Patent Publication Number: US-6213316-B1

Title: Clip strip

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to merchandise display devices and more particularly to such devices that are commonly referred to as “clip strip” merchandise hangers for the presentation and display of a plurality of individually wrapped or packaged items usually as impulse purchase items. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Merchandising strip devices are well known in the art to support volumes of generally small, high-volume merchandise in addition to those that can be carried by the conventional shelving. Such devices are particularly well suited for the display and presentation of impulse and point-of-purchase items. 
     To meet the variety of needs and desires for such clip strip display devices, a broad spectrum of such devices have been designed, manufactured and sold. 
     Among the many strip merchandising devices that have been suggested is that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,916, to Valiulis that describes an adjustable strip merchandising device comprising an elongated plastic strip that is holed at an upper end thereof so that the strip may be vertically suspended from an existing shelf and a plurality of individual sections that are divided by transversely extending score lines that permit sections of the strip to be folded and reattached to the suspending member. Merchandise display is provided by a plurality of individual axially spaced suspension hooks that face upwardly and are sandwiched between downwardly facing and outer stabilizing fingers. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,718,627, to Fast and 5,553,721 to Gebka, teach substantially identical variations of the clip strip arrangement of Valiulis. 
     Another common variety of clip strip, is that of the type taught by U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,012 to Simmons which describes a strip hanger specifically useful for supporting bags of potato chips and similar snack products and which includes an elongate base upon one side of which is formed in longitudinally extending fashion a plurality of individual lever portions. The lever portions are each provided by elongated members that are arranged at spaced apart distances from the base by a central pivot or fulcrum point. Pressing on a rear side of the lever causes a corresponding front side to pivot outwardly and an inwardly flanged portion to unseat from an associated groove defined within the face of the body. When released, the inwardly flanged portion pinches an edge of the product bag or the like allowing it to suspend from the strip. 
     Other similar such devices are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,546,943 and 4,497,464 to Fast, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,683,003 to Gebka, 5,957,422 to Shea, 5,199,578 to Pendergraph et al, 4,573,590 to Ellis and U.S. Design Pat. Nos. Des. 367,574 to Werner and Des. 309,252 to Crowley. 
     While all of the foregoing provide useful merchandising display devices, they share a number of common shortcomings. Primarily, their design and construction does not permit the display of a plurality of items that individually weigh more than a few ounces. This is particularly true of the clip-type devices described by Simmons in U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,012, however most of the prior art devices lack the physical strength to support heavier sale items. Many of the devices provide open hooks for the attachment of the displayed items. This arrangement often results in the accidental removal of more than one display item particularly when the item removed lies below and overlying item much to the dismay, dissatisfaction and embarrassment of the customer. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides an integrally molded, one-piece merchandise display device capable of supporting a plurality of “heavy” product items, i.e. in excess of several pounds each. The device of the present invention comprises a backbone or primary supporting member having a mounting member extending from one side thereof near its upper end. A plurality of vertically arranged rigid upstanding hooks extend from the side thereof opposing that from which the mounting member extends. Each of the rigid upstanding hooks has a resilient downstanding flange extending thereabove from the backbone. This structural arrangement permits easy insertion of product for display onto the rigid upstanding hooks while permitting ready removal of displayed product therefrom by deflection of the downstanding flange without the possibility of accidental removal of an overlying displayed product item when a lower displayed item is removed. An upstanding flange extending from the upper extremity of the backbone permits attachment of a tag or other device that displays pricing or other information. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the clip strip device of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     According to the present invention, there is provided an improved integrally molded, one-piece clip strip merchandise display device demonstrating the capability of supporting substantially larger loads than prior art such devices while inhibiting the accidental removal of additional displayed product when a first product item is being removed therefrom. A mechanism is also provided for the attachment of a tagging device for the presentation of pricing or other product information. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, the clip strip  10  of the present invention comprises: 1) a backbone or primary support  12 ; 2) a mounting member  14 ; 3) a plurality of rigid upstanding display hooks  16  extending from backbone  12 ; 4) resilient downstanding flanges  18  each associated with an upstanding display hook  16 ; and 5) at the upper extremity of backbone  12  upstanding flange  20  for the attachment of a tag presenting pricing or other product information. 
