Department and other types of retail stores frequently display products on perimeter or interior walls specially configured for the purpose. Such products may be hung from hooks or brackets or displayed upon shelves which, themselves, are supported by brackets projecting from the wall. Often, such specially-configured walls are provided and installed by contractors or by contracting manufacturers on a bid basis.
Special walls constructed for the particular purpose of product display are said (in the vernacular of the industry) to include "wall standards," "key stripping" or "in-line standards." As used in the industry (and as used herein) the term "standard" is a noun referring to a vertically-oriented component, usually metal, which has spaced elongate slots along its length. Ends of support hooks or brackets are inserted into such slots to hold products or shelves.
Sometimes the wall is constructed so that the standard is concealed except to close inspection; in other wall arrangements, the standard is surface mounted. The former type is most often used commercially; the latter type is often used in private residences to make book shelves and the like. With surface mounted standards, the slotted standard is merely an "add-on" to an existing conventional wall. Of course, a benefit of wall standards is that hooks and brackets can be placed at any of a number of locations along the standard--and can just as easily be re-located as displays of products are modified to meet changing marketing needs.
Design, manufacture and installation of existing wall standard mounting systems, especially those used commercially in department stores and the like, are attended by frequently-occurring obstacles in the manufacture and sale of "wall standard" type wall display systems. These systems are very frequently sold as part of a bid project.
One obstacle is that some known systems require an existing wall for system mounting. One such system, offered by Garcy Corporation, requires that furring strips be applied to a wall before the display wall system is installed. To the extent any such system requires a wall, it loses an enormous amount of flexibility in wall placement. To put it another way, such wall display systems must be installed according to the dictates of the existing building rather than in locations most effective from a display standpoint.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,879 (Bodurow et al.) shows a wall mounting system using a rotary bolt lock to mount a panel. The bolt lock is mortised into a cavity cut into the panel edge. Locking and unlocking (for mounting and de-mounting, respectively) is by an Allen wrench inserted into an opening exposed at the panel front.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,364 (Costruba) shows a shelving support structure using sheet metal studs in a spaced, back-to-back arrangement. The studs are spaced apart by interlock members placed between the studs and each interlock member has a pair of oppositely-extending flange portions overlapping a stud flange. The structure uses spot welding and "groups" of screws to construct the standard and mount panels thereon. Such patent also illustrates how a free standing wall is constructed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,193,885 (Gartner et al.) shows what is said to be a quickly-erectable wall with a floating wood stud. Studs are made up in advance to have several vertically-spaced clips inset into the stud by a dimension such that the laterally extending tongues of the clips are spaced away from the stud somewhat. Companion panels are grooved to accept the tongues as the studs are slipped into place.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,730,477 (Wavrunek) shows an arrangement for supporting a wall standard and permitting wall panel mounting so that the panel adjacent ends are relatively close together. U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,390 (Wendt) shows an approach somewhat like that of the Wavrunek patent and also illustrates panel notching and shaping as an aspect of panel mounting.
U.S Pat. No. 4,588,156 (Doke et al.) shows a bracket support structure in which each support has oppositely extending flanges parallel to the finished wall. Each such flange attaches to the flange of a sheet metal stud. Each support also has a pair of outward extending blades against which vertical edges of the wall board sections abut in the finished wall. The blades are of fixed dimension made to "match" wall board of a particular thickness.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,040,385 (Kellogg) shows a wall assembly using pin-and-slot mounting. Slots are cut into flanges of special studs, thereby negating the possibility of using standard sheet metal studs. U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,446 (Gudmundsson et al.) shows a relocatable vertical or horizontal wall system. The patent illustrates various ways to mount panels. Insofar as can be determined, all system components are "special." That is, standard sheet metal studs are not used and cannot be used.
Literature by Garcy Corporation describes three systems, namely, Image Plus, Adapt-A-Stud and Garcy/Stud. The first contemplates installation on furring strips mounted on an existing wall. Exterior exposed panels are retained by a rear mounted angle bracket and spring catch. The Adapt-A-Stud system uses slotted adapters mounted to a pair of spaced sheet metal studs. The slotted standard is secured with two screws through a housing and into anchor clips. The Garcy/Stud system combines the structure of two back-to-back sheet metal studs with a slotted standard. The standard is secured as in the Adapt-A-Stud system. Gypsum wall board can be mounted on both sides. It is unclear on how the wall board is secured, but it is believed to be held by fitting it into top and bottom channels as with the Image Plus system.
Another obstacle is that, characteristically, known wall standard systems are very labor intensive and require a good deal of on-site "cut and fit" by skilled, well-compensated persons. To state it differently, such systems do not lend themselves well to partial, more rapid wall fabrication at a remote manufacturing site where proper tools, jigs and the like are available.
Still another disadvantage of some known wall standard systems is that they fail to take full advantage of "parts commonality." That is, each system component is configured for a particular use in a particular part of the system and cannot be used "double duty" in any other way.
The inventive system, summarized and described in detail below, resolves many of these disadvantages in a unique way.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds