The present invention relates to a facing arrangement which enables objects such as stock in a supermarket to be displayed effectively and clearly, and positioned as required when stock is removed by customers.

The displaying of products on support structures such as shelves in a retail outlet is important as it can have a significant effect on the sale of the product and on the appearance of the retail outlet as a whole. Stock such as bottles are removed from a shelf leaving spaces and periodically supermarkets, for example, 'face up' which is to pull stock forward to the front of the shelves and this may happen at least twice a day, firstly towards the end of the filling time which is often overnight and secondly once in the afternoon. Facing up can be difficult with deep shelves, tall fixtures and valuable stock which is vulnerable to being knocked off the shelves. If the stock is not brought to the front of the shelves, it is likely that consumers will not see the product or will, at the belief that the presentation in the retail outlet is poor, lead to a question mark over the quality of the store. Wine bottles for example are displayed on shelves as individual bottles rather than as whole cases and are not well suited to retail ready packaging where several products are placed onto a shelf in one go in a cardboard tray because wine bottles are heavy and a high value purchase that does not look attractive when displayed in cardboard. Further problems for example with wine bottles tend to be that stock at the back of the shelves splays out and the stock gets mixed up as more stock is pushed on at the front of the shelves. This makes stock counting difficult. Stock counts regularly happen in retail outlets particularly with a high value product meaning that retail outlets often have to spend a lot of time straightening products on the shelves in order to do the stock count.

In order to overcome the above-mentioned problem, various types of equipment have been proposed to help in particular but not exclusively wine bottle merchandising. Systems such as pusher systems have been designed however there are disadvantages as they work well at keeping the bottles at the front of the shelves but take approximately three times as long to fill and can irritate customers who like to browse the wine and often need to put bottles back. In this scenario the gap for putting the bottles back has disappeared. Furthermore, such arrangements are expensive and have moving parts that are susceptible to failure.

An alternative arrangement is disclosed in CA 1046014. In this disclosure, there is an arrangement comprising a number of channels for receiving products defined in a rectangular shaped receptacle. A handle which protrudes through a stop 6 including rail 12 can be pulled by a retail outlet employee which causes a roll 15 to contact a rear object in the series meaning that the objects are drawn forwards and contact the rail 12 meaning that the objects are at the front of a shelf. The roll 15 is self recoiling against a sprung element.

There are disadvantages associated with such an arrangement.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is a kit for aligning and drawing one or more objects across a support surface, the kit comprising: a container for drawing the objects across the support surface, the container defining a zone for aligning objects, the zone defined between an opposing pair of side walls and opposing pair of end walls; and

an end element arranged to be secured adjacent an edge of the support surface; and

a spacer element configured to maintain a product spaced apart from the end element, the spacer element configured to provide a zone to accommodate an end wall of the container.

There are significant advantages associated with the present invention. The spacer element ensures that the products or objects to be drawn across the surface (typically bottles) are spaced from the end element which can be termed a riser, meaning that a zone or space is provided in which the end wall of the container can be accommodated. It will be appreciated that the end wall of the container may or may not be in actual physical communication with the spacer element or the end element depending on its exact configuration. The spacer element is beneficially fixedly attached to the end element and is beneficially formed integrally therewith. This means that the end element or riser may be formed of a single continuous extrusion out of a polymeric material.

The end element beneficially has a longitudinal length and the spacer element beneficially includes a protruding member extending generally perpendicular to the longitudinal length of the end element. This protruding member has a contact edge at which the object or product on the support surface cannot extend beyond. The protruding member preferably provides a surface for accommodating the end wall of the container. The protrusion beneficially projects across the support when in use, as the end element is typically positioned at an edge of the support. The protrusion preferably defines a channel for receiving an end wall of the container. Accordingly, this channel is defined by a lip and the longitudinal length of the end element and thus once the end wall of the container or a portion of the end wall of the container is located therein, the container cannot be accidentally moved perpendicular to the longitudinal length of the end element.

The lip preferably extends substantially parallel to the longitudinal length of the end element. The lip is preferably continuous.

There is preferably further provided an arrangement for securing the end element to the support and the arrangement for securing the end to the support beneficially comprises one or more deformable ribs, which locate into a channel provided at an edge of a typical shelf that may be found in a supermarket. The outer wall that defines this channel generally has a further protrusion extending therefrom which receives indicia, which informs the customer of the product provided on the shelf. The container preferably comprises first and second opposing side walls, wherein at least one of the first or second end wall includes an end wall portion secured to a side wall, the end wall portion being received by a retaining element secured to the opposing side wall, wherein the end wall portion is moveable relative to the retaining element to enable adjustment of the span between the opposing side walls of the container.