     Clip strip  10  is preferably of a one-piece molded construction formed from a suitable polymeric material such as nylon, polyethylene, polypropylene, etc. 
     Mounting member  14  extends from the side of backbone  12  opposite that from which the plurality of rigid upstanding hooks  16  extends. Mounting member  14  may be of any suitable shape to engage an appropriate aperture in shelving or other display fixtures. Preferably, mounting member  14  extends downwardly, i.e., at an angle of less than about 90° at the upper end  15  of backbone  12  below upstanding flange  20  that provides a place to attach a tag or other device for presentation of pricing or other product information. 
     Rigid upstanding hooks  16  are spaced at any suitable interval vertically along the surface of backbone  12  opposite that from which mounting member  14  extends. The spacing of rigid upstanding hooks  16  will depend upon the particular product being displayed and their relative placement is in no way critical to the successful practice of the present invention. Rigid upstanding hooks  16  may also be of any suitable diameter or shape so long as they provide adequate engagement of apertures, slots, etc. in the packaging of or the product being displayed. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, all members of clip strip  10  except resilient flanges  18  are approximately round in cross-section to provide the maximum ease of handling and product attachment because of the rounded edges of such a configuration. Rigid upstanding hooks  16  should be of a size and shape to readily accept the product to be displayed and accordingly, their size and shape may be widely varied depending upon the final product application. Cross-sectional diameters for both backbone  12  and rigid upstanding hooks  16  of between about ⅛″ and ½″ have been found suitable for most applications although larger or smaller diameters are equally useful. As an example, a clip strip of the present invention was found capable of supporting in excess of five pounds on each of five rigid upstanding hooks when the backbone and hook diameter were both approximately ⅛″. A radius of from about ¼″ to about ¾″ for rigid upstanding hooks  16  is preferred for most applications although larger or smaller radii can be used for a variety of product applications. 
     Important elements of the clip strip of the present invention are resilient downstanding flanges  18  and their location relative to rigid upstanding hooks  16 . In order to obtain optimum utility from clip strip  10 , it is necessary the extreme outer tips  19  of resilient flanges  18  address tips  17  of rigid upstanding hooks  16  in a manner such that a product or product package attached by engagement with rigid upstanding hook  16  cannot be readily removed therefrom without either tearing the packaging of the applied/attached product by, for example downward movement, or rearward deflection of resilient flange  18  such that tip  17  no longer addresses tip  19 , and the product can be readily removed vertically from rigid hook  16 . Stated more simply, tips  17  and  19  must be in “end-to-end” relationship, in order to provide the desired result. Of course, tip  19  of resilient flange  18  can overlap tip  17  of rigid upstanding hook  16 , i.e. lie just inside of rigid upstanding hook  16  and such a configuration is intended to be within the definition of “end-to-end-relationship”. The presence of resilient flanges  18  inhibits the accidental removal of product or product packaging when another item is being removed from clip strip  10  while allowing easy removal thereof when intended. 
     Resilient flanges  18  can be of any suitable configuration and size that permits operation as just described, however, a flat shape having its broadest surface parallel to backbone  12  has been found preferable in operation and use. It is also preferred as shown in FIG. 1 that tips  17  and  19  be in a directly facing, but spaced apart relationship for optimum operation. 
     The final element of clip strip  10  is upstanding flange  20  that permits attachment of product or pricing information. Upstanding flange  20  should be rigid and configured such that a tag or other device containing the required information can be inserted thereover, but not easily or accidentally removed. Accordingly, upstanding flange  20  preferably extends from the same side of backbone  12  as rigid upstanding hooks  16  and is shaped such that its extremity  21  extends over and in relatively close proximity to extremity  15  of backbone  12 . 
     There has thus been described, a novel, low cost, integrally molded, one-piece clip strip device capable of supporting relatively heavy product items that concurrently provides a mechanism for inhibiting the accidental removal of a second item when a first is being selected. 
     As the invention has been described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the same may be varied in many ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Any and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.