Patent Application
20050023430
The present invention relates to a flexible mounting device and, in particular a mounting device, which will allow a large variety of objects to be affixed to a various mounting locations, in a predetermined physical orientation.
Certain mounting devices for attaching objects to fixed locations are well known. Mounting devices are available in the form of clamps, brackets, fittings, etc. Many mounting devices that have been used previously, however, are not suitable for mounting objects in locations which are physically abusive. One example of such mounting devices is for display advertising and promotional material, or other objects located in supermarkets and other retail establishments.
One exemplary location for using such mounting devices is the shelves in grocery and other retail stores. The shelves typically have a channel attached to their distal edge. These channels are generally referred to as “price channels.” Price channels are typically formed of extruded metal sections, such as an extruded aluminum section. Price channels are adapted to accept cards that display price, weight, or other product information. They have also been used to mount promotional materials.
Mounting devices that have been used prior to the present invention typically orient the materials being displayed in a plane parallel to the price channel and, consequently, parallel to the edge of the shelf.
Most mounting devices which are intended to hold an attached object in a very specific orientation in space hold them in a rigid fashion. When an overwhelming force is able to displace the attached object, damage usually results to the object and/or the attachment mechanism. Such devices are disclosed, for example, by Made, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,313,054 for Display Devices (Jun. 9, 1965); Krautsack, U.S. Pat. No. 4,016,977 for Assemblage With Dual Support (Apr. 12, 1977); Bernie, U.S. Pat. No. 4,420,082 for Tab Mounted Dispenser (Dec. 13, 1983); and Langwell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,380 for Pad Holder Adapted for Multiple Modes of Mounting and Associated Methods (Feb. 25, 1986). Each of these patents discloses a mounting device that is inserted into the price channel, without providing adequate visibility for the displayed item.
It is desirable to orient the advertising promotional materials or other display items in such a fashion that they extend away from their support plane so as to provide visibility and attract more attention. In that orientation, the display can be seen by the consumer even from a far distance. Mounted in this way, however, the displayed item is much more likely be accidentally or intentionally hit, bumped, on dislodged.
Certain mounting devices known prior to the present invention are unable to withstand rough usage to which a mounting device may be subject to in it's environment, for example in a supermarket or other consumer establishment. In-store promotional programs may require that the mounting device remain in place in a store for periods of months at a time, or longer. During that period, the display material and mounting device may be repeatedly bumped and manipulated. Unless the mounting device is resilient and durable, it may not be able to withstand even accidental abuse and remain in place on the shelf for the full duration of the promotional program.
Many mounting devices that have been used prior to the present invention do not provide a firm and secure mounting. Display devices that have been used prior to the present invention in grocery stores typically are not firmly anchored into the price channel. Many such mounting devices are simply inserted into the price channel or are held in place with relatively little force, such as by the resiliency of the material of which the mounting device is constructed, or simply by the force of gravity. Such devices may be easily dislodged from the price channel or can be intentionally removed from the price channel with relatively little force. Items which are flexibly mounted frequently will simply move under the force of externally applied pressure and become separated from the mounting location.
Further, mounting devices mounted on the distal edges of grocery or other retail store shelves are readily accessible and are frequently subject to vandalism or intentional abuse. It is not uncommon for children, or others, to pull on the advertising display or to hang from it, thereby, placing substantial force on the attachment point. In addition, persons having access to the display may mutilate it or its mounting. Many mounting devices that have been used prior to the present invention cannot withstand such abuse.
As such, it is desirable that mounting devices mounted in various areas of a supermarket or other retail establishment that maintain a sturdy but flexible connection between the mounting device support base and the item that is attached and extended away from the base. If the connection is too flexible, it will not be able to support weighty objects attached thereto and will be easily subject to damage from minimal contact. If the connection is overly rigid it could cause permanent breakage to occur in the face of overwhelming force.
Accordingly, there is a need for an easy to use mounting device, that will provide a means for attaching to many locations a large variety of items, that is attractive, inexpensive, easy to install, detachable, and provides a sound and compact attachment. Moreover, such a device must be resilient and must be able to withstand rough usage, including bumping and vandalism or tampering. Prior art approaches do not adequately address the problem of providing such a mounting device.
