WO1992016415A1

WO1992016415A1 - Collapsible rack for grocery bags having two opposed protruding arms for the handles

Info

Publication number: WO1992016415A1
Application number: PCT/DK1992/000074
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jens Magnus David Stobbe
Original assignee: Stobbe Jens M D
Priority date: 1991-03-12
Filing date: 1992-03-10
Publication date: 1992-10-01
Also published as: DK43691D0; DK43691A

Abstract

The rack consists of four separate members that may be assembled and locked together, viz. two lateral frames (30, 50), a frame member (36) and a plate (35). The rack may thus be dispatched as a kit, resulting in a large saving in volume in relation to the weight, and be easily assembled before erection in place on the sales spot. Due to its particular design the rack has a very high solidity against external forces.

Description

COLLAPSIBLE RACK FOR GROCERY BAGS HAVING TWO OPPOSED PROTRUDING ARMS FOR THE HANDLES

The invention relates to a rack for grocery bags intended to support shopping bags of the type having two carrying handles on either side, said rack including a back intended to be placed in a vertical position and provided with two lower horizontal carry¬ ing bars for a plate and two upper horizontal bars to be tucked into holes at the top portion of the bags.

Such racks are for instance positioned at the outlet end of a belt conveyor for goods at a cash desk, e.g. in a supermarket. In connection with the payment for the purchased goods customers may take one or more plastic bag(s) for further transporting the goods.

A problem involved by the prior art racks of the above mentioned type is that the rack is prefabricated in its final voluminous form, thereby requiring a large storage capacity in the factory, even though the complete racks are stacked into each other, and the transportation from the factory likewise requires an inconveniently large capacity and correspondingly volu¬ minous packaging, e.g. cardboard, in comparison with the total weight of a group of e.g. twenty piled racks in one packaging.

Moreover, experience shows that such racks con- sisting of lengths of round bar steel welded together, on one hand, require comparatively large working opera¬ tions in production and, on the other hand, present an insufficient sturdiness in use, in particular if cus¬ tomers place heavy goods on the rack or in any other way exert stress on the rack, in particular if children play with or even climb the rack.

The invention provides for a rack which, on one hand, may be dispatched as a kit, thereby obtaining large savings in volume compared to the weight and, on the other hand, may stand substantially stronger mecha¬ nical stresses imparted by customers.

In this respect a rack of the above mentioned type is according to the invention characterized in that the rack comprises two substantially identical, U-shaped, lateral frames each consisting of an oblong metallic member, the ends of which are mechanically connected with lower supporting bars for the plate and with upper carrying bars for the shopping bags, a separate back intended to be placed in a vertical posi¬ tion and locking means for mechanically locking the back to the lateral frames while tightening the plate. As it will appear more specifically from the detailed description of a preferred embodiment, the rack according to the invention presents a series of important advantages. One advantage consists in that the rack is composed of four separate parts, viz. the two lateral frames, the back and the plate. The rack may thus be dispatched as a kit easily assembled, e.g. by a service person or by the staff in the actual supermarket. Large expenses incurred in relation to storage capacity and transportation may be saved by dispatching the racks as kits from the factory. Another advantage is to be found in that the rack structure ensures a very high sturdiness both when subjected to vertical downwards directed stress and when subjected to laterally directed stress.

The invention will now be explained in detail with reference to the schematical drawings, in which

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a rack for grocery bags of a type known per se.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a rack for grocery bags according to the invention.

Fig. 3 is a detail of the rack illustrated in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is another embodiment of one lateral frame, and

Fig. 5 another embodiment of the rack according to the invention. Fig. 1 illustrates a rack for grocery bags of a type known per se. This rack 1 consists of a substan¬ tially L-shaped frame 2 of round bar steel, the vertical member 3 of the frame being intended to be carried by a holder, not shown, e.g. at the outlet end of a conveyor belt for goods at a cash desk in a shop or a supermarket.

The horizontal part 4 of the frame 2 carries a plate 5, e.g. of plastic material. In this respect the two branches 3a, 3b of the vertical member 3 of the frame 2 have two legs 6, 7 to be tucked into corresponding holes in the plate 5, while the ends of the two horizontal side branches 4a, 4b of the frame are bent in as shown by 8 and 9, with a view to be tucked into corresponding holes in the plate 5. The two vertical side branches 3a, 3b of the frame 2 are interconnected through stiffeners 10, 11, 12 welded thereon and for instance made from rod iron.

A U-shaped holder 13 is welded on the upper end of frame 2 in such a manner that the two branches 13a, 13b of the holder extend substantially horizont¬ ally above the plate 5.

At the free end of said two horizontal branches there are mounted flexible sleeves 14a, 14b, each ter- minated by a mainly spherical head 15a, 15b e.g. of metal or plastic.

