Device for displaying DVDs and the like

Abstract

A display device for holding DVDs, video cassettes and/or other similar content media, includes a housing having a substantially tubular shape with a lateral opening; a case disposed in the lateral opening and rotatable about an axis with respect to said housing; and a shelf adapted to hold a stack of media articles. The case is rotatable between an open position, in which the content media can be removed from the shelf, and a closed position in which the articles are inaccessible. A lock is also provided to selectively prevent or block movement of the case.

I claim:  
     
         1 . A display case for storing and showing articles, said display device comprising: 
 a housing;    a case adapted to hold one or more articles, said case being mounted in said housing, said case being rotatable between an open position in which the articles from the case are accessible and a closed position in which the articles are inside the housing and not accessible; and    a lock mounted on one of said housing and said case and adapted to block said case at least in said closed position.    
     
     
         2 . The display device of  claim 1  wherein said lock is adapted to block said case from movement in said open position.  
     
     
         3 . The display device of  claim 1  wherein said case has a vertical axis and is mount to rotate about said vertical axis with respect to said housing.  
     
     
         4 . The display device of  claim 1  further comprising a shelf mounted on said case.  
     
     
         5 . The display device of  claim 4  wherein said shelf is removable from said case.  
     
     
         6 . A display device comprising: 
 a housing having lateral walls and openings formed in said lateral walls;    a plurality of cases, each case being rotatably mounted in one of said openings;    a plurality of shelves, each shelf being mounted on one of said cases and adapted to hold said articles, said cases being rotatable between an open and a closed position, wherein said articles are accessible from said shelves when the respective case is in the open position and wherein said articles are not accessible from said shelf when the respective case is in the closed position; and    locking means for blocking said cases in said closed position.    
     
     
         7 . The display device of  claim 6  wherein said shelves are removably attached to said cases.  
     
     
         8 . The display device of  claim 6  wherein said cases include a back wall with apertures and wherein said cases are adapted to hang from said apertures.  
     
     
         9 . The display cases of  claim 6  wherein said shelves are partitioned into chambers sized and shaped to hold a predetermined number of said articles.  
     
     
         10 . The display cases of  claim 6  wherein said shelves are partitioned into chambers, each chamber being arranged and constructed to receive one of a first predetermined articles, wherein said chambers are designed to hold a predetermined DVDs and a predetermined number of video tapes.  
     
     
         11 . The display device of  claim 10  further comprising clips arranged to bias said DVDs and video tapes toward the front end of the chambers.  
     
     
         12 . The display device of  claim 6  wherein said cases have respective rear surfaces visible externally when said cases are in closed position, said rear surfaces being adapted to hold one of a decoration and an advertisement.  
     
     
         13 . A display device for holding DVDs, video cassettes and/or other similar content media, comprising: 
 a housing having a substantially tubular shape with a lateral opening;    a case disposed in said lateral opening and rotatable about an axis with respect to said housing, said case being rotatable between an open and a closed position;    a shelf adapted to hold a stack of said content media and mounted on said case, said shelf cooperating with said shelf to provide access to said content media when said case is in the open position, and to prevent removal of said articles when said cases are in the closed position; and    a lock adapted to selectively block movement of one of said cases.    
     
     
         14 . The display device of  claim 13  wherein each shelf comprises a box sized and shaped to hold said stack.  
     
     
         15 . The display device of  claim 14  wherein said box has a front opening to allow the media articles to be inserted and removed from the box.  
     
     
         16 . The display device of  claim 15  wherein each said box includes a rear opening.  
     
     
         17 . The display device of  claim 16  further comprising biasing means for biasing media articles toward said front opening.  
     
     
         18 . The display device of  claim 17  wherein said biasing means include metallic clips.  
     
     
         19 . The display device of  claim 6  further comprising an angular limiting means for limiting the angular rotation of the device.  
     
     
         20 . The display device of  claim 19  wherein said angular limiting means limits the movement of said cases to about 180°.  
     
     
         21 . The display device of  claim 16  wherein said shelves are transparent.  
     
     
         22 . The display device of  claim 16  wherein said housing has one of two, three and four cases.  
     
     
         23 . The display device of  claim 22  wherein all the cases have the same widths.  
     
     
         24 . The display device of  claim 22  wherein the cases have one of two widths.