Abstract:
An electronic shelf label holder for mounting to both scanner plates and wire merchandise supports, such as wire racks or baskets, that are used in connection with retail merchandising. The label holder includes a holding portion for holding an ESL and a mounting portion that can be utilized for mounting to both scanner plates and wire racks. When mounted to scanner plates, the label holder can be oriented in different directions.

Description:
[0001]     This application claims the benefit of, and priority from, provisional application Ser. No. 60/623,865 filed Nov. 2, 2004. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     This invention relates to label holders, particularly an electronic shelf label (ESL) holder capable of mounting to both scanner plates and wire merchandise supports, such as wire racks or baskets, used in connection with retail merchandising. The ESL holder is mountable to the scanner plate in different orientations.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     Electronic shelf labels are increasingly utilized in retail establishments in place of, or in addition to, paper and plastic information-carrying labels. These ESLs are generally integrated with an in-store processor or a free-standing controller that communicates with file information supporting the store&#39;s point of sale system. The ESL system may include low voltage communication electronics or communication base stations located in store ceilings away from the store operations. The ESLs are positioned throughout the store to identify an item&#39;s retail price and other information of interest to the consumer and/or for use by the store&#39;s inventory system. Price changes can be initiated through the controller to update item price files.  
         [0006]     Electronic shelf labels, attachable to ESL holders which, in turn, are attachable to the front edge of store shelving are known. As described in commonly-assigned, pending application Ser. No. 10/448,049 filed on May 30, 2003, published on Dec. 30, 2004 under Publication No. 20040262470, an ESL such as those produced by NCR under its DecisioNet™ trademark are shown mounted to shelving, including C-channels. Among the embodiments disclosed includes an ESL holder member that engages with an attachment member which in turn is connected to the shelving or C-channel thereof. The attachment member includes a multiplicity of T-shaped protrusions and the holder includes a plurality of fingers that define gaps that are either snapped over or slid about the T-shaped protrusions. Thus, the holder can be positioned at different angular orientations with respect to the attachment member.  
         [0007]     In U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,990 issued Sep. 19, 2000, an electronic shelf label holder is described to include an adaptor where the holder is connected with the adaptor in different locations through a separate fastener element.  
         [0008]     Fixed angle ESL holders are described in commonly-assigned, pending application Ser. No. 60/616,845 filed on Oct. 8, 2004, and non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 11/245,441 filed Oct. 7, 2005, incorporated by reference herein. There, the ESL is retained to the holder by a flexible PVC bead on the holder wall which engages the back of the ESL and a downwardly-oriented flexible lip that engages the ESL.  
         [0009]     The ESL holders described above are attachable to shelf components such as the C-channels or directly to the front edge of the shelving. However, a need has arisen for using ESLs outside the context of direct connection to shelving components. In commonly-assigned co-pending application Ser. No. 10/959,436 filed Oct. 7, 2004, published Apr. 14, 2005 under Publication No. US 2005/0076554 A1, a label holder, including an ESL holder, is provided for mounting on a supporting surface formed of wire, such as a wire basket, a wire rack, a wire shelf, or the like.  
         [0010]     Each of the ESL holders described above is intended for use with a single type of mounting surface, either a channel or a wire basket, but not both. A need has arisen for ESL holders that can be mounted to various merchandise display configurations.  
         [0011]     One common merchandise display is a scanner plate arrangement that is commonly found in supermarkets, pharmacies and the like, and is often carried by an apertured board or other supporting surface. Generally, these scanner plate or hook assemblies comprise a pair of interconnected, vertically-spaced, horizontally extending hooks or elements cantilevered forwarded from a proximal mounting portion. The distal end of the upper hook may have a right-angled cross bar to which a flat scanner plate is welded thereto. The flat scanner plate is adapted to carry a label, typically of paper, or a label holder. The lower hook may be a single forwardly-extending element for slidably receiving a plurality of products, such as plastic encased products with an aperture or slot. With the advent of electronic shelf labels, a need has arisen for the scanner plate assemblies to support such an electronic shelf label.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012]     It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a highly versatile label holder, particularly an ESL holder, adapted for affixing to wire supporting surfaces, such as baskets, racks, or shelves.  
         [0013]     It is further an object of the present invention to provide a label holder, particularly an ESL holder, that is mountable to a scanner plate.  
         [0014]     It is still further an object of the present invention to provide a single holder, such as an ESL holder, that is capable of mounting to both a scanner plate and a wire support structure, such as a wire basket, thus eliminating the need for separate dedicated holders for different merchandise display arrangements.  
         [0015]     Still further, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ESL holder that is mountable to a scanner plate in different orientations to direct the label holder upwardly, downwardly, or neutrally, i.e., straightforward, depending upon the position of the wire hook to which the scanner plate is attached.  
         [0016]     Other and further objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the ensuing description and claims taken in conjunction with the attached drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]     These and other objects, features and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be better understood by those of ordinary skill in the art in connection with the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings wherein:  
         [0018]      FIG. 1  depicts a merchandise display hook arrangement with a scanner plate as is known in the art;  
         [0019]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a wire basket or rack used for merchandise display purposes as is well known in the art;  
         [0020]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional or side view of the novel label holder of the present invention;  
         [0021]     FIGS.  4 ( a ),  4 ( b ) and  4 ( c ) depict the label holder of  FIG. 3  mountable to the scanner plate in a downward, neutral and upward direction, respectively;  
         [0022]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional or end view of the label holder of  FIG. 3  mountable to a wire basket; and  
         [0023]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional or end view of the label holder of  FIG. 3  mountable to a wire basket. 
     
    
       [0024]     Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.  
       DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0025]     In describing a preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake of clarity. However, the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific terms so selected, and it is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose.  
         [0026]     Referring now to the drawings, the novel ESL holder  10  is depicted in side profile or cross-sectional view in  FIG. 3 . This label holder is mountable to scanner plate assemblies  100  of the type shown in  FIG. 1  and wire supports  200 , such as wire baskets, of the type as shown in  FIG. 2 . In  FIG. 1 , a scanner plate  102  is of generally rectangular or square shape which traditionally would form a support surface for a label or a label holder. The scanner plate  102  is secured to the distal end of an upper hook  104  at a right angle bend thereof. The upper hook  104  is disposed upwardly from a lower hook  106  which would receive the merchandise or blister packs as is well known in the art. Each of these hooks  104 ,  106  are supported from a proximal mounting portion, such as a pegboard  108 .  
         [0027]     The wire merchandise support  200 , such as a wire rack or basket, includes generally horizontally-oriented wire rods  202  and vertically-oriented wire rods  204 . The vertically-oriented rods  204  may be angled forwardly as is shown in  FIG. 5 , to be described.  
         [0028]     The ESL holder  10  of  FIG. 3  includes a mounting portion  12  for mounting to a scanner plate or wire support, and a holder portion  14  for holding the ESL. The holder portion  14  may be one of several different types of arrangements, only one of which is shown. The holder portion  14  shown in  FIG. 3  is of the type described in commonly assigned, co-pending application Ser. No. 60/616,845 filed Oct. 8, 2004, and non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 11/245,441 filed Oct. 7, 2005, incorporated by reference herein. As is described, a small rib or bead  60  of flexible polymer, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), is shown at  60  and can be provided on the inside surface  62  of a rear wall  64  of the holder  10  to interact with the rear surface of an ESL device (not shown) and will assist in preventing the ESL device from sliding horizontally (into or out of the page) within the holder. The rib  60  coacts with an upper finger  80  which includes a flexible lip portion  82  oriented downwardly. The lip portion  82  is of relatively soft PVC that is flexible, compressible, and generally of the same material as the rib or bead  60 . The flexible bead  60  is oriented at a 90 degree angle with respect to the flexible lip  82  to assist in providing a secure attachment of the ESL. The flexible lip  82  is readily angularly distortable and makes insertion of the ESL relatively easy. However, when the ESL is positioned therewithin, the compressive force is high, thus making accidental removal relatively difficult.  
         [0029]     The overall ESL holder  10  is preferably formed of a relatively rigid PVC plastic material and is sufficiently robust to receive and carry an ESL device (not shown). ESL devices generally will have protruding portions defining slots at their upper and lower portions thereof. Accordingly, the holder portion  14  includes complementary fingers  80 ,  90  or the like which, together with the rear wall  64 , will secure the ESL device to the holder  10 .  
