Patent Publication Number: US-6216376-B1

Title: Display apparatus

Description:
The present invention relates to a display apparatus with a display carrying body releasably attachable to a filler gun of a type including in sequence a gun barrel, a gun head with a housing, and a gun handle, the gun barrel joining the gun head at a first junction, and the gun handle joining the gun head at a second junction. 
     Although the present invention is in particular useful for use on a fuel pump filler gun, the invention is not limited thereto, but could be used on any fluid filler gun. 
     Various types of display apparatus with a display carrying body are known in the art, e.g. from U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 08/284427, 08/590407 and 08/610961. Other relevant art is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,637, EP patent 0407271, and British patents 2147273 and 1393062. 
     Various means have been suggested in the prior art for attaching a display carrying body to a fuel pump filler gun, such means including straps, an attachment body engageable with the display carrying body in order to encompass the gun head of the filler gun, as well as using a filler gun boot on which can be located a small sized display holder through the means of adhesive, rivets or the like. 
     The present invention aims at providing a structurally simpler display apparatus whereby said display carrying body is adapted, when fitted onto the filler gun, to cover an upper part of the gun head, a display message card support being provided on an upper face of the display carrying body, and means provided for releasably attaching the carrying body to the filler gun, said attaching means comprising first engagement means located on the display carrying body and configured to engage with second engagement means forming an integral part of said gun head housing. This means that the body of the gun head housing has such second engagement means, suitably formed through an integral casting operation of the gun head housing. 
     According to the invention, the first engagement means are screws and the second engagement means are screw receiving holes in said housing. Said second engagement means are suitably formed as lugs protruding from side faces of said housing and so configured as to engage with said first engagement means. Said lugs are suitably provided with threaded holes and said first engagement means are screws. 
     In an alternative embodiment, said screws extend through said upper face of the carrying body to engage holes provided in said upper part. In another embodiment, it is possible to let said screws extend through side regions of said carrying body and into said holes provided in side faces of the gun head housing. 
     In another embodiment, said first engagement means are suitably snap hook means, and said second engagement means are holes in said gun head housing for receiving and snap engaging with said snap hook means. Said snap hook means may e.g. depend from a lower side rim of the display carrying body or depend from a bottom face of the display card support. 
     According to still a further alternative of the present display apparatus, said first engagement means is located along a distance of a lower periphery of the display carrying body and formed as a male snap means, and said second engagement means is located along a distance of a peripheral region of said gun head housing and formed as a female snap means. 
     According to further features of the present invention a display message card is locatable on said upper face, and a display message card holder is attachable to said display carrying body. Further, said display carrying body suitably extends from adjacent said first junction to adjacent said second junction. 
    
    
     The invention is now to be further described with reference to the attached drawings showing typical examples of the present invention, however, without necessarily limiting the scope thereof. 
     FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the display apparatus. 
     FIGS. 2-4 illustrate a second embodiment of the display apparatus, according to the invention and being a slight modification of the embodiment in FIG.  1 . 
     FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate a third embodiment of the display apparatus according to the invention. 
     FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate a fourth embodiment of the display apparatus according to the invention. 
     FIGS. 9-11 illustrate a fifth embodiment of the display apparatus according to the invention. 
     FIGS. 12-15 illustrate a sixth embodiment of the display apparatus according to the invention. 
     FIGS. 16-20 illustrate a seventh embodiment of the display apparatus according to the invention. 
    
