MODULAR RETAIL PRODUCT DISPLAY UNIT WITH IMPROVED PUSHER
A retail product display unit in one aspect includes a pusher disposed on a pusher rail. The pusher has features to constrain movement of the pusher along a length of the pusher rail. The pusher rail extends from a forward end of the display unit to a rear end of the display unit. The at least one pusher rail comprises a channel in an upper surface thereof for receiving a pusher spring therein as the at least one pusher is moved from the forward end toward the rear end of the display unit. In another aspect, the pusher has at least one roller mounted to a pusher housing opposite the pusher face such that torque generated by application of rearward force applied to the pusher face is transferred to the at least one roller and then to the pusher rail.
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STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot Applicable
NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENTNot Applicable.
BACKGROUNDThis disclosure relates to the field of retail product display units. More specifically, the disclosure relates to retail product display units having a pusher to urge product packages loaded thereon toward a forward end of the display unit. The present disclosure further relates to product displays that may be assembled in different configurations depending on the specific needs of the user. The disclosure further relates to improved function pushers for such display units.
Retail product displays comprise pusher operated display units. One example of a pusher operate retail product display unit is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,823,874 issued to Hardy. Such display units comprise one or more product “lanes” in which product containers are confined to a space that enables the product packages to be arranged in one or more lines extending from a rearwardmost product package to a barrier at a front end of the lane which restricts the packages from moving forward beyond the barrier. A pusher is coupled by a biasing device such as a flat coil spring so as to urge the pusher toward the barrier. The pusher thus maintains contact with the rearwardmost product package in a lane and as product packages are removed by consumers from the lane the pusher maintains forward biasing on the remaining product packages. Thus the forwardmost package remaining in the lane is urged into contact with the barrier for ready removal by a consumer or a merchandiser.
Pusher type retail product display units are generally assembled to at least the lane level prior to shipment to a user of such displays. Further, the product display units may be configurable for only one type of product package or one size of product package.
During replenishing product packages in a lane, the user may urge the pusher by hand toward the back of the product display unit and then load additional product packages in the space between the rearwardmost package remaining on the display unit. Such hand operation of the pusher may be difficult because force is applied to the upper end of the pusher face as a practical matter, and such force applied to the pusher tends to cause the pusher to frictionally engage the bottom of the product lane. Such frictional engagement may make moving the pusher difficult for the user.
The example embodiment shown in
In the present embodiment, laterally extensible lane dividers 20 may be engaged with the front end cap 14 and the rear end cap 24 so that a width of a product lane defined by the lane dividers 20 may be adjusted by the user to correspond to the width of the particular product packaging being stored on the display unit 10.
In the present embodiment, the display unit 10 may be affixed to an attachment device 22. In the present embodiment, the attachment device may be a hook supported shelf base of types known in the art. Hooks (22A in
In the foregoing two embodiments of the front barrier shown in
A product display unit according to the various aspects of the present disclosure may provide for ease of assembly at the point of use, thus making shipping the product display to the point of use more compact and economical. The product display unit may be reconfigured to accommodate various sizes or product packages, may be readily assembled to a wall or shelf in a display case and may provide for easier reloading of product containers on the product display unit.
While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate that other embodiments can be devised which do not depart from the scope of the invention as disclosed herein. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be limited only by the attached claims.
Claims
1. A retail product display unit, comprising:
- at least one pusher disposed on a pusher rail, the pusher having features to constrain movement of the pusher to a direction along a length of the pusher rail, the pusher rail extending from a forward end of the display unit to a rear end of the display unit;
- wherein the at least one pusher rail comprises a channel in an upper surface thereof for receiving a pusher spring therein as the at least one pusher is moved from the forward end toward the rear end of the display unit; and
- a forward end cap and a rear end cap coupled to longitudinal ends of the at least one pusher rail, the forward end cap and the rear end cap comprising a channel for receiving a respective longitudinal end of the at least one pusher rail, the forward end cap and the rear end cap each comprising a locking tang extending into a respective channel, the locking tang having a locking button extending from a surface thereof, each locking button cooperatively engaged with a corresponding aperture in the at least one pusher rail to lock the forward end cap and the rear end cap to the at least one pusher rail.
2. (canceled)
3. The retail product display unit of claim 1 further comprising at least one laterally extensible wire lane divider slidably engaged with the forward end cap and the rear end cap.
4. The retail product display unit of claim 1 further comprising locking features in the forward end cap to engage one of a plurality of different configurations of a forward barrier.
5. The retail product display unit of claim 1 wherein the rear end cap comprises at least one feature to lockingly engage a display unit attaching device.
6. The retail product display unit of claim 5 wherein the at least one feature on the rear end cap comprises a lateral channel formed in a rearward end of display supports extending from display unit attaching hooks and a mating feature on the rear end cap to engage the lateral channel when the rear end cap is moved toward the lateral channel.
7. The retail product display unit of claim 1 further comprising at least one roller rotatably mounted to a pusher housing on a side opposite a pusher face, the at least one roller cooperatively engaged with the at least one pusher rail such that torque generated by application of rearward force applied to a pusher face is transferred to the at least one roller.
8. The retail product display unit of claim 1 wherein the at least one pusher comprises a pusher face having an adjustable pusher face area.
9. A retail product display unit, comprising:
- at least one pusher rail extending from a forward end cap to a rear end cap coupled to longitudinal ends of the at least one pusher rail, the forward end cap and the rear end cap comprising a channel for receiving a respective longitudinal end of the at least one pusher track, the forward end cap and the rear end cap each comprising a locking tang extending into a respective channel, the locking tang having a locking button extending from a surface thereof, each locking button cooperatively engaged with a corresponding aperture in the at least one pusher rail to lock the forward end cap and the rear end cap to the at least one pusher rail; and
- at least one pusher cooperatively engaged with the at least one pusher rail.
10. The retail product display unit of claim 9 wherein the at least one pusher comprises at least one roller rotatably mounted to a pusher housing on a side opposite a pusher face, the at least one roller cooperatively engaged with the at least one pusher rail such that torque generated by application of rearward force applied to a pusher face is transferred to the at least one roller.
11. The retail product display unit of claim 9 wherein the at least one pusher rail comprises a channel in an upper surface thereof for receiving a pusher spring therein as the at least one pusher is moved from the forward end toward the rear end of the display unit.
12. The retail product display unit of claim 9 further comprising at least one laterally extensible wire lane divider slidably engaged with the forward end cap and the rear end cap.
13. The retail product display unit of claim 9 further comprising locking features in the forward end cap to engage one of a plurality of different configurations of a forward barrier.
14. The retail product display unit of claim 9 wherein the pusher further comprises at least one roller rotatably mounted to a pusher housing on a side opposite a pusher face, the at least one roller cooperatively engaged with the at least one pusher rail such that torque generated by application of rearward force applied to the pusher face is transferred to the at least one roller.
15. The retail product display unit of claim 9 wherein the at least one pusher comprises a pusher face having an adjustable pusher face area.
16. A retail product display unit, comprising:
- at least one pusher rail;
- a pusher cooperatively engaged with the at least one pusher rail, the pusher comprising a biasing device to urge the pusher toward a front end of the at least one pusher rail;
- wherein the pusher comprises at least one roller rotatably mounted to a pusher housing on a side opposite a pusher face, the at least one roller cooperatively engaged with the at least one pusher rail such that torque generated by application of rearward force applied to the pusher face is transferred to the at least one roller; and
- a forward end cap to a rear end cap coupled to longitudinal ends of the at least one pusher rail, the forward end cap and the rear end cap comprising a channel for receiving a respective longitudinal end of the at least one pusher track, the forward end cap and the rear end cap each comprising a locking tang extending into a respective channel, the locking tang having a locking button extending from a surface thereof, each locking button cooperatively engaged with a corresponding aperture in the at least one pusher rail to lock the forward end cap and the rear end cap to the at least one pusher rail.
17. (canceled)
18. The retail product display unit of claim 16 further comprising at least one laterally extensible wire lane divider slidably engaged with the forward end cap and the rear end cap.
19. The retail product display unit of claim 16 further comprising locking features in the forward end cap to engage one of a plurality of different configurations of a forward barrier.
20. The retail product display unit of claim 16 wherein the at least one pusher comprises a pusher face having an adjustable pusher face area.
21. The retail product display unit of claim 16 wherein the biasing devices comprises a flat coiled spring and further comprising a channel in an upper surface of the at least one pusher rail for receiving the spring therein as the at least one pusher is moved from the forward end toward the rear end of the display unit.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 2, 2016
Publication Date: Aug 3, 2017
Inventor: Malte Bruegmann (Houston, TX)
Application Number: 15/013,367