GB2309688A - Storage Unit - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a storage unit (10) having a gravity feed shelf (25) in its hollow interior, defining two chambers accessible via first (20) and second (21) apertures. The first aperture (20) is closable by means of a pivotable door (22) that in its closed position is recessed within the container. The door (22) includes sector-shaped guide members (22b,22c) extending rearwardly therefrom so that on pivoting of door (22) to its open position the door and the sector-shaped members define a guide chute for filling of the storage unit. A hollow receptacle (31) lies forwardly of door (22) to prevent access thereto and may be filed with product or other advertising material for display purposes. Preferably the second opening is also covered by a second, hinged closure 23 allowing access to the product e.g. sweets. Preferably the unit forms part of a bank of such units e.g. a "pick'n'mix" display.

Description

A STORAGE UNIT This invention relates to improvements in or relating to storage units. In particular, but not exclusively, the invention concerns storage units known as "Pick'n'mix" units.

Co-pending patent application no. GB 9704783.1 discloses one form of pick'n'mix unit exhibiting considerable advantages over previous such units. There remains, however, scope for further improving such units.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a storage unit comprising a plurality of walls secured together to define a hollow receptacle, the storage unit including first and second openings, the first opening being closeable by a first closure moveably captive on the storage unit between closed and open positions, the first closure when occupying its open position lying generally externally of the storage unit and including one or more guide members extending towards the first opening whereby the first closure and a said guide member define a guide for filling of the storage unit; and the second aperture being located to permit dispensing of items from the storage unit.

This arrangement advantageously provides a convenient guide permitting filling of the storage unit when the first closure occupies its open position.

When as in the preferred embodiment of GB 9704783.1 the first opening lies above the second opening, the pick'n'mix unit can be readily filled for subsequent dispensing of items from the second opening, as desired.

Preferably the said guide member lies within the storage unit when the first closure occupies its closed position. This feature confers compactness on the storage unit of the invention.

Conveniently the first closure is pivotably secured to the storage unit.

This advantageously ensures that the first closure is loosely captive relative to the storage unit, and also permits ready stowage of the guide member within the storage unit on moving of the first closure to its closed position.

Conveniently the axis of pivoting of the first closure is spaced from the in use uppermost portion of the first closure, whereby the first closure and one or more said guide members define an upwardly directed opening and a downwardly extending guide when the first closure occupies its open position. This advantageously permits filling of the storage unit from above, ie. the easiest mode of filling a storage unit in a retail environment, without requiring a vertical space above the unit. Such spaces have hitherto been needed to accommodate the opening of a hinged top lid for such units known in the prior art.

Preferably one or more said guide members, and in particular a pair of said guide members, generally interconnect the first closure and first opening when the first closure occupies its open position. This beneficially permits the first closure and eg. a pair of guide members to define a chute for filling of the storage unit when the first closure occupies its open position.

The storage unit of the invention may advantageously include a further, hollow receptacle, for receiving display material, releasably securable in one of said openings, the further receptacle permitting viewing of display material therein.

In particularly preferred embodiments, viewing of the display material occurs by means of transparency of some or all of the further, hollow receptacle.

The transverse cross-section of the hollow portion of the further receptacle may be sufficiently elongate to permit supporting therein of display material in the form of a laminar picture of goods to be dispensed from the storage unit. Alternatively, the cross section of the hollow receptacle may be more squat, thereby permitting filling of the further, hollow receptacle with discrete samples of the items to be dispensed from the storage unit.

Conveniently the further receptacle is securable to the first closure.

The further receptacle may be elongate in elevational view and open at an upper end when secured in the storage unit. This feature advantageously permits easy filling and emptying of the further receptacle.

The storage unit may preferably include a recess for receiving the further receptacle. The recess may include a support, eg. a wall, for the further receptacle. The support may be inclined and the further receptacle may include a surface of in use complementary inclination for engagement therewith, thereby to secure the receptacle in the storage unit.

These features advantageously permit securing of the further receptacle in the storage unit under gravity, thereby avoiding the need for complicated or expensive detent means.

Preferably the first closure is in its closed position recessed relative to the storage unit, to define the aforesaid recess.

This advantageously makes use of the preferred pivoting mounting of the first closure, to define the recess on pivoting of the first closure to its closed position.

Conveniently the storage unit may include a second closure, moveable between closed and open positions, for the second opening. This advantageously provides a dispensing access to the interior of the storage unit that is hygienically isolated from the filling aperture defined by the first opening.

Conveniently the storage unit may include an inclined divider within the hollow receptacle extending from one side of the receptacle to another.

