Article Handling Apparatus and Method for Restocking Store Shelves

This invention relates generally to the article handling art and more particularly to a novel and improved apparatus and method for readily handling articles on store shelves and is especially suited for inspection, restocking and like purposes.

The matter of ready access to, a full visual inspection of, and the restocking of articles on conventional store shelves poses a time consuming problem. This is particularly true for small items such as spices, pharmaceuticals and the like. Some prior art shelves have been provided with pull-out auxiliary shelves, but this is usually not the case with store shelves that are used for display of spice, pharmaceuticals and like small articles. Some attempts have been made to mount shelf extensions onto a store shelf for display purposes, as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,891,679, but these project out into the aisle during customer selection rather than being removed during usual customer traffic, and by themselves do not provide a ready removal and/or replacement of a number of relatively small articles at one time.

In accordance with the present invention a caddy shelf is detachably mounted to the display shelf and extends forwardly of the display shelf providing a horizontal support surface on which articles in a specially constructed article container are supported. In use each article container is pulled out from the shelf and onto the caddy shelf. The mounting for the caddy shelf is provided by the positioning of a shelf cover prior to the initial placement of the trays thereon and the formation of an insert slot between the display shelf and the shelf cover into which the rear end of the caddy shelf is releasably inserted. The rear portion of the caddy shelf is preferably of a sheet metal such as stainless steel with longitudinally extending ribs for strength and durability. This combination of the shelf modification, caddy shelf and article container provides a method of handling a plurality of articles wherein one or more article containers are placed on the caddy shelf, the articles inspected, counted and restocked if necessary and then are returned to the display shelf, after which the shelf caddy is removed from the display shelf so as not to interfere with usual customer traffic in the store.

The details of this invention will be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a combination store shelf and article handling apparatus according to the present invention with portions of the display shelf broken away to show interior parts;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the article tray shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the article tray of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the demountable tray supporting caddy shelf shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an end elevation view of the caddy shelf shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation view of the caddy shelf shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 7 is a side elevation view showing the caddy shelf supported by the display shelf with one end wall of the shelf assembly removed to show interior parts.

Referring now to the drawings, in FIGS. 1 and 7 there is represented a store shelf assembly including a conventional store display shelf 12 with a downturned tag strip 13 and a pair of opposed parallel-spaced sidewalls 14 and 15 supporting the shelf in a horizontal position. A plurality of stock articles 16 are shown arranged in a plurality of article containers 17 in the form of trays arranged side by side and supported by the display shelf 12. One article container 17 is shown in a removed position on a caddy shelf 18. The caddy shelf 18 is detachably mounted to and projects forwardly of the display shelf 12 in a position in line with the article container to be removed that is readily accessible to the user to permit articles in the removed tray 17 to be visually inspected, faced forwardly allowing fresh merchandise to be rotated easily, counted for inventory, and replaced after being restocked, as desired.

In the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the article container 17 is generally box-like having a flat bottom wall 21, an upright back 22 perpendicular to the bottom wall, and opposed upright parallel-spaced sidewalls 23 and 24 perpendicular to the bottom wall and defines a generally box-shaped article that is open at the front and top. The perpendicular sidewalls permit the containers 17 to butt against one another side by side on the display shelf for maximum utilization of shelf space. The left sidewall 23 as viewed from the front has a rear portion 27 of uniform height with a horizontal top edge 28 and a front portion 29 of varying height that extends forwardly and downwardly with an inclined top edge 31. The right sidewall 24 as viewed from the front has a rear portion 33 of uniform height with a horizontal top edge 34 and a front portion 35 of varying height with a forwardly and downwardly inclined top edge 36. The right sidewall 24 begins to taper closer toward the back wall and to a lower point relative to the base to form a forward wall portion 37 on the left sidewall that is higher than the right sidewall which serves as a gripping surface for the user.

This container 17 is preferably made of a durable material such as plastic which can be readily formed from a flat sheet into the tray-like open box shape shown. Container 17 preferably has a length substantially corresponding to the depth of the display shelf and a width considerably less than the length of the display shelf to permit a plurality of containers to be disposed side by side on the display shelf.

The caddy shelf 18 shown is in the form of a relatively thin, flat-sided sheet of material having a generally rectangular shape and has a rear insert portion 41 and a forward shelf portion 42 that provides a flat top surface area of a size sufficient to support at least one container 17. The rear insert portion 41 is preferably made of a rigid sheet metal such as a sheet of stainless steel formed with three laterally spaced longitudinal ribs 47 for added strength and has rounded corners 48 for safety. The forward shelf portion 42 shown is preferably made of a pressed board having a rear portion that overlays a front portion of the stainless steel portion 41 and is shown attached to the stainless steel portion 41 by means of four fasteners in the form of pop rivets 49. The thickness of the pressed board is preferably the same as the shelf cover.

A shelf cover 39 of relatively uniform thickness is shown superposed on the display shelf and a plurality of laterally spaced spacers 45 are provided between a forward bottom surface of the shelf cover 39 and the forward top surface of the display shelf to form an insert or receiving slot 43 into which the rear insert portion 41 of the caddy shelf 18 may readily be inserted and removed.

The spacers 45 are a distance apart related to the width of the insert portion 41 to permit the insert portion to insert therebetween. While only three spacers are shown in FIG. 1, it is preferred to have three more on the opposite side of the center of the shelf with similar spacing. The thickness of the spacers is related to the thickness of the rear insert portion to permit the rear insert portion to slidably insert between the shelf cover and the display shelf in a close or tight fitting relationship so as to be held firmly in place. A vertical thickness of 1/8 inch for spacers 45 has been used and round top stove bolts that are threaded down into a hole in the display shelf have been found suitable. In practice it may be advantageous to fasten the rear end of the insert portion to the rear end of the display shelf by suitable fastening means such as threading a bolt down through both members.

By way of illustration and not limitation, the dimension of a caddy shelf and article container found suitable for this purpose is as follows:

In carrying out an article handling operation in accordance with the present invention, the rear insert portion 41 of the caddy shelf is inserted into the insert or receiving slot 43 between the shelf cover 39 and the display shelf 12 and is firmly supported in the manner of a cantilever. One or more selected article containers 17 containing store articles is removed and placed on the supporting surface of caddy shelf 18 and there the articles are inspected and replaced, or counted as in the case of an inventory situation and refilled if restocking is desired. The filled container is then replaced on the shelf cover and the caddy shelf removed so that there are no projecting surfaces forwardly of the display shelf.

It is apparent that the apparatus and method of the present invention provide a means whereby a number of small articles displayed on store shelves, such as spices, pharmaceuticals and the like, which are not readily counted or seen may be readily handled. Moreover, the use of containers for a plurality of the articles and the detachable caddy shelf facilitate the ready restocking of the display shelves.

The containers also permit a prepackaging of articles thereon for the manufacturer so that the manufacturer may furnish his goods in such containers, and the store may place the goods on the shelf without handling a large number of small articles.

Although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that changes in details of structure may be made without departing from the spirit thereof.