Hanger Bracket For Merchandise

Abstract

A hanger bracket holds packages of merchandise in such a manner that the quantity of merchandise on the bracket at any time is easily visible and quickly ascertainable for inventory control by unskilled help. The bracket is removably mounted on a pegboard and has a stepped finger for holding groups of packages at different levels. Another embodiment uses two fingers with one finger holding the merchandise and the second finger having telescopic sections biased for urging the merchandise cards or packages forward towards the free end of the first finger. The second finger contains markings or indicia for reordering purposes.

Description

This invention relates generally to a hanger bracket for displaying merchandise, and particularly, to an improved bracket which is supported on a conventional perforated wallboard of a type generally marketed by the trademark Peg Board and which bracket provides a ready indication of the quantity of stock remaining on the bracket to provide a visible inventory control for use by mercantile establishments.

With today's large quantity of merchandise being sold in retail establishments, a common way of displaying and selling these goods is to package articles of merchandise in bags or envelope material, such as clear plastic, so that the articles are visible through the walls of the container. Also, small articles of merchandise are commonly mounted on a card with clear plastic material bonded to the card over the article of merchandise, so that the articles are visible from the front of the package and the card contains the necessary literature and promotional material. These merchandise containers are commonly mounted or hung on wall brackets, so that they are clearly visible to the purchaser and do not take up a large amount of valuable retail space. A quantity of a given article is stored on a bracket and the purchaser selects the desired item by removing it from the bracket. A difficulty arises in reordering the merchandise, since it is difficult to tell the quantity of packages remaining on the bracket without an actual count, which is time consuming. Also, the brackets appeared sloppy, since the packages were at different depths on the bracket, depending on the sales of the items. Heretofore in order to provide suitable inventory control, an actual physical count had to be made of the packages remaining on each bracket. The quantity remaining on a bracket determined the quantity to be ordered. Such inventory control was time-consuming and required a relatively skilled person to make the determination of the quantity to order, so as not to order too much or too little.

Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a hanger bracket capable of holding a plurality of packages or cards containing an article of merchandise in such a manner that the quantity of merchandise remaining is clearly determinable to the viewer in predetermined increments. Depending on the increment remaining, the quantity reordered is determined.

An object of the present invention is to provide a bracket for holding merchandise, which allows increments of merchandise not sold to be quickly ascertainable for determining the quantity to be reordered.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a bracket having an arm for supporting merchandise, which has a series of steps so as to tell at a glance the amount of merchandise to reorder.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a bracket for supporting merchandise, which urges the merchandise remaining on the bracket forward towards the free end of the bracket, and also provides an indication of the quantity to reorder.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a hanger bracket for supporting merchandise in bags or on cards, which has a pair of arms, one of which has telescopic sections resiliently urged forward and in turn urging the merchandise remaining on the other arm forward towards the free end.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a hanger bracket for supporting merchandise, which accomplishes all of the above and yet is durable, easy to mount on wall boards, and inexpensive.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be best appreciated by reference to the following detailed description of two embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is an elevated perspective view of a merchandise bracket comprising the present invention mounted on a wall board;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view, partly in section of the present invention shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of this embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an elevational perspective view illustrating another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of this embodiment; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5, but showing more packages mounted on the bracket.

In accordance with the preferred illustrated embodiments of the invention, there is provided a bracket used for displaying various prepackaged articles of merchandise, as well as containing the inventory of such articles of merchandise, and further providing easy and rapid way of determining the quantity for reordering.

The present bracket is intended to be mounted on a perforated wall board of the type having a plurality of holes formed in a uniform rectangular array, or with suitable modification the bracket could be mounted on vertical standards of the type having a vertically disposed series of uniformly spaced vertically elongated openings, which is common in the field.

