GB2126987A

GB2126987A - Roll support and dispenser

Info

Publication number: GB2126987A
Application number: GB08227090A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Gordon Wright; Joan Georgina Wright
Original assignee: D G Wright
Current assignee: D G Wright
Priority date: 1982-09-22
Filing date: 1982-09-22
Publication date: 1984-04-04

Abstract

A roll of sheet material (such as vinyl floor covering, carpeting, paper is mounted in an upstanding condition on a turntable 26 having a central boss 30 which is received in the roll end to centralise the roll and restrain it from lateral displacement. Rollers 18 support the turntable which is secured for rotation on a central spindle. The upper end of the roll is supported for free rotation by a locating member 50 which is received in that upper end. The locating member may have a mounting plate 48 which slidably engages in a wall mounted bracket and the locating member may be height adjustable to accommodate different roll lengths. A stop 34 movable between operative position 35 and inoperative position 36 is provided on the turntable to inhibit unrolling of the sheet material. A plurality of such turntables and locating means associated therewith may be disposed in a spaced array for displaying a plurality of rolls. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Method and apparatus for mounting rolls of sheet material This invention relates to a method and apparatus for mounting rolls of sheet material.

There is described below an embodiment of the invention in which rolls of floor covering material are mounted and displayed in an upright attitude for selection and purchasing purposes. In this specification the term "sheet material" is to be construed as to include within its ambit not only floor covering materials such as the so-called "vinyl" sheet materials used in domestic kitchens and the like, but also similar floor covering materials such as linoleum, and carpeting, and indeed the invention is applicable to the mounting and/or display of flexible sheet materials in general, including paper, wall coverings and the like.

In the case of the mounting and display of vinyl floor covering materials for retail sales purposes and the like there is a need for many rolls of such materials to be mounted and displayed in such a manner that as many as possible can be viewed easily by the customer and such viewing should be provided with a high degree of safety for the customer. Moreover, it is important that the rolls of sheet material should be protected from wear and tear and damage during such mounting and display, so that the product is in good condition at the time of purchase.

Presently available methods of displaying such floor covering materials include merely arranging the rolls in side by side formation with their lower ends resting on the floor and their upper ends leaning against some form of support or an adjacent wall. Alternatively, materials such as carpets are sometimes displayed with a roll of the carpet mounted in a horizontal attitude on a suitable spindle.

Problems which arise from the presently available methods of mounting and displaying floor coverings and the like include the fact that an insufficient number of rolls can be displayed in a given amount of floor space due to the fact that at best the rolls can be arranged in contiguous side by side disposition, and safety aspects of the display system arising from the possibility of rolls falling over. In addition, there is the problem of end darnage of the rolls arising from customers footwear and the turning of the rolls when a length of the sheet material is pulled off the roll and severed.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus offering improvements in relation to one or more of the problems identified above.

According to the invention there is provided a method of mounting a roll of sheet material with the axis of the roll extending upwardly, the method comprising the step of supporting a lower end of the roll on rotatable supporting means, and holding the other end of the roll with the axis thereof in the desired attitude by locating means engagable with the upper end of the roll.

Preferably, the roll of sheet material is located on a central boss provided on said rotatable supporting means. The method may also comprise the step of providing a stop on the rotatable supporting means to inhibit unrolling of the sheet material.

The method also includes the step of dispensing a length of said sheet material by pulling the free end of said roll while said rotatable supporting means and said locating means permit rotation of the roll, and subsequently severing a desired length of the sheet material.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided roll mounting apparatus for mounting a roll of sheet material with the axis of the roll extending upwardly, the apparatus comprising rotatable supporting means to support the lower end of the roll, and locating means engageable with the upper end of the roll to hold the upper end in a desired attitude.

The supporting means may comprise a turntable to receive the lower end of the roll. The turntable may be in the form of a disc. A central boss may be provided on the upper side of the turntable to be received in the roll of sheet material. Rolling supports such as castors or the like may be provided at the underside of the turntable.

Preferably, a stop is provided on the turntable which is engageable with the free end of a roll of sheet material to resist unrolling of the material.

The stop may be mounted so as to be movable between operative an inoperative positions.

Central bearing means permitting free rotation of the turntable may include securing means to secure the turntable in a fixed position on a surface on which the turntable stands.

The locating means engageable with the upper end of the roll may be arranged to be heightadjustable. The locating means permits free rotation of the roll of sheet material and may comprise a locating member positionable to enter the upper end of a roll of sheet material. The locating member may be arranged to be selectively mountable at two or more different heights corresponding to different roll lengths.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 shows a side elevation view of a turntable forming supporting means for the lower end of a roll of sheet material; Fig. 2 shows a plan view of the turntable of Fig.

