"Communication device for displaying shelves of products on sale"

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Field of the invention

The present invention generally refers to business activities, such as supermarkets or the like, provided with racks with shelves for displaying products on sale, for example food products packaged in jars and containers in general, or loose.

State of the prior art

Within the operation of such business activities, advertisement and promotional campaigns tending to draw the public attention of the customers towards the product, with the aim of increasing sales are usually activated. This implies providing communication systems, particularly but not exclusively visual, at the shelves of the racks on which the products subject of the campaigns are displayed. Such systems may typically consist in panels or the like made of cardboard or plastic material simply placed on the shelves of the racks before the displayed products or, more conveniently, adhesives for example in form of labels applied on the front edges of the shelves.

The panels placed on the shelves are subject to being inadvertently removed from the racks when the consumers pick up the products, hence obviously jeopardizing the function thereof. Adhesive labels avoid such drawbacks, but they require relatively long operations for application thereof and above all for removal at the end of the promotion campaign. Particularly keen and active producers periodically vary the campaigns so as to constantly keep the attention of the consumer alive hence further accentuating the problem related to the removal of the adhesives at the end of the campaign and replacement thereof with the new adhesives bearing the information regarding the subsequent campaign.

Summary of the invention

The object of the present invention is that of overcoming the previously described drawbacks and providing a communication device for racks for displaying products on sale which, though preventing the risk of inadvertent removal, can be modified in a simple and quick manner so as to vary the information intended for the consumers.

This object is attained due to the fact that the device according to the invention is characterised in that it consists in a linear body having a plate-like base for stable but removable support and adhesion on a shelf of the rack and a front projecting element intended to be positioned above the front side of the shelf and along whose extension there are applied mutually superimposable and individually peelable adhesive strips, each of which bears respective promotional, advertisement visual information and the like.

This idea solution allows - on one hand - guaranteeing that the information intended for the consumers is kept stably unaltered over the entire duration of a given campaign to which such information refers and ensures - on the other hand - the possibility of modifying the information according to the subsequent campaigns. Actually, given that such campaigns are usually programmed in succession long in advance, the relative information may be applied to the underlying adhesive strips which shall then be displayed from time to time each after simply peeling off the immediately overlying one.

Brief description of the drawings

The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings, provided purely by way of non-limiting example, wherein:

figure 1 is a schematic perspective view representing a rack with shelves provided with communication devices according to a preferred embodiment of the invention,

- figure 2 is a view analogous to figure 1 showing the methods of application of the devices according to the invention to the shelves of the rack,

- figure 3 is an enlarged scale perspective view of one of the devices of figures 1 and 2,

- figure 4 is a partly exploded view of figure 3,

- figure 5 is a perspective view exemplifying the methods of subsequent modifications of the device, and - figure 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view according to line VI-VI of figure 3.

Detailed description of the invention

With reference to the drawings, S is used to schematically indicate a rack for supermarkets and the like, provided with shelves R for displaying packaged products P on sale, such as for example beverage containers or spreadable confectionery paste jars.

On each shelf R of the rack S there is applied a respective communication device according to the invention, generally indicated with reference number 1.

As illustrated in detail in figures 3 and 6 the communication device consists in a linear body 1 formed by a flexible plate 2, usually a relatively thin sheet made of plastic, having a length substantially corresponding to the width of the shelf R and a width equivalent to at least one substantial portion of the depth of the shelf R. The upper face 2a of the plate 2 may have decorations, for example made up of representations indicating the product displayed on the shelf, while the lower face 2b thereof is coated with a thin layer of polyurethane adapted to confer permanent but easily removable adhesion capacities, without entailing the use of an actual adhesive or glue. Before using the device, a peelable protection film 3 is applied on the face 2a of the plate 2.

A front projection 4, constituted for example by an element made of plastic material, for example a prismatic longitudinal shape with triangular section (like in the case of the illustrated example) or quadrangular-shaped or any other geometric shape, fixed to the plate 2 for example by gluing, extends along the front side of the plate 2.

As illustrated in figure 2, when applying each linear body 1 the protection film 3 is removed and the plate 2 is positioned and adhered, in a stable but removable manner, with the face 2a thereof on the respective shelf R, so as to define a base on which the relative products shall then be placed, as represented in figure 1. The front projection 4 is positioned so as to extend along the front edge of the shelf R, immediately protruding thereabove.

The flat wall of the projecting element 4 facing the side opposite to the plate 2, indicated with 4a, has a relatively low height but sufficient to allow application along the extension thereof of a plurality of mutually superimposed adhesive strips 5 each of which bears - at the front part - respective promotional and/or advertisement information, usually different .

As better observable in figure 4 the strips 5, for example made of plasticised paper or analogous material, can have parts projecting upwards and joined to each other in a non-permanent manner through a low tenacity adhesive applied on the back face of each of them, at contact with a partly anti-adhesive front face of the underlying strip. Thus, the progressively outermost strip 4, i.e. the one exposed to view, can be individually peeled off and removed from the others, which can thus in turn be exposed to view. Such operation, exemplified in figure 5, may be performed in a simple and immediate manner whenever required, i.e. upon variation of the promotion or advertisement campaign of the products exposed for sale on the shelves R to which the devices according to the invention are associated.

Also as better observable in figures 4 and 5, with the aim of facilitating the peeling off operation, the strips 5 have respective non-adhesive end gripping parts 6, conveniently arranged alternating at one end and at the opposite end.

Besides the visual information displayed by the strips 5, the device according to the invention can also be provided to produce light and/sound information or signals. For such purpose and as illustrated in detail in figure 6 the projecting element 4, which can be entirely or partly tubular i.e. hollow, allows housing possible light sources 7 or sound sources of the conventional type (not illustrated) for example of the electronic type, with the respective electrical power supply batteries and possible actuation sensors. The front wall 4a of the projecting element 4 will be formed - in such case - with openings for the emission of light and/or sounds generated by such sources.

Obviously, the construction details may widely vary with respect to what has been described and illustrated, without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention, as defined by the claims that follow.