US3334952A - Merchandising case - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 8, 1967 v F. v. BRACH MERCHANDISING CASE Filed March 1, 1965 INVENTOR.

BY J ,fd/bk M United States Patent 3,334,952 MERCHANDISING CASE Frank V. 'Brach, Glenview, Ill., assignor to E. J. Brach & Sons, Chicago, 11]., a corporation of Illinois Filed Mar. 1, 1965, Ser. No. 435,916 1 Claim. (Cl. 312-224) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A merchandising case for simultaneously displaying in bulk and in segregated fashion a variety of types of candy or other articles, comprising two shelves divided into bins the front portion of the uppermost bins overlying a significant part of the rearward portion of the lower or first row of bins creating an illusion of substantial bin depth and massive bulk display of material disposed therein, and to impart to the top row of bins and merchandise displayed therein an impression or illusion of great magnitude correlated to that of the lower pins by means of a reflected image of the contents of the upper row of bins only.

The present invention relates to merchandise display cases and the like, and particularly, to an improved case for self-service merchandising of small articles sold in bulk, such as individually wrapped pieces of candy sold by the pound.

The object of the present invention is to provide a case for simultaneously displaying in bulk and in segregated fashion a variety of types of candy or other articles, to facilitate selection of the candy by the customer, to dispose the candy for convenient access by the customer to facilitate self-service directly from the bulk display, to provide an appearance of a mass display greater than actually provided, to maintain an appearance that the display is always fully stocked, and otherwise to enhance the display of the candy and encourage the customer to help himself.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved self service merchandising case comprising a boxlike base providing an enclosed space for storage of an extra supply or reserve inventory of the articles to be sold and providing a support of convenient height for open display of the articles, a first row of open top article receiving bins on top of the base each extending from adjacent the rear to the front of the base in parallel abutting relation to one another, the bins defining separate compartments for reception of segregated supplies of respective articles, a second row of open top article receiving bins overlying the rearward portions of the first row of bins and extending from adjacent the rear to adjacent the mid-portion of the base in parallel abutting relation to one another and adapted for reception of segregated supplies of further respective articles, the overlap of the upper bins over the lower bins creating an impression of a massive display of the articles in the lower bins, and a reflective sheet extending upwardly and forwardly from the upper rearward margin of the upper row of bins for reflecting toward the front of the case a second image of the contents of the upper row of bins whereby to create an impression of a massive supply of the articles in said upper rows; said bins all facing forwardly and opening upwardly at approximately waist height to facilitate and encourage self-selection of the articles.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the following detailed description.

Now, in order to acquaint those skilled in the art with the manner of making and using my improved merchandising case, I shall describe, in connection with the accompanying drawing, a preferred embodiment of the case and the preferred manner of making and using the same.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of my improved display case;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation thereof; and

FIGURE 4 is a vertical cross-section on an enlarged scale taken substantially on line 44 of FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawing, my merchandising case is preferably comprised of a base 10 of approximately waist height including side, rear and front wall means enclosing a space 12 for storage of a reserve inventory of the merchandise to be sold, e.g., bulk boxes of a variety of individually wrapped pieces of candy. Preferably, the base includes an elevated bottom 14 to store the inventory offthe-floor and to facilitate movement of the case and the inventory as a unit when relocating the case during rearrangement of a store.

The front wall is preferably comprised of one or more doors facilitating access to the stored inventory. In the illustrated embodiment, I provide three slidable doors 16a, 16b and 160. Suitably, the base includes a pair of parallel guide channels 18 at the front thereof for slidable reception of the doors, the two outboard doors 16a and being slidably positioned in the inner channel and the center door 1612 being slidably positioned in the outer channel. Each door is provided with a recess or hole therein to facilitate grasping and sliding thereof without interfering with customers (as would protruding knobs).

Mounted on top of the base are a plurality of open top bins 20 extending from the front top edge of the base 10 rearwardly to a point beyond the middle of the base. These bins may be formed individually or as an integral assembly, as desired, and are each comprised of a flat bottom wall, upstanding side and rear walls and inwardly facing vertical channel portions at the front edges of the side walls adapted for removable reception of a transparent front wall 21 such as glass. The bins are all disposed in parallel abutting relation to one another thereby to provide contiguous but separated bins for reception of respective articles, that is, respective kinds of candy. One or more of the bins can be provided with a transverse member or divider 22 endwise slidably received between members 2323. These serve several functions, such as permitting two different items to be separately disposed in one bin or aiding in maintaining distribution in the bin of a single class of materials.

Mounted above and in overlying relation to the first row of bins is a second row of bins 30. The bins 30 are preferably identical in structure to the bins 20 and repetition of the above described bin construction is thus unnecessary. The bins 30 are of the same or different width as the bins 20, each 'bin extending from the vertical plane of the rearward margin of the base 10 forwardly to a point adjacent the middle of the base whereby the front portions of the bins 30 overlie a significant part of the rearward portions of the lower or first row of bins 20. The net effect is that the rearward part of the lower bins are so covered as to shield from view the rear walls of the lower bins and thereby create an illusion of substantial bin depth and a massive bulk display of candy therein.

To impart to the top row of bins and the candy displayed therein an impression or illusion of great magnitude correlated to that of the lower row of bins, a second image of the contents of the upper row of bins is projected to frontal view by a reflective sheet 40 extending upwardly and forwardly from the upper rearward edge of the bins 30. The sheet 40, which may be any polished or plated metal, preferably is part of a triangular beam, as shown in FIGURE 4, whereby the same is rigidly maintained in selected position. The reflective sheet per se is of a length equal to that of the rows of bins 20 and 30 and is of such height and disposed at such inclination that the same affords a reflection to the average viewer of at least a substantial part of the bins in the upper row, but no part of the bins in the lower row, whereby the illusion created relative to the upper row of bins is correlated or mated with the illusion created relative to the lower row of bins.

For aesthetic purposes, the sides of the case are finished with generally triangular surfacing sheets 32, the upper inclined edges of which intersect the upper front edges of the bins 20 and 30.

To enhance the merchandising capabilities, pockets 41 are formed in the upper wall of the triangular beam which forms and supports the reflective sheet; said pockets being adapted for reception of a supply of'bags 42 which are exposed to view, whereby the customer is encouraged to help himself and make his own initial selection of candies to his own whims and desires. Similarly formed pockets 43 may be inserted in either row of bins, for example adjacent or on the side walls 32 illustrated particularly in FIGURES 2 and 3, to afford an added supply of the self-service bags 42'.

The display is completed by an overhead illuminated sign 50 which serves the dual functions of affording a forwardly facing, back illuminated sign board 51 for advertising copy and means for illuminating the open top bins and the candy therein. The sign preferably is of triangular form in cross-section, of a length not quite as great as the rows of bins, and supported by a pair of tubular posts 52 directly above the forward portions of the upper row of bins for illumination of all of the bins. The posts 52 are secured to the rear wall of the base and help sustain the upper row of bins 30 and the reflector beam 40. At their upper ends, the posts are bent or curved inwardly, forwardly and upwardly thereby to support the sign in the desired position.

The sign 50 preferably houses a plurality of parallel fluorescent tubes (not shown), the power supply cord for which may extend through one of the posts 52 so as to be hidden from view and not detract from the display. The fluorescent light tubes may be of one or more selected colors to enhance the display. In particular, I prefer to include at least a red fluorescent tube, and possibly a yellow fluorescent tube as well, as these colors especially enhance the coloring and appetizing appeal of candy.

The total effect is an extremely appealing massive exhibition of a wide variety of candies each displayed in substantial quantity and appearing to be supplied in even larger bulk quantity, the articles all being displayed at a convenient height and being readily accessible whereby to encourage self-service by the customer; yet the total area occupied by the case is small (no greater than conventional) particularly considering the amount of reserve inventory that can be stored in the base, the quantity of articles actually displayed for self-selection by customers and the illusion of tremendous quantities of the respective kinds of candy. Thus, the objects and advantages of the invention have been shown herein to be attained in the convenient, economical and practical manner.

While I have shown and described what I regard to be the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be appreciated that various changes, rearrangements and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention, as defined by the appended claim.

I claim:

A merchandising case for small articles sold in bulk, such as individually wrapped pieces of candy, comprising a box-like base of approximately waist height having vertical walls providing an enclosed space therein for storage of merchandise, doors in said base accommodating access to said space, a first row of open top article receiving bins supported on the top of said base, said bins extending from adjacent the rear to the front of said base in parallel abutting relation to one another, a second row of open top article receiving bins overlying the rearward portions of said first row of bins and extending from adjacent the rear to adjacent the mid-portion of said base in parallel abutting relation to one another and in parallel relation to the bins of said first row, and a reflective sheet extending upwardly and forwardly at an inclination to vertical from the upper rearward margin of said second row of bins, the inclination and height of said reflective sheet relative to said second row of bins being adequate to reflect toward the front of the case a second image of the contents of said second row of bins but no part of the bins in the lower row.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,704,365 3/1929 McCauley 312-280 X 1,719,966 7/1929 Burns 312280 X 2,129,396 9/1938 Archer 3 l2234 2,320,556 6/1943 Belshaw 312224 2,499,089 2/1950 Brill -2 62-251 2,594,066 4/1952 Pabst 62-252 2,762,672 9/1956 Motter 312140.3

CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Primary Examiner.

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