The invention is particularly well-adapted for use in the display and dispensing of small articles or sets of articles contained in bag-like or envelope-like containers or where the articles are plastic-wrapped on a card, such as builders' hardware, hair accessory items, beauty products, greeting cards, beauty aid products, and the like.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a merchandise package 10 is shown mounted on a bracket 12. Package 10, as shown, is formed of a card 14 overlapped with a clear plastic 16 of a known type, which contains the article or merchandise. Card 14 contains a slot or opening 15 adjacent its upper edge through which passes a finger 18 of bracket 12. Also, other types of packages can be used for supporting or carrying the merchandise, such as a bag formed of transparent material of a known plastic with an open end through which the articles of merchandise are inserted. The upper end is closed by a strip of relatively more rigid material, such as cardboard, which is folded over the end of the bag and secured thereto by heat-sealing or staples, and which contains an elongated slot or opening for receiving finger 18 of the bracket.

Bracket 12 is intended to be mounted on a perforated wallboard 20 containing openings 22. Bracket 12 is formed preferrably of a strong rigid material, such as steel, and includes a base portion with a pair of prongs, each of which has a generally vertically oriented section 24, which rests against the outer surface of pegboard 20. Rearwardly beyond section 24 is a portion 26, which is of a length slightly greater than the thickness of the perforated wallboard and generally about right angles to section 24. The base portion terminates in a portion 28 extending upwardly at right angles from section 26, and is juxtaposed to the rear surface of the wall board. As seen best in FIG. 3, a pair of these prongs extend through the wall board for providing stable support for bracket 12, and preventing lateral movement.

Finger 18 of bracket 12 supports merchandise and extends outwardly away from wallboard 20. Finger 18 is provided with a plurality of elongated, generally longitudinal steps illustrated at 32, 34 and 36. The portions of finger 18 connecting adjoining steps is slightly curved, such as indicated at 38, to provide for easy passage of the merchandise cards 14, during their sliding on and off finger 18. Preferably this area of transition is gently rounded so as to prevent snags as the merchandise cards are moved along finger 18.

The extreme free end of finger 18 has an upward kick portion indicated at 40 for preventing inadvertent fall-off of merchandise cards 14. Steps 32, 34 and 36 are in different planes sufficiently spaced apart vertically, so that the upper edges of the article cards positioned on a corresponding step will be displaced from the article cards on the next adjoining step, such as illustrated in FIG. 2. The steps are made sufficiently long, with respect to the article cards contained thereon, so that an inventory control can be maintained. Thus, a merchandise program can be provided so that when the inventory taker glances at finger 18 and sees there are three levels of cards, no additional merchandise is ordered. If there is only two levels of cards visible, a predetermined quantity is ordered, such as one half of a full order, and if there is only one level of cards, such as only cards remaining on step 32, then a larger quantity of cards is ordered, such as a full order. With the present invention, merchandise cards or bags are marketed, so that they are clearly visible to the purchaser, as well as maintaining a self-contained stock of inventory, which provides an indication of when and how much to reorder at a glance at the merchandise remaining on the bracket.

A further embodiment is shown in FIGS. 4-6, wherein a bracket 50 is shown mounted on wallboard 20. Bracket 50 contains a pair of fingers 52 and 54, which are shown in a vertical orientation. Finger 52 receives the merchandise cards 14 in a manner similar to that described above within the first embodiment. In this embodiment, finger 52 is preferably straight with its free end 56 having an upward kick for preventing inadvertent displacement of merchandise cards. Finger 54 is made up of a series of telescopic sections illustrated at 58, 60 and 62, which are fully telescopically received, one within the other. Sections 60 and 62 are resiliently urged outwardly to their full length, such as illustrated in FIG. 5. This could be accomplished by well-known means, such as by internal springs 63, rubber or the like. At the end of the outer telescopic section 62 is a disc or panel 64, which is affixed thereto and has a portion extending towards finger 52 in an amount below the upper edges of article cards 14, mounted on finger 52.

