Patent Publication Number: US-2007099457-A1

Title: Modular display board arrangement

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/732,956 filed Nov. 3, 2005, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      This invention pertains to display boards, and more specifically to boards to which sheets may be coupled for protected display.  
     BACKGROUND  
      Boards are often utilized in public areas for the display of sheets in a protected environment. Such boards often comprise a push pin board, typically a cork board, presented in a metal frame with a hinged door of glass or plexiglass in a frame. These boards provide a very professional appearance and maintain displayed sheets in an orderly arrangement. Unfortunately, such boards generally come as single units in preset sizes. As a result, they offer the user very little flexibility in the overall appearance of the board itself. Once the board is mounted, the configuration is determined and it is unlikely that the user will modify the presentation arrangement. This is particularly true in view of the fact that the display boards are relatively expensive and mounting of the boards generally requires a tradesman. Moreover, the display boards offer little opportunity for economical customization to fit a given environment or interior design.  
     SUMMARY  
      The invention provides a modular board arrangement that can be economically manufactured and easily assembled in a variety of configurations. It provides a plurality of individual units that may be assembled into a final board arrangement on site, providing the user the ability to install a highly customized board arrangement. The modular board arrangement typically includes a plurality of individual units, each including a board that may be mounted to a mounting surface, and a transparent polymeric cover that couples thereto. At least one of the board and the cover includes at least one magnet, and the other includes a corresponding metallic portion such that the cover is removably held to the board. The cover may include a border (e.g., screen printed) to conceal the magnetic or metallic portion. The cover may additionally economically include customizing indicia (e.g., screen printed). Moreover, a plurality of such individual units may be disposed in a customized arrangement that may be rearranged relatively easily.  
      The individual units may each include a frame, and may be mounted in a close proximity to provide the appearance of a single board, while allowing the user to design a custom board arrangement. The board arrangement preferably includes simple mounting brackets that are coupled to the wall by couplers, such screws, rivets, nails, or the like. The board arrangement may further include one or more adapters to facilitate the placement of a plurality of individual units in close proximity. The adapter defines a mounting location for a second individual unit based upon a predetermined mounting distance from an established mounting point on a first individual unit. The currently preferred adapter includes a portion which couples to the frame of a first board, and a portion that protrudes therefrom to define a location for the placement of the coupler. The brackets for the second units are then coupled to the mounting surface as defined by the adapter. The adapter may be repeatedly utilized for placement of any number of boards.  
      These and other advantages of the invention, as well as additional inventive features, will be apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a board arrangement constructed in accordance with teachings of the invention.  
       FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of a unit of the board arrangement of  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 3  is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 2 .  
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an exemplary bracket for mounting individual units of the board of  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 5  is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 1  showing the unit coupled to the bracket of  FIG. 4  mounted to a mounting surface.  
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an adapter for assistance in mounting a plurality of boards, constructed in accordance with teachings of the invention.  
       FIG. 7  is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional side view of the adapter of  FIG. 6  coupled to the unit of  FIG. 3  for assistance in the mounting of a second unit.  
    
