"TELESCOPIC DISPLAY TRAY FOR SHELVES OR THE LIKE"

DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a telescopic display tray for goods in exhibitors, and more specifically to a telescopic display tray of the kind having a guide shape for the containing of goods onto a shelf, display or exhibitors State of the Art

As it is already known, usually at selling points there are provided exhibitors or display shelves for the display of goods or the like These displays typically provide horizontal shelves for showing the goods to be displayed for the selling thereof On these shelves, and in order to have the goods divided according to the type, classification, and price category, there are typically provided supporting and guiding means for the stacking and/or alignment of the goods therein contained, and for allowing the subdivision of the shelves in cataloged areas depending on the type of the displayed goods as indicated More specifically, these guides supporting means are shaped as a track or tray which includes a flat elongated central region where the goods rest and bounded at its sides by a pair of vertical side walls having the function of preventing the goods from arrangements out of alignment as well as providing a vertical support to the goods

According to a first type of supporting tray as mentioned above, there is provided a structure consisting of a single member, generally made of plastic and to be placed on the shelf or display The member has two vertical sides which are integral to the horizontal part The distance between the two vertical sides (ι e the width of the supporting member) is predetermined depending on the type of product to be placed therein, so that each type/width of the supporting tray corresponds to a type or to a family of products to be displayed

These types of supporting members or trays although being very practical they show limiting features since every time there is a need of changing the product to be exhibited the type of supporting tray must be changed as well, since sizes of the latter are related to the sizes of the goods to be displayed This leads to the disadvantage of having an extensive warehouse with different sizes and types of supporting tray members

Moreover, there is another disadvantage in the fact that if a product to be displayed shows sizes smaller than the span between the side walls of the tray member, the latter will not provide enough side support to the product as well as the necessary stacking stability for the product, since the distance between the vertical side walls of the tray will be greater than the overall size of the product This leads to a rearrangement of the shelf with specific supporting trays each time the product to be

displayed is changed, thereby increasing the costs for storing different kinds and sizes of trays as well as the increase of time for further rearrange the shelf.

Therefore, in this field there is the need to provide a supporting tray or display for the displaying of goods on exhibitors or shelves that solves the abovementioned drawbacks.

Brief description of the invention

The present invention aims to solve these problems by providing a telescopic device for supporting goods onto exhibitors or shelves, which device provides the possibility of to be adapted to any size or shapes of goods to be displayed therein. Thus, the present invention provides a telescopic device for the supporting of goods onto exhibitors substantially according to claim 1.

According to a first advantageous aspect of the present invention there is provided that the supporting telescopic tray can show different arrangements wherein the length/width between vertical side walls can be varied, and for the housing of multiple different sizes of products or merchandise to be exhibited within the same.

According to a second advantageous aspect of the supporting telescopic tray of the present invention the same shows the possibility of varying the arrangement thereof according to its planar direction. This guarantees a good support in the vertical direction for the contained goods. According to a third advantageous aspect of the supporting telescopic tray of the present invention, being the same modifiable according to different types/sizes of products or merchandise to be displayed therein, for the seller user there is a significant reduction in the quantity or units to be stocked as warehouse, thereby reducing significantly costs related to the supply of such supporting systems/devices. According to a fourth advantageous aspect of the supporting telescopic tray of the present invention is that, being the tray easily modified in order to fit the different types of goods, this causes a significant reduction of the time needed for the preparation of the display shelves by the operator.

According to a fifth advantageous aspect of the supporting telescopic tray of the present invention the same shows a high reversibility, since when a product to be displayed shows different or especially lower sizes than the preceding showed product, to the user/operator is given the sole task of reducing the overall sizes of the telescopic supporting device in order to provide lateral support necessary to ensure the stacking or alignment stability for the goods, by not entailing the need of a re-implementing of dedicated different supporting trays onto the shelf.

Detailed description of the invention.

It will be now given a detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the

telescopic tray of the present invention, given by way of example but not limited to, and with reference to the annexed drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shelf showing a plurality of supporting trays according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a detailed schematic view of the shelf of Figure 1 , wherein a plurality of commercial products are displayed in a row and contained in a respective plurality of supporting trays of the present invention;

Figure 3 is a perspective view from one side of the supporting tray according to the present invention; Figure 4 is a perspective view showing a detailed part of the supporting tray according to the present invention;

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the supporting tray of the present invention in a first retracted condition;

Figure 6 is a perspective view showing the supporting tray of Figure 5 in a second fully extended condition;

Figure 7 is a partially sectional perspective view showing a detailed part of the supporting tray according to the present invention; and

Figure 8 is a partially sectional perspective view showing another detailed part of the supporting tray of the present invention. Referring now to Figure 1 , there is shown a plurality of supporting trays 1 positioned onto a shelf 2 and according to the present invention.

