Rotatable modular memorabilia display system enabling a vertical or horizontal configuration
A modular display system containing two attached modules for displaying some item in one module adjacent to an article of sports clothing such as a jersey in the other module. The jersey display module contains a square mounting platform on which an article of clothing is mounted. The secondary system module is meant to hold display items, including sports memorabilia, which may complement or give context to the article of sports clothing. The two modules are attached by only one set of attachment means located respectively on only one of each of the sides of the modules. The attachment means are designed for easily removing or attaching a secondary display module from or to the jersey display module. When the two modules are attached to each other forming the display system, the display system can then be rotated as a unit allowing the display system to be presented in a horizontal or vertical alignment where the secondary display module is aligned either to the left of, the right of, above or below the jersey display module. The square mounting platform is rotated on a horizontal axis correspondingly to the system alignment, after the system is mounted on vertical surface, and then re-deposited into the jersey display module so that the item being displayed remains right side up regardless of the system alignment.
Not Applicable.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot Applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to display cases, more specifically to display cases that feature sports jerseys or other sports memorabilia. More specifically, the present invention relates to modular display cases. More specifically, the present invention relates to modular display cases where one module contains a clothing item that is mounted on a mounting platform within the display case module.
2. Description of Related Art
There are many product display cases and jersey display frames and sports memorabilia display cases on the market. For example there exist modular display cases such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,402 to Koppe that allows products to be displayed in a stacked system which can be altered in what is displayed in vertical order. Additionally there exist modular displays such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,778 to TenBrink that have both vertical and horizontal attachment points so that the display modules can be displayed vertically or horizontally. There also exist displays that rotate on a vertical axis such as D244411 to Haggerty for the purpose of allowing a 360 degree view of the display item.
There does not exist in the prior art, however, the present invention which comprises a modular system with only one attachment point between a jersey or uniform display module and a secondary display module where the attached combination of modules can have either a vertical or horizontal alignment. The jersey display module can be rotated along a horizontal axis on a vertical surface or wall in quarter turns so that the one side containing the attachment point with the secondary module can be on top, the right side, the bottom side or the left side. This allows for the secondary display module to be aligned to the left or right of the jersey display module (herein the “horizontal alignment”), or above or below the jersey display module (herein the “vertical alignment”) while using only one attachment point. This is possible because the square mounting platform for the jersey display can be slid into the jersey display module regardless of how the module is oriented by virtue of the mounting platform being square. The mounting platform can be deposited uprightly into the module regardless of how the side it is slid into is aligned.
There also does not exist in the prior art, a modular display system where the secondary module is easily separated from the jersey display module either for swapping out one secondary module for another, or for breaking the entire display down for storage or shipping. This is achieved by an attachment means which allows for easily sliding off the secondary module from the jersey display module. This also allows one to develop and display anything adjacent to the jersey display module where multiple secondary display modules can all be swapped out for one another. This is in contrast to a permanent attachment means where use of glues, screws and/or pegs would more likely compel altering the same secondary display module each time and having to do it while it is attached to the jersey display module.
The utility of the rotatable system along with attachment means that allow for easy secondary module removal is to be able to both create a modular display system that is easily broken down, shipped, locked and accessed as well as offering the aesthetic and practical option of having a horizontal alignment for display in rooms with low ceilings, such as basements, eliminating the need to stoop or bend down to see what is in the bottom of a vertically aligned display case with jersey on top and secondary item displayed underneath it.
The utility of this modular system is more clear when one considers the aesthetics involved with and the flexibility required for the display of sports memorabilia or indeed when one attempts to create a display for any genre. While a jersey or uniform is a standard piece of memorabilia that comes with participation in any sport, a second, complementary type of memorabilia could come in any form. For example, a common complementary memorabilia is a trophy. Displaying a trophy below a jersey would be next to impossible given the typical large height of a trophy. The present invention, however, allows for display of a trophy where the secondary module is used in a horizontal alignment with the jersey module where the secondary module is tall and narrow in the horizontal alignment. Another example of tall and narrow memorabilia is the boxing/martial arts championship belt which can be displayed below a jersey display module, but with the present invention can also be displayed to the left or the right of the jersey display module (in the horizontal alignment) with a much greater aesthetic effect where these belts are seldom worn around the waist, but more often seen hanging down from the shoulder of the victor. Alternatively, the present invention allows one to also place the secondary module above the jersey display module and in the example of the championship belt this would be an appropriate configuration where the belt is also commonly held above the victor's head. Finally, the present invention allows for secondary module displays that can be aligned in either the vertical or horizontal alignment, for example, a digital signage display (video monitor with speakers). The utility here is that the displayer has the ability to choose any alignment configuration.
