The object of this invention is an additional device for a sales rack for tobacco products, which sales rack comprises one or more shelves one above another, which shelf comprises one or more compartments one beside another for tobacco products, in which compartment the tobacco products are one behind another.

The sales racks to be used in stores for tobacco products typically consist of a number of shelves one above another, each of which shelves comprises a number of product rows one beside another. One product row contains tobacco products of one type, e.g. cigarette packs of a certain brand. Behind each product row can be a spring-loaded pusher, which pushes the product row towards the front edge of the sales rack, in which case taking a product from the shelf is easy. In other words, when the frontmost product is taken from a shelf, the pusher pushes the product row forwards such that the frontmost product of the row comes in turn to the front edge of the shelf.

For tobacco products this refers in this context to all those tobacco products, such as cigarette packs, cigar packs, et cetera, that are generally sold in these types of sales shelves. Nowadays there can even be 150 different tobacco products in this type of sales rack, i.e. they are very large in size.

The laws and regulations applicable to the advertising and displaying of tobacco are constantly becoming stricter, and will continue to tightened. For example, already at present (2010) tobacco products may not be displayed at all in Norway, Ireland and Canada. A corresponding law will probably enter into force in Finland in 2012 and e.g. in England in 2013.

It is obvious that a prohibition of the display of tobacco products will cause a large problem in sales points, such as in kiosks, stores and service stations, that have invested large amounts of money in existing sales racks. It is desirable, therefore, that existing sales racks could be used in the future also. A solution, for example, is in use wherein a plastic plate measuring the whole width of a shelf is fixed to the front edge of an existing sales rack, which plate is hinged and fixed to the shelf with double-sided tape. Owing to the different heights of different tobacco products, the shelves are of different heights, in which case the shelf-to-shelf distances are also of different heights. Filling the shelves with products is difficult because the cover plate must be held with one hand and a shelf must be filled with the other hand. There is also the same problem in sales situations.

Also known in the art is a solution wherein thin plastic cover plates are moved in the manner of sliding doors in front of the shelves. The cover plates move on slide rails, which are fixed above the topmost shelf and below the lowermost shelf. This is an expensive solution and difficult to implement because, for example, in Finland the equipment pipes are of different thicknesses and the tobacco shelves are of different heights. A fitter experienced in this aspect is generally needed for the installation. If personnel perform the installation, it takes time and is difficult to do. In a sliding door system there is the same problem as in the preceding case of a hinged cover plate in a selling situation and in connection with filling the shelves.

The aforementioned solutions are mainly in use in Norway, where a law prohibiting the display of tobacco products entered into force in 2010. In Ireland, where a corresponding law entered into force at the same time, only automated tobacco vending machines are mainly in use, from which machines the vendor gives a product to a customer. These automated vending machines are disposed behind the sales counter. One possibility is to move the tobacco products into boxes below the sales counter that are out of sight of the customer, as has mainly been done in Canada. This is, however, a bad solution because generally there is not enough space below the counter for the wide product range currently on the market.

The aim of this invention is to achieve an inexpensive and easy-to-use additional device for a sales rack for tobacco products, which additional device can easily and quickly be installed into position in existing sales racks. The additional device for a sales rack according to the invention is characterized in that a cover flap is fixed in front of each compartment, to the front edge of the shelf or to near the front edge, which cover flap essentially covers the product row in the compartment from sight, and which cover flap is made to be turnable for taking a product from the compartment and for filling the compartment.

One preferred embodiment of the additional device according to the invention is characterized in that the cover flap comprises an essentially horizontal bending point, in relation to which the upper part of the cover flap is made to be turnable while the lower part stays in its position, and that the cover flap is provided with a constant-force spring, which returns the turned top part of the cover flap back into the top position when releasing one's grip on the cover flap. Another preferred embodiment of the additional device according to the invention is characterized in that the top part of the cover flap is made to be essentially 180° turnable in relation to the bottom part.

Yet another preferred embodiment of the additional device according to the invention is characterized in that the bending point is located below the vertical center point of the cover flap.

The noteworthy advantages of the additional device for a sales rack according to the invention are that it is easy to install in existing display racks regardless of how many different tobacco products are on sale on a shelf. Taking a product from a shelf, from its own compartment, and correspondingly filling the compartment are easy to perform with one hand. The cover flap can be made in a mold by injection molding, in which case it is possible to manufacture large batches quickly and inexpensively. Yet another advantage is that a cover flap only needs to be installed in those points in which it is desired. A shelf can contain, for example, half a shelf-full of tobacco products and the reminder of other products, in which case it is possible to cover the tobacco products only. In the following, the invention will be described in more detail by the aid of some preferred embodiments with reference to the attached drawings, wherein Fig. 1 presents one shelf of a sales rack according to the invention, as viewed from the top.

Fig. 2 presents one shelf of a sales rack according to the invention, as viewed from the front.

Fig. 3 presents a cover plate and a pusher according to the invention, as viewed from behind. Fig. 4 presents one embodiment of a cover plate according to the invention as viewed from behind.

