Pusher Tray With Arcuate Dividers for Circular Merchandise Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pusher assemblies fail to effectively contain and display retail merchandise with a circular outer periphery, such as frozen pizzas, due to upright divider walls that make minimal contact and cause items to lean or tip forward due to the perpendicular orientation of the front wall.
Innovation Solution
A pusher tray with a base structure and slideable dividers featuring an arcuate frame portion that approximates the circular shape of the merchandise, along with a pusher having a front wall oriented at an acute angle to prevent leaning and tipping, ensuring the merchandise is displayed neatly and securely.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If upright divider walls are used to contain circular merchandise, then the structure provides containment, but the divider walls make minimal contact with circular items and fail to neatly contain them
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies curvature to the inner surface of the divider walls, transforming them from flat upright surfaces to arcuate surfaces that conform to the circular shape of the merchandise. This curved configuration increases the contact area between the divider and circular items, enabling effective containment while maintaining structural integrity.
2Device complexity
If the front wall of the pusher is oriented perpendicular to the support surface, then the pusher structure is simple, but it causes larger and thinner items to lean forward or tip entirely forward
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the orientation parameter of the front wall from perpendicular (90 degrees) to an acute angle relative to the support surface. This angular modification alters the distribution of biasing force, applying it at a lower position on the merchandise to reduce the moment arm and prevent the leaning or tipping that occurs with perpendicular walls.
3Force
If the front wall applies biasing force high along the back surface of merchandise, then the pusher mechanism is effective, but it creates a moment arm that causes rotation and forward lean
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the application point parameter of the biasing force by angling the front wall, which lowers the contact position on the merchandise from the upper back surface to a lower position. This parameter change reduces the moment arm length, thereby decreasing the rotational moment that causes forward lean while maintaining the effectiveness of the pusher mechanism.
Data Source
AI summary
A pusher tray is provided. The pusher tray includes a base structure defining a retail merchandise support surface. A pusher is slidably retained on the base structure and configured to bias retail merchandise toward a front stop of the pusher tray. The pusher has a floor and a front wall extending upwardly from the floor such that the front wall is oriented at an acute angle relative to the retail support surface. A pair of dividers are slidably mounted to the base structure. Each of the pair of dividers includes an arcuate frame portion and a pair of support elements supporting the arcuate frame portion such that a portion of each support element is tangent to a radius of curvature defined by each arcuate frame portion.