Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SHELVING DISPLAY RACK
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a shelving display rack.
BACKGROUND
Commonly shelves in display racks have an inclined shelf plane to
allow the material to slide forwardly to the front edge. However racks of this
type are
often complicated and expensive. Other racks have horizontal shelves and these
are widely used and utilise framing which is relatively simple and widespread.
The
horizontal shelf however does not feed the product to the front for best
display and
merchandising.
SUMMARY
It is one object of the present invention to provide an improved rack
which provides in a simple construction inclined shelves for product display.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a
shelving rack comprising:
a frame structure including two generally vertical rear legs and two
generally vertical front legs with the front legs arranged at a front of the
rack and
spaced by a width of the rack and the rear legs arranged at the rear of the
rack and
spaced by the width of the rack, the front legs being spaced from the rear
legs by a
depth of the rack;
a plurality of shelves arranged above one another and each having a
width substantially equal to the width of the rack and a depth between a front
edge
and a rear edge substantially equal to the depth of the rack;
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each shelf being supported at the front edge by a respective one of a
plurality of front transverse shelf support beams connected across the front
legs so
the weight from the front edge of each shelf is carried by the front legs;
each shelf having a shelf plane being inclined upwardly and rearwardly
from the front edge toward the rear edge;
each shelf being supported at the rear edge by a respective one of a
plurality of rear transverse shelf support beams connected across the rear
legs so
the weight from the rear edge of each shelf is carried by the rear legs;
each of the front support beams including a front support receptacle for
the respective edge of the respective shelf , each front support receptacle
being
formed by a horizontal surface and a rearwardly facing vertical surface
forming a
right angle therebetween;
each of the rear support beams including a rear support receptacle for
the respective edge of the respective shelf, each rear support receptacle
being
formed by a horizontal surface and a forwardly facing vertical surface forming
a right
angle therebetween;
the front edge of each shelf engaging into the respective front support
receptacle of the respective front support beam
each shelf having at the rear edge thereof a downwardly turned rear
edge portion extending across the width of the shelf and arranged at an angle
to the
shelf plane so as to extend downwardly from the shelf plane into the
respective rear
receptacle of the respective rear support beam.
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Preferably each shelf includes a plurality of stiffener members each
extending from the front edge to the downwardly turned rear edge portion, the
stiffener members being arranged at positions spaced across the width of the
shelf.
Preferably each stiffener member is of reduced height at the front edge
of the respective shelf to engage into the respective receptacle of the
respective
front support beam.
Preferably each rear support beam is located at a height above the
respective front support beam.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided
a shelving rack comprising:
a frame structure including two generally vertical rear legs and two
generally vertical front legs with the front legs arranged at a front of the
rack and
spaced by a width of the rack and the rear legs arranged at the rear of the
rack and
spaced by the width of the rack, the front legs being spaced from the rear
legs by a
depth of the rack;
a plurality of shelves arranged above one another and each having a
width substantially equal to the width of the rack and a depth between a front
edge
and a rear edge substantially equal to the depth of the rack;
each shelf being supported at the front edge by a respective one of a
plurality of front transverse shelf support beams connected across the front
legs so
the weight from the front edge of each shelf is carried by the front legs;
each shelf being formed from a generally planar shelf material;
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each shelf having a shelf plane being inclined upwardly and rearwardly
from the front edge toward the rear edge;
each shelf being supported at the rear edge by a respective one of a
plurality of rear transverse shelf support beams connected across the rear
legs so
the weight from the rear edge of each shelf is carried by the rear legs;
each of the front support beams including a front support receptacle for
the respective edge of the respective shelf, each front support receptacle
being
formed by a horizontal surface and a rearwardly facing vertical surface
forming a
right angle therebetween;
each of the rear support beams including a rear support receptacle for
the respective edge of the respective shelf, each rear support receptacle
being
formed by a horizontal surface and a forwardly facing vertical surface forming
a right
angle therebetween;
the front edge of each shelf engaging into the respective front support
receptacle of the respective front support beam
each shelf having the shelf material thereof bent adjacent a rear edge
thereof to form a main shelf portion extending from the receptacle of the
respective
front beam upwardly and rearwardly to an apex and a downwardly turned rear
edge
portion extending across the width of the shelf and arranged at an angle to
the shelf
plane so as to extend downwardly from the apex;
the shelf including the main shelf portion, the apex and the rear edge
portion formed from the shelf material which is bent at the apex;
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the apex being spaced above the respective front beam and spaced
above the respective rear beam such that the rear edge portion extends
downwardly
from a position spaced above the respective rear beam at the apex;
and each shelf having the rear edge thereof at the bottom of the rear
5 edge portion engaging into the respective rear receptacle of the respective
rear
support beam.
