US2861682A

US2861682A - Holding and display device

Info

Publication number: US2861682A
Application number: US644878A
Authority: US
Inventors: Joseph H Hatcher
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1957-03-08
Filing date: 1957-03-08
Publication date: 1958-11-25
Anticipated expiration: 1975-11-25

Description

Nov. 25, 1958 J. H. HATCHER aowmc AND DISPLAY DEVICE Filed March 8, 1957 United States Patent Patented Nov. 25, 1958 free ' HOLDING; AND DISPLAY DEVICE Joseph H.'Hatcher, New York, N. Y. Application March 8, 1957, Serial No. 644,878 2 Claims. (Cl. 20675) This invention relates broadly to the art of holding and display devices and in its more specific aspects it relates to such devices which are especially designed for holding and displaying articles of jewelry wherein such articles may be easily inserted in the device and removed therefrom and while in inserted position are displayed attractively and are're'adily accessible for removal therefrom; and the nature and objects of the invention will be readily recognized and understood by those'skilled in the arts to which it relates in the light of the following explanation and detailed description of the accompanying drawings illustrating what I at present believe to .be preferred embodiments or mechanical expressions of my invention from among various other forms, arrangements, combinations and constructions, of which the invention is capable within the spirit and scope thereof.

Itis conventional practice to provide display arrangements for various articles of jewelry such as cuff links, rings, bracelets and the like where slots are provided in a body of material into which the articles are inserted so that at least parts of them will be projected above the body of material for a visual display thereof. Such holding arrangements are also provided for home use to provide a neat and attractive and easily accessible means for holding various articles of jewelry.

The holding and display devices of which I am aware and which are now in use have certain inherent disadvantageous characteristics. of a material which provides for ease of insertion of the articles of jewelry nor does the material lend itself to the desired ease of removal of the article of jewelry. In many cases the body of the device is formed of a fibrous or the like material which may be provided with a plurality of spaced slots into which the articles of jewelry are adapted to be inserted and held. It will be apparent that such fibrous material bodies are relatively stififl not resilient and compliant to the degree necessary for facilitating the insertion and removal of the articles to be maintained therein and removed therefrom. It has been one of my purposes to provide a holding and display device for articles of jewelry and the like which is constituted of a body of relatively soft, compliant and resilient material to ensure ease of insertion of the articles and their removal therefrom and to also ensure that the articles will be maintained or removably wedged therein in the proper and desired position so that they will be displayed to the best advantage or maintained therein to eliminate the possibility of inadvertent removal therefrom.

The jewelry display and holding devices of the prior art are normally formed of a fibrous material as mentioned above and for decorative purposes are covered with some type of attractive fabric covering material. It has heretofore been necessary to attach such fabric covering material to the body of the holding and display device by means of an adhesive or the like. In order to eliminate the possibility of the decorative covering being torn from the body of the device it has been necessary to have the covering not only extend over the body of the device For instance they are not made but also down into the slots therein which are adapted to receive the articles of jewelry. It will be apparent that the attachment of the decorative covering to the device and within the slots by adhesive is not an easy task, it is costly and time consuming and in many cases detracts from the appearance of the finished device due to faulty adhesion of the covering so that a smooth attractive surface is not provided. It will also be recognized that unless an excellent job of adhesion as to all parts is done the covering will under normal use conditions soon pull loose from the body of the device.

In one form of my invention I have devised a material which is resilient, soft and compliant for use as the body of the device which is provided with the slots and which because of its inherent characteristics will clutch or clamp the article of jewelry which is inserted in the slots which are provided in the body of compliant material. This material functions in a highly satisfactory manner to clampingly maintain the articles of jewelry inserted in the slots therein while releasing the articles of jewelry in an easy manner when it is grasped and pulled from the slot..

. It is a further purpose of one form ofmy invention to provide a body of resilient material provided with article receiving slots which is formed of a material having an integral exterior finish or covering providing surface which may generally simulate the aforementioned separate decorative covering materials. Theadvantage of using this form of material will be appreciated when it is recognized that it eliminates the need for an extra decorative covering material and also eliminates the need for adhesively attaching a decorative covering material to the main holding body of the device. The use of this material for this novel purpose will reduce the cost of the device and will provide one which is highly decorative and attractive and will greatly outlast the type of device which is in normal use today.

I have also devised a holding and display device for articles of jewelry which embodies the highly desirable compliant and resilient material which may not be produced with the decorative finish or surface. Yet in this form of my invention I have also done away with the necessity of adhesively securing a separate decorative covering material to the body of compliant material.

