PRODUCT DISPLAY UNIT

Abstract

A product display unit is provided wherein a half model of an object appears as the complete object rotating freely in space. The product display unit includes an external box with a reflective surface mounted therein at a 45° angle relative to the bottom surface of the external box. A rotation mechanism is positioned adjacent the back side of the reflective surface and has at least one magnet thereon. The half model of the object has at least one magnet on the back side thereof, and is positioned on the front side of the reflective surface. The magnets attract each other so as to hold the half model against the reflective surface, while the rotation of the rotation mechanism causes the half model to rotate as well. The reflection of the half model in the reflective surface, together with the actual half model, create the perception of the full object.

Description

RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/122,037, filed on Mar. 6, 2014, and entitled “Detached and Mobile Product Advertisement Stand”, presently pending.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is a free-standing and mobile display unit which relates to an advanced method and mechanism in order to revolve and rotate any physical 3-D object to be displayed, as if the object is suspended and revolving freely in space without any attachments or connectors.

2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.

Today, physical product or object display units display the objects (for example, a commercial product) either stationary or with the object to be displayed as attached to a moving mechanism which moves via that attachment/connector, or on top of a moving surface, both of which are obvious to the viewer's eye.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is useful in all kinds of advertisement and display objects, including but not limited to fields and relevant applications like shopping window advertisements, open air advertisements, closed space advertisements. The present invention is capable of displaying any three-dimensional object such that to the viewer, the object displayed is rotating and floating freely in space.

To create this perception, a half model of the real product/ is rotated on an inclined reflective surface (for example, a mirror) while the other half view is completed by the reflection of the half model on the reflective surface virtually. Thus, the viewer perceives a whole, real three-dimensional object is freely revolving in space with no attachments, binders or connectors.

This visual effect of perception in the viewer's eye is formed by attaching and sliding the half model of the target object to be displayed on a reflective surface (for example, a mirror) inclined forward with 45 degrees of angle relative to the ground plane.

The missing (complementary) half of the complete (full) object image is formed by the reflection of the half model from the reflective surface, to the eye of the viewer, standing in front of the display.

The revolving motion of the object, is created by the movement of magnets, non-visibly embedded into the half model of the object, tracking the movement of the puller, opposite polarized magnets, rotating on the non-visible side of the inclined reflective surface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the display unit of the present invention with the half model of the sample object to be displayed in it.

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of the display unit of the present invention showing the reflective surface including the side panel, reflective surface, half model of the object to be displayed and side panel.

FIG. 3 is a partial rear view of the of the display unit of the present invention showing the rotating motor and disc on the back of the reflective surface.

FIG. 4 is an isolated view of the half model of the object to be displayed of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a rear view of the half object of the present invention showing the magnets, the soft and thin material, and the half model.

FIG. 6 is an isolated view of the present invention showing the patterned left side panel.

FIG. 7 is an isolated view of the present invention showing the patterned right side panel.

FIG. 8 is a top view the rotating mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the rotating mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows an optional monitor installed on the upwardly-facing bottom surface of the display box to create a background visual of the object to be displayed (revolved).

PARTS LIST

• 1. External Box
• 2. Reflective Surface
• 3. Magnets embedded in the half model of the object to be displayed
• 4. A soft and thin fabric material cover
• 5. Half model of the object to be displayed
• 6. Patterned Left side panel
• 7. Patterned Right side panel
• 8. Magnets on the rotating disk to pull the half model of the object to be displayed on the mirror
• 9. Rotating disk
• 10. Band to fix the mechanism to the back side of the reflective surface
• 11. Motor
• 12. Monitor to create background image if desired
• 13. Reflection of the half object from the reflective surface to form the full object image
• 14. Reflection of the patterned side panel from the reflective surface to form the full depth view of the display unit
• 15. Background image from the monitor for the object to be displayed

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention (FIG. 1) is a free-standing and mobile display unit that can be used in fields such as advertisement, display, retail, exhibition, decoration, furniture, industries and all relevant other industries, sectors and applications, where the object(s) to be displayed is/are perceived by the viewer as if they are 3-D objects freely rotating in space with no connections or attachments. In the present invention, the object to be displayed (or a model thereof) is cut in half, creating a half model. When used in the display unit of the present invention, the half model appears as the complete object rotating freely in space.

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the whole display unit with the half model of the sample object to be displayed in it. In this case, the sample object is a cube, and the half model is half a cube. In FIG. 1, the object to be displayed (half model 5 and reflection 13 combined) is displayed inside an external box 1 with a reflective surface 2 (for example, a mirror) system mounted inside the display unit. FIG. 1 is an assembled view of the product showing the external box 1, reflective surface 2, half model of the object to be displayed 5, and side panels 6 and 7. (all sub-units are assembled). Rotation of the half model 5 on the reflective surface 2 is perceived as a revolving full object in space. The full object image is formed by the half model 5 and the reflection 13 of the half model 5 (dashed cube line) from the reflective surface 2 to the viewer.

The display unit shown in FIG. 1 generates this perception of free rotation in space by sliding the half cut model 5 of any objects to be displayed attached on to the surface of the reflective surface 2.

