Patent ID: 7992726

Claim:
A manual open bottom shelf allocation and management system for allocating shelf space among rows of products and for moving the rows of products toward the front of the shelf, the system comprises: a plurality of adjacent shelf allocating and managing units, each unit associated with at least one row of products, wherein each unit includes a backstop generally spaced from the front of the shelf adapted to be positioned behind the at least one row of products associated with the unit, a pair of side dividers including a lower side divider and an upper side divider coupled to and extending away from backstop defining an open bottom adjacent the shelf, wherein the at least one row of products associated with the unit may be positioned on the shelf between the side dividers, and wherein the side dividers and backstop of each unit are manually movable integrally as a single unit in a direction extending between the front of the shelf and the back of the shelf substantially perpendicular to the lateral length of the shelf whereby each unit is adapted to advance the at least one row of products associated with the unit toward the front of the shelf, and wherein the side dividers provide for lateral support for the products adjacent the dividers, at least when a side divider is coupled with a side divider of an adjacent unit, and wherein one side divider of each of two adjacent units are in vertical stacking alignment with one another such that the spaces between the side dividers of each of the adjacent units which accommodate the rows of products associated with those units are separated by a distance equal to the thickness of only one side divider.