BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
These and other features of the invention will be more clearly understood from a consideration of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a 3-cabinet wristwatch display encasement constructed in accordance with the invention in which the left and center cabinets, and center and right cabinets are joined together at their adjacent side walls;
FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are views helpful in an understanding of the left, center and right cabinets in their opened positions, helpful in understanding of the different embodiments of the invention;
FIGS. 5
a, 5b and 5c are front, top and side views of the cabinet shelves on which a displayed watch may be strapped, with rear and bottom views being mirror images of their respective front and top views; and
FIG. 6 is helpful in an understanding of the forward and rearward rotations of the horizontal shelves to permit an easy strapping of a watch onto the shelf for display, and an easy removal therefrom for wearing.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The wristwatch display encasement of FIGS. 1-4 is composed, first of all, of 3 cabinets each having top, bottom and rear walls, a pair of side walls, and a see-through door 15 hinged to a front of the cabinet as at 17 for respectively closing and opening the cabinet. In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 2, the cabinet 10 includes 2 horizontally aligned shelves 20, 22, each of a length less than the width of the cabinet 10 between its side walls. Similarly, the right cabinet 14 includes 2 horizontally aligned shelves 24, 26, also with each being of a length less than the width of the cabinet 14 (FIG. 4).
In the embodiment of FIG. 3, on the other hand, the center cabinet 12 includes only one horizontally aligned shelf 28, likewise of a length less than the width of the cabinet 12. As will be understood by the skilled artisan from a reading of this description, the numbers of these shelves can be intermixed in any manner, extending from just having one horizontally aligned shelf to 2, 3, 4, etc. shelves, each vertically displaced an amount depending upon the ultimate height selected for the cabinet, and as a function of the number of watches to be displayed on each shelf.
Each of the cabinets 10, 12, 14 is provided with an appropriate manner of illumination for the cabinet, as illustrated at 30, constructed in any desired manner so as to illuminate the inside of the display when the see-through door 15 is closed. Although a bulb may be employed in this respect, a plastic encased rope-lighting which extends along the inside surface of the top wall may be utilized, or one which extends both horizontally and vertically along the inside surface of the front wall or rear wall of the cabinet. As it is the intent of the present invention to display the dial of a wristwatch substantially vertically when it is strapped around the shelf, each shelf is selected of a height 100 greater than its depth 102 as illustrated by the views of FIGS. 5a-5c, the shelf length 104 once again being less than the width of the respective cabinet. A hinge 32 of a type illustrated in FIG. 6, for example, is included at an inside surface of one of the pair of side walls for each cabinet to couple to the shelf or shelves in allowing them to rotate forwardly away from and rearwardly towards an initial quiescent placement in the closed cabinet as illustrated in each of the respective drawings. Such shelf, when rotated forwardly, preferably permits a shelf rotation out towards the front of the cabinet with its door opened in allowing any or all of the watches 50 to be unstrapped from the shelf for removal and subsequent wearing; or, when rotated rearwardly, a storage and display of the strapped watch when the shelf is rotated back to the quiescent placement. The left and right see-through cabinets 10 and 14 also include a pull-out drawer 60 for storage of other watches and jewelry accessories, and/or instruction manuals for each timepiece.
As will be evident, the drawers 60 are arranged to extend. forwardly away from the rear cabinet wall, at a location above the bottom wall, and between the side walls. Recognizing that it might also be desirable to display bracelets and/or other items of jewelry and/or other watches, an additional shelf 62 is included above the drawers 60 in extending substantially the width and depth of each cabinet. The center cabinet 12, on the other hand, shows 3 such pull-out drawers 64, with its own additional shelf 66. The 3-cabinet embodiment of FIG. 1 shows yet a further arrangement in which two more pull-out drawers 68 are utilized, below the bottom wall of the cabinets 10, 12 and 14, one of which extends below the bottom wall of the left cabinet 10 and half the center cabinet 12, and with the other extending below the bottom wall of the right cabinet 14 and the second half of the center cabinet 12.
As will be understood, the left and right cabinets 10 and 14 of FIG. 1 are of substantially the same height between their top and bottom walls, and the center cabinet 12 is of a greater height. It will be appreciated that this is just a matter of design choice, as are the number of shelves to be included in each cabinet, the number of pull-out drawers there employed, and the manner of hinging or otherwise controlling the opening and closing of the cabinet doors. Each arrangement, however, will be seen to be inclusive of the teachings of the invention of providing a wristwatch or timepiece display encasement having a hinged, see-through door for viewing the wristwatches or timepieces strapped around the individual shelves, with the shelves being each rotatable forwardly and rearwardly to permit an easy strapping onto the shelf for display, and an easy removal for wearing. With each cabinet depth of some 10 inches, for example, with the left and right cabinets 10, 14 being of a height of some 32 inches, and with the center cabinet 12 of a height of 36 inches, the embodiment of FIG. 1 is configured to easily contain upwards of 75 watches and timepieces.
Low voltage lighting can be used throughout, and the see-through doors may be made double strength where desired, with any type handle 70 for opening the cabinet doors. A width of 12 inches for each cabinet suffices to store and display such numbers of timepieces.
While there have been described what are considered to be preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the teachings herein. For example, whereas the present invention has been described in an embodiment or embodiments where the drawers horizontally pull out, changes can be made so that the drawers pull out at different angles to enhance a selection of the watches or jewelry stored therein for wearing. For at least such reason, therefore, resort should be had to the claims appended hereto for a true understanding of the invention.
Patent Application
20080088210
