US1846862A - Counter tray construction - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 23, 1932. J. GUTHRIE 1,846,862

COUNTER TRAY CONSTRUCTION Filed March 1'7, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 AT'roRNEY Feb. 23, 1932. J, GUTHRlE 1,846,862

COUNTER THAT CONSTRUCTION `Filed Marh 1'7, 1930 2-Sheets-Sheet 2 f @ya Patented Feb. 23, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN GUTlHRIE, OF FOREST'HILLS, NRW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO J'. C. PENNEY COMPANY,

',INC., OE NEW YORK, N. Y., A. CORPORATION OF NEW YORK O GOUNTER TRAY CONSTRUCTION Appuaaon me@ umn 17, 1930. semi No. 436,312.

This invention relates to store furniture and is concerned more particularly with partition equipment for sub-dividing the top of a counter or table into a plurality of compartments for displaying'merchandise.

In department stores, particularly in those departments where notions and other small articles are handled, it is the customary practice to place the merchandise on display on the tops of the counters or tables where the various articles can be examined by customers. Numerous expedients have been emloyed for providing compartments or trays or holding the articles but most of these devices with which I am familiar have not been wholly satisfactory because they are .either iniiexible so that they cannot be readily arranged to produce compartments of varying size or else the equipment is somewhat elaborate and expensive. f

The object of the present invention is 'to provide partition equlpment for the purpose describedv which is simple in construction,`

inexpensive to manufacture, readily assembledand dismantled and capable of a wide variation in the dimensions of the compartments provided thereb The equipment of this invention may be installed on the top of the ordinary counter or table or else secured to a base which rests on top of the counter, thus providing a complete tray, the interior of which can be sub-divided as desired. When the equipment rests directly on top of a pounter, it can be removed therefrom and replaced as a unit, thus permitting the counter and the parts of the equipment to be easily cleaned and kept in proper condition. Similarly, when the equipment provdes a complete tray, it may be moved about as a unit, and the partition means lifted clear of the base to permit cleaning of the latter.

For a better understanding of the invenvent'ion, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a view in end elevation and artly in section showing the equipment of t e invention in use on the top of a counter;

- Fig. 2 is a view of a. portion of the equip- 50 ment:

.may be slipped over the cross member 17 of Fig. 3v is a sectional view on the line 3- 3 of v Fig. 2 `igs. 4, 5, and 6 are perspective views of detalls of the equipment; l

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line 7-7 '65 vof Fig.2;

Fig. 8 is a perspective View of a detail;

. Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing a modified form of the construction;

Fig. 10vis a sectional view on an enlarged scale, showing a portion ofthe corner construction; and i v Fig. 11 is a view in perspective of a detail ofthe equipment illustrated in Fig. 9.

v Referring now'to the drawings, the equipment is shown in Fig. 1 in a form suitable for installation on the flat top 10 of a counter, and itincl-ucles side rails 11 secured together at their corners and forming `a frame of a size suiiicient to lit down over the edges of the counter. On the inner face of each rail is secured a Z-bar 12, one leg of the bar being secured to the inner face of a rail 11 by screws 13,'whi1e the other leg 14 extends vertically in spaced relation to the inner face of the rail near its top.' The Z-bar rovides an edge support along the outlines o? the space to be sub-divided. In the space between the leg 14 of the bar and the inner face of the rail is mounted 'a wall member 15 which is preferably'a plate of glass of thedesired height. The adjacent rail sections 11 are connected at their corners by a corner fitting generally designated 16and secured to the inner faces of adjacent rails. This fitting has a cross piece 17 at its top extending across the angle between the rails, and it is provided with-corner guides 18 which support the wall elements 15 at the corners of the frame. Each corner guide has an inner and an outer face portion 19 and 20, respectively, and from one of these portions extends a plate 21 of triangular form, this plate having its free edge -22 bent back upon itself so that the corner member the corner fitting 16, as illustrated in Fig. 3. The-cross member 17 thus supports the corner fitting upright. The wall elements 15 form the outer walls of the equipment and the space ldened by these walls is then sub-divided into a plurality of merchandise compartments by other partitions.

The merchandise space is sub-divided into a plurality Vof main compartments which extend entirely across or lengthwise of the counter as` may be desired. Each of these main partitions includes a wall element 23 in the form of a plate of glass or the like, and the plate is supported in a channel member 24 which extends either across the counter 0r from end to end thereof. The channel member is made of a strip of metal shaped to U section and at its ends, the bottom wall of the member has atout-out 25 beyond which the side walls are shaped to form a pair of ripping tongues 26, the inner faces of whic are recessed. Mounted at the end of each channel member is an end fitting generally designated 27. This fitting includes a plate 28 having a portion 29 at one end thereof bent upwardly and then folded upon itself to'provide a downwardly extending flange 30, and mounted on the face of the plate against the upstanding portion is an end guide 31 for the partition. This guide has side walls 32, the distance between which is such that the partition 23 may be received therein with a snug fit. Near its bottom, each side wall 32 has a tongue cut therefrom and folded back u'pon itself to provide a projection 33 adapted to engage in a recess in one of the gripping members 26.

When a main partition is to be placed in position, its end fittings 27 are mounted at opposite sides of the counter on the edge supports l2. For this purpose, the downwardly extending flange 30 of each fitting is slipped over the edge of the upstanding leg 14 of the Z-bar in the manner illustrated in Fig. 2. The space between the Z-bar and the inner wall of the rail 1l is such that the outer partitions l5 are in place in the space, there is no' diiiiculty in mounting the end fittings 27 on the Z-bar. After both end fittings are mounted on edge supports along opposite edges of the counter, a channelmember 24 of proper length is mounted on these'ittings. The cut-outs 25 in the channel member are sufficiently wide to receive the upstanding portions of the end fittings therein, the tongues 33 on each fitting entering recesses 26 in the gripping portions of a channel member. The wall member 23 is then placed in the channel member and end fittings, the wall resting loosely in theI channel member but being supported upright in the guide portions of the two end fittingsL By the installation of a plurality of main partitions, the space on the counter is subdivided into lengthwise or transverse compartments. Ordinarily it is desirable to subdivide these compartments into smaller ones and for this purpose minor partitions may be employed. Each minor partition includes a wall member 34 of plate glass or the like,

a channel member 24 and end fittings 27.

.Each end fitting is mounted either on the the entire width of the counter as may e desired. These main partitions are supported in channelmembers attachedto end ttingsfitf ting loosely on the Z-bars so that the partitions can be installed at any point along the length of the Z-ba'rs, thus providing compartments of any selected width. Similarl the main compartments can be sub-dividd into as many minor compartments as may be desired, since the partitions which define the minor compartments are mounted in ittin s which can be placed at any position lengt wise of the channel member of a main partition that may be desired.

The entire equipment can be removed from the counter by lifting the frame made up of the rails 1l since the Z-bars are attached to these rails and the partition members are mounted either onthe Z-barsor else on other supports which are attached to those mounted on the Z-bars. This provides a .convenient manner of transferring the equipment from one counter to another and of cleaning the counter top without disarranging the partitions whch define the individual compartments.

In some instances, it may be desired to pro-A vide the equipment with a bottom to rest on top of the counter. Such a construction -is illustrated in Figs. 9,'10, and 11. For this purpose, a base 35 is used, Iliade up of suitable matched boards preferably provided with edge members 36 dove-tailed or otherwise secured thereto. Along the inner edge of the counter below the top thereof is provided a rail 37 from the upper face of which extend dowel pins 38 at suitable intervals, the rear edge member 36 of the base having openings in which the pins may be received so that the equipment is anchored in lace on the counter. Instead of employing e ge supports in the form of Z-bars at the edges of the counter, the edge supports take the form of channel members 39, these channels having tongues 40 struck from theirV bottom walls which enter recesses 4l formed in the edge members 36. The channel members lead to corner fittings 18 `of the construction previously deedge member 36 ofthe base to hold the corner fitting in position. Main partitions are then mounted in place as before, the end fitting of each artition being engaged with the inner v tions are then supported in place in the same manner as in the first construction. With the modified arrangement, the equipment provides a plurality of trays, the walls of which may be adjusted to provide compartments of varying size.

It willbe seen that the equipment includes a few simple parts which are of inexpensive construction. The fittings and channel members are made of sheet metal and can be pro-- duced in quantity at little cost. The partitions are preferably of plate glass, although other material may be employed if desired. Ordinarily the channel members will be of varying lengths so that compartments of selected dimensions may be provided but if compartments of some special size are desired, these can be readily produced by cutting the channel members to the desired length and then forming the cut-outs 25 and shaping the gripping tongues at the ends, as illustrated in Fig. 5. These operations are quite simple and can be performed wlthout elaborate equipment.

While the equipment of this invention has been described as used for sub-dividing the top of a counter or table into main compartments extending completely lengthwise of the counter or across the latter with minor partitions sub-dividing the main compartments, it will be apparent that the use of the minor partitions can be continued indefinitely and in some instances the space on the counter top may be divided into compartments of as small a size as 2 by 4 inches. 4The partitions which form the'minor compartments will, in someinstances, be mounted on the channel members of mam compartment members or on one of these channel members and an edge support along the side of the counter, while in other cases the minor partition members may eX- tend between another pair of minor partition members, being mounted on the channel members thereof.

What I claim is:

1. In a container having a base, channels thereon and wall sections supported in said channels to form an enclosure, means for subdividing said enclosure comprising a wall section, fittings each comprising means for attaching it to a channel, means for supporting a corner of saidy wall section and means for supporting one end of a channel member, and a channel member comprising a channel for enclosing an edge of said wall section, and means on said channel member and fitting for attaching the member to a fitting.

2. -In a container having a base, channels thereon, corner fittings at the corners thereof and wall sections supported in said channels 1 i and corner fittingsA -to form an enclosure, means. for subdividinflr said enclosure comprlsing a wall section, fIttlngs each comprlslng means for attaching it to a channel,'means for 1 supporting a corner of said wall section and means for supporting one end of a channell member, and a channel member comprising a channel for enclosing an edge of said wall section and means on said channel member andfitting for attaching the member toa fitting, said channel member being of U shape so as to support additional fittings in the same manner' as the channels on the base.

3. In a container for use in connection with a fiat topped support, a base formed to surround the top edges of the support and be supported thereon, channels and corner fixtures uponl said base supporting wall sections to form an enclosure surrounding said flat topped support, means for subdividing said enclosure comprising a wall section, fittings each comprising means for supporting it from a channel on said base and means for supporting acorner of said wall section .and means for supporting one end of a channel member; and a channel member comprising a'channel for enclosing an edge of said wall section and meansvon said channel member and fitting for attaching said member to a fitting.

4. Ina container for use in'connection with a flat topped support, a base formed to surround the top edges of the support and be supported thereon, channels andvcorner fixtures upon said base supporting wall sections to form an enclosure surrounding said fiat topped support, means for subdividing said enclosure comprising a wall section, ttings each comprising means for supporting it from a channel on said base and means for supporting a corner of said wall section and means for supporting one end of a channel member; and a channel member comprising a channel for enclosing an edge of said wall section and means on said channel member and fitting for attaching said member to a fitting, said channel member being U-shaped so as to support additional fittings in the same manner as the channel on the base.

5. In partition equipment the partitions of which comprise wall sections with their lower edges enclosed in U-shaped members, a fitting for supporting one partition upon another which comprises a pocket shaped to enclose and support a corner of a wall section, a hook shaped member adapted to hook over the edge of a U-shaped member to support the fitting thereon, and means receiving and supporting the end of another U-shaped'memberin position to enclose an edge of the wall section extending into the pocket of said fitting.

6. In partition equipment a fixture comprising means to receive and Support the cor ner of a partition and means for engaging and supporting a channel member which encloses an edge of said partition and means for engaging another channel member for supporting itsel,lthe first mentioned channel member and the artition,

' 7. In partition equipment a ttin com-V prising means to receive and support t e corner of a partition and means or engaging and supporting a channel member wlncliy en- 10 closes an edge of said partition and means for engaging another channelmember at right angles to the first for supporting itself, the channel member and the artition. i

In testimony whereof' v ax my signature. k JOHN GUTHRIIE.

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