Wire basket

Abstract

To successfully obtain a price of a commodity.SOLUTION: A wire basket 30 has a box shape having a bottom part 31 and opposing wall parts 32a, 32b surrounding the bottom part 31, and is to be arranged in a commodity storage device in a state where a merchandise is stored inside. The wire basket includes a price holder 40 which is removably attached to a short-side opposing wall part 32b between the opposing wall parts 32a, 32b, so as to hold a price card PC on which the price of the commodity is displayed. The short-side opposing wall part 32b includes: a horizontal wire 322 constituting an upper end part and extending in a state in parallel with the bottom part 31; and an inner horizontal wire 323 arranged on an inner side of the horizontal wire 322 and extending in a state in parallel with the horizontal wire 322. It is preferable that the prize holder 40 is attached to the inner horizontal wire 323.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a wire basket, and more specifically, to a wire basket that is box-shaped with a bottom and a wall surrounding the bottom, and that is installed in a product storage device with products stored inside. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an open flat ice case for storing products such as ice cream in a removable state is known that includes a case body and a cooling unit.

[0003] The case body is a rectangular heat-insulated housing with an opening on the top surface (hereinafter also referred to as the top opening) and has a storage compartment and an air passage. The storage compartment is a chamber provided facing the top opening, and is used to store a wire basket containing products such as ice cream.

[0004] The air passage is formed to be separated from the storage compartment and communicates with the storage compartment through an intake port and an exhaust port. A blower fan is provided in the air passage. When driven, the blower fan draws the air inside the storage compartment into the air passage through the intake port, passes the air through the air passage, and then blows the air out into the storage compartment through the exhaust port, thereby circulating the air inside the storage compartment and the air passage.

[0005] The cooling unit includes an evaporator, a compressor, a condenser, and an expansion mechanism connected to a refrigerant pipe. The evaporator is disposed in an air passage.

[0006] The compressor is provided in a machine room inside the case body and outside the storage compartment and the air passage. When the compressor is operated, it sucks in and compresses the refrigerant that has passed through the evaporator. The condenser is provided in the machine room and condenses the refrigerant compressed by the compressor. The expansion mechanism is provided in the machine room and adiabatically expands the refrigerant condensed by the condenser and sends it to the evaporator.

[0007] In such a cooling unit, the compressor is driven, and the refrigerant that has been adiabatically expanded by the expansion mechanism is supplied to the evaporator. The evaporator then exchanges heat between the supplied refrigerant and the internal air passing through the air passage, and the refrigerant evaporates, thereby cooling the internal air. This cools the air inside the storage, and the products stored in the wire basket of the storage (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0008] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 3066308 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0009] Incidentally, in the ice case proposed in the above Patent Document 1, price cards displaying the prices of the products contained in the wire basket are held on a price rail, but since this price rail is arranged in a manner that forms the upper edge of the opening of the above-mentioned air outlet, there are the following problems.

[0010] That is, because the price rail constitutes the upper edge of the air outlet opening, there is a risk that the price card held by the price rail may be difficult for the user to see. Moreover, the price rail is generally a long object, and the position at which the price card is held may be misaligned with the position of the wire basket in which the product with the price displayed on the price card is stored.

[0011] If the price cards are difficult to see or if the position of the price cards is misaligned with the position of the wire basket, it becomes difficult for consumers to understand the prices of the products, which reduces their desire to purchase and leads to lost sales opportunities, which is undesirable.

[0012] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENT In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a wire basket that allows the price of a product to be easily grasped. [Means for solving the problem]

[0013] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the wire basket of the present invention is a box-shaped wire basket having a bottom and walls surrounding the bottom, and is installed in a product storage device with products stored inside, characterized in that it has a price holder that is detachably attached to one of the walls and holds a price card displaying the price of the product.

[0014] The present invention is also characterized in that, in the above-mentioned wire basket, the wall portion has a horizontal wire that forms the upper end of the wall portion and extends parallel to the bottom portion, and an inner horizontal wire that extends more inward than the horizontal wire and parallel to the horizontal wire, and the price holder is attached to the inner horizontal wire.

[0015] The present invention is also characterized in that, in the above-mentioned wire basket, the price holder is attached to the inner horizontal wire so that it can be displaced between a visible position in which the price card is visible and a stored position in which its upper end portion is positioned lower than the horizontal wire by a regulating protrusion formed on the price holder abutting against the horizontal wire.

[0016] The present invention is also characterized in that, in the above-mentioned wire basket, the price holder is provided with an elastic locking piece that can be engaged and disengaged with the horizontal wire, and when the elastic locking piece engages with the horizontal wire, the price card is held in a visible-permitting position in which it is visible.

