DISPLAY STAND MERCHANDISE TRAY

PLATEAU A MARCHANDISES DE PRESENTOIR

English Abstract

A merchandise tray is mountable detachably or removably on a display stand to support relatively heavy weight merchandise items placed therein. The tray has two L- shaped mounting arms insertable into vertical mounting slots formed at the edge portions of the front panel of the display stand. At least one reinforce tab is formed at the rear wall of the tray, which engages with a horizontal mounting slot formed in the front panel of the display stand to provide additional support of the weight of the merchandise items.

French Abstract

Un plateau de marchandise est montable de manière détachable ou amovible sur un présentoir de plancher pour supporter des marchandises relativement lourdes placées dans celui-ci. Le plateau comporte deux bras de fixation en forme de L pouvant être insérés dans deux fentes verticales formées aux parties de bord du panneau avant du présentoir de plancher. Au moins une patte de renfort est formée à la paroi arrière du plateau, qui s'engage dans la fente de fixation horizontale formée dans le panneau avant du présentoir de plancher pour offrir un soutien supplémentaire du poids des marchandises.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege
is claimed are
defined as follows:
1. A merchandise tray for mounting to a display stand for displaying
merchandise items placed
therein, comprising:
a rectangular base, a front wall extending vertically from a front edge of
said rectangular
base, and a generally trapezoidal shape first side wall extending vertically
upward from one side
edge of said rectangular base, a generally trapezoidal shape second side wall
extending vertically
upward from a second side edge of said rectangular base, a vertical rear wall
having a height
higher than said front wall, and said first side wall and said second side
wall having a top edge
sloping forwardly and downwardly from an L-shaped flat mounting hook extending
outwardly
and rearwardly from an upper corner of said first side wall and said second
side wall respectively,
said mounting hook having a vertical abutting arm portion extending vertically
perpendicular
to a main body of said mounting hook,
at least one reinforce tab extending rearwards horizontally and outwardly from
a rear edge of
said rectangular base,
an end portion of said vertical abutting arm portion of said mounting hook
being foldable to
lie juxtaposed to a main body of said mounting hook..
2. A merchandise tray according to Claim 1 wherein said at least one
reinforce tab is integrally
formed in said rectangular base and extending rearwards from a middle point of
said rear edge of
said rectangular base.
3. A merchandise tray according to Claim 2 wherein said mounting hooks are
insertable into
vertical mounting slots formed at two edge portions of a front panel of said
display stand for
mounting said merchandise tray to said stand.
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4. A merchandise tray according to Claim 3 wherein said reinforce tab is
engageable with at
least one horizontal mounting slot formed in said front panel of said display
stand for supporting
the weight of merchandise items placed within said merchandise tray.
5. A merchandise tray according to Claim 4 wherein said tray has an open
rear side.
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Description

CA 02559432 2006-09-08
DISPLAY STAND MERCHANDISE TRAY
This invention relates to merchandise trays mountable on a display stand for
displaying
merchandise having relatively heavy weight.
Heretofore merchandise trays have been mounted on a vertical display stand in
which
both the display stand and the merchandise trays are made of cardboard or
corrugated board. The
display stand may either be of the type having a vertical planar panel
supported by an easel to rest
in a vertical position or a stand having a triangular side elevation with a
rectangular front planar
panel. The trays are provided with mounting arms which will engage with
mounting openings
formed in the planar panel of the display stand. A plurality of such trays may
be mounted to the
front panel for displaying light weight merchandise consisting of many items
in which each item
is less than 100 grams. Such merchandise trays are not intended for holding
heavier weight
merchandise having a plurality of item in which each item is heavier than for
example 250grarns,
since the mounting arms are unable to support the weight of the merchandise in
the tray. The
weight of the merchandise would dislodge the mounting arms from the display
stand.
Furthermore, common merchandise trays are complex in construction and awkward
to assemble
and they often require more than one person to assemble.
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a merchandise
tray which is
mountable on a display stand for supporting relatively heavy merchandise
items.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a merchandise tray
which may be
selectively mounted to a display stand detachably or permanently.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a merchandise tray
which is simple
in construction and yet may be readily and quickly mounted to the display
stand.
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CA 02559432 2006-09-08
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a merchandise
tray which is
simple to assemble by only one person.
The invention will be described in detail to exemplary embodiments with
reference to the
following drawings in which
Figure 1 is a perspective front and side elevation view of the merchandise
tray according
to the present invention.
Figure 2 is a perspective rear and side elevation view of the merchandise tray
according to
the present invention.
Figure 3 is a perspective side view of the merchandise tray according to the
present
invention.
Figure 4 is a exploded perspective front and side elevation view showing the
mounting of
the merchandise tray to a triangular shape display stand according to the
present invention.
Figure 5 is a perspective front and side elevation view showing the
merchandise tray
mounted on the triangular shape display stand.
Figure 6 is an isolated enlarged partial sectional side elevation view showing
the
engagement of the mounting arm and the reinforcing tab of the merchandise tray
with the
mounting openings formed in the planar panel of the display stand.
Figure 7 is an isolated enlarged rear elevation showing the bending of the
mounting arm
of the merchandise tray prior to being inserted into the mounting opening of
the planar panel of
the display stand for permanently mounting the tray to the latter.
Figure 8 is a perspective rear elevation of the second embodiment of the
merchandise tray
according to the present invention.
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CA 02559432 2013-12-11
Figure 9 is a perspective front and side elevation view of the display stand
for mounting
the merchandise tray of the second embodiment.
Figure 10 is a perspective elevation view of the pattern which may be stamped
from a
sheet material for forming the merchandise tray according to the present
invention.
Figure 11 is a perspective elevation view showing the easy assembly of the
merchandise
tray according to the present invention.
Figure 12 is a top and rear perspective elevation view of an alternative
embodiment of the
merchandise tray with an open rear.
With reference to the drawings, the merchandise tray 10 according to the
present
invention is generally rectangular in shape having a rectangular base 11,
generally trapezoidal side
walls 12 and 13, vertical rectangular rear wall 14, and vertical rectangular
front wall 15. The rear
wall 14 is preferably higher in height than the front wall 15. Two generally L-
shaped mounting arms
16 and 17 are formed at the upper rear corner of the side walls 12 and 13
respectively and they
extend rearwardly beyond the rear wall 14. The side walls 12 and 13 have
sloping upper edges 18
and 19 sloping downwardly and forwardly from the mounting arms 16 and 17 to
the top of the front
wall 15 to provide easy viewing from the two sides of the merchandise tray of
the merchandise items
placed therein. A horizontal reinforce tab 20 is formed at the base of the
rear wall 14 and preferably
located at the middle position therein as best shown in Figure 2.
The L-shaped mounting arm 16 has a vertical abutting arm portion 21 which has
a vertical
front edge 22, and it has a bottom edge 23. Similarly, the L-shaped mounting
arm 17 has a vertical
abutting arm portion 24 which has a vertical front edge 25, and it has a
bottom edge 26.
The merchandise tray 10 may be mounted on a display stand such as the
triangular type
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CA 02559432 2006-09-08
display stand 27. A plurality of pairs of vertical mounting slots 28 are
formed adjacent to the two
edges of the front panel 29 of the display stand 27. The distance between each
pair of mounting
slots 28 is equal to the distance between the mounting arms 16 and 17 of the
merchandise tray
10. A plurality of horizontal mounting slots 30 are formed at the central
along the vertical center
line of its front panel 29 and it is adapted to engage with the horizontal
reinforce tab 26 of the
merchandise tray 10.
The merchandise tray 10 may be mounted to the front panel 29 of the display
stand 27 by
tilting the front of the tray upwards to insert the mounting arms 16 and 17
into the selected pair
of vertical mounting slots 28 of the display stand 27. After insertion of the
mounting arms 16 and
17, the merchandise tray 10 may be pressed towards the front panel 27 as well
as downward such
that the horizontal reinforce tab 20 of the merchandise tray 10 will be
inserted into the horizontal
mounting slot 30 located aligned with the pair of vertical mounting slots 28.
In this mounted
position, the front edges 22 and 25 of the mounting arms 16 and 17
respectively will abut against
the rear surface of the upper edge portion of vertical mounting slots 28, and
their bottom edges
23 and 26 will rest on the lower edge of the vertical mounting slots 28 as
best shown in Figure 6.
The weight of the merchandise items placed in the tray will increase this
tilting action and will
force the lower edge of the rear wall 14 to press tighter against the front
panel 27 of the display
stand thus further increase the firm engagement of the horizontal reinforce
tab 20 of the
merchandise tray with the horizontal mounting slot 30 of the display stand to
provide additional
support of the weight of the merchandise items placed in the tray.
The merchandise tray 10 may be readily detached from the display stand 27 by
merely
reversing the mounting steps described above. Alternatively, the merchandise
tray 10 may be
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CA 02559432 2006-09-08
permanently mounted to the display stand by simply first bending the abutting
arm portions 21
and 25 to fold onto the mounting arms 16 and 17 and holding them in the folded
position prior to
inserting the latter into the vertical mounting slots 28 of the display stand
27 as shown partially in
Figure 7. The folded abutting arm portions 21 and 25 will inherently unfold
after insertion due to
the intrinsic characteristic of the cardboard or corrugated board to locate in
a transverse manner
across the vertical mounting slots 28 so that the mounting arms 16 and 17 may
not be pulled out
from the vertical mounting slots 28 thereafter to detach the merchandise tray
from the display
stand.
A plurality of reinforce tabs may be provided to provide firm additional
support of the
weight of the merchandise item. An example of such alternative embodiment
having two
reinforce tabs 20A and 20B is shown in Figure 8. Same number of horizontal
mounting slots 30A
and 30B are formed in the front panel 29 of the display stand 27 for receiving
the additional
number of reinforce tabs.
A step 31 may be formed at the rear edge of the base 11 within the merchandise
tray 10.
The step 31 provides additional reinforced strength to the tray as well as a
convenient means for
raising the position of different merchandise items within the tray such that
they are visible to
purchasers.
The merchandise tray according to the present invention may be formed by
stamping a
configuration 32 as shown in Figure 10 on a single sheet material such as
cardboard or
corrugated board. The configuration 32 has a main rectangular base panel 33.
Two triangular side
panels 34 and 35 join to the side edges of the rectangular base panel 33 along
foldable lines 36
and 37. The L-shaped mounting hooks 38 and 39 are formed at the upper corner
of the triangular
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CA 02559432 2006-09-08
side panels 34 and 35. Two retaining panels 40 and 41 extend upwards from a
top edge of the
triangular side panels 34 and 35. Open slots 42 and 43 are formed in the upper
side edge adjacent
to the top edge of the retaining panels 40 and 41. Two triangular reinforce
panels 44 and 45 are
located adjacent to the triangular side panels 34 and 35 and are foldable
relative to the latter
along foldable lines 46 and 47. A first foldable rectangular panel 48 extends
upwards from the
top edge 49 of the base panel 33 and it is foldable relative to the latter
along its top edge 49. Two
reinforce tabs 50 and 51 integral with the base panel 33 extend upwards into
semi-circular
openings formed in the foldable rectangular panel 48. A second foldable
rectangular panel 52
joined to the upper edge of the first rectangular panel 48 and foldable
relative to the latter along
its upper edge. The first and second rectangular panels 48 and 52 have equal
dimensions. A third
foldable rectangular panel 53 extends from the upper edge of the second
rectangular panel 52 and
is foldable relative to the latter along its upper edge. Two reinfornce tabs
54 and 55 equal in size
to reinforce tabs 50 and 51 integral with the third rectangular panel 53
extend downwards into
semi-circular cut out formed in the upper edge portion of the second
rectangular panel 52. The
third rectangular panel 53 and the base panel 33 have equal dimensions. A
fourth foldable
rectangular panel 56 extends downwards from the lower edge of the base panel
33 and is foldable
relative to the base panel 33. The fourth rectangular panel 56 and the base
panel 33 have equal
dimensions. The merchandise tray may be easily assembled by one person by
first folding the
retaining panels 40 and 41 upward until they are perpendicular to the
triangular side panels 34
and 35, then the triangular side panels 34 and 35 are folded towards one
another until they are
perpendicular to the base panel 33 and the retaining panels 40 and 41 may be
secured together by
slidably engaging the open slots 42 and 43 so as to retain the triangular side
panels 34 and 35 in
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CA 02559432 2006-09-08
the position perpendicular to the base panel 33. The first foldable
rectangular panel 48 may then
be folded upward to abut the rear surface of the joined retaining panels 40
and 41 to form the
outer layer of the rear panel of the merchandise tray with the reinforce tabs
50 and 51 extending
rearwards beyond the rear panel. The second panel 52 will then be folded
downward to cover
over the joined retaining panels 40 and 41 with the reinforce tabs 54 and 55
extending under the
retaining panels 40 and 41 and the semi-circular cut outs of the first
foldable rectangular panel 48
to lie over the reinforce tabs 50 and 51. The fourth foldable rectangular
panel 56 may then be
folded upwards to lie over the base panel 33 and the triangular reinforce
panels 44 and 45 may
finally be folded downwards to lie juxtaposed to the inside surface of the
triangular side panels
34 and 35. The entire assembly procedure may be easily and quickly
accomplished by one
person.
Another alternative embodiment of the merchandise tray according to the
present
invention is best shown in Figure 12. In this embodiment, the rear panel of
the tray 10 may be
omitted to provide an open rear so as to reduce its manufacturing cost.
Having described the merchandise tray of the present invention by reference to
certain of
its preferred embodiments, it is respectfully pointed out that the embodiments
described are
illustrative rather than limiting in nature and that many variations and
modifications may be
considered obvious and desirable to those skilled in the art based upon a
review of the foregoing
description of the preferred embodiments.
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Representative Drawing