US3337176A

US3337176A - Struts and the like

Info

Publication number: US3337176A
Application number: US433629A
Authority: US
Inventors: Tabor Alan Mckenzie
Original assignee: ALAN TABOR Ltd
Current assignee: ALAN TABOR Ltd
Priority date: 1965-02-18
Filing date: 1965-02-18
Publication date: 1967-08-22
Anticipated expiration: 1984-08-22

Description

Aug. 1967 A. M KENZIE TABOR 3,337,176

STRUTS AND THE LIKE Filed Feb. 18, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR: ALA/V Mc/ff/VZ/E TABUE Bium Aug. 22, 1967 7 Filed Feb. 18, 1965 A. M KENZIE TABOR STRUTS AND LIKE 3 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR:

A. M KENZIE TABOR 3,337,176

STRUTS AND THE LIKE Filed Feb 18, 1965 :5 Sheets-Sheet a United States Patent 3,337,176 STRUTS AND THE LIKE Alan McKenzie Tabor, Isle of Man, England, assignor to Alan Tabor Limited, a company of Great Britain, Northern Ireland and Isle of Man Filed Feb. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 433,629 7 Claims; (Cl. 248--465) This invention relates to struts and the like, such as brackets or easels of the kind, hereinafter termed the kind referred to, used for supporting in an upright backwardly-inclined position, panel-like articles including display cards, plaques, photoframes, picture frames etc., which struts are stamped from sheet material such as cardboard or card, and which are adapted to be secured in one way or another such as by an adhesive or stapling to the back of the panel-like article so that part of the strut may be flexed or hinged out to form a sloping leg or inclined stay. There are several known forms 'of str'utsof the kind referred to.

One of the earliest known forms of such strut consists merely of a strip of card longer than its width, scored across to form a horizontal fold line, one part being intended to be secured to any panel-like article, such as the back panel of a display card, and the other to be bent out therefrom about its hinged upper end to form an inclined stay or support.

In use however the support action of this form of strut depends upon the stay assuming and maintaining an intended predetermined angle of inclination outwardly about its upper hinge relative to the said panel, and this result has usually been partially obtained by providing a tape or cord to limit the separation of the free end of the stay from the panel. Such arangement does not however prevent the return or folding movement of the stay, so that the article may thereby suddenly lose its support. Also, the operation of attaching a tie of any kind adds to the cost of production, however small, and in production the security of attachment of such tie can be uncertain.

In another, and more recent, form of strut of the kind referred to it is made from a single length of card of tapering shape, adapted to be bent about horizontal fold lines to provide a middle portion intended to be secured to the panel to be supported, an upper portion adapted to be bent out and down through an obtuse angle of say 140 degrees to form the stay proper, and a lower portion adapted to be bent out and up through about 90 and its end engaged with a complementary slot to lock therewith and form a subsidiary stay and tie for the stay proper, such parts when so arranged forming a substantially rigid triangulated structure.

The main disadvantage of such construction is that if the strut after fixing to its panel, is left flat, the main stay portion necessarily extends beyond the top of the panel, or if folded back, presents a resilient part which complicates the problem of packing. Such construction also uses more card" than the previously known strut first above described, and the hinge bend is relatively ruptured.

Another known form of strut of the kind referred to and much in use has one or more wing-like parts, adapted to be bent outwardly about a vertical fold line, with some form of retaining means to hold it or them in the outwardly bent position against unintended folding back. The best known example of this form of strut however gives, from the rear, an unbalanced appearance, has its raw edges exposed and has a somewhat complicated locking mechanism formed out of the strip but which a layman often finds difi'icult to understand and manipulate and often damages or breaks the locking member by bending the wrong way in erecting it. In none of the aforesaid known constructions is there any movement limit provided at the hinge.

The object of the present invention is to provide a simple movable supplementary stay means formed in one part of the material of the strut.

The expression clearly sensible limit is used herein to define a limit of flexure which can be sensed by immediate increase of resistance to further flexure while the expression bendably movable supplementary stay means is used to define a part formed by partial cutting from a convenient part of the strut so that it can be hingedly bent about a fold line into such a position that it will act as a stay for the main stay to hold the latter in position at the end of its initial angle of flexure.

