DISPLAY TROUGH FOR GOODS

This invention relates to a. display trough for goods. More particularly, it concerns a display trough for goods, the display trough comprising a bottom portion and a stop and be- ing at a tilt in its position of use. Goods that are on the bottom portion are moved forward by means of gravity towards the stop. The bottom portion is provided with at least one longitudinal guiding element, which is arranged to cooperate in a guiding manner with a product located on a display trough underneath the bottom portion.

In what follows are described conditions relating to the display of goods with reference to liquid packaged in bottles. Bottles adequately illustrate the conditions that must be taken into consideration when designing storage and display racks, for example. The utilization of bottles for illustrative purposes does not in any way imply a limitation of the scope of the application.

Marketing includes displaying the goods in the most attractive way possible at the point of sale. This often includes, when beverages are involved, the display of bottles that are in a refrigerator.

It is known to place bottles in display troughs; several display troughs forming a shelf, several shelves above one another forming a rack which may be disposed in a refrigerator.

The display troughs are often tilted. If a bottle is removed from the trough, the following bottles will be moved forward by means of gravity towards a stop.

Prior art display troughs include a bottom portion, a stop and sidewalls, most often in the form of one moulding.

Refilling a rack, which is located in a refrigerator, can be difficult due to limited space and difficult access. Thus, racks ₍ running on wheels have been developed, whereby the rack may be rolled out of the refrigerator to be refilled with bottles.

Experience goes to show that moving loaded racks across, for example, an uneven surface causes vibrations, which may cause bottles to fall out of the display trough, which may cause damage to the goods and extra work.

Moreover, prior art display troughs allow relatively poor utilization of the internal volume of the refrigerator.

The invention has as its object to remedy or reduce at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art.

The object is achieved in accordance with the invention through the features, which are specified in the description below and in the claims that follow.

A goods display trough in accordance with the invention includes a bottom portion and a stop, the display trough being tilted in its position of use, and goods, which are on the bottom portion being moved forward by means of gravity towards the stop. The display trough is characterized by the bottom portion being provided with at least one longitudinal guide, which is arranged to cooperate in a guiding manner

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with a product, which is on a display trough underneath the bottom portion.

The guiding element is typically formed by two, possibly divided, guides, one on either opposite side of the product. With regards to bottles being relatively elongated, the bottle, as it extends up between the guides, is prevented from falling over sideways and out of the display trough in which it is placed.

By the display trough being tilted, the front bottle will be outside the overlying display trough, and it may thereby easily be lifted out of its display trough. The front bottle is kept relatively steady by the stop extending relatively high up along the bottle.

It is advantageous that the bottom portion and the stop form separate parts. Thereby the display trough may be flat-packed during transport. Further, the bottom portion and stop may be manufactured from different materials. With advantage, the bottom portion is manufactured from a relatively hard plastic material to provide a smooth sliding surface for the bottles, whereas the stop is typically manufactured from a softer, relatively tough plastic material to resist and dampen impacts from bottles, which are moved forward up against it.

With advantage, the stop is connected to the bottom portion by means of interlocking holders. The holders may be formed, for example, by a so-called dovetail in one of the components and a complementarily matching groove in the other one of the components .

Thus, it is relatively simple to replace a stopper if it should become damaged.

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The display trough may, with advantage, be provided with at least one sidewall. With advantage, the sidewall forms a separate part which is located between two adjacent bottom portions. To reduce the material consumption these partition walls may be lower than external walls, which are arranged at the end portions of a shelf.

In a preferred embodiment sidewalls and bottom portions are stacked side by side alternately one after the other on common rails, the rails typically forming supporting elements in a shelf. The rails extend through rail openings in the bottom portions and sidewalls.

Both the bottom portions and the sidewalls are formed with a plurality of rail openings along their longitudinal extent, and, thus, the relative positioning of sidewalls relative to the bottom portion is selectable.

The display trough may further be provided with an endwall which is at the opposite end portion of the display trough relative to the stop. The endwall is connected to the bottom portion, or possibly to an extension of the bottom portion, by means of interlocking attachments, which may be formed, in the same way as in the case of the stop, by a dovetail joint.

By the bottom portion being provided, along its entire longitudinal extent or parts of it, with a plurality of attachments complementarily matching the endwall, the length of the bottom portion may be adjusted by cutting, whereby an alternative attachment for the endwall is uncovered.

A display trough according to the invention enables very good lateral ^■ support of goods such as bottles, and prevents the bottles from tipping over out of the display trough during transport, for example. By its design the display trough pro-

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vides improved utilization of the volume of a refrigerator in relation to prior art display troughs.

Further, the display troughs are designed to be produced with a relatively low material consumption, while at the same time components included in the display trough are relatively easy to replace.

In what follows is described a non-limiting example of a preferred embodiment which is visualized in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a side view of a bottle rack running on wheels, including display troughs according to the invention;

Figure 2 shows, on a larger scale, a display trough in its position of use;

Figure 3 shows a view, seen from the stop end portion, in which also the upper part of a bottle is indicated;

Figure 4 shows the components of the display trough in a so- called exploded sketch;

Figure 5 shows display troughs with bottles viewed from one side; and

Figure 6 shows the display trough viewed from below, where a plurality of attachments for an end wall is also shown.

In the drawings the reference numeral 1 denotes a display trough which is placed in a rack 2 running on wheels, a number of display troughs 1 arranged side by side forming a shelf 4, and several shelves 4 being disposed at a tilt above each other.

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A display trough 1 includes a bottom portion 10 and a stop 14 connected to the front end part 12 of the bottom portion 10. By the front end part 12 is meant the part of the bottom portion 10 facing outwards from the rack 2.

The bottom portion 10 includes a sliding surface 16 facing upwards in the position of use, for standing bottles 18, the sliding surface 16 being formed, for material-saving reasons, with longitudinal slots 20, see figure 4.

From the underside of the bottom portion 10, opposite the sliding surface 16, an elongated guiding element projects in the form of two guides 22. The distance between the guides 22 is adapted to the upper portion 25 of a bottle 18 with some clearance, see figure 3. The guides 22 project somewhat from the end portion 12 of the bottom portion 10 to form a support for the stop 14. Additionally, the end part 12 is provided with a dovetailed holder 23.

Relative to the end portion 12, at its opposite rear portion 24, the bottom portion 10 is provided with an end wall 26. The end wall 26 is provided with a first recess 28 complemen- tarily matching each one of a plurality of dovetailed attachments 30, one of the attachments 30 being on the rear portion 24, whereas the rest of the attachments 30 are spaced along the bottom portion 10, see figure 6.

By adjusting the length of the bottom portion 10 by cutting at an appropriate place, an attachment 30 for the end wall 26 is uncovered.

Along its longitudinal extent, the bottom portion 10 is provided with a number of first rail openings 32 extending through it perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the bottom portion. The first rail openings 32 are parallel in plane to the sliding surface 16 and extend through the

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bottom portion 10 between the sliding surface 16 and guides 22.

The first rail openings 32 complementarily match rails 34 forming the supporting elements of the shelves 4.

The stop 14 includes an attachment part 36 forming, in the position of use, an extension of the sliding surface 16 of the bottom portion 10.

The attachment part 36, which is arranged to rest on the projecting portions of the guides 22, is provided with a second recess, not shown, complementarily matching the holder 23.

A hook 38 on each of the guides 22 engages the attachment part 36 in a locking manner, preventing the stop 14 from unintentionally coming loose from the bottom portion 10. Thus, the holder 23 and hooks 38 form attachments for the stop 14.

From the attachment part 36 four supports 40 project up to a bail 42. The bail 42 is arranged to stop bottles 18 moving in the display trough 1, and is designed for aesthetical reasons with a relatively slim cross-section.

The supports 40 have been given a curved shape to give the bail 42 a certain resilient function relative to the attachment part 36.

The resilient function has the effect of impacts on the bail 42 from bottles 18 resulting to a considerably smaller degree in vibrations in the rack 2, which also reduces the noise from the bottles 18.

In this preferred embodiment the display trough 1 is provided with sidewalls 44. In the figures the sidewalls 44, which extend along the bottom portion 10, are shown to have different heights and relatively large material-saving cut-outs 46. Ad-

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ditionally, the sidewalls 44 are provided with a plurality of second rail openings 48 corresponding to the first rail openings 32 of the bottom portion 10.

Thus, the sidewalls 44 are placed in a pushed-in position on the rails 34 between respective bottom portions 10, alternatively against the bottom portion 10 which is nearest to the end portion of the shelf 4.

The display troughs 1 are mounted somewhat at a tilt in shelves 4 arranged above each other in the rack 2. The dis- tance in terms of height between the shelves 4 is adjusted in such a way that a bottle 18 located in a display trough 1 extends by its upper portion 25 up between the guides 22 on the display trough 1 located in the shelf 4 above, see figures 3 and 5.

Bottles 18 which are on the upper shelf are not supported by the device according to the invention and are secured during transport in a manner known per se.

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