Display system for flat article

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9468314-B2
Application number	US-201514721724-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 26, 2015
Priority date	May 26, 2014
Publication date	Oct 18, 2016
Grant date	Oct 18, 2016

Abstract

The present invention provides a display system for flat articles generally including a rack, one or more carriers, and a plurality of flat articles. The rack comprises a plurality of vertical rack supports and a plurality of horizontal rack supports forming bays between the vertical rack supports. The one or more carriers have an upper mounting bracket, a lower mounting bracket, a pair of upright members, and at least one pair of support members, and are attached to upper and lower horizontal rack supports within each bay. The pair of upright members are coupled to each of the upper and lower mounting brackets in a horizontally spaced-apart manner, and the pair of support members extends between the pair of upright members in a vertically spaced-apart manner. The plurality of flat articles may be slidably engaged with the pair of support members so that a front surface is exposed for viewing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A flat article display system comprising:
a rack comprising:
first and second vertical rack supports arranged in a horizontally spaced-apart manner to define a first bay therebetween;
first upper and lower horizontal rack supports, each of the first upper and lower horizontal rack supports coupled to and extending between the first and second vertical rack supports in a vertically spaced-apart manner;

one or more carriers, each of the carriers comprising:
an upper mounting bracket coupled to the first upper horizontal rack support;
a lower mounting bracket coupled to the first lower horizontal rack support;
a pair of upright members extending between and coupled to each of the upper and lower mounting brackets in a horizontally spaced-apart manner;
a first pair of support members extending between the pair of upright members in a vertically spaced-apart manner; and
a second pair of support members extending between the pair of upright members in a vertically spaced-apart manner, the second pair of support members located below the first pair of support members; and

a plurality of flat articles mounted to the first and second pairs of support members of the carrier, a first set of the plurality of flat articles mounted to the first pair of support members of the carrier and a second set of the plurality of flat articles mounted to the second pair of support members of the carrier, each of the plurality of flat articles comprises a front surface, the front surfaces of the first and second sets of the plurality of flat articles being substantially coplanar.

2. The flat article display system of claim 1 further comprising, for each of the plurality of flat articles, a pair of product mounting elements coupled to the flat article, the flat article mounted to the carrier through slidable mating between the pair of product mounting elements and one of the first and second pairs of support members.

3. The flat article display system of claim 2 wherein the first pair of support members of the carrier comprises an upper engagement member and a lower engagement member; and wherein for each of the first plurality of flat articles, the pair of product mounting elements comprises an upper channel member and a lower channel member.

4. The flat article display system of claim 1 further comprising:
the lower horizontal rack support comprising a lower front cross-beam;
the upper horizontal rack support comprising an upper front cross-beam;
the upper mounting bracket of the carriers comprising an upper channel member that slidably engages the upper front cross-beam; and
the lower mounting bracket of the carriers comprising a fastening element that can be alternated between: (1) an unlocked state in which the lower mounting bracket can be separated from the lower front cross-beam; and (2) a locked state in which the lower mounting bracket is fixed to the lower front cross-beam.

5. The flat article display system of claim 1 wherein for each of the carriers, the first pair of support members protrudes beyond a front-most face of the vertical rack supports of the rack support in a horizontal direction away from the rack.

6. A flat article display system comprising:
a rack comprising:
first and second vertical rack supports arranged in a horizontally spaced-apart manner to define a first bay therebetween;
first upper and lower horizontal rack supports, each of the first upper and lower horizontal rack supports coupled to and extending between the first and second vertical rack supports in a vertically spaced-apart manner;

one or more carriers, each of the carriers comprising:
an upper mounting bracket coupled to the first upper horizontal rack support;
a lower mounting bracket coupled to the first lower horizontal rack support;
a pair of upright members extending between and coupled to each of the upper and lower mounting brackets in a horizontally spaced-apart manner;
a first pair of support members extending between the pair of upright members in a vertically spaced-apart manner;

a plurality of flat articles mounted to the first pair of support members of the carrier, for each of the plurality of flat articles, a pair of product mounting elements coupled to the flat article, the flat article mounted to the carrier through slidable mating between the pair of product mounting elements and the first pair of support members;
wherein the first pair of support members of the carrier comprises an upper engagement member and a lower engagement member; and wherein for each of the first plurality of flat articles, the pair of product mounting elements comprises an upper channel member and a lower channel member; and
wherein the upper engagement member of the first pair of support members comprises a downwardly extending engagement wall having a first height and the lower engagement member of the first pair of support members comprises an upwardly extending engagement wall having a second height, the second height being less than the first height.

7. A flat article display system comprising:
a rack comprising:
first and second vertical rack supports arranged in a horizontally spaced-apart manner to define a first bay therebetween;
first upper and lower horizontal rack supports, each of the first upper and lower horizontal rack supports coupled to and extending between the first and second vertical rack supports in a vertically spaced-apart manner;

one or more carriers, each of the carriers comprising:
an upper mounting bracket coupled to the first upper horizontal rack support;
a lower mounting bracket coupled to the first lower horizontal rack support;
a pair of upright members extending between and coupled to each of the upper and lower mounting brackets in a horizontally spaced-apart manner;
a first pair of support members extending between the pair of upright members in a vertically spaced-apart manner;

a plurality of flat articles mounted to the first pair of support members of the carrier, for each of the plurality of flat articles, a pair of product mounting elements coupled to the flat article, the flat article mounted to the carrier through slidable mating between the pair of product mounting elements and the first pair of support members;
wherein the first pair of support members of the carrier comprises an upper engagement member and a lower engagement member; and wherein for each of the first plurality of flat articles, the pair of product mounting elements comprises an upper channel member and a lower channel member; and
wherein for each of the plurality of flat articles, the upper channel member of the pair of product mounting elements comprises an upwardly extending engagement wall having a first height and the lower channel member of the pair of product mounting elements comprises a downwardly extending engagement wall having a second height, the second height being less than the first height.

8. A flat article display system comprising:
a rack comprising:
first and second vertical rack supports arranged in a horizontally spaced-apart manner to define a first bay therebetween;
first upper and lower horizontal rack supports, each of the first upper and lower horizontal rack supports coupled to and extending between the first and second vertical rack supports in a vertically spaced-apart manner;

one or more carriers, each of the carriers comprising:
an upper mounting bracket coupled to the first upper horizontal rack support;
a lower mounting bracket coupled to the first lower horizontal rack support;
a pair of upright members extending between and coupled to each of the upper and lower mounting brackets in a horizontally spaced-apart manner;
a first pair of support members extending betwee

Assignees

• Armstrong World Ind Inc
• Afi Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Goodwin Milton W
• Ohearn Michael S
• Brant Steven R

Classifications

• A47F7/0042

  for flat articles, e.g. panels, tiles (A47F7/0014, A47F7/14, A47F7/16 take precedence) · CPC title

• A47B47/0083

  with four vertical uprights (for units mainly made of wood or plastic A47B47/045) · CPC title

• A47B96/067

  Horizontal rails as suspension means in a cantilever arrangement (suspension fittings for cabinets to be hung on walls A47B95/008) · CPC title

• A47F5/0838 Primary

  Rails or bars; Article supports therefor, e.g. brackets being slidably attached on the outside thereof · CPC title

• A47B47/05

  with panels on a separate frame, e.g. a metal frame · CPC title