Lamp shade and knock-down kit for forming same

A ready-to-assemble knock-down kit for forming a lamp shade and analogous articles includes a plurality of panels, preferably of flexible non-self-supporting material such as cloth, and a plurality of longitudinally-extending ribs for snappingly engaging adjacent side edge regions of each two adjacent panels. Each rib has resilient wall portions which bound a generally U-shaped channel for receiving therein with snap-type action a side edge region of one panel and a side edge region of another adjacent panel. The panels are supported in a predetermined lamp shade type orientation relative to each other by a plurality of support elements which extend radially outwardly from a ring member that is adapted to be mounted on a lamp to be shaded. Each support element has one end turnably mounted in the ring member and another end mountable on a respective rib. The other end is receivable either directly in the channel of the respective rib or in an auxiliary channel formed in an extension of the rib. The shade is assembled from a plurality of parts which are shipped in a generally flat, compact or collapsed condition.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates generally to an improved lamp shade 
construction and, more particularly, to a knock-down kit for forming a 
lamp shade from a plurality of ready-to-assemble parts which are shipped 
in a generally flat, compact or collapsed condition. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
It has earlier been proposed to fully assemble lamp shades prior to 
shipment. Such lamp shades require a considerable amount of storage space 
and shipment space, particularly in cases where the fully assembled lamp 
shade cannot be easily nested or stacked, for example, when the lamp 
shades have a cylindrical configuration. In order to reduce the amount of 
space required for storage and/or shipment and the concomitant high 
shipping costs associated therewith, it has also been proposed to 
construct a ready-to-assemble or a knock-down lamp shade which can be 
compactly packaged in collapsed condition for facilitating storage and/or 
shipment and for reducing storage and shipping costs. 
Although the known collapsible lamp shade kits are generally acceptable for 
their intended purpose, they have not proven to be altogether satisfactory 
in use. Such prior art kits have proven to be very difficult for an 
ordinary purchaser to assemble. Moreover, the assembly of the known prior 
art kits by a retailer prior to sale has also proven to be a time 
consuming, complex and expensive task. Furthermore, the prior art kits 
construct their lamp shades of rigid material such as glass or plastic. 
Such rigid panels are easily scratched and, once broken, are expensive to 
replace. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Objects of the Invention 
Accordingly, it is the general object of the present invention to overcome 
the drawbacks of the prior art. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved lamp 
shade kit which is quick and easy to assemble. 
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved lamp 
shade kit which can be shipped in a compact collapsed condition such that 
a mimimum amount of storage and/or shipping space is required. 
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive 
and aesthetic collapsible shade. 
An additional object of the present invention is to provide for quick and 
easy interchange of non-rigid, non-selfsupporting, flexible material 
panels. 
Brief Description of the Invention 
In keeping with these objects and others which will become apparent 
hereinafter, one feature of the invention resides, briefly stated, in a 
knock-down kit for forming a lamp shade and other analogous articles which 
comprises a plurality of panels each having opposed 
longitudinally-extending side edge regions, and means for snappingly 
engaging adjacent side edge regions of each two adjacent panels. The 
snap-type means includes a plurality of longitudinally-extending ribs. 
Each rib has resilient wall portions which bound a generally U-shaped 
channel for receiving therein with snap-type action a side edge region of 
one panel and a side edge region of another adjacent panel. The knock-down 
kit further includes means for supporting the panels in a predetermined 
lamp shade type orientation relative to each other. The supporting means 
includes a ring member for attaching the lamp shape to the lamp to be 
shaded, and a plurality of support elements each of which extends radially 
outwardly from the ring member. Each support element has one end turnably 
mounted in the ring member and another end mountable on a respective rib. 
The above-described parts are easily assembled from a flat, compact or 
collapsed condition to the final fully assembled lamp shade configuration. 
In accordance with the invention, the resilient walls of each rib 
snappingly and reliably engage adjacent side edge regions of each two 
adjacent panels. The ribs thus serve as clips and provide an especially 
quick and easy to assemble lamp shade which can be assembled and errected 
by even the most unskilled user. The ribs further provide an especially 
attractive and aesthetic appearance which stimulates the acceptance and 
purchase of the lamp shade kit by the public. The usage of a minimum 
amount of space for storage and shipment is assured by the packing of all 
of the above-described parts in a generally flat compact package. 
