Photo tree

A photo display apparatus utilizing an assembly of slats having dados for permitting them to be meshed together in two or three dimensional configurations and provided with grooves in the sides for supporting the photographs.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a photo display apparatus and more particularly 
to a modular frame system for displaying photographs and similar types of 
material. 
A variety of assemblies for the display of photographs and the like which 
are available and in common use are either complicated in construction 
when they are made to be adjustible or they lack the ability to adjust 
readily to different sizes of display materials or to provide for changing 
the arrangement of the photographs. Typical such devices are shown in U.S. 
Pat. Nos. 3,323,801, 4,017,989, 4,115,938, and 4,209,922 as well as 
British Pat. No. 17,503 issued on July 31, 1907. The British patent is 
very limited in the type of display which can be arranged, as is the case 
in all of the U.S. patents noted. In addition, it will be seen that the 
assembly of some of the arrangements can be quite involved and cumbersome. 
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
The present invention overcomes many of the shortcomings of existing 
photographic display assemblies by providing a construction which is 
simple to use and yet is capable of handling all sizes of photographs and 
producing an almost unlimited variety of display configurations including 
three dimensional arrangements. Another feature of this invention is that 
the configuration selected may be for either wall mounting or free 
standing such as on a platform or a floor. 
In a preferred embodiment of this invention, there is provided an assembly 
of slats meshed together to form apparatus for displaying photographs and 
the like. Each slat consists of an elongated member square or rectangular 
in cross section with grooves formed in at least two opposite sides of 
each slat, each groove extending in the direction of the elongated length 
of the slat, the depth and thickness of each groove being suffucient to 
accomodate the photographs to be displayed. Each slat is also provided 
with at least two dados in a side without a groove, said dados extending 
at right angles to the length of the slat and to a depth of about one-half 
the thickness of the slat. The slats are joined together into the display 
assembly by meshing the dados of different slats together. With this type 
of construction a large variety of display arrangements is possible, 
depending on the number of slats involved, the number of dados on each 
slat, and the placement of the dados. In addition, the assembly can be 
wall mounted or provided with a stand for floor or platform mounting. 
In an alternative embodiment, grooves may be provided on all four sides of 
the slats which may be square, with the result that a three dimensional 
display can be produced, and the unit can be made free standing without 
the use of a separate stand to maintain it upright. 
It is thus a principal object of this invention to provide a modular frame 
system for the display of photographs and the like capable of easy 
assembly into a variety of configurations. 
Other objects and advantages of this invention will be obvious from the 
following description of preferred embodiments of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a photo display assembly 10 
consisting of slats 12, 14, 16, and 18 supporting a variety of photo 
displays 22, 24, 26, 28, 32, 34 and 36. Each of the aforementioned 
displays may consist of photographs sandwiched between clear plastic 
covers or envelopes of transparent material which are supported in grooves 
formed in slats 12-18. 
Details of the slats and their assembly are shown in FIG. 2 in which is 
illustrated slats 12 and 18 in an exploded view. It will be seen that slat 
12 is rectangular in cross section and is provided with a pair of grooves 
12a and 12b on opposite faces, while slat 18 is similarly provided with 
grooves 18a and 18b. In addition, for meshing the slats together to form 
an assembly, each slat is provided with at least two dados or notches, 
such as dado 12c in slat 12, and dado 18c in slat 18. The dados extend 
halfway through the thickness of each slat, and have a width equal to the 
width of its mating or meshing dado, as shown in FIG. 2. This results, 
when assembled, in the meshing slats having their surfaces flush with each 
other as shown in FIG. 3. The slats preferably are made out of wood for 
ease of manufacture, but of course other materials could be employed, such 
as plastic. 
In the arrangement shown in FIGS. 1-3, the slats as already noted are 
rectangular in cross-section and can be supported on a wall by the use of 
picture hangers or nails. A platform (not shown) would be employed for a 
free-standing display. 
The principles of this invention can also be embodied into a three 
dimensional assembly by using slats which are square in cross section, and 
grooves can be employed on three or all four sides of the slats. Referring 
to FIGS. 4 and 5, a typical three dimensional arrangement 40 consists of 
vertical slats 42 and horizontal slats 44, assembled together in the 
manner shown in FIG. 2 except for the three dimensional orientation. As 
best seen in FIG. 5, the slats making up this arrangement would be 
provided as shown in slat 42 by way of example, with grooves 42a-42d on 
all four sides, thereby making it possible to place photographic displays 
46, 48, 52 and 54 in the manner illustrated. 
It will also be noted that the arrangement shown in FIG. 4 is completely 
free standing so that it can be placed anywhere there is a horizontal 
surface, and that a variety of other arrangements are possible, by 
changing the number of slats and how they are slotted and put together. 
It is thus seen that there has been provided a unique apparatus for the 
display of photographs and the like of simple and inexpensive construction 
which is also capable of a variety of configurations. 
While only certain preferred embodiments of this invention have been 
described it is understood that a variety of changes are possible without 
departing from the principles of this invention.