Supports: racks – Special article – Stacked articles
Reexamination Certificate
2002-08-12
2004-07-06
Gibson, Jr., Robert W. (Department: 3634)
Supports: racks
Special article
Stacked articles
C211S049100, C211S135000, C312S042000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06758349
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to displays.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Many types of displays are used in the retail environment. In one exemplary display system used in the personal care/over-the-counter drug market, manufacturer uses temporary corrugated displays for merchandising of their promotional product offerings. To initiate a promotional merchandise offer one or more decorated corrugated shelf displays loaded with product are shipped to each participating retail store. Then, for the life of the promotion (e.g., typically 8-16 weeks), an entire new display must be shipped to replace each depleted display. This may entail replacing not only the product but also the highly decorated corrugated display which may well be intact and otherwise functional. For a promotion linking one manufacturer to national chain of, for example, 1000 or more stores, 15,000 displays may be utilized over the life of a single promotion. This entails both a substantial expenditure on the manufacturer's part and can create disposal problems.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In a display system, we have separated product-carrying trays from a remaining more permanent portion of the system so that product can be replenished by removing an expended tray, and replacing it with a full tray. Advantageously, the initial tray or trays may be replaced by identical trays within a single promotion and then graphic portions replaced on the permanent display structure to initiate a subsequent promotion with a subsequent and different initial and series of replacement trays.
Thus in one aspect, a housing has a front end opening for receiving a tray holding a number of products. A signage carrier has an installed position mounted across a portion of the opening in front of an upper portion of the tray. A signage carrying trim member depends from housing so as to be positioned in front of a front edge of the shelf on which the housing is placed. The housing may have left and right sidewalls each having an outboard surface. Each sidewall may have a front portion shaped in elevation as a substantially non-right parallelogram with horizontal bottom and top edges and front-to-back inclined fore and aft edges. Such sidewall may have an aft portion having a substantially vertical aft edge. The signage carrier may have an aperture for exposing a product sample mounted to the tray. The product may be over-the-counter medication.
In another aspect, a tray assembly includes a body formed of folded corrugated material and containing a number of stacks of products. A body bottom wall has front and back edges and left and right edges. A body back wall extends upward from the bottom wall back edge and has bottom and top edges and left and right edges. Body left and right sidewalls extend upward from the bottom wall left and right edges. A body top wall extends between the sidewalls. A number of front-to-back divider walls separate a number of lanes, each lane carrying an associated one of the stacks. The body has an open front area of sufficient extent to provide access to a bottom product in each stack and removal of such bottom product. The dividers may have open areas dimensioned to allow a user to insert one or more fingers between the stacks to grab the bottom products. A retainer may cover the portion of the front of the body above the open front area.
In another aspect, a tray assembly includes a body defining a right parallepiped and a divider carried within the body. The divider has a number of front-to-back divider walls having a separation effective to provide number of lanes. The divider has a spacer wall having a forward surface forwardly offset from a forward surface of the body back wall. The body may consist essentially of a single piece of corrugated boxboard. The spacer may be so offset by between 25% and 75% of a depth of the body. The body open area may extend over the entire front of the parallelpiped above the bottom wall. The body may have a second open area along at least the front portion of a top of the parallelpiped. The secondary open area may extend over at least half of the parallelpiped. The divider may include an assembly of corrugated boxboard pieces. A first divider piece may provide the spacer wall and have left and right side portions folded back at left and right edges of the spacer wall and extending along the rear portions of the left and right sidewalls to maintain the offset of the spacer wall from the back wall. A number of divider pieces may each form one of the divider walls, the divider walls being of two-layer construction over at least the major portion thereof. The divider walls and the first piece left and right portions may each have relieved areas accommodating the body top wall. Each divider wall may have a slot receiving a portion of the spacer wall and the spacer wall may have a number of slots each receiving a portion of an associated one of the divider walls. The tray similarly may include a retainer and a cover. The retainer may have a front wall covering a portion of the body open area above a lower portion of the body open area. The retainer may have left and right sidewalls sandwiched between respective left and right sidewalls of the body and left and right side portions of the divider first piece. The cover may consist essentially of a single piece of corrugated boxboard. The cover may include means for defining a pull tab. The cover may include tabs extending to apertures along fold areas along the front edges of the body sidewalls. The cover may include a portion wedged between the body top and the divider walls. The body may have a single layer along its back wall. The body may have at least two layers along each of its top wall, bottom wall, and left and right sidewalls, with a fold area along the front edge of the top wall, bottom wall and left and right sidewalls. An inner one of two layers of each of the left and right sidewalls may have at least one tab extending into an associated aperture in the back wall.
The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.
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Csak Louis R.
Kwap John A.
Martin Arthur R.
Carson Dale L.
Gibson , Jr. Robert W.
Kinney Michael K.
Mechtronics Corporation
Wiggin and Dana LLP
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