Abstract:
A compactable display is presented using a compactable pusher system constructed from folded sheet material using an elastic band as a biasing element. A unique polygon construction is described for generating increased tension on an elastic band as the polygon is compressed to generate forward biasing of objects in the compactable display. Construction and assembly of the unit is described with a two part construction that is held together by the elastic band using easily accessible connection points for quick assembly with additional access apertures provided for removal of the elastic band for easy disassembly of the display.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/764,100 filed on Jan. 31, 2006 entitled COMPACTABLE PRODUCT PUSHER SYSTEM AND DISPLAY, the whole of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable. 
     REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
     Not Applicable. 
     RESERVATION OF RIGHTS 
     A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to intellectual property rights such as but not limited to copyright, trademark, and/or trade dress protection. The owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records but otherwise reserves all rights whatsoever. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the field of compactable displays. In particular, the present invention relates specifically to a pusher system using compactable components for shipping and easy assembly. 
     2. Description of the Known Art 
     As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, corrugated displays and various types of pusher systems have been previously invented. Patents disclosing information relevant to various display systems include: U.S. Pat. No. 1,271,508, issued to Hall on Jul. 2, 1918; U.S. Pat. No. 2,538,165, issued to Randtke on Jun. 16, 1951; U.S. Pat. No. 3,166,195, issued to Taber on Jan. 19, 1965; U.S. Pat. No. 3,300,166, issued to Wojciechowski on Jan. 24, 1967; U.S. Pat. No. 3,433,546, issued to Cohen on Mar. 18, 1969; U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,093, issued to Field on May 13, 1986; U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,367, issued to Smith on Feb. 9, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,558, issued to Battaglia on Jul. 4, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,454,107, issued to Belanger et al. on Sep. 24, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,464,089, issued to Rankin IV on Oct. 15, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,666,533, issued to Stavros on Dec. 23, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,749,071, issued to Caterinacci on Jun. 15, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,772,888, issued to Burke on Aug. 10, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,820,754, issued to Ondrasik on Nov. 23, 2004; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,889,855, issued to Nagel on May 10, 2005. Each of these patents are hereby expressly incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
     The most relevant information covered by these patents is identified as follows: U.S. Pat. No. 6,454,107, issued to Belanger, et al. on Sep. 24, 2002 is entitled Shipping and display container. The patent abstract notes that this invention teaches a tray-shaped shipping and display container has a support surface for supporting items for display. A pusher member is mounted for sliding movement on the support surface, and is elastically biased in a forward direction so that it continually urges items forward in the container to replace items removed from the front of the container by customers. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,367, issued to Smith on Feb. 9, 1999 is entitled Rapid-deployment display stand. Its abstracts describes its teaching as a display stand that includes a main body of a sleeve-shaped configuration including a first main portion, a second main portion, a pair of foldable side portions pivotably interconnecting the first and second main portions, a first auxiliary portion pivotably connected to the first main portion and extending across at least a part of the open upper end of the tubular formation in the erect condition, and a second auxiliary portion pivotably connecting the first auxiliary portion and depending down from the first auxiliary portion in the erect condition. At least one elastic element is connected to and extends between the lower end of the second main portion and the second auxiliary portion. This element acts directly on the second auxiliary portion and only through the same on the other portions. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,300,166, issued to Wojciechowski on Jan. 24, 1967 is entitled Collapsible automatically set display container. It is cited for the teachings of a rubber band biasing element. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 2,538,165, issued to Randtke on Jan. 16, 1951 is entitled Filing box and follower member. This patent is cited for its teachings of a pusher system using spring biased arms. 
     Thus, it may be seen that these prior art patents are very limited in their teaching and utilization, and an improved pusher system is needed to overcome these limitations. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to an improved compactable display. In accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a compactable display is provided using a compactable housing and a compactable pusher system constructed from folded cardboard sheet and rubber bands. Of particular note is the use of an elastic band to bias a collapsible hinged polygon to generate forward and backward motion. Unique connection apertures and removal access points are provided to allow for quick and efficient construction and tear down of the display. 
     These and other objects and advantages of the present invention, along with features of novelty appurtenant thereto, will appear or become apparent by reviewing the following detailed description of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the following drawings, which form a part of the specification and which are to be construed in conjunction therewith, and in which like reference numerals have been employed throughout wherever possible to indicate like parts in the various views: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a display with a forward biased object on the left and exposed pusher system on the right. 
         FIG. 2  is a cutaway view of the display showing the pusher system housed within the display cabinet. 
         FIG. 3  is an assembly view showing how to assemble the tab to slot connection. 
