High capacity movable merchandise display table
A high capacity retail merchandise display table movable over a floor for repositioning the display table without having to disturb the merchandise includes a table top which may be spaced from the table base by steel rods to provide a floating effect, a table base having a plurality of vertically extending legs, and a plurality of structural steel supporting members extending downwardly from the legs and structurally tied thereto, with the table preferably being made of wood. The steel supporting members consist of a steel rod vertically extending from the leg and a horizontally extending tublar steel foot which forms both a structural support for the table and a caster housing for a ball bearing caster centrally mounted to a steel plate which spans the interior of the tubular foot. The ball bearing may have a diameter substantially less than the horizontal extent of the support plate to which it is mounted in the foot member.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of merchandise display fixtures and particularly to movable retail merchandise display tables which are both decorative and capable of bearing high capacity loads under both static and dynamic conditions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The art of display fixtures for retail merchandise is practically as old as mankind itself, as has the desire to be able to easily move the display fixture when loaded with merchandise from place to place without having to remove or rearrange the displayed merchandise before, during, and/or after a relocation of the display table As such, retailers have always been faced with the dual problem of displaying merchandise in an aesthetic manner to attract the buyer as well as providing the best possible loading characteristics for the display fixture so that it doesn't collapse under the weight of the merchandise or when merchandise is moved to a new location for display. Attempts to solve this dilemma in a static display fixture have taken many forms such as illustrated, by way of example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,482,238; 4,585,131; 4,898,285; 6,053,460; 5,924,663; and 5,718,398; and British Patent No. GB 2,189,138. Moreover, although attempts have been made to use concealed casters in furniture or possibly in display fixtures, such concealed casters have a tendency to break under heavy loads during movement of the table. Thus, prior art solutions, to this have failed to effectively and satisfactorily combine aesthetics and high capacity load bearing support in an attractive movable retail merchandise display table. These problems in the prior art are overcome by the present invention which structurally integrates the decorative components of the movable display table with the dissimilar structural framework using an effective hidden caster arrangement mounted within a steel supporting member to provide a high capacity load bearing movable display table.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA high capacity retail merchandise display table movable over a floor for repositioning the display table without having to disturb the merchandise includes a table top which may be spaced from the table base by steel rods to provide a floating effect, a table base having a plurality of vertically extending legs, and a plurality of structural steel supporting members extending downwardly from the legs and structurally tied thereto, with the table preferably being made of wood. The steel supporting members consist of a steel rod vertically extending from the leg and a horizontally extending tublar steel foot which forms both a structural support for the table and a caster housing for a ball bearing caster centrally mounted to a steel plate which spans the interior of the tubular foot. The ball bearing may have a diameter substantially less than the horizontal extent of the support plate to which it is mounted in the foot member.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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While the present invention has been described herein with reference to specific embodiments, those examples are intended to only be illustrative thereof and are not intended to limit the spirit or scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A high capacity retail merchandise display table movable over a floor for repositioning the display table, said table comprising:
- a display table top for displaying retail merchandise thereon;
- a display table base, said table top being disposed above said base, said base having a plurality of legs vertically extending therefrom for supporting said table base above said floor; and
- a plurality of structural steel supporting members extending downwardly from said table base toward the floor, said structural steel supporting members being structurally tied to said legs with one of said supporting members extending from each of said legs, said table and said table legs being composed of a dissimilar material from said supporting members, each of said structural steel supporting members comprising a vertically extending support rod and an integral horizontally extending tubular foot member, said tubular foot member comprising a caster housing for housing a hidden caster member within while providing structural support for said display table, said caster housing comprising a horizontally extending steel plate spanning the interior thereof and a steel ball bearing caster member structurally tied to said horizontally extending plate and hidden within said housing for providing rolling support for said display table.
2. A movable retail merchandise display table in accordance with claim 1 wherein said table dissimilar material is composed of wood.
3. A movable retail merchandise display table in accordance with claim 1 wherein said caster member is centrally disposed in said caster housing.
4. A movable retail merchandise display table in accordance with claim 3 wherein said ball bearing caster member has an associated diameter substantially less than the horizontal extent of said steel plate.
5. A movable retail merchandise display table in accordance with claim 4 wherein said display table top is suspended above said table base and spaced therefrom by a plurality of structural steel supporting members extending upwardly from said table legs, with one of said table top supporting members extending upwardly from each of said legs.
6. A movable retail merchandise display table in accordance with claim 5 wherein said table dissimilar material is composed of wood.
7. A movable retail merchandise display table in accordance with claim 1 wherein said display table top is suspended above said table base and spaced therefrom by a plurality of structural steel supporting members extending upwardly from said table legs, with one of said table top supporting members extending upwardly from each leg.
8. A movable retail merchandise display table in accordance with claim 7 wherein said table dissimilar material is composed of wood.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 14, 2003
Publication Date: May 19, 2005
Inventor: Giusseppe Paventi (Montreal)
Application Number: 10/713,823