The purpose of said flexible sleeves with head 15a, 15b is to protect children who might otherwise be wounded by the unprotected ends of the branches 13a, 13b and to protect against damages to customers¹ clothes. At the top of the vertical member 3 of the rack there is mounted a stirrup 16 forming at its top a hook 16a.

A bundle of shopping bags, e.g. of plastic foil, is shown by 20. These bags are formed with an opening 21 at the upper edge of the bag and with two handles 22, 23 with which the customer can carry the bag. Holes 24 and 25 are provided in the two handles 22, 23. The bags are delivered in bundles and in the vicinity of the openings 21 of the bags a pair of glue lumps are applied. The staff of the actual super¬ market fills the shopping bag rack by tucking the hori¬ zontal branches 13a, 13b of the frame into holes 24, 25 in the bundle of bags and then by suspending the openings 21 in hook 16a.

When a customer removes a bag from the rack, viz. the outermost bag, by pulling the bag out, passing it over the sleeves 14a, 14b and the associated heads 15a, 15b, the bag gets loose from the next bag at the glue lumps, thereby opening a little the next bag which is then also ready to be removed.

It appears from the above that the prior art rack consisting of metallic bars welded together forms a spatial structure requiring much space in factory as well as in transport even though the plate is not mounted. When the rack is to be erected in place, plate 5 is mounted by tucking legs 6, 7 into holes in the rear edge of the plate, following which the two hori- zontal side branches 4a, 4b are everted a little with the view of tucking the two ends 8, 9 into their holes in plate 5.

Fig. 2 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the rack for shopping bags according to the invention. Said rack comprises two lateral frames 30, 50 consisting of a section of flat bar 31, 51, at the ends of which two pieces of round steel bar 32, 33 are welded on, 52, 53, respectively. At the free ends of the two upper bars 32, 33 of round steel bar there may also be provided protective sleeves with associated head, as illustrated on the known rack according to Fig. 1. Said protective means are, however, not shown in Fig. 2.

Pins 34, 54 to be tucked into corresponding holes in a plate 35, e.g. of plastic material, are welded on at the foremost end of the two lower rods 33, 53.

The rack according to Fig. 2 further Includes a back 36 consisting of sections of round steel bar welded together, viz. a mainly U-shaped stirrup 37 with two vertical side branches 37a, 37b and two crossbars 38, 39.

The lowermost end of the two side branches 37a, 37b are bent to form pins 40, 41 to be tucked into corresponding holes in the rear edge of plate 35. A hook 42 having the same function as the hook 16a of the known rack according to Fig. 1 is welded at the top of back 36.

Holes 43, 46 and 63, 64, respectively, are provided in the two vertical flat bar sections 31, 51. As it appears from Fig. 3 the bar 38 is bent at its end 38a and two small incisions 38b, 38c are pro¬ vided at this end. The opposite end of the bar 38 is designed in the same manner. The other bar 39 has likewise bent ends with corresponding incisions. The rack is assembled in the following manner. One end of the two bars 38, 39 at one and the same side of the back 36 is tucked axially into the corresponding holes 43, 44 in the flat bar section 31 in such a manner that the incisions at the bar ends engage the edges of the the actual holes 43, 44. Then the situation shown in Fig. 3 ensues. The extent of the bending of the ends of bars

38, 39 and the placing of the incisions at the bar ends and the size of the holes 43, 44, 63, 64 in the flat bar sections 31, 51 are dimensioned so that after the bar ends have locked in the corresponding holes 43, 44, 63, 64 the bars 32, 33 of the lateral frame extend somewhat in parallel to the bars 52, 53 of the lateral frame 50, but in such a manner that the distance between the free ends of the bars 33, 53 is a little smaller than the width of plate 35.

When the two lateral frames 30, 50 and the back 36 have so been assembled, the plate 35 is mounted by tucking the ends 40, 41 of the stirrup 37 into the corresponding holes in the rear edge of plate 35, the front edge of which may then be placed a little above or a little below the two pins 34, 54. The lower bars 33, 53 of the lateral frames are everted a little from each other in the direction shown by the arrows, against the spring action thereby provided at the bent ends of the crossbars 38, 39, cf. also Fig. 3, and the front edge of plate 35 is lowered or lifted a little so that the pins 34, 54 may be located in their holes in the plate, thereby keeping the plate stably restrained between bars 33, 53 of the lateral frames. It should be observed that the width measure of the plate 35 substantially corres¬ ponds to the distance from the one flat bar section 31 to the second flat bar section 51 when the crossbars have locked in holes 43, 44, 63, 64. Due to the fact that the distance between the free ends of bars 33, 53, as mentioned, is a little shorter than the width dimension of the plate there is an increased locking effect at pins 34, 54.

