EP1492435A1

EP1492435A1 - Support shelf for products, and cabinet comprising same

Info

Publication number: EP1492435A1
Application number: EP03740572A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Marie-Laure Traux-Binsse
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-04-05
Filing date: 2003-04-04
Publication date: 2005-01-05
Also published as: FR2838035B1; CN1646044A; AU2003260010A1; WO2003084371A1; FR2838035A1

Abstract

The invention concerns a support shelf, consisting in a shelf with front access comprising a globally flat surface (28) for supporting products, a stop member placed at the shelf front part (25), and a substantially flat partition (32) whereof the plane is substantially perpendicular to the shelf surface. The shelf (14) has a continuous slot (30) parallel to the direction of its front part (25), the partition (32) has at least a positioning device (34) which co-operates magnetically with the groove (30) such that its plane is substantially perpendicular to the groove, in any particular position along the groove, and the shelf (14) and the partition (32) have co-operating fixing devices. The invention is applicable to self-service sales cabinet.

Description

The present invention relates to a piece of furniture intended for the marketing of small products, and to a shelf provided with dividers and intended for such a piece of furniture. The invention relates more specifically to tablets allowing rational organization of the products they carry.

Although the invention applies to various fields, it is described in its application to the marketing of beauty products in so-called "free access" stores, that is to say self-service stores.

In this application, multi-storey furniture is used, each comprising, at the front, on the customer side, a presentation member, generally inclined, which presents the products for sale and which, more often than not, allows the customer to 'try the products. Behind this presentation organ is placed a tablet carrying the products for sale and on which the customer enters the product he wants to buy. This application, whose purpose is the sale of products, therefore requires that the products are easily accessible to the customer. The display unit placed in front of the shelf, although it is an essential element for the incentive to purchase by the customer, is clearly a hindrance for access to the products placed back on the shelf. As the floors are close to allow the marketing of a large number of products, access to the tablet by sight and touch is relatively limited. It is therefore essential that the products sold on the tablet are easily accessible.

In practice, customers take the most prominent products so that the remaining products are less and less accessible. In addition, products of different types placed on the shelf are quickly mixed, and customers find it difficult to find the product they want to buy. It is therefore essential to ensure both the storage of products and their availability at the front of the tablet to promote sales. It is therefore desirable, in this application, that the different products are placed side by side at the front of the tablet, and that the identical products are arranged one behind the other, towards the rear of the tablet, while being always brought to the front of the tablet. Prior art

Devices have therefore already been produced intended to allow the separation of products of different types. French Patent No. 2,746,283 describes a device for presenting bottles in which strips integral with separators can slide in longitudinal grooves.

U.S. Patent No. 6,299,004 describes shelves in which dividers can slide the full length of a shelf. In one embodiment, the end of separators formed from curved wire slides in a groove.

British Patent No. 522,074 describes a system in which separators are provided with parts which guide and retain them inside grooves, by the use of elastic devices.

Finally, British patent application No. 2 205 226 also describes presentation shelves having dividers held by parts which can slide in longitudinal grooves.

None of these documents describes a device in which a separator is held in position along the groove by a magnet cooperating with a member made of electromagnetic material. Furthermore, none of these documents describes the use of a finger mounted on the separator and delimiting the rear of the space in which the products for sale are placed, nor a device for recalling towards the front of a such a finger. A disadvantage of the systems described in these documents is that the handling of the separators is awkward, since precise positioning is difficult because of the lack of visibility, and forces often have to be exerted. relatively large in the direction perpendicular to the tablet, that is to say in a direction in which the hand of the person performing this operation does not have much force. General description of the invention

The invention relates to a system which overcomes these drawbacks.

According to the invention, dividers which can occupy any position along the shelf and allow the adaptation of the product accommodation spaces to the exact width of the products, can be set up and moved very simply, almost to the blind. In addition, partitioning fingers, possibly fitted with return devices and fixed to the separators themselves, allow the products to be stored on the shelf without requiring delicate positioning operations, since the partitioning fingers can be mounted on the separators outside the device, and their displacement can also be carried out practically blind. Thanks to these characteristics, the space available on the tablet can be optimally used, and the management of the products placed on the tablet requires very little attention.

