U.S. patent number 3,758,065 [Application Number 05/179,830] was granted by the patent office on 1973-09-11 for card supporting device.
Invention is credited to Mauritz C. Ranseen.
United States Patent |
3,758,065 |
Ranseen |
September 11, 1973 |
CARD SUPPORTING DEVICE
Abstract
A display device for supporting cards such as price tags,
product identification cards, posters and the like. The device is
manufactured from flat cardboard or paperboard or the like and
distributed flat. It can be set up into card supporting position
without the use of staples, adhesive, etc. The device includes a
sloping front wall and a sloping rear wall connected at a
junctional apex having a card-receiving slit extending from one
lateral edge of the apex to a median portion. The bottom ends of
the front and rear walls are connected by a base wall connected to
the front wall and having means interlocking with cooperating means
on the rear wall.
Inventors: |
Ranseen; Mauritz C.
(Minneapolis, MN) |
Family
ID: |
22658161 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/179,830 |
Filed: |
September 13, 1971 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
248/459;
248/473 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G09F
5/00 (20130101); A47B 97/08 (20130101); G09F
1/14 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A47B
97/08 (20060101); A47B 97/00 (20060101); G09F
5/00 (20060101); G09F 1/00 (20060101); G09F
1/14 (20060101); A47b 097/04 () |
Field of
Search: |
;248/452,459,473 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Schultz; William H.
Claims
I claim:
1. A card supporting device for holding a card substantially larger
than the supporting device, said device comprising front and rear
upright wall members disposed in angled relation relative to one
another, the upper ends of said wall members being joined together
to form a junctional apex for said device, said wall members
diverging downwardly from said apex in straight lines respectively
to the supporting surface upon which the device is positioned, the
lower edge of said front upright wall member and the lower edge of
said rear upright wall member being parallel providing parallel
straight-line supporting edges adapted to maintain said device in a
stable upright position, a base member extending rearwardly from
the lower edge of said front upright wall member in a straight line
at an angle to the supporting surface to its juncture with a lower
portion of said rear upright wall member at a point above the lower
edge of said rear wall member, a slit in said apex extending
inwardly from one lateral edge of said wall members to a median
portion thereof whereby the upper ends of said wall members are
secured together across only part of their width with the remaining
upper end portions being unsecured, said unsecured upper end
portions providing separate opposed upper edge portions disposed in
contiguous relation adapted to receive and frictionally engage
therebetween a lateral end portion of a card whose area is several
times that of the front wall member, thereby to maintain said card
in an upright position between said wall members.
2. A card supporting device according to claim 1 further
characterized in that a further slit is provided in the upper end
of said rear upright wall member, said further slit intersecting
said first named slit adjacent said median portion of the
junctional apex and disposed at an angle thereto.
3. A card supporting device according to claim 1 wherein
interlocking means are provided at the rear end of said base member
adapted to interlock with a lower portion of said rear wall member
thereby to maintain the lower ends of said wall members in spaced
relation.
4. A blank for forming a card supporting device said blank being
formed from semi-rigid sheet material and comprising:
A. a front wall portion,
B. a rear wall portion connected thereto along a score line,
C. a slit in longitudinal alignment with said score line extending
from one lateral edge of the blank to a median portion thereof,
D. a further slit intersecting said first named slit adjacent said
median portion of the blank and disposed at an angle relative to
said first slit,
E. a base wall portion connected to said front wall portion along a
further score line spaced from and parallel to said first score
line, and
F. cooperating interlocking means at the opposite ends of said
blank adjacent the free edges of said rear and base wall portions
opposite from the respective score lines connecting said wall
portions to the front wall portion.
Description
This invention relates to devices for supporting price tags, memo
cards, posters and the like whereby such articles are supported in
an upright position and is an improvement over the invention of my
prior U. S. Pat. No. 2,600,429.
It is an object of the invention to provide a card supporting
device adapted to be distributed in flatwise condition and
subsequently set up into operative position without the use of
extraneous fastening means such as staples, adhesive or the
like.
A particular feature of the invention is to provide a card
supporting device comprising front and rear upright wall members
disposed in angled relation relative to one another wherein the
apex of the device comprises the junctional apex of the front and
rear wall members with the wall members diverging downwardly
therefrom in straight lines respectively to the supporting
horizontal base surface upon which the device is positioned, and a
slit in the apex extending inwardly from one lateral edge of the
wall members to a median portion thereof. By this means the upper
ends of the wall members are secured together across only part of
their width with the remaining upper end portions being unsecured
and providing separate opposed upper edge portions disposed in
contiguous relation adapted to frictionally receive a lateral edge
portion of a card therebetween. In this way the card is maintained
in an upright position between the wall members.
Other features of the invention include the provision of a base
member for maintaining the lower ends of the upright wall members
in spaced relation wherein the base member extends rearwardly from
the lower edge of the front wall member in a straight line at an
angle to the supporting surface to its juncture with the rear
upright wall member; interlocking means at the rear end of the base
member adapted to interlock with a lower portion of the rear
upright wall member at a point above the lower edge thereof.
Additionally the lower edges of the front and rear upright wall
members provide a pair of parallel straight-line supporting means
for maintaining the device in a stable upright position upon a flat
supporting surface.
THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a view of the flat blank from which the device of the
invention may be formed;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the device formed from the blank
shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a top view of the device shown in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a front view on an enlarged scale of the device with a
card supported thereby; and
FIG. 5 is a sectional elevation along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4.
