CARPET DISPLAY RACK

PRESENTOIR A TAPIS

English Abstract

A rack for hanging room sized carpets in show rooms. The rack has a plurality
of
uprights, each of which has a horizontal arm supporting a hanging carpet. The
arm is
adapted to be raised and lowered by a belt entrained on a motor-driven pulley
and moved
by a gear drive type motor. The belt and motor-driven pulley are mounted on
the rack.

Claims

I claim:
1. A display rack secured in an upright position for hanging carpets, the rack
comprising;
at least one upright support member,
an arm assembly carried by the support member, the arm assembly including a
horizontal
member and a brace,
an upper support roller on the horizontal member bearing on a side of the
upright support,
a lower support roller on an end of the brace bearing on a side of the upright
support
opposite from the upper support roller, a first pulley on an upper end of the
upright
support, and
a winch on the hollow support member whereby a flexible tension member wound
on the
winch extends over the first pulley, over one of the top pulleys, and has a
free end
secured to the arm assembly for moving the arm assembly from a lowered
position to an
upper carpet display position.
2. A display rack as claimed in claim 1 wherein the winch has a worm gear
drive having
a gear ratio of 50:1 and which resists unwinding of the cable.
3. A display rack as claimed in claim 2 wherein one or more of the upright
support
members are supported on upper and lower plate members having apertures to
receive
pins whereby a pin on an upper end of the upright support is received in an
aperture in the
upper plate, and a pin on the lower end of the upright support member is
received in an
aperture in a lower plate member for pivotally supporting the upright support
members.
4. A display rack secured in an upright position for hanging carpets, the rack
comprising;

upright support members, a motor and a winch on each upright support member
an arm assembly including a horizontal member having spaced apart plates
received on
the upright member,
a diagonal brace on the horizontal member,
an upper support roller on the end of the horizontal member bearing on a side
of the
upright support,
a lower support roller on an end of the brace bearing on a side of the upright
support
opposite from the upper support roller, and
a winch on the support member whereby a flexible tension member wound on a
pulley
on the winch has a free end secured to the arm assembly for moving the arm
assembly
from a lowered position to an upper carpet display position.
5. A display rack secured in an upright position for hanging carpets, the rack
comprising;
an upright support
an arm assembly including a horizontal member,
a diagonal brace on the horizontal member,
an upper support roller on the horizontal member bearing on a side of the
upright support,
a lower support roller on an end of the brace bearing on a side of the upright
support
opposite from the upper support roller,

a pair of top pulleys adjacent the support,
a bottom pulley on the brace adjacent the support, and
a winch in the hollow support member whereby a flexible tension member wound
on the
winch extends through the upright hollow support, over the first pulley, over
one of the
top pulleys, entrains the bottom pulley, the other top pulley, and has a free
end secured
adjacent the bottom pulley for moving the arm assembly from a lowered position
to an
upper carpet display

Description

CA 02490396 2004-12-16
This invention relates to display racks and more particularly to improvements
in display racks for
hanging room sized carpets.
It is desirable to have carpets hanging in such a manner in order that a
number of carpets can be
viewed without moving a large number of carpets. However, raising the carpets
to a hanging
position can not be done conveniently without proper equipment and
furthermore, customers may
request that the hanging carpet be spread horizontally. It is desirable
therefore, that a sales person
be provided with a motorized rack to conveniently raise and lower any carpet
with a minimum of
effort.
Attempts to provide display racks of this type include applicant's U.S. Pat.
No.5,292,011 which
discloses a winch and cable system and U.S Pat. 2,000,336 which discloses a
horizontal carpet
support raised by pulling a rope. Other prior attempts include those disclosed
in U.S. Pat. Nos.
3,187,900, W. Schneider; and 3,330,418, W. Schneider.
It is considered desirable therefore, to provide a display rack having display
rack arms which will
be capable of being driven by individual motors.
A still further consideration is that of minimizing damage to expensive
carpets by exposed moving
parts such as cables.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a display rack secured in an
upright position for
hanging carpets. The rack comprises an upright support member, an arm assembly
including a
horizontal member, and a diagonal brace for movement from a lowered position
to an upper
storage position. The horizontal member has an upper support roller bearing on
a side of the
upright support; a lower support roller on an end of the diagonal brace
bearing on a side of the
support opposite from the upper support roller and a worm drive winch on the
upright tubular
member whereby a flexible belt member extends over a drive pulley on an upper
end of the
support and has an end secured to the arm assembly.
Another embodiment of the invention comprises an upright support member, an
arm assembly

