CHILLING AND ICE MAKING SYSTEM AND METHODS
There is provided a product merchandising display device for cooling products therein and associated methods. The product merchandising display device may include a housing having a tub portion, and a source of water to supply an integrated ice making system. The ice making system dispenses ice into the tub portion, and melted water is removed from the tub portion and recycled to the production of ice by the ice making system. The system provides an interactive experience to the consumer to enhance its attractiveness and impulse sales therefrom. The invention provides an attractive, inviting display in which the articles for sale are made conveniently accessible while providing a display of light and movement of ice to attract the consumer.
This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/561,985, filed on Nov. 21, 2011, and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELDThis invention relates generally to product merchandising units for use in storing and displaying a wide variety of products to consumers and, more particularly, to a merchandising unit that includes a ice making system and cooler receptacle forming a point of sale product merchandising unit for holding and merchandising chilled products therefrom.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONIn the sale and merchandising of various products, such as single unit products like bottled or canned drinks, fruit juice type beverages, some food items and the like, it is desired to pre-chill such products for immediate consumption. Many convenience or other stores have large refrigerated cases that may allow for this. These wall-mounted, refrigerated product displays are used, but have various deficiencies from the standpoint of promoting effective impulse buying. Either only the front panel or door of such display devices is clear, and the products are displayed in a package form or, if in a single unit, in a disadvantageous marketing position. In addition, wall-mounted units typically are very large and/or permanently mounted in a particular aisle, and thus not portable to various locations around the store or to other locations. A wide variety of products such as soft drinks, fruit juices, beer, wine, prepared sandwiches and the like, might sell much more quickly if the display system could be placed at a location near the checkout counter of the store or other areas of high customer traffic. Impulse buying is effective only when the product is located within the customer's view, and very large or permanently mounted wall units often are located in areas of low customer traffic.
To facilitate impulse purchasing of such items, there is a need to have a product merchandising unit which will accommodate the storing and chilling of a reasonable number of such articles for easy access by prospective customers. This is particularly true in the mobile society in which we live, where pre-chilled beverage and other products are many times purchased for consumption on the go. As a result, point-of-sale merchandising units are widely used due to the greater flexibility provided with respect to where such merchandising units may be located. The strategic location of such units can have a significant impact on the sales of the articles or products. The ability to provide merchandising units immediately adjacent areas such as food counters, points of purchase, and other high customer traffic locations, provide better utilization of merchandising areas, and is important to the merchant.
There is thus a need for other point-of-sale merchandising systems, and merchandising units have thus been developed which are formed as open coolers, using non-renewable amounts of ice cubes in a tub or container, in which the products are placed to pre-cool them. Though somewhat effective, such units have deficiencies in that they must be manually refilled with ice from an outside source as the ice turns to water. If not properly filled with ice, the units may not cool the temperature of the products that need to be cooled uniformly, resulting in a product being sold at an undesired temperature. Further, it is desirable for such units to have a sufficient volume to hold enough product and ice to satisfy periods of high consumer demand, such as on weekends, holidays, and other high consumer traffic periods. At the same time, as the ice in the unit begins to melt, it either creates a body of water in which the products are disposed, or if the water is drained, does not allow for desired display and access to the products that sink into the tub. With such units, it is also possible that the ice and water become contaminated from customers having to put their hand into the ice/water to retrieve an item. It would be desirable to provide a system for automatically sanitizing the ice/water used in the merchandising unit. It may also desirable for the unit to be able to hold a smaller quantity of such products and ice for lower volume periods. This would save costs associated with the ice used in such units. It would be desirable to allow for an effective system to overcome these problems. For these and other reasons, the present invention is directed to overcoming the problems set forth above.
SUMMARY OF INVENTIONThe invention overcomes the shortcomings and limitations of the prior art units discussed above and teaches the construction and operation of embodiments of a product merchandising display device adaptable for use in merchandising chilled products.
The invention also provides an interactive experience to the consumer to enhance its attractiveness and impulse sales therefrom. The invention provides an attractive, inviting display in which the articles for sale are made conveniently accessible while providing a display of light and movement of ice to attract the consumer.
