AU2002301665B2

AU2002301665B2 - An improved display booklet holder

Info

Publication number: AU2002301665B2
Application number: AU2002301665A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Brian Henry Macdonald
Original assignee: Superlooks For Retail Env Pty Ltd
Current assignee: SUPERLOOKS FOR RETAIL ENVIRONMENTS Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2001-10-29
Filing date: 2002-10-29
Publication date: 2007-07-19
Anticipated expiration: 2022-10-29

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: AN IMPROVED DISPLAY BOOKLET HOLDER Applicant: SUPERLOOKS FOR RETAIL ENVIRONMENTS The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: -2- AN IMPROVED DISPLAY BOOKLET HOLDER Field of the Invention This invention relates to a retail price display apparatus and in particular to an improved display booklet holder for displaying spiral bound price cards or booklets in retail price displays.

Background of the Invention In retail environments it is considered an important part of the buying experience to provide attractive displays of goods which are clearly marked with accurate prices. As prices and goods change, there is a need to easily adjust the display price whilst maintaining the attractive appearance of the pricing display.

In supermarkets and the like one method for displaying the price of products or displaying other signage is to use display booklets. Display booklets typically include a number of pages which are printed with numerals or other information which are bound together using a spiral or circular binding. This enables a series of such booklets to be used to display a price at a price point and for that price to be readily changed by flipping over the pages of the various display booklets to form a different price.

The present invention seeks to provide an improved display booklet holder.

Summary of the Invention According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a display booklet holder for spiral bound display booklets, said holder including a front wall and a rear wall defining there between a spiral receiving cavity, said spiral receiving cavity including an upper opening and a lower opening, said upper and lower openings being arranged so that a display booklet can be passed through said upper opening and so that a lower portion of the display booklet -3-

O

O can extend through said lower opening whilst said spiral binding of said display booklet is retained in said spiral receiving cavity, and wherein said spiral receiving cavity includes an inner wall portion which is substantially curved.

Preferably, the inner wall portion is curved so as to be complimentary to the shape of the spiral binding of the display booklet.

Preferably, the inner wall portion of the spiral receiving cavity is formed as part of the front wall. Preferably, the front wall has a front wall surface which is also substantially curved.

Preferably, the display booklet holder is arranged to receive a plurality of spiral bound display booklets. The display booklets are preferably arranged to be positioned substantially side by side within the display booklet holder. To this end, the spiral receiving cavity is preferably divided into a number of minor cavities by at least one side wall member, each minor cavity being arranged to receive a display booklet or booklets. In one embodiment, the display booklet holder is arranged to receive six display booklets and the spiral receiving cavity is divided into five minor cavities. One of the five minor cavities is sized so as to receive more than one display booklet.

In one embodiment of the invention, the display booklet holder includes at least one spacing element located on a top edge of the rear wall. A plurality of spacing elements are preferably provided at equally spaced distances along the top edge of the rear wall. The spacing elements are preferably arranged to be readily snapped off the display booklet holder so that they can be removed if not required.

Preferably, the rear wall extends a distance below a lower edge of the front wall so that the rear wall has sufficient contact surface area to enable it to be secured to a support surface using glue, screws or the like.

-4- In one preferred form, the contact surface area of the rear wall includes a groove. The groove preferably extends across the width of the rear wall of the display book holder so that it can be positioned substantially flat against a surface having a complimentary shaped protrusion formed therein.

In one embodiment of the invention, the display booklet holder is arranged to be attached to a back board having a back surface and at least one display card receiving aperture integrally formed with or attached thereto. The display card receiving aperture is preferably defined by a pair of opposed attachments. The display book holder is preferably sized in accordance with this embodiment so that it can be located between the opposed attachments of the display card receiving aperture. The rear wall of the display booklet holder can then be glued or otherwise attached to the back surface of the backboard within the display card receiving aperture.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a kit including at least one back board and at least one display booklet holder in accordance with the first aspect of the invention. The kit may also include at least one page receiving attachment. The at least one display booklet holder and the at least one page receiving attachment are preferably arranged to be attached to said back board so that during use the page receiving attachment is spaced substantially parallel to but distally of the display book holder. This enables a bottom edge of the pages of a display booklet being held in the display booklet holder to be located within the page receiving attachment.

