EP0075011B1

EP0075011B1 - Article support and display apparatus

Info

Publication number: EP0075011B1
Application number: EP82901452A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Benjamin L. Garfinkle
Original assignee: CLAMP SWING PRICING Co
Current assignee: CLAMP SWING PRICING Co
Priority date: 1981-03-27
Filing date: 1982-03-24
Publication date: 1985-12-27
Also published as: EP0075011A4; WO1982003321A1; DE3268079D1; AU8398582A; CA1179978A; EP0075011A1; AU552673B2; JPS58500395A

Abstract

Article support and display assembly wherein a common peg bar (11) is used to accept molding support pegs (14) and merchandise pegs (12) which are readily removable from the peg bar and which are thus adjustable so that the tag molding (1) can be located above and forward of merchandise being supported by the merchandise pegs.

Description

The invention relates to an article support and display apparatus for supporting articles of merchandise in display racks or cases and the like. Such displays are utilized in grocery stores, supermarkets and typically include a base support member or panel having apertures therein in which are inserted hanger rods and the articles of manufacture are suspended from said rods. One such display case used in displaying refrigerated foods, such as meats and cheeses, includes an elongated angle iron with the flanges thereof diverging upward, one flange having a circular opening therethrough and the other flange having a semicircular slot therein positioned for receiving the cylindrical hanger rod. Spring clips are applied to the rod on the back side of the flange containing the circular aperture for preventing the rod from being pulled out of the angle iron. Such a configuration is shown in U.S.-A-4007841.
A cursory review of the prior art clearly shows that there is a marked lack in uniformity between the various merchandise support and display assemblies currently available. Thus, one having a support bracket of one manufacturer could not use hanger rods of another manufacturer. There is, thus, a distinct need in this industry for support and display assemblies whereby merchandise pegs and support pegs supporting the molding which displays various pricing and informational tags associated with the merchandise (hereinafter referred to as "price strip support molding" for brevity without implying a limitation to this special type) could be used in virtually any standard peg bar.
Display racks of a type having forwardly projecting article supporting rods are known which are adapted to be mounted on a vertical wall or support plate for use in open front refrigerator display cases as used in supermarkets and the like. For example, display racks of this type are disclosed in U.S.-A-3 486 632. Commonly displayed are two sets of supporting rods, one for the merchandise to be sold and the second to support the "price strip". Ideally, the price strip, and thus its support, should be placed directly over and slightly behind the end of the merchandise support peg, so that a supermarket customer can readily identify the product being sold and its pricing information. Unfortunately, prior art display devices have not always been able to provide this convenience.
This is also true for an article support and display apparatus comprising a peg bar having means proximate its ends for supporting the peg bar to securedly fix it in place, means located along said peg bar for receiving price strip support pegs and means located along said peg bar for receiving merchandise pegs, price strip support pegs and merchandise pegs located on said peg bar a price strip support molding fastened to the ends of said price strip support pegs nearest the customer, said price strip support pegs having a non-linear section between their ends to situate said price strip support molding above merchandise suspended from said merchandise pegs, said merchandise pegs and said price strip support pegs being removable from said peg bar, as is known from US-A-3 976 201.
Fig. 1 illustrates the price strip support assembly 10 such as disclosed in US-A- 3 976 201 and comprising price strip support pegs 2, 3, which are actually a single U-shaped supporting rod fixedly attached to price strip support 1. The support pegs are configured to possess "S" shaped segments 4, 5 which cause the price strip support 1 to locate above merchandise support rod (not shown). The free ends 6, 7 of price strip support pegs 2, 3 are adapted to fit into ordinary peg bar supports.
Although the apparatus according to US-A-3 976 201 as shown in Fig. 1 does offer some flexibility by providing for a channel 30 within price strip support 1 so that price and other merchandise information can slide within said channel to locate proximate to the merchandise being displayed, the use of such a configuration offers serious problems. For example, a price strip support must be fabricated to align with holes in the peg bar support which are spaced a specific distance from one another to receive the free ends 6, 7. With such a rigid frame, a store operator cannot always locate his product as he would like. By having to set up merchandise pegs around the price strip support pegs, it has been found that the user must forfeit about one product space per 1,2 m (4 foot) section of display, resulting in a display loss of about 12%.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an article support and display apparatus of this type, as recited in the precharacterizing portion of claim 1, without the drawbacks of the prior art, in particular one which is adaptable for use with any conventional peg bar support, so that it allows for enhanced ease in the display and pricing of merchandise.
This object is achieved, according to the invention, by modifying the design of the apparatus recited in the pre-characterizing portion of claim 1 such that said merchandise pegs are interchangeable with merchandise pegs of a different length, that said price strip support pegs are interchangeable with price strip support pegs of a different length, and that said price strip support pegs are removably fastened to said price strip support molding by means of clips engaging said price strip support molding. With such a design both the price strip support pegs and the merchandise pegs are readily removable and interchangeable, while retaining one and the same price strip support molding, i.e. that need not be exchanged e.g. when it turns out some time after the initial set up that shorter or longer merchandise pegs are desirable, it is quite sufficient to interchange only the pegs, which was not possible with the prior art apparatus. Particularly advantageous embodiments of the invention are defined in subclaims 2 to 6, some features of which are in and by themselves known.
The present invention will be more fully appreciated when considering the following in view of the appended figures wherein:

