SYSTEM FOR DISPLAYING PRODUCTS ON A SHELF

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The present application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S.

Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 61/060,330 filed on June 10, 2008, the entire contents of which being herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND

[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to displaying products on a shelf.

More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a system for optimizing the number of products displayable on a shelf.

[0003] Various types of product displays are commonly used in retail environments to display different types of products. As opposed to simply positioning products on shelves, product displays are commonly used to position products on a shelf in manner which automatically advances (e.g., via gravity or a pusher) a trailing or distal product (i.e., a product that is behind a lead or proximal-most product) closer to a user once the lead product has been removed from the shelf. As can be appreciated, such product displays facilitate the arrangement and upkeep of products, as the trailing products don't have to be manually moved towards the front of the shelf, for instance. [0004] Additionally, it is often desirable to maximize the amount of products a retailer can display on a single shelf. More specifically, retailers generally want as many products to fit side-by-side (or horizontally) on a shelf as possible to take full advantage of all of the shelf space (e.g., in a refrigerated display).

SUMMARY

[0005] The present disclosure relates to a product display unit for a displaying a plurality of products thereon. The product display unit comprises a bottom member, a first rib, and a second rib. The bottom member includes a product-supporting surface. The first rib projects upwardly from the product-supporting surface and extends longitudinally along the bottom member. The second rib projects upwardly from the product-supporting surface and extends longitudinally along the bottom member, such that a distance is defined between the first rib and the second rib. The distance between the first rib and the second rib is dimensioned to be less than the widest portion of a product configured to be supported by the bottom member between the first rib and the second rib.

[0006] The present disclosure also relates to a system for displaying bottles. The system comprises at least one bottom member and a plurality of ribs. The bottom member includes a product-supporting surface. Each rib of the plurality of ribs projects upwardly from the product-supporting surface and extends longitudinally along the bottom member. Two adjacent ribs define a distance therebetween. The distance between adjacent ribs is dimensioned to be less than the widest portion of a bottle configured to be supported by the bottom member between the adjacent ribs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0007] Embodiments of the present disclosure are described hereinbelow with reference to the drawings wherein:

[0008] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a system for displaying items on a shelf according to embodiments of the present disclosure illustrated with bottles thereon; [0009] Figure 2 is a side view of a portion of the system illustrated in Figure 1 ;

[00010] Figure 3 is a front view of two bottles side-by-side on a portion of the system illustrated in Figures 1 and 2;

[00011] Figure 4 is a rear view of a portion of the system illustrated in Figures 1-3;

[00012] Figure 5 is a top view of the system illustrated in Figures 1-4; and

[00013] Figure 6 is a bottom view of the system illustrated in Figures 1-5.

DESCRIPTION

[00014] Embodiments of the presently disclosed system for displaying products are described in detail with reference to the drawings wherein like numerals designate identical or corresponding elements in each of the several views. As is common in the art, the term "proximal" refers to that part or component closer to the user, e.g., customer, while the term "distal" refers to that part or component farther away from the user. [00015] In combination with the accompanying Figures 1-6, a system 100 for displaying products of the present disclosure is described herein. In the illustrated embodiments, system 100 is shown having a plurality of bottles "B" thereon. As can be appreciated, the items displayed by system 100 are not limited to bottles, as any suitable product can be used with system 100.

[00016] System 100 can be used to display/dispense bottles "B" (or other suitable objects) on a flat shelf and/or a declined shelf (or inclined). As can be appreciated, when system 100 is used on a flat (or inclined) shelf, a pusher 1 10 (e.g., spring loaded) may be

used with system 100 to help urge the bottles "B" proximally towards the user. When system 100 is used on a declined shelf (i.e., angled downward towards the user), system 100 does not necessarily include a pusher 110. In such embodiments, the bottles "B" are gravity fed proximally. Although pusher 110 is shown and described in connection with the illustrated embodiments, the present disclosure includes system 100 without a pusher. [00017] As shown in the accompanying figures, system 100 includes pusher 1 10, a bottom member 120, a top member 130, support members 140, ribs 150 and a proximal rail 160. Bottom member 120 is configured to support a plurality of products (e.g., bottles "B") thereon. Top member 130 is configured to help guide a top portion of the products (e.g., the cap/neck area of a bottle "B") in a distal-to-proximal direction. Support members 140 are engagable with bottom member 120 and top member 130, and are configured to support top member 130 above bottom member 120. [000181 As can be appreciated, support members 140 may be configured in varying heights "h," such that system 100 can display products of various heights. Additionally, support members 140 may be configured in various widths "w" (i.e., the width between adjacent ribs 150), such that system 100 can display products of various widths.

[00019] With particular reference to Figure 3, ribs 150 extend from bottom member 120 towards top member 130 and are configured to help maintain bottles "B" on bottom member 120 (i.e., to help prevent bottles "B" from moving horizontally off of bottom member 120 or towards an adjacent bottom member 120). Proximal rail 160 (see Figure 1, for example) is configured to resist the force of pusher 110 and/or gravity, thus helping prevent the products from falling proximally off of the shelf.

[00020] More particularly, ribs 150 are configured such that they project upwardly from bottom member 120 and extend longitudinally therealong. Ribs 150 project upwardly from bottom member 120 a distance that enables horizontally adjacent bottles "B" to contact (or substantially contact) one another. That is, ribs 150 are sized such that the entire rib 150, including its upper-most edge 152, is able to fit under the widest portion of the bottle "B," thus allowing the rib 150 to take advantage of the space produced by the contour of the bottle "B." More particularly, the distance (i.e., width "w") between adjacent ribs 150 is dimensioned to be less than the widest portion of the product held on the bottom member 120 between the same adjacent ribs 150. [00021] In envisioned embodiments, upper-most edge 152 of rib 150 extends between about 0.25 inches and about 1.25 inches from a product-supporting surface 122 of bottom member 120 (i.e., the height of rib). For example, it is envisioned that the height of rib 150 may be approximately equal to 0.6875 inches. It is also envisioned that system 100 can be used to display a product that does not include such a contour. In such uses, ribs 150 would contact the widest portion of the products, as opposed to being positioned beneath the widest portion.

[00022] It is envisioned that ribs 150 are integrally formed with bottom member

120 and/or are configured to mechanically engage bottom member 120 (e.g., via a snap fit connection, or other suitable means). It is also envisioned that system 100 includes interchangeable ribs 150 of various sizes, such that system 100 is usable with a variety of products. For example, it is envisioned that system 100 includes one set of ribs 150 that include a height of between about 0.25 inches and about 0.75 inches and a second set of ribs that include a height of between about 0.75 inches and about 1.25 inches.

[00023] As discussed above, top member 130 is configured to help guide a top portion of the products in a distal-to-proximal direction. More particularly, top member 130 includes a channel 132 longitudinally extending therealong. Channel 132 is defined by a pair of channel walls 134 on either side. The width "wl" of channel 132 is dimensioned to allow the neck area of a product or bottle (e.g., the cap of the bottle) to fit therein and to freely slide along the length of channel 132.

[00024] It is envisioned that a single top member 130 is used to guide a plurality of horizontally adjacently positioned products, or that a single top member 130 is used to guide a single row (e.g., "Rl," "R2," "R3," etc.) of products. In both embodiments, top member 130 is configured such that the width "w2" of top member 130 associated with a single row of products is dimensioned to be less than or equal to (i.e., not wider than) the widest portion of a product (e.g., bottle "B") configured to be supported by bottom member 120.

[00025] Thus, ribs 150 and top member 130 are configured to allow products in horizontally adjacent rows and/or columns to contact (or substantially contact) one another. Consequently, the components of system 100 do not utilize any (or essentially any) valuable horizontal shelf space (i.e., in the direction of arrow "H-H" in Figure. 3). [00026] Support members 140 may be configured and spaced as illustrated or may be arranged and sized in any other suitable manner. As shown, the proximal-most support member 140 may include a curved corner to help facilitate access to the proximal-most product.

[00027] It is also envisioned that system 100 could be configured to hold and display a plurality of rows of products. As such, system 100 may include several rows of

bottom members 120, top members 130, and ribs 150 that are either integrally connected, connectable, adjacently positionable or any combination thereof. Further, several systems 100 may be placed side-by-side on a shelf. Still further, system 100 may be configured such that another system 100 (or other suitable product display device) may be stacked on top of first system 100.

[00028] The versatility of system 100 is further appreciated in envisioned embodiments, as portions of the disclosed system 100 are usable without other portions of the system 100. For example, depending on the type of product or products a user wishes to display, a user can use bottom member 120, ribs 150 and proximal rail 160, without support members 140 and top members 130. To facilitate such a contemplated use, various components may be readily connectable (e.g., via a snap-fit connection or other suitable means) with other components. For instance, support members 140 may be connectable with top member 130, proximal rail 160 and/or bottom member 120. Additionally, it is envisioned that another type of top member 130 (e.g., a top member 130 without structure for guiding the cap/neck area of a bottle "B") may be used in combination with other components of system 100.

[00029] While several embodiments of the disclosure have been shown in the figures, it is not intended that the disclosure be limited thereto, as it is intended that the disclosure be as broad in scope as the art will allow and that the specification be read likewise. Therefore, the above description should not be construed as limiting, but merely as exemplifications of various embodiments. Those skilled in the art will envision other modifications within the scope and spirit of the claims appended hereto.