Carpet display rack

Abstract

A rack for hanging room sized carpets in show rooms. The rack has a plurality of uprights, each of which has a horizontal arm supporting a hanging carpet. The arm is adapted to be raised and lowered by a flexible drive member such as a cable or belt entrained on a motor-driven pulley and moved by a gear drive type motor. The flexible drive member or belt and motor-driven pulley are mounted on the rack.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to display racks and more particularly to improvements in display racks for hanging room sized carpets.

It is desirable to have carpets hanging in such a manner in order that a number of carpets can be viewed without moving a large number of carpets. However, raising the carpets to a hanging position can not be done conveniently without proper equipment and furthermore, customers may request that the hanging carpet be spread horizontally. It is desirable therefore, that a sales person be provided with a motorized rack to conveniently raise and lower any carpet with a minimum of effort.

Attempts to provide display racks of this type include applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,011 which discloses a winch and cable system and U.S. Pat. No. 2,000,336, which discloses a horizontal carpet support raised by pulling a rope. Other prior attempts include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,187,900, W. Schneider; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,330,418, W. Schneider.

It is considered desirable therefore, to provide a display rack having single display rack arms, which will be capable of being driven by individual motors.

A still further consideration is that of minimizing damage to expensive carpets by exposed moving parts such as cables.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a display rack secured in an upright position for hanging carpets. The rack comprises an upright support member, an arm assembly including a horizontal member, and a diagonal brace for movement from a lowered position to an upper storage position. The horizontal member has an upper support roller bearing on a side of the upright support; a lower support roller on an end of the diagonal brace bearing on a side of the support opposite from the upper support roller and a drive winch on the upright tubular member whereby a flexible member on the drive winch extends over a pulley on the arm assembly and has an end secured to an upper end of the support.

Another embodiment of the invention comprises an upright support member, an arm assembly including a horizontal member, and a diagonal brace for movement from a lowered position to an upper storage position. The horizontal member has an upper support roller bearing on a side of the upright support; a lower support roller on an end of the diagonal brace bearing on a side of the support opposite from the upper support roller and a winch on the upright tubular member whereby a flexible belt member wound on a drive pulley of the worm drive winch has an end secured to the arm assembly and the flexible member has indentations to cooperate with teeth on the drive pulley.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the display rack of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view an arm assembly of the invention of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view partly in section of the motor and gear mechanism and

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the motor and winch of FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of an arm assembly showing the motor and gear mechanism mounted at a lower end of a vertical support member of the rack,

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of another embodiment of an arm assembly; and

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of a motor and gear mechanism of FIG. 6

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring now in detail to the drawings in which the numeral 10 generally denotes a carpet display rack, the rack 10 has a supporting assembly 12 including posts 14 having bottom plates 18. The posts 14 are also provided with adjustable top plates 22 secured in the adjusted position by set screws 26.

A lower channel plate 30 has spaced apart apertures 32 and a top plate 34 of right angle cross section which has apertures 38 vertically aligned with the apertures 32 of the lower plate 30. Vertical support members 40 (one of which is shown) have upper and lower pins 44 and 46 adapted to be received in the apertures 34 and 32 respectively for pivotal movement. The pin 44 carries a slideable collar 50 adjustable by means of set screw 52.

An arm assembly 60 adapted to move vertically on the upright channel member 40, includes a horizontal member 60 and a diagonal brace 64. An associated end 62 of the arm 60 has spaced apart plates 65 to engage the upright tubular member 40, and a roller 70 mounted at the end of the horizontal member 60 engages the other side of the tubular member 40. The lower end of the brace 64 is also provided with spaced plates 66 to receive a roller 74 bearing against the adjacent side of the tubular member 40. A roller 86 is also mounted between the plates 65 on the horizontal member 60 adjacent the upright member 40. As illustrated in FIG. 3, a toothed belt 90 extends over a similarly toothed drum 92 of a winch 94 and has its end 93 looped over fastening means 85 on the horizontal member 60 adjacent the roller 86. The toothed belt 90 is preferably polyurethane combined with a tension member of braided steel sold under the name Breco Flex.

The pairs of spaced apart plates 65 and 66 are preferably joined or integrally formed. A nylon roller 100 is provided on the outer end of each arm assembly 60, although means for attaching a carpet to the horizontal member 62 does not form part of this invention, a carpet clip 110, as shown in FIG. 1 grips an upper edge of the carpet. The clip 110 is the subject of another patent application by this inventor.

The gear mechanism 94 is of the type referred to as worm gear and meshes with a gear 124 for rotating the drive pulley drum 92. An electric motor 130 is secured to the shaft 120 to facilitate turning the shaft. A suitable motor is manufactured under the trade name Nema. The worm gear operates at a 50:1 drive ratio and moves a 250 lb load through a 9 ft travel in approximately 37 seconds. The worm gear winch is self-braking so that the winch drum cannot accidentally run free.

As illustrated in FIG. 5 the drum 92 of the winch 94 is mounted on a lower end of the frame member 40. The toothed belt 90 has its end 93 looped over fastening means 85 on the horizontal member 60 the belt 90 then extends over a pulley 200 on an upper end of the upright member 40 and extends over the toothed drum 92 of the winch 94 and has an end 93 secured to a lower end of the frame 60.

It will be noted that the input shaft of the winch 94 is positioned at about an angle of 30 degrees with respect to the upright frame members so that a portable electric motor 131 can be attached to the winch 94 associated with a selected arm assembly 60. The drive pulleys of the winch 94 may be interchanged for use with either belts, chains or cable wrap systems. Furthermore, mounting of the housing 95 as shown in FIG. 5 is also adapted for use in top mounting of the winch 94 as shown in FIG. 3. In place of the cordless motor 131 a modified electric motor 130 may be provided for use with the winch 54 shown in FIG. 5. The motor 130 can be provided with coupling means (not shown) and an extension cord or a source of power adjacent each arm assembly.

In use the arm assembly 60 can be raised and lowered, the belt 90 having been correctly installed on the drum 92. The carpet (not shown) is then secured to the arm assembly 60 through the use of clips 110 and the arm assembly is raised by the electric motor 130 or 131 to wind belt 90 on the drum 92. It will be appreciated that if the operator stops the power unit for any reason before fully raising or lowering the arm assembly 60, the drive means cannot run free due to the provision of the self-braking winch gear mechanism 94

As illustrated in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 a flexible drive member 201 such as a cable, extends over a pulley 265 to the drum 202 where it terminates, The flexible drive member 201 is fastened to the drum 202 so that the flexible drive member 201 is wrapped around the drum 202 continuously thus decreasing its length and raising a load. The drum 202 has been made integral with the winch motor assembly 230 and includes a brake 294 which is disengaged by power energizing the motor 230.

In use the arm assembly 60 can be raised and lowered by the flexible drive member 201 which extends around the pulley 265 before having its other end secured to the frame 44 by suitable fastening means. The motor assembly 230 is secured to the frame 44 by suitable supports 203 and 204.

A suitable motor and gear box is sold by Warner Electric Co. provides the following:

• • 90 Volt DC
  • 20 to 1 ratio
  • overload clutch slip at 85-90 lbs
  • rating of about 150 RPM @ 75 in. of torque

The brake 294 is provided on the motor gear box assembly 230 within the motor housing.

Claims

1. A display rack secured in an upright position for hanging carpets, the rack comprising; at least one upright support member; an arm assembly carried by the upright support, the arm assembly including a horizontal member and a brace; an upper support roller on the horizontal member bearing on a side of the upright support, a lower support roller on an end of the brace bearing on a side of the upright support opposite from the upper support roller and a winch at the upright support whereby a flexible tension member wound on the winch has a free end secured to the arm assembly for moving the arm assembly from a lowered position to an upper carpet display position.

2. A display rack as claimed in claim 1 wherein the winch has a worm gear drive having a gear ratio of 50:1 and which resists unwinding of the flexible tension member.

3. A display rack as claimed in claim 2 wherein one or more of the upright supports are supported on upper and lower plate members having apertures to receive pins whereby a pin on an upper end of the upright support is received in an aperture in the upper plate, and a pin on the lower end of the upright support is received in an aperture in a lower plate member for pivotally supporting the upright supports.

4. A display rack as claimed in claim 1 secured in an upright position for hanging carpets, the rack comprising: upright support members, a motor and a winch on each upright support member; an arm assembly including a horizontal member having spaced apart plates received on the upright member; a diagonal brace on the horizontal member; an upper support roller on the end of the horizontal member bearing on a side of the upright support; a lower support roller on an end of the brace bearing on a side of the upright support opposite from the upper support roller; and a winch on the support member whereby a flexible tension member wound on a pulley on the winch has a free end secured to the arm assembly for moving the arm assembly from a lowered position to an upper carpet display position.

5. A display rack secured in an upright position for hanging carpets, the rack comprising: an upright support; an arm assembly including a horizontal member; a diagonal brace on the horizontal member; an upper support roller on the horizontal member bearing on a side of the upright support; a lower support roller on an end of the brace bearing on a side of the upright support opposite from the upper support roller; and a winch having a toothed drum mounted on the upright support whereby a toothed flexible tension member wound on the winch drum extends along the upright support and has a free end secured to the arm assembly for moving the arm assembly from a lowered position to an upper carpet display position.

6. A display rack as claimed in claim 1 wherein the motor is mounted on the winch and the winch is mounted on the upright support.

7. A display rack secured in an upright position for hanging carpets, the rack comprising: an upright support, an arm assembly including a horizontal member; a winch having a toothed drum is mounted at a lower end of the upright support whereby a toothed flexible tension member having its one end secured to the arm assembly is wound on the winch drum, extends along the upright support; passes over a pulley on an upper end of the upright support and has one end secured to the arm assembly for moving the arm assembly from a lowered position to an upper carpet display position.

8. A display rack as claimed in claim 4 wherein the toothed flexible tension member comprises polyurethane and a braided steel tension member,

9. A display rack as claimed in claim 1 wherein the flexible tension member is a cable.

10. A display rack as claimed in claim 1 wherein the winch has a gear drive and a brake to control undesired unwinding of the tension member.