Product management display system with trackless pusher mechanism
AssigneeRTC Industries, Inc.
InventorStephen N. Hardy
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A product management display system for merchandising product on a shelf includes using a trackless pusher mechanism that travels along a surface on which product is placed and one or more dividers for separating product into rows. The one or more dividers may be engaged to a front rail in two different conditions, locked and unlocked. In a locked condition, the relationship between the divider and the front rail resists alteration in any direction with respect to each other. In the unlocked condition, the dividers may be freely slid laterally along the front rail, while remaining perpendicular to the front rail. The one or more dividers may lock to the front rail through the use of corresponding teeth, resilient surfaces, a locking tab, a locking bar and/or a cam.
Claims22
A product management display system comprising:
- a tray defining a surface formed by a plurality of rails,
- a pusher mechanism configured to be mountable on the surface of the tray, the pusher mechanism including a pusher surface and a pusher floor extending forwardly from the pusher surface, wherein the pusher floor is configured to slide across the surface of the tray,
- a coiled spring defining a first end and a coiled second end, wherein the second coiled end is configured to operatively connect behind the pusher surface,
- at least one divider configured to be mountable to the tray for dividing displayed products into rows, and
- a vertical retainer configured to be received by the tray, the vertical retainer extending upwardly from a front portion of the tray,
- wherein the vertical retainer is configured to receive the first end of the coiled spring and the pusher mechanism is configured to be held onto the display system only by the coiled spring.
A method of forming a product management display system comprising:
- forming a tray of a plurality of rails, the tray defining a surface,
- configuring a pusher mechanism to be mountable on the surface of the tray, the pusher mechanism including a pusher surface and a pusher floor extending forwardly from the pusher surface, wherein the pusher floor is configured to slide across the surface of the tray,
- providing a coiled spring defining a first end and a coiled second end and being extendable across the pusher floor, wherein the second coiled end is configured to operatively connected behind the pusher surface,
- providing at least one divider that is mountable to the tray for dividing displayed products into rows,
- providing a vertical retainer configured to be received by the tray, the vertical retainer extending upwardly from a front portion of the tray, and
- configuring the vertical retainer to receive the first end of the coiled spring and configuring the pusher mechanism to be held onto the display system by only the coiled spring.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.