US2935205A - Knockdown bottle display stand - Google Patents

Description

y 1960 w. L. HIGGIN 2,935,205

KNOCKDOWN BOTTLE DISPLAY STAND Filed Jan. 15 1959 INVENTOR.

flrra/avfyso 2,935,205 KNUCKDQWN BOTTLE DISPLAY STAND Wilfrid L. Higgin, Pasadena, Calif., assignor to Nehi Beverage Company of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif., a partnership Application January 15, 1959, Serial No. 786,991

9 Claims. (Cl. 211-49) The present invention relates to a knockdown display stand for bottles whereby a plurality of layers of individual bottles and other containers may be safely stacked one on top of another without any fear of the bottles falling over, and from which display a purchaser may readily remove any desired number of such containers.

It is very common in most grocery or food stores to stack individual bottles and cans or cartoned bottles and cans one on top of another to provide an attractive, readily accessible display from which many customers may conveniently serve themselves. These bottles or cans generally contain beverages, fruit juices, cleaning liquids, vegetables, fruits, salad dressings and other food products. Shelving is bulky, expensive and not efiicient since spacing between shelves is fixed. In a stack, the upper bottles or cans must rest on the spaced tops of the lower bottles and cans and therefore the stack is unstable. Separators have to be used between layers of bottles to provide a stable stack.

f Heretofore, these separators have generally been of the substantially permanent or throw-away type. The permanent separators included swingable racks and rigid gondolas or cases which were expensive, generally were required to be set up adjacent a wall, did not have vertically adjustable separators for receiving varying size bottles, and were not capable of being quickly disassembled and set up in another location. The throw-away separators consisted of pieces of cardboard which were simply thrown on the floor by the average shopper when the upper layers of bottles were removed. This practice not only littered the store with objectionable debris, but presented a dangerous condition for shoppers either walking or pushing grocery carts.

The present invention distinguishes from the known bottle separators by providing a knockdown bottle display stand which can be quickly and easily disassembled and set up against a wall, in a corner or in the middle of a door as a center display. The present display stand includes a plurality of vertically spaced, horizontally extending, pliant, load-distributing separators for layers of bottles which are slidably and adjustably carried on vertical supports. The pliant separators allow the load of an upper layer of bottles to be equally distributed on the tops of a lower layer of bottles to provide a stable stack of bottles. Also, the separators can be adjusted to various heights for carrying different size bottles and there is no chance of any debris accumulating on the floor of the grocery store when an upper layer of hottles is removed. In addition, due to the slidable and adjustable separators, the bottles can be conveniently placed on the stand by initially moving all of the separators toward the top of the stand and lowering each one on the tops of a layer of bottles as the bottles are placed on the next lower separator.

, An object of the present invention is the provision of display stand for bottles, cans or the like to be stacked in a stable and safe condition.

Another object is to provide a bottle display stand of nited States Patent ice the knockdown type which can be easily and quickly disassembled and set up in another location of the store, either against a wall or in the center of the floor.

A further object of the invention isto provide a bottle display stand which can be easily adjusted for carrying bottles or the like of difierent sizes.

Still another object is to provide a knockdown bottle display stand that is not dangerous to shoppers as the bottles are removed from the stand.

A further object is the provision of knockdown bottle display stand capable of accomplishing all of the above objects which is extremely inexpensive to make and maintain.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be readily apparent from the following description of the drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a knockdown bottle display stand illustrative of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a section of the device taken along plane II-II of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows a section of the device taken along the plane HIIII of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 illustrates another embodiment of a vertical support adapted to be used with the present invention.

Fig. 1 shows an exemplary knockdown display stand 10 for a large number of bottles which is illustrative of the present invention and includes a plurality of horizontally extending, vertically spacedseparators 11 slidably mounted onvertical poles 12. In the example shown in Fig. 1, there are a pair of front vertical poles and a pair of rear vertical poles, the rear poles being of greater height than the front poles withmeans 13 interconnecting the upper ends of said rear poles. Themeans 13 preferably is a sheet of material bearing advertising indicia.

Each of thebottle separators 11 is preferably made of lightweight, thin, pliant, load-distributing sheet material which is inexpensive to provide but will allow the load of an upper layer of bottles to be equally distributed to the tops of the lower layer of bottles to provide a stable stack. Theseparators 11 can be made of sheets of plastic, cardboard or various fibrous compositions, and may be provided with a knurled or rough upper surface to provide a better gripping surface for engagement with the bottles.