According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a
shelving rack comprising:
a frame structure including two generally vertical rear legs and two
generally vertical front legs with the front legs arranged at a front of the
rack and
spaced by a width of the rack and the rear legs arranged at the rear of the
rack and
spaced by the width of the rack, the front legs being spaced from the rear
legs by a
depth of the rack;
a plurality of shelves arranged above one another and each having a
width substantially equal to the width of the rack and a depth between a front
edge
and a rear edge substantially equal to the depth of the rack;
each shelf being supported at the front edge by a respective one of a
plurality of front transverse shelf support beams connected across the front
legs so
the weight from the front edge of each shelf is carried by the front legs;
each shelf having a shelf plane being inclined upwardly and rearwardly
from the front edge toward the rear edge;
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each shelf being supported at the rear edge by a respective one of a
plurality of rear transverse shelf support beams connected across the rear
legs so
the weight from the rear edge of each shelf is carried by the rear legs;
each of the front support beams including a front support receptacle for
the respective edge of the respective shelf, each front support receptacle
being
formed by a horizontal surface and a rearwardly facing vertical surface
forming a
right angle therebetween;
each of the rear support beams including a rear support receptacle for
the respective edge of the respective shelf, each rear support receptacle
being
formed by a horizontal surface and a forwardly facing vertical surface forming
a right
angle therebetween;
the front edge of each shelf engaging into the respective front support
receptacle of the respective front support beam
each shelf being formed from wire mesh with longitudinal wires
extending across the depth of the shelf from the front edge to the rear edge
and
transverse wires extending across the width of the shelf;
each shelf having the longitudinal wires thereof bent adjacent a rear
edge of the shelf to form a downwardly turned rear edge portion of the shelf
extending across the width of the shelf and arranged at an angle to the shelf
plane
so as to extend downwardly from the shelf plane;
and each shelf having the longitudinal wires at the rear edge thereof at
the bottom of the rear edge portion engaging into the respective rear
receptacle of
the respective rear support beam.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTiON OF THE DRAWINGS
In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an exemplary
embodiment of the present invention:
Figure 9 is a side elevational view of a first embodiment of rack
according to the present invention.
Figure 2 is a cross sectional view of the embodiment of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a cross sectional view along the lines 3-3 of Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a cross sectional view along the lines 4-4 of Figure 2.
Figure 5 is a cross sectional view similar to that of Figure 2 showing a
second embodiment.
Figure 6 is plan view of the embodiment shown in Figure 5.
Figure 7 is a cross sectional view similar to that of Figure 2 showing a
third embodiment.
Figure 8 is plan view of the embodiment shown in Figure 7.
Figure 9 is a cross sectional view similar to that of Figure 2 showing a
fourth embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
A first embodiment is shown in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 and provides a
stand alone rack which is intended to be accessed by customers from the front
and
from the sides and may be combined with a similar rack in back to back
arrangement to provide an island type display in a retail store for displaying
various
articles of different types but primarily hardware of the type which is
supplied
normally in boxes.
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The rack comprises a first end frame 10 and a second end frame 10A
(Figure 3) which are identical and arranged in spaced parailel position to
mount a
plurality of shelves 11 therebetween. The end frames 10 and 10A are opposite
so
that one is a mirror image of the other but the construction is substantially
identical
so that only one of them will be described herein.
Each of the end frames comprises a front leg 12 and a rear leg 13
which are vertical, parallel and spaced by the depth of the rack. The upper
end of
the front leg 12 includes a rearwardly turned top portion 12A which extends
upwardly
and rearwardly to a welded joint 12B at the top of the rear leg 13.
The legs 12 and 13 are connected by transverse flat straps 14 at
spaced positions along the height of the legs with the straps 14 being
horizontal.
Each flat strap is formed of metal with a height greater than the thickness so
that the
rear surface of the strap at the ends of the strap lie in contact with an
outer face of
the legs 12 and 13 to which the strap is welded as indicated at 14A. In order
to
minimize the number of welds used, the straps 14 are welded only at the top
edge to
the outwardly facing end face of the end frame thus holding the inside face of
the
straps against the end frame and holding the legs of the end frame in the
required
spaced position against spreading of the legs.