The divider permits limited flow of items from a first part of the hollow receptacle, adjacent the first opening, to a further part of the hollow receptacle adjacent the second opening.

When the first opening is disposed above the second opening in the storage unit, this feature advantageously permits so-called "gravity feed" of items between an upper portion of the interior of the storage unit and a lower portion thereof, from which latter they are dispensed.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is a provided a storage unit comprising a plurality of walls secured together to define a hollow receptacle, the storage unit including first and second openings respectively for filling and emptying of the receptacle; and a further, hollow receptacle, for receiving display material, releasably securable on the storage unit, the further receptacle permitting viewing of display material therein.

This aspect of the invention may if desired be utilised in conjunction with the features of the invention defined hereinabove; alternatively it may be used discretely.

There now follows a description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, by way of example, with reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a storage unit according to the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the Figure 1 embodiment; and Figure 3 is a front elevational view of the Figure 1 embodiment.

Figure 1 shows in elevational, vertically sectioned view a storage unit 10 generally as described in patent application no. GB 9704783.1.

Storage unit 10 comprises a base 11 and a plurality of upstanding side walls extending upwardly therefrom to define a hollow receptacle.

Inclined, lower, front and rear side wall portions 12, 13 are visible in Figure 1, as is rear wall 14 upstanding from inclined wall 13; and horizontally extending lid 15.

An upwardly extending side wall 16a is also visible; a corresponding side wall 16b (not visible in Figure 1) is upstanding at the opposite end of the storage unit 10.

The forward face 17 of storage unit 10 is rearwardly inclined and includes formed therein a pair of openings 20, 21 lying one above the other.

First, upper opening 20 is closable by means of a first closure 22 described in greater detail below; lower, second aperture 21 is closable by a second, moveable closure 23 horizontally hinged at 23a adjacent an upper edge 24 thereof to permit movement of second closure 23 between its closed position as shown in Figure 1 and an open position in which closure 23 is hinged upwardly relative to the position shown in Figure 1.

In its closed position, a lower part of closure 23 rests against the upper edge 12a of wall portion 12.

In some embodiments, edge 12a is connected to wall portion 12 by means of a vertical wall extension 12b shown in dotted lines in Figure 1. This component prevents lightweight or slippery items (such as hard, sugar coated sweets) from rising over edge 12a on opening of closure 23.

When wall extension 12b is present, closure 23 when closed is of course inclined at a shallower angle to the horizontal than that shown in Figure 1.

The interior of storage unit 10 is partially divided into two portions by a downwardly inclined member 25 extending from side to side within the storage unit, and from a position adjacent the forward face 17 thereof towards but spaced from the rear wall 14 thereof. Inclined member 25 acts as a gravity feed member, permitting limited flow of discrete items inserted into storage unit via aperture 20 towards the vicinity of aperture 21, without plugging aperture 21.

First closure 22 is pivotable forwardly and generally downwardly by means of hinge 26 between its closed position as shown in Figure 1, and an open position in which closure 22 is hinged forwardly relative to storage 10.

Member 25 as shown in Figure 1 is generally flat, but may in alternative embodiments be of a number of shapes. One preferred profile for member 25 resembles two flat, non-parallel members joined along a fold line.

As is best shown in Figure 2, first closure 22 comprises a generally planar wall member 22a extending transversely of aperture 20. Wall member 22a is a substantially the same width as aperture 20, so that when first closure 22 is pivoted to its closed position shown in Figure 1 wall member 22a substantially closes opening 20.

Extending rearwardly from the side edges of wall member 22a are respective, sector-shaped guide members 22b, 22c of mutually identical shape and spaced from one another by the width of wall member 22a.

As is evident from Figure 2, on pivoting of first closure 22 to its open position the wall member 22a and the guide members 22b, 22c together with the members of storage unit 10 adjacent opening 20 define a chute or guide via which storage unit 10 may be filled with items to be dispensed via opening 21.

In the embodiment shown, first closure 22 is pivotable at or adjacent its lowermost edge, so that when closure 22 is open the opening at the free end of the chute or guide defined by the members 22a, 22b and 22c faces upwardly. This advantageously permits pouring of loose items into storage unit 10 with minimum spillage.

First closure 22 in its closed position is recessed rearwardly of the forward edge of storage unit 10. An inclined stop member 30 extends inwardly of wall 16a to engage the rearmost edge of guide 22c and thereby limit the rearward travel of first closure 22 to that shown in Figure 1. A comparable stop member may be provided on the wall 16b disposed opposite wall 16, for engagement with guide member 22b.

A generally horizontally extending support member 31 also extends inwardly of wall 16 of storage unit 10. As shown in Figure 1, support member 33 is inclined downwardly in a direction away from the front face 17 of the storage unit 10.

