This invention is concerned with a dispenser of boxed articles such as packets of cigarettes, boxes of candies, or other small, large-selling, boxed products, intended for installation in retail shops, preferably associated to the shop's sales counter.
Many kinds of articles of large consumption, such as cigarettes, candies, but also drugs, haberdashery and others, are sold at retail under a dressing of block-shaped boxes or packets. Usually the retailers, such as tobacconists or chemists, store the boxes on shelves located behind the sales counter, and the retailer picks the boxes from the shelves one at a time depending on each customer's request.
It should also be considered that the number of different types and brands of articles, in all kinds of retail stores, such as tobacconist's or chemist's, is very large, and consequently, although the depth occupied by the articles is small, the front space required to accommodate all the products always turns out to be scanty or insufficient.
Moreover, since the shelves are located behind the counter, the retailer, at each fresh request, has to turn to the shelves, pick the desired article, and turn back to the counter for delivering the article. This operation, when repeatedly carried out during the day, not only is tiring for the retailer, but also slows down the sales, forcing the customers to long waiting times during rush periods. Lastly, the shopkeeper is obliged to often move his eyes away from the sales counter, thereby making it easier for shoplifters to pilfer any products that may be on display on the counter.
In order to fully or partly solve the above problems, such documents as
Moreover, in order to accommodate boxes of different sizes, document
It is now the main object of this invention to provide a dispenser of box-like or packet-like articles as set forth above, which is cheaper to manufacture than the dispensers of
Another object is to provide the above dispenser so that it is less heavy than known dispensers, for a better ease of use.
Still another object is to provide the above dispenser so that it is less bulky in its disassembled condition, whereby it may be less expensive to be shipped.
This invention achieves the above and other objects and advantages, such as they will appear from the disclosure below, by means of a dispenser of boxed articles having the features set out in claim 1.
Other advantageous features are recited in the dependent claims.
The invention is further disclosed below, with reference to a few preferred embodiments, shown by way of non-limiting example in the attached drawings, wherein:
With particular reference to
Several plates 10 are arranged side by side, parallel to each other, by rigid tension rods 24 threading the respective holes 22 in corresponding tabs 20 in each plate. Between adjacent plates, sleeves 26 borne on the rods act as spacers to maintain a fixed mutual spacing between the plates.
Clamping nuts 28 are screwed onto the opposite ends of each rod 24 in order to maintain the structure of the dispenser rigidly assembled.
Each plate 10 is cut with five pairs of aligned vertical slits 30, 32, ending at staggered heights at the bottom, substantially aligned with steps 18. Rigid sheets or boards 34, 36, of a material such as PVC, are threaded through vertical slits 30, 32, which boards, together with adjacent plates 10, define vertical bays or wells having a rectangular transverse cross section, and arranged in four ranks over the plate width. Each plate 10 also has four horizontal slits 38, which are located near respective steps 18 (and therefore at staggered heights). Rigid slats 40 are inserted through the horizontal slits, thereby acting as rest ledges for each well, as explained below.
It should be understood the the pairs of vertical slits 30, 32 are actually equivalent to respective single slits of equal overall length, in which respective vertical boards of corresponding height are received, and that their splitting into pairs of aligned slits is essentially due to the need of ensuring the structural strength of the plate. Similarly, triplets or quadruplets of aligned slits might be used. In the disclosure and the claims, the expression "vertical slit" denotes an arbitrary number of aligned slits, which together make it possible, by insertion of boards, to implement partitions that are substantially equivalent to a continuous wall.
On opposite sides of the structure two panels 42 are attached, fastened with screws 44 to the ends of the tension rods 24, which panels retain boards 34, 36 and slats 40, preventing them from sliding off the slits.
For installation in the appointed place, typically above a sales counter, the above described dispenser can be mounted on supports formed a uprights rising from below, or as supports hanging from the ceiling. For instance, in the solution of
In the vertical wells defined by the crossings of plates 10 with vertical boards 34, 36, stacks of superposed boxes or packets can be received. With reference to
It can be seen that the shopkeeper at the counter can quickly pick the required packet, without having to move or turn. When one of the wells is empty, it can be easily reloaded from above with a fresh complete stack of boxes, by stepping on a footstool or ladder, or, alternatively, the boxes can be re-inserted one at a time from the bottom, during idle moments.
Although the drawings show uniformly spaced plates (i.e., uniformly sized sleeves 26) as well as uniformly spaced slits in each plate, it will be evident that there is no impediment that sleeves 26 may have different lengths, so that narrower and wider intervals are created between the plates, or that the distance between vertical slits 30, 32 may be different for one or more pairs of slits (for instance, an oversized distance may be chosen between the two slits at the back), provided it is identical for all plates. The dispenser can thereby be adapted to boxes having different, desired widths and lengths, within wide limits. Obviously, it is also possible to make the plates with a different number of vertical slits, say larger than four, in order distribute the wells over a larger number of ranks, or, vice verse, smaller than four, in case of special needs in connection with the sizes of the articles or the availability of space.
The manufacture of the dispenser only involves materials that are cheaply available on the market, such as metal plate, metal rods, etc., and which are processed by simple and unexpensive mechanical operations: with the exception of plate 10, which requires a simple die or punch, the other operations are simply cutting and boring; the overall cost of the dispenser is therefore considerably lower than similar dispenser of the prior art. It is also evident that the bulk of the unassembled dispenser is also quite limited, with consequent reduction of the costs of transport.
It is understood that changes and modifications can be made to the preferred embodiments as described above. For instance, beside changing the number of vertical slits as disclosed above, the number of box-holding wells could be reduced to three or increased to five or more, by broadening the plates and increasing the number of vertical and horizontal slits. Also, the assembly of the plates might be achieved, rather than by rods and sleeves, by means of other known assembly means which are capable of ensuring the proper mutual positioning of the plates. Furthermore, although the above disclosed supporting means for the dispenser are preferred at this time, obviously the dispenser could be supported by any other known means that may be convenient, depending on the environment in which the dispenser is to be installed. The scope of the invention should therefore be determined exclusively from the attached claims.
This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader's convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard.