Adjustable wire divider

A wire divider for installation on a shelf, between the front and rear rows of holes therein, which can be installed on a variety of shelves with slightly different spacings between their front and rear holes, utilizing a divider construction which enables low cost production and reliable installation. The divider includes a plurality of wires forming a gate, including a heavy outer wire extending in a closed path with overlapping ends extending parallel to one another, and a foot which slides along the parallel wire portions and has hooks for reception in the shelf holes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Dividers utilized in stores for mass merchandising, are typically 
constructed of wire fences with hooks at their front and rear ends for 
reception in the holes of shelves. The dividers must be sturdy, 
constructed at low cost, and easily installed on conventional shelves of 
the type that have a row of holes near the front and rear of the shelf. A 
highly successful divider which is in wide use, includes a heavy duty 
outer wire bent into a largely rectangular shape, a number of parallel 
short wires bridging the top and bottom of the outer wire and welded 
thereto, and a pair of hooks welded to the bottom of the outer wire at the 
front and rear of the divider. The outer wire is bent into a rectangular 
loop with the extreme wire ends in line but slightly spaced from one 
another along the bottom of the divider. The hooks can be installed by 
bending the divider to slightly separate the ends of the outer wire, to 
thereby separate the hooks so they can pass through the shelf holes. The 
divider is then released to spring back to its original configuration, 
with the hooks then lying fairly tightly in the shelf holes. Although this 
divider construction is very simple, it requires that the front and rear 
holes of the shelves be spaced a predetermined distance apart, such as 15 
inches plus or minus perhaps 1/32nd of an inch. This is because the 
divider lengthens only about 1/8th inch when bent back, and a spring back 
of about 1/16th of an inch from the extended length is necessary to secure 
the hooks in the shelf holes. 
A problem that has arisen is that different shelf manufacturers have 
adopted slightly different spacings between their front and rear rows of 
holes. For example, for a nominal 14-1/2 inch spacing, different 
manufacturers may utilize a spacing of the holes of between 14-1/4 inches 
to 14-3/4 inches. Accordingly, manufacturers of dividers have had to 
produce and stock many different dividers of the prior art type, all of a 
nominal 14-1/2 inch length but with different dividers designed for 
shelves of different shelf manufacturers. A divider which could be 
securely installed on shelves of the same nominal size but which varied 
appreciably in the spacing between front and rear holes, would greatly 
reduce the number of different sizes which had to be manufactured and 
stocked by a divider manufacturer. However, for any such divider to gain 
acceptance it would have to be producable at a low cost, comparable to 
that of prior art dividers, utilizing primarily the wire bending and 
welding equipment commonly found in divider manufacturing shops, with any 
additional components being easily manufactured in high volume, such as 
simple sheet metal stampings. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a wire divider 
is provided which can be installed on shelves with front-to-rear hole 
spacings, that vary within an appreciable range which can be constructed 
at low cost utilizing primarily wire bending and welding equipment and 
other low cost mass production equipment, and which can be securely 
installed on a shelf. The divider includes a heavy duty outer wire 
extending in a closed largely rectangular path, with the ends thereof 
overlapping and lying parallel to one another along the bottom of the 
divider. A foot with at least one hook thereon for reception in a shelf 
hole, is slidably engaged with both of the parallel wire portions to slide 
thereon without rotation. A spring biases the foot in a direction to keep 
the hook thereof securely engaged in a shelf hole, and to permit sliding 
of the hook sufficiently to enable installation in shelves having the same 
nominal front-to-rear hole spacings but wherein the hole spacings actually 
vary considerably. 
The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the 
appended claims. The invention will be best understood from the following 
description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
As shown in FIG. 1, a typical shelf installation for holding goods in a 
mass-merchandising store, includes a shelf 10 with a forward row of holes 
12 and a rearward row of holes 14 spaced a distance D apart. A fence 16 
lying at the front of the shelf, includes several projections that are 
installed in the front holes 12. A group of dividers 18 are installed 
transverse to the fence, to divide the region above the shelf into several 
different compartments. The divider 18 includes front and rearward hooks 
that hook into the holes 12, 14 respectively, so that dividers can be 
installed at chosen positions along the length of the shelf to divide it 
into compartments of a variety of widths. Both the fence 16 and divider 18 
are constructed primarily of steel wires that are welded together, to 
provide low cost and sturdy see-through walls. 
One prior art type of divider P shown in FIG. 2, included a heavy duty 
outer wire Q that was bent into a largely rectangular loop, with the ends 
R, S substantially abutting one another. A hook T could be installed on a 
rearward hole 14 of the shelf, by bending back the end S of the outer wire 
until the hook T could fit into the hole, as illustrated in FIG. 2. When 
the outer wire was then released, the bent-back wire end S sprung forward 
against the wire end R, to lock the hook T into the hole 14 of the shelf. 
This type of divider required that the distance D between the front and 
rear shelf holes be the same for all shelves, since the hook T could be 
pulled back only about 1/8th inch, and it was necessary that it spring 
back at least about 1/16th inch in order to reliably lock into the shelf. 
