US20070094905A1

US20070094905A1 - Display panel for a door handle

Info

Publication number: US20070094905A1
Application number: US11/582,362
Authority: US
Inventors: Peter Thompson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-10-19
Filing date: 2006-10-18
Publication date: 2007-05-03
Also published as: CA2523926A1; US7784208B2; US20080148612A1

Abstract

The display panel has an outer surface to which a sign may be attached and an inner surface having a fastener composed of resiliently deformable material. An end of the fastener is separated from the display panel by a slit which is adapted to receive an outer plate of a conventional door handle The outer plate is held in the slit by the resiliently deformable composition of the fastener. The plate may however be removed from the slit by the application of a force opposed to the bias of the resilient material in order to widen the slit.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to display panels for supporting signs and more particularly to a display panel which may be removably attached to the handle of a door and to which a sign may be removably attached.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is known to attach a display panel which supports a sign to a door handle of the type which is either pushed or pulled but is not turned. Such handles are found in the doors which open to the outdoors of most commercial and industrial buildings in North America.
A handle which is pushed or pulled usually has an elongated outer plate which is spaced apart from the door so that the handle can be gripped should the door be opened by pulling. Known display panels are attached to such handles by various means such as clamps, screws and bolts and examples of such display panels are described in Canadian patent application no. 2,454,212.
A sign supported by the panel may display an advertisement, a message such as “Push” or “Pull” or other information. It is generally thought that a door handle is a good location for a sign since the sign is likely to be noticed by everyone who walks through the door for the obvious reason that the handle must be deliberately looked at to be usable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The display panel of the subject invention which may be easily attached and detached from most conventional door handles that are pushed or pulled. The display panel has an outer face to which a permanent sign can be attached. Alternatively, a temporary sign can be readily attached to and detached from the display panel should that be desired.
Briefly the display panel of the subject invention includes inner and outer oppositely facing surfaces. The outer surface has means for removable attachment of a sign while the inner surface has a fastener which is composed of resiliently deformable material. The fastener comprises a wall which commences at a starting position on the display panel, continues away from the inner surface on a first curve to an apex then continues on a second curve toward the inner surface and ends at a terminal edge. The terminal edge faces the inner surface and is the closest portion of the wall to the inner surface on its second curve. The terminal edge is spaced apart from the inner surface by a slit. The slit is free of any obstruction therein and is adapted to receive the outer plate of the door handle therein. The terminal edge is biased by the resiliently deformable material of the fastener into contact with the outer plate when the plate is received in the slit. As a result, removal of the plate from the slit is resisted. The application of a force opposed to the bias of the resilient material causes the slit to widen in order to permit the removal of the outer plate therefrom

