Sales cabinet having a removable product display

Abstract

 The sales cabinet has a space for receiving retail products and a removable product display (1) at least partially transparent. The product display (1) has at least one opening for placing exhibition products in it when the product display (1) is removed from the sales cabinet (1). The product display (1) is closed by at least one wall (2, 3) of the sales cabinet when the product display (1) is mounted on the sales cabinet. The space for receiving retail products extends behind the product display (1). The openings are preferably located at each lateral end of the product display (1); they are closed by the lateral walls of the sales cabinet when the product display is mounted on it.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The invention relates to a sales cabinet having a removable product display for use in retail shops.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Sales cabinets with built-in product displays already exist wherein the product display is defined by two vertical and transparent walls on the front side of the sales cabinet. Display products can be placed between the transparent walls for showing customers the kind of retail products they will find in the sales cabinet behind the product display.

[0003] However such sales cabinets have a drawback due to the fact that customers may take the display products out of the built-in product display by inadvertence instead of taking retail products placed in the sales cabinet behind the product display. This drawback becomes even more acute when there are no more retail products in the sales cabinet in which case customers are incited to take display products from the built-in product display. Further, dust and other elements may enter such a product display.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] The invention provides a solution to this new problem, i.e. to alleviate the previously mentioned drawbacks of the prior art.

[0005] This object is achieved with a sales cabinet comprising a space for receiving retail products, at least one wall and a removable product display at least partially transparent wherein the product display has at least one opening for placing exhibition products in it when the product display is removed from the sales cabinet; and the product display is closed by said wall of the sales cabinet when the product display is mounted on the sales cabinet, said space for receiving retail products extending behind the product display.

[0006] Said opening may be arranged at a lateral end of the product display and said wall is a lateral wall of the sales cabinet. Said lateral wall partly defines said space for receiving retail products. These features may similarly be applied on the other lateral end of the product display.

[0007] A linear abutment means may advantageously project from said lateral wall and abuts the rear face of a front wall of the product display when the product display is mounted on the sales cabinet.

[0008] In a preferred embodiment, the product display has a rear wall having at least one longitudinal.

[0009] In another preferred embodiment, the product display slidably engages between lateral walls of the sales cabinet. Further, the sales cabinet may comprise a locking means for selectively maintaining product display in position on the sales cabinet or for releasing it from the sales cabinet.

[0010] In a further preferred embodiment, the product display comprises a rear wall having a free edge in the downward direction, the product display being located between lateral walls of the sales cabinet when the product display is mounted on the sales cabinet and a transverse wall is arranged between said lateral walls of the sales cabinet, said transverse wall abutting the front face of said rear wall of the product display when the product display is mounted on the sales cabinet. Said transverse wall may have at least one threaded hole and said rear wall of the product display may have a corresponding hole adapted for passage of a screw to be screwed in the threaded hole via the corresponding hole of the rear wall of the product display when the product display is mounted on the sales cabinet. Further, the sales cabinet may comprise a bottom wall defining at least partly said space for receiving retail products, said bottom wall having a wall portion abutting the rear face of said transverse wall.

[0011] In still another embodiment, the sales cabinet comprises a bottom wall defining at least partly said space for receiving retail products, said bottom wall having a wall portion abutting the rear face of a rear wall of the product display when the product display is mounted on the sales cabinet.

[0012] In still a further embodiment, the product display is located between lateral walls of the sales cabinet when the product display in mounted on the sales cabinet and at least one hole is arranged in a bottom wall of the product display wherein at least one pin is arranged on a bottom wall portion extending between said lateral walls of the sales cabinet, said pin engaging said hole in the bottom wall of the product display when the product display is mounted on the sales cabinet.

[0013] In a furthermore embodiment, the lateral ends of a front wall of the product display are adjacent to lateral walls of the sales cabinet, the distance therebetween being preferably lower than 3 mm.

[0014] In still a preferred embodiment, the sales cabinet comprises two lateral walls each of which is formed by an inner shell which is inserted in an outer shell, and at least one wall extending between said lateral walls wherein the product display engages said lateral walls when the product display is mounted on the sales cabinet, and the lateral edges of said wall extending between said lateral walls are sandwiched between said inner shell and said outer shell.

[0015] The cost of a sales cabinet of the invention is very low due to the fact that the various spare parts are simple to produce. Further, the sales cabinet has good mechanical strength and has a product display, which is pilfer-proof to customers. Furthermore, product display 1 is easy to load with products and may easily be replaced by another one.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] 

Figure 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a sales cabinet according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 shows a schematic perspective view of the sales cabinet of fig. 1 with the product display being removed.