One object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a device for mounting a wide variety of items to a wide variety of mounting locations in a flexible manner that minimizes physical damage to the attached device when it is subjected to overwhelming displacement forces.
A further object of the present invention is to provide means to return the mounted items to their original intended mounting orientation after application of an overwhelming dislocation force applied to the mounted item.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive mounting device, which is easy to install.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a mounting device that is detachable and reusable.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a durable, resilient, and easily maintained mounting device that will withstand severe usage conditions and accidental or intentional abuse.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention are set forth, in part, in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention will be realized in detail by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
The present invention is directed to a mounting device comprised of an attachment plate configured for attachment to a desired mounting surface and to secure a resilient connector extending away from the attachment plate. The resilient connector further comprises a flexible snubber and a spring surrounding the snubber.
Alignment surfaces or surfaces on alignment loops are provided having alignment surfaces adjoining each other, each pair of adjoining alignment surfaces has at least one rotation retarder, so as to prevent rotational movement of the alignment loop surfaces beyond a specifiable angle of rotation.
a-1b illustrate a perspective view of a mounting device, according to one embodiment of the present invention;
a-6d illustrate the movement of alignment loops in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein by reference and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one embodiment of the invention, and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
In accordance with on embodiment of the invention, advertising display mounting device 10 has a mounting base 12 configured to cooperate with a mounting location such as a price channel on a shelf in a grocery or other retail store to hold an advertisement or promotional object firmly and resiliently in place on the mounting location such as the shelf. The shelf, in a typical grocery store or other retail store, has a price channel disposed along its distal edge. The price channel is adapted to hold cards providing pricing or other product information and is adapted to receive various types of mounting hardware. In one example of the invention, base 12 of device 10 is configured to lock device 10 into place along the price channel at the desired location.
Mounting base 12 can be attached to the price channel in any number of ways. An exemplary method of attachment can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,652 issued to Kringel, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. For the purposes of illustration, the attachment method of base 12 to its mounting location such as the price channel operates in a manner similar to the system and method described in the '652 patent, however this is in no way intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any method of attachment of base 12 to any mounting location is within the contemplation of the present invention.
In one embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in
Attachment plate 20, does not require the use of auxiliary mounting aid 40 to operate. In fact, any connector support 20, such as the attachment plate 20 provided may simply be directly coupled to base 12, or even directly to the desired mounting location. Auxiliary mounting aide 40 merely provides mounting device 10 with the ability to attach resilient connector at various angles relative to base 12, and with the ability to quickly change that orientation.
It should be noted that attachment plate 20 is used an exemplary form of connector support 20 through out this application as illustrative of one type of connector support, however, this is in no way intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any connector support 20, such as a hinge, plate or latch capable of supporting resilient connector 36 is within the contemplation of the present invention.
It should also be noted that lock plate 40 is used an exemplary form of auxiliary mounting aid 40 through out this application as illustrative of one type of mounting aid, however, this is in no way intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any auxiliary mounting aid 40, such as a plate, clip or clasp capable of retaining connector support 20 is within the contemplation of the present invention.
In one embodiment of the present invention, attachment plate 20 is slidingly positioned along a range of angles relative to base 12 so that resilient connector 36 can be positioned at desired angles relative to base 12 allowing the advertisement to be displayed accordingly. Once lock plate 40 is positioned properly over attachment plate 20 against base 12, fastener means 49, accessible through an opening in lock pate 40, is engaged to lock attachment portion 20 into position.
In one embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in
It should be noted that wave-shaped washers 38 are used through out this application as an exemplary of alignment loops 38, however this is in no way intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any similarly functioning elements used as alignment loops are within the contemplation of the present invention.
