Merchandise display and anti-theft system

• US 7,007,912 B1
• Filed: 05/26/2004
• Issued: 03/07/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Gregory M. Defoe, William Giuliani
• Original Assignee: Gregory M. Defoe, William Giuliani
• Inventors: Defoe, Gregory M., Giuliani, William
• Primary Examiner(s): Olszewski, Robert P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): SMITH, TIMOTHY SCOTT
• Application Number:
  US10/853,964
• Time in Patent Office: 650 Days
• Field of Search: 248/551, 248/552, 248/553, 70/58, 70/571, 70/57, 70/14
• US Class Current: 248/552
• CPC Class Codes: A47F 7/0246 for rectangular articles, e.g. books, cassettes on the article itself E05B73/0023
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 73/0082 for office machines, e.g. PC's, portable computers, typewriters, calculators
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/88 Detecting or preventing theft or loss
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 70/5009 For portable articles

Abstract

A merchandise display and anti-theft system, for use in displaying an electronic device such as a laptop computer, comprising a base plate and a rail. The rail is mounted transversely onto a merchandise display shelf. The electronic device is selectively attached to the base plate by a crossbar. A front bracket assembly and a rear bar are provided to restrict the extent to which the electronic device may be moved in a forward or reverse direction upon the base plate. The crossbar, front bracket, and rear bar are fastened to the base plate with screws extending from beneath the base plate, in order to prevent removal of the electronic device. After mounting the rail to the shelf and affixing the base plate to the rail, the screws which hold the cross bar, rear bar, and front bracket to the base plate are inaccessible, thereby preventing theft of the electronic device selectively affixed to the base plate.

Claims

1. A merchandise display and anti-theft system, for use in conjunction with an existing support structure such as a merchandise shelf, and with an existing laptop computer, for displaying the computer and allowing a customer hands-on access to the computer, while preventing the computer from being stolen by a thief, wherein the computer has a monitor hingeably attached to a keyboard, said keyboard having an upper surface, a lower surface, a front, a rear, and two lateral sides, comprising:

a base plate onto which the computer is selectively anchored, having a front, a rear, two lateral sides, an upper surface upon which the lower surface of the keyboard selectively rests, and a lower surface which rests upon the merchandise shelf while the system is being deployed;

a rail which selectively attaches to a portion of the base plate, and which is itself selectively anchored to the merchandise shelf;

a locking device for selectively locking the base plate to the rail;

a crossbar which selectively extends laterally across the base plate and attaches to the base plate, in order to selectively secure the keyboard to the base plate;

an adjustable rear bar which is selectively attachable to the base plate, for restraining the rearward motion of the keyboard upon the base plate and for preventing a would-be thief from sliding the keyboard rearward underneath the crossbar during an attempt to abscond with the computer;

an adjustable front bracket assembly which is selectively attachable to the base plate, for engaging the front of the keyboard in order to restrain the forward motion of the keyboard on the base plate and for preventing the would-be thief from sliding the keyboard forward underneath the crossbar during an attempt to abscond with the computer; and

wherein the keyboard of the computer is attached to the base plate, and the rear bar and the front bracket assembly are adjusted, prior to attaching the base plate to the rail which has itself been attached to the shelf.

2. The merchandise display and anti-theft system as recited in claim 1, wherein the rail is sized to accommodate more than one base plate in order that the system may be used to immobilize and display more than one computer.

3. The merchandise display and anti-theft system as recited in claim 2, wherein the locking device is a padlock.

4. The merchandise display and anti-theft system as recited in claim 3, wherein the rear of the base plate has a U-shaped folded portion extending vertically upward therefrom, said folded portion defining a vertical channel, a front sheet, and a rear sheet, wherein the front sheet and the rear sheet each have a circular opening extending fully therethrough at substantially the same vertical height above the base plate, wherein the rail has a horizontal portion, and a vertical portion extending perpendicularly from the horizontal portion, wherein the vertical portion selectively extends into the vertical channel within the folded portion of the base plate, said vertical portion having at least one circular opening extending fully therethrough, wherein when the vertical portion of the rail is extended within the vertical channel of the base plate, each of the at least one of the circular openings of the rail may be aligned with the circular opening extending through the front sheet and the rear sheet of the folded portion of the base plate, in order to permit the loop of the opened padlock to be extended concentrically through each of said aligned openings, prior to locking the padlock, and thereby firmly anchoring the base plate to the rail.

5. The merchandise display and anti-theft system as recited in claim 4, wherein the rear sheet of the base plate has at least one threaded circular opening extending fully therethrough, and is provided with an equivalent number of threaded set screws, wherein the front sheet of the base plate has at least one threaded circular opening extending therethrough, at the same vertical height as the at least one threaded circular opening extending through the rear sheet of the base plate, wherein the vertical portion of the rail is provided with an equivalent number of circular openings extending fully therethrough, also at the same vertical height as the at least one threaded circular opening extending through the rear sheet of the base plate, and wherein the set screws are selectively threaded into the at least one opening within the rear sheet, extended through the at least one circular openings within the vertical portion of the rail, and threaded into the at least one threaded circular opening of the front sheet of the base plate, in order to immobilize the base plate against the rail.

6. The merchandise display and anti-theft system as recited in claim 5, wherein the crossbar has two short vertical legs separated by an elongated horizontal segment, wherein the vertical legs have threads around their periphery, wherein the crossbar is provided with two spacers having an upper portion and a lower portion, and two associated threaded spacer screws, and wherein correspondingly, the base plate has two spacer screw openings extending fully therethrough, in proximity to the junction between the rear and the lateral sides of the base plate, through which the spacer screws selectively extend, wherein the upper portion of each of the spacers has an internal bore having threads which match the threads of the vertical legs of the crossbar, and wherein the lower portion of each of the spacers has an internal bore having threads that match the threads of the spacer screws, said spacers for adjusting the vertical height of the horizontal segment of the crossbar above the base plate, in order to allow sufficient clearance to accommodate the height of the lateral sides of the particular keyboard which is being bracketed, wherein the spacer screws extend through the spacer screw openings, from the lower surface to the upper surface of the base plate, and are threaded into the lower portion of the spacers, in order to prevent the keyboard from being removed from the base plate, and wherein the spacer screws may only be accessed from the lower surface of the base plate after the base plate has been attached to the rail, thereby making it difficult for the thief to steal the computer.

7. The merchandise display and anti-theft system as recited in claim 6, wherein the upper portion of each of the spacers is substantially cylindrical, wherein the lower portion of each of the spacers is substantially rectangular, and wherein, correspondingly, the spacer screw openings extending fully through the base plate are substantially rectangular, in order to thwart attempts by a thief to rotate the spacers in an attempt to detach the computer from the system.

8. The merchandise display and anti-theft system as recited in claim 7, wherein the elongated rear bar has two ends, and a threaded opening in proximity to each end, and wherein correspondingly, the base plate has two longitudinal slots extending fully therethrough, wherein the rear bar is mated to the base plate with threaded screws which are selectively extended from the lower surface of the base plate and through the longitudinal slots in the base plate, and mated with the threaded openings within the rear bar, said slots for allowing the rear bar to be slid into contact with the rear of the keyboard prior to tightening the screws, and wherein the screws may only be accessed from the lower surface of the base plate, thereby making it difficult for the thief to steal the computer.

9. The merchandise display and anti-theft system as recited in claim 8, wherein the front bracket assembly includes a long plate, a lipped plate, and a plurality of threaded screws, wherein the long plate has one end bent upwardly at a right angle having vertical slots which allows vertical adjustment of the lipped plate prior to tightening the long plate and the lipped plate together, wherein the lipped plate is used to overhang the front of the keyboard and extend slightly rearwardly therefrom, wherein the lipped plate has inner surfaces which contact the front of the keyboard after the keyboard has been attached to the base plate and the position of the front bracket assembly has been adjusted, wherein the lipped plate has threaded screw holes into which the screws are selectively extended in order to fasten the long plate to the lipped plate, wherein these screws may only be accessed from the inner surface,

thereby making it difficult for the thief to steal the computer after the front bracket assembly is assembled with the keyboard in place.

10. The merchandise display and anti-theft system as recited in claim 9, wherein the base plate has at least one threaded circular opening in proximity to the front, and wherein the long plate has a longitudinal slot for facilitating attachment to the base plate, such that a screw extends through each of the at least one circular openings to secure the long plate to the base plate, said slot for allowing longitudinal travel of the front bracket assembly to bring the inner surfaces of the lipped plate into contact with the front of the keyboard prior to tightening the screws, wherein the screws which secure the long plate to the base plate may only be accessed from the lower surface of the base plate, thereby making it difficult for the thief to steal the computer.

11. The merchandise display and anti-theft system as recited in claim 10, further comprising a strip of fastening material attached to the upper surface of the base plate, and a mating strip of fastening material which is selectively attached to the lower surface of the keyboard, wherein together, the strips of fastening material prevent the computer from sliding around on the base plate.

12. The merchandise display and anti-theft system as recited in claim 11, wherein the fastening material is the hook and loop fastener known by the trade name Velcro.

13. The merchandise display and anti-theft system as recited in claim 12, wherein the horizontal portion of the rail is attachable to the merchandise shelf.