A FRONT RISER FOR A SHELF

Abstract

 A front riser (20) for a shelf (10) of the type provided with a recessed channel extending along the front edge of the shelf for receiving a front riser. The front riser (20) comprises a front panel (21) having a front face, a rear face, an upper edge and a lower edge, which faces and edges define a cross section of the front panel. The front panel (21) exhibits at least one cavity (22) which extends from the lower edge to the front and/or rear face of the front panel. The front riser (20) further comprises an insert (30) and a locking member (40), wherein the insert (30) is insertable in the cavity (22) and comprises an elongate portion (36) which protrudes downwardly from the lower edge of the front panel (21) when the insert (30) has been inserted into the cavity (22) and wherein the locking member (40) is fixable to the elongate portion (36).

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of shelves and in particular to shelves provided with a front riser extending along the front edge of the shelf.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Consumer products are often stored, displayed and provided to the customers on shelves arranged in a shop, such as in a grocery store or a supermarket. Typically, several identical products are arranged in a row, one after the other, from the front edge and backwards on the shelf. The customers may then easily view the frontmost product and pick any desired number of products arranged at the front end of the row. For preventing the products from unintentionally falling off the front edge of the shelf, it is often provided with a front riser which is fixed along the front edge of the shelf. Typically, the front riser exhibits a rectangular, comparatively thin and vertically elongated cross section. The front riser may be formed of a transparent polymer material for enhancing the visibility of the products and at some instances the front riser may be provided with means for carrying printed matter relating to the products.

[0003] The front raiser may be fixed to the shelf in various manners. Often, the shelves are provided with a recessed channel which extends along the front edge of the shelves and the front riser is then attached to the shelf by inserting and press-fitting the lower edge of the front riser into the channel. The thickness of the front riser may be essentially equal to the interior width of the channel for allowing such press fitting. Alternatively, a compressible insert may be inserted between the front riser and either or both of the side walls of the channel for enhancing the press-fitting attachment of the front riser.

[0004] DE 1102 545 discloses a similar fixation of a front riser to a shelf provided with a U-shaped channel extending along the front edge of the shelf. A lower portion of the front riser is received in the channel and a clamping means is arranged in the channel for pressing the lower portion of the front riser to bear against the front wall of the channel.

[0005] The above-mentioned known manners of attaching the front riser to the shelf result in a friction-based engagement of the front riser in the channel. Such friction-based fixation allows for that the front raiser may be removed merely by pulling the front riser with a sufficiently strong force which overcomes the frictional forces between the front riser and the channel walls or the clamping means. This in turn enables unauthorised persons to remove the front riser from the shelf. Such unauthorized removal may be most unwanted since it facilitates theft by so called shelf sweeping. At shelf sweeping, shoplifters typically insert one arm behind the rearmost product in a row and sweeps the entire row forwardly such that all products fall into a bag or the like which is then caried out from the shop without paying. As readily understood, such shelf sweeping is greatly facilitated if the front risers may first be removed.

SUMMARY

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide an enhanced front riser for shelves provided with a recessed channel extending along the front edge of the shelf.

[0007] Another object is to provide such a front riser which prevents theft by shelf sweeping.

[0008] A further object is to provide such a front riser which readily may be retrofitted to existing shelfs by only small modifications of the shelves.

[0009] Yet another object is to provide such a front riser which allows removal while still preventing quick unauthorized removal of the front riser.

[0010] These and other objects are provided by a front riser as set out in appended claim 1. The front riser is intended to be used at shelves of the type provided with a recessed channel extending along the front edge of the shelf for receiving a front riser. The front riser comprises a front panel having a front face, a rear face, an upper edge and a lower edge. The front panel exhibits at least one cavity which extends from the lower edge to the front and/or rear face of the front panel. The front riser further comprises an insert and a locking member, wherein the insert is insertable in the cavity and comprises an elongate portion which protrudes downwardly from the lower edge of the front panel when the insert has been inserted into the cavity and wherein the locking member is fixable to the elongate portion.