However, manufacturers of shelves have adopted a variety of slightly 
different hole spacings. For example, for one nominal size of shelf, one 
manufacturer may utilize a hole spacing D of 14-1/4 inches, another 
manufacturer might utilize a spacing of 14-3/4 inches, and other 
manufacturers might chose a variety of hole spacings in between these 
extremes. A manufacturer of dividers of the type P shown in FIG. 2, had to 
stock a large number of slightly different size dividers, in order to fit 
the shelves of the various shelf manufacturers. A variety of mechanisms 
could be designed to enable the hook T to lock into holes at a variety of 
spacings, if the amount of additional costs was not important. However, 
for any widely adjustable hook locking mechanism to be acceptable, it must 
be readily producable utilizing primarily the wire bending, cutting, and 
welding equipment commonly found in divider manufacturing shops. The 
additional cost of such a mechanism must be low enough that savings are 
realized by manufacturing and stocking such dividers, instead of 
manufacturing and stocking several sizes of the very simple dividers of 
FIG. 2. 
In accordance with the present invention, a divider 18 as best shown in 
FIGS. 1 and 3-8 is provided, which can be installed on shelves whose 
front-to-rear hole spacings vary somewhat, and which can be constructed at 
low cost utilizing primarily the wire bending, cutting, and welding 
equipment found in divider manufacturing shops. The divider 18 includes an 
outer heavy duty wire 20 (FIG. 3) which extends in a largely rectangular 
loop, with end portions 22, 24 that overlap along the bottom edge of the 
divider near one end thereof such as the rearward end. The divider 
includes several smaller gauge wires 26 that extend primarily vertically, 
and are welded to the outer wire 20. The divider includes a forward foot 
with a hook 28 that pass through a pair of the forward holes 12 of a 
shelf, and a rearward foot 30 with hooks 32 that are received in the 
rearward holes 14 of the shelf. The foot 30 is slidably mounted on the two 
wire end portions 22, 24 to slide longitudinally thereon, so that the 
rearward hooks 32 can fit into rearward shelf holes 14 lying within a 
range of distances from the forward shelf holes 12. 
As best shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the foot 30 is a sheet metal part, with a 
plate-like middle portion 34 extending parallel to the wire portions 22, 
24 and lying slightly below the lowermost wire portion 24, and with a pair 
of upstanding end flanges 36, 38. Each of the flanges 36, 38 has a hole 
40, 42 that slidably receives the wire end portion 24, to permit the foot 
to slide longitudinally and be retained on the divider. In addition, each 
flange includes a cut-out or recess portion 44, 46 which is engaged with 
the upper wire portion 22, so that the upper wire portion 22 can avoid 
rotation of the foot about its axis of sliding. 
A spring 48 biases the foot 30 in a forward direction, as indicated by 
arrow F, to lock the hooks 32 of the foot securely into the rearward shelf 
holes. The coil spring 48 surrounds the lower wire end portion 24, and 
lies between the two flanges 36, 38 of the foot. A clip 50 which is welded 
in place, abuts the rearward end of the coil spring to prevent it from 
moving rearwardly, and thereby enable the spring to press the foot 
forwardly. The clip 50 is constructed of a short strip of metal bent into 
a U-shape, installed with the curve of the U extending about the lowermost 
wire portion 24, as shown in FIG. 7, and with its leg ends welded at the 
two spots 52 to opposite sides of the upper wire portion 22. The bottom of 
the clip, at 54, can be deformed slightly downwardly, to more securely 
abut an end of the spring, although the clip will in any case prevent 
rearward movement of the spring. 
The divider 18, including the sliding foot mechanism 60 thereof, can be 
constructed primarily of bent and welded wires, for which divider 
manufacturing shops are set up with the addition of simple sheet metal 
parts and simple coil springs. The divider can be constructed by first 
bending the outer wire 20 into a largely rectangular closed loop, with its 
ends 22, 24 overlapping and extending parallel to one another, as shown. 
The preformed sheet metal foot 30, spring 48, and clip 50, can all be 
installed by merely slipping them in a forward direction onto the rear of 
the wire portion 24. The cross wires 26 of the divider, and the clip 50, 
can then be all welded together, to provide a finished divider. A number 
of identical dividers can be stocked for use on shelves manufactured by a 
variety of manufacturers utilizing slightly different distances D between 
their forward and rearward holes. In one divider that has been 
constructed, the foot 30 was slidable by slightly more than 1/2 inch (by 
9/16 inch) to enable installation on shelves whose hole spacings varied 
between 14-1/4 and 14-3/4 inches. It was found that the coil spring 
provided even better locking action than the typical prior art 
construction shown in FIG. 2, to provide a more stable divider. The bottom 
surface 34b (FIG. 5) of the sliding foot lay only about 1/16th inch below 
the lower edge of the lower wire portion 24, so that the lower wire edge 
18e lay very close to and extended substantially parallel to the shelf. 
Thus, the invention provides shelf dividers which can be installed on 
shelves with hole spacings that vary within an appreciable range, and 
which can be constructed at low cost utilizing primarily the normal wire 
bending, cutting, and welding equipment found in divider manufacturing 
shops plus a minimum number of simple sheet metal parts and springs. This 
can be accomplished by a divider that utilizes an outer wire of the type 
normally bent into a substantially rectangular loop, wherein the ends of 
the loop overlap and extend parallel to one another along the bottom edge 
portion of the divider, such as along the rearward end of the lower 
divider edge. A locking foot with hooks thereon, can be installed on the 
two parallel wire portions, to permit slidable movement of the foot, but 
with the two wire portions preventing rotation of the foot around its axis 
of sliding. A coil spring extending about one of the wire portions biases 
the foot, while a simple clip welded to the wire portions abuts the spring 
to hold it in place. 
Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described and 
illustrated herein it is recognized that modifications and variations may 
readily occur to those skilled in the art, and consequently, it is 
intended that the claims be interpreted to cover such modifications and 
equivalents.