It is beneficial to enable adjustability of the width of the container to enable facing of objects, preferably bottles, having different diameters. The container preferably comprises a receiving element at both opposing end walls. Accordingly, the span between opposing side walls of the container can be maintained in the complete longitudinal length of the container and therefore the width remains substantially constant. The side walls therefore remain parallel. The receiving element preferably includes a channel for receiving the end wall portion and enabling moveable engagement therebetween. At least one side wall is beneficially fixed relative to the receiving element. Accordingly, one of the side walls is moveable relative to the opposing side wall plus receiving element. It will be appreciated however that both side walls may be moveable relative to the receiving element.

The side walls are preferably substantially parallel and comprise end wall portions extending perpendicular to the side walls, each of the end wall portions being received by the receiving element. One end wall portion is preferably fixed relative to the receiving element. The receiving element may include a retaining member arranged to prevent release of the moveable end wall portion from the receiving element. The retaining member is preferably provided in order that a maximum span between opposing side walls cannot be exceeded.

The side wall preferably comprises a notch adjacent the intersection between the side wall and the end wall. This notch is beneficial as it enables the end wall to extend into the zone provided by the spacer element. The side wall preferably has a variable height. At least one of the side walls preferably tapers towards the intersection between the side wall and the end wall. Each end of the container preferably includes a receiver element.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is a container for drawing objects across a support surface defining a zone for aligning objects, the zone having a width defined between an opposing pair of side walls and a longitudinal length defined by an opposing pair of end walls, wherein at least one end wall has an end wall portion secured to a side wall and is received by a complementary retaining element secured to the opposing side wall, wherein the end wall portion is moveable relative to the retaining element to thereby enable adjustment of the container width. Also according to an aspect of the present invention there is an end element arranged for securing adjacent an edge of a shelf, and a spacer element configured to maintain a product spaced apart from the end element, the spacer element configured to provide a zone to accommodate an end wall of a container. It will be appreciated that indication or information for a customer may be provided on the opposing side of the end element to the zone to accommodate an end wall of the container.

The present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure la is a schematic perspective rearward view of an end element or riser according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Figure lb is a schematic rearward view of an end element or riser according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention located in a channel provided at an edge of a shelf. Figures 2a -2e are schematic side views of an end element or riser and container according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention in the stored configuration, and through the subsequent steps of "facing" products.

Figures 3a-3e are shown in the action of "facing" being performed on a line of objects on a shelf that is otherwise full.

Figures 4a-c are schematic views of an end wall of the container positioned in the stored configuration relative to the end element or riser. Figures 5a-d are schematic views of the adjustability of the end walls of the container as the width of the container decreases from wide through to narrow.

Figure 6 is a schematic perspective view of a container according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to Figure la there is a schematic perspective rear side view of a riser 1 according to an aspect of the present invention and in Figure lb there is a schematic perspective view of a rear side view of the riser located with a channel found at an edge of a shelf on which products are displayed. The profile of the edge of the shelf shows a channel 2 and a surface 4 sloping from the upper end of an edge defining an edge of the channel 2 onto which a clear plastic element 6 is provided into which information to identify the product on the shelf is located.

The riser 1 comprises an upright portion 8 and a securing portion 10 for securing into the channel 2. In the embodiment shown, the riser 1 is manufactured of an extruded polymeric material, and the securing portion 10 comprises a plurality of ribs 12 which preferably extend in the longitudinal length of the riser 1 and are elastically deformable such that they achieve a snug friction fit in the channel 2. The riser 1 further comprises a protrusion 14 extending in the exemplary embodiment shown in a direction generally perpendicular to the longitudinal length of the riser 1. The first function of the protrusion 14 is to provide a spacing element between the upright portion of the riser 1 and the forward edge 16 of the protrusion 14. Accordingly, a zone 15 is therefore provided defined by the upright portion of the riser and the forward edge of the protrusion 14 that may accommodate a part of or edge of the container (described later). The zone 15 is represented by dashed lines in Figure la. When in use as shown in Figure lb, it is clear that objects such as wine bottles stored on the shelf cannot extend beyond the forward edge 16 of the protrusion 14. This means that the bottles cannot fall from the shelf, and also means that the zone for receipt of an end edge of the container is provided. A lip 20 is also preferably provided extending upwardly and in the same longitudinal length as the riser 1 which acts to retain the end edge of the container to prevent unwanted movement of the container away from the riser 1. A channel 22 is therefore defined between the upright portion of the riser 1 and the lip 20.

