ARTIFICIAL WALL STRUCTURE

Abstract: An artificial wall structure (10) comprises uprights (12) and cross pieces interconnected to form a frame, and panels (16) releasably connected to the frame to face the wall structure. The uprights have a front face (20) and a side face (24) and slots (22) formed in the side face for receiving and locating the cross pieces. The slots extend into the front face so that a cross piece is insertable between two uprights for location in the slots without lateral adjustment of the uprights. Connection means lock the cross pieces in the uprights.

Description: ARTIFICIAL WALL STRUCTURE This invention relates to artificial wall structures, and particularly to such structures for use in exhibition systems where walls of different sizes and shapes need to be constructed to form attractive and aesthetically appealing exhibition stands. The invention is particularly concerned with artificial wall structures of the type comprising uprights and cross pieces interconnected to form a frame on which panels are releasably connected to face the wall structure. Such an arrangement provides a wide variety of different shapes and sizes to be constructed merely by adjusting the height of the various uprights and the shape and numbers of the various cross pieces. The cross pieces normally have some form of connection device enabling the cross pieces to be fixed to the uprights. Uprights may comprise extruded aluminium sections, in which case cross pieces will be connected to channel sections of the upright. Such an arrangement has two basic disadvantages. Firstly, cross pieces can only be inserted from above the uprights by sliding the cross pieces down the channel sections of two parallel uprights. Secondly, when located at the correct height, the connection device is activated to secure the cross piece in position but, if the device is not tight then, weight on the cross piece is liable to cause the cross piece to slide down the channel section and out of position. Once the frame is completed, panels are connected thereto to cover the wall. It is often the case, that customers of exhibition systems require last minute changes to be made to the appearance of their stand, and this will frequently require the repositioning of panels, some of which may be back illuminated and others will simply carry company logos, names, pictures etc. When a back illuminated panel needs to be repositioned, then a new cross piece will normally be required which supports lighting elements. When this is the case, hitherto it has been necessary to remove existing cross pieces, at least those above the position where a lighting bar is to be inserted, and then insert the lighting bar followed by any new higher level cross pieces required. This is time consuming and ultimately incurs the customer with greater costs and inconvenience. It is an object of the present invention to provide an artificial wall comprising uprights and cross pieces interconnected to form a frame with panels being releasably connected to the frame to face the wall structure, wherein cross pieces can be added after the wall has been constructed and without requiring other cross pieces to be removed. In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an artificial wall structure comprising uprights and cross pieces interconnected to form a frame and panels releasably connected to the frame to face the wall structure, characterised in that the uprights have a front face and a side face and slots formed in said side face for receiving and locating said cross pieces, which slots extend into said front face whereby a said cross piece is insertable between two uprights for location in said slots without lateral adjustment of the uprights, and connection means to lock the cross piece in the upright . The connection means preferably comprises a spring clip in each end of the cross piece and wedge means cooperating with the spring clip to grip against top and bottom side-face lips of the slot on engagement of said wedge with the clip. The wedge preferably has a screw thread and a nut is captured between slots in the cross piece, the screw thread co-operating with the nut so that, on rotation of the nut, the wedge is engaged with the spring clip. Preferably, the spring clip is substantially U- shaped with its ends adapted to grip said lips and said screw thread passing through an aperture in the base of said U. Preferably the cross pieces are tubular having a substantially rectangular cross section and said slots therein are a pair of opposing rectangular windows in the sides of the cross piece, said nut comprising a knurled wheel of diameter no larger than the height of said windows, and thickness no wider than the width of said windows. Preferably said spring clip is supported by a washer extending through said windows and against which the knurled nut bears. The invention is further described hereinafter, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a wall structure according to the present invention; Figures 2a, b and c are respectively a cut-away perspective view of part of an upright, a first perspective view