The utility of this modular system is similarly more clear when one has variable items in individual secondary modules that can be displayed appropriately next to the same jersey. For example, the traveling sports memorabilia salesperson could use one secondary module to display one type of memorabilia (for example a baseball) at one type of sales event (a baseball convention) and switch out that secondary module for a different secondary module containing a different type of memorabilia (for example a playing card) at another sales event (a playing card convention) specific to that which is being displayed in the secondary module. Relatedly, the ability to choose between vertical and horizontal alignments is especially useful for the memorabilia salesperson who may encounter varying convention spaces they are provided in which to display the memorabilia, again, where they may encounter low ceilings in one space and narrow stalls in another.
The utility of having a modular system that utilizes only one attachment is point is clear when one considers the aesthetic value of not having to hide attachment structures that are not being utilized. The present invention enables the one attachment point to be hidden where the jersey display module and the secondary module are always attached together when in use as a display. The remaining sides of the resulting structure are therefore aesthetically pleasing where they do not show unutilized attachment points regardless of what alignment the system is in.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to a modular display system. Taken together, the characteristics of the present invention make it unique to what is presently offered in the art. These characteristics include the ability to rotate the display; the use of only one attachment point; and the ability to quickly and easily replace the secondary module with other secondary modules. Where one utility of the present invention is to display something adjacent to a sports jersey or item of clothing, the above characteristics extend the utility beyond this into: utilizing the display system's modularity to fit it into difficult and changing spaces by altering the module alignment between vertical and horizontal; utilizing the display system to easily swap around that which is displayed adjacent to the sports jersey or clothing item; and providing the utility of easily and quickly breaking the system down into smaller pieces for ease of transport or storage.
The characteristics and utilities of the present invention described in this summary and the detailed description below are not all inclusive. Many additional features and advantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art given the following drawings, specifications and claims.
The present invention may be better understood, and its numerous features and advantages made apparent to those skilled in the art by referencing the accompanying drawings. For ease of understanding and simplicity, common numbering of elements within the illustrations is employed to identify an element in the different drawings.
The previous is a detailed description of illustrative embodiments of the present invention. As these of embodiments of the present invention are described with references to the aforementioned drawings, various modifications or adaptations of the methods and or specific structures described may become apparent to those skilled in the art. All such modifications, adaptations, or variations that rely upon the teachings of the present invention, and through which these teachings have advanced the art, are considered to be within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Hence, these descriptions and drawings are not to be considered in a limiting sense, as it is understood that the present invention is in no way limited to the embodiments illustrated.
Claims
1. A square display module comprising:
- a removable square thin mounting board on which to display a flat item or items such as a sports jersey;
- a removable cover which allows for depositing of said mounting board along either sets of its two parallel sides into parallel grooves located along opposite sides of said jersey display module;
- on each of the sides of the back of said square display module are means for affixing said module to a wall or vertical surface so that the square display module can be affixed using any one of its four sides; and
- the outer surface of said removable cover has attachment means to which the second four-sided display module can be attached using corresponding attachment means located on one of the sides of said secondary display modules.
2. The corresponding attachment means of claim 1 allow for easy addition and removal of said secondary module to said square display module, and the ability to exchange one secondary module for another comprising the same corresponding attachment means as the square display module.
3. A locking system that prevents the secondary display module from being unattached from the square display module. Said locking system comprising a lock core affixed to one of said modules and a corresponding female portion of said locking system being affixed on the other module, and allowing for a male member extending from said lock core to be rotated or inserted into said female portion.
4. Means for physically hiding said sets of corresponding attachment means when said modules are attached to one another including but not limited to a lip structure extending around the sides and front of one of the modules along on the side containing said attachment means, said lip structure being of sufficient height to block the view of said attachment means but still allow for use of said attachment means.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 24, 2009
Publication Date: Feb 24, 2011
Inventor: Donald Strickland (Santa Clara, CA)
Application Number: 12/583,571
International Classification: A47G 1/06 (20060101); A47G 1/12 (20060101);