The present invention relates to an advertisement display. More particularly, it pertains to an advertisement display system for a roller grill assembly.
A popular way to display food items at convenience stores and concession stands is to allow the product to both cook and remain warm on roller grill devices. Such roller grills heat the food items and are typical for use with hot dogs, sausages, and other retail food items which lend themselves to processing on roller grills given their shapes. Food items are typically placed on the heated rollers, which are comprised of roller elements which rotate continuously and cause the food item to roll while absorbing heat from the roller surfaces. In view of regulations and cleanliness required in such retail food environments, such roller grills are made of nonstick materials, chromed, or made of other high quality materials specifically suited to both convey heat efficiently, to remain clean, and to be easily maintained in the required sanitary condition.
In a roller grill that can cook many food products at one time, it is not always the case that one type of product is placed on the grill and removed from the grill all at once. Rather, the number of the products on the grill gradually decreases based on sales, and a grill operator accordingly keeps adding uncooked food to the grill. Therefore, cooked products and uncooked products are on the grill at the same time, and it is possible that uncooked products might contaminate cooked products. This problem has been overcome with the use of a grill separating device, which can be used to separate cooked and uncooked food, or to separate food by type.
As can be appreciated, consumers may find it difficult to identify which food item is cooked and which food item is uncooked, and which item is one type of product and which item is another. To overcome this problem, many establishments today label the available food items by using menu options mounted on the wall or the counter in which the retail food items are being offered. It is not always obvious, however, which labeling and pricing information relates to which item that is actually on the roller grill at any given time as available menu items may change throughout the day.
For requirements of cleanliness and isolation of food items from the general public as may be required by health regulations, such roller grills are encased in glass cases to shield the product to prevent contamination of the food and to prevent customers from accidentally being burned by direct access to the grill. It would be desirable to have information about the food item on the roller grill immediately available and in the same location as the items being offered so there is no confusion as to the name of the item, the composition of the item, or other information that consumers would need to know in order to make a selection. It is not always possible or practical to actually label the food item itself. Therefore, having a sign that can be placed near the food item on the grill would provide clear and more precise information, and is more desirable than the methods used today to label food items on the grill.
As can be seen by the foregoing, the main problem inherent in current methods for advertising food products on a roller grill is the need to have information related to the food item immediately available and in the same location as the items being offered so there is no confusion as to the name of the item, the composition of the item, or other information that consumers would need to know in order to make a selection. It is clear from the above description that a need exists for a roller grill advertising device that prevents these problems from occurring.
Devices have been disclosed in the prior art that relate to advertisement signs for roller grills. These include devices that have been patented and published in patent application publications. These devices generally relate to advertisement signs that attach to a roller grill for displaying product information. The following is a list of devices deemed most relevant to the present disclosure, which are herein described for the purposes of highlighting and differentiating the unique aspects of the present invention, and further highlighting the drawbacks existing in the prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,971 B1 to Hunot discloses a means for detachably mounting a cover to the control panel of a roller grill assembly housing. The cover attaches at the lower end of the outer edges via a pair of integral tabs which have holes therethrough for receiving corresponding mounting pins. The cover can contain various advertising indicia.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,701,323 B2 to Fenton discloses a rolling information display apparatus for use with a roller grill. The device includes an elongated envelope with an advertising bearing medium removably positioned inside the envelope. A cylindrical rolling member includes one or more recessed surfaces bearing information about food items offered for sale on the grill.
As can be seen, these prior art devices attach directly to the control panel of the roller grill assembly, or are placed on top of the roller grill surface. The '971 device mounts directly to the roller grill control panel via a hole and pin system. As can be appreciated, this device does not provide an advertisement system that works with a variety of roller grill assemblies, as the device requires direct alignment of the holes and pins with the control panel. The '323 device requires that the cylinder containing the advertising indicia be smaller than the diameter of the rolling member, meaning that the size of the advertisement is limited and therefore difficult to see from a distance. As is evident from the foregoing, a need exists in the art for an advertisement system that can be readily viewed by a consumer from a distance and that works in conjunction with a roller grill food separating device. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.
The present invention overcomes the problems inherent with known roller grill assembly advertisement systems by providing a new and improved advertisement display system that works in conjunction with a roller grill assembly and a food separating device. The device includes a first advertisement display that covers the roller grill assembly control panel. The display utilizes an advertising panel and a pair of J-shaped clips extending from the top of the panel, such that the clips attach to one or more of the food separating device crossover bars to hold the advertising panel in position. The system also includes a second advertisement display comprising a removable advertising panel, an advertising panel support bracket, and a pair of bracket clips. The bracket clips attach to the food separating device separator bars to support the second advertisement display above the food separating device. The advertisement display system provides a convenient solution for providing information to consumers related to the items contained on the roller grill, while preventing the controls from being inadvertently accessed.
