The present system relates in general to wire shelving units and in particular to wire shelving units for dispensing products such as milk and beverages from refrigerated store cabinets.
The present system provides a shelving rack system, comprising: a wireframe base; at least two divider supports extending across the bottom of the wireframe base; a support panel positioned on top of the wireframe base; and a plurality of dividers positioned on top of the support panel, wherein each divider has at least two legs, and each leg passes through a hole in the support panel and down into a hole in one of the divider supports.
The divider supports extend underneath the bottom of the wireframe base from one side of the wireframe base to the other, and the dividers extend from the back to the front of the shelving rack (above the wireframe base). Thus, the divider supports and the dividers are generally perpendicular to one another. This allows the dividers to be supported perpendicularly at many places along their lengths.
The holes in the support panel are positioned above the holes in the divider supports. Placing the legs of the dividers through the holes in the support panel and into the holes in the divider supports holds the dividers in position above the support panel. In addition, placing the legs of the dividers through the holes in the support panel also secures the support panel in position under the products being dispensed. An advantage of the present system is that the dividers are easily moveable side-to-side such that the side-to-side spacing between parallel dividers is adjustable. As such, the dividers can be positioned at various distances apart from one another that correspond to the widths of the products being dispensed. For example, the dividers can be positioned closer together when narrow cans of soda are positioned thereon, or farther apart when wider gallon jugs of milk are to be dispensed.
One advantage of the present shelving rack is the fact that the spacing between the dividers is quickly and easily adjustable. This is due to the fact that there are more sets of aligned holes in the support panel and divider supports than there are dividers being used. As such, the dividers can easily be moved from one position to another.
Another advantage of the present system is that the flat support panel underneath the products being dispensed reduces the total number of wires required in the wire frame below the support panel. This is due to the fact that the products being dispensed are supported by the flat support panel, rather than simply resting on a wire grid. As such, the wires of the wire grid (i.e. wire base) can be positioned farther apart from one another.
Optionally, the present system also includes a back support (such as a wire) spanning across the back ends of the dividers, and optional bottom legs for positioning the support rack in a cabinet. These and other mechanisms for attaching the present system to a cabinet are all contemplated, all keeping within the scope of the present invention.
The present shelving rack system is seen in
Shelving system 10 comprises: a wireframe base 20; at least two divider supports 30 extending across the bottom of wireframe base 20; a support panel 40 positioned on top of wireframe base 20; and a plurality of dividers 50 positioned on top of support panel 40, wherein each divider 50 has at least two legs 52, and each leg 52 passes through a hole 41 in support panel 40 and also passes down into a hole 31 in one of divider supports 30. In optional embodiments of the present system, support panel 40 is omitted, and product can be placed directly upon wireframe base 20. In further optional embodiments, base 20 is not made of wireframe materials, but is instead made of other suitable materials. As such, the present system is not limited only to wireframe embodiments. As can also be seen, dividers 50 preferably extend from the back 21 to the front 22 of wireframe base 20. Optionally, wireframe base 20 can comprise bottom legs 25 for positioning the support rack in a cabinet.
Preferably, as best seen in
As seen in the close-up view of
As seen in the close-up view of
As can be appreciated, dividers 50 are individually positionable between a plurality of different parallel side-to-side positions such that the side-to-side spacing between parallel dividers can be adjusted as desired. This re-positioning of individual dividers 50 is done by simply moving legs 51 from one hole 31 to another hole 31 in divider supports 30.
Preferably, the parallel wireframe bars 24 extending from the back to the front of the wireframe base 20 are spaced farther apart than the spacing between dividers 50.
As seen in
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