Rack Structure

Abstract

The invention is a rack structure made of molded plastic, wire or sheet metal, which on one face has a series of arms into which the necks of a group of jars, bottles or similar capped cans can be snapped to hold them in a row. On the other side of the structure are a series of hooks which permit the rack to be mounted into the holes in the perforated board which is commonly used for storage walls or display racks, or into a single wall-mountable bracket. The rack structure is also fitted with cavities such that when two of them are mounted back-to-back with a cardboard, sheet plastic, or wire handle between them or otherwise locked to them, the hooks on one rack mate with the cavities on the other so that the assembly forms a multiple container carrier.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the merchandising of foods and other expendable household products, it is often desirable to package a group of product containers together to simplify handling, and to encourage the buyer to purchase larger quantities of the item. Such multiple container carriers that have been used for holding groups of beer cans, soda bottles and similar products have been of the throwaway type designed primarily for short term use to hold together a group of containers at the selling point and during the carrying of the group of items from the selling point to the using point.

These conventional types of carrier are generally made of cardboard with a series of pockets, typically six located in two rows of three on each side of a handle section. The beverage bottles or similar containers rest on their bottoms in the pockets and are constrained from horizontal motion by the sides of the pocket. Such carriers full of containers are normally stored and displayed on shelves in stacks. There are other types of cardboard multiple carries for cans which totally envelop a group of cans, and plastic ones which grab the can rim to hold a group together, but these are generally throwaway devices which have no purpose other than to group the product containers together for easier handling.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an improved device for handling, storing, and displaying jars, bottles or other capped containers containing food, cosmetics, beverages, hardware items, or other household or commercial items, and for encouraging the sale of such items by making more desirable the reuse of such containers for general purpose household and commercial storage.

One of the objects of this invention to broaden the usefulness of multiple container carriers so that they may be used for point-of-sale wall display as well as shelf display and for wall storage as well as shelf storage at or near the point of use of the product in the containers.

Another object is to encourage the purchase of the product in the containers by making the reuse of the containers more desirable for general purpose home or commercial storage by making the container carrier compatible with a widely used vertical storage system.

A final object is to make the carrier a more effective merchandising device by making it possible to combine the carrying handle with an advertising sign which is readily removable when the carrier is used for storage at the point of product use or subsequent reuse as general storage device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1. is a perspective view of one of the rack structures of the molded plastic type showing the key structural elements;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view showing one of the carrier units mounted on a typical perforated board for vertical storage or display;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of two of the molded plastic rack structures put together with a cardboard handle between them to form a multiple container carrier filled with jars;

FIG. 4 is a vertical section of a molded plastic rack structure mounted in a mating holder which is in turn typically mounted on the back of a cabinet door; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a rack structure of the wire type showing the key structural elements.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, the rack structure has arms 1 protruding from the longitudinal web 2 and strengthened by gussets 3 under each. Protruding from the back side of the longitudinal web are hooks 4 which are used to mount the rack to a perforated-board storage unit or special bracket. The web is fitted with hole 6 which receive the hooks 4 of another identical rack structure when two of them are mated back to back to form a multiple container carrier, FIG. 3. At the end of each arm 1 are flexible protuberances 5 which are spaced apart a distance which is slightly less than the smallest diameter of the neck of the container so that each individual container is held to the rack structure by enough force to prevent it from coming out when the rack is being used as a part of a carrier. Also protruding from the back of the web is a snap peg or pin 7 which helps hold the rack structure against the perforated board when containers are being removed from it and which locks into a mating cavity 16 in the web when two rack structures are mated back to back.

FIG. 2 shows the hooks 4 and snap 7 mounting the rack structure on a perforated board 9. A typical food jar 8 is being held by the rack structure.

In FIG. 3 two rack structures similar to that of FIG. 1 are shown mated back-to-back with a sheetlike handle 10 locked inbetween them by the interlocking hooks 4 to form a multiple container carrier. Shown being carried in the assembly are a group of typical food jars 8.

FIG. 4 illustrates one of the molded plastic rack structures holding a typical food jar 8 mounted in a mating molded-plastic bracket 11 which is in turn held by screws 12 to a cabinet door or wall 13. The bracket 11 has holes arranged as at 12, to receive the hooks 4 and snap pin 7.

FIG. 5 shows an alternate means of fabricating the rack structure from wire sections welded together in which the longitudinal web 2 is replaced by two longitudinal wires 14 to which wire arms 15 are welded. The hooks 17 and snaps 18 are formed from opposite ends of a single piece of wire connecting the wire 14. The cavities 19 into which the hooks 17 and snaps 18 of an identical wire rack structure fit when they are mated back-to-back are also formed on opposite ends of a single piece of wire. The hook and snap elements and the cavity elements are both welded to the two longitudinal wires.

As can be seen, the individual rack structures mounted on perforated board permit simple vertical displays of the product in the containers. The buyer can buy by the rackful, and assemble two racks into a carrier, or he can buy carriers that are already preassembled. The carriers can contain a preselected assortment such as in baby food, or all of the same type as might be desirable in some other product.

The carrier makes the handling easier in the supermarket or similar self-service store and speeds checkout by keeping the items which may have a group price or the same price per container together.

Because of the normal shortage of convenient, organized storage space in most homes and small commercial establishments, the availability of such a rack unit will encourage the installation of the special mounting brackets or perforated board storage units near the point of use of the product. Once the user has done this, he will have an added incentive to continue purchasing the brand of the product which is sold with or in this carrier unit.

In addition, because of the growing need for storage of household and commercial supplies such as hardware items, hobby supplies, sewing equipment, electrical components and other similar things, the ability to reuse the product containers and the rack structures for such storage will provide a significant additional incentive for the purchase of the products the containers of which are sold with the rack structure.

Claims

I claim:

1. A rack structure for holding a plurality of containers comprising:

a longitudinal structural member having a front side and a back side;

a plurality of arms protruding from the front side of the member to support the containers;

a plurality of hooks protruding from the back side of the member for mounting the rack on a perforated board;

receptive cavities in the member for the hooks of a mating rack structure in back-to-back relation therewith;

a handle; and the hooks and receptive cavities securing the handle between a pair of racks in back-to-back assembled relation.

2. A multiple container carrier comprising two identical rack structures mated back-to-back, a handle between same, and means to secure the rack structure and handle together in a separable condition, said means comprising a plurality of hooks on each rack structure which will also connect the racks separately to perforated board of the type in common use for vertical storage.