SELECTIVELY LOCKING MERCHANDISING MEMBER

• US 20160296038A1
• Filed: 03/21/2016
• Published: 10/13/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fasteners for Retail Incorporated (FFR DSI Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Fasteners for Retail Incorporated (FFR DSI Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Walker, William H., Bird, Gregory M., Obitts, Shane, Brej, Thaddeus
• Granted Patent: US 9,770,121 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 57/58 with means for adjusting partitions horizontally book-ends A47B65/00
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 57/583 by sliding
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 57/585 with connection means slidable in a rail
• CPC Class Codes: A47F 1/125 with an article-pushing device
• CPC Class Codes: A47F 5/005 Partitions therefore horizontally adjustable A47B57/58; constructional details of drawers A47B88/90
• CPC Class Codes: A47F 7/28 for containers, e.g. flasks, bottles , tins, milk packs racks or containers with dispensing arrangements A47F1/04; for lipsticks or markers A47F7/0021; for audio/video cassettes or booklike articles A47F7/14

Abstract

A merchandising system includes an elongated mounting member having a wall with at least one tooth and a cooperating member having a front end receivable on the mounting member. The cooperating member can include a slot defined in the front end. A lock is received in the slot. The lock includes at least one tooth located at a first end and a resilient member located at a second end. The lock can selectively engage the mounting member so as to retard or permit a lateral movement of the cooperating member in relation to the mounting member.

Claims

1. A merchandising system comprising:

an elongated mounting member including a wall, said wall comprising at least one tooth;

a cooperating member including a front end, said front end adapted to be received on the mounting member and adapted to selectively engage said wall thereof, the cooperating member including a chamber accessible through a slot defined in the cooperating member front end; and

a lock received in said slot, said lock including at least one tooth located at a first end and a resilient member located at a second end, wherein said resilient member is adapted to bias said at least one tooth of said lock into engagement with said at least one tooth of said mounting member so as to retard a lateral movement of said cooperating member in relation to said mounting member; and

wherein said lock is linearly movable relative to the cooperating member against a bias of the resilient member in order to selectively disengage the lock at least one tooth from said at least one tooth of said mounting member to permit a lateral movement of said cooperating member in relation to said mounting member.

2. The merchandising system of claim 1, further comprising a tab mounted on the lock and accessible over the wall of the mounting member, wherein urging the tab in a direction counter to the bias of said resilient member disengages said at least one tooth of said lock from said at least one tooth of said mounting member.

3. The merchandising system of claim 1, further comprising a protrusion extending from the cooperating member and adapted to engage the mounting member to retard a vertical movement of the cooperating member away from the mounting member.

4. The merchandising system of claim 3, wherein said mounting member wall comprises a groove in which the protrusion of the cooperating member is selectively located.

5. The merchandising system of claim 1, further comprising a connection structure for connecting said lock to said cooperating member.

6. The merchandising system of claim 5, wherein the connection structure comprises a protrusion located in the slot of said cooperating member and a clip defined on said lock wherein said clip selectively mounts to said protrusion in order to hold said lock in the slot of said cooperating member.

7. The merchandising system of claim 1 wherein said mounting member wall includes a plurality of spaced teeth, and said lock first end includes a plurality of spaced teeth which are adapted to selectively engage the plurality of teeth of said mounting member.

8. The merchandising system of claim 1, further comprising a front wall secured to the cooperating member, the front wall extending in a direction oriented generally transverse to a longitudinal axis of the cooperating member.

9. The merchandising system of claim 8 wherein the front wall includes a first engaging portion and the cooperating member includes a second engaging portion, wherein the first and second engaging portions cooperate to secure the front wall to the cooperating member.

10. The merchandising system of claim 1, wherein the lock resilient member comprises a ring-shaped element.

11. A merchandising system comprising:

an elongated mounting member including a longitudinal axis, said mounting member including a front wall, a back wall, and a channel defined between the front wall and the back wall, said front wall including a plurality of spaced teeth;

a cooperating member including an elongated body which is oriented in a direction generally traverse to said mounting member longitudinal axis, said cooperating member including a front end, wherein at least a portion of the cooperating member front end is received in the channel of said mounting member, and wherein said front end comprises a chamber accessible via a slot defined in the front end;

a lock received in said slot and mounted to said cooperating member, said lock including a first end comprising a plurality of spaced teeth and a second end comprising a biasing member adapted for biasing the lock forwardly in the chamber;

wherein the plurality of spaced teeth of the elongated mounting member selectively engages the plurality of spaced teeth of the lock to retard a lateral movement of said cooperating member in relation to said mounting member;

wherein the plurality of spaced teeth of said mounting member are disengaged from the plurality of spaced teeth of the lock when the lock is slid rearwardly away from the cooperating member front end against the bias of the biasing member thereby permitting the lateral movement of said cooperating member in relation to said mounting member.

12. The merchandising system of claim 11, wherein the biasing member includes a resilient ring-shaped element.

13. The merchandising system of claim 11, wherein said lock further comprises a plateau-like portion including a front face adapted for manual contact.

14. The merchandising system of claim 11, further comprising a wall defined on the mounting member, wherein the wall is oriented generally transverse to a longitudinal axis of the cooperating member and selectively engages a portion of the cooperating member to retard a movement of the cooperating member away from the mounting member.

15. The merchandizing system of claim 11, further comprising a front wall which includes at least one engaging element for locking the front wall to the cooperating member.

16. A merchandising system comprising:

an elongated mounting member including a first engaging member;

a cooperating member configured to attach to the mounting member, the cooperating member including a front end comprising a second engaging member;

a third engaging member mounted to the cooperating member wherein the third engaging member is adapted to move linearly along a longitudinal axis of the cooperating member from an extended position to a retracted position; and

wherein the third engaging member comprises a first end including an engaging element for selectively engaging a surface of the mounting member and a second end comprising a biasing member for biasing the third engaging member to the extended position in order to retard a movement of the cooperating member in a lateral direction parallel to a longitudinal axis of the mounting member; and

a tab extending over the mounting member, the tab being adapted to be manually contacted for pushing the third engaging member into the retracted position against the bias of the biasing member.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the third engaging member first end and second end are disposed in a first plane and the tab is disposed in a second plane, spaced from the first plane.

18. The system of claim 16 wherein the engaging element of the third engaging member comprises at least one protrusion and wherein the surface of the mounting member comprises at least one protrusion.

19. The system of claim 16 wherein the first engaging member includes a portion of the mounting member and the second engaging member includes a portion of the cooperating member, wherein the first and second engaging members cooperate to retard a movement of the cooperating member in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the mounting member.

20. The system of claim 16 further comprising a connection structure for connecting the third engaging member to the cooperating member.