U.S. patent application number 10/713823 was filed with the patent office on 2005-05-19 for high capacity movable merchandise display table.
Invention is credited to Paventi, Giusseppe.
Application Number | 20050103238 10/713823 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34573827 |
Filed Date | 2005-05-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050103238 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Paventi, Giusseppe |
May 19, 2005 |
High capacity movable merchandise display table
Abstract
A high capacity retail merchandise display table movable over a
floor for repositioning the display table without having to disturb
the merchandise includes a table top which may be spaced from the
table base by steel rods to provide a floating effect, a table base
having a plurality of vertically extending legs, and a plurality of
structural steel supporting members extending downwardly from the
legs and structurally tied thereto, with the table preferably being
made of wood. The steel supporting members consist of a steel rod
vertically extending from the leg and a horizontally extending
tublar steel foot which forms both a structural support for the
table and a caster housing for a ball bearing caster centrally
mounted to a steel plate which spans the interior of the tubular
foot. The ball bearing may have a diameter substantially less than
the horizontal extent of the support plate to which it is mounted
in the foot member.
Inventors: |
Paventi, Giusseppe;
(Montreal, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Lawrence G. Kurland, Esq.
BRYAN CAVE LLP
1290 Avenue of the Americas
New York
NY
10104
US
|
Family ID: |
34573827 |
Appl. No.: |
10/713823 |
Filed: |
November 14, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
108/91 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47B 7/00 20130101; A47B
91/12 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
108/091 |
International
Class: |
A47B 007/00 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A high capacity retail merchandise display table movable over a
floor for repositioning the display table, said table comprising: a
display table top for displaying retail merchandise thereon; a
display table base, said table top being disposed above said base,
said base having a plurality of legs vertically extending therefrom
for supporting said table base above said floor; and a plurality of
structural steel supporting members extending downwardly from said
table base toward the floor, said structural steel supporting
members being structurally tied to said legs with one of said
supporting members extending from each of said legs, said table and
said table legs being composed of a dissimilar material from said
supporting members, each of said structural steel supporting
members comprising a vertically extending support rod and an
integral horizontally extending tubular foot member, said tubular
foot member comprising a caster housing for housing a hidden caster
member within while providing structural support for said display
table, said caster housing comprising a horizontally extending
steel plate spanning the interior thereof and a steel ball bearing
caster member structurally tied to said horizontally extending
plate and hidden within said housing for providing rolling support
for said display table.
2. A movable retail merchandise display table in accordance with
claim 1 wherein said table dissimilar material is composed of
wood.
3. A movable retail merchandise display table in accordance with
claim 1 wherein said caster member is centrally disposed in said
caster housing.
4. A movable retail merchandise display table in accordance with
claim 3 wherein said ball bearing caster member has an associated
diameter substantially less than the horizontal extent of said
steel plate.
5. A movable retail merchandise display table in accordance with
claim 4 wherein said display table top is suspended above said
table base and spaced therefrom by a plurality of structural steel
supporting members extending upwardly from said table legs, with
one of said table top supporting members extending upwardly from
each of said legs.
6. A movable retail merchandise display table in accordance with
claim 5 wherein said table dissimilar material is composed of
wood.
7. A movable retail merchandise display table in accordance with
claim 1 wherein said display table top is suspended above said
table base and spaced therefrom by a plurality of structural steel
supporting members extending upwardly from said table legs, with
one of said table top supporting members extending upwardly from
each leg.
