Slidable coupling components for shelf management systems

Abstract

Self-fronting merchandise pusher systems. Numerous products in a store are merchandised on shelves and spring-biased pushers are used to urge products toward the front edge of the shelf on which the products are displayed and stored. Each pusher is generally mounted on a track, and each pusher track is generally positioned between two divider walls or between a divider wall and an end wall. Each pusher is independently biased towards the front of the shelf. The system provides an improved apparatus for coupling any of the longitudinal members, such as the pusher tracks, divider walls or integrated divider/pusher tracks, to the shelf-mounting member. The shelf-mounting member forms an alignment track for selective and slidable coupling with the longitudinal members. The coupling is designed to resist sliding when the coupling is under torque.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a self-fronting merchandise pusher system having longitudinal members, such as a divider wall and a pusher track, that are slidably coupled to a shelf-mounting member. [0003] 2. Background of the Related Art [0004] Numerous products sold in retail stores are displayed and stored on gondola shelves. There are several designs of self-fronting pusher systems that push rows of products within channels toward the front of the shelf near the aisle. These self-fronting pusher systems typically involve divider walls that form product channels therebetween, and a spring-urged pusher track with a pusher adapted to contact the last product in the row and urge the row forward in the channel defined by the divider walls. The divider walls and the pusher tracks are generally secured to the shelf using a shelf-mounting member secured along the front edge of the shelf. [0005] The pusher serves to ke...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011] The present invention provides an improved coupling that allows only deliberate and controlled movement of a merchandise divider wall or a merchandise pusher track relative to a shelf-mounting member. The apparatus comprises unique coupling elements, such as a tongue and groove arrangement, with limited contact between the coupling elements when the coupling is in its secured or attached position. The tongue (or the groove) may be integrally formed onto or near the end of the longitudinal elements (i.e., divider wall and merchandise pusher track), and the corresponding groove (or the tongue) may be integrally formed onto the shelf-mounting member that is secured along the top front edge of the shelf.

[0012] The coupling elements have contact surfaces therebetween that preferably comprise different materials. The physical design and tolerances of the coupling, in combination with the different materials, allows the coupling with limited points of contact to resist inadvertent sliding during normal shopping or restocking use, yet readily provides sliding between the tongue and groove members of the coupling when a deliberate and directed sliding force is applied to the divider wall or pusher track in a collinear direction along the length of the self-fronting member in order to reposition the pusher track or to modify the channel that provides for the product rows. The coupling is designed to resist sliding when the coupling experiences torque, typically meaning that the divider wall or pusher track has been displaced out of its perpendicular relationship with the shelf-mounting member to which it is coupled. However, the coupling permits sliding of the longitudinal members when there is substantially no torque on the coupling, such as when the divider wall or pusher track is generally perpendicular to the shelf-mounting member and a sliding force is applied to the coupling.

Problems solved by technology

While slidable divider walls and pusher tracks may facilitate reorganization of the shelf without the necessity of removing the products, the inadvertent sliding of the couplings between the shelf-mounting member and the divider walls or the pusher tracks is undesirable because unwanted movement of the divider walls or the pusher tracks can result in disruption of fronting of the product on the shelf or interference between products in adjacent channels formed by pairs of adjacent dividing walls.

The process must be repeated until the desired position is obtained, thereby consuming a great deal of time and effort to manage the product.

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