Referring now to the drawings, the card supporting device according
to the present invention is formed from the blank 1 of FIG. 1. As
shown, the device comprises front and rear upright wall members 2
and 3, respectively, and a base member 4. The front and rear
upright wall members are disposed in angular relation with respect
to one another with the upper ends of the wall members being joined
together to provide the junctional apex 5A of the wall members with
the wall members diverging downwardly therefrom in straight lines,
respectively, to the supporting surface 16 upon which the device is
positioned, as shown in FIG. 5.
The blank 1 of FIG. 1 for forming the device may be die-cut from
flat semi-rigid sheet material such as paperboard, plastic or light
metal. The blank 1 is preferably provided with lateral spaced apart
parallel score or crease lines which provide positive means whereby
the blank may be correctly folded into the set up position of the
device of FIG. 2. Thus the portion of the blank 1 between the score
lines 5 and 6, as viewed in FIG. 1, provides the front upright wall
member 2 of the device. The portion of the blank above the score
line 5 provides the rear upright wall member 3 and the portion of
the blank below the score line 6 provides the base member 4 of the
device. A slit 7, coinciding with the score line 5, extends from
one lateral edge of the blank 1 to a median portion thereof and an
extension 8 of the slit 7 extends at an angle thereto into the
portion 3 of the blank 1, as shown. A terminal hook member 12 and
cooperating slot 13 are provided upon the free end of portion 4 of
the blank 1, and at the opposite end of the blank there is provided
a lateral re-entrant slot 14 disposed a relatively short distance
from the terminal edge 15 of the portion 3 of the blank.
Thus with the blank 1 folded into the set-up position of the
device, as shown in FIG. 2, the apex 5A of the device comprises the
junctional apex of the front and rear wall members 2 and 3 defined
by the bend line 5. The wall members 2 and 3 diverge downwardly
from the apex in straight lines, respectively, with the lower edge
6 of the front upright wall member 2 and the lower edge 15 of the
rear upright wall member 3 engaging the supporting surface 16 upon
which the device is positioned, as shown in FIG. 5. Thus the front
and rear upright wall members 2 and 3, respectively, are disposed
in angular relation with respect to one another with the lower ends
thereof disposed in spaced apart parallel relation.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the slit 7 extends inwardly from a
lateral edge of the front and rear upright wall members to a median
portion thereof. As the slit 7 coincides with the bend line 5 which
defines the junctional apex of the upright wall members, the slit 7
will thus be disposed in the apex 5A of the device. Thus, it will
be noted that the upper ends of the upright wall members 2 and 3,
respectively, are secured together across only part of their width
along the bend line 5 with the remaining upper end portions being
unsecured. By this means the unsecured upper end portion of the
front upright wall member 2 provides a separate upper edge portion
9 and the unsecured upper end portion of the rear wall member 3
provides the separate upper edge portion 11, thus providing
separate opposed upper edge portions 9 and 11 disposed in
contiguous relation adapted to frictionally receive the lateral end
portion of a card 20 therebetween, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Thus
as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the separate upper edge portions 9 and
11 are normally disposed in contacting relation thereby to
frictionally receive a card disposed therebetween. As seen in FIGS.
4 and 5, card 20 is substantially larger than the card supporting
device which holds it, that is, the area of the card 20 is several
times greater than the area of front wall member 2.
As shown in FIG. 5, the base member 4, disposed at an angle to the
supporting surface 16, forms an acute angle with the front upright
wall member 2. Thus, with a lateral end portion of the card 20
disposed between the separate upper edge portions 9 and 11 and with
its lower end resting upon the base member 4 at its junction with
the lower end 6 of the front upright wall member 2, the card will
be maintained in parallel relation against the front wall member 2
in upright position between the wall members 2 and 3,
respectively.
To facilitate flexing of the separate upper edge portions 9 and 11
when a card is disposed therebetween, the slit 7 is provided with
an angled extension 8 extending downwardly into the upper end
portion of the rear upright wall member 3. By this means the
separate upper edge portion 11 of the rear upright wall member is
adapted to flex rearwardly with no distortion of the separate upper
edge portion 9 of the front upright wall member 2.
When a relatively thick card is to be supported by the device, it
is anticipated that a slot in lieu of the slit 7 in the apex of the
device may be provided wherein the separate opposed upper edge
portions are disposed in contiguous, slightly spaced apart relation
adapted to frictionally receive a portion of the card
therebetween.
For maintaining the lower ends of the upright wall members 2 and 3
in spaced relation, the base member 4 extends rearwardly from the
lower edge along score line 6 of the front upright wall member 2 in
a straight line at an angle to the supporting surface 16 to its
juncture with a lower portion of the rear upright wall member 3. A
hook member 12 and cooperating slot 13 on the rear end of the base
member 4 interlocks with the re-entrant slot 14 disposed a
relatively short distance above the lower edge 15 of the rear
upright wall member 3, as shown in FIG. 3, whereby the lower ends
of the upright wall members will be maintained locked in spaced
relation. With the angular disposition of the base member 4 with
respect to the supporting surface 16, it will be noted that the
lower edge 6 of the front upright member 2 and the lower edge 15 of
the rear upright wall member 3 provide parallel straight-line
supporting edges for maintaining the device in a stable upright
position so that the device may be positioned upon a flat surface
with a thin fabric 17 thereon, if desired.
It is apparent that many modifications and variations of this
invention as hereinbefore set forth may be made without departing
from the spirit and scope thereof. The specific embodiments
described are given by way of example only and the invention is
limited only by the terms of the appended claims.
* * * * *