of a cross piece ready for connection thereto and a front perspective view of the cross piece; Figure 3 is a cut-away perspective view of an alternative structure of an upright according to the present invention; Figure 4 is a side view of an upright and cross piece, ready for connection; Figures 5a, b and c are respectively a front view, side view and rear view of a wedge element; Figures 6a, b and c are respectively a side section, end view and side view of a knurled nut; Figures 7a and b are respectively a front view and end view of a washer; Figures 8a and b are respectively a side view and a transparent end view in the direction of arrow B in Figure 7a; and Figures 9a and b are respectively a section on the line V II-V II in Figure 7b and an end view in the direction of arrow A in Figure 8a. With reference to Figure 1, a wall structure 10 comprises uprights 12 separated by cross pieces 14 to form a frame. Panels 16 are clipped into eyes 18 in front faces 20 of the uprights 12. Cross pieces 14 are received in slots 22 disposed in side faces 24 of the uprights 12. Turning to Figure 2, an upright 12 has two slots 22 side by side in side face 24, each slot 22 extending around corners 26a, b to front face 20 and an opposing rear face (not visible in the drawings ) . A cross piece 14 is shown being offered up to either slot 22 in the upright 12. Figure 3 shows a preferred embodiment, where the upright 12 ' has a single slot 22 ' which extends right across side face 24 ' and around into front face 20 ' and an opposing rear face (not visible in the drawings). Face 24 ' is not necessarily perpendicular to front face 20' and the rear face, but this is preferred. In Figure 4, upright 12" has a slot 22 of length 1. Cross piece 14 is a hollow rectangular tube having a notch 28 formed on its upper and lower surface adjacent each end. The length m of end 30 of the cross piece 14 is slightly less than the length 1 of the slot 22 so that end 30 fits within the confines of slot 22. Because the cross piece 14 is hollow, the notches 28 are open above and below. In the sides of the cross piece 14, are formed windows 32 which are rectangular in shape (only one being visible in Figure 4). A drum shaped knurled nut 34 is received within the windows 32 so that a segment of the nut 34 protrudes through the window 32 on either side of the cross piece 14. Turning to Figure 9, nut 34 is constructed from plastics material and has a threaded boss 36 received in a throughbore 38. Threaded in the boss 36 is a bolt 40 whose head 42 is captivated in a wedge element 44. The wedge element, shown in more detail in Figure 5, is rectangular in section substantially corresponding with the internal shape of the tubular cross piece 14. It has the throughbore 46 to receive the bolt 40 and a recess 48 to captivate the head 42 of the bolt so that the bolt cannot rotate relative to the wedge element 44. The wedge element 44 has chamfered shoulders 50 whose purpose is explained further herein below. However, the wedge element 44, with its captivated bolt 40 is connected to the nut 34 by engagement of the bolt 40 in the boss 36. Thus by rotation of the nut 34, the bolt 40, and hence the wedge element 44, is drawn further into or pushed out of, the end of the cross piece 14. A U-shaped spring clip 52 is retained within the cross piece 14 between the wedge element 44 and nut 34, the bolt 40 passing through an aperture 54 in the base of the clip 52. The base of the clip 52 is supported by a washer 56, further details whereof are shown in Figure 7. The washer likewise has an aperture 58 for passage of the bolt 40 and also a groove 60 which serves to locate the spring clip 52. Washer 56, like the nut 34, is insertable in the cross piece 14 through the windows 32, ledges 62 formed opposite the groove 60 serving to locate inside edges 64 of each window 32, which edges 64 are those closest to the open end 30 of the cross piece 14. Top edges 66 of the washer 56 are also a close fit in the windows 32 and serve to maintain the orientation of the washer 56 within the cross piece 14. The washer 56 provides a smooth bearing surface 68 against which a front face 70 of the nut 34 slides when it is rotated. Returning to Figure 9, the spring clip 52 has flared ends 72 which bear against chamfered shoulders 50 of the wedge element 44. When the nut 34 is unscrewed from the bolt 40, and the wedge element 44 is in a leftmost position (as shown in the lower half of Figure 9a), the ends 72 of the spring clip are brought within the confines of the dimension m at the end 30 of the cross piece 14. The height of the wedge element 44 is likewise within the limit m. Thus as shown in Figure 4, (see also Figure 8 ) the end of the cross piece 14 can be inserted into the slot 22, not only by longitudinal movement of the cross piece 14 with respect to the slot 22, as would be necessary in Figure 4 but also by transverse movement in and out of the plane of the drawing in Figure 8. Thus with reference to Figure 1, where two pillars 12 are already in position, another cross piece 14 can be added as required simply by transverse insertion from the direction