    
      Before one embodiment of the invention is explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or being carried out in various ways. Also, it is understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including”, “having”, and “comprising” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Unless specified or limited otherwise, the terms “mounted,” “connected,” “supported,” and “coupled” and variations thereof are used broadly and encompass both direct and indirect mountings, connections, supports, and couplings. Further, “connected” and “coupled” are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections or couplings.  
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      Turning now to the figures, there is shown in  FIG. 1 a  modular board arrangement  20  constructed in accordance with teachings of the invention. The board arrangement  20  comprises at least one, and in this embodiment, a plurality (i.e., four) of individual board units  22 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the individual board units  22  can be different sizes and shapes from one another to provide numerous possible configurations of the modular board arrangement  20 . Each board unit  22  comprises a mounting board  24  to which one or more sheets  26  or designators  28  may be coupled. A transparent or translucent cover  30  is provided that is coupled to the surface of the board  24  to protect the mounted items  26 ,  28  from tampering or the elements.  
      In accordance with teachings of the invention, to couple the cover  30  to the board  24 , at least one of the board  24  and the cover  30  includes at least one magnet, and the other includes a corresponding metallic portion such that the cover  30  is removably held to the board  24 . In the embodiment illustrated in the exploded view of  FIG. 2 , the board  24  is metallic such that sheets  26  may be coupled thereto by small magnets  31  and magnetic indicia or designators  28  may be coupled directly to the board  24 . The cover  30  includes a pair of magnet strips  32  that are secured adjacent the top and bottom edges  34 ,  36  of the cover  30 . In this way, the cover  30  may be removably coupled to the board  24 . In other constructions, the strips  32  could be placed on side edges of the cover  30 , or in other desired locations. Additionally, multiple individual magnets could be used in place of the strips  32 . It will be appreciated, however, that the cover  30  could include metallic strips and the board  24  could alternately include a magnetic surface or magnets along its periphery, for example. Alternately, the board may include a border of a magnetic or steel material and an interior structure of an alternate material, such as a cork board, chalk board, or other material.  
      In order to provide a more appealing appearance to the board unit  22 , the cover  30  may comprise a border  38  or other indicia along the periphery of the cover  30 . The border  38  may be provided in any appropriate manner, such as, for example, silk screening the cover  30 , or securing another material, such as strips of tape, to the cover  30 , or etching or scoring the edges of the cover  30  to distort the subjacent surface. In this way, the border  38  will conceal or distort the magnetic strips  32  disposed in this embodiment along the periphery of the cover  30  and board  24 . These methods may likewise be utilized to provide customization to the board assembly  20 . Silk screening may be utilized to provide a company or other logo  40  on the cover  30  as shown in  FIG. 1 , for example. It will be appreciated by those of skill in the art that silk screening individual covers  30  will make customization accessible to a wide variety of users in that it is an economical alternative to otherwise very expensive customized display boards.  
      The cover  30  may be formed of any appropriate material by any appropriate method. Appropriate materials include, for example, acrylic or polyester materials such as polyethylene terephthalate-glycol-modified (PETG). While the cover  30  may be of any desired color and may contain opaque portions, the cover  30  is preferably transparent or translucent such that environment behind the cover  30  is visible or partially visible through the cover  30 . All or some of the cover  30  can also include a dry-erase coating or surface to allow writing directly on the cover  30  for additional customization and signage capabilities.  
      The board  24  may likewise be of any appropriate material and may be made by any appropriate method. Moreover, structure such as an additional backing  42  or frame  44  may additionally be provided, as shown in  FIG. 2 . In the illustrated embodiment, additional strength is provided to the metallic board  24  by a fiberboard backing  42 , and a metallic frame  44  is disposed about the metallic board  24  and the fiberboard backing  42  to provide a more sturdy and polished appearance. It will be appreciated that the backing  42  and frame  44  may be of an alternate design if desired. All or some of the board  24  can also include a dry-erase coating or surface to allow writing directly on the board  24  for additional customization and signage capabilities.  
      She illustrated assembly  20  additionally includes structure for mounting the individual units  22  to a mounting surface. Although such structure may be of an alternate construction, in the illustrated embodiments shown in  FIGS. 3 and 5 , the frame  44  comprises a plurality of protrusions  46 ,  48  along its back surface  50 , which not only provide additional strength and integrity to the unit  22 , but additionally may be utilized to mount the assembly  20  in combination with a mounting bracket  52 , as shown, for example, in  FIG. 4 . The mounting bracket  52  comprises a base portion  54  for placement against a mounting surface  56 , and a protruding hook portion  58 , as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . The mounting bracket  52  may be secured to the mounting surface  56  by any appropriate coupler  60 , including, for example, an adhesive, a nail, a screw, a rivet, or the like. The protrusion  46  of the frame  44  may then be disposed to engage the protruding hook portion  58  of the mounting bracket  52 .  
      According to an aspect of the invention, a plurality of individual units  22  may be disposed in a close proximity to each other to provide the impression of a unified board, as shown, for example, in  FIG. 1 . Preferably, the individual units  22  are disposed with the outer peripheries of the individual units  22  in contact or nearly in contact, although they may be disposed a slight, preferably uniform distance apart. In order to facilitate the desired placement of the units  22 , an adapter  62  may be provided such as shown in  FIG. 6 . The adapter  62  may be temporarily coupled to a mounted, first unit  22  to define the location of the coupler  60  and/or mounting bracket  52  of a second unit. Although the adapter  62  may be coupled to the first unit  22  in any appropriate manner, in the adapter  62  illustrated in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the adapter  62  includes couplers in the form of protrusions  64  that engage a channel  66  created between the protrusions  46 ,  48  of the frame  44 . The adapter  62  further includes a spacing structure  68  that presents an identification of the appropriate location of the mounting structure for the second individual unit  22 . In the illustrated embodiment, the spacing identification includes a bore  70  that extends through the spacing structure  68  to indicate the appropriate location of the coupler  60  (for example, a screw) for mounting the mounting structure of the second individual unit  22 . In this way, the user would mount the first individual unit  22 , and then dispose the protrusions  64  of the adapter  62  in the channel  66  of the frame  44  of the mounted individual unit  22 . The user would then mark on the mounting surface  56  the location of the coupler  60  for the second individual unit  22 , remove the adapter  62 , and secure the mounting bracket  52  of the second unit  22  to the mounting surface  56  for mounting the second individual unit  22 . It will be appreciated that the adapter  62  may be designed to facilitate hanging the individual units  22  in contact with one another, or spaced a predetermined distance apart.  
      Preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention. Variations of those preferred embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate, and the inventors intend for the invention to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.  
      Various features of the invention are set forth in the following claims.