US3784269A

US3784269A - Display case

Info

Publication number: US3784269A
Application number: US00225552A
Authority: US
Inventors: M Frenkel
Original assignee: PAN AMERICAN RECORDS Inc
Current assignee: PAN AMERICAN RECORDS Inc
Priority date: 1972-02-11
Filing date: 1972-02-11
Publication date: 1974-01-08
Anticipated expiration: 1991-01-08

Abstract

A display case having a housing and a transparent lid which can be locked in a closed position to preclude access to the housing interior. Mounted in the housing is a pair of laterally spacedapart, generally parallel, elongated members. One of the members has a plurality of holes therein and the other member has a plurality of upwardly-open slots laterally aligned respectively with the holes. Finally, the case includes a plurality of article carriers each having two oppositely directed trunnions respectively loosely disposed in a hole and in an aligned slot, each article carrier having a handle protruding through an uncovered portion of the housing to enable pivoting of the carrier to view the articles thereon without gaining access to the interior of the housing.

Description

We Sates Patent 1 1 1 3,784,269 Frenkel 1 Jan. 8, 1974 1 1 DISPLAY CASE 3.5631524 2/1971 Stice 312/107 1 186642 6/1916 Al' 312/138 [75] Inventor: Marshall S. Frenkel, Des Plames, 111. 2325039 7/1943 zr i 312/234 I R C Pan 3.357597 12/1967 Groff 211/51 x [73] Asslgnee K212212312 gg i fi 3,648 849 3/1972 Harris et al. .1 211/126 [22] Filed: 1972 Primary ExaminerPaul R. Gilliam 21 Appl 225 552 Attorney-Harold V. Stotland 52 US. Cl. .L 312/136 [571 ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl. A47f 3/08, A47b 81/00 A display case having a housing and a transparent lid [58] Field of Search 312/136, 135, 120, which can be locked in a closed position to preclude v I 3 12 1 2 3 1 0 7g1 1523 4, 2 92, access to the housing interior. Mounted in the housing 248/152, 174; 211/72-73, 514, 169, 170, is a pair of laterally spaced-apart, generally parallel,

21 1/171, 172 elongated members. One of the members has a plurali ity of holes therein and the other member has a plural- [56] References Cited ity of upwardly-open slots laterally aligned 'respec- UNITED STATES PATENTS tively with the holes. Finally, the case includes a plu- 425 193 4/1890 Tiffany 346/136 X rality of article carriers each having two oppositely di- 8451728 2/1907 g j rected trunnions respectively loosely disposed in a 902 33 11 90 Pinkerton hole and in an aligned slot, each article carrier having 2,250,454 2/1941 Babcock a handle protruding through an uncovered portion of 3.235.093 2/1966 Eisbart et a1" the housing to enable pivoting of the carrier to view 3.5561 9 ti rr the articles thereon without gaining access to the in- 201,756 3/1878 Dealy 312/138 terior f the housing $390,784 7/1968 Fuchs 1 211/169 X 3,379,316 4/1968 Harrell 1. 211/73 3 Claims 7 l ravvi ng liigures 1,582,871 4/1926 Keogh 248/174 x a PNENTEDJAN 8l974 sum 1 or 2 Milli PNENTED JAN 8 974 SHEET 2 BF 2 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a display case suitable for displaying articles such as packaged cassettes, tapes and tape cartridges. A customer may examine the articles by manipulating'a set of protruding handles but cannot pilfer any of the articles because the case is locked.

A display case of this general type is disclosed in a patent to .I. Gutierrez, US. Pat. No. 3,556,620. However, the instant invention provides anumber of improvements over the display case described in this patent, as will be described in detail hereinafter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an important object of the present invention to provide animproved display case of the type which readily permits a customer to examine articles contained in the case but prevents him from gaining access to the articles.

Another object of the invention is to facilitate the shipment of such a display case and to reduce the assembly costs thereof.

