GB2393645A - Display assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

A display assembly comprising a plurality of components, including a first component having a tang and a second component having an aperture, in which the tang may be inserted into the aperture by moving the two components in a first direction relative to each other, and the tang may be interlocked with the aperture by moving the two components in a second direction relative to each other. A method of assembling the display assembly is also described. The display assembly described may be readily assembled, adjusted, and dismantled without the use of bolts. The display assembly comprising grooved uprights interconnected by members having tongues and pins. The display further comprising partitions being interconnected by sliding wedges co-acting with keyhole-shaped openings.

Description

( Title: Display Assembly Description of Invention

5 This invention relates to display assemblies. In particular, although not exclusively, this invention relates to display assemblies of the kind generally referred to as "peg boards" which combine storage facilities with display facilities, and are typically used in retail marketing to display retail products for sale. 10 A typical display assembly is made up of a number of component parts, typically comprising generally vertical members, generally horizontal support members which may be connected between the upright members, and display members which may be connected between the horizontal members and/or the upright members and on which products to be displayed may be placed.

15 Typically, the display members are provided with a plurality of holes, conveniently circular in shape, through or into which pegs may be inserted, and the products to be displayed for sale may be supported by the pegs.

Such display assemblies need to be robust and able to support relatively heavy loads. The various components must therefore be connected very 20 securely, and be able to take knocks from any direction. Typically components are secured together using bolts which are passed through holes in the various components. The components have holes at spaced intervals along their length so that the dimensions of the shelving assembly may be selected.

When correctly assembled such a display assembly can be rigid and have 25 a high load carrying capacity, but it is fiddley and time consuming to erect such assemblies using a large number of bolts. Once the display assembly has been erected, it is also difficult to change the arrangement of a particular display panel, for example altering the spacing between the display panels, if the product which is displayed on them should change.

( There is, therefore, a need to provide a display assembly which can be assembled rapidly and conveniently but also achieves high rigidity and load bearing capacity.

According to a first aspect of this invention there is provided a display 5 assembly comprising a first component having a tang and a second component having an aperture, in which the tang may be inserted into the aperture by moving the two components in a first direction relative to each other, and the tang may be interlocked with the aperture by moving the two components in a second direction relative to each other.

10 Thus the components may be assembled and interlocked relative to one another simply by moving the components themselves to engage and produce an interlock between formations provided thereon. Since a plurality of movements are required to achieve the interlock between the components it is unlikely that the assembly will accidentally become dismantled.

15 Such an assembly may be readily assembled and dismantled without the use of any special tools.

The first direction and the second direction may be substantially perpendicular. The two directions may be linear or rotatory, conveniently the first direction is linear and the second direction is rotatory.

20 The tang may comprise a body portion which extends from the first component and an engagement arm which extends from the body portion, the interlock between the tang and the aperture being provided by the engagement of arms. In this case the engagement arm may only engage with the second component during the second movement. Preferably the engagement arm 25 extends generally perpendicularly to the body portion.

The tang may comprise a plurality of, preferably two, engagement arms.

T his increases the contact area between the two components.

The tang may extend from a substantial planar support surface of the first component in which case the engagement arm or arms may form a planar

surface which is angled relative to the support surface. The angle is preferably fairly small, it may be from 5 to 20 conveniently is from 10 to 15 .

The aperture may be provided by a slot, which preferably is tapered. I This enables the tang to be inserted in the wide portion of the slot and 5 interlocked with the second component in the narrower portion of the slot.

The components preferably comprise further formations which are bought into engagement when the two components are moved so that the tang and aperture interlock. This provides further security for the connection. The further formations may comprise a further tang and a further aperture, the 10 further tang may be provided on the first component whilst the further aperture is provided in the second component.

Preferably the tang provides a slot in a first component and the aperture is shaped to provide projecting formations on the second component which may engage with the slot on the first component provided by the tang to create the 15 interlock. This has been found to be a particularly secure system.

This invention is particularly suitable for display assemblies in which the components comprise upright members, support members which may be arranged to connect to upright members, and display panels which may be connected between the support members and/or the upright members, 20 conveniently the tangs being provided on the support members, and the apertures being provided in upright members whereby the support members may be secured to the upright members.

Preferably the support members are provided with such formations at opposite ends thereof whereby the support member may be engaged with and 25 supported by two spaced upright members, conveniently the interlock being achieved by rotating the support member into an orientation in which a major surface thereof extends vertically.

Preferably the support members are provided with formations which may be engaged with formations provided on the display members, whereby the display members may be mounted on and secured to the support members.

Conveniently the formations comprise tangs provided on the display 5 members, and apertures provided on the support members, engagement between the tangs and the apertures being produced by vertical downward movement of the display members relative to the support members.

Preferably means is also provided to enable adjacent display members to be interlocked, retaining them securely in position conveniently between a pair 10 of spaced, parallel support members. Conveniently said means comprises a key hole slot provided in one side edge of each display member, and a formation provided in an opposite side edge thereof, which may be engaged with the key hole formation of an adjacent display member, conveniently by relative vertical movement therebetween.

15 In a second aspect of this invention there is provided a method of assembling a display assembly, the display assembly comprising a plurality of component parts including a first component comprising a tang and a second component comprising an aperture, the method comprising: inserting the tang into the aperture by moving the two components in a first direction relative to 20 each other; and interlocking the tang with the aperture by moving the two components in a second direction relative to each other.

T he first direction and the second direction may be substantially perpendicular. The two directions may be linear, or rotatory. One direction may be linear and the other rotatory. Preferably the first direction is linear and 25 the second direction is rotatory. Thus the two components may be slid and/or twisted and/or rotated relative to each other to achieve the interlock.

Thus, by use of this invention, the shelving assembly may be assembled by moving the components relative to each other only. No tools or bolts or other fixing devices are required.

The method may further comprise engaging a further set of formations on the first component and the second component during the second movement.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 5 Figure 1 shows schematically a perspective view of a display assembly incorporating various aspects of the invention; Figure 2_ shows schematically two components of the display assembly of Figure 1; Figure 2b shows schematically a perspective view of the two 10 components of Figure 2_ when assembled; Figure 3_ shows schematically two further components of a display assembly; Figure 3_ shows schematically a perspective view of the two components of Figure 2_ when assembled; 15 Figure 3_ shows schematically a plan view of the tang shown in Figures 3_ and 3_; Figure 3_ shows schematically a plan view of the slot shown in Figure 3_ and 3_; and Figure 4 shows schematically a further connection between elements of 20 the assembly.

A display assembly 10 which incorporates various types of connection is shown in Figure 1. The assembly comprises a number of upright members, front upright members 12, 14 and rear upright members 16, 18. The front upright members are connected to the rear upright members by horizontal and 25 diagonal crossbars 20. A number of support members 22 are arranged in vertically spaced relation along the height of the upright members 14, 16, 18, 20 between adjacent front and rear upright members. The support members support display panels 24 which are arranged generally vertically between

( adjacent front upright members. Although not shown in Figure I the support members and/or the upright members may also support shelves.

The connection between the support members 22 and the upright members 12, 14, 16, 18 is shown in Figure 2. Each upright member comprises 5 a generally L-shaped bar having a plurality of slots 26 positioned at vertically spaced intervals along the height of the bar 12.

The support member 22 is a metal bar of shallow U-section having a base 28 which is significantly longer than its side walls 30. At each end of the base 28 end walls 32 are formed, also being much shorter than the length of the 10 base 28.

Two tangs extend from each end wall 32, a locking tang 34 and a support tang 36. The locking tang 34 comprises a body portion 38 which extends from the bulk of the end wall 32, generally along the plane of the end wall 32, and an engagement portion 40 which extends generally perpendicularly 15 to the body portion 38.

The support tang 36 extends from the end wall 32 along the plane of the end wall 32, in parallel with the body portion 38 of the locking tang 34.

To connect the support member 22 to the upright member 12, the support member is aligned generally horizontally with one of the slots 26 on the 20 upright 12. The end of the engagement portion 40 of the locking tang 34 is aligned with the slot and the support member is moved in the direction of arrow A, being slid into the slot 26 until the side wall of the support member 22 abuts the upright 12.

The support member is then rotated in the direction of arrow B. This 25 brings a side edge of the engagement arm 40 into engagement with the inner portion of the L-shape of the upright member 12. Towards the end of the rotatory movement, the support tang 36 enters a further slot 42, which is situated vertically beneath the first slot 26. Thus the support member 22 is interlocked with the upright member 12 and cannot be withdrawn without

reversing the two movements. The engagement arm 40 bears a proportion of the weight of the support member, with the support tang 36 providing additional stability.

A second embodiment is shown in Figure 3. The connection in this 5 embodiment is one between two display panels 24. Each display panel 24 has at generally horizontally spaced intervals along its lower side a tang 44. Each display also has, at generally horizontally spaced intervals along its upper side a series of apertures 46, being tapered slots.

The tang 44 is shown in more detail in Figure 3c. It comprises a body l O portion 48 and two engagement arms 50, which extend generally perpendicularly from opposite sides of the body portion 48.

The body portion 48 comprises a rear leg 52 and a front leg 54. The rear leg 54, 52 extends slightly off-vertically from the lower surface of the display panel 24, forming an angle of around 10 to the vertical. The front leg 54 15 extends from the lower surface of the display panel 44 at a much gentler angle, being around 45 . Thus the engagement arms 50, which are positioned between the rear leg and the front leg are angled in relation to the lower surface of the display panel 44, the angle being around 10 in this example.

The tapered slot is shown in more detail in Figure 3_. It comprises a 20 wide portion 56 which is somewhat wider than the width of the engagement arms 50 and a narrow portion 58 which is significantly narrower than the width ot the engagement arms 50, but wider than the width of the body portion 54 of the tang. A tapered portion 60 connects the wide and narrow portions of the slot 46.

25 In order to connect the two display panels 24 the upper panel is rotated forwards and aligned with the lower panel so that the engagement arms 50 are generally vertically above the wide portion 56 of the slot 46. The upper panel is then slid forward in relation to the lower panel so that the engagement arms

( 50 contact the underside of the formations 62 surrounding the narrow portion of the slot 46. The upper panel is slid forward until the front leg 54 of the tang abuts the end.

Additionally, the display panels may be connected to the support 5 members by means of the interconnection of teeth formed in the side walls of the display panels and corresponding slots formed in the support members, as shown in Figures 4_ and 4b.

In the present specification "comprises" means "includes or consists of''

and "comprising" means "including or consisting off'.

10 The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following

claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate, may, separately, or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse 15 forms thereof.

Claims (1)

1. ( CLAIMS

   1. A display assembly comprising a first component having a tang and a second component having an aperture, in which the tang may be inserted into 5 the aperture by moving the two components in a first direction relative to each other, and the tang may be interlocked with the aperture by moving the two components in a second direction relative to each other.

   2. A display assembly according to Claim I in which the first direction and

   10 the second direction are substantially perpendicular.

   3. A display assembly according to Claim I in which one of the directions is linear and the other direction is rotatory.

   15 4. A display assembly according to Claim 3 in which the first direction is linear and the second direction is rotatory.

   5. A display assembly according to any preceding claim in which the tang comprises a body portion which extends from the first component and an 20 engagement arm which extends from the body portion, the interlock between the tang and the aperture being provided by the engagement arm.

   6. A display assembly according to Claim 5 in which the engagement arm extends generally perpendicularly to the body portion.

   7. A display assembly according to Claim 5 or Claim 6 in which the tang comprises a plurality ot, preferably two, engagement arms.

   ( 8. A display assembly according to any of Claims 5 to 7 in which the tang extends from a substantially planar support surface of the first component, and the engagement arm or arms form a planar surface which is angled relative to the support surface.

   9. A display assembly according to Claim 8 in which the angle is between 5 and 20 degrees, conveniently between 10 and 15 degrees.

   10. A display assembly according to any preceding claim in which the 10 aperture comprises a slot.

   11. A display assembly according to Claim 9 in which the slot is tapered.

   12. A display assembly according to any preceding claim in which the 15 components comprise further formations which are brought into engagement when the two components are moved so that the tang and the aperture interlock.

   13. A display assembly according to Claim 12 in which the further formations comprise a further tang and a further aperture.

   14. A display assembly according to Claim 13 in which the further tang is provided on the first component and the further aperture is provided on the second component.

   25 15. A display assembly according to any preceding claim in which the tang provides a slot in the first component and the aperture is shaped to provide projecting formations on the second component which may engage with the slot to provide the interlock.

   ( 16. A display assembly according to any preceding claim in which the components comprise upright members, support members which may be l arranged to connect two upright members, and display panels which may be l connected between the support members and/or the upright members.

   17. A display assembly according to Claim 16 in which the first component is a support member and the second component is an upright member.

   10 18. A display assembly according to Claim 16 in which the first component is a display panel and the second component is a support member.

   19. A display assembly according to Claim 16 in which the first and second components are display panels.

   20. A method of assembling a display assembly, the assembly comprising a plurality of component parts including a first component comprising a tang and a second component comprising an aperture, the method comprising: inserting the tang into the aperture by moving the two components in a 20 first direction relative to each other; and interlocking the tang with the aperture by moving the two components in a second direction relative to each other.

   21. A method according to Claim 20 in which the first direction and the 25 second direction are substantially perpendicular.

   22. A method according to Claim 20 in which one of the directions is linear and the other direction is rotatory.

   23. A method according to Claim 22 in which the first direction is linear and the second direction is rotatory.

   5 24. A method according to any of claims 20 to 23 in which the components comprise further formations and the method further comprises engaging these further formations during the second movement.

   25. An upright member for use in a display assembly according to any of 10 Claims I to 19.

   26. A support member for use in a display assembly according to any one of Claim I to 19.

   IS 27. A display panel for use in a display assembly according to any one of Claims I to 19.

   28. A kit of parts comprising a plurality of upright members, a plurality of support members and a plurality of display panels for use in a display assembly 20 according to any of Claims I to 19.

   29. A display assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

   25 30. Any novel feature or novel combination of features described herein and/or in the accompanying drawings.