Method for displaying license plate frames

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6431375
  • Patent Number
    6,431,375
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, February 13, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, August 13, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Gibson, Jr.; Robert W.
    Agents
    • Tyson; Timothy Thut
    • Masters; Ted
    • Freilich, Hornbaker & Rosen
Abstract
A display rack (20) for license plate frames (500) includes a plurality of license plate frame receiving stations (24) which are arranged in side-by-side relationship. The stations (24) are separated by movable dividers (26) which may be laterally moved to change the relative width of adjacent stations (24). Display rack (20) also includes pegboard connectors (34) which are selectively movable along a frame member (21) to effect alignment with holes (504) in a pegboard (502) so that display rack (20) can be mounted on a sheet of pegboard (502).
Description




TECHNICAL FIELD




The present invention pertains generally to display racks for products, and particularly to a display rack for license plate frames.




BACKGROUND ART




Display racks for a multitude of different products are well known in the art. These devices range from magazine racks to toy racks, and from food racks to clothes racks. In the automotive business, customized license plate frames are becoming very popular. A variety of frame styles, designs, and sizes are currently available. In order to effectively present these products to consumers, a versatile display rack is a necessity.




DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION




The present invention is directed to a display rack for license plate frames. The display rack has a plurality of license plate frame receiving stations which are disposed in side-by-side relationship. A sliding movable divider separates adjacent stations. The movable divider may be moved laterally in either direction, thereby changing the width of the stations. This feature allows license plate frames of varying widths, typically between six inches and six and three quarter inches, to be placed in the display rack. For example, by selectively moving the movable divider toward an adjacent station, the width of the adjacent station is diminished while the width of the present station is increased. The present invention also incorporates movable pegboard connectors which can be laterally moved to align with the holes in a sheet of pegboard. This permits the display rack to be conveniently installed upon the pegboard.




In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, a display rack for license plate frames includes a frame having a plurality of license plate frame receiving stations, the stations arranged in side-by-side relationship. The stations are shaped and dimensioned to receive a license plate frame. The stations are separated by a slidably movable divider, so that when the movable divider is selectively moved from a first position to a second position, the width of the one station is dimensionally reduced, while the width of a second adjacent station is correspondingly dimensionally increased.




In accordance with an important aspect of the invention a bottom plurality of stations are stackably disposed beneath a top plurality of stations.




In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the invention, at least two pegboard connectors are slidably connected to the frame. The pegboard connectors can be selectively moved to align with holes in a pegboard, so that the display rack can be mounted on the pegboard.











Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.




BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a display rack for license plate frames in accordance with the present invention:





FIG. 2

is a top plan view of the display rack;





FIG. 3

is a bottom plan view of the display rack;





FIG. 4

is a front side elevation view of the display rack;





FIG. 5

is a side elevation view of the display rack;





FIG. 6

is an enlarged perspective view of a movable divider;





FIG. 7

is an enlarged side elevation view of a pegboard connector for connecting the display rack to a pegboard;





FIG. 8

is a front elevation view showing the movable dividers moved to a different position;





FIG. 9

is a front elevation view showing the movable dividers moved to another position; and,





FIG. 10

is a front elevation view of the pegboard connectors moved to align with holes in the pegboard.











MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION





FIGS. 1-5

are perspective, top plan, bottom plan, front elevation, and side elevation views, respectively, of a display rack for license plate frames in accordance with the present invention, generally designated as


20


. Display rack


20


includes a frame


22


which, in a preferred embodiment, is fabricated from metal rod segments which are bent and welded into a desired shape. Display rack


20


includes a plurality of license plate frame receiving stations


24


which are arranged in side-by-side relationship, wherein each station


24


is separated from an adjacent station


24


by a slidably movable divider


26


. License plate receiving stations


24


are shaped and dimensioned to receive a license plate frame


500


having a width W. Width W typically varies between six inches and six and three quarter inches. It may be appreciated that a plurality of license plate frames


500


may be vertically stacked within each license plate frame receiving station


24


(refer to FIG.


