PRODUCT DISPLAY BRACKET

Abstract

A product display bracket is configured for displaying products on a slatwall. The display bracket is configured to display products at an angle from the horizontal surface of the slatwall. The display bracket is also adapted to be removably attached to other brackets on a slatwall.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based on and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/409,315 filed on Nov. 02, 2010, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to mounting fixtures. More particularly, the present invention relates to a product display bracket for a “slatwall,” which is defined herein as a wall provided with elongated horizontally extending grooves.

BACKGROUND

A slatwall is a wall panel formed from metal, wood board, or other suitable material into which a plurality of regularly spaced L-shaped or T-shaped grooves are formed that allow various mounting brackets to be quickly attached and detached, thus affording the user great flexibility in how items are displayed.

A typical slatwall mounting bracket includes a flat base plate and a cantilever element for fitting into one of the grooves. The cantilever element is generally an L-shaped mounting flange that extends perpendicularly from the base plate and then forms a corner that turns upward. The base plate generally lies flat against the slatwall and may be integrated into the rest of the bracket or may be adapted to have non-slatwall brackets attached to it. Typically, if the base plate is integrated into the bracket, the bracket will simply have the mounting flange and a surface that contacts the slatwall to serve the function of the base plate. The display portions of typical slatwall brackets extend normally from the slatwall and can be virtually any shape. Typical slatwall brackets are limited in shape and size only by the amount of weight the bracket can hold. Because of the cantilever design, bending stresses generated by the bracket tend to apply the load weight forces to the inner wall of the upper groove. Thus, it is the strength of the slatwall itself that usually the limits how much weight a slatwall bracket can safely hold.

The product display portion of the bracket commonly extends perpendicularly from the base plate, causing whatever product displayed on the bracket to be in either a parallel or perpendicular orientation to the slatwall. While this configuration works well for many products, some, such as CD's, DVD's, or books would be better displayed at an angle between zero and 90 degrees so that both the fronts and sides of the products are visible to passing customers. Further, displaying the products at an angle allows more products to be displayed on a given length of wall (without protruding out too far) by nesting the angled slots next to each other.

SUMMARY

The present invention relates to a display bracket for displaying items on a slatwall. The display bracket is configured to allow one or more of the same or similarly sized products to be mounted at an angle from the horizontal surface of the slatwall. The bracket is further configured to be used with a variety of slatwalls and to allow multiple brackets to be removably attached to each other, thereby creating an array of brackets to facilitate large displays.

One embodiment of the invention is a bracket having four surfaces that rest against the slatwall to support the bracket. The bracket includes slots that are adapted to display products such as DVD's, CD's, or books at an angle greater than zero and less than 90 degrees from the wall so that both the fronts and sides of the products are visible to passing customers. The bracket includes one or more slots positioned side by side. The bracket also includes a cutout at one end of the bracket, and a nub at the opposite end of the bracket. The nub is shaped to fit into the cutout of a second bracket, thus allowing multiple brackets to be connected to each other to create a long, continuous display. The bracket is preferably made of injection molded plastic, but other materials, such as metal or wood, may be used without departing from the invention.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that one or more aspects of this invention can meet certain objectives, while one or more other aspects can lead to certain other objectives. Other objects, features, benefits and advantages of the present invention will be apparent in this summary and descriptions of the disclosed embodiment, and will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Such objects, features, benefits and advantages will be apparent from the above as taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures and all reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of two embodiments of a slatwall bracket in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 is a section view of the slatwall brackets of FIG. 1 taken generally along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is another section view of the slatwall brackets of FIG. 1 taken generally along the line 3-3 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is another section view of the slatwall brackets of FIG. 1 taken generally along the line 4-4 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a another perspective view of the slatwall brackets of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a another slatwall bracket in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the slatwall bracket of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the slatwall bracket of FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is another side view of the slatwall bracket of FIG. 6.

FIG. 10 is a top view of the slatwall bracket of FIG. 6.

FIG. 11 is a back view of the slatwall bracket of FIG. 6.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a slatwall bracket in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 13 is a front view of the slatwall bracket of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a side view of the slatwall bracket of FIG. 12.

FIG. 15 is another side view of the slatwall bracket of FIG. 12.

FIG. 16 is a top view of the slatwall bracket of FIG. 12.

FIG. 17 is a back view of the slatwall bracket of FIG. 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-2, two embodiments of a slatwall bracket 100, 200 in accordance with the invention are shown. The slatwall brackets 100, 200 are adapted to be mounted to a slatwall 300. The slatwall 300 includes a series of boards 302 mounted on a wall 304 such that a gap 306 is formed between the boards 302. A “T” or “L” shaped pocket 308 is formed between the boards 302 and the wall 304. The slatwall 300 could also be made from a contiguous board having grooves cut therein to form the gaps and pockets.

The slatwall brackets 100, 200 differ only in the number of items that each can display. The first embodiment of the slatwall bracket 100 can display two items, while the second embodiment 200 can display four items. Each bracket 100, 200 has a series of slots 102, 202 that are configured to hold items 400 such as DVDs, CDs, books, or similarly sized objects. The brackets 100, 200 may include slots 102, 202 of varying shapes and sizes to accommodate a wide variety of items without departing from the invention. The slots 102, 202 are configured such that they allow items 400 to be displayed in less horizontal space than if the items 400 were displayed horizontally. In other words, displaying the items 400 at an angle away from the slatwall 300 allows the slots 102, 202 to be nested into each other with some overlap of the displayed items 400. The amount of nesting may be varied by varying the angle at which the slots 102, 202 are displaced from the slatwall 300.

Turning now to FIG. 3, a section view of the slatwall bracket 200 and slatwall 300 is shown taken generally along the line 3-3 in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 shows how the bracket 200 is attached to the slatwall 300. The bracket has a mounting flange 204 that extends normally from the bracket 200 and then extends upward to fit into the pocket 308 in the slatwall 300. The mounting flange 204 is generally an L-shaped cantilever element and includes a horizontal member 206 and a vertical member 208. The vertical member 208 has an outside surface 210 and an inside surface 212. The outside surface 210 of the vertical member 208 of the mounting flange 204 contacts the inner surface 310 of the slatwall board 302. The bracket 200 also contacts the front surface 312 of the slatwall board 302 at multiple locations on the back of the bracket 200. In operation, the mounting flange 204 is inserted into the opening 306 in the slatwall and rotated in position to hang the bracket 200 on the slatwall 300.

Turning now to FIGS. 4 and 5, a section view of the slatwall brackets 100, 200 is shown, taken generally along the line 4-4 in FIG. 2 and a perspective view of the brackets 100, 200 is shown. FIG. 5 shows how two brackets 100, 200 may be removably attached to each other. As shown, the first bracket 100 includes a nub 114 at one end of the bracket 100. The second bracket 200 includes a corresponding cutout 216 at one end of the bracket 200. The nub 114 may be inserted into the corresponding cutout 214 to removably attach two brackets 100, 200 together to be mounted on the slatwall 300. Attaching multiple brackets 100, 200 together allows retailers to customize their display system to accommodate any number of items together on the slatwall 300, while maintaining consistent spacing between the brackets 100, 200 and also creating the impression of a single, continuous bracket.

Turning now to FIGS. 6-11, one embodiment of the slatwall bracket 100 is shown. The bracket 100 is configured to display two items at an angle away from the slatwall 300. The bracket 100 is preferably made of injection molded plastic, but may be constructed of other materials without departing from the invention. The bracket includes provisions for mounting to a slatwall 300, as well as two slots 102, configured at an angle greater than zero degrees and less than 90 degrees from the slatwall 300. The slots 102 are displaced from the slatwall 300 by a horizontal member 106 of a mounting flange 104. The horizontal member 106 extends normally from the slatwall 300 and is generally triangular in shape when viewed from above as in FIG. 10. To strengthen and support the bracket 100, two gussets 116, 118 are incorporated into the bracket 100. The gussets 118, 120 serve two purposes: to provide rigidity to the bracket 100 and to provide contact surfaces against the front surface 312 of the slatwall 300. When the bracket 100 is mounted to the slatwall 300, there are three contact points between the bracket 100 and the front surface 312 of the slatwall 300: the first gusset 118, the second gusset 120, and the back inside corner of the slots 122.

Turning now to FIGS. 12-17, another embodiment of the slatwall bracket 200 is shown. The bracket 200 shown in FIGS. 12-17 is nearly identical to the one shown in FIGS. 6-11, except that the bracket 200 shown in FIGS. 12-17 is configured to display four items instead of two. As a result, the bracket 200 includes three gussets 218, 220 instead of two, and there are five contact points with the front surface 312 of the slatwall 300: the first gusset 218, the second gusset 220, the first inside corner of the slots 222, the third gusset 220, and another inside corner of the slots 222. The horizontal member 204 also extends normally from the slatwall 300, but rather than being triangular in shape as in the first embodiment, it has a sawtooth shape when viewed from above as in FIG. 16. The sawtooth shape accommodates two sets of slots 202 nested together to create a bracket that is configured to display four items 400. The pattern shown in this embodiment may be expanded to accommodate any number of slots. Apart from the number of slots 202 included in the bracket 200, the embodiment of the bracket 200 shown in FIGS. 12-17 is identical to bracket 100 described above in FIGS. 6-11.

Although the invention has been herein described in what is perceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific embodiments set forth above. Rather, it is recognized that modifications may be made by one of skill in the art of the invention without departing from the spirit or intent of the invention and, therefore, the invention is to be taken as including all reasonable equivalents to the subject matter of the appended claims and the description of the invention herein.

Claims

1. A product display bracket comprising:

a mounting flange including a generally planar body and a vertical member extending from the body;

the mounting flange adapted to hook into a slatwall groove in a slatwall;

one or more slots having a planar front side and a planar rear side, the front and rear sides being parallel to each other and offset from each other by a predetermined distance;

the slots further having a planar bottom adapted to support an item to be displayed on the product display bracket; and

the slots being attached to the top at an angle from the mounting flange of greater than zero degrees and less than ninety degrees.

2. The product display bracket of claim 1, wherein the bracket includes a plurality of gussets adapted to provide support against the slatwall for the slots, to fill a gap formed where the slots extend from the slatwall, and to provide rigidity to the product display bracket.

3. The product display bracket of claim 1, wherein the product display bracket is made of plastic.

4. The product display bracket of claim 1, wherein the product display bracket is made of sheetmetal.

5. The product display bracket of claim 1, wherein the product display bracket is adapted to be removably attached to another bracket.

6. The product display bracket of claim 5, wherein the product display bracket may be removably attached to another product display bracket by a cutout on one of the gussets and a corresponding nub on the opposite end of the product display bracket.