Figure 3 shows in a schematic manner an exploded perspective view of a lateral member of the sales cabinet of fig. 1, which illustrates that the lateral member is made of two corresponding shells.

Figure 4 shows in a schematic manner another perspective view of the inner shell of the lateral member of fig. 3.

Figures 5 shows schematically a rear view of the product display of the sales cabinet of fig. 1.

Figure 6 shows schematically a side view of the product display of the sales cabinet of fig. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] Fig. 1 shows schematically a sales cabinet according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. The sales cabinet comprises a removable product display 1 extending between two lateral members 2 and 3. Product display 1 is located on the front of the sales cabinet. Arrow F indicates the front of the sales cabinet. In the following description, the terms of front, rear, lateral, up and down always refer to the same directions as those shown in fig. 1.

[0018] Product display 1 preferably extends upwardly or slightly tilted towards the rear of the sales cabinet as illustrated in fig. 1.

[0019] The space defined behind the product display 1 between the lateral members 2 and 3 is meant to receive retail products for sale. When mounted on the sales cabinet, product display 1 forms a closed box in which samples of products may be placed for exhibition to customers and so that customers cannot grasp the products inside of product display 1.

[0020] Product display 1 is preferably open at its lateral ends; these are closed by lateral members 2 and 3 when mounted in the sales cabinet. Thus, when product display I is removed from the sales cabinet, its inner space is accessible by its lateral ends which are open and, as a consequence, the user can place products inside of product display 1.

[0021] Lateral members 2 and 3 are rigidly linked together by any suitable known means. This may be achieved with help of a wall extending from lateral member 2 up to lateral member 3. This wall may define a bottom wall 19 and/or a rear wall 20 for the sales cabinet. Alternately or in combination with the previous possibility, lateral walls 2 and 3 may be rigidly linked together by several rods extending from one lateral wall to the other. The latter possibility may be used when the sales cabinet is meant to be used on a shelf. In this case, the bottom wall of the sales cabinet may be omitted as the shelf itself may assume this function. Similarly, when the sales cabinet is meant to be placed against a wall, the rear wall of the sales cabinet may be omitted as the wall itself may assume this function. The upper edge of rear wall 20 may further be extended towards the front of the sales cabinet as illustrated.

[0022] Product display 1 is preferably shaped with a tubular shape the opposite ends - i.e. the lateral ends - of which are open. In other words, the cross section of product display 1 is a closed curve. The cross section may be square, rectangular, rounded or any other shape. Of course, the wall of product display 1 towards the front of the sales cabinet is transparent so that the products located in product display 1 are visible to customers.

[0023] Alternatively, the wall of product display 1 towards the rear of the sales cabinet may be longitudinally interrupted to define a longitudinal slit. This possibility is illustrated by fig. 5 and 6. Product display 1 of fig. 5 and 6 has a cross section forming substantially a parallelogram, but it could be varied as already mentioned. Product display 1 has a front wall 4, which is transparent. Product display 1 has a lower rear wall 6 the lower edge of which is connected to the lower edge of front wall 4 via a bottom wall 5. Similarly, product display 1 has an upper rear wall 8 the upper edge of which is connected to the upper edge of front wall 4 via an upper wall 7. Lower rear wall 6 and upper rear wall 8 are separated by a gap thereby defining a longitudinal slit 9 there between. The width of slit 9 is preferably great enough to allow passage of a finger of a person. Slit 9 allows advantageously to locate the products inside of product display 1 with respect to the longitudinal direction, as the user may slide the products longitudinally with his fingers or a tool passing through slit 9. This is especially true if product display 1 is long and/or has a narrow cross section so that it is difficult for the user to locate the products towards its middle portion that is hardly accessible from the open lateral ends.

[0024] Alternatively, lower rear wall 6 may be omitted. Longitudinal slit 9 is then defined between the lower edge of upper rear wall 8 and the rear edge of bottom wall 5. In this case, the width of slit 9 is preferably limited with respect of the size of the products to be placed in product display 1 in order to prevent these from falling out through slit 9 during the loading operation, i.e. when product display 1 is separated from the sales cabinet.

[0025] One will understand that slit 9 may extend over the whole length of product display 1 as illustrated in fig. 5 or may consist in one or several slits having each a more limited length.

[0026] Further, the sales cabinet has preferably a transverse wall extending between lateral members 2 and 3 which closes slit 9 when product display 1 is mounted on the sales cabinet.

