Patent Application
20080053943
This invention relates to a product display unit and in particular, though not exclusively, to a display unit for the display of confectionery products.
Not infrequently a confectionery product manufacturer will provide a retailer with a point of sale product display unit which bears the manufacturers name and product brand identification for the purpose of displaying that manufacturer's products.
In consequence of seasonal changes in the demand for different types of product supplied by that manufacturer, and also the introduction of new product lines having differently sized packaging, an initially installed product display unit may cease to provide the desired product display area. Thus the product display area may become too great or too small.
It has been proposed to accommodate variations in the preferred product display area by providing components which can be used as “add-ons” or as replacement for components of the initially installed and assembled product display unit. That, however, suffers the disadvantage that is necessary to safely store display unit components when not in use. In practice there is a risk of the components which are not in use becoming lost or damaged. In addition it can be time consuming to install additional components or replace existing components.
The present invention seeks to provide a product display unit in which at least some of the afore-described disadvantages are mitigated or overcome.
In accordance with the present invention there is provided a product display unit having a product support surface of selectively adjustable area, said product display unit comprising:
attachment means for attachment to a support structure,
a cantilevered support member extending from said attachment means in a first length direction, and
a plurality of elongate support arms which each extend lengthwise in a direction substantially perpendicular to said first length direction,
each support arm being attached to the cantilevered support member and movable between a first position and a second position to vary the area of the product display unit available to support product, characterised in that a support arm is movable between the first and second positions by pivotable movement.
A support arm may be movable between more than two positions. It may be movable between two positions by a movement of one type, such as a pivotal movement, and movable between two other positions by a movement of another type such as a telescopic movement.
All of the support arms may be movable in the same direction, and may be arranged to provide a substantially continuous support surface when in either of the first and second positions. Alternatively, however, some arms may be movable in a direction substantially opposite to that of one or more of the other arms, thereby then typically resulting a support surface having localised regions of discontinuity.
Preferably, when a support arm is in either the first or second support position, it defines a support surface which is substantially co-planar with a support surface of the other support arm(s).
In addition to the support surface area provided by the support arms, the cantilevered support member may comprise integral formations which also provide support surface regions, and said support surface regions similarly may be substantially co-planar with support surfaces defined by the support arms. The integral support formations may be in the form of support ribs which extend each in a direction substantially perpendicular to said first length direction. An integral support rib may be provided between each successive pair of support arms as considered in said first length direction.
A support arm may be pivotally mounted between a pair of said support ribs. Confronting surfaces of a pair of successive support ribs may comprise pivot formations to co-operate with formations on the support arm to provide for pivotal movement between said first and second positions.
The cantilevered support member may be of a fixed length in said first length direction, or may be extendable in said direction. It may comprise two or more sections movable by sliding movement relative to one another, for example by means of telescopic formations. Each support member section may have secured thereto a plurality of said support arms.
A part, such as a distal end region, of a support arm and/or a cantilevered support member may comprise an attachment formation for a structural member which, in use, may be employed for example to enhance structural stability of the display unit and/or to display product information such as product type, product brand or pricing.
These and other objects, advantages and features of the invention will be more readily understood and appreciated by reference to the detailed description of the invention and the drawings.
A product display unit 10 of moulded plastics material comprises a cantilevered support member 11 which extends lengthwise in the direction of the arrow X of
An upper face 16 of the cantilevered support member has formed integrally therewith a plurality of upstanding ribs 17 which each extend perpendicular to the direction X and which are each uniformly spaced in the direction X.
Each rib 17 defines an upper edge 18. The edges 18 of the ribs are co-planar and act as support surfaces for products positioned on the product display unit.
Confronting surfaces of each successive pair of ribs 17 each have moulded integrally therewith a hinge protrusion 19. The two protrusions 19 of the confronting surfaces are aligned with one another and act, as described in more detail below, as pivot points for elongate support arms. The protrusions between one successive pair of confronting surfaces are provided close to one side 20 of the support member 11 whilst those provided by the next successive pair of confronting surfaces are close to the other side 21 of the support member. The pairs of hinge protrusions 19 alternate in a corresponding manner along the whole of the length of the cantilevered support member.
Each successive pair of hinge protrusions 19 provides pivotal mounting for a support arm 23 of a two part type construction as shown in FIGS. 2 to 7. A first part 24 is substantially in the form of an I section beam, with a guide slot 31 formed in the web section 26, between the ends thereof. At one end 27 the part 24 is formed with a pair of recesses 28 each to accommodate in the assembled condition a respective one of the hinge protrusions 19. Additionally, that end 27 has moulded integrally with the beam section a pair of jaw formations 29. The ends of the jaw formations are slightly spaced to provide a gap 30 which, in combination with flexibility of the jaws, allows a snap fit assembly of the protrusions 19 into the recesses 28.
The afore-described first part 24 of the support arm 23 acts as a guide for telescopic movement of a second part 25 as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7.
The second part 25 of the support arm comprises an end formation 32 from which depends a pair of mutually parallel limbs 33. Each limb has at the distal end thereof a protrusion 34 which extends in a direction towards the other limb of the pair. The flexibility of the limbs 33 allows them readily to be assembled relative to the first part 24 with the two limbs lying either side of the web formation 26 of the first part 24 and with the protrusions 24 running in the guide slot 31 of the first.
The end portion 32 of each second part of each support arm is provided with a shape known per se to enable a display panel to be attached thereto in a snap fit manner. The shape is of a symmetrical type whereby a support panel may be secured thereto in either a first or a second, inverted position.
With a plurality of support arms fitted to the cantilevered support member the support arms can be positioned each to lie substantially wholly between a successive pair of ribs 17, thereby to provide a minimum support surface area for product display. The support surface area can then be increased by hinging outwards alternate support arms so as to lie to one side of the cantilevered support member. Rotational movement of the support arms is restricted by contact between the support arms and upper surface 16 of the cantilevered support member such that an upper surface of each outwardly extending support arm is substantially co-planar with the upper edges 18 of the support ribs. A further increase in product display area can then be achieved if required by pivoting outwards those other support arms which lie between the intervening successive pairs of ribs. Yet further increase in product support area can subsequently be achieved by employing the telescopic action of the two parts 24, 25 of each support arm such that each second part 25 lies further outwards from the cantilevered support member 11.
Although not described in detail herein, it is to be understood that the cantilevered support member itself may also be of a telescopic construction and able to extend in length in the direction X. A product display unit having the support arms 23 fully extended and also having a telescopic type support member 11 in the extended condition is shown in the
For comparison purposes
Although it has been described that the product display unit comprises a support member of a cantilevered kind for extending in a single direction from a support structure, it is to be understood that the invention embraces also a product display unit of the kind comprising an attachment means positioned between ends of a cantilevered support member, that cantilevered support member thus extending outwards in two directions from the attachment means, for example into directions mutually opposite relative to one another.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0616979.1 | Aug 2006 | GB | national |
