US2631916A - Display cabinet - Google Patents

Description

March 17, 1953 E. F. BJORO ET AL 2,631,916

DISPLAY CABINET Filed Nov. 6, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. fdw'n ffijoro March 17, 19

Filed NOV. 6, 1945 53 E. F. BJORO ET AL DISPLAY CABINET 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Ed INVENTOR- V/n Ffijor'o 5/ 10/? M. PM

guy .F/L A March 17, 1953 E. F. BJORO ET AL 2,631,916

DISPLAY CABINET Filed Nov. 6, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 0/ I/ILVZNTOR. 5 wk bro fohfl M F/sber Patented Mar. 17, 1953 DISPLAY CABINET Edvin F. Bjoro and John M. Fisher, Huntington, N. Y., assignors to The Spool Cotton Company, Newark, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application November 6, 1945, Serial No. 626,938

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a display cabinet for relatively small articles of merchandise designed to be used where the customers cannot only see the merchandise but actually take it from the cabinet or receive it from a sales person stationed near the cabinet. An object of the invention is to produce a cabinet of this general type equipped with an upper portion designed to display the merchandise, 2. lower portion designed to store a supply of the merchandise and the whole device so constructed that it is sufliciently attractive so that it makes a fitting piece of furniture for the finest kind of a. sales establishment.

The principles of the invention will be defined in the claim ultimately appended hereto. It will be illustrated with the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which Fig. l is a front view.

Fig. 2 is a side or end view.

Fig. 3 is a section through 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a section through 4-4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of a drawer. Fig. 6 is a section through 5-6 of Fig. 5.

7 is a section through 1-1 of Fig. 3. Fig. 8 is a section through 8-3 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged view of the upper left hand corner of Fig. 3 showing some merchandise in place on the uppermost tray.

Fig. 1D is a section through Ill-4i! of Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a plan view of one of the spool trays shown in section in the upper part of Fig. 3.

Fig. 12 is a section through [2-42 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary plan view of one of the trays seen in the upper part of Fig. 4, and

Fig. 14 is a perspective view of one of the parti tions used in the upper display compartment shown in 4.

Looking at Fig. 1 the display cabinet may be considered as made up of four sections A. B, and D. Section A consists of an end panel a top 2, a front panel 3. On the inside thereof is a shelf 4. The top of this section may be used for display purposes or for wrapping articles or" merchandise if that is desirable. It may also be used to support a cash register. The interior of this section can be used to store merchandise or stationery, paper, boxes or the like.

Section B has a base portion in which are dis posed five drawers and a storage space. This section is made up of two end panels 5 and 5 tied together with horizontalv frame members I. iand 9. The five drawers are shown at H), H. i2. i3- and M. The drawers are designed to slide on transverse tracks such as that shown at IS in Fig. 3. All the drawers in the display cabinet run the same in construction so the same identifying numbers will be used in designating correspond ing parts. Track I5 is also shown in Figs. 4, 5, 6, 'l' and 8. Each of the tracks shown at l5, and there is one for each drawer in the cabinet, is equipped with a longitudinal pair of grooves shown at l6 and I? running from one end of the track to the other. Each drawer is equipped with a cooperating track on the bottom thereof such as that shown at 20. This track 20 is grooved along the middle to receive the complemental track l5 therein. The drawers are designed to be withdrawn from either the front or the back of the cabinet and each end of each drawer is equipped with a handle 25. These handles are identical on each drawer so will be given a single numeral to designate all of them.

In order to prevent the drawers from being accidentally pulled all the way out from the cabinet suitable stop means is incorporated in the tracks. Each drawer is equipped with a pair of cylindrical plugs projecting downwardly from the bottom thereof, one near each end and one into each oi the grooves 15 and IT. The plug which operates in groove 16 is shown in Fig. 5 at 26 and the plug intended to slide along groove I? is shown at 21. There are removable stops or blocks insertable in the grooves l6 and I1 to block said grooves. One such stop is shown at 28 in Figs. 3, 4 and 7. The stop in question is made up of a disc-like member mounted on a short cylindrical body. A suitable hole is recessed in the track l5 in each one of the grooves l6 and I1. In groove is the recess for the stop 28 is near the front of the cabinet and the recess for stop 28' near the rear as shown in Fig. 3. The

recess for the stop 29 in the groove H is near the rear of the cabinet and the recess for the stop 29' near the front as seen in Fig. 5. These stops are readily removable. When there is no stop in either groove IE or H the drawer may be fully withdrawn from either the front or the back of the cabinet. If a stop is placed in groove IQ, for instance, near the front of the cabinet and the plug 26 which slides along groove IE is near the rear of the drawer as shown in Fig. 5, the drawer may be drawn out from the front of the cabine until the plug 26 engages the stop 23 when it can be moved no further. Likewise if a stop 29 is in place in groove If, for instance, near the rear of the cabinet. plug 21 will engage this stop when the drawer is withdrawn from the rear of the cabinet. By using these removable stops it is possible to arrange the operation of the drawers so that they may not be completely withdrawn upon the same kind of tracks and are exactly 55 from either the front or the back or it may be S: arranged that they can be withdrawn from either the front or the back but not both and finally with no stops at all, the drawer can be completely withdrawn from either front or back.