[0011] When attached to a shelf provided with a recessed channel, the lower portion of the front panel may be inserted into the channel and the protruding elongate portion of the insert may be inserted through a through opening arranged in a bottom wall of the channel. Thereafter, the front riser may be secured to the shelf by fixing the locking member to the free end of the elongate portion. After such fixation the front raiser may not be removed from the shelf without first releasing the locking member from the elongate portion of the insert. This prevents quick removal of the front raiser such that shelf sweeping is made considerably more difficult and time consuming. For further increasing the security the locking member may be arranged such that it requires a tool or even a specific key for being removed from the elongate portion of the insert.

[0012] The front raiser may readily be fixed to any shelf provided with a recessed front channel as long as the channel exhibits a through opening for receiving the elongate portion of the insert. Existing shelves may thus easily by adapted for use with the front raiser by arranging a hole for receiving the elongate portion through the bottom wall of the channel.

[0013] By arranging the elongate portion as a part of an insert which is received in a cavity of the front panel, the secure fixation may be accomplished without increasing the thickness of front raiser to any appreciable extend. Hence, the use of the front raiser does not necessitate any adaptation of the width or height of the channel. In addition, existing front panels intended to be press fitted into engagement with the channel may readily be converted to allow secure fixation merely by arranging a cavity for receiving the insert in the lower portion of the front panel.

[0014] According to an embodiment, the insert comprises a first member which is insertable in the cavity and a second member which is receivable in the first member and which comprises the elongate portion.

[0015] The first member may be arranged to be press-fitted or snap-fitted into the cavity.

[0016] The first member may comprise an injection moulded polymer component.

[0017] The first member may comprise a body with a vertical bore for receiving the second member and at least one resilient wing arranged to engage the front panel.

[0018] The second member may comprise an externally threaded bolt and the locking member comprises an internally threaded nut.

[0019] The first member may comprise a recess arranged for form locking engagement with a head of the bolt.

[0020] The cavity may be generally T-shaped and exhibit a first horizontally extending portion and a second vertically extending portion which extends downwardly from the first portion to the lower edge of the front panel.

[0021] The cavity may penetrate the front panel from the front face to the rear face.

[0022] The disclosure also provides a shelf assembly comprising a shelf provided with a recessed channel extending along the front edge of the shelf and a front riser as set out above, wherein the channel exhibits a through opening arranged to receive the elongate portion of the insert.

[0023] Further objects and advantages of the front riser and the shelf assembly will be apparent from the following description of exemplifying embodiments and from the appended claims.

[0024] Generally, all terms used in the claims are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitly defined otherwise herein. All references to "a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc." are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless explicitly stated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] Aspects and embodiments are now described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1a is a perspective view of a shelf provided with a front raiser according to an exemplifying embodiment and fig. 1b shows a detail thereof in enlarged scale.

Fig. 2a is an exploded perspective view of the shelf with front raiser shown in fig. 1a and fig 2b shows a detail thereof in enlarged scale.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a component forming part of the front raiser shown in figs. 1a-2b.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The aspects of the present disclosure will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which certain embodiments of the invention are shown.

[0027] These aspects may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limiting; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and to fully convey the scope of all aspects of invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the description.

[0028] Figs. 1a-2b show a shelf 10 provided with a recessed channel 11 extending along a front edge of the shelf 10. The shelf comprises a piece of sheet metal which has been bent to form a planar support surface, downwardly protruding side flanges, a rear channel and a front channel 11. The shelf 10 has standardized dimensions. The front channel 11 is U-shaped with a constant cross section and defined by two vertical walls 12, 13 and a horizontal bottom wall 14, connecting the lower edges of the vertical walls 12, 13. The rear vertical wall 12 is connected to and extends downwardly from the front edge of the planar support surface. A slanted front flange 15 extends downwardly and forwardly from the upper edge of the front wall 13 and a plastic label holder 16 is snap-fitted to the front flange 15 in a manner known per se. A through penetrating opening 17 in the form of a circular hole is arranged through the bottom wall of the channel 11, in proximity to each longitudinal end of the channel 11.

[0029] A front riser 20 is fixed to the shelf 10. The front riser 20 comprises a front panel 21, an insert 30 and a locking member 40. The front panel 21 is elongated in the longitudinal direction of the channel 11, when mounted. It is formed of a sheet formed transparent polymer material and has a front face, a rear face, an upper edge and a lower edge which together defined a constant cross section. In the shown example the cross section is rectangular but other cross sectional geometries may also be used. The front panel exhibits two cavities 22 which are formed at a respective longitudinal end of the front panel 21. Each cavity 22 extends upwardly from the lower edge of the front panel 21. In the shown example, the cavities 22 are through penetrating from the front face to the rear face such that they extend from the lower edge to both the front and rear face. The cavities may however also be formed as recesses in the front panel such that the extend from the lower edge only to either to front or the rear face of the front panel.