Referring to Figures 2a-2e, a shelf 3 is shown and a riser 1 is provided secured in a channel 24 which may be formed as part of the shelf 3. The edge 26 of the end wall of the container 28 can be seen to sit in the channel 22 provided between the lip 20 and upright portion of the riser 1. Figure 2a shows the stowed configuration, which is the normal configuration of the container 28 relative to the shelf 3 and riser 1. When objects have been removed from the shelf 3, the shop operative grasps the forward end edge 30 of the container and moves the container to the position as shown in Figure 2b. This is an intermediate position, in which the forward end of the container 28 is raised. The bottles are then drawn across the surface of the shelf due to the application of force at the rearward end edge 32, until the point is reached at which all of the bottles are aligned and the forward bottle abuts the forward edge 16 of the protrusion 14 (Figure 2c). The container 28 is then pushed back (Figure 2d) and then replaced into the stowed configuration (Figure 2e). Figures 3a-3e show the same steps as presented in Figures 2a-2e in perspective view with a plurality of objects and containers on a shelf.

Referring to Figures 4a-c, there are shown three views of the end wall of the container 28 positioned adjacent the riser in the stored configuration. The end wall of the container 28 preferably comprises a receiving element 32 which receives the side walls 34 of the container 28. In the stored configuration, the receiving element 32 of the riser 1 sits in the channel 22 and the top of the receiving element 32 sits substantially flush with the top of the upright portion of the riser. A notch 36 is cut out from adjacent the end of the end of the side walls 34 arranged to accommodate the lip 20. Accordingly in the stored configuration the container can only move in the longitudinal direction of the riser 1, however this movement direction will not be significant due to the bottles located with the container and the number of adjacent containers maintaining each other in relative position. It will be appreciated that in use the receiving element 32 is grasped and lifted for the bottles to be drawn to the front of the shelf, then can be retracted and re-located within the channel 22.

Referring to Figures 5a-5d there is an exemplary embodiment of a container according to one aspect of the present invention which is width adjustable. This has the significant benefit that different diameter bottles can be fitted within an adjustable container utilising minimum shelf space and also ensuring the bottles are aligned. The container comprises side walls 34 and end walls including a receiving element 32. The first side wall 34a is integrally formed with a portion 38 that extends substantially perpendicular to the side wall 34a. This portion 38 is fixedly secured to the receiving element 32 via a retaining catch 40. The opposing second side wall 34b also has a respective portion 42 which is integrally and fixedly formed with the second side portion 34b. However, this second side portion 42 moves relative to the receiving element 32. Figure 5a shows the second side portion 42 in its maximum extended configuration providing the maximum width of the container. In this configuration release of the second side portion 42 from the retaining element is prevented via a retaining catch 44 which seats within a corresponding aperture 44a in order to prevent accidental release. Figures 5b-5d show the width of the container decreasing as the second side portion is further received by the receiving element 32.

Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the relative width of the container can be changed to accommodate different diameter bottles as required. A friction engagement between the second side portion 42 and the retaining element 32 is achieved, and the second side portion 42 runs along a channel provided in the retaining element 32, in a direction parallel to the longitudinal length of the first side portion 38. Referring to Figure 6 there is a schematic perspective view of a container according to an exemplary embodiment of an aspect of the present invention which is adjustable in width. The container 28 is symmetrical meaning that a receiving element 32 is provided at each end. Each of the side walls has at one end a first side portion 38 and at the opposing end a second side portion 42. This means that the container can be used with either end at the front or rear of the shelf, and can be turned upside down without compromising use of the container.

The side walls 34a and 34b have a profile where the depth or height decreases towards their ends or intersection with the first side portion 38 or second side portion 42. The depth or height of the side walls is reduced, meaning that when the container sits on the shelf surface a portion of the side walls 34a, 34b does not contact the shelf surface. This is important as it means that when the receiving element 32 is lifted and withdrawn to face the bottles, it is the receiving element 32 not the side walls 34a, 34b that contacts the surface of the shelf.

The present invention has been described by way of example only and it will be appreciated by a skilled addressee that modifications and variations may be made without departing from the scope of protection afforded by the appended claims.