Patent Publication Number: US-4583705-A

Title: Floor stand

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a floor stand having a tubular leg of folding material and having a device for the housing and presentation of merchandize. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Floor stands of this type are also known as so-called instant displays and have proved satisfactory in practice. A basic embodiment of such a floor stand is described in the Applicant&#39;s German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,902,573, in FIGS. 8 and 9. They possess the advantage which is guite essential for practical purposes, that the leg can in a sense be wound in U-shape or L-shape round the folded cuboid container with economy of space, so that the container filled with the relevant articles can be shipped together with its leg with economy of space. At the point of sale, in a store for example, the floor stand is then unfolded with effortless ease, for which purpose the leg needs only to be brought into its extended position, whereupon it is pivoted beneath the container. During this pivoting process the leg is automatically unfolded, namely because the distance between its front wall and rear wall is enlarged to the distance of the service position during the above-mentioned pivoting process. 
     Whereas in the above-mentioned Offenlegungsschrift the connection between the leg and the container was made via two separate glued staps. European Published Application No. 54,889 describes a similar floor stand, in which the connection between the leg and the container is made via a roof panel which, in a sense, bridges the front wall and rear wall of the leg. The present invention can be used for all types of such floor stands according to these publications. 
     It is common to these known, and also to other similar floor stands, that the housing device is a container made of folding material. As examples, the floor stand according to U.S. Pat. No. 3,164,350 may also be mentioned. However the construction provided by the latter for the housing device glued onto the leg as a container of folding material restricts its field of use, because, for example, tubes and other elongate merchandise cannot be presented standing upright in the containers to the customer. 
     It is therefore the object of the invention to propose a floor stand of the type initially mentioned which, whilst retaining the advantages of this floor stand is characterised in that merchandize of virtually any desired shape can be retained securely positioned in the housing device. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This object of the invention is achieved when the housing device is constructed as a deep-drawn plastics component in the manner of a tray with a base surface and with encircling end faces integrally moulded to its edges, pointing downwards and also directly mutually connected, whilst a correspondingly profiled connecting plate of corrugated board material, which is inserted into the housing space formed by the base surface and the encircling end faces of the housing device, is glued by its underside to the roof panel part of the leg and by its upper side to the base surface of the housing device. 
     The housing device therefore consists of deep-drawn plastic material, which can be shaped to correspond to the requirements in each case. The necessary connection between the deep-drawn plastic part and the relevant roof panel part of the leg is provided by the connecting plate, which can readily consist of corrugated board material because this material is cheap. The plastic material is stiffened by the encircling rim, which is constructed in the manner of an apron. By this means, the said housing space for the connecting plate of corrugated board material is created simultaneously, so that the entire structure has high torsional resistance and can withstand all stresses arising in service. 
     The base surface of the plastic part is shaped to correspond to the requirements in each case. As a general rule, it contains side by side a plurality of housings for retaining the corresponding merchandise which is to be housed and presented therein. In order to make a sufficient gluing surface available in spite of these depressions, it is preferred that, in this embodiment, the bases of the depressions provided therefor in the base of the plastic part are of flat construction, so that they can be glued to the upper side of the connecting plate. 
     For reasons of easy handling and also of design, it is preferred that the thickness of the connecting plate is approximately equal to the height of the housing space, measured between the upper edges of the end faces and the gluing surface of the plastic part. In this case the connecting plate of corrugated board material is not visible from outside, whilst nevertheless the total available depth is utilised for the corrugated board layer, which substantially reinforces the plastic part moulded in the manner of a tray. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention is explained more fully below with reference to an embodiment example from which further important features emerge. In the drawing: 
     FIG. 1 shows in a side elevation a floor stand according to the invention just before completion of the erection process in a section along the line I--I of FIG. 2, 
     FIG. 2 shows a plan of the floor container; and 
     FIG. 3 shows a bottom view of the housing device. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The floor stand shown consists of a leg 1 of folding material, to the upper side of which a housing device 2 for the housing and presentation of the widest variety of merchandize, which will be described in further detail below, is attached. In a manner known per se, the leg is tubular with front wall 3, a rear wall 4 and two side walls 5. Fold lines 6 are continuous and run in the longitudinal direction through the center of the side walls which also contain two transverse fold lines 7 at a mutual interval. A roof panel 8 which is articulated to the upper edge of the front wall ends via a fold line 9, oriented in the transverse direction, in a gluing panel 10. A further gluing panel 11 is articulated to the upper edge of the rear wall 4. The housing device 2 is glued by its base to the gluing panels 10, 11. 
     Due to the features described it is possible, solely by pivoting the housing device 2 relative to the leg, to unfold the flat-folded and extended leg into a tube shape. The leg can also, via its transverse fold lines, possibly including the transverse fold lines which connect the walls 3, 4 to the panels 8, 7, be folded in U-shape or L-shape more or less snugly round the housing device, including the merchandize present thereon, in abutment with the latter. 
     According to the invention the housing device 2 consists of a deep-drawn plastic part 12 which exhibits on its upper side a plurality of depressions 13, 14 for the housing and secure positioning of merchandise. End faces 15 are moulded integrally to the tray-shaped plastic part at its rim, and are connected integrally both mutually and to the actual base of the plastic part 12. They stiffen the plastic part and mask externally a connecting plate 16 of corrugated board material inserted into the housing thereby formed. Particularly FIG. 3 shows that the shape of the connecting plate 16 corresponds to that of the plastic part 12, so that the connecting plate 16 can be inserted into the housing beneath the base plate of the plastic part. 
     The connection is now made by gluing the gluing straps 10, 11 of the leg to the underside of the connecting plate, and its upper side in turn to the base surfaces of the depressions 13, 14. 
     Hook-shaped projections 17, upon which publicity boards et cetera may be mounted, may also be integrally moulded to the rear side of the plastic part. 
     The example of construction described illustrates very clearly that the plastic part 12 can be shaped to correspond to the requirements of each case, including fastening possibilities for publicity areas et cetera.