Figs 4 and 5 illustrate a slightly modified embodiment of the rack.

The two branches 37a and 37b of the stirrup 37 shown in Fig. 2 and which constitutes part of the back 36, are shortened so that they end at the lower crossbar 39, cf. Fig. 5.

A L-shaped pin 65 is welded on the lower bar 53 of the lateral frame - cf. Fig. 4. The other later- al frame of the rack is likewise provided with a corresponding tap (not shown) . The free end 65a of this pin 65 extends parallel to the bar 53 and is designed to be tucked into a corresponding hole in the rear edge of the plate 35a which for this purpose has a measure of depth (direction parallel to the bars 33, 53) that is smaller than that of the plate 35 in Fig. 2. The same design applies to the other lateral frame with an associated L-shaped pin.

At the rear edge of the plate 35a and between the lateral frames 30, 50 there has thus been pro¬ vided a free interspace 66 leaving room for the lower portion of bags 20 suspended at the top in hook 42.

The embodiment illustrated in Figs 4 and 5 thus provides for hanging short bags as well as long bags on the rack.

A hook-shaped holder 68 intended to retain the rack in its vertical position, e.g. on a board 70, is mounted at the back of the rack, e.g. welded thereon.

It appears from the above that the rack is extremely simple to manufacture since only general pressing and bending tools and welding equipments are required, but the most important advantage of the rack according to the invention is to be found in that all its components, viz. the two lateral frames, the back and the plate, constitute comparatively "flat" blanks which in an unassembled condition are easily stacked and for instance packed in a comparatively "flat" packaging.

The second important advantage of the rack according to the invention is to be found in that, owing to the use of sections of flat iron in the indicated orientation, the rack possesses a very large rigidity against possible actuations in the directions shown by the arrows A and B in Fig. 2.

It should further be observed that the lower bars 33, 53 of the lateral frames, as shown in Fig. 2, extend to the front edge of the plate 35. This entails the advantage that said bars offer mechanical protection of the foremost corners of the plate, but the ends of said bars might as well be designed in the same manner as in the prior art rack according to Fig. 1, viz. by bending the ends so as to be tucked into the plate, in which case the foremost corners of the plate may also be cut in 45°.

Claims

P A T E N T C L A I M S

1. A rack for grocery bags intended to support shopping bags (20) of the type having two carrying handles (22, 23) on either side, said rack including a back (2) intended to be placed in a vertical position and provided with two lower, horizontal carrying bars (4a, 4b) for a plate and two upper, horizontal bars to be tucked into holes (24, 25) at the top portion of the bags, characterized in that the rack comprises two substantially identical, U-shaped, lateral frames each consisting of an oblong metallic member (31, 51) the ends of which are mechanically connected with lower supporting bars (33, 53) for the plate (35) and with upper carrying bars (32, 52) for the shopping bags, a separate back (36) intended to be placed in a vertical position and locking means (38a, 38b, 38c, 43) for mechanically locking the back (36) to the lateral frames (30, 50) while tightening the plate.

2. A rack as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that each of the lateral frames (30, 50) consists of a section of flat bar (31, 51) welded on to the lower carrying bars (33, 53) and to the upper carrying bars (32, 52), that the cross-sectional long side of the section of flat bar extends parallel to said bars and that its cross-sectional short side extends transverse- ly to the direction of said bars.

3. A rack as claimed in claim 1 or 2, character¬ ized in that on the lower carrying bars (33, 53) of the lateral frames and at their free ends there are welded two pins (34, 54) extending substantially parallel to the back (36) and being intended to be be tucked into corresponding holes in the plate (35), and that substantially L-shaped pins (65) are welded on said carrying bars between their free end and the actual flat bar section, a portion (65) of said pins extending parallel to the actual carrying bar (53) and being designed to be tucked into corresponding holes at the rear edge of the plate (35a).

4. A rack as claimed in claim l, characterized in that the back (36) comprises, on one hand, vertical metallic bars (37a, 37b) having means (40, 41) at their lower end for mechanical engagement with the plate (35) and, on the other hand, horizontal metallic rods (38, 39) welded together with the vertical rods (37a, 37b).

5. A rack as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that each flat bar section

(31, 51) is provided with holes (43, 44; 63, 64) spaced apart corresponding to the distance between the hori¬ zontal bars (38, 39) of the back, and that the locking means for locking the back (36) to the lateral frames (30, 50) are constituted partly by said holes in the flat bar sections (31, 51) and partly by bent ends of the horizontal bars (38, 39) of the frame member.

6. A rack as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the bent ends of the horizontal bars (38, 39) of the back have at least one and preferably two oppo¬ site incisions (38b, 38c) for locking engagement with the edges of the actual hole (43) in the actual flat bar section (31), (Fig. 3).