Patent Application
20170340143
The present teachings are related to a displaying apparatus, and more particularly to a displaying apparatus that can be hung from a vertical surface and display figurines.
One embodiment is a display apparatus, having a base member having an outer surface, an outer boundary defined by the base member, and a platform extending from the outer surface of the base member and defining an upper surface for holding a display article. The outer boundary of the base member defines a display area and the platform is positioned along the base member at a location that corresponds with a pre-defined location of the display area.
Another embodiment is wall display, having a base member sized to represent a display area, and a platform extending perpendicularly from the base member to define an upper surface. The platform is positioned on the base member at a location that correlates with a location from the display area. Further, the upper surface is sized to allow a figurine to be placed thereon without contacting the base member when the base member is in a substantially vertical orientation.
Another embodiment is a figurine displaying kit having a base member having an outer surface, a plurality of platforms extending from the outer surface of the base member, each defining an upper surface, and at least one figurine having a three-dimensional shape. The outer boundaries of the base member define a display area and the plurality of platforms are positioned along the base member at locations that corresponds with the display area. Further, the figurine correlates with the location of only one of the plurality of platforms.
The above-mentioned aspects of the present disclosure and the manner of obtaining them will become more apparent and the disclosure itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of the embodiments of the disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Corresponding reference numerals are used to indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
The above-mentioned aspects of the present application and the manner of obtaining them will become more apparent and the teachings of the present application itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of the embodiments of the present application taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Referring now to
Also coupled to the base member 104, or integrally formed therewith, may be at least one platform 110. The platform 110 may extend from the outer surface 108 of the base member 104 to provide an upper surface 112 on which a display article or figurine 114 may be positioned. The platform 110 may have sufficient material properties and dimensions to support the figurine 114 when placed on the upper surface 112. In one non-exclusive embodiment, the platform 110 may have a thickness of about a half-inch. However, the thickness of the platform 110 may be any thickness suitable to support the figurine 114 and may vary depending on the material composition of the platform 110 and the base member 104. More specifically, if the platform 110 and base member 104 are formed of a metal such as steel, aluminum, or any other metal or metal alloy, the platform 110 may be much thinner than a half-inch and still able to support the figurine 114. Alternatively, if the platform 110 and base member 104 are formed of weaker material such as wood, Styrofoam, plastic, or any other similar material, the platform 110 may be thicker than a half-inch to support the figurine 114.
The base member 104 may have a thickness sufficient to maintain the size and shape of the base member 104 without substantially deforming or otherwise bending relative to the base member 104. While the thickness of the base member 104 may vary depending on the material composition of the base member 104, in one embodiment the base member 104 may be about a quarter-inch thick. Further, the base member 104 may be formed of any material with sufficient material properties to maintain the platforms 110 in the proper position. More specifically. The base member 104 may be made of wood, metal, plastic, cardboard, Styrofoam, or any other similar material. Further, the base member 104 may be made of the same material, or a different material, than the platform 110. Further still, in one non-exclusive embodiment the base member 104 may have the platforms 110 integrally formed therein.
In one aspect of the present disclosure, the display apparatus 100 may be a wall display. In this embodiment, the base member 104 may have a hanger (not shown) positioned on, or within, a portion of a back surface 116 of the base member 104. The hanger may be along a substantially central portion of the base member 104 so the base member 104 may be hung from a single point on a vertical surface and remain oriented as desired. However, in other embodiments there may be multiple hangers positioned along the back surface 116. In one embodiment, the hanger may be coupled to the back surface 116 and have one or more V-shaped pockets able to receive a portion of a nail, screw, or other similar component that extends from the vertical surface. In this embodiment, the base member 104 may be hung in substantially the same way as many pictures are hung. Similarly, in one embodiment a wire may extend across the back surface 116 and be coupled to the base member 104 at either side. The wire may be positioned along the nail, screw, or other similar component that is extending from the vertical surface to maintain the base member 104 in substantially a vertical position along the wall. In yet another embodiment, a cavity may be formed in a portion of the back surface 116 to allow the nail, screw, or other similar component that is coupled to the horizontal surface to become at least partially positioned therein to hang the base member 104 to the wall. A person skilled in the relevant art understands the many ways the base member 104 can be coupled to a wall or other vertical or angularly offset surface and this disclosure is not limited to any particular type of hanger.
The platform 110 may be coupled to the base member 104 in a plurality of different ways, and this disclosure is not limited to any particular way of coupling the platform 110 to the base member 104. In one embodiment, the platform 110 may be coupled to the base member 104 by welding the platform 110 to the outer surface 108 of the base member 104. In another embodiment, the platform 110 may be glued to the outer surface 108 of the base member 104 using any adhesive known in the art appropriate for the particular materials used for the base member 104 and the platform 110. Further still, in another embodiment the base member 104 may have through-holes defined therein that correspond with the cross-sectional size of the platform 110. In this embodiment, the platform 110 may be positioned at least partially within the through-hole. Further, the platform 110 may be press-fit into the through-hole of the base member 104 to become coupled thereto. Additionally, any of the coupling methods described above can be used in addition to positioning the platform 110 at least partially within the base member 104. In yet another embodiment, one or more fasteners may couple the platform 110 to the base member 104. More specifically, a threaded screw may be driven through the base member 104 at a back surface and into the platform 110. A head of the threaded screw may become positioned adjacent to the back surface while threads of the threaded screw pull the platform 110 towards the outer surface 108 as the threaded screw rotates. In yet another embodiment, an L-shaped bracket can be coupled to each of the base member 104 and the platform 110 to maintain the proper relationship between the base member 104 and the platform 110. More specifically, any of the couplers described above may be used to couple the corresponding portions of the L-bracket to the base member 104 and the platform 110 to couple the platform to the base member 104 at the proper location.
Now referring to
Referring now to
While the base member 104, boundaries 102, and platform 110 locations have been described above for indicating a baseball diamond scene or display area, this disclosure is not limited to such a configuration. More specifically, in other embodiments the base member 104 may have boundaries 102 shaped like a full or partial basketball court. Further, there may be only five platforms 110 positioned along the base member 104 that represent positions typically occupied by basketball players. Alternatively, in other embodiments the base member 104 may have boundaries 102 shaped like a full or partial soccer field. Further, there may be eleven platforms 110 positioned along the base member 104 that represent positions typically occupied by soccer players. In yet another embodiment, the base member 104 may have boundaries 102 shaped like a full or partial football field. Further, there may be eleven platforms 110 positioned along the base member 104 that represent positions typically occupied by football players. In yet another embodiment, the base member 104 may have boundaries 102 shaped like a full or partial ice hockey rink. There may be six platforms 110 positioned along the base member 104 that represent positions typically occupied by ice hockey players. In yet another embodiment, the base member 104 may have boundaries 102 shaped like a full or partial cricket field. There may be eleven platforms 110 positioned along the base member 104 that represent positions typically occupied by cricket players.
In a different embodiment, the base member 104 may have boundaries 102 that represent a recognizable scene or display area outside of athletics such as scenes from a popular landscape, movie, comic, book, video game, card game, board game, or any other similarly recognizable scene. As described above, indicia 106 may be added to the base member 104 to further identify the particular scene or display area being represented. Further still, in this embodiment the platforms 110 may be spaced from one another to position figurines 114 thereon at relevant portions of the base member 104. As one non-limiting example, the base member 104 may have boundaries 102 shaped like a space-ship from a sci-fi movie. The platforms 110 may be positioned along the base member 104 at locations that are significant to the space ship; for example at a location for a captain or gunner. Similarly, the base member 104 may have boundaries 102 representing a popular scene from a movie with the platforms 110 located in areas within the scene where the characters of the movie were located. In this embodiment, the user may identify the scene based on the base member 102 and indicia 106 and determine where a particular type of figurine 114 should be positioned.
More specifically, the figurine 114 may be a separate component that can be placed on, or removed from, the respective platform 110. Further, the figurine 114 may be any three-dimensional component that represents a person or other identifier that the user may relate to the display apparatus 100. In the embodiment shown in
The display apparatus 100 is not limited to applying to baseball player figurines 114. More specifically, the figurine 114 may represent a particular player for any of the sports or recreational activities described above. Further still, the figurines 114 may represent characters associated with the scene or display area of the base member 104 when the base member 104 is not shaped like an athletic event. More specifically, the base member 104 may represent a general scene or display area recognizable by the user and the figurine 114 may represent a particular character associated with a particular location within the scene or display area. Further, the platforms 110 may be spaced about the base member 104 at the particular locations identifiable within the scene or display area. The base member 104 and the figurine 114 may indicate to the user that the figurine 114 belongs on the particular base associated with the scene or display area of the base member 104. Accordingly, the user may place a different figurine 114 on each of the platforms 110 to associate each figurine 114 with their respective position within the scene shown by the base member 104.
While an exemplary embodiment incorporating the principles of the present application has been disclosed hereinabove, the present application is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Instead, this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the application using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this present application pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular illustrative embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.
When an element or layer is referred to as being “on”, “engaged to”, “connected to” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to”, “directly connected to” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.
Spatially relative terms, such as “inner,” “outer,” “beneath”, “below”, “lower”, “above”, “upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations).
