Technical Field
This invention relates to retail store fixtures, and specifically to a support frame to hold a bagging station in a retail store.
State of the Art
A bagging station is a device that holds a stack of shopping bags, usually plastic shopping bags, and dispenses these shopping bags to be filled with products a customer purchases. Bagging stations are placed at checkout counters so that baggers can place products that have gone through checkout in a bag from the bagging station. There are mounting structures for bagging stations at checkout counters, because until recently, a customer purchased their products at checkout counters, and those products were also bagged at the checkout counters. With the advent of electronic purchasing and self-checkout by a customer, products can now be loaded into bags anywhere in a store. Customers can purchase their products electronically as they shop, and can load the products into a bag on their own. There is a need for bagging stations in locations in retail stores besides at the checkout counter.
Accordingly, what is needed is a fixture to hold a bagging station, where the fixture can be easily mounted at various places throughout a retail store, not just at checkout registers.
As discussed above, embodiments of the present invention relate to retail store fixtures, and specifically to a support frame to hold a bagging station in a retail store. Disclosed herein is a bagging station support frame that includes a bagging station holder and a rail coupler coupled to the bagging station holder. The bagging station holder holds a bagging station. A bagging station holds a plurality of shopping bags ready to receive products. The rail coupler couples the bagging station support frame to a rail. The bagging station support frame can be coupled to a rail anywhere in a retail store. A bagging station coupled to the bagging station support frame will be available for customers to bag their purchases wherever the bagging station support frame with bagging station is mounted. By mounting bagging station support frames with bagging stations throughout the retail store, customers can easily bag their purchases as they shop, without having to go to a checkout counter to obtain shopping bags.
A bagging station is a device that holds a stack of shopping bags, usually plastic shopping bags, and dispenses these shopping bags as they are being filled with products a customer purchases. Bagging stations are placed at checkout counters so that baggers can place products that have gone through checkout in a bag at the bagging station. There are mounting structures for bagging stations at checkout counters, because until recently, a customer purchased their products at checkout counters, and those products were also bagged at the checkout counters. With the advent of electronic purchasing and self-checkout by a customer, products can be loaded into bags anywhere in a store. Customers can purchase their products electronically as they shop, and can load the products into a bag on their own. There is a need for bagging stations in locations in retail stores besides at the checkout counter. The disclosed bagging station support frame is easily mounted to rails found throughout a retail store. The bagging station support frame holds a bagging station, making these bagging stations available to customers at various places in the retail store.
The disclosed bagging station support frame includes a means to hold a bagging station, and a means to couple the means to hold the bagging station to a rail. A “rail” as used herein, is any rigid fixture found in a retail store with a length longer than its width or diameter, that the means to hold the bagging station can couple to. With the bagging station support frame able to couple to rails that can be found in numerous locations throughout a retail store, a bagging station mounted to the bagging station support frame is available to shoppers to use while shopping. In some embodiments, the bagging station support frame is coupled to more than one rail. In some embodiments, the bagging station support frame includes a means to couple the means to hold the bagging station to a first rail, and a means to couple the means to hold the bagging station to a second rail.
Bagging station support frame 110 includes a bagging station holder 112, and a rail coupler 114 coupled to the bagging station holder 112, as shown in
In the embodiment of bagging station support frame 110 shown in the figures, rail coupler 114 includes a first rail coupler hook set 124, and a second rail coupler hook set 126, as shown in
First rail coupler hook set 124 includes a first top rail coupler hook 128 and a second top rail coupler hook 130, as shown in
In this embodiment, second top rail coupler 130 is a mirror image of first top rail coupler 132, but this is not meant to be limiting. In some embodiments, second top rail coupler 130 is different in shape or size, for example, or has other characteristics, in order to accommodate a specific rail configuration.
First bottom rail coupler hook 132 (
Bagging station holder 112 is a means to hold a bagging station. Bagging station holder 112 can take many different forms. Bagging station holder 112 can take any form that provides a means to hold a bagging station such as, but not limited to, bagging station 180. Bagging station holder 112 includes, among other features, a means to hold a top rail of the bagging station, which is first and second bagging station top rail holder 148 and 150 as shown in
Bagging station holder 112 also includes a means to hold a bagging station middle rail 184, as shown in
Bagging station holder 112 also includes a means to support a bottom plate 186 of bagging station 180. Means to support bottom plate 186 of bagging station 180 can take many different forms. In the embodiment shown in the figures, means to support bottom plate 186 of bagging station 180 takes the form of bottom structure 138 as shown in
Bagging station holder 112 in the embodiment shown in the figures includes a back structure 136, and bottom structure 138 coupled to back structure 136, as shown in
Back structure 136 can take many different forms. In the embodiment of bagging station support frame 110 shown in the figures, back structure 136 includes a first support bar 140 extending between first top rail coupler hook 128 and first bottom rail coupler hook 132, as shown in
Back structure 136 also includes a second support bar 142 extending between second top rail coupler hook 130 and second bottom rail coupler hook 134, as shown in
Back structure 136 also includes first coupler bar 144 and second coupler bar 146. First coupler bar 144 and second coupler bar 146 are a means to connect first and second support bar 140 and 142 to each other, as shown in
In some embodiments, method 200 includes forming a back structure. In some embodiments, forming a back structure includes coupling a first coupler bar first end of a first coupler bar to a first support bar. The first support bar is a first length of rigid material with a first support bar top end and a first support bar bottom end. In some embodiments, forming a back structure includes coupling a first coupler bar second end to a second support bar. The second support bar is a second length of rigid material with a second support bar top end and a second support bar bottom end. In some embodiments, forming a back structure includes coupling a second coupler bar first end of a second coupler bar to the first support bar. In some embodiments, forming a back structure includes and coupling a second coupler bar second end to the second support bar.
In some embodiments, method 200 includes coupling a first and a second bagging station top rail holder to a top end of the back structure. In some embodiments, method 200 includes coupling a first and a second bagging station middle rail holder to the back structure.
In some embodiments, act 220 of coupling a rail coupler to the bagging station holder includes coupling a first top rail coupler hook to the first support bar top end. In some embodiments, act 220 of coupling a rail coupler to the bagging station holder includes coupling a first bottom rail coupler hook to the first support bar bottom end. In some embodiments, act 220 of coupling a rail coupler to the bagging station holder includes coupling a second top rail coupler hook to the second support bar top end. In some embodiments, act 220 of coupling a rail coupler to the bagging station holder includes coupling a second bottom rail coupler hook to the second support bar bottom end.
A bagging station support frame has been shown and described, and a method of forming a bagging station support frame. The bagging station support frame can be coupled to a rail in various locations throughout a retails store. The bagging station support frame holds a bagging station. The bagging station support frame with a bagging station coupled to it provides a place where customers and employees of the retail store can bag purchases. With electronic and self-checkout, customers no longer are required to go to a checkout counter to pay for and bag their purchases. But many will still want to bag their purchases, even if they pay for their purchases electronically while they shop. Having bagging stations mounted to bagging station support frames at various locations in the retail store will help customers conveniently and easily bag their purchases as they shop.
The embodiments and examples set forth herein were presented in order to best explain the present invention and its practical application and to thereby enable those of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention. However, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the foregoing description and examples have been presented for the purposes of illustration and example only. The description as set forth is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the teachings above. For example, the bagging station support frame shown and describe is formed of multiple separate elements. In some embodiments, a bagging station support frame according to the invention is formed of one integral piece of material, molded or otherwise.
This invention claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/270,881, filed Dec. 22, 2015 to Applicant Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and entitled “Bagging Station Support Frame and Method of Forming the Same”, and U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/375,691, filed Aug. 16, 2016 to Applicant Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and entitled “Bagging Station Support Frame and Method of Forming the Same”, which are included entirely herein by reference.
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