More specifically, the invention relates to a product support shelf with access from the front, of the type which comprises a generally planar product support surface, a stop member placed at the front part of the shelf for retaining the products. , the tablet having at least one continuous groove parallel to the direction of its front part, and at least one practically flat separator whose plane is practically perpendicular to the surface of the tablet, the separator having at least one positioning device which cooperates with the groove so that its plane is practically perpendicular to the groove, in practically any position along the groove; 1 according to the invention, the tablet and the separator have cooperating fastening devices which include a magnet placed in the separator or the tablet, and a member ferromagnetic placed in the shelf or the separator respectively.

Preferably, the separator further comprises a partition finger practically perpendicular to the plane of the separator and movable along the separator.

In another embodiment, the invention relates to a front-access product support shelf, of the type which comprises a generally planar product support surface, a stop member placed at the front part of the shelf. to retain the products, the shelf having at least one continuous groove parallel to the direction of its front part, and at least one practically flat separator whose plane is practically perpendicular to the surface of the shelf, the separator having at least one device for positioning which cooperates with the groove so that its plane is practically perpendicular to the groove, in practically any position along the groove, the shelf and the separator having cooperating fixing devices; according to the invention, the separator further comprises a partition finger practically perpendicular to the plane of the separator and movable along the separator.

In both embodiments, it is advantageous for the separator to include a finger retention device in position on the separator.

In a first alternative embodiment, the device for retaining the finger on the separator comprises a rack formed at one edge of the separator and a toothed member formed on the finger. In a second variant embodiment, the device for retaining the finger on the separator comprises a slide formed along the separator, parallel to the surface of the shelf, and a sliding member formed on the finger. In a third alternative embodiment, the device for retaining the finger on the separator comprises a longitudinal groove, parallel to the surface of the tablet and intended to guide a projection of the finger, a member for ferromagnetic material secured to the separator, and a magnet secured to the finger.

Preferably, the separator further comprises a partition finger recall device intended to recall towards the front part of the tablet the products placed on the tablet between the finger and this front part. In a particular embodiment, the device for positioning the separator is a section of bar integral with the separator and which has dimensions such that, when the separator is mounted on the shelf and the section of bar is housed in the groove, the section of bar, at least on one side of the separator, has a surface which lies practically in the plane of the surface of the shelf.

The invention also relates to a piece of furniture intended for the marketing of products of small dimensions, comprising at least one assembly formed by a presentation device and a shelf for supporting products on sale; according to the invention, the presentation device is arranged in front of a tablet according to one of the preceding paragraphs. In one embodiment, the assembly formed by the presentation member and the shelf can slide in a substantially horizontal direction relative to the rest of the cabinet, and releases a store space placed under the shelf.

In another embodiment, the plane of the tablet is tilted forward.

Preferably, the piece of furniture comprises several assemblies with display member and shelf, and it comprises, for each set, a lighting member intended to illuminate both the presentation member and the shelf. Brief description of the drawings

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will be better understood on reading the description which follows of exemplary embodiments, made with reference to the appended drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a floor a marketing cabinet comprising a shelf according to the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a piece of shelf having a divider in one embodiment of the invention; Figure 3 is a perspective view similar to Figure 2 but showing another embodiment of a separator comprising a product return device; and FIG. 4 represents another embodiment of the tablet, separator and finger. detailed description

Figure 1 shows a floor of a marketing cabinet which, in the example shown, is intended for the sale of beauty products in self-service stores. A piece of furniture comprises several superimposed stages as shown in FIG. 1. Each stage 10 comprises a presentation device 12, a shelf 14 for supporting products according to the invention and, optionally, a reserve of products 16.

