Furniture Display Cart

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to carts for transporting furniture articles such as chairs, loveseats and sofas and which ca also be used as a display rack.

2. Description of the Prior Art and Objectives of the Invention

Hand trucks and carts have long been used in the wholesale and retail furniture businesses to transport furniture in warehouses and display rooms and throughout furniture stores. Store owners know that by offering customers a greater selection of furniture sales will increase as will profits. One fixed cost for most retail furniture stores is the rental of floor space. Consequently, large items such as sofas and loveseats require extended floor space for adequate displaying thus raising the consumer's cost and reducing the owner's profit per unit of furniture shown. Certain store owners in the past have used racks which are mounted on walls or which are freestanding to provide "stackable" displaying. Because of the permanent nature of conventional furniture racks and their lack of versatility and also due to the somewhat unrealistic presentation of furniture, store owners and potential customers have not been entirely pleased with the results. Thus, with the need of store owners to reduce their overhead cost per unit of furniture shown and with the need for a realistic, natural display or presentation to the customer, the present invention was conceived and one of its objectives is to provide a cart which can be rolled by a single worker to a specific location within a display area, and upon which two or more furniture pieces can be placed and displayed in vertical or "stacked" fashion.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide a display cart which will allow the displayed furniture to substantially hide the cart thus providing a more realistic appearance for the customer.

It is still another objective of the present invention to provide a display cart which can be moved within the display area with furniture thereon and which can be nested for storage purposes.

It is also an objective of the present invention to provide a display rack with adjustable frames which can be moved vertically to accommodate a variety of furniture having different dimensions.

It is yet still another objective of the present invention to provide a display rack which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and economical to purchase for the store owner yet which will effectively increase the store display area thereby reducing the overhead cost per furniture unit displayed.

The aforesaid and other objectives are realized by a multi-tiered display cart which can be moved by a single employee as a result of a plurality of casters affixed thereto. The display cart can be used for three separate pieces of furniture and includes a base frame which is somewhat wedge-shaped and is mounted to a pair of rear vertical stanchions. An upper frame is affixed to a pair of stanchion sleeves which are slidably positioned on the stanchions and can be adjustably positioned therealong. Stanchion pins allow the upper frame to be "locked" at a suitable height above for example a chair or sofa which may be displayed on the base frame. A top frame is attached to a pair of stanchion inserts which are slidably received into the top ends of the stanchions and stanchion locking pins also maintain the top frame at a desired height. Top frame is angularly disposed relative to the stanchion inserts so a customer or others may view furniture which is positioned on the top frame fully while standing in front of the cart as said furniture is tilted towards the viewer. The display cart of invention is designed so it can be nested with similar carts for compact storage when not in use.

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the display cart of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the cart as shown in FIG. 1 but with furniture positioned thereon;

FIG. 3 is the side elevational view of the cart as shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view of the cart;

FIG. 5 demonstrates a view of several of the carts of the invention in nestled storage; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged top plan view of a section of the top frame showing the furniture retainers.

The preferred form of the invention is shown in FIG. 1 which demonstrates a three tier furniture display cart and rack having upper and top frames adjustably movable along rear vertical stanchions. The lower or base frame is affixed to the stanchions and includes a plurality of casters for moving the cart with or without furniture thereon. The top frame being angularly disposed relative to the vertical stanchions includes restraints at the forward end thereof which can be rotated upwardly to prevent items positioned on the top frame from sliding. The frames of the preferred embodiment are formed from channel steel for durability. The upper frame is joined to a pair of stanchion sleeves which provides adjustability along the stanchions and stanchion locking pins secure the sleeves at any desired location. The top frame is affixed to a pair of stanchion inserts which are positionable and telescope within the stanchions and stanchion locking pins likewise are employed to hold the top frame at the desired height. The rear width of the display cart is approximately 30 inches and the front width is approximately 13 inches. The depth of the frames are approximately 33 inches with an overall height adjustable from approximately 51/2 feet to 8 feet when the top frame insert is fully extended. As earlier mentioned the display carts of the invention can be nestled for compact and convenient storage when not in use.

Turning now to the drawings, FIG. 1 demonstrates a three tier furniture cart 10, which when not in use, may be conveniently stored in a nestled configuration as shown in FIG. 5. Display cart 10 includes base frame 11, upper frame 12 and top frame 13. All three frames are joined to and supported by rear stanchions 14 and are capable of holding relatively large pieces of furniture such as sofas, loveseats, chairs and the like for display purposes as further shown in FIG. 2.

Base frame 11 is affixed to four casters 15 which will allow a single employee to roll cart 10 in a warehouse or display showroom as needed with minimal effort. As seen in FIG. 1 base support 16 is attached to stanchions 14 and is positioned vertically above base frame 11 as shown in FIG. 4 thereby allowing carts 10 to nest as earlier mentioned. Stanchion gussets 17 as shown in FIG. 4 are disposed at a forward angle on rear caster plates 18 as seen in FIG. 3. The angular disposition of gussets 17 provide additional strength and rigidity for stanchions 14 when sofas or other large furniture items are displayed on upper frame 12 and top frame 13. Front caster plate 19 spans base frame 11 and is rigidly joined thereto.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, display cart 10 is practically invisible and provides a substantially realistic furniture presentation for the purchasing public. The overhang of conventional furniture "skirts" substantially conceals frames 11, 12 and 13 upon which the furniture is placed and the back of the furniture substantially conceals stanchions 14 and stanchion inserts 23. In addition, a practical floor display is provided demonstrating a chair with end tables in a pleasing natural setting.

The adjustable features of display cart 10 can be understood from FIG. 3 whereby upper frame 12 is affixed to a pair of stanchion sleeves 20 which are slidable over stanchions 14. Stanchions 14 define a series of lower apertures 21 through which locking pins 22 are positionable. Thus, sleeves 20 are placed over stanchions 14 and are raised or lowered as required. Once the bottoms of sleeves 20 are at a desired height along stanchion 14, pins 22 are inserted in desired apertures 21 and sleeves 20 then rest thereon. Pins 22 can be removed as desired and upper frame 12 can be further raised or lowered as needed.

Top frame 13 is likewise adjustable along stanchions 14 in that stanchion inserts 23 may be for example 36 inches in length and may have an outside diameter of 11/2 inches with insert apertures 24 spaced at 2 inch increments therealong. Apertures 24 may be for example 5/8 inch in diameter as are apertures 21 in stanchions 14. Stanchions 14 may have an outside diameter of approximately 2 inches with stanchion sleeves 20 having an inside diameter slightly larger than 2 inches to slidably move therealong. The inside diameters of stanchions 14 are slightly greater than 11/2 inches whereby stanchion inserts 23 are slidable therein and as would be understood, stanchion inserts 23 can be raised or lowered as required. With stanchion pins 22 inserted into apertures 24, top frame 13 is then "locked" at a suitable height.

As further shown in FIG. 3, top frame 13 is angularly disposed to insert 23 and stanchion 14 in order for a customer to better view furniture which is positioned thereon. As would be understood, top frame 13 may be positioned for example 7 feet from the floor and thus a customer of normal height would have difficulty in seeing the furniture thus displayed at a close range. The angular disposition of top frame 13 which may be for example a 30 degree angle from the horizon will provide a good view of the furniture displayed. Also, top frame 13 includes a pair of pivotal retainers 25 which can be raised as shown in FIG. 3 to prevent heavy furniture items such as sofas from sliding along top frame 13. Pivotal retainers 25 are mounted on rotatable retainer axles 26 as shown in FIG. 6 and may be manually raised by rotation as required. Display cart 10 can be formed rom steel or other suitable materials.

Base support 16 in FIG. 4 is shown above base frame 11 and upper support 27 is seen vertically above upper frame 12 and upper support 27 is mounted on and affixed between stanchion sleeves 20. Top support 28 is also shown in FIG. 4 vertically above top frame 13. As explained earlier this particular configuration of the supports above the relative frames and with the frames being substantially wider at the rear than at the front allows for nesting of the display carts 10 as earlier mentioned.

The illustrations and examples provided herein are for explanatory purposes and the invention can be modified for example by having additional frames attached to stanchions 14 for display of more furniture items. Thus, the particular structures shown are for explanatory purposes and are not intended to limit the invention beyond the scope of the appended claims.