Display dispenser

• US 20050067429A1
• Filed: 09/26/2003
• Published: 03/31/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Solo Cup Operating Corporation (Robert Charles Dart)
• Original Assignee: Solo Cup Operating Corporation (Robert Charles Dart)
• Inventors: Halbherr, Michael S.
• Granted Patent: US 7,017,778 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 221/192
• CPC Class Codes: A47F 1/126 the pushing device being urged by spring means

Abstract

The present invention pertains to a display dispenser having a disposable molded tray with a thin shell, unibody construction that firmly receives a removable pusher assembly. The tray is formed from a unitary sheet of plastic that forms inner and outer shells. Each shell forms the inside or outside half of a continuous wall around the perimeter of the tray. The two wall halves are integrally joined along a top portion, but otherwise spaced apart to provide a double-walled construction. Each wall has a frustoconical shape so that the trays nest into each other when stacked. The inner shell has an interior portion with two symmetrical side ledges that support and align the sides of the packages. The top of the package faces forward to show the artistic design on the article such as the paper plates or paper napkins inside. The inner shell has a central recess that snuggly receives the unified pusher assembly. A rim extending from the wall and a floor of the recess lay flat on a surface of a shelf.

Claims

1. A display dispenser for resting on a shelf having a substantially flat supporting surface and for holding a plurality of like-shaped packages in a queued column that includes a frontmost package, each package containing a plurality of articles such as a stack of paper plates or paper napkins, each package having a top that shows a design appearing on the articles, said display dispenser comprising:

a tray having a thin-shelled unibody construction with a double-walled structure around its perimeter and an interior portion that define a pocket for holding the packages, said double-wall structure having a front wall and first and second side walls, each of said walls having an inner wall section and an outer wall section, said inner and outer wall sections of each of said walls being joined at a top portion and spaced apart to define a substantially hollow interior, each of said outer wall sections having a first lower end, said first lower ends engaging the flat supporting surface, each of said inner wall sections having a second lower end, said second lower ends being joined to a lower portion with a recess;

a pusher assembly having a rigid pusher support, a pusher plate and a biasing mechanism, said pusher plate being slidingly secured to said pusher support and having an upwardly extending portion, said pusher support being snuggly receivable in said recess of said tray, and said biasing mechanism biasing said pusher plate toward said front wall of said tray; and

,

wherein the packages are placed between said pusher plate and said front wall, said inner wall sections of said side walls of said tray engaging and flushly aligning the sides of the like-shaped packages, said pusher assembly biasing said packages toward said front wall of said tray, and the top of the frontmost package being pressed against said inner wall section of said front wall to display the design on the top of the frontmost package.

2. The display dispenser of claim 1, and wherein said pusher support, pusher plate and biasing mechanism are matingly coupled together to form a unified pusher assembly apart from said tray, said unified pusher assembly remaining matingly coupled together to retain its assembled integrity when being separated from and secured to said tray.

3. The display dispenser of claim 2, and wherein said tray said tray is elongated and includes a rear wall with inner and outer wall sections, and said lower interior section includes an intermediate shelf, each of said inner wall sections being integrally joined to said shelf, said shelf being upwardly offset from said first lower ends to accommodate said recess extending below said shelf, and said recess being elongated to extend from a location proximal said rear wall to a location proximal said front wall.

4. The display dispenser of claim 3, and wherein each of said inner wall sections is integrally joined to its two adjacent inner wall sections and said lower interior portion to form a continuous inner shell, and each of said outer wall sections is integrally joined to its two adjacent outer wall sections to form a continuous outer shell, said continuous inner shell being continuously joined to said continuous outer shell along said top portion of each of said walls.

5. The display dispenser of claim 4, and wherein said first lower ends of said outer wall sections are in planar alignment and uniformly and continuously supportingly engage the supporting surface around said perimeter of said tray, and said recess has a floor that supportingly engages the supporting surface.

6. The display dispenser of claim 3, and wherein said recess and said rigid pusher support have substantially equal predetermined lengths and said recess has opposed ends, each of said opposed ends having a securement knob located along an upper end of said recess, said securement knobs extending toward each other and into said recess, and at least one of said securement knobs being compressingly deformable and inwardly biased to allow said pusher support to snap fit into and out of said recess, said knobs securing said pusher support to said tray when inserted into said recess.

7. The display dispenser of claim 6, and wherein said recess has a rectangular shape with width and depth dimensions, and said pusher support has a similar rectangular shape with substantially similar length, width and depth dimensions.

8. The display dispenser of claim 1, and wherein said thin-shelled unibody construction has a thickness of between about 0.03 inches and about 0.04 inches.

9. The display dispenser of claim 1, and wherein said tray has front and rear ends and said side walls form opposed ledges, said ledges having a predetermined length extending between said front and rear ends of said tray, said ledges being spaced apart to supportingly engage the packages placed between said ledges, and each of said ledges being uniformly shaped along its length to permit sliding engagement with the packages, and said packages are placed within said perimeter of said tray.

10. The display dispenser of claim 9, and wherein each package contains a stack of round paper plates and has a round side with a given diameter, and each of said ledges has a rounded cross sectional shape that flushly engages the round side of each package.

11. The display dispenser of claim 9, and wherein each package contains a stack of square paper napkins having square sides and a given width, and each of said ledges has a vertical portion and a horizontal portion, said vertical portions being substantially parallel and spaced apart said given width of the package to flushly engage opposed sides of the package, and said horizontal portions being substantially planar to flushly engage one of the side of each package.

12. The display dispenser of claim 3, and wherein said top portion of said front wall has a window between two opposed shoulders, said shoulders engaging the top of the frontmost package and said window visibly exposing the design on the top of the frontmost package.

13. The display dispenser of claim 12, and wherein each package contains a stack of paper plates, each plate having a given radius, and said window has a semi-circular top portion with a radius of about half the radius of the plate.

14. The display dispenser of claim 12, and wherein each package has a bottom, a top with a predetermined width dimension and a side with a predetermined height dimension, the width dimension being greater than twice the height dimension, and said top portion of said front wall of said tray has a height dimension that is smaller than half the width dimension of the package, the package extending above said top portion of said front wall when placed on its side in said tray.

15. The display dispenser of claim 5, and wherein the substantially flat supporting surface is a metal shelf of a shelving unit, said metal shelf being one of either horizontal and inclined, and said floor of said recess has an undersurface with a magnetic strip secured thereto, said magnetic strip magnetically securing said tray to the metal shelf.

16. The display dispenser of claim 3, and wherein said inner and outer wall sections of each of said walls have an inverted V-shape, said inner wall sections forming a frustoconical shape and said outer wall sections forming a reverse frustoconical shape to form a frustoconically shaped double wall structure, and said trays are nestable when stacked one atop another.

17. The display dispenser of claim 9, and wherein said tray has a line of symmetry and each package has a line of symmetry, and wherein said side walls of said tray align the line of symmetry of the package in linear alignment with said line of symmetry of said tray.

18. The display dispenser of claim 1, and wherein each package has a transparent wrapper enclosing its plurality of articles, and the design appearing on the top of each package is the design on a top article in that package.

19. The display dispenser of claim 1, and wherein said perimeter of said tray has a rectangular shape with four corners and each of said walls has opposed longitudinal ends located at said corners, and said inner and outer wall sections of each of said walls are continuous from end to end, and each of said inner wall sections is continuously joined to its said outer wall section along said top portion of that said wall.

20. A method of displaying and dispensing packages of round paper plates on a shelf of a store with an aisle along which customers walk, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of packages, each of said packages containing a stack of paper plates including a top plate, each of said plates having an artistic design on its top surface, each of said package including a transparent wrapper to package its stack of paper plates, said design on said top surface of said top plate showing through said wrapper, said package having a round side wall with a predetermined height, and said package having a diameter larger than its height;

providing a display dispenser with a tray and a pusher assembly, said tray having a unibody construction formed by a thin sheet with a front wall and opposed arcuate side ledges, said pusher assembly having a pusher plate biased toward said front wall, and said front wall having an arcuate window formed between a pair of opposed shoulders;

loading said plurality of packages into said tray in a queued manner to form a stocked display, said opposed arcuate ledges of said tray supporting said round side wall of each of said packages, each of said packages being placed between said pusher plate and said front wall of said tray;

allowing said display dispenser to push said queued packages toward said front wall and aligning a frontmost package with said front wall with its said design located in said window between said shoulders of said display; and

,

placing said stocked display dispenser on the shelf of the store, said design on said top plate of said frontmost package facing toward the aisle and being in a visible line of sight of the customers independent of the height of the shelf.

21. The method of displaying and dispensing packages of claim 20, and wherein each of said plates has a central area having a given radius, and said design is located in said central area, and said window has a radius that is one of either substantially equal to or larger than said radius of said central area of said plates, and said design of said frontmost package is substantially entirely in said visible line of sight of the customer.

22. A method of displaying and dispensing packages of paper napkins on a shelf of a store with an aisle along which customers walk, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of packages, each of said packages containing a stack of paper napkins including a top napkin, each of said napkins having an artistic design on its top surface, each of said package including a transparent wrapper to package its stack of paper napkins, said design on said top surface of said top napkin showing through said wrapper, said package having a side wall with a predetermined height, and said package having a width larger than its height;

providing a display dispenser with a tray and a pusher assembly, said tray having a unibody construction formed by a thin sheet with a front wall and opposed side ledges, said pusher assembly having a pusher plate biased toward said front wall, and said front wall having a window formed between a pair of opposed shoulders;

loading said plurality of packages into said tray in a queued manner to form a stocked display, said opposed side ledges of said tray supporting said side wall of each of said packages, each of said packages being placed between said pusher plate and said front wall of said tray;

allowing said display dispenser to push said queued packages toward said front wall and aligning a frontmost package with said front wall with its said design located in said window between said shoulders of said display; and

,

placing said stocked display dispenser on the shelf of the store, said design on said top napkin of said frontmost package facing toward the aisle and being in a visible line of sight of the customers independent of the height of the shelf.

23. The method of displaying and dispensing packages of claim 22, and wherein each of said napkins has a central area and said design is located in said central area, and said window is substantially equal to said central area of each of said napkins and said design, and said design of said frontmost package is substantially entirely in said window and said visible line of sight of the customer.

24. A method of displaying, dispensing and organizing matched sets of packages of round paper plates and square paper napkins placed on a shelf of a store having an aisle along which customers walk, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of separate and distinct plate display dispensers and a plurality of separate and distinct napkin display dispensers, each display dispenser having a tray with a thin unibody construction with a front wall and a unified pusher assembly having a pusher plate biased toward said front wall, each plate display dispenser having opposed arcuate side ledges and said front wall having a top with an arcuate window formed between a pair of opposed shoulders, and each napkin display dispenser having opposed side ledges, and said front wall having a top with a window formed between a pair of opposed shoulders;

providing a first matched set of packages of round paper plates and square paper napkins, each plate and napkin in said first matched set having a top surface with a first design;

providing a second matched set of packages of round paper plates and square paper napkins, each plate and napkin in said second matched set having a top surface with a second design, each package having an outer transparent wrapper, said design on said top surface of said plates and napkins showing through said wrapper, each of said packages having a side wall of a predetermined height, and said height being smaller than one of either said diameter and width of said package;

stocking each of said display dispensers with one of either said packages of round paper plates and said packages of square paper napkins, each of said display dispensers having packages with one of either said first design and said second design, said opposed arcuate ledges of said plate display dispensers supporting said round side wall of said packages of paper plates, said opposed ledges of said napkin display dispensers supporting said flat side wall of each package of paper napkins, each of said packages being placed between said pusher plate and said front wall of said display dispenser; and

,

placing said stocked display dispensers on the shelf of the store, each matched set being in one of either a side-by-side arrangement and a one-above-the other arrangement, said design of said frontmost package facing toward the aisle and being in a visible line of sight of the customers independent of the height of the shelf upon which said stacked display dispensers are placed.

25. The method of claim 24, and wherein said design is one of a single color and a multi-colored artistic design.

26. A method of displaying, dispensing and organizing matched sets of packages of round paper plates and square paper napkins placed on a shelf of a store having an aisle along which customers walk, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of separate and distinct trays, each tray having a unibody construction with a front wall and at least one recess;

providing a plurality if unified pusher assemblies having a pusher support, a pusher plate and a biasing mechanism;

providing a first matched set of packages of paper plates and paper napkins, each plate and napkin in said first matched set having a top surface with a first corresponding design;

providing a second matched set of packages of paper plates and paper napkins, each plate and napkin in said second matched set having a top surface with a second corresponding design, each package having an outer transparent wrapper, said design on said top surface of said plates and napkins showing through said wrapper;

installing one of said unified pusher assemblies into each of said trays to form a display dispenser, said pusher support being securably received in said at least one recess, and said biasing mechanism biasing its said pusher plate toward said front wall;

stocking each of said display dispensers with one of either said packages of paper plates and said packages of paper napkins, each of said display dispensers having packages with one of either said first design and said second design, each of said packages being placed between said pusher plate and said front wall of said display dispenser; and

,

placing said stocked display dispensers on the shelf of the store, each matched set being in one of either a side-by-side arrangement and a one-above-the other arrangement, said design of said frontmost package of each said stocked display dispenser facing toward the aisle and being in a visible line of sight of the customers independent of the height of the shelf upon which said stacked display dispensers are placed;

removing each of said display dispensers when its said packages have been depleted;

separating said pusher assembly from said tray of said depleted display dispenser; and

,

discarding said tray of said depleted display dispenser.

27. The method of claim 26, and wherein said packages of paper plates are round and said packages of paper napkins are square, and said trays are one of either plate trays and napkin trays, said plate trays being used to form separate and distinct plate display dispensers and said napkin trays being used to form separate and distinct napkin display dispensers, each plate display dispenser having opposed arcuate side ledges, and each napkin display dispenser having opposed flat side ledges, said opposed arcuate side ledges of said plate display dispensers supporting said round side wall of said round packages of paper plates, said opposed flat side ledges of said napkin display dispensers supporting said flat side wall of each package of paper napkins.