[0027] Product display 1 is mounted in a releasable manner on the sales cabinet with any suitable known means. In a preferred embodiment, product display 1 engages slidably guiding members arranged on lateral members 2 and 3. Thus, the mounting of product display 1 on the sales cabinet is very convenient for the user. The sliding direction is preferably substantially vertical or somewhat tilted while product display 1 abuts - with respect of the downward direction - an abutment means arranged on the sales cabinet. The guiding members may comprise an elongated protuberance 10 arranged on the inner face of each lateral member 2 and 3, as illustrated by fig. 2. Fig. 2 shows the sales cabinet without product display 1. Lateral member 3 is not shown for the sake of clarity. One will understand that lateral wall 3 is symmetrically shaped with respect to lateral member 2. Elongated protuberance 10 has a front surface 11 for abutting the inner face of the lateral edge portion of front wall 4 of product display 1.

[0028] Similarly, protuberance 10 may have a rear surface for abutting the inner face of the lateral edge portion of the rear wall of product display 1. In the embodiment of fig. 5 and 6, the rear wall of product display 1 corresponds in fact to lower rear wall 6 and upper rear wall 8.

[0029] However, in a preferred embodiment, a transverse wall 12 is arranged between lateral walls 2 and 3. Transverse wall 12 may be secured on the rear surface of protuberance 10 by means e.g. of glue. If using glue, the surface for gluing may be increased by arranging a recess 13 in lateral members 2 and 3 along the rear surface of protuberance 10. Recess 13 is best seen on fig 3 and 4. The rear face of transverse wall 12 defines a guiding surface for the inner face of upper rear wall 8. The rear face of lower rear wall 6 extends adjacent to or abuts the front face of transverse wall 12. Therefore, lower rear wall 6 is preferably set off with respect of upper rear wall 8 with a distance which is greater than or equal to the thickness of transverse wall 12.

[0030] The length of bottom wall 5 of product display 1 is lower than the distance between protuberances 10 of lateral walls 2 and 3. Thus, it is possible for the user to engage the lower part of product display 1 on the upper parts of protuberances 10 so that the inner face of the edge portions of front wall 4 abuts guiding surfaces 11 and so that the rear face of lower rear wall 6 abuts the font face of transverse wall 12. Then, the user can slide product display 1 downwards until abutment.

[0031] The abutment means - with respect of the downward direction - may be defined by the upper face 14 of protuberance 10. In this case, the inner face of upper wall 7 abuts upper face 14 of product display 1. Alternatively, a wall portion 15 may extend between lateral members 2 and 3 against which the lower face of bottom wall 5 of product display 1 abuts. Wall portion 15 may be part of bottom wall 19 of the sales cabinet. It may also be part of transverse wall 12 as illustrated in fig. 2.

[0032] Alternatively, wall portion 15 may be replaced by a respective lug extending from each lateral member 2 and 3 towards the other lateral member. However, wall portion 15 prevents customers from pulling the lower part of product display 1 when mounted in the sales cabinet as there is no space between wall portion 15 and bottom wall 5 of product display 1. An improvement consists in arranging one or several pins 16 on wall portion 15 e.g. by crimping. Pins 16 protrude from the upper face of wall portion 15 in a direction substantially parallel to the sliding direction of product display 1 with respect to the guiding members of the sales cabinet. Corresponding holes 17 are arranged in bottom wall 5. Thus, pins 16 engage holes 17 when product display 1 is mounted on the sales cabinet. The cooperation of pins 16 with holes 17 provides stiffness to bottom wall 5 of product display 1 further preventing customers from pulling product display 1 out of the sales cabinet. Alternatively, an angle iron may be arranged between lateral members 2 and 3 for the same purpose, the corner between front wall 4 and bottom wall 5 resting in the angle of the angle iron; this possibility is however more expensive.

[0033] Transverse wall 12 advantageously closes longitudinal slit 9 of product display 1 when mounted on the sales cabinet.

[0034] Protuberances 10 and/or transverse wall 12 may be replaced by two pair of lugs arranged on each lateral member 2 and 3 and extending towards the other lateral member. In this case, one pair of lugs defines a linear guiding means abutting the inner face of front wall 4 and the other pair of lugs defines a linear guiding means by abutting the inner face of rear wall(s) 6, 8. However, protuberances 10 and transverse wall 12 provide for better resistance in case customers try to push or pull product display 1 out of sales cabinet 1. Further, protuberance 10 can easily be obtained by molding.

