Floor Display Fixtures

Abstract

Floor display fixtures are provided in which tubular upright support members for shelves, dividers, structures containing drawers and other display devices are tapered at one end and inserted into tapered tubular floor plugs or are secured to a tapered tubular adapter which is inserted into a tapered tubular floor plug.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The use of various types of display fixtures in retail stores is well known. Most of these fixtures are portable and consist of stands or tables provided with racks or shelves. Examples of various types of display racks and shelves are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,230,374 and 3,127,020. In another type of adjustable shelf bracket assembly illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,080,980, upright members are supported between a floor and ceiling and are adapted to receive a plurality of shelf brackets for supporting shelves.

Many present day stores cover a large area on a single floor. In many cases ceilings are fairly high and floor to ceiling uprights to support shelves would be impractical. Portable stands and tables are commonly used but often leave much to be desired.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide display fixture units which are secured directly to the floor.

Another object of the invention is to provide floor display fixtures which can be adapted for use on floors that are somewhat uneven.

Another object of the invention is to provide floor display fixtures which can be used in a long line in a relatively large store area and are adapted to support shelves, dividers, drawers and other display devices.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the elements used to make a floor display fixture unit in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view, partly in section and with parts broken away, of an assembly of the elements shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view, partly in section and with parts broken away, illustrating the manner in which the elements of FIGS. 1 and 2 are assembled;

FIG. 4 is a view partly in section and with parts broken away of a floor plug and a cover therefor used in the assembly shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 5--5 of FIG. 1 illustrating a modification of one of the elements of FIG 1;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of one type of floor display fixture provided in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another type of floor display fixture provided in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another type of floor display fixture which can act as a divider;

FIG. 9 is a perspective exploded view of the supporting means used to support the shelves of the floor display fixture shown in FIG. 6; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective exploded view and partial sectional view of a portion of the floor display fixture shown in FIG. 8 showing the manner in which said fixture is assembled.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a portion of FIG. 7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention in its broader aspects provides a floor display fixture unit comprising one or more tubular upright members having means for attaching display fixtures, one or more tubular floor plugs disposed within a floor with the upper ends at floor level, and means securing said upright members to said floor plugs. Shelves, dividers, structures containing drawers and other display devices are attached to said upright members.

In order to provide for attachment of various types of display fixtures to the tubular upright members, the latter comprise slots which are spaced vertically. Usually, the upright members are either circular in cross section or rectangular and in either case it is preferable to have the slots spaced not only vertically but also laterally approximately 90.degree. apart.

In order to provide rigidity, the floor plugs are internally tapered and the upright members are tapered at one end and inserted into the tapered tubular floor plugs or they are secured to a tapered tubular adapter which is inserted into a tapered tubular floor plug. In either case, it is essential that there be a snug fit between the internal surface of the floor plugs and the external surface of the upright member or adapter which is inserted into the floor plug.

Since most floors in large stores are made of concrete and the surfaces are not always uniform or even, it is desirable to provide means for securing the upright members to the floor plugs which is adjustable to different heights. This can be accomplished by providing external threads on the lower ends of the upright members, placing an internally threaded lock nut on the threaded portion of the upright member whereby the internal threads of the locknut engage the external threads of the upright member and providing internal threads in the floor plug or the adapter so that the height of the upright member can be adjusted by turning said member until the desired level has been attained, and then locking it at this level by turning the locknut until it engages the top of the internally threaded member which supports the upright member.

It is also desirable that the floor plugs be adapted to receive a cover at their upper ends. This can be provided by offsetting the their end of the floor plug laterally and forming screw threads on the vertical part of the inner surface of the vertical part of the offset portion. The cover or floor plate can then be formed with screw threads on its outer surface which are adapted to engage the screw threads on the inner surface of the floor plug. A recess can be provided in the top of the cover to permit the insertion of a tool so that the cover can be turned and removed from the floor plug.

According to one form of floor display fixture provided by the invention, there is only one tubular upright member on which a plurality of vertically spaced shelves are mounted, each of said shelves having a center hole large enough to receive the upright member and each being mounted on the upright member at the center hole so that each shelf surrounds the upright member. In this embodiment of the invention the shelves can also be made rotatable in the manner hereinafter described.

In another embodiment of the invention the floor display fixture comprises two units connected in the upper and lower portions by parallel bar members and having panel members vertically disposed between and connected to said bar members. This type of floor display fixture is especially useful as a divider between two sales areas.

In most cases the floor display fixtures will be employed in the form of two or more tubular upright members supporting horizontally disposed shelves, vertically disposed panels and horizontally disposed structures containing drawers.

Referring to the drawings, in FIG. 1 the floor display fixture unit shown comprises a tubular upright member 1 provided with slots 2 which are spaced vertically and are also spaced transversely from other slots 3. Preferably there are four slots at each level spaced laterally approximately 90.degree. apart. In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1 the upright member 1 is round in cross section but it can also have a square cross section in which case there is preferably a series of slots spaced vertically on each side of the square.

As shown in the lower part of FIG. 1 in order to construct the floor display fixture unit and provide a suitable means for holding said unit, a hole 4 is drilled in a concrete floor 5 or other suitable supporting surface. The hole 4 preferably has a laterally offset portion 6 adjacent the floor level. A floor plug 7 is inserted into the hole 4. The inner wall 8 of the hole 4 is tapered and the outer wall 9 of the floor plug 7 is also tapered so as to provide a snug fit between the floor plug 7 and the wall 8 of the hole 4. The upper end 10 of the floor plug 7 is flanged and is adapted to fit into the space 6 in the floor 5 thereby providing a fixed relationship between the floor plug 7 and the floor 5.

As shown in FIG. 4 the floor plug 7 is preferably threaded internally near the upper part thereof at 11 so that a cover 12 having external threads 13 can be secured into the floor plug at floor level. A recess 14 is provided in the upper part of the cover 12 to permit insertion of a screwdriver or other suitable tool for the purpose of removing the cover when it is desired to construct a floor display fixture unit.

According to a preferred form of the invention, a tubular adapter 15 is provided to secure the tubular upright member 1 to the floor plug 7. The upper part 16 of the tubular adapter 15 is circular and of uniform internal diameter. The lower part 17 is tapered and is adapted to fit snugly against the inner wall of floor plug 7 when the lower part 17 of adapter 15 is inserted into the floor plug. The resultant pressfit or frictionfit affords rigidity but at the same time makes it possible to remove the entire assembly by pulling it upwardly.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the lower portion 18 of the upright member 1 is threaded at 19 and the inner surface of the upper part 16 of adapter 15 is internally threaded at 20 so that the threads 19 can be engaged with the threads 20 thereby screwing the upright member 1 to the adapter 15 which in turn is secured to the floor plug 7 by inserting the lower portion 17 of adapter 15 into the tapered tubular space 21. The height of the tubular upright member 1 can be adjusted by rotating said member. When the desired height is attained the locknut 22 is rotated until it contacts the upper surface 23 of the adapter member 15. The assembled relationship is illustrated in FIG. 2.

In the form of the invention illustrated in FIG. 6 the upright member 1 supports a series of shelves 24, 25 and 26 and a top shelf 27. These shelves can be made of wood, metal, plastic or any other suitable self-supporting rigid material. One method of supporting the shelves on the upright member 1 is shown in FIG. 9. Each shelf in this case is supported by a plate 28 which is secured beneath the shelf by screws or other suitable means, not shown, inserted through holes 29. Each plate 28 has a central opening 30 which is large enough so that it will receive the upright member 1. Each shelf also has a collar 31 with an opening therethrough corresponding to the opening 30. The upright member 1 is provided with holes 32 on four sides with the opposite holes being aligned so that a bar 33 can be inserted through said holes and is long enough to project beyond the opposite sides of upright member 1. Each of the shelves also has a central opening corresponding to the opening 30 so that the shelves and their associated plate 28 and collar 31 can be mounted on the upright member 1 at the desired level and then held in place by inserting the bar 33 through the holes 32 on said level. The top walls of recesses 33a and 33b engage the bottom walls of openings 32, 32 thereby holding bar 33 in place. Alternatively, brackets 32a and 32b can be inserted into openings 32 so that the bottom of collar 31 will rest on the top of said brackets. In this type of structure, the shelves are also capable of being rotated so long as there is sufficient clearance between the outer walls of the tubular upright member 1 and the sidewalls of the opening 30.

In FIG. 7 the upright members 1 are used to support a divider 34 and shelves 35 and 36 as well as a structure 37 having a drawer 38. The shelves, divider and drawer structure can be mounted in any suitable manner in the slots 2 provided in the tubular upright member, e.g., by means of brackets 35a having hooklike members 2a and 2b adapted to be inserted into slots 2.

In FIG. 8 the tubular upright members 1 are connected by parallel bars 39 and 40 which are rectangular in cross section. This connection can be made in the manner illustrated in FIG. 10 wherein a bracket 41 is inserted in opening 2 in tubular upright member 1. The external surface of the bracket 41 is of such size as to fit snugly within the internal surface of the bar 39 and the bar and bracket are secured together by screw 42. In the modification shown in FIG. 10, the bracket 41a has transversely extending holes adapted to receive bolt 42a which is inserted through the holes in bar 39 and bracket 41a and held in place by nut 42b. Panels 43, 44 and 45 are secured between the bars 39 and 40 in any suitable manner. These panels can be used for advertising purposes and the entire structure can be used as an area divider.

The invention is useful especially in large stores having an extensive unobstructed floor space. It will be recognized that some modifications and variations may be made in the structures described without departing from the invention.

Claims

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A floor display fixture unit comprising one or more tubular upright members provided with means for attaching display fixtures, one or more tubular floor plugs disposed within a floor with the upper ends at floor level, and means securing said upright members to said floor plugs, said tubular upright members extending freely upward without support at their upper ends, said floor plugs comprising internally threaded means and said tubular upright members being threaded at their lower ends with external threads fitting the internal threads of said floor plugs, and an internally threaded locknut mounted with its internal threads engaging said external threads of each of said upright members and in contact with the top of each of said floor plugs.

2. A floor display fixture as claimed in claim 1 in which said floor plugs are internally tapered and said means for securing said upright members to said floor plugs are tubular adapters tapered in their lower portions to fit snugly within said floor plugs and having internal threads in their upper portion to secure them to said upright members.