U.S. patent application number 12/544945 was filed with the patent office on 2010-03-04 for support device.
Invention is credited to Shang-Jen Chen.
Application Number | 20100051564 12/544945 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41723765 |
Filed Date | 2010-03-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100051564 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Chen; Shang-Jen |
March 4, 2010 |
Support Device
Abstract
A support device includes a rail for carrying goods for display,
a movable upright support plate coupled to the rail to support
displayed goods on the rail, a spiral spring connected between the
rail and the movable upright support plate to impart a pressure
that moves the movable upright support plate toward the front end
of the rail for so that displayed goods are automatically shifted
to the front side when the first piece of displayed goods is taken
away by a consumer, and a positioning device provided at the bottom
side of the rail for positioning on a bearing board of a display
rack.
Inventors: |
Chen; Shang-Jen; (Taipei
City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PRO-TECHTOR INTERNATIONAL SERVICES
20775 NORADA CT.
SARATOGA
CA
95070
US
|
Family ID: |
41723765 |
Appl. No.: |
12/544945 |
Filed: |
August 20, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
211/59.3 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47F 1/126 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
211/59.3 |
International
Class: |
A47F 1/00 20060101
A47F001/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 29, 2008 |
TW |
097215549 |
Claims
1. A support devices comprising: a rail being a thin, narrow,
elongated member for supporting goods on a bearing board of a
display rack; a movable upright support plate slidably coupled to
and movable along said rail to support goods on said rail; a spiral
spring connected between said rail and said movable upright support
plate and adapted to impart a pressure that moves said movable
upright support plate toward a front end of said rail; and at least
one positioning device located on a bottom side of said rail for
securing said rail to a bearing board of a display rack.
2. The support device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rail has
two longitudinal flanges protruded from a top wall thereof and
respectively longitudinally extending along two opposite lateral
sides thereof to reduce friction between said rail and the goods
carried on said rail.
3. The support device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least
one positioning device comprises a plurality of magnets embedded in
a bottom side of said rail.
4. The support device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least
one positioning device comprises a strip of rubber magnet bonded to
a bottom side of said rail.
5. The support device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least
one positioning device comprises a strip of anti-skid material
bonded to a bottom side of said rail.
6. The support device as claimed in claim 1, which is used with two
partition members on a bearing board of a display rack, said
partition members being spaced from the support device at two
opposite lateral sides, each said partition member having at least
one positioning device provided at a bottom side thereof for
positioning on the bearing board of the display rack.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a support device for use in
a display rack for holding displayed goods on a bearing board of
the display rack and more particularly, to such a support device,
which can be positively and easily positioned on a bearing board of
a display rack and which automatically shifts the displayed goods
forward when the first piece of displayed goods is taken away by a
consumer.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] In order to expand the display area and the quantity of
displayed goods and to facilitate selection of goods by consumers,
a volume sales outlet, distribution center or convenient store
usually uses display racks to display goods for sale. A display
rack has bearing boards arranged at different elevations for
holding goods for display. The use of a display rack with
vertically spaced bearing boards not only expand the display area
but facilitate management of displayed goods. Regular display racks
for this purpose are commonly made of ferrite. The bearing boards
of a display rack have a predetermined width and depth for
supporting different goods.
[0005] When using a display rack to display goods, goods are
arranged in lines on each bearing board. In order to keep displayed
goods in line on each bearing board, partition members may be used
and directly placed on each bearing board of a display rack to keep
displayed goods in lines. FIG. 1 illustrates a partition member 1
for this purpose. A partition member 1 of this design has a narrow
bottom side. When partition members 1 are placed on a bearing board
of a display rack to keep displayed goods in lines, the partition
members 1 tend to be forced out of place. Further, when a first
piece of goods is taken away from a line of goods by a consumer,
the rest pieces of goods of the same line will be shifted forwards
automatically to fill up the vacancy.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The present invention has been accomplished under the
circumstances in view.
[0007] It is one object of the present invention to provide a
support device, which can be positively and easily positioned on a
bearing board of a display rack and which automatically shifts the
displayed goods forward when the first piece of displayed goods is
taken away by a consumer.
[0008] To achieve this and other objects of the present invention,
a support device comprises a rail, at least one upright support
plate, a spiral spring and at least one positioning device. The
rail is adapted for carrying goods for display. The movable upright
support plate is coupled to and movable along the rail to support
displayed goods on the rail. The spiral spring is connected between
the rail and the movable upright support plate to impart a pressure
that moves the movable upright support plate toward the front end
of the rail. The at least one positioning device is provided at the
bottom side of the rail for positioning on a bearing board of a
display rack.
[0009] After the support device is positioned on a bearing board of
a display rack by the at least one positioning device, goods are
supported on the rail and held in place by the at least one upright
support plate. When the first piece of displayed goods is taken
away by a consumer, the at least one movable upright support plate
is automatically moved forwards by the spring fore of t spiral
spring to shift the rest goods to the front side for service.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a conventional partition
member for use in a display rack.
[0011] FIG. 2 is a perspective exploded view of a support device in
accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.
[0012] FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a support device in accordance
with a second embodiment of the present invention.
[0013] FIG. 4 is an applied view of the present invention, showing
the support device of the second embodiment installed in a display
rack's non-metal bearing board.
[0014] FIG. 5 is another applied view of the present invention,
showing the support device of the first embodiment installed in a
display rack's ferrite bearing board.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0015] Referring to FIG. 2, a support device 10 in accordance with
the present invention is shown comprising: a rail 11, at least one
movable upright support plate 12, a spiral spring 13 and at least
one positioning device 14.
[0016] The rail 11 is a thin, narrow, elongated m ember for
supporting goods on a bearing board of a display rack (not shown).
The movable upright support plate 12 is slidably coupled to and
movable along the rail 11 to support goods on the rail 11. The
spiral spring 13 is connected between the rail 11 and the movable
upright support plate 12 to impart a pressure to the movable
upright support plate 12 relative to the rail 11, moving the
movable upright support plate 12 to the front end of the rail 11.
The at least one positioning device 14 is provided at the bottom
side of the rail 11 and adapted to affix the rail 11 to a bearing
board of a display rack (not shown).
[0017] Further, the at least one positioning device 14 can be disk
magnets embedded in the bottom side of the rail 11 (see FIG. 2).
Alternatively, the at least one positioning device 14 can be a
strip of rubber magnet or anti-skip material fixedly bonded to the
bottom side of the rail 11 (see FIG 3). Furthers the rail 11 has
two longitudinal flanges 111 protruded from the top wall and
respectively longitudinally extending along the two opposite
lateral sides to reduce friction between the rail 11 and the goods
carried on the rail 11.
[0018] During application, the rail 11 can be positively positioned
on a display rack's non-metal bearing board 20 by means of the
strip of rubber magnet or anti-skip material of the at least one
positioning device 14 as shown in FIG. 4; alternatively, the rail
11 can be positively positioned on a display rack's ferrite bearing
board 20 by means of the disc magnets of the at least one
positioning device 14 as shown in FIG. 5.
[0019] The support device 10 utilizes the rail 11 to support goods,
the at least one movable upright support plate 12 to hold loaded
goods on the rail 11 and the spiral spring 13 to pull the at least
one movable upright support plate 12 toward the front end of the
rail 11. Thus, when the first piece of goods is taken away from the
display rack by a consumer, the at least one movable upright
support plate 12 is automatically moved forwards by the spiral
spring 13 to shift the rest goods to the front side for service.
Further, two partition members 30 may be arranged on the display
rack.times.s non-metal bearing board 20 and spaced from the support
device 10 at two opposite lateral sides to keep displayed goods in
a good order. Same positioning devices 14 may be used for the
positioning of the partition members 30 may be arranged on the
display rack's non-metal bearing board 20.
[0020] A prototype of support device has been constructed with the
features of FIGS. 2.about.5. The support device functions smoothly
to provide all of the features disclosed earlier.
[0021] Although particular embodiments of the invention have been
described in detail for purposes of illustration, various
modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from
the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention
is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.
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