Patent Application
20220248877
The present invention relates to a magnetic mounting system for mounting images and the like.
There are a variety of situations in which it is desirable to provide visual displays. The displays may provide marketing information, instructional information or simply a visual display for placement in a home or office. One common method for making a display is to mount plastic panels which have strips of magnetic material disposed thereon on a wall. As shown in
In order to present an image, a plurality of the panels are attached to a wall, as shown in
The ease with which the image panels 40 can be attached to the magnetic panels 4 has made the panels very popular. They system, however, is not without its complications. First, the ridge or flange 12 about the exterior of the magnetic panel 4 divides the image seen by the customer, etc. with horizontal and vertical lines. Second, the image panels 40 are generally thick enough that the magnetic panels 4 can only hold a single depth of image panels magnetically. Thus, if a person desires to change the image, all of the image panels 40 must be removed from the magnetic panels and be replaced by the new image panels. This leaves the unattractive magnetic panels disposed during the changeover.
Yet another concern with this system is that the image panels 40 are thick and typically have to be printed on a flat bed press. Flat bed presses are very expensive, often exceeding $100,000 and are not owned by many printing businesses. Thus, the availability of printers who can create new image panels is limited—increasing the price for businesses and the like.
In an attempt to overcome the challenges of the prior magnetic panels systems, the inventors of the present application attempted to make magnetic panel systems using foam core boards 50. As shown in
The use of the magnetic panel 54 made from foam core board 50 and a magnetic sheet 56 was advantageous in that it allowed the use of receptive, significantly increasing the number of printers who could print the image sheets 60. However, the foam core boards in the size purchased include a boarder 68. When placed together in an array, the image still had noticeable intersecting lines 72 as shown in
Within the last year, the inventors have attempted to get rid of the intersecting lines 72 by taking large foam core boards and cutting them down to the size of the image. The foam core boards were then covered with adhesive and then a sheet of magnetic material applied to the board. A sheet of receptive 76 with the image printed thereon was then applied to the foam core board to create a mountable image without the intersecting lines as shown in
Thus, there is a need for a new magnetic mounting system which addresses the problems of the prior art.
The following summary of the present invention is not intended to describe each illustrated embodiment or every possible implementation of the invention, but rather to give illustrative examples of application of principles of the invention.
In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, a panel is provided with a flat, generally continuous upper surface having lateral edges and a plurality of small recesses for mounting screws, and a sheet of magnetic material attached to the flat, generally continuous upper surface such that the magnetic material extends to within 2 mm of each of the lateral edges.
In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, the recesses have an underside which is provided with an adhesive attachment medium for attaching the magnetic panel to a wall.
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, the recesses are sized and shaped to be less than ten percent (10%) of the area of the flat, generally continuous upper surface. More preferable, the recesses cover less than five percent (5%) of the surface area, and most preferably less than two percent (2%).
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a single sheet of magnetic material is applied to cover the flat, generally continuous upper surface.
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, an image is printed on pieces of receptive which are sized to within 1 mm of the lateral edges of the panel.
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, the image is printed on a piece of receptive and then cut to match the size of the magnetic panel.
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a plurality of pieces of receptive are disposed on a single magnetic panel so that images can be changed without exposing the magnetic panel.
Various embodiments of the present disclosure are shown and described in reference to the numbered drawings wherein:
It will be appreciated that the drawings are illustrative and not limiting of the scope of the invention which is defined by the appended claims. The embodiments shown accomplish various aspects and objects of the invention. It will be appreciated that it is not possible to clearly show each element and aspect of the present disclosure in a single figure, and as such, multiple figures are presented to separately illustrate the various details of different aspects of the invention in greater clarity. Similarly, not all configurations or embodiments described herein or covered by the appended claims will include all of the aspects of the present disclosure as discussed above.
Various aspects of the invention and accompanying drawings will now be discussed in reference to the numerals provided therein so as to enable one skilled in the art to practice the present invention. The skilled artisan will understand, however, that the methods described below can be practiced without employing these specific details, or that they can be used for purposes other than those described herein. Indeed, they can be modified and can be used in conjunction with products and techniques known to those of skill in the art in light of the present disclosure. The drawings and the descriptions thereof are intended to be exemplary of various aspects of the invention and are not intended to narrow the scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that the drawings may show aspects of the invention in isolation and the elements in one figure may be used in conjunction with elements shown in other figures.
Reference in the specification to “one embodiment,” “one configuration,” “an embodiment,” or “a configuration” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment, etc. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places may not necessarily limit the inclusion of a particular element of the invention to a single embodiment, rather the element may be included in other or all embodiments discussed herein.
Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics of embodiments of the present disclosure may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details may be provided, such as examples of products or manufacturing techniques that may be used, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that embodiments discussed in the disclosure may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, and so forth. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations may not be shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.