5


). In a preferred embodiment, a second plurality of license plate receiving stations


25


are stackably disposed beneath the plurality of stations


24


. In the shown embodiment, display rack


20


includes three top stations


24


and three bottom stations


25


. Stations


24


and


25


each include a foot portion


28


for retaining the license plate frames


500


within the stations. The shown embodiment includes three side-by-side stations


24


stacked on top of three other stations


25


. However, it may be appreciated that the present invention could include any practical number of side-by-side stations


24


or number of vertical layers.




Referring to

FIG. 4

, movable dividers


26


are laterally movable in directions


30


and


32


, thereby permitting the relative size of two adjacent stations


24


or


25


to be altered.





FIG. 6

is an enlarged perspective view of movable divider


26


. Movable divider


26


is selectively slidable in directions


30


and


32


along lateral members


21


and


23


of frame


22


which are parallel to each other (also refer to FIGS.


1


and


2


). The divider is movable because of two features: a loop at the top which bends loosely around the top lateral member


21


of the rack and parallel bars at the bottom which are close enough together to fit securely on the bottom lateral member


23


. The angle of the bend in the middle of the divider


26


can also be adjusted to press the bottom parallel bars against the bottom lateral member


23


. The divider is moved by pulling the bottom parallel bars off of the bottom lateral member


23


and sliding the top to the left or right and then pressing the bottom parallel bars onto the bottom lateral member at the desired new location.





FIG. 7

is an enlarged side elevation view of a pegboard connector


34


for connecting display rack


20


to a pegboard


502


. Pegboard connector


34


is loosely captively connected to lateral member


21


of frame


22


by a loop at its end. End portion


35


of pegboard connector


34


is inserted into hole


504


in pegboard


502


, and retains display rack


20


in position on pegboard


502


. The position of the pegboard connector


34


on lateral member


21


can be easily adjusted by sliding it to the left or right similar to what is shown in FIG.


6


.





FIG. 8

is a front elevation view showing the movable dividers


26


moved to a different position. Frame


22


has first license plate frame receiving station


24


A and second license plate frame receiving station


24


B arranged in side-by-side relationship. First and second stations,


24


A and


24


B, are dimensioned to receive license plate frames


500


. First and second stations,


24


A and


24


B, are separated by slidably movable divider


26


. When movable divider


26


is selectively moved in direction


30


from a first position (refer to

FIG. 4

) to a second position as shown, the width W


1


of first station


24


A is dimensionally reduced, while the width W


2


of second station


24


B is correspondingly dimensionally increased. This feature of the present invention is important in that it allows adjustment of display rack


20


to accommodate license plate frames of different widths W. Additionally

FIG. 8

shows the movable divider


26


disposed between second station


24


B and third station


24


C moved in direction


32


, thereby further enlarging the width W


2


of station


24


B. This configuration results in narrow outer stations


24


A and


24


C and wide inner station


24


B.





FIG. 9

is a front elevation view showing the movable dividers


26


moved to another different position. When movable divider


26


is selectively moved in direction


32


from a first position (refer to

FIG. 4

) to a second position as shown, the width W


1


of first station


24


A is dimensionally increased, while the width W


2


of second station


24


B is correspondingly dimensionally reduced. Additionally

FIG. 9

shows the movable divider


26


disposed between second station


24


B and third station


24


C moved in direction


30


, thereby further reducing the width W


2


of station


24


B. This configuration results in wide outer stations


24


A and


24


C and narrow inner station


24


B.





FIG. 10

is a front elevation view of pegboard connectors


34


moved to align with holes


504


in pegboard


502


(refer also to FIG.


7


). Display rack


20


includes at least two pegboard connectors


34


for attaching frame


22


to pegboard


504


. Pegboard connectors


34


are slidably connected to lateral member


21


of frame


22


. Pegboard connectors


34


are selectively movable in directions


30


and


32


to align with holes


504


in pegboard


502


. One or both of the pegboard connectors


34


may be moved. For example, the holes


504


may not be perfectly spaced in the pegboard. Then one or the other of the connectors can be put into a hole and the other moved slightly to match another hole. Or the installer may discover that one or the other of the selected holes is not available after trying to insert a connector such as would happen if a mounting strip for the pegboard were immediately behind the hole. The whole rack


20


can also be moved in relation to the pegboard. For example, the installer may install the rack on the pegboard and discover that one end hits a wall, sign, or other rack. He can then slide the rack to one side or the other without moving the connectors to clear the obstruction or place the rack in a more aesthetically pleasing location.




