Abstract:
A user-configurable display is provided. The display has shelves that can be variable in length with shelf ends that fit within corner pieces. The corner pieces can be arcuate-shaped, T-shaped, and cross-shaped. A locking mechanism such as a cam engages each shelf end such that the shelves are engaged to the corner pieces. A cover piece covers the corner pieces and hides the locking mechanism from view. Each shelf end will fit into the lips of the corner pieces and has one or more bores for receiving a cam bolt that engages the cams. A shelf end may include a raised section that fits within the lips of the corner pieces.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/663,343, filed Mar. 18, 2005, the teachings and disclosure of which are hereby incorporated in their entireties by reference thereto. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     This invention generally relates to displays, and more generally to stackable display shelves.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0003]     Office and home users use display shelves for a variety of purposes. A wide variety of such products are available, including shelves, racks, baskets, and like arrangements, which facilitate convenient storage of articles where desired. Displays for storing and merchandising a multiplicity of products having shelves which are vertically stackably arranged in spaced relationship one above the other are known. Although the known constructions have attempted to provide a connection between the shelf members and the upright support members which is durable, less susceptible to wear, and more stable, such prior art constructions still suffer from certain disadvantages and shortcomings. For example, all of the features associated with the known prior art constructions have made such units overly complex, expensive to manufacture, require a large number of parts and/or components to assemble which is both inconvenient and time consuming. Additionally, known prior art is limited in that the display shelves are fixed in length and/or width.  
         [0004]     There also exists a need and demand for an economical display unit which not only permits the spaced apart vertical stacking of one shelf member above the other, but also has modular capability in that it permits adjacent units to be arranged in side-by-side relationship in any desired modular configuration.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     Provided is a user-configurable display which can be both vertically and horizontally arranged to achieve any desired arrangement. In one aspect, the invention provides a display that has shelves that can be variable in length with shelf ends that fit within corner pieces. The corner pieces can be curve-shaped, T-shaped, and cross-shaped. A locking mechanism such as a cam engages each shelf end such that the shelves are engaged to the corner pieces. A cover piece covers the corner pieces and hides the locking mechanism from view. Each shelf end includes a raised section that fits within lips of the corner pieces and one or more bores for receiving a cam bolt that engages the cams.  
         [0006]     Each corner piece consists of a shaped material having a plurality of bores along a length of the material with a plurality of slots. Each of the plurality of slots is connected to one of the bores and has lips for receiving one of the shelf ends between the lips.  
         [0007]     Each shelf end includes a raised section that fits within lips of the corner pieces. When the locking mechanism is a cam, each shelf further comprises at least one cam bolt on each shelf end for engaging the cam.  
         [0008]     Other aspects and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]     The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of the specification illustrate several aspects of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:  
         [0010]      FIGS. 1   a - 1   k  are views of various displays that can be constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;  
         [0011]      FIG. 2   a  is an isometric view of a single corner piece with a cover in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;  
         [0012]      FIG. 2   b  is a cross-sectional view of the corner piece of  FIG. 2   a ;  
         [0013]      FIG. 3   a  is an isometric view of a T-shaped corner piece with a cover in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;  
         [0014]      FIG. 3   b  is a cross-sectional view of the corner piece of  FIG. 3   a ;  
         [0015]      FIG. 4   a  is an isometric view of a +-shaped corner piece with a cover in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;  
         [0016]      FIG. 4   b  is a cross-sectional view of the corner piece of  FIG. 4   a ;  
         [0017]      FIG. 5  is an isometric view of a shelf piece in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;  
         [0018]      FIG. 6  is an isometric view of a different shelf piece in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;  
         [0019]      FIG. 7  is an isometric view of a display in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;  
         [0020]      FIG. 8   a  is a top view of a shelf piece in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;  
         [0021]      FIG. 8   b  is a side view of the shelf piece of  FIG. 8   a  along the width of the shelf piece;  
         [0022]      FIG. 8   c  is a front view of the shelf piece of  FIG. 8   a  along the length of the shelf piece;  
         [0023]      FIG. 9  is an illustration of a corner piece being installed on a shelf piece in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;  
         [0024]      FIG. 10  is an illustration of the corner piece of  FIG. 9  installed on the shelf piece of  FIG. 9  in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;  
         [0025]      FIG. 11  is an illustration of the corner piece of  FIG. 9  locked in place to the shelf piece of  FIG. 9  with a cam in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;  
         [0026]      FIG. 12   a  is an isometric view of the cam of  FIG. 11  in accordance with the teachings of the present invention; and  
         [0027]      FIG. 12   b  is a side view of the cam of  FIG. 12   a.   
     
    
       [0028]     While the invention will be described in connection with certain preferred embodiments, there is no intent to limit it to those embodiments. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents as included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0029]     Turning to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements, the user-configurable stackable display can be configured in a variety of heights, widths, and lengths. For example, FIGS.  1 ( a )- 1 ( k ) provide an example of the different shapes that can be made using various corner pieces  100 ,  104 ,  108  with end pieces  102 ,  106 ,  110  and various shelf pieces  112 ,  114 . While two shelf pieces  110 ,  112  are shown, the shelf pieces can be configured to be any length. In the description that follows, shelf pieces  112 ,  114  shall be used to describe the user-configurable display shelf. The corner pieces  100 ,  104 ,  108  may be made of various materials, including plastic, aluminum, steel, etc. The shelf pieces  112 ,  114  can be of any material, including wood, plastic, metal, glass, fiberboard such as MDF (medium density fiberboard) with a wood skin, and the like.  
         [0030]     The end pieces  102 ,  106 ,  112  are typically made of the same material as a corner piece, but could be made from other materials. For example, if the corner piece is aluminum, the end pieces can be aluminum, plastic, wood, etc. The shelves  112 ,  114 , corner pieces  100 ,  104 ,  108 , and end pieces  102 ,  106 ,  110  may be any color. For example, the color of the corner pieces and end pieces can be gold, silver, white, black, etc. Similarly, the sides may be clear or stained, painted, or varnished in any color.  
         [0031]     Turning to  FIGS. 2   a - 2   b  in conjunction with  FIG. 7 , one style of corner piece is a curved corner piece  100  that is covered by end cap(s)  102 . The curved corner piece  100  is used for outside corners of the display. The curved corner piece  100  has slots  118  for receiving shelf  112 ,  114 . The slots  118  have lips  120  for receiving shelves  112 ,  114 . The slots  118  also have grooves  122  for receiving shelves that have a tongue and a bore  124  for receiving a cam  200  (see  FIG. 12 ). The bore  124  has a series of ridges  126  for helping to hold the cam  200  in place as described hereinbelow. The curved corner piece  100  may have sections  128 ,  130  of material removed to cut down on weight and/or reduce cost.  
         [0032]     Turning to  FIGS. 3   a - 3   b  in conjunction with  FIG. 7 , another style of corner piece is a T-shaped corner piece  104  that is covered by end cap(s)  106 . The T-shaped corner piece  104  is used for inner connections of shelves  112 ,  114  of the display. The T-shaped corner piece  104  also has slots  118  for receiving shelf  112 ,  114 . The slots  118  have lips  120  for receiving shelves  112 ,  114 . The slots  118  also have grooves  122  for receiving shelves that have a tongue and a bore  124  for receiving a cam  200 . The bore  124  has a series of ridges  126  for helping to hold the cam  200  in place as described hereinbelow. The T-shaped corner piece  104  may have sections  132 ,  134 ,  136  of material removed to cut down on weight and/or reduce cost.  
         [0033]     Turning now to  FIGS. 4   a - 4   b  in conjunction with  FIG. 7 , another style of corner piece is a cross shaped corner piece  108  that is covered by end cap(s)  110 . The cross shaped corner piece  108  is used for inner connections of shelves  112 ,  114  of the display where four shelves are joined. The cross shaped corner piece  108  also has slots  118  that have lips  120  for receiving shelves  112 ,  114 . The slots  118  also have grooves  122  for receiving shelves that have a tongue and a bore  124  for receiving a cam  200 . The bore  124  has a series of ridges  126  for helping to hold the cam  200  in place as described hereinbelow. The cross shaped corner piece  108  may have sections  138 ,  140  of material removed to cut down on weight and/or reduce cost.  
         [0034]     Turning now to  FIGS. 8   a - 8   c , the shelves  112 ,  114  can have any length L or width W. The length of the corner pieces  100 ,  104 ,  108  match the width W dimension of the shelves  112 ,  114 . In one embodiment, each end  150  of the shelves  112 ,  114  has a raised section  152  in the center that fits within the lips  120 . The outer sections  154  of each shelf  112 ,  114  have a bore  156  that may have threads. The bore  156  receives cam bolt  158  that is used to help hold shelves  112 ,  114  in place.  
         [0035]     Turning now to  FIGS. 9-11 , a display is made by connecting the corner pieces  100 ,  104 ,  108  to the ends of the shelves  112 ,  114  such that shelf end  150  or the raised sections  152  fit within the lips  120 . A guide (not shown) may be used on the ends  150  (or the raised sections  152 ) and corner pieces  100 ,  104 ,  108  to center the corner pieces  100 ,  104 ,  108  in relation to the shelves  112 ,  114 . Once the shelf  112 ,  114  is in place, a cam  200  is put over each cam bolt  158  and locked by turning the cam  200  with a screwdriver and the like. The series of ridges  126  in the bores  124  match the ridges on the cam  200  and help keep the cam  200  in place. Note that other locking mechanisms may be used such as a slide wedge, etc.  
         [0036]     The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the invention (especially in the context of the following claims) is to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted. Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.  
         [0037]     Preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention. Variations of those preferred embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate, and the inventors intend for the invention to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.