System and method for product display, arrangement and rotation James Garth Close

Abstract

A device, system, and method for manually arranging products on a display shelf. A plastic ridged base may be cut to a desired display shelf width along preformed notches and then be placed on the display shelf. Excess base width may serve as a rear backing element to support row partitions. The ridges support merchandise and permit a pull member to rest between ridges. The pull member may be manually pulled to bring merchandise to the front of a row. The ridges may be universal, or may be of specific dimensions for items such as soup cans or baby food jars.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A product display base for use in manually aligning merchandise on a display shelf, the display base comprising: 
 a bottom surface, such that the display base may be placed on the display shelf, and at least a portion of the bottom surface is in contact with the display shelf;    a front edge;    a first side edge;    a second side edge;    a rear edge;    a plurality of merchandise support ridges, including a first merchandise support ridge and a second merchandise support ridge, such that the merchandise support ridges extend from the proximity of the front edge to the proximity of the rear edge; and    at least one pull member channel located between the first merchandise support ridge and the second merchandise support ridge, such that a portion of a pull member may be placed in the channel under merchandise supported by the first merchandise support ridge and the second merchandise support ridge.    
     
     
         2 . The display base of  claim 1  further comprising 
 a plurality of notches in the support ridges, such that display base may be cut in proximity to a notch in order to provide a base of desired display shelf depth.  
 
     
     
         3 . The display base of  claim 2  wherein 
 there is a third merchandise support ridge, such that the second merchandise support ridge is positioned between the first ridge and the third ridge;  
 the notches on the first and third ridge are aligned, such that the base may be cut to a desired depth by cutting through one set of the aligned notches; and  
 the notches on the second ridge are offset from the notches on the first ridge and the notches on the third ridge.  
 
     
     
         4 . The display base of  claim 1  further comprising a rear backing section which is essentially perpendicular to the display shelf.  
     
     
         5 . The display base of  claim 4  wherein 
 the rear backing section comprises a removed portion of the display base.  
 
     
     
         6 . The display base of  claim 1  further comprising 
 a front stop on at least a portion of the front edge of the display base.  
 
     
     
         7 . The display base of  claim 6  wherein 
 the front stop includes a slot, such that the slot is aligned with the pull member channel, and such that a pull member may placed through the slot.  
 
     
     
         8 . The display base of  claim 1  wherein 
 the first and second support ridges at least partially support merchandise in a first row;  
 there is a third merchandise support ridge, such that the second ridge is positioned between the first ridge and the third ridge, and the third ridge at least partially supports merchandise in a second row; and  
 there is at least one row partition insert, such that the row partition insert is inserted between the second ridge and the third ridge in order to separate the first row and the second row.  
 
     
     
         9 . A product display base for use in manually aligning product containers on a display shelf, the display base comprising 
 a bottom surface, such that the display base may be placed on the display shelf, and at least a portion of the bottom surface is in contact with the display shelf;    a front edge;    a first side edge;    a second side edge;    a rear edge; and    a plurality of preformed product container rows, each row comprising 
 a first ridge extending from the proximity of the front edge to the proximity of the rear edge;  
 a second ridge extending from the proximity of the front edge to the proximity of the rear edge;  
 at least one pull member channel located between the first ridge and the second ridge, such that a plurality of products may be placed in the row and a portion of a pull member may be placed in the channel under the products, and the products may be pulled toward the front edge of the display shelf by pulling the pull member which engages the rearmost product and pulls the row of products forward while the products are laterally confined within the row by the first ridge and the second ridge.  
   
     
     
         10 . The display base of  claim 9  wherein at least a portion of one end of the base is scored so that the base may be bent to a desired shelf depth.  
     
     
         11 . The display base of  claim 9  wherein the first ridge has a recess to receive a row partition insert.  
     
     
         12 . The display base of  claim 11  further comprising a row partition insert, such that the row partition insert is inserted into the first ridge recess.  
     
     
         13 . The display base of  claim 9  wherein the first ridge has a flattened triangular cross section comprising 
 a first plateau parallel to the bottom surface plane of the base, such that a portion of a first container in a first row may rest on the first plateau;  
 a second plateau parallel to the bottom surface plane of the base, such that a portion of a second container in a second row may rest on the second plateau; and  
 a raised portion between the first plateau and the second plateau, such that the raised portion resists lateral movement of the first and second container between the first row and the second row.  
 
     
     
         14 . The display base of  claim 9  further comprising 
 a third inner ridge positioned between the first ridge and the pull member channel;  
 a fourth inner ridge positioned between the pull member channel and the second ridge, such that the third and fourth ridges support merchandise in the row, and such that the first and second ridges are taller than the third and fourth ridges in order to confine merchandise to the row.  
 
     
     
         15 . The display base of  claim 9  further comprising 
 a first outer ridge positioned between the first ridge and the pull member channel; and  
 a second outer ridge positioned between the second ridge and the pull member channel.  
 