The straps 14 are dimensioned so as to receive a conventional spring
clip 15 attached thereto. Each spring clip has a channel portion 15A
dimensioned to
engage over the height of the strap with spring clip elements 15B extending
behind
the strap to clip in place onto the strap holding the channel section 15A onto
the
strap in fixed position. An outwardly projecting arm 15C is aftached to a
front face
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15D of the spring clip and extends therefore away from the strap 14 to form a
support for hanging elements engaged over the arm 15C. An outer end of the arm
is
turned upwardly to inhibit the hanging elements from falling over the outer
end of the
arm. Spring clips of this type are well known and conventional in the industry
and
are used to support generally hanging bags of items to be merchandised.
The straps 14 therefore provide two functions of holding the legs in
place and also providing supports for the spring clips by which merchandising
articles can be suspended on the outer side of the rack so as to be approached
by a
person moving toward the side of the rack. The rack therefore can be used for
merchandising materials at both ends of the rack and also on the shelves as
described hereinafter.
The end frames 10 and 10A are interconnected by two or more straps
16 which extend across the rear legs 13 on the rear face of those legs with
the strap
16 being attached to the legs by bolts 16A which extend through suitable holes
in
the straps and into the rear wall of the legs.
The legs are formed from rectangular tubing so as to define a hollow
interior with four walls forming flat faces at the rear, sides and front. The
front legs
12 are free from fixed connection by straps similar to the straps 16 so that
they are
generally supported at the same spacing as the rear legs 13 but are free from
separate connection therebetween.
Thus the structure of the frame is very simple in that it includes the end
frames with a relatively small number of welds to form the end frames together
with
the strap 16 which can be supplied separately from the end frames and the
structure
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bolted together when assembled at the used location to provide the upstanding
rectangular structure of the rack.
The shelves 11 are also of a simple construction formed primarily from
wires 11A which extend across the width of the shelf from a front edge 11 B to
a rear
5 edge 11 C. The shelf is of a width to bridge the space between the front leg
12 and
the rear leg 13. The wires 11A are spaced and parallel with sufficient wires
to
provide structural strength for the shelf and to support elements on the
shelf.
The wires 11A are interconnected by a front transverse wire 11D, a
central transverse wire 11 E and a rear stiffener element 11 F. These three
elements
10 together with the structure of the wires 11A provides a rigid flat surface
onto which
the elements to be displayed can be located. As the wires 11A are presented at
the
upper surface of the shelf and run front to back, this allows material to
slide
forwardly and rearwardly on the shelf relatively easily without encountering
the wires
11 D and 11 E together with a stiffener element 11 F which are on the
underside of the
shelf.
In addition, the shelf includes a front face plate 11 G which is welded to
the front edge of the wires 11A and provides a facing plate which obscures the
structure of the front edge of the shelf from viewing by a person standing in
front of
the rack so that the front edge of the shelf is provided an attractive
appearance
defined by the facing plate 11 G. The facing plate 11 G is shaped as a C-
channel so
as to receive price cards within the front facing receptacle of the channel.
Thus the
price cards can be inserted on the shelf adjacent to the article to be
merchandised
which are located on the shelf behind the facing plate. The facing plate also
stands
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upwardly from the wires 11A so as to act as a front abutment to prevent the
articles
from slipping over the front edge.
The rear stiffener member 11 F in the embodiment shown in Figure 2
comprises a flat strap which is welded at its upper edge to the underside of
the wires
11A at a position thereon spaced forwardly from the rear edge 11C. The flat
strap is
arranged at an angle A relative to the wires 11A which is different from 900
by an
amount equal to an angle B which is the angle of inclination of the shelf
relative to
the horizontal. Thus the strap 11 F stands vertically and extends downwardly
from
the underside of the shelf.
The wire 11 D extends across the full width of the shelf and has turned
down ends 11 H and 11 J which engage into holes 12C and 12D respectively in
the
legs 12 of the end frames 10 and 10A respectively. Thus the wire 11 D extends
beyond the ends of the shelf into the interior of the legs 12 and extends
downwardly
on the inside of the inwardly facing wall of the legs 12 so as to engage
against those
walls and particularly the inside surfaces thereof. Thus the wires 11 D of the
shelves
hold the legs 12 at a predetermined spacing since the legs cannot move apart
due to
the engagement of the turned down wire portions 11 H and 'f 1 J against the
inside
surface of the legs. The legs are prevented from moving toward one another by
the
engagement of the legs with the endmost wires 11A of the shelves.
