EP0655155B1 - Device for securing an electronic display unit - Google Patents

Abstract

A device for securing an electronic module casing comprises an intermediate part (6) to which the casing (1) is fixed, and a rail (5a) receiving the casing (1) and the intermediate part (6). The intermediate part (6) has a locking component (21) with a hook (30) to hold the locking component in a retracted position by cooperating with a complementary projection on the intermediate part (6), the locking component being released when the intermediate part (6) and the casing (1) are fitted to the rail (5a).

Description

The present invention relates to a device for fixing housings of electronic modules allowing the display of information, such as prices or the like, in retail stores or any other site, such as for example storage areas. or production factories.

The Applicant has recently proposed, in particular in its French patent application FR-2,658,645, an installation comprising a plurality of display modules which constitute remotely controllable electronic labels.

This installation makes it possible to replace conventional cardboard labels, with liquid crystal display modules which receive their display instructions from a management unit which centralizes all the information relating to the various products exhibited in the same store.

An important advantage of such an installation is that it makes it possible to avoid the long manipulations that a complete updating of the prices of the various items exhibited in a store requires, such as a large area.

These display modules are intended to take place along the edges of the shelves of the shelves in which the articles are placed. To date, the means for fixing the modules' housings consist of rails which run along the shelving boards and which include slides in which complementary grooves are fitted which are presented by said housings. The boxes are manually translated into these rails until they are positioned at the level of the articles to which they correspond.

These fixing means are nevertheless unsatisfactory.

The installation of the boxes in fact requires that they be returned one behind the other, in the exact order in which they must succeed one another along the shelving, from one end of the rail which carries them.

In addition, if one of the display modules is to be changed, it is necessary to disengage from the rail which carries it all the housings which are on the rail on one side or the other of the casing of the module to be changed. .

A main object of the invention is therefore to propose a fixing device which makes it possible to solve this problem.

Document GB-2 249 854 already discloses a device for fixing at least one electronic module box for displaying information relating to a product displayed in a store, in particular a retail store, comprising a rail intended to receive the housing and an intermediate piece which carries at least one elastic locking element having at least one projection intended to cooperate with a groove that the rail presents to ensure the maintenance of said housing relative to said rail, the housing and this intermediate piece having additional means for fixing said housing to said part.

The different variants described in this document are not easy to handle. In particular, the mounting of the intermediate piece on the rail requires relatively precise movements at the level of the rail on the part of the operator, which is inconvenient.

The assembly operations also prove to be long.

Also, the maintenance thus produced is not very reliable.

The invention aims to overcome these drawbacks.

The solution according to the invention consists in particular in that the locking element carries a hook intended to cooperate with a complementary relief of the intermediate piece to maintain said locking element in a retracted position, by opposing its elastic stress, and where the projection is then disengaged relative to the groove of the rail with which it cooperates, the intermediate piece having an elastic branch which, when the housing and the intermediate piece are placed on the rail, is pushed back, by contact with the bottom of said rail, on the hook so as to disengage the latter from the complementary relief with which it cooperates, the locking element then elastically pushing the projection in the groove of the rail.

Thus, to fix the box on the rail, the operator has only to arm the locking element, then to exert a simple pushing force on the box once the latter and its intermediate part presented on the rail .

The fixing device proposed by the invention also has the advantage of being adaptable to shelves of shelves of different dimensions, and in particular to shelves of different thicknesses.

• la figure 1 est une vue en perspective d'un dispositif conforme à l'invention pour la fixation du boîtier d'un module d'affichage électronique ;
• la figure 2 et la figure 3 sont des vues en perspective de la pièce intermédiaire de verrouillage du dispositif de fixation de la figure 1, cette pièce intermédiaire étant représentée respectivement dans son état de verrouillage et dans son état de déverrouillage.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge from the following description of a particular embodiment thereof. This description must be read in conjunction with the appended drawings in which:

• Figure 1 is a perspective view of a device according to the invention for fixing the housing of an electronic display module;
• Figure 2 and Figure 3 are perspective views of the intermediate locking piece of the fixing device of Figure 1, this intermediate piece being shown respectively in its locked state and in its unlocked state.