[0017] The present invention also provides the above-mentioned wire basket, wherein the price holder is attached to the inner horizontal wire so that it can be displaced between a visible position in which the price card is visible and a stored position in which its upper end portion is positioned below the horizontal wire by a locking protrusion formed on the price holder abutting against the horizontal wire, and the price holder is provided with a pair of handle guides for attaching handles, each of which is provided on opposing opposing wall portions of the wall portion, and the handle guides are configured to be elastically deformable when pressed by the locking protrusion, and are provided with a locking piece portion that can maintain the locking protrusion in abutment against the horizontal wire by an elastic restoring force, thereby holding the price holder in the visible position.

[0018] The present invention is also characterized in that, in the above-mentioned wire basket, the handle guide is provided with a pair of guide engagement portions, each of which elastically deforms to relatively insert a portion of any vertical wire material of the opposing wall portion into a slit formed in the guide guide portion and engages with the vertical wire material, and the pair of guide engagement portions are configured to allow portions of vertical wire materials of multiple diameters to relatively insert into the slits.

[0019] The present invention is also characterized in that, in the above-mentioned wire basket, the handle guide is formed with another pair of guide locking portions different from the pair of guide locking portions, and the pitch between the slits formed in the other pair of guide locking portions is different from the pitch between the slits in the pair of guide locking portions.

[0020] Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that in the wire basket, the price holder is made of a resin material. Effect of the Invention

[0021] According to the present invention, a price holder that holds a price card displaying the price of a product is removably attached to one of the wall sections, so that the price of the product can be displayed near the product and made visible, thereby providing the effect of making it easy to grasp the price of the product. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of a product storage device to which a wire basket according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view showing a schematic internal structure of a product storage device to which the wire basket according to the first embodiment of the present invention is applied. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the external configuration of the wire basket shown in FIGS. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the wire basket shown in FIGS. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of the price holder shown in FIGS. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a side view of the wire basket in which the price holder is in the visually permissible position. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional side view of a main portion of the wire basket shown in FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a stored state of the wire basket shown in FIGS. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a side view of the wire basket with the price holder in the stored position. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of a wire basket according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of a wire basket according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view showing the handle guide and the handle shown in FIGS. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the handle guide shown in FIG. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing the handle guide shown in FIG. [Figure 15]FIG. 15 is an enlarged perspective view showing a main part of the wire basket shown in FIGS. [Figure 16] FIG. 16 is an enlarged perspective view showing a main part of the wire basket shown in FIGS. [Figure 17] FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing the wire basket with the handle rotated. [Figure 18] FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing the price holder shown in FIGS. [Figure 19] FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view of a main portion of the wire basket when the price holder is in the stored position. [Figure 20] FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view of a main portion of the wire basket when the price holder is swung outward from the stored position. [Figure 21] FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the wire basket when the price holder is in the visual confirmation position. [Figure 22] FIG. 22 is a perspective view showing a modified example of a handle guide constituting the wire basket according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 23] FIG. 23 is a perspective view showing a modified example of a handle guide constituting the wire basket according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 24] FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a wire basket to which a modified example of the price holder shown in FIG. 18 is applied. [Diagram 25] FIG. 25 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a wire basket to which a modified example of the price holder shown in FIG. 18 is applied. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0023] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the wire basket according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0024] <Embodiment 1> FIG. 1 is an oblique view showing the external configuration of a product storage device to which a wire basket according to embodiment 1 of the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view showing a schematic internal structure of a product storage device to which a wire basket according to embodiment 1 of the present invention is applied.

[0025] The product storage device exemplified here is an open, flat ice case that is installed in a store such as a convenience store or supermarket, and stores products such as ice cream in a removable state, and is equipped with a case body 10, which is the main body of the device.

[0026] The case body 10 is a rectangular heat-insulating housing whose width (left-right dimension) is greater than its depth (front-rear dimension), and has an opening 10a on the top surface (hereinafter also referred to as the top opening). The case body 10 defines a storage compartment 11 and an air passage 12 therein, and also has a cooling unit 20 provided therein.

[0027] The storage 11 is a room defined in such a manner as to face the top opening 10a. The storage 11 is defined by a long rear wall 13 and a front wall 14 extending in the left-right direction and facing each other. An intake port 13a is formed in the upper part of the rear wall 13, and an exhaust port 14a is formed in the upper part of the front wall 14.

[0028] The intake port 13a is an opening for drawing in air inside the storage cabinet 11, and extends along the left-right direction of the storage cabinet 11. The outlet port 14a is an opening for blowing air into the inside of the storage cabinet 11. The outlet port 14a is an opening for blowing air into the storage cabinet 11. The outlet port 14a is an opening for blowing air into the storage cabinet 11.

[0029] The air passage 12 is an air passage that extends from the intake port 13a to the air outlet 14a. The air passage 12 is configured such that a rear passage 12a that is connected to the intake port 13a and is located behind the storage 11 and outside the storage 11, a lower passage 12b that is located below the storage 11 and outside the storage 11, and a front passage 12c that is located in front of the storage 11 and is connected to the air outlet 14a are connected to each other.

[0030] The cooling unit 20 is configured to include a refrigerant circuit 21 and a circulation fan 22. The refrigerant circuit 21 is configured by sequentially connecting a compressor 21a, a condenser 21b, an expansion mechanism 21c, and an evaporator 21d through a refrigerant pipe, and a refrigerant is sealed inside.

[0031] The compressor 21a is installed inside the case body 10 in the machine room 15 below the storage 11 and the air passage 12. The compressor 21a is driven in response to a command given from a control unit (not shown), and when driven, it draws in a refrigerant and compresses the drawn refrigerant.

[0032] The condenser 21b is installed in front of the compressor 21a in the machine room 15. The condenser 21b condenses the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 21a. The expansion mechanism 21c is composed of, for example, an electronic expansion valve, and the opening degree is adjusted according to an opening degree command given from the control unit. The expansion mechanism 21c adiabatically expands the refrigerant condensed by the condenser 21b.

[0033] The evaporator 21d is disposed at an arbitrary position in the lower passage 12b of the air passage 12. The evaporator 21d cools the air around itself by evaporating the refrigerant supplied from the expansion mechanism 21c. The refrigerant evaporated by the evaporator 21d is sucked into the compressor 21a.

[0034] The circulation fan 22 is installed in the lower passage 12b. This circulation fan 22 is driven to rotate by a command given from the control unit, and when driven to rotate, it draws in air from inside the storage 11 through the intake port 13a, sends the drawn air through the air passage 12 in the order of the rear passage 12a, the lower passage 12b, and the front passage 12c to the outlet port 14a, and blows the air out through the outlet port 14a into the storage 11, thereby circulating air between the inside of the storage 11 and the air passage 12. This cools the atmosphere inside the storage 11.

[0035] A plurality of wire baskets 30 are stored in the storage 11. The wire baskets 30 are stored in a row from front to back and also stacked one on top of the other.

[0036] The wire basket 30 is used to store products such as ice cream inside, and as shown in Figures 3 and 4, has a rectangular bottom 31 and two pairs of opposing walls 32a, 32b surrounding the bottom 31.

[0037] In the following description, the direction in which the opposing walls 32a, 32b approach each other is referred to as the inside, and the direction in which they move away from each other is referred to as the outside. In addition, the direction in which the opposing walls 32a, 32b are parallel to the bottom 31 is referred to as the width direction, and the direction perpendicular to the bottom 31 is referred to as the up-down direction.

[0038] As described above, the bottom 31 has a rectangular shape and is configured by arranging wires in a lattice pattern. Of the two pairs of opposing walls 32a, 32b, one opposing wall 32a is formed to be wider than the other opposing wall 32b. Here, one opposing wall 32a is also referred to as the long side opposing wall 32a, and the other opposing wall 32b is also referred to as the short side opposing wall 32b.

[0039] These opposing walls 32a, 32b are configured by arranging vertically extending vertical wires 321 side by side in the width direction. Furthermore, horizontal wires 322 are provided extending in the width direction so as to connect the upper end portions of these vertical wires 321, and the horizontal wires 322 are continuous with the horizontal wires 322 of the adjacent walls, i.e., the long side opposing wall 32a is continuous with the horizontal wires 322 of the adjacent short side opposing wall 32b.

[0040] In the wire basket 30, an inner horizontal wire 323 is provided inside the horizontal wire 322 of the short side opposing wall portion 32b, connecting the horizontal wires 322 of the long side opposing wall portion 32a in a manner parallel to the horizontal wire 322.

[0041] A price holder 40 is detachably provided on one of the opposing short side walls 32b of the wire basket 30.

[0042] The price holder 40 is made of a resin material, and as shown in FIG. 5, includes a base 41, a first locking piece 42, a second locking piece 43, and a restricting protrusion 44 which are integrally molded.

[0043] The base 41 is an elongated portion extending over almost the entire width of the short-side opposing wall portion 32b, and a holding portion 411 is formed on its surface for holding a price card PC showing the prices of commodities contained in the wire basket 30 to which it is attached. The holding portion 411 has a number of openings formed therein, and the price display portion of the held price card PC is exposed through the openings.

[0044] A plurality of first locking pieces 42 (three in the illustrated example) are formed on the back surface of the base 41, and each of them is provided in a manner to protrude from the back surface. These first locking pieces 42 protrude from the back surface of the base 41 in a manner to curve upward, and their lower surfaces form an arc shape.

[0045] A plurality of second locking pieces 43 (two in the illustrated example) are formed on the back surface of the base 41, and each is provided so as to protrude from the back surface. These second locking pieces 43 are provided below the adjacent first locking pieces 42, and are provided so as to be staggered with respect to the first locking pieces 42. The second locking pieces 43 protrude from the back surface of the base 41 in a manner that curves downward, and their upper surfaces form an arc shape. When the price holder 40 is viewed from the side, such second locking pieces 43, together with the first locking pieces 42, form part of a locking hole whose inner diameter is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the inner horizontal wire 323.

[0046] The restricting protrusion 44 is formed at one side end of the back surface of the base 41 in a manner protruding above the first locking piece 42. The restricting protrusion 44 is in the shape of a block. With a price card PC held in the holding portion 411, the price holder 40 is attached to the inner horizontal wire 323 in a manner that allows it to swing around its central axis by appropriately elastically deforming the first locking piece 42 and the second locking piece 43 to relatively insert the inner horizontal wire 323 into the locking hole.

[0047] Then, as shown in Figures 6 and 7, by abutting the regulating protrusion 44 against the horizontal wire 322 located outside the inner horizontal wire 323, the price holder 40 assumes a viewing-permitting position in which the surface of the base 41, i.e., the holding portion 411, gradually tilts downward as it moves inward, making the price card PC visible.

[0048] When wire baskets 30 having price holders 40 in such a viewing-permitting position are stored in the storage shed 11 lined up front to back, as shown in Figure 8, the wire basket 30 at the front has the short side facing wall 32b to which the price holder 40 is attached at the rear end, and the wire basket 30 at the rear has the short side facing wall 32b to which the price holder 40 is attached at the front end, so that the consumer can clearly see the price card PC held in the price holder 40.

[0049] Here, when the price holder 40 is in a position that allows visibility, the upper end of the price holder 40 protrudes upward above the upper end of the wire basket 30, but the protruding height is such that even if the wire basket 30 is stored in the storage facility 11 stacked on top of other wire baskets 30, the upper end of the price holder 40 is positioned below the lower edge of the suction port 13a and the lower edge of the blowing port 14a.

[0050] By swinging the price holder 40 in such a manner that the restricting protrusion 44 moves away from the horizontal wire 322, the price holder 40 is displaced to a storage position in which the holding portion 411 faces downward, as shown in Fig. 9. In such a storage position, the upper end of the price holder 40 is positioned below the upper end of the wire basket 30. In other words, the price holder 40 is displaceable between the visual confirmation position and the storage position, and in the storage position, its upper end is positioned below the upper end of the wire basket 30.

[0051] Therefore, by displacing the price holder 40 into the storage position, it becomes possible to stack another wire basket 30 on top of the wire basket 30 to which the price holder 40 is attached.

[0052] As described above, according to the wire basket 30 of embodiment 1 of the present invention, a price holder 40 that holds a price card PC displaying the prices of the products contained in the wire basket 30 is removably provided, so that the prices of the products can be displayed near the products and made visible, making it easy to understand the prices of the products.

[0053] According to the wire basket 30, the price holder 40 is attached to the inner horizontal wire 323 so as to be displaceable between a visible position in which the restricting protrusion 44 abuts against the horizontal wire 322 to make the price card PC visible, and a stored position in which the upper end portion is positioned below the horizontal wire 322, so that when placed below another wire basket 30, the price holder 40 can be displaced from the visible position to the stored position. Therefore, there is no need to remove the price holder 40, and no need to provide a dedicated space for storing the price holder 40.

[0054] According to the above-mentioned wire basket 30, when the price holder 40 is in a visible position, its protruding height is such that, even if the wire basket 30 is stored in the storage facility 11 stacked on top of other wire baskets 30, the upper end of the price holder 40 is positioned below the lower edges of the intake port 13a and the exhaust port 14a. This does not impede the flow of air blown out from the exhaust port 14a and sucked into the intake port 13a, and the stored products can be cooled well.

[0055] <Embodiment 2> Fig. 10 and Fig. 11 respectively show a wire basket according to a second embodiment of the present invention, with Fig. 10 being a perspective view showing the external configuration of the wire basket and Fig. 11 being an exploded perspective view of the wire basket. Note that the same components as those in the wire basket 30 according to the first embodiment described above are given the same reference numerals and redundant explanations will be omitted.

[0056] The wire basket 30' illustrated here is for storing products such as ice cream inside, and has a rectangular bottom 31 and two pairs of opposing walls 32a, 32b surrounding the bottom 31.

[0057] In the following description, the direction in which the opposing walls 32a, 32b approach each other is referred to as the inside, and the direction in which they move away from each other is referred to as the outside. In addition, the direction in which the opposing walls 32a, 32b are parallel to the bottom 31 is referred to as the width direction, and the direction perpendicular to the bottom 31 is referred to as the up-down direction.

[0058] As described above, the bottom 31 has a rectangular shape and is configured by arranging wires in a lattice pattern. Of the two pairs of opposing walls 32a, 32b, one opposing wall 32a is formed to be wider than the other opposing wall 32b. Here, one opposing wall 32a is also referred to as the long side opposing wall 32a, and the other opposing wall 32b is also referred to as the short side opposing wall 32b.

[0059] These opposing walls 32a, 32b are configured by arranging vertically extending vertical wires 321 side by side in the width direction. Furthermore, horizontal wires 322 are provided extending in the width direction so as to connect the upper end portions of these vertical wires 321, and the horizontal wires 322 are continuous with the horizontal wires 322 of the adjacent walls, i.e., the long side opposing wall 32a is continuous with the horizontal wires 322 of the adjacent short side opposing wall 32b.

[0060] In the wire basket 30', an inner horizontal wire 323 is provided inside the horizontal wire 322 of the short side opposing wall portion 32b so as to be parallel to the horizontal wire 322 and connect the horizontal wires 322 of the long side opposing wall portion 32a to each other.

[0061] A pair of handle guides 50 are removably provided on the opposing short side wall portions 32b of such a wire basket 30', and a price holder 70 is removably provided on one of the opposing short side wall portions 32b.

[0062] 12, the handle guide 50 is for attaching a handle 60. The handle 60 is formed, for example, from a metal, and is configured by integrally molding a handle base portion 61, a handle connecting portion 62, a handle insertion portion 63, and a handle locking portion 64.

[0063] The handle base 61 is a rod-shaped portion extending along the width direction of the long-side opposing wall portion 32a. The handle connecting portions 62 are rod-shaped portions extending from both ends of the handle base 61 in a direction perpendicular to the extension direction of the handle base 61. The handle insertion portions 63 are rod-shaped portions extending away from the other handle insertion portions 63 in a manner parallel to the handle base 61 from the extension end portions of the handle connecting portions 62. The handle locking portions 64 are rod-shaped portions extending from the extension end portions of the handle insertion portions 63 in a direction perpendicular to the extension direction of the handle insertion portions 63.

[0064] The handle guide 50 is made of a resin material, and as shown in Figs. 13 and 14, is configured by integrally molding a lower end constituent portion 51, a middle portion 52, and an upper end constituent portion 53.

[0065] The lower end constituent portion 51 is a flat plate-like member whose longitudinal direction is the width direction (the width direction of the short-side facing wall portion 32b) rather than the up-down direction, and has a pair of guide locking portions 511 formed at both ends in the width direction. The guide locking portion 511 has a slit 511a that is open at the top, bottom, and outside (the outside of the short-side facing wall portion 32b) and extends along the up-down direction.

[0066] Such a guide locking portion 511 can be divided into an upper region, a central region, and a lower region along the vertical direction, and in these regions, the slit locking pieces 511b are provided alternately on the open edge portion outside the slit 511a. That is, in the upper region of the guide locking portion 511, the slit locking pieces 511b are provided in a manner that they protrude outward in a curved manner on the open edge portion close to the central portion of the lower end constituent portion 51, in the central region of the guide locking portion 511, the slit locking pieces 511b are provided in a manner that they protrude outward in a curved manner on the open edge portion away from the central portion of the lower end constituent portion 51, and in the lower region of the guide locking portion 511, the slit locking pieces 511b are provided in a manner that they protrude outward in a curved manner on the open edge portion close to the central portion of the lower end constituent portion 51. As a result, the guide engagement portion 511 allows a portion of the vertical wire 321 to relatively enter the slit 511a when the slit engagement piece 511b bends (elastically deforms), and is configured so that portions of the vertical wires 321 of multiple diameters can relatively enter the slit 511a.

[0067] The middle constituent parts 52 are parts that extend outward from the short-side opposing wall part 32b while being spaced apart in the width direction of the short-side opposing wall part 32b from the upper end edge part of the lower end constituent part 51. Here, the distance between the middle constituent parts 52 is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the rod-shaped part that constitutes the handle 60.

[0068] The upper end forming portion 53 is a portion that extends upward from a part of the extending end portion of the middle forming portion 52, and a locking piece portion 531 that protrudes toward the inside of the short side opposing wall portion 32b is formed on the extending end portion.

[0069] 15 and 16, such a handle guide 50 is arranged inside the short-side facing wall 32b, and while elastically deforming the guide locking portion 511, any vertical wire 321 of the short-side facing wall 32b is inserted into the slit 511a of the guide locking portion 511, and other vertical wires 321 pass between the vertical wires 321 that have relatively inserted into the slits 511a of the guide locking portion 511 between the central constituent portions 52, penetrating the central constituent portion 52 into the short-side facing wall 32b. As a result, the upper end constituent portion 53 is arranged outside the short-side facing wall 32b. The handle guide 50 is attached to the short side opposing wall portion 32b by engaging the locking piece portion 531 of the upper end component 53 with the horizontal wire 322 in a manner such that its tip portion protrudes inward beyond the horizontal wire 322 of the short side opposing wall portion 32b.

[0070] In this case, the vertical wire 321 is relatively inserted into the guide locking portion 511, so that the lower end constituent portion 51 is locked from the inside of the short side facing wall portion 32b in a state in which movement of the short side facing wall portion 32b in the width direction is restricted. Moreover, the locking piece portion 531 is locked to the horizontal wire 322 from the outside of the short side facing wall portion 32b, so that the upper end constituent portion 53 is locked in a state in which movement of the short side facing wall portion 32b in the downward direction and inward and outward directions is restricted.

[0071] In this way, the lower end component 51 is engaged in a state in which movement of the short side opposing wall portion 32b in the width direction is restricted, and the upper end component 53 is engaged in a state in which movement of the short side opposing wall portion 32b in the downward and inward / outward directions is restricted, and furthermore, the middle component portion 52 penetrates the short side opposing wall portion 32b, so that the handle guide 50 is attached to the short side opposing wall portion 32b in a state in which movement of the short side opposing wall portion 32b in the width direction, inward / outward directions, and up / down directions is restricted.

[0072] With the pair of handle guides 50 attached in this manner, the handle locking portion 64 and handle insertion portion 63, which are ends of the handle 60, are inserted from the inside between the upper edge 512 of the lower end component 51 facing the space between the middle component parts 52 and the inner horizontal wire 323, so that the handle guide 50 supports the handle 60 so that it can rotate freely around the central axis of the handle insertion portion 63.

[0073] 17, the handle 60 supported by the handle guide 50 is grasped by a store employee or other worker with the handle base 61 rotated upward, thereby lifting the wire basket 30'. When the handle base 61 rotates upward in this manner, the handle insertion portion 63 comes into contact with the inner horizontal wire 323, and the weight of the wire basket 30' and its contents, i.e., the merchandise, does not act on the handle guide 50, making it possible to easily lift the wire basket 30' with one hand.

[0074] The price holder 70 is made of a resin material, and as shown in FIG. 18, includes a base 71, a first locking piece 72, and a second locking piece 73 which are integrally molded.

[0075] The base 71 is a long portion extending across almost the entire width of the short side opposing wall portion 32b, and is formed with a holding portion 71a that holds a price card (not shown) indicating the price of the product contained in the wire basket 30' to which the base 71 is attached, so that the price card can be seen from the surface of the base 71.

[0076] A plurality of first locking pieces 72 (three in the illustrated example) are formed on the back surface of the base 71, and each of them is provided in a manner to protrude from the back surface. These first locking pieces 72 protrude from the back surface of the base 71 in a manner to curve upward, and their lower surfaces form an arc shape.

[0077] A plurality of second locking pieces 73 (two in the illustrated example) are formed on the back surface of the base 71, and each is provided so as to protrude from the back surface. These second locking pieces 73 are provided below between adjacent first locking pieces 72, and are provided so as to be staggered with respect to the first locking pieces 72. The second locking pieces 73 protrude from the back surface of the base 71 in a manner that curves downward, and their upper surfaces form an arc shape. When the price holder 70 is viewed from the side, such second locking pieces 73, together with the first locking pieces 72, form part of a locking hole 74 (see FIG. 19, etc.) whose inner diameter is larger than that of the inner horizontal wire 323.

[0078] Incidentally, a locking protrusion 721 is formed at an extending end of the central first locking piece 72 among the three first locking pieces 72 (hereinafter also referred to as the central first locking piece 72) in a manner spaced apart from the base portion 71.