Support member 33 together with the forward face of first closure 22 and the side walls 16a and 16b define a recess for receiving a further, hollow receptacle in the form of cup-like member 31.

Cup-like member in the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2 has a rectangular transverse cross section and is open at its upper end in use. The lower end of receptacle 31 is closed by a wall 32 inclined relative to the upstanding side walls thereof at an angle complementary to the angle of support member 33. As shown in Figure 1, therefore, receptacle 31 may be inserted into the recess defined by the side walls of storage unit 10, the front 22a of first closure 22 and the support member 33. Gravity acting on the receptacle 31 causes its retention, by virtue of the rearwardly downward extension of support member 33. In practice, support member 33 protrudes inwardly of wall 16a only a short distance and therefore engages one side of receptacle 31.A similar support member, disposed at the same angle, extends a short distance inwardly of the opposite wall of storage unit 10 and supports the other side of receptacle 31. Thus the two support members are spaced from one another by most of the width of first opening 20.

Since receptacle 31 is open at its upper end, a display of the items to be dispensed from storage unit 10 may be received therein. The aspect ratio of the transverse cross section of receptacle 31 of Figures 1 and 2 is comparatively large, whereby discrete items (such as pieces of confectionery) may be poured into receptacle 31 via its upper open end.

If receptacle 31 includes in its forward face a transparent portion (eg. a window), the contents thereof will be visible for display.

Alternatively, the aspect ratio of the transverse cross section of receptacle 31 may be suited to supporting eg. a laminar display such as a photograph or drawing of the contents of the storage unit 10; a bar code; or another label.

Regardless of its precise design, receptacle 31 is readily removable from the recess defined adjacent first aperture 20, by virtue of simple lifting against the gravitational force holding it against the first closure 22 and the support members 31. Consequently receptacle 31 may readily be emptied, cleaned as necessary and refilled without having to remove or invert the entire storage unit 10.

The removability of receptacle 31 facilitates pouring of its contents into storage unit 10, thereby promoting "rotation" of stock used as a display within receptacle 31.

Receptacle 31 includes at the upper edge of its forward face a forwardly extending tab 34 that assists removal by hand of receptacle 31. Tab 34 extends forwardly a short distance below top wall 15 when receptacle 31 is seated in its recess. Consequently tab 34 is not readily visible to a casual observer.

Removal of receptacle 31 also permits opening of first closure 22 to define the guide or chute, thereby permitting filling of storage unit 10 with items to be dispensed via aperture 21.

As items are filled via the guide or chute they fall onto inclined member 25 and from there towards the rear of the hollow interior of storage unit 10. This tends to provide a void free of items to be dispensed, adjacent second opening 21. This in turn permits insertion of a scoop, tongs or a similar device for removal of items, without the risk of items falling out of the storage unit 10 on opening of second closure 23.

The inclined portions 12, 13 at the front and rear of the storage unit 10 are conventional in the art for preventing small items such as individual pieces of confectionery from becoming inaccessible to scoops or other devices for removing them from the storage unit 10.

As is shown in Figure 3, the storage units may be provided in pairs or indeed in arrays of larger numbers.

In particularly preferred embodiments, pairs of the storage units 10 are linked together eg. by gluing welding or by means of clips to provide a bank of storage units. Figure 3 shows a pair of such linked units, in elevation. The linked units may be supported in a stand to provide an attractive, sturdy display in retail area.

As is shown in Figure 1, the upper corners of the rear wall 14 of each unit support a downwardly projecting retainer member 40. Member 40 includes a downwardly projecting portion 40a spaced from a foot 40b via an intermediate portion 40c so that the profile of member 40 resembles a crank. Foot 40b is glued to rear wall 14. The downwardly projecting portion may be slotted over a hasp-like metal bracket (not shown) secured in a display stand, thereby retaining the storage unit 10 in the stand.

The lower, rear corner 41 of each side wall 16a, 16b is right angled and therefore protrudes beyond the inclined wall portion 13. Thus when retainer member 40 is inserted into the metal clip, the corner 41 of each side wall braces the lower part of the storage unit 10 eg. against a wall.

Thus the member 40 and corner 41 between them may support the entire weight of a storage unit 10.

Preferably the storage units 10 are manufactured from clear acrylic material, whereby their contents are readily visible. This provides a good advertising effect and also clearly indicates to users of the storage units whether they are in need of cleaning. Preferably the rigid side walls of the storage units 10 are secured together by gluing. The hinges 26, 23a may be adhered (eg. using adhesive compounds) to the side walls of a storage unit 10. The same may be true of the members 30, 31.

