Display cushion, process for its manufacture and display

Display cushion (1), especially for pieces of jewellery, with a cushion layer (3) of foamed material. A novel jewellery display cushion, which can be simply and inexpensively manufactured but nevertheless fully meets the high aesthetic requirements of the jewellery trade and presents additional handling advantages, is made available by the fact that the cushion layer (3) consists of a thermoplastic plastic material and is hot-formed to produce a moulding corresponding to the shape of the cushion. A process for manufacturing such jewellery cushions is also the subject of the invention.

The invention relates to a display cushion with a cushioning layer of 
elastic foamed material and to a method for manufacturing such cushions. 
Display cushions serve as a support for objects for display in appropriate 
containers. They usually have a rectangular base area and are produced in 
a number of different sizes according to the objects to be displayed. The 
cushions are often used in conjunction with display trays. 
Display trays are used to display the objects for display in a visually 
attractive way. For instance, in jewellers' shops, jewellery cabinets with 
a large number of removable trays are used. Display trays are often 
specifically adapted to transportable sample cases for commercial 
travellers. Such a sample case also contains a large number of trays. 
Each display tray usually has a display surface which is surrounded by a 
thickened edging. 
The objects for display are each fixed on a display cushion and laid out on 
the display surface in suitable compartments divided by crosspieces. When 
the display tray and the display cushion are offered as parts which are 
separate but matched to each other and used together, they are also 
referred to as a display set, the two elements being in a functional 
relationship to each other. The present invention also relates to such a 
display set. 
The invention is intended in particular for the displaying of jewellery, 
including watches. It can furthermore be advantageously used for other 
objects for display in connection with which there are similar 
requirements. In the following text, reference is made, by way of example 
and without restriction of generality, to jewellery display trays (in 
short: jewellery trays) and jewellery display cushions (in short: 
jewellery cushions). 
The known jewellery cushions are largely manufactured by hand. The foamed 
material is placed on or cemented to a rigid base part, which is covered 
by an appropriately cut piece of fabric which is somewhat larger in all 
directions than the jewellery cushion. The extra length of the fabric is 
pulled round the side edges and cemented under the rigid base part or 
between the latter and the foamed material. The shape of the jewellery 
cushion is determined by the rigid base part. For flat simple cushions a 
small flat piece of cardboard is usually used as the base. For complicated 
plastic shapes such as are customary for the displaying of necklaces or 
earrings it is necessary to have appropriately shaped basic bodies which 
are usually made, largely by hand, of wood or a rigid plastic material. 
This demanding method of manufacture is considered to be necessary in the 
trade in order to ensure the attractive appearance of the jewellery 
cushion, which is extraordinarily important in the display of jewellery. 
British Patent Specification 1 047 671 discloses a method of manufacturing 
a jewellery cushion which is intended to reduce the expense of the 
previously known manual method of production. In this process, a 
pressure-sensitive adhesive is applied to the edge region of a rigid 
supporting part, the cushion layer is laid on the middle, adhesive-free 
section of the supporting part, both are covered with the textile covering 
layer and the latter is pressed against the adhesive-covered edge in order 
to establish a bond between the covering layer and the supporting part and 
to enclose the cushion layer between these two layers. Although this 
admittedly simplifies manufacture, the product, because of its flat 
uncushioned edge, in no way satisfies the aesthetic demands of the 
jewellery trade. The weight is if anything even greater than that of the 
known jewellery cushions. 
In order to make available display cushions which can be manufactured in a 
considerably simpler way without impairment of the display function, which 
permit simple handling and are distinguished by being particularly light, 
it is proposed, in connection with a jewellery cushion of the type 
described at the beginning, that the cushion layer should consist of a 
thermally deformable plastic material and should be thermally moulded to 
form a moulded body corresponding to the shape of the cushion. 
Owing to the considerable reduction in weight, the invention is 
particularly suitable, above all, for objects for display which are to be 
transported in fairly large quantities with corresponding display sets and 
in the case of which the weight of the display objects themselves 
constitutes a relatively small proportion (less than half) of the weight 
of conventional display sets. 
The method of manufacture of such display cushions according to the 
invention is distinguished by the fact that the thermally deformable 
plastic material is heated, plastically deformed by the application of 
pressure and cooled down with maintenance of the deformation. 
