US2127047A - Miniature demonstration set - Google Patents

Description

1938. B. R. PINNEY 2,127,047

MINIATURE DEMONSTRATION SET Filed NOV. '16, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 16, 1938. B. R. PINNEY MINIATURE DEMONSTRATION SET Filed Nov. 16, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Yr/74y! Jzwezz/ar 1,7

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Patented Aug. 16, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MINIATURE DEMONSTRATION SET Iowa Application November 16, 1935, Serial No. 50,11!

6 Claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a miniature demonstration set which is simple, durable and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture.

A further object is to provide a demonstration set in miniature for the purpose of more conveniently illustrating to prospective customers just how full sized units of equipment will look in a completed installation, the set including blocks to scale of the units which may be readily shifted about to determine the best arrangement and selection of units for a room or space of known dimensions.

A further object is to provide a demonstration set in which units to scale may be mounted on 9. represented wall of a room in suspended position over other blocks placed on the floor thereof such as usually found in kitchen cabinet constructions wherein the intervening wall space permitting use of the top of the lower unit as a work table top.

Another object is to' reduce the number of blocks required for representing various units by providing blocks of various sizes and a plurality of illustrative frontal members of various sizes and characteristics which can be placed in front of the blocks thus making their front appearance interchangeable.

With these and other objects in view my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my demonstration set showing some of the blocks in use to illustrate a kitchen.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of one of the wall units of the same.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of one of the blocks for mounting on the floor against the wall showing the separate top and frontal members therefor.

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 4--4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 isa perspective view of one of the trays of the set showing some of the blocks therein and from which some of the blocks have been removed to construct Figure 1; and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a plurality of the frontal cardsused in connection with some of the blocks in Figure 1.

On the accompanying drawings I have used the reference numeral Ill to indicate a floor member and I2 and I4 to indicate wall members arranged at right angles to each other and extending upwardly from the floor member It, thus half the wall space of a room may be represented at one time and the other half or other two walls may be represented at another time, if desired.

My demonstration set includes a plurality of blocks l6, I8, 20, 22 and 24 adapted for mounting on the floor member ID against the wall members i2 and I4. Other blocks 26 and 28 are also adapted for floor mounting, while still others, such as 30, 32, 34, 36, 38 and ,40 are adapted for wall. mounting. Where space is available for equipment above the blocks, such as 34, 3B, 38 and 40, blocks 42, 44, 46 and 48 may be used.

In connection with the block it, shown in Figure 1, a frontal member 50 and a top member 52 are provided. vA frontal member 53 is provided for the block 20. In connection with the block 22 a frontal member 54 and a top member 56 are provided, while the block 24 has a frontal mem- In order to represent the doors or windows of the room, I provide cards or paper sheets 58 and 60 which may be held in place by the blocks resting against the edges thereof.

The floor member I0 is provided with numbered scales 62 adjacent the walls i2 and I4 to represent feet and the doors and windows may be placed to correspond to the dimensions in an actual room which has been measured and in which it is desirable to place units of equipment, the demonstration set, of course, being used to illustrate the equipment when in position and the various blocks being shifted as desired to obtain the best arrangement. Also the blocks are of various widths and the set includes one or more blocks of each of the usual standard widths so that the proper widths to best fit the space available can be used.

Each of the blocks I6, 20, 22 and 24 is provided with a top member 64 overhanging the front face of the block and these are provided with grooves 66 (see Figure 4) in alignment with the front face.

The floor member I0 is provided with a groove 68 aligned with the groove 66 and these receive the upper and lower edges respectively of the cards 50, 53, 54 and 51.

When setting up the demonstration set for use, the room to be represented is measured and the distances from the corner of the room are marked as by inserting pins Ill in the floor member III to indicate the possible limits to which the units of equipment can be extended.

It is clearly illustrated in Figure 3 that the frontal member 54 and the top member 56 are separate from the block 22 while in Figure 5 a tray 12 is provided for a plurality of blocks indicated at 20a, 20b, 20c, 36a, 36b, 36c and 36d. Dimensions in inches are given on the blocks and on the front of the tray 12, these dimensions referring to the widths represented by the blocks, two twenty inch blocks and one of the thirty-six inch blocks being removed from the tray I2 and inserted in the demonstration set as illustrated in Figure 1 at 20, 36 and 24 respectively. 1

In Figure 6 additional frontal cards 51a, 51b,

51c and 51d are illustrated, the thirty-six inch card being used in Figure lat 5'1. 7

There are various sizes of equipment already installed in kitchens and there is illustrated by the block 26 one of these,-which in this instance is an electric refrigerator. When there is such a piece of equipment already installed in the kitchen, it is sometimes possible to place a cabinet, such as 30, over it. The block 28 represents a broom closet or ironing board cabinet, which is necessarily tall, and there is space over it for a cabinet such as represented by the block 32.

It will be noted that there is wall space between the block I8 and the block 34. The block 34 is suspended on the walls I2 and M by a pair of hooks similar to the hook shown at 14 in Figure 2 on the block 38. The blocks 36 and 40 also have similar hooks while the blocks 42, 44, 46 and 48 are also provided with these hooks as it is sometimes desirable to support the upper row of blocks at a lower elevation by hooking them on the upper edges of the wall members instead of supporting them on the blocks 34, 36, 38 and 40 which in turn are supported on the wall members.

I have not shown on the drawings all .the pieces of the demonstration set as many of them are duplicates, except as to widths, the members 51, 51a, 51b, 51c, and 51d for instance illustrating five widths of frontal cards having cabinet doors and drawers. The frontal card 53 has drawers only and, of course, there would be several widths of these. Also there would be several widths of the grill sink front cards 50, etc.

I have provided a demonstration set in which the parts can be readily set up for pictorially illustrating a room of given dimensions and since all the blocks are to scale the maximum size of the blocks can be used to fill the available space and it is thus possible to determine what styles and sizes of cabinets best fit into the room.

The various units also can be shifted around to get the most efiicient arrangement, all of this being readily possible with the demonstration set before the units are ordered and installed in the room.

I have illustrated kitchen equipment, although it will be obvious that many other types of equipment can be illustrated in a similar manner. The arrangement of hooks on the wall unit blocks and grooves in the top members 64 and the floor member l0 provide for ready and effective mounting of the units with respect to the represented room. The use of interchangeable frontal members on the blocks which are mounted on the floor against the walls makes it possible to provide a set of different width blocks and a variety of frontal members without having to provide a different block for each style of frontal member, thus reducing the size of the set considerably.

The frontal members fitting in the groove 68 also retain the blocks, such as 22 in Figure 4, against the wall member H or the cards 58. The

different top cards such as 52 and 56 may represent sinks, dish washers, stoves and the like while the frontal cards may also illustrate stoves, such as 64, and other equipment to be found in a kitchen.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my device without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. A miniature demonstration set comprising a floor member and a wall member, blocks representing units of equipment to be set on the floor member along the wall member, overhanging tops for said blocks, grooves in the under face of said tops and in front of the front faces of said blocks and interchangeable sheet material front members for insertion with their upper edges in said grooves and their lower edges supported by said floor member.

2. In a demonstration set of the character disclosed, a miniature device representing a portion of a room and comprising the combination of a floor member, a wall member, and a plurality of blocks adapted to be placed against said wall member to represent in miniature, equipment for installation in the represented room whereby a pictorial view of a room and such equipment on a miniature scale may be set up, some of said blocks being suspended on said wall with a space between said some of said blocks and other blocks supported on said floor whereby to represent work space on the tops of said other blocks,

3. In a demonstration set of the character disclosed, a miniature device representing a portion of a room and comprising a pair of wall members at right angles to each other, a floor member spanning the distance between the bottom edges of said wall members, and a plurality of blocks adapted to be placed against said wall members to represent in miniature, equipment for installation in the represented room whereby a pictorial view of a room and such equipment on a miniature scale may be set up, some of said blocks having on their back surfaces downwardly opening hooks adapted for supporting engagement over the upper edges of said walls, the distance between the bottoms of said hooks and the bottoms of some of said blocks being less than the distance between the top edges of said wall members and the tops of the other blocks.

4. In a demonstration set of the character disclosed, a miniature device representing a portion of a room and comprising the combination of a floor member, a wall member, a plurality of blocks and cards, said blocks being adapted to be placed against said wall member to represent in miniature equipment for installation in the represented room, whereby a pictorial view of a room and such equipment on a miniature scale may be set up, some of said blocks having overhanging tops and said cards having illustrated thereon equipment frontal representations and being interposed between said overhanging tops and said floor and thereby retained in position.

5. A miniature demonstration set comprising a floor member, a wall member, blocks to represent units of equipment to fit on the floor member along the wall member, said blocks having vertical front surfaces, interchangeable sheet material front members for positioning against said front surfaces of said units, said front members ill for said blocks, grooves in the under face of said tops and in said floor member aligned with the front faces of said blocks, and interchangeable sheet material fronts for insertion in said grooves, their upper edges in the grooves in said under faces of said tops and their lower edges in said groove in said floor member.

BYRON RUSSELL ,PINNEY.

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