U.S. patent number 3,857,482 [Application Number 05/415,071] was granted by the patent office on 1974-12-31 for display tray.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Foster Grant Co., Inc.. Invention is credited to Robert N. Shelton.
United States Patent |
3,857,482 |
Shelton |
December 31, 1974 |
DISPLAY TRAY
Abstract
A display tray of the type for display goods on a counter having
integral means for selectively joining together a plurality of
similar trays in end-to-end and side-to-side relationship.
Inventors: |
Shelton; Robert N. (Windham,
NH) |
Assignee: |
Foster Grant Co., Inc.
(Windham, NH)
|
Family
ID: |
23644258 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/415,071 |
Filed: |
November 12, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
206/558; 206/5;
206/561; 220/23.4; 206/563; 211/85.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D
21/0204 (20130101); B65D 1/36 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65D
1/34 (20060101); B65D 21/02 (20060101); B65D
1/36 (20060101); B65d 021/02 (); B65d 001/34 () |
Field of
Search: |
;206/72,45.14,5,6
;220/23.4,23.83,23.86 ;211/13 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Dixson, Jr.; William T.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Selman; Leonard S. Sinn; Leroy G.
Crall; Hugh C.
Claims
I claim:
1. A display tray comprising:
a bottom,
a pair of upstanding side walls extending upwardly from said
bottom,
a pair of end walls extending upwardly from said bottom;
a first one of said end walls having at least one opening in the
vicinity of a bottom portion thereof and a second one of said end
walls having at least one joining member extending outwardly
thereof and adapted to co-act with the opening in the first end
wall portion of a similar tray whereby two of such trays may be
joined together in end-to-end relationship, said joining member
having a guiding portion which extends through said opening in said
first end wall of a similar tray in joined position and an upwardly
facing gripping portion which engages the wall portion bordering
said opening;
a lug extending outwardly of said second one of said end walls,
said lug being positioned above said joining member and having a
downwardly facing clamping surface opposing said gripping portion
for engagement with a portion of the first end wall of a similar
tray for joining purposes, said clamping surface of said lug being
spaced apart a predetermined distance from the gripping portion of
said joining member so that there is a substantially tight friction
fit of the end wall portion between said clamping surface and said
gripping portion of said joining member when two of such trays are
joined together.
2. The display tray of claim 1 wherein said one of said end walls
has two openings in the vicinity of the bottom portion thereof and
said second one of said end walls has two joining members extending
outwardly thereof whereby in joining two of such trays each locking
member co-acts with one of said openings for engagement
therewith.
3. The display tray of claim 1 wherein one of said side walls has
an outwardly and downwardly extending flange extending from a top
portion thereof and said other side wall has a flange engaging
recess therein whereby two of such trays may be joined together in
side-by-side relationship by slipping said flange of one tray over
an adjacent tray in engagement with said recessed side wall
thereof.
4. The tray of claim 1 including at least one upstanding partition
extending between said side walls providing a plurality of
compartments in said tray bottom.
5. The display tray of claim 4 including two partitions extending
between said side walls providing three compartments in said tray
bottom.
6. The display tray of claim 4 wherein a portion of said tray
bottom in each compartment in slanted to more visibly support the
goods therein.
7. The display tray of claim 6 wherein said portions of said tray
bottom in each compartment have a plurality of small openings
therein for easier dust removal through said openings.
8. The display tray of claim 7 wherein said portions of said tray
bottom in each compartment have two relatively larger openings
therein positioned and adapted to receive a pair of sunglass
temples which may be folded to hold said sunglasses in said
compartments if the tray should be supported with said bottom
portions in a substantially vertical position.
Description
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTS OF INVENTION
This invention is directed toward display trays of the type
utilized to display goods on a counter. The trays are generally
rectangular in shape and of a size to display a quantity of goods
in an attractive manner. One type of goods to which this tray is
particularly adaptable is sunglasses and a tray displaying three
pairs of sunglasses will be disclosed as a preferred embodiment of
the invention.