The shelves are inclined upwardly and rearwardly as best shown in
Figure 2 at the angle B so that the rear edge 11 C is raised above the front
edge
11 B. The spacing between the front wire 11 D and the rear stiffener 11 F is
arranged
so that, at this angle, the rear face 11 K of the stiffener 11 F engages a
front face 13A
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12of the rear leg in a frictional engagement. Thus the flat face 11 K stands
in a vertical
plane which is a common plane with the front face 13A providing frictional
engagement of end portions 11L with the front face 13A as best shown in Figure
4.
The shelves are sufficiently stiff so as to remain flat in a common plane and
the
stiffener members are sufficiently stiff so as to remain straight between the
end
portions 11 L which project outwardly beyond the end most wire 11A. Thus the
shelf
is a very simple construction formed simply by the wires on the stiffeners and
is held
in place by the frictional engagement with the face 13A. An optional abutment
13B
may be provided on the front face 13A at the required height to engage the
bottom
edge of the stiffener 11 F although it is preferred that this optional
abutment be
avoided since it increases the cost and complexity of the structure. This can
be
achieved provided that there is sufficient frictional engagement between the
rear
surface 11 K and the front surface 13A. The fact that the surface 11 K is in a
vertical
plane avoids putting bending stress on the shelf structure.
The arrangement shown in Figures 1 through 4 includes a frame
structure which is specially constructed to co-operate with the shelf elements
so as
to form a complete rack. In Figures 5 and 6 is shown a second embodiment which
utilizes basically the same principle as previously described but is intended
for use
with conventional racking frames generally indicated at 30. Such racking
frames
include vertical posts 31, horizontal interconnecting cross members 32 and
longitudinal shelf support rails 33. The rails 33 are shaped with a 90
receptacle
portion 34 defined in the upper inward quadrant for receiving conventionally a
shelf
panel. Thus the receptacle defines a horizontal surface 35 and a vertical
surface 36
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which butt against the shelf panel. The shetf panel can be formed
conventionally of
plywood or other sheet material or can conventionally be formed of wire
racking
formed by longitudinal and transverse wires with turned down front and rear
edges
which abut the surface 36 and sit on the surface 35. The front and rear turned
down
edges have a height of the order of 1" so as to provide stiffening at the
edges and
also to lift the height of the wire shelf up to the height of the top surface
37 of the
shelf support beams 33.
This type of shelving is conventionally used in large box retail stores
such as Home Depot and provide the horizontal shelf onto which articles to be
merchandised are placed to be removed by the customer.
In the arrangement described herein, the horizontal shelf is replaced
by an inclined shelf schematically indicated at 40 which utilizes the same
frame
structure but provides a shelf with an angle so that the displayed merchandise
can
slide downwardly along the top surface of the shelf to the front to be readily
removed
by the customer. Thus all of the articles on the shelf are displayed at the
front and
whenever an article is removed the remaining articles slide to the front to be
properly
merchandised and displayed.
In the embodiment shown, the shelf is formed from longitudinal wires
38 and transverse wires 39 welded to form a grid pattern with the transverse
wires
39 extending from the front edge of the shelf at the front beam 33A to a rear
edge of
the shelf at the rear beam 33. In this embodiment it does not matter which of
the
wires is on the upper surface since the whole of the shelf structure is
covered by a
plastics sheeting material 41 which extends from a rear edge 42 across the
full width
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14
of the shelf to a front edge 43 where the plastics material is bent upwardly
as
indicated at 44 to provide a front lip projecting upwardly to a height
sufficient to
prevent articles from toppling over the front edge.
The plastics material is selected so that it has a low co-efficient of
friction allowing the articles to slide readily on the shelf with the minimum
angle B of
inclination.
The wire mesh forming the shelf is stiffened by a plurality of transverse
stiffening members 45 and longitudinal stiffening members 46. The longitudinal
stiffening members 46 correspond to the straps 11 F of the previous embodiment
and
can be formed simply a flat surface 46A which corresponds to the strap 11 F.
However in the embodiment shown, to provide increased structural rigidity, the
stiffener member 46 is formed as a V-shaped with one leg 46A standing in a
vertical
plane and a second leg 46B extending at right angles to the shelf. The V-
shaped
member is welded at its upper edges to the wires 39 so as to rigidly attach
thereto
and to provide structural strength therefore. Alternative stiffener members
can be
used including tubes, U channels, angles and the like.
The transverse stiffener members 45 can also be provided by various
different types of element including angle irons, flat straps, square tubes
and round
tubes. In the embodiment shown, the stiffener member 45 is formed from a round
tube 50 with a rear end 51 welded to the face of the leg 46B. The forward end
of the
tube 50 extends to a position within the receptacle 34 of the front beam 33A
underneath the front edge of the shelf. In order to reduce the height of the
stiffener
member, the tubing forming the stiffener member 50 is flattened as indicated
at 50A
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so as to form a wide flat edge 50B sitting directly on the receptacle 34. In
order to
strengthen the tube 50 when flattened a second smaller tube portion 50B can be
inserted inside the first tube 50 over the flattened area thus forming a
simple
inexpensive stiffener member which provides sufficient rigidity across the
full width
5 of the shelf from the front edge at the receptacle 34 to the rear edge
adjacent the
surface of the leg 46A.
As described in the previous embodiment, the ends 46D of the stiffener
member 46 project outwardly beyond the ends of the shelf into engagement with
a
front surface 31A of the posts 31. Thus the rigid flat shelf is wedged in
position
10 between the receptacle 34 of the front beam 33A and the edges of the
stiffener
member which abut onto the surface 31A of the post 31. Thus the shelf is held
in
place by its pressure into the receptacle 34 at the front and by its
frictional
engagement with the surface 31A at the rear. Thus the shelves can be simply
dropped into place by pressing the nose or front edge into the front beam and
15 dropping the rear edge onto the posts 31. The shelves remain planar without
bending due to the structural rigidity of the stiffeners and the weight of
articles on the
shelf tend to press the ends of the shelf more vigorously into engagement with
the
surfaces of the frame.
The plastics sheet member 41 can be omitted and the top wires
arranged to run in the direction of sliding since in some cases this can
provide a
lower friction than the sheet.
Turning now to Figure 7 and 8, there is shown a construction which is
similar in many respects to that shown in Figures 5 and 6 in that it includes
a shelf
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structure 40A formed of longitudinal wires 38 and transverse wires 39 welded
to
form a mesh structure extending from a rear edge 42 through a front edge 43.
In
this embodiment, the plastics covering sheet 41 previously described is
omitted and
instead the top wires are arranged in the forward direction to allow sliding
forwardly.
In this embodiment, the aracles are prevented from toppling from the front
edge by
an upturned front edge 43A. The shelf co-operates with a frame structure of
the
type previously described including the posts 31 and the shelf support beams
33 and
33A.
Yet further the shelf includes the tubular stiffener members 45 which
extend from the flattened front edge as previously described to a rear edge
51.
However in this embodiment the mesh formed by the wires 38 and 39
is bent at an apex 60 to an angle lying between approximately 80 and
approximately 110 and preferably slightly greater than 90 so as to form a
turn
down portion 52 of the wire mesh. This turned down portion is formed by the
same
wire structure including the wires 38 which extend longitudinaliy of the shelf
and the
wires 39 which bend around the apex 60 to form a lowermost edge 61 which
projects into the receptacle 34 on the beam 33. Thus the weight from the shelf
is
applied through the turned down portion 52 into the rear receptacle of the
rear beam
33 and at the same time the weight is pushed forwardly into the receptacle 34
of the
front beam 33A. As the height of the turned down portion 52 is relatively
small and
may be of the order of 4 to 5 inches but may be as much as 7 or 8 inches, the
wire
mesh itself may provide sufficient strength without bending to accommodate the
forces on the shelf. However if necessary an additional stiffener element
similar to
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the stiffening element 45 may be provided extending from the apex 60 to the
receptacle 34.
Turning now to the arrangement shown in Figure 9, it is very similar to
the construction shown in Figures 7 and 8 except that in this arrangement the
rear
shelf support beam 33C is arranged at a height above the front shelf support
beam
33A. This can be achieved using the conventional frame structure of the type
previously described by locating the rear beam 33C in a respective locating
position
on the post 31. Thus the posts 31 provide a series of locating positions for
locating
the shelves at different heights and it is possible therefore to select for
the front
beam 33A a different location on the beam 31 at the front as opposed to the
selection of the position of the rear beam 33C on the rear post 31. Thus the
shelf
structure is substantially the same as previously described in regard to
Figure 7
including the stiffener member 45, the wires 38 and 39. In this arrangement,
however, the turned down portion 52A is of a reduced height relative to the
portion
52 of Figure 7 since the raised rear beam 33C provides a part of the angle of
inclination necessary for the shelf. Thus the turned down portion 52A may be
of the
order of 1 to 2" in height only which is sufficient to communicate forces from
the
weight of material on the shelf downwardly and rearwardly into the receptacle
34 of
the rear beam and forwardly and downwardly into the receptacle 34 of the front
beam.
Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein
above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made
within the spirit and scope of the claims without department from such spirit
and
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scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying
specification shall
be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a(imiting sense.