Fig. 5 presents an oblique front view of one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 6 presents an oblique front view of a second embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 1 thus presents a top view of one shelf of a sales rack for tobacco products. The shelf comprises six compartments 1 one beside another, each of which contains tobacco products 2 in product rows. One compartment typically contains tobacco products of one type, e.g. cigarette packs of a certain brand. In this embodiment, behind each product row is a pusher 3, which can be a spring-loaded pusher that is per se prior art. Its purpose is to push the product row towards the edge of the shelf when the frontmost product is taken from the product row.

The compartments 1 are separated from each other with partitions 4. In Fig. 1 each compartment is of the same width, but the width can be varied according to the width of the products. Also the number of compartments 1 one beside another can be varied according to need.

A cover plate 5 is installed in front of each compartment, which cover plate is essentially the width of the compartment 1 and covers the compartment in the height direction at least up to the shelf that is above. Preferably the cover flap extends to above the front edge of the upper shelf. For this purpose the top edge of a cover flap is bent outwards (Fig. 2), so that a grip can be obtained between it and the front edge of the upper shelf with a finger. Thus the cover flap covers the whole compartment 1, but nevertheless can be opened easily.

Fig. 2 presents a situation in which there are five cover flaps, and of these the one on the right-hand side has been opened, in which case the first product 2 of the product row behind it is revealed. For opening (turning) the cover flap 5, the cover flap is composed of two parts; a lower part 5' and an upper part 5", which join at an essentially horizontal bending point 6. The upper part 5" can bend up to 180°.

Fig. 3 presents in more detail the structure of a cover flap 5 and also a pusher 3 as viewed from the rear. The partitions of the compartments have been omitted from this figure for the sake of clarity. On the front edge of the shelf is a cover strip 7, onto which the fixing part 8 of the cover flap is clicked. The lower part 5' of the cover flap is, in turn, fixed onto the fixing part, as is seen in Fig. 2. The spring 9 of the pusher 3 is also fixed to this fixing part, which spring is in the existing structure first detached from the fixing part (not presented) of the stopper. The spring tries to coil onto the roll 10 and therefore pulls the pusher 3 towards the front edge of the shelf in a manner that is per se known in the art.

A constant-force spring 11 is installed onto the rear surface of the cover flap 5, which spring extends from the upper part 5" to the lower part 5' of the cover flap. The spring is held in its position by means of detents 12. The spring is in this example fixed to the upper part 5" of the cover flap. In the bottom part the spring is movable in the longitudinal direction, which enables turning the upper part of the cover flap open. If the spring were fastened at both its ends, the cover flap could not be turned open, because the constant-force spring does not stretch but instead only bends. Owing to the spring, the cover flap closes automatically immediately the grip on it is released.

The edge parts 13 extending inwards that are formed on the side edges of the cover flap 5 are also seen in Fig. 3. These, for their part, prevent the tobacco products being visible obliquely from the side. Instead of the side edges, a cover flap could comprise only small side brackets on both edges. That is because it is advantageous to be able to form holes 14 in the cover flaps. The holes are at the same point, preferably in the top part of the cover flap, in all the cover flaps that are one beside another. The usage purpose of the holes will be explained a little later.

Fig. 4 presents an alternative method of fixing a cover flap 5 into an existing sales rack. In the figure the stopper, the likes of which is in many sales racks that are in use, is presented with the reference number 15. The product row is pushed with the pusher 3 against a stopper 15 in a manner that is per se known in the art. In this example of an embodiment a hollow space 16 is formed in the lower part 5' of the cover flap, which hollow space corresponds in its shape and size to the stopper 15. The cover flap can be installed simply by pressing it from above onto the stopper 15 such that the stopper 15 presses into the hollow space 16. Thus a tight and supportive fitting is obtained. This solution facilitates the conversion of existing formerly open sales racks for covering the products to be sold.

It is also possible to install a cover flap with two-sided tape or by gluing to an existing stopper. Also this solution is extremely easy to implement because there is no need to disassemble any existing structure.

Fig. 5 presents an embodiment in which a horizontal bar 17 has been pushed through the aforementioned holes 14. This therefore extends in this example through the holes 14 of four cover flaps 5. When one of these four cover flaps is turned, all the others also turn. This can sometimes be desirable.

Fig. 6 presents an embodiment in which horizontal bars 17 pushed through the holes 14 of the cover flaps 5 of two shelves one above the other are connected with a vertical bar 18 on the side of the shelf. By pulling the vertical bar downwards all the cover flaps, which are connected with horizontal bars 17, of those two shelf levels open. In this case a large amount of products are made visible at the same time.

It is obvious to the person skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the embodiments presented above, but that it can be varied within the scope of the claims presented below. Thus a cover flap 5 is preferably manufactured in an injection molding mold, in which case large batches can be made quickly and inexpensively. In addition, the cover flaps can be differently colored entities. If a cover flap is e.g. green, the vendor knows that behind the cover flap in question are menthol cigarettes. Furthermore, it is possible that the cover flap is made to be so wide that it can cover two or more compartments that are one beside another. Likewise it is obvious that the invention can also be used in shelves which do not comprise pushers 3.