Patent Publication Number: US-5832644-A

Title: Flexible sign board for blade signs

Description:
This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 08/528,023 filed on Sep. 14, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,617,661. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates display signs. More particularly, it relates to an apparatus for mounting display signs perpendicular to the shelves or wall to attract customers to the retail merchandise. 
     When shoppers move down an aisle, a display sign that is perpendicularly disposed from the display shelves is used to enable the shopper to more readily locate the material they need. These signs can be positioned at eye level extending out from the shelving or the wall. In order to prevent the display signs from becoming obtrusive, they are provided with a flexible material, such as springs, to allow the shoppers to push the sign out of the way with their carts. With the sign pushed out of the way, the aisle is opened and becomes more navigable for the shoppers. 
     2. The Prior Art 
     The patent to Boggess et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,331 discloses an apparatus comprising a frame that is pivotally mounted into a hinged bracket assembly which is rigidly secured to a shelf tag molding. The frame holds promotional material on either side of its surfaces. The hinge includes a biasing spring to allow the sign to move back and forth. 
     The patent to Stoerzinger et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,014 discloses a point of purchase display sign. This display sign consists of a single folded piece of two dimensional, rigid material. 
     The patent to Seely et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,879 U.S. Pat. No. 4,737,048 to Herrstrom, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,033,536 to Hillstrom all disclose a signs using coiled springs for warning people on the road. 
     The patent to Hughes, U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,146, discloses a laterally supported flexible sign for use along roads. The elastomeric braces supporting the sign allows the sign to be deflected when hit by a passing object. 
     The patent to Werner, U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,407 discloses a yieldable sign stand that includes a mechanism that permits pivoting of the sign when subject to wind loads and further includes a mechanism may be for applying a restoring force to restore the sign to its normal vertical position upon removal of the wind load. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A flexible sign board for blade signs having resilient support means for supporting the sign in a perpendicular orientation with respect to the wall or shelf to which it is mounted. Mounting brackets are provided along the frame of the sign and are slidably adjustable within the frame to provide vertical adjustment. The mounting brackets have support pins for matingly receiving one end of support springs. The other end of the springs are matingly engaged by support pins on the shelf mounting bracket or the wall mounting brackets. The shelf mounting bracket further includes a vertical adjustment system. The wall mounting brackets can be vertically adjusted along the wall for variable placement. The support springs enable the sign to &#34;swing away&#34; when bumped into and thereby does not obstruct the passage of consumers. 
     An adjustable wall bracket enables the adjustment of the length of the bracket according to the desired application. A non-adjustable wall bracket is provided for specific size applications. Thus, the flexible sign board system according to the invention has the ability to adapt to an infinite variety of varying shelf depths, without using or taking valuable shelf space from the retail display. 
     In another embodiment of the invention, the resilient support means, or the springs, are replaced by a rigid support means. The rigid support means is more economical than the spring supports, however the &#34;swing away&#34; feature is compromised. In all embodiments of the invention, the flexible sign board with mounting brackets is slightly laterally flexible with respect to the shelf or wall to which is attached. 
     Therefore, an object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for placing advertising messages/signs in a store aisle, perpendicular to the shelving, to attract customers as they come down the aisle. 
     It is another object of the invention to provide a display sign that is adjustable in three dimensions to accommodate various spacing between shelves. 
     It is yet another object of the invention to provide a display sign that uses springs to support the sign and further enable a swing away safety feature for preventing the sign from obstructing the shopper. 
     It is a further object of the invention to provide a display sign that operates reliably and efficiently. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings which disclose an embodiment of the present invention. It should be understood, however, that the drawings are designed for the purpose of illustration only and not as a definition of the limits of the invention. 
     In the drawings, wherein similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of three different blade sign frames according to the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a schematic view, partially broken away, of the slidable mounting pins of the blade sign frame according to the invention; 
     FIGS. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the shelf mount bracket according to the invention; 
     FIG. 4 is an adjustable wall mount bracket according to the invention; 
     FIG. 5 is a non-adjustable wall mount bracket for known depth applications according to the invention; 
     FIG. 6 is an embodiment of an adaptor pin according to the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1 shows three signs 10, 20 and 30, each having a sign frame 12, 22, and 32, respectively. The sign frames 12, 22, and 32 have a sign receiving slot 18, 28, and 38, respectively, for receiving a display sign into signs 10, 20, and 30, respectively. 
     Display sign 10 is secured to shelf 70a and 70c with shelf mounting brackets 60a and 60b, respectively. Mounting bracket 60a is coupled to frame 12 via springs 14a and 14b, and mounting bracket 60b is coupled to frame 12 via springs 16a and 16b. Springs 14a, 14b, 16a, and 16b retain and support sign 10 in a substantially perpendicular position with respect to shelves 70a-70c, in addition to providing sign 10 with the ability to &#34;swing away&#34; from its perpendicular position when bumped into or pushed such that said sign is not an obstruction in the aisle. 
     Sign 20 is supported on shelves 70a and 70b via shelf mounting brackets 60c and 60d, respectively. Sign 30 is smaller than signs 10 and 20, and as such, only one mounting bracket 60e is needed. Mounting bracket 60e has two springs 34a and 34b for supporting sign 30 and enabling the resilient swinging of said sign with respect to shelf 70a. In all embodiments, the springs 14a, 14b, 16a, 16b, 24a, 24b, 26a, 26b, 34a and 34b support the respective sign and maintain said signs in the desired. perpendicular position with respect to shelves 70a-70c. 
     Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the frame 12 is provided with a mounting bracket 56 for receiving and securing frame 12 to the springs. Mounting bracket 56 is slidably disposed within a slot 52 within frame 12 and is secured into a desired position by button 54. Slot 52 is longitudinally disposed within frame 12. Button 54 has a notch 53 on each side thereof which engages a plurality of ratchet slots 51. Upon depression of button 54, notch 53 is released from a secure position between the ratchet slots 51, and mounting bracket 56 can then be slid within slot 52. Once bracket 56 is in the desired position, button 54 is released and notch 53 will be engaged between ratchet slots 51 to secure said bracket in place. The releasable ratchet mechanism of slots 51 and notch 53 can be modified or changed with any other suitable known means of releasable adjustment devices. This adjustment can be made before or after the sign has been attached to the respective springs. 
     Mounting bracket 56 has two securing pins 58a and 58b which extend outward from said bracket to receiving the respective springs. Each of securing pins 58a and 58b have a spherical head portion 55a and 55b, and a circumferential notch 59a and 59b, respectively. 
     FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of shelf mounting bracket 60b according to the invention. Bracket 60b has an L-shaped body 66 having pins 62 and 64 extending therefrom to receive springs 16a and 16b. Springs 16a and 16b are secured onto pins 62 and 64, respectively, at one end, and secured onto securing pins 58a and 58b at the other end. Springs 16a and 16b have an inner circumference slightly smaller than the circumference of pins 62 and 64 such that said springs can frictionally engage said pins without sliding off. The spherical shape ends 59a and 59b of pins 58a and 59b, respectively, help to enable the swinging motion of the display sign when attached to the springs. The spherical ends 59a and 59b can move more freely within the confines of the spring without affecting the attachment of springs 16a and 16b to mounting bracket 60b and sign frame 12. 
     At the upper portion 68 of shelf mounting bracket 60b, a T-shaped mount 70 is disposed for attachment to a shelf. The vertical portion 72 of mount 70 is disposed within slot 69 in the body 66 of bracket 60b. The horizontal portion 74 of mount 70 rests against the underside of the shelf and has two holes 78a and 78b for receiving screws 84a and 84b, respectively. A mounting plate 80 is to be disposed on the top side of the shelf such that holes 82a and 82b are aligned with holes 78a and 78b, respectively. Screws 84a and 84b pass through holes 82a and 82b in mounting plate 80, through the shelf and into holes 78a and 78b, respectively. Screws 84a and 84b are secured in place by wing nuts 86a and 86b, respectively. The lateral adjustability of shelf mounting bracket 60b is determined by its placement on the shelf. 
     Holes 78a and 78b in mount 70 and holes 82a and 82b in mounting plate 80 are to be aligned with the pre-existing holes in the shelf. Thus, no drilling of new holes in the shelf should be required. However, should the user desire to place the sign at an area on the shelf without holes, new holes can be made according to the size of screws 84a and 84b. 
     The vertical portion 72 of mount 70 can include ridges 71 for selectively adjusting the height of mount 70 with respect to body 66. Ridges 71 are engaged within body 66 and further enable the adjustment of the sign position once the shelf mounting bracket is secured to the shelf. 
     FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of an adjustable wall mount bracket 90 according to the invention. Wall mount bracket 90 has a flat wall bracket 130 which has two pegs 140 and 142 for securing bracket 90 to a peg board wall 144. Flat wall bracket 130 further has a receptacle 136 for receiving the support arm 122 of bracket 90. 
     Adjustable wall mount bracket 90 has a U-shaped primary support rod 122 having an L-shaped portion 126 at the end of one of the legs thereof that engages and secures rod 122 to flat wall bracket 130 via receptacle 136. An extension member 92 encloses the U-shaped end of primary support rod 122, and has a substantially oval cross-section shown at the outer end 102. Extension member 92 has a rounded top 110 and rounded bottom 112 and includes two pins 114 and 116 each for attaching to one end of a spring for supporting a display sign. Pins 114 and 116 have a circumference slightly larger that the inner circumference of the springs such that said springs frictionally engage said pins. Extension member 92 includes an adjustment screw 150 that releasably secures extension member 92 to primary support rod 122 such that the distance between outer end 102 and wall 144 can be adjusted according the desired application. 
     FIG. 5 shows a non-adjustable wall mount bracket 160 according to the invention. Bracket 160 is mounted to a peg board wall 144 in the same configuration as adjustable wall mount bracket 90. Bracket 160 includes primary support rod 128, but does not have an extension member or means for changing its length. At the end of support rod 128 is a connector 180 coupled to said support rod through end 182. Connector 180 has two pins 190 and 192 for receiving springs to couple bracket 160 to a display sign. Pins 190 and 192 have a circumference slightly larger that the inner circumference of the springs such that said springs frictionally engage said pins. 
     FIG. 6 shows an H-shaped coupler 200 according to the invention. Coupler 200 has four receiving ends 206a-206d connected by a center portion 204. Coupler 200 provides an alternative method of securing display signs 10, 20, and 30 to the shelf mounting bracket 60 or wall mount brackets 90 and 160. Coupler 200 eliminates the springs from the prior embodiments and provides a rigid frictional connection between the wall and shelf mount and the sign. Although this is more economical than the spring embodiments, coupler 200 eliminates the &#34;swing away&#34; feature provided by the spring construction. 
     While several embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it is to be understood that many changes and modifications may be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.