Supports: racks – Special article – Stacked articles
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-27
2002-06-25
Gibson, Jr., Robert W. (Department: 3634)
Supports: racks
Special article
Stacked articles
C312S071000, C198S457040, C198S457040
Reexamination Certificate
active
06409026
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a showcase structure on which goods or articles such as foods or drinks packed in cans or bottles, i.e., canned foods or drinks and bottled drinks, etc. are placed for sale in shops, such as supermarkets, drugstores, convenience stores and the like. Usually, such a showcase structure comprises a roller support frame that is arranged so as to have a down-slope from the rear end toward the front end of the roller support frame, and on which a plurality of parallel sets of rollers are mounted. The rollers in each parallel set of rollers are mounted rotatably on the roller support frame and arranged one after another from the rear end toward the front end of the roller support frame. Individual articles, such as canned drinks, may be placed across two or more parallel sets of the rollers so that the articles can be moved or slid down one by one along those rollers from the rear end toward the front end.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a showcase assembly unit for such a showcase structure.
2. Prior Art
FIG. 7
represents a showcase structure that is installed in shops such as supermarkets, drugstores, convenience stores and the like, and
FIG. 8
shows a conventional showcase assembly unit that is designed for use with the showcase structure shown in FIG.
7
.
As shown in
FIG. 8
, the showcase assembly unit includes a roller support frame
1
that is arranged so as to have a down-slope from the rear end toward the front end, and on which a plurality of parallel sets of rollers A, B, etc. are mounted across the roller support frame
1
. The rollers in each set A, B are rotatably mounted and arranged one after another from the rear end toward the front end. And the rollers in each set A, B are arranged in parallel with the rollers in each adjacent set across the roller support frame. For example, as shown in FIG.
8
and
FIG. 10
, set A includes a plurality of rollers
2
a
,
2
b
, etc. arranged one after another from the rear end toward the front end of the roller support frame
1
, and set B includes a plurality of rollers
12
a
,
12
b
, etc. arranged similarly and in parallel with the set of rollers A across the roller support frame
1
.
The rollers in each set A, B, such as the roller
2
a
, etc. are each mounted rotatably in the respective directions indicated by arrows
41
or
42
in
FIG. 9
so as to permit the articles thereon to roll or slide down one by one toward the front end.
Then, when a consumer picks up an article that is shown at the foremost end
45
, as shown by an arrow
46
in
FIG. 8
, from the articles placed in series on a particular set of rollers, such as the sets A and B in this case, in the showcase structure in
FIG. 7
, the articles
47
that follow the article
45
just picked up will automatically move down toward the front end one by one along the rollers as shown by arrow
48
in FIG.
8
.
It may be seen from
FIG. 10
that the conventional showcase assembly unit for the showcase structure includes several parallel sets of rollers A, B, C, D that are mounted across the showcase assembly unit, in which the respective rollers in any two adjacent sets are axially aligned with each other. For example, each of the rollers
2
a
,
2
b
,
2
c
, etc. in set A is axially aligned with a corresponding one of the rollers
12
a
,
12
b
,
12
c
, etc. in set B.
FIG. 9
represents the conventional showcase assembly unit for the showcase structure shown in
FIGS. 8 and 10
, which shows the sequence of rollers as viewed from the side to explain how a particular article, such as a canned drink, moves (slides) on the rollers.
FIG. 9
also shows, on an enlarged scale, how the bottom of the article makes contact with the top of the sequence of the rollers.
It may be noticed, as shown in
FIG. 10
that each of the rollers in set A is axially aligned with a corresponding one of the rollers in set B, which is parallel to set A. For example, roller
2
a
in set A is axially aligned with its corresponding roller
12
a
in set B. Similarly, roller
2
b
in set A is axially aligned with its corresponding roller
12
b
in set B.
As viewed from the side of the roller sequence as shown in
FIG. 9
, roller
12
a
in set B is hidden behind roller
2
a
in set A, and roller
12
b
is hidden behind roller
2
b
in set A.
As shown in
FIG. 9
, there is a large gap S that is created on the top between adjacent rollers
2
a
and
2
b
in set A, as well as between adjacent rollers
12
a
and
12
b
in set B, which are not seen behind rollers
2
a
and
2
b.
Thus, when an article
5
, such as a canned drink, is moving along the rollers in the parallel sets A and B as shown in
FIG. 10
, the article must overcome the large gap S on the top between the rollers
2
a
and
2
b
, between the rollers
12
a
and
12
b
, between the rollers
2
b
and
2
c
, and between the rollers
12
b
and
12
c
, etc.
This gap S (
FIG. 9
) may have a different size, depending on the diameters of the adjacent rollers, for example, rollers
2
a
and
2
b
and rollers
12
a
and
12
b
, and also depending on the interval between the outer surfaces of the adjacent rollers, for example, between the outer surfaces of rollers
2
a
and
2
b
, etc.
In any case, as each of the rollers
2
a
,
2
b
,
2
c
, etc. in set A is axially aligned with a corresponding one of the rollers
12
a
,
12
b
,
12
c
, etc. in set B as shown in
FIG. 10
, the gap S on the top between the respective adjacent rollers in the parallel sets of rollers, for example, rollers
2
a
and
2
b
in set A and rollers
12
a
and
12
b
in set B, must be large as viewed from the side in FIG.
9
.
When an article
5
is moving down along the rollers, as indicated by an arrow
48
in
FIG. 8
, it may cause a jolting motion, thereby producing a large noise and much friction each time it moves past the gap S between the adjacent rollers.
When the article
5
is moving from the position shown by phantom lines
5
a
to the position shown by phantom lines
5
b
in
FIG. 9
, it cannot be maintained at a constant level or height, because the large gap S exists between adjacent rollers
2
a
and
2
b
in set A as well as between adjacent rollers
12
a
and
12
b
in set B (not seen), as viewed from the side in FIG.
9
. Thus, each time the article
5
moves past the large gap S, it may cause a jolting motion and produce a large noise. It may be seen in
FIG. 9
that the article is higher when it is placed in the position
5
b
than when it is placed in the position
5
a.
It may be understood from the forgoing description that when a number of individual articles, that are placed one after another on the rollers from the rear end toward the front end of the roller support frame, are moving down one by one, as shown by arrow
48
in
FIG. 8
, the individual articles may receive a force that prevents them from moving forward, depending on the particular shape of the bottom of the article and the particular physical size of the article.
This problem may be solved by two possible ways. One way is to incline the roller support frame more greatly so that the articles can overcome the force that resists their movement. The other way is to make the outer diameter of each individual roller as small as possible and to make the interval between the outer surfaces of adjacent rollers as small as possible so that the gap S which is created on the top between the adjacent rollers
2
a
and
2
b
, for example, can be smaller.
In the former case, however, the articles may be moving forwardly rapidly. Thus, some adequate means must be provided for preventing any one of the following articles
47
from jumping out. Otherwise, the articles
47
that follow the foremost article
45
may exert a great force against the article
45
, which makes it difficult for a consumer to pick up the article
45
. For the latter case, additional manufacturing costs would be incurred, and easy maintenance would be impossible.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention
Gibson , Jr. Robert W.
Kid Co., Ltd.
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