The invention also includes in another aspect a page receiving attachment for receiving a bottom edge of at least one page of a display booklet arranged to be mounted in a display booklet holder.

The page receiving attachment preferably includes a front wall, a back wall and a joining wall. The front wall preferably has a greater surface area above the joining wall than the back wall. This arrangement is preferred so that the back wall does not inadvertently engage with the bottom edge of the pages of a display booklet held in a display booklet holder in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

In another aspect the invention provides a display booklet holder for spiral bound display booklets, said holder including a front wall, a rear wall and a pair of end walls defining there between a spiral receiving cavity, said spiral receiving cavity including an upper opening and a lower opening, said upper and lower openings being arranged so that a display booklet can be passed through said upper opening and so that a lower portion of the display booklet can extend through said lower opening whilst said spiral binding of said display booklet is retained in said spiral receiving cavity, and wherein said front and rear walls are configured so that at least one side wall member can be located in the spiral receiving cavity thereby dividing the spiral receiving cavity into at least two minor spiral receiving cavities.

Preferably, at least a portion of each of the front rear walls include a plurality of grooves, the grooves in the front and rear walls being aligned to form respective groove pairs arranged so that a sidewall member can be located in each respective groove pair.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided a kit including at least one back board, at least one display booklet holder and at least one side wall member, the at least one display booklet holder including a front wall, a rear wall and a pair of end walls defining there between a spiral receiving cavity, said spiral receiving cavity including an upper opening and a lower opening, said upper and lower openings being arranged so that a display booklet can be passed through said upper opening and so that a lower portion of the display booklet can extend through said lower opening whilst said spiral binding of said display booklet is retained in said spiral receiving cavity, and wherein said front and rear walls are configured so that at least one of said side 5a wall members can be located in the spiral receiving cavity thereby dividing the spiral receiving cavity into at least two minor spiral receiving cavities.

-6- Brief Description of the Drawings Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a display booklet holder in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a front view of the display booklet holder shown in Figure 1 attached to a back board which includes a display card receiving aperture.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the display booklet holder along the line A- A of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an end view of the display booklet holder shown in Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a page receiving attachment in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 6 is an end view of a back board upon which a display booklet holder and a page receiving attachment are mounted in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 7 illustrates in front view a number of different displays incorporating display book holders in accordance with different embodiments of the invention.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a display booklet holder in accordance with another embodiment of the invention.

Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view of the display booklet holder shown in Figure -7- Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments The display booklet holder 10 shown in Figures 1 to 4 is arranged to receive a number of display booklets 100. The holder 10 includes a front wall 12, a rear wall 14 and a pair of end walls 15. The front wall 12 and rear wall 14 define there between a spiral receiving cavity 16. The spiral receiving cavity 16 includes an upper opening 18 and a lower opening Figure 3 shows a display booklet 100 (in dashed lines) mounted within the display booklet holder 10. The display booklet 100 includes a number of display pages which are schematically illustrated as pages 102 and which are bound together using a spiral binding 104. It will be appreciated that in order to place the display book 100 within the display book holder 10, the pages 102 and attached spiral 104 are fed through the upper opening 18 and then the pages 102 are fed through the lower opening 20. The lower opening 20 is dimensioned so as to prevent the spiral 104 from passing there through. This enables the booklet 100 to be safely held within the holder 10 whilst still displaying the front page 102 of the display booklet 100. The spiral receiving cavity 16 is dimensioned so that the spiral 104 of the display booklet 100 is contained fully within the cavity 16. Thus, it will be appreciated that when the display booklet holder 10 is viewed from directly in front, the spiral 104 of the display booklet 100 is not visible. Thus, the holder 10 has improved aesthetic appeal.