Before the present invention is disclosed and described in detail, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to any particular structures, process steps, or materials discussed or disclosed herein, but is extended to include equivalents thereof as would be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the relevant art. More specifically, the invention is defined by the terms set forth in the claims. It should also be understood that terminology contained herein is used for the purpose of describing particular aspects of the invention only and is not intended to limit the invention to the aspects or embodiments shown unless expressly indicated as such. Likewise, the discussion of any particular aspect of the invention is not to be understood as a requirement that such aspect is required to be present apart from an express inclusion of that aspect in the claims.
It should also be noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, singular forms such as “a,” “an,” and “the” may include the plural unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a bracket” may include an embodiment having one or more of such brackets, and reference to “the target plate” may include reference to one or more of such target plates.
As used herein, the term “substantially” refers to the complete or nearly complete extent or degree of an action, characteristic, property, state, structure, item, or result to function as indicated. For example, an object that is “substantially” enclosed would mean that the object is either completely enclosed or nearly completely enclosed. The exact allowable degree of deviation from absolute completeness may in some cases depend on the specific context, such that enclosing the nearly all of the length of a lumen would be substantially enclosed, even if the distal end of the structure enclosing the lumen had a slit or channel formed along a portion thereof. The use of “substantially” is equally applicable when used in a negative connotation to refer to the complete or near complete lack of an action, characteristic, property, state, structure, item, or result. For example, structure which is “substantially free of” a bottom would either completely lack a bottom or so nearly completely lack a bottom that the effect would be effectively the same as if it completely lacked a bottom.
As used herein, the term “generally” refers to something that has characteristics of a quality without necessarily being exactly that quality. For example, a structure said to be generally vertical would be at least as vertical as horizontal, i.e., would extend 45 degrees or greater from horizontal. Likewise, something said to be generally circular may be rounded like an oval but need not have a consistent diameter in every direction.
As used herein, the term “about” is used to provide flexibility to a numerical range endpoint by providing that a given value may be “a little above” or “a little below” the endpoint while still accomplishing the function associated with the range.
As used herein, a plurality of items, structural elements, compositional elements, and/or materials may be presented in a common list for convenience. However, these lists should be construed as though each member of the list is individually identified as a separate and unique member.
Concentrations, amounts, proportions and other numerical data may be expressed or presented herein in a range format. It is to be understood that such a range format is used merely for convenience and brevity and thus should be interpreted flexibly to include not only the numerical values explicitly recited as the limits of the range, but also to include all the individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numerical value and sub-range is explicitly recited. As an illustration, a numerical range of “about 1 to about 5” should be interpreted to include not only the explicitly recited values of about 1 to about 5, but also include individual values and sub-ranges within the indicated range. Thus, included in this numerical range are individual values such as 2, 3, and 4 and sub-ranges such as from 1-3, from 2-4, and from 3-5, etc., as well as 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, individually. This same principle applies to ranges reciting only one numerical value as a minimum or a maximum. Furthermore, such an interpretation should apply regardless of the breadth of the range or the characteristics being described.
Turning now to
The upper surface 112 may be flat or substantially flat and generally continuous with the exception of a plurality of recesses 114 formed therein. In the embodiment shown in
Each of the recesses 114 may include a slot 116 through which a screw can be driven. The slots may be for example ⅛th inch (0.312 cm) wide and ¾ths of an inch (1.91 cm) long. This allows a user to attach the panel 104 to a wall with screws or nails if desired.
The back side of the panel 104 may have a plurality of intersecting support walls 122. The walls are preferably thin (i.e.) less than 1/16th of an inch wide, so as to provide support to the upper surface, while providing minimal weight. Thus, the amount of flat surface on the back of the panel which engages the wall may be little more than 1 percent (1%) of the overall area of the backside of the panel—reducing wear marks, etc., on the wall.
The panel 104 can be very light weight and still provide the rigidity necessary to provide a pleasing image. For example, the frame 108 may be any desired thickness. Common thicknesses are likely to be between 0.25 inches (0.64 cm) and 0.75 inches (1.9 cm) thick, with 0.4-0.6 inches (1-1.5 cm) being preferred.
The image panels (12,
Turning now to
Turning to
Additionally, because the magnetic sheets 130 extend to the lateral edges, a single image sheet 140 or a plurality of smaller image sheets may be used to cover an entire array of magnetic panels 104 without deforming the image being shown. Even with smaller image sheets used and abutted side by side. The virtually continuous magnetic sheet underneath holds them together so the line between the individual image sheets can only be seen upon a close inspection. This allows what appears to be a larger image, e.g., 4.5 feet×6 feet can be shown while appearing to be a single image even though it is made up on smaller pieces.
Turning now to
In
Thus, there is disclosed a magnetic mounting system and method for using the same. It will be appreciated that modifications can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The appended claims are intended to cover such modifications.
