Modular Pusher System

Abstract

The present invention provides a modular pusher system for facing products on a shelf. The system comprises a plurality of dividers each having a front end and a rear end, at least one pusher comprising a spring element for biasing the pusher towards a front edge of a shelf, a back rail having a mounting element for holding rear ends of the dividers and that is mountable on an upper side of a shelf in a position that is parallel to a front edge of the shelf and at a distance from the front edge of the shelf, and a plurality of front retainers for retaining products at the front edge of a shelf. Wherein when the system is constructed on a shelf each front retainer is mounted at the front edge of the shelf to extend upwardly from the front edge, the back rail is mounted on an upper surface of a shelf in a position that is parallel to a front edge of the shelf and at a distance from the front end of the shelf, each divider is mounted at its front end to a front retainer and at its rear end to the back rail, and each pusher is mounted on the upper side of the shelf between two dividers and is biased towards the front edge of the shelf by its spring element. This results in a pusher system wherein products can be positioned on a shelf in at least one channel formed between adjacent dividers and between a pusher and front retainers to be thereby faced on a shelf. The system is advantageous in that it is a system that can be retrofitted to substantially any shelf or shelving unit. It can also be used with products of a variety of sizes. Preferably the system further comprises a low-friction glide mat that is positioned on an upper surface of a shelf before the other components of the system are mounted thereon and is thereby held in position.

Claims

1. A modular pusher system for facing products on a shelf, the system comprising: a plurality of dividers each having a front end and a rear end; at least one pusher having a spring element for biasing the pusher towards a front edge of a shelf; a back rail having a mounting element for holding rear ends of the dividers, and that is mountable on an upper side of a shelf in a position that is parallel to a front edge of the shelf and at a distance from the front edge of the shelf; and a plurality of front retainers for retaining products at the front edge of a shelf; wherein when the system is constructed on a shelf: each front retainer is mounted at the front edge of the shelf to extend upwardly from the front edge; the back rail is mounted on an upper surface of a shelf in a position that is parallel to a front edge of the shelf and at a distance from the front end of the shelf; each divider is mounted at its front end to a front retainer and at its rear end to the back rail; and each pusher is mounted on the upper side of the shelf between two dividers and is biased towards the front edge of the shelf by its spring element; such that products can be positioned on the shelf in at least one channel formed between adjacent dividers and between a pusher and front retainers to be thereby faced on a shelf.

2. The modular pusher system of claim 1, further comprising a low-friction glide mat for positioning on the upper surface of the shelf; wherein when the system is constructed on a shelf, the glide mat is positioned between the upper surface of the shelf and the other components of the system.

3. The modular pusher system of claim 2, wherein the glide mat is held in position at a front edge by the front retainers and at a rear edge by the back rail.

4. The modular pusher system of claim 1, wherein the back rail has a magnetic mounting element for mounting the rail on the upper side of the shelf.

5. The modular pusher system of claim 1, wherein the mounting element of the back rail comprises a plurality of slots formed therein;

6. The modular pusher system of claim 5, wherein the slots are formed at regular intervals along a length of the back rail.

7. The modular pusher system of claim 6, wherein the regular intervals are from 2 mm to 5 mm.

8. The modular pusher system of claim 1, wherein the spring element of the pusher is a variable force spring.

9. The modular pusher system of claim 1, wherein the pusher further comprises a removable plate formed on a front side.

10. The modular pusher system of claim 1, wherein each front retainer is formed of a transparent material.

11. The modular pusher system of claim 1, wherein each front retainer is a one-piece injection molded component.

12. The modular pusher system of claim 1, wherein each front retainer is formed to be mounted and held in position in a slot in a front edge of a shelf.

13. The modular pusher system of claim 12, wherein each front retainer comprises a vertically extending front plate for mounting in the slot in the front edge of the shelf, the front plate having flexible gripping elements formed thereon to hold the retainer in position in the slot.

14. The modular pusher system of claim 1, wherein each front retainer has a vertically oriented slot for mounting a front of a divider.

15. The modular pusher system of claim 14, wherein the vertically oriented slot and/or the front end of each of the dividers comprises a locking element for locking the front of the divider in position within the slot.

16. The modular pusher system of claim 15, wherein the locking element comprises a resilient tab formed on one of the front end of the divider or the vertically oriented slot and a cooperating formed recess formed on the other of the front end of the divider and the vertically oriented slot.

17. The modular pusher system of claim 1, wherein each pusher and each divider are formed such that a pusher can be cooperatively mounted in a divider such that the pusher is movable between the rear end and the front end of the divider.

18. The modular pusher system of claim 17, wherein each divider has a longitudinal aperture extending substantially from a front end to a rear end for mounting a cooperatively formed protrusion of the pusher therein.

19. The modular pusher system of claim 1, wherein the spring element of each pusher is a variable force spring that is fixable at an outer end to either a front retainer or a front end of a divider.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] FIG. 1 is an exploded view of part of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0040] FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the front retainer of FIG. 1;

[0041] FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the pusher of FIG. 1;

[0042] FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the back rail of FIG. 1;

[0043] FIG. 5 is a side view of the divider of FIG. 1; and

[0044] FIG. 6 is a three dimensional view of the system of FIG. 1 in position on an upper surface of a shelf.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0045] Part of an embodiment of a modular pusher system according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 1. The part of the system shown in the Figure comprises a front retainer 1, a pusher 2, a back rail 3, and a divider 4. These components are shown individually in FIGS. 2 to 5. The complete system mounted in position on an upper side of a shelf is shown in FIG. 6. The system is used to position and products (not shown), i.e. to face products, on a shelf. As shown in FIG. 6, when in use the system comprises a plurality of front retainers 1, pushers 2, and dividers 4 and a glide mat 5.