8. A movable retail merchandise display table in accordance with
claim 7 wherein said table dissimilar material is composed of wood.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to the field of merchandise
display fixtures and particularly to movable retail merchandise
display tables which are both decorative and capable of bearing
high capacity loads under both static and dynamic conditions.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] The art of display fixtures for retail merchandise is
practically as old as mankind itself, as has the desire to be able
to easily move the display fixture when loaded with merchandise
from place to place without having to remove or rearrange the
displayed merchandise before, during, and/or after a relocation of
the display table As such, retailers have always been faced with
the dual problem of displaying merchandise in an aesthetic manner
to attract the buyer as well as providing the best possible loading
characteristics for the display fixture so that it doesn't collapse
under the weight of the merchandise or when merchandise is moved to
a new location for display. Attempts to solve this dilemma in a
static display fixture have taken many forms such as illustrated,
by way of example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,482,238; 4,585,131;
4,898,285; 6,053,460; 5,924,663; and 5,718,398; and British Patent
No. GB 2,189,138. Moreover, although attempts have been made to use
concealed casters in furniture or possibly in display fixtures,
such concealed casters have a tendency to break under heavy loads
during movement of the table. Thus, prior art solutions, to this
have failed to effectively and satisfactorily combine aesthetics
and high capacity load bearing support in an attractive movable
retail merchandise display table. These problems in the prior art
are overcome by the present invention which structurally integrates
the decorative components of the movable display table with the
dissimilar structural framework using an effective hidden caster
arrangement mounted within a steel supporting member to provide a
high capacity load bearing movable display table.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] A high capacity retail merchandise display table movable
over a floor for repositioning the display table without having to
disturb the merchandise includes a table top which may be spaced
from the table base by steel rods to provide a floating effect, a
table base having a plurality of vertically extending legs, and a
plurality of structural steel supporting members extending
downwardly from the legs and structurally tied thereto, with the
table preferably being made of wood. The steel supporting members
consist of a steel rod vertically extending from the leg and a
horizontally extending tublar steel foot which forms both a
structural support for the table and a caster housing for a ball
bearing caster centrally mounted to a steel plate which spans the
interior of the tubular foot. The ball bearing may have a diameter
substantially less than the horizontal extent of the support plate
to which it is mounted in the foot member.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a presently preferred
embodiment of a movable merchandise display table in accordance
with the present invention;
[0007] FIG. 2 is a front view of the display table of FIG. 1;
[0008] FIG. 3 is a side view of the display table of FIG. 1;
[0009] FIG. 4 is a sectional view, taken along line A in FIG. 2, of
the display table of FIG. 1;
[0010] FIG. 5 is a plan view of the display table of FIG. 1;
[0011] FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial view, in section, of the leg
portion of the display table of FIG. 1;
[0012] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of
the display table of FIG. 1;
[0013] FIG. 8 is a front view of the display table of FIG. 7;
[0014] FIG. 9 is a side view of the display table of FIG. 7;
[0015] FIG. 10 is a plan view of the display table of FIG. 7;
and
[0016] FIG. 11 is an enlarged partial view, similar to FIG. 6, of
the leg portion of the display table of FIG. 7.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0017] Referring now to the drawings in detail, and initially to
FIGS. 1-6, the presently preferred embodiment of a high capacity
movable retail merchandise display table 100 is shown. As shown and
preferred, and as will be explained further, the display table
preferably has hidden ball bearing casters 102 (FIG. 6) for each of
the support legs 104 of the display table 100 to provide both
static and dynamic support for the moving display table 100 without
sacrificing any of its load bearing capacity or its aesthetics. As
shown and preferred in FIG. 6, each of the support legs 104 of the
table 100, which is preferably made of wood, is supported on the
floor by means of a steel supporting member 106. The steel
supporting member 106 preferably consists of a vertically extending
steel support rod 108 which is structurally tied to and mounted in
the wood support leg 104, and a steel foot member 110 integrally
formed therein and which is horizontally extending to maximize its
supporting surface. The foot member 110 is preferably formed of
tubular steel to provide a caster cavity 112 therein. A metal plate
114 preferably horizontally spans the caster cavity 112 and is
structurally tied, such as by welding, to the walls of the foot
member 110. The ball bearing caster 102 is mounted in the caster
cavity 112 to the metal plate 114, such as by rivets or bolts 116,
to transfer any load through the structural steel support member
106. As shown and preferred in FIG. 6, the ball bearing caster 102,
which is preferably centrally mounted within the cavity 112, has a
diameter which is substantially less than the horizontal extent of
the plate 114 and is hidden within the cavity 112. Preferably the
protrusion of the rolling surface of the ball bearing caster 102 is
such that it just permits rolling movement of the display table
while enabling heavy loads on the display table 100 in a static
condition to be borne primarily by the support member 106. FIG. 4
illustrates the positioning of the support members 106 about the
display table 100.
[0018] As further shown and preferred in FIGS. 1-6, the table top
118 may be suspended above the table base 120 which contains the
wooden legs 104, by steel support rods 122 extending vertically
upward from the wooden legs 104 of the base 120 in order to provide
a floating effect for the table top 118. Preferably both the steel
support members 106 and the steel table top support rods 122 are
made of % inch diameter steel.
[0019] Referring now to FIGS. 7-11, an alternative embodiment 200
of the movable display table of FIG. 1 is shown. As illustrated in
FIGS. 7-11, the principles are the same as in the embodiment 100 of
FIGS. 1-6, with the basic difference being in the aesthetics of the
display table 200, such as the height of the legs, etc. These
aesthetic differences do not affect the structural arrangement and
high capacity support provided by the present invention. FIG. 11 is
similar to FIG. 6 but does not show the ball bearing caster which
is hidden from view as it would be in normal use of the table.
[0020] While the present invention has been described herein with
reference to specific embodiments, those examples are intended to
only be illustrative thereof and are not intended to limit the
spirit or scope of the invention.
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