Display rack

A display rack comprising a support (4) and a row of arms (5) which extend away from the support, each arm having a tip (6) which points back towards the support for hooking an elongate object such as a golf club (10) to retain it in a slot (3) between the arm and the support. The display rack is usually incorporated in a display. Elongate objects such as golf clubs may be displayed so as to extend generally vertically.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a display rack suitable for displaying 
elongate objects such as golf clubs. The invention also relates to a 
display incorporating the display rack and to a plurality of displays. 
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
A known display rack comprises a straight support along one edge of which 
is positioned a straight row of arms. Each arm is straight and points away 
from the support so that the gaps between the arms define slots which are 
perpendicular to the support. In order to display golf clubs, the display 
rack projects generally horizontally from a wall at a position spaced 
above a base. The golf clubs are displayed upside down with their handles 
resting on the base. The shaft of each club leans into a respective one of 
the slots of the display rack so that the shaft rests against the support 
at the far end of the slot. The overall arrangement is that all of the 
displayed golf clubs lean away from a customer in the shop. A further 
disadvantage is that the heads of the golf clubs are relatively bulky and 
tend to be positioned close to each other, which can make the removal of a 
particular golf club somewhat difficult. 
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a 
display rack comprising a support and a row of arms which extend away from 
the support, each arm having a tip which points back towards the support 
for hooking an elongate object to retain it in a slot between the arm and 
the support. 
With the display rack, it is possible to form a display in which the 
elongate objects do not rest against the support but instead are held by 
the arms. This enables a variety of visually appealing and easy-to-use 
displays to be formed as will be discussed later with regard to the 
embodiments shown in the drawings. 
Usually, the arms generally lie in a common plane so that the slots are 
generally coplanar with the arms. 
In the preferred arrangement, the support and arms are in the form of a 
strip with the slots running inwards from a first side edge of the strip. 
If the display rack is in the form of a strip, it is easy to manufacture. 
Also, a plurality of display racks may be cut from a single sheet of 
material, such as a wooden board. 
Preferably, the strip has a second side edge which is substantially 
parallel to the first side edge. The second side edge may include a row of 
recesses in order to increase the display capacity of the display rack. 
The first side edge may be straight. Preferably, however, the first side 
edge is convex. For example, the first side edge may comprise at least 
part of the circumference of a circle, e.g. substantially a quarter, half 
or the full circumference of a circle. 
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a 
display comprising a base and a display rack supported above the base, the 
display rack being in accordance with the first aspect of the present 
invention and positioned relative to the base so as to define a plurality 
of notional display axes each extending upwards from the base and 
extending through a respective one of the slots of the display rack. 
Preferably, if the first side edge of the display rack is convex, the 
notional display axes are arranged to lie on a notional 
downwardly-tapering generally cone-like surface. When the elongate objects 
are items such as golf clubs and are positioned along the notional display 
axes, the set of displayed golf clubs splays apart in the upward direction 
so that the heads of the golf clubs are positioned further apart than the 
handles of the golf clubs which are resting on the base of the display. 
This produces an attractive appearance and makes it easy to remove a 
particular golf club. 
In order to make it clear to the person inserting the elongate objects in 
the display as to where the lower ends of the elongate objects should be 
located on the base, it is preferable that the base includes a row of 
recessed locations for the bottom ends of the notional display axes. Thus, 
the user may simply position the lower ends of the elongate objects in the 
recessed locations. 
In a particularly preferable arrangement, the row of recessed locations is 
curved and has a tighter radius of curvature than the convex first side 
edge of the display rack. This helps to ensure that the person 
incorporating the elongate objects in the display will produce the desired 
splaying apart of the displayed elongate objects. 
The recessed locations of the row may merge into each other and be provided 
by an elongate recess. Alternatively, the base may have a row of discrete 
recesses each of which defines a respective one or group of the row of 
recessed locations. 
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a 
plurality of displays, each display being in accordance with the second 
aspect of the present invention, wherein a communal stand supports all of 
the display racks above their respective bases. 
Thus, displays may be added in modular manner to the collection of displays 
to produce an overall collection which is big enough to be suited to the 
required use. 
When each display rack is such that the support and arms of the display 
rack are in the form of a strip with the slots running inwards from a 
first side edge of the strip, it is possible to arrange the plurality of 
displays so that the strips of the display racks are disposed along a 
serpentine path. Preferably, along the direction of the serpentine path, 
successive first side edges of the strips face alternately in opposite 
directions. When the elongate objects such as golf clubs are incorporated 
in the plurality of displays, the golf clubs may be positioned so as to 
appear to resemble a serpentine wave of golf clubs. 
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a 
plurality of displays, each display being in accordance with the second 
aspect of the present invention, wherein a first one of the displays is 
positioned higher than a second one of the displays. This produces a 
compact arrangement in which a large number of elongate objects such as 
golf clubs may be displayed. 
Usually, the base of the first display is higher than the base of the 
second display but lower than the display rack of the second display. 
If desired, one or more further displays may be stacked above the first 
display. 
The common stacking axis of the displays may be generally vertical or may 
lean away from the customer. Alternatively or additionally, the common 
stacking axis may be tilted to one side when viewed from the front by the 
customer. 