1, the direction of viewing being indicated in Fig.

1 by the arrow II; Fig. 3 shows a central spindle of the turntable of Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4 shows a side elevation view of a locating member which enters the upper end of a roll of sheet material to locate and hold same in a desired attitude; Fig. 5 shows, on a larger scale, a mounting plate fixed to the rear and upper end of the locating arm of Fig. 4 and which slots into a mounting bracket shown in Fig. 6, the direction of viewing of the mounting plate being indicated by arrow V in Fig. 4; Fig. 6 shows a plan view of a mounting bracket for the mounting plate of Fig. 5, the mounting bracket being secured to a back plate which is itself secured to a wall of a room, and the direction of viewing being from above;; Fig. 7 shows an elevation view of an assembly of mounting brackets and back plates arranged to receive locating arms in laterally and vertically spaced positions; and Fig. 8 shows, diagrammatically, a plan view of the mounting and display system of the invention with rolls of sheet material mounted and displayed around the walls of a room and around a central mounting and display rail.

As shown in the drawings, a method of mounting rolls 10 of sheet material such as so called "vinyl" floor covering material with the axes of the rolls extending in generally parallel upwardly extending attitudes comprises supporting the lower end of each roll on its own rotatable supporting means 12 and holding the upper end of the roll in a desired attitude by locating means 14.

Fig. 8 shows a display system for fifty-five such rolls 12, the rolls being mounted in vertical attitudes along three adjacent walls 1 6, 1 8, 20 of a showroom 22, and additional rolls being displayed on both sides of a central rail 24.

Details of the rotatable supporting means 1 2 for the lower end of each roll and the associated locating means 14 for the upper end thereof will now be described.

Referring to Figs.1,2 and 3, each supporting means 12 is in the form of a turntable 26 which is itself in the form of a disc. The term "turntable" as used in this specification is not to be construed in any limiting sense but as defining a rotatable supporting member.

Mounted a short distance inwardly from the circular periphery of turntable 26 are a series of castors 1 8. At least three such castors are provided, but more than three may be desirable for certain heavy materials or to provide additional stability. It will be appreciated that there are many alternatives to castors which will support turntable 1 6 so that the latter is freely movable and rotatable while it supports the weight of the sheet material carried thereon.

A boss 30 is provided centrally on turntable 26 with respect to the axis 32 of rotation thereof, the purpose of the boss being to enter the lower end of a roll of sheet material and to centre and locate same generally co-axially with the turntable itself.

A stop 34 is mounted on turntable 26 for pivotal movement about an axis 36 so as to be movable between an operative position shown in Fig. 1 and an inoperative position in which its upper end 38 lies below the upper surface 40 of turntable 26. Stop 34 is engageable in its operative position with the free end of a roll of sheet material to resist unrolling of the latter. The stop is moved to its inoperative position when it is desired to dispense a length of the sheet material.

Central bearing means 42 including a threaded spindle 44 or (not shown) an alternative screw or auger type fastener is provided to permit free rotation of turntable 26 about its axis 32 while securing the turntable in a fixed position on the surface on which it stands.

Turntable 26 may be formed of any suitable material such as a synthetic plastics material (which may be moulded or otherwise formed into the desired shape). Alternatively, the turntable could be made from wood.

Locating means 14 is shown in Fig. 4 and comprises a generally L-shaped arm 46 fixed to a mounting plate 48. Fig. 4 shows the working attitude of the locating means, in which the longer limb 50 of arm 46 extends generally vertically downwards so as to enter into the central opening at the upper end of a roll 10 of sheet material. Limb 50 thereby holds the roll in a desired attitude. The degree of precision with which the roll is held in any particular attitude depends of course on the diameter or size of the central opening at the upper end of the roll, but in most cases the lost motion permitted at the upper end is of no particular significance. Moreover, this arrangement allows free rotation of the roll for sheet material dispensing purposes, the weight of the roll being carried by the turntable 26.The length of limb 50 in this embodiment is 20 cms and the length of the generally horizontal shorter limb of arm 36 is from 2.5 cms to 23 cms, the chosen dimension depending on the size of the rolls to be displayed.

Mounting plate 48 of each arm 46 is rigidly secured to the arm and is generally of wedge or dove-tailed shape as shown in Fig. 5 so as to slide freely downwardly into a correspondingly-shaped slot 54 provided in a mounting bracket 56. Each mounting bracket 56 comprises two bracket portions 58, 60 each formed with a profiled recess 62, 64, the recesses co-operating to define the slot 54 to receive mounting plate 48.

