Abstract:
A merchandise display system having a rack and prong members is arranged for displaying and vending plural articles of merchandise (e.g. belts) of a respective style, with articles of each of these styles being in plural groups of different sizes. A plurality of prong members projecting outward from the base have a first indicium associated therewith, represented by an associated style color. A plurality of hang tags for suspending the articles from the prong members have the same color as the associated style color of the given prong member, for matching the hang tag with a respective prong member. The style colors of the first indicia is used to distinguish by style, origin or price. Each of the hang tags further include a second indicium associated therewith, represented by an associated size color to distinguish the articles by size, each size having a distinctive associated size color. Accordingly, the two indicium of colors are used to segregate the articles on the rack by both style and size.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to display fixtures, and more particularly to racks for displaying and vending merchandise, such as belts. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Belts are commonly vended by suspending them from belt racks. Generally, the belts are arranged on the racks by size, with various styles of belts being co-mingled within a given size. The advantage of displaying belts on a rack, as opposed to packaging them in boxes, is that a customer can view the entire belt and try it on without the necessity of having to remove it from the box. When it is removed from a box, the customer may not necessarily replace it in the box, when placing the box back on a counter. 
     One of the problems of utilizing earlier types of belt racks is that quite often, customers will remove the belt from its suspending bar, and replace the belt on a different bar. Quite often, the belt is not replaced with belts of a similar size. This creates a major problem for a store attempting to maintain inventory of given sizes of belts, and in addition, it prevents a customer from noticing that a belt in his/her size is available, since he/she will only look at belts on the portion of the rack containing his/her size. 
     One partial solution to the aforementioned problem has been the provision of a color-coding system for the belts. Utilizing the color-coded system, all of the belts that are on display are provided with a color code which separates belts as to size. For instance, all small belts would be coded brown, all medium belts would be coded yellow, all large belts would be coded red, and all extra large belts would be coded green. In this way, the store can maintain the integrity of the sizes by arranging the belts in their proper colors. 
     One problem remaining with the aforementioned coding system is that there is no way of segregating the belts as to style. Thus, sport belts, dress belts, fabric belts, etc. will all be co-mingled under a given size. This creates an inconvenience for the customer who is only looking for a particular style of belt. Furthermore, the store has no ready way of maintaining inventory between different styles because all of the styles are co-mingled within a given size range. The store can accordingly have twelve belts of one style in a given size, while only having one belt of a different style in the same size. That problem has been obviated by my earlier invention which is subject of U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,576, now expired, whose disclosure is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     That invention comprises a fixture supporting plural belt racks thereon for display in vending. The belt racks comprise a plurality of sections, with each of the sections having indicia thereon, the indicia comprising a different color for each section, each section having a plurality of spokes thereon and a plurality of hang tags for suspending belts from the spokes, with each hang tag in a given section having the same color as the color indicium of the section, and with the colors being used to separate the belts by style. For example, all sport belts would be coded black, all dress belts would be coded blue, and all fabric belts would be coded purple. In this way, the store can maintain the integrity of the styles by arranging the belts in their proper colors. 
     The one problem remaining with the aforementioned coding system is that there&#39;s no system for segregating the belts as to both style and size. Thus, when using a color-coding system where all of the belts that are on display are provided with a color code which separates belts as to size, different styles of belts will be co-mingled under a given size, which creates an inconvenience for the customer who is only looking for a particular style of belt. Likewise, under a color-coding system where all the belts that are on display are provided with a color code which separates belts as to the style, belts of different sizes will be co-mingled under a given style, creating an inconvenience for the customer who is only looking for a particular size, and the customer will only look at belts on the portion of the rack believed to be containing his/her size. 
     Hence, a need presently exists to provide a fixture for a rack of belts that can be easily segregated as to both style and size. 
     OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, it is a general object of this invention to provide a rack for displaying and vending merchandise which substantially overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art. 
     It is another object of this invention to provide a rack for displaying and vending merchandise that is adapted to separate belts by both size and style. 
