Patent Application
20180125264
This invention generally relates to display racks used in stores, warehouses, etc., and, more particularly, to a display rack for facilitating high visibility and convenient access, removal, and replacement of flat and/or planar items such as, for example, chair mats.
Display racks have been used for many years at points of sale such as, for example, stores and warehouses, to exhibit products to prospective purchasers. Typically, display racks may include at least one hollow support rod having a number of holes extending through a wall of the support rod for receiving the hooked end of a metal or plastic hanger, similar to a conventional coat hanger. The other end of the hanger may be coupled to the product to be displayed. For example, the product may include an aperture for receiving a portion of the hanger, or a tag may be permanently or semi-permanently affixed to the product and may be coupled to the hanger. In any event, the product may hang from the support rod via the hanger. Typically, the support rod may be mounted to a wall or shelving unit, or may be attached to a stand such that the display rack may be free-standing.
Display racks can provide numerous advantages over other arrangements such as conventional shelves. For example, when certain products such as flat and/or planar items are stacked on a conventional shelf, various features of the items may be obscured from view, such that a prospective purchaser may be required to remove one or more of the items from the shelf in order to ascertain qualities of the item which may be relevant to the decision to purchase. In addition, large items may be difficult to remove from the shelf. Likewise, it may be difficult to replace large items on the shelf. Thus, a prospective purchaser may become frustrated and decide against purchasing the item.
While display racks generally provide greater visibility and more convenient access, removal, and replacement of flat and/or planar items over conventional shelves, manufacturers continue to seek improvements to display racks in these and other regards. For example, removing and/or replacing a large, flat and/or planar item from a display rack may be difficult. In particular, a person such as a prospective purchaser or store personnel may struggle to maneuver the hooked end of the hanger out of or into the corresponding hole in the support rod. This may be especially difficult where the item is large enough that the height of the support rod is such that the holes in the support rod exceed the reach of the person. In this case, the person may be required to retrieve a ladder or stool in order to grip the hanger and manipulate the hooked end of the hanger out of or into the corresponding hole in the support rod. In some instances, a person may be able to remove the hooked end from the corresponding hole by gripping a lower portion of the item within reach and manipulating the item to maneuver the associated hanger. This approach, however, may be awkward and may be particularly problematic where the item is a flexible item, such as a chair mat. Chair mats are commonly used in offices and homes to protect carpets, wood, laminate, tile and/or other floor surfaces from scratching or other damage which may be caused by the wheels of a chair rolling thereon, and typically comprise a large, substantially rectangular sheet of polycarbonate, resin, PVC or other flexible material.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a display rack for facilitating high visibility and convenient access, removal, and replacement of flat and/or planar items such as, for example, chair mats.
These and other shortcomings in the prior art have been addressed by this invention which is various embodiments includes a display rack, a number of products to be displayed such as chair mats and a number of hangers, each releasably coupled to one of the products or chair mats.
A display system according to various embodiments of this invention may include a display rack designed to be free standing, selectively mounted to a wall or to a racking or shelving unit. The display rack may include a frame member and a number of cantilevered support rods each coupled to the frame member and extending away from the frame member. In particular, each of the support rods may include an elongate body having a fixed end coupled to the frame member and a free end. A product such as a flat and/or planar item including, for example, a chair mat, may be selectively hung in a generally vertical orientation from one of the support rods via a hanger attached to the chair mat to define a chair mat assembly. The hanger may be configured to slidably engage with the support rod. By providing a free end 24 on the support rod, a person such as a prospective purchaser or store personnel may easily slide the hanger off of the support rod and thereby remove the chair mat and hanger assembly from the display rack.
The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
With reference to
With specific reference to
In one embodiment, the frame member 16 may be curved or sloped, such that when in use (e.g., when mounted to a wall or shelving unit 14) the proximate end 42 is lower than the distal end 44. In this manner, the cantilevered support rods 18 may be coupled to the frame member 16 in a tiered or cascading arrangement, such that when in use a cantilevered support rod 18 positioned near the proximate end 42 is lower than a cantilevered support rod 18 positioned near the distal end 44. The cascading arrangement may provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance, in particular from a front (
While the cascading arrangement in the embodiment shown is attributable to the curved configuration of the frame member 16, it will be appreciated that the same or similar arrangement may be accomplished in a variety of ways. For example, the frame member 16 may include a substantially planar body rather than an elongate body and may not be curved or sloped. In this case, the support rods 18 may nevertheless be coupled to the body of the frame member at various locations such that when in use the support rods 18 are positioned at varying heights to form a cascading arrangement. Alternatively, the frame member 16 may include an elongate body that is substantially straight, such that the support rods 18 are positioned at a substantially uniform height when in use. Other configurations of the frame member 16 and other positions of the support rods 18 thereon may be used to achieve any desired arrangement of the support rods 18.
As shown, the frame member 16 may include first and second mounting brackets 50, 52 coupled to the frame member 16 for selectively mounting the display rack 12 to a wall or shelving unit 14. In the embodiment shown, the first and second mounting brackets 50, 52 are coupled to the frame member 16 at or near the proximate and distal ends 42, 44 of the elongate body 40, respectively, and are removably coupled to first and second vertical supports 54, 56 of the shelving unit 14, respectively. For example, the first and second mounting brackets 50, 52 may be removably coupled to the first and second vertical supports 54, 56 by fastening members such as bolts 58. In another embodiment, the mounting brackets 50, 52 may be eliminated and the elongate body 40 of the frame member 16 may be directly removably coupled to the first and second vertical supports 54, 56, such as at proximate and distal ends 42, 44. Alternatively, the frame member 16 may be coupled to the shelving unit 14 in any other suitable manner such that the support rods 18 are each oriented in a substantially horizontal direction.