The ribs also permit the plurality of panels to be quickly and easily 
interchanged with one another. In a preferred embodiment, the panels are 
constituted by non-rigid flexible material such as cloth. In the event 
that one panel is damaged, it is relatively simple for a user to 
disassemble the lamp shade and replace the damaged panel with a fresh one. 
In certain cases, the various panels may be differently colored. A user 
can select which colored panel he desires in dependence upon his personal 
taste. Panels fabricated of cloth are particularly inexpensive to replace 
as compared with glass, plastic or other panels constituted by rigid 
material. 
The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention 
are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, 
however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together 
with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood 
from the following description of specific embodiments when read in 
connection with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates in top plan view the 
major parts of a multi-part ready-to-assemble knock-down kit for forming a 
lamp shade. The illustrated parts are shown in generally flat, collapsed, 
disassembled condition and are oriented relative to each other not in the 
manner in which they are customarily stored, packaged or shipped, but 
instead in a manner which indicates their proper orientation for assembly 
purposes. Articles other than lamp shades, such as waste baskets, may 
likewise be assembled according to the present invention. For ease of 
description, the knock-down kit will be described in connection with the 
construction of lamp shades. 
However, it will be expressly understood that the following disclosure is 
not intended to be limited solely to lamp shade constructions but includes 
the formation of other analogous articles. 
The knock-down kit 100 of FIG. 1 comprises a plurality of panels 10, 20, 
30, 40 which serves as the shade members. The panels are preferably 
constituted by any suitable soft, bendable, flexible, non-rigid, 
non-self-supporting material such as light-weight paper or light fabric 
material, or by any suitable semirigid but still bendable material such as 
heavy-weight paper, parchment, thin plastic or stiffened fabric material. 
In some cases the panels may be constituted by a rigid material such as 
glass or heavy-weight synthetic plastic material. Of course, all the 
panels need not be constituted of the same material for the same 
application. It is possible that different panels may be constituted of 
different materials in accordance with the aesthetic design and tastes of 
a user. 
The panels are preferably generally rectangular in shape, as illustrated, 
or may be of numerous other shapes such as square, trapezoidal, conical, 
frusto-conical, etc. 
Panel 10 has a pair of opposed longitudinally-extending side edge regions 
12, 14 and another pair of opposed transversely-extending end edge regions 
16, 18. In analogous manner, panels 20; 30; 40 have side edge regions 22, 
24; 32, 34; 42, 44, respectively and also have end edge regions 26, 28; 
36, 38; 46, 48. 
The knock-down kit 100 further includes a plurality of 
longitudinally-extending ribs or clips or edge binders 70, 72, 74, 76 
operative for snappingly engaging adjacent side edge regions of each two 
adjacent panels. As best shown in FIG. 5 for the exemplary rib 70, rib 70 
has a pair of opposite resilient side wall portions 73, 75 and a spine or 
base wall portion 71 extending between the side wall portions. All of 
these wall portions 71, 73, 75 together bound a generally U-shaped channel 
77 operative for receiving therein with snap-type action a side edge 
region of one panel (e.g., side edge region 12 of panel 10) and a side 
edge region of another adjacent panel (e.g., side edge region 24 of panel 
20). In analogous manner, ribs 72, 74, 76 have similar side and base wall 
portions. 
The ribs are constituted by any resilient material, synthetic plastic 
material being preferred. Side wall portions 73, 75 are urged by their own 
inherent resilience towards each other and may but need not touch each 
other at their free tips or border end regions at the end of the rib which 
is opposite to spine 71. 
The knock-down kit 100 still further includes a mounting ring or ring 
member 50 having a vertical axis of symmetry B--B, and a plurality of 
rod-like support elements 52, 54, 56, 58. Mounting ring 50 facilitates 
positioning of the lamp shade upon a mounting structure (not shown) of a 
lamp to be shaded, such as a table lamp. The support elements 52, 54, 56, 
58 extend radially outwardly from the axis B--B of the ring member 50 and 
are equiangularly spaced about the periphery of the ring member 50. As 
best shown in FIG. 4, support element 52 has one end region 90 turnably 
mounted in ring 50. An annular groove 91 is formed about end region 90, 
and a portion of ring member 50 of deformed to form an integral projection 
92 which extends in axial direction into annular groove 91. A separate set 
screw or analogous member could be employed as a substitute for the 
integral projection 92. Essentially, this construction assures that 
support element 52 may rotate about its longitudinal axis, and that the 
support element 52 cannot be easily removed from ring 50. 