Fig. 2 shows an article support and display apparatus;
Fig. 3 depicts a detailed perspective of a standard peg bar supporting a price strip support peg of the present invention and a merchandise peg; and
Fig. 4 is a detailed perspective view of the rear side of a segmented price strip support molding being connected to the price strip support peg of the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings in more detail, Fig. 2 depicts an apparatus of the present invention whereby a standard peg bar support 11 is shown fixedly attached to a supporting wall via right angle bracket 17, the matching right angle bracket not being shown. Although the peg bar is shown as a base support angle iron, such as that shown in US-A-4 007 841 any standard peg bar support may be used having means for receiving various supporting rods.
The supporting rods 12 and 14 basically are of two types, one for supporting merchandise and a second for supporting a price strip support molding. Merchandise peg 12 basically comprises a straight rod having a substantially circular cross-section and a slight upward bend at its end nearest the customer. It is noted, however, that virtually any of the prior art merchandise support pegs can be used in practicing the present invention.
The price strip support peg 14 is configured with a substantially "S" section 13 to raise the end of the peg nearest the customer above the vertical plane of that section which is inserted within slot 15. In this way, the price strip support molding 1 attached to the free end of peg 14 is situated above merchandise 17 being suspended from merchandise peg 12.
The price strip support molding 1 is attached to price strip support peg 14 via a clip 16. The clip 16 fits directly into a back track of the price strip support molding and can slide along the track to finally position the price strip support molding to align with a receiving position of the peg bar support. This allows the price strip support molding section (usually supplied in lengths equal to the peg bar support) to be placed in proper alignment with said bar, so that pricing information tags 18 can be situated directly above merchandise 17'.
One of the prime advantages in practicing the present invention is the flexibility offered the user in the ability to now vary the position and length of the merchandise and price strip support pegs. For example, these pegs generally come in 20, 25, 30, and 38 cm (8, 10, 12 and 15 inch) lengths. If a user opens a display with 20 cm (8 inch) pegs and then changes to 30 cm (12 inch) the prior art rigid frame price strip support that was built for 20 cm (8 inch) pegs would no longer be visible to the consumer, having been buried by the product in a 30 cm (12 inch) display. With the present invention, the store operator need merely replace his 20 cm (8 inch) price strip support pegs with a pair of 30 cm (12 inch) pegs. Furthermore, it may be desirable to limit the width of a piece of price strip support molding to appear only above certain products in the display case. With the rigid price strip support of the prior art, there would be no way to conform the existing price strip support molding to a shorter, more limited configuration. With the present invention, a shorter segment of price strip support molding can simply be attached to a pair of price strip support pegs in virtually any width as desired.

Claims

1. Article support and display apparatus comprising a peg bar (11) having means proximate its ends for supporting the peg bar (11) to securedly fix it in place, means (15) located along said peg bar (11) for receiving price strip support pegs (14) and means (15) located along said peg bar (11) for receiving merchandise pegs (12), price strip support pegs (14) and merchandise pegs (12) located on said peg bar (11) a price strip support molding (1) fastened to the ends of said price strip support pegs (14) nearest the customer, said price strip support pegs (14) having a non-linear section (13) between their ends to situate said price . strip support molding (1) above merchandise (17) suspended from said merchandise pegs (12), said merchandise pegs (12) and said price strip support pegs (14) being removable from said peg bar (11), characterised in that said merchandise pegs (12) are interchangeable with merchandise pegs of a different length, in that said price strip support pegs (14) are interchangeable with price strip support pegs of a different length, and in that said price strip support pegs (14) are removably fastened to said price strip support molding (1) by means of clips (16) engaging said price strip support molding (1).

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said price strip support pegs (14) and merchandise support pegs (12) are substantially circular in cross-section.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said non-linear section of said price strip support pegs (14) are S-segments (13).

4. Apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the price strip support molding (1) is parallel to and extends substantially the full length of the peg bar (11).

5. Apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the price strip support molding (1) is parallel to and extends along only a portion of the length of the peg bar (11) so as to display price strips (18) substantially above and at the forward extremity of items (17') being suspended by said merchandise pegs (12).

6. Apparatus according to any of claims 1-5, characterized in that said clips (16) are attached to a back track of the price strip support molding (1) and can slide along the back track to position the price strip support pegs (14) to align them with the receiving position (15) of the peg bar (11).