In order to provide a large selection of goods such as sunglasses a
plurality of these trays are generally provided in end-to-end and
side-to-side relationship on a counter. In such an arrangement it
has been found advantageous that the trays be joined together so
that they will form a unit thus preventing unwanted movement of
single trays as the goods are handled by customers. This will
prevent such trays from being inadvertently knocked off counters or
becoming misarranged.
It is thus an object of this invention to provide a display tray
having means to selectively join together a plurality of similar
trays in end-to-end and side-to-side relationship.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such joining
means which are easy to engage and disengage manually without use
of tools.
It is still another object of the invention to provide such joining
means which do not require separate parts but are integral with the
tray which may be made as a single molded plastic unit.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Pursuant to the above objects a display tray is provided which
includes a bottom and upstanding side walls and end walls so that
objects to be display are viewed from above. The means to join such
a tray to a similar tray in end-to-end relationship include at
least one opening in one end wall near the bottom portion thereof
and at least one joining member which extends outwardly from the
other end wall of the tray. When two of such trays are joined in
end-to-end relation the locking member of one tray extends through
the opening of the second tray. The joining member includes a
gripping portion which engages the end wall portion bordering the
opening. A lug is positioned on the end wall of the tray from which
the joining members extends which includes a clamping surface which
engages a portion of the end wall of the tray to be joined above
the opening therein. The lug clamping surface is spaced apart from
the gripping portion of the joining member a predetermined distance
so that there is a substantially tight friction fit of the wall
portion between the clamping surface and the gripping portion of
the joining member when two of the trays are so joined.
To provide for the joining of two or more of the trays in
side-to-side relationship one of the side walls of the tray has an
outwardly and downwardly extending flange extending from the top
portion thereof. The other side wall has a flange engaging recess
therein whereby any two of such trays may be joined together in
side-by-side relationship by slipping the flange of one tray over
an adjacent tray in engagement with the recessed sidewall
thereof.
Other features of the invention include members for partitioning
the tray and adapting the tray bottom especially for displaying
sunglasses.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the
display tray including a fragmentary section of a similar tray
joined in side-by-side relationship therewith.
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the display tray of FIG.
1.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of two of such trays having their end
walls joined together.
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 4--4 of
FIG. 3.
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 5--5 of
FIG. 3.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring more particularly to the drawings wherein like reference
numerals designate like parts throughout the several views there is
shown in FIG. 1 a display tray 10 which is preferably formed as a
one piece molded plastic unit. The tray includes a bottom 12 having
a pair of side walls 14 and 16 upstanding therefrom and a pair of
end walls 18 and 20 also upstanding from the bottom and joined with
the side walls at the tray corners. The goods displayed therein are
viewed from the open top of the tray and they may be arranged in a
manner particularly suited to the type of goods. Since the tray 10
is meant for displaying sunglasses the bottom portion has been
divided into a plurality of compartments by means of a pair of
upstanding partitions 22. To further accommodate the display of
sunglasses the portions 24 of the tray bottom 12 as especially
shown in FIG. 2 are slanted forwardly from the horizontal so that
the sunglasses will be more visible to a customer standing in front
of a tray supporting counter. The tray 10 is supported on the
counter by means of corner portions 25 on the tray bottom. It is
also a feature of the tray to provide a series of openings 26 in
each of the tray bottom portions 24 both to provide an attractive
net-like appearance and to further provide for the removal of dust
from the tray bottom through the openings during periodic dustings
of the tray. Larger triangular openings 28 are also included at
both ends of each tray bottom portion 24 for the purpose of
receiving temple members of sunglasses which may extend
therethrough and be folded therebehind. It is forseen that the
display tray 10 could be supported in a vertical position on a wall
or the like rather than in the horizontal position shown. The
temple members folded behind portions 24 as suggested would then
serve to hold the sunglasses in place in their individual
compartments even when the tray is vertically oriented. A pair of
sunglasses are shown in phantom in FIG. 1 placed in the tray as
they appear to the viewer. The triangular shape of openings 28
allow them to accommodate sunglasses of different sizes in which
the distance between temples may vary.
