Depth and width adjustable display track unit with removable partitions

• US 20030132178A1
• Filed: 03/30/2002
• Published: 07/17/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Marmon Foodservice Technologies Incorporated (Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Display Technologies, LLC (Leigh M. Rothschild)
• Inventors: Illers, Marty L., Hanretty, Peter, Menz, Albert, Jay, Richard
• Granted Patent: US 6,962,260 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 211/59.2
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 96/021 Structural features of shelf bases
• CPC Class Codes: A47F 5/0043 Show shelves shelves in general A47B96/02; brackets or similar shelf-supporting means A47B96/06; advertising or price indication G09F
• CPC Class Codes: A47F 5/005 Partitions therefore horizontally adjustable A47B57/58; constructional details of drawers A47B88/90

Abstract

This invention is an integrally molded display floor for a gravity feed display tray where the floor has no integrally molded side walls extending upward but has a plurality of longitudinal ribs which can receive upward extending partitions which are releasably attachable to the floor and extend longitudinally, thus dividing the display tray into laterally spaced compartments. Each display tray has opposite marginal side walls extending downward and transversely extending support beams intersecting the longitudinal ribs. The downward extending side walls extend below the bottom surfaces of the longitudinal ribs thus establishing a basement where the bottom surfaces of the ribs constitute the ceiling of the basement. This basement is a space suitable for receiving downward extending tabs of the partition to engage and stabilize such partition with the display track. The basement also provides suitable space for lateral extending coupling means from one display track to the next for coupling adjacent display tracks to provide a wider transverse area thereof. Furthermore, the basement allows space for further coupling members extending from the rear end of any display track element to the front end of the next for coupling thereto. These coupling elements are flexible hook type members which engage into mating recesses and are releasable upon deflecting and/or bending one with respect to the other. A variety of additional coupling means are provided for insuring that the partition is securely engaged but readily releasable from the display track and repositionable on the surface of the display track between any two pair of adjacent longitudinal ribs.

Claims

1. An integrally molded display floor for a gravity-feed display tray, said floor being devoid of integrally molded side walls upstanding therefrom and having front and rear ends, comprising:

(A) a laterally spaced plurality of narrow longitudinally-extending product support means disposed in a common plane, the top surfaces of said product support means defining a track for supporting products thereon;

(B) a pair of laterally spaced longitudinally-extending marginal supports projecting downwardly from said common plane a substantial distance;

(C) a longitudinally spaced plurality of transversely-extending supports projecting downwardly from said common plane said substantial distance and intersecting said longitudinally-extending supports;

a basement below said common plane, the bottom surfaces of said product support means defining a discontinuous ceiling of said basement, said marginal longitudinal supports defining the lateral sidewalls of said basement, and said transverse supports both defining the front and rear walls of said basement and further dividing said basement into a plurality of basement chambers, each said basement chamber extending substantially the full width of said floor, and said basement chambers in combination extending the longitudinal length of said floor.

2. The floor of claim 1 including at the front thereof a front lip extending above said common plane to block forward movement of product from said floor.

3. The floor of claim 2 wherein said front lip extends upwardly from the bottom of said product support means for additional support.

4. The floor of claim 1 wherein said product support means are laterally spaced to enable the passage of cooling air through said common plane.

5. The floor of claim 1 wherein each said marginal longitudinal supports define adjacent the front thereof a downwardly-opening recess adapted to receive an upstanding front edge of a substrate, whereby said floor can extend forwardly beyond said upstanding front edge of said substrate and serve as a candy blocker.

6. The floor of claim 1 including both length extension means and width extension means.

7. A display tray comprising in combination:

(A) the display floor of claim 1;

and

(B) as least one laterally spaced pair of integrally molded, relocatable, longitudinally-extending partitions upstanding from said common plane,

said adjacent pair of said partitions and a portion of said track therebetween defining a travel path for products.

8. The tray of claim 7 wherein each said partition defines below a bottom edge thereof a plurality of downwardly-extending half-arrowheads disposed below said common plane and in said basement, for temporary lateral displacement of and downward insertion past segments of an adjacent pair of said product support means.

9. The tray of claim 8 wherein said half-arrowheads are spaced below said bottom edge by the height of said product support means.

10. The tray of claim 9 wherein alternating ones of said half-arrowheads are laterally oriented in opposite directions, and said bottom edge defines a plurality of upwardly-extending slits enabling generally independent lateral movement of said alternating half-arrowheads.

11. The tray of claim 8 wherein each said half-arrowhead has a top surface defining a bevel to facilitate upward removal of said partition from said floor.

12. The tray of claim 7 wherein a bottom edge of said partition additionally includes at the front thereof, first floor-engaging means for engaging said floor to block lifting of said partition from said floor at the front thereof.

13. The tray of claim 12 wherein said floor-engaging means comprises an element extending beneath a front portion of said floor.

14. The tray of claim 12 wherein said first floor-engaging means comprises a finger extending forwardly in the direction of said front end of said floor.

15. The tray of claim 14 wherein said partition additionally includes second floor-engaging means similar to and longitudinally spaced rearwardly from said first floor-engaging means.

16. The tray of claim 12 wherein each of said partitions further comprises a biasing element engaging said floor and urging said partition forward, thus urging said first floor-engaging means to remain in engagement with said floor and thereby to block lifting of said partition.

17. The tray of claim 16 wherein said biasing element is a trigger integrally molded in said partition, said trigger including a pulling portion engageable by a user and a finger portion that engages said floor and presses resiliently rearwardly, thus urging said partition forwardly, said finger portion being disengageable from said floor by pulling of said trigger.

18. The tray of claim 7 wherein said basement defines a chamber where said floor forms the ceiling of said basement, and said transversely extending supports define between them sub-chambers of said basement.

19. The tray of claim 7 wherein said longitudinally extending product support means comprises elongated ribs, and wherein each of said partitions further comprises at least one downward extending floor-engaging means which is extendable downward between one set of said adjacent ribs for releasable engagement to said floor.

20. A pair of display floors according to claim 6 releasably coupled to each other in side-by-side relationship by said width-extension means, wherein each of said width-extension means comprises a male element extending transversely from a marginal longitudinal support of one of said floors and a female receptacle formed as part of said basement of the other of said floors.

21. A pair of display floors according to claim 2 releasably coupled to each other in side-by-side relationship, further comprising a lip extender formed as a transverse strip having length essentially the same as the combined transverse widths of said coupled display floors and height greater than that of said front lip, said lip extender situated to overlie and be releasably coupled to said lips of said coupled floors to thereby stiffen the junction therebetween.

22. A pair of display floors of claim 21 wherein each of said lips includes an upper edge and a lower edge, and said lip extender has on its rear side a pair of transversely extending and vertically spaced flanges which engage said upper and lower edges respectively.

23. A floor of claim 1 wherein said longitudinally extending product support means comprises a plurality of ribs of generally triangular cross-section with the apex of each triangle pointed upward and the base of the triangle forming part of said basement ceiling.

24. A floor of claim 23 wherein each of said ribs intersects said transversely extending supports such that a portion of said triangle extends above the top of each of said transversely extending supports.

25. A floor of claim 24 wherein each of said triangles extends above said transversely extending supports by approximately one half of the triangle'"'"'s height.

26. A display floor of claim 1 positionable on an inclined gondola shelf, said display floor further comprising at its rear end rear attachment means for releasably coupling said display floor to said gondola shelf.

27. A display floor according to claim 26 wherein said rear attachment means comprises a pin coupled to said floor and to said gondola.