Boltless display stand

Abstract

A boltless display stand which includes as its basic unit a pair of spaced apart support units, each unit consisting of a horizontal base bar having flange receiving blind channels which open upwardly, an upright post rising vertically from the bar centrally between the ends thereof, a base-shelf having stiffening members along each of its oppositely disposed longitudinal edges, and downturned flanges along its oppositely disposed end which end flanges frictionally engage in the flange receiving channel and boltless means removably interconnecting the upper ends of the post of each adjoining pair of posts.

Parent Case Text

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This application is a continuation-in-part of my application Ser. No. 308,321 filed Nov. 21, 1972, now abandoned, which, in turn, is a continuation of my application Ser. No. 158,847 filed July 1, 1971, now abandoned, for the invention entitled "Boltless Display Stand."

Description

This application is an improvement on the structure disclosed in my prior Canadian Pat. No. 792,581 dated Aug. 20, 1968 and its United States counterpart, U.S. Pat. No. 3,346,124 dated Oct. 10, 1967.

The present invention has, for one of its objects, the simplification of the structure disclosed in the said patents.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a boltless display stand, a base unit comprising a pair of spaced apart base members, each member comprising a horizontal base bar and a vertical support post rising substantially midway between the ends of the bar and permanently secured thereto, said base bar having an upwardly facing flange receiving blind channel extending lengthwise of the top edge thereof; a removable cross member interconnecting the posts of the pair of adjacent base members, base-shelf supported by and between the base bar of the pair of base members, said base-shelf having at each end thereof downturned flanges engageable in the upwardly facing channels, and having integrally formed stiffening members along its oppositely disposed longitudinal edges.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention in the process of being assembled;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view to show details, partly in section, of means for connecting together an end unit, intermediate post, finishing members and panels;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section of FIG. 2 taken on the line 3--3;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the manner of constructing a pair of shelf units between a pair of end units to form a display for a multiplicity of goods;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an intermediate unit;

FIG. 5a is a cross-section on the line 5a--5a of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the intermediate post of FIG. 5 without the finishing member.

The boltless display stand illustrated in the drawings comprises a pair of base units, indicated indcated by the letters C and D with added end frame units generally indicated by the letters A and B located between the end units. Each end unit when constructed and assembled as hereinafter described, any number may be connected together to form a stand without the use of any bolts with an end unit at each end. The stand may be quick assembled or dismantled without the use of any tools.

Each of the base units C,D are identical in construction and therefore only one need by described in detail.

The drawings illustrate a pair of base units D and C using three base members F,G and H basically identical in construction. Each base member includes a horizontal base bar 16, a vertical support post 17, rising vertically from the bar 16 centrally between the ends of the base bar and is permanently welded thereto; the horizontal blade 16 is formed of spaced bars 16a, 16b held in spaced apart relationship by inserts 20, one at each end and welded together to form flange receiving blind channels 9,9a therebetween, one on each side of post 17. Self-levelling legs 21,22, one at each end of the bar and welded thereto provides support for the horizontal bar. Each of the posts 10,11 and 17 are provided with equal sized and equal spaced shelf bracket slots 23 in the narrow face to permit easy locating, inserting, connecting and disconnecting of shelf brackets to and from the post structure. These shelves with their brackets have been generally indicated by the number 24. The shelves, shelf brackets and the slots are of conventional design and do not form a part of the present invention except that they may serve, in addition, as cross members interconnecting the posts 17.

Each of the end frame units A,B are constructed the same and therefore only one, namely unit A need be described. Each end unit comprises a pair of end posts 10,11, each post having a shelf support 12 welded to the bottom end and projecting outwardly with the free end supported on leg 14, the pair of shelf supports being connected together by a stabilizing bar 15.

The inwardly facing broad side of each of the end posts 10,11 is provided with longitudinally extending channels 25. Adjacent the top of each end post, just above the end of the channels 25, there is provided a fastening member 26 which is engaged by end hooks 27, one at each end of the first finishing member 18, to thereby tie the end posts 10,11 together when assembled. At the bottom end of each of the end posts 10,11 is a connector hook 28 which, in the assembled state, engages in the channels 9,9a respectively, formed between the bars 16a,16b adjacent to the inserts 20. The free end of each of the shelf blades is provided with a slot 29 and the stabilizing bar 15 is provided with complementary slots 30, one at each end. This provides a means for effectively tieing the two stabilizing bars together. A first base-shelf 31 is supported on the shelf blades 12,13 with its inside edge 32 provided with a downturned flange 32a which flange, in the assembled state, engages in the channel 9 between the bars 16a,16b. When assembled, a back panel 8 is secured in position by having its upright marginal edges engages in the engaged 25 and its top edge engaged in the channel 19 and its lower edge inserted into U-channel 31a.

As will be seen from the drawings the stand includes two base units C and D, the units employing three base members F,G,H.

In the illustrated embodiment base member F consists of the vertical support post 33, a horizontal base bar 34 made up of spaced apart bars 34a,34b to provide a channel 35 therebetween. The base bar 34 is identical to the horizontal base bar 16. The post 33 rises vertically from midway between the ends of the horizontal bar 34. It will be seen that the post 33 and the horizontal bar 34 are similar to the post 17 and blade 16. In fact, they are interchangeable. There is mounted on the bar 34a in line with the post 33, a divider support bracket 36 and a similar bracket (not shown) on the bar 34b. The horizontal bar 34 is provided with support legs 37,38 of the self-levelling type.

