Supporting fixture for hank materials

The present invention relates to a supporting fixture for hank materials.

More particularly, the present invention relates to a supporting fixture particularly suitable for being used for hank materials such as tubes from plastic material, rubber and the like.

As is known, hank materials are wrapped, on the production, in substantially cylindrical hanks fastened with ribbons or strings and/or possibly covered with heat-restricting plastic materials.

In the selling displays, these hanks have frequently the problem of a stable positioning in the special areas, in particular if the latter are not provided with special display fixtures.

When, after use, hank materials, such as for instance irrigation hoses from plastic material, must be put back, the problem arises of recomposing said hank.

It is also known that such materials are generally put back forming a hank, which is fastened with a ribbon or a string, to be then suspended from a supporting fixture. This involves the drawback of the formation of deleterious sharp edge plies in correspondence of the fastening that leads to unavoidable damages of the material on the subsequent utilization, especially in case of long putting away periods.

It is easy to understand that the need is felt of having at disposal fixtures for the display and the putting away of the materials after use.

Object of the present invention is to provide a support for hank materials that, besides allowing the necessary functionality, also obviate the aforesaid drawbacks.

According to the present invention, these and still other objects, that will be evident thanks from the following description, are achieved by a support fixture for hank materials comprising an arched saddle circumscribed by a concave surface and a corresponding convex surface, provided at its ends with head walls that protrude from the part of said convex surface of said arched saddle; said supporting fixture being also intended for supporting in a stable manner said hank materials during the selling display and for supporting said hank materials when they are put away after use.

The constructive and functional characteristics of the supporting fixture for hank materials of the present invention will be better understood thanks to the following description, wherein reference is made to the attached drawings that represent an embodiment of said supporting fixture only reported by way of non limiting example, wherein:

• Figure 1 shows the schematic axonometric view of the supporting fixture for hank materials of the present invention;
• Figure 2 shows the schematic axonometric view of the supporting fixture of Figure 1, when it is utilized for displaying the hank material; and
• Figure 3 shows the schematic front view of the supporting fixture of Figure 1, when it is utilized for putting away the hank material after use.

With reference to the attached figures, the support for hank materials of the present invention, indicated as a whole by 1, comprises an arched saddle 2, provided at its ends with head walls 3.

Arched saddle 2 is shaped as an arched plate and is circumscribed by a concave surface 4 and a corresponding convex surface 5.

A head wall 3 is associated to each of the ends of the arched saddle 2. Each of said two head walls 3 is shaped like a substantially rectangular plate circumscribed by a long side 6, two short sides 7 and 8, substantially parallel to each other and substantially normal with respect to said long side 6, and by an arch 9, opposite to said long side 6, having the same bending as the arched saddle 2, in order to be able to associate thereto.

Head walls 3 are associated to the arched saddle 2, from the side of the convex surface 5, so as to form containment walls.

Preferably, the arched saddle 2 and the head walls 3 are integral with one another and obtained through one only operation, for instance molding.

Preferably, the arched saddle 2 and arch 9 that circumscribe each of the head walls 3, have a constant bending radius, so that the arched saddle 2 is a cylinder portion and arch 9 a circle arch.

Preferably, each of the head walls 3 in the middle zone of the long side 6 has a groove-shaped recess 10.

Still preferably, the supporting fixture for hank material 1 of the present invention is provided with a plurality or ribs 11, which are in number of six in the example shown in the figure, which extend between the head walls 3 and are arranged along respective preferably pitch-set generatrices of the convex surface 5.

On the production, when hank material is packed, hank 15 is put on the supporting fixture for hank materials of the present invention with its external surface leaning against the concave surface 4 of the arched saddle 2 of said supporting fixture and associated thereto through special fasteners.

Preferably, as can be seen in Figure 2, the packing is provided with front plates 12 either on one or both of the hank parts 15. Such front plates 12 are provided with a projection 13 and are hooked, through said projection 13, in correspondence of recess 10 of the respective head wall 3 and maintained through special fasteners 14. Besides, the front plates 12 may be advantageously utilized to append thereon possible writings or trade marks.

The selling display is made by leaning the packing along the long sides 6 of head walls 3, as shown in Figure 2, on the surface of the display area, ensuring the necessary stability.

When the pack is purchased, the user having opened it prepares the supporting fixture for hank material 1 of the present invention, so that he can put it away after use. The preparation takes place by suspending, for instance from a wall, the supporting fixture for hank materials 1, in a known manner, through the use of "Z" shaped supporting fixtures, that are available at present commercially, and that are therefore no longer described. The supporting fixture for hank materials is arranged with the convex surface 5 upwards oriented, as shown in Figure 3, so that head walls 3 define a containment "channel" for the material to be put away.

When the user of the hank material, such as for instance an irrigation rubber hose, has to put it away after use, he wraps it on the supporting fixture for hank material 1 in the inside of the channel defined by the convex surface 5 of the arched saddle 2 and the head walls 3, as shown by Figure 3.

The convex surface 5 of arched saddle 2 has preferably a bending radius sufficiently wide to allow the support of the hank material, and in particular irrigation hoses from plastic material 16, preventing the formation of plies or sharp edges in the supporting point.

As can be appreciated from the preceding description, the supporting fixture for hank materials of the present invention is of simple and economical realization, besides having a high functionality and versatility, allowing the complete elimination of the aforesaid drawbacks.

While the present invention has been described above with reference of an embodiment, it is evident that those skilled in the art may introduce many modifications and variants, or variant combinations in the supporting fixture for hank materials described above, in the light of the above description.

It is therefore understood that the present invention also encompasses all the modifications and variants falling within the spirit and protection scope of the following claims.