The improved strut or the like as aforesaid may be further characterised in that the hinge is formed by cutting partly through so as to leave complementary bevelled faces, the abutment of which on initial flexure acts like a rulejoint to give a sensible limit to hinging movement; or further characterised in that the strut is formed with a fold line and cut to provide a projection on the main stay part adapted by enagagement with some adjacent part to provide the sensible fiexure limit; or further characterised by suspension means formed out of the material of the strut; or further characterised in that the hinge cut is of discontinuous or broken formation.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation; and

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of one example of a strut made in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2A is an enlarged partial side elevation of the strut in the collapsed position; FIG. 2B is an enlarged partial side elevation of the strut in the open position;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are views similar to FIGS. 1 and 2 showing another example of strut according to the invention;

FIGS. 5 to 8 show a further example of the invention, FIG. 8 being a section, to a larger scale, of a part of- FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 shows a modified form of the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 8;

FIG. 10 shows a modification of FIG. 1.

As shownin FIGS. 1 and 2 the strut is illustrated attached to a rectangular display card, the margins of which are indicated. The strut consists of a strip of card having a central portion 10, a main stay portion 11 and an upper hanger extension 12. The central base portion 10 is shown in FIG. 2 secured to the display card by a suitable adhesive. The several parts are defined by horizontal hinge cut/ scores which are continuous and 10b which may be continuous or, as shown, discontinuous or interrupted, both being shaped to produce complementary bevel faces-and each having a short through cut as a part thereof to indicate, at the reverse of the strut, the region of glue application. In the main stay 11 is formed a supplementary stay 13 which is formed in the same stamping operation by an inverted U-shaped through cut 13a and a hinge cut 1311. In the upper part 12 is an aperture 12a the strut shown in by which the display card may be suspended if desired.

like the shoulders of a rule joint requiring the main stay portion 11 to be slightly sprung so that the free end of the supplementary stay 13 is pressed against the back of the display card to hold it frictionally in position.

In a modification, the upper hanging part 12 may be omitted, but when provided and as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2 it may be hinged away from the display card about the hinge line a to facilitate engagement with a suspension means, or so that a suspending cord may be threaded therethr-ough.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the strut consists of a main securing part 14 surrounded by a frame-like hanger portion 15, and a main stay portion 16 with interrupted horizontal hinge line cut 15a. The hanger portion can therefore bend about the cut line 15a so that the overall length above the cut hinge line is shortened. In the main stay portion 16 is formed the supplementary stay 17 in the same manner as described for the example of FIGS.

1 and 2.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 8 the stay before folding is in two main parts 18 and 19 separated by a hinge line 20 and a through out 'which defines a hanger and stop 21. In the main stay portion 19 is formed a supplementary stay 22 in the same way as described for FIGS. 1 and 2, the said stay being formed with a blind score 23 in spaced parallel disposition relative to the remote edge thereof. In the main part 18 is a slot 18a adapted to receive the free end of the supplementary stay 22, the slot presenting a detent member 18a for engagement with the blind score 23 upon the assembly and erection of the strut. The hinge line 20 is formed as an alternate cut and cut/score although a blind score or interrupted through out could be used. It has been found that a cut on either side of a score/ cut avoids or reduces the incidence of delamination in use.

In use, the two parts are folded back to back before the front of the part 18 is secured by adhesive to the back of the display card. The hanger 21 stands lightly clear of the back of the display card until the main stay is hinged outwardly as shown in FIG. 6 when it engages the back of the card so that the main stay and hanger have to be flexed to enable the supplementary stay 22 to be brought into position with its free end located in the slot 18a for security.

The embodiment of FIG. 9 differs from that shown in FIGS. 5 to 8 in that the detent 18a is more pronounced and in place of the score 23 there is a through hole 23a whilst the slot 18a is formed on a displaceable tongue formed integrally with the main part 18. In use the supplementary stay 22 is locked to the main part 18 by the engagement of the detent 18a with the hole 23a thus to maintain the strut in an erected condition against accidental dislodgement.

FIG. 10 shows a production layout for the strut shown in FIG. 1 to which is added a double sided contact adhesive strip 106 laid as a continuous strip prior to stamping out of the strut.