The drawer portion of sections B and D are equipped with suitable braces underneath the center thereof as shown at and 3| (Figs. 3 and 4). These braces are joined to the front piece 8 and the rear piece 8' by means of longitudinal strips 32 and 33. The juncture of the longitudinal pieces 8 and B with the strips 32 and 33 and the braces 30 and 3| makes a solid foundation for the cabinet.

On top of the drawer containing portion of section B is a display portion equipped with sliding trays as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. This upper portion is designated and is divided into 3 identical compartments shown at M, 42 and 43. Only one of these will be described because the other two are just like it. Each compartment consists of triangular shaped side or end pieces 45 and 46. A rear wall 41 is shown in Fig. 3, which wall is relatively high. The top and front of these display sections are open for the most part. the top of this section is a display panel mounted in suitable longitudinal pieces El and 52. The names of the articles on display or the name of the manufacturer thereof or any other suitable information may be placed on this panel.

The side walls of this display or trade section 4! are equipped with parallel tray supporting grooves. Those in panel Eli are best shown in Fig. 3, the uppermost one 53 is very short,

the next one 54 is somewhat longer and the others 55, 56 and 51 are still longer and 51 the bottommost groove is the longest. There are a corresponding set of grooves in the panel 45 and each pair of corresponding grooves is designed {-1 to receive a display tray which trays are shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The uppermost one is shown at 60 and the next one underneath at El and so on 82 and E3 and the lowermost one 64. These trays are designed to slide in the grooves in the side panels like drawers and may be removed from the back of the display cabinet. Each tray is made up of a front section 85, a back section 55 and two sides 61 and 68 (see Figs. 9 and 11). All the trays are identical except that the uppermost one is the shortest and the lowermost one the longest. The details of construction of only one tray will be described. The front and back pieces and 65 are equipped with mortised grooves to receive little tags or signs to indicate articles, prices, materials or other descriptive matter for the articles displayed in the tray.

The trays here shown are equipped to receive spools of thread but of course other articles may be diplayed in the trays. In order to conveniently accommodate the spools and to line them up so that similar spools are in the same row, each tray is equipped with inverted T-shaped thread supporting members 10 and H shown in section in Fig. 10. These T-shaped members iii and H are arranged with the horizontal portion 12 thereof near the lower part of the tray and the vertical partition portions 13 extending upwardly. The end of each vertical portion 13 is equipped with a projecting pin 14. These pins are designed to engage in a comb-like positioning member shown at 15. Each tray has two of these comb-1ike positioning members, one on the front wall 55 and one However, near the rear of on the rear wall 66. The pins 14 of the T- shaped partitions are designed to engage in the teeth of this comb-like member to permit the T-shaped member to be positioned in any desired location across the width of the tray. The T-shaped members are first spaced as desired and then the comb-like members are slid down to engage the pins and lock all the members in place. Normally these T-shaped partitions are positioned so that spools of thread of various lengths and diameters can be conveniently arranged on and between them. Such spools are shown in dotted lines at 76.

Some or all of the drawers may be equipped with partitions such as those shown in Figs. 3 and 7. These partitions consist of a series of relatively tall partition members running from the front to the rear of the drawer. These are shown at 30, BI, 82, 83 and 84 (Fig. '7). Each of these is equipped with a series of vertical slots in the lower portion thereof so as to give it the appearance of a coarse comb. Each partition member 80, SI, 82, 83 and 34 is like each other in regard to the height, the proportions and the position of the slots. Running crosswise of the drawer and about half as high as the partition members 80, BI, 82, 83 and B4 are partition members 85, 86, 81, 88, B9, and 91 which pass through the slots in the taller partition members and are disposed at right angles to the taller members. The result is that the drawer is divided into a series of small square compartments. With this type of partition arrangement of course some variations may be made in the size and arrangement of the compartments.

The space where a single drawer would normally be positioned has a shelf 93 thereon (Fig. 1). Other spaces shown occupied by drawers may be similarly treated if it is desired to have shelf space under the upper display portion of the cabinets instead of drawers.

Section C is a unit very much like section A. It is shown made up of a lower portion 94 and an upper display portion 95. The lower portion is constructed like section A. The upper portion has the general shape and configuration of one of the tray compartments except that it is not equipped to receive trays but is equipped with a front retaining board 96. This compartment is designed to receive general items and may or may not be equipped with partitions.

Section D is very much like section B. It is shown with six drawers I00, HH, I02, 103, H14, H15. These are identical in construction with the drawers H), II, l2, I3 and i4 and therefore they will not be described again. The upper display portion of the section D shown at I06 is made in one large piece designed to rest upon the drawer retaining portion of this section D. The general shape of this display section as seen from the side is the same as the display section for the spools of thread and display section 95 on the top of section C. This section has partitions in it as shown in Figs. 4, 12 and 13. Section I05 has two side or end panels I01 and W8. a back panel 139 and a narrow front panel H3. The container for the articles to be displayed has a bottom portion Ill and an upper side I12. Over this display portion is the panel M3 for receiving the names, prices or the like. This is similar to the upper display panel shown in more detail in Fig. 9. The partitions in this display portion consist of partition members running from the back toward the front of the display drawers others running lengthwise thereof. Alternate partition members have slots out therein at right angles to the longitudinal axis thereof. some from the top down about half way and the adjacent one from the bottom up about half way. These front to back partition members are shown at l and H6. The partition members which run across the display box or drawer are shown at H1 and H8 and are the same except one is longer than the other (Fig. 12). As shown in 14 these transverse partition members have notches or rabbets cut from the ends thereof. As viewed in Fig. 14 it will be seen that the nearer end has the notch or rabbet cut out of the lower portion and the corresponding notch or rabbet from the upper portion of the far end of the partition. This permits these partitions to cooperate with the longitudinal partitions wherein the notches are arranged alternately on the lower portion or the upper portion of adjacent partitions. This arrangement of the partitions provides considerable flexibility in regard to size and location of the compartments and of course all the partitions may be readily removed if it is desirable to show large articles.

The drawers in compartment D are furnished with a slightly different form of partition than those in compartment B. In compartment D the partitions running from the front to the back of each drawer are about half as high as the drawers are deep. They are shown at 120 (Fig. 4). The transverse partitions are shown at I2I. The partitions I of which there are only two shown (see Fig. 8) are equipped with notches on the top thereof which go down about half way. The transverse crosswise partitions I21 are equipped with notches on the lower portions thereof. Both partitions are of the same height and they cooperate to divide the drawer up into sections such as squares or rectangles.

The device described is capable of considerable manipulation first, because it is made up of four different sections which may be separated and set up independently. The drawers may be all used, or some used, or none used. The open display boxes on the top of the device may be readily removed leaving a flat top which can be converted into a table or counter. Because the drawers are movable toward the front or back of the cabinet they are convenient for use by a sales person who might find himself or herself on either side of the cabinet when in need of something inside the drawers.

In the light of the foregoing description the following is claimed:

In a display cabinet of the character described, a display section comprising a pair of end panels, a back panel and bottom and having an open top and an open front, a set of spaced grooves in 6 each end panel sloping downwardly from the back of the section to the front, the grooves in one end panel being alined with the grooves in the other end panel to form pairs of alined grooves, openings in the back panel extending from end to end thereof each of which is alined with a pair of alined end panel grooves, a tray disposed in and between each pair of alined grooves and movable through the corresponding opening in the back panel, said trays being spaced one above each other and each being shorter than the one beneath it, each tray having means on its forward side for receiving identifying indicia, a plurality of tracks in each tray for supporting thread spools and like articles thereon, each track extending from the back to the front of the tray and being movable widthwise thereof, pins in the ends of each track, a transverse comb-like member disposed at the front and back of each tray for engaging the pins to retain said track in position on the tray, an overhang extending over the rear portion of the display section, and means on the overhang for receiving identifying matter characterizing the articles in said trays.

EDVIN F. BJORO. JOHN M. FISHER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 107,753 Belding Sept. 27, 1870 112,272 Norris Feb. 28, 1871 375,980 Baum Jan. 3, 1888 608,130 Kandle July 26, 1898 1,010,453 Probert Dec. 5, 1911 1,311,042 Carlson July 22, 1919 1,633,345 Morris June 21, 1927 1,653,530 Abrachinsky Dec. 20, 1927 1,672,633 Vogel June 5, 1928 1,711,329 Short -1 Apr. 30, 1929 1,739,730 Orthwine Dec. 17, 1929 1,745,784 Davis Feb. 4, 1930 1,924,371 Owitz Aug. 29, 1933 1,928,512 Swift Sept. 26, 1933 2,014,516 Beddingfield Sept. 17, 1935 2,225,655 Ottenheimer Dec. 24, 1940 2,228,775 Morgan Jan. 14, 1941 2,257,822 Stickley Oct. 7, 1941 2,262,104 Lambrecht Nov. 11, 1941 2,268,637 Bernstein Jan. 6, 1942 2,299,347 Rifkin Oct. 20, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 140,378 Switzerland Aug. 16, 1930

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