Patent Publication Number: US-6340092-B1

Title: Space saver

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to display racks for floor and wall coverings. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to display racks for floor and wall coverings. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     Ceramic tiles are usually displayed upon sample boards that can be moved about display rooms to allow customers to see the tiles in various lights or against certain colors or fabrics. In recent years, there has been a trend to increase the size of individual tiles, particularly those used as floor coverings. To create more attractive displays, several tiles are often attached to each sample board, either by layering or water saw cutting pieces to fit, and, therefore, create, a more artistic presentation. These new innovative display techniques have created a need for display racks that are capable of displaying tiles in a limited space. Ceramic tiles weigh approximately 3.5 pounds per square foot. Hence, display racks for these tiles must be sturdy. 
     A known means for displaying tiles mounted on display boards is to incorporate them into display racks that contain multiple hinged wings. These display racks have the advantage of allowing a large number of tiles to be available for inspection by customers, yet, at the same time, occupying a relatively small amount of valuable floor space in a retail establishment. These display racks promote tile breakage, since the wings that are fitted with back pivot pins knock into one another, and the displayed tiles often contact one another with force sufficient to cause breakage. 
     A proposed method for preventing this accidental breakage is to mount resilient stops or bumpers on the wings. These stops are usually mounted on the front edge of the wings. While preventing breakage to a limited extent, these stops are not entirely satisfactory, particularly when layered tiles are mounted on the display racks. 
     Another problem with prior art display racks is that the wings are permanently mounted on the racks. Frequently, there is no provision for easily removing individual tiles from the racks. Often, the racks are not movable and are located in dark, poorly illuminated areas, thus making a poor presentation of the tiles on display. In nearly all instances, there is no provision for the easy removal or replacement of the wings. In addition, many prior art racks are unitary in construction and cannot be disassembled for shipping or storage. 
     The invention, therefore, provides to the art a number of improvements and advantages over the prior art. It provides a sturdy space saving rack for displaying ceramic tiles and other floor and wall coverings, such as glass or marble tiles that are included in the meaning of the term “ceramic tiles” as it is used in the specification and claims. It stores upon rotatable vertical wings a large number of easily removable tile containing sample boards that may be of different sizes. The display rack also allows the wings to remain in the open or closed position without moving. It also uses a bumper system that protects the displayed tiles from damage or breakage due to accidental moving of the wings. It provides interchangeable wings designed to be removed from the display rack and stored elsewhere in a manner allowing the mounted tiles to be viewed. With the quick removal feature, it is possible to quickly display new tile selections when old ones are removed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The display rack of the invention for ceramic tiles has two framed sides, a back, and an open front. It has the following specific elements: left and right frames, having tops, bottoms, backs, and fronts. Further, it has a top beam, having a front, a top, and a bottom, connecting the back of the tops of the left and right frames. Also, there is a bottom beam, having a front, a top, and a base, connecting the back of the bottoms of the left and right frames at a point forward of the position of the top beam. 
     A plurality of spaced apart, angled pins is located in the bottom of the top beam and in the top of the bottom beam. The spacing is desirably equidistant. They are arranged in the form of approximately equal arcs that have their apex at the center of the top and bottom beams. The pins in the top beam are longer than the pins in the bottom beam. There is a top covering at least the front portions of the left and right frames, and a horizontal foot securing the front ends of the bottoms of the left and right frames. 
     A further element of the display rack is a plurality of wings removably mounted within the display rack. These wings are rectangular frames, having sides, tops, bottoms, backs, and fronts, and are sized to be received within the display rack. These wings have vertical holes in the top and bottom of their backs that mate with and are longer than the pins. The wings contain a plurality of parallel channels, having U-shaped sides or guides, a back, and a front, and are usually opposed. They are mounted horizontally, on opposite sides of the sides of the wings, for receiving in a sliding relationship vertical ceramic tile sample boards. A final element is the presence of resilient bumpers attached to the wings. 
     The display rack described above may contain the additional features. The base of the bottom beam at about its center contains an adjustable leg to prevent sagging of the center portion of the back beam. To improve appearance and visibility of the tiles displayed in the rack, the back and top are covered. The front of the top beam contains a light and a reflector in the form of an assembly that may be hinged for ease of servicing the lights. This allows easing viewing of the displayed tiles by customers. For the sake of convenience, the lights are controlled by a switch located on the front of one side of the display rack. The reflector, in addition to directing light on the wings, may have a front portion containing an opaque light transmitting area for advertising purposes. 