Note that the presentation device is tilted towards the potential customer. It essentially comprises a front part 18 advantageously made of a diffusing and colored plastic material, possibly intended to bear inscriptions, in particular the brand of the products presented, and a support part 20. The presence has also been indicated under the device for presentation, of a lighting device 22 which comprises an elongated lamp 24. This lamp 24 is essentially intended to illuminate the presentation device of the floor placed below. However, it also lights up the diffusing part before 18 and thus clearly shows the inscriptions placed on the front face of this part 18.

The display device usually includes a molded plastic element for positioning and displaying different products, for example beauty products, lipsticks, creams, mascaras, etc., and some of these products are often available in order to that customers can possibly try them. The essential role of this presentation system is to encourage customers to buy products. However, since these are self-service stores, for products to be actually purchased, they should be readily available when a customer is encouraged to purchase them. For this reason, the shelf 14 is intended to present these products so that a customer can easily grasp the product he wishes to buy. As shown in FIG. 1, the shelf 14 is delimited by front 25 and rear parts 26. Between these two parts, most often parallel, the shelf has a flat surface 28.

So that the furniture can contain as many different products as possible, it is desirable that the floors are as close as possible one above the other, especially in the part which is at eye and hand height. potential customers. However, the floors must not be so close that access to the products placed on the support shelf 14 is impossible or even difficult. For this reason, there is optimal spacing between the shelves. Given the height of the products concerned, this optimal spacing is such that a space is normally unoccupied under the shelf 14, so that it is advantageous, on a purely optional basis, to use this space to incorporate a reserve 16 of products whose access is difficult, but which is reserved for store staff.

Reference is now made more precisely to FIG. 2 which indicates details of the support shelf 14. In this embodiment, it is formed from folded sheet metal constituting, on either side of its surface 28 for supporting products, the front part 25 and the rear part 26 for retaining products, and, in the middle of the surface 28, a groove 30 of constant width placed over the entire length of the shelf.

The role of this tablet is to allow the customer to have access to products the presentation of which has been carried out on the presentation device 12. For this purpose. the products must be placed closest to the front 25, that is to say in the most accessible place, and not be mixed with each other. Indeed, if the customer has to spend time looking for a product, he is dissuaded from making a purchase.

It is therefore desirable that the different products are separated from each other by separators. It is also desirable that the products are close to the front of the tablet to be easily accessible. To this end, the tablet according to the invention comprises separators, and FIG. 2 shows an example of a separator 32 of this type.

The separator 32 has a substantially planar shape perpendicular to the surface 28 of the tablet and to the direction of the groove 30 thereof. The positioning of the separator 32 is ensured by a section of bar 34 integral with the separator 32 and of section complementary to that of the groove 30. In addition, the upper surface of the section of bar 34 is preferably practically in the plane of the surface 28 shelf, so that products that slide on the surface 28 of the shelf can pass over the upper part of the bar section 34. The stability of the separator 32 can be further increased by the provision of triangular reinforcements 36 at the ends, near the front and back of the tablet.

The separator 32, thus positioned relative to the tablet, is fixed to the latter. In this example, the shelf is formed from a folded sheet, and since the separator 32 and its bar section 34 are formed from plastic, a magnet is advantageously molded by insert in the bar section 34 so that it has a visible surface facing one face of the groove. In this way, the magnet and the sheet of the shelf, that is to say a ferromagnetic material, attract each other and ensure the attachment of the separator 32 on the shelf 14. However, it is easy to slide the separator along the groove, over the entire length of the shelf, by a simple lateral pressure applied to the separator 32. Although simple separators as described so far can be used very usefully, for example when the shelf is tilted and therefore causes a displacement of the products towards the front part 25 by simple sliding on the surface of the shelf, it is often desirable that the products placed on the shelf can be brought closer to the front part or at least cannot be moved backwards. It is then desirable for a partition finger 40 to limit the space intended to contain the products.