The device shown in Figure 1, allows the attachment to a shelving board 2, a housing 1 of a display module forming an electronic label. This module has a screen 3 which, when the housing 1 is fixed on the board 2, is parallel to the edge 4 of the board 2 and is visible to a consumer passing between the shelves.

This display module is part of an installation of the type which has been described in the above-mentioned French patent application FR-2,658,645.

The fixing device mainly comprises a retaining profile 5 and a part 6 intermediate between this profile 5 and the housing 1.

The retaining profile 5 is a part constituted by a shelf 10 for supporting said profile 5 on a shelving board and by a receiving rail 5a which has mainly a U-shaped section. This rail 5a has a bottom 7, bordered longitudinally by two sides 8 and 9 which are designated throughout the text by lower side 8 and upper side 9, with reference to their respective positions when the profile 5 is in place on the shelving board 2. The tablet 10 runs along said rail 5a, extending from the bottom 7 perpendicularly to the latter, on the side opposite to the upper edge 9.

This retaining profile 5 is intended to be mounted on the shelving board 2 so that the shelf 10 and the bottom 7 are respectively in abutment on the upper surface of the board 2 and on the edge 4. The fixing of the profile 5 on the board 2 is carried out by riveting. The faces of the shelf 10 and the bottom 7 which are opposite their bearing faces have longitudinal grooves 11 intended to receive and conceal the heads of the rivets (not shown).

The lower side 8 is conventionally provided with a flat groove 12 of C-shaped section, which is open on the face of this side 8 which is opposite to the upper side 9. This groove 12 thus forms a slide which, when the profile 5 is in place, is open at the bottom and can carry, for example, a support made of folded PVC material for advertising elements (of the type commonly called STOP-RAYON).

The rail 5a also has two grooved longitudinal inner grooves, referenced by 13, which are carried one by the lower edge 8, the other by the upper edge 9. These two grooved grooves 13 extend opposite one of the other over the entire length of the rail 5a, and are located in the immediate vicinity of the bottom 7.

Reference is now made more particularly to FIGS. 2 and 3.

The intermediate part 6 which is shown there is constituted by a plate 14 and an elastic locking element 21, which will be described later in more detail. The plate 14 is of rectangular outline. It has a bottom 14a and external 15 and internal 16 patterns in excess thickness between which is intended to come to fit the element 21. The external width of the plate 14 is slightly less than the distance between the opposite faces of the sides 8 and 9. Its length is substantially that of a housing 1.

The external pattern 15 surrounds the frame 14 over a major part of its outline. It is interrupted along each of the length sides of the frame 14 by an opening 17 centered on the side to which it corresponds and extending over substantially a third on this side (proportion which is of course given only for information and may vary). On either side of this opening 17, the pattern 15 is reinforced and extends in particular from the side of the frame 14 over a thickness greater than along the widths of said frame 14. The parts of the outer pattern 15 which extend along the length sides of the plate 14 carry two flanges 18 which extend respectively along each of these sides, perpendicular to the bottom 14a of the plate 14. Each of these two flanges 18 carries ribs 35 in projecting towards the inside of the frame, which are intended to engage in corresponding grooves that the housing 1 presents, to hold said housing 1 relative to the intermediate element 6.

The internal pattern 16 comprises an elongated rectangular rib 16a, the length sides of which are parallel to the length sides of the plate 14, this rib 16a being centered on the center of this plate 14. The widths of this rectangular rib 16a are extended by each side of the lengths of said rib by ribs 16b which stop opposite the reinforced portions of the outer pattern 15. The space between the outer pattern 15 and such a rib 16b is the same for each of these four ribs 16b. Four rounded protrusions 20 projecting from the widths of the rectangular rib 16a extend the lengths of this rib 16a beyond said widths. One of the lengths of the rectangular rib 16a is interrupted in its middle part by an opening 16c.

The bottom of the frame 14 still carries two studs 19 (Figure 2) of a height less than the height of the patterns 15 and 16. These two studs 19 are disposed at each end of the longitudinal central axis of the frame 14 and are juxtaposed to the portions of pattern 15 which extend the along the widths of the frame 14. The space between each of these studs 19 and the rectangular rib 16a is substantially identical to the space between the ribs 16b and the pattern 15.

The elastic locking element 21 has two uprights 22 connecting together two longitudinal crosspieces 23. These uprights 22 and these crosspieces 23 together define a frame 24 which fits between the patterns 15 and 16 and which is held by friction with respect to those -this. In particular, when this element 21 is in place on the plate 14, the ends of the ribs 16b are located at the interior walls of the corners of the frame 24, the walls delimiting the exterior corners of the frame 24 being in contact with the reinforced portions of the external pattern 15 in excess thickness. The uprights 22 are then in contact through their internal walls with the rounded protrusions 20.

Each upright 22 carries a plate 24a forming an ear which extends from this upright towards the outside of the frame. Such a plate 24a forming an ear comes to bear on one of the studs 19 when the element 21 is in place on the plate 14.

Each longitudinal cross member 23 carries a tab 25 and a tongue 26 which are each flat and parallel to the median plane of the frame 24. A tab 25 extends from the cross member 23 which carries it towards the outside of the frame 24. A tongue 26 extends from its cross member 23 towards the inside of the frame 24. Such tab 25 and tongue 26 are centered with respect to the length of the cross member 23 which carries them.

A tab 25 extends over a third of the length of the crosspiece 23 which carries it. It has on its edge furthest from the cross member 23 which carries the grooves 27 which are intended to cooperate, as will be described later in more detail, with the grooves of the grooves 13. On a central portion of such a tab 25, these grooves are delimited by an inclined face 28 which extends from the crests of the grooves 27 towards the crosspiece 23 which carries this tab 25, from one of the faces of the tab 25 towards the other of its faces. The grooves 27 on either side of this inclined face 28 are closed on one side, by a flat wall 29 which extends the face of the tab 25 which is opposite to the side of the tab 25 where the crests of the grooves of the pan 28. The flange 18 which is closest to the opening 16c also has an inclined flap 18a which is intended to extend the flap 28 of the tab 25 which is located to the right of this flange 18, when the longitudinal cross member 23 which carries this tab 25 is not stressed in bending.

The tongue 26 carried by the longitudinal cross member 23 furthest from the opening 16c is a spacer which comes to bear on the rectangular rib 16a. It prevents this longitudinal cross member 23 from being stressed in bending.

The other tab 26 ends with a hook 30 facing the bottom 14a and intended to come to cooperate with the edge of the opening 16c.

The outline which is delimited on the bottom 14a by the rectangular rib 16a is hollowed out. The widths of the rectangular rib 16a carry, at the level of the recess thus defined, two flat elastic branches referenced by 31 and 32. They extend one and the other parallel to the sides of the lengths of the bottom 14, respectively d 'one of the widths of the rib 16a up to substantially the center of the latter. The branch 31 ends at its end furthest from the width side which carries it by two lugs 33 and 34 which project in relation to said branch, respectively on the side of the latter intended to be opposite the bottom 7 and on the side thereof intended to be in look at the bottom of the housing 1. The lug 33 is less tall than the lug 34.

The housing 1 has on its bottom a recess (not shown), intended to receive the lug 34, as well as an inclined groove 37 (Figure 1) intended to guide the lug 34 to this recess.

The branch 32 ends in turn with a plate 36 which is slightly projecting with respect to the face of the bottom 14 intended to be opposite the bottom 7 and which is located exactly in line with the area occupied by the hook 30 when the tongue 26 which is terminated by this hook 30 is pushed back through the opening 16c.

We will now describe an implementation of this fixing device.

First, an operator places the retaining profile 5 on the shelving board 2 and fixes it thereon, for example by riveting the bottom 7 and the shelf 10 on the edge 4 and the upper face of the board 2 who have undergone a pre-drilling. The rivets are regularly distributed along the length of the board 2 and are arranged so that their heads are at the level of the grooves 11.

As will have been noted, the profile 5 can be mounted on shelving boards of different dimensions, and in particular of different thickness.

The elastic locking element 21 is placed on the plate 14 as follows: the frame 24 is presented with a slight inclination relative to the plate 14, so as to fit one of the legs 25 into the opening 18 which is closest to that of the lengths of the rectangular rib 16a which has no opening. Then the frame 21 is folded down between the exterior and interior patterns 15 and 16, by bending the crosspiece 23 which carries the other tab 25, so as to introduce the latter into the opening 18 which matches (Figure 2).

The housing 1 is then slid along the intermediate element 6, between the flanges 18, so that the ribs 35 engage in the complementary grooves that the housing 1 has. The groove 37 guides the lug 34 to the recess that the housing has for receiving it.

Then the operator presses on the tab 25 opposite the opening 16c so as to push the tab 26 which carries the hook 30 until the latter hooks onto the edge of the bottom 14a (FIG. 3). The cross member 23 carried by this tongue is then elastically stressed in bending. This tab 25 and its grooves 27 are retracted with respect to the longitudinal side of the plate 14.

The operator then introduces the assembly that constitutes the intermediate piece 6 and the housing 1 mounted on it in the rail Sa, by tilting the assembly so as to first present the grooves of the tab 25 not retracted at right of the grooves of the lower grooved groove 13 of the retaining profile 5.

When the grooves 27 of this tab 25 are engaged with the grooves of the lower grooved groove 13, the operator pivots the assembly that constitutes the intermediate piece 6 and the housing 1 relative to the midline of contact between these grooves 27 and the lower grooved groove 13, to bring the bottom 14 closer to the bottom 7 of the profile 5.

When the bottom 14 abuts on the bottom 7, the plate 36 of the elastic branch 32 is then pushed towards the bottom of the housing 1. In its movement, this plate 36 also repels the hook 30. The longitudinal cross member 23 which carries the tongue 26 terminated by this hook 30 resiliently returns to its rest position. The fluted leg 25 which it carries is pushed back through the opening 17 and engages in the upper grooved groove 13.

Simultaneously, the lug 33 of the tongue 31 is pushed back by contact with the bottom 7, so that the lug 34 is forced into the recess that has the housing 1. The housing 1 is thus locked relative to the intermediate piece 6.

To disengage the housing 1 and the intermediate piece 6 with respect to the rail of the retaining profile 5, the operator has a tool which allows him to interpose a blade between the grooves of the upper tab 25 and the grooves of the groove upper 13 of the holding profile. The wall 29 and the inclined face 28 are used to guide the blade to the crest of the grooves 27 of the tab 25. By pressing on the tip of these grooves 27, the operator disengages these grooves from the upper grooves of the holding profile. 5. It can then remove from the rail 5a the assembly that constitutes the intermediate piece 6 and the housing 1. The lug 34 is no longer locked in the corresponding recess in the bottom of the housing 1. The operator slides the housing 1 with respect to the intermediate piece 6.

The various parts of the device which has just been described are produced by molding, for example PVC.

As a variant, the bottom of one or other of the two grooves 13 can be made of a more flexible material (rubber, flexible PVC or other material) than the rest of the profile 5 and into which the grooves 27 penetrate to take hold . Such a profile 5 is obtained by using coextrusion methods known to those skilled in the art. This softer material can be placed on or in place of the teeth. It can fill the throat, be laminated or fluted.

Profile 5, intermediate piece 6 and housing can be personalized by particular colors, by varying the colors of the materials in which these three elements are made, or by plating on the bottom 7 of the rail 5a a colored strip.

Alternatively also, the teeth of the housing, intended to engage in the grooves of the rail, can be reversed with respect to what has been shown in the drawings.

In another variant, the teeth of the rail can be produced separately.

They can also be replaced by any other element intended to be housed in the groove or grooves of the rail, produced either by extrusion or by injection. Such an element can be fixed in the groove of the rail by various means and in particular by gluing, clipping or by mechanical cooperation using means of the dovetail type.

The teeth of the rail can be replaced by foam, rubber or any other fastening material fulfilling the blocking function of the intermediate piece.

The teeth of the intermediate piece can themselves be replaced by any other locking means. They can in particular, either in the upper part, in the lower part, or both, be made of a plastic material different from that of the rest of the intermediate piece. This biplasticity can be achieved by adding an additional part.

Also, it will be noted that the grooves at the bottom of the rail may have another arrangement and, in particular, be located for example between the lower and upper edges of the rail, or even at the front of the rail.

The shape of the support profile can be very variable. In the example described, the shape of the profile allows it to be adapted on a board with a vertical edge. Its shape could be different for basket wire or glass supports (glass shelf, for example).

The fixing of the profile on its support can be achieved by other means than by riveting and in particular by gluing or by adhesive tapes.

Claims (9)

1. A device for fixing at least one electronic module housing (1) for displaying information relating to goods exposed in a shop, and in particular in a retail shop, the device comprising a rail (5a) designed to receive the housing (1) and an intermediate part (6) which carries at least one resilient locking member (21) having at least one projection designed to co-operate with a groove presented by the rail (5) for the purposing of holding said housing (1) relative to said rail (5a), the housing (1) and said intermediate part (6) presenting complementary means (35) for fixing said housing (1) on said intermediate part (6), the device being characterized in that the locking element (21) has a catch (30) designed to co-operate with a complementary projection on the intermediate part (6) to hold said locking element (21) in a retracted position against resilient urging thereof, the projection (25) then being disengaged relative to the groove (13) of the rail with which it co-operates, the intermediate part (6) having a resilient branch (32) which, while the housing (1) and the intermediate part (6) are being installed on the rail (5a), is urged back by the web (7) of said rail coming into contact with the catch (30), so as to disengage the catch from the complementary projection with which it co-operates, the locking element (21) then resiliently urging the projection into the groove of the rail (5a).
2. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that the rail (5a) has a web (7) and two longitudinally-extending flanges (8, 9) on either side of the web (7), together with two inside grooves (13) carried by respective ones of the flanges (8, 9) and extending along the web (7) in the immediate vicinity thereof.
3. A device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the intermediate part (6) carries a resilient branch (32) terminated by a head portion (34), the back of the housing (1) having a recess designed to receive said head portion (34), said branch (32) being urged during installation of the housing (1) and the intermediate part (6) on the rail (5a) by coming into contact with the web (7) of said rail, thereby causing said head portion (34) to engage in said recess so as to lock the housing (1) relative to said intermediate part (6).
4. A device according to any preceding claim, characterized in that at least one projection (25) has serrations (27) designed to co-operate with complementary means carried by the groove (13) which cooperates with said projection (25), for the purpose of securing the housing (1) longitudinally relative to the rail (5a).
5. A device according to claim 4, characterized in that the serrations (27) are distributed along the entire length of at least one of the grooves (13) in the rail.
6. A device according to claim 4, characterized in that the bottom of at least one of the grooves in the rail is made of a material in which the serrations of the serrated projection are designed to penetrate for engagement purposes.
7. A device according to claim 2 taken on its own or in combination with any one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that the bottom flange (8) of the rail (5a) has a flat slot (12) open to the face of said flange (8) facing away from the top flange (9) and designed to receive and carry publicity supports or the like.
8. A device according to claim 2 taken on its own or in combination with any one of claims 3 to 7, for fixing the housing (1) on shelving (2), characterized in that the rail (5a) is a portion of section bar (5) also having a sill (10) that extends substantially at right angles to the web (7) of the rail (5a), the sill (10) and the web (7) of the rail (5a) being designed to bear against the top face and the edge of the shelf (4), respectively.
9. A device according to claim 8, characterized in that the rail (5a) and the sill (10) are fixed to the shelf (2) by riveting, and have longitudinal grooves (11) for receiving the heads of the rivets.

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