of front faces 20 of each upright, and without the need for any lateral adjustment of the uprights 12. Thus there is no requirement to disturb any upright or indeed any existing cross piece. When a cross piece has been inserted as shown in Figure 8 into a slot 22, the nut 34 is tightened and so the wedge element 44 is drawn into the cross piece 14. However, there is no corresponding movement of the spring clip 52, so that its ends 72 abut the shoulders 50 and are splayed apart. As the nut 34 is tightened further, the ends 72 of the clip 52 engage upper and lower lips 76 of the slot 22 ( see also Figure 9 ) . Further tightening clamps the ends 72 and the lips 76 between the wedge element 44 and top and bottom edges 78 of the end of the cross piece 14. By this arrangement, not only is there secure vertical fixing of the cross piece with respect to the upright 12" (by virtue both of the spring clip 52 hooking onto leading edge 76 of the opening 22 and by the base of tongues 30 resting on the edge 76 ) but also there is secure lateral connection given that the ends 72 of the spring element 52 become retained by side walls 20 of the upright just above and below the slot 22. Of course, there is also longitudinal security in that the cross piece 14 cannot be pulled longitudinally out of the slot 22, without first unscrewing the nut 34 to push out the wedge element 44 and permit the spring clip 52 to spring back to its starting position where its ends 72 are within the confines of dimension m of the end 30 of the cross piece 14. In this respect, it is to be noted that the washer 56 serves to support the spring clip 52 so that it flexes at two points 55, one at either end of the washer 56 and across the full width of the spring element. If the washer did not provide this support, the flexing of the clip 52 would be about its centre where it is weakest having the throughbore 54. Thus the great advantage with the present invention is that quick and effective connections between cross pieces and uprights can be affected without the need to disturb surrounding arrangements. Therefore, changes to the panel arrangement can be made with minimum disruption. Thus, for example, a new light panel can be inserted into an opaque wall at any position because a light supporting cross piece 14x ( see Figure 1 ) , having lights 15 connected thereto, can be inserted without difficulty. The reader's attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference. All of the features disclosed in this specification ( including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive. Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings ) , may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features. The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiments. The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. An artificial wall structure comprising uprights and cross pieces interconnected to form a frame and panels releasably connected to the frame to face the wall structure, characterised in that the uprights have a front face and a side face and slots formed in said side face for receiving and locating said cross pieces, which slots extend into said front face whereby a said cross piece is insertable between two uprxghts for location in said slots without lateral adjustment of the uprights, and connection means to lock the cross piece in the upright. 2. A structure as claimed in Claim 1, characterised in that said connection means comprises a spring clip in each end of the cross piece and wedge means cooperating with the spring clip to grip against top and bottom side-face lips of the slot on engagement of said wedge with the clip. 3. A structure as claimed in Claim 2, characterised in that said wedge has a screw thread and a nut is captured between slots in the cross piece, the screw thread co-operating with the nut so that, on rotation of the nut, the wedge is engaged with the spring clip. 4. A structure as claimed in Claim 3, characterised in that the cross pieces are tubular having a substantially rectangular cross section and said slots therein are a pair of opposing rectangular windows in the sides of the cross piece, said nut comprising a knurled wheel of diameter no larger than the height of said windows, and thickness no wider than the width of said windows. 5. A structure as claimed in Claim 2, 3 or 4, characterised in that said spring clip is substantially U-shaped with its ends adapted to grip said lips and said screw thread passing through an aperture in the base of said U. 6. A structure as claimed in Claims 4 and 5, characterised in that said spring clip is supported by a washer extending through said windows and against which the knurled nut bears. 7. A wall structure substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any of the drawings.

Inventors: FIRBANK JEREMY KENNETH, RIX DAVID PAUL, FIRBANK, JEREMY, KENNETH, RIX, DAVID, PAUL
Applicants: FIRBANK JEREMY KENNETH, RIX DAVID PAUL, SECTOR EXHIBITING SYSTEMS LTD, FIRBANK, JEREMY, KENNETH, RIX, DAVID, PAUL, SECTOR EXHIBITING SYSTEMS LTD.
Application year: 1998
Main classification: E04B2
IPC codes: E04B2, F16B7