The present invention also includes a display or plurality of displays in 
which a plurality of elongate objects (e.g. golf clubs) are actually 
positioned along respective ones of the notional display axes so as to be 
hooked in position by the arms of the display rack(s).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to FIG. 1, the display rack 1 is in the form of a curved flat 
strip that may be cut out of a sheet of material such as wood or may be 
injection moulded out of plastics material. The strip has a first, 
radially outer side edge 2. A plurality of generally J-shaped slots 3 run 
inwards from the first side edge 2. If the display rack is being cut out 
of a sheet of material, the machine which cuts out the general outline of 
the display rack may also be used to cut out the individual slots 3. The 
overall appearance of the display rack 1 is such that it has an elongate 
support 4 which runs the length of the display rack and a plurality of 
arms 5 which extend away from the support 4. Each arm 5 has a tip 6 which 
points back towards the support 4. This enables the arm to hook an 
elongate object to retain it in the associated slot 3 that is present 
between the arm 5 and an adjacent one of the arms. As viewed in FIG. 1, 
the elongate objects such as golf clubs would project up out of the plane 
of the paper and would lean radially outwards against the arms 5 at the 
closed ends of the slots 3. 
Each slot 3 is illustrated as being generally J-shaped, but instead it 
could, for example, be generally T-shaped with the stem of the T running 
inwards from the first side edge 2 and the top part of the T being bent at 
each end back towards the edge 2. Thus, a pair of the arms 5 would define 
the slot. The display rack 1 could combine J-shaped and T-shaped slots. 
In FIG. 2, the plurality of displays comprises a first display (display 
rack 1' and display base 7') which is stacked beneath a second display 
(display rack 1" and display base 7"). 
The display base 7 is illustrated in more detail in FIG. 3. As may be seen, 
the display base 7 is in the form of a platform which incorporates, in its 
upper surface, an elongate recess for receiving the bottom ends of the 
golf clubs. The elongate recess 8 defines a series of recessed locations 
for the bottom ends of the golf clubs. It may be seen that the radius of 
curvature of the recess 8 is tighter than the radius of curvature of the 
first side edge 2 of the display rack 1. As a result, each of the displays 
illustrated in FIG. 2 is such that the notional display axes 9 which 
extend upwards from the recess 8 so as to pass through respective ones of 
the slob 3 of the display rack 1 appear to lie on a notional 
downwardly-tapering generally cone-like surface. 
Some of the notional display axes 9 are illustrated in FIG. 2. As a result 
of this outward splaying of the notional display axes 9, golf clubs 10, 
when aligned along respective ones of the display axes 9, splay apart from 
one another in the upward direction so that the heads of the golf clubs 
are spaced further apart from one another than the handles of the golf 
clubs. This produces a compact display of the golf clubs while still 
ensuring that the heads of the golf clubs do not clash with one another so 
as to make removal of a particular golf club difficult. 
As is apparent from FIG. 2, the display base 7" of the second display is 
positioned below the display rack 1' of the first display. This helps to 
ensure that the plurality of displays are reasonably compact. 
In the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 2, clips 11 (see FIG. 1) at the ends 
of the strip of each display rack 1 are used to clip the display rack to a 
support surface 12 of a wall. Instead of the support surface 12 being 
provided by a wall, it could instead be provided by a stand capable of 
being located, for example, in the middle of a room. 
The display rack 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 is generally semi-circular. In a 
smaller version of the display rack, the length would be cut in half to be 
approximately a quadrant or a quarter of a circle. Under these 
circumstances, it would only be necessary to provide a single clip 11 so 
that one end of the display rack would be attached to the support surface 
12 but the other end of the display rack would be freely projecting away 
from the support surface. 
A series of recesses (not shown) may be provided in a second side edge 15 
of the display rack 1 so as to permit a second row of golf clubs to be 
leaned against the support 4 at a position radially inwards of the row of 
golf clubs hooked by the arms 5. Both rows would have the handles of the 
golf clubs resting on the same base 7. 
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a display. It includes four display racks 
101. Each display rack 101 is in the form of a flat strip with generally 
straight and parallel side edges. As a result, the slots 103 are arranged 
in a straight line. The four display racks 101 are joined end to end to 
form an overall square-like display rack. The display racks 101 are 
supported by a stand 113 above a communal square base 107 which 
incorporates a square recess 108. The size of the recess 108 is smaller 
than the square formed by the four display racks 101. As a result, when 
golf clubs (not shown) are stood upside down in the recess 108, they may 
be hooked by the arms 103 so that they all lean outwards away from the 
stand 113. 
FIG. 5 shows a different display. Two display racks 201 of the general type 
illustrated in FIG. 1 are joined end to end to form an annular, 
approximately circular display rack which is supported by a stand 213 
above a base 207. The base 207 is formed by joining together two of the 
bases 7 of the type illustrated in FIG. 3. Some of the notional display 
axes 209 are illustrated in FIG. 5 and it may be seen that they appear to 
lie on the surface of a downwardly-tapering cone. As a result, the golf 
clubs 210 positioned along the display axes 209 are splayed apart from one 
another in the upward direction. 
FIG. 6 illustrates a plurality of displays in which a plurality of display 
racks 301 of the general type illustrated in FIG. 1 are connected end to 
end so as to form a serpentine arrangement. It may be seen that the slots 
of successive display racks switch from one side of the serpentine path to 
the other side and then back again. Respective bases 307 of the general 
type illustrated in FIG. 3 are positioned beneath the display racks 301. 
An elongate stand 313 maintains the desired positioning of the display 
racks 301 above their bases 307. 
While various embodiments of the present invention have been described in 
detail, it is apparent that modifications and adaptations of those 
embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art. It is to be expressly 
understood, however, that such modifications and adaptations are within 
the scope of the present invention, as set forth in the following claims.