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The display panel of my invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a relatively long display panel of the subject invention in combination with a conventional door handle;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a shorter and wider display panel in combination with a similarly shaped door handle;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the display panel;
FIG. 3A is an enlarged perspective view of a fastener of the display panel;
FIG. 4 is an elevation of the display panel which is substantially the same as the one illustrated in FIG. 3 in combination with a conventional door handle and a sign;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a the display panel in conjunction with a conventional push-type door handle;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view, in larger scale, of the sign illustrated in FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the display panel in combination with two signs;
FIG. 8 is an end view of the display panel;
FIG. 9 is an end view of alternative embodiment of the panel;
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a portion of the display panel showing the manner in which a sign is disconnected from the panel; and
FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of the display panel and a sign disconnected therefrom.
Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the description of the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to FIG. 1 the display panel of the invention, generally 10, is shown in conjunction with a conventional door handle, generally 12. The door handle has inner and outer plates 14, 16 interconnected by a web 18. As is conventional, the inner plate has a number of apertures through which screws or bolts pass in order to attach the plate to a door 20.
With reference to FIGS. 3 and 3A, the display panel has inner and outer oppositely facing surfaces 20, 22 and oppositely facing side surfaces 24, 26. The inner surface is flat and terminates at a semi-circular fastener 28 composed of resiliently deformable material.
The fastener is composed of a wall 30 which commences at a starting position 32 on the display panel. The wall continues away from the inner surface on a first curve 34 to an apex 36 then continues on a second curve 38 toward the inner surface 20 and ends at a terminal edge 40. The terminal edge faces the inner surface and is the closest portion of the second curve of the wall to the inner surface.
The terminal edge is spaced apart from the inner surface by a slit 42. The slit is completely free of any obstruction therein and runs the length of the fastener.. The slit is adapted to receive the outer door plate 16 therein. The fastener is composed of resiliently deformable material which biases the terminal edge 40 into contact with the outer plate when the outer plate is received in the slit with resulting resistance to removal of the plate from the slit. The application of a force opposed to the bias of the resilient material causes the slit to widen so that the outer plate can be removed from the slit.
The area of the inner surface beneath the fastener, indicated 20 a, is flat unlike the like area 50 beneath fastener 52 in FIG. 4 which is rounded.
With reference to Figure 1, the forward edge 16 a of the outer plate of the door handle is received in the slit while the upper edge 16 b of the outer plate of the door handle illustrated in FIG. 2 is received in the slit of the display panel.
The thickness of the outer plate of the door handle is greater than the slit in fastener 28 so that the terminal edge of the fastener must be physically separated from the inner surface of the panel before the forward end of the outer plate can be inserted into the slit. If the forward end is pressed against the slit, the terminal edge will separate sufficiently from the inner surface of the panel to receive the outer plate. Such pressure will accordingly cause the slit to widen throughout its length. Once the plate is in the slit, the terminal edge of the fastener, being biased by the resiliently deformable material of the fastener, will snap toward the inner surface of the panel thereby securing the panel firmly to the outer plate.
As previously indicated, the terminal edge and the portion of the inner surface which constitute the slit contact the outer plate throughout substantially their entire length except for the terminal portions of the slit as noted below. As a result, removal of the plate from between the edges is resisted throughout substantially the entire length of the slit. In order to remove the plate, a force opposed to the bias of the resilient material must be applied to widen the slit sufficiently in order to permit the removal of the plate from the slit.
It should also be noted and, with reference to FIG. 3, that the slit is wider adjacent to its two ends or terminal portions a,b than in its middle or intermediate portion c. As a result, the outer plate may more easily be slid into the slit than would be the case if the slit were of uniform width throughout its length.
With reference to FIG. 4, on the outer surface 60 of the display panel, a number of ribs 62 extend outwardly, The ribs are shortest nearest the side surfaces 64, 66 of the panel and longest at the centre. A groove 70 is formed adjacent to each side surface.
An arcuate sign 72 is removably attached to the outer surface of the display panel. The side margins 74 of the sign are received in grooves 70 while the area of the sign between the margins rest on the outer ends of the ribs.
With reference to FIG. 5, the display panel is shown attached to a conventional push-type door handle having a flat central plate 82 and bars 84 at either end of the plate for interconnecting the plate to the door.
With reference to FIG. 6, the illustrated sign is of the same construction as that illustrated in FIG. 4 and has an arcuate central area 86 to which a number of frames 88 are attached. Each frame has a groove 90 on its inner surface for receipt of the margins of a smaller sign.
In FIG. 7, the display panel and signs are similar to those illustrated in FIG. 4 except that the display panel is widened to accommodate two signs 92, 94 The signs are arranged side by side in a parallel spaced-apart relationship on the outer surface of the panel.
The signs are secured to the panel by their margins which fit into grooves 96 in the outer surface of the panel and by an end plate 98 having a pair of spaced pins 100 which fit into channels 102 in the outer surface of the display panel.
The sign is normally flat but sufficiently flexible to form into an arc as illustrated in FIG. 8. Alternatively, the sign can be formed with an arcuate outer surface 104 as illustrated in FIG. 9, and a flat inner surface 106. Whichever the shape of the sign, it is secured to the display panel by grooves 108.
With reference to FIG. 10, the sign can be removed from the display panel by prying it out by means of flat bar or lever 112. To this end, the lower end of the lever is placed between the end plate 114 and the sign 116 and the upper end of the lever is pushed down in order to remove the margins of the sign from the grooves of the display panel.
With reference to FIG. 11, the sign 120 is slid along the grooves 122 of the display panel and is held in position by means of end plate 124 which is attached to the panel by means of screws 126.
The sign is composed of stiff but bendable material so that it can be inserted into the frame by flexing it slightly. Once inside the grooves of the display panel, the sign will remain there until it is intentionally flexed to allow it to be removed.
It will be understood, of course, that modifications can be made in the structure of the display panel without departing from the scope and purview of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A display panel for attachment to a door handle having an outer plate adapted to be manually pushed or pulled in order to open and close said door, said display panel including inner and outer oppositely facing surfaces, said outer surface having means for removable attachment of a sign, said inner surface having a fastener which is composed of resiliently deformable material, said fastener comprising a wall which commences at a starting position on said display panel, continues away from said inner surface on a first curve to an apex then continues on a second curve toward said inner surface and ends at a terminal edge, said terminal edge facing said inner surface and being the closest portion of said wall on said second curve to said inner surface, said terminal edge being spaced apart from said inner surface by a slit, said slit being free of any obstruction therein and being adapted to receive said outer plate therein, said terminal edge being biased by said resiliently deformable material into contact with said outer plate when said outer plate is received in said slit with resulting resistance to removal of said plate from said slit, the application of a force opposed to the bias of said resilient material causing the slit to widen in order to permit the removal of said outer plate therefrom.

2. The display panel of claim 1 wherein said slit has terminal portions at either end and an intermediate portion between said terminal portions, the space between the edges which define said terminal portions being wider apart than the space between the edges which define said intermediate portion.

3. The display panel of claim 1 wherein said outer surface has a plurality of ribs which extend outwardly therefrom and against which said sign is adapted to abut

4. The display panel of claim 1 wherein said means for removable attachment of a sign includes a groove which is formed in said outer surface and which is of a size suitable for accommodation of a margin of said sign such that said margin is removably secured therein

5. The display panel of claim 4 wherein said groove has four spaced apart parallel extents for receipt of the margins of a pair of sign such that said signs are in a parallel spaced apart relationship when attached to said display panel

6. The display panel of claim 4 wherein said outer surface has a raised frame in which is formed said groove, said groove extending along the length of said frame.

7. The display panel of claim 4 wherein said groove has a pair of spaced apart parallel extents and said outer wall has a plurality of ribs which extend outwardly therefrom and against which said sign is adapted to abut, said ribs being disposed between and parallel to said pair of extents and spaced apart from one another.

8. The display panel of claim 7 further including an end plate which is removably attached to said display panel for removably securing said sign within said groove.

9. The display panel of claim 8 wherein said end plate has a pair of pins and said display panel has a pair of channels in which said pins are removably received.

10. The display panel of claim 7 wherein said groove has four spaced apart parallel extents and said outer wall has a plurality of ribs which extend outwardly therefrom and against which said sign is adapted to abut, said ribs being disposed parallel to said extents and spaced apart from one another, said grooves adapted to receive margins of a pair of signs such that said signs are in a parallel spaced apart relationship with each other when attached to said display panel.