FR2651420A1 - FURNITURE FOR STORING AND EXHIBITING SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLELEPIPEDIC ARTICLES AND HOLDING DEVICE USED BY SUCH FURNITURE. - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to furniture for displaying and storing substantially parallelepipedal articles. This furniture consists of a plurality of superimposed shelves comprising devices for maintaining and separating the articles. According to a variant, the article holding and separating device consists of a first C-shaped part (10), the lower edge of which corresponds substantially to the profile of the front part of the upper shelf (1). A second part (11) can be slid inside a slot provided on the first part (10). This second part (11) has a flat part (12) ensuring on the one hand the locking of the device on the upper shelf (1), and on the other hand the separation of the items (3 to 9) arranged on the lower shelf ( 2).

Description

STORAGE AND EXHIBITION FURNITURE

  SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLELEPIPEDIC ARTICLES AND

  HOLDING DEVICE IMPLEMENTED BY SUCH

FURNITURE.

  The present invention relates to furniture for storing and displaying substantially parallelepipedic articles such as books, discs, compact discs, cassettes or video cassettes. The displays known in the state of the art consist of superimposed shelves on which articles are arranged. The location of each row of items is delimited by fixed borders. As a result, the possibilities for organizing articles on exhibition furniture are very limited. However, it may be desirable to be able to exhibit items of different dimensions side by side, for example discs, cassettes, compact discs and video cassettes concerning the same author or the same subject. The object of the present invention is to remedy this drawback by proposing modular furniture, particularly

  aesthetic, and with great ease of development.

  The present invention relates in particular to furniture for storing and displaying articles which are substantially parallelepipedic, constituted by superimposed shelves which are substantially parallel to one another and comprising removable devices for separating two consecutive series of articles. The separation devices include means for temporarily holding the front face of the first article in the row, in a substantially vertical plane. The storage and presentation furniture thus produced allows optimal display of the articles. The consumer can withdraw the first item he wishes to acquire. The following article thus takes its place and is maintained in a substantially vertical plane by the temporary holding means of the device.

of seperation.

  According to an advantageous embodiment, the furniture is constituted by a frame supporting a plurality

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  of longitudinal sections, of a height substantially at the height of the exposed articles, each of the sections having an upper edge and a substantially horizontal lower edge, the shelves comprising along the rear longitudinal edge a profiled strip interposed between the lower edge and the upper edge of two superimposed profiles. According to a first embodiment, the shelf has a profiled rear strip, provided with orifices cooperating with pins arranged on the upper edge of the longitudinal profiles. According to a second embodiment, the shelf has a longitudinal support strip, between the profiled edge and the shelf, the support strip being substantially vertical and cooperating with the longitudinal profile when the

tablet is in place.

  These two embodiments make it possible to add or remove shelves in an extremely simple manner. According to a particular embodiment, the shelves have a plurality of bores, aligned on a longitudinal axis, the distance between two consecutive bores corresponding substantially to the greatest common denominator of the different widths of articles to be displayed, increased by the distance between two articles consecutive. The holding device is positioned by studs cooperating with said holes. It is thus possible to very quickly transform the organization of display furniture by replacing a device for maintaining a given width with a device for maintaining a different width. According to a first variant, the holding device consists of a belt with a depth substantially equal to the depth of the shelves, and a width substantially equal to the width of the article. The holding device comprises a movable support piece along a median axis perpendicular to the front face of the article presented. This support piece is pushed against

  the front part of the belt by a spring.

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  When the first article in the series is taken by a consumer, the spring acts on the support piece to advance all the articles by one step, so that the second article takes the place of the one who comes to be withdrawn. Thus, the consumer sees all the front sides of the allocated articles, whatever the

  number of articles remaining behind the article displayed.

  The present invention also relates to a device for holding and separating articles arranged on a display comprising at least two shelves. The upper shelf has an inclined front longitudinal strip. The holding and separation device consists of a first part provided with a slot into which a second substantially planar part can be slid, arranged perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the tablet when the device is in place. The space between the lower edge of the upper arm and the upper edge of the flat part of the second part corresponds, over at least part of the length of the flat part of the second part, to the thickness of the

  front part of the upper shelf.

