US2891679A - Merchandise display shelf - Google Patents

Description

June 23, 1959 E F MAUPHQ 2,891,679

MERCHANDISE DISPLAY SHELF Filed June 17, 1955 Fig. 4

IN VEN TOR. w @162- W in" the store or other place of business.

MERCHANDISE DISPLAYISHELF' Elwood F. Maupin, Edgerton, 'Wyo.

iipplication Juue' 17, 1955, Serial No. 516,290

2 Claims. '(Cl; 211-434) The present invention relates to. simple, economical and practical means which is suitably and effectually designed tobe used in conjunction with store and equivalent shelves and which may be conveniently, yet accurately, construed as a sales promoting auxiliary'shelf.

There.has.long existed a need, it-is believed, for readily applicable and removable extra or auxiliary shelves, such that they may be optionally and selectively brought into play to function as a so-called eye catcher while utilizing aminimum of available space, much to the mutual advantage of all concerned.

It has doubtless occurred to others than the applicant that certain commodities and articles ofmerchandise are slow to move off the main shelves and that it is therefore necessary to not only advertise thesame in newspapers and elsewhere, but also to give prominent display thereto The instant invention-has to do with one or more extra or auxiliary shelves for this purpose, said shelves being handily and effectually usable in any and all departments, whether they be groceries, notions, dry goods, shoes, cosmetics, etc.

For instance, in a shoe store where the shoes to be sold are often hidden from view, the employment of the invention herein disclosed will bring about enlivened sales while at the same time, affecting salaries of clerks and salesmen, this because the invention is self-performing in isolating and directing attention to a particular style of shoe which is currently being pushed for seasonal or other sales requirements.

In carrying out the principles of the invention, a highly simple and practicable shelf has been evolved and produced. Keeping in mind the general scope of the concept, a flat circular shelf is utilized. This is suitably designed and provided with a novel arrangement of slots and fastenings whereby said shelf may be projected to extend beyond the lengthwise edge of the main shelf, or retracted and folded to an out-of-the-way position when not in use.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying sheet of illustrative drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a main shelf and the auxiliary shelf showing the construction and arrangement and use thereof;

Figure 2 is likewise a perspective view observing what may be called the underneath or bottom side of the auxiliary shelf;

Figure 3 is a section taken approximately on the plane of the line 33 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view showing the shelf retracted half-way and indicating how it may be further retracted or adjusted.

By way of introduction to the description of the details and to briefly summarize, the over-all combination is char- United States Patent denoted'by; the numeral 8 is treated in the singular. is evidentdhatany number of .main andauxiliaryshelves are-involved within the over-all'purview of the inventive bottom and top surfaces.

-acterized as embodying a fixedmain shelf for storage, display andsaleof vendible commodities and equivalent merchandise, andarelatively small auxiliary companion shelf .operatively mounted on-saidmain shelf and adapted to project outwardly and beyond the front lengthwise edge of said main shelf and expressly designed to isolate and otherwise prominently display a predetermined artic'le of merchandise, which ison'sale or is being otherwise significantly advertised, whereby to thus attract a prospectivepurchasers.eye thereto and promote thesale thereof.