Instead I have evolved a novel organization wherein the.

decorative material is keyed or locked in position within the slots which are formed in the body and is thereby held in, taut condition over the Whole exterior surface of the body. The need for adhesively attaching the decorative covering to the body is eliminated, hence the manufacture of the device is greatly facilitated and the costs reduced by a design and construction which involves the novel features which will be hereinafter described in detail.

I have devised a body for a device of this character which may be formed of a plastic foam which has the compliant and resilient characteristics which are desired for this use and which may be'produced with the desired decorative finish for the surface which is one of the attributes of my invention. As one example from among many I may use a polyvinyl chloride open-cell formulation for the plastic foam.

In designing this holding and display device it has been one of my purposes to reduce manufacturing and assembly costs and I have attained this end by using the materials mentioned for the body of the device. The material may be extruded under processes now in use in such manner that the jewelry holding slots are formed therein as well as the keying means for maintaining the decorative covering material in proper position on the body and within the slots. It is also within my contemplation to mold the bodies with the slots and the keying means. It will also be apparent that the decorative finish may be formed on the plastic foam under these processes of manufacture and production.

As this description proceeds it will be recognized that I have not only devised a holding and display device, certain parts of which may be mass produced for economy of manufacture but I have also devised such a device which may be quickly and easily assembled by unskilled workers to thereby substantially reduce overall production costs. This was not the case with prior art devices of this character where considerable slow and relatively difficult hand work was necessary in both production and manufacture.

With the foregoing general objects, features and results in view, as well as certain others which will be apparent from the following explanation, the invention consists in certain novel features in design, construction, mounting and combination of elements, as will be more fully and particularly referred to and specified hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of one form of my holding and display device.

Fig. 2 is a view in vertical section of the holding and display device of Fig. l with parts thereof brokenaway and with an article of jewelry positioned in one of the slots of the device.

Fig. 3 is a view in vertical section of another form of my holding and display device with parts thereof broken away.

Fig. 4 is a view in vertical section of yet another form of my holding and display device.

Fig. 5 is a fragmental view in vertical section of the holding and display device of Fig. 4 illustrating the method of attaching the decorative covering material to the body.

In the accompanying drawings and particularly Fig. 1 thereof I have illustrated one form of my invention which includes a body which I have designated in its entirety by the numeral 1. The body I is formed of a plurality of rectangular elongated blocks 3 each of which is formed of sponge rubber or the like compliant and resilient material. Each of the blocks 3 is adhesively or otherwise attached to a relatively rigid supporting base 5 which may be formed of any suitable and appropriate material. The blocks 3 are fastened to the base 5 in such position that adjacent blocks may be slightly spaced apart as will be apparent from consideration of the drawings.

Each block 3 is covered with a decorative covering material 7 which may be a fabric or any other suitable material. The material is preferably adhesively secured about each block, extending across the top thereof and down the sides and a slight distance inwardly along the bottom as at 9. It will be evident that when the plurality of blocks of compliant and resilient material are assembled in side by side relation on the supporting base 5 the very narrow areas or slots between adjacent blocks will be defined and substantially filled by the covering material 7 extending along the vertical sides as at 11.

The holding and display device illustrated in Fig. l of the drawings may be made of any desirable size and, of course may comprise any number of blocks 3 which in turn may be of any convenient size for the purposes for which the device has been designed. In use as a holding and display means for various articles of jewelry the articles of jewelry are inserted between the blocks. In Fig. l, merely as one example from among many, I have illustrated a cuff link 13 in position inserted between adjacent biocks forming, in effect, a slot 15. Since the material of each block is compliant it will be easily spread apart upon insertion of the article of jewelry between blocks and will maintain the article in upstanding displayed position therein due to the clamping action of the material of the adjacent blocks which is distorted by the article and is constantly urged back into normal and it will be recognized that the dimensions of the device and of the individual blocks will depend upon the size of the articles to be held thereby.

While the display and holding device which I have illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings is highly satisfactory both functionally and esthetically the form of the invention which I have disclosed in Fig. 3 of the drawings may be endowed with certain production advantages which possibly could not be attained in the design of the invention just described.

In Fig. 3 of the drawings I have illustrated a form of my invention comprising a body designated in its entirety by the numeral 17. This body may be formed of plastic foam, such as a polyvinyl chloride open-cell formulation, or any other plastic foam or other material which is characterized by being compliant and resilient, and is provided with an exterior finish producing a decorative visual impression. One of the many advantages which are found in plastic foam and its use for a holding and display device is that it may be extruded or molded into the form necessary for the purpose of this invention as will be explained in detail. It will be appreciated that the extrusion of the body of the holding and display device with the integral decorative finish or covering will result in substantial production economies and will do away with substantially all assembly requirements.

The body 17 is extruded or molded to provide the finish or exterior surface 19 thereon, which, as I have pointed out constitutes a desirable substitute for the separate decorative material 7 described in connection with the device of Fig. l of the drawings. This finish 19 is, of course, an integral part of the body and is formed thereon in the extrusion or molding step as is well known in the art. The body 17 is formed during the production thereof with a plurality of spaced slots 21 which extend from and through the top finish of the body downwardly therein but are preferably spaced from the bottom of the body. It will now be apparent that I have provided a body having the plurality of slots which in effect form the body into a plurality of blocks 23. In order to provide rigidity to the body it is preferably mounted in any suitable way on a relatively rigid supporting base 25.

The holding and display device of Fig. 3 is adapted to receive and maintain for holding and display purposes a variety of articles of jewelry in the slots 21. It will be understood that when an article is inserted in the slot the walls of the slot will be laterally expanded or distorted and since the material of the body is not only compliant but is also resilient the walls of the slot will exert a clamping action on the inserted article to thereby removably maintain it in position, when the article is removed the resiliency of the body will return the walls of the slot to their normal position.

With this form of my invention the difiiculties of assembly will be eliminated for there will be no time and expense required in using separate covering material and adhesively securing the same to the walls of the rectangular blocks which form the body of the device. It is also to be noted that there will be no danger or possibility of the decorative material becoming detached from the body to thereby detract from the decorative effect of the device.

In Figs. 4 and 5 I have disclosed a further form which my invention may take. In this form of my invention I provide a body designated generally by the numeral 27 which is preferably formed of plastic foam or any other suitable material having the same characteristics as that described in connection with Fig. 3 of the drawings. The body 27 is preferably formed by a molding or extrusion process, however in this form of the invention the body need not be formed with the integral exterior finish as was the body 17 of the holding and display device illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The body 27 is formed with a plurality of spaced slots 29 which extend downwardly through the upper surface of the body and are formed at their lower ends with an annular cavity 31, which is spaced upwardly a distance from the bottom of the body.

I provide a decorative covering material 33 for lending a decorative appearance to the holding and display device. The decorative covering is attached to the body at each end thereof as at 35 by means of an adhesive or in any other suitable manner, however the covering material is not adhesively attached at any other locations to the body.

In order to attach the remainder of the covering material to the body I provide a solid cylindrical core or keying element 37 for each slot and cavity, 29 and 31 respectively. Each core is formed of plastic foam or similar compliant and resilient material. The covering material is spread over the body and is inserted in the slots 29 as at 41 by any suitable means. A core or keying member 37 which is of greater diameter than the width of the slots is inserted in each slot and forced downwardly therein until it is received and seated in the cavity 31 at the bottom of the slot. As the core is forced downwardly in the slot the compliant and resilient plastic foam of the body will be distorted, with possibly some distortion of the core, to thereby permit passage of the core into the bottom cavity. After the core is seated in the cavity the walls of the slot will assume their normal vertical position. Since the cavity is of substantially the same diameter as the core the latter will be snugly received and maintained therein and since the covering material 33 extends around each core in each slot it will be held therein and tautly pulled over the exterior surface of the body, being anchored at each end of the body as at 35. Thus the core in each cavity anchors the covering material and ensures that it will 6 extend and be maintained in smooth condition over the exterior surface of the body. In finishing the device the body may be fastened in any desirable manner to a relatively rigid supporting base 43.

The holding and display device which has been described may be produced in various shapes and designs and still fall within the spirit and scope of my invention and it may, of course, be provided with a cover of any appropriate type and design.

It will now be clear that I have greatly improved the means for securing the covering material to the body, I have eliminatedthe need for a slow and tedious adhering process and have provided an arrangement whereby automatic machinery may be used for securing and positioning the material to the body and in the slots thereof.

I claim:

1. A holding and display device including a body formed of compliant and resilient material, a plurality of spaced slots formed in said body and extending through the upper surface thereof and downwardly therein and adapted to removably receive and maintain articles therein, and each slot being formed with a cavity at the lower end thereof enlarged with respect to the slot, a covering material stretched over the exterior surface of said body and extended into said slots and cavities and a member of substantially the same configuration as that of each cavity positioned in each of said cavities to maintain said material in each slot and cavity and stretched over the exterior surface of the body.

2. A holding and display device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said cavity is circular and said member is formed of compliant and flexible material and is of cylindrical configuration.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,135,088 Weinstein Apr. 13, 1915 1,305,241 Hendry May 27, 1919 1,618,561 Warner Feb. 22, 1927 2,464,161 Trachtenberg Mar. 8, 1949 2,663,527 Joslyn Dec. 22, 1953 2,663,911 Waag et a1. Dec. 29, 1953 2,797,806 Davis July 2, 1957