     The pins are at an angle of about 1.5° to 10°, preferably 2° to 5°, and, most preferably, 3° to 4°. The vertical holes in the back of the wings should contain approximately matching angles and be oversized. The angled pins, coupled with their arcuate placement, allow the wings to act as though they were pages of a flat or tilted loosely bound book. As the wings are turned, they remain in place, whether it be the first wing turned, or all of the wings, thereby exposing the last one. To allow the wings to be turned easily, the angled pins on the top of the bottom beam are fitted with washers that mate with grommets located in the holes in the bottom of the vertical back side of the wing. The bottom front of the wings are fitted with legs. 
     The backs of the parallel channels contain a vertical stop. The wings contain U-shaped parallel channels. They are opposed when the sides of the sample boards are identical. They have a top channel and a bottom channel, each having inner and outer sides, a back, and a front, mounted horizontally on opposite sides of the sides of the wings for receiving in a vertical sliding relationship ceramic tile sample boards. They have the inner sides of the top and bottom channels attached to the sides of the frame. The outer sides of the top channel are taller than the inner sides on the bottom channel. This allows all of the sample boards to be removed by sliding them out from the front of the channels, which is open. They may be removed by being lifted vertically upward and then outwardly. The vertical space between the channels may be varied to accommodate sample boards of different sizes. The resilient bumpers are mounted on the front, preferably, on the top front end of the wings, and are curved. Further, the resilient bumpers are detachable. Another useful feature of the invention is that the display rack is capable of being assembled and disassembled, since its elements are designed to be fastened using fasteners, such as screws and nuts and bolts. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an elevational perspective view of the ceramic tile display rack of the invention. 
     FIG. 2 is an elevational exploded view of the various elements used to make up the ceramic tile display rack of the invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a top view corresponding to FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of FIG.  3 . 
     FIG. 5 is a side view of FIG.  4 . 
     FIG. 6 is a vertical view of a section of a wing holding two tile sample boards. 
     FIG. 7 is a horizontal front view taken across the lines  7 — 7  of FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 8 is a partial, detailed horizontal view taken across the lines  8 — 8  of FIG.  2 . 
    
    
     Unless otherwise specified, in the drawings like parts have like numbers. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With specific reference to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows the display rack of the invention, designated generally by the number  10 . It has a left frame  12 , and a right frame  14 . The top of the frames  12  and  14  are designed by the numbers  16  and  18 , respectively, and the bottom of the frames by the numbers  20  and  22 . The frames also have sides  24  and  26 . The frames also have a back  28  and a front  30 . 
     To connect the frames, there is utilized a top beam  32 , having a front  34 , a back  36 , and a bottom  38 . This is shown to best advantage in FIGS. 1,  2 , and  3 . The top beam  32  has ends  40 , which attach to the top backs  28  of frames  12  and  14 . 
     The backs  28  and  30  of bottoms of the frames  20  and  22  are connected by bottom beam  42 , having a front  44 , a back  46 , a top  48 , and a bottom  50 . The bottom  50  of bottom beam  42  contains a threaded leg  51 , which allows for center support of the beam, thereby preventing sagging due to the weight of the ceramic tiles which it supports. (See specifically FIG. 7.) The ends  50  and  52  of bottom beam  42  are fastened to the back top  28  in a forward offset position in relation to top beam  32 . This is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Both the top beam  32  and the bottom beam  42  are mounted to frames  12  and  14  by means of screws or nuts and bolts  54 . (See FIG. 2.) 
     To provide additional stability to the display rack  10 , the bottoms  20  and  22  of the frames  12  and  14  are fastened by means of horizontal foot  56 . To secure the top area defined by the numbers  16  and  18  of frames  12  and  14 , they are fitted with a top cover  58 , which may partially or fully cover the top area of the frames  12  and  14 . Optionally, the back  28  of the frames  12  and  14  are covered with panels  60  to provide a solid back. The back  28 , which should be finished in a light reflecting color, allows for the reflection of light on to the displayed articles within the display rack  10 , which is furnished by a fluorescent light  62 , having its front end  64 , covered by an angular reflector  66 , which may be hinged for servicing, as shown in FIG. 4, and which contains an opaque advertising display  68 . 
     An important feature of the invention resides in fitting the bottom  38  of top beam  32  with a plurality of pins  70 . In a similar fashion, the top  48  of bottom beam  42  is fitted with a corresponding number of pins  72 . Pins  70  and  72  are arranged on their respective beams,  32  and  42 , in a mirror image arrangement. Shown specifically in FIGS. 2 and 3, the pins  70  and  72  are arranged in the form of an arc  74 , which has its apex  76  located at the center of beams  32  and  42 . 
