US3512287A

US3512287A - Article display and support

Info

Publication number: US3512287A
Application number: US657387A
Authority: US
Inventors: Mark Stern
Original assignee: ALUMINUM DEV CORP
Current assignee: ALUMINUM DEV CORP
Priority date: 1967-07-31
Filing date: 1967-07-31
Publication date: 1970-05-19
Anticipated expiration: 1987-05-19

Description

=Ma 19,1970 TERN 23,512,287

' ARTICLE DISPLAY AND suPro 1 Filed July 31. 19s? 24 nvvszv TOR MA RX 5 TERN A 7' TOR/VEYS.

United States Patent US. Cl. 40-124 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A display for articles having a discrete body portion and flexible support for the body portion, the display comprising a member having generally flat planar anchor and display panels, anchor means on the anchor panel, clearance openings on the display panel at points corresponding to the anchor means, and further anchor means on the display panel, so that the flexible supports of selected articles may be secured to the anchor means and strung through the clearance openings, and the supports of other articles secured to further anchor means. With articles having flexible supports of about equal length, the body portions are thus disposed on the display panel in staggered relation to form vertically spaced horizontal rows on the display panel.

This invention relates to an article display and support, and more particularly, to article display and supports for articles having a discrete body portion and an elongated flexible support for the body portion.

It is well recognized in the retail sales field that the manner in which a salable item is presented to the potential customer has a substantial effect on his decision whether or not to buy. Accordingly, it is of the utmost importance that merchandise be presented in its most favorable light. This is especially true of items which are not strictly speaking necessities, but rather have their value in adding to their users comfort or convenience. Such an item is the luggage tag made and sold by Aluminum Development Corporation of Pelham Manor, New York, which forms the subject matter of US. Pat. 3,318,030, issued May 9, 1967.

The luggage tag disclosed in the above-set forth US. patent includes a discrete body portion upon which the name and address of the owner may be placed, and a flexible support strap, by which the body portion is secured to the luggage. It has been found that an attractive counter-top display for such tags or similarly configured articles can be had by arranging the body portions in spaced horizontal rows, with adjacent body portions being staggered between the rows.

The present invention is directed to a novel means whereby such a display may be provided. One aspect of the invention is a display support of sheet material to which articles may be readily secured to form the desired display. Another aspect of the invention is the novel cooperative relationship between the support and articles to be displayed. Thus, the support comprises an anchor panel and a display panel, and certain of the articles to be displayed have their straps or other flexible supports passing through clearance openings in the display panel for securement to anchor means on the anchor panel, while others have their straps seoured to further anchor means on the display panel. It should be understood that the articles to be displayed will generally have straps of equal length, or at least, adjustable to equal length. Hence, the body portions of each of the articles secured to the anchor panel will hang in a given horizontal row, and the body portions of the articles secured to the display panel in another horizontal row.

3,512,287 Patented May 19, 1970 For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings a form which is presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view showing a display in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is the rear elevational view showing the anchor means on the anchor panel of the present display support.

FIG. 3 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken along the line 33 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken along the line 44 in FIG. 1.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein like numerals indicate like elements, there is seen in FIG. 1 a display designated generally by the reference numeral 10. The display 10 comprises a display support, designated generally by the reference numeral 12, and articles 14, disposed on the support for display. The display support 12 may be constructed of a single piece of rigid sheet material such as, but not limited to, aluminum, and includes a pair of generally flat

elongated panels

16 and 18. The panel 16 may hereinafter be referred to as the anchor panel, and the panel 18 may be referred to as the display panel. The anchor panel 16 and display panel 18 may, if so desired, be disposed generally at right angles to each other, as is seen in FIGS. 3 and 4. It should be apparent that distal edges of the

panels

16 and 18 are adapted to rest upon a planar surface 20, which may be a countertop, for example.

Foot portions

22 and 24 may be provided at the respective distal edges of the anchor panel 16 and display panel 18 to provide flat surfaces for contact with the planar surface 20.

Referring now to FIG. 2, anchor means 26 are disposed on the anchor panel 16. The number of anchor means 26 on the anchor panel 16 is a matter of choice. The particular anchor means shown in FIG. 2 takes the form of a bar 28 integral with the panel 16, defined by struck out perforations 30. Other forms of anchor means can be provided. As is evident from FIG. 2, the anchor means are at horizontally spaced points on the anchor panel 16 and may be in horizontal alignment.

Referring again to FIG. 1, clearance openings 32 are provided in the display panel 18. The positions of the clearance openings 32 on the display panel 18 correspond to the locations of anchor means 26 on the anchor panel 16 for reasons which will now be made apparent. Thus, the clearance openings 32 are at horizontally spaced points on the display panel 18 and may be in horizontal alignment as shown.

Referring to FIG. 4, the manner in which articles 14 may be disposed on the display support 12 is shown. The articles 14, for the purpose of illustration, are luggage tags of the type disclosed in US. Pat. 3,318,030, and comprise a discrete indicia bearing body portion 34 and an elongated flexible support means 36. For the purpose of illustration, the support means 36 is shown in the form of a strap, having a conventional releasable buckle 38 thereon. 'The flexible support means 36 could well take other alternative forms. For example, the support means 36 could be a beaded chain. The support means 36 passes through the clearance opening 32 and perforations 30 to form a continuous loop about the bar 28, and also forms a loop passing through an opening 40 in the body portion 34. The free end, if any, of the support means 36, may be secured by means of the buckle 38, and tucked into the clearance opening. The body portion 34 rests on and is disposed generally parallel to the display panel 18.

