Patent Publication Number: US-2007095767-A1

Title: Gondola extender

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to the field of merchandise displays, more particularly to the displaying of signs in a merchandise environment.  
     DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART  
      Gondola systems have been used to support and display products in a retail environment. In general, a gondola system include one or more gondola uprights, a gondola wall supported by the gondola upright, and one or more shelves supported by either the gondola upright or the gondola wall. The gondola upright may also be mounted on a base.  
      An advantage of the gondola system is that it typically provides shelves on both sides of the gondola wall and therefore is efficient in its use of space.  
      One problem with typical configurations of gondola systems is that there is often a lack of space for displaying advertisements and notifications to the individual walking past the gondola system. Signs can be placed on a front of the shelves but this it problematic because the signs are frequently knocked off or damaged by customers walking by the gondola system.  
      Some gondolas uprights include an opening that could be used to mount a sign. However, mounting a sign on the gondola upright can be problematic because different gondolas often have different sized openings and the opening, if provided, may be occupied or covered by other items. Therefore, it is difficult to systematically place signs on gondola shelf systems so as to provide a desired arrangement in a retail environment.  
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      In an embodiment, a system including a gondola extender for supporting a sign on a gondola shelf system is provided. The gondola extender may be configured to be installed on a gondola upright. The gondola extender may include a restraining arm for securing the gondola extender to the gondola upright. One or more clips may be mounted on a second face and may be configured to support a panel. If desired, an adaptor bracket may be configured to support the gondola extender on a shelf. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limited in the accompanying figures in which like reference numerals indicate similar elements and in which:  
       FIG. 1  illustrates a simplified embodiment of a gondola system in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.  
       FIG. 2  illustrates a simplified embodiment of a gondola upright in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.  
       FIG. 3  illustrates a top view of the gondola depicted in  FIG. 2 .  
       FIG. 4   a  illustrates a front view of an embodiment of an extension in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.  
       FIG. 4   b  illustrates a side view of the extension depicted in  FIG. 4   a.    
       FIG. 5  illustrates an elevated view of an embodiment of an adaptor bracket in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.  
       FIG. 6  illustrates a top view of an embodiment of an adaptor bracket in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.  
       FIG. 7  illustrates a view of the adaptor bracket depicted in  FIG. 6  taken along the line  7 - 7 .  
       FIG. 8  illustrates a view of the adaptor bracket depicted in  FIG. 6  taken along the line  8 - 8 .  
       FIG. 9  illustrates an embodiment of an extension mounted to a gondola upright in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.  
       FIG. 10  illustrates an embodiment of an extension mounted to a shelf in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.  
       FIG. 11   a  illustrates an embodiment of an extension in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.  
       FIG. 11   b  illustrates an alternative embodiment of an extension in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.  
       FIG. 12  illustrates an embodiment of a backing fastened to two extensions in accordance with an aspect of the present invention. 
    
    
      Before the embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including” and “comprising” and variations thereof is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items and equivalents thereof. Further, the use of the term “mount,” “mounted” or “mounting” is meant to broadly include any technique or method of mounting, attaching, joining or coupling one part to another, whether directly or indirectly.  
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      Looking first at  FIG. 1 , an embodiment of a gondola  5  is provided on a base  2 . In an embodiment, the base  2  may be part of the gondola  5 . In an alternative embodiment, the base  2  may be the support surface such as a floor. The gondola  5  may include a gondola upright  10  that may provide structural support for a gondola wall  30 . One or more shelves  35  ( FIG. 9 ) may be mounted on the gondola upright  10 .  
      As can be appreciated, variations in the gondola  5  are possible. For example, in an embodiment the gondola wall  30  and the gondola upright  10  may be combined to form a single piece—not shown. In addition, the gondola  5  may have variations in certain dimensions that will be discussed in greater detail below.  
      Turning to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , an embodiment of a gondola upright  10  is depicted. The gondola upright  10  includes a face  12  and a plurality of notches  15  are provided in the face  12 . As can be appreciated, the notches  15  are depicted as being provided in a pattern  16 . More will be said about the pattern  16  below.  
      The gondola upright  10  further includes a top surface  19  in which an opening  18  is provided. The opening  18  includes an edge  17  and effectively provides a recessed upwardly facing socket  14  on the gondola upright  10 .  
       FIG. 3  further illustrates the top surface  19 . As can be appreciated, the opening  18  is in close proximity to the face  12 . It should be noted that some variation in how the opening  18  is situated with respect to the face  12  is possible. For example, in different gondolas  5  the distance between the opening  18  and the face  12  may vary.  
