Gravity feed roller strip seats for plastic glide tray

Abstract

Disclosed are roller strip seats adapted to be used in conjunction with plastic glide trays for displaying beverages. The roller strip seats have a base and a plurality of rollers, where the base has a top, a bottom, a width having two edges and a length having two ends, a first and a second roller support bar on opposite sides of the width of the base along the length, where each roller support bar has a plurality of spaced openings configured to hold one of the plurality of rollers. The seat also has at least one locator disposed on the bottom and at least one locking element also disposed on bottom to align and lock the seat in the plastic glide tray. The rollers are placed in opposite spaced openings and are freely rotatable in the openings without pulling away from or out of the openings.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A roller strip seat comprising:
 a seat, wherein the seat comprises:   a base having a top, a bottom, a width having two edges and a length having two ends;   a first and a second roller support bar disposed on opposite sides of the width along the length and having a portion disposed substantially perpendicularly in a direction away from the top, wherein each of the first and second rollers support bars has a plurality of spaced apart openings disposed therein, wherein a spaced apart opening of the first roller support bar is disposed opposite a spaced apart opening of the second roller support bar, and wherein oppositely disposed spaced apart openings of the first and second roller support bars are configured to hold one of a plurality of rollers;   at least one locator disposed on and away from the bottom;   at least one locking element disposed on and away from the bottom; and   a plurality of rollers, wherein one of the plurality of rollers each is disposed in oppositely disposed spaced openings.   
     
     
         2 . The roller strip seat according to  claim 1 , wherein the spaced openings of the first and second roller support bars are evenly disposed along the length of the portion disposed substantially perpendicularly in a direction away from the top of each of the first and second roller support bars. 
     
     
         3 . The roller strip seat according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one locator is disposed and configured to matingly engage a plastic glide tray so as to properly align the base in the plastic glide tray. 
     
     
         4 . The roller strip seat according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one locator comprises a plurality of locators. 
     
     
         5 . The roller strip seat according to  claim 4 , wherein at least one of the plurality of locators is disposed proximal each edge of the width. 
     
     
         6 . The roller strip seat according to  claim 4 , wherein the plurality of locators comprises a first and a second pair of locators, wherein each of the first pair of locators is disposed substantially opposite the other and substantially equidistant from each edge and proximal a first end of the length, and wherein each of the second pair of locators is disposed substantially equidistant from each edge and proximal a second end of the length. 
     
     
         7 . The roller strip seat according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one locking element is disposed and configured to matingly engage a plastic glide tray so as to lock the base to the plastic glide tray. 
     
     
         8 . The roller strip seat according to  claim 7 , wherein the least one locking element locator comprises a plurality of locking elements. 
     
     
         9 . The roller strip seat according to  claim 8 , wherein at least one of the plurality of locking elements is disposed proximal each end of the length. 
     
     
         10 . The roller strip seat according to  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of locking elements comprises a row of locking elements substantially evenly disposed along the bottom between the two ends, wherein each of the plurality of locking elements is disposed along the bottom along a longitudinal axis of the bottom between the two ends, wherein at least one of the plurality of locking elements is disposed away from the longitudinal axis toward a first one of the two edges, and wherein at least one of the plurality of locking elements is disposed away from the longitudinal axis toward a second one of the two edges. 
     
     
         11 . The roller strip seat according to  claim 10 , wherein alternate locking elements of the row of locking are disposed substantially equidistant from each other and substantially equidistant on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis. 
     
     
         12 . The roller strip seat according to  claim 1 , wherein each roller comprises a cylinder portion having a diameter and a length and a connection element at the end of the length. 
     
     
         13 . The roller strip seat according to  claim 12 , wherein each cylinder portion has substantially the same diameter. 
     
     
         14 . The roller strip seat according to  claim 12 , wherein each connection element is configured to matingly engage one of a pair of oppositely disposed opening so as to allow roller freely to rotate in a pair of oppositely disposed openings. 
     
     
         15 . The roller strip seat according to  claim 14 , wherein the configuration of the connection elements on each roller and the configuration of the oppositely disposed openings allow the roller to freely rotate without pulling away from or out of the oppositely disposed openings. 
     
     
         16 . A method of assembling a roller strip seat, the method comprising:
 providing a seat having base with a top, a bottom, a width having two edges and a length having two ends;   providing a plurality of rollers;   disposing a first and a second roller support bar on opposite sides of the width along at least a portion of the length and substantially perpendicularly in a direction away from the top;   disposing a plurality of spaced apart openings in each of the first and second of rollers support bars;   arranging a spaced opening of the first roller support bar to be opposite a spaced apart opening of the second roller support bar to form a pair of spaced apart openings;   configuring oppositely disposed spaced openings of the first and second roller support bars to hold one of the plurality of rollers;   disposing at least one locator on and away from the bottom of the base;   disposing at least one locking element disposed on and away from the bottom of the base, wherein the at least one locator and at least one locking element are configured to matingly engage a plastic glide tray;   configuring each of the plurality of rollers with connectors to be disposed in oppositely disposed spaced apart openings; and   placing at least one of plurality of rollers in one of the plurality of pairs of oppositely disposed spaced apart openings.