Merchandising Grapple
OwnerAnthony L. Cameron, Kimberly A. Wrightinventors
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Abstract
A merchandising grapple is disclosed for removing retail items such as beverage cans, bottles, boxes, and the like from shipping containers in groups and placing them in groups on display shelves within a retail establishment. The grapple has spaced features that receive and hold the items in groups of several items and may have a handle for gripping the grapple and a slip joint for adjusting a width of the grapple. A method includes stocking display shelves by removing items in groups from shipping containers and placing them in groups on display shelves.
Claims18
A merchandising grapple for loading articles in groups on a display shelf, the merchandising grapple comprising:
- a pair of spaced apart arms configured to engage and hold a group of articles in a predetermined configuration between the spaced apart arms;
- and
- a handle connected to the pair of spaced apart arms configured to be grasped by a user to manipulate a group of articles held between the spaced apart arms.
A method of removing articles from a shipping container in a group and placing the removed articles in a group on a display shelf for merchandising, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) collecting a plurality of articles from the shipping container using a merchandising grapple configured to receive and hold the group of articles;
- (b) moving the merchandising grapple and the plurality of collected articles out of the shipping container;
- (c) moving the merchandising grapple and the plurality of collected articles to a display shelf;
- (d) moving the merchandising grapple and the plurality of collected articles onto the display shelf;
- and
- (e) retracting the merchandising grapple from the plurality of articles.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.