The separator shown in Figure 2 has such a partition finger. More specifically, in the embodiment of FIG. 2, the separator 32 comprises, over most of its length, a strip 38 of a ferromagnetic material, preferably a simple strip of sheet metal incorporated during the molding of the separator 32 , and a partitioning finger 40, the plane of which is perpendicular to that of the separator, is held on this strip 38 by a magnetized part 42. This magnetized part 42 preferably has a dual role: the positioning of the partitioning finger 40 by introducing part 42 into a groove at the bottom of which is placed the strip 38 of the ferromagnetic material, and the attraction between the magnetized material and this strip 38 so that the partitioning finger 40 is held by the separator 32.

In the embodiment shown, each separator can occupy any location along the length of the groove 30, without having to respect any pitch. As the partitioning finger 40 is integral with the separator 32, it too can be adjusted in any desired position. In addition, the partition finger 40 can be moved along the separator continuously, that is to say at any desired location, depending on the size of the products placed on the shelf. The adjustment of the position of the separator and that of the position of the partitioning finger can be practically carried out blind, since a person who for example wants to move the separator and / or the partitioning finger to bring products closer to the front of the shelf, can simply move the separator and the partition finger 40 by light pressure, without the need to carefully observe their position. There has been described, with reference to FIG. 2, an embodiment in which the partitioning finger is held in a fixed position on the separator. It may be advantageous for the finger to be resiliently recalled so that the products on sale are constantly recalled towards the front of the tablet and are thus easily accessible. FIG. 3 represents a variant giving this characteristic.

In the variant of FIG. 3, the separator 44 comprises a slide 46 placed over most of its length and delimiting two rails on which two slides 48 can slide, carried by cheeks secured to the partition finger. The cheeks carrying the slides delimit between them a space in which a spiral spring 50 is housed, one end 52 of which is fixed to the front of the separator 44 and the other end is fixed between the cheeks of the slides 48. In this way, the the partition finger is constantly pulled forward and, when a customer picks up a product, the finger brings the other products together, so that a product is always adjacent to the front of the tablet.

Unlike the embodiment of FIG. 2, the finger of which has a simple positioning, it is not possible to provide for the mounting of the partitioning finger on the separator 44 of FIG. 3 when the latter is in position on the tablet. However, it is easy to mount the partition finger provided with its spring outside the cabinet, then to introduce the separator, the positioning of which is easy in the groove 30 of the shelf.

Fastening devices have been described in which a magnetic member is integral with the separator and is attracted by a shelf made of a ferromagnetic material. Of course, the tablet can be made of a non-ferromagnetic material and can include a simple strip of a ferromagnetic material, for example placed at the bottom of the groove.

The layout can also be reversed. For example, the bottom of the groove 30 can be provided with an elongated magnet placed continuously over the entire length of the tablet, while the bar section positioned in the groove is either formed of a ferromagnetic material, or comprises an element of ferromagnetic material attracted by the magnet. In addition, although it is indicated that the magnet can be formed of a continuous strip, this strip can be discontinuous, insofar as the discontinuities are small compared to the cooperating element of ferromagnetic material, so that the separator can occupy any position along the groove, without respecting a particular step.

The remarks concerning the position of the magnetic material and the ferromagnetic material, concerning the shelf and the separator, also apply to the separator and the partitioning finger. Although an embodiment has been shown in which the dividers are positioned and fixed to the shelf by a single groove, it is possible to have several grooves.

We will now describe, with reference to FIG. 4, another separator having a variant of finger mounted purely mechanically.

In the example shown, the shelf has two grooves 54 each having a possible longitudinal rod 56 projecting inside the groove. The separator 58 has, for each groove, a section of bar 60 similar to the section of bar 34 and having a magnet intended to be housed in the corresponding groove 54. This section of bar has a groove 62 on its face facing the rod in projection 56 from the groove. The body of the separator 58 and the members for mounting the bar sections 60 give a certain elasticity such that the bar sections can move apart elastically to pass over the rods 56 which then become housed in the grooves 62. The elasticity of the separator increases the magnetic retention of the latter on the shelf by a latching phenomenon.

In the embodiment of Figure 4, the upper part of the separator 58 is crenellated and forms a kind of rack. A partition finger 66 is integral with a jumper 68 whose interior space is also crenellated. In this way, the partition finger, when its jumper straddles the rack 64, can be moved to any desired position along the length of the separator 58. The effect obtained is therefore the same as with the partition finger described with reference to Figure 2.

