Adjustable Display Bar Assembly That Prevents Bracket Loss
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing merchandise display systems suffer from inefficiency and expense due to separable mounting brackets that can become lost or misplaced when display facilities are reused or stored.
Innovation Solution
A display bar assembly with nonrotatable, closed-end mounting brackets and flanged plugs that securely attach to the display bar, forming a permanent assembly unit to prevent separation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If mounting brackets are made separable from the display bar, then the display facilities can be removed and reused elsewhere, but the mounting brackets easily become separated and lost or misplaced relative to the display bar
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the mounting brackets with the display bar by providing the brackets with openings that closely and tightly receive the bar, effectively integrating them into a single assembly unit. This prevents the brackets from becoming separated and lost while maintaining the ability to remove and relocate the entire assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting brackets are designed with openings that tightly receive and nest the display bar within them. The brackets encompass the bar in a nested configuration, ensuring they remain together as a complete assembly during removal and relocation operations.
2Reliability
If mounting brackets are made nonremovable from the display bar, then the brackets will not be lost or misplaced, but the display facilities cannot be easily removed and reused elsewhere
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a merged assembly where the mounting brackets and display bar function as a unified unit. The brackets with their tightly receiving openings combine with the bar to form an integrated structure that maintains completeness while remaining removable as a whole for relocation.
3Adaptability or versatility
If mounting brackets are provided with upwardly opening recesses to receive the display bar, then the brackets can accommodate different spacings between uprights, but the brackets remain separable from the bar
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves the separability issue by designing the brackets with openings that tightly receive the display bar, merging them into a single assembly unit. This maintains the adjustable spacing capability while preventing separation of components.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting brackets are designed with adjustable features including L-shaped hooks that can engage with slots at different positions on uprights, allowing adaptation to various spacings. The brackets maintain this dynamic adjustability while being integrated with the display bar.
4Reliability
If the display bar is hollow with closed ends, then flanged plugs can be inserted to prevent removal of mounting brackets, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes the hollow interior of the display bar to nest flanged plugs inside the bar ends. These plugs extend through the bar and engage with the mounting brackets, preventing their removal. This nested configuration provides security without adding external structural complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A display bar assembly for mounting on spaced apart slotted uprights on a merchandising gondola or the like. A tubular display bar of polygonal cross section is fitted with a pair of mounting brackets, which are slidable along the bar to enable spacing of the mounting brackets to agree with the spacing between the slotted uprights, which can be somewhat variable. The mounting brackets are formed with openings which closely and non-rotatably receive the display bar and are provided with hook-like tabs which engage slots in the uprights. Flanged end plugs are received tightly in each end of the display bar to prevent removal of the slidable brackets, such that the display bar and bracket form a permanent assembly. The mounting brackets may have multiple hook-like tabs for installation on uprights of different thicknesses.