The present invention substantially diverges in design elements from the prior art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing roller grill assembly advertisement display systems. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of roller grill assembly advertisement display systems now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new roller grill assembly advertisement display system, wherein the same can be utilized for providing consumers with information related to the food product contained on the roller grill assembly.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved roller grill assembly advertisement display system that has all of the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a roller grill assembly advertisement display system that utilizes a first advertisement display that attaches to a food separating device crossover bar to cover the roller grill assembly control panel.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a roller grill assembly advertisement display system that covers the roller grill assembly control panel to prevent the controls from being inadvertently accessed.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a roller grill assembly advertisement display system that includes a second advertisement display comprising a removable advertising panel, an advertising panel support bracket, and a pair of bracket clips.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a roller grill assembly advertisement display system that utilizes bracket clips that attach to the food separating device separator bars to support the second advertisement display above the food separating device.
The roller grill assembly advertisement display system may be readily fabricated from materials that permit relative economy and are commensurate with durability. Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Although the characteristic features of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims, the invention itself and manner in which it may be made and used may be better understood after a review of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like numeral annotations are provided throughout.
Reference is made herein to the attached drawings. Like reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to depict like or similar elements of the advertisement display system. For the purposes of presenting a brief and clear description of the present invention, the preferred embodiment will be discussed as used for an advertisement display system for a roller grill assembly. The figures are intended for representative purposes only and should not be considered to be limiting in any respect.
Referring now to
The second advertisement display 12 comprises a removable advertising panel (shown in detail below), an advertising panel support bracket 19, and a pair of bracket clips 20. The bracket clips 20 attach to the food separating device separator bars 21 to support the removable advertising panel and the advertising panel support 19 bracket above the food separating device 13.
Referring now to
The second advertisement display 12 utilizes a pair of clips 20 for attachment to the food separating device 13 at the separator bars 21. In the preferred embodiment, the clips 20 comprise a first attachment means for supporting the removable advertising panel 23 and the advertising panel support bracket 19, and a second attachment means for attachment of the clips 20 to the separator bars 21.
Referring now to
Referring now to
Similar to the first clip 20A, the second clip 20B comprises a wide banner bar accommodation slot 31B to secure a removable advertising panel 23 and the advertising panel support bracket 19 in position. The second clip 20B further includes a pair of enlarged sign accommodation slots 32B for securing thicker more rigid third party signs and/or thicker third party separator bars (not show) on the roller grill. A slot 33B is provided for fastening the clip 20B to the separator bars 21. In the preferred embodiment, the second clip 20B is constructed from a plastic material, preferably an FDA plastic, which causes the device to be cool to the touch.
The third clip 20C is designed for use in the harshest environments where the other clips are known to fail. The third clip 20C comprises a central banner bar accommodation slot 31C to secure a removable advertising panel 23 and the advertising panel support bracket 19 in position. Either side of the third clip 20C further includes an enlarged sign accommodation slot 32C for securing thicker more rigid third party signs and/or thicker third party separator bars (not show) on the roller grill. In the preferred embodiment, the third clip 20C is constructed from stainless steel.
Referring now to
Referring now to
The second advertisement display 12 attaches to the food separating device 13 separator bars 21 to support the second display 12 above the food separating device 13. One or more clips 20 as as described above can be used to hold the advertisement display 12 in position. As can be seen, the clips 20 can secure the second display 12 to the separator bars 21 at any position along the length of the bars 21. Alternatively, more than one display 12 can be attached to the separator bars 21. As can be appreciated, using more than one display enables a user to advertise different food products at the same time on one roller grill.
Referring now to
Referring now to
Referring now to
In a preferred embodiment, the removable advertising panel 23 can be divided into sections 23A-D that correspond to the spaces between the separator bars 21. In this configuration, each section of the panel sections 23A-D can be used to identify the contents directly in front thereof. This configuration is particularly useful for food products that appear similar on the exterior while having a different content or flavor, such as mild and spicy sausages. As a non-limiting example, a first section 23A can be utilized to advertise mild sausages, while a second section 23B can be utilized to advertise spicy sausages.
Referring now to
Overall, the present invention provides a convenient solution for an advertisement display system that works in conjunction with a roller grill assembly and a food separating device. The display system enables a user to quickly determine the brand of food contained on the roller grill, the flavor of the food, and the price thereof. The device also limits access to the control panel to prevent inadvertent changes to the cooking settings. The signs can be easily attached and removed as desired to advertise different food products throughout the day (such as different foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner) or to advertise a special price for a limited time.
It is therefore submitted that the instant invention has been shown and described in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art. With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20210056876 A1 | Feb 2021 | US |