To facilitate location of the spiral 104 of the booklet 100 within the spiral receiving cavity 16, the cavity 16 includes an inner wall portion 12a which is substantially curved. The inner wall portion 12a is preferably curved so as to be complementary to the shape of the spiral 104 of the display booklet 100. The front wall 112 has a front wall surface 12b which is also substantially curved.

-8- The display booklet holder 10 shown in Figure 1 includes five cavities 16a but is arranged to receive six different spiral bound display booklets 100. One of the cavities is approximately twice the width of the remaining cavities 16a and is arranged to hold two booklets 100 which may differ to each other in size and in function. The booklets 100 of the larger cavity 16a may, for example, display the name of the product and a dollar sign. The booklets 100 in this cavity 16a can be easily swapped around within the cavity 16a as required without disruption to the correct layout and spacing of the remaining booklets 100 in the holder 10. The display books 100 are arranged to be positioned substantially side by side within the display booklet holder 10. Accordingly, the spiral receiving cavity 16 of the display booklet holder 10 is divided into five different minor cavities 16a by side wall members 22.

It will be appreciated that although the display booklet holder 10 is shown with five minor cavities 16a, it may be modified to include any number of minor cavities 16a.

The rear wall 14 of the display booklet holder 10 has a top edge 24. Mounted at spaced locations along the top edge 24 of the rear wall 14 are a number of spacing elements 26. The spacing elements 26 are arranged to be readily snapped off the display booklet holder 10 by means of a reduced thickness portion 28. The function of the spacing elements 26 is to enable the display booklet holder 10 to be readily positioned relative to an edge surface of another item at a distance sufficiently spaced from the edge surface to still enable the display booklet 100 to be located within the display booklet holder 10. This use of the spacing elements 26 will be described in more detail below.

The display booklet holder 10 can be attached to any substantially flat support surface using glue, screws or the like. It is envisaged however that a preferred use for the display booklet holder 10 is to secure it to a back board 200 having a back surface 202, an elongate display card receiving aperture 204 and a page receiving attachment 206. The display card receiving aperture 204 is commonly -9called a "slide track". Figures 2 and 6 show different arrangements of such back boards 200.

The display card receiving aperture or slide track 204 shown in Figure 6 is defined by a pair of opposed attachments 204a, 204b which are substantially Lshaped in cross-section and which are configured so that a conventional display card can be located between the attachments 204a, 204b and retained therewithin. The slide track 204 may also include an elongate protrusion 204c which extends substantially centrally of the attachments 204a, 204b and along the length of the slide track 204. This configuration of the slide track 204 enables display cards having a complementary shaped groove formed in their rear portion to be slid lengthwise into the slide track 204 and retained therein.

Figure 6 also shows a display booklet holder 10 mounted below the lower receiving attachment 204b of a slide track 204. The display booklet holder 10 is secured to the back surface 202 of the back board 200 by means of glue, adhesive, double-sided tape or the like. However, to ensure that there is sufficient spacing between the lower receiving attachment 204b and the upper opening 18 of the display book holder 10 to enable a display booklet 100 to be fitted therein, the display booklet holder 10 must be located at a proper distance below the lower attachment 204b. This is achieved by means of the spacing elements 26. By abutting the upper edge 26a of the spacing elements 26 against the lower edge of the lower receiving attachment 204b, it is ensured that there is adequate spacing between the lower receiving attachment 204b and the opening 18. It will be appreciated however, that where the display booklet holder 10 is simply attached to a flat support surface the spacing elements 26 may not be required. In such circumstances, the spacing elements 26 can simply be snapped off by applying sufficient pressure thereto to break the spacing elements along a line extending substantially through the reduced thickness portion 28.

As best illustrated in Figure 3, the rear wall 14 of the display booklet holder includes a groove 29. The display booklet holder 10 is dimensioned so that it can, if required, be received between the attachments 204a, 204b of an existing slide track 204 and secured by glue, adhesive, screws or the like therewith.

