Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02949138 2016-11-21
SYSTEM FOR LIGHTWEIGHT CONSTRUCTION
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present disclosure relates to furniture, especially trade show booths and
trade
show furnishings.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In trade shows, it Is known to produce booths using panels and posts. Coffin
locks
are often used to couple the panels to the posts.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a view showing the components of a system according to
an
exemplary embodiment of the invention
FIG. 2 is a view of the structure of encircled area 2 of FIG.1,
from another
vantage point;
FIG. 3 Is a view of the structure of encircled area 3 of FIG.1,
from another
vantage point;
FIG. 4 Is an enlarged view of the structure of encircled area 4 of
FIG, 1;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the structure of encircled area 5 of
FIG. 1;
FIG. 5A is an isometric view of the structure of FIG. 5;
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FIG. 6 Is an enlarged view of the structure of encircled area 6 of
FIG. 1;
FIG. 6A is a plan view of the structure of FIG. 6;
FIG. 6B is an isometric view of the structure of FIG. 6;
FIG, 7 is an enlarged view of the structure of encircle area 7 of
FIG. 1;
FIG. 7A is an Isometric view of the structure of FIG. 7;
FIG. 8 Is an enlarged view of the structure of encircled area 8 of
FIG. 1;
FIG. 8A is an isometric view of the structure of FIG, 8
FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of the structure of encircled area 9 of
FIG. 1;
FIG. 9A is a left side vlew of the structure of FIG. 9;
FIG. 9B is a top view of the structure of FIG. 9;
FIG, 9C is a front view of the structure of FIG. 9;
FIG. 9D Is a right side view of the structure of FIG. 9;
FIG. 10 Is an enlarged view of the structure of encircled area 10
of FIG. 1;
FIG. 10A is a front view of the structure of FIG. 10;
FIG. 10B is a top view of the structure of FIG. 10;
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FIG. 10C is a side view of the structure of FIG. 10;
FIG. 11A is a view of a pair of the structures of FIG. SA in use;
FIG. 11B is an exploded view of the structure of FIG. 11A;
FIG. 11C Is an end view of the structure of FIG. 11A;
FIG. 12A is a view of the structure of FIG. SA in use with the structure of
FIG. 6B;
FIG. 12B is an exploded view of the structure of FIG. 12A;
FIG, 12C is an end view of the structure of FIG. 12A;
FIG. 13 is a view of an exemplary trade show panel constructed according to
the invention;
FIG. 14 is an exploded view of the structure of FIG. 13;
FIG. 15 is an exploded view of the structure of FIG. 14;
FIG. 16 is a view of encircled area 16 of FIG. 15;
FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of the structure of encircled area 17 of
FIG,
13;
FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of the structure of encircle area 18 of
FIG, 13;
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FIG. 19 is a view of an exemplary trade show booth embodying the
invention;
and
FIG. 19A is an exploded view of the structure of FIG . 19
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Reference is now made to FIG. 1 which shows an embodiment of the invention,
and
more particularly, shows the components of an exemplary system 20 for
lightweight construction, namely, lock systems 22, boards 24, extrusions
26,28,30,32, mitre Inserts 34 and mitre stops 36.
Lock Systems
The lock system 22 which forms part of the exemplary system Includes a prior
art
roto-lock 38, an aligner 40 and an adapter 42.
The roto-lock 38 is of the type which has a latch 44 and a receptacle 46.
The latch 44 includes a body 48 and a partial disc 50. The partial disc 50 has
a hex
head 52, is rotatably mounted to the body 48 and Is rotatable via the hex head
52.
The body 48 has a pair of flanges 54 on each side, each flange 54 being
provided
with a hole 56. The receptacle 46 has a body 58 having a socket 60 and a pair
of
flanges 62 on each side, each flange 62 being provided with a hole 64.
The aligner 40, shown In FIG. 3, has a cutout 66 and a pair of apertures 68.
The adapter 42, shown in FIG. 2, has a socket 70.
=
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Boards
As seen in FIG. 4, each board 24 includes a honeycomb layer 72, a pair of
corrugated layers 74 flanking the honeycomb layer 72, a backer layer 76
overlying
each corrugated layer 74 and a cover layer 80 overlying each backer layer 76.
The honeycomb layer 72 shown is formed from honeycomb sheet from Axxon
Packaging.
Each corrugated layer 74 Is formed from two EB corrugated sheets bonded
together
and to the honeycomb layer 72 with PVA glue. [For greater certainty, layer 84
Is an
E flute layer with a thickness of approximately 0.06" and layer 86 Is a B
flute layer
with a thickness of approximately 0.111
Each backer layer 76 is formed from Polybak B90, with a thickness of .026",
and Is
bonded to the adjacent corrugated layer 74 with PVA glue.
Each cover layer 80 is a matte Renolit vinyl with a thickness of 0.008" bonded
to
the corrugated layer 74 with PVA glue.
The board Is made as follows: an EB sheet is put through a glue roller
applicator to
apply a layer of adhesive to produce a coated EB sheet and a further EB sheet
Is
laid upon the coated ES sheet to form an EBBE combination; the EBB combination
is passed through a pinch roller to form an EBBE sheet 74; the honeycomb sheet
72
Is passed through a double roll glue applicator to apply adhesive on both
sides of
the honeycomb sheet 72 and is laid upon an EBBE sheet 74, and a further EBBE
sheet 74 is laid upon both, to form an EBBE-honeycomb-EBBE bundle; the EBBE
bundle is passed through a pinch roller to produce an EBBE sandwich and the
EBBE
sandwich is placed in a pneumatic pressure for 20 minutes to produce an EBBE
_
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board; the backer 76 and cover 80 layers are applied in a manner analogous to
the
manner of application of the EBBE layers; and the entire assembly is machined
to
size using a Homag WIKI Vantage 43 CNC cutting machine armed with the Solid
Carbide UN-ruffer 67-445 (1/2" dia) and the Solid Carbide Honeycomb Hogger.
Extrusions
The first extrusion 26, shown In FIG. 7, has a generally flat base 92 having a
back
surface and front surface. Two sidewalls 93 depend from the base 92 to form a
generally U-shaped cavity. An interior lip 94 extends generally parallel to
the base
92 from each sidewall towards the interior of the cavity. An interior wall 96
also
extends generally perpendicularly from the Interior lip 94 away from the base
92 to
form a channel 97. A ledge 98 extends generally orthogonally from the interior
wall
and over the interior lip 94.
The second extrusion 28, shown in FIG. 5 comprises a pair of rectangular
planar
portions 102, a first coupler part 104 and a second coupler part 106. The
rectangular planar portions each define a female portion 108 adapted to be
engaged by the male portion of a coffin lock, are coupled to one another to
define a
linear junction 109 and extend from the linear junction in perpendicular
relationship
to one another to the first 104 and second 106 coupler parts, respectively.
Each of
the first and second coupler parts Includes a pair of lands 108,110, one of
each pair
being defined by a ilp 108, the lips projecting towards one another. The first
coupler part 104 includes an elongate ridge 112 disposed between the lands
108,110. The second coupler part 106 defines an elongate slot 114 disposed
between the lands 108,110.
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The third extrusion 30, shown in FIG. 6, includes a third coupler part 121, a
fourth
coupler part 122 and a bridging part 123. Each of the third 121 and fourth 122
coupler parts Includes a land 124 and a hook 125. The bridging part 123
defines a
female portion 126 adapted to be engaged by the male portion of the coffin
lock
and extends between the third 121 and fourth 122 coupler parts to space the
lands
124 thereof apart a distance each to the distance between the lands 108 of the
second extrusion and to space the hooks 125 apart such that the hook ends are
spaced apart the distance between the lands 110 of the second extrusion 28.
The fourth extrusion 32, shown In FIG. 8, includes a planar portion 132 and a
pair
of ribs 134 extending in perpendicular relation to the planar portion.
Mitre Inserts
As shown in FIG. 9, the mitre insert 34 Includes a body 140, an angular face
142
and fingers 144. The body 140 is rectangular. The angular face 142 overlies
two
sides of the body. The fingers 144 project in pairs in perpendicular relation
to one
another from and are coplanar to the body 140. A pair of slots 146 are defined
in
the mitre insert 34, disposed In angular relation to one another.
Mitre stop
The mitre stop 36 Includes a pair of ribs 148, each having substantially the
same
size and shape as that of a slot 146, and a thickened connector portion 150
from
which the ribs 148 extend in opposite directions in coplanar relation.
ExemplAty uses
The components of the systems can be used in a number of novel and useful
ways.