CA 02490396 2004-12-16
including a horizontal member, and a diagonal brace for movement from a
lowered position to an
upper storage position. The horizontal member has an upper support roller
bearing on a side of the
upright support; a lower support roller on an end of the diagonal brace
bearing on a side of the
support opposite from the upper support roller and a winch on the upright
tubular member whereby
a flexible belt member wound on a drive pulley of the worm drive winch has an
end secured
adjacent the upper support roller and the flexible member has indentations to
cooperate with teeth
on the drive pulley.
In the drawings which illustrate an embodiments of this invention:
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the display rack of this invention;
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view an arm assembly of the invention of FIG. l;
and
FIG, 3 is a side elevational view partly in section of the motor and gear
mechanism and
FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the motor and winch of Fig. 3.
Referring now in detail to the drawings in which the numeral 10 generally
denotes a carpet
display rack, the rack 10 has a supporting assembly 12 including posts 14
having bottom
plates 18. The posts 14 are also provided with adjustable top plates 22
secured in the adjusted
position by set screws 26.
A lower channel plate 30 has spaced apart apertures 32 and a top plate 34 of
right angle cross
section which has apertures 38 vertically aligned with the apertures 32 of the
lower plate 30.
Vertical support members 40 (one of which is shown) have upper and lower pins
44 and 46
adapted to be received in the apertures 34 and 32 respectively for pivotal
movement. The pin
44 carries a slidable collar 50 adjustable by means of set screw 52. .
An arm assembly 60 adapted to move vertically on the upright channel member
40, includes
a horizontal member 60 and a diagonal brace 64. An associated end 62 of the
arm 60 is
secured by a bolt 83 to spaced apart plates 65 which engage the upright
tubular member 40,
and a roller 70 mounted at the end of the horizontal member 60 engages the
other side of the
2

CA 02490396 2004-12-16
tubular member 40. The lower end of the brace 64 is also provided with spaced
plates 66 to
receive a roller 74 bearing against the adjacent side of the tubular member
40. A roller 86 is
also mounted between the plates 65 on the horizontal member 60 adjacent the
upright
member 40. As illustrated in FIG. 3, a belt 90 extends over a pulley or drum
92 of a winch
94 and has its end 93 looped over fastening means 85 on the horizontal member
60 adjacent
the roller 86. The pairs of spaced apart plates 65 and 66 are preferably
joined or integrally
formed. The pulley or drum 92 has a tooth profile to mesh with that of the
belt 90 which is
of a type known as a timing chain belt of steel reinforced polymer
construction. A standard
chain drive is also considered to be a practical alternative.
A nylon roller 100 is provided on the outer end of each arm assembly 60,
although means
for attaching a carpet to the horizontal member 62 does not form part of this
invention, a
carpet clip as shown in FIG. 1 grips an upper edge of the carpet. The clip is
the subject of
another patent by this inventor and is also shown in applicant's United States
Patent No.
5,292,011
The gear mechanism 94 is of the type referred to as worm gear and meshes with
a gear 124
for rotating the drive pulley drum 92. An electric motor 130 is secured to the
shaft 120 to
facilitate turning the shaft . A suitable motor is a %2 hp 1800 rpm DC motor
manufactured
under the trade name Nema .The worm gear. operates at a 50:1 drive ratio and
moves a 250
1b load through a 9ft travel in approximately 37 seconds. Worm gears operating
at drive
ratios of 30:1 or 40:1 may also be selected. The worm gear winch is self
braking so that the
winch drum cannot accidentally run free.
In use the arm assembly 60 can be raised and lowered, the belt 90 having been
correctly
installed on the drum 92. The carpet is then secured to the arm assembly 60
through the use
of clips and the arm assembly is raised by the electric motor 130 to wind belt
90 on the
drum 92. It will be appreciated that if the operator stops the power unit for
any reason before
fully raising or lowering the arm assembly 60, the drive means cannot run free
due to the
provision of the self braking winch gear mechanism 94.
*****
3

Representative Drawing