Each of the articles 14 whose support means 36 is secured to anchor means 26 on the anchor panel 16 is preferably disposed in horizontal alignment with other articles thus supported. This may be accomplished by providing the articles with support means of equal lengths or adjustable to provide equal effective lengths.

The display panel 18 is provided with anchor means 42 similar in all respects to the above described anchor means 26. The individual anchor means 42 are preferably horizontally aligned With the clearance openings 32, and in a preferred embodiment, are disposed alternately with the clearance openings 32. Thus, articles 14 may be secured to the anchor means 42 on the display panel 12. Referring to FIG. 3, the manner in which articles 14 are secured to anchor means 42 is apparent. The body portions 3-4 of the articles secured to anchor means 42 rest on the display panel 18. As is evident from FIG. 1, the length of the support means 36 is such that the articles 14 secured to the anchor means 42 hang downwardly in positions vertically spaced from the positions of the articles coupled to the anchor means 26. Equal effective lengths for the support means 36 of the former articles permit their respective body portions to hang in horizontal alignment across the face of the display panel 18. Accordingly, in a preferred form of the novel display, the body portions 34 of adjacent articles 14 are in vertically and horizontally spaced and staggered relation, thereby forming an eye-catching and attractive display. The body portions of adjacent articles may be provided with individual indicia to form a Word identifying the displayed goods or their source. Also, the individual articles may be dissimilar from each other in color, to thereby display some or all of the variants of the articles available to the purchaser.

Although the display support of the invention has been disclosed in connection with the inventors luggage tags, the invention may be practiced with other similarly configured articles. For example, wrist watches have discrete body portions and flexible sup-port means, and can therefore be readily displayed in the disclosed manner. Also, items of jewelry such as lockets, pendants or the like could be so displayed.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, rather than to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A display support for articles having a discrete body portion and an elongated flexible support for said body portion, comprising a pair of generally flat elongated rigid panels, said panels being fixedly angularly disposed with respect to each other, one of said panels being a display panel and the other being an anchor panel, anchor means on said anchor panel, a clearance opening on said display panel at a point corresponding to the location of said anchor means on said anchor panel, whereby the flexible support of the article to be displayed may extend through said clearance opening for securement to said anchor means, and further anchor means on said display panel spaced from said clearance opening for supporting a further object to be displayed.

2. A display support in accordance with claim 1 wherein a plurality of anchor means are disposed on said anchor panel at spaced points thereon, and a plurality of clearance openings are disposed on said display panel at points corresponding to the locations of said anchor means, and wherein a plurality of further anchor means are disposed on said display panel.

3. A display support in accordance with claim 2 wherein said panels are disposed generally at right angles to each other, said panels including surface engaging por- 4 tions at distal edges thereof adapted to contact a planar surface.

4. A display support in accordance with claim 2 wherein said anchor means on said anchor panel are disposed at horizontally spaced points along said panel, said clearance openings being disposed at corresponding horizontally spaced points on said display panel, and said further anchor means being disposed in horizontally spaced relation to said clearance openings.

5. A display support in accordance with claim 4 wherein said anchor means are disposed in horizontal alignment on said anchor panel, and said clearance openings and further anchor means are disposed in horizontal alignment on said display panel.

6. A display support in accordance with claim 5 wherein said further anchor means and said clearance openings are alternately positioned on said display panel.

7. A display support in accordance with claim 1, and a plurality of articles to be displayed, each of said articles comprising a discrete body portion and an elongated flexible support means coupled to said body portion, said elongated flexible support means of one of said articles being coupled to said anchor means and extending through said clearance opening so that the body portion of said article is retained by said flexible support means at a position on said display panel adjacent said clearance opening, and the flexible support means of another of said articles being coupled to said further anchor means so that the body portion of said article is retained by said flexible support means at a position on said display panel remote from said further anchor means.

.8. A display support in accordance with claim 6, and a plurality of articles to be displayed, each of said articles comprising a discrete body portion and an elongated flexible support means coupled to said body portion, said elongated flexible support means of selected articles being coupled tosaid anchor means and extending through said clearance openings so that the body portions of said selected articles are retained by said flexible support means at horizontally spaced positions on said display panel, and the flexible support means of others of said articles being coupled to said further anchor means so that the body portions of said other articles are retained by said flexible support means at horizontally spaced positions on said display panel.

9. A display support in accordance with claim 8, wherein said flexible support means of said articles are of generally equal length so that the body portions of said articles are staggered to form vertically spaced horizontal rows on said display panel.

10. A display support in accordance with claim 9 wherein adjacent articles include message conveying indicia.

11. A display support in accordance with claim 3, wherein said support is made of rigid metallic sheet material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 261,237 7/1882 Kenney 20679 1,284,407 11/1918 Marzahl 20679 1,407,792 2/ 1922 Hatzung 20679 EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner W. J. CONTRERAS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 20679