    
     FIG. 1 shows a fluid filler gun  1 , e.g. a fuel pump filler gun, having in sequence a gun barrel  2 , a gun head  3  with a housing, and a gun handle  4 . The gun handle  4  conventionally has operating lever  5  coacting with valve means (not shown) inside the housing of said gun head  3 . The gun barrel  2  joins the gun head  3  at a first junction  6 . The gun handle  4  joins the gun head  3  at a second junction  7 . As clearly seen from FIG. 1, there is a display carrying body  8  which is removably attachable to the filler gun  1  and adapted to be fitted onto the filler gun  1  to cover an upper part of the gun head  3 . A display message card  9  can be placed on an upper face  8 ′ of said display carrying body. Further, a display message card holder  10  suitably formed as a frame, as indicated on FIG. 1 or a transparent lid has male hinge means  11  engageable with female hinge means  12  on said display carrying body  8 . In order to releasably attach the carrying body  8  to the gun head  3  of the filler gun  1 , there is provided first engagement means in the form of screws  13 ,  14 ,  16  extending through the upper face of the carrying body  8  and being engageable with second engagement means forming an integral part of the housing of said gun head  3 . Said second engagement means are, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, screw receiving holes (of which only two are shown)  17 ,  18 . Suitably the second engagement means are lugs which protrude from side faces of the gun head housing  3 , said lugs suitably being provided with said threaded holes  17 ,  20 . 
     In FIG. 2 a variant of the embodiment in FIG. 1 is shown. Instead of providing said lugs  19 ,  20 , the housing of the gun head  3  has on either side thereof a second, widened portion  21  in which holes  22 ,  23  are located (only two of the four holes being shown on FIG.  2 ). FIG. 3 represents a combined cross section through the combined regions IIIa and IIIb. FIG. 4 shows the embodiment of FIG. 2 in assembled state. 
     In FIG. 5 there is shown a filler gun  1  with a gun head  3  having an upper region  24  provided with holes  25 ,  26  for threaded engagement with screws  27 ,  28  extending through holes  29 ,  30  in the display carrying body  8 . Thus, by proper dimensioning of the display carrying body  8 , it would be possible to attach the body  8  to the gun head  3 . Also, it is clearly seen from FIGS. 5 and 6 that the display carrying body  8  will cover any opening  31  in the upper part of the gun head  3 . With properly designed lower rim  8 ′ on the carrying body  8  and a corresponding abutment  3 ′ on the gun head  3 , the use of two screws  27 ,  28  only may be sufficient. 
     In another, third embodiment of the present invention, as shown on FIGS. 7 and 8, there are side regions  32 ,  33 ,  34 ,  35 , suitably formed as depending lugs, on the carrying body, said side regions provided with holes through which screws  36 ,  37 ,  38  and  39 , respectively, may extend and be screwed into holes  40 ,  41  (of which only two are shown) in the gun head housing in order to releasably attach the display carrying body  8  to the gun head  3 . 
     A further modification of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2-4 appears now from FIGS. 9-11, FIG. 11 being an enlarged view of the region XI in FIG.  10 . The first engagement means are here provided in the form of snap hooks  42 ,  43 ,  44  and  45  configured to fit into snap engagement holes  46 ,  47 ,  48  and  49 , respectively, in the second, widened portions  21  on the housing of the gun head  3 . The snap hooks  42 - 45  depend from a lower side rim  8 ″ on the display carrying body  8 . As shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 11, with parts of the housing of the gun head  3  broken away for sake of clarity, it is easily seen how e.g. the snap hooks  44 ,  45  may snap engage with a step provided in e.g. the holes  48 ,  49 . 
     A further variant of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 making use of snap engagement and being a sixth embodiment of the present invention, appears from FIGS. 12-15. FIG. 13 is an enlarged cross section at the location of the display carrying body  8  denoted by reference XIII in FIG.  12 . FIG. 14 shows a cross section of the housing of the gun head  3  at the location indicated by XIV in FIG.  12 . Thus, instead of the screws  27  and  28  as shown on FIG. 5 and 6, there are provided snap hooks  50 ,  51 , e.g. formed with an arrow-like configuration as indicated more clearly in FIG.  13 . Said snap hooks  50 ,  51  depend from a bottom face  52  of the carrying body  8 , i.e. on the bottom face of the display card support  8 ′. The hooks  50 ,  51  engage with holes  53 ,  54  provided in the upper face  24  of the housing of the gun head  3 . 
     A seventh embodiment, according to the invention, appears from FIGS. 16-20. FIG. 17 is a cross section of the display carrying body  8  and is indicated by reference XVII in FIG.  16 . FIG. 18 is a cross section on the housing of the gun head  3  at the location thereof indicated by reference XVIII in FIG.  16 . 
     FIG. 20 is and enlarged view of the partly broken-away portion labelled XX in FIG. 19 of the gun head  3 . As seen from the top of FIG. 16 the first engagement means is located along a distance of a lower periphery  8 ′″ of the display carrying body  8 , suitably along substantially the complete lower periphery and being formed as male snap means  55 , as more closely seen from the cross section in FIG.  12 . Said second engagement means is located along a distance of a peripheral region  3 ″, suitably along most of the peripheral region of the gun head  3  and being formed as a female snap means  56  having a step  57  to engage with a step  58  on the male snap means  55  in order to obtain a snap engagement between the display carrying body  8  and the gun head  3 . Thus, in the embodiment of FIGS. 16-20 there is no need for screw aided attachment of the display carrying body to the gun head  3 . 
     It will be appreciated by the expert in the art that modifications of the embodiments as shown and described will be possible without departing from the inventive concept and features as defined in the attached patent claims.