SHELF-TYPE DISPLAY FIXTURE

Abstract

A display fixture for displaying an object, such as bound media, includes a base having a shelf engaging portion that mounts to an underside of a shelf, a brush support portion and a brush having an elongated spine. The elongated spine is received by the brush support portion and a plurality of flexible bristles that depend downwardly from the elongated spine. The distal ends of the plurality of flexible bristles are free from contacting the base, and when not engaged with the object, the flexible bristles are oriented substantially normal to the shelf.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/542,859, filed Jul. 6, 2013, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

In retail stores, merchandise is often displayed on shelves that are supported by display units, such as gondola display units. Exemplary merchandise displayed on shelves includes binders, books and other individual products that are best displayed standing in an upward direction for easy identification and orderly presentation.

The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

SUMMARY

A display fixture for displaying an object includes a base having a shelf engaging portion that mounts to an underside of a shelf, a brush support portion and a brush having an elongated spine. The elongated spine is received by the brush support portion and a plurality of flexible bristles that depend downwardly from the elongated spine. Distal ends of the plurality of flexible bristles are free from contacting the base, and when not engaged with the object, the flexible bristles are oriented substantially normal to the shelf.

A method includes providing the display fixture that includes a brush having an elongated spine that is slid into a brush support portion of a base. The brush includes a plurality of flexible bristles that depend downwardly from the elongated spine. A shelf engaging portion of the base is mounted to an underside of a first shelf. At least one object is placed on a second shelf located directly below the first shelf. A top of the at least one object engages with distal ends of the plurality of flexible bristles.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. The claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in the background.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a display fixture coupled to an underside of a shelf according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a back perspective view of a top of a display fixture according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of a bottom of the display fixture illustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the display fixture illustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of assembling the display fixture illustrated in FIGS. 2-4.

FIG. 6 is a section view of the display fixture illustrated in FIG. 2 taken through the line indicated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is an exploded section view of the display fixture illustrated in FIG. 2 taken through the line indicated in FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 is a back exploded view of a display fixture according to another embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a section view of the mounting bracket illustrated in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a top view of the mounting bracket illustrated in FIG. 8.

FIG. 11 is a front view of the mounting bracket illustrated in FIG. 11.

FIG. 12 is a profile view of the display fixture in FIG. 8 as assembled.

FIG. 13 is a section view of the brush illustrated in FIG. 8.

FIG. 14 is a front view of the display fixture illustrated in FIG. 2 coupled to an underside of a shelf and engaged with objects or products for display.

FIG. 15A is a perspective view of mounting the display fixture illustrated in FIG. 2 to an underside of a shelf of a gondola display unit.

FIG. 15B is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of FIG. 15A.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of mounting the display fixture illustrated in FIG. 2 to an underside of a shelf of the gondola display unit illustrated in FIG. 15A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The display fixture described below aids in the display of objects or products located on a shelf or shelves. Exemplary objects or products include bound media, such as binders, books, periodicals, cases and other mechanisms for amassing and housing storage media. The display fixture includes a base that is mounted to an underside of a shelf located above the shelf where objects or products are placed. The base also includes a brush support portion. A brush having an elongated spine is received by the brush support portion and a plurality of flexible bristles depend downwardly from the elongated spine. The flexible bristles engage with or interfere with a top or an upper portion of the objects or products to provide lateral, or side-to-side, support and to hold the objects or products in an upward or substantially vertical orientation. However, when select flexible bristles are not engaged with objects or products, distal ends of those select flexible bristles are oriented substantially normal to the shelf.