  This type of device is particularly suitable for a tablet with an inclined front strip. Of course, it also fits on shelves with, for example, a longitudinal boss or all

  other deformations with respect to a plane.

  The device according to the present invention can be placed anywhere on the upper shelf. The first part is locked when it is put in place by sliding the second part inside the slot. This second part ensures on the one hand the locking of the position of the holding device and on the other hand the separation of two series

  of articles arranged on the shelves.

  Advantageously, the flat part of the second part has transverse rupture lines. These break lines make it possible to adjust the length over which the separation of two articles takes place. They

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  allow in particular to use a single model of

  piece for shelves of different depth.

  According to a preferred embodiment, the second part is constituted by a transverse strip, of a width greater than the thickness of the first part, extended by a flat part of a height substantially equal to the width of the slot. Advantageously, the strip is offset from the flat part. This transverse strip ensures the forward locking of the articles placed on the shelves. When it is off-center, it is possible to put a support device side by side

  on the right and a holding device on the left.

  Advantageously, the first part has a C shape constituted by an upper branch and a substantially parallel lower branch connected by a perpendicular branch provided with a median slot. The lower branch has on its upper edge a central groove with a width substantially equal to the thickness of the flat part of the second part. This groove constitutes a means of guiding the flat part of the second part. According to a particular embodiment, the front edge of the perpendicular branch of the first part comprises snap-on means capable of cooperating with complementary means provided on the strip of the second part. These snap-in means allow the two parts to be locked once they are

placed on the shelf.

  According to a particular variant, the strip has on its front face a surface on which can

  be put in place a reference or price tag.

  The second part is preferably symmetrical relative to the median longitudinal plane perpendicular to the planar surface, likewise, the first part is advantageously symmetrical relative to a median longitudinal plane. The production of symmetrical parts makes it possible to hold devices on the right and

  to the left with only one set of parts.

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  The present invention will be better understood on

  reading of the description which follows, based on the

  drawings o: - Figure 1 shows a front view of a display unit fitted with a device according to the invention, - Figure 2 shows a front view of the first part, - Figure 3 shows a profile view of the first part, - Figure 4 shows a front view of the second part, and - Figure 5 shows a rear view of the

second room.

  - Figure 6 shows a variant of

holding device.

  - Figure 7 shows a perspective view

  holding a ladder 5.

  The furniture according to the present invention comprises two shelves (1, 2) parallel to each other. These shelves can be fixed on a frame or on the wall according to known methods and devices. In particular, the furniture can be constituted by a frame formed by rectangular tubes forming a vertical frame. This vertical frame ensures the rigidity of the whole. Of

  profiled panels are arranged vertically on this frame.

  These profiled panels have an upper border and a horizontal lower border, of sufficient width to form a support point for the shelves (1, 2). The height of these profiled panels corresponds substantially to the articles intended to be exposed and more precisely to the

  smaller items for display.

  The shelves can thus be put into place in each slot separating two superimposed profiled panels, or only in certain slots, so as to reserve a greater height between them for articles of larger dimensions. The shelf (1) has on its rear edge a substantially vertical strip followed by a substantially strip

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  horizontal. The substantially horizontal strip is inserted between the upper edge of a profiled panel and the lower edge of the upper profile. The vertical strip of the shelf rests against the lower profiled panel. This gives good rigidity of the tablet, even when it contains a large number of articles. To block the shelf, it is possible to provide pins arranged on the upper edge of each of the profiled panels. These nipples cooperate with orifices

  arranged on the horizontal rear strip of the shelf.

  The frame can be constituted by a vertical rectangular frame. It may also include an upper part inclined on a slope, so that the articles are arranged substantially on a cylinder arc, the axis of which passes through the eyes of a medium-sized consumer, moving at a usual distance from the display. The shelves are thus inclined downwards. The articles are nevertheless retained by the holding and separation devices and cannot therefore

fall to the ground.

  According to a first embodiment of the separation devices shown in Figure 1, is constituted by a first part (10) into which is introduced a second part (11). The second part (11) has a flat part (12) separating two series of articles. A strip (13) protrudes from the first part (10) towards the front. The width of this strip (13) is greater than the thickness of the part (10). This strip (13) therefore prevents the withdrawal of the first article (3) in a direction perpendicular to its front face. The removal is carried out by tilting the first article (3) as indicated by the arrow (14). The movement consists in pulling the bottom of the article forward so as to make it exceed the inclined front edge (15) of the lower shelf (2). Then removing the item down,

  it can be extracted from the display.