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Trade Show Posts
Posts for trade shows can be formed in triangular 180 and square 190 cross-
sections by suitable use of the second 28 and third 30 extrusions, as shown by
the
sequence of FIG. 11A, 11B and FIG. 12A, 12B, respectively,
In FIG, 11B, it will be seen that a pair of the second extrusions 28 can be
coupled
together to form a rectangular post by engaging the first coupler part 108 of
one of
the pair with the second coupler part 110 of the other of the pair and the
second
coupler part 110 of the one of the pair with the first coupler part 108 of the
other of
the pair. More particularly, the extrusions 28 can be appropriately aligned
and
telescoped along one another, with the lands of one of the pair sliding along
the
lands of the other, and with the ridge of each of the pair protruding through
and
being captured within the slot of the other. The engagement of the various
structures and portions is best seen in FIG. 11C,
In FIG. 12B, it will be seen that one of the second extrusions 28 and one of
the
third extrusions 30 can be coupled together to form a triangular post. More
particularly, the second extrusion and third extrusion can be appropriately
aligned
and telescoped one along the other, with the lands of the second extrusion
sliding
along the other lands of the third extrusion and the hooks of the second
extrusion
sliding between and behind the lands of the third extrusion. The engagement of
the various structures and portions is best seen in FIG. 12C.
Trade Show Booth Panels
An exemplary panel 200 produced using the system is shown In FIG, 13 and will
be
seen to have side edges 202,204 provided with latches 44 and receptacles 46,
respectively, and smooth top 206 and bottom 208 edges.
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To produce this panel:
= a board of the type described above is machined to produce a channel
[2.15"
in width, 1.8" In depth] about its perimeter, as shown in Fig. 16
= for each edge of the board, a length of the first extrusion 30 is
obtained,
each length being 4" shorter than the associated edge
= the lengths of extrusion 30 are suitably arranged about the perimeter of
the
board, with a mitre insert 34 In each corner, and glued Into place, such that
the channel of the board is fully occupied by the extrusion, but for mitre
inserts 34, and the edges of the board are fully covered by the extrusion, but
for the mitre inserts 34, all as shown by the sequence of Figs. 16,15,14
= latches 44, adapters 42 and receptacles 46 are inserted as required,
mitre
stops 36 are placed at each corner of the board, and for the top and bottom
edge of the board, a length of the first extrusion is obtained, each length
the
length of the associated edge, and snapped into place, as shown by the
sequence of FIG, 14, 13
FIG. 17 and FIG. 18, respectively, show the positions of the latches 44,
adapters 42
and receptacles 46 within the extrusions. FIG. 18 also shows an aligner 40, In
phantom, for clarity. Persons of ordinary skill will recognize that the
latches 44 are
shaped and dimensioned to fit in snug-fit relation, but be movable along the
extrusion and susceptible to be fixed in place by driving a screw (not shown)
through the extrusion into the apertures 56 in the flanges 54.
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Similarly, the combination of receptacles 46 and adapters 42 is shaped and
dimensioned to fit in snug-fit relation, but be movable along the extrusion
and
susceptible to be fixed in place by driving a screw (not shown) through the
extrusion into the apertures 64 in the flanges 62.
Aligners 40 can be placed Into the receptacles 46 at any time and secured in
place
by driving screws (not shown) through apertures 68 into the corresponding
apertures In the receptacles and adapters.
Trade Show Booth
An exemplary trade show booth 300, constructed using the components of the
system, is shown in FIG. 19 and will be understood to comprise a plurality of
panels
200 of the type shown in FIG. 13, a post 190 of the type shown in FIG. 11B, a
plurality of the posts 180, 180' shown in FIG. 12B. To assemble the booth, the
panels and posts are positioned and locked together, as evidenced by sequence
FIG. 19A, FIG. 19. Post 180' Is generally similar to post 180 but in this
post,
extrusion 30 Is translucent contains a lamp (not shown) for aesthetic
purposes.
Construction Panels
Boards of the type shown in FIG. 4 can also be used to produce smooth edge
panels for construction of furniture and the like. To do so, a PVC edge band
Is
applied using a Homag Edgebander and PIJR glue.
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ADVANTAGES
Persons of ordinary skill will readily appreciate numerous advantages In
respect of
the components:
Trade Show Panels
= the panels are relatively lightweight, with commensurate advantages in
cost
Construction Panels
= the panels are relatively lightweight and relatively inexpensive
Posts
= dead weight is eliminated since triangular posts, which are relatively
lightweight compared W square posts, can sometimes be used
= triangular posts can be Illuminated with LED and a diffuser and also
provide
for triangular configurations
= decorative and inexpensive insert can be applied into the post to enhance
the
appearance of the display.
= inventory Is kept to a minimum since the profiles are "spoon" stacked and
only two profiles are required
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VARIATIONS
Whereas a few specific embodiments are herein shown and described, variations
are possible. Accordingly, the invention should be understood to be limited
only by
the accompanying claims, purposively construed.
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