Another important feature of the present invention is that more license plate frames may be displayed in a given area compared to prior display methods which consist almost exclusively of two hooks on a pegboard for each frame. As can be seen from

FIGS. 1

,


2


, and


4


, the license plate frame


500


has a width and a height, the width being greater than the height. The license plate frame receiving stations


24


are oriented so that the height of the license plate frame


500


is aligned along the width of the display rack


20


which is a 90° rotation from prior displays. This means that in a store more license plate frames


500


can be displayed along a given display area width. Also, the rack


20


has two levels of license plate receiving stations: top license plate receiving stations


24


and bottom license plate receiving stations


25


. The plates in the top stations are fully visible while the plates in the bottom level show enough to allow the potential buyer to decide if he wants to pull one out. Approximately 33% more plates can be shown using a rack


20


than using conventional methods.




In terms of use, a method for displaying license plate frames


500


, comprises:




providing a display rack


20


for license plate frames


500


, display rack


20


including a frame


22


having first


24


A and second


24


B license plate frame receiving stations, the first


24


A and second


24


B stations arranged in side-by-side relationship, first


24


A and second


24


B stations separated by a slidably movable divider


26


, so that when movable divider


26


is selectively moved from a first position to a second position, the width W


1


of first station


24


A is dimensionally reduced, while the width W


2


of second station


24


A is correspondingly dimensionally increased;




providing a license plate frame


500


having a width W;




slidably moving movable divider


26


until width W


1


of first station


24


A is slightly larger than the width W of the license plate frame


500


; and,




placing the license plate frame


500


in first station


24


A.




The method of using the present invention further includes:




the display rack


20


including at least two pegboard connectors


34


for attaching frame


22


to a pegboard


502


, pegboard connectors


34


being slidably connected to frame


21


, and the pegboard connectors


34


selectively movable to align with holes


504


in pegboard


502


;




providing a pegboard


502


having a plurality of holes


504


;




placing the display rack


20


adjacent to pegboard


502


;




selectively moving the pegboard connectors


34


to align with holes


504


in the pegboard


502


; and,




inserting the pegboard connectors


34


into the holes


504


of the pegboard


502


, thereby attaching the display rack


20


to the pegboard


502


.




The preferred embodiments of the invention described herein are exemplary and numerous modifications, dimensional variations, and rearrangements can be readily envisioned to achieve an equivalent result, all of which are intended to be embraced within the scope of the appended claims.



Claims
  • 1. A method for displaying license plate frames, comprising:providing a display rack for license plate frames, said display rack including a frame having first and second license plate frame receiving stations, said first and second stations arranged in side-by-side relationship, said first and second stations separated by a slidably movable divider, so that when said movable divider is selectively moved from a first position to a second position, said first station is dimensionally reduced, while said second station is correspondingly dimensionally increased; providing a license plate frame having a width W; slidably moving said movable divider until a width W1 of said first station is slightly larger than width W of the license plate frame; and, placing the license plate frame in said first station.
  • 2. The method according to claim 1, further including:said display rack including at least two pegboard connectors for attaching said frame to a pegboard, said pegboard connectors slidably connected to said frame, and said pegboard connectors selectively movable so as to align with holes in the pegboard; providing a pegboard having a plurality of holes; placing said display rack adjacent to the pegboard; selectively moving said pegboard connectors to align with holes in the pegboard; and, inserting said pegboard connectors into the holes of the pegboard, thereby attaching said display to the pegboard.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation In Part of Design Patent application 29/126,639, filed Jul. 21, 2000, which is included herein by reference.

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Number Name Date Kind
D162397 Fink Mar 1951 S
3595404 Goldstein Jul 1971 A
3929248 Morrison Dec 1975 A
4331243 Doll May 1982 A
4516682 Bell May 1985 A
4694966 Sorenson et al. Sep 1987 A
4813535 Radocha et al. Mar 1989 A
5082125 Ninni Jan 1992 A
5449076 Van Noord Sep 1995 A
D382133 Messina et al. Aug 1997 S
D382140 Loflin Aug 1997 S
6161708 Myler Dec 2000 A
6164462 Mumford Dec 2000 A
Continuation in Parts (1)
Number Date Country
Parent 29/126639 Jul 2000 US
Child 09/781490 US