As can be appreciated from the above description and drawings, the setting up of the strut is extremely simple. The stamping from card or similar material is a single operation and the overall size is economical in material and hence in packing and storage space. The raw or trailing edges of the cut to effect the stamping are, as distinct from some other struts, at the back of the strut when in position, with a consequent improved appearance. It is symmetrical in shape and therefore easier to position when applying it to the display card or other article.

The invention is not restricted to the particular features of the embodiments hereinbefore described since alternatives will readily present themselves to one skilled in the art. For example, in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, the hinges 10a may be formed not as a continuous cut/score but as a series of blind s ores, two such s o es being formed in closely spaced disposition at the front face of the strut and a third such score being formed at the rear face and intermediate those on the opposite face.

I claim:

1. A supporting strut of integral construction made of sheet material for panel-like articles such as easels and the like comprising an elongated stay having an upper portion constituting a base attached to the back of said article, said stay having a lower portion constituting a main stay, said portions being integrally hinged together, said hinge formed by at least one transverse partial through-cut of V-angle shape to permit outward swinging movement of said main stay relative to said article to close said V, a supplementary stay of tongue-like form cut from said main stay and hinged thereto by a partial transverse through-cut, the length of said holding stay being such that when it is pressed against the back of said article the main stay is slightly sprung.

2. A supporting strut according to claim 1 characterized in that the free end of said supplementary stay is held in an opening in said panel.

3. A supporting strut according to claim 1 characterized in that said V-angle is so proportioned that the edges thereof engage before said main stay reaches its normal operative position as determined by said supplementary stay.

4. A supporting strut of integral construction made of sheet material comprising a base portion adapted to be secured to the back of a panel-like article to be supported in an upstanding backwardly inclined position, a stay portion hingedly connected to the top of said base portion, the hinge being formed so as to permit bending said stay through degrees at part only of the hinge line, a through-incision in said main stay to form an attached holding stay on the said main stay portion adapted to engage the back of the article after an initial free hinging movement of the main stay and before such stay reaches its normal working position, and said holding stay formed in the stay portion adapted to engage the base portion to hold the main stay portion in such working position.

5. A supporting strut according to claim 4 characterised by a receiving aperture formed in the base portion to receive the free end of the holding stay.

6. A supporting strut according to claim 5 further characterised by a tongue portion hingedly formed out of the base portion so as to be movable outwardly therefrom to receive and engage the end of the holding stay.

7. A supporting strut according to claim 6 further characterised in that the end of the holding stay and the receiving formation therefor in the tongue are shaped with complementary tongue and slot locking formations.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 527,694 10/1894 Jones 248-465 825,053 7/1906 Hoag 248465 868,998 10/1907 Lang 248-465 1,082,271 12/1913 Karp 248465 2,252,539 8/1941 Adams 156-212 2,976,631 3/1961 Paschal 248-459 X 2,985,075 5/ 1961 Knutsson-Hall 93-36 3,275,280 9/1966 Nichols 248-459 X 3,275,281 9/ 1966 Sampson 248-459 ,FOREIGN PATENTS 16,202 1893 Great Britain.

ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Examiner.

R, P. SEITTER, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. A SUPPORTING STRUT OF INTEGRAL CONSTRUCTION MADE OF SHEET MATERIAL FOR PANEL-LIKE ARTICLES SUCH AS EASELS AND THE LIKE COMPRISING AN ELONGATED STAY HAVING AN UPPER PORTION CONSTITUTING A BASE ATTACHED TO THE BACK OF SAID ARTICLE, SAID STAY HAVING A LOWER PORTION CONSTITUTING A MAIN STAY, SAID PORTIONS BEING INTEGRALLY HINGED TOGETHER, SAID HINGE FORMED BY AT LEAST ONE TRANSVERSE PARTIAL THROUGH-CUT OF V-ANGLE SHAPE TO PERMIT OUTWARD SWINGING MOVEMENT OF SAID MAIN STRAY RELATIVE TO SAID ARTICLE TO CLOSE SAID V, A SUPPLEMENTARY STAY OF TONGUE-LIKE FORM CUT FROM SAID MAIN STAY AND HINGED THERETO BY A PARTIAL TRANSVERSE