AU9697898A

AU9697898A - Shelf marker

Info

Publication number: AU9697898A
Application number: AU96978/98A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Gerard Stevens
Original assignee: Manrex Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Manrex Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1997-12-10
Filing date: 1998-12-08
Publication date: 1999-07-01
Anticipated expiration: 2018-12-08
Also published as: AU746356B2

Description

P/00/0 1 1 AUSTRALIA, Regulation 3.2 Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD

PATENT

Invention Title: SHELF MARjK I The following statement is a full description of this i nvention, including the best method of performing it known to me:-- I I

I.

0 THIS INVENTION relates to a manually-operable marker and it is particularly, although not exclusively, concerned with a shelf marker used for stock control in a shop or a warehouse.

Items are usually stocked on shelving at localised positions from which they can be withdrawn as the demand for them requires. Markers distributed along the front of the shelving are used to identify the products stored at the positions of the markers and each marker carries legend to identify the product stored at its position.

As products are consumed from stock, it is necessary to order fresh stock to replace them. Such stock is normally ordered in batches and a fresh batch is ordered when the stock of products held on a shelf falls beneath a chosen number, for example six.

It is the responsibility of the staff removing products from the shelving to arrange for orders for fresh stock to be placed when the number of products falls beneath the chosen number. However over-ordering of replacement stock can occur if two members of staff both place stock-replacement orders without knowing that the other has already done so.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved marker.

In accordance with the present invention a marker is provided with relatively movable panels connected to one another and arranged to display three different items of information in accordance with the relative positions of the panels, the first relative positions of the panels resulting in the marker displaying the identity of the product to be positioned at the location of the marker; the second relative positions of the panels resulting in the marker displaying the identity of the product together with a first indicator signifying that the product level has fallen beneath a threshold value at which re-ordering of the stock is necessary; and, the third relative positions of the panels resulting in the marker displaying a second indicator signifying that an order for stock replacement has been placed but it has not yet been fulfilled.

The marker of the invention is particularly suited for use as a stock control aid on the front of shelving on which batches of different products are stored. At the end of a working day, a member of the staff moving along the shelving can signify, by appropriately moving two panels of a marker relative to one another, that a particular product at the position of the marker requires re-ordering. That product can then be re-ordered and the marker adjusted to denote that re-ordering has taken place.

The marker may be arranged to have the panels slid parallel to one another, or for the panels to be rotated relative to one another. However the preferred arrangement of marker uses panels which are hinged to one another and can be folded together, some form of latching mechanism being provided to hold the panels in some of the required positions. The material of the marker is conveniently a thin flexible plastics or paper card. The hinge may be formed using a hinge pin threaded through tubular or channel-shaped edge portions extending along adjacent edges of two panels of the marker. The latching mechanism may comprise, for example, a catch or detent and a slot or ridge with which it co-operates.

The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example, with reference to accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: FIGURE 1 shows a marker for attachment to a shelf shown partially in ghost outline, and in a first operating condition; FIGURE 2 shows the marker being partially unfolded to a second operating condition; FIGURE 3 shows the marker fully unfolded and in its second operating condition; FIGURE 4 shows the marker partially folded back to assume a third operating condition; and FIGURE 5 corresponds to figure 4 and shows an alternative form of marker using a hinge provided between its three panels, two of the panels being shown in full outline when one position, and in chain and double-dotted outline when in their second operating positions.

Figure 3 shows a marker 1 made of thin resiliently flexible plastics sheet provided with parallel fold lines 2 and 3 and a vertical slit 4, which divide the marker into four rectangular panels 5, 6, 7 and 8.

The panel 5 has an adhesive under-surface normally covered by a removable cover slip (not shown) which allows the marker, after removal of the slip, to be attached by its adhesive under-surface to the upper surface of a shelf shown in ghost outline at 10 in figure 1. Two slots 11 and 12, clearly shown in figure 2, are provided in the panel adjacent the fold line 2 to receive respective catches or claws 13 and 14 provided on the free edges of the panels 7 and 8 as clearly shown in figures 2, 3 and 4. The two panels 7 and 8 are separated from one another by the slit 4 so that they can be independently moved about the fold line 3 between the positions shown in futures 1, 3 and 4. The fold line 3 is formed to provide a hinge allowing the panels 7 and 8 to fall

I

independently under their own weight to the positions shown in figure 3 in which they lie in the same plane as, and beneath, the panel 6.

As shown in figure 3 panel 6 has two display areas 15 and 16 each shown in a broken outline. These are normally covered by the panels 8 and 7 respectively, when they are folded-up into the positions shown in figure 1. The panel 8 then displays a number (which in the figures is shown in broken outline and is the numeral "six") indicating the threshold at which a particular product, identified in words (not shown) on the oblong broken outline panel provided on the visible surface of the panel 7, is to be reordered. The panels 7 and 8 are held in their respective positions, shown in figure 1, by the engagement of the catches 13 and 14 in the respective slots 11 and 12.

If the number of the products on the shelf at the position of the marker 1, falls to six, a member of the staff responsible for re-ordering stock, manually releases the catches 13 and 14 from their respective slots 11, 12 so that the panels 7 and 8 fall under their own weight about the hinging fold line 3 to the positions shown in figure 3. The panels may be weighted to ensure they fall clearly into the vertical plane. This allows the display areas 15 and 16, formerly hidden by the panels 8 and 7, to be viewed.

Legend in display area 16 indicates the product together with its stock number and the number of units of the product which must be re-ordered. The action of releasing the panels 7 and 8 also exposes prominent coloured disc indicators 20 and 21 on the panels '7 and 8 to signal to the staff that some action is required. A number of the staff then responds by noting that replacement stock is now necessary, and folds the panel 7 upwardly to the position shown in figure 4 to indicate that action to order new stock has been taken. Panel 8 is left hanging in the position shown in figure 4 to warn other staff members that re-ordering had taken place and fresh stock is awaited.

When the fresh stock has been received, it is placed on the shelf 10 at the position of the marker 1, and the panel 8 is restored to its original position shown in figure 1 and in which it is held by the catch 13 re-engaged in its slot 11.

The above-described marker is cheap and easy to manufacture and simple and reliable in use.

In the hinge modification shown in figure 5, parts corresponding in operation to parts already described in earlier figures are similarly numbered, but the numbers are primed. The panel 8' in figure 5 is made separately from the panels 7' and 8' and three panels have their adjacent edges 16 and 19 scrolled, looped or otherwise formed to provide aligned channels and/or tubes 16 and 19. A hinging pin 18 is threaded through the tube of the edge 19, and its respective opposite end-positions are held in the looped edges 16 of the panel 6' to provide the horizontal hinge securing the panels 8' to the underside of the panel 6'.

Various other configurations of marker will now be described to achieve the same result. These are not illustrated but will be clear from the following brief descriptions.

One form of marker relies on the relative rotation of two discs sharing a common rotational axis. The front disc is attached to the shelf by a pivot pin passing centrally through both discs, and has a window into which can be moved information displayed on the rear disc by rotating the rear disc about the pivot axis. According to the angular position of the rear disc, information is displayed in the window of the front disc to indicate that residual stock is low, and action to re-order stock has been taken. The marker can be attached to the front of the shelf or to its underside. In the latter case the information is provided on the rim of the disc. In a modified form of this marker the pivotal axis is arranged eccentrically with respect to the disc centres.

A second form of marker relies on the sliding movement of one panel along the face of a second panel, under its own weight. A manually-releasable detent or claw can be used to retain the sliding panel in an upper position, when required. One panel can be attached to the front edge of the shelf and carry a bracket or other device to enable the second panel to be slid along its face to different positions in accordance with the information which is to be displayed.

From the above description it will be appreciated that it is immaterial to the performance of the invention to have a particular form of connection between the panels of the marker.

In another form of marker the panels are provided by different ones of a thin flexible plastics card integrally formed with the required hinges by crease lines and/or lines of perforations. The thin flexible card can be stamped out of sheeting, and the catch for retaining either of the movable panels in its upper position, can be provided by a tab or formation on one of the panels which temporarily locks behind a slot or similar stop provided on one of the positionally fixed panels. The nature resilience of the card allows it to flex for manual engagement and disengagement of the catch to occur.

Claims

1. A marker provided with relatively movable panels connected to one another and arranged to display three different items of information in accordance with the relative positions of the panels, the first relative positions of the panels resulting in the marker displaying the identify of the product positioned at the location of the marker; the second relative positions of the panels resulting in the marker displaying the identity of the product together with a first indicator signifying that the product level has fallen beneath a threshold value at which re-ordering of the stock is necessary; and, the third relative positions of the panels resulting in the marker displaying a second indicator signifying that an order for stock replacement has been placed but it has not yet been fulfilled.

2. A marker as set forth in claim 1, in which the panels are folded to their respective relative positions.

3. A marker as set forth in claim 2, in which the marker is divided into panels the first of which provides a shelf attachment, a second or intermediate panel is provided between the first panel and third and fourth panels, and third and fourth panels are hinged to the under edge of the second panel to turn about a common horizontal hinging axis.

4. A marker as set forth in claim 3, in which the common hinging axis is provided by a pin-and-tube hinge.

A marker as set forth in claim 1, in which the panels are portions of resiliently flexible, stamped-out, card having parallel fold lines formed by creases and a hinging axis provided by a line of perforations and/or a fold line.

6. A member as set forth in claim 1, in which one of the panels is displaceable with respect to a second panel by movement in its own plane.

7. A marker as set forth in claim 6, in which displacement is achieved by moving one of the panels in a slideway provided by another panel.

8. A marker as set forth in claim 6, in which displacement is achieved by rotation between indexed positions of one of the panels around a pivot attaching it to a second panel.

9. A marker as set forth in claim 8, in which the panels are circular and the pivot point is at their centres.

10. A marker as set forth in any one of the preceding claims, in which two of the panels are held in required positions with respect to one another panels, by a tab, claw, catch or detent on one of the panels which is manually releasable from a slot, groove or ridge on the other panel.

A marker as set forth in claim 1, arranged and adapted to be used substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

12. A marker as set forth in claim 11, modified substantially as herein described in any one of the specified modifications. Dated this 9th day of December 1998. MANREX PMY LIMITED i H. J. Rantzen (Applicant's Patent Attorney)