Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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BACKGROUND OF INVENTION:
(a~ Field of the Invention
The present invention relates ko a display
: basket which is constructed for vertical stackiny and
wherein the baskets interlock themselves and access to
each of the baskets is provided by a protrudiny front
access opening.
(b) Descripti.on of Prior Art
Var.ious types of display baskets are known.
Also, it is known ~ stack baskets one on top of the other.
: However, there exists a need to provide a stackable display
basket which has a large access opening whereby, when the
baskets are stacked one on top of the other, a person can
easily reach within any of these stacked baskets. There
is also a need to provide baskets which are securely inter-
connected and which makes efficient use of a minimum amount
of space. There is a further need to provide a basket of
this general type having removable indicia to provide
information as to the nature and price, etc., of the goods
contained within the baskets. Still further, there is a
need to provide stackable baskets wherein the contents
thereof are easily visible to the human eye whether the
basket is positioned at the bottom of a column or at the
top thereof.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION:
It is a feature of the present lnvention to
provide a display basket which is stackable and inter-
connectible and which meets all of the above-mentioned
needs of such baskets.
According to the above features, from a broad
aspect, the present invention provides a display basket
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comprising an open end container defined by a bottom
walll opposed end walls, a rear wall; and an outwardly
sloping front wall extending outwardly from a front edge
of the bottom wall and terminating intermediate the height
of the end walls to define a protrudiny front access
opening~ The end walls extend on opposed side edyes of
the front wall. Means is provided adjacent the forward
end edge to removably secure indicia carrying means
therein. Interlocking support guide means is provided
at the top and bottom edge of the opposed end walls for
interconnecting two or more display baskets in vertical
stacking relationship while permitting access to the
inside of the containers through the inclined front access
openings thereof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS:
A preferred embodiment of the present invention
will now be described with reference to the example thereof
as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing two
display baskets of the present invention stacked one on
top of the other;
FIGURE 2 is a fragmented side view showing the
position of three baskets one on top of each other,
FIGURE 3 is a front view showing the interlock-
ing support guide means secured to the end walls of the
basket, when the baskets are stacked one on top of each
other,
FIGURE 4 is a perspective view showing an
example of the manner in which an indicia carrying strip
is secured in a retention slot formed adjacent the forward
end edge of the front wall, and
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~IGURE 5 is a fragmented section view showing
the construction of the retention slok.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS:
~eferring now to the drawings, and more parkicu-
larly to Figure 1, there is shown two display baskets 10
of the present invention stacked one on top of the other~
Each basket 10 is constituted by an open end container
defined by a bottom wall 11, opposed end walls 12, and an
outwardly sloping front wall 13. The front wall 13 extends
upwardly from a front edge 14 of the bottom wall 11 and
terminates intermediate the height of the end walls 12, as
can best be seen in Figure 2, whereby to define thereover
a protruding front access opening 15 for access to the
interior of the container.
The entire display basket is constructed from
metal wi~es welded together and all of the walls are
formed by a plurality of closely spaced parallel metal
wires secured together by transverse wires, such as 8,
and peripheral wires forming the edges of the walls. Also
as clearly seen in Figures 1 and 2, the side walls 12
extend over the front projection formed by the projecting
front wall 13 and the top edge thereof slopes rearwardly
upwards to define an inclined opening 15. ~s can be seen
in Figure 1 when the baskets 10 are stacked on top of each
other, the bottom wall of the upper basket forms a top
wall for the lower basket to constitute an entirely
enclosed container, with the exception of the inclined
front access opening 15.
In order to stack the baskets 10 one on top of
each other in secured relationship, there is pxovided
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interlocking support guide means which is constituted by
a U-shaped wire member 16 secured to each o~ the end
walls 12. The wire member 16 deines a base wire sec~ion
17 and side wire sections 18 which are outwardl~ inclined
S and which terminate in an outwardly turned end portion 19
The end portion 19 extends from the lower edge 20 of ~he
end walls 12 and is formed as a U-shaped bend in the ~ree
end portions of the side wire sections whereby to consti-
tute support legs for each of the baskets 10.
The end portion of the U-shaped member 16 adjacent
the base wire 17 extends above the top edge wire 21 with
the base wire spaced from the top edge wire 21 a distance
sufficient to form handle holes 22 under the base wire 17
whereby to hand-carry the baskets and aid in vertical
stacking and unstacking of the baskets~ Figure 3 shows a
front view of this U-shaped wire member 16, and it can be
seen that the top portion 17 and bottom portion 19 are also
outwardly inclined for permitting engagement and for ease
of localizing the baskets when vertically stacking. It
is pointed out that the shape of the interlocking support
guide means can be constituted differently provided that
there is a pair of outwardly bent shoulder portions
secured to each end wall 12 and extending above the top
and bottom edges 21 and 20 respectively. Also it is
important to note that the spacing between the outer end
portions 17' of the base wire 17 must be shorter than the
distance between the inner edge 19~ of the leg members 19,
see Figure 2.
Re~erring now more specifically to Figures 4 and
S, there is shown the construction o~ a label or indicia
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strip retention slot 23 provided immediately adjacent the
forward end edge 24 of the front wali 13 wher~by to
removably secure therein a sheet-like rectanyular str1p
25 carryin~ printed information thereon. The retention
slot is formed by two spaced apart parallel straight wire
members 26 ~nd an inwardly inclined back wall 27 is
secured thereacross whereby to form retention notches 28
with the wire members 26, as better illustrated in Figure
5. The back wall 27 is formed by a plurality of parallel
wire rods 29 which are formed in a V-shape and secured
behind the wire mem~ers 26 with the apex 30 of the
V-shape lying rearwardly approximately midway between the
two parallel wire members 26. These parallel wire rods
29 extend along the front wall 13, the bottom wall 11, and
the rear wall 9 to form wall support surfaces. The end
: walls 12 also have a support surface formed by a plurality
of parallel wire rods 12'.
The sheet-liXe rectan~ular strip 25 may be an
elongated strip, as shown in Figure 4, extending the full
width of the basket 10, or else could be simply a small
rectangular strip containing thereon information relating
to the goods on display in the basket, such as the
identity of the goods and the retail price thereof. The
strip 25 can be slid into the notches or else placed
therein by transversely bending the strip and making it
snap into the notches.
The basket of the present invention has many
advantages. It can be seen that these baskets are shallow
containers which, when stacked one on top of the other,
still provide good access to the inside thereof due to
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the disposition of the sloping front wall and inclined front
access openings. Also they provide excellent visibility
to the yoods contained within the baskets and the ~tac~ of
baskets occupy a minimum amount of floor space. Such
baskets have multiple uses, which are obvious to a per~on
skilled in the art, such as being utilized as display
columns for the end of storage isles or at cash registers,
and the basket is dimensioned whereby it can be placed
directly within the shelving racks of convenience stores.
The interlocking supports also provide for ease of stack-
ing and interlocking, security, and at the same time
provides handle holes to carry the basket and legs to
hold the basket on a floor surface.
It is within the ambit of the present invention
to cover any obvious modifications thereof, provided such
modifications fall within the scope of the appended claims.
