Patent Application
20130284686
The present invention is directed to displays for sheet goods and, specifically, to display racks for sheet goods such as desk mats, floor mats, carpet mats and chair mats used to protect an underlying surface. In particular, the present invention relates to a rack for displaying such sheet goods in an attractive manner that is designed to be supported by a conventional pallet rack.
Pallet racks originally received wide usage in warehouses where typically they would extend in a plurality of rows for substantially the height of the building with space being provided between the rows for forklift trucks to move. The forklift trucks would store and remove standard sized pallets supporting stock on the shelves. More recently, the opening of large warehouse stores to the public have utilized such pallet racks for direct access by the consumer. Generally, upper portions of the pallet racks are still used to store standard sized pallets of stock, while lower portions of the pallet racks may be arranged in to display the goods for commercial selection by the consumer. In the lower portions of the pallet racks, the goods are often arranged so that the consumer can select individual items that can then be placed by the consumer into or onto a cart for transport to a check-out location.
Desk mats and chair mats for office and home use are well known. Such mats can be applied over carpeting and can have short and often relatively sharp spikes on the undersides thereof which hold the mats firmly in place on the carpeting. If merely arranged in a stack, such mats can be difficult or awkward to carry and/or otherwise handle safely. Such mats are now being found increasingly in retail outlets, compounding the need for a safe display of such goods. While such mats may be boxed, the boxes add cost and can be themselves unwieldy. As a result, boxes are not used to any great extent in the retail environment. Thus, with increasing retail activity, new displays are also required. Such mats present display problems since, absent the use of boxes, they do not stand alone unless wound. Even standing on edge in a wound or partially wound state, however, the mats are relatively unstable.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,568,852 discloses a rack for displaying merchandise, especially flat sample pieces of carpets, tiles, or other sheet goods. The rack has two spaced-apart standards and a bar extends laterally between and interconnects the two standards. A plurality of carriers are received on the bar, each carrier having a flat upright body with an opening or hook at an upper end engaging the bar. Each carrier body has a pair of offset hooks to form a bracket for engagement with a handle of the merchandise.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,842 discloses a display stand specifically for displaying mats for retail purchase, the mats being folded over so that the spikes are within the folded mat. The display stand has a pair of vertical standards, braced by horizontal reinforcement rods, which are supported on a pair of leg assemblies. A horizontal display rod is fixed perpendicularly to one of the reinforcement rods using a conventional fastener. A number of display hooks are fixed to the display rod by any suitable means so that the folded mats can be suspended from the hooks.
There remains a need for even better displays specifically intended for use in the pallet rack environment that are sufficiently robust to withstand the wear caused by the stocking and selection activities of particularly heavy sheet goods, for example, folded desk chair mats and floor mats.
One such display intended for mounting on a conventional pallet rack has at least two horizontal tubular members that are telescopically extensible relative to each other. Each of the horizontal tubular members has one end that includes an inverted L-shaped member for engaging an existing cross-support of a pallet rack. The inverted L-shaped member includes a first portion adapted to engage an interior step of an existing cross-support of a pallet rack. A second portion of the inverted L-shaped member depends from the first portion and is fixed to an end of one of the tubular members. A plurality of hooks can be situated on and supported by each telescopically extensible pair of tubular members, the hooks being adapted to engage, directly or indirectly, an upper edge of sheet goods for suspended display within the pallet rack. The plurality of hooks can be movable along the length of the tubular members to permit easy access to the sheet goods by the purchasing public. Two or more adjacent telescopically extensible pairs of tubular members can be coupled together at a fixed separation distance to provide multiple rows of displayed sheet goods.
One feature of the present display is its enhanced stability and strength, which assures longer life under the rigors of heavy product display usage in the large warehouse store environment. Another feature of the present display stand is its expansibility to provide additional space for display of the sheet goods in question. Other features of the present display and the corresponding advantages of those features will be come apparent from the following discussion of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, exemplifying the best mode of practicing the present invention, which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. Moreover, in the figures, like referenced numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views.
A portion of a typical prior art rack 8 is shown in
The cross-support beam 12 can be of any reasonable length and is generally formed to include a front face 32 and a rear face 36. The rear face 36 can include a step 38 which typically extends the entire length of beam 12 and is formed by the junction of vertical surface 40 and horizontal surface 42. Welded to each end of the beam 12 is a right angle vertical bracket 28 which embraces a corner of the upright 10 when the beam is connected thereto. Flange 30 of bracket 28 is parallel to the face 32 of the cross-support beam 12 and carries a pair of connectors 34 welded or riveted to the flange 30. Generally, the two connectors 34 are vertically spaced a distance equal to twice the distance between adjacent slots 20 in one row to provide resistance to warping of the beam 12 under load.
The present display 46 is shown in
Each of the horizontal tubular members 50, 52 has one end that includes an inverted L-shaped member 58, shown in detail in
While these features have been disclosed in connection with the illustrated preferred embodiment, other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art that come within the spirit of the invention as defined in the following claims.