Bracket portions 58 are secured to a back plate 66 which extends along the walls 1 6, 1 8 and 20 of showroom 22. A similar back plate 68 which likewise carries corresponding mounting brackets 56 is secured to the walls at a distance below back plate 66 so as to accommodate rolls of sheet material of differing roll lengths. For example, the space between the back plates may be one metre so as to accommodate rolls of vinyl floor material of two and three metres in roll length.

It will be noted from Fig. 7 that the mounting brackets 56 of the two back plates 66, 68 are provided in staggered positions so that successive rolls of sheet material displayed can be of differing roll lengths.

In Fig. 8, the central rail 24 supports back plates and corresponding brackets substantially as shown and described in relation to Fig. 7, but with the brackets on both the inner and outer side of the rail so that the rolls of sheet material are displayed both on the inner and the outer side of the rail. The rail is supported in any convenient way by means of poles extending upwardly from the floor or hangers extending downwardly from the ceiling.

In use, the rolls of sheet material are each manually mounted on their own turntable at the lower end of the roll, and the upper end of the roll is lodged over the locating means so that the limb 50 enters the upper end of the roll and locates it.

The arrangement of the rolls can be as shown in Fig. 8 or in any other desired display pattern. Of course, if the purpose of mounting the rolls is purely for storage purposes then the rolls could be disposed in much more closely spaced rows leaving less room for personnel to pass between the rows.

For dispensing the sheet material, the stop 34 at the bottom of a given roll is moved to its inoperative position and the desired length of sheet material is pulled from the roll and the sheet material is then cut by any suitable means and the stop returned to its operative position. Of course, many alternative forms of stop such as a spring clip or the like could be employed for the same purpose.

Principal advantages provided by the embodiment described above include the effective manner in which the rolls are mounted for ease of viewing, the fact that they are securely mounted and therefore unlikely to fall over, and the protection afforded to the lower end of the roll by the turntable 26 which not only inhibits damage by footwear but avoids scuffing during dispensing operations.

Modifications which may be made in the above embodiment while remaining within the scope of the invention include modifications to the form of the rotatable supporting means and the manner in which it is journalled for rotation. Also, the locating means may be substantially modified both in its form and the manner in which it is mounted and the relative disposition of successive locating members in a display system.

Claims (Filed on 22-9-83) 1. A method of mounting a roll of sheet material with the axis of the roll extending upwardly, the method comprising the step of supporting a lower end of the roll on rotatable supporting means and holding the other end of the roll with the axis thereof in the desired attitude by locating means engageable with the upper end of the roll.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 which comprises locating the lower end of the roll to be received over a central boss provided on the rotatable supporting means, said central boss positioning the roll substantially co-axially on the supporting means and substantially restraining the roll from displacement laterally relative to said supporting means.

3. A method as claimed in either claim 1 or claim 2 which comprises holding the other end of the roll by inserting a locating member into that end, said locating member permitting free rotation of the roll.

4. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims which comprises providing a stop on the rotatable supporting means to inhibit unrolling of the sheet material.

5. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims which comprises providing means for selectively adjusting the height between the rotatable supporting means and where the said other end of the roll is held to accommodate different roll lengths.

6. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims which includes the step of dispensing a length of said sheet material by pulling the free end of said roll while said rotatable supporting means and said locating means permit rotation of the roll, and subsequently severing a desired length of the sheet material.

7. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims which comprises mounting the roll substantially vertically.

8. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the roll is of floor covering material.

9. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims which comprises supporting the lower end of the roll on the supporting means prior to the holding of the other end of the roll in the desired attitude.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1 and substantially as herein described.

11. Roll mounting apparatus for mounting a roll of sheet material with the axis of the roll extending upwardly, the apparatus comprising rotatable supporting means to support the lower end of the roll, and locating means engageable with the upper end of the roll to hold the upper end in a desired attitude.

12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 11 in which the supporting means comprises a turntable to receive the lower end of the roll.

1 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 12 in which the turntable is in the form of a disc.

14. Apparatus as claimed in either claim 12 or claim 13 in which the turntable has on its underside rolling supports.

1 5. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 14 in which the rotatable supporting means has a central boss to be received in the lower end of the roll for positioning that end substantially co-axially on the supporting means and for substantially restraining that end from lateral displacement relative to the supporting means.

1 6. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 1 5 in which the rotatable supporting means comprises central bearing means which permits free rotation of the supporting means.

1 7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 6 in which the central bearing means comprises securing means to secure the supporting means in a fixed position on a surface on which the supporting means stands.

18. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 1 7 and comprising a stop on the supporting means which is engageable with the free end of

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

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way by means of poles extending upwardly from the floor or hangers extending downwardly from the ceiling.

In use, the rolls of sheet material are each manually mounted on their own turntable at the lower end of the roll, and the upper end of the roll is lodged over the locating means so that the limb

50 enters the upper end of the roll and locates it.