When bracket 50 contains its full quantity of merchandise cards, such as illustrated in FIG. 6, section 60 and 62 and finger 64 are fully telescoped, such as illustrated in FIG. 6. Finger 54 resiliently urges the article cards forward on finger 52 towards free end 56, which prevents article cards 14 from being pushed off of finger 52 by reason of the upkick end 56, and restrains further extension off the telescopic sections of finger 54. As the merchandise cards 14 are removed from finger 52, finger 54 moves the remaining cards 14 on finger 52 towards the free end and so is moved outwardly from section 58. Sections 60 and 62 of finger 54 can have various indicia markings to provide the inventory-taker with an indication of the quantity to reorder. This indicia marking could be numbers, fractions or the like, which would automatically provide an indication of the amount to reorder, without counting, in response to the length the telescoped sections extend outwardly from section 58. Fingers 52 and 54 are fixed to a base 64 containing a pair of hooks, which includes a straight portion 66 adapted to lie against the face of the perforated wallboard or Peg Board, and a portion 68 which extends through an opening 22 in the board and an offset portion 70 engaging the rear face of the perforated board. Plate 64, urging the cards forward on finger 52 maintains the bracket in a neat appearance.

It will be appreciated that there is provided in accordance with the present invention, a system for displaying merchandise carried in bags or mounted on cards on brackets removably mounted on perforated wallboard, which provides a ready method of determining the quantity to reorder for inventory control.

If desired, panel 64 on the end of section 62 can carry a code marking which quickly tells the inventory taker or stock filler the product carried by bracket 54. Similarly, finger 18 can carry a removable cap on its end, which also carries the stock number, or the merchandise card could carry the stock number.

While the steps shown in bracket 12 move upwardly towards the free end 40, they could also move downwardly. Also, the steps while shown to be about equal in length could vary, depending on the inventory control set up. Further, more or less steps can be used.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4-6, the fingers are shown vertically aligned. They can be arranged horizontally or at an angle, if desired.

Further, while the embodiments described show the merchandise package carrying finger having a single strand, a double strand or rod can be used, such as a generally U-shaped finger.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosure relates to only preferred embodiments of the invention and that it is intended to cover all changes and modification of the examples of the invention herein chosen for the purposes of the disclosure, which do not constitute departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Claims

What I claim is:

1. A hanger bracket removably mounted on a wall bracket for easy reordering of merchandise packages displayed thereon, comprising a base and a merchandising supporting finger having two ends, said base connected to one end of said finger and having wall bracket mounting means adapted to be mounted on said wall bracket, said finger extending in a direction away from said base and having a plurality of longitudinally extending steps therein, each adjoining step lying in a progressively different plane so that the merchandise packages supported on adjoining steps are at different levels and readily visible, the other end of said finger being remote from said base and receiving all of the merchandising packages carried by said finger.

2. A bracket as in claim 1, wherein the portions of the finger interconnecting adjoining steps are curved.

3. A bracket as in claim 1 wherein, beginning at one end of said merchandise supporting finger, the steps are in sequential descending order.

4. A bracket as in claim 1, wherein the steps of said finger are of a predetermined length corresponding to the number of containers carried by said step, so as to provide an indication of the quantity to reorder.

5. A bracket as in claim 4, wherein said finger has at least three steps.

6. A hanger bracket removably mounted on a wall bracket for easy reordering of merchandise packages displayed thereon, comprising a base having a pair of upwardly extending spaced-apart legs, and a pair of generally parallel fingers coupled to said base and extending in a direction away from said base, one of said fingers adapted to support merchandise packages, the other of said fingers having telescopic sections movable from collapsed to extended position, said sections being resiliently urged to their extended position, means on said outer section engaging the package closest to said base for urging the packages carried by said one finger away from said base toward its free end.

7. A bracket as in claim 6 further including indicia means carried by said telescoping sections of said second finger for providing a visual indication of the quantity to reorder.

8. A bracket as in claim 6, wherein said resilient means comprises a spring contained within said telescopic sections.

9. A bracket as in claim 6, wherein said means on said outer section is a disc carrying the merchandise reference numbers.

10. A bracket as in claim 6 wherein the free end of said one finger is turned upwardly.