Patent Application
20080134554
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to sign holder arrangements which are suspended to a ceiling rail of a store, and more particularly to a rotatable spool which has a stop feature thereon for permitting adjustment and control of the height and the alignment of a sign suspended from a ceiling.
2. Prior Art
The use of signs in stores are more convenient when they are able to be supported from an overhead ceiling rail. Such signs permit shoppers to see advertisements about products which are easy to notice. To be able to do this well, a sign should be hung from the ceiling rail in an even manner. Since signs may come in various sizes, a support arrangement for those signs should be adjustable, so as to permit their level to be controlled and regulated, and their height as supported from ends of the sign, should be equivalent so as to not present an uneven or improperly supported sign.
It is an object of the present invention, to provide a sign holding mechanism which is an improvement over the prior art.
It is a further object of the present invention, to provide an attachable ceiling rail pod which permits accurate sign positioning when suspending a sign from such a ceiling rail.
It is a further object of the present invention, to provide a sign hanging system which is readily adjustable and accurately alignable with a second sign hanging arrangement.
It is a further object of the present invention, to provide a sign hanging system which may be easily attached to and removed from a ceiling rail.
It is also an object of the present invention, to provide such a sign supporting or suspending system which is economical to manufacture and very easy to use.
The present invention comprises a height-wise adjustable line control member for attachment of a sign for support thereof, to a ceiling rail via a support pod attached thereto. The typical ceiling rail is an inverted T-shaped frame member which supports adjacent ceiling panels.
The support device in a first preferred embodiment thereof comprises a first or rear housing and a second mating housing. The first housing has a split axle extending centrally therefrom. A rotatable spool is rotatably supported on that split axle. The spool, mounted on the split axle, has a coil spring arranged within a central opening thereof. The coil spring has a first end lockably inserted between a diagonal cut in the split axle. The coil spring has a second end engaged in a slot within the opening of that spool. The spool is arranged to retract a sign support line which has been wrapped therearound. The support line extends through an opening in the first and the second housing portions.
A pivot axis extends from a corner portion of the rear first housing. An actuatable lever is pivotably disposed on that pivot axis extending from the corner of the rear first housing. The pivot axis includes a rigid first leg having a distal end with a release button thereon. The release button is exposed through an opening on the side portion on the first and second housing members. The actuatable lever has an arcuately shaped rigid second leg disposed in a spool engaging manner on the other side of the pivot axis. The second leg has a slot engagement foot thereon. The actuatable lever also has a bias finger extending unitarily from the hub of the lever. The bias finger provides resistance to the release button when the release button is pushed inwardly of the housing pair, towards the spool. The bias finger effects an upward resistance push onto the release button through the openings in the first and second housing and it effects a bias radially inwardly on the slot engagement foot on the distal end of the rigid second leg.
Preferably, only a single slot is arranged across the perimeter of the rotatable spool. The slot engagement foot of the actuatable lever is biased inwardly so as to mate with that slot in the perimeter of the spool.
The single slot in the perimeter of the rotatable spool minimizes any likelihood of miss-alignment between more than one of these suspension devices, although multiple slots in a further embodiment is also functional. Each first and second housing has an uppermost edge on which the rear edge engagement clip is disposed. The suspension device is twisted from an acute angle to linear alignment with the ceiling rail, so that the channels in each engagement clip engage the side edges of the lower portion of the ceiling rail.
It is intended that a typical sign being suspended from a ceiling rail would utilize at least two of these suspension devices. To minimize the complexity and time in making a proper horizontal alignment of a sign suspended from such a ceiling rail, the spool has only one slot extending across its lips. The line in any case wraps around the spool and is disposed underneath the slot engagement foot. Movement of that line relative to the support device is only permitted once the release button has been depressed inwardly, thus moving the slot engaging foot radially outwardly from its engagement with the slot on the perimeter of the spool. The line extending from the spool at that time may be retracted within the suspension device, by virtue of its re-wrapping because of the coil spring re-winding that spool within the housing. A second biasing arrangement is disposed within the housing to hold the line snugly against the spool as it wnds and unwinds with respect thereof. The second biasing arrangement is comprised of a pair of fingers extending from a common pivot axis. A first finger of the biasing arrangement is pressed against a side wall of the rear housing and a second finger of the biasing arrangement is pressed radially inwardly against the line as it wraps or unwraps itself on/from the spool.
The invention thus comprises a stepwise-adjustable sign hanging device for supporting a sign from an overhead ceiling rail. The sign hanging device comprises a front housing and a rear housing enclosing a rotatably controllable spool arranged to stepwisedly dispense and retract a sign supporting line therefrom; a finger actuatable biased switch for any release and locking of the spool with respect to said housing; an arrangement of clips on the housing for twistably engaging the overhead ceiling rail. The biased switch may comprise a pivotable lever having a first depressible arm movable about a pivot axis arranged to release a locking foot from a notch in the spool. The switch may include a bias finger extending from the pivot axis arranged to first bias the locking foot in the notch until the first bias is overcome by a greater second bias applied to the first depressible arm. The switch may include an elongated finger movable in a depressed slot in a wall of the housing.
The invention also comprises a stepwise-adjustable sign hanging wherein the spool has a central opening for locking receipt of a coil spring to permit rewinding of a line thereon. The stepwise adjustable sign hanging device includes a second biasing arrangement comprising a first finger pressably disposed against a housing wall of device and a second finger pressably disposed against the line wrapped about the spool to insure the line is properly maintained on the spool.
The invention also comprises a method to stepwisedly lift and lower a sign suspended from an adjustable sign hanging device, comprising one or more of the steps of wrapping a sign supporting line around a spool within an housing enclosure; dis-engaging a first biasable finger arrangement from an engagement notch in a rim portion of the spool so as to permit the spool to rotate about an axis within the housing enclosure; biasing a second biased finger arrangement against the line wrapped around the spool to maintain the line from entanglement; and lowering the sign a controlled distance from the sign hanging device. The spool preferably has a single foot-engagement notch formed in said rim portion of the spool. The method may include the step of adjusting the line extending from the spool and re-winding the line about the spool by action of a tightened coil spring arranged between the spool and an axis mounted within the housing enclosure. The method may including the step of biasing the second biasable finger arrangement against the spool continuously, and biasing the first biasable finger arrangement intermittently to control the length and condition of the line extending from the device.
The objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent when viewed in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:
Referring now to the drawings in detail, and particularly to
The support device 20 in a first preferred embodiment thereof comprises a first or rear housing 26 and a front or second mating housing 28, as shown in
A pivot axis 48 extends from a corner portion of the rear first housing 26. An actuatable lever 50 is pivotably disposed on that pivot axis 48 extending from the corner of the rear first housing 26, as represented in
A single slot 64 is arranged across a portion of the perimeter of the rim on the rotatable spool 32, as shown in
The single slot 64 in the rim 77 of the rotatable spool 32 minimizes any likelihood of miss-alignment between more than one of these suspension devices 20. Each first and second housing 26 and 28 has an uppermost edge 66 on which the rail edge engagement clip 68 is disposed, as shown in
In the process of attaching the suspension device 20 to a ceiling rail 24, the device 20 is twisted from an acute angle to linear alignment with the ceiling rail 24, so that the channels in each engagement clip 68 engage the side edges of the lower portion of the ceiling rail 24.
It is intended that a typical sign being suspended from a ceiling rail would utilize at least two of these suspension devices 20 as shown in
