SHELF INSERT CABINET FRAME WITH DOORS

CADRE D'ARMOIRE AVEC PORTES INSERABLE SUR ETAGERE

English Abstract

A shelf insert cabinet frame with doors built to fit onto existing tobacco
shelves in
order to hide tobacco product from public view. The shelf insert cabinet frame
with doors
consists of a plurality of rails or support pieces. Upper and lower cross-
sectional pieces
connected together by two smaller vertical support pieces form the front and
back. The
front and back panel are connected by four smaller cross sectional support
pieces at the
top and bottom to form the sides. And various configurations of doors either
hinged or
sliding and can be built to support slide out drawers.

Claims

CLAIMS
What is claimed is:
1. A shelf insert assembly for use with a shelving system, for displaying a
product, the shelving system having at least one shelf, the shelf insert
assembly
comprising:
a. a shelf insert having a surface for coupling to the at least one shelf, the
shelf insert sized to fit on the at least one shelf,
b. a coupling means for coupling the surface to the at least one shelf
without tools,
c. a door hingeably attached to the shelf insert, and having a closed
position and an open position,
wherein the door obscures product on the at least one shelf from view when in
the
closed position, and permits access to product when in the open position.
2. The shelf insert assembly of claim 1 wherein the shelf insert further
comprises
a cabinet frame and a bottom member, wherein the frame is sized to fit on the
at
least one shelf, within the shelving system.
3. The shelf insert assembly of claim 2 wherein the frame further comprises:
a. at least one first vertical support piece, attached to the shelf insert
along
a first side edge of the bottom member,
b. at least one second vertical support piece, attached to the shelf insert
along a second side edge of the bottom member that is opposite the
first side edge,
c. at least one front top support piece, connecting the at least one first
side support member to the at least one second side support member
to form a frame defining an opening for product, and
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d. a back top support piece, connecting the at least one first side support
member to the at least one second side support member to provide
lateral support for the frame,
wherein the at least one first side support member, the at least one second
side
support member, the front top support piece and the back top support piece are
sized
to fit on the at least one shelf, within the shelving system.
4. The shelf insert assembly of any one of claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein the
shelving
system is a standard shelving system used for the display of tobacco products,
and
the shelf insert is sized to a set of dimensions selected from the group
consisting of:
a. about 23.8 inches wide by about 7.125 inches deep,
b. about 35.8 inches wide by about 7.125 inches deep,
c. about 47.8 inches wide by about 7.125 inches deep, and
d. about 59.8 inches wide by about 7.125 inches deep.
5. The shelf insert assembly of any one of claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein the
shelving
system is a standard shelving system used for the display of tobacco products,
and
the door is sized to a height selected from the groups consisting of:
a. about 6.03 inches,
b. about 8.03 inches, and
c. about 12.03 inches.
6. The shelf insert assembly of any one of claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein the
shelving
system is a standard shelving system used for the display of tobacco products.
7. The shelf insert assembly of any one of claims 1, 2 or 3 comprising at
least
one magnet to hold the door in the closed position.
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8. The shelf insert assembly of any one of claims 1, 2 or 3 comprising at
least
one magnet to hold the door in the open position.
9. The shelf insert assembly of any one of claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein the
coupling
means is selected from the group consisting of: adhesive, adhesive tape,
magnets,
and hook and loop fasteners.
10. The shelf insert assembly of any one of claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein the door
is
attached to the shelf insert along a top edge of the door, and the door pivots
along
the top edge when moving between the open position and the closed position.
11. The shelf insert assembly of any one of claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein the door
is
attached to the shelf insert along a bottom edge of the door, and the door
pivots
along the bottom edge when moving between the open position and the closed
position.
12. The shelf insert assembly of any one of claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein the door
comprises ticket channels for removable advertising or signage.
13. A shelf insert assembly for use with a shelving system, the shelving
system for
display of a product, the shelving system having at least one shelf, the shelf
insert
assembly comprising:
a. a shelf insert having a surface for coupling to the at least one shelf, and
a cabinet frame,
b. a coupling means for coupling the surface to the at least one shelf, and
c. a drawer, sized to fit within the frame and slide between a closed
position and an open position,
wherein the drawer obscures product on the at least one shelf from view when
in the
closed position, and permits access to product when in the open position, and
wherein the shelf insert and cabinet frame are sized to fit on the at least
one shelf,
within the shelving system.
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14. The shelf insert assembly of claim 13 wherein the shelving system is a
standard shelving system used for the display of tobacco products.
15. The shelf insert assembly of claim 13 wherein the coupling means is
selected
from the group consisting of: adhesive, adhesive tape, magnets, and hook and
loop
fasteners.
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Description

CA 02517797 2005-08-04
Field of Invention
The present invention relates to method of covering tobacco product from
public view in
compliance with tobacco legislation.
Back rg ound
The tobacco industry is being legislated to remove or cover tobacco product on
display
from the public. In order to accommodate the tobacco legislation in the past,
retailers
have removed tobacco product from existing displays and hide the tobacco
inventory in
drawers until requested by tobacco purchasers. Retailers have also tried to
cover the
tobacco product on display with a shower curtains type apparatus that hangs
from a rod
mounted to the ceiling above or attached to the front of the display. Other
retailers have
had large custom made doors built specifically for their sites that are
mounted to the
ceiling and/or floor. These past attempts to cover the tobacco product from
view require
extensive trade labour, site-specific measurements and installation. One
embodiment of
the present invention is that it sits onto there existing tobacco shelves and
utilizes the
current tobacco shelving system in order to simplify installation. Instead of
custom make
door solution to fit each retailers site situation, the present invention is
mass manufacture
to fit current specification of tobacco shelving in existence today. A
retailer would only
be required to clear their current inventory on the shelves and insert the
shelf insert
cabinet frame with doors onto those shelves in their current set up position.
This is
considerably less time consuming and less costly to implement then past
solutions.
One prior arts filing named "Cabinet with Sliding Doors" invented by Jay G
Fenwick
Patent # CA 901058 Issued May 23 1972, the invention calls for shelves to be
provided
and adapters(tracks) for holding and guiding sliding type doors fitted to the
front edge
portion of the shelves Although this prior art uses standardized upright or
post in
existence, it is vary different then the present invention in that new shelves
are required to
be installed by hooks or shelf brackets and that adapters are required to be
installed to the
front edge of these new shelves. The present invention utilizing existing
shelves and does
not require hardware installation, brackets or hooks The prior art aims to
have cabinet
built and modified on site to fit the site specific situations The present
invention is pre-
manufactured to fit specification of existing shelves and does not require
modification on

CA 02517797 2005-08-04
site. This prior art was not designed specifically to fit existing tobacco
shelving and
would not be able to fit into the tobacco shelving system in use today
Another embodiment of the present invention is that it comes closer then any
other past
solutions in replicating the traditional look of the tobacco display. The
present invention
will have a ticket channel running along the top and bottom of doors in order
for Tobacco
companies to slide their backer panels where permitted. Alternatively, the
present
invention can be painted in a colour that is similar to the colours currently
used today bay
tobacco companies. The only change to the display that that the public will
notice is the
doors that block the view of product when closed. Most solutions in the past
change the
appearance of the tobacco display so significantly so as to render the display
of no
marketing value to tobacco manufactures. Subsequently, tobacco manufactures
will stop
paying for this display area causing retailers to lose a significant revenue
stream.
Therefore, there is a demand for a fixture that is cost effective, easy to
implement and at
the same time able to replicate the look of the traditional tobacco display.
Description
One embodiment of the present invention is that the cabinet frame (1) sits on
the retail
stores existing tobacco shelves (2) without having to adjust the shelves and
eliminating
the need for mounting hardware.
The shelf insert cabinet frame consists of a plurality of rails or support
pieces. Upper (3)
and lower (4) cross-sectional pieces connected together by two smaller
vertical support
pieces (5) and form the front and back panels. The front and back panel are
connected by
four smaller cross sectional support pieces (6) at the top and bottom to form
the sides
which are covered (7) to hide product from view. On the back panel, support
braces
prevent the rails from bowing (8)
Another embodiment of the present invention is that it provides a solid
support
mechanism for various configurations of doors, including, a one piece hinged
pop up
doors with handle (9), which, when opened, latches on to the bottom rail of
the front
panel of the cabinet frame above with a plurality of magnets. ( 10). Or a pull
down hinged
door (11) which, when closed, latches on to the top rail of the front panel a
plurality of
magnets on the door handle. (12) Or a two-piece sliding door (13) which glides
on a
double track located at the top and bottom of the front panel (14) and easy
glide wheels
(15). Or a one piece slides out 7 1/2" deep drawer (16) that has pulled out
sliders (17)
mounted on the sides of the cabinet. The shelf insert cabinet frame in
combination with
the doors or drawers are generally produced out of sheet metal. However, the
present
invention can be produced to virtually the same specification in plastic,
corrugate, glass
wood or wood like material although if the doors where not manufactured out of
metal, it
would eliminate the functionality of magnetic latching utilized in the present
invention.
2

CA 02517797 2005-08-04
Another embodiment of the present invention is built to fit inside current
tobacco
manufactures shelving. Approximate sizes therefore include 23.80" wide by
approx 7.87"
deep, 35.8" wide by approx 7.87" deep, 47.80" ft wide by approx 7.87" deep,
59.80"
wide by approx 7.87" deep. Another embodiment The present invention is that it
is built
to various height dimensions to replicate the spacing currently used by
retailers and
tobacco companies to display tobacco product in a non-legislated environment,
including
single stacked approximately 6.03"high (18), double stacked approximately
12"high (19)
and triple stacked approximately 18" high (20). These two embodiments of the
present
invention enable the retailer to maintain the current shelf position
Utilizing the existing tobacco fixtures and inserting a cabinet onto the
shelf, reduces or
eliminates installation and assemble that past door solutions and eliminates
the need for a
more costly site-specific fixture to be produced. The present invention is
universal,
modular and ideal for mass production and the economies of scale.
Another embodiment of the present invention is that the doors have an upper
and lower
ticket channel or tracks (21 ) that enable a coloured paper backer to be
inserted. The
present invention is generally painted white but alternatively can be painted
in colours so
as to replicate the traditional looking tobacco display that purchasers are
familiarized
with at a non-legislated environment.