The brush enables the objects or products that are to be displayed to be pushed through the flexible bristles to facilitate insertion and removal of the objects or products from the shelf. Tipping forces acting on the objects or products are controlled by the resilience of the bristles. Since the bristles are generally smaller and closer together than the pertinent dimensions of the objects or products that are being displayed and the bristles are disposed along a row placed laterally with respect to the shelf or shelves, the brush results in an infinitely adaptable arrangement to engage a wide variety of objects or products without the need for adjustment. Since shelving systems or units are generally adjustable along a vertical axis, the only adjustment that may be needed is the vertical spacing between the shelf upon which the objects or products are placed and the shelf located directly above, which supports the base of the display fixture. Where the vertical shelf spacing on a shelving system or unit is incremental, such as one-inch adjustment steps, a length of the bristles can be selected to ensure that there can always be interference with the objects or products. For example, the bristles may have a length of 1.5 inches, or at least a length greater than the incremental step of the shelving system, which in this example is one inch.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a display fixture 10 coupled to an underside of a shelf 20 according to one embodiment. While FIG. 1 illustrates two floating shelves 20 and 22, where shelf 20 supports display fixture 10 and shelf 22 supports objects or products 24, it should be realized that shelves 20 and 22 can be connected to a free-standing gondola display unit as can be found in a retail store or connected to a bookcase or other free-standing furnishings that supports shelves in other environments. For example, other environments, besides retail stores, that can advantageously utilize display fixture 10 include public libraries, home libraries, offices, museums and etc. As is often the problem with bound media, when space on a shelf next to bound media is open or empty, the bound media has the tendency to fall over on its side because of its inability to support itself in an upright position without the aid of the adjacent bound media or of a bookend. This problem can occur frequently in any of the above environments especially in retail stores where bound media is frequently taken off the shelves for inspection or purchase. As illustrated in FIG. 1, display fixture 10 supports objects or products 24 in an upright position even though there are empty spaces next to objects or products 24.

FIG. 2 is a back, top perspective view of a display fixture 100 according to one embodiment. FIG. 3 is a front, bottom perspective view of display fixture 100. FIG. 4 is an exploded view of display fixture 100. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of assembling the display fixture illustrated in FIGS. 2-4. FIG. 6 is a section view of display fixture 100 taken through the line indicated in FIG. 2. FIG. 7 is an exploded section view of display fixture 100 taken through the line indicated in FIG. 4.

Display fixture 100 includes a base or mounting bracket 106 and a brush or tool 108. Base 106 is an extruded part made of, for example, a polymer, such as polystyrene. However, base or mount 106 can be made of other types of material that can be extruded, such as metal. In one embodiment, base 106 includes a shelf engaging portion or horizontal section 110, a downward depending portion or vertical section 112 and a brush support portion or channel 114. Shelf engaging portion 110 is substantially planar except for a plurality of ribs 120 and is connected to brush support portion or channel 114 by downward depending portion 112. Downward depending portion 112 is substantially planar and is substantially normal to shelf engaging portion 110.

In one embodiment, brush 108 includes an elongated spine or base 116 and a plurality of bristles or filaments 118. Elongated spine or base 116 acts as the brush block that holds the plurality of bristles or filaments 118 together. For example, elongated spine 116 can include a polymer that uses adhesives to secure the bristles 118 together. Bristles or filaments 118 can be made of natural or synthetic fibers. For example, bristles or filaments 118 can be made of nylon or polyester.

Shelf engaging portion 110 of base 106 is mountable to an underside of a shelf, such as underside 25 (FIG. 1) of shelf 20 and elongated spine 116 is receivable by brush support portion or channel 114 by, for example, elongated spine 116 being inserted into or slid into channel 114 from one of the ends of channel 114. As illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, channel 114 includes and is defined by an upper wall 122, a front wall 124, a rear wall 126 and a lower wall 128. Rear wall 126 is in alignment with and is connected to downward depending portion 112, while front wall 124 is spaced forward from downward depending portion 112 by upper wall 122 and lower wall 128. Channel 114 includes an opening 130 in lower wall 128 that extends along a length 132 (FIG. 3) of channel 114.

Lower wall 128 includes a depth or dimension 134. Dimension 134 is the distance from back edge of downward depending portion 112 to a front edge of front wall 124 of channel 114. Opening 130 includes a depth or dimension 136 that is less than dimension 134 of lower wall 128. As described above, elongated spine 116 is received by channel 114. Therefore, bristles 118 of brush 108 depend downwardly from elongated spine 116 through opening 130 in lower wall 128 of channel 114 and terminate at distal ends 119. In this way, bristles 118 extend downwardly from base or mounting bracket 106 to engage with portions of the objects or product that display fixture 100 is to support in an upward or vertical orientation. More specifically, distal ends 119 of bristles 118 are free from contacting base or mounting bracket 106. When bristles 118 are not engaged with objects or products, bristles 118 are oriented substantially normal to shelf 20 or shelf engaging portion 110. When engaged with objects or products, distal ends 119 of bristles 118 still do not contact base or mounting bracket 106. However, when engaged with objects or products, portions of bristles 118 can be oriented in other directions besides being oriented substantially normal to shelf 200 or shelf engaging portion 110 as is illustrated by display fixture 10 in FIG. 1.

With reference back to base or mounting bracket 106 and as previously described, shelf engaging portion or horizontal section 110 includes a plurality of ribs 120. In one embodiment and as illustrated in FIGS. 2-7, shelf engaging portion or horizontal section 110 includes two ribs 120. In other embodiments, shelf engaging portion or horizontal section 110 can include any number of ribs 120. Ribs 120 provide shelf engaging portion 110 with structural rigidity and strength and minimum material thickness. Although display fixture 100 does not support product loads, display fixture 100 needs to have high structural rigidity to withstand other types of forces, such as torsion. Ribs 120 are spaced apart from each other and run a length of shelf engaging portion 110.

In the embodiment in FIGS. 2-7 and specifically illustrated in FIG. 2, shelf engaging portion 110 includes two lengths 138 and 140. The smaller length 138 is located at the front of display fixture 100 and the larger length 140 is located at the back of display fixture 100. In other words, shelf engaging portion 110 includes two cutouts on the front of shelf engaging portion 110. The two cutouts are included in shelf engaging portion 110 so that shelf engaging portion 110 does not block holes in the shelf at the ends of the shelf. This way other hardware or fixturing can be used, such as a wire divider, without shelf engaging portion 110 being in the way. In particular, length 140 is substantially the same as length 132 of channel 114. One of the ribs 120 is located within length 138 of shelf engaging portion 110 and the other of the ribs 120 is located within length 140 of shelf engaging portion 110. In this way, the ribs 120 do not extend for the same length, but extend the entire length of shelf engaging portion 110 whether that length is length 138 or length 140. As illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, each rib 120 forms a concave depression relative to a top surface 142 of shelf engaging portion 110 Likewise, each rib 120 forms a convex bump relative to a bottom surface 144 of shelf engaging portion 110.

FIG. 5 illustrates mounting bracket 106 and brush 108 being assembled together. In FIG. 5, the elongated brush 108 is inserted into an extrusion channel in the mounting bracket 106. The two units slide together to form an integrated brush assembly prior to attaching to a shelving system.

Further and as illustrated in FIG. 6, shelf engaging portion 110 includes a depth 145. Together downward depending portion 112 and brush support portion 114 includes a height 147 and between distal ends 119 of bristles 118 and a bottom of brush support portion 114 includes a distance 149. In one embodiment, depth 145 of shelf engaging portion 110 is about 3.75 inches, height 147 of downward depending portion 112 and brush support portion 114 is approximately 1.44 inches and distance 149 between the bottom of brush support portion 114 and distal ends 119 of bristles 118 is about 1.25 inches. Therefore, the distance from the underside of a shelf that shelf engaging portion 110 is mounted to distal ends 119 of bristles 118 must be great enough so that distal ends 119 of bristles 118 are lower than a top edge of the objects or products to which it is to engage. In one embodiment, this dimension is about 2.69 inches given the recited dimensions of height 147 and distance 149. However, this dimension can be other values as long as the distal ends 119 of bristles 118 engage with a top end of bound media.

Shelf engaging portion 110 also includes a plurality of apertures 146 as illustrated in FIGS. 2-5. Each aperture 146 is configured to receive a fastener for mounting shelf engaging portion or horizontal section 110 to the underside of a shelf. Performing the step of mounting will be described in detail below.

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of a display fixture 200 according to another embodiment. FIG. 9 is a section view of base or mounting bracket 206 of display fixture 200. FIG. 10 is a top view and FIG. 11 is a front view of mounting bracket 206 of display fixture 200. FIG. 12 is a profile view of display fixture 200 and FIG. 13 is a section view of brush 108. Display fixture 200 includes a mounting bracket 206 and a brush 208. The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8 shows that bracket 206 is elongated and has plural mounting slots 246 used to attach it to a shelf.

With reference to FIG. 9, bracket 206 is a plastic extrusion. It is generally a right-angled bracket having a horizontal portion 210 and a vertical portion 212. Horizontal portion 210 is attached to the underside of a shelf using a slot 246 in bracket 206. Slot 246 is located in a recessed portion 247 that provides clearance for fasteners. At the lower end of vertical portion 212 is a brush channel 214 formed for receiving spine 216 of elongated brush 208 (illustrated in FIGS. 8, 12 and 13). The length of bracket 206 is generally coextensive with the width of a shelf to which bracket 206 is to be attached.

FIG. 10 provides a view of the horizontal portion 210 of the bracket extrusion 206 showing the three mounting slots 246. The brush mounting channel 214 is visible in phantom lines. FIG. 11 shows a front view of the vertical portion 212 of mounting bracket 206. This view also shows the location of the elongated brush mounting channel 214 in phantom lines.

FIG. 12 is a profile view drawing of mounting bracket 206 and brush 208. In particular, FIG. 12 shows brush 208 engaged with the brush mounting channel 214 formed into mounting bracket extrusion 206.

FIG. 13 is a section view drawing of brush 208. The elongated brush embodiment is fabricated using a row of nylon bristles 218 that are wrapped about a wire spindle 274. Bristles 218 are held in place on spindle 274 using a formed spine 216 that is crimped about spindle 274. In this illustrative embodiment, spine 216 is formed from aluminum. However, other metal and non-metal materials can be used. The length of bristles 218 is selected to provide adequate engagement with objects or products to be displayed in light of the incremental shelf spacing of the shelving system to which it is applied.

FIG. 14 illustrates a front view of a portion of display fixture 100 as mounted to an underside of a shelf 300 and engaged with objects or products 304, such as bound media, which are being supported by shelf 302. Objects or products 304 are placed on shelf 302 and slid toward the back of shelf 302. As bound media 304 are being slid to the back, a portion or top of the objects or products 304 engage with bristles 118 of brush 108. This engagement causes the bristles 118 in the area where the objects or products 304 contact the bristles to separate and fan on either side of the portion of the bound media 304 that engages bristles 118. In this way, while most bristles 118 remain depending downwardly and oriented substantially normal to shelf 300, the bristles 118 that engage with bound media 304 are oriented in directions that are other than substantially normal to shelf 300.

FIG. 15A illustrates a perspective view of mounting display fixture 100 to an underside 403 of a shelf 400 on a freestanding shelf system or gondola display unit 401. FIG. 15B illustrates an enlarged perspective view of a portion of FIG. 15A. More specifically, FIG. 15B illustrates a front corner of freestanding shelf system or gondola display unit 401. Gondola display unit 401 includes a back wall 450, a pair of uprights 451 and 452 that are slotted, a base 453 with an integrated base deck 454 and a plurality of shelves 456a, 456b, 456c and 456d placed at incremental heights along the slotted uprights 451 and 452. Although display fixture 100 can be mounted to the underside of any or all of the plurality of shelves 456 of gondola display unit 401, display fixture 100 is illustrated in FIG. 15A and 15B as being mounted to underside 403 of upper shelf 456a on gondola display unit 401.

Each shelf 456 and more specifically the upper shelf 456a includes at least one row of a plurality of apertures or perforated holes 458 that that are located across shelf 456a and formed therethrough. Such perforations are common in retail, commercial and industrial shelving systems. In addition, each shelf 456a, 456b, 456c and 456d includes a front edge that has a price label channel 460. Price label channel 460 is configured to receive price labels or price label strip holders for holding price labels. The price labels are indicative of a price of the goods that are to be placed on shelves 456. More specifically, the price labels are indicative of a price of the objects or products to be displayed, such as bound media 24 or 304, and are to be placed on shelves 456a, 456b, 456c and 456d.

Before stocking shelves 456a with objects or products, display fixture 100 is mounted to the undersides of shelves 456 or more specifically underside 403 of upper shelf 456a. To do this, top surface 142 is placed in contact with underside 403 of upper shelf 456a such that that brush 108 of display fixture 100 is located towards the back wall 450 of gondola display unit 401. Apertures 146 in shelf engaging portion 110 are aligned with select apertures 458 in shelf 456a.

Fasteners 462 are inserted through select apertures or perforated holes 458 in shelf 456a and through apertures 146 in shelf engaging portion 110 to secure display fixture 100 to shelf 456a. Apertures 146 provide for a degree of adjustment in the position of mounting bracket 106. In one embodiment and as illustrated in FIG. 15B, fasteners 462 are screws having wing nuts. The steps for mounting display fixture 100 as described in this paragraph can be repeated for each shelf 456a, 456b, 456c and 456d on gondola display unit 401 so that all shelves on gondola display unit 401 except for upper shelf 456a can receive objects or products that will stand in an upward orientation for display. After all display fixtures 100 are mounted, the objects or products can be placed on each shelf 456a, 456b, 456c and 456d. Upon placing the objects or products, a portion of bristles will engage with the tops of the objects or products to hold the objects or products in an upward direction.

FIG. 16 illustrates a perspective view of mounting display fixture or brush assembly 100 to an underside of shelf 456b on freestanding shelf system or gondola display unit 401. Display fixture or brush assembly 100 is fastened to the underside of upper shelf 456b using threaded fasteners 462 that engage with holes 458 perforated through the shelf material. A display fixture or brush assembly 100 is applied to each upper shelf 456a, 456b, 456c and 456d. As used herein, an “upper” shelf is one that has another shelf below it, and a “lower” shelf is one that has another shelf above it. Thusly, it can be appreciated that the shelves function cooperatively, and that base deck 454 would never be an upper shelf, and top shelf 456a would never be a lower shelf.

In FIG. 16, each of shelves 456a, 456b, 456c and 456d have a display fixture or brush assembly 100 attached to its lower surface or underside adjacent the front of the shelf. Exemplary objects or products, such as 3-ring binders 404 rest on shelf 456d. Shelf 456c has a brush 108 disposed below its lower surface, which acts to engage the upper edge of each binder 404. As the binders 404 are pushed onto shelf 456d, the upper edge of the sidewalls of the binders spread the bristles of brush 208 apart to pass therethrough. Once in place, bristles 118 resist the binders 404 from tipping side-to-side and maintain the binder 404 in a substantially vertical orientation. Since brush 108 is disposed across substantially the entire width of the shelves, binders 404 can be inserted at any location along the width of the shelf and still benefit from the lateral support. In addition, it does not matter what the width is of each object or product. In this example, the binders 404 can be one-inch, two-inch, three-inch or a mixture thereof and brush 108 would still function to support the objects or products.

A method of displaying objects or products is described below with reference to display fixture 100, however, the method can also apply to display fixture 200. Display fixture 100 is provided that includes brush 108 having elongated spine 116 that is slid into brush support portion 114 of base 106. To slide elongated spine 116 into brush support portion 114, the right side or the left side of elongated spine 116 is inserted into either the right side of the left side of brush support portion 114. More specifically and as illustrated in FIGS. 2-4 and 7-8, the ends of brush support portion 114 are temporarily open. In this way, elongated spine 116 can be inserted into and pulled through the channel until the right side and the left side of the elongated spine 116 are in alignment with the right side and the left side of brush support portion 114.

Shelf engaging portion 110 of base 106 is mounted to an underside of a shelf as described in detail above. The objects or products, such as objects 204, 304 or 404, are placed on a second shelf located directly below the first shelf by engaging distal ends 119 of the plurality of flexible bristles 118 with a top of the objects or products. In this way, each display fixture 100 that is mounted to the underside of a select shelf is actually for use with objects or products that are to be placed on the shelf directly below the select shelf. In addition, placing objects or products on a second shelf means that a bottom of the objects or products is in contact with the second shelf and the top of the objects or products is engaged with distal ends 119 of the bristles 118.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A display fixture for displaying an object comprising:

a base having a shelf engaging portion that mounts to an underside of a shelf and a brush support portion; and

a brush having an elongated spine that is received by the brush support portion and a plurality of flexible bristles that depend downwardly from the spine, wherein the plurality of flexible bristles include distal ends that are free from contacting the base; and

wherein when the flexible bristles are not engaged with the object the flexible bristles are oriented substantially normal to the shelf.

2. The display fixture of claim 1, wherein the base further comprises a downward depending portion that connects the shelf engaging portion with the brush support portion, the downward depending portion being substantially normal to the shelf engaging portion.

3. The display fixture of claim 2, wherein the brush support portion comprises a channel including an upper wall, a front wall, a rear wall that is in alignment with and connected to the downward depending portion of the base and a lower wall, the lower wall having an opening that extends along a length of the channel.

4. The display fixture of claim 3, wherein the opening in the bottom wall further comprises a dimension that is less than a dimension of the bottom wall.

5. The display fixture of claim 3, wherein the elongated spine of the brush is received by the channel and the bristles of the brush depend downwardly from the elongated spine through the opening in the bottom wall of the channel.

6. The display fixture of claim 1, wherein the shelf engaging portion comprises a plurality of apertures for receiving fasteners for mounting the shelf engaging portion to the underside of the shelf and engaging with apertures in the shelf.

7. A display fixture comprising:

a mount comprising: a substantially horizontal section that couples to an underside of a shelf and at least a portion of the horizontal section includes a length; a channel having the same length as the length of a portion of the horizontal section and including a bottom wall, the bottom wall having an opening that extends along the length of the channel and includes a dimension that is less than a dimension of the top wall; and

a tool having a base that is received by the channel and a plurality of filaments that depend from the base through the opening in the channel in a substantially vertical direction.

8. The display fixture of claim 7, wherein the plurality of filaments comprise distal ends that are free from contacting the mount.

9. The display fixture of claim 7, wherein the plurality of filaments are configured to engage with product and wherein a portion of the plurality of filaments are oriented substantially normal to the shelf when not engaged with product.

10. The display fixture of claim 7, wherein the mount further comprises a substantially vertical section that connects the substantially horizontal section with the channel, the substantially vertical section being substantially normal to the substantially horizontal section.

11. The display fixture of claim 7, wherein the substantially horizontal section comprises at least two ribs that are spaced apart from each other and run lengths of the substantially horizontal section, the at least two ribs providing the horizontal section with added strength.

12. The display fixture of claim 11, wherein the ribs form a concave depression along a top surface of the horizontal section and form a convex bump along a bottom surface of the horizontal section.

13. The display fixture of 7, wherein the substantially horizontal section comprises a first length extending along a front of the substantially horizontal section and a second length extending along a back of the substantially horizontal section that is substantially similar to the length of the channel, the first length being less than the second length.

14. A method comprising:

providing a display fixture that includes a brush having an elongated spine that is slid into a brush support portion of a base, the brush including a plurality of flexible bristles that depend downwardly from the elongated spine and terminate at distal ends;

mounting a shelf engaging portion of the base to an underside of a first shelf; and

placing at least one object on a second shelf located directly below the first shelf by engaging the distal ends of the plurality of flexible bristles with a portion of the at least one object.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein providing the display fixture that includes the brush having the elongated spine that is slid into the brush support portion of the base comprises providing the display fixture with a channel for sliding the elongated spine into, the channel including an opening in a bottom wall through which the flexible bristles depend downwardly and the distal ends of the flexible bristles are free from contacting the base.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein mounting the shelf engaging portion of the base to the underside of the first shelf comprises placing a top surface of the shelf engaging portion in contact with the underside of the first shelf.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising aligning apertures in the first shelf with apertures in the shelf engaging portion.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising inserting fasteners through the apertures in the first shelf and through the apertures in the shelf engaging portion to fasten the shelf engaging portion to the underside of the first shelf.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein placing the at least one object on the second shelf comprises placing binders on the second shelf.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein placing binders on the second shelf comprising placing binders on the second shelf so that bottoms of the binders are in contact with the second shelf and tops of the binders are engaged with at least the distal ends of the bristles.