliiaandfthereabove; the ign;v ack "2.6", wh'chis'collapsaible in rlat iito'th and at each front corner by round posts I6, the bottom shelf serving as base for the stand. A panel I1 of width equal to the shelves extends from bottom to top of each column of shelves to form a background for articles of merchandise carried by the shelves for display. Such articles appear displayed upon the shelves of the column at the left end of the stand in Fig. 1 whereas the shelves of the column at the right end of the stand are shown unoccupied better to illustrate their construction.

The narrow shelf I3 on the header I2 is afforded by the front portion of its baseboard I8 which extends the entire length of the header and has a depth equal to the depth of the shelves I I, and from which baseboard rises the vertical partition I9 held rigidly thereto by suitable brackets 20 at the rear. The partition I9 serves as background for articles of merchandise displayed above the shelf I3. Such articles may be structural toys having moving parts as indicated in Fig. 1, in which case that portion of the baseboard I8 which lies behind the partition I9 may carry power means and driving connections for animating the toys in front of the partition I9 to demonstrate their operation and thereby enhance sales appeal.

Power means are represented in Fig. 2 by the electric motor 2| whose shaft may carry one or more pulleys respectively connected by chains such as 22, or otherwise belted to a wheel on shaft 23 which may extend to the front of partition I9 and carry or drive the movable part of the displayed toys such as the vanes 24 of the toy windmill 25.

At the top of partition I9, a sign rack 26 is collapsably carried by a series of hinges 21 permitting the rack to swing from its erect position shown by full lines in Figs. 1 and 2 to its collapsed position indicated by broken lines in Fig. 2 wherein the top of the rack may abut against the inclined edges of brackets 20. Fig. 4 more plainly shows the hinged construction wherein one ap of the hinge is bent at right angles so that a portion of said flap aligns with the stationary partition I9 and the other portion at right angles` therewith, attaches to the sign rack. Thus the flap 28 of hinge 21 is enabled to support in rigid but swingable relation the sign rack in its erected position at the top of partition I9, in which position the rack is adapted to display Whatever characters it may be wished to insert within a holding groove 29 provided by the bottom edge strip 30 extending the entirevlength of the rack.

An example of sign` characters which may be interchangeably and adjustably carried by the groove 29 is shown in Fig. 5 to comprise a plate of material skeletonized to form cut-out letters joined and supported by a base bar of the same material and preferably integral therewith and of thickness and heighth to be slidably supported by and concealed within the groove 29, thus displaying above the edge strip 30 and against the front surface of partition I9, the sign characters alone. A top strip 3| will prev-ent the sign devices from falling out of groove 29 when, the rack 26 is in collapsed position.

The display stand of these improvements may be equipped with any number of lighting devices, each of which is suited to be carried at any point on a shelf edge and constructed as follows. A rectangular notch 32 is cut in the edge of the shelf. An electric lamp socket 33 carrying the lamp bulb 34 is mounted in said notch by the bracket 35 which may be fastened to the lower surface of the shelf in a manner to support the lamp socket and its bulb in axial alignment with the length of the notch and symmetrically with respect to the thickness of the shelf. That is to say, the lamp bulb being of greater diameter than the thickness of the shelf extends as much above the thickness of the shelf as below the thickness of the shelf. To conceal the lamp bulb from the direct view of the customer a reflective cylindrical shade 36 spans the notch lengthwise and is preferably flush with the front edge of the shelf as shown in Fig. 6. This shade may be supported by means of cup-shaped shells 31 at each of its ends designed to be nailed or otherwise secured to the lateral edges of the notch. The circular extent of the shade 36 may be more or less than that indicated in Fig. 8 depending upon the extent of the field which it is desired to illuminate. The bracket 35, as shown in Fig. 7, passes through a slot in one of the shells 31.

The field to be illumined is seen to be composed principally of the background I9 in the case of the toys displayed upon the narrow shelf I3 of the header I2 whereby the toys, themselves, may be arranged to appear partly in silhouette thus emphasizing the details of their skeletonized structure, whereas the eld to be illumined in the case of toys displayed upon the relatively deeper shelves II consists more largely of the surfaces of the toys, themselves. the stand is thereby given a choice of these different characteristics of illumination for displaying to best advantage articles of merchandise differing in structure as indicated.

Fig. 2 further indicates that rays of light from the bulbs 34 carried by the header I2 above the space central of the stand are in part directed to illuminate the salesperson standing behind the sales counter and partly to illuminate the counter itself where goods may be handled and demont strated to the customer. All goods displayed on shelves II are easy of access both by the salesperson and by the customer, to be taken off from the shelves and restored in the course of demonstration and sale. It will also be observed from L Fig. 2 that rays of light from the bulbs 34 may strike the sign characters carried by the rack 26 and in a manner to produce a deep shade cast by same and serving to accentuate the front surface of the characters which are subjected to the light. In Fig. 3 the plane 38 indicates the point of separation of the header I2 from its two supporting columns of shelves. This separation is effected by merely removing the screws 39 which hold the header to the tops of posts I5 and I6. J. The plane 40 indicates the point of collapse at which the sign rack 26 is hinged to the header partition I9. From the proportions indicated in Fig. 3, it will be seen that when knocked down by the means of detachment and collapse above mentioned, the combined lengths of the two columns of shelves about equals the overall length of the header and the cross-sectional areas of these units being similar, enables them to be placed side by side for packing in a space equal to the length of the header and double the crosssectional area of the column of shelves.

