WO2004082439A1

WO2004082439A1 - Display system

Info

Publication number: WO2004082439A1
Application number: PCT/GB2004/001092
Authority: WO
Inventors: Godfrey Victor Chasmer; Gennady Balashov
Original assignee: Ooo Abbott
Priority date: 2003-03-15
Filing date: 2004-03-12
Publication date: 2004-09-30
Also published as: GB0520940D0; GB2423925A; GB0305954D0; GB2423925B

Abstract

A display system comprises a support panel (15) for use in a vertical disposition and having a plurality of parallel rectangular grooves (17) extending thereacross, each groove having planar side flanks. A generally U-shaped insert (20) is fitted into a groove and has a pair of arms (22,23) which interact with the side flanks of the groove, the inner surface of the arms defining respective shoulders (26) partway therealong so that the internal spacing between the arms (22,23) adjacent the base of the insert is greater than at the outer end of the insert. A hanger has a side plate (10) and a locking flange (11) projecting substantially at right angles from the side plate, the flange having at least one upstand (13) projecting from the main area of the flange (11), in the opposite direction to the side plate (10). In use, the flange (11) is fitted into an insert (20) already located in a groove (17) in the support panel (15), with the side plate (10) depending downwardly so that on moving the side plate towards the panel, the upstand (13) hooks behind the shoulder (26) in the upper arm (22), to lock the hanger in position.

Description

DISPLAY SYSTEM

This invention relates to a display system, for example for use in retail and exhibition environments, for the display of goods, or in offices.

So-called slat wall systems are well known for the display of goods. In one such system, a panel typically of w od^~"a wood based product such as MDF (medium density fibreboard) or of a plastics material is provided with a plurality of parallel slots extending thereacross, each such slot being of L- shaped or T-shaped form. Hangers for the goods to be displayed are furnished at one end with an engagement region which has a joggle formed at the end portion, permitting interengagement with a slot at a selected location, by feeding into the groove the end portion and then swinging downwardly the part of the hanger external to the groove. Once so engaged, the hanger is held in the slot and cannot be disengaged by a simple force applied to the hanger either horizontally or vertically; to disengage the hanger, it must perform an upward swinging movement about a horizontal axis to disengage the joggle from the undercut part of the slot.

Slat wall display systems of the kind described above have been very widely employed commercially, since they afford great flexibility for the display of products. Unfortunately, such systems can be relatively expensive to implement, in view of the manufacturing cost for the panel having the plurality of parallel L- or T-shaped slots. The panel must have a significant initial thickness to ensure the panel can accommodate the slots and has sufficient strength after the slots have been formed therein. L-shaped slots are usually formed by securing to a base panel a number of undercut strips, whereas for T-shaped slots, the usual manufacturing technique is to machine the slots across each panel with an appropriately shaped cutter starting from a side edge of the panel, but such cutters are relatively expensive and have a limited life. The hangers may be made from plastics materials or from metal, by a stamping operation followed by a pressing operation in order to provide both the joggle part which interengages with the groove and a suitable arm portion for the suspension of goods to be displayed. The slot formed in the panel has to be relatively wide, in order to permit the entry of the joggled end portion of hanger. Thus, even if the panel itself is suitably faced for example with a plastic material, there still will be exposed the base material of the panel, along the length of the slot except for where hangers are provided. To improve the aesthetic qualities, it is a common practice to provide a suitable insert for each slot, which inserts have a complementary or similar form to that of the slot and are fitted into the slots of the panel, before the panel is employed in a retail environment. The provision of such inserts further adds to the manufacturing cost of the slat panel and also requires the production of a larger slot, to permit the accommodation of the insert and still have within the insert the required dimensions for receiving a hanger. In turn this increases the manufacturing cost of the panel since larger cutters are required to form the slots.

The present invention aims at providing a display system which is significantly simpler and so cheaper to manufacture than the above described slat systems, and which is still aesthetically pleasing, when in use.

According to the present invention, there is provided a display system comprising: a support panel intended for use in a generally vertical disposition and having a plurality of grooves extending thereacross, each groove being of a substantially rectangular cross-sectional shape with planar side flanks; a generally U-shaped insert for at least one of the grooves in which is to be located a hanger, which insert has a pair of arms the outer surfaces of which are adapted to interact with the side walls of the groove, and the inner surface of at least the upper arm defining a shoulder part-way therealong so that the internal spacing between the arms adjacent the base of the insert is greater than at the outer end of the insert; and at least one hanger having a side plate and a locking flange extending from an edge of the side plate at an angle of not substantially less than 90° to the side plate, the locking flange having at or adjacent its free edge remote from the side plate at least one upstand projecting from the main area of the flange in the opposed direction to that of the side plate, the width between the arms of the insert at the outer end thereof being not less than the thickness of the flange and the projecting height of the upstand, whereby in use the flange may be fitted into the insert with the side plate depending downwardly therefrom and then on moving the side plate nearer to the panel, the or each upstand hooks behind the shoulder within the insert to lock the hanger in position.

