Flexable roller arrangement
An elongated poster support arrangement comprising an elongated extrusion having an uppermost wall, a tapered sidewall. The sidewall angularly extends from the uppermost wall. A support wall is arranged adjacent said tapered sidewall to define a longitudinal chamber between the tapered sidewall and the support. A flexible gripping member is loosely disposed within the longitudinal chamber, the chamber arranged to receive a poster therein for pinched securement between the gripping member and the support wall. The gripping member comprises a generally cylindrically shaped roller link. The roller links are formed of resilient material.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for supporting posters utilizing a formed roller arrangement for use with an extrusion by which the roller arrangement readily receives and releases posters from that extrusion, and is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/616,419 incorporates by reference co-pending U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 10/616,433, entitled Elongated Poster Support Arrangement, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/616/439, entitled Pole for Poster Support Attachment and Removal.
2. Prior Art
In the merchandising field particularly as it relates to customers in department stores and shopping malls and the like, poster advertisements are critical. They are changed frequently and often moved around in order to advertise goods and to catch the customer's attention. Setup and the support assembly of these posters has to be very simple and must be performed by relatively low paid employees of that merchandiser or store.
Heretofore, such support arrangements have required rather complicated grasping mechanisms requiring snapping open and closing various rails or extrusions to capture the poster. There are also known a variety of so-called “roller-grip” holders which are known to be the ultimate in ease-of-use, but are typically labor intensive to manufacture, and thus are prohibitively expensive.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a poster support arrangement which will safely grasp and hold a poster inserted therein in a safe and efficient manner.
It is still yet a further object of the present invention to provide a poster support arrangement which will permit the simple removal of the poster from the support.
It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide a poster support arrangement which will permit the poster to be removed therefrom and a new poster inserted without damaging the poster or the support arrangement.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide such poster-gripping means in a relatively efficient to manufacture manner, and thus provide a lower cost product.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention comprises a poster support arrangement for the receipt of a flat poster therewithin and for the facile attachment of that elongated poster support arrangement to the poster or graphic. The poster support arrangement of the present invention comprises an elongated extrusion having a first end and a second end. Each end, that is, the first end and the second end may have an end cap thereon.
The extrusion has a planar, elongated upper surface wall to define an upper side thereof. A first and a second tapered side wall extend off of the sides of the upper wall, in an almost parallel manner. A central support wall in its several preferred embodiments, extends from the upper wall or is suspended between the tapered sidewalls by an arrangement of connecting webs therewithin. The central support wall in one embodiment, has a distal or lowermost edge which extends beyond the distalmost edge of the second tapered sidewall and the distalmost edge of the first tapered sidewall. A narrow longitudinally extending gap is disposed between the distalmost edge of the second tapered sidewall and the respective side of the central support wall. A second relatively narrow gap or open band is longitudinally disposed between the central support wall and the distalmost edge or flange of the first tapered sidewall. The volume between the central support wall and the second tapered sidewall defines a “gripping means” enclosure chamber. The gripping means enclosure chamber is elongated and is arranged to receive a gripping means disposed longitudinally therewithin.
The gripping means in a first preferred embodiment thereof comprises an elongated, soft resilient “sausage-like” roller or link of resilient material. The elongated link may be defined as a roller link made of a resilient plastic or rubber or the like which is movable with respect within its enclosure chamber.
The roller link arrangement may be formed as an extrusion and may have a central bore extending therethrough. The extruded roller link may have longitudinally directed ridges molded onto its outer cylindrical surface.
The assembly of the poster support arrangement comprises the insertion of the elongated, resilient roller link arranged within the gripping means enclosure chamber and loosely disposed therewithin. The end caps may be put on each end of the longitudinal extrusion to permit the roller link member from falling out during insertion of the poster. The end caps may have a slot extending from an apex thereof toward the upper side of the extrusion, to permit a plurality of poster support arrangements to hold a poster which is longer than any individual single poster support arrangement, and for the purpose of removing the poster from the gripping apparatus.
A poster may be inserted within the gripping means enclosure chamber parallel to and along side the central support wall. Insertion of a poster is accommodated by the elongated roller link neatly rotating about its longitudinal axis and permitting the insertion of the poster thereadjacent. Gravity pulls the individual roller link towards the lowermost apex of the poster support arrangement extrusion and sufficiently secures it in a pinching manner to prevent the poster from falling out.
Thus what has been shown is a unique arrangement for supporting a poster with an elongated rail in a most simple and easily usable manner.
The invention thus comprises an elongated poster support arrangement comprising an elongated extrusion having an uppermost wall, at least one tapered sidewall, the sidewall angularly extending from the uppermost wall; a support wall arranged adjacent the tapered sidewall to define a longitudinal chamber between the tapered sidewall and the support, or a pair of longitudinal chambers depending upon whether a second tapered sidewall is disposed oppositely of the support wall; and an elongated, flexible gripping roller link member loosely disposed within the/each longitudinal chamber and about the length of the enclosure chamber, the chamber also arranged to receive a poster therein for pinched securement between a parallel pairing of gripping roller link members themselves or an elongated roller link member and the support wall.
The gripping members comprise an elongated, generally cylindrically shaped roller link having a central, longitudinally directed bore. The roller link is preferably formed of resilient material.
The invention also comprises a method of making a roller link arrangement comprising the steps of: extruding an elongated, hollow link of PVC material from an extrusion machine and inserting that elongated extrusion link in an enclosure chamber.
The invention also comprises a roller link arrangement for use with a gripping apparatus to permit a pinching of an item between the roller link and an adjacent surface, the roller link having a constant diameter, the link arrangement comprising: an elongated, generally cylindrically shaped member of resilient material. The adjacent surface may comprise another set comprising a roller link disposed parallel thereto. A further embodiment includes a pair of linked elongated rollers spaced in a parallel arrangement on opposite sides of a common support wall in an extrusion, so as to insure that the poster arrangement is located exactly centrally, no matter what the thickness of the poster(s) is(are).