     It is another object of this invention to provide a rack for displaying and vending merchandise which is arranged to be readily mounted on a fixture or other support. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     These and other objects of this invention are accomplished as a whole, or in part, by providing a display system for displaying and vending articles of merchandise (e.g. belts, ties, socks, suspenders, undergarments, cosmetics, and jewelry) from a fixture or other support. The articles are displayed by the rack in groups of different styles and different sizes. 
     The rack basically includes a base and a plurality of prong members that project outward from the base. Each projecting prong member has a first indicium (e.g. head portion, depending strap) associated therewith represented by an associated color. 
     The rack also includes a plurality of hang tags for suspending the articles from the prong members. Each of the hang tags is associated with a given prong member and is the same color as the associated prong member. The associated colors of the first indicia are used to distinguish the article by style (e.g. dress, sport, fabric), origin or price. 
     Each of the hang tags also has a second indicium (e.g. alphanumeric character) associated therewith. The second indicium is represented by another associated color for distinguishing the article by size, such that each size has a distinctive associated color. 
     In accordance with one preferred aspect of the invention, the size colors are different than the style colors such that the size colors are distinguishable from the style colors. 
     In accordance with another preferred aspect of the invention, the second indicia is an alphanumeric character or characters indicative of the size of the merchandise. For example, the character(s) can be a number, (e.g. 30, 32, 34, 36, etc.) or a letter, (e.g. S, “Small”; M, “Medium”; L, “Large”; XL, “Extra-Large”, etc.). The second indicia is preferably located at a tab extension of the hang tags so it can be more easily observed. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other objects and many attendant features of this invention will become readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the display rack in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line  2 — 2  of FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view showing a hang tag and a portion of a belt adapted to be placed thereon. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now in greater detail to the various figures of the drawing, wherein like reference characters refer to like parts, a rack  10  for displaying and vending merchandise constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is generally shown in FIG.  1 . The rack  10  comprises a vertical base and is shown supported by frame-like sections  20  of a conventional fixture in contact with a supporting structure, such as a floor, wall, table, etc. 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the rack  10  also includes a plurality of parallel and horizontally spaced elongated prongs  40  secured in openings of the base  10 , preferably via a grommet  70  aligned adjacent to the inner wall of the openings of the base  10 . The grommets  70  are made of hard or flexible material, such as metal or plastic, to protect the openings of the base and to help secure a connecting end of the prong  40  to the base  10 . Each prong  40  preferably includes a bulbous free end having an enlarged ball  45  thereon for preventing any of the hang tags, described hereinafter, from accidentally sliding off the free end of the prong  40 . 
     The prongs  40  are provided for suspending belts  80  therefrom, and are shown having a pre-determined color (e.g., red, green, brown, white, gray, pink, etc.) The respective color of each prong  40  is an indication of an associated style, type or origin of the belt (e.g., sport belts, dress belts, fabric belts, “designer” named dress belts, texture surface belts to replicate particular animal skins e.g., snake-skin). 
     Preferably, the entire visibly exposed prong  40  is shown having the pre-determined color. However, predetermined portions of the prong  40  could be in the pre-determined color while other portions of the prong  40  are in another color. For instance, the enlarged ball  45  of each prong could display the predetermined color, while the elongated stem of the prong has a neutral color. In this example of the preferred embodiment, if only the enlarged balls  45  are shown with their respective pre-determined colors, then the style indicia of each prong  40  can be set by placing an enlarged ball  45  having the desired color onto the respective prong  40 . Further, the style indicia of each prong  40  can be changed simply by switching the enlarged ball  45  from the respective prong with a desired, colored, enlarged ball  45 . 
     Preferably, the entire prong is molded as an integral unit of a predetermined colored plastic. Alternatively, the enlarged ball  45  of the prong  40  may be frictionally attached to the stem of the prong  40  by screwing or pushing the enlarged ball  45  onto the stem of the prong  40 . Likewise, the enlarged balls  45  are removed by unscrewing or forcibly pulling the enlarged ball  45  off the stem. The enlarged ball  45  may also be secured onto the stem of the prong  40  with glue or epoxy resin. 