It will be appreciated that with the present invention, each groove formed in the support panel is of a simple rectangular form. Thus, each groove may be produced with a relatively simple circular cutter, as compared to the routing cutters required to produce T-shaped slots in some of the prior designs of slat- wall systems. A plurality of the rectangular grooves may be formed at the same time by traversing across the panel a mandrel carrying a plurality of circular cutters at the required spacing. This enables the production of a support panel with grooves of the required rectangular profile in a rapid and effective manner. There is the additional advantage that this process for manufacturing the support panel gives rise to significantly less waste material than is produced with the conventional support panels as described above.

The insert also can be relatively simple since its external profile must match that of the grooves and so is of rectangular cross-section. Further, the hangers themselves are relatively simple to produce for example by a stamping and pressing operation on sheet metal, or by forming a plastics material, neither of which are expensive operations.

The primary locking function for the hanger is achieved by the upstand on the flange engaging behind the shoulder in the upper arm of the insert, on moving the side plate nearer to the panel by pivoting movement of the hanger. Preferably, the side plate is moved sufficiently to bear on the outer surface of the panel. An enhanced locking function may be obtained by the or each upstand provided on the flange of the hanger being relatively sharp at its free end remote from the flange, so that in use and on the or each upstand of the flange hooking behind the shoulder, the or each upstand at least to some extent deforms or bites into the material of the upper arm of the insert. Advantageously, there is a plurality of upstands formed along the flange, each of which may hook behind the shoulder in the insert. Each such upstand may be in the form of a projecting nib, pointed at its upper free end. In an alternative form of the hanger, the upstand comprises an elongate upstanding edge, extending along the free edge of the flange. That elongate edge may extend for substantially the whole of the free edge of the flange, or could have discontinuities along its length.

The insert preferably comprises either a plastics material extrusion or a soft metallic extrusion, which extends along the entire length of the groove into which it is fitted. As extruded, the arms of the insert advantageously are divergent from the base insert, so that the arms are squeezed together as the insert is pushed into a groove in the support panel. The outer end of each arm of the extrusion may include a lip which is turned outwardly with respect to the arm, so as to lie on the outer surface of the panel, when the insert has been pressed fully into the groove. Such an insert may enhance the aesthetic appearance of the panel and wholly conceal the material of the panel in the region of the grooves. Should any damage have been caused to the corner region where a groove opens into the surface of the panel, that will be concealed by the insert. Ribs, corrugations or like formations may be provided over at least a part of the outer surfaces of the arms of the insert, to assist the retention of the insert in a groove. Additionally, an adhesive may be employed, to ensure the insert does not inadvertently come out of the groove when the display system is in use. In order to allow the or each upstand fully to hook behind the shoulder of the upper arm of the insert, the included angle between the side panel and the flange preferably is greater than 90° but less than 115°. Empirical tests have shown that a suitable angle falls within the range of 92° to 110°. Smaller angles may be employed, and even angles less than 90°, when the arms of the insert have out-turned lips to engage the outer surface of the panel. In such a case the side plate of the hanger will be spaced from the surface of the panel when engaging the lip and parallel to the panel, so that from this position the side plate of the hanger may still be moved nearer to the panel, and preferably to contact the panel.

The junction region between the side plate and the flange of a hanger may be relieved to prevent contact between that junction and the corner region of an insert defining the mouth between the arms thereof and into which the flange is to be inserted. The relieving of that junction region may be effected by deforming the junction outwardly, with respect to the internal angle between the side plate and the flange. By way of example only, one specific embodiment of display system of this invention will now be described in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is an isometric view of a hanger for use in the embodiment of display system of this invention; Figures 2A, 2B and 2C show the three steps of fitting the hanger of

Figure 1 to a support panel provided with an insert;

Figure 3 is a detail view on an enlarged scale of the insert; Figures 4A and 4B are respectively side and isometric views of yet another form of hanger; and Figure 5 is a view similar to that of Figure 1 , but of an alternate embodiment of hanger.

Referring initially to Figure 1 , there is shown a hanger suitable for use in an embodiment of display system of this invention. The hanger is of pressed sheet metal and has a side plate 10 and a flange 11 extending substantially at right angles to the side plate 10, from one end thereof. Though the side plate 10 is shown as being of simple rectangular form, it may in fact take any suitable form to suit the products which are to be displayed on the display system. For example, a peg may extend laterally from the central region of the side plate 10, in the opposite direction to that of the flange 11 , which peg may be welded or otherwise secured to the side plate. Another possibility would be for the side plate to be of a greater length and to have a lower portion thereof turned to extend at 90° or some similar angle to the side plate, again so as to project in the opposite direction to that of the flange 11. Since the design of the side plate should suit the goods to be displayed and that forms no part of the present invention, it will not be described in further detail here.

Formed along the free edge 12 of the flange 11 , remote from the side plate 10, are three upwardly projecting nibs 13, each formed by a punching operation from the underside of the flange. Each nib is generally of a pyramidal shape and is profiled so as to be generally barblike, leading in the direction from the side plate 10 to the free edge 12 of the flange 11. As shown, each such nib is relatively sharp and pointed at its upper end.

The display system includes a support panel 15 a part of which is shown in Figures 2A, 2B and 2C. The support panel typically is of MDF but carries on its outwardly directed face 16 a plastics material skin, to give the overall panel an aesthetically pleasing appearance. Formed in the panel 15 is a plurality of parallel rectangular grooves 17, only one of which is shown in the drawings. The grooves 17 are at an appropriate pitch for the intended use of the display panel but typically may be standardized at 100 millimetres. Each groove has an essentially planar lower side flank conjoined to a parallel essentially planar upper side flank by a planar base wall.

Fitted into each groove of the display panel is an insert 20, which extends for the full length of the respective groove. The insert is of generally U-shaped cross-section and has a base 21 from which extend upper and lower arms 22 and 23, each arm having at its free end an out- turned lip 24. The outer surface of each arm defines a series of elongate ribs 25 extending along the length of the insert, for engaging the walls of the groove when the insert is pressed therein. Within the insert, each arm is relieved adjacent the base 21 , in order to form a shoulder 26 spaced part-way along the respective arm.

The insert is extruded from a soft metal such as an aluminium alloy and, as extruded, the arms 22 and 23 are divergent. The insert is a press-fit into the groove, the depth of the insert being equal to the depth of the groove and the width of the insert at its base 21 being slightly greater than the width of the groove so that the insert deforms slightly as it is pressed into the groove, along with the arms 22 and 23 being squeezed into a substantially parallel disposition. In this way, the ribs 25 bite into the side walls of the groove, to hold the insert in the groove. The lips 24 lie on the outwardly directly face 16 of the panel 15, so as to conceal the corner region between the outer face 16 and the groove. Should any damage occur to the corner region between the groove walls and the outer face 16 of the panel during the production of the grooves, that then will be concealed by the insert.

In the illustrated embodiment of this invention, each groove 17 is 12 mm deep and 5.5 mm wide. The insert is 12.5 mm long but the thickness of each lip 24 is 0.5 mm, so that the base 21 of the insert will reach the base of the groove. The width between the arms 22 and 23 of the insert, when received in the groove, is 3.5 mm.

The hanger is made from 3 mm thick steel and the length of the flange 11 from the inside face of the side plate 10 to its free edge 12 is

10 mm. The punching operation to produce the nibs 13 lifts the point of each nib approximately 0.5 mm from the upper surface of the flange. Further, the internal angle between the side plate 10 and the flange plate

11 is set to be not less than 92°.

To insert a hanger into an insert 20 already pressed into a groove

17, the hanger is presented to the insert with the lower face 27 of the flange parallel to the lower arm 23 of the insert, at the required location along the length of the groove (Figure 2A). The flange 11 is then pressed fully into the insert as shown in Figure 2B and when fully home the side plate 10 is urged into engagement with the face 16 of the panel 15 (Figure 2C). This causes swinging movement of the hanger about the junction between the lower arm 23 of the insert and the associated lip 24, so hooking each nib 13 behind shoulder 26 of the upper arm 22. Depending upon the sharpness of the nibs and the hardness of the plastics material of the insert, the nibs may also tend to penetrate the plastics material of the insert, to some extent.