[0079] Such a price holder 70 is attached to the inner horizontal wire 323 in a manner that allows it to swing around its central axis by appropriately elastically deforming the first locking piece 72 and the second locking piece 73 to relatively insert the inner horizontal wire 323 into the locking hole 74 while holding a price card in the holding portion 71a.

[0080] Then, by swinging the price holder 70 inward, the price holder 70 is displaced to a storage position in which the holding portion 71a faces downward, as shown in Fig. 19. When in such a storage position, the upper end of the price holder 70 is positioned lower than the upper end of the wire basket 30'.

[0081] By arranging the price holder 70 in the stored position in this manner, it becomes possible to stack other wire baskets 30' on top of the wire basket 30' to which the price holder 70 is attached.

[0082] When the price holder 70 arranged in such a storage position is swung outward as shown in Fig. 20, the locking projection 721 of the first central locking piece 72 comes into contact with the locking piece 531 constituting the handle guide 50. When the locking projection 721 comes into contact with the locking piece 531 in this manner, the handle guide 50 is elastically deformed in such a manner that the locking piece 531 is pressed by the locking projection 721 and displaced outward.

[0083] Thereafter, when the locking projection 721 of the price holder 70 swinging outward comes into contact with the horizontal wire 322, the locking piece 531 is displaced inward by the elastic restoring force and positioned above the horizontal wire 322 and the locking projection 721. As a result, as shown in Fig. 21, the price holder 70 assumes a viewing-permitting position in which the surface of the base 71 gradually tilts downward as it moves inward, making the price card held by the holding portion 71a visible.

[0084] In the price holder 70 in such a visually recognizable position, the locking protrusion 721 is restricted from being displaced upward by the locking piece 531, and is maintained in the visually recognizable position.

[0085] On the other hand, in order to displace the price holder 70 held in the visual confirmation position to the storage position, the price holder 70 is swung inward. As a result, the locking projection 721 of the first central locking piece 72 comes into contact with the locking piece 531 constituting the handle guide 50, and the handle guide 50 is elastically deformed in such a manner that the locking piece 531 is pressed by the locking projection 721 and displaced outward, and as a result, the price holder 70 is placed in the storage position. Then, the price holder 70 can be removed from the wire basket 30' by relatively releasing the inner horizontal wire 323 from the locking hole 74.

[0086] That is, the price holder 70 is detachably provided on the wire basket 30' in a manner that allows it to be displaced between a visually permissible position and a stored position, and when in the stored position, its upper end is disposed lower than the upper end of the wire basket 30'. The handle guide 50 is configured to be elastically deformable when pressed by the locking protrusion 721, and is provided with a locking piece 531 that can maintain the locking protrusion 721 in contact with the horizontal wire 322 by its elastic restoring force, thereby holding the price holder 70 in the visually permissible position.

[0087] As described above, according to the wire basket 30' which is embodiment 2 of the present invention, a price holder 70 which holds a price card displaying the price of the item contained in the wire basket 30' is provided in a removable manner, so that the price of the item can be displayed near the item and made visible, making it easy to understand the price of the item.

[0088] According to the wire basket 30', the price holder 70 is attached to the inner horizontal wire 323 so as to be displaceable between a visible position in which the locking projection 721 abuts against the horizontal wire 322 to make the price card visible, and a stored position in which the upper end portion is positioned below the horizontal wire 322, so that when the price holder 70 is placed below another wire basket 30', it is sufficient to displace the price holder 70 from the visible position to the stored position. Therefore, there is no need to remove the price holder 70, and no need to provide a dedicated space for storing the price holder 70.

[0089] According to the wire basket 30', the handle guide 50 is configured to be elastically deformable when pressed by the locking projection 721, and the locking piece 531 can maintain the locking projection 721 in contact with the horizontal wire 322 by its elastic restoring force to hold the price holder 70 in the visually permissible position, so that even if the outer diameter of the inner horizontal wire 323 that is inserted relatively into the locking hole 74 is sufficiently smaller than the diameter of the locking hole 74, the price holder 70 can be satisfactorily held in the visually permissible position. This improves the versatility of the price holder 70.

[0090] <Modifications of the handle guide 50> 22 and 23 are perspective views showing modified examples of the handle guide 50 constituting the wire basket 30' according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The same components as those in the handle guide 50 constituting the wire basket 30' according to the second embodiment described above are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicated explanations will be omitted as appropriate.

[0091] The handle guide 50' illustrated here is made of a resin material, and is configured by integrally molding a lower end component 51', a middle component 52, and an upper end component 53.

