Means for displaying articles in shingled relationship

A display rack device wherein flat articles such as carpet samples can be displayed in a shingled manner so as to show a portion of a plurality of displays and the major portion of at least the top one of said displays.

This invention relates to display racks. 
In the display of flat articles, especially of carpet samples, a prime 
objective is to have available in as small a bulk as possible the largest 
number of samples, preferably exposing at least portions of each of many 
displays. 
Any person who has been to a carpet store and has seen carpet books stacked 
around on the floor recognizes that a customer faces a physical task if he 
proposes to examine a substantial number of samples. Furthermore, the 
individual color samples are likely to be at least partially hidden in the 
fold of the book. In applicant's copending patent application Ser. No. 
597,381 entitled "Display System for Samples" filed July 18, 1975, now 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,648 issued Dec. 20, 1977, one technique has been shown 
for reducing this labor by mounting the samples to individual boards and 
then pivotally mounting the boards by their edges, much like the pages of 
a book. This has proved to be an attractive and satisfactory means for 
displaying carpet sections, but still has the limitation that like any 
other book it must be as thick as its pages and is limited to displays of 
the height of the "pages". 
It is an object of this invention to provide means for displaying flat 
articles such as boards containing carpet selections which can readily be 
assembled and then displayed in a shingled manner wherein, while many of 
the individual samples may be shrouded, at least part of each board will 
be exposed, and can readily be removed for closer and more complete 
examination. This increases the storage capacity and the effective display 
of the articles and also makes possible free standing displays of small 
bulk with large capacity. 
A display rack according to this invention comprises a pair of suspension 
uprights and a support upright. The suspension uprights are laterally 
spaced apart from one another and are structurally interconnected. Rack 
members are mounted to the suspension uprights, and are supported at a 
predetermined angle by the support upright. 
According to a preferred but optional feature of the invention, the rack 
members are sufficiently flexible that, with an initial unflexed length 
longer than the spacing between the suspension uprights, they can be bent 
to reduce this spacing and introduced into opening in the suspension 
uprights, and then released to spring back to the unflexed condition where 
they will be retained by the suspension uprights. 
According to still another preferred but optional feature of the invention, 
the suspension uprights and the support upright have a hollow core whereby 
readily to be assembled to adjacent structure.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 there is shown a display device 20 according to the 
invention. Its purpose is to provide one or more rack members, such as 
rack members 21, 22, to support display boards 23, 24, or other types of 
flat articles. It will be noted that these rack members and the articles 
they support are in shingled array. This is to say that they partially 
overlap one another as they slope downwardly in a vertical stack. 
A pair of suspension uprights 25, 26 is placed vertically at the front of 
the display device. A support upright 30 is placed in the back. These 
uprights form a vertically extending array, and are joined together by 
U-shaped tie members 35, 36 (see FIG. 3). The uprights and tie members are 
attached to each other by means such as the joints show in FIGS. 6 and 7. 
In FIG. 6, for example there is shown a square-sectioned connector 37 
which is welded or otherwise rigidly fixed, perhaps by threads, to 
suspension upright 26, and plugged into the end of a square-sectioned core 
passage 38 in tie member 36. Similarly, a connector 39 is fixed to the 
bight of the tie member, and projects vertically so as to enter the core 
passage 41 of support upright 30. 
The support upright 30 thereby extends between the two tie members, and 
joins them together. The upper tie member 35 has a similar connector. 
It will be seen that by making the fit tight enough at these joints, a 
unitary and rigid structural assembly can be formed. The suspension and 
support uprights and the tie members may conveniently all have square 
cross-sections although it will be recognized that circular or other 
cross-sections could be used. However, the square cross-sections will 
enable square plugs such as connector 37 to be plugged in to the core 
passages and fit them closely, thereby to provide resistance to torsional 
movement. This adds to the structural rigidity. 
In FIG. 2, a wall 45 is shown. It is apparent that the two tie members can 
be attached to it by nailing them directly, or by attaching a strap to the 
wall to bind the tie member to the wall. The device is then completely 
stable. It is evident that legs (not shown) can depend from the tie 
members to provide a free standing device. Generally speaking, however, 
the weight carried by this rack device will be such that side support by 
the wall of a room will be preferable. 
The suspension uprights are intended to rest on the floor although they 
need not do so. The support upright and the lower tie member do not 
usually reach the floor, although legs could be provided for this purpose. 
The construction shown saves considerable material, while still 
accomplishing the functions of the invention. 
Upper portions of the support uprights may project above the tie member so 
as to provide means for supporting a face plate 46 that can be used to 
bear advertising messages. The face plate is attached to the suspension 
uprights by bending it (FIG. 8) and inserting its ends 50, 51 into 
channels 52, 53, respectively. These channels are attached to suspension 
uprights 25, 26 by screws threaded into holes in the uprights through 
flanges 54, 55, respectively. The face plate will be made of Masonite or 
some other relatively flexible material. It can be attached to the 
suspension uprights by being flexed as shown in FIG. 10, and, when 
released, it returns to its flat configuration with ends 50, 51 held in 
channels 52 and 53. The face plate is accurately aligned by the channel, 
and when multiple units stand side-by-side, the face plates are in good 
alignment with one another. 
A typical rack member 21 includes an upper cross member 65, a lower cross 
member 66, and three base members 67, 68, 69. Each base member has a lower 
hook 70. The base members are conveniently U-shaped, with the bight of the 
U turned upwardly to form the hook. Such a construction is readily made on 
a conventional wire bending machine. This array of members, which may be 
made of relatively strong wire or rod, are spot-welded together as shown. 
At least the lower cross member should be springily flexible. A convenient 
technique for mounting the rack to the suspension upright is to provide a 
pair of bends 71, 72, one at each end of the lower cross member. This is 
simply a double bend in the material. This cross member can be sprung to 
the shape of FIG. 5 from that of FIG. 4 and will return thereto when the 
bending force is released. 
The suspension uprights have a plurality of holes 73 spaced along its 
length for the purpose of receiving the ends 74, 75 of the lower cross 
members. When they are introduced into these holes, the rack is held 
centered by the bearing of the inside of the bends on the inside of the 
suspension uprights (see FIG. 4). Should someone lean on the cross member 
to bend it reversely, the cross member is held all the more tightly (see 
FIG. 12), because the effect is to push the bend farther around edge 75a. 
The upper cross members can rest against the support members to determine 
the angle of display. The uppermost rack may bear against the top tie 
member, if desired. 
When one faces the display as in FIG. 1, the suspension means are seen 
laterally spaced from one another. Viewed downwardly as in FIG. 3, the 
support upright 30 is spaced from the suspension uprights, and is spaced 
from an imaginary straight line drawn between them by a given distance 
(i.e., about the length of the shorter arms of tie member 36). As viewed 
from the side in FIG. 2, the rack members have a width from the cross 
member which is greater than the given distance. Accordingly, when cross 
member 66 is attached to the suspension members, at least one of the rack 
members leans rearwardly and downwardly against the support member. In 
FIG. 2, the upper rack member bears against the upper tie member, but this 
is merely a matter of convenience. Thus, the rack members can be attached 
and detached by manipulations at the front of the display, without any 
need to try to engage anything in holes at the rear of the display. 
It will now be seen that any number of racks may be placed by inserting 
their ends into correct holes 73 on the suspension uprights. Thereafter 
the articles may simply be laid atop the base members and supported by the 
hook. For example in FIG. 11 there is shown a display board 23 with a 
plurality of carpet samples 81, 82 on its face. Carpet sample 81 may be a 
large sample which may extend for substantially the full width of the 
board, and project below the bottom edge of the display board just above 
it so as to always be visible. It can be an example of the remaining 
smaller carpet samples 82, which will usually show the other colors in the 
same fabric line. This enables a person to see a major sample of the 
entire line on the respective board and to have access to the entire board 
by removing the board from its rack, which is simple. The boards may be 
made of any suitable material such as fiberboard or cardboard. 
The construction shown is such that it can readily be multiplied in length. 
For example, FIG. 9 shows suspension uprights 25, 26 connected as 
aforesaid with another suspension upright 85 joined to the tie members by 
means of additional L-shaped tie members 86. Only one is shown--they will 
be provided in pairs, as in the original assembly. A support member 87 
will extend between tie members 86. Instead of the bent construction shown 
in FIG. 3, the tie members will preferably be welded to provide 
square-sectioned openings for connectors such as connector 88, thereby to 
make a suitably rigid assembly. The assembly may be extended to any 
desired length by providing the appropriate member of additional parts. 
As another means for multiplying the length, the tie members can be made 
with a single back length, and three or more portions extending toward 
respective support uprights, much like a comb, thereby to connect with a 
plurality of said uprights from a unitary multiple-length tie member. 
The construction shown can readily be assembled, can be taken apart, and 
shipped in a very small bulk. It can be made of inexpensive extruded or 
rolled tubing. It makes available for display and examination large 
surface areas compared to the area occupied on the floor or on the wall of 
the display room. The racks can conveniently be made of rod or wire. Other 
materials of construction can, of course, be used instead, and still fall 
within the scope of this invention. 
The reversal of parts, for example, pegs on the suspension members and 
holes in the ends of the lower cross-member, instead of the arrangement 
shown, the usage of more than one support member, and the support of the 
rack from the upper rather than from the lower cross-member, are all 
within the scope of this invention. 
This invention is not to be limited by the embodiments shown in the 
drawings or described in the description which are given by way of example 
and not of limitation, but only in accordance with the scope of the 
appended claims.