An elongate support foot 35 may be provided at each side of the storage unit 10 with support foot 35, extending along the base thereof. As shown in Figure 3 when the storage unit 10 is configured as a pair of hollow receptacles spaced from another by a central divided, the support feet 35 are provided adjacent the outer extremities of the base only. This compares with the locations of the support feet 35 in a single width storage unit 10 shown schematically in Figure 3A.

Each side wall 16a,16b protrudes a short distance above top wall 15. The support feet 35 are spaced inwardly from the outer edges of the base of storage unit 10, to permit stacking of the units on top of one another with the support feet 35 received in the space between the protruding portions of the side walls 16a, 16b. A pair of limit members 42 may optionally be glued onto the upper surface of top wall 15, on either side at the rear thereof as shown. The limit members 42 define forwardly tacing abutments 42a that are engageable by the rear ends of the respective support feet 35. This accurately locates the units 10 in the fore and aft direction when stacked on one another. As shown, the abutments 42a may be spaced, and the lengths of the feet 35 chosen, to provide a "tiered" appearance to an array of stacked units when the feet 35 and abutments 42 are engaged.

An elongate panel 45 is shown secured to the front of the unit 10, extending between the support feet 35. This panel prevents dust and small items from becoming trapped under the unit 10 when it stands on a flat surface, thereby improving the hygiene of the apparatus.

The hingeable doors 23 defining the second closure for each second aperture 21 may include a tongue optionally inclined forwardly at a shallower angle than the remainder of the door 23 when occupying its closed position, whereby to provide a member for gripping by hand that assists a user to open the second opening for dispensing of products from the storage unit 10.

Claims (19)

1. A storage unit comprising a plurality of walls secured together to define a hollow receptacle, the storage unit including first and second openings, the first opening being closeable by a first closure moveably captive on the storage unit between closed and open positions, the first closure when occupying its open position lying generally externally of the storage unit and including one or more guide members extending towards the first opening whereby the first closure and a said guide member define a guide for filling of the storage unit; and the second aperture being located to permit dispensing of items from the storage unit.

2. A storage unit according to Claim 1 wherein a said guide member lies within the storage unit when the first closure occupies its closed position.

3. A storage unit according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the first closure is pivotably secured to the storage unit.

4. A storage unit according to Claim 3 wherein the axis of pivoting of the first closure is spaced from the in-use uppermost portion of the first closure, whereby the first closure and one or more said guide members define an upwardly directed opening and a downwardly extending guide when the first closure occupies its open position.

5. A storage unit according to any preceding claim wherein one or more said guide members generally interconnect the first closure and the first openings when the first closure occupies its open position.

6. A storage unit according to any preceding claim including a pair of said guide members spaced from one another on the first closure.

7. A storage unit according to any preceding claim including a further, hollow receptacle, for receiving display material, releasably secureable in one of the said openings, the further receptacle permitting viewing of display material therein.

8. A storage unit in particular according to any preceding claim comprising a plurality of walls secured together to define a hollow receptacle, a said wall including first and second openings respectively for filling and emptying of the receptacle; and a further, hollow receptacle, for receiving display material, releasably securable on the storage unit, the further receptacle permitting viewing of display material therein.

9. A storage unit according to Claim 7 wherein the further receptacle is securable to the first closure.

10. A storage unit according to any of Claims 7 to 9 wherein the further receptacle is elongate and open at an upper end when secured in the storage unit.

11. A storage unit according to any of Claims 7 to 10 including a recess for receiving the further receptacle.

12. A storage unit according to Claim 10 wherein the recess includes a support for the further receptacle.

13. A storage unit according to Claim 12 wherein the support includes an inclined wall, the further receptacle including a surface of in-use complementary inclination for engagement therewith, whereby to secure the receptacle in the storage unit.

14. A storage unit according to Claim 10 or Claim 11 when dependent from Claim 7 wherein the first closure is in its closed position recessed relative to the storage unit, to define the said recess.

15. A storage unit according to any preceding claim including a second closure, moveable between closed and open positions, for the second opening.

16. A storage unit according to any preceding claim including an inclined divider within the hollow receptacle extending from one side of the receptacle to another, the divider permitting limited flow of items from a first part of the hollow receptacle, adjacent the first opening, to a further part of the hollow receptacle adjacent the second opening.

17. A storage unit according to any preceding claim including a support member for suspending the unit and one or more members projecting from the unit to brace the unit when suspended via the support member.

18. A storage unit according to Claim 17 wherein the or a said projecting member is integral with or secured to a side wall of the unit.

19. A storage unit generally as herein described, with reference to or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.