      Turning to  FIGS. 4   a  and  4   b , an extension  40  is depicted with a face  42  on which a plurality of notches  43  are provided. As depicted, the extension  40  includes a shoulder  45  and a necked portion  46 . The extension  40  includes a restraining arm  47  that is depicted as being mounted to the face  42  and may include an aperture  48 .  
      The extension  40  may be made of cold rolled steel with a powder coating or may be made of other suitable materials with suitable coatings provided as appropriate.  
      As depicted the restraining arm  47  extends along a plane parallel to the face  42  but is some distance away from the necked portion  46 . As will be discussed in greater detail below, this allows the extension  40  to mount to different upwardly facing sockets  14  ( FIGS. 2 &amp; 3 ) having different dimensions.  
      As depicted, the notches  43  are provided in an arrangement  41 . As noted above, the gondola upright  10  may include the plurality of notches  15  in the pattern  16 . While not required, the arrangement  41  may be substantially the same as the pattern  16  from a spacing standpoint so as to allow the extension  40  to provide notches  43  in a way that approximates the pattern  16 . In an alternative embodiment, the arrangement  41  may be configured so as to provide the desired spacing between the notches  43  regardless of the pattern  16  provided on the gondola upright  10 . While matching the patterns of the extension  40  and the gondola upright  10  can be useful, sometimes it is helpful to provide a consistent arrangement on the extension  40  so that whatever is mounted to the extension  40  can use the consistent arrangement without regard to variations in the gondola upright  10 .  
      Turning to  FIG. 9 , an embodiment of an extension  40  mounted to a gondola upright  10  is depicted. As depicted, the shoulder  45  ( FIG. 4   a ) is supported by the edge  17  ( FIG. 2 ). As depicted, the extension  40  includes a first face  42  that includes a plurality of notches  43 . The extension  40  is also mounted to the gondola upright  10  through the restrainer arm  47  and a fastener  60  that engages the gondola upright  10  through the aperture  48  ( FIG. 4   a ).  
      As noted above, sometimes the upwardly facing socket  14  provided in the gondola upright  10  is covered or used by other attachments. For example, a decorative cover (not shown) might be placed over the top surface  19 . However, it may still be useful to mount the extension  40  on the gondola  5  so as to provide a space for advertising or displaying other useful information.  
      Therefore, in an embodiment, some other method of mounting the extension  40  may be helpful. Turning to  FIG. 5 , an adaptor bracket  50  is illustrated. The adaptor bracket  50  includes a base  51  on which an upwardly facing socket  54  is mounted. The upwardly facing socket  54  includes an edge  56  that may be used to support the extension  40 . As depicted, the based  51  further includes a plurality of bracket openings  52 .  
      The base may also include a first finger  53   a , a second finger  53   b , a third finger  53   c , and a fourth finger  53   d . These fingers  53   a - 53   d  may be provided to help mount the adaptor bracket  50  to a shelf  80  ( FIG. 10 ). It should be noted that some other number of fingers  53  is possible but preferably the base  51  will include at least two fingers  53  so as to provide more securing of degrees of freedom.  
       FIGS. 6-8  illustrate an alternative embodiment of the adaptor bracket  50 . As can be appreciated, the base  51  includes a first surface  55  and a second surface  57 . As depicted, the upwardly facing socket  54  is mounted on the first surface  55 . In an embodiment, a socket aperture  58  may be provided in the upwardly facing socket  54  and the socket aperture  58  may be configured so as to be aligned with the aperture  48  in the restraining arm  47 . While alignment is not required, an aligned socket aperture  58  may allow the extension  40  to mount to the adaptor bracket  50  in a more ridged manner.  
      Looking at  FIG. 8 , as can be appreciated, the fingers  53  include an upper surface  59 . In an embodiment, as depicted in  FIG. 8 , a plane formed by the upper surface  59  will be below a plane formed by the second surface  57  when the second surface  57  is positioned on a horizontal shelf  35 . In an embodiment the distance between the upper surface  59  and the second surface  57  will be equal to or slightly less than the material thickness of the shelf  35  so as to provide an interference fit that prevents the adaptor bracket  50  from moving once mounted to the shelf  35  ( FIG. 10 ).  
      Looking at  FIG. 10 , the shelf  35  includes a number of perforations  37 . In an embodiment, the adaptor bracket  50  may include two or more fingers  53  that are configured to be inserted into the perforations  37 . Depending on the how the perforations  37  are situated, an adaptor bracket  50  with two fingers  53  may be capable of being installed in a wider variety of shelves  35 . However, using more fingers  53  will tend to increase the frictional resistance and thus may be helpful in preventing the adaptor bracket  50  from shifting once it is installed.  
