SHELF EDGE PROTECTOR FOR ELECTRONIC SHELF LABELS

Abstract

The present invention describes a shelf edge protector for an electronic shelf label (“ESL”) to protect the ESL from impact disturbance, displacement, or dislodgement by a shopping cart, restocking cart, a person, or other causes. The protector has an upper and a lower portion, connected by a bend. The protector is made of a clear material and its upper portion attaches with rivets or other attachment mechanisms to the forwardmost region of the top surface of a display shelf. The protector has predrilled holes at 1-inch or ½-inch intervals to align with a shelf's holes so that product dividers can be installed anywhere along the length of the protector without the need to drill holes after installation. The holes may also be pressure-actuated. The protector's lower portion has rounded or chamfered corners for safety to prevent snagging on clothing or other elements that may brush up against the protector.

Claims

1. A shelf edge protector for an electronic shelf label (“ESL”) adapted to protect said ESL from impact disturbance, displacement, or dislodgement, comprising a body made of a transparent rigid material comprising an upper portion adapted to attach to a forwardmost region of top face of shelf, and a lower portion connected to said upper portion via a bend, said lower portion adapted to cover said ESL, said upper portion comprising through-openings to allow unobstructed accessibility through said upper portion to at least six through-openings in said forwardmost region of top face of shelf.

2. A shelf edge protector for an ESL according to claim 1, wherein corners of said lower portion are rounded for safety and to prevent snagging.

3. A shelf edge protector for an ESL according to claim 1, wherein corners of said lower portion are chamfered for safety and to prevent snagging.

4. A shelf edge protector for an ESL according to claim 1, wherein said upper portion of said body is attached to said forwardmost region of top face of shelf via fasteners so that said body is firmly and easily attached to said forwardmost region of top face of shelf, and can be easily removed when desired.

5. A shelf edge protector for an ESL according to claim 1, wherein said upper portion's through-openings are one inch apart, aligning with said forwardmost region of top face of shelf's through-openings, also one inch apart, thus leaving said forwardmost region of top face of shelf's through-openings accessible and unobstructed.

6. A shelf edge protector for an ESL according to claim 1, wherein said upper portion's through-openings are ½ inch apart, aligning with said forwardmost region of top face of shelf's through-openings, also ½ inch apart, thus leaving said forwardmost region of top face of shelf's through-openings accessible and unobstructed.

7. A shelf edge protector for an ESL according to claim 1, wherein said protector is attached to said forwardmost region of top face of shelf via at least two through-openings, and for optimal structural strength, the second-last through-openings from an extremity of said upper portion are used for this purpose.

8. A shelf edge protector for an ESL according to claim 1, wherein the width of said body substantially matches the width of said ESL.

9. A shelf edge protector for an ESL according to claim 1, wherein said protector covers a plurality of ESLs.

10. A shelf edge protector for an ESL according to claim 1, wherein said material is plastic.

11. A shelf edge protector for an ESL according to claim 1, wherein said upper portion is attached to said forwardmost region of top face of shelf using a shelf divider, wherein said shelf divider comprises a protrusion adapted to be inserted through said upper portion's through-opening, and subsequently through said forwardmost region of top face of shelf's through-opening.

12. A shelf edge protector for an ESL according to claim 1, wherein said upper portion through-openings are round.

13. A shelf edge protector for an ESL according to claim 1, wherein said upper portion through-openings are slots.

14. A shelf edge protector for an ESL according to claim 1, wherein said upper portion through-openings are pressure-actuated holes.

15. A shelf edge protector for an electronic shelf label (“ESL”) adapted to protect said ESL from impact disturbance, displacement, or dislodgement, comprising a body made of a transparent rigid material including an upper portion adapted to attach to a forwardmost region of top face of shelf, and a lower portion bent under a predetermined angle and adapted to cover said ESL, said lower portion comprising snag-free transitional corners, said corners being curved arcs.

16. A shelf edge protector for an electronic shelf label (“ESL”) adapted to protect said ESL from impact disturbance, displacement, or dislodgement, comprising a body made of a transparent rigid material comprising an upper portion adapted to attach to a forwardmost region of top face of shelf, and a lower portion bent under a predetermined angle and adapted to cover said ESL, said lower portion comprising snag-free transitional corners, said corners comprising one or a plurality of chamfers.

17. A shelf edge protector for an electronic shelf label (“ESL”) adapted to protect said ESL from impact disturbance, displacement, or dislodgement, comprising a body made of a transparent rigid material comprising an upper portion adapted to attach to a forwardmost region of top face of shelf, and a lower portion bent under a predetermined angle and adapted to cover said ESL, wherein said lower portion comprises tapered corners to prevent snagging, said upper portion comprising through-openings aligning with through-openings on said forwardmost region of top face of shelf so that upon installation, at least half of through-openings of said forwardmost region of top face of shelf remain unobstructed.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0044] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the first embodiment of the present invention, namely a short protector.

[0045] FIG. 2 shows a side view of a transition between inoperative and operative mode of a preferred fastener, namely a rivet.

[0046] FIG. 3 shows a front view of the first embodiment with an ESL, during installation of fasteners.

[0047] FIG. 4 shows a front view of the first embodiment with an ESL, after installation of fasteners.

[0048] FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the second embodiment of the present invention, namely a long protector.

[0049] FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the first embodiment with through-openings being slots instead of round holes.

[0050] FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of the first embodiment with through-openings being square holes instead of round holes.

[0051] FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of the second embodiment installed onto a shelf by using shelf dividers as fasteners.

[0052] FIG. 9 shows a side perspective view of prior art, attached to a shelf with adhesive.

[0053] FIG. 10 shows a perspective view of prior art after damage.

[0054] FIG. 11 shows a front view of a third embodiment of the present invention.

[0055] FIG. 12 shows a perspective view of a variant of the second embodiment with six through-openings.

[0056] FIG. 13 shows a perspective view of the second embodiment with chamfered corners.

[0057] FIG. 14 shows a perspective view of the first embodiment with chamfered corners.

[0058] FIG. 15 shows a perspective view of another variant of the second embodiment with two rows of holes to accommodate another model of a display shelf.

[0059] FIG. 16 shows another variant of the second embodiment as seen on FIG. 13 with two rows of holes.

[0060] FIG. 17 shows a variant of the first embodiment with through-openings being transverse slots rotated 90 degrees to the slots shown on FIG. 6.

[0061] FIG. 18 shows the first embodiment with through-openings being pressure-actuated holes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0062] The present invention is a protector for one or a plurality of Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL). The protector shields ESLs from impacts that would otherwise dislodge or damage ESLs. The protector is easily installed or removed by a store staff member with little or no skill.

[0063] Referring now to drawings, FIG. 1 shows the first preferred embodiment of the present invention, namely a short protector 2 for one ESL, comprising a substantially horizontal upper portion 14 with a plurality of through-openings 24, connected to lower portion 16 via bend 18, said lower portion 16 being under a predetermined angle with relation to upper portion 14. Corners 20 of lower portion 16 are curved to prevent snagging. Protector 2 is slightly wider the width of an ESL. Through-openings 24 are spaced ½ inch apart.

[0064] FIG. 2 shows the transition of a preferred fastener 30 between inoperative or pre-installation mode and operative or post-installation mode. Preferred fastener 30, namely a plastic anchor rivet, comprises a body and a pin, said body adapted to expand once pin is inserted.

[0065] FIG. 3 demonstrates mid-installation process of protector 2 onto forwardmost region of top face of shelf 10, wherein fasteners 30 are inserted into through-openings 24 of upper portion 14, and subsequently into through-openings 12 located in forwardmost region of top face of shelf 10. Protector 2 is installed to substantially cover ESL 6.

[0066] FIG. 4 shows the installed protector 2 over ESL 6, wherein fasteners 30 are fully inserted into forwardmost region of top face of shelf 10's through-openings 12. Protector 2's lower portion 16 comprises rounded corners 20 for safety and to prevent snagging.

[0067] FIG. 5 demonstrates the second preferred embodiment of the present invention, namely a long protector 4, adapted to protect a plurality of ESLs. Protector 4 comprises a substantially horizontal upper portion 14 connected to lower portion 16 via bend 18, lower portion 16 being at a pre-determined angle to upper portion 14. A plurality of through-openings 24 are located in proximity to the distal edge of upper portion 14. Corners 20 of lower portion 16 have a rounded configuration to prevent snagging, and for safety.

