US2637445A

US2637445A - Display rack for bottled goods

Info

Publication number: US2637445A
Application number: US268287A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lawrence W Patterson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1952-01-25
Filing date: 1952-01-25
Publication date: 1953-05-05
Anticipated expiration: 1970-05-05

Description

May 5, 1953 L. w. PATTERSON 2,637,445

DISPLAY RACK FOR BOTTLED GOODS Fil ejd Jan. 25, 1952' Patented May 5, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DISPLAY RACK FOR BOTTLED GOODS Lawrence W. Patterson, Santa Ana, Calif.

Application January 25, 1952, Serial No. 268,287

This invention relates to merchandising racks and more particularly relates to a stand or rack for displaying and merchandising bottled goods, canned goods, and like articles having rigidity and uniformity of shape and height.

A disadvantage common to most display racks for bottled merchandise is that-if they are portable, which is highly desirable--they are excessively heavy and provided with all sorts of devices for preventing the merchandise from toppling and rolling while the racks are being wheeled or otherwise transported from one location to another. It is an object of this invention to provide a light, portable rack which so holds the merchandise and is so held by the merchandise that rack and merchandise together form a substantially rigid mass which may be wheeled about or jolted without breakage or dislocation of the displayed goods.

A particular advantage of my invention lies in connection with the display of bottled goods in small merchandising units. Many bottled goods are now packed in light un-covered cardboard containers, containing perhaps half a dozen bottles and spoken of as Handypack Cartons. However, in self-service stores, a customer need not take a full carton but may remove one or two bottles as needed, and in time a large number of these cartons become partly emptied, so that the effect is lost of the merchandising suggestion that the customer take a full half-dozen bottles. Some stores attempt to sell Handypacks only as full units, but either as a result of pilferage or of less-than-unit sales, broken packs occur frequently and incite further pilferage or further small sales. This is particularly true when, in order to impress customers with large displays, goods are made available at a plurality of levels, as in pyramids or on a number of vertically arranged shelves. One of the objects of my invention is to make available to the customer only a limited number of these Handypack cartons at any one time, yet to permit a large volume of merchandise to be present and on display, and to have a fresh supply of full cartons or like containers automatically available when a previous limited supply has been exhausted.

Another object of my invention is to provide a light rack of skeleton structure which will afford visibility to a large amount of merchandise and yet hold the goods firmly in a mutually supporting mass so as to avoid breakage.

The invention possesses other useful features which will be pointed out as the following description of a presently preferred embodiment of the invention proceeds, or which will be apparent from said description considered together with the accompanying related drawing, in which,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a display rack 5 Claims. (Cl. 211-74) showing bottled good in position on the base and on a lower separator of the rack; and

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view, showing additional upper separators in a raised position assumed by the separators when not occupied.

Having reference to the details of the drawing, my invention comprises a platform 3 preferably mounted on casters 4, for portability, and a back frame 5 secured rigidly to the platform and extending upwardly from one end thereof. At spaced intervals corresponding to the height of the bottles 6 to be displayed, or to the combined height of the bottles and the cartons I if such group containers are to be used, the back-frame 5 is provided with horizontal transverse bars 8. One or more vertical bars 9 are also provided, not only to brace the back frame but to provide anchorage for springs H1.

The horizontal bars 8 serve as hinge-pins upon which tray-frames ll functioning as separators between tiers of goods disposed on the rack are hinged for vertical arcuate movement. The tray-frames II have an open grid-work form, each comprising a rim member l2 and a plurality of thin cross-members l3 extending transversely between opposite portions of the rim member l2. Preferably the cross-members I3 extend from the rear rims I4 of the tray frames ll, adjacent the back-frame 5, to the opposite or front rims of the tray-frames, so that the rearward ends of two or more of the cross-members [3 may be extended beyond the rear rims I4 and coiled to form hinge rings l5 pivoted on the horizontal bars 8. The cross-members l3 are secured to the lower sides of the rim members l2, so that the latter may act to retain merchandise disposed on the trays. The springs Ill, anchored at their one ends to the vertical bars 9, are also pivoted upon the bars 8 and have their other ends anchored to the side portions of the rims l2, and urge the tray-frames II to swing upwardly to positions, shown in Fig. 2, in planes adjacent to the vertical plane of the back-frame 5.

It will be seen that while the back-frame 5 affords a mechanical stop to the upward swinging of the tray-frames II, no in-built mechani-- cal stop is provided to limit the downward swinging of the tray-frames to position below the horizontal. However, when the rack is loaded, downward movement of the tray-frames H is limited to the horizontal by the bottles of the lower tiers, such being made possible by spacing the cross-members I3 at intervals coinciding with the spacing of the bottles 6, which are arranged as illustrated in front-to-back rows. If the bottles are to be stacked individually, the crossmembers I3 are spaced equally to the diameter of the bottles, and hence to the center lines of the rows of the bottles, and may be of sufficient width to provide stability for a bottle centered thereon. If the bottles are stacked in cartons,