  FIG. 2 represents a detailed view, on a slightly larger scale, of the first part of the

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  device. This first part consists of an upper arm (16) and a lower arm (17) substantially parallel, connected by a perpendicular arm (18). The lower edge (19) of the upper branch (16) consists of two segments (20, 21). The angle formed between the front segment (21) and the rear segment (20) corresponds to the angle formed between the inclined front strip (15) of the shelves (1, 2), and the general plane (22) of the shelves. Of course, if the shelves (1, 2) had not an inclined front strip (15) but a boss or a longitudinal rib, the lower edge (19) of the upper arm (16) would have the appropriate complementary shape. The perpendicular arm (18) has a slot (23) whose height corresponds to the width of the flat part (12) of the second part (11), and whose width corresponds to the thickness of the flat part (12) of the second part (11). The width of this slot is defined so that the space remaining between the lower edge (19) of the upper arm (16) and the upper edge (24) of the second part (11) corresponds substantially to the thickness a shelf (1, 2). The snap-on means (25, 26) cooperate with complementary means (27, 28) provided on the rear face of the strip (13) of the second part

  (11). The second part is shown from the front in FIG. 4.

  It comprises a flat part (12) whose dimensions have been explained above. The length of this flat part (12) can be adjusted by breaking along the breaking lines (29). These breaking lines (29) make it possible to adjust the length of the flat part (12) to the depth of the shelf, which will be more or less important depending on the number of articles that it is supposed to receive. Figure 5 shows the second part seen from behind. It comprises a flat part (12), extended by a strip (13) comprising complementary means (27, 28) snap-on. The strip (13) comprises a first part (30) of a width substantially equal to the thickness of the first part and a second part (31) of more

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  large width intended on the one hand for blocking of the articles placed on the shelf, and on the other hand for the placement, on the front face, of labels presenting the articles

  presentations or references or prices.

  According to a second embodiment, exposed in FIG. 6, the device for holding the articles is constituted by a rigid belt (35) comprising two lateral blanks (36, 37), a rear blank (38) and two front legs (39, 40). This belt is advantageously made of folded sheet. The width of this belt corresponds to the width of the articles (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8). The articles are pushed against the two front legs (39, 40) by a spring (41) exerting pressure on a support piece (42). On each side blank there is a tab (43) and a side tab (44). A fixing piece (45) is inserted into the volume delimited by the lateral tabs (43, 44). This fixing piece (45) is clipped into holes provided on the shelf. These holes are aligned so as to be able to receive fasteners corresponding to holding devices of different widths. The assembly is carried out as follows: First, there are fixing pieces of the appropriate size on the shelf. Next, a fixing piece (45) is introduced between the adjacent lateral tabs (43, 44). The operation is continued until all of the holding devices are in place. The first article is removed by exerting a slight upward pull, so that its lower edge exceeds the upper edge of the front retaining tabs (39, 40). At this time, the second article can advance until it comes into contact with the front face of the holding device. By way of example, the spring used consists of a steel wire with a diameter of

nine tenths of a millimeter.

  FIG. 7 represents an exemplary embodiment of a fixing piece (45). This fixing piece (45) comprises a head (46) facilitating its gripping and its positioning in the space between

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  two adjacent side tabs (43, 44). The section of the head (46) is greater than the section of the hollow space delimited by the adjacent lateral tabs (43, 44). This head (46) is connected to a rod (47) whose length, width and depth correspond substantially to the volume delimited by two adjacent lateral tabs (43, 44). Opposite the head of the fixing piece (45) is a foot (50) whose cross section corresponds substantially to the holes provided on the shelf. This foot is divided into

  two symmetrical branches separated by a slot (51).

  When the fixing part (43) is put in place, the edges (49) of the foot (50) come into contact with the edges of the bore with which the part must cooperate. When the foot (50) of the part (45) is fully engaged in the

  corresponding drilling, the two branches resume their.

  initial position due to the elasticity of the material used. The inclined upper edge (49) then comes

  oppose the removal of the fixing part.

