Supports: racks – Special article – Stacked articles
Reexamination Certificate
2002-08-16
2004-06-08
Chin-Shue, Alvin (Department: 3634)
Supports: racks
Special article
Stacked articles
Reexamination Certificate
active
06745906
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In my above mentioned co-pending application, there is disclosed an approved form of adjustable width product display assembly, which comprises a display rack, formed of longitudinally and transversely disposed wire elements, mounted at the front and back by special plastic base support bases. The respective front and back bases are provided with a pair of spaced-apart, transversely disposed grooves for receiving transverse bottom portions of adjustable side supports. The side supports are snugly but movably received within the grooves of the plastic base members, to accommodate lateral adjustment, in order to set up the display for reception of packages of different widths. Additionally, by utilizing side supports having transverse elements extending in opposite directions from a single vertical divider element, it is possible to join a series of product display units in side-by-side relation.
The foregoing are features of significant advantage, which are described and claimed in my before mentioned co-pending application. The present invention is directed to specific improvements in the structure of my co-pending application, specifically with respect to the design and functions of the molded plastic base elements.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
The present invention is directed in part to the design of plastic base member, of the type described in my co-pending application, which has a lower effective profile and thus enables the display rack to be supported at a lower level with respect to a shelf or other surface on which the assembly is positioned. This is accomplished by, among other things, positioning recesses for the reception of the adjustable side elements and for reception of transverse elements of the display rack with sufficient spacing to accommodate at least some vertical overlap in the levels of their respective cross sections, such that lower portions of the transverse elements of the rack can lie below upper portions of transverse elements of the side supports. The display rack thus can be supported over the surface on which it is placed with a minimum clearance space, in order to optimize utilization of the available space.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the respective recesses for receiving the transverse portions of the side supports are open along their entire length, along the bottom, to form lateral entrance openings which are only slightly narrower in width than the diameter of the wire elements to be received therein. This enables the transverse elements of the side supports to be installed by a lateral snap-in action, rather than requiring them to be inserted lengthwise into the recesses. This simplifies and expedites the assembly operation. The upwardly opening recess, for receiving a cross bar of the display rack, likewise is designed to accommodate and facilitate a lateral (i.e., downward) snap-in positioning of the cross bar within the recess.
Where the display assembly is intended to be used in connection with a spring-actuated product pusher, the base molding of the invention advantageously is provided with one or more anchor slots for the reception and anchoring engagement of the forward end of a pusher spring.
In certain advantageous forms of the invention, hook-like guide and/or support elements are provided along one side. For certain specialty applications, such as freezer displays, these hook-like elements provide a convenient and effective means for supporting the display rack at its opposite ends by means of spaced-apart support rods or the like, without any shelf or rack structure underneath the display. For more conventional shelf displays, the hook-like elements can be used to great advantage in combination with a guide track element mounted along a front and/or back edge of the display shelf. The design of the hook-like elements is such as to enable them to be installed downwardly over the top of a guide track, with a snap-in connection, after which the display rack may be laterally moved and positioned along the guide track. The use of such guide tracks provides a neat-appearing display, allowing the individual display racks to be reliably retained in their initially adjusted positions.
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Chin-Shue Alvin
Purol Sarah
Schweitzer Cornman Gross & Bondell LLP
Trion Industries Inc.
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