         FIG. 4  is an assembly view showing how to assemble the elastic band onto the hinge frames of the pusher system. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view showing the assembled pusher system in a partially compacted state. 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a sheet before folding. 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a folded sheet in a slightly compacted position. 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the folded sheet of  FIG. 7  in a further compacted position. 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the two folded sheets that form the different sides of the pusher system. 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view of the two folded sheets in a partially compacted position with the tabs inserted into the slots. 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective view of the folded sheets of  FIG. 10  in a further compacted position. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  of the drawings, one exemplary embodiment of the present invention is generally shown as a pusher display cabinet  100  using an internal pusher system  200  for moving and holding a series of objects  10  with the end object held at the front of the cabinet  100 . In  FIG. 1 , the displayed object  10  is shown in the left portion of the cabinet and the exposed pusher system  200  is shown in the right portion of the cabinet.  FIG. 2  shows a cabinet with the side cutaway to see the pusher system  200  working to bias the objects  10  forward. The Pusher system  200  includes a front distribution frame  300  and a back distribution frame  400  connected by a flexible polygon  500  using an elastic tension element  600  to bias the objects  10  toward the front display side of the cabinet  100 . 
     As shown by  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the cabinet  100  is designed to aesthetically display the objects  10 . The objects  10  are biased against either or both of the upper front catch  102  and lower front catch  103 . As noted by the single use of the lower front catch  103  in  FIG. 1  and the use of both the upper front catch  102  and the lower front catch  103  in  FIG. 2 , different constructions may eliminate or change aspects of the cabinet  100  while still retaining the functionality of the design. The cabinet  100  includes a back base wall  104  that provides a solid foundation for the pusher system  200 . The pusher system  200  is guided in its operation by the top guide wall  106 , bottom slide wall  108 , left guide wall  110 , and right guide wall  112 . Note that a right guide wall  112  for the left most pusher system may also form the left guide wall  110  for the next pusher system  200  located in the adjacent bay of the cabinet. While the catches  102 ,  103 , and walls  106 ,  108 ,  110 , and  112  are generally shown as continuous solid walls or lips, other configurations which retain the holding and/or guiding function may be used to offer variations in the aesthetic appeal of the cabinet  100  without affecting the overall functioning of these components. 
       FIGS. 2  though  11  show the pusher system  200  and its components. The pusher system  200  provides the means to bias the objects  10  toward the front of the cabinet  100 . In this description we have chosen a vertical orientation for the pusher system  200 . The pusher system  200  has a basic top  202  and bottom  204  and a front pushing location  206  and back pushing location  208  which are biased away from each other. This biasing is done with the elastic construction of the pusher system  200  using a left expansion location  210  and right expansion location  212  which are biased toward each other by the elastic tension element  600 . 
     Please note that the preferred embodiment of the pusher system  200  may be completely turned around or rotated horizontally in the cabinet without affecting its biasing operation. This description uses consistent wording based on the preferred embodiment as oriented in the display cabinets shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . Thus, the descriptive terms used herein to describe the top, bottom, left, right, front, and back is consistently used for remaining Figures in accordance with the orientation shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . For example, while the pusher system  200  has been rotated in  FIG. 5  in relation to its orientation in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the descriptive terms remain consistent with the orientation of  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
     Returning to  FIGS. 2 through 11 , one may see that the front distribution frame  300  is located at the front pushing location  206 . The front ends of the first folded sheet  501  and the second folded sheet  517  form the basic elements of the front distribution frame  300 . The front distribution frame  300  is constructed from a front left pushing element  302  and a front right pushing element  304  which are connected together by insertion of the front left tab  306  into the front right slot  308 . Similarly, the back distribution frame  400  is positioned at the back pushing location  208 . The back distribution frame  400  is constructed from the back left pushing element  402  which is connected to the back right pushing element  404  by the insertion of the back left tab  406  into the back right slot  408 . These distribution frames hold the front and back of the flexible polygon  500  in position so that the polygon  500  can bias the objects  10  forward. 
     Moving to  FIGS. 6 through 11 , one can see that the flexible polygon  500  is constructed from the hinges and middle sections of the first folded sheet  501  and the second folded sheet  517 .  FIG. 6  shows an unfolded sheet with the cutouts for the various connections and access apertures.  FIG. 7  shows the sheet folded into a slightly compacted position and  FIG. 8  shows a further compacted position. 
       FIGS. 9 through 11  show the first folded sheet  501  that forms the left hinged frame  502 . The left hinged frame  502  includes the back left hinge  504  that connects through the back left rigid wall segment  506  to the center left hinge  510 . The center left hinge  510  continues the connection forward through the front left rigid wall segment  512  to the front left hinge  516 . The back left rigid wall segment  506  defines the back left catch  508  as a tensioner engagement aperture  534 , and the front left rigid wall segment  512  defines the front left catch  514  as a tensioner engagement aperture  534 . These catches  508 ,  514  provide for the connections to the tensioning device  600  shown in  FIGS. 1 through 4 . Note that a similar construction for the tensioner engagement apertures  534  is used on the other end of the first folded sheet  501  for a second tensioning element  600  as visible in  FIG. 5 . While a central aperture access point and single central tensioning element  600  has been considered, the two end mounted tensioning elements were selected for ease of assembly. 
     As shown by  FIGS. 6 through 11 , one may note a similar rotated construction for the second folded sheet  517  that forms the right hinged frame  518 . The right hinged frame includes the back right hinge  520  that connects through the back right rigid wall segment  522  to the center right hinge  526 . The connection then continues from the center right hinge  526  through the front right rigid wall segment  528  to the front right hinge  532 . The back right rigid wall segment  522  defines the back right catch  524  as a tensioner engagement aperture  534 , and the front right rigid wall segment  528  defines the front right catch  530  as a tensioner engagement aperture  534 . 