The thermal deformation of foamed materials or of laminates thereof with 
other materials is known in principle from other fields of application 
(U.S. Application No. 3,170,832). For instance, mouldings for packaging 
purposes (DE-Ul-86 21 237) and cushioning parts for furniture and articles 
of clothing are made in this way. The thermally deformable foamed material 
is heated to a temperature which is above the softening temperature but 
below the melting range. After that the desired shape is imparted to it, 
preferably with the aid of an appropriate mould. Such a thermally-deformed 
foamed plastic article is recognisable by the fact that the foamed 
material displays regions of different density or porosity pending on how 
strongly it was compressed during the deforming process. 
The display cushions according to the invention are easy to handle and 
durable. The plastic shape imparted is largely determined by the thermal 
deformation. It is no longer necessary to have a shape-determining rigid 
base section as in the case of the jewellery cushions previously known. A 
particular advantage is the extraordinarily light weight (about a third of 
that of the known cushions) made possible thereby. 
Surprisingly, an aesthetically extraordinarily attractive shape is 
nevertheless achieved. Furthermore, the cushions are pleasantly soft and 
have a good feel. Items of jewellery can be fixed to the cushions with 
pins easily and more reliably than hitherto. 
These advantages apply in particular to preferred examples of embodiment, 
for which the features described hereafter and characterized in the 
subclaims can be used both individually and in combination with each 
other. 
The cushion layer consists preferably of a highly crosslinked foamed 
material, especially one based on polyethylene or a polyethylene 
copolymer. A foamed material made by physical foaming of an extruded 
plastic material with the aid of an inert gas has proved especially 
suitable. Such a material is sold by the firm BXL Plastics Limited under 
the brand names "Plastazote" and "Ivazote". 
The density of the foamed material should be between 15 and 130, and 
preferably between 20 and 70 kg/m.sup.3. 
The top surface of the cushion layer can--as in the case of the known 
jewellery cushions--be covered with a covering layer of textile material. 
Surprisingly, however, it has also been found that an attractive external 
appearance can also be achieved when such a covering layer is dispensed 
with and the surface of the cushion layer is therefore visible. In this 
case it is advantageous to provide the top surface with a fine-structured 
embossed pattern. This is preferably done with the aid of a "nylon print 
process". In this the desired fine structure, which simulates to advantage 
a velvet-like textile texture or a leather embossed pattern, is 
transferred photographically to a nylon film, which is inserted into the 
embossing mould during the hot forming of the jewellery cushion. 
A further preferred embodiment provides for direct covering of the cushions 
with flocking. In this case the heat forming is done by drawing in order 
to avoid damaging the flocked surface. 
Where a covering layer (skin) of textile material is used, this is done by 
bonding the skin to the cushion layer to form a layered composite 
structure, which is longer separable without destruction, and this 
structure as a whole is thermally moulded to produce the jewellery 
cushion. In this connection it is important that a textile material which 
is elastic in both surface directions should be used. The elasticity can 
be created by the nature of the composite textile structure. For this, a 
knitted fabric is found to be particularly suitable. It is also possible, 
however, to use an appropriately elastic yarn material (made, for 
instance, from an elastomer). The elasticity must be great enough for an 
aesthetically attractive shape to be achieved --especially in the case of 
the jewellery cushions in the form of rectangular panels, at most only 4 
to 6 mm thick, such as are used for pendants and chains--without 
troublesome curving of the cushion. The material should preferably be 
stretchable in both surface directions by at least 10%. 
Problems with regard to the display effect may be created by the fact that 
precisely such highly elastic materials as are especially preferred for 
the invention are often thin and visually unattractive. Specially 
preferred, therefore, is a skin consisting of a two-layer material, with 
the lower layer which faces towards the cushion layer consisting of a 
basic material (knitted fabric or elastomer) which is highly elastic in 
both surface directions, while the upper layer is visually so dense that 
the lower layer is not visible. High elasticity and an appearance which 
meets the requirements of the jewellery trade are thereby combined in an 
ideal manner. 