The opposite end region or hook 62 of support element 52 extends generally 
normally of support element 52, and preferably extends at an obtuse angle 
thereto. The turning movement of support element 52 allows the hook 62 to 
be moved from its FIG. 1 position in which hook 62 and support element 52 
lie generally in a horizontal plane which extends normally of axis B--B, 
to its FIG. 4 position in which hook 62 and support element 52 lie 
generally in a vertical plane which extends in direction of axis B--B. 
In analogous manner, support elements 54, 56, 58 are identical in structure 
and operation to that already described in connection with support element 
52. Hooks 64, 66, 68 all extend generally normally, but preferably at an 
obtuse angle, relative to their respective support elements. 
FIG. 2 best shows the method of assembling the various parts of the 
knock-down kit to form a lamp shade. The side edge regions of each two 
adjacent panels, e.g., side edge regions 12 and 24 of panels 10 and 20, 
are bent or flexed inwardly so that side edge regions 12, 24 overlap each 
other along their entire lengths. The overlapped side edge regions 12, 24 
are thereupon inserted together in direction of arrow A through the 
openable end of rib 70 which is remote from spine 71. The resilient side 
wall portions 73 and 75, which are normally biased towards each other due 
to the inherent resilience of the rib 70, are now forced apart to thereby 
permit entry of the overlapped side edge regions 12, 24 into the channel 
77. FIG. 5 best shows the overlapped side edge regions 12, 24 fully 
clamped within rib 70 by the side wall portions 73, 75. 
After the hook 62 has been rotated from its position generally normally of 
axis B--B to its position generally parallel to axis B--B, the hook 62 is 
inserted in direction of arrow C into the channel 77 wherein it is 
received with snap-type action. FIG. 5 again best shows the hook 62 fully 
clamped within rib 70 by frictional interference with resilient side wall 
portions 73, 75. 
The assembly procedure thus described for support element 52, rib 70, and 
side edge portions 12 and 24 is repeated for the other support elements, 
ribs, and side edge portions. The fully assembled lamp shade 200 is 
illustrated in FIG. 3. It will be noted that the number of panels, ribs 
and support elements need not be limited to four as illustrated, but an 
arbitrary number of such panels may be employed according to the 
particular application and design desired. 
FIG. 6 shows a modified cross-section for the ribs. Modified rib 80 
comprises a pair of resilient side wall portions 83, 85 which are 
analogous in structure and function to side wall portions 73 and 75; and 
base wall portion or spine 81 which is analogous in structure and function 
to base wall portion 71. Modified rib 80 further comprises auxiliary side 
wall portions or extension portions 82, 84 which are located on the 
opposite side of spine 81. Side wall portions 83, 85 and spine 81 together 
bound a generally U-shaped channel 87 which is analogous in function to 
the aforementioned channel 77. Extension portions 82, 84 and spine 81 
together bound an auxiliary generally U-shaped channel 89. Auxiliary 
channel 89 is analogous in function to the aforementioned channel 77 and 
is operative for receiving therein with snap-type action the hook 62 of 
the support element 52. 
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or 
more together, may also find a useful application in other types of 
constructions differing from the types described above. 
For example, each panel need not be a single sheet, but may constitute a 
plurality of juxtaposed sheets which are sandwiched together. As shown in 
sectional view in FIG. 7, three sheets 110, 120, 130 overlap each other to 
form a multi-layered sandwich panel. 
Sheet 130 is the outermost sheet as considered in direction away from the 
light source to be shaded. Sheet 130 is of clear transparent material, 
preferably a clear synthetic plastic material. 
Sheet 110 is the innermost sheet which is closest relative to the light 
source, and serves as a backing or support sheet. Sheet 110 is of white 
translucent material, preferably paper or synthetic plastic translucent 
material. 
Sheet 120 is mounted between sheets 110 and 130, and serves as a display 
article. Article 120 may be any sheet-like material having indicia which 
is desired to be displayed by rear illumination, e.g., a negative or 
positive print, wallpaper, fabric material, contact paper, colored paper, 
colored or transparent synthetic plastic gels or acetates, etc. 
It will be apparent that article 120 is interchangeably mounted between 
sheets 110 and 130 to thereby permit different articles to be displayed. 
The overlapped sandwich side regions are received in the ribs as described 
above in connection with the single sheet panel. 
While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a 
lamp shade and knock-down kit for forming same, it is not intended to be 
limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural 
changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the 
present invention. 
Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of 
the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge 
readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, 
from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential 
characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, 
therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended 
within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.