Abstract:
A retail display rack having vertically adjustable upper and lower display arms associated with a tubular housing structure that is vertically oriented for mounting the upper and lower arms thereon at selectable heights.

Description:
RELATED U.S. APPLICATION DATA 
   Provisional application No. 60/487,300, filed on Jul. 15, 2003. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates in general to retailing display racks that typically are utilized for holding garments or other material for viewing by customers and more specifically relates to display racks having vertically adjustable upper and lower display arms. 
   2. Description of the Prior Art 
   A wide variety of retailing display racks are known in the prior art. Furthermore, the use of display racks having vertically separated display arms also are not new. Nevertheless, such prior art display racks have been deficient in their construction in that they do not provide a reliable and relatively simple method for attachment and support of the display arms. 
   The present invention is designed to avoid the deficiencies of the prior art structures and provide a display rack with upper and lower display arms that can be readily and easily attached and adjusted in height as desired. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention provides an improved retailing display rack that is formed of a base member, a tubular housing member that extends upwardly from said base member and has an inner channel member that defines a pair of spaced apart chambers in said housing member for receiving a pair of display arm members. At least one side of the tubular housing is provided with an uprightly extending slot and said channel member includes multi-interrupted slots in registry with said upright slot. A horizontally extending lower arm has one end that extends through said aligned slot and is removably attachable to said channel member by means of said multi-interrupted slots. 
   The display rack includes a pair of display support members associated with said housing member and each of which is provided with a horizontal upper arm located above the tubular housing upper end and a downwardly depending elongated leg that is slidably received in one of the chambers in said housing member. Positioning means are associated with each of said support member legs for coacting with said housing member to semi-permanently selectively secure each of said legs in said housing member at a desired vertical height. 
   The foregoing and other advantages of the present invention will appear from the following description. In the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which there is shown by illustration and not of limitation a specific form in which the invention may be embodied. Such embodiment does not represent the full scope of the invention, but rather the invention may be employed in a variety of other embodiments and reference should be made to the claims herein for interpreting the breadth of the invention. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a front side perspective view of a preferred embodiment of an improved retailing display rack of the present invention that includes a base, a plurality of tubular housing members and upper and lower display arms; 
       FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of the tubular housing member of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is an exploded view of a portion of the tubular housing member of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an upper display arm of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 ; and 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a lower display arm of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Referring now to the drawings and with reference first to  FIG. 1  a preferred embodiment of the retailing display rack of the present invention is shown at  10 , which rack is adapted to be utilized for the displaying of merchandise in a multi-level environment. The rack  10  includes a base  12 , a plurality of tubular housing members  14  extending vertically upward from the base  12 , a plurality of display support members  16  each having a horizontal upper arm  18  and a downwardly depending leg  20  (see  FIG. 4 ) for positioning within an associated housing member  14  and a plurality of lower arms  22  that are removably attachable to the housing members  14 , all as will be described below. 
   The base  12  includes three horizontally aligned and parallel base members  26  that are supported off the ground by associated casters  28  located at each end of the base members  26 . The housing members  14  are connected together by spanning struts  30  that bridge between the housing members  14 . 
   To form a frame type arrangement, the spanning struts  30  are connected to bottom ends  32  of the tubular housing members  14 , with one of the housing members  14  associated with one of the base members  26 . As can be seen from  FIG. 1 , the housing members  14  are elongated to extend upwardly from the base  12  and have open upper ends  34 . 
   Referring now to  FIG. 2 , which depicts a cross-sectional view of one of the housing members  14 , it can be seen that the housing members  14  have a shape that is generally rectangular in configuration and an interior cavity  36  that preferably extends the entire length of the members  14 . Located within the cavity  36  is an elongated channel member  38  that, as indicated in  FIG. 3 , is formed of two generally “Z” shaped sections  40  and  42 . 
   Referring now to both  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the channel member section  40  includes a planar midportion  48  that terminates at either side with oppositely directed flanges  50  and  52  to form the generally “Z” shaped configuration. Likewise, the channel member section  42  includes a midportion  54  having oppositely directed flanges  56  and  58 . As illustrated best by  FIG. 2 , the sections  40  and  42  are welded together so that the flange  50  of the section  40  is welded to the midportion  54  of the section  42 , and the flange  56  of the section  42  is welded to the midportion  48  of the section  40 . 
   To secure the channel member  38  within the housing member cavity  36 , the flanges  52  and  58  of the sections  40  and  42  respectively are welded to the interior wall of the cavity  36  to hold the channel member  38  in position within the cavity  36 . With the channel member  38  secured within the cavity  36 , the cavity is divided into a pair of spaced apart vertically aligned chambers  64  and  66  that are adapted to individually, slidably receive one of the legs  20  of one of the support members  16  as further indicated in  FIG. 2 . Thus, two support members  16  are associated with each of the housing members  14  and, preferably, are assembled therewith so that the upper arms  18  of the two support members  16  of one housing member  14  extend outwardly in opposite directions. 
   To set the height of the support members  16  with respect to the housing members  14 , each support member leg  20  includes a spring biased pin  68 , as is well-known in the art, which pin  68  is sized to being received within one of a plurality of vertically aligned, spaced apart apertures  70  that are located in opposite sides  72  and  74  of each housing member  14 . Consequently, depending upon which of the apertures  70  the pin  68  is positioned in, the height of the associated support member  16  will be determined. 
   As shown in  FIG. 1 , for purposes of illustration only, eight apertures  70  are formed in each of the housing members  14  which provide for eight different positions in which the support members  16  can be arranged. Furthermore, by placing two support members  16  in each housing member  14 , with the arrangement of the display rack  10  as shown in  FIG. 1  that includes three housing members  14 , a total of six upper display arms  18  are provided by the rack  10 . 
   Referring again to  FIG. 1 , the housing members  14  are also adapted to support the lower arms  22  in an adjustable arrangement as will now be described. In addition to the apertures  70 , each of the housing member sidewalls  72  and  74  include a vertically aligned elongated, preferably continuous slot  80  adjacent the apertures  70 . In contrast to the continuous slots  80 , the channel member section flanges  50  and  56  include a plurality of vertically aligned multi-interrupted slots  82  that are horizontally aligned with the slots  80 . 
   Referring now to  FIG. 5 , the lower arms  22  each include an inner end  82  that terminates in one or more attachment fingers  84  and again for purposes of illustration herein, there are three such attachment fingers  84  shown. The lower arm inner end  82  is sized for fitting through the slots  80  so that the fingers  84  can be received within the multi-interrupted slots  82  and retained therein for securing the lower arms  22  to the channel members  14 . Preferably, the multi-interrupted slots are formed in the flanges  50  and  56  corresponding to the entire length of the slots  80  so that the lower arms can be arranged in association with the housing members  14  either near the base  12  or in a position elevated therefrom as desired. 
   It can thus be seen that the present invention as described provides a retailing display rack that includes vertically adjustable upper and lower arms to enable a retailer to arrange materials to be displayed at a variety of different elevations. It is to be understood that the terminology that has been used herein is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation and the foregoing description of the present invention is solely for illustrative purposes. 
   Many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. For example, there are many different alternatives for the construction of the upper and lower support arms and the connection of the lower support arms to the housing members. Also, a variety of different types of arrangements of housing members associated with the base are available and the specific arrangement disclosed for the components of the present invention are only one example of the type of arrangement that can be utilized. Therefore, the foregoing description is not to be taken as definitive of the scope of the invention; but rather that which is regarded as the invention is set forth in the following claims.