[0092] The lower end constituent portion 51' is a flat member whose longitudinal direction is the width direction (the width direction of the short side opposing wall portion 32b) rather than the up-down direction, and a pair of first guide locking portions 511 are formed at both ends in the width direction, as well as a pair of second guide locking portions (another pair of guide locking portions) 513. Here, the first guide locking portions 511 have a similar configuration to the guide locking portions 511 of the handle guide 50' described above, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0093] The second guide locking portion 513 has slits 513a that are open at the top, bottom, and outside (outside of the short-side opposing wall portion 32b) and extend in the up-down direction. Such second guide locking portions 513 are formed at locations that are farther away from the center of the lower end constituent portion 51' than the first guide locking portions 511, and are configured so that the pitch between the slits 513a is greater than the pitch between the slits 511a in the first guide locking portion 511. In other words, the pitch between the slits 513a formed in the second guide locking portion 513 itself is different from the pitch between the slits 511a in the first guide locking portion 511.

[0094] Such a handle guide 50' can be attached to wire baskets 30' having vertical wires 321 with different pitches, improving versatility.

[0095] Although the preferred first and second embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these and various modifications can be made.

[0096] In the above-described embodiment 1, the viewing-permitting position of the price holder 40 gradually tilted downward as the holding portion 411, which is the surface of the base 41, moved toward the inside of the wire basket 30. However, in the present invention, as long as the price card can be viewed, tilting is not necessary.

[0097] In the above-described embodiment 1, the price holder 40 is arranged to be swingable between the visible inspection position and the stored position, but in the present invention, the price holder may be arranged to be slidable between the visible inspection position and the stored position.

[0098] In the above-mentioned embodiments 1 and 2, the price holder 40 is provided at the upper end of the short side opposing wall portion 32b, but in the present invention, the price holder may be provided at any location on the long side opposing wall portion.

[0099] In the above-mentioned second embodiment, the price holder 70 is held in the visible position by the handle guide 50, but in the present invention, it may be configured as follows: That is, as shown in Figures 24 and 25, the price holder 70' may be provided with an elastic locking piece 75 that can be engaged with and disengaged from the horizontal wire 322, and when the elastic locking piece 75 is engaged with the horizontal wire 322, the price card may be held in the visible position where it is visible. [Explanation of symbols]

[0100] 10...case body, 11...storage compartment, 12...air passage, 20...cooling unit, 13a...suction port, 14a...blowout port, 30...wire basket, 31...bottom, 32a...long side opposing wall portion, 32b...short side opposing wall portion, 321...vertical wire, 322...horizontal wire, 323...inner horizontal wire, 40...price holder, 41...base, 411...holding portion, 42...first locking piece, 43...second locking piece, 44...regulating protrusion, PC...price card.

Claims

1. A wire basket having a box shape with a bottom and a wall surrounding the bottom, the wire basket being installed in a product storage device with products stored therein, a price holder that is detachably attached to any one of the walls and holds a price card that displays the price of the product; The wall portion is A horizontal wire that forms an upper end of the wall portion and extends in a manner parallel to the bottom portion; an inner horizontal wire extending inwardly of the horizontal wire and in a manner parallel to the horizontal wire; It has The price holder is attached to the inner horizontal wire so as to be displaceable between a visibility allowing position in which the price card is visible and a storage position in which an upper end portion of the price holder is disposed below the horizontal wire by abutting an engagement protrusion formed on the price holder against the horizontal wire, a pair of handle guides for attaching handles to the wall portions, the pair of handle guides being provided on opposing wall portions of the wall portions, the pair of handle guides being provided on opposing wall portions of the wall portions, The wire basket is characterized in that the handle guide is configured to be elastically deformable when pressed against the locking protrusion, and is provided with a locking piece portion that can maintain the locking protrusion in contact with the horizontal wire by an elastic restoring force, thereby holding the price holder in the visible position.

2. The handle guide includes a pair of guide locking portions each of which elastically deforms to relatively insert a part of any vertical wire of the opposing wall portion into a slit formed in the guide guide to lock the vertical wire, The wire basket according to claim 1, characterized in that the pair of guide engagement portions are configured so that parts of the vertical wires having a plurality of diameters can relatively enter the slits.

3. The handle guide is formed with another pair of guide locking portions different from the pair of guide locking portions, The wire basket according to claim 2, characterized in that the pitch between the slits formed in the other pair of guide engagement portions is different from the pitch between the slits in the other pair of guide engagement portions.

4. 4. The wire basket according to claim 1, wherein the price holder is made of a resin material.

Images