Referring now tothe drawings withreference numerals 'and'accompanying lead lines, the aforementioned main shelf (see Figure 3- in particular is. denoted by the numeral 6. This represents any so-called storage shelf which may be around on a wall in a store, or in a partitioned cabinet in shelflservice stores, one of a tier of shelves-in a bookstore, etc. The expression mainshelf is employed in the singular to simplify thepresentation here. Likewise, the auxiliary shelf which is generally It concept. As before stated, the auxiliary shelf is preferably, of-circular'or-discoidal form, and it is of appropriate size,ddependingupon the particular merchandising store in which it is used. It is preferably provided with flat The outer marginal edge is denoted at 10.. Projecting radially from a suitable point .at-this =edge,,there is an extension which-may beconveniently-referred to as an attaching and adjusting arm 12. At 'its-free end 14, it is provided with a setscrew 16 which zisengageable with-thebottoml8 of theimain shelf by way of a swivelled binding head 20. The shelf is provided with what may be broadly treated as a cruciform slot construction, and this is referred to generally by the numeral 22. It comprises several components or branches, for example, a main lengthwise branch 24 which extends to the center of the plate and also extends centrally and lengthwise of the arm and terminates as at 26, spaced inwardly from the end 14 of said arm. In line with this, there is a similar complemental slot 28 which terminates inwardly of the marginal edge of the plate. There are two diametrically opposite similar lateral slots 30 and 32. The numerals 24, 26 and 28 may be said to define a main lengthwise slot crossed by a com plemental slot which embodies the two lateral branches 30 and 32. Broadly, however, this is all treated as a cruciform slot construction, and this serves to accommodate the fixed attaching bolt 34, as best shown in Figure 3. The headed end 36 is fixed in the shelf and the shank extends below the bottom of the shelf where it is provided with a thumb nut 38. The nut and shank provide attaching and adjusting means for the over-all shelf, and this means cooperates with the setscrew in the obvious manner depicted in the drawings. The main shelf is shown with a marginal edging strip 40 the lower edge 42 of which provides a sort of a rest for the extensible and retractable auxiliary shelf. Hence, this shelf may be projected and used in the obvious manner depicted in Figures 1 and 2, completely retracted and folded away or moved in the direction of the arrows A and B in Figure 1, or C and D in Figure 4.

The circular shape of this shelf conforms so well to the round shaped cans making displays neat and uniform. Price tags of any style suitable to the type of merchandise displayed can be easily adjusted by means of Scotch tape on merchandise or at the base of the display. Another advantage of this invention is the fact that it can be slid under shelves out of sight when not in use and pulled out for use in a matter of, a few seconds, thus eliminating time and effort wasted in storing and assembling each time.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

l. In combination, a fixed main shelf for storage, display and sale of vendible commodities and equivalent merchandise, and in combination therewith an optionally usable relatively small auxiliary special purpose shelf adapted to be operatively mounted on and beneath said main shelf and also adapted to extend outwardly and beyond a cooperating lengthwise edge of the main shelf, said auxiliary shelf being substantially circular in plan, projectible, retractable and otherwise adaptable to the uses for which it is expressly designed, said auxiliary shelf having a flat body portion and provided on one marginal edge with a projecting arm, said auxiliary shelf and arm being in one piece and coplanar and having a straight bolt accommodating slot, said slot extending from adjacent one end portion of said arm and continuing substantially entirely and uninterruptedly and centrally across said body portion and terminating adjacent a marginal edge portion of said body portion, said arm being provided at the end remote from said body portion with a setscrew, said setscrew extending through said arm at right angles to the plane of the arm and having a swivellecl head abutting the underneath side of the main shelf and being accessible for ready manipulation and adjustment, said slot accommodating a supporting and retaining bolt carried by and depending below the shelf and extending through the slot and provided on the bottom thereof with an accessible nut.

2. An optionally usable disappearing auxiliary shelf adapted to be used on and in conjunction with a main shelf, and having a body portion substantially circular in plan, fiat and provided on one marginal side with a reduced radially projecting arrn, said shelf and arm being of one-piece construction and coplanar with each other and having a linearally straight bolt accommodating slot extending from adjacent one end portion of the arm and continuing substantially entirely-and uninterruptedly and centrally across said body portion and terminating adjacent a marginal edge portion of the shelf, an attaching and supporting bolt adapted to be connected with said main shelf and having a threaded shank adapted to extend through said slot and provided on its lower end with a nut and whereby said shelf may be suspended from underneath side of the main shelf, and a setscrew mounted on and carried by a free end portion of said arm, said setscrew extending through said arm in a position at right angles to the lengthwise axis of the arm and having an end portion adapted to contact the bottom of the main shelf for levelling said auxiliary shelf.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 99,857 Daggett Feb. 14, 1870 409,887 Walker Aug. 27, 1889 771,965 Bagley Oct. 11, 1904 895,833 Aungst Aug. 11, 1908 960,483 Becker June 7, 1910 1,494,212 Bromley May 13, 1924 1,630,925 Clover May 31, 1927 1,991,216 Hyams Feb. 12, 1935 2,668,744 Cockrell Feb. 9, 1954 2,689,050 Albin Sept. 14, 1954 2,723,097 Tyler Nov. 8, 1955

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