Further, the invention provides for a system and method for substantially uniform cooling of products in a product merchandising display, which is maintained without intervention by the merchandiser.
These and other aspects of the invention are embodied within a product merchandising display device for cooling products therein, comprising a housing having a tub portion, and a source of water to supply an integrated ice making system. The ice making system dispenses ice into the tub portion, and melted water is removed from the tub portion and recycled to the production of ice by the ice making system.
The invention also relates to a system and methods for automatically refreshing ice in a merchandising display device for cooling products therein comprising a stand-alone housing having a tub portion, and a source of water to supply an integrated ice making system. The ice making system dispenses ice into the tub portion on an automated basis, and melted water is removed from the tub portion. If desired, the melted water may be recycled to the production of ice by the ice making system.
The invention also relates to a system and methods for displaying and merchandising cooled products that includes at least one visible feature including movement of ice or water around the products during the display thereof.
The invention also relates to a system and methods for sanitizing the ice/water used in the merchandising unit, by filtration or other decontamination of the melted water used in the production of ice for the system.
The system may include further features, such as a movable base system to allow different amounts of product to be accommodated in the tub portion of the system, water recycling systems, sensor and control systems to monitor and control ice, water levels and/or other systems or functions, advertising systems and lighting and/or audio systems for attraction of customers and other features.
The structure, operation and advantages of a presently preferred embodiment of this invention will become further apparent upon consideration of the following Description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying FIGS. and examples, wherein:
Referring now to
The base 12 further includes a tub portion 16 defining an open interior for displaying beverage, food or other items. The tub portion 16 may be formed as a singular space or may be divided into compartments or the like if desired. The interior portion provides the chilling space into which ice and products are disposed for pre-chilling the products for purchase by a consumer. The tub portion 16 has insulation disposed around it to maintain a chilling temperature within the tub portion 12. The tub portion 16 may be formed integral to the base 12 or may be provided as a separate unit that is mounted on the base 12. Though the base 12 and tub portion 16 are shown with a flat back surface, to be disposed adjacent a counter, wall, another system 10 or the like, it could also be formed such that the tub portion extends around the entire housing to be accessible from any direction. The tub portion 16 could also be supported on a lazy-susan type bearing to allow the tub portion 16 to be rotated so as to be visually appealing. Like the upper housing 14, the base 12 may also have various surfaces 18 which allow for high quality graphics to be displayed. The larger surfaces 18 of the base 12 allow for a wide variety of graphics/advertising to be displayed, to enhance attracting consumers to try one of the products pre-chilled therein. The panels 18 may be vacuum formed plastic, and the unit may allow for interchangeable graphics to be displayed on the surfaces 18. Backlighting may be provided for enhancing the visibility of the graphics or for producing lighting effects, such as by LED lighting. There may also be provided an audio generating system in the upper housing 14 and/or base 12, to play sound/music or other audio. Other devices to enhance the visual or other appeal of the system 10 may be used, such as video displays for example. Further, it may be desirable to form the tub portion 16 to have a variable volume to assist in storing different quantities of products therein. To allow for this, the position of the bottom surface of the tub portion may be made to be adjustable, either manually or automatically, to adjust the volume of the tub portion. In this way, for times of lower volume activity, the volume of the tub portion 16 may be reduced to hold less product, but to display it in a visually appealing manner. In some cases, if a lower volume of products is placed in a tub portion of a greater volume, the appearance of the display of products may not be as desired, and vice versa, so it may be desirable to provide the system 10 with such volume adjustment capability. It is also possible to provide additional attributes in association with the tub portion 16, such as individual holders for beverages or other products disposed around the tub portion 16 to allow display of such items in a desired manner. It may also be possible to provide an automatic product dispensing system which could be used to automatically refill the tub portion with a desired amount of product after chilled product has been taken therefrom. It may also be desirable to provide a product distribution system to allow products to be refilled in a somewhat uniform manner around the tub portion 16.
The upper housing 14 includes an integrated ice making system 20 as seen in
Turning to
There is also provided an ice distribution system 22 mounted below the ice making system 20 that facilitates uniform distribution of ice into the tub portion 16. In this example, the ice distribution system 22 is shown in
As seen in
Turning now to
It should be evident from the foregoing that the system 10 provides many attributes, including that the system requires less maintenance to operate at optimum operating levels because the melted ice cubes can be replaced with new ones automatically. Further, the filtration system ensures any solid material is removed ensuring the ice cubes appear more uniform. Due to the effect of gravity on the ice cubes as they are released from the top of cooler and guided down to the cooler tub, the ice distribution system 22 ensures equal distribution of ice ensuring the whole tub is being cooled, not just in one section. This effect also captures the consumers' attention and resembles that of a mountain avalanche or water bead on a bottle.
Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the instant invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A product merchandising system, comprising:
- a housing system supporting a tub portion, a source of water and an ice making system at a position above the tub portion, wherein ice produced by the ice making system is dispensed by gravity into the tub portion.
2. The product merchandising system of claim 1, wherein the source of water is a water reservoir provided in the housing system.
3. The product merchandising system of claim 1, further comprising the tub portion having at least one drain therein, wherein water melted from ice dispensed into the tub portion is drained to the water reservoir.
4. The product merchandising system of claim 3, wherein water drained from the tub portion is recycled to a water reservoir for use in further ice production.
5. The product merchandising system of claim 1, further comprising an ice distribution system for causing distribution of ice dispensed from the ice making system around the tub portion.
6. The product merchandising system of claim 1, further comprising an ice distribution control system for causing distribution of ice dispensed from the ice making system to different location around an ice distribution system.
7. The product merchandising system of claim 5, wherein the ice distribution system is formed into a shape to cause distribution of ice to different locations in the tub portion.
8. The product merchandising system of claim 5, wherein the ice distribution system is formed into a simulated shape of a natural or manufactured object.
9. The product merchandising system of claim 1, further comprising a filtration system for filtering water before being pumped to the ice making system for production of ice.
10. The product merchandising system of claim 1, further comprising a control system for controlling operations selected from the group consisting of ice production, ice cube size, ice distribution, sound effects, lighting and/or backlighting effects, water level management, allowing a plurality of merchandising system to operate together in a coordinated manner, sound alerts, visual alerts, power saving operations, on/off operations, operation shut downs, temperature control, and combinations thereof.
11. A product merchandising system, comprising a housing having a tub portion and an ice making system for automatically refreshing ice disposed in the tub portion, wherein the housing system is a portable, stand-alone housing to allow positioning of the system at a desired location for displaying chilled product within the tub portion.
12. The product merchandising system of claim 11, further comprising a water reservoir provided in the housing.
13. The product merchandising system of claim 12, further comprising the tub portion having at least one drain therein, wherein water melted from ice dispensed into the tub portion is drained to the water reservoir.
14. The product merchandising system of claim 11, further comprising an ice distribution system wherein the ice distribution system directs ice produced by the ice making system around the tub portion.
15. The product merchandising system of claim 11, further comprising a filtration system for filtering water before being pumped to the ice making system for production of ice.
16. The product merchandising system of claim 11, further comprising a control system for controlling operations selected from the group consisting of ice production, ice cube size, ice distribution, sound effects, lighting and/or backlighting effects, water level management, allowing a plurality of merchandising system to operate together in a coordinated manner, sound alerts, visual alerts, power saving operations, on/off operations, operation shut downs, temperature control, and combinations thereof.
17. A product merchandising system, comprising a housing having a tub portion and an ice making system disposed above the tub portion for automatically refreshing ice disposed in the tub portion, wherein the system includes at least one visible feature including movement of ice or water from a different position within the housing into the tub portion.
18. The product merchandising system of claim 17, further comprising a water reservoir provided in the housing, and wherein the tub portion has at least one drain therein, wherein water melted from ice dispensed into the tub portion is drained to the water reservoir.
19. The product merchandising system of claim 17, further comprising a filtration system for filtering water before being pumped to the ice making system for production of ice.
20. The product merchandising system of claim 17, further comprising an ice distribution system formed into a shape to cause distribution of ice to different locations in the tub portion.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 20, 2012
Publication Date: Aug 15, 2013
Applicant: SAP PRODUCTS LTD (KWUN TONG)
Inventor: SAP PRODUCTS LTD
Application Number: 13/681,534