The groove 29 enables the display booklet holder 10 to be located about the protrusion 204c and thus the display booklet holder 10 can be positioned flush against the back surface 202 of slide track 204.

The page receiving attachment 206 of the back board 200 shown in Figure 6 is configured so that it will capture the bottom edge of a page 102 of a display booklet 100 mounted within the display booklet holder 10. As best illustrated in Figure 5, the page receiving attachment 206 includes a front wall 208, a rear wall 210 and a joining wall 212. The portion of the rear wall 210 which extends above the joining wall 212 is less than the portion of the front wall 208 which extends above the joining wall 212. This arrangement is preferred so as to ensure that the bottom edges of the pages 102 of the display booklet 100 are received within the page receiving attachment 206, whilst reducing the likelihood that the pages 102 will contact the rear wall 210. If the pages 102 contact the rear wall 210 they may buckle or bow and thereby not sit flat against the back surface 202 of the back board 200. This would decrease the visual appeal of the signage.

It will also be appreciated that the dimension of the rear wall 210 should be sufficient to enable it to be readily glued, screwed or the like to either a back board 200 or another planar support surface.

The page receiving attachment 206 can be mounted at different heights below the booklet holder so as to accommodate different sized booklets 100. Thus different sized booklets 100 can be used in the one display. As relatively expensive tooling is required to manufacture a booklet holder 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, this feature is of considerable significance as it offers a customer options in booklet size without the need for the added 11 cost of tooling for a totally new booklet holder. This new versatility in design also affords a customer new opportunities for expanding the booklet options within their environment. Allowing, for example, for a set of condensed numerals, standard numerals and even expanded numerals over the same length of top holding track.

As stated above, the display booklet holder 10 can be mounted to any planar surface or alternatively can be used in conjunction with a back board 200 of the type previously described. The display booklet holder 10 in such an instance may be fixed within the slide track 204 or alternatively may be located there below. The back board 200 may include a page receiving attachment 206, although this is not essential. If a page receiving attachment 206 is not used then the bottom edges of the pages 102 of a display booklet 100 held in the display booklet holder 10 would be left free.

It is envisaged that the dimensions of the display booklet holder 10, back board 200, slide track 204 and page receiving attachment 206 would be arranged so that they are complementary. A range of sizes will preferably be manufactured so that various different display arrangements and combinations can be provided so as to suit the needs of different display signage customers.

Figure 7 illustrates ten different displays which incorporate display book holders in accordance with different embodiments of the invention. The displays shown in Figure 7 make varying use of display book holders 10 with slide tracks 204. The use of different sized booklets 100 and varyingly positioned page receiving attachments 206 is also illustrated. Some of the displays also make use of single slide cards 400.

Figure 8 illustrates a modified display book holder 500. The holder 500 includes a front wall 512, a rear wall 514 and a pair of end walls 515. The rear wall 514 includes a plurality of spaced grooves 517 which extend substantially vertically.

The front wall 12 also includes a plurality of grooves 519 formed in the upper -12portion thereof which extend substantially vertically. The grooves 517 in the rear wall 14 and the grooves 519 in front wall 512 are aligned so that they form a groove pair which is arranged to receive a side wall member 522. Side wall member 522 is configured so that it can be readily slid along the grooves 517, 519 until the uppermost portion 522a of the side wall member 522 is seated in the spiral receiving cavity 516. As shown in Figure 9, the front face of the uppermost portion 522a of the side wall member 522 is complimentary in shape to the inner wall portion 512a of the front wall 512 of the cavity 516. The side wall members 522 have the same function as the side wall member 22 shown in the display book holder 10 illustrated in Figure 1.

As shown in Figure 8, five side wall members 522 are located in the cavity 516 and thus the cavity 516 is divided into six different minor cavities 516a. It will be appreciated that the number of side wall members 522 used and their positioning along the length of the display book holder 500 can be varied in order to vary the size and number of minor cavities 516a.