[0046] For simplicity, FIG. 1 shows only a single front retainer 1, pusher 2, and divider 4 and omits the glide mat 5.

[0047] The front retainer 1 is substantially formed as a unitary injection moulded component of transparent polymer. The front retainer 1 has a vertically oriented mounting plate 10 formed at a front side for mounting the front retainer in a slot formed at a front edge of a shelf. The mounting plate 10 has a plurality of resilient gripping elements 11 formed on each side to hold the mounting plate 10 firmly in position in the slot. The front retainer 1 has vertical front retaining plates 12, 13 that are formed above and substantially parallel to the mounting plate 10. When in use, the retaining plates 12, 13 act to hold products in position at the front edge of the shelf until removed by a consumer. The retaining plates 12, 13 extend to approximately 40% of the height of a divider 4 mounted in the front retainer 1. The front retainer further comprises a vertical orientated slot 14 for holding a divider 4. The slot 14 extends perpendicular to the mounting plate 10 and the retaining plates 12, 13 and comprises a resilient tab 15 for locking a divider in position 4. The front retainer 1 further comprises a horizontally extending portion 16 that extends over a front portion of the shelf when the retainer is positioned in the shelf to hold the glide mat 5 in position on the shelf. The horizontally extending portion 16 is formed at an upper end of the mounting plate 10 and at a lower end of the retaining plates 12, 13 and the slot 14.

[0048] A pusher 2 is shown in FIG. 3. The pusher 2 has a vertical pushing face 20 at a front side and a mounting protrusion 21 at a first side. A lower side 22 of the pusher 2 is formed to sit on the glide mat 5 between adjacent dividers 4 and allow the pusher to be pulled along the glide mat 5. The pusher 2 is mounted in an adjacent divider 4 by means of the mounting protrusion 21 being mounted in a longitudinally extending slot 41 formed in the divider. The pusher 2 is biased towards a front end of the system by means of a variable force spring 23 that can be seen in FIG. 1. An outer end of the spring 23 is fixed to a divider 4 adjacent a front end of the divider. An inner end of the variable force spring 23 is mounted to the pusher 2.

[0049] A back rail 3 is shown in FIG. 4. The back rail 3 consists of a bar having a plurality of mounting slots 30 formed therein. The back rail 4 is magnetic in order to hold it in position on a metal shelf. When in use the back rail 3 has a plurality of dividers 4 mounted therein. In particular, a rear end of each divider 4 is mounted in the back rail 3 by means of a rear fixing protrusion 43 (see below) being positioned in a mounting slot 30 of the back rail 3. This further acts to hold the back rail 3 in position.

[0050] A divider 4 is shown in FIG. 5. The divider 4 is formed of sheet metal and has a longitudinal slot 41 formed between a front end and a rear end. A front fixing protrusion 42 is formed at the front end for mounting the divider 4 in a front retainer 1. A rear fixing protrusion 43 is formed at the rear end of the divider 4 for mounting the divider in the back rail 3. The front and rear fixing protrusions 42, 43, each have an aperture 44 formed therein to allow the divider 4 to be fixed in position in a front retainer 1 and the back rail 3 by means of resilient tabs 15 formed therein. When in use, the front fixing protrusion 42 is positioned in the vertically oriented slot 14 of a front retaining element and the resilient tab 15 is positioned in the aperture 44 of the front fixing protrusion 42. Similarly, the rear fixing protrusion 43 is positioned in a slot 30 formed in the back rail and the resilient tab (not shown) is positioned in the aperture 44 of the rear fixing protrusion 43.

[0051] The system comprises a glide mat 5 this is mounted on the upper surface of the shelf and is held in position by the front retainers 1 and the back rail 3. The glide mat has a low-friction upper surface that allows products and pushers 2 to slide easily. The glide mat 5 has a plurality of longitudinal grooves 50 formed in its upper surface to further reduce its friction and to help hold the dividers 4 in position.

[0052] The complete setup of the system is shown in FIG. 6. As can be seen, channels for positioning products are formed between adjacent dividers 4. Products are held at a front of these channels by the retaining plates 12, 13 of the front retainers 1 and are urged towards the front of the channels by the pushers 3, which are biased towards the front of the channels. As the front retainers 1 are transparent, products in the channels can be seen easily. The low-friction glide mat 5 forms the lower surface of the channels upon which the products sit. This allows the products to be slid towards the front of the channels easily.

[0053] The dividers 4 can be positioned at different widths by appropriately positioning the front retainers 1 in the shelf and by mounting the dividers in the appropriate slots formed in the back rail 3. Dividers 4 of different lengths can be provided to accommodate shelves of different depths. For larger channels an additional front plate can be provided on a front face of the pusher 2.

[0054] The system of the Figures can be mounted on a shelf in the following manner First, the glide mat 5 is positioned on an upper surface of a shelf. Then the front retainers 1 are slotted into a front edge of the shelf and hold a front edge of the glide mat 5 in position. The back rail 3 is then positioned adjacent a rear edge of the shelf and is magnetically held in position. This holds the rear edge of the glide mat 5 in position. Next the dividers 4 are mounted in the front retainers 1 and the back rail 3 to form the channels. The dividers 4 may be mounted in position with the pushers 2 already attached or the pushers may be attached to the dividers 4 after they are mounted. Once the pushers are mounted in the dividers 4 products may be positioned on the shelf within the channels and the system will act to face those products on the shelf. The system can be removed from a shelf by reversing this procedure.