For the purpose of selectively joining two or more of the trays 10
together in end-to-end relationship to form a counter unit, for
example, the end wall 18 is provided with a pair of openings 30
which are located in the vicinity of the bottom portion of the wall
18 where it merges with the tray bottom. A pair of joining members
32 are provided extending outwardly from the opposing end wall 20
which are structured for engagement with openings 30. Each of the
joining members 32 includes a support portion 34 extending
downwardly and outwardly from end wall 20, a short horizontal
gripping portion 36, and an upwardly and outwardly extending guide
portion 38. A small foot portion 39 extends downwardly from member
32 to support the back of the tray on a counter. FIGS. 3 and 4 of
the drawing indicate how two of the trays 10 and 10' may be joined
together in end-to-end relationship. The guide portions 38 of
locking members 32 on end wall 20 first pass through the openings
30' in the end wall 18' of a similar tray. The trays are then moved
to the position shown especially well in FIG. 4 where the portion
of the end wall 18' bordering the top of the openings 30' rest
against the upwardly facing surface 37 of the gripping portion 36
of each joining member. In order to forcefully hold the trays
together there is further provided on end wall 20, between and
above the locking members 32, a lug 40 extending outwardly
therefrom. The lug 40 has a bottom clamping surface 42 which is
positioned to engage a portion of wall 18' in a similar tray when
two of the trays are joined. As shown in FIg. 1 the end wall 18 of
each tray has a small recess 44 formed therein. When two trays are
joined as illustrated in FIG. 4 the lug 40 is received in recess 44
downwardly facing clamping surface 42 engages a portion of the end
wall 18' bordering the bottom of the recess. A section of the end
wall 18 is thus in effect clamped between the surface 42 of the lug
40 and the gripping portions 36 of the pair of joining members 32,
one of which is shown in FIG. 4. It thus can be seen by spacing
these wall engaging elements a predetermined distance from each
other it is possible to maintain a substantially tight friction fit
of the wall section therebetween and thus maintain the two trays in
end-to-end joined relationship. It is conceivable that a single
centrally located opening 30 in the end wall 18 of one tray could
be engaged by a single centrally located joining member 32
extending outwardly from end wall 20 of an adjacent tray for
joining purposes, however the dual structure is much preferred.
When two or more of said trays are joined in end-to-end
relationship as described above, the joined trays form a
substantially unitary structure which can be supported in a
substantially vertical position as suggested or in any desired
tilted position between the horizontal and vertical providing a
great variety of possible display arrangements.
Structure is also provided on display tray 10 as shown in FIG. 1
for joining a plurality of such trays in side-to-side relationship.
Thus there is provided a flange 46 which extends outwardly and
downwardly from the top portion of side wall 14. On the opposing
side wall 16 a recess 48 extending almost the entire length of the
wall is bordered by two recess bordering portions 50. Partitions 22
are also recessed at their end portions there they join with wall
16. Thus it is seen as shown in FIG. 1 that two of such trays 10
and 10" may be joined in side-to-side relationship by slipping the
flange 46" of one tray over an adjacent tray in engagement with the
recesses sidewall 16 thereof. A small broken away section of a tray
10" joined in side-to-side relationship with tray 10 is shown in
FIG. 1. In joined position a horizontal surface 52 of partition 22
is in contact with the bottom of flange 46". In this position the
recess bordering portions 50 which are spaced apart a distance only
slightly greater than the length of flange 46" serve as stop
members to prevent excessive sliding movement of flange 46" in
recess 48.
The terms "upwardly" and "downwardly" as well as "bottom" and "top"
as used in the description and the claims refer to the orientation
of the various elements of the display trays when they are
positioned as shown in the drawings.
Thus the disclosed display tray performs the objects of the
invention in a most effective manner and in an easily and
inexpensively manufactured form.
* * * * *