the cross members [3 may be narrow rods, but

again spaced and arranged to over-lie and under-lie the center lines of the rows of the bottles, allowing for the thickness of the eard board walls of the cartons. The horizontal bars 8 and hinge rings are arranged to permit the tray-frames H to attain the horizontalcat .vertical intervals corresponding to the "height "of the bottles 6 or the combined height or the bottles 13 and cartons I, and the cross-members l 3 will then rest upon the tops of the bottles' beneath them. Thus a vertical series of compartments islformed, each compartment of the exact height required itocontainthe bottles. lltioreover, since the tray "framesilunction solely as load-transmitting separators-between adjacent upper and under tiers o'fjth'e' bottles, all the bottles below the upper-- most horizontal 'tray frame 'l l are iiirrrily held in asubstantially so'lid'ipackbythe weight of "the merchandise above them. "With the .odttle's so f'hld vertically, they will .not or topple When the 'rac'k is moved about .or is jolted At the same "time. the open grid "or skeleton form .ft'he tray-"frames i I ifpermit's good visibility of the merchandise supporting "the! uppermost thorizontal "trayframe I 'Ihesprings "m are tension'ed to slight-1yovercome the 'wightof the tray-"frame .H to which they Tar'e attached, softhat they are counter-- "balanced by the weight of "a :preol'eter ied unit of merchandise'restingup'on the true};-

the springs H) and the tray-frames ii are both pivoted on the horizontal .bars 6, the relative meehanioalfa'dvantage "of the "springs remains constant, and the force exerted 'may be calcn. lated as afunc'tion 'ofthe springtension. Spiral springs of 'th'etypeshown may'be made to'have substantially nonstant tension over considerably more than the ninety degree angle ofmovement shown *to "be required, and *with constant mechanical advantage "the "spring action may be madegentle from the=start of the upward move- *ment, ='ti 1e tray-frame rising gently to its vet-at cdl 1min, and uncovering the merchandise "the 'compartmerit next below.

I wish itunderstood that modifications may be made in theform of my rak'without departure *from th'e spirit*of*my invention-anti t'hatd de- *sire to'-be-'protected in-mydmrention to the "full "scope of "the "novelty "set forth in the "appended craim's.

*1. Ara'ckfor'iii'splaying-and'lz tiedand like goods having 1 height comprising, in comb nation, abak frame extending upwardly fire-in Lanedge \ot 'base and a separator member hinged to the *back iframe for vertical arercate. movement I above -and below the horizontal and serving, lwhen :supported in .therhorizontal plane by? goods disposed below same, ito itransmit lithe l'oad of goods :disposed thereon to th'e goods disposed below and thence 110 the base, and spring means interconmeeting the back fran e and separator me'rriher "for-urging the latter upwardly toerposition adj'a'centthe back frame upon removal the last unit of" goodsdisposed' on said separatormeniber.

Y2. A rack as "set'iorthin claim 1, wherein the tension of the spring means is not substantially greater-than that required tosupport .the weight of the-separator memberLin the horizontal,plane, whereby said member moves upwardly at a.slow

-7mrchsntiisingbotdit anduniform the 4 rate upon removal of the last unit of goods as aforesaid.

3. A rack for displaying and merchandising bottled and like goods having rigidity and uniiorm heighticomprising, in combination, a base for -supporting =a lowermost tier -of the goods, a back frame extending upwardly from an end of the base, and a plurality of separator members hinged to the back member for vertical arcuate movementaboveand below the horizontal and along horizontal hinge lines which are spaced from the supporting surface of the base and from one'anotheradistance corresponding to the vertical :height of the goods, said separator members serving to retain goods disposed thereon in tiers and [to transmit the load of the upper-tiers to the under tiers and thence to the base,';and

spring mean's i'interconnecting each of the sepaj rator members with the "back frame and being "operative to 'urgesa'id separator members individually toaupos'ition adjacent the back frame upon removal of Ithe'lastnnit -of Igoods'there'from. j '4. Arack for displaying and merchandising Ibottled 'and'like -go'o'd's having rigidity and uniform height comprising, in "combination, a base for supporting 'a1plurality of the goods arranged thereonin 'front 'to-back'rows, a backframe 'extendingzupwardly' fromthe back edge of the'base and including a plurality "of transverse "bars spaced frotnfthe supporting surface of the "base and from one another a distance "corresponding to "the vertical height "of the:goo'ds,':aplurality of "separator members hinged 'to said "bars "for "vertical arcuate "movement above and belowthe horizontal, said separatoi mem'bers 'e'aohi'c'omprising a frame and "a plurality of cross'membersextending between the 'frontnnd "back sides of the frame andbeingspacedfromone'another'a distan'ce corresponding to the distance "between the center lines of said rows, and -spring means interconne'cting "each of the separator members "and the'transverse bar to whichdtis hingedfor urging "said separator members individually to "3, position adjacent "the back frame "upon re- "moval of the last 'lunivo'f goods therefrom, 'the "construction and arrangement being such that saidcross m'embers'center' on the goods "disposed "immediatelyb'eneathsame andthereby'theseparator 'members serve to transmit the --load'o'f the goodsdisposedthereon in the-aforesaid rront tojback row arrangement to the go'o'ds "below "the same and' thenc'e tothebase.

rack "as set forth inblalm 4, =viherin-the press-membersof 'e'ac'hsep arator meniber are secured' to th'emnder s'ide 'of the frame 'thereof, whereby thelatterservesasa'retaining rim and *are-extended-"rearward1y beyond the back side "o'f'the'frame and terniina'te in hinge rings which "are connected-to -one of said transverse bars "so as "to provide for the vertical arcuate movement df=said separatormember as aioresaid.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED "STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 208,668 Childs -i -Qct. 1,187.8 717,247 .McCaskey..-- H .1Dec. 3 0,v 1902 1,114,023 -Olney l -.Oc.t. :20, 41914 4360 309 Marritts UMayIZ'Z, :1 930 .20564323 AHa-tch o Jan.-5, -1937 2,120,610 Howard n Junei4,d938 2,319,872 Leonard sMa-y .25, .4943 2,444,776 Kalning etlal. .Julyi6, L948 -.2 ,4 70,U54 .Schildmeier, May 10, 1949