The composite layered structure consisting of the skin and the cushion 
layer cannot be separated without damage. Preferably the two layers are 
bonded together over the entire surface, it being expedient to produce the 
laminate by cementing. 
A suitable adhesive is, for instance, a fusion adhesive or contact 
adhesive. 
The temperature of the composite layered structure during the embossing 
process should preferably be above 140.degree. C. The material of the 
adhesive layer must of course also be adapted to this temperature. If a 
contact adhesive is used, it must be sufficiently temperature-resistant 
not to decompose during the heating. A certain softening of the adhesive 
through the heating is, on the other hand, harmless. In the case of the 
composite layered structure, particularly good bonding of the layers to 
each other can indeed be achieved by the application of heat and pressure 
during the thermal moulding. 
The moulding of the heat-formable foamed material to produce the jewellery 
cushion is preferably done by embossing. The foamed material or composite 
layered structure with the textile skin can be laid on a flat surface and 
formed with a single-part matrix. If a certain profile is also to be 
imparted to the underside, a two-part matrix is used, the two 
matrix-halves being plastically shaped three-dimensionally and the lower 
matrix-half determining the shape of the underside of the jewellery 
cushion while that of the upper side of the jewellery cushion is 
determined by the upper matrix-half. At least one of the matrix-halves 
should contain ventilation channels. This method makes it possible to 
produce completely novel shapes of jewellery cushions, especially in the 
case of earring cushions. 
As mentioned, the shape imparted must be retained during the cooling of the 
foamed material or composite layered structure. It is expedient to cool 
down the matrix to a temperature below the softening temperature of the 
thermoplastic foamed material This enables rapid and accurate "freezing" 
of the shape to be achieved. 
Following the second step in the process, the embossed jewellery cushions 
can be stamped out with a sharp-edged stamping tool in order to produce a 
clean edge. The dimensional accuracy thus achieved meets stringent 
requirements. 
The cushion layer is preferably formed in the region of the edge of the 
cushion in such a way that the thickness of the layer decreases 
continuously towards the edging, the upper side of the cushion layer being 
curved downwards in a convex shape. When a cushion layer thus shaped is 
produced from a thermally formable material, this material is strongly 
compressed and thus strengthened at the edge. The edge terminates in a 
narrow, sharp line which is easy to take hold of and gives the cushion 
very good handling properties. In addition, this shaping is particularly 
advantageous in connection with the jewellery display set described below. 
In a jewellery display set according to the invention, the jewellery tray 
and especially its tray surface, which is divided by crosspieces into a 
plurality of compartments, and the jewellery cushion are matched to each 
other in a special way. In this connection the previously described 
jewellery cushions used are preferably, but not necessarily, made of 
hot-formed foamed material. 
The matching to each other of the jewellery cushion and tray comprises two 
groups of measures. 
Firstly, the surface dimensions of the jewellery display cushions are 
somewhat larger than the corresponding surface dimensions of the 
compartments. The jewellery cushions are slightly elastically compressible 
in the direction parallel to their surface towards their centre. This 
causes the edges of the jewellery cushion to press in each case against 
the inner limiting walls of the crosspieces facing towards the cushion. 
Secondly, through special shaping of the limiting walls of the crosspieces 
facing towards the jewellery cushions, firm fitting of the jewellery 
cushions in the compartments is ensured. This can be achieved by the 
crosspieces having a cross-section which increases from the tray surface 
upwards, so that their limiting walls facing towards the compartments are 
inclined inwards. Alternatively or additionally, the limiting walls can 
have an adhesion-increasing covering, especially a "flocking". 
In a jewellery display set so constructed the cushions fit into the 
compartments so firmly that they cannot fall out during transportation of 
the display set. This applies even when pieces of jewellery are attached 
to them and the jewellery tray with the jewellery cushions and the pieces 
of jewellery is placed vertically or even turned upside down. This 
represents a particularly valuable handling advantage, especially for 
commercial travellers in the jewellery trade. A particularly advantageous 
feature in this connection is that many pieces of jewellery can be 
securely fixed in the cushions according to the invention merely by 
sticking in a pin, whereas they often had to be sewn to the known 
jewellery cushions.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show a simple flat jewellery cushion 1. It consists of a 
cushion layer 3 facing towards the underside 2 and a skin 4 covering the 
upper side 5. They are bonded together by an adhesive layer 6. 
Details can be seen more clearly in FIG. 3. In the edge area of the 
jewellery cushion 1 designated 1b the thickness of the cushion layer 3 
decreases continuously towards the edging 1a. This is predominantly 
brought about not by the stresses in the layers but by the plastic 
deformation of the layer of foamed material during the production process 
described above. In this, as shown, the upper side of the cushion layer 
and the adhesive layer are bent downwards in a convex shape. On the other 
hand, the underside 2 of the cushion layer 3 runs largely flat as far as 
the edging 1a. Only immediately before the edge Ia does a slight upward 
curvature occur. This does not, however, affect the appearance and 
practical use of the jewellery cushion 1. On the contrary, the slight 
arching facilitates the removal of the jewellery cushion from a 
corresponding jewellery tray without, on the other hand, impairing the 
flat lay of the underside. 
For durability and practical use it has proved advantageous if the corners 
8 of the jewellery cushion are rounded with a relatively large radius of 
curvature. This should be at least 1 mm, while at least 2 mm is 
particularly preferable. 
FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of an embodiment of a jewellery cushion 7 in 
which the cushion layer 3 is not covered by a skin, so that its surface 
turned towards the upper side 5 is visible. It is preferably, as explained 
above, provided with a fine-structured embossed pattern 9. The edging 1a 
ends in a point. Through the high compression during the embossing process 
the foamed material is strengthened here, thereby improving the handling 
properties (without impairing the aesthetic appearance). The strengthening 
is primarily due to the fact that the pores of the foamed material are 
closed (fused) in the outermost edge area through the effect of pressure 
and temperature. 
The jewellery display set shown in FIG. 5 consists of a jewellery tray 10 
and jewellery cushions 1, of which only one is shown. 
The jewellery tray 10 has a tray surface 12 surrounded by an edging 11, 
said surface being divided up into a plurality of compartments 14 by 
raised crosspieces 13. 
The jewellery cushions 1, thanks to their easily grippable edging 1a, can 
be particularly easily inserted into and removed from the tray 10. Any 
special removing aid, especially an appropriate loop, can be completely 
dispensed with. Instead of this, the crosspieces 13 of the jewellery tray 
have gripping apertures 15 which preferably run down as far as the level 
of the tray surface 12 (bottom surface of the compartments 14). 
Preferably the crosspieces 13 of the compartments 14 have a cross-section 
which increases from the tray surface 12 upwards, as is shown in an 
exaggerated manner in FIG. 6. The inner sides 11a of the edging 11 of the 
tray are also correspondingly shaped. The width B and the length L of the 
compartments 14 at the height of the largest cross-section 13a of the 
crosspieces 13 is slightly (preferably approx. 0.5 to 1.5 mm) smaller than 
the maximum distance in height of the smallest crosspiece cross-section in 
the vicinity of the bottom surface 12. The associated jewellery cushions 
1, specially matched to such a tray, are elastically deformable not only 
perpendicularly to their upper surface but also in the surface direction 
(that is, in the direction towards the edging 1a). It is expedient for 
their dimensions (length 1 and width b) in the surface direction in the 
uncompressed initial state to be slightly (preferably 0.2 to 0.5 mm) 
greater than the length and width of the compartments 14 at the height of 
the largest crosspiece cross-section 13a. This causes jewellery cushions 1 
inserted into the compartments 14 to fit tightly with an elastic press fit 
so that, as mentioned earlier, they cannot fall out when the display set 
1, 10 is being transported. 
FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of the jewellery cushion with an additional 
under-layer 17, which consists of a foamed material which has a higher 
density than the foamed material of the cushion layer. A density of 
between 50 and 130 kg/m.sup.3 is preferred. The cushion layer 3 is not 
bonded to the bottom layer 17. On the contrary, the connection between the 
two layers is established only by the fact that they adhere to each other 
at the edging 1a during the hot forming. Surprisingly, this bonding is 
sufficiently durable without any additional measures. The additional 
bottom layer 17 made of a foamed material of higher density increases the 
rigidity of the jewellery cushion so much that even relatively large flat 
jewellery cushions with a longitudinal dimension of more than 8 cm can be 
made so as to be sufficiently rigid and light. FIG. 8 illustrates the 
preferred two-layer construction of the skin 4 consisting of a lower layer 
4a which is highly elastic in both surface directions and preferably 
knitted and a visually non-transparent upper layer 4b. The upper layer 4b 
is preferably a flocking. 
FIGS. 9 to 11 show an earring cushion 20 with a shape characteristic of 
such cushions with surfaces which run obliquely towards each other. It 
will be seen that even relatively complicated shapes with great variations 
in thickness can be made. Preferably, simple slits 22, which can be cut 
simultaneously when the jewellery cushions are stamped out, retain the 
earrings. 
For the production of heavily profiled jewellery cushions with large 
differences in thickness it is expedient to use embossing matrices whose 
underside runs substantially parallel to their upper side. This results in 
the production of jewellery cushions with a cavity 23 on the underside, 
which cavity, in the case illustrated, serves to accommodate the attaching 
part of the earrings. Surprisingly, it is found that when the dimensions 
are relatively small, as in the case of the earring cushions shown, the 
rigidity of the hot- formed cushion layer 3 is so great that no additional 
bottom layer needs to be used in the area of the cavity 23. 
Such earring cushions are universally usable for a great variety of 
different earring designs, whereas the known earring cushions usually have 
to be specially matched to the mechanical construction of the earring in 
question. 
The display set shown in section in FIG. 12, consisting of a jewellery tray 
30 and a jewellery cushion 37, is largely constructed in the same way as 
the set shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. It does, however, display some special 
features. 
The tray surface 32 including the crosspieces 33, which divide up the 
compartments 34, is embossed into a sheeting body 36. The sheeting body 36 
is the supporting element of the jewellery tray 30 and consists of a 
preferably drawn thermoplastic plastic material with a thickness of 
between about 0.6 mm and about 1 mm. 
A press fit of the jewellery cushions 37 in the compartments 34 can be 
achieved by the shaping of the crosspieces 33 described in connection with 
FIG. 6. Preferably, instead of or in addition to the cross-section shape 
which is widened upwards, there is provided an adhesion-increasing coating 
38 which covers at least the limiting walls 39 facing towards the 
compartments 34. It may consist, for instance, of a flocking or of a 
relatively rough-structured embossing of the surface of the sheeting body 
36. 
To the bottom surface 40 of the sheeting body 36 there is attached, 
preferably by cementing, a foamed plastic layer 41. Its thickness is 
preferably so dimensioned that it terminates flush with the lower limit 42 
of the edging 31 or resiliently bends back slightly (by at most about 2 
mm) in relation to the latter. The material of the plastic layer is 
relatively soft, in any case softer than the foamed material of the 
jewellery cushions 37. 
This embodiment of the invention is particularly suitable for the packaging 
and transport of large quantities of pieces of jewellery. For this, 
hitherto, predominantly one or more pieces of jewellery were attached to 
jewellery cushions of the known kind and then packed and transported loose 
as a stack. This led to poor clarity of arrangement and impractical 
handling, but was considered necessary in order to enable many pieces of 
jewellery to be packed and transported in a small space. 
With the embodiment of the invention described in connection with FIG. 12, 
substantially improved clarity of arrangement and handling are achieved 
without any increase in the production costs or the volume of packaging. 
The cushions 37 are preferably made only of hot-formable foamed material 
without a textile skin and are therefore particularly light and 
inexpensive. Thanks to a particularly fine-structured embossing it is 
possible to affix labels to identify the individual pieces of jewellery 
directly on the cushions 37 with ordinary labelling machines. The pieces 
of jewellery are easily and efficiently inserted into the jewellery 
cushions 37 already placed in the tray 30. 
The overall height of the tray 30 including the cushions 37 is exaggerated 
in the figure. In practice it is expediently of the order of magnitude of 
about 1 cm, the height of the crosspieces being preferably about 3 to 4 
mm. This flat construction results in a high density of packing of the 
pieces of jewellery. At the same time they are reliably held. If several 
jewellery display sets are stacked on top of each other, the pieces of 
jewellery press into the foamed plastic layer of the display set lying 
above them.