Supports: cabinet structure – Removal facilitating magazine type – Stacked article type
Reexamination Certificate
2001-01-04
2002-06-18
Hansen, James O. (Department: 3636)
Supports: cabinet structure
Removal facilitating magazine type
Stacked article type
C312S234000, C211S049100, C211S059200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06406107
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention is directed to point of purchase display and product dispensers. More particularly, an embodiment of this invention involves display dispensers that are adjustable to dispense a variety of shapes and sizes of packaged products.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Point of purchase displays and dispensing devices are an important segment of retail marketing. Free standing dispensers coupled with advertising graphic messages are common sights close to the cashier and scattered throughout most retail stores. These dispensers take a variety of forms and some depend upon a gravity feed to supply a fresh package to replace the packages removed by the consumer or the store clerk. Products that are dispensed in this manner include cigarette packages, audio and video cassette packages, camera film, women's hosiery, as well as a myriad of other consumer products. It is certainly possible to design a free standing gravity feed dispensing container for a given sized and shaped package. However, a gravity feed dispenser capable of adjustment to dispense a variety of sized and shaped packages is not available.
Prior art devices are described below and include U.S. Pat. No. 3,433,545 to Rainey discloses a typical display and vending apparatus with circa 1960's type internal chutes and guides as shown in
FIGS. 2 & 14
. This device does not teach or make obvious either the vertical or horizontal hinged guides or the locking tabs with the grooves to receive graphic displays.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,745 to Prendergast et al. discloses a display and dispensing apparatus with the side and rear walls molded in one piece joined by vertical living corner hinges. Dividers
42
,
52
, and
62
are rigid and not adjustable. The walls are held in position by sleeve
20
. This device does not teach or make obvious either the vertical or horizontal hinged guides or the locking tabs with the grooves, although a sleeve does provide graphic display.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,628 to Glasener discloses a pilfer-proof dispensing apparatus with a non-adjustable ramp and guides, the packages being dispensed from the rear by insertion of a finger by the clerk. Vertical grooves
27
and
28
are provided to receive graphic advertising panels on the front to the device. This device does not teach or make obvious either the vertical or horizontal hinged guides. The patent does teach grooves to receive graphic displays, but they are not in conjunction with and formed by the locking tabs of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,037,756 to Jaquish discloses a display and dispensing apparatus capable of dispensing various sized and shaped packages using rear spacer
40
that spring clips into positioned slots, and is equipped with knee
42
to aid in dispensing the packages. The dispensing opening is adjustable using plate
30
sliding up and down in channels
26
as shown in
FIGS. 3
to
5
. This device does not teach or make obvious either the vertical or horizontal hinged guides or the locking tabs of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,999 to Jo discloses an open topped audio cassette displayer and dispensing apparatus that non adjustable, but does include transparent sleeves for display of graphic sheets/cards. This device does not teach or make obvious either the vertical or horizontal hinged guides or the locking tabs of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,573 to Celik discloses a tape cassette gravity fed dispenser molded of plastic. The walls are rigid. This device does not teach or make obvious either the vertical or horizontal hinged guides or the locking tabs of the present invention.
None of these devices disclose a device that satisfies the needs described above and below nor attains the objects of the invention described herein below.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
As pointed out above, a variety of point of purchase dispensers are available with graphic displays to alert the consumer that the product is very conveniently available. How ever, a serious problem arises when a change is necessary for the size and/or the shape of the package. The new product packages may not fit into the prior gravity feed dispenser, or they may hang up inside the prior dispenser and block the supply of the packages from the consumer. For example, video cartridges are not only of the VHS size and shape, but also the DVD size and shape. To further complicate the matter, the VHS cartridges are packaged in a variety of containers, including a slip sleeve, clam shell, and capsule containers, and probably others to come. A dispenser for one of these packages may well not perform with different sized package. Many other consumer products, including cigarettes, are marketed in wide variety of package sizes and shapes. It is most desirable to be able to adjust the dispenser to handle without fail a newly sized package. As in a preferred embodiment, it is also most desirable to replace a part of the graphic display without having to change the entire display.
It is an object for an embodiment of the present invention to provide a point of purchase gravity feed dispenser that is adjustable to feed and dispense a variety of sized and shaped packages.
It is an additional object for an embodiment of the present invention to provide a point of purchase gravity feed dispenser for which the height, width and length of the package to be dispensed can be adjusted individually to varying degrees and in any combination.
It is an additional object for a preferred embodiment of the present invention to provide a point of purchase gravity feed dispenser that is injection molded out of a pliable plastic, preferably a polyolefin polymer, in one, two or three parts with each side panel and the front panel adapted to receive graphic panels slid into opposing grooves and tabs to cover the respective panel.
It is an additional object for a more preferred embodiment of the present invention to provide a parallelepiped box shaped point of purchase gravity feed dispenser that is injection molded out of a polyolefin plastic in two parts, one part with opposing vertical side panels, a back panel and a bottom panel joined at their adjacent adjoining edges by living hinges, and a second part being a front panel adapted to interlock to the free vertical edges of the side panels forming opposing vertical grooves or tabs along each vertical edge adapted to receive graphic panels slid into the opposing grooves or tabs to cover the front panel.
An embodiment of the invention is a gravity feed packaged product dispenser including a housing with an inner chamber of sufficient size and shape to hold a plurality of packaged products stacked vertically. The housing includes a bottom wall with an inside floor surface, a rear wall with an inside surface, a right side wall with an inside surface, a left side wall with an inside surface, and a front wall with a lower edge. The housing has a front opening extending frontwardly from the inner chamber having a height bounded by the lower edge of the front wall and the inside floor surface. The dispenser also includes at least one side guide device including at least one side guide member capable of extending inwardly into the inner chamber from the inside surface of a side wall, the member including an outer edge connected to the inside surface of the side wall by a vertical living hinge, and an elongate vertical inner edge extending inwardly disposed to guide a side of packaged products stacked vertically in the housing, and at least one locking means for each side guide member to lock the side guide member at a chosen angle from the inside surface of the side wall. The dispenser also includes a rear guide device including at least one rear guide member capable of extending inwardly into the inner chamber from the inside surface of the rear wall, the member including an outer edge connected to the inside surface of the rear wall by a vertical living hinge, and an elongate vertical inner edge extending inwardly disposed to guide a rear side of packaged products stacked vertically in the housi
Hansen James O.
Lennox, Esq. Thomas A.
Taurus Display Inc.
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