Still another object is to provide a display case which is capable of use on a counter top which is either in front of an aisle or against a wall.

Yet another object is to provide a display case of the type described in which there are provided a number of pivotable carriers which are readily modified to enable the case to display either packaged cassettes or packaged tape cartridges.

A further object is to provide a display case capable of withstanding the substantial use and abuse which occurs during day-to day operation in a retail store.

Still a further object is to provide a display case which is more easily viewable by tilting upwardly the rear of the housing therefor.

In summary, there is provided a display case for articles comprising a housing having an open top, a transparent lid for covering a substantial portion of the top, a latch for securing the lid to the housing, first and second elongated members fixedly attached to the housing on the interior thereof, the members being laterally spaced-apart and extending generally parallel to each other, the first member having a plurality of laterally extending and longitudinally spaced-apart holes therein, the second member having a plurality of slots respectively aligned with the holes and each being opened generally toward the open top, and a plurality of article carriers each having oppositely directed trunnions respectively loosely disposed in a hole in an aligned slot, each of the article carriers further having a handle protruding through the uncovered portion of the open top to enable pivoting of the carriers to view the articles therein without gaining access to the interior of the housing.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, arrangements, and a combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates a display case incorporating therein the features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a top plan view on a smaller scale of the display case of FIG. 1, with a portion of the lid broken away to expose an article carrier;

FIG. 3 illustrates a view in vertical section taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2, but with the lid being partially open;

FIG. 4 illustrates a view in vertical section taken through the line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of one article carrier and fragmentary views of the display case housing and the article carrier supporting members;

FIG. 6 illustrates the locking mechanism, taken along the lines of 66 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 7 illustrates a fragmentary view of the riser for the display case housing and is taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Turning now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, there is illustrated a display case 10 incorporating therein the features of the present invention. The display case 10 is shown as being used to display a plurality of packages 11 each containing a tape cartridge having dimensions of about 4 inches X 4 inches X 1% inches. However, as will be more fully explained hereinafter, the display case is convertible to accommodate tape cassettes each of which has dimensions of about 3 inches X 3 inches X 1 inch. Moreover, the principles of the instant invention are applicable to a display case for open reels of tape or any article which is to be viewed by a customer without his gaining access to the article itself.

The display case 10 comprises a housing which is in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped, having a bottom wall 21, a rear wall 22 and an upstanding front flange 24.

In the form shown, the

parts

21, 22 and 24 are constructed from a single piece of sheet metal steel bent as shown. There is provided a set of four rubber feet 25 secured to the bottom wall 21 near the corners thereof and projecting outwardly therefrom. The housing 20 also includes a side wall 30, there being provided a bottom flange 31, a front flange 32, a rear flange 32a and a top flange 33 all extending inwardly from the side wall 30. A ledge 34 extends inwardly from the top flange 33 and is downwardly offset therefrom. A slot 35 (FIG. 6) is formed in the ledge 34 approximately centrally thereof. In the embodiment shown, the parts 30 to 34 are formed from a single piece of sheet metal bent as shown. The bottom flange 31 is secured as by welding to the bottom wall 21 and the rear flange 32a is secured as by welding to the rear wall 22.

The housing 20 also includes a side wall 40, there being provided a bottom flange 41, a front flange 42 and a rear flange 43 all extending inwardly from the side wall 40. The bottom flange 41 is welded to the bottom wall 21, and the rear flange 43 is welded to the rear wall 22. The top end of the side wall is folded over as shown at 44. In the form shown, the parts 40 to 44 are formed from a single piece of sheet metal steel bent as indicated. Formed in the side wall 40 is a set of holes 45 (a similar set is formed in the side wall 30) which can receive fasteners to secure the display case to another display case 10 in side-by-side relationship. Any number of display cases 10 may be so arranged on a counter top for example.

The display case 10 also includes a lock 51, as is best seen in HO. 6, which lock 50 includes a finger 51 and is operated by a key 52.

