EP1476055B1

EP1476055B1 - Product displaying rack

Info

Publication number: EP1476055B1
Application number: EP03703573A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Steve Pollitt
Original assignee: HL Display AB
Current assignee: HL Display AB
Priority date: 2002-02-21
Filing date: 2003-01-30
Publication date: 2007-05-02
Anticipated expiration: 2023-01-30
Also published as: EP1476055A1; SE523452C2; WO2003088788A1; AU2003207170A1; DE60313583D1; ATE361014T1; SE0200510D0; SE0200510L

Abstract

The invention relates to a rack for displaying merchandise, in particular magazines and the like. The rack comprises channel-shaped holders (1, 2) for the merchandise, which holders each have a front wall, a bottom and a back and are supported by brackets (4, 5) arranged at their ends. Each bracket (4, 5) has a part (6, 7) which forms a support for the bottom of each holder (1, 2), and a part (8, 9) which forms a support for the back of the holder. The back of the holder (1, 2) and the corresponding support part (8) of the bracket (4, 5) have interacting hook means (3, 10) which, when they engage with one another, fix the holder to the bracket.

Description

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a rack for displaying merchandise, in particular magazines and the like, comprising channel-shaped holders arranged one above another for the merchandise, which holders each have a front wall, a bottom and a back and are supported by brackets arranged at their ends.

Background of the invention

In shops, department stores and kiosks, there is a demand for displaying magazines, for example, in an attractive way as the covers themselves of the magazines are made as attractive and saleable as possible. It is therefore important that the covers of the magazines are clearly visible to the customer when displayed in a sales rack.
For this purpose, the use of magazine racks which comprise channel-shaped holders made of bent acrylic sheets which are transparent has previously been proposed. The holders are mounted on brackets which are arranged at their ends and are attached to a supporting structure.
In this connection, it is of utmost importance that the design of the brackets and the holders is such that they are easy to assemble and arrange in different ways in order to adapt the display capacity to the current requirement. The component parts are moreover to allow great flexibility as far as utilization of available space is concerned. The rack formed from the brackets and the holders is also to create an attractive visual impression.
Examples of previously known racks of this type are described in US-A-6,112,912 and US-A-5,938,048. In the case of these racks, however, there is a risk that in particular the holder located at the bottom will be detached unintentionally if it is subjected to an upward force.

The object of the invention

One object of the present invention is to produce a merchandise display rack, in particular for magazines, which can be manufactured and erected at low cost while meeting the abovementioned requirements as far as appearance and flexibility of the rack are concerned and which moreover provides secure fixing of component holders.
To achieve these aims, a rack of the type indicated in the first paragraph is, according to the present invention, characterized in that each bracket has parts which form supports for the bottom of each holder, and parts which form supports for the back of each holder, in that the back of each holder and the corresponding support part of the bracket have interacting hook means which, when they engage with one another, fix the respective holder to the bracket, each bracket having an appearance like a stringer for a staircase, where the support part for a holder below is located in front of the corresponding support part for a holder above, and an upper part of the back of each holder which is located lower than another holder is bent backward so that it extends in between the bottom of the holder above and that part of the bracket which is intended to support the bottom thereof so as to be locked by the holder above.
A rack made in this way can be manufactured very easily by punching and bending operations and also comprises a small number of parts, which are easy to assemble in the desired configuration without using loose fastening or mounting means and which, after assembly, are securely fixed to one another.
This design therefore results in the holders forming part of a display rack locking one another in a very effective manner, which prevents a holder being detached unintentionally.
Further characteristics of a display rack according to the invention emerge from the following patent claims.
The invention will be described in greater detail below with reference to the embodiment shown by way of example in accompanying drawings.

Brief description of the drawings

Fig. 1 shows component parts of a display rack with two holders.
Fig. 2 is a side view of a bracket for the rack according to Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 shows the bracket according to Fig. 2 seen from the front.
Fig. 4 shows an example of an arrangement of display racks according to the present invention.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiment

In Fig. 1, reference numbers 1 and 2 designate two channel-shaped holders for displaying magazines. The holders are manufactured by bending transparent sheets of acrylic plastic, in which sheets openings 3 have first been punched out.
The channel-shaped holders 1 and 2 are carried at their ends by brackets 4, 5 which resemble stringers for a staircase (see also Figs 2 and 3). In this embodiment, which is intended for carrying two holders 1, 2, each bracket 4, 5 is provided with two support surfaces 6, 7 for supporting the bottom portion of the respective holder. Each bracket also comprises a support surface 8 and 9 for supporting the back of the respective holder. In these support surfaces 8, 9, hooks 10 are punched out and bent out so as to be capable of interacting with the openings 3 in the back of the holders when the holders are mounted on the bracket.
The back of the lower holder 2 has an upper portion 11 which is bent over backward and which, when the holder is mounted on a bracket, is located between the support surface 6 of the bracket and the bottom of the holder 1 above.
In this connection, mounting is effected by first hooking the lower holder 2 on the hooks 10 of the brackets 4, 5, the bottom surface of the holder then being supported by the support surfaces 7 of the brackets. The upper holder 1 is then hooked on associated hooks 10. Its bottom will then load the bent-over portion 11 of the holder 2 below and bring about secure locking of this holder on the brackets.
The manufacture of the brackets is effected simply by punching-out from a metal sheet, the hooks 10 being punched out and material portions located above the support surfaces 6 and 7 being punched away. The hooks 10 are then bent out, and the portions which form the support surfaces 8 and 9 of the bracket are bent over. For hooking the bracket onto a structure behind, another hook 12 is punched out, which, in this embodiment, is punched out from a portion 13 directed backward from a part 14 projecting in the lateral direction from the bracket 4. However, the hook 12 can just as well be punched out directly from an upper, vertical portion of the main part of the bracket 4.
A bracket as above can be made with the desired number of support surfaces for channel-shaped holders so as to achieve the requisite capacity of a display rack.
Fig. 4 illustrates an arrangement comprising four display racks, located one above another, with brackets 15 for one, two, three and, respectively, four channel-shaped holders 16. The brackets are hooked onto a rear supporting structure 17, suitably comprising perforated uprights. Owing to the stringer-like design of the brackets 15, the holders 16 will be located in such a way that magazines placed in them are clearly visible and easy to take out. Mounting is effected in the same way as described above by beginning with the holder located lowest and then successively mounting those located higher. This means that, owing to the hook engagement with the brackets and the locking of each holder below by one above, the holders are securely mounted, so that the risk of unintentionally becoming detached is avoided. The risk of the holder located at the top in each rack, which holder is not locked by a holder above, being knocked against so that it comes out of position is very small because of the position of this holder.
Brackets and holders as above allow great flexibility, in terms of both capacity and arrangement, in the construction of an attractive display of magazines or other merchandise which it is desirable to display in this way. Apart from displaying merchandise in shops, a rack as above can of course also be used in libraries, archives and for storage in various connections. The detailed design of the holders and the brackets can be varied depending on what they are to be used for.

Claims

A rack for displaying merchandise, in particular magazines and the like, comprising channel-shaped holders (1, 2, 16) arranged one above another for the merchandise, which holders each have a front wall, a bottom and a back and are supported by brackets (4, 5, 15) arranged at their ends, each bracket (4, 5, 15) having parts (6, 7) which form supports for the bottom of each holder (1, 2, 16), and parts (8, 9) which form supports for the back of each holder, and the back of each holder (1, 2, 16) and the corresponding support part (8) of the bracket (4, 5, 15) having interacting hook means (3, 10) which, when they engage with one another, fix the respective holder to the bracket, and each bracket (4, 5, 15) having a stringer-like appearance, where the support part (7) for a holder (2) below is located in front of the corresponding support part (6) for a holder (1) above, characterized in that an upper part (11) of the back of each holder (2) which is located lower than another holder (1) is bent backward so that it extends in between the bottom of the holder (1) above and that part (6) of the bracket which is intended to support the bottom thereof so as to be locked by the holder above.
The rack as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the bracket (4, 5, 15) is manufactured from a sheet-shaped blank, each support part (6, 7) for the bottom of a holder (1, 2) being produced by punching away a material portion, and in that a part of the blank located above the punched-away portion is bent by roughly 90° to form said support part (8, 9) for the back of the holder (1, 2, 16).
The rack as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that said bent-over support part (8, 9) for the back of the holder (1, 2, 16) is made with a projecting hook means (10) adapted to interact with an opening (3) in the back of the holder.
The rack as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that each stringer-like bracket (4, 5, 15) is attached to a rear supporting structure (17) with the aid of a hook means (12) arranged on its upper part, and in that, from this part, the bracket extends obliquely outward and downward relative to the supporting structure.
The rack as claimed in any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that said brackets (4, 5, 15) are manufactured from a metal sheet.
The rack as claimed in any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that said holders (1, 2, 16) are manufactured from a sheet of transparent acrylic plastic.