Hanging display device for memorabilia

A display device including a plaque, a hanger secured to a rear face of the plaque for hanging the plaque on a vertical surface such that the rear face of the plaque is substantially parallel with the vertical surface, a support assembly secured to a front face of the plaque, and memorabilia held by the support assembly, wherein the support is adapted to hold the memorabilia in an upright position with respect to the vertical surface.

FIELD OF DISCLOSURE
 The present disclosure relates to a display device, and, more particularly,
 relates to a hanging display device for displaying memorabilia and, in
 particular, sports memorabilia, such as, for example, a ball or a helmet.
 Often it is desirable to display a ball or a helmet, or other sport
 memorabilia as a trophy, such as when the memorabilia has been signed by a
 famous professional athlete, or when the memorabilia has been awarded to a
 player for his or her performance in a game, or when the memorabilia bears
 a team's indicia and is displayed to show loyalty to that team.
 Preferably a display device for sports memorabilia will present and display
 the memorabilia, whether it be a football, baseball, basketball or helmet,
 for example, in an attractive fashion. It is also preferably that a
 display device for sports memorabilia be adapted for hanging on a vertical
 surface, such as a wall, and be simple and economical in design.
 Furthermore, it is preferably that a display device for sports memorabilia
 support the sport memorabilia in an upright and correct position with
 respect to the vertical surface.
 SUMMARY OF DISCLOSURE
 Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a display device including a
 plaque, a hanger secured to a rear face of the plaque for hanging the
 plaque on a vertical surface such that the rear face of the plaque is
 substantially parallel with the vertical surface, a support assembly
 secured to a front face of the plaque, and memorabilia held by the support
 assembly. Wherein the support is adapted to hold the memorabilia in an
 upright position with respect to the vertical surface.
 According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the memorabilia
 comprises a helmet and the support assembly comprises a spacer positioned
 between the helmet and the plaque, and a fastener passing through a hole
 in the helmet, through the spacer and secured to the plaque. The spacer
 has a flat surface abutting the front face of the plaque and an opposing
 contoured surface abutting the helmet and contoured to match an outer
 contour of the helmet such that the helmet is in an upright position with
 respect to the vertical surface.
 According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the memorabilia
 comprises a helmet and the support assembly comprises a first clamp arm
 positioned between the helmet and the plaque and a second clamp arm
 positioned within the helmet. The first clamp arm has contoured portion
 abutting the helmet. The contoured portion of the first clamp arm is
 contoured to match an outer contour of the helmet such that the helmet is
 in an upright position with respect to the vertical surface. The second
 clamp arm has a gripping portion directed towards the curved portion of
 the first clamp arm and securing the helmet against the curved portion of
 the first clamp arm. The support assembly also includes a fastener
 securing the clamp arms to the plaque.
 According to an additional aspect of the present disclosure, the
 memorabilia comprises a helmet and the support assembly comprises a
 resilient curved prong clamping a sidewall of the helmet and removably
 securing the helmet in an upright position.
 According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, the memorabilia
 comprises a helmet and the support assembly comprises a backing plate
 secured to the plaque, a first panel extending from the backing plate, and
 a second panel intersecting the first panel. The helmet is removably
 supported in an upright position on the first and the second panels.
 According to still another aspect of the present disclosure, the support
 assembly comprises a transparent case secured to the plaque. The case has
 opposing endwalls extending from the plaque, and a cup secured to each
 endwall, with the memorabilia held between the cups.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DISCLOSURE
 Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, a hanging display device 10 for
 displaying memorabilia and, in particular, sports memorabilia 12 is
 provided. It may be desirable to display sports memorabilia for a number
 of reasons. For example, the memorabilia could be autographed by a famous
 athlete or athletes, or earned by an individual as a most valuable player,
 i.e., a "game ball", or a championship ball earned by a team. It may also
 be desirable and advantageous that a display device for memorabilia be
 adapted to be hung from a vertical surface, such as a wall 14, as opposed
 to being placed on a horizontal surface, such as a table. Thus, the
 present disclosure provides a display device 10 for displaying sports
 memorabilia 12 that can be hung from a vertical surface 14.
 The hanging display device 10 includes a plaque 16 with a hanger 18 secured
 to a rear face 20 of the plaque for hanging the plaque on the vertical
 surface 14 such that the rear face of the plaque is substantially parallel
 with the vertical surface. In addition, a front face 22 of the plaque 16
 is parallel with the rear face 20, but not necessarily so. The plaque 16
 can be made from any suitable rigid and strong material, such as wood,
 plastic, metal or stone.
 The display device 10 also includes a support assembly 24 secured to the
 front face 22 of the plaque 16, and memorabilia 12 held by the support
 assembly. As shown, the support assembly 24 is adapted to hold the
 memorabilia 12 in an upright position with respect to the vertical surface
 14. As shown, the memorabilia is provided in the form of a batting helmet
 14 for baseball, including a visor 26, a curved sidewall 28, and an ear
 shield 30 extending from the sidewall and having an ear hole 32. The
 batting helmet also includes padding 34 within its interior.
 By "being held upright with respect with respect to the vertical surface"
 it is meant that the helmet or the memorabilia 12 is held such that it
 does not appear to be tilted or lopsided with respect to the wall 14. This
 is more particularly defined by stating that an imaginary, centrally
 located vertical plane 44 of the helmet 12 is parallel with the wall 14.
 The support assembly 24 includes a spacer 38 positioned between the helmet
 12 and the plaque 16. The spacer 38 has a flat surface 68 abutting the
 front face 22 of the plaque and an opposing, contoured surface 42 abutting
 the curved sidewall 28 of the helmet 12. The contoured surface 42 of the
 spacer 38 is contoured to match, or complement, an outer contour of the
 helmet 12 such that the helmet is held in an upright position, with
 respect to the wall 14, when attached to the plaque 16 with the spacer
 there between. The spacer 38 may be made from a suitably rigid material
 that won't deform under the weight of the helmet 12, such as rubber,
 plastic or metal, for example. It should be noted that the spacer and the
 plaque can be unitarily formed as a single piece.
 The helmet 12 is held to the plaque 16 by a fastener 46 that passes through
 the ear hole 32 and the spacer 38 and is secured to the plaque. As shown,
 the fastener comprises a threaded screw 46 that is threadedly received in
 the plaque 16, which in the particular embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 is made
 of wood. A washer 48 is positioned between a head of the screw 46 and the
 ear shield 30. A sleeve 58 is also provided to protect the helmet 12 from
 the screw 46. The fastener could also be provided in the form of a nut and
 a bolt, for example.
 Another spacer 52 for use with the hanging display 10 device of FIGS. 1 and
 2 is shown in FIG. 2a. The spacer 52 includes a flat surface 54 for
 abutting the plaque 16, an opposing contoured surface 56 for abutting the
 sidewall 28 of the helmet, and a unitary sleeve 58 extending from the
 contoured surface for extending through the ear hole 32, to protect the
 ear shield 30 from the fastener 46.
 Referring to FIG. 2b, a spacer 60 that can be custom formed may
 alternatively be provided and preferably includes a malleable portion 62
 for forming a contoured surface 64, and a rigid non-malleable flat plate
 66 forming a flat surface 68 abutting the plaque 16. By malleable it is
 meant that the contoured surface 64 of the spacer 60 can be formed to
 match the contour of a particular helmet 12, whereby a kit, including just
 the plaque 16, with the hanger 18, the spacer 60 and the fastener 46,
 could be provided for use with any size or type of helmet, such as a
 batting helmet, a football helmet, a hockey helmet or a lacrosse helmet,
 for example. The malleable portion 62 of the spacer 60 is made of a soft,
 yet rigid material, such as balsa wood, rubber or plastic foam, that can
 be trimmed or formed by a sharp instrument, such as a knife. The malleable
 portion 62 could alternatively be made of a material that can be formed
 into a preferred contour and then allowed to harden, such as clay or
 putty, or a material that can be heated until pliable, formed into a
 preferred contour, then allowed to cool and harden, such as wax.
 Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, another hanging display device 70 including
 a support assembly 72 is shown. The support assembly 72 includes first and
 second clamp arms 74, 76 cooperating to hold the helmet 12 secured in an
 upright position with respect to the wall 14. The first clamp arm 74 is
 positioned between the helmet 12 and the plaque 16, and has a flat portion
 76 abutting the front face 22 of the plaque and a contoured portion 78
 extending from the flat portion and abutting the helmet. The contoured
 portion 78 is curved to match an outer curve of the sidewall 28 of the
 helmet 12 such that the helmet is in an upright position with respect to
 the wall 14. The second clamp arm 74 is positioned within the helmet 12
 and has a flat portion 80 abutting the flat portion 76 of the first clamp
 arm 72, and a gripping portion 82 extending from its flat portion,
 directed toward the contoured portion 78 of the first clamp arm, and
 securing the sidewall 28 of the helmet 12 against the contoured portion.