     While the prongs  40  shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 appear with the same shading, it is understood that each prong  40  may have a different color as an indication of the respective style, type or origin of the belt  80  to be displayed hanging from the prong  40 . For example, prongs  40   a  may be yellow, prongs  40   b  may be brown, prongs  40   c  may be green, prongs  40   d  may be purple, prongs  40   e  may be blue, and prongs  40   f  may be red, respectively. Thus, in this example of the preferred embodiment of this invention, six different styles of belt are displayed from the rack  10 , with each style represented by a corresponding prong color. While in this example, two adjacent prongs  40  are used for displaying each style of belt  80 , a skilled artisan would readily understand that the number of prongs  40  used for representing each style can vary according to the vendor&#39;s needs and the number of belts  80  of each style that will be displayed at a given time. Thus, if, for example, the vendor has 24 interwoven belts, and each prong  40  can support up to 6 belts, then at least 4 prongs  40  having the same color would be needed for displaying the 24 belts. Accordingly, the number of prongs  40  having a predetermined color would depend upon the number of belts  80  of the style corresponding to that color. Further, the shape of the rack  10  and number of prongs  40  used for displaying the belts  80  can vary according to vendor needs or desires. 
     The belts  80  are releaseably mounted on the rack  10  through the use of hang tags  50 , such as that generally shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Each hang tag  50  is of a generally conventional construction, e.g., is molded of a flexible, colored plastic material, and basically comprises a head  52  and an integral depending strap  65 . Strap  65  is an elongated member which is arranged to be extended through a buckle  85  of a belt  80 , bent back onto itself and snap-connected to itself with a nib  90  having an enlarged head for snap insertion into an opening  95  of the depending strap  65 , to releaseably suspend the belt  80  therefrom. The depending strap  65  also includes openings  95  for receiving and holding the buckle tongue  100 . The head  52  of the hang tag  50  includes a slot  57  for receiving a prong  40  to suspend the hang tag  50 , and the belt  80  connected thereto, from the prong  40 . 
     The head  52  of the hang tag  50  further includes an upstanding projection  55  bearing an alphanumeric character  60  indicating the size of the belt  80  suspended from the hang tag  50 . The hang tag  50  shown in FIG. 3 includes the projection  55  bearing the character “34” to indicate that the belt  80  suspended therefrom is size 34. In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the character  60  indicating the size of the belt  80  is shown in a color indicating the size of the belt  80 . For example, the character  60  is shown in a predetermined color (e.g. gold) to indicate that the belt  80  suspended from it is a size corresponding to the predetermined color (e.g. gold), such as size 34, or “S”, which stands for “Small”. 
     Each size of belt  80  has a predetermined corresponding color, for example, charcoal, black, gold, white, teal, purple, etc. In a preferred embodiment, the size indicia is selected from a group of colors that are different from the colors used as indicia of the style of the belt  80  so that the color of the character  60  is not lost or merged into the color of the bang tag  50 . In this way, a store has the benefit of maintaining the integrity of the sizes of the belts  80  by arranging them in their proper colors based on the size color indicia shown on the hang tag  50 . 
     Once a belt  80  has been secured and placed on its hang tag  50 , the belt  80  can then be placed on its appropriate prong  40 . This is accomplished by first determining the style of the belt  80 , so that the belt  80  can be placed on the rack  10  with the other belts of that same style. This is readily determined by comparing the color of the hang tag  50  with the colors of the prongs  40  on the rack  10 . Thus, there will be a separate color hang tag  50  for each style of belt  80  and a correspondingly colored prong  40  on the rack  10  for suspending that belt  80 . For instance, if the belt  80  is a reversible belt, the hang tag  50  may be yellow to represent the style (reversible) of the belt  80 . The belt  80  is placed on the yellow hang tag  50  by the retailer of the belt  80 . In particular, to that end, the person filling the rack  10  in the retail store will simply look at the color of the hang tag  50  and the color of the character  60  on the projection  55 , and noting that the color of the hang tag is yellow, and the color of the size indicia is gold, will place the belt  80  on the yellow prong  40   a  for the appropriate size indicia (e.g. gold for “34”) of the belt  80  on the rack  10 . Thus, if the belt is size 34, it will be suspended by its hang tag  50  having a gold size indicia from the yellow prong  40   a  of the rack  10 , with other belts  80  of the same style and size. Belts  80  of other styles, such as those suspended by brown hang tags  40 , are mounted on the brown prongs  40   b  according to their size indicia in the same manner as described heretofore. All the other belts  80  are added to the rack  10  in a similar manner. 