The front wall of the housing is completed by a transparent panel 55, preferably plastic, secured to the

side front flanges

32 and 42 by means of rivets 56.- The

front flanges

24, 32 and 42 and the panel 55 form the front wall of the housing 20.

The display case 10 also comprises a lid support 60 which is channelor U-shaped in transverse cross section and extends from the front flange 42 to the rear flange 43 and is respectively welded thereto. The lid support 60 is spaced slightly from the side wall 40 to define a longitudinally-extending slot 61 (FIG. 3) extending from the front flange 42 to the rear flange 43. Secured, as by welding, to the bight portion of the lid support 60 is one flange of a piano hinge 62, the other flange of the hinge 62 being secured to a lid 63. The lid 63 includes a transparent panel 64 secured along one side thereof to the piano hinge 62 by means of rivets 65. An angle iron 66 is secured to the panel 64 on the other side thereof by means of rivets 67. A depending extension of a portion of one flange of the angle iron 66 defines a keeper 68 having therein a slot 69 (see FIG. 6). In the latched condition of the lock 50, the finger 51 extends through the slot 69. Rotation of the key 52 swings the finger 51 out of engagement with the keeper 68, thereby unlatching the lid 63 for subsequent opening.

There is provided an elongated strip member 70 disposed adjacent to the side wall 30 and extending generally parallel thereto from approximately the panel 55 at the front of the housing 20 to the rear wall 22. The member 70 includes an attachment flange 71 welded to the bottom wall 21, and an upstanding flange 72 which is tilted slightly toward the side wall 30. A plurality of slots 73 is formed in the upstanding flange 72 so as to be open upwardly. There is provided a second elongated strip member 75 disposed adjacent to the side wall 40 and essentially parallel thereto and parallel to the strip member 70. The strip member 75 extends sub stantially from the panel 55 at the front of the housing 20 to the rear wall 22. The strip member 75 includes an attachment flange 76 welded to the bottom wall 21, and an upstanding flange 77 which is tilted slightly outwardly toward the side wall 40. Formed in the upstanding flange 77 is a plurality of holes 78 equal in number to the slots 73 and substantially laterally aligned therewith.

The display case 10 also comprises a plurality of article carriers 80 equal in number to the number of slots 73 and holes 78. Each article carrier 80 includes a bottom wall 81, a front wall 82 and a rear wall 83 of a greater height. Welded to the bottom wall 81, adjacent the ends thereof, is a pair of outwardly-directed

trunnions

84 and 85. At one end of the article carrier 80 is an upwardly, and slightly-outwardly directed attachment flange 86 which is a continuation of the bottom wall 81. Welded to the attachment flange 86 is a handle 87, the lower portion of which is tilted outwardly, that is, toward the side wall 40, and the upper portion of which is disposed substantially vertically.

The article carriers are positioned in the housing 20 with one trunnion 84 thereof extending through a selected hole 78 and the other trunnion extending through the slot 73 aligned with the selected hole 78. In this condition the handle 87 is directed upwardly, and the upper end portion thereof extends through the slot 61 so as to protrude from the case as is best seen in FIGS. 1 and 3. The

trunnions

84 and 85 are loosely held within the respective hole 78 and slot 73 so as to be pivotal or swingable by operation of the protruding portion of the handle 87.

In assembling the article carriers 80 in the housing 20, each carrier 80 is tilted while it is inserted in the housing, with its trunnion 84 directed downwardly and toward the wall 40 and with the trunnion 85 directed upwardly and toward the side wall 30. The trunnion 84 is inserted into the selected hole 78, whereupon the upper end portion of the handle 87 will automatically extend through the slot 61 and protrude outwardly therefrom. The opposite end of the article carrier 80 is then lowered, such that the trunnion 85 falls within the one of the slots 73 aligned with the selected hole 78. This procedure is repeated with each of the other article carriers 80. It should be noted that in the form shown, twenty such article carriers 80 are provided.

It should be noted that while the height of the rear wall 83 exceeds the height of the front wall 82, neither of the two walls conceals a significant portion of either the front or the rear of the packages 11. Thus, when a customer is manipulating an article carrier 80, the front of each package 11 is visible when the article carrier 80 is tilted rearwardly and the rear of the package 11 is visible when the carrier 80 is tilted forwardly. Neither the front wall 82 nor the rear wall 83 blocks the customers view of the package. In one form of the invention, the rear wall 83 had a height of 1 /2 inches and the front wall had a height of seven-eighths inches. Thus, in this form the height of the rear wall was less than twice that of the front wall.

Finally, the display case 10 comprises a riser 90 having a V-shaped portion 91 and a pair of

flanges

92 and 94 respectively on the outer edges ofthe V-shaped portion 91 and lying essentially in a common plane. ln the flange 92 there is provided a pair of holes 93 near the ends thereof, which holes receive therethrough the adjacent feet 25. A pair of key holes 95 is provided in the flange 94 at the ends thereof for receiving screws 96 to mount the riser 90 to the bottom wall 21 of the housing 20. As is shown in FIG. 4, when the display case 10 is positioned on a horizontal surface, the pair of feet 25 at the front will contact the surface and the apex of the V-shaped portion 91 will contact the surface at the rear of the display case 10, thereby tilting the rear of the case 10 upwardly to facilitate viewing and examination of the packages 11.

When the display case 10 is fabricated, the various separate pieces of sheet metal are bent to form the walls of the housing 20 and welded or otherwise secured together. The

panels

55 and 64, which are preferably plastic, are riveted in place as previously described. The individual article carriers 80 are also constructed, but are not positioned in the housing 20 as described above. lnstead, the twenty article carriers 80 are arranged in bundles of five, for example. Each article carrier 80 is preferably separated at least partially from its neighboring carrier by paper, for example. The bundles of carriers 80 and the riser 90 are placed inside the housing 20 for shipment. The purchaser of the display case merely inserts the article carriers 80 individually as previously described herein and attaches the riser 90 also as previously described.

By providing a construction wherein the article carriers 80 are not assembled into the display case 10 by the manufacturer, there is a substantial savings in assembly costs. Also, by shipping the display cases 10 with the article carriers 80 not assembled, there is a lesser chance that any of the parts may become damaged in transit.

After the display case 10 has been fully assembled, the article carriers 80 are stocked with as many as sixty packages 11 containing tape cartridges (three packages on each of twenty carriers). The lid 63 is then closed, the lock 50 is placed in its locked condition and the key 52 removed. When the display case 10 is in position on a counter top, customers may examine the packages 11 of tape cartridges by viewing through the transparent panel 64 and through the transparent panel 55. To view the packages on the frontmost article carrier 80, the handle 87 on each carrier 80 is drawn forwardly to expose the packages loaded on the next article carrier 80. In this manner, the customer may examine all the packages 11 without gaining access thereto. When the customer decides on what he wishes to purchase, he advises the salesman who withdraws the selected packages from the display case 10 or obtains similar tape cartridges from his stockroom. Accordingly, the customer may brouse and examine all or any number of tape cartridges without gaining access to the cartridges themselves, thereby precluding shoplifting of these cartridges.

The riser 90 enables the rear of the display case 10 to be tilted upwardly and improve the visibility of the package 11 contained in the display case 10. The plastic panel 55 defining most of the front wall of the display case 10 enables the customer not only to view the interior of the housing through the lid 63, but also through the front.

It is advantageous that the lid 63 is hinged at its side rather than at the rear. By hinging the lid 63 at its side, the rear wall 22 of the display case may be butted up against a wall, while, if hinged at the end, it would have to be spaced from that wall, thereby losing valuable counter space. The holes 45 are provided, so that a number of display cases 10 can be arranged in side-byside relationship and secured together.

As is most clearly shown in H6. 5, a number of fillers 88 are provided, each filler having a length approximately the length of the article carrier 80 and having a thickness of about one-fourth inch and having a width approximately equal to the height of the rear wall 83 of the article carrier 80. A filler 88 is used when an article carrier 80 is to be used with packages of cassettes rather than tape cartridges. Thus, the display case 10 can simultaneously display both the cartridges and cassettes if so desired. Packages of tape cassettes usually measure about 3 inches X 3 inches X 1 inch. The fillers 88 reduce the effective width of the article carrier 80 by one-fourth inch to enable the packages or the cassettes to be relatively snugly held. The display case 10 will be capable of displaying as many as eighty packages of cassettes (four cassettes on each of twenty article carriers Another advantage of the display case 10 is that it is constructed completely of sheet metal and plastic thereby able to withstand the substantial use and abuse to which the display case 10 is likely to be subjected. In one form, the

panels

55 and 64 were constructed of one-fourth plastic. For example, accidentally leaning a heavy object on the lid 63 would be unlikely to damage the panel 64.

Although the display case 10 has been described as being capable of displaying packages of cassettes or tape cartridges, it is to be understood that open reel tapes may also be displayed in such a case if the dimensions thereof are suitably modified. Also, the case 10 can be used to display a variety of different kinds of articles which may be shoplifted.

It is believed that the invention, its mode of construction and assembly, and many of its advantages should be readily understood from the foregoing without further description, and it should be also manifest that, while a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described for illustrative purposes, the structural details are, nevertheless, capable of wide variation within the purview of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A display case for articles comprising a housing in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped having a bottom wall and two side walls and a rear wall and a front wall, a rectangular transparent lid for covering a substantial portion of said top and being hingedly mounted along one side-to said housing, locking means for securing said lid to said housing, first and second elongated members disposed parallel to said bottom wall and fixedly attached onto the interior thereof, said members being laterally spaced apart and extending generally parallel to each other, said first member having a plurality of laterally extending and longitudinally spaced-apart holes therein; said second member having a plurality of slots respectively laterally aligned with said holes and each being open generally toward said open top, and a plurality of article carriers each having two oppositely directed trunnions respectively loosely disposed in a hole and in an aligned slot, each of said article carriers further having a handle protruding through the uncovered portion of said open top to enable pivoting of said carrier to view the articles thereon without gaining access to the interior of said housing.

2. The display case set forth in claim 1 and further comprising an elongated riser removably secured to said bottom wall adjacent to the rear thereof and extending substantially between said side walls, whereby the rear end of said display case will be tilted upwardly to facilitate viewing the interior of said housing when said display case is located on a horizontal surface.

3. The display case set forth inclaim 2, wherein said riser is V-shaped in lateral cross section and includes a flange on the outer end of one of the legs of said V shaped portion, said attachment flange being secured to said bottom wall to enable the apex of said V-shaped portion to rest upon a horizontal surface.

Claims

1. A display case for articles comprising a housing in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped having a bottom wall and two side walls and a rear wall and a front wall, a rectangular transparent lid for covering a substantial portion of said top and being hingedly mounted along one side to said housing, locking means for securing said lid to said housing, first and second elongated members disposed parallel to said bottom wall and fixedly attached onto the interior thereof, said members being laterally spaced apart and extending generally parallel to each other, said first member having a plurality of laterally extending and longitudinally spaced-apart holes therein; said second member having a plurality of slots respectively laterally aligned with said holes and each being open generally toward said open top, and a plurality of article carriers each having two oppositely directed trunnions respectively loosely disposed in a hole and in an aligned slot, each of said article carriers further having a handle protruding through the uncovered portion of said open top to enable pivoting of said carrier to view the articles thereon without gaining access to the interior of said housing.

3. The display case set forth in claim 2, wherein said riser is V-shaped in lateral cross section and includes a flange on the outer end of one of the legs of said V-shaped portion, said attachment flange being secured to said bottom wall to enable the apex of said V-shaped portion to rest upon a horizontal surface.