         [0030]     The ESL holder portion  14  also includes a means for retaining a cover member (not shown) thereto, as is known in the art. The cover member is secured to the holder through the C-shaped element  86  at the upper end of the holder; the lower end  92  of the holder portion  14  includes a detent  93  to receive a cover member hook.  
         [0031]     It is the mounting portion  12  of the ESL holder that is novel to this invention. The mounting portion  12  includes an upper series of ridges  20 ,  22 ,  24  extending rearwardly from, and integral with, the top region  52  of the rear wall  64 . A lower series of ridges  30 ,  32 ,  34  extends rearwardly from the bottom region  54  of the rear wall  64 . At least three upper grooves  21 ,  23 ,  25  are defined by the upper ridges and include soft or flexible PVC pads  28  coextruded within each groove. Similarly, at least three bottom grooves  31 ,  33 ,  35  are defined by the lower ridges and have integrally formed flexible PVC pads  38  coextruded within the grooves. The most rearwardly set of grooves  21 ,  31  are generally aligned vertically as are the middle set  23 ,  33  and forwardly oriented grooves  25 ,  35 .  
         [0032]     Extending arcuately from the rear wall  64  is an arcuate finger  70  with a flexible PVC bead or ridge  72  at its free end. A similarly shaped arcuate finger  80  extends from the region adjacent the ridge  20  and also includes a flexible PVC edge  82  coextruded therewith. The free ends of each of these fingers  70 ,  80  face each other as is shown in  FIG. 3 . The free end adjacent the bottom ridge  30  includes a flexible bead  84  also coextruded of PVC.  
         [0033]     The length and height of the ESL holder or carrier may vary within the scope of the present invention. For most applications, the length of the ESL, i.e., into the page as shown in  FIG. 3 , will generally be of a size to be supported on a typical scanner plate  101  as shown in  FIG. 1 . The ESL holder  10  can be longer than the length of the scanner plate shown in  FIG. 1 , but not appreciably, so as to enable a firm support for the holder  10 .  
         [0034]      FIG. 4  shows the ESL holder  10  of the present invention mounted to the scanner plate  102  in each of three different orientations. As shown in  FIG. 4 ( a ), the ESL holder  10  is oriented so that the upper edge of the scanner plate lies in the rearwardmost slot or groove  21  of the upper ridge support and the bottom edge of the scanner plate lies in the groove  35  adjacent the back wall  64 . As can be seen, this orients the ESL holder  10  in a downward direction. The flexible PVC pads within the grooves provide for a taut mounting. The grooves are dimensioned such that, with the flexible pads coextruded therewithin, their width is less than or just equal to the scanner plate thickness to enable the holder to be firmly mounted. In  FIG. 4 ( b ), the upper and lower edges of the scanner plate are disposed within the intermediate or middle slots or grooves  23 ,  33  of the upper and lower ridge members, respectively. Finally, in  FIG. 4 ( c ), the scanner plate upper and lower edges are mounted so as to orient the ESL holder in an upward direction. Thus, the ESL holder can be mounted to a scanner plate in three different orientations depending upon the height that the scanner plate is located with respect to the viewing consumer.  
         [0035]      FIGS. 5 and 6  show the ESL holder  10  of  FIG. 3  mountable to a wire merchandise support, such as a wire basket. As can be seen, the arcuate forward finger  70  tightly receives the wire  202  and the bottom flexible bead  84  rests against the vertical wire rod  204  to provide an angular support. The arcuate finger  80  is slightly compressed against the rods  204  to provide a spring-like force. That is, the arcuate finger  80  and the bottom series of ridges, through the bead  84  is stressed to provide a tight spring-like grip against the rods  204 . Note that the ESL holder  10  is oriented with respect to the vertical  204  and horizontal rods  202  in only a single orientation. In  FIG. 5 , however, the vertical rod is angled forwardly which provides for a neutral orientation of the holder.  
         [0036]     The foregoing descriptions and drawings should be considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. As noted, the invention may be configured in a variety of shapes and sizes and is not limited by the dimensions of the preferred embodiment. Other similar modifications to the disclosed embodiments can also be made within scope of the instant inventive concepts. Thus, the foregoing descriptions and drawings should be considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention.