WALL FIXTURE SYSTEM
A wall fixture system has a center panel and a pair of supports for supporting the center panel in an upright configuration. The center panel includes a pegboard for receiving hooks, shelves, baskets, or other accessories, and a frame at least partially surrounding the pegboard. The frame has a plurality of hooks along one of its outer edges. The supports are positioned on opposite sides of the center panel, and each has a plurality of slots along one of its inner edges for receiving the hooks on the frame and thereby supporting the center panel between the supports without the use of screws, nails, or other semi-permanent fasteners.
Wall fixtures systems are commonly used in retail and wholesale stores for hanging and displaying merchandise. Such systems typically include one or more pegboards supported in an upright configuration by various frames and or supports. Once assembled, hooks, baskets, and other peg-able accessories may be supported therefrom for holding and displaying various merchandise. The systems may also be used as temporary walls or room dividers.
The components of known wall fixture systems are typically attached together with screws, bolts, nails, or other semi-permanent fasteners and are therefore difficult and time consuming to assemble and disassemble. This is a problem for many seasonal stores because they often need to quickly install numerous such wall fixture systems and then quickly remove them shortly after the seasonal sales are over. Moreover, many seasonal stores are typically staffed by young and/or inexperienced employees who have little to no experience with assembling wall fixtures systems.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved wall fixture system that overcomes the limitations of the prior art.
SUMMARYThe present invention solves the above-described problems and provides a distinct advance in the art of wall fixture systems. More particularly, the present invention provides a wall fixture system that can be quickly and easily assembled into various different configurations without the use of tools, screws, nails or other such fasteners and that can be subsequently disassembled in the same manner.
One embodiment of the wall fixture system comprises a center panel and a pair of supports for supporting the center panel in an upright configuration. The center panel comprises a pegboard for receiving hooks, shelves, baskets, or other accessories, and a frame at least partially surrounding the pegboard. The frame has a plurality of hooks along one of its outer edges. The supports are positioned on opposite sides of the center panel, and each has a plurality of slots along one of its inner edges for receiving the hooks on the frame and thereby supporting the center panel between the supports without the use of screws, nails, or other semi-permanent fasteners.
The frame of the center panel includes several frame components that may be joined together without the use of screws, nails or other semi-permanent fasteners. For example, an embodiment of the frame comprises a frame bottom, a pair of frame uprights each having a connection leg received within the frame bottom, and a frame top having connection legs received within the frame uprights. The connection legs of the frame uprights may be locked in the frame bottom with integral spring locks. Likewise, the connection legs of the frame uprights may be locked in the bottom frame with integral spring locks.
Another embodiment of the wall fixture system comprises a pair of center panels, a corner leg support, and a pair of end supports. Each center panel comprises a pegboard for receiving hooks, shelves, baskets, or other accessories, and a frame at least partially surrounding the pegboard. An embodiment of the frame includes a horizontally-extending frame bottom, a horizontally-extending frame top, and a pair of vertically-extending frame uprights. The frame bottom, frame top, and frame uprights each have connection members that cooperatively join the frame bottom, frame top, and frame uprights to one another without the use of screws, nails, or other semi-permanent fasteners. The frame uprights each have a plurality of hooks along one of its outer edges.
The corner leg support joins the two center panels at a right angle relative to one another without the use of screws, nails, or other semi-permanent fasteners. The end supports are positioned on opposite sides of the two center panels. Each end support has a plurality of slots along one of its inner edges for receiving the hooks on one of the frames and thereby supporting one of the center panels between the end support and the corner leg support without the use of screws, nails, or other semi-permanent fasteners.
The components of the wall fixture systems described herein can be assembled into a virtually limitless number of configurations, also without using screws and other such fasteners. Thus, the wall fixture systems of the present invention are especially suited for stores and other establishments that require highly functional, yet easy to assemble, merchandise display systems and/or divider walls.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described in the detailed description below. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments and the accompanying drawing figures.
Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:
The drawing figures do not limit the present invention to the specific embodiments disclosed and described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONThe following detailed description of embodiments of the invention references the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are intended to describe aspects of the invention in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. Other embodiments can be utilized and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the claims. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
In this description, references to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or “embodiments” mean that the feature or features being referred to are included in at least one embodiment of the technology. Separate references to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or “embodiments” in this description do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and are also not mutually exclusive unless so stated and/or except as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the description. For example, a feature, structure, act, etc. described in one embodiment may also be included in other embodiments, but is not necessarily included. Thus, the present technology can include a variety of combinations and/or integrations of the embodiments described herein.
Turning now to the drawing figures, and initially
As best shown in
Returning to
The frame 20 at least partially surrounds and supports the pegboard, and in one embodiment, includes a pair of opposed frame uprights 22 positioned on opposite sides of the pegboard, a frame bottom 24 positioned along the bottom edge of the pegboard and a frame top 26 positioned along the top edge of the pegboard 18. The frame components may be made of any suitable material such as 16 or 18 gauge steel. Advantageously, the frame 20 may be assembled from the frame components without tools and/or permanent or semi-permanent fasteners as described in more detail below.
The frame uprights 22, which are illustrated in more detail in
As best shown in
Returning to
The frame tops 26, which are illustrated in
The connection legs 54 extend perpendicularly from the outer edges of the horizontally-extending section 52, and in one embodiment, are each formed of ¾″ square steel tubing. A spring lock 42 is inserted in the open end of each connection leg. Each connection leg 54 may then be inserted into the connection tube 40 of one of the frame uprights 22 as shown in
The frame bottoms 24, which are illustrated in
One of the T-legs 14 is illustrated in
One of the corner leg supports 16a is illustrated in
Assembly of the wall fixture systems 10 and 10a illustrated in
A pegboard panel is then slid into one of the grooves 66 of the frame bottom 24 and then one of the grooves 36 of the frame upright 22 as shown in
The connection leg 30 of another frame upright 22 is then slid into the free end of the frame bottom 24 as shown in
The connection legs 54of a frame top 26 are then inserted into the free ends of the frame uprights 22 as depicted in
A fully assembled center panel 12 is shown in
To create the wall fixture 10 of
To create the wall fixture 10a of
Larger and/or more elaborate wall fixtures may be assembled by connecting additional center panels 12, T-leg supports 14, and/or corner leg supports 16a. For example,
As shown in
The frame 86d at least partially surrounds and supports the pegboards , and in one embodiment, includes a pair of opposed frame uprights 88d positioned on opposite sides of the pegboards, a frame bottom 90d positioned along the bottom edge of the pegboard, a frame top 92d positioned along the top edge of the pegboard, and a center attachment 94d positioned between the two smaller pegboards.
The frame uprights 88d are essentially identical to the frame uprights 22 illustrated in
The frame tops 92d, which are illustrated in
The connection legs 102d of each frame top 92d extend perpendicularly from the outer edges and the midpoint of the horizontally-extending section, and in one embodiment, are each formed of ¾″ square steel tubing. A spring lock 42 as described above is inserted in the open end of the two outer connection legs. The outer connection legs may be inserted into the connection tubes of the frame uprights 88d as shown in
The frame bottoms 90d, which are illustrated in
The center attachments 94d are illustrated in
Assembly of the wall fixture system 10d shown in
Two pegboard panels 18d are then slid into the grooves of the frame bottom 24d and frame upright 22d as shown in
Another frame upright 22d is then inserted into the frame bottom 24d as depicted in
The connection legs of a frame top 26d are then slid into the connection tubes of the two frame uprights as depicted in
The assembly of one of the end panels 82d will now be described with reference to
A smaller pegboard panel 84d is then slid into the front groove (closest to assembler) of the frame upright 88d and frame bottom 90d as depicted in
A center attachment 94d is then slid along the top edge of the pegboard panel and seated onto the connection leg 118d of the frame bottom 90d as depicted in
A larger pegboard panel 84d is then slid into the rear groove of the frame upright 88d and frame bottom 90d as depicted in
A second small pegboard panel 84d is then slid into the front groove of the center attachment 94d and frame bottom 90d as depicted in
The connection leg 98dof a second frame upright 88d is then slid into the free end of the frame bottom 90d as depicted in
The connection legs 102d of a frame top 92d are then inserted into the free ends of the two frame uprights 88d and the center attachment as depicted in
Once two center panels 12d and two end panels 82d have been assembled as described above, they are attached to three T-leg supports 14d to create the wall fixture depicted in
The two end panels 82d are then attached to the outside of the T-leg supports 14d by inserting the hooks that are located on the center attachments on the end panel frames into the slots on the T-leg supports and pressing down.
Although the invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment illustrated in the attached drawing figures, it is noted that equivalents may be employed and substitutions made herein without departing from the scope of the invention as recited in the claims. For example, wall fixture components described herein may be assembled into a virtually limitless number of different wall fixture systems. The claims of the invention are not limited to the wall fixture system examples described and illustrated herein.
Claims
1. A wall fixture system comprising:
- a center panel comprising a pegboard for receiving hooks, shelves, baskets, or other accessories, and a frame at least partially surrounding the pegboard, the frame having a plurality of hooks or slots along one of its outer edges; and
- a pair of supports positioned on opposite sides of the center panel, each support having a plurality of slots or hooks along one of its inner edges for coupling with the hooks or slots on the frame and thereby supporting the center panel between the supports without the use of screws, nails, or other semi-permanent fasteners.
2. The wall fixture system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the frame includes several frame components that may be joined together without the use of screws, nails or other semi-permanent fasteners.
3. The wall fixture system as set forth in claim 2, wherein the frame comprises a frame bottom, a pair of frame uprights each having a connection leg received within the frame bottom, and a frame top having connection legs received within the frame uprights.
4. The wall fixture system as set forth in claim 3, wherein the connection legs of the frame uprights are locked in the frame bottom with spring locks.
5. The wall fixture system as set forth in claim 3, wherein the connection legs of the frame uprights are locked in the bottom frame with spring locks.
6. The wall fixture system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the supports are T-leg supports.
7. The wall fixture system as set forth in claim 3, wherein the frame bottom, frame supports, and frame top each have a pair of spaced-apart grooves for receiving edges of the pegboard.
8. A wall fixture system comprising:
- a center panel comprising a pegboard for receiving hooks, shelves, baskets, or other accessories, and a frame at least partially surrounding the pegboard, the frame including a horizontally-extending frame bottom, a horizontally-extending frame top, and a pair of vertically-extending frame uprights, the frame bottom, frame top, and frame uprights each having connection members that cooperatively join the frame bottom, frame top, and frame uprights to one another without the use of screws, nails, or other semi-permanent fasteners, the frame uprights each having a plurality of hooks along one of its outer edges; and
- a pair of supports positioned on opposite sides of the center panel, each support having a plurality of slots along one of its inner edges for receiving the hooks on the frame and thereby supporting the center panel between the supports without the use of screws, nails, or other semi-permanent fasteners.
9. The wall fixture system as set forth in claim 8, wherein the connection members of the frame uprights are locked in the frame bottom with spring locks.
10. The wall fixture system as set forth in claim 8, wherein the connection members of the frame uprights are locked in the bottom frame with spring locks.
11. The wall fixture system as set forth in claim 8, wherein the supports are T-leg supports.
12. The wall fixture system as set forth in claim 8, wherein the frame bottom, frame supports, and frame top each have a pair of spaced-apart grooves for receiving edges of the pegboard.
13. A wall fixture system comprising:
- a pair of center panels, each center panel comprising a pegboard for receiving hooks, shelves, baskets, or other accessories, and a frame at least partially surrounding the pegboard, the frame including a horizontally-extending frame bottom, a horizontally-extending frame top, and a pair of vertically-extending frame uprights, the frame bottom, frame top, and frame uprights each having connection members that cooperatively join the frame bottom, frame top, and frame uprights to one another without the use of screws, nails, or other semi-permanent fasteners, the frame uprights each having a plurality of hooks along one of its outer edges;
- a corner leg support for joining the two center panels at a right angle relative to one another without the use of screws, nails, or other semi-permanent fasteners; and
- a pair of end supports positioned on opposite sides of the two center panels, each end support having a plurality of slots along one of its inner edges for receiving the hooks on one of the frames and thereby supporting one of the center panels between the end support and the corner leg support without the use of screws, nails, or other semi-permanent fasteners.
14. The wall fixture system as set forth in claim 13, wherein the connection members of the frame uprights are locked in the frame bottom with spring locks.
15. The wall fixture system as set forth in claim 13, wherein the connection members of the frame uprights are locked in the bottom frame with spring locks.
16. The wall fixture system as set forth in claim 13, wherein the supports are T-leg supports.
17. The wall fixture system as set forth in claim 13, wherein the frame bottom, frame supports, and frame top each have a pair of spaced-apart grooves for receiving edges of the pegboard.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 21, 2011
Publication Date: Sep 27, 2012
Applicant: KC STORE FIXTURES (Kansas City, MO)
Inventor: Leo M. Galey (Excelsior Springs, MO)
Application Number: 13/052,849