     
     
         16 . The display base of  claim 9  further comprising 
 a front stop on at least one row, such that the front stop may engage a portion of the first product in the row thereby restraining the product in the row.  
 
     
     
         17 . The display base of  claim 16  wherein 
 the front stop includes a slot, such that the slot is aligned with the pull member channel, and such that a pull member may placed through the slot.  
 
     
     
         18 . The display base of  claim 9  further comprising 
 a plurality of pre-formed bend markings so that base can be bent along a selected bend marking.  
 
     
     
         19 . A product display system comprised of 
 a display shelf;    at least one display base section, the display base section comprising 
 a bottom surface, such that the display base may be placed on the display shelf, and at least a portion of the bottom surface is in contact with the display shelf,  
 a front edge,  
 a first side edge,  
 a second side edge,  
 a rear edge, and  
 a plurality of preformed product container rows, each row comprising 
 a first ridge extending from the proximity of the front edge to the proximity of the rear edge;  
 a second ridge extending from the proximity of the front edge to the proximity of the rear edge;  
 at least one pull member channel located between the first ridge and the second ridge, such that products may be placed in the row and a portion of a pull member may be placed in the channel under the products, and the product containers may be pulled toward the front edge of the display shelf by pulling the pull member which engages the rearmost product and pulls the row of products forward while the products are laterally confined within the row by the first ridge and the second ridge;  
 
   a plurality of pull members; and    a first merchandise item positioned in a first row and a second merchandise item positioned in a second row, such that the second row is adjacent to the first row, and such that the second ridge provides a boundary between the first row and the second row.    
     
     
         20 . The product display system of  claim 19  wherein a pull member of a row is comprised of 
 an elongated section which rests within the pull member channel;  
 a rear product engagement section which is connected to the rear of the elongated section; and  
 a front pull section, connected to the front of the elongated section, such that the front pull section may be pulled outwards away from the front edge of the display shelf, thereby causing the rear product engagement section to engage the rearmost product in the row.  
 
     
     
         21 . The product display system of  claim 19  wherein 
 the first display base section has a top surface; and  
 a second display base section overlaps the first side edge of the first display base section, thereby extending the display base area.  
 
     
     
         22 . The product display system of  claim 19  further comprising 
 at least one front stop positioned in proximity to the front edge of a row, such that the front stop may engage a portion of the first product in the row thereby restraining the product in the row.  
 
     
     
         23 . The display base of  claim 19  further comprising 
 a plurality of pre-formed bend markings so that base can be bent along a selected bend marking.  
 
     
     
         24 . The product display system of  claim 19  wherein the display base section further comprises 
 a third inner ridge positioned between the first ridge and the pull member channel;  
 a fourth inner ridge positioned between the pull member channel and the second ridge, such that the third and fourth ridges support merchandise in the row, and such that the first and second ridges are taller than the third and fourth ridges in order to confine merchandise to the row.  
 
     
     
         25 . The display base of  claim 24  wherein 
 the first merchandise item is a first soup can; and  
 the second merchandise item is a second soup can, such that a portion of the second ridge is located between the first soup can and the second soup can, and such that when the first soup can and the second soup can are in close proximity there is an open area between the lower portion of the first soup can and the lower portion second soup can, and the portion of the second ridge is contained within the open area.  
 
     
     
         26 . The display base of  claim 19  wherein 
 the first merchandise item is a first stack of baby food jars;  
 the second merchandise item is a second stack of baby food jars, such that a portion of the second ridge is located between first stack and the second stack, and such that the second ridge includes a recess; and  
 a divider partition such that the partition is inserted into the recess thereby creating a wall between the first row and the second row.  
 
     
     
         27 . A method of displaying product containers on a display shelf the method comprising 
 positioning a first product display base section on a portion of the display shelf, the display base having a plurality of predefined product container display rows, each row having a first ridge divider, a second ridge divider, a product container channel between the first ridge divider and the second ridge divider, and a pull member channel located between the first ridge divider and the second ridge divider;    placing a first pull member in a first row of the display base section such that the pull member is positioned substantially within the pull member channel of the first row;    placing a plurality of product containers within first row of the display base; and    periodically pulling the first pull member toward the front of the display shelf, thereby engaging the rearmost product container and pulling the row of containers forward while the product containers are laterally confined within the product container channel by the first ridge divider and the second ridge divider, and returning the pull member to its resting position.    
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27  further comprising adjusting the depth of the display base section by 
 selecting a predefined bend line on the display base section which corresponds to the approximate display shelf depth;  
 bending the display base section along the selected predefined bend line; and  
 positioning the bent display base section on a portion of the display shelf.  
 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 27  further comprising 
 cutting the display base along the selected predefined bend line; and  
 positioning the cut display base section on a portion of the display shelf.  
 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 27  further comprising 
 placing a second display base section on a second portion of the display shelf such that a portion of the second display base section overlaps a portion of the first display base section.