When the hanger has been engaged fully within the insert as shown in Figure 2C, the inter-engagement of the nibs with the material of the insert and being hooked behind the shoulder 26 serves to restrain the hanger within the insert. Thus, the hanger will resist withdrawal from the insert by a force applied to the hanger either generally at right-angles to the face 16 of the panel 15 or generally downwardly. Further, the nibs will tend to urge the ribs 25 into engagement with the material of the panel defining the groove, so assisting the retention of the insert in the groove.

Figures 4A and 4B show a further form of hanger manufactured by a stamping and pressing operation on sheet metal, though it would be possible to produce a similar form of hanger by a moulding operation on a suitable grade of hard plastics material. As shown, the hanger has a side plate 10 from which extends a flange 11 , the flange including three fingers 27 the free ends of which are turned up as shown at 28, to provide the upstands for hooking behind the shoulder 26 of the insert 20 in the groove in which the hanger is fitted. The production of such a hanger by a stamping operation followed by a pressing operation or possibly by a combined stamping and pressing operation is relatively simple and allows the production of a strong but relatively cheap hanger, which can be engaged in a groove in a secure manner.

Figure 5 shows another embodiment of hanger, similar to that of Figure 1 but differing in that rather than the flange 11 having a plurality of separate upstanding nibs, the free edge 30 of the flange is deformed upwardly to provide a sharp upstand extending all along that edge. This embodiment of hanger functions in exactly the same manner as has been described above with reference to Figure 1 , except that an enhanced hooking action can be achieved, behind the shoulder in the upper arm 22 of the insert 17.

Claims

C LAI MS

1. A display system comprising: a support panel intended for use in a generally vertical disposition and having a plurality of grooves extending thereacross, each groove being of a substantially rectangular cross-sectional shape with planar side flanks; a generally U-shaped insert for at least one of the grooves in which is to be located a hanger, which insert has a pair of arms the outer surfaces of which are adapted to interact with the side walls of the groove, and the inner surface of at least the upper arm defining a shoulder part-way therealong so that the internal spacing between the arms adjacent the base of the insert is greater than at the outer end of the insert; and at least one hanger having a side plate and a locking flange extending from an edge of the side plate at an angle of not substantially less than 90° to the side plate, the locking flange having at or adjacent its free edge remote from the side plate at least one upstand projecting from the main area of the flange in the opposed direction to that of the side plate, the width between the arms of the insert at the outer end thereof being not less than the thickness of the flange and the projecting height of the upstand, whereby in use the flange may be fitted into the insert with the side plate depending downwardly therefrom and then on moving the side plate nearer to the panel, the or each upstand hooks behind the shoulder within the insert to lock the hanger in position.

2. A display system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the at least one upstand is relatively sharp at its free end remote from the flange so that in use, on moving the side plate to engage the panel and hook the or each upstand behind the shoulder, the upstand at least to some extent deforms or penetrates the material of the insert.

3. A display system as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein there is a plurality of upstands formed along the free edge of the flange.

4. A display system as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the or each upstand is in the from of a projecting nib, pointed at its free end.

5. A display system as claimed in claim 3, wherein each upstand is defined by a portion of the free edge of the flange projecting upwardly out of the plane of the flange.

6. A display system as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the upstand is defined by the free edge of the flange projecting upwardly out of the plane of the flange.

7. A display system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the upstanding edge extends for substantially the whole of the free edge of the flange.

8. A display system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the insert comprises one of a metallic extrusion or a hard plastics material extrusion.

9. A display system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein ribs or corrugations are provided over at least a part of the outer surfaces of the arms of the insert to assist retention of the insert in a groove.

10. A display system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein an adhesive is used to assist retention of the insert in a groove.

11. A display system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the angle between the side panel and the flange is greater than 90°.

12. A display system as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the angle between the side panel and the flange is less than 115°.

13. A display system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the angle between the side panel and the flange falls in the range of 92° to 110°.

14. A display system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the angle between the side plate and the locking flange is selected so that the or each upstand fully hooks behind the shoulder in the upper arm as the side plate is moved to bear on the side panel.

15. A display system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the junction region between the side plate and the flange is relieved to prevent contact between that junction and an edge of the insert defining the mouth between the arms thereof and into which the flange is to be inserted.

16. A display system as claimed in claim 15, wherein said junction region is relieved by deforming the junction outwardly, with respect to the internal angle between the side plate and the flange.

17. A display system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the hanger comprises a one-piece metal pressing.

18. A display system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the or each upstand is formed by deforming the material of the flange upwardly out of the main area of the flange.