[0035] Bottom wall 19 may advantageously comprise a front wall portion 18 extending along the rear face of transverse wall 12. Thus, it provides further rigidity to transverse wall 12 and subsequently to product display 1. In an alternative embodiment, transverse wall 12 is made integrally with bottom wall 19. In other words, front wall portion 18 is transverse wall 12. However, transverse wall 12 is usually transparent as well as the rear wall - 6 and/or 8 - of product display 1 to enable the customer to see the retail products in the sales cabinet through product display 1 while bottom wall 19 is often made of opaque material, thus they preferably form two separate parts as previously described. In a further alternative embodiment, front wall portion 18 may abut directly the rear face of rear wall - 6 and/or 8 - of product display 1.

[0036] In a preferred embodiment, the distance between the lateral edges of front wall 4 and lateral members 2 and 3 is limited to prevent customers from grasping these lateral edges; this distance is preferably less than 3 mm.

[0037] The sales cabinet may advantageously comprise a locking means for selectively maintaining firmly product display 1 in position on the sales cabinet or for releasing it from the sales cabinet. In other words, in the embodiment illustrated in the figures, the locking means prevents the possibility of product display 1 being slid out of the guiding members. It may consist of any suitable known means. As illustrated in fig. 2, 5 and 6, upper rear wall 8 of product display 1 may comprise one or several holes 21 corresponding to threaded holes 22 arranged on transverse wall 12. Thus, product display 1 may be secured on the sales cabinet with the help of screws passing through holes 21 and screwed in threaded holes 22. Screws preferably have finger-operable heads. Each thread of threaded holes 22 may be made directly in transverse wall 12 or may consist in an additional part having a threaded hole, said part being crimped in holes of transverse wall 12. The fact that said screws are located on the rear wall of product display 1 is advantageous because they are usually hidden by the products placed in product display 1 so that customers cannot see them and thus, they are not tempted to remove them. Alternatively, pins 16 are replaced by holes and holes 17 are threaded ; thus product display 1 may be screwed thereby on the sales cabinet.

[0038] Fig. 3 and 4 illustrate with more detail an embodiment of lateral member 2. As already mentioned, lateral member 3 is the mirror image of lateral member 2 and therefore the description given for lateral member 2 applies also to lateral member 3. Lateral member 2 is made of an inner shell 23 and an outer shell 24. Inner shell 23 comprises a wall forming the inner wall of lateral member 2. Elongated protuberance 10 and recess 13 are arranged on this wall. Further, inner shell 23 has a peripheral narrow wall 25. Outer shell 24 comprises a wall forming the outer wall of lateral member 2. Outer shell 24 also comprises a peripheral narrow wall 26. Lateral member 2 results from the insertion of peripheral wall 25 of inner shell in outer shell 24. Further, peripheral walls 25 and 26 may advantageously sandwich between them the lateral edges of bottom wall 19 and rear wall 20 - if relevant. Similarly, the lateral edges of wall portion 15 may also be sandwiched between peripheral walls 25, 26. Peripheral walls 25 and 26 are preferably dimensioned for pressfit mounting of inner shell 23 in outer shell 24 with the different cited intermediate elements. The sales cabinet may be assembled more firmly by using additional securing means, e.g. it is possible to glue peripheral walls 25, 26 and bottom/rear walls 19, 20 together.

[0039] The cost of the sales cabinet is very low due to the fact that the various spare parts are simple to produce. Indeed, inner and outer shell 23, 24 can each be obtained by thermoforming or molding of a plastic material . Bottom plate 19, portion 18 and rear wall 20 may be made integrally by folding a plate of plastic material. Any suitable known plastic material may be used for these parts, e.g. polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene (PE). Similarly, product display may be obtained by cutting and folding a plate of clear plastic material. Similarly, transverse wall 12 including wall portion 15 may also be obtained by cutting and folding a plate of plastic material such as polycarbonate.

[0040] Further, the sales cabinet has good mechanical strength and has a product display, which is pilfer-proof to customers.

[0041] Furthermore, product display 1 is easy to load with products and may easily be replaced by another one.

[0042] The invention was described with reference to preferred embodiments. However, many variations are possible within the scope of the invention. For instance, it is possible to define the width of longitudinal slit 9 large enough for allowing to place exhibition products in the product display 1 through it. The longitudinal slit 9 is closed by transverse wall 12 when product display 1 is mounted on the sales cabinet. In this case, product display 1 may comprise lateral walls closing its lateral ends.