Fig. 3 also indicates an arrangement of wiring devices and attachment cords permitting the ready setting up of the stand in condition for all its functions of illumination and animation by merely plugging a single feed cord into an electric outlet.

It will sufce to describe the electrical connections as comprising the main attachment cord 4I The user of f terminal block 45 on the header l2. The header may receive its current supply from the connector cord 46 running to the outlet 42 and is itself wired with connections indicated diagrammatically at 41 to furnish current to the electric motor 2| and to the lights carried by the header. In addition to the electrical equipment above described an extra outlet is provided in the outlet blocks 42 for convenience in obtaining current when needed for the demonstration of electrically operated merchandise on the sales counter.

While there has been described in the foregoing, definite examples of structure and merchandise illustrative of the principles of these improvements, it will be understood that the same may be embodied in many other and widely differing forms wherefore, without limitation to the forms herein chosen, I claim: A

1. In a merchandising display stand, an upright supporting wall, means to hold merchandise at spaced locations along the front surface of said wall comprising shelves of opaque material extending forwardly from said wall, one of said shelves separating the said locations, a sourse of light positioned at the front edge of the last said shelf and disposed to illuminate merchandise displayed on the last said shelf together with merchandise displayed therebelow, and a light shade disposed to be iiush With the front edge of the shelf and shaped to extend partially around said source of light.

2. In a stand for displaying merchandise of diiferent structural types with respectively different characteristics of illumination, light reflecting walls at the rear of said stand, a plurality of shelves extending forwardly from said walls respectively to full and partial depths therefrom, and a source of rearwardly directed light carried at the front edge of each of said shelves, whereby merchandise displayed on shelves of full depth may be illuminated more brightly than is the wall at the rear of said merchandise, and whereby different merchandise displayed on shelves of partial depth may be illuminated less brightly than is the wall at the rear of said different merchandise.

3. In a stand for displaying merchandise, a plurality of shelves having front edges disposed in substantially a common vertical plane, walls forming a background at the rear of said shelves for merchandise displayed thereon, and a source of backwardly directed light carried at the front edge of each of said shelves, the said walls being located at respectively differing depths from the front edges of the shelves, said depths varying sufficiently to produce selectively in the display of merchandise by said stand an illumination of the background brighter than that of the merchandise or an illumination of the merchandise brighter than that of the background.

4. In a merchandising stand having shelves for the display of merchandise, illuminating equipment for projecting rays of light directed toward the merchandise and confined to backward directions from the front edge of the shelves, and embodying in combination with a. shelf having a notch in the front edge thereof, an electric lamp socket supported in said notch in axial alignment with the plane of the shelf and centered in vertical relation to the thickness of said shelf, a lamp bulb supported in said notch by said socket and also centered in vertical relation to the thickness of the shelf, and a shade disposed at the front of the lamp bulb in substantially flush relation to the front edge of the shelf and formed to partially surround said lamp bulb.

5. In a merchandise display structure, a rear upright supporting wall, means to hold merchandise at spaced locations adjacent the front surface of said wall, a partition extending forwardly from said wall and separating said locations, a single source of light positioned at the front edge of said partition and disposed in a manner to project rays of light rearwardly at both sides of said partition toward the merchandise displayed in both of said spaced and separated locations, and a light shade shaped and disposed to environ the front portion and a part of the top and/or bottom portion of said source of light.

6. In a merchandising display structure, a rear upright supporting wall, means to hold merchandise at spaced locations adjacent the front surface of said wall, a partition of opaque material extending forwardly from said wall and separating said locations, an electric lamp supported by said partition having its length parallel with the front edge thereof and disposed to project rays of light rearwardly and simultaneously on both sides of said partition toward merchandise displayed in both of said spaced and separated locations, and an opaque light reflecting shade shaped and disposed to environ the front portion of said lamp throughout the length of the latter.

7. In combination with a merchandise display structure including the features defined in claim 5, a light baffle extending crosswise one or both ends of said source of light in a manner to restrict projection of light rays from said source of light in lateral directions approaching the horizontal.

8. In combination with a merchandise display structure including the features defined in claim 5, an opaque disc-like light baille joined to one or both of the lateral ends of said light shade and extending backward therefrom across one or both ends of said source of light thereby to restrict projection of light rays from said source of light in lateral directions approaching the horizontal.

9. In a merchandising display structure, a rear y upright supporting wall, means to hold merchandise at spaced locations adjacent the front surface of said wall, a partition extending forwardly from said wall and separating said locations and having an elongated notch in its front edge, an elongated electric lamp bulb positioned parallel to said partition edge and supported within said notch in a manner to project rays of light rearwardly and simultaneously on both sides of said partition toward merchandise displayed in both of said spaced and separated locations, a disclike light baffle mounted on said partition within and at each end of said notch, and a light shade comprising a shield of curved sheet-like material conformed to the periphery of said baffle and supported thereby at each of its ends in a position to environ the front portion of said lamp bulb.

ALFRED C. GILBERT.

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