Figure 8 illustrates a number of spare side wall members 522 ready to be located in respective grooves 517, 519 of the holder 500.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the holder 500 is particular advantageous because it can accommodate any number of display booklets in any combination simply by varying the position of the side wall members 522 along the length of the holder 500. Thus, the holder 500 can be readily modified to suit a particular customer's requirements. Accordingly, the holder 500 has increased customer versatility as compared to other arrangements.

A display booklet holder in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is considered to be particularly advantageous because spiral bound display booklets can be readily mounted therein, whilst ensuring that the spiral binding is not readily visible when viewed from the front. The curved inner wall helps to properly seat the spiral within the spiral receiving cavity which enables the -13display booklet to be readily located within the holder. In order to change the signage it is simply a matter of sliding one or more of the display booklets upwardly so that it can be removed out of the upper opening, whereafter the display pages can be flipped over to the required new page. The display booklet can then be reinserted into the display booklet holder.

The display booklet holder can be used in a wide range of applications. It can be used to display prices at a price point or other signage, for example a product name or other details.

When the display booklet holder is used in conjunction with back boards as described previously, an added degree of flexibility is provided to the range of signage that can be presented to a customer. The arrangement is neat and tidy and thus has strong aesthetic appeal, whilst still ensuring that the signage can be rapidly and easily changed.

The display booklet holder, back board and the page receiving attachment are preferably made of a plastics material so that they are light in weight and relatively inexpensive to manufacture. The display card receiving aperture is preferably integrally formed with the back board. It is envisaged that the back board 200 may also incorporate an integral display booklet holder although it is expected that this would not normally be the case.

When a display booklet holder is used in conjunction with a page receiving attachment, single slide display cards can be optionally used in the holder provided they are of sufficient size to be properly retained. It will therefore be appreciated that the present invention offers a very adaptable and user friendly signage arrangement.

An embodiment of the invention is designed to fit over an existing slide track to allow booklets and description slides to be used side by side to form an extended flexible display giving a customer combined booklets and slide -14ticketing within the same area. Also, at those times when it is not desirable to display a product price, the price booklets can be removed temporarily and that position of the display can then be used for other description slide ticketing since the useable slide track exists behind the normal position of the booklets.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that throughout the specification and claims the term "spiral", when used to describe the binding of the display booklets, refers to any form of binding that enables the bound pages to be readily turned over so that the pages can be aligned behind one another. This may include for example, plastic or wire binding ring coils and plastic or wire coils.

The embodiments have been described by way of example only, and modifications within the scope and spirit of the invention are envisaged.

Claims

1. A display booklet holder for spiral bound display booklets, said holder including a front wall and a rear wall defining there between a spiral receiving cavity, said spiral receiving cavity including an upper opening and a lower opening, said upper and lower openings being arranged so that a display booklet can be passed through said upper opening and so that a lower portion of the display booklet can extend through said lower opening whilst said spiral binding of said display booklet is retained in said spiral receiving cavity, and wherein said spiral receiving cavity includes an inner wall portion which is substantially curved.

2. A display booklet holder according to claim 1 wherein the inner wall portion is curved so as to be substantially complimentary to the shape of the spiral binding of the display booklet.

3. A display booklet holder according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the inner wall portion of the spiral receiving cavity is formed as part of the front wall.

4. A display booklet holder according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the front wall has a front wall surface which is also substantially curved. A display booklet holder according to any one of the preceding claims arranged to receive a plurality of spiral bound display booklets located in a side by side relationship within the holder.

6. A display booklet holder according to claim 6 wherein the display booklet holder includes a plurality of cavities, each cavity being defined by a pair of side wall members. -16-

7. A display booklet holder according to claim 6 wherein the positioning of at least some of the side wall members is adjustable so that the location and number of the cavities can be altered.

8. A display booklet holder according to claim 7 wherein at least a portion of each of the front wall and the rear wall include a plurality of grooves, the grooves in the front and rear walls being aligned to form respective groove pairs arranged so that a sidewall member can be located in each respective groove pair.

9. A display booklet holder according to any one of the preceding claims further including at least one spacing element located on a top edge of the rear wall.

10. A display booklet holder according to claim 9 wherein a plurality of spacing elements are provided at equally spaced distances along a top edge of the rear wall.

11. A display booklet holder according to claim 9 or claim 10 wherein the spacing elements are arranged to be snapped off the display booklet holder so that they can be removed if not required.

12. A display booklet holder according to anyone of the preceding claims wherein the rear wall extends a distance below a lower edge of the front wall so that the rear wall has sufficient contact surface area to enable it to be secured to a support surface using glue, screws or the like.

13. A display booklet holder according to claim 12 wherein the contact surface area of the rear wall includes a groove.

14. A display booklet holder according to claim 13 wherein the groove extends along the length of the rear wall of the display book holder so that it can -17- be positioned substantially flat against a surface having a complimentary shaped protrusion formed therein. A display booklet holder according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the display booklet holder is arranged to be attached to a back board having a back surface and at least one display card receiving aperture integrally formed with or attached thereto.

16. A display booklet holder according to claim 15 wherein the display card receiving aperture is defined by a pair of opposed attachments.

17. A display booklet holder for spiral bound display booklets, said holder including a front wall, a rear wall and a pair of end walls defining there between a spiral receiving cavity, said spiral receiving cavity including an upper opening and a lower opening, said upper and lower openings being arranged so that a display booklet can be passed through said upper opening and so that a lower portion of the display booklet can extend through said lower opening whilst said spiral binding of said display booklet is retained in said spiral receiving cavity, and wherein said front and rear walls are configured so that at least one side wall member can be located in the spiral receiving cavity thereby dividing the spiral receiving cavity into at least two minor spiral receiving cavities.

18. A display booklet holder according to claim 17 wherein at least a portion of each of the front wall and the rear wall include a plurality of grooves, the grooves in the front and rear walls being aligned to form respective groove pairs arranged so that a sidewall member can be located in each respective groove pair.

19. A display booklet holder according to claim 18 wherein the groove pairs are arranged for a sliding fit with the sidewall member. -18- A display booklet holder according to any one of claims 17 to 19 wherein an uppermost portion of the side wall member is complimentary in shape to at least an inner wall portion of the front wall so that the uppermost portion of the sidewall member can be seated in the spiral receiving cavity.

21. A kit including at least one back board and at least one display booklet holder, the at least one display booklet holder including a front wall and a rear wall defining there between a spiral receiving cavity, said spiral receiving cavity including an upper opening and a lower opening, said upper and lower openings being arranged so that a display booklet can be passed through said upper opening and so that a lower portion of the display booklet can extend through said lower opening whilst said spiral binding of said display booklet is retained in said spiral receiving cavity, and wherein said spiral receiving cavity includes an inner wall portion which is substantially curved.

22. A kit including at least one back board, at least one display booklet holder and at least one side wall member, the at least one display booklet holder including a front wall, a rear wall and a pair of end walls defining there between a spiral receiving cavity, said spiral receiving cavity including an upper opening and a lower opening, said upper and lower openings being arranged so that a display booklet can be passed through said upper opening and so that a lower portion of the display booklet can extend through said lower opening whilst said spiral binding of said display booklet is retained in said spiral receiving cavity, and wherein said front and rear walls are configured so that at least one of said side wall members can be located in the spiral receiving cavity thereby dividing the spiral receiving cavity into at least two minor spiral receiving cavities.

23. A kit according to claim 21 or claim 22 further including at least one page receiving attachment for receiving a bottom edge of at least one page of a display booklet arranged to be mounted in the assembled display booklet holder. -19-

24. A kit according to claim 23 wherein the at least one page receiving attachment includes a front wall, a back wall and a joining wall, the front wall having a greater surface area above the joining wall than the back wall. A display booklet holder substantially as hereinbefore described with IN reference to the accompanying drawings.

26. A kit substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the 10 accompanying drawings. (Ni