[0043] In another embodiment of product display 1, rear wall 6, 8 is omitted and even upper wall 7 may be omitted. Thus, when product display 1 is removed from the sales cabinet, the user can place exhibition products on bottom wall 5 against front wall 4 and then mount product display 1 on the sales cabinet. The sales cabinet is consequently modified for ensuring that product display 1 is closed once it is mounted on the sales cabinet. For instance, the upper edge of transverse wall 12 may be extend by an upper wall directed towards the front of the sales cabinet. This upper wall closes product display 1 in the upper direction while transverse wall 12 closes it in the rear direction. An angle iron may further be arranged between lateral members 2, 3 one leg of which extends along the front edge region of the upper face of said upper wall and the other leg of the angle iron extending along the edge region of the front face of front wall 4 of product display 1.

Claims

1. Sales cabinet comprising:

- a space for receiving retail products;

- at least one wall (2, 3); and

- a removable product display (1) at least partially transparent;

wherein:

- the product display (1) has at least one opening for placing exhibition products in it when the product display (1) is removed from the sales cabinet (1); and

- the product display (1) is closed by said wall (2; 3) of the sales cabinet when the product display (1) is mounted on the sales cabinet, said space for receiving retail products extending behind the product display (1).

2. Sales cabinet according to claim 1, wherein said opening is arranged at a lateral end of the product display (1) and said wall is a lateral wall (2; 3) of the sales cabinet.

3. Sales cabinet according to claim 2, wherein said lateral wall (2; 3) partly defines said space for receiving retail products.

4. Sales cabinet according to claim 2 or 3, wherein a linear abutment means (11) projects from said lateral wall (2; 3) and abuts the rear face of a front wall (4) of the product display (1) when the product display (1) is mounted on the sales cabinet.

5. Sales cabinet according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the product display (1) has a rear wall (6, 8) having at least one longitudinal slit (9).

6. Sales cabinet according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the product display (1) slidably engages between lateral walls (2, 3) of the sales cabinet.

7. Sales cabinet according to claim 6, comprising a locking means (21, 22) for selectively maintaining product display (1) in position on the sales cabinet or for releasing it from the sales cabinet.

8. Sales cabinet according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein:

- the product display (1) comprises a rear wall (8) having a free edge in the downward direction,

- the product display (1) is located between lateral walls (2, 3) of the sales cabinet when the product display (1) is mounted on the sales cabinet; and

- a transverse wall (12) is arranged between said lateral walls (2, 3) of the sales cabinet, said transverse wall abutting the front face of said rear wall (8) of the product display (1) when the product display (1) is mounted on the sales cabinet.

9. Sales cabinet according to claim 8, wherein said transverse wall (12) has at least one threaded hole (22) and said rear wall (8) of the product display (1) has a corresponding hole (21) adapted for passage of a screw to be screwed in the threaded hole (22) via the corresponding hole (21) of the rear wall (8) of the product display (1) when the product display (1) is mounted on the sales cabinet.

10. Sales cabinet according to claim 8 or 9, comprising a bottom wall (19) defining at least partly said space for receiving retail products, said bottom wall (19) having a wall portion (18) abutting the rear face of said transverse wall (12).

11. Sales cabinet according to any one of claims 1 to 9, comprising a bottom wall (19) defining at least partly said space for receiving retail products, said bottom wall (19) having a wall portion (18) abutting the rear face of a rear wall (6) of the product display (1) when the product display (1) is mounted on the sales cabinet.

12. Sales cabinet according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein:

- the product display (1) is located between lateral walls (2, 3) of the sales cabinet when the product display (1) in mounted on the sales cabinet;

- at least one hole (17) is arranged in a bottom wall (5) of the product display (1); and

- at least one pin (16) is arranged on a bottom wall portion (15) extending between said lateral walls (2, 3) of the sales cabinet, said pin (16) engaging said hole (17) in the bottom wall (5) of the product display (1) when the product display (1) is mounted on the sales cabinet.

13. Sales cabinet according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the lateral ends of a front wall (4) of the product display (1) are adjacent to lateral walls (2, 3) of the sales cabinet, the distance therebetween being preferably lower than 3 mm.

14. Sales cabinet according to any one of claims 1 to 13, comprising:

- two lateral walls (2, 3) each of which is formed by an inner shell (23) which is inserted in an outer shell (24), and

- at least one wall (19; 20) extending between said lateral walls (2, 3);

wherein:

- the product display (I) engages said lateral walls (2, 3) when the product display (1) is mounted on the sales cabinet, and

- the lateral edges of said wall (19; 20) extending between said lateral walls are sandwiched between said inner shell (23) and said outer shell (24).

Drawing