Display wall section

Details Display wall section Display wall section

1999-03-26

2001-12-04

Stodola, Daniel P. (Department: 3634)

Supports: racks

Specially mounted

Wall or window

Reexamination Certificate

active

06325223

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to display walls, and in particular, to a display wall section for mounting to a supporting surface.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Retail stores conventionally stock a wide variety of items having different shapes and sizes. Many retail stores also tend to move items around the store for a variety of reasons, for example, depending on the time of the year for seasonal products or for specific sales or simply to rearrange displays. Retail sales stores have long been in need of display walls for merchandise that are versatile and provide for the hanging or displaying of a variety of items and for the reconfiguration of merchandise displays. Similarly, the individual consumer has long sought display walls that can be used to store various items such as tools and/or could be used to create a versatile shelving system to store a variety of items in the home, office, or garage.
In order for a display wall to be a commercially attractive product for retail stores and individual consumers, the display wall system should be inexpensive and easy to install. If the cost of the product is high and the amount of labor required to install the product is great, than the appeal of such a display wall will be greatly reduced. Additionally, the display wall must be aesthetically attractive so as to provide an attractive merchandise display or storage shelving system.
Slatwall products have been developed to provide a display wall capable of providing a relatively versatile system of displaying merchandise. For example,
FIG. 10
depicts a slatwall section
100
including a base portion
102
having a front surface
104
, a rear surface
105
, a top portion
106
and a bottom portion
110
. The base portion
102
has a plurality of slats
115
that project from the front surface
104
of the base portion
102
. The slats
115
include a first portion
118
extending from the front surface
104
of the base portion
102
and a second portion
116
that extends in a direction parallel to the base portion
102
. The second portion
116
includes an upwardly projecting lip
120
and a downwardly projecting lip
122
. The upwardly projecting lip
120
and the downwardly projecting lip
122
on a slat work in conjunction with an upwardly projecting lip
120
and a downwardly projecting lip
122
on an adjacent slat to receive and hold display supports (not depicted).
The bottom portion
110
of the slatwall section
100
includes an elongated section
112
having a U-shaped portion
114
that extends beyond a lowermost slat
126
and downwardly projecting lip
128
, and the top portion
106
includes a lip
108
that projects perpendicularly from the base portion
102
and is positioned behind an upwardly projecting lip
125
of an uppermost slat
124
. The U-shaped portion
114
of a slatwall section
100
can be used in conjunction with the lip
108
of an adjacent slatwall section
200
to lock the slatwall sections together during installation.
The tight configuration between the lip
108
of slatwall section
200
, the U-shaped portion
114
of slatwall section
100
, and the upwardly projecting lip
125
of slatwall section
200
depicted in
FIG. 10
is necessary in order to ensure a locking relationship between the adjacent slatwall sections,
100
and
200
. The positioning of the lip
108
behind the upwardly projecting lip
125
and the tight configuration between the lip
108
of slatwall section
200
, the U-shaped portion
114
of slatwall section
100
, and the upwardly projecting lip
125
of slatwall section
200
, makes installation of the slatwall sections
100
and
200
difficult. For example, the U-shaped portion
114
and the lip
108
must be connected together by mating the U-shaped portion
114
and the lip
108
at opposing side edges of the slatwall sections
100
and
200
, respectively, and sliding one of the slatwall sections in a direction parallel to the slats
115
. As the first slatwall section is typically mounted to a wall then a second slatwall section is mounted either below or above the first slatwall section, the second slatwall section must be slid along the wall in order to connect the lip
108
and the U-shaped portion
114
of the adjacent slatwall sections
100
and
200
. Since the slatwall section are typically formed as wide units, and since the mounting wall may have numerous irregularities which could prevent the second slatwall section from sliding smoothly along the wall during connection with the first slatwall section, the slatwall configuration depicted in
FIG. 10
is not ideal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,490 (hereinafter referred to as “the '490 patent”) describes a slatwall section having a body with a plurality of spaced slats for receiving hangers and other display devices. The slatwall section (10) includes a lower coupling leg (20) and an upper coupling leg (16). The lower coupling leg (20) has a notch (22) provided on a rear side thereof for receiving the upper coupling leg (16) of another slatwall section. FIG. 1
b
depicts the coupling of two slatwall sections (12
b
and 12
c
) using a fastener (28). The upper coupling leg (16) of slatwall (12
c
) is matingly joined with the lower coupling leg (20) of slatwall section (12
b
) such that the holes (18 and 24) are axially aligned with each other, and leg (16) abuts notch (22). Once positioned such that holes (18 and 24) are axially aligned, fastener (28) is inserted therethrough to secure the connection between slatwall sections. The placement of holes (18 and 24) in the overlapping leg portions (16 and 20), respectively, forms the connection point of the two slatwall sections within slat (14).
The '490 patent also does not provide an ideal structure as the ends of the slatwall sections described therein fail to provide a structure that allows for easy alignment of adjacent sections during installation. Assuming the upper coupling leg (16) is positioned above the lower coupling leg (20) of slatwall section (12
a
) during mounting to the wall and assuming a lower coupling leg of an adjacent slatwall section is positioned adjacent the upper coupling leg (16) of the slatwall section (12
a
), one or more fasteners (28) must be positioned within the holes (18 and 24) in order to maintain the coupling of the adjacent slatwall section with slatwall section (12
a
) and to ensure proper alignment. It would be difficult for an installer to simultaneously position and hold the lower coupling leg of the adjacent slatwall section adjacent the upper coupling leg (16) of the slatwall section (12
a
), align the holes (18 and 24), and insert one or more fastening members (28) within the holes (18 and 24) in order to align the slatwall sections. Installation would be even more difficult if the adjacent slatwall section is mounted below the already mounted slatwall section (12
a
), as the upper coupling leg of the adjacent slatwall section would simply slide out of the notch (22) of the slatwall section (12
a
) under the force of gravity until the fastening members (28) are inserted within the holes (18 and 24).
Consequently, a need exists for a display wall section that includes features to aid in the alignment of adjacent display wall section in order to facilitate ease of installation of such display wall sections.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a display wall section having features that aid in the alignment and mounting of the display wall section to a support surface. The present invention achieves this result by providing a display wall section having a first end portion with an alignment member having an inclined surface and a second end portion with a recessed section adapted to receive and hold the alignment member therein during installation of the display wall sections.
The present invention advantageously provides a display wall section that includes a base portion having a first end portion, and a second end portion. The exemplary embodiment of the display wall section includes a base portion having a fi

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Display wall section does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Display wall section, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Display wall section will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2564056