Snubber 39 is preferably constructed of a lightweight rubber or polyurethane material of selectable diameter, which extends from attachment means 20 through the inside of the coil of spring 37. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of wave-shaped washers 38 form a spring sheath 45. Washers 38 are advantageously constructed out of polycarbonate plastic material or other suitable material having similar elastic properties.
b illustrates a bottom view of mounting device 10, specifically the arrangement of attachment plate 20 and socket 21 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. Socket 21 may be a directly molded into attachment plate 20 and is of a geometric configuration and diameter such that both the enlarged base portions of snubber 39 and of spring 37 can not fit through. In this configuration, resilient connector 36 is secured to attachment plate 20 in such a way that it can not be pulled from attachment plate 20 in a direction away from base 12 as described above.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the construction of resilient connector 36 and spring 37, without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. For example, resilient connector 36, in accordance with another embodiment of the invention, comprises various types of springs, cordage, tubing, or other suitable resilient attachment means or combinations thereof. Spring 37 could comprise any of a variety of elastic materials such a rubber or elastic cord or other suitable materials. Hence, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of the invention, so as to achieve their intended result.
Snubber 39 extends outwardly from attachment plate 20 through and out the distal end of spring 37 where it ends in an attachment head 47 further maintaining an opening through which a locking rod 41 is inserted. Spring 37, which is coiled around snubber 39, maintains a catch coil 48 which extends around attachment head 47 so as to require the spring and the snubber to extend as an assembly.
As embodied herein, snubber 39 serves to help limit the degree of extension of spring 37 in order to prevent inelastic deformation of spring 37 in the event display device 10 of the present invention is subject to undue stress, rough handling, or abuse.
In one embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in
In one embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in
In one embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in
In one embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in
In one embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in
It should be noted that clip 70 is used an exemplary form of advertisement mount 70 through out this application as illustrative of one type of advertisement mount, however, this is in no way intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any advertisement mount 70, such as a hinge, latch, knuckle coupler or magnet, capable of supporting the advertisement is within the contemplation of the present invention.
Similar to wave mount portion 60 of attachment means 20, the region of wave mount base region 71 of advertisement clip 70 proximal to base 12 maintains a similar formation of that of wave-shaped washers 38. A crest region 77 and trough region 78 are formed with a rotation retarder notch 79 disposed at the top of crest region 77, maintaining structural similarities and contours with wave-shaped washers 38.
In one embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in
In this configuration of the fully assembled device 10, as illustrated
In one embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in
It should be noted that advertisement support bracket 80 is used an exemplary form of product adaptor 80 through out this application as illustrative of one type of product adaptor, however, this is in no way intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any product adaptor, such as a hinge, clip or latch capable of supporting advertisement display item 90 is within the contemplation of the present invention.
In one embodiment of the present invention not only advertising display device 10 is configured to provide a sturdy flexible mount for advertising display item 90 capable of protecting against standard bumping and accidental collisions, but spring sheath 45, also protects spring 37/snubber 39 from over rotation problems associated with intentional twisting.
As with any spring-mounted arrangement, spring 37 is capable of stabling item 90 while also allowing for vertical and horizontal movement. However, particularly damaging to spring mount systems, twisting of the spring usually causes irreparable harm to its resiliency. To this end, as illustrated in
As mentioned earlier in one example of use of the present invention, mounting device 10 is installed on mounting location such as a shelf. In rare occasions, mounting device 10 and item 90 may be subjected to extreme rotational movement, when someone attempts to rotate item 90 by force in a direction to stretch the spring assembly.
However, in these situations, wave-shaped washers 38 operate to prevent the rotational and axial movement of spring 37 beyond a certain point of compression. To this end, as illustrated in
If however, the imposed rotational angle exceeds the free limit of the crest trough relationship then the action migrates to the next lowest frictionally coupled surface junctures, such that a third washer begins its movement, along an adjacent washer as described before. As such, as illustrated in
It is noted that the invention is not limited to a wave-shaped washer. For example, as mentioned before, any set of alignment loops having adjoining alignment surfaces with rotation retarding notches disposed on the front and back surfaces of each loop operate as explained above to prevent the movement beyond the point where all slip notches have been engaged against each other.
While only certain features of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, many modifications, substitutions, changes or equivalents will now occur to those skilled in the art. It is therefore, to be understood that this application is intended to cover all such modifications and changes that fall within the true spirit of the invention.
This application is a Continuation Patent Application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/233,148, filed on Aug. 28, 2004, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10233148 | Aug 2002 | US |
| Child | 10930563 | Aug 2004 | US |