Referring to FIG. 2, this reflective surface 2 is mounted into the display unit inclined towards the viewer with an angle of 45 degrees with the ground plane. The half model 5 of the object to be displayed, is attached to the reflective surface 2 with embedded magnets 3 into the non-visible cross section side of the half model of the object to be displayed, as shown in FIG. 5.

In FIG. 2, the reflection 13 of the half model 5 attached on the reflective surface 2 generates and completes the full object perception (5 and 13 combined) to the viewers eye. FIG. 2 also shows the patterned left side panel 6 of the display unit.

Concurrently, in FIG. 1, since the viewer is not aware and can not realize the existence of the reflective surface 2, the full/complete object's image appears as if the object is freely standing in space with no attachments at all.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the reflective surface 2 (for ex: a mirror) with an angle of 45° to the bottom surface with a rotator mechanism (the motor 11, disk 9 and the magnets 8) to revolve the half object 5 with magnets embedded, on the other side of the reflective surface 2. The revolving/rotating movement of the object to be displayed is generated/realized by the rotation of opposite poled magnets 8 via a motor 11 installed at the rear (non visible) side of the reflective surface 2. These magnets 8 rotating at the back side of the reflective surface 2 causes the half model 5 to slide on the reflective surface 2 as desired and hence generates the perception of the freely revolving 3-D full object in space.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a half model of an object to be displayed in the display unit, which in this case is a cube. In the present invention, the term object to be displayed can be any three-dimensional object (for example, a logo, a device, a can, an airplane model, etc.). Similarly, the term “half model” can be that object cut in half, or an item resembling that particular object cut in half.

Referring to FIG. 5, there is shown the back view of a half model of the object to be displayed in the display box. FIG. 5 shows how two magnets 3 are embedded into the rear side of the half object 5 to attach the object to the reflective surface 2. The rear side of the half object 5 is covered with a thin and soft material 4 (for example, a fabric or Teflon) to ease movement and avoid scratching the reflective surface 2. These magnets 3 will be pulled by the magnets 8 of the rotator mechanism at the back of the reflective surface 2, so as to hold the half model 5 against the reflective surface 2, and move the half model 5 thereon.

Concealment of the existence of the reflective surface 2 from the viewer is realized by adding various patterns/lines 6 and 7 resembling the intersection line of the reflective surface with the inner side walls of the display unit. For example, FIG. 6 shows the triangular left side panel with added (plotted) lines (patterns) to mask the recognition of the intersection line of reflective surface 2 and the side view by the viewer/observer standing in front of the unit. These lines/patterns are reflected in the reflective surface 2.

FIG. 7 similarly shows the triangular right side panel 7 with added (plotted) lines (patterns) to mask the recognition of the intersection line of the reflective surface 2 and the side view by the viewer/observer standing in front of the unit. In essence, the patterns on panels 6 and 7 mask the existence of the reflective surface 2 to the viewer.

FIG. 8 is a top view of the rotator mechanism utilized to pull (via magnets) and revolve the object to be displayed with magnets embedded on the other side of the reflective surface. FIG. 8 shows the band 10 used to fix the mechanism to the back side of the reflective surface 2. FIG. 9 shows a side view of the rotator mechanism, wherein the rotating disk 9 would be up against the back of the reflective surface 2.

FIG. 10 shows an optional monitor 12 installed on the upwardly-facing bottom surface of the display box to create a background visual of the object to be displayed (revolved). The image on the monitor reflects from the 45° mirror and appears to the viewer as if it is at the back panel of the display as a background image or video. In FIG. 10, the background image 15 is shown as a tree in dotted lines. This background image or special effect 15 is generated by the reflection of the video or image from the monitor via the reflective surface 2 towards the viewer's eye, while the half model 5 of the object continues to slide on the reflective surface 2.

The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention is illustrative and explanatory thereof. Various changes in the details of the illustrated construction may be made within the scope of the present invention without departing from the true spirit of the invention. The present invention should only be limited by the following claims and their legal equivalents.

Claims

1. A product display unit comprising:

an external box;

a reflective surface mounted in said external box, said reflective surface being at a 45° angle relative to a bottom surface of said external box;

a rotation mechanism positioned adjacent a back side of said reflective surface, said rotation mechanism having at least one magnet thereon; and

a half model having at least one magnet on a back side thereof, a reflection of said half model being visible in said reflective surface, said half model and said reflection of said half model forming an image of a full object, said half model being movably positioned against a front side of said reflective surface, said at least one magnet of said half model being attracted to said at least one magnet of said rotation mechanism.

2. The product display unit of claim 1, said half model having a soft and thin fabric on said back side thereof.

3. The product display unit of claim 1, said rotation mechanism comprising:

a band affixed to said back side of said reflective surface;

a rotating disk positioned between said band and said reflective surface, said rotating disk having at least one magnet thereon on a side of said rotating disk facing said reflective surface; and

a motor drivingly connected to said rotating disk.

4. The product display unit of claim 3, said motor being positioned on a side of said band opposite said rotating disk.

5. The product display unit of claim 1, further comprising:

a monitor installed on said bottom surface of said external box facing said reflective surface, said monitor having an image thereon, said image being reflected in said reflective surface.

6. The product display unit of claim 1, said reflective surface comprising a mirror.

7. The product display unit of claim 1, said external box having side panels, each of said side panels having a pattern thereon.

8. The product display unit of claim 1, where said external box has an open or transparent front side.