     As mentioned above, the bottom beam  42  is offset in a direction in advance of the top beam  32 . Since this arrangement aligns the pins  70  and  72  so that their ends form a projected straight line, it is necessary that they be angled. As previously set forth, the preferred angle of the pins  70  and  72  is 3-4°. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the pins  72 , located in bottom beam  42 , are fitted with a plastic washer  78 . 
     The display rack  10  of the invention is designed to hold in a nearly vertical position a plurality of wings  80 . The wings  80  are constructed in the form of rectangular frames having a vertical front side  82  and a vertical back side  84 . The top  86  and the bottom  88  of the vertical back side  84  are fitted with holes  90  and  92 , which are deeper and are of greater depth than pins  70  and  72 . They are also of greater diameter than the pins  70  and  72 . They are angled to correspond to the angle of the pins  70  and  72 . Further, holes  92  in the bottoms  88  of the vertical back side  84  contain a plastic grommet  94 , which is constructed of the same material as washer  78 , fitted over pins  72 . 
     The wings  80  contain U-shaped opposed vertical parallel channels  96 , mounted horizontally on opposite sides of the sides  106  of the wings  80  for receiving in a sliding relationship vertical ceramic tile sample boards  108 , upon which ceramic tiles  110  are mounted. The opposed vertical parallel channels  96  include a top channel  98  and a bottom channel  100 . (See FIG. 6.) They each have a back  102  and a front  104 . The U-shaped channels  96  have top and bottom inner sides  111  and  112 , respectively, attached to the sides  106  of the wings  80 . The outer sides  113  of the bottom channel  100  are taller than the outer sides  114  located on the top channel  98 . To prevent the ceramic tile sample boards  108  from advancing too far into the channels  96 , the backs  102  of top and bottom channels  98  and  100  are fitted with stops  116 . 
     A front bottom leg  117  is fitted to the bottom  88  of wing  80 . The top  86  of the wings  80  is fitted with a horizontally positioned resilient curved bumper  118 . It is mounted using a bolt and threaded wing nut assembly  120 . For convenience in use by owners of ceramic tile display rooms, a switch  122  operates the fluorescent light  62 . To allow the display rack  10  of the invention to be level on uneven floors, there are provided adjustable feet  124  in the bottom of the display rack  10 . 
     As indicated earlier, ceramic tiles weigh approximately 3.5 pounds per square foot. By displaying large numbers of these tiles in display racks  10 , a substantial weight is placed upon its members. To withstand the large amount of weight that the rack supports, it is necessary that the rack be constructed of strong, yet lightweight, materials. Rectangular heavy gauge steel tubing is ideally suited for this purpose. In the case of the bottom beam  42 , it should be constructed of a heavier gauge metal or should otherwise be reinforced, since it bears the majority of the load. 
     As shown in the drawings, the sample boards  108 , upon which is mounted the ceramic tile samples  110 , are rectangular in shape. A typical dimension of such a board is 17{fraction (7/18)} inches by 28 inches. While this dimension is typical for mounting most tiles for display in the display rack  10  of the invention, it is sometimes found useful to use a smaller size board, such as a board having a dimension of 17{fraction (7/18)} inches by 19 inches. One of the advantages of the invention is that the channels  96  in the wings  80  may be constructed to have varying heights to accommodate both sizes. An advantage not believed to be available in the art is that by the configuration of the channels  96 , the ceramic tile sample boards  108  may be removed by sliding them in a forward direction or by lifting them vertically and then outwardly from the channels  96  in which they are mounted. 
     The combination of grommets  94  in the bottom of the back end  84  of the wings  80  and the washers  78  on pin  72  in the top  48  of bottom beam  42  allow for a lubricated rotational movement of the wings  80 . The most important feature provided for by the invention is that, due to the angled and arcuate configuration of the pins  70  and  72 , each wing  80  can be displayed without either closing into adjacent wings or the sides  24  and  26  of the display rack  10 . This is true of every wing  80 , regardless of its position with respect to the other wings. The “open-book” analogy previously mentioned is believed to be appropriate and is illustrated in FIG.  4 . Another important advantage of the invention is that, by placing the resilient bumpers  118  on the tops of the wings  80 , it is possible to completely prevent unwanted contact of the wings  80 , which might lead to chipping or breaking of the displayed ceramic tiles  110 . The wings  80  are easily removable due to the combination of a short bottom pin  72  and a long top pin  70 . Using this pin configuration, in conjunction with the corresponding holes  90  and  92 , the wings  80  are readily removed from the display rack  10 . This allows for display of the wings  80  in other places within a display room, such as by mounting against walls, or so that they can be readily stored or shipped. Finally, since the display rack  10  of the invention is assembled with threaded fasteners, it may be assembled or taken apart for purposes of shipping and storage.