Patent Application
20090045707
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a display system for use with product stored in bins, and to a bin system incorporating such a display system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Large retail outlets, often referred to as “big box” stores, typically store product in multi-tier racks. The upper tiers are generally used only for storage, whereas the tiers at floor level provide customer access to the product, which is kept in bins in easy reach within the rack. Product samples are displayed in front of the bins together with identifying information and price. As bins are emptied, additional product is moved into the bins from higher levels. This has proven to be a convenient system for marketing hardware, plumbing fixtures, electrical fixtures, and other products of relatively small size.
The racks typically consist of bays which are approximately 8 feet wide between uprights, and the product samples are fixed to beams or boards which are fixed across the front of the uprights. The product samples and identifying information are fixed to the beams in alignment with product in the bins behind the beam. When different size bins are substituted or the bins are rearranged, it is necessary to remount the product samples on the beam, which may require entirely rearranging the samples along the length of a beam. This is done on the premises and is very labor intensive.
An object of the invention is to provide a display system for product stored in bins in racks, wherein the arrangement of products displayed in front of the bins may be readily changed or rearranged, with a minimum of on-the-premises labor.
It is another object of the invention, to provide a bin system which incorporates the display system according to the invention.
The display system according to the invention utilizes a track which engages product holders which may be readily removed from the rack, replaced, and rearranged. The track includes a first track member which can be fixed to an elongate support member fixed to the rack, and a second track member which can be fixed to the first track member in a selected one of a plurality of relative positions to form a track having a height dimension which is dependent on the selected relative position. A plurality of product holders can be secured side-by-side in the track, the product holders having a height dimension which corresponds to the height dimension of the track. The final relative position of the track members is therefore determined the height dimension of the product holders.
The track members are designed to be slid together so that they engage the product holders and secure the product holders in the track. All product holders in a track therefore have the same height dimension, but may have different width dimensions. To draw the track members together, machine screws received through collars on the first track member engage respective nuts which are fixed against rotation in the second track member. A clockwise turning of the machine screws thereby draws the track members together to engage and secure the product holders. In order to remove a product holder, the screws are simply loosened until the track members move apart sufficiently to release the product holders. The product holders can then be rearranged or replaced as desired. While different size screws can be used for product holders having different heights, it is convenient to use screws which are long enough to accommodate the product holders having the greatest height for which the track members are designed. The screws may be turned at high speed by an electric screw driver.
In a bin system incorporating the display, the bins are supported on a shelves supported by cantilever beams inside the rack. An elongate support member, which is preferably a hollow extruded member having an angled front surface, is fixed transversely across the distal ends of the cantilever beams. The first track member is fixed to the angled front surface in any of a selected plurality of positions, in particular two different positions where first or second abutments on the track member are against respective top or bottom edges of the support member. The cantilever beams are preferably of telescoping design so that the position of the support member, and thus the product holders, may be adjusted. This position is preferably recessed from the front of the rack in order to avoid damage by forklift trucks carrying pallets.
An important advantage of the invention is that product may be fixed to the product holders remotely, for example at the point of origin of the product, so that it is only necessary to assemble the product holders to the track at point of sale.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. It should be further understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein.
An elongate support member 30 is fixed transversely across the distal ends of beams 22 and serves as a substrate for mounting an upper track member 40, to which a lower track member 60 is fixed to form a complete track for holding a plurality of side-by-side product holders 70, of which only one is shown. The support member 30 is a hollow member having a mounting surface 32 bounded by a top edge 33 and a bottom edge 34, and a rear step 36 facing oppositely from the mounting surface 32. The upper track member 40 has a front surface 41 interrupted by slots 42, and a number of mounting insets 43 molded in the mounting surface. The front surface 41 is bounded by a top edge 46 formed by a channel 47, and a bottom edge 51 provided with notches 52. The channel 47 has outer retaining tabs 48 for engaging the product holder 70, and inner retaining tabs 49 for retaining an art panel 25. The lower track member 60 has a front surface 61 interrupted by slots 62 which enable molding of L-shaped ribs 68 (
To assemble the track, the upper track member 40 is fixed to the mounting surface 32 of the support member by means of screws (not shown) which are received through holes in the bottoms of selected mounting insets 43. These screws are threaded into holes (not shown) in the mounting surface 32. In lieu of pre-positioned holes, the screws may be self-tapping so that any desired relative position of the upper track member 40 and the support member 30 may be selected. The lower track member 60 is then engaged with the upper member 40 by aligning the slots 62 with the slots 42 and moving the lower member 60 in the direction of the arrow until the track members 40, 60 engage the product holder 70. The track members are then fixed together by a plurality of machine screws 27 and square nuts 28, as will be described.
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Note that bins may be designed to be deeper and wider than that depicted. Also, the product holders may vary not only in height, but in width. Generally speaking, the product holders will be as wide as the bins, and are in multiples of a common base width, for example two inches. That is, the product holders and the bins are typically four, six, eight, or ten inches wide. The product holders may extend beyond the end of one track and overlap the next track, thereby aligning the tracks and thus the product holders on adjacent tracks. Since the tracks are typically 24⅝ inches wide, this overlap aligns the product holders linearly across the width of a bay.
As suggested above, the track members, the product holders, and the bins are preferably made by injection molding a thermoplastic material; (polypropylene for bins and ABS Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) for track members and product holders are especially suitable.
Thus, while there have shown and described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the devices illustrated, and in their operation, may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/or method steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the invention. Moreover, it should be recognized that structures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described in connection with any disclosed form or embodiment of the invention may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form or embodiment as a general matter of design choice. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.