  However, when a traction is exerted on the head of the fixing piece, the inclination of the upper edge (48) of the foot (50) causes the two symmetrical branches to come together. The reconciliation allows the

  removing the foot (50) from the hole in the shelf.

  The fixing piece is advantageously made of elastically deformable plastic. The head, foot and stem sections can be

  any shape, especially round or rectangular.

  It is understood that the present invention can be implemented in many equivalent variants

  without going beyond the scope of protection.

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Claims (12)

RESELL I CATIONS   1 - Furniture for storing and displaying articles that are substantially parallelepipedal, characterized in that it consists of superimposed, substantially parallel shelves (1, 2) comprising removable devices for separating two consecutive series of articles, said articles separation devices comprising means for temporarily holding the front face of the first article in a substantially vertical plane.   2 - Furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that it is constituted by a frame supporting a plurality of longitudinal sections with a height substantially identical to the height of the articles displayed and each having an upper border and a substantially horizontal lower border, the shelves comprising along the rear longitudinal edge a profiled strip interposed between the lower edge and the   upper border of two superimposed profiles.   3 - Furniture according to any one of   claims 1 to 2, characterized in that the strip   profiled comprises orifices cooperating with pins arranged on the upper or lower edge of the longitudinal profiles.   4 - Furniture according to any one of   claims 1 to 2, characterized in that the tablet   comprises a longitudinal support strip included between the profiled edge and the shelf, this support strip cooperating with the longitudinal profile when the shelf is in place.   5 - Furniture according to any one of   previous claims, characterized in that the   shelves have a plurality of holes aligned on a longitudinal axis, the distance between two consecutive holes corresponding substantially to the greatest common denominator of the different widths of articles to be displayed, increased by the distance between two consecutive articles and in that the holding device is positioned by   fixing studs (45) cooperating with said holes.   6 - Furniture according to any one of   previous claims, characterized in that the   holding device consists of a belt (36) of a depth substantially equal to the depth of the shelves and a width substantially equal to the width of the supports of the articles, the device further comprising a support piece (42) subjected to the action of a spring (41)   tending to push it towards the front face.   7 - Furniture according to claim 6, characterized in that the holding devices comprise on each lateral face (36, 37) complementary fixing lugs (43, 44) delimiting a hollow space capable of receiving a fixing part (45) comprising a section head greater than the section of said hollow space, a rod whose section and length correspond substantially to the section and length of said hollow space and a foot capable of cooperating with   a hole provided in the shelf.   8 - Device for holding and separating articles intended for use on furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that it consists of a first part (10) provided with a slot (23) in which can be slid a second piece (11) comprising a substantially planar portion (12) of a width corresponding substantially to the height of the slot (23) and of a thickness corresponding substantially to the width of the slot (23), the flat part (12) being perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the shelf (11) when the device is in place, the first part (10) having an upper arm (16) capable of resting on the upper shelf (1), the space between the lower edge (19) of said upper arm (16) and the upper edge (24) of the flat part (12) of the corresponding second part (11), over at least part of the length of the flat part (12) of the second part (11), at the thickness d e the front part of the upper shelf (1). 12 2651420   9 - device for holding and separating articles according to claim 8, characterized in that the flat part (12) of the second part (11) comprises   transverse breaking lines (29).   10 - Holding and separation device   articles according to any one of claims 8 to 9,   characterized in that the first part (10) has a C shape constituted by an upper branch (16) and a lower branch (17) parallel, connected by a perpendicular branch (18) provided with a median slot (23), the lower branch (17) having on its upper edge a central groove with a width substantially equal to the thickness of the flat part (12) of the second part (11). 11 - Device for holding and separating articles according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the front edge of the perpendicular branch (18) of the first part (10) comprises snap-on means (25, 26) capable of cooperating with additional means (27, 28) provided on the strip (13) of the second part (11).   12 - Holding and separation device   articles according to any one of claims 8 to 9,   characterized in that the second part (11) is symmetrical with respect to a median longitudinal plane perpendicular to its planar surface (12) and in that the first part (10) is   symmetrical with respect to a median longitudinal plane.