[0068] FIG. 6 shows a variant of the first embodiment 2 with through-openings being slots 26 instead of round holes 24. Slots 26 allow for installation on forwardmost regions of top face of shelf 10 with non-standard through-openings 12 configurations. FIG. 7 shows first embodiment 2 with square through-openings 28 instead of round holes 24, to adapt to different models of shelves. It should be noted that through-openings 24 can be of other shapes other than slots 26 or squares 28, such as hexagons, octagons, or the like.

[0069] FIG. 8 shows the second embodiment 4 installed on shelf 8's forwardmost region of top face of shelf 10 using shelf dividers 32. A standard shelf divider 32 comprises a prong 34 adapted to be inserted in forwardmost region of top face of shelf 10's through-opening 12 to prevent products from co-mingling on the same shelf 8. Prong 34 can be used as a fastener to attach protector 2 or 4 to forwardmost region of top face of shelf 10 by first being inserted into through-opening 24 of protector 2 or 4, and subsequently into through-opening 12 located on forwardmost region of top face of shelf 10. Therefore, protector 2 or 4 is immobilized over ESL 6.

[0070] FIGS. 9 and 10 show prior art 36 comprising a protector installed on forwardmost region of top face of shelf 10 using adhesive 40. Prior art 36 obscures through-openings 12 on forwardmost region of top face of shelf 10, prohibiting installation of shelf dividers 32 unless a skilled person manages to drill a corresponding hole in prior art 36, which is a dangerous and complicated procedure. In addition, prior art 36 comprises square corners 42 that are prone to snagging on clothing and store equipment. As seen on FIG. 10, if something snags on corner 42, there is a high probability that prior art 36's corner 42 will fracture or shatter, and cause damage 38, thereby necessitating replacement of the entire protector of prior art 36.

[0071] FIG. 11 demonstrates a variant of the second preferred embodiment 4, wherein upper portion 14 is intermittent with relation to lower portion 16. Upper portion 14 only extends where the attachment points are necessary for installation to forwardmost region of top face of shelf 10. This variant reduces the continuous lip created by the distal edge of upper portion 14 as seen on FIG. 5, thereby not interfering with the ability to slide heavier objects off the shelf by a customer.

[0072] FIG. 12 shows another variant of the second preferred embodiment 4, with six through-openings 24. FIGS. 13 and 14 show first and second embodiments 2 and 4 with chamfered corners 22 instead of rounded or curved corners 20. It should be noted that one or more chamfers 22 are possible on a single corner.

[0073] FIG. 15 shows yet another variant of the second preferred embodiment 4 with two rows of six holes 24 to accommodate some display shelves 8 with a different orientation of holes 12. FIG. 16 shows yet another variant of the second preferred embodiment 4 with two rows of a multitude of holes 24.

[0074] FIG. 17 shows the first preferred embodiment 2 with through-openings being slots 26 that are oriented at 90 degrees to slots 26 seen on FIG. 6. FIG. 18 shows the first preferred embodiment 2 with through-openings being pressure-actuated holes 29, namely holes that are not completely drilled through the entire thickness of upper portion 14, but drilled to a threshold where an object such as prong in shelf divider 34 can be used to punch or pushed through pressure-actuated hole 29 to convert pressure-actuated hole 29 into hole 24, without damaging protector 2 or 4.

[0075] In practice, on a standard store shelf 8, protector 2 or 4 is aligned with ESL 6, and through-openings 24 are aligned with through-openings 12 of forwardmost region of top face of shelf 10. Fasteners 30 or prongs 34 of shelf dividers 32 are inserted into through-openings 24, and subsequently into through-openings 12, thereby locking protector 2 or 4 onto forwardmost region of top face of shelf 10, covering ESL 6. If protector 2 or 4 has to be removed, the installation procedure is reversed.

[0076] In non-standard store shelf scenarios, protectors 2 or 4 with variants of through-openings 26 or 28 can be used. As mentioned before, through-openings of upper portion 14 can be of any configuration, depending on the shape of forwardmost region of top face of shelf 10's through-openings 12.

[0077] In some applications, protectors 2 or 4 with pressure-actuated through-openings 29 need to be used. In such cases, a tool such as a prong 34 of shelf divider 32 can be pushed through opening 29 thereby creating a through-opening 24. It should be noted that no drill is necessary to convert pressure-actuated through-opening 29 into through-opening 24, since pressure-actuated through-opening 29 is pre-drilled to the threshold where a simple push of said prong 34 is sufficient to create a full through-opening 24 without structurally damaging protector 2 or 4's upper portion 14.