Each of the pliant, load-distributingseparators 11 may be operatively associated with vertically adjustable means for supporting each separator in a horizontal plane spaced a distance substantially equal to the height of the bottles to be displayed. As best seen in Fig. 2, one vertically adjustable means may be arubber band 14 carried on each of thepoles 12 beneath each oftthe bottle separators 11. Thebottle separators 11 are provided with for ward andrear openings 15 for slidably receiving the forward andrearward poles 12. Theopenings 15 are of substantially the same diameter as thepoles 12 in order to allow the separators to be slidably received on the poles but still allow therubber bands 14 to support the separators in predetermined horizontal planes.

Means may be provided for supporting thepoles 12 in a substantially vertical position and for rigidly supporting thelowermost bottle separator 11. It has been found that an inexpensive and convenient means for supporting the poles may be a plurality of open-top cartons 16 of bottled goods. The cartons are arranged in adjacent relation and rectangular plan upon any convenient base. Each of thecartons 16 is provided withvertical dividers 17 providing a plurality ofcompartments 18 for the bottled goods. Thecompartments 18 constituting the extreme corners of the rectangular plan are unfilled and the lower ends of thevertical poles 12 are positioned in the:vunfilled compartments 18 and supported by the partments by any suitable means such as gluing, stapling,

taping or tacking and is provided with a central opening in alignment with theopenings 15 provided in each of the horizontally extending bottle separators Ill.

In assembling the knockdown display stand 10, theopen top cartons 16 are arranged in the rectangular plan shown in Fig. 1 and the lower ends of thepoles 12 are positioned in. the'unfilled compartments l8 constituting the extreme corners of the rectangular plan. A lightweight, thin, pliant,sheet material separator 11 is slidably mounted on the upper ends of thepoles 12 and moved downwardly into engagement with the open-top cartons 16,vertical dividers 17 and the upper ends of the bottles contained in the other compartments in the cartons. A layer of bottles of beverages or food products is thenattractively placed on; top of thelowermost separator 11 in any convenient arrangement such as by price, flavors, etc. The vertical adjustable means herein referred to as therubber bands 14 are then positioned on each of thepoles 12 at substantially the same height of the lowermost layer of bottles. A second pliantloaddistributing separator 11 is then slidably mounted on thepoles 12 and moved downwardly into engagement with therubber bands 14. This process is repeated until the desired number of layers of bottles and separators are provided.

It is readily seen that the resilientadjustable means 14 can be quickly and easily adjusted on thepoles 12 to vary the spacing between theseparators 11 to accommodate varying size botttles.

I Fig. 4 discloses another embodiment of a pole or vertical supporting means which is adapted to be used with the present invention. An elongated angle member 21 may be used in place of the elongatedcylindrical poles 12 for supporting the vertically spaced horizontally extendingbottle separators 11. In using the elongated angle members 21, thecompartments 18 constituting the extreme corners of the rectangular plan are not unfilled but the bottles are retained therein. The lower ends of the angle members 21 are then inserted into the corners of thecompartments 18 between mating surfaces of the vertical dividers and the walls of the bottles contained in the compartments. This type of vertical support eliminates the need'of the filler block 1? which may be used with thecylindrical poles 12.

It can thus be seen that a knockdown display stand for a large number of bottles is provided which can be quick- 1y assembled or knocked down and set up in any location of the store. There is a minimum number of parts required which are relatively inexpensive in distinction to the folding racks or other gondolas presently used for displaying bottles of various beverages and food products. The load of an upper layer of bottles is equally distributed by a pliant'separator to the tops of a lower layer of bottles thus providing a stable stack and eliminating the fear of any bottles falling over. At the same time this type of display allows the purchaser to readily remove any desired number of bottles or containers. Moreover, when the display stand is reloaded, each separator can be moved upwardly for ease of placing a layer of bottles on the lower separator.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. For example, it is contemplated that the verti- 'cal adjustable means for supporting the bottle separators may be carried by each of theseparators 11 instead of by the vertical supports. 'In addition, advertising signs or other decorative means may be carried by themeans 13 interconnecting the upper ends of the rear poles to provide a readily attractable display stand for immediately attracting the customers attention. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims,

2,935,205 4 M F a a a. the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

I claim:

1. A knockdown, stationary display stand for a large number of bottles of beverages and food products, comprising in combination: a plurality of open-top cartons of bottled goods, said cartons, being arranged in adjacent relation and rectangular plan upon a base; each of said cartons being provided with vertical dividers providing compartments for said bottled goods; compartments constituting extreme corners of said rectangular plan being unfilled; a pair of vertical poles positioned in the rear unfilled compartments and a pair of vertical poles positioned in the front unfilled compartments, said rear poles being of greater height than the front poles; a plurality of horizontally extending, lightweight, thin, pliant sheet material, load-distributing separators carried by said poles in vertically spaced relation, each of said separators be- 5 ing provided with openings adapted to slidably receive said poles; vertically adjustable means carried by each of said poles beneath each of said separators to support said separators in horizontal planes spaced a distancesubstantially equal to the height of bottles placed thereon when the stand is not loaded with bottles; and means interconnecting the upper ends of said rear pair of poles.

2. The bottle display as stated in claim 1 wherein said vertically adjustable means is a rubber band.

3. A knockdown, stationary display stand for a large number of bottles, comprising in combination: forward and rearward horizontally spaced, vertical poles slidably carrying a plurality of horizontally extending, vertically spaced, lightweight, thin, pliant, sheet material, load-distributing separators for layers of bottles; said rearward pole being of greater height than said forward pole .and having a sheet of material secured on its upper end bearing advertising indicia; each of said bottle separators hav ing forward and rearward openings for slidably receiving said forward and rearward poles; means for supporting said poles in a substantially vertical position, means rigidly supporting the lowermost bottle separator; and vertically adjustable resilient means for supporting the remaining bottle separators in horizontal planes spaced a distance substantially equal to the height of the bottles to be displayed, when the stand is not loaded with bottles, whereby when the stand is loaded with bottles the load of an upper layer of bottles is equally distributed by a pliant separator to the tops of a lower layer of bottles to pro videa stable stack of bottles.

4. A knockdown, stationary bottle display stand for a large number of bottles, comprising in combination: horizontally spaced, vertical poles slidably carrying a plurality of horizontally extending, vertically spaced, lightweight, thin, pliant, sheet material, load-distributing separators for layers of bottles; each of said bottle separators having openings for slidably receiving said poles; means for supporting said poles in a substantially vertical position, means for supporting the lowermost bottle separator; and vertically adjustable resilient means for supporting the remaining bottle separators in horizontal planes spaced at distance substantially equal to the height of the bottles to be displayed when the stand is not loaded with bottles, whereby when the stand is loaded with hottles the load of an upper layer of bottles isequally distributed by a pliant separator to the tops of a lower layer of bottles to provide a stable stack of bottles.

5. The bottle display as stated in claim 4 wherein said resilient means is a rubber band carried on each of said poles beneath each of said bottle separators.

6. The bottle display as stated in claim 4 wherein said supporting means includes a plurality of open-top cartons of bottled goods, said cartons being arranged in adjacent relation upon a base, each of said cartons being provided with vertical dividers providing compartments for said bottled goods, certain of said compartments in said cartons being unfilled and receiving the lower ends of said poles.

7. A knockdown, stationary display stand for a large number of bottles, comprising in combination: a plurality of horizontally spaced, vertical poles having a plurality of horizontally extending, vertically spaced, lightweight, thin, pliant, sheet material, load-distributing bottle separators slidably mounted thereon; means for supporting said poles in a substantially vertical position; and vertically adjustable means for supporting said bottle separators in horizontal planes spaced a distance substantially equal to the height of the bottles to be displayed when the stand is not loaded with bottles, whereby when the stand is loaded with bottles the load of an upper layer of bottles is equally distributed by a pliant separator to the tops of a lower layer of bottles to provide a stable stack of bottles.

8. A knockdown, stationary display stand for a large number of bottles of beverages and food products, comprising, in combination: a plurality of open-top cartons of bottled goods, said cartons being arranged in adjacent relation and rectangular plan upon a base; each of said cartons being provided with vertical dividers providing compartments for said bottled goods; compartments constituting extreme corners of said rectangular plan being occupied with bottled goods; a pair of vertical poles positioned in the rear occupied compartments between the vertical dividers and the bottled goods and a pair of vertical poles positioned in the front occupied compartments between the vertical dividers and the bottled goods, said rear poles being of greater height than the front poles; a plurality of horizontally extending, lightweight, thin, pliant sheet material, load-distributing separators carried by said poles in vertically spaced relation, each of said separators being provided with openings adapted to slidably receive said poles; vertically adjustable means carried by each of said poles beneath each of said separators to support said separators in horizontal planes spaced a distance substantially equal to the height of bottles placed thereon when the stand is not loaded with bottles; and means interconnecting the upper ends of said rear pair of poles.

9. The bottle display stand as stated in claim 8 wherein said vertical poles are angular in section.

Reterenees Cited in the file of this patent UNiTED STATES PATENTS 1,571,352 Weston Feb. 2, 1926 1,790,997 Palmer Feb. 3, 1931 2,120,610 Howard June 14, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 548,304 Germany April 12, 1932

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