Turning now to
In one embodiment, the vertical support member 74a of the stand 70a may include first and second vertical beam portions 80a, 82a , a horizontal beam portion 84a extending between the first and second vertical beam portions 80a, 82a, and a siding portion 86a for concealing the contents of the display rack 12a from a side view thereof (
In one embodiment, the base member 72a of the stand 70a may include a plurality of horizontal beam portions arranged in a braced configuration such as, for example, a triangular pattern. For example, as shown, first, second, and third horizontal beam portions 90a, 92a, 94a may be manufactured separately and coupled together. Alternatively, various components of the base member 72a may be integrally formed together as a unitary piece. The first horizontal beam portion 90a of the base member 72a may be coupled to the horizontal beam portion 84a and/or vertical beam portions 80a, 82a of the vertical support member 74a in order to form the stand 70a. It will be appreciated that various other configurations of the vertical support member 74a and/or base member 72a may be used to form a stand 70a for supporting the frame member 16a of the display rack 12a thereon such that the cantilevered support rods 18a are each oriented in a substantially horizontal direction.
As shown, additional cantilevered support rods 98a may be coupled to the vertical support member 74a and extend away from the vertical support member 74a in a manner similar to the support rods 18a mounted on the frame member 16a. For example, additional support rods 98a may be mounted to the first vertical beam portion 80a of the vertical support member 74a. In one embodiment, the additional support rods 98a may extend in substantially the same direction as the support rods 18a mounted on the frame member 16a. When in use, the additional support rods 98a may be used for selectively hanging therefrom items similar to those hung from the support rods 18a. In one embodiment, an item hung from an additional support rod 98a may be shorter than a similar item hung from a support rod 18a. For example, as shown, a relatively short chair mat 30′ may be hung from an additional support rod 98a and a relatively tall chair mat 30 may be hung from a support rod 18a.
In one embodiment, the display system 10′ may include a second free-standing display rack 12b positioned in a back-to-back relationship with the first display rack 12a. As shown, the first and second display racks 12a, 12b may be coupled together to define, at least in part, a dual display system 10′. To that end, the frame members 16a, 16b of the first and second display racks 12a, 12b may be coupled together via a crossbeam 100. In addition or alternatively, the first and second display racks 12a, 12b may share various components of the respective stands 70a, 70b. As shown, a signage frame 102 may be mounted to the crossbeam 100 for displaying indicia describing or advertising the contents of either display rack 12a, 12b. The dual display system 10′ may be useful in situations where it is desirable for persons such as prospective customers to be able to view and access items from a variety of locations. For example, the dual display system 10′ may be positioned in the middle of an aisle, such that persons on one side of the aisle may view and access items hanging from the first display rack 12a, while persons on the other side of the aisle may view and access items hanging from the second display rack 12b. Moreover, the dual display system 10′ provides more stability to the display racks 12a, 12b in an effort to inhibit each of the racks 12a, 12b from tipping over, especially when fully loaded with chair mats 30.
With specific reference now to
With the hanger 32 attached to the chair mat 30 to form the char mat and hanger assembly 34 (
In use, the hanger and chair mat assembly 34 may be hung on a display rack 12 by receiving a free end 24 of a support rod 18 in the slot 150. The hanger 32 may then be slid along the support rod 18 toward the fixed end 22 to a desired position on the support rod 18. In one embodiment, this may be accomplished by a person manipulating the chair mat 30 to maneuver the hanger 32 along the support rod 18 without gripping the hanger 32 itself. The hanger and chair mat assembly 34 may subsequently be removed by a reverse process. In particular, the hanger 32 may be slid along the support rod 18 toward the free end 24 until the support rod 18 is no longer received within the slot 150. The person may then grip the chair mat 30 and/or hanger 32, such as by the handle apertures 140, and carry away the hanger and chair mat assembly 34. The hanger 32 may be removed from the chair mat 30 and disposed of prior to use of the chair mat 30. Thus, the display assembly 10, 10′ and/or display rack 12, 12a, 12b may facilitate high visibility and convenient access, removal, and replacement of the chair mat 30. While the chair mat 30, 30′ shown is substantially square in shape, the display system 10, 10′ may be used for a chair mat having any other configuration.
It will be appreciated that numerous variations may be made to the display system 10, 10′ and/or display racks 12, 12a, 12b. For example, various signage or other indicia may be incorporated, such as by mounting a signage frame to the frame member 16. Variations in size of the display rack 12, 12a, 12b may also be possible. For example, narrower display racks may be desired for smaller stores. The number of cantilevered support rods 18, 18a, 18b, 98a, 98b may also be varied to suit the needs of a particular application. In addition or alternatively, the lengths of the support rods 18, 18a, 18b, 98a, 98b may be varied from those shown. In one embodiment, a display rack 12, 12a, 12b may include support rods 18, 18a, 18b, 98a, 98b of varying lengths to accommodate items, such as chair mats, of varying widths. In yet another embodiment, one or more support rods 18, 18a, 18b, 98a, 98b may be adjustable in length.
While this invention has been illustrated by a description of various preferred embodiments and while these embodiments have been described in some detail, it is not intended to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art. The various features of the invention may be used alone or in numerous combinations depending on the needs and preferences of the user.