The unit C also includes a second base-shelf divided into two corresponding halves 39,40, each half having end flanges 41,42 which engage in channels 9,9a and the channel 9 formed between the bars 16a,16b. Each of the corresponding halves 39,40 have their front and rear longitudinal edges turned down to form front and rear stiffening members 57,58 along each of the longitudinal edges. It is to be noted that shelf halves 39,40 are identical and interchangeable. The rear inside corners of the base-shelf halves 39,40 are recessed as indicated at 41a,42a for the reception of the base part of the posts 17 and 33, the said inside corners being supported on the bracket 36 on the bar 33 and a corresponding bracket 43 on the bar 16b. A first divider 44, in the present instance, a peg board, is mounted between the posts 17 and 33 with the upright edges engaged in channel 45 of the post 17 and channel 46 of the post 33. A second finishing member 47 similar to the first finishing member 18, detachably connects the post 33 to the intermediate post 17 by means of fastening members 26a and connector hooks 27a similar to fastening members 26 and end hooks 27. The first divider 44 when assembled, has its top edge engaged in the U-channel of the second finishing member 47. For back panel alignment and stabilization, stabilizing clips 48, shown in FIG. 5a is welded inside the channel.

The third intermediate unit D is similarly constructed and consists of a third base-shelf divided into two half sections 49,49a and a third finishing member 51 similar in construction to the second finishing member 47.

By referring to FIG. 2, it will be seen that the post 17 is connected to the first finishing member 17 by complementary connector means 52,53. It will also be seen that on referring to FIG. 1, that the units C and D share the common post 33.

The quick and easy assemble of the display stand will now be described.

The first step is to assemble both base units. A pair of base members are placed in spaced apart relationship. Base shelves 39,40,49,49a are then mounted on the respective horizontal base bar by having the flanges of the respective base-shelf halves 39,40,49 and 49a inserted in the respective channels 9,9a. The first and second dividers 44,50 are then mounted in position with their vertical edges engaged in the respective channels 45,46 of the respective intermediate post 17 and 33. The second finishing member 47 and third finishing member 51 are then mounted in position, as shown, to tie the top edges of the three intermediate posts together with the top edges of the second and third finishing member, respectively.

Each flange 41,42 is cut away adjacent the front stiffening member 57 to form notches 56,56a which receive inserts 20 when assembled and provides an effective locking means which prevents the shelf riding forward on the horizontal base bar 34.

The next step is to assemble each of the end units A and B. Both are assembled in exactly the same manner and therefore only the assembly of the unit A will be described. The end posts 10,11 are connected to the horizontal bar 16 by inserting the hooks 28 in the channels 9,9a respectively. This places the post 17 centrally between the pair of end posts. Next, the stabilizing bar 15 is inserted in the slots 29,30 in the shelf blades 12,13 thus effectively tieing together and stabilizing the end posts 10,11 at their lower most connecting points. The end base-shelf 31 is then mounted on the shelf blades 12,13 with the stiffening means 54 which are carried on the bottom side of the shelf engaged in notches 56 formed in the upper edge of the shelf blades; at the same time, the flange 32a drops upon and locks into the channel 9 between the horizontal blade parts 16a,16b. The end unit A is now ready to receive the back panel 8 which inserts downward into post channels 25. The next step is to tie the top ends of the end posts 10,11 by mounting the first finishing member 18 in place with the end hooks 27 engaged with the fastening members 26 with the finishing member 18 also being connected to the intermediate post 17 by means of the complementary connector means 52,53.

Claims

What I claim is:

1. In a boltless display stand, a base unit comprising a pair of spaced apart base members, each member comprising a horizontal base bar and a vertical support post rising substantially midway between the ends of the bar and permanently secured thereto, said base bar having an upwardly facing flange receiving channel extending lengthwise of the top edge thereof; a removable first finishing member interconnecting the top ends of the vertical support posts of the pair of adjacent base members, a base shelf removably supported by and suspended between the base bars of the pair of base members, said base shelf having at each end thereof downturned flanges engageable in the upwardly facing channels and having longitudinally extending stiffening means on the underside thereof, an upright separable end frame, said end frame comprising a pair of end posts each post having an end base shelf support secured to and extending outwardly in one direction from the bottom end thereof and at right angles thereto and also having a hook member extending outwardly therefrom in the opposite direction, said hook member being engageable in one of said channels adjacent one end of one of said horizontal base bars, a stabilizing bar frictionally connectable to the free ends of the pair of end base shelf supports, an end base shelf supported by said pair of spaced apart end base supports, said end base shelf and end base shelf supports having interengaging complemental parts restraining relative movement between said end base shelf and the end base shelf supports and a second finishing member removably interconnectable to the top ends of the pair of end posts forming said end frame and to the adjacent vertical support post.

2. A boltless display stand according to claim 1, including a first divider panel mounted between the two end posts, said divider panel being supported by the end frame with its vertical edges engaged in channels on the respective end posts and its top edge engaged in a channel formed in the second finishing member; and a second divider panel supported on said base members with its vertical edges engaged in channels carried on the vertical support posts of the pair of base members with its top edge engaged in a channel formed in the first finishing member.