The invention also comprises an elongated poster support arrangement comprising an elongated extrusion having an uppermost wall, a pair of tapered sidewalls, the sidewalls angularly extending from the uppermost wall and each having a lowermost edge, with an elongated gap between their lowermost edges for receipt of a poster therewithin, the sidewalls comprising a longitudinal chamber therebetween. A pair of sets of elongated gripping members are loosely disposed within the longitudinal chamber and parallel to one another, the chamber arranged to receive a poster therein for pinched securement between the pairs of gripping members. The sidewalls each have an uppermost edge spaced apart from one another to define a receiving slot for supporting the poster support arrangement. The sidewalls may have an end cap mounted on each end thereof. At least one of the end caps has a slot arranged therein to permit a poster to be easily removed from the extrusion. The gripping members may be comprised of a elongated plurality of flexibly interconnected soft roller members which frictionally engage any posted inserted into the extrusion.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe 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 poster support arrangement 10 of the present invention comprises an elongated extrusion 14 having a first end 16 and a second end 18, as shown in
An elongated central support wall 36 is disposed between the first tapered sidewall 24 and the second tapered sidewall 30 in a manner generally perpendicular to the uppermost side 22. The central support wall 36 has a first or uppermost edge 38 with a connecting support web 40 unitarily extruded therewith, and is connected to an inside portion of the first tapered sidewall 24. A second connecting web 42 is similarly connected between the central support wall 40 and is unitary with the second tapered sidewall 30. The first and second connecting webs 40 and 42 hold the central support wall 36 in generally rigid alignment with the first and second tapered sidewalls 24 and 30 as well as the wall comprising the uppermost side 22.
The central support wall 36 has a distal or lowermost edge 44 which extends beyond the distalmost edge 32 of both the second tapered sidewall 30 and the distalmost edge 26 of the first tapered sidewall 24. A narrow longitudinally extending gap 46 is disposed between the distalmost edge 32 of the second tapered sidewall 30 and the respective side of the central support wall 36, as shown in
The gripping means enclosure chamber 50 is elongated and is arranged to receive a gripping means 52 disposed longitudinally therewithin, as shown in
The gripping means 52 in a first preferred embodiment thereof comprises an elonngated soft resilient “sausage-like” link 60 of resilient material preferably having an elongated bore 62 extending therethrough, as best shown in
The assembly of the poster support arrangement 10 comprises the insertion of an elongated resilient roller link 60 arranged within the gripping means enclosure chamber 50 and loosely disposed therewithin, as is represented in several preferred embodiments in
A poster “P” may be inserted within the gripping means enclosure chamber 50 parallel to and along side the central support wall 36, as shown in
A further embodiment of the poster support arrangement 10 is shown in
A similar preferred embodiment is represented in
Further embodiments are shown of the poster support arrangement 10, in
Claims
1. An elongated poster support arrangement comprising:
- an elongated extrusion having an uppermost wall, at least one tapered sidewall, said sidewall angularly extending from said uppermost wall;
- a support wall arranged adjacent said tapered sidewall to define a longitudinal chamber between said tapered sidewall and said support; and
- an elongated flexible gripping member loosely disposed within said longitudinal chamber, said chamber arranged to receive a poster therein for pinched securement between said gripping member and said support wall.
2. The elongated poster support arrangement as recited in claim 1, wherein said gripping member comprises a generally cylindrically shaped roller link having a bore extending longitudinally therethrough.
3. The elongated poster support arrangement as recited in claim 2, wherein said roller link is formed of resilient material.
4. The elongated poster support arrangement as recited in claim 2, wherein said roller link is of a constant outer diameter.
5. The elongated poster support arrangement as recited in claim 4, wherein said roller link extends the length of said enclosure chamber.
6. The elongated poster support arrangement as recited in claim 3, wherein said roller link is of generally cylindrical shape.
7. A roller link arrangement for use with a gripping apparatus to permit a pinching of an item between a roller link and an adjacent surface, said roller link having a constant diameter, said link arrangement comprising:
- an elongated cylindrically shaped member of resilient material having a central bore extending therethrough.
8. The roller link arrangement as recited in claim 7 wherein said adjacent surface comprises a further elongated roller link.
9. An elongated poster support arrangement comprising:
- an elongated extrusion having an uppermost wall, a pair of tapered sidewalls, said sidewalls angularly extending from said uppermost wall and each having a lowermost edge, with an elongated gap between their lowermost edges for receipt of a poster therewithin, said sidewalls comprising a longitudinal chamber therebetween;
- a pair of flexible elongated connected gripping members loosely disposed within said longitudinal chamber and parallel to one another, said chamber arranged to receive a poster therein for pinched securement between said pairs of gripping members.
10. The elongated poster support arrangement as recited in claim 9, wherein said sidewalls each have an uppermost edge spaced apart from one another to define a receiving slot for supporting said poster support arrangement.
11. The elongated poster support arrangement as recited in claim 9, wherein said sidewalls have an end cap mounted on each end thereof.
12. The elongated poster support arrangement as recited in claim 11, wherein at least one of said end caps has a slot arranged therein to permit a poster to be removed from said extrusion.
13. The elongated poster support arrangement as recited in claim 10, wherein each of said gripping members comprises an elongated flexible, soft roller member which frictionally engage any posted inserted into said extrusion.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 4, 2004
Publication Date: Jan 20, 2005
Inventors: David Pitcher (Cambridge, MA), Thomas Burrous (Andover, MA), Alan Stenfors (Scituate, MA)
Application Number: 10/860,909