[0030] Each cavity 22 is generally T-shaped and exhibits a first horizontal portion 22a and a second vertical portion 22b which extends from the centre of the first horizontal portion 22a downwardly to the lower edge of the front panel 21. The cavities 22 preferably extend to a hight above the lower edge of the front panel 21 such that do not extend substantially over the upper edges of the vertical walls 12, 13 forming the channel 11.

[0031] The insert 30 comprises a first member 31 and a second member 32. The insert 30 is insertable into the cavity 22 such that the first member 31 is received in the first portion 22a of the cavity and the second member 32 is partly received by the second portion 22b of the cavity 22. The second member 32 forms an elongate portion of the insert 30, such that the free end of the second member 32 protrudes out from the second cavity portion 22b and thereby from the lower edge of the front panel. In the shown example, the second member 32 is constituted by a conventional bolt exhibiting a hexagonal bolt head 35 and an externally threaded stem 36, which forms the elongate portion of the insert 30. At other, not shown embodiments the insert may also comprise a first and a second member wherein the second member comprises an elongate portion which protrudes below the lower edge of the front panel but which is provided with other means than an external thread for securing a locking member. At still other embodiments, the insert may be constituted by a single component comprising a first portion arranged to be received in the first portion of the cavity and a second elongate portion which is formed integral, such as by injection moulding, with the first portion and which is provided with external threads or other means for the fixation of a locking member.

[0032] The first member 31 of the insert 30 is shown in enlarged scale in fig. 3. The first member 31 is formed of an injection moulded polymer material. It comprises a central body portion 33 with an upwardly open recess 34 having a polygonal cross section arranged to form-lockingly receive the hexagonal head 35 of the second member 32. A bore 37 extends through the body portion 33 from the bottom of the recess 34 downwardly through the body portion. The bore 37 is vertically aligned with the second vertical portion 22b of the cavity 22, such that the stem 36 of the second member 32 extends from the recess 34, through the bore 37 and the second vertical portion 22b of the cavity 22, passed the lower edge of the front panel 21 when the insert 30 has been inserted into the cavity 22.

[0033] The first member 31 further comprises two wings 38 which are connected to the body portion 33 such that they may flex resiliently relative to the body portion 33. The circumferential shape of the insert's 30 first member 31 essentially corresponds to the circumferential shape of the cavity's first horizontal portion 22a. By this means the first member 31 may be press-fitted into engagement with the first horizontal portion 22a of the cavity 22. At the shown example, the first member 31 further comprises a circumferential first flange 39a which is arranged to abut the front face of the front panel 21 around the front edge of the cavity's first portion 22a. Each wing 30 further exhibits, at their free end, a protruding flange 39b which is arranged to snap-fittingly engage the rear face of the front panel 21, around the cavity's first portion 22a, when the insert's first member 31 has been fully inserted into the cavity's 22 first portion 22a.

[0034] In the shown example, the locking member 40 is constituted by a nut having an internal thread which corresponds to the external thread of the second member's 32 stem, forming an elongate portion 36. The locking member may however also be formed of or comprise other components which are fixable to the elongate portion. Examples of such other components are a plastic sleeve which may be press-fitted onto the elongate portion and a metallic ring which may be squeeze-fitted onto the elongate portion by deformation. Preferably the locking member should be arranged to be fixed to the elongate portion in a manner such that it may not be easily removed without the use of a tool.

[0035] When mounting the front riser 20 to the shelf, the second member 32 of the insert 30 is first inserted through the bore 37 such that the head 35 is form-lockingly received in the recess 34. Thereafter, the so assembled insert 30 is inserted, from the front side of the front panel 21, into the cavity 22, such that the first member 31 is snap-fitted into engagement with the cavity's first portion 22a and an upper portion of the stem is received in the cavity's second portion 22b. After such mounting of the insert 30, the lower portion of the stem protrudes downwardly from the lower mouth of the cavity's second portion 22b and thereby forms an elongate portion 36 of the insert 30, which protrudes downwardly