In all the embodiments described, the separators can be arranged with any spacing and their position can therefore be perfectly adapted to the size of the products. Similarly, the partition fingers can occupy virtually any position over the entire length of the separators. As the partition fingers are mounted directly on the dividers and can therefore be prepared outside the cabinet, assembly is carried out by simple positioning of the dividers on a shelf inside the cabinet. This positioning is extremely simple thanks to the guidance of the bar section in a groove. The separation of the separators is automatic, thanks to the magnetic attraction. When the dividers and the partition fingers need to be moved, by a person who adds products or who changes the products and arranges them differently, the necessary operations are extremely simple. A movement by lateral pressure is enough for the dividers and positioning fingers to take exactly the desired ideal positions. Industrial application possibilities

The furniture comprising the shelves according to the invention is suitable for equipping self-service sales stores.

Claims

1. Product support shelf, accessible from one front, of the type which comprises: a generally planar surface (28) for supporting the products, a stop member placed at the front part (25) of the shelf for retaining the products, the shelf (14) having at least one continuous groove (30, 54) parallel to the direction of its front part (25), and at least one practically flat separator (32, 44, 58) whose plane is practically perpendicular to the surface of the shelf, the separator (32, 44, 58) having at least one positioning device (34, 60) which cooperates with the groove (30, 54) so that its plane is practically perpendicular to the groove, in practically any position along the groove, characterized in that the shelf (14) and the separator (32, 44, 58) have cooperating fixing devices which include a magnet placed in the separator or the shelf, and a member ferromagnetic placed in the shelf or separator respec tively.

2. Tablet according to claim 1, characterized in that the separator further comprises a partition finger (40) substantially perpendicular to the plane of the separator and movable along the separator.

3. Product support shelf, access from the front, of the type which comprises: a generally planar surface (28) for supporting products, a stop member placed at the front part (25) of the shelf for retaining the products, the shelf (14) having at least one continuous groove (30, 54) parallel to the direction of its front part (25), and at least one practically flat separator (32, 44, 58) whose plane is practically perpendicular to the surface of the shelf, the separator (32, 44, 58) having at least one positioning device (34, 60) which cooperates with the groove (30, 54) so that its plane is practically perpendicular to the groove, in practically any position along the groove, and the shelf (14) and the separator (32, 44, 58) having cooperating fixing devices, characterized in that the separator further comprises a partition finger (40) practically perpendicular to the plane of the separator and movable along the separator.

4. Tablet according to one of claims 2 and 3, characterized in that the separator (58) comprises a finger retaining device in position on the separator (58).

5. Tablet according to claim 4, characterized in that the finger retention device on the separator comprises a rack (64) formed at an edge of the separator and a toothed member (68) formed on the finger.

6. Shelf according to claim 4, characterized in that the finger retention device on the separator comprises a slide formed along the separator, parallel to the surface of the tablet, and a sliding member formed on the finger.

7. Tablet according to claim 4, characterized in that the finger retaining device on the separator comprises a longitudinal groove, parallel to the surface of the tablet and intended to guide a projection of the finger (40), a member (38) of ferromagnetic material secured to the separator, and a magnet secured to the finger (40).

8. Tablet according to any one of claims 2 to 7, characterized in that it further comprises a device (50) for recalling the partition finger intended to recall towards the front part (25) of the tablet the products placed on the tablet between the finger and this front part (25).

9. Shelf according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the separator positioning device (32, 44, 58) is a bar section (34, 60) integral with the separator and which has dimensions such that when the separator is mounted on the shelf and the bar section (34, 60) is housed in the groove, the bar section, on at least one side of the separator, has a surface which is practically in the plane of the tablet surface.

10. Furniture intended for the marketing of products of small dimensions, comprising at least one assembly formed by a presentation device and a shelf (14) for supporting products for sale, characterized in that the presentation device is arranged in front of a shelf (14) according to any one of the preceding claims.