      As can be appreciated in  FIG. 10 , the bracket openings  52  may be omitted. In an alternative embodiment, such as depicted in  FIGS. 6-8 , the bracket openings  52  may be provided in an appropriate arrangement. If provided, the bracket openings  52  may be used to fasten the bracket adaptor  50  to the shelf  35 . Such a mounting has the advantage of providing an additional force for holding the adaptor bracket  52  in place but in many situations will be unnecessary. In an embodiment, the fingers  53  may be omitted and the adaptor bracket  50  may be secured to the shelf  35  via one or more fasteners through one or more bracket openings  52 .  
      As noted above, the retraining arm  47  is spaced apart from the necked portion  46 . This can allow for flexibility in how the extension  40  is mounted. For example, the necked portion may fit snuggly within a variety of upwardly facing sockets  14  but may be overly loose in some. In such a situation, the restraining arm  47  allows the extension  40  to be installed and by placing a fastener  60  in the aperture  48  the extension  40  may be secured in position. It should be noted that if the restraining arm  47  is configured to be parallel to the face  42  it will help ensure the extension  40  is positioned in a vertical manner when the fastener  60  is installed and tightened.  
      Turning now to  FIG. 11   a , a side view of an embodiment of an extension  40  is depicted. As depicted, the extension  40  includes the first face  42  and the restrainer arm  47  positioned near the necked portion  46 . The extension  40  also includes a lower clip  81  and an upper clip  82 . It should be noted that the lower and upper clips  81 ,  82  are examples of fastening devices and together form the fastening mechanism  80 .  
      It should be noted that the fastening mechanism  80  may also be other known means of mounting such as hook and loop fasteners, a snap, and the like. As can be appreciated, the fastening mechanism  80  preferably will be design to support a panel  90  ( FIG. 12 ). It should be noted the fastening mechanism  80  may consist of the upper clip  82 , may consist of the lower and upper clip  81 ,  82  or may consist of the lower clip  81 . In an alternative embodiment of the fastening mechanism  80 , additional fastening devices (not shown) may also be used. Thus, depending on the design of the fastening mechanism  80 , and the panel  90 , more or less fastening devices such as the lower clip  81  may be included.  
      Looking next at  FIG. 11   b , an alternative embodiment of an extension  40  is depicted. While similar to the extension  40  depicted in  FIG. 11   a , the extension  40  in  11   b  includes a low clip  81  and an upper clip  82  configured to releasably engage the panel  90  ( FIG. 12 ). As depicted, the clips  81 ,  82  depicted in  FIG. 11   b  are flexible and may be flexed so as to allow the panel  90  to be inserted between a portion of the clip  82  and a second face  49  of the extension  40 .  
      In an embodiment, the fastening mechanism  80  depicted in  FIGS. 11   a  and  11   b  may be a metal clip shaped as depicted in either  FIG. 11   a  or  FIG. 11   b  and the clips may be welded onto the extension  40 . In an alternative embodiment, the clip may be made of other suitable materials such as plastic and may be mounted via any known method of mounting. An advantage of using the welded metal bracket design, however, is that it the extension  40  can be made more robust so as to withstand repeated cycles of use and storage. Furthermore, metal brackets are relatively resilient to repeated flexing and therefore the configuration of lower and upper clips  81 ,  82  depicted in  FIG. 11   b  may be made more robust if the lower and upper clips  81 ,  82  are made of a metal material such as a steel alloy. Another advantage of the design depicted in  FIGS. 11   b  is that the fastening mechanism  80  may be used for a variety of different panels  90  ( FIG. 12 ) and therefore may have greater utility.  
      Turning to  FIG. 12 , a rear view of a panel mounted to two extensions  40  is depicted. As illustrated, the lower and upper clips  81 ,  82  on both extensions  40  are depicted as engaging the panel  90  and holding it in place.  
      It should be noted that the panel  90  may be made of any suitable material such as paper, plastic, cardboard, fabric or even metal. Depending on the intended panel construction, the type of fastener mechanism  80  ( FIG. 11   a ) may be changed so that the extensions  40  are properly configured to support the panel  90 . In alternative embodiments, not shown, more or less extensions  40  may be used to support the panel  90 .  
      The present invention has been described in terms of preferred and exemplary embodiments thereof. Variations and modifications of the foregoing are within the scope of the present invention. It should be understood that the invention disclosed and defined herein extends to all alternative combinations of two or more of the individual features mentioned or evident from the text and/or drawings. All of these different combinations constitute various alternative aspects of the present invention. The embodiments described herein explain the best modes known for practicing the invention and will enable others skilled in the art to utilize the invention. The claims are to be construed to include alternative embodiments to the extent permitted by the prior art.