Supports: racks – Specially mounted
Patent
1994-04-15
1996-02-06
Purol, David M.
Supports: racks
Specially mounted
211184, A47F 500
Patent
active
054890314
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to shelving, particularly to modular metal shelving for use in retail outlets to display and merchandise consumer products for general use throughout the retail industry. Such shelving is used in ambient and refrigerated conditions.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
A necessary feature of such shelving is the provision of means to accommodate shelf sub-division elements known in the industry as `risers and dividers` which are used to subdivide a shelf into separate areas to hold different types of goods in isolation, prevent the goods from mixing and in the case of sloping shelves from falling off the shelves.
These risers and dividers can be made of many materials but generally are of either glass, transparent plastics materials or wire construction in the form of a flat grid, all of which allow the product displayed on the shelf to be seen through the risers/dividers. By definition the `risers` are the sub-divider elements fixed to the front and back of the shelf while the `dividers` are the adjustable sub-divider elements which run from the front to the back of the shelf and are connected to, and supported by, the riser elements by means of various connectors.
Prior art shelves have been designed in numerous different ways to accommodate the fixing and supporting of riser elements of the various materials described above. Two solutions have emerged which dominate the retail metal shelving markets: front 204 and back 205 of the shelves 201 to accommodate the riser elements 206 (see FIG. 1) and back 211 of the shelves 208 at close intervals in lines parallel to and close to the edges of the shelf to accommodate pins 212 fixed to or forming part of the risers. In this case, it is also necessary to provide a second perforated landing 214 under the shelf proper to accept the pins and give the riser stability not provided by the
thin metal of the shelf (see FIG. 2)
A variation of the type A shelf is disclosed in DE-B-1102545 in which a biasing clip is included in the front and rear channels.
Shelf types `A` and `B` constitute the vast majority of all modular metal shelves produced commercially and the remaining shelf types either have no means to accommodate risers and dividers or feature variations of the retaining shelf types `A` or `B`.
There are a number of disadvantages associated with the prior art shelving namely: predetermined width and cannot be altered to accommodate risers of different thicknesses which may be more suitable or economical to use. display food products by providing a place for food particles to lodge and bacteria to incubate. Health Authorities have already banned the use of this type of shelf in some instances. easily incorporate projecting wire pins to support risers but this type of riser is no longer visually acceptable to most retailers as the visible wire construction detracts from the presentation of products on display. This shelf cannot easily accommodate glass risers as there is no practical way to connect projecting pins to glass and the alternative solution of a metal sub-structure is most unsatisfactory and expensive. Risers manufactured from transparent plastics material can more easily be accommodated but at additional expense over type `A` shelf risers. potential health hazard when used to display food products particularly meat and similar products having a high liquid content. Health Authorities have also banned this type of shelf in some instances. of necessity, very wasteful of shelf space taken up by the distance from shelf edge to the centre line of the perforations, thus reducing the effective depth of the shelf. Where back risers are used this waste space is doubled. and front of shelves and duplicated underneath as described. Consequently, an average 1 m shelf would have as many as 80 small holes/slots punched in its surface. The cost of providing and maintaining tooling for this punching operation, particularly in modern mechanised production, is very expensive and adds considerably to the set up and produc
REFERENCES:
patent: 4190167 (1980-02-01), Wells et al.
patent: 4765492 (1988-08-01), Howard et al.
patent: 4775058 (1988-10-01), Yatsko
patent: 5341945 (1994-08-01), Gibson
patent: 5353939 (1994-10-01), Beeler et al.
Carroll Products and Designs Limited
Purol David M.
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