According to the invention, each supporting tray 1 may be arranged in a removable manner and fixed one to each other, so as to create a series of partitions onto the shelf 2, thereby creating horizontal alignment of the goods or merchandise to be displayed. More specifically, each supporting tray 1 has a pair of vertical side walls 3 which constitute the partitions onto the shelf 2 when the plurality of supporting trays 1 are disposed in a side-by-side arrangement, as shown in Figure 1.

Referring now to Figure 2, there is shown therein the shelf 2 of Figure 1 in a operating condition, wherein a number of commercial products are displayed and aligned in the respective supporting trays 1. As it may be seen in the picture, in addition to the partition provided by each supporting tray 1 , the latter provides supporting means 4 for a label or a shelf talker identifying the product therein (better illustrated hereinafter),

With reference now to Figures 3 and 4, there is shown in more detail the supporting tray 1 of the present invention. More specifically, the supporting tray 1 has a first horizontal central region 10 consisting of a first longitudinal member 1 1 and a second complementary longitudinal member 12. Each longitudinal member 11 and 12

comprises a vertical wall 3 defining the partition 2 on the shelf when the supporting tray 1 is placed thereon

Furthermore, each longitudinal member 11 and 12 respectively includes a plurality of elongated flat members 13 and 14 which are integrally obtained from the related longitudinal member The plurality of elongated flat members 13 and 14 are respectively arranged as a "comb" and have a substantially rectangular shape

As will be described below, the arrangement is such that the first plurality of elongated flat members 13 and the second plurality of elongated flat members 14 are formed to mutually and slidingly interconnect one to each In this way, by mutually sliding horizontally each flat member 13 and 14 one respect to the other, it is possible to vary the distance between the side walls 3 and consequently to vary the space defined by central region 10

The varying of the distance or width defined between the vertical walls 3 allows the create a variable slot for the housing of a specific product to be displayed onto the shelf 2, while maintaining the original length of the supporting tray 1

Further, as it can be seen in Figures 3 and 4, the supporting member 4 for the supporting of labels it is also made up of two members, namely a first flat member 40 and a second flat member 41 complementary to the first member 40 The first flat member 40 and the second flat member 41 are reciprocally connected in a sliding or telescoping manner, and both members 40 and 41 are mounted each in a blocked but removable manner on a respective elongated member 1 1 and 12, the locking being obtained by means of a locking joint 42 In this manner, by varying the distance or the width defined between the walls 3 it is automatically varied the overall length/width of the label supporting member 4 It has to be specified here that, advantageously and according to an alternative embodiment of the present supporting tray 1 it may be provided a set of supporting members 4 having each a preset and not telescopic length and for the supporting of respective labels having preset sizes In this case, each supporting tray 1 will have a preset width given by the preset size of the label support 4 to which is associated, and which corresponds to the type/name of the product identified by the type/width of the respective label

With reference now to Figures 5 and 6 there is shown the telescopic supporting tray 1 of the present invention in two different operating conditions More specifically, in Figure 5 it is shown the supporting tray 1 in a condition not extended, whereas in Figure 6 it is shown the supporting tray 1 in the fully extended condition It has to be noted that the associated label support member 4 always "follows" the telescopic displacement of the supporting tray 1

Referring now to Figure 7, there is shown in greater detail the mutual interconnection of the flat members 13 and 14. As it may be seen in the picture, the first plurality of elongated flat members 13 and the second plurality of elongated flat members 14 are shaped in order to slidingly interconnect one into each other but always contained in the same plane, the arrangement being such that it is provided always a single flat supporting surface for the goods and according to each configuration. With this aim, each flat elongated member 13 and 14 has a first horizontal sliding surface 130 and 140 to provide sliding support in the horizontal direction, and a second vertical sliding surface 131 and 141 to provide sliding support in the vertical direction.

As it is evident in the figure, upon sliding engagement of the respective adjacent elongated members 13 and 14, the horizontal surfaces 130 and 140 and the vertical surfaces 131 and 141 are in mutual sliding interconnection. This arrangement will ensure a coplanar sliding engagement. Referring now to Figure 8, it is shown therein a locking mechanism of the movement of the elongated flat members 13 and 14. More precisely, as a means of locking is provided at least one pair of protruding members 142 made integral to a corresponding pair of elongated members 14 and adapted to mutually engage with interference with a complementary locking region 132 obtained in a respective elongated member 13.