The arrangement of the rolls can be as shown in Fig. 8 or in any other desired display pattern. Of course, if the purpose of mounting the rolls is purely for storage purposes then the rolls could be disposed in much more closely spaced rows leaving less room for personnel to pass between the rows.

For dispensing the sheet material, the stop 34 at the bottom of a given roll is moved to its inoperative position and the desired length of sheet material is pulled from the roll and the sheet material is then cut by any suitable means and the stop returned to its operative position. Of course, many alternative forms of stop such as a spring clip or the like could be employed for the same purpose.

Principal advantages provided by the embodiment described above include the effective manner in which the rolls are mounted for ease of viewing, the fact that they are securely mounted and therefore unlikely to fall over, and the protection afforded to the lower end of the roll by the turntable 26 which not only inhibits damage by footwear but avoids scuffing during dispensing operations.

Modifications which may be made in the above embodiment while remaining within the scope of the invention include modifications to the form of the rotatable supporting means and the manner in which it is journalled for rotation. Also, the locating means may be substantially modified both in its form and the manner in which it is mounted and the relative disposition of successive locating members in a display system.

Claims (Filed on 22-9-83) 1. A method of mounting a roll of sheet material with the axis of the roll extending upwardly, the method comprising the step of supporting a lower end of the roll on rotatable supporting means and holding the other end of the roll with the axis thereof in the desired attitude by locating means engageable with the upper end of the roll.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1 which comprises locating the lower end of the roll to be received over a central boss provided on the rotatable supporting means, said central boss positioning the roll substantially co-axially on the supporting means and substantially restraining the roll from displacement laterally relative to said supporting means.
3. A method as claimed in either claim 1 or claim 2 which comprises holding the other end of the roll by inserting a locating member into that end, said locating member permitting free rotation of the roll.
4. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims which comprises providing a stop on the rotatable supporting means to inhibit unrolling of the sheet material.
5. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims which comprises providing means for selectively adjusting the height between the rotatable supporting means and where the said other end of the roll is held to accommodate different roll lengths.
6. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims which includes the step of dispensing a length of said sheet material by pulling the free end of said roll while said rotatable supporting means and said locating means permit rotation of the roll, and subsequently severing a desired length of the sheet material.
7. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims which comprises mounting the roll substantially vertically.
8. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the roll is of floor covering material.
9. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims which comprises supporting the lower end of the roll on the supporting means prior to the holding of the other end of the roll in the desired attitude.
10. A method as claimed in claim 1 and substantially as herein described.
11. Roll mounting apparatus for mounting a roll of sheet material with the axis of the roll extending upwardly, the apparatus comprising rotatable supporting means to support the lower end of the roll, and locating means engageable with the upper end of the roll to hold the upper end in a desired attitude.
12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 11 in which the supporting means comprises a turntable to receive the lower end of the roll.
1 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 12 in which the turntable is in the form of a disc.
14. Apparatus as claimed in either claim 12 or claim 13 in which the turntable has on its underside rolling supports.
1 5. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 14 in which the rotatable supporting means has a central boss to be received in the lower end of the roll for positioning that end substantially co-axially on the supporting means and for substantially restraining that end from lateral displacement relative to the supporting means.
1 6. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 1 5 in which the rotatable supporting means comprises central bearing means which permits free rotation of the supporting means.
1 7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 6 in which the central bearing means comprises securing means to secure the supporting means in a fixed position on a surface on which the supporting means stands.
18. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 1 7 and comprising a stop on the supporting means which is engageable with the free end of

the roll to resist unrolling of the sheet material.
19. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 8 in which the stop is mounted so as to be movable between operative and inoperative positions.
20. Apparatus as claimed in either claim 1 8 or claim 1 9 in which the stop is sprung.
21. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 20 in which the locating means engageable with the upper end of the roll is height adjustable for accommodating different roll lengths between itself and the rotatable support means.
22. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 21 in which the locating means permits free rotation of the roll.
23. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 22 in which the locating means comprises a locating member for entering the upper end of a roll of sheet material.
24. Apparatus as claimed in claim 23 in which the locating member is carried by bracket means from which it is readily removable.
25. Apparatus as claimed in claim 24 in which the locating member is slidably engageable with said bracket means in wedge or dove-tail manner.
26. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 23 to 25 when appendantto claim 21 in which the locating member is arranged to be selectively mountable at two or more different heights corresponding to different roll lengths.
27. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 26 and in combination with a roll of sheet material mounted between the supporting means and the locating means.
28. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 27 and comprising a plurality of said rotatable supporting means and locating means associated therewith, said means being disposed in a spaced array for mounting a plurality of rolls of the sheet material for display purposes.
29. Apparatus as claimed in claim 11 and substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings.