CONTROLLED GRAVITY FEED SHELF SYSTEM

Abstract

A controlled gravity feed shelf system features a framework and at least one insert. The insert includes a number of support rails at least partially forming a front portion of the insert and a rear portion of the insert. A number of first rollers are rotatably mounted on the front portion of the insert, where each of the first rollers has a first diameter. A number of second rollers are rotatably mounted on the rear portion of the insert, where each of said second rollers has a second diameter. The first diameter of the first rollers is smaller than the second diameter of the second rollers. The insert is positioned within the framework so as the rear portion of the insert is positioned vertically higher than the front portion of the insert.

Description

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims priority to provisional patent application No. 61/423,398, filed Dec. 15, 2010, currently pending.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to shelving systems and, more particularly, to a controlled gravity feed shelf system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Gravity feed shelf systems are well known. Such systems typically feature inclined shelves and are useful for dispensing products ranging from two-liter beverage bottles to automotive batteries to cans of soup and the like. Examples of prior art gravity feed shelf systems are presented in U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,258 to Wilkerson et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,765 to Agnoff. In these prior art systems, however, products may either fail to feed forward or feed forward so quickly that stops are required to prevent the product from passing the front edge of the shelf. These stops can make it difficult to restock and/or remove products from the shelves. Additionally, when products are stacked on top of each other, a controlled stop is essential to prevent the top level of product from falling off of the shelf due to an uncontrolled sudden stop.

In addition, a number of prior art shelf systems use fairly complex pusher mechanisms to move stocked items to the front of the shelf. One such mechanism is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,820,754 to Ondrasik.

Furthermore, the advent of deeper non-gravity feed shelves, in the range of 48 inches deep, have allowed retailers to stock far more product on the retail shelves thus making more product available for consumers as well as reducing the number of times a day that the shelves need to be stocked. Unfortunately, when the stocked products get further than 24″ from the front edge of the shelving system, most consumers cannot reach the stock remaining on the shelf resulting in the possibility of lost sales.

In view of the above, a shelving system is needed that will feed stock to the front of the shelf in a controlled fashion as products are removed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the controlled gravity feed shelf system of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a shelf insert of the controlled gravity feed shelf system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the shelf insert of FIG. 2 with a number of the rollers removed;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the controlled gravity feed shelf system of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of embodiments of the small diameter rollers and the large diameter rollers of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the controlled gravity feed shelf system of the present invention is indicated in general at 10 in FIG. 1. The gravity feed shelf system 10 features a number of shelf inserts 12 that, as explained in greater detail below, feature a roller surface 14 with rollers sized to control the feed of products placed thereon. The system includes a retail gondola framework 16 upon which the shelf inserts 12 are mounted. While FIG. 1 shows four separate inserts mounted on the gondola framework, any alternative number of the inserts featuring alternative sizes may be used instead.

In accordance with the present invention, for an applied load (product weight), a larger diameter roller will feed products more consistently than a smaller diameter roller at reduced shelf angles. The shelf inserts 12 of the present invention each provide a combination of larger diameter rollers at the rear of the shelf to consistently initiate the forward motion of products stocked on the shelves and smaller diameter rollers on the forward portion of the shelf to slow products as they approach the front of the shelf.

An enlarged view of a shelf insert 12 is provided in FIG. 2. The insert is composed of a front 20 and rear 22 structural member used to tie together the four support rails 24. In the configuration shown, there are four support rails used, but it should be evident to anyone of ordinary skill in the art that the number of rails required will be dictated by the loads the shelf is designed to support (more rails for a high load or product weight).

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 5, the front portion of the shelf has small diameter rollers 26 to provide greater rolling resistance as products feed forward on the shelf. As an example only, in the disclosed embodiment, the diameter 27 (FIG. 5) of these small rollers 26 is 1⅝″. The diameter of the small rollers 26 can be varied to increase or decrease the amount of rolling resistance as the application dictates by making their diameter smaller or larger, respectively. The rear portion of the shelf contains large diameter rollers 28. As an example only, in the disclosed embodiment, the diameter 29 (FIG. 5) of these large rollers 28 is 3¼″. Again, the diameter of the large rollers 28 can be varied as the application requires.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, in the disclosed embodiment, the small and large roller assemblies (32 and 34, respectively), are arranged in a staggered fashion to provide a dense spacing. As shown in FIG. 3, both the small and large roller assemblies are composed of alternately spaced rollers 36 and axles 38 which are removably received by slots 40 formed in the support rails 24 of the shelf assembly. By providing the shelf insert with removable roller assemblies, roller assemblies featuring a variety of roller diameters, widths, spacing densities and the like may be swapped in and out depending on the product size, weight and other details of the application. As a result, the gravity feed shelf system may be custom tailored for the specific application without the need to purchase entirely new shelf inserts. The roller assemblies may be removably or permanently affixed to the support rails by any number of alternative means known in the industry.

With reference to FIG. 1, the rear edges of the shelf inserts are raised, as illustrated by arrows 42 in FIG. 1, 3″ vertically above the front edges via a channel, bracket or ledge 44 that traverses the rear of the gondola framework. The front edges of the shelf inserts rest in a front channel, bracket or ledge 46 which traverses the front of the gondola framework. Of course other dimension values of height 42, and thus various shelf inclines, may be used depending on the application. When products are placed on the shelf inserts, they slow in a controlled fashion as they approach the front edge of the shelf.

An alternative embodiment of the present invention is indicated in general at 50 in FIG. 4. As in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3, the system includes a retail gondola framework 52 upon which the shelf inserts are mounted. In areas of a retail store that are not dedicated to certain type of product, the retailer may opt to change the type of product due to reasons such as seasonal demand. This may present times when it is desirable to change from a gravity feed system to a stationary platform. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, the roller assemblies are attached to one side of the shelf inserts to provide a controlled gravity feed, as illustrated for insert 54. The shelf inserts, however, can be flipped to provide a level or slanted platform when a stationary shelf is desirable. More specifically, as illustrated for shelf insert 56, the side of the insert opposite the side featuring roller assemblies is provided with raised ribs 58. These ribs face upwards, and the rollers face downwards, when the shelf insert is flipped over, as is the case for shelf insert 56, so that products placed on the ribs 58 do not make contact with the roller assemblies of the insert. As a result, a stationary shelf is formed. Shelf insert 56 may be converted to gravity feed use simply by removing it from the gondola framework 52, flipping it over so that the rollers face upwards (like shelf insert 54) and reinstalling the shelf insert into the gondola framework. The ribs 58 may feature an inclined profile, as shown in FIG. 4, so that the shelf insert sits at an incline when in the gravity feed orientation (54).

The embodiment of FIG. 4 provides great flexibility in that some shelf inserts may be installed in the gondola framework in the gravity feed orientation (54) while others are simultaneously installed in the inverted position (56) to provide a level platform when the gravity feed option is not desirable.

It should be noted that the insert of FIGS. 2 and 3 could also be converted to a stationary platform by removing all of the roller assemblies.

Embodiments of the shelf inserts of the controlled gravity feed shelf system of the invention may be used to retrofit existing gondola systems.

As an alternative to the embodiments described above, the present invention may be optionally constructed so that the shelf inserts are not removable from the gondola framework (i.e. they are constructed integrally into the framework).

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A controlled gravity feed shelf insert adapted to be positioned on a shelf system framework comprising:

a. a plurality of support rails at least partially forming a front portion of the insert and a rear portion of the insert;

b. a plurality of first rollers rotatably mounted on the front portion of the insert, each of said first rollers having a first diameter;

c. a plurality of second rollers rotatably mounted on the rear portion of the insert, each of said second rollers having a second diameter where said first diameter is smaller than said second diameter.

2. The controlled gravity feed shelf insert of claim 1 wherein the plurality of first and second rollers are removable from the plurality of support rails.

3. The controlled gravity feed shelf insert of claim 1 wherein the insert has a first side and a second side and wherein the plurality of first and second rollers are positioned on the first side of the insert only so that the insert may be flipped over to provide a stationary shelf surface.

4. The controlled gravity feed shelf insert of claim 3 wherein the stationary shelf surface features raised ribs.

5. The controlled gravity feed shelf insert of claim 1 wherein the insert further includes a structural member positioned generally perpendicular to and joining the plurality of support rails.

6. The controlled gravity feed shelf insert of claim 1 wherein the insert further includes a front structural member positioned generally perpendicular to and joining the plurality of support rails to define a front edge of the insert and a rear structural member positioned generally perpendicular to and joining the plurality of support rails to define a rear edge of the insert.

7. The controlled gravity feed shelf insert of claim 1 wherein the first diameter of the first rollers is in the range of about one to three inches and the second diameter of the second rollers is in the range of about three to five inches.

8. The controlled gravity feed shelf insert of claim 1 further comprising:

d. a plurality of first roller assemblies each including alternating first rollers and first axles; and

e. a plurality of second roller assemblies including alternating second rollers and second axles wherein said first and second roller assemblies are mounted on the support rails.

9. The controlled gravity feed shelf insert of claim 8 wherein the support rails include slots that removably receive the first and second roller assemblies.

10. A controlled gravity feed shelf system comprising:

a. a framework;

b. an insert including: i) a plurality of support rails at least partially forming a front portion of the insert and a rear portion of the insert; ii) a plurality of first rollers rotatably mounted on the front portion of the insert, each of said first rollers having a first diameter; iii) a plurality of second rollers rotatably mounted on the rear portion of the insert, each of said second rollers having a second diameter where said first diameter is smaller than said second diameter;

c. said insert positioned within the framework so as the rear portion of the insert is positioned vertically higher than the front portion of the insert.

11. The controlled gravity feed shelf system of claim 10 wherein the inserts are removable from the framework.

12. The controlled gravity feed shelf system of claim 11 wherein the insert has a first side and a second side and wherein the plurality of first and second rollers are positioned on the first side of the insert only so that the insert may be flipped over to provide a stationary shelf surface.

13. The controlled gravity feed shelf system of claim 12 wherein the stationary shelf surface on the second side of the insert features raised ribs.

14. The controlled gravity feed shelf system of claim 10 wherein the plurality of first and second rollers are removable from the plurality of support rails.

15. The controlled gravity feed shelf system of claim 10 wherein the insert further includes a structural member positioned generally perpendicular to and joining the plurality of support rails.

16. The controlled gravity feed shelf system of claim 10 wherein the insert further includes a front structural member positioned generally perpendicular to and joining the plurality of support rails to define a front edge of the insert and a rear structural member positioned generally perpendicular to and joining the plurality of support rails to define a rear edge of the insert.

17. The controlled gravity feed shelf system of claim 10 wherein the first diameter of the first rollers is in the range of about one to three inches and the second diameter of the second rollers is in the range of about three to five inches.

18. The controlled gravity feed shelf system of claim 10 further comprising:

d. a plurality of first roller assemblies each including alternating first rollers and first axles; and

e. a plurality of second roller assemblies including alternating second rollers and second axles wherein said first and second roller assemblies are mounted on the support rails.

19. The controlled gravity feed shelf system of claim 18 wherein the support rails include slots that removably receive the first and second roller assemblies.

20. The controlled gravity feed shelf system of claim 10 wherein the framework includes a bracket that positions the rear portion of the insert vertically higher than the front portion of the insert.