     As labeled in  FIG. 10 , the tensioner engagement apertures  534  includes an edge access slot  536  opening to a retention recess  538  with a curved indented end  540 . The indented ends  540  are curved in shape and include soft deformable edges such that they don&#39;t cut into the elastic tension element  600 . this shape also reduces force concentrations at these points on the cardboard used in the preferred embodiment. 
     As shown throughout the Figures and specifically labeled in  FIGS. 5 and 10 , tensioner removal apertures  542  are also provided as gaps in the walls so that a human finger can reach under the path of the rubber band  602  to grasp the elastic tension element  600  for disassembly or tear down of the pusher  200 . This underside access to the elastic band  600  may be seen at the tensioner removal aperture  542  on the right side in  FIG. 5 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  2 ,  4 ,  5 , and as labeled in  FIG. 11 , the elastic tension element  600  is constructed from a rubber band  602  that passes from the back left catch  508  across the center part of the back left rigid wall segment  506  around the center left hinge  510  and then across the front left rigid wall segment  512  to the front left catch  514 . The rubber band  602  is then stretched across the front separation gap  604  to the front right catch  530  and across the front right rigid wall segment  528  to the center right hinge  526 . From the center right hinge  526  the rubber band  602  extends across a portion of the back right rigid wall segment  522  to the back right catch  524  where it cross the back separation gap  606  to reach the back left catch  508  to complete the loop. From this understanding of the rubber band  602  placement, the stretching of the rubber band across the gaps  604 ,  606  may be understood. It is this stretching of the rubber band  602  across the gaps that provides the biasing operation of the pusher system  200 . From this operation, it may also be understood that any type of elastic element may be substituted for the rubber band. Alternative constructions may use metal or plastic springs, elastic straps, etc. 
     The increasing gap size and associated stretching of the rubber band may be understood by comparing the size of the gaps in  FIGS. 10 and 11  associated with the different amounts of compression of the hinge frames  502 ,  518 . As shown in  FIG. 10 , the gaps  604 ,  606  are of a first distance between the two hinge frames  502 ,  518 . Compare the gaps of  FIG. 10  with the gaps of  FIG. 11 . As shown in  FIG. 11 , when the hinge frames  502 ,  518  are compacted, the gaps  604 ,  606  are increased in distance. This increase in distance stretches the elastic tensioner  600  to bias the walls back together which results in the front of the pusher  200  being biased away from the back of the pusher  200 . Also note how the tension provided by the tensioning element  600  works to hold the tab and slot connections together to maintain the integrity of the pusher system  200 . This results in a stable construction for the pusher system  200 . In this manner, a unique pusher has been constructed from compactable elements to reduce shipping volume while still providing an active pushing display system. 
     Reference numerals used throughout the detailed description and the drawings correspond to the following elements:
         Display Cabinet  100     Object  10     Upper Front Catch  102     Lower Front Catch  103     Back Base wall  104     Top guide wall  106     Bottom slide wall  108     Left guide wall  110     Right guide wall  112     Pusher system  200     Top  202     Bottom  204     Front pushing location  206     Back pushing location  208     Left expansion location  210     Right expansion location  212     front distribution frame  300     Front left pushing element  302     Front right pushing element  304     Front left tab  306     Front right slot  308     back distribution frame  400     Back left pushing element  402     Back right pushing element  404     Back left tab  406     Back right slot  408     flexible polygon  500     First folded sheet  501     Left hinged frame  502     Back left hinge  504     Back left rigid wall segment  506     Back left catch  508     Center left hinge  510     Front left rigid wall segment  512     Front left catch  514     Front left hinge  516     Second folded sheet  517     Right hinged frame  518     Back right hinge  520     Back right rigid wall segment  522     Back right catch  524     Center right hinge  526     Front right rigid wall segment  528     Front right catch  530     Front right hinge  532     Tensioner Engagement apertures  534     Edge access slot  536     Retention recess  538     indented end  540     Tensioner removal aperture  542     Elastic tension element  600     Rubber band  602     Separation gap  604     Back separation gap  606         

     From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention well adapted to obtain all the ends and objects herein set forth, together with other advantages which are inherent to the structure. It will also be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims. Many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof. Therefore, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. 
     When interpreting the claims of this application, method claims may be recognized by the explicit use of the word ‘method’ in the preamble of the claims and the use of the ‘ing’ tense of the active word. Method claims should not be interpreted to have particular steps in a particular order unless the claim element specifically referring to a previous element, a previous action, or the result of a previous action. Apparatus claims may be recognized by the use of the word ‘apparatus’ in the preamble of the claim and should not be interpreted to have ‘means plus function language’ unless the word ‘means’ is specifically used in the claim element. The words ‘defining,’ ‘having,’ or ‘including’ should be interpreted as open ended claim language that allows additional elements or structures.