US3127017A - Rack for ribbon rolls - Google Patents

Description

March 31, 1964 B. u. DOWER 3,127,017

RACK FOR RIBBON ROLLS Filed Nov. 2, 1961 INVENTOR ATTORNEY5 United States Patent 3,127,017 RACK FOR RIBBON ROLLS Bud U. Dower, R0. Box 158, Wheatland, Wyo. Filed Nov. 2, 1961, Ser. No. 149,641 1 Claim. (Cl. 211-13) This invention relates to a rack for simultaneously holding a series of rolls or spools containing ribbon, for dispensing.

In keeping with cultural trends, and public fancy, ornamental wrapping, especially in florists shops, but also in the gift wrapping of general merchandise, on a commercial scale, has been constantly on the increase, which has given rise to the use of great quantities of ribbon, in a variety of widths, colors and patterns, and the activity has become a distinct specialty in the art of merchandising. As a necessary consequence of this effort, the problem of ready access to a supply of ribbon in variety, usually involving a plurality of workers, has arisen. Heretofore, this problem, where it has been dealt with at all with a view to a methodical solution, has been met in more or less primitive fashion, by merely mounting a plurality of supply rolls on a horizontal bar. While this is considerably preferable to a haphazard system wherein the rolls merely lie scattered about a table, it nevertheless retains certain objectionable features. For instance, replacement of an empty roll by a loaded roll, in most cases, involves the temporary removal of other rolls to effect the change. In the case where more than one worker is operating, this not only entails the interruption of the activity of all concerned, but will usually also entail a further delay of the replacement, until all jobs in progress have been completed. This is so because the entire job of applying the ribbon, including the formation of complex bows and rosettes, requires continuous dispensing from each roll involved, without interruption.

Heretofore this problem has also been dealt with by mounting swingable hangers on a rack, but these hangers have been swingable backwardly only thereby leaving several disadvantages. Should ribbon be drawn with a jerk from a roll mounted on this type of apparatus, it is apparent that overrunning of the roll would take place, thereby paying out an excess of ribbon which would easily be entangled with its own roll and possibly the adjacent rolls. To prevent this overdrawing of ribbon, applicants device is so constructed as to eliminate this possibility.

It is further apparent that while ribbon is payed out from the roll, the roll could easily become detached from the hanger unless some type of holding means is placed on the end of the hanger to prevent this from happening.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide for a system of dispensing ribbon from a plurality of rolls, said system being so constructed as to prevent excess pay-out of ribbon from its roll.

Yet another object is to prevent detachment of a roll from its hanger while ribbon is being drawn from the roll.

These and other ends, which will be apparent, are attained by the present invention, which in a preferred embodiment, may be briefly described as comprising a framework, having a cross-member with a longitudinal channel in its top face, a series of transverse slots, through the full depth of the member, opening through one side edge and communicating with the channel, and individual hanger rods, insertable through said slots, with transversely bent, upper ends engageable in the channel and constituting a hinge therewith, and having, transversely bent, lower ends adapted to receive the tubular core of a ribbon roll, and said bent, lower end also having a bent, outer end to prevent accidental removal of the roll.

For a more detailed description of the invention, ref- 3,127,017; Patented Mar. 31, 1964 erence is made to the following specification, as illustrated in the drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front, elevational view of the complete rack, with some rolls of ribbon, indicated in broken lines, mounted on the hangers;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view, taken on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1, showing, in broken lines, an adjusted position of swing of the hanger;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary, sectional view, enlarged, of a detail, taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 3, also showing an adjusted position of swing of the hanger, in broken lines; and

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 3.

Referring to the drawing by characters of reference, there is shown, in FIGURES 1 and 2, a wooden rack comprising an upright framework having a base It! of oblong, rectangular form, and a top piece 12 of similar size and shape, the two being connected by four, round corner columns 14, conveniently of dowel stock, fitted in blind bores 16 in the base, and blind bores 18 in the top piece. A mounting beam 20 is secured to the under side of top piece 12, as by screws 22, in a face-to-face contact. While beam 20 has been shown as somewhat smaller in section than top piece 12, the size is not critical, and its length will be determined in the light of the number of roll hangers required, since these are distributed along its length, as will be seen.

In its upper face, beam 20 has a relatively narrow, and shallow, channel 24, near one side edge 21 of the beam, and extending throughout its length, parallel to the side edges, the channel being indicated as rectangular in cross section, but which may vary in form, and in particular, may be provided with a rounded bottom, to improve the hinge action presently to be described. Periodically spaced along the frontwardly facing, side edge 21 of the beam, is a series of vertically disposed, slots or channels 26, with the same width as channel 24, and opening through the upper and lower faces of the beam, as well as the side edge 21, and of a depth to communicate with lengthwise channel 24-.

The individual hanger rods 28, of a length roughly half the height of columns 14, have transversely bent, upper legs 30, making a angle with the main body of the rod, and the rod diameter is such as to enable passage of the main body of the rods through slots 26, in reception of bent legs 30 in lengthwise channel 24. It will be understood that, in the embodiment shown, the legs 3i) will necessarily be inserted in channel 24 prior to securing beam 20 to top piece 12, and that when so assembled, the hangers are fixed to the rack against removal, although capable of swing about the horizontally disposed axis of leg 30. While this construction is preferred, it is also contemplated that sufficient clearance may be provided to enable removal of the hanger from the beam, without detaching the beam, itself, as by increasing the depth of channel 24, and leaving a space between the top piece 12 and the top surface of the beam, in front of channel 24-.

The rods 28 are transversely bent through 90 at their lower, distal ends, to provide horizontal legs 32, which serve as a rotation mount for the ribbon rolls, and the outer ends of legs 32 are upturned in legs 34, which serve to retain the ribbon rolls against accidental removal from the supports 32. Typical rolls 36, with coils of ribbon 38 indicated in dotted lines, each comprise a pair of cardboard discs, with a central, metallic, bearing hub 39, the central opening 40 of which is of sufficient diameter to be slipped over the retaining leg 34.

In order to prevent over-running of the rolls, resulting in excess pay-out of the ribbon and possible tangling or snarling, the roll-supporting legs 32 are preferably provided with sleeves 42, of rubbery material, which introduce a small degree of frictional resistance to the hub 38. For convenience in mounting, the sleeves 42 may have longitudinal slits 44, so that they may be slipped on, radially.

The ribbon rolls are mounted by swinging the hangers 28 away from their normal, vertical position, to an angular position, such as shown in the dash lines in FIG- URES 2 and 4, where the lower leg 32 is displaced from its normal position an amount greater than the radius of the ribbon roll, so that the latter will clear the line of hangers to enable slipping it on the leg 32. When released, hanger 28 swings back to its normal, vertical position, and the roll is ready for dispensing. Normally, pay-out of the ribbon from the roll will take place with the hanger remaining in a vertical position. However, the ribbon will be subjected to jerks from time to time, and with an ordinary, journal mounting, on a fixed rod, this would cause over-running of the spool. In the present arrangement, this tendency is defeated by three separate factors: the loose journalling of the hub, the frictional resistance of the rubber sleeve, and the yielding of the hanger in a forward swinging movement.

In addition to the feature of easy replacement of exhausted rolls, without disturbance to other rolls, it is also possible to remove a roll during a tying operation, if this becomes necessary or desirable, for any reason.

The rack may be set on a table, or secured to a wall. Preferably it will be secured to the table, as by screws through the base 10, and it may be located centrally of the table, so that operators may work from two sides thereof. For wall hanging, the rack should have a length suited to the usual distance between studs.

The L-form hangers may also be provided in T-shape, with a double leg at the bottom, so that two rolls may be accommodated on a single hanger.

Besides the purely mechanical advantages mentioned, the rack makes for a neat, and ornamental display, which 4 is in keeping with the environment, especially in a floral shop, and tends to enhance sales appeal.

Generally speaking, while a certain preferred embodiment has been shown and described, for purposes of illustration, various modifications will be apparent, in the light of the present disclosure, and the invention should not, therefore, be deemed as limited, except insofar as shall appear from the spirit and scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A dispensing rack of rolls of ribbon and the like, said rolls in substantially abutting relationship, said rolls having a central axial opening therein, said rack comprising a hanger-supporting beam and means for supporting said beam in face contact with the downwardly depending face of a parallel surface said beam having a channel throughout its length in its top face, and also having a series of evenly spaced, lateral slots opening through one side edge, and of sutficient depth to communicate with the said channel, hanger rods co-acting with said channel and slots, and each comprising a straight portion with transversely bent end legs, one of said legs being received in said channel, said straight portion swingable in one of said slots, about the axis of said one of said legs in a forwardly direction through substantially a quarter arc of movement from the vertical so as to prevent overrun of each of said rolls when said roll is subjected to movement about the other of said legs, said other leg having a transversely bent, outer end to prevent any roll from becoming detached from said other of said legs said transversely bent, outer end further serving as a spacer element preventing any roll from displacing an adjacent roll when said first mentioned roll is subjected to rotation, about the axis of said other of said legs and a sleeve of frictional material mounted on said other of said legs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 588,162 Moore Aug. 17, 1897 1,569,406 Sonntag Jan. 12, 1926 2,058,416 Comstock Oct. 27, 1936 2,208,152 Badhorn July 16, 1940

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