     When all the prongs  40  are filled with belts  80 , the fixture  5  has a full, aesthetically pleasing appearance, with matching colored prongs and hang tags, and matching colored size indicia arranged together. 
     The sizes for the belts may be marked in inches, centimeters or other conventional size designations, such as S, M, L and XL, which stand for “Small”, “Medium”, “Large”, and “Extra-Large”, accordingly. Typically, for men&#39;s belts, a “Small” size covers a belt ranging in size from 30 to 32 inches (76.2 to 81.3 centimeters), a “Medium”size belt covers a belt ranging in size from 34 to 36 inches (86.4 to 91.4 centimeters), a “Large” size belt covers a belt ranging in size from 38 to 40 inches (96.5 to 102 centimeters) and an “Extra-Large” size belt covers a belt ranging in size from 42 to 44 inches (107 to 112 centimeters). 
     When a retailer desires to restock a rack  10 , the retailer will first be certain that all of the hang tags  50  are placed in their appropriate region of the rack  10 . Thus, all yellow hang tags  50  should be placed within the region formed by yellow prongs  40 . The retailer will go through the same routine with other style color indicia to be certain that all of the belts  80  of a given style are placed in their proper regions. Thereafter, all of the belts  80  will be arranged on their appropriate prong  40  according to their size color indicia so that all of the belts  80  of a given size can be counted. 
     Once the arrangement has been carried out, the store owner can then readily determine the number of belts  80  in each size for each style, and can readily restock each rack  10  accordingly. The entire process of arranging the display, taking an inventory and restocking the display can be carried out in only a few minutes. The sizes of the belts  80  for any given style are easily determined, since they appear in the projection  55  of the hang tag  50  according to a predetermined color, and are readily visible, as is apparent from FIG.  3 . 
     The belts  80  are easily placed on the rack  10  or removed therefrom. In order to place the belt  80  on a prong  40 , the hang tag  50  is held beside the prong  40  and moved to the left. The prongs  40  will enter the slot  57 , and when the hang tag  50  is released, the prong  40  will be engaged in a notch of the hang tag  50 . The enlarged balls  45  at the ends of the prongs  40  prevent the belts  80  from inadvertently sliding off their associate prongs  40 . However, a customer wanting to try on or view a particular belt  80  merely has to lift the hang tag  50  and pull it to the right in order to remove it from the prong  40 . If the customer does not purchase the belt  80 , he/she can easily replace the belt  80  on the prong  40  in the same manner as is done when stocking the belt  80 , as described above. If the belts are mishung by customers, personnel of the retailer can readily rehang the belts according to their color coding. 
     A number of belts  80  have been shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 by way of example. For the purpose of clarity, belts  80  have not been shown as being suspended from all of the prongs  40 . However, it should be understood that during use of the rack  10 , belts  80  can be suspended from all of the prongs  40 . Moreover, while each prong  40  is shown including an enlarged ball  45  at its free end, it is understood that in lieu of or in addition to the enlarged ball  45 , each prong  40  could include an upwardly bent free end for preventing the hang tags  50  from accidentally sliding off the prong  40 . 
     As an optional feature of the invention, all the belts  80  associated with a predetermined color can also be of the same origin or price, as well as being of the same style. Thus, the customer can shop for desired belts by manufacturer or price, as well as shopping for them by style. 
     It should be apparent from the aforementioned description and attached drawings that the concept of the present application may be readily applied to a variety of preferred embodiments, including those disclosed herein. For example, instead of displaying the character  60  in the second indicia, the projection  55  may be displayed as the second indicia. Without further elaboration, the foregoing will so fully illustrate my invention, that others may, by applying current or future knowledge, readily adapt the same for use under various conditions of service.