WO2004082438A1

WO2004082438A1 - Display system

Info

Publication number: WO2004082438A1
Application number: PCT/GB2004/001042
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gennady Balashov
Original assignee: Ooo Abbott
Priority date: 2003-03-15
Filing date: 2004-03-12
Publication date: 2004-09-30
Also published as: GB0520938D0; GB0305955D0; GB2415124A; GB2415124B

Abstract

A display system comprises a support panel (15) for use in a vertical disposition and having a plurality of parallel rectangular grooves (17) extending thereacross, each groove having planar side flanks (21, 22). A hanger has a side plate (10) and a locking flange (11) projecting substantially at right angles from the side plate, the flange having at least one upstand (13) projecting from the main area of the flange (11), in the opposite direction to the side plate (10). In use, the flange (11) is fitted into a groove (17) in the support panel (15) with the side plate (10) depending downwardly so that on moving the side plate towards the panel, the upstand (13) engages the adjacent side flank (22) to grip the material of the panel within the groove.

Description

DISPLAY SYSTEM

This invention relates to a display system, for example for use in retail and exhibition environments, for the display of goods, or in offices.

So-called slal wall systems are well known for the display of goods. In one such system, a panel typically of wood, a wood based product such as MDF (medium density fibreboard) or of a plastics material is provided with a plurality of parallel slots extending Ihereacross, each such slot being of L- shaped or T-shaped form. Hangers for the goods lo be displayed are furnished at one end with an engagement region which has a joggle formed at the end portion, permitting interengagement with a slot at a selected location, by feeding into the groove the end portion and then swinging downwardly the part of the hanger external to the groove. Once so engaged, the hanger is held in the slot and cannot be disengaged by a simple force applied to the hanger either horizontally or vertically; to disengage the hanger, it must perform an upward swinging movement about a horizontal axis to disengage the joggle from the undercut part of the slot.

Slat wall display systems of the kind described above have been very widely employed commercially, since they afford great flexibility for the display of products. Unfortunately, such systems can be relatively expensive to implement, in view of the manufacturing cost for the panel having the plurality of parallel L- or T-shaped slots. The panel must have a significant initial thickness to ensure the panel can accommodate the slots and has sufficient strength after the slots have been formed therein. L-shaped slots are usually formed by securing to a base panel a number of undercut strips, whereas for T-shaped slots, the usual manufacturing technique is to machine the slots across each panel with an appropriately shaped cutter starting from a side edge of the panel, but such cutters are relatively expensive and have a limited life. The hangers may be made from plastics materials or from metal, by a stamping operation followed by a pressing operation in order to provide both the joggle part which interengages with the groove and a suitable arm portion for the suspension of goods lo be displayed. The slot formed in the panel has to be relatively wide, in order to permit the entry of the joggled end portion of hanger. Thus, even if the panel itself is suitably faced for example with a plastic material, there still will be exposed the base material of the panel, along the length of the slot except for where hangers are provided. To improve the aesthetic qualities, it is a common practice to provide a suitable insert for each slot, which inserts have a complementary or similar form to that of the slot and are fitted into the slots of the panel, before the panel is employed in a retail environment. The provision of such inserts further adds to the manufacturing cost of the slat panel and also requires the production of a larger slot, lo permit the accommodation of the insert and still have within the insert the required dimensions for receiving a hanger.

The present invention aims at providing a display system which is significantly simpler and so cheaper to manufacture than the above described slat systems, and which is still aesthetically pleasing, when in use. According to the present invention, there is provided a display system comprising a support panel intended for use in a generally vertical disposition and having a plurality of grooves extending thereacross, each groove being of a substantially rectangular cross-sectional shape with planar side flanks; and at least one hanger having a side plate and a locking flange extending from an edge of the side plate at an angle of not substantially less than 90° to the side plate, the locking flange having at or adjacent its free edge remote from the side plate at least one upstand projecting from the main area of the flange in the opposed direction to that of the side plate, and the width of each said groove between the side flanks being not less than the thickness of the flange and the projecting height of the upstand, whereby in use the flange may be fitted into the groove with the side plate depending downwardly therefrom and on then moving the side plate towards the panel, the or each upsland engages the adjacent side flank to grip the material of the panel within the groove, thereby restraining the hanger in position. It will be appreciated that with the present invention, each groove formed in the support panel is of simple rectangular form, with planar side flanks. Thus, each groove may be produced with a relatively simple circular cutler, as compared lo a routing cutter which is required lo produce T-shaped slots in some of the prior designs of slat systems. A plurality of the rectangular grooves may be formed al the same time by traversing across the panel a mandrel carrying a plurality of circular cutters at the required spacing, so enabling the production of a support panel with a plurality of grooves in a rapid and effective manner. There is the additional advantage that this process for manufacturing the support panel gives rise to significantly less waste material than is produced with the conventional support panels as described above. The hangers for use with the support panel are relatively simple to produce for example by a stamping and pressing operation on sheet metal or by forming a plastics material, neither of which are expensive operations.

