GB2213470A - Dispensing magazine - Google Patents

Abstract

A dispensing magazine for sample cards 15 comprises a generally rectangular body open at its upper end to receive a stack of cards 15 and having a slot 22 at the lower end through which cards can be pulled one by one. A leaf spring 16 within the body holds the pack of cards 15 within the body against the front wall 14 of the body, with which the slot 22 is aligned, and the front wall 14 is cut away in one corner in the region of the slot 22 to allow the top card of the stack to be gripped. The magazine has a resilient forked tongue 23 extending from its upper end for releasable insertion in a respective slot in a wall-mounted rack adapted to hold an array or similar magazines. <IMAGE>

Description

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION Title: "Dispensing Magazine" THIS INVENTION relates to a dispensing magazine adapted to store a supply of similar shaped card-like items and to allow convenient extraction of such items one by ore therefrom whilst displaying to view the next card-like item to be extracted. The invention also relates to a rack for supporting a plurality of such dispensing magazines.

The present invention is of particular utility in relation to the presentation, for selection, of samples of decorative plastics laminate in such a way as to allow a customer or potential customer for example, to make a choice of a particular pattern or combination of patterns from a range of available patterns. Various devices are, of course, known for meeting such a requirement, for example in the form of books or albums having, on pages thereof, samples of the various patterns in the range offered, or stacks of card-like samples superimposed upon one another and pivotally interconnected for pivoting about a common axis.However, these prior arrangements have drawbacks in that the potential customer, for example, cannot view the whole range of patterns offered at a glance but must, in effect, view the individua patterns serially and have difficulty in making direct comparison between samples. Furthermore, these known arrangements provide no possibility for a potential customer to remove samples legitimately and take them away for comparison with other furnishings, paints, etc.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a dispensing magazine whereby a plurality of individual card-like samples (identical) may be compactly housed whilst allowing the surface of one such sample to be readily inspectable by eye.

According to this aspect of the invention there is provided a dispensing magazine for cards or the like flat plate-like items comprising a body having opposing side walls, a front wall and an end wall defining a space tv receive a stack of cards or the like laid flat against said front wall, a resiliently biased retaining member carried by said body and adapted to bear against a face of such a stack, opposite the face engaging said front wall, to clamp the stack between said front wall and the retaining member, an aperture being provided between said front wall and said end wall through which cards can be slid one by one from the face of such a stack adjacent said front wall, the edge of said end wall which partly bounds said aperture being set back slightly from the plane of the surface of said front wall which abuts such a stack, the front wall further being cut away in a region adjacent said front wall, to afford a portion of said aperture through which a finger or thumb can be passed to engage the front card or the like of a said stack in preparation for sliding the front card from the magazine through said aperture and over said end wall, said cutaway region also serving to display the corresponding portion of such front card in such stack.

Another object of the invention is to provide a means whereby a plurality of samples may be presented to view simultaneously whilst allowing the removal of individual samples without thereby diminishing the range apparently presented to view.

According to this aspect of the invention there is provided a combination of a plurality of dispensing magazines, each in accordance with the above noted aspect of the invention, with the rack adapted to support said dispensing magazines in a generally two-dimensioned array, in such a way that each magazine presents the front card or the like in the stack accommodated therein to view through said cut-away in the front wall thereof.

An embodiment of the invention is described below by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 is a perspective view from below and in front of a magazine embodying the invention; FIGURE 2 is a vertical section view of the magazine of Figure 1; FIGURE 3 is a perspective view, partly broken away, from one saide and above, of a partially completed magazine embodying the invention; FIGURE 4 is a front elevation view of the magazine of Figures 1 to 3; FIGURE 5 is a rear elevation view of the magazine; FIGURE 6 is a front elevation view of a rack for supporting a plurality of cassettes such as shown in Figure 1 to 5;; FIGURE 7 is a vertical section view of the rack of Figure 6, and FIGURE 8 is a vertical section view, to an enlarged scale as compared with Figure 7, illustrating the manner in which the individual magazines are supported in the rack.

Figures 1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings illustrate a dispensing magazine or cassette 8 intended to receive a stack of generally rectangular thin plate-like samples of a decorative plastics laminate. The magazine 8, with a plurality of similar magazines, each supporting a respective said stack of samples is adapted to be releasably retained in a rack (see Figure 8) which is adapted to be supported in a vertical orientation, for example by being attached to a wall or the like, and which supports the magazines in a substantially two-dimensional array, for example a 10 x 12 array in the embodiment shown.The intention is that potential purchasers of quantities of the respective decorative laminates may select, from the variety of samples exposed to view in the array, a sample of the desired pattern or colour and may detach the same from the respective magazine in the array and may, for example, present it to sales staff in order to obtain the desired quantity of the respective laminate or may quote a reference number or the like provided on the reverse of the sample in ordering the desired quantity of laminate. Similarly prospective customers may take such samples away with them for comparison with colours of other furnishings in a domestic or public building, with a view to attaining a matching colour scheme, for example, or may detach samples so that they can be juxtaposed with one another to assess the visual effect of certain colour or pattern combinations and so on.The samples in question have approximately the size and shape of playing cards - i.e. rectangular with rounded corners. In the following description, the magazine or cassette 8 will be described as if oriented as illustrated in Figures 2 to 5.

As shown in Figures 1 to 5, the magazine has a peripheral wall affording opposed side walls 10 and a bottom wall 12, the peripheral wall having curved portions connecting the walls 10 and 12 and corresponding in profile to the shape of the corners of the samples in question. A front wall 14 extends between the front edges of the side walls 10. A back wall 13 likewise extends between the rear edges of the side walls 10 whilst the top end of the magazine, i.e. the end opposite the bottom wall 12, is open.

As shown in section in Figure 2, in use a pack of superimposed rectangular card-like samples 15 is accommodated within the magazine, the sides of the stack closely adjoining the side walls 10, the lower edge of the pack closely adjoining the upper side of the bottom wall 12 and the front face of the pack lying against the rear face of the front wall 14. The pack is held in this position by a retaining member in the form of a resilient card-like plate 17 which is urged against the rear face of the pack by a spring 16, so that the stack is lightly clamped between the plate 17 and the front wall 14.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the spring 16 is effectively a leaf spring of resilient plastics formed integrally with the body of the magazine and upstanding from the back wall 13. Alternatively, the spring 16 may be a separate integer, for example of spring steel strip apertured at its upper end to fit over a retaining peg, not shown, formed integrally with the body of the magazine, such strip being retained on such peg by a "rivetting" step such as described in relation to the plate 17, or by means of a "STARLOK" washer/clasp. The plate 17 could, of course, likewise be retained by such a "STARLOK" washer/clasp instead of by the "rivetting" step referred to above.

The plate 17 is advantageously identical in size, composition and colour with the samples 15 to be housed in the magazine, but is provided, adjacent its upper edge, with a hole to receive a post 19 (see Figure 3) formed on the plastics body part, during assembly of the magazine, which post is subsequently heated to its melting point and compressed axially to effectively form a rivet holding the upper part of the plate 17 against the front face of an upper portion of the back wall 13 of the magazine body, as shown in Figure 2. The plate 17 may be somewhat loosely held by the "rivet" to allow the plate to "float" slightly. The position in which the plate 17 is fixed is such that its lower edge is spaced above the bottom wall 12 (see Figure 5) but projects below the uppermost part of a cut away region 18 of the front wall 14 (see below).As will be evident from Figure 2, when the magazine is empty, the plate 17 is flexed by the spring 16 towards the front wall 14. When a pack of samples 15, the stack being of a thickness somewhat less than the depth of the walls 10, is inserted into the magazine from the open upper end thereof, with one face of the stack bearing upon the rear face of the front wall 14, the lower edge of the pack first engages the inclined surface of the plate 17 and as the stack is pushed further, the camming action between the lower edge of the pack and the plate 17 flexes the spring 16 rearwards as the pack moves into its fully inserted position, in which the resilience of the spring 16 keeps the pack clamped lightly between the plate 17 and the front wall 14.

As best shown in Figures 1 and 2, a narrow slot 22 is provided between the front edge of the bottom wall 12 and the rear surface of the front wall 14 at the lower end thereof. The depth of the slot 22 is slightly greater than the individual thickness of the samples to be accommodated in and removed from the magazine, so that such a sample may be slid downwardly from the front of a pack of such cards in the magazine through the slot 22 as explained below. The depth of the slot 22 is preferably, however, somewhat less than twice the thickness of the individual samples, so as to prevent more than a single sample being slid out from the magazine at a time.

The front wall 14 has one of its corners, at the bottom end of the magazine, cut away at 18 to expose an approximately triangular corner portion of the sample which is at the front face of the stack in the magazine.

The aforesaid cut-away in the front wall 14, in conjunction with the slot 22, provides an aperture for the extraction of samples from the magazine. The front edge of the respective side wall 10 in the region of this cut away portion preferably lies in substantially the same plane as the rear edge of the slot 22, to facilitate extraction of cards from the magazine.

As shown in Figure 5, the back wall 13 is cut away, over the width of the magazine and over a substantial distance from the bottom wall 12, except for a triangular fillet 20 which corresponds substantially with a notional projection, from front to rear, of the cut-away 18. The fillet 20 thus prevents the onlooker from seeing right through the cassette when the latter is empty, and also acts as a triangular strengthening web.

A central portion 23 of the rear wall 13 of the magazine body extends upwardly above the upper edges of the front wall 14 and side walls to form an upwardly projecting tongue, of reduced width as compared with the lower part of the rear wall. At its upper edge, this tongue is formed with a central notch 39 so that the upper end of the tongue is formed as a fork having opposing upwardly extending legs 40. The "rivetted" attachment of the plate 17 to the rear wall is effected just below the lower edge of the central notch 39.

Because of the resilience of the plastics material of the magazine body, legs 40 are capable of flexing resiliently towards and away from one another.

Referring to Figures 6 to 8, the rack 60 in which an array of identical 8 magazines as described with reference to Figures 1 to 5 are mounted, is in the form of a tray or shell made from sheet plastics material by the vacuumforming technique. The shell is intended to be mounted on a wall with its hollow side against the wall. The rack, which is substantially rectangular in front elevation, has a plurality of regular ridges 62 formed horizontally thereacross, so that over a major part of the height of the rack the front surface of the rack is of saw-tooth form in vertical section, as shown in Figures 7 and 8.

For aesthetic reasons, the saw-tooth formations terminate short of the vertical lateral edges of the rack so that smooth marginal portions 64 of the front wall of the rack are provided set forwardly relative to the peaks of said ridges 62.

As shown more clearly in Figure 8, each of said ridges 67 is formed by a respective generally planar major wall 70 inclined downwardly and forwardly at a relatively slight inclination to the vertical, and a generally planar minor wall 72 extending generally perpendicularly to the wall 70, from the lower edge of the respective wall 70 rearwardly to the upper edge of the wall 70 of the next ridge 62 below. The walls 70 of all of the ridges, of course, are parallel with one another.

At the root of each ridge, i.e. at the junction of each wall 72 of one ridge with the wall 70 of the adjoining ridge, the respective wall 72 is formed with a plurality of slots 74 spaced at regular intervals along the ridge, each slot 74 being elongate in the horizontal direction. When the rack is fitted with sample magazines, each slot 74 receives the forked upper end of the tongue 23 of a respective magazine body. The horizontal extent of each slot 74 is somewhat less than the maximum width of the upper part of the tongue, measured across the legs 40.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the outer edge of each leg 40, i.e. the edge further from the other leg, is shaped to afford a cam formation with a rounded outwardly projecting shoulder from which the cam surface slopes downwardly and inwardly and upwardly and inwardly.

The resilience of the legs 40 allows the latter to spring together sufficiently, under the camming action of said cam formations with the ends of the respective slot 74, to allow the rounded shoulders to pass through the slot during forcible insertion of the tongue into the slot or forcible removal of the tongue therefrom. Thus, any one of the magazines 8 may be simply pulled downwardly from its slot in the rack or may be inserted in the rack by inserting its tongue in the respective slot 74 and pushing upwardly, so that on the one hand the magazines are held in place reliably by a "snap-action" but are readily removable from and replaceable in the rack without special tools. The extent of insertion of the magazines into their respective slots is preferably limited by abutment of the upper edges of the plates 17 with the lower surfaces of the respective walls 72.

As indicated in Figure 8, the arrangement is such that, when the rack is filled, only the lower portion of each magazine, i.e. the portion of which the vertical extent corresponds with the cut-away region 18, is exposed to view from the front, the remainder of each magazine being concealed from view by the magazine directly in front and above. (In the case of the magazines in the uppermost row, as indicated in Figures 6 and 7, the upper portions of these are concealed behind a wall portion 78 of the rack).

The arrangement is such that it is possible, without difficulty, to remove a sample from any magazine in the rack, without detaching the magazine from the rack. When a magazine has become empty, this is readily apparent because of the visible surface of the respective plate 17 projecting only partially downwardly over the cut-away 18, leaving the inner surface of the fillet 20 exposed to view. It is then a simple matter for personnel to pull the empty magazine from its place in the rack and substitute a full magazine, or insert a fresh pack of cards 15 in the empty magazine before returning the latter to its slot.

Whilst the magazines and rack 60 have been described as being in a particular orientation, it will be apparent that, because of the positive retention of the samples 15 in the magazines and of the magazines in the rack, other orientations are possible. Thus, for example, the rack 60 and magazines 8 may be inserted, as compared with the orientation described, so that the slots 22 are at the upper ends of the magazines and the magazines project upwardly from the rack, or the rack may be laid on a horizontal surface, such as that of a table, with the walls 14 of the magazines facing upwardly. Accordingly, the use of such terms as top, bottom, upper, lower, etc.

in this description and in the claims is not to be understood as limiting the invention to any particular orientation.

Claims (7)

1. A dispensing magazine for cards or the like flat plate-like items comprising a body having opposing side walls, a front wall and an end wall defining a space to receive a stack of cards or the like laid flat against said front wall, a resiliently biased retaining member carried by said body and adapted to bear against a face of such a stack, opposite the face engaging said front wall, to clamp the stack between said front wall and the retaining member, an aperture being provided between said front wall and said end wall through which cards can be slid one by one from the face of such a stack adjacent said front wall, the edge of said end wall which partly bounds said aperture being set back slightly from the plane of the surface of said front wall which abuts such a stack, the front wall further being cut away in a region adjacent said front wall, to afford a portion of said aperture through which a finger or thumb can be passed to engage the front card or the like of a said stack in preparation for sliding the front card from the magazine through said aperture and over said end wall, said cutaway region also serving to display the corresponding portion of such front card in such stack.

2. A dispensing magazine according to claim 1 wherein said body is open at the end opposite said end wall to provide an opening through which a said stack of cards or the like can be inserted to slide along said front wall and wherein said retaining member is adapted to be displaceable away from said front wall, against said resilient bias by a camming action with the forward end of a said stack as the latter is inserted through said opening.

3. The combination of a plurality of dispensing magazines, each in accordance with claim 1 or claim 2, with a rack adapted to support said dispensing magazines in a generally two-dimensioned array, in such a way that each magazine presents the front card or the like in the stack accommodated therein to view through said cut-away in the front wall thereof.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said rack affords a respective recess, or a respective part of a recess, for each said magazine and wherein cooperating resilient releasable catch means are provided on each magazine and the respective recess or recess part whereby any said magazine may be readily detached from the rack and replaced by another magazine.

5. A dispensing magazine according to claim 1 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, Figures 1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.

6. The combination of a rack and a plurality of dispensing magazines, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

7. Any novel feature or combination of features described herein.