PRESENTATION SUPPORT FOR SERIES OR COLLECTIONS OF SMALL OBJECTS SUCH AS FIGURINES, SHELLS, MINIATURE CARS OR OTHERS This invention relates to a presentation support for series or collections of small objects such as figurines, shells, miniature cars or others. Document US 5 896 690 describes how to assemble a presentation casing with a decorative frame by nesting the decorative frame inside a rebate formed in the casing. However, this system is not very suitable for presentation of series or collections of small objects and is not easily and quickly personalised. Document US 2003/0234185 describes a support for earrings including a perforated support plate for earrings mounted free to pivot about a bottom casing. This support is suitable for the presentation of earrings but not for series or collections of small objects and is not easily and quickly personalised. In general, there is no existing support for the presentation of series or collections of small objects that enables easy placement of objects to be presented in the support and an easy means of adding, removing or changing the position of objects that does not introduce a risk of displacing or making objects fall, while having a pleasant visual appearance and that can also be easily and quickly personalised by the user.

This invention is intended to overcome this disadvantage. To achieve this, the presentation support to which it relates comprises an area with outside dimensions that are slightly smaller than the usual dimensions of a recess in a presentation frame for one or more than one photographs designed to hold the bottom partition supporting the photograph(s), such that this area may be engaged in this recess instead of the said bottom partition and can cooperate with attachment means fitted in the said presentation frame for assembly of this bottom partition.

Thus, the user can remove the bottom partition from the presentation frame and engage the said presentation support area according to the invention into the recess in this frame normally designed to hold the said bottom partition, and can then assemble the presentation support with this frame using the attachment means (usually tabs or foldaway metal pins) included in the frame for assembly of the bottom partition.

The support according to the invention can then be very easily decorated in a personalised manner using a photograph presentation frame available in the shops. The glass that usually includes the presentation frame may be kept and used as a protective glass for objects contained in the presentation support.

The said area may be formed by a fixed edge of a casing designed to contain the objects to be presented: the presentation support may also comprise a door fitted free to pivot on such a casing, the outside contour of which is sized to form the said area. The said door may be solid and transparent, and it may include an opening to view objects contained inside the casing. In this second case, the opening that includes the door is preferably the same size or smaller than the inside dimensions of the casing, so as to conceal the edges of the upper, lower and side partitions of the casing. The opening in the door may be smaller than the dimensions of the opening of a presentation frame of one or several photographs, such that the door forms a visible border surrounding the opening of the presentation frame, like a passe-partout or a coloured border around a painting.

Advantageously, the casing includes the above-mentioned pivoting door on its front face and at least one means for its attachment to a partition, and particularly a wall, on its back face.

After assembling the support and the presentation frame, the assembly can thus be fixed to the said partition before objects are placed in the casing; the door can then be opened to put these objects into place and then closed to hold and protect the objects. Therefore, there is no risk that the objects will move or fall when the presentation support is attached to the said partition.

In particular, each means for attachment of the casing to the said partition may be arranged at the upper partition of the casing, at the edge of this partition delimiting the back face of the casing. The casing is advantageously made of a transparent material, so as to enable perfect visibility of the objects. It may comprise a plurality of partitions to divide its internal volume, particularly to form shelves for holding objects, these dividing partitions possibly being fixed in the casing or mounted in the casing in a plurality of possible positions due to assembly means on these corresponding partitions and the casing.

The casing may also comprise means for placement of an opaque bottom sheet, preferably coloured. For example, it may be edges forming a slide to engage this opaque bottom sheet by sliding; this bottom sheet may also be held in place by the said partitions to divide the inside volume of the casing, these partitions holding the said bottom sheet together and a bottom partition that may form part of the casing.

The invention will be better understood and other characteristics and advantages will become clear with reference to the attached diagrammatic drawing, representing two possible embodiments of the presentation support to which it relates, as non-limitative examples.

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the back side, according to the first embodiment, of a decorative frame that it comprises, being partially shown;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view, and Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the front side according to a second embodiment, the said decorative frame also being partially shown.

For simplification reasons, the parts or elements of one embodiment that is absolutely identical to or similar to the other embodiment will be identified by the same numeric references and will not be described again. Figures 1 and 2 represent a presentation support for series or collections of small objects such as figurines, shells, miniature cars or others.

This support includes a casing 1 to hold objects to be presented, a pivoting door 2 and a decorative frame 7.

The casing 1 includes upper, lower and side partitions, delimiting an internal space between them, and delimiting front and back faces of the box which are opened. The casing 1 has a peripheral edge 3 at its front face, attachment tabs 5 and a plurality of shelves 6 for holding the objects. In the example shown, the assembly is moulded in a single part made of a transparent synthetic material. The edge 3 is adjacent to the sides of the upper, lower and side partitions of the casing 1 delimiting the front opening of the box 1 , and projects outwards. Its height H and the width L are slightly less than the usual dimensions of the recess in a presentation frame of one or several photographs that will hold the bottom partition supporting the photograph(s).

This existing photograph(s) presentation frame may thus form the decorative frame 7 acting as the presentation support according to the invention, the said edge 3 possibly being engaged in the said recess in the presentation frame instead of the said bottom partition, as shown in Figure 2. The edge 3 can then cooperate with the tabs or foldaway pins 8 included in the said presentation frame for assembly of the bottom partition, so as to enable assembly of the presentation frame (decorative frame 7) to the edge 3, and the glass 9 included in the said presentation frame may be kept to protect objects presented using the presentation support according to the invention. The dimensions of the said recess are usually the same in different presentation frames, for a given dimension of the presentation frame, for example 24 cm by 30 cm, 30 cm by 40 cm, etc. The presentation support according to the invention can be available in different dimensions adapted to these recess dimensions. The door 2 is installed free to pivot on the backside of the casing 1 , for example using trunnions moulded with the casing 1 , on which tabs moulded with the door are engaged free to pivot with the door 2. This door is provided with a lower shoe 4 for manoeuvring it.

The presentation support may include means of maintaining the door 2 in the closed position, particularly a click fit tab fixed to the door, that can click fit behind an edge fixed to the casing 1.

In practice, the frame 7 is fixed to the casing 1 by an edge 3 being engaged in the recess in this frame 7 and folding the tabs 8 in contact with the edge 3, and the objects are then put into place on the shelves 6, the door 2 is closed and the assembly is placed on a support or is fastened to a partition such as a wall using tabs 5. These tabs are fixed to the upper partition of the casing 1 and are adjacent to the edge of this partition that delimits its back face.

The presentation support shown in Figure 3 comprises the door 2 installed on the front face of the casing 1 and forming the said edge 3. This door 2 is in the form of a frame, and its edges delimiting the opening of this door are located facing the upper, lower and side partitions of the casing 1 , so as to conceal these partitions. These edges may also be offset inwards with respect to the edges delimiting the opening of the decorative frame 7, such

that the door 2 forms a border surrounding this opening, like a passe-partout or a coloured border around a painting.

The invention thus provides a presentation support that facilitates the placement of objects to be presented in the support in which it is easy to add, remove or change the position of objects without introducing any risk of objects being moved or dropped, while having a pleasant visual appearance and being easily and quickly personalised by the user.

Obviously, the invention is not limited to the embodiment described above as an example, but it can be extended to any embodiment covered by the attached claims. In particular, the casing may include shelves or other dividing partitions that can be fixed in the casing or can be installed in it in one or several possible positions, using corresponding assembly means fitted on these partitions and the casing; the casing may be available in several dimensions as already mentioned, and/or in several depths P.