 The second clamp arm 74 also includes an intermediate portion 84 between
 its flat and gripping portions 78, 80 that extends through the ear hole 32
 of the helmet 12. A fastener in the form of a screw 86 passes through
 holes in both flat portions 76, 80 of the clamp arms and is secured in the
 plaque 16.
 Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, an additional hanging display device 88 is
 shown and includes a support assembly 90 having two resilient, curved
 prongs 92, 94 clamping the sidewall 28 of the helmet 12 and securing the
 helmet in an upright position. The curved prongs 92, 94 are unitarily
 formed with each other and with a threaded stud 96 that extends through
 the plaque 16 and secured with a nut 98. The resilient curved prongs 92,
 94, which are made from plastic or metal for example, provide the benefit
 of securably mounting the helmet 12 to the plaque 16 in an upright
 position, yet allow the helmet to be removed and handled without having to
 disassembly the support assembly from the plaque.
 Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, a further hanging display device 100 is shown
 and includes a support assembly 102 having a backing plate 104 secured to
 the plaque 16, a first panel 106 extending from the backing plate, and a
 second panel 108 intersecting the first panel. The panels 106, 108 and the
 backing plate 104 are made of any suitably rigid and strong material, such
 as plastic, glass or metal, and are unitarily formed, or secured to each
 other with glue or welds, for example. The backing plate 104 of the
 support assembly 102 is secured to the plaque 16 with fasteners in the
 form of screws 110, and the helmet 12 is supported in an upright position
 on the first and the second panels 106, 108. As shown, the panels 106, 108
 are provided with steps 112, such that upper portions of the panels extend
 into the interior of the helmet 12. In addition, the second panel includes
 a hook 114 engaging the ear hole 32 of the helmet 12 to secure the helmet
 in an upright position on the first and the second panels 106, 108.
 Whereby, the helmet 12 is securably mounted to the plaque 16 in an upright
 position, yet can be removed and handled without having to disassembly the
 support assembly 102 from the plaque 16.
 FIG. 9 shows another hanging display device 116 including a plaque 118 and
 a support assembly in the form of a transparent case 120 secured to the
 plaque. The transparent case 120 encloses and retains a piece of
 memorabilia, which, in the embodiment shown, comprises a football 122, in
 an upright position with respect to the vertical surface 14 upon which the
 plaque is mounted. The case 120 has opposing endwalls 124, 126 extending
 from a front face 128 of the plaque, and a U-shaped cup 130, 132 secured
 to each endwall for receiving the tips 134, 136 of the football 122 to
 secure the football there between. The transparent case 120, which is made
 of glass or plastic, is secured to the plaque 118 with fasteners, such as
 screws 138.
 FIG. 10 shows an additional hanging display device 140 including a support
 assembly in the form of a transparent case 142 secured to the plaque 118.
 The transparent case 142 encloses and retains a piece of memorabilia,
 which, in the embodiment shown, comprises a football 122, in an upright
 position with respect to the vertical surface 14 upon which the plaque 118
 is mounted. The case 142 has opposing endwalls 144, 146 extending from the
 front face 128 of the plaque 118, and concave cups 148, 150 secured to
 each endwall for receiving the tips 134, 136 of the football 122 to secure
 the football there between. In addition, one of the cups 150 is rotatably
 mounted in the endwall 146 and includes a knob 152 extending through the
 endwall for allowing the cup and, thus, the football 122 to be rotated
 within the case 142. The other of the cups 148 may be provided with a
 nonfriction liner 154 for allowing the ball 122 to be more easily rotated.
 The transparent case 142, which is made of glass or plastic, is secured to
 the plaque with fasteners, such as screws 156.
 Thus, new, useful and desirable display devices for displaying sports
 memorabilia have been disclosed. In summary, a display device for
 displaying sports memorabilia as disclosed herein generally includes a
 plaque adapted to be hung on a wall and a support assembly secured to the
 plaque for supporting a piece of memorabilia in an upright position with
 respect to the wall.
 The principles, preferred embodiments and modes of operation of the
 presently disclosed hanging display devices have been described in the
 foregoing specification. The presently disclosed display devices, however,
 are not to be construed as limited to the particular embodiments shown as
 these embodiments are regarded as illustrious rather than restrictive.
 Moreover, variations and changes may be made by those skilled in the art
 without departing from the spirit of the presently disclosed display
 devices as set forth by the following claims.