Most preferably, the or each upstand from the flange is relatively sharp at its free end remote from the flange, so that in use, the or each upstand will dig into the material of the panel defining the upper wall of the groove. For this to occur, the width of the groove into which the flange is moved should be no more than sufficient to permit the entry of the flange with its upstand or upstands. The flange is entered into the groove with its major area parallel to and engaging the lower side flank of the groove. Then, when the flange has been fully inserted into the groove, the application of a turning moment to the side plate so as to move the slide plate nearer the support panel will also apply a turning moment to the flange, thus pressing the or each upstand into the upper flank of the groove. Depending upon the sharpness of the or each upstand and the hardness of the material of the panel, the or each upstand will dig into the material of the panel lo a greater or lesser extent, so as lo resist withdrawal of the flange from the groove.

Most preferably, there is a plurality of upstands formed along, or closely adjacent, the free edge of the flange. Each upstand may be in the form of a projecting nib, pointed at its free end. The or each such nib may be of a barb-shape, profiled to facilitate the insertion of the flange into a groove but to resist the withdrawal of the flange from the groove. Further similar upstands may be provided over the major area of the flange, between its free edge and its junction with the side plate.

In an alternative embodiment, the upsland is in the form of a sharp edge extending along the free edge of the flange, and in this case preferably there is a single continuous sharp edge which projects from the free edge of the flange, for substantially the whole length of that free edge. In the alternative, there may a plurality of separate such sharp edges, along the free edge.

In yet another embodiment, the upper surface of the flange has a wave-like, corrugated or saw-tooth form, which thus lends itself to interengagement with the upper wall of the groove, when the side plate of the hanger has been turned to engage the side face of the support panel.

In order to allow full engagement of the or each upstand with the upper wall of the groove of the support panel, the included angle between the side panel and the flange should be greater than 90° but preferably is less than 115°. Empirical tests have shown that a suitable angle falls within the range of 92° to 110°.

Preferably, the angle between the side plate and the locking flange is selected so that the side plate will contact the outer surface of the panel only when the or each upstand has sufficiently dug into the material defining the upper flank of the associated groove to give an adequate locking function. Thus, light pressure on the side plate may still leave the side plate clear of the outer surface of the panel, but on loading the hanger, the force on locking flange may increase to enhance the inter-engagemenl of the or each upstand with the groove upper flank, the side plate then contacting the panel.

So as to avoid damaging the corner region between the outer face of the support panel and the lower flank of a groove, at the location where a hanger is inserted into a groove, it is preferred for the junction region between the side plate of the hanger and its flange to be relieved, so as to prevent contact between that junction and the corner region of the panel. That junction region may be relieved by deforming the junction outwardly with respect to the internal angle between the side plate and the flange. Such outward deformation of the junction may easily be performed for a hanger which is pressed from sheet metal, during the pressing operation forming the hanger.

Even though each groove in the panel may be relatively narrow as compared to the width of the L- or T-slots used in a conventional slat wall, there still will be exposed the material of the panel within the groove. To avoid this, the groove may be made slightly larger to accommodate a simple three-sided plastic material rectangular insert, pressed into the groove. Preferably, such an insert has relatively thin walls so that the upstands of the hanger may penetrate the upper insert wall and still engage the upper side flank of the groove.

By way of example only, certain specific embodiments of display system of this invention will now be described in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is an isometric view of a hanger for use in the embodiment of display system of this invention;

Figures 2A, 2B and 2C show the three steps of fitting the hanger of Figure 1 to a support panel;

Figure 3 is a detail view on an enlarged scale of the groove region of the support panel, having a hanger inserted therein;

Figures 4A and 4B are respectively side and isometric views of an alternative form of hanger;

Figures 5A and 5B are side views of two further forms of hanger; Figures 6A, 6B and 6C diagrammalically illustrate alternative top surface formations for the flange of the hanger of Figure 5A;

Figure 7 is a detail view on the junction region of a hanger, between its side plate and flange; Figures 8A and 8B are respectively side and isometric views of yet another form of hanger; and

Figure 9 is a view similar to that of Figure 1 , but of an alternative embodiment of hanger. Referring initially to Figure 1 , there is shown a hanger suitable for use in an embodiment of display system of this invention. The hanger is of pressed sheet metal and has a side plate 10 and a flange 11 extending substantially al right angles to the side plate 10, from one end thereof. Though the side plate 10 is shown as being of simple rectangular form, it may in fact take any suitable form to suit the products which are to be displayed on the display system. For example, a peg may extend laterally from the central region of the side plate 10, in the opposite direction to that of the flange 11 , which peg may be welded or otherwise secured to the side plate. Another possibility would be for the side plate to be of a greater length and to have a lower portion thereof turned to extend at 90° or some similar angle to the side plate, again so as to project in the opposite direction to that of the flange 11. Since the design of the side plate should suit the goods to be displayed and that forms no part of the present invention, it will not be described in further detail here.

Formed along the free edge 12 of the flange 11 , remote from the side plate 10, are three upwardly projecting nibs 13, each formed by a punching operation from the underside of the flange. Each nib is generally of a pyramidal shape and is profiled so as to be generally barb- like, leading in the direction from the side plate 10 to the free edge 12 of the flange 11. As shown, each such nib is relatively sharp and pointed at its upper end.

The display system includes a support panel 15 a part of which is shown in Figures 2A to 2C and 3. The support panel typically is of MDF but carries on its outwardly directed face 16 a plastics material or other facing, to give the overall panel an aesthetically pleasing appearance. Formed in the panel 15 is a plurality of parallel rectangular grooves 17, only one of which is shown in the drawings. The grooves 17 are at an appropriate pitch for the intended use of the display panel but typically may be standardized at 100 millimetres. Each groove has an essentially planar lower side flank 21 conjoined lo a parallel essentially planar upper side flank 22 by a planar base wall.

In the illustrated embodiment of this invention, each groove 17 is 11 mm deep and 3.5 mm wide. The hanger is made from 2 mm thick steel and the length of the flange 11 from the inside face of side plate 10 to its free edge 12 is 10 mm. The punching operation to produce the nibs lifts the point of each nib 13 approximately 1.5 mm from the upper surface of the flange. Further, the internal angle between the side plate 10 and the flange 11 is set to be not less than 92°.

To insert a hanger into a groove 17, the hanger is presented to the groove with the lower face 20 of the flange parallel with the lower flank 21 of a groove 17, at the required location along the length of the groove (Figure 2A). The flange 11 is then pressed fully into the groove as shown in Figure 2B and when fully home, the side plate 10 is then urged into engagement with the outer face 16 of the panel 15 (Figure 2C). This causes swinging movement of the hanger about the junction between face 16 of the panel 15 and the lower flank 21 of the groove, so forcing each nib 13 into the upper flank 22 of the groove, as shown in Figure 3. When so engaged, the nibs 13 resist withdrawal of the hanger by a force applied to the hanger generally at right angles to the face 16 of the panel 15. Figures 4A and 4B show an alternative form of hanger. With this embodiment, in addition to the nibs 13 formed along the free edge 12 of the flange 11 , there are provided further similar nibs 24, each formed by a pressing operation from the underside of the flange 11. Each such nib is of a similar form to nibs 13 and functions in the same manner; with this embodiment, the hanger is more securely locked into the groove on pressing the side plate 10 into engagement with the face 16 of the panel 15. Figure 5A diagrammatically illustrates yet another hanger design, where the upper surface of the flange 11 is provided with several upstands to engage the upper wall 22 of a groove, on fitting the hanger lo a groove. Figure 5B shows a hanger generally similar to that of Figure 5A, but with this hanger the lower surface of the flange 1 1 is similarly profiled to the upper surface thereof. Figures 6A, 6B and 6C show three alternative forms for the upper surface of the flange; in Figure 6A, there is shown a wave-like form, in Figure 6B a triangular or saw-toolh like form; and in Figure 6C a modified form of the triangular form of Figure 6B.

Figure 7 shows a modified form of the junction between the side plate 10 and the flange 11 of the hanger. Rather than simply bending the flange round from the main area of the side plate 10, in the embodiment of Figure 7 the junction region has been pressed outwardly away from the internal angle between the side plate and the flange, during the pressing operation forming the hanger.

By adopting this form for the junction, contact is avoided between the hanger and the corner 25 between the lower wall 21 of a groove 17 and the face 16 of the panel 15. Figures 8A and 8B show a further form of hanger manufactured by a stamping and pressing operation on sheet metal, though it would be possible to produce a similar form of hanger by a moulding operation on a suitable grade of hard plastics material. As shown, the hanger has a side plate 10 from which extends a flange 11 , the flange including three fingers 27 the free ends of which are turned up as shown at 28, to provide the upstands for engaging the upper wall of a groove in which the hanger is fitted. The production of such a hanger by a stamping operation followed by a pressing operation or possibly by a combined stamping and pressing operation is relatively simple and allows the production of a strong but relatively cheap hanger, which can be engaged in a groove in a secure manner. Figure 9 shows yet another hanger, similar to that of Figure 1 but differing in that rather than the flange 11 having a plurality of separate upstanding nibs, the free edge 30 of the flange is deformed upwardly to provide a sharp upstand extending all along that edge. This embodiment of hanger functions in exactly the same manner as has been described above with reference to Figure 1 , except that an enhanced grip can be achieved to the upper flank 22 of a groove.

Though not shown in the drawings, the groove may be made slightly wider (perhaps 0.3 mm) lo accommodate a simple three-sided rectangular elongate extruded plastics material insert, for aesthetic purposes. Such an insert may have a wall thickness of typically 0.15 mm so that it does not interfere with the locking action of the nibs 13, digging into the material of the panel.

Claims

CLA1MS

1. A display system comprising a support panel intended for use in a generally vertical disposition and having a plurality of grooves extending thereacross, each groove being of a substantially rectangular cross- sectional shape with planar side flanks; and at least one hanger having a side plate and a locking flange extending from an edge of the side plate at an angle of not substantially less than 90° to the side plate, the locking flange having at or adjacent its free edge remote from the side plate at least one upstand projecting from the main area of the flange in the opposed direction to that of the side plate, and the width of each said groove between the side flanks being not less than the thickness of the flange and the projecting height of the upstand, whereby in use the flange may be fitted into the groove with the side plate depending downwardly therefrom and on then moving the side plate towards the panel, the or each upstand engages the adjacent side flank to grip the material of the panel within the groove, thereby restraining the hanger in position.

2. A display system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one upstand is relatively sharp at its free end remote from the flange so that in use, on moving the side plate to engage the panel, the at least one upstand digs into the material of the panel defining the upper flank of the groove.

3. A display system as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein there is a plurality of upstands formed along the free edge of the flange.

4. A display system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the or each upstand is in the from of a projecting nib, pointed at its free end

5. A display system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the or each upstand is in the form of an upstanding sharp edge extending along the free edge of the flange.

6. A display system as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the upstand is in the form of a single continuous edge which projects from the free edge of the flange.

7. A display system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the continuous edge extends for substantially the whole of the free edge of the flange.

8. A display system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the main area of the flange includes a plurality of further upstands each projecting in the same sense as said at least one upstand at or adjacent the edge of the flange.

9. A display system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the upper surface of the flange has a wave-like, corrugated or saw-tooth form.

10. A display system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the angle between the side panel and the flange is greater than 90°.

11. A display system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the angle between the side panel and the flange is less than 115°.

12. A display system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the angle between the side panel and the flange falls in the range of 92° to 110°.

13. A display system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the angle between the side plate and locking flange is selected so that the side plate contacts the outer surface of the panel as the or each upstand sufficiently digs into the material of the panel defining the upper flank of the associated groove to give an adequate locking function.

14. A display system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the junction region between the side plate and the flange is relieved to prevent contact between that junction and an edge of the panel between the outer surface of the panel and the side flank of a groove into which the flange is to be inserted.

15. A display system as claimed in claim 14, wherein said junction region is relieved by deforming the junction outwardly, with respect to the internal angle between the side plate and the flange.

16. A display system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein a liner is provided for each groove, which liner is in the form of a three-sided rectangular elongate insert.

17. A display system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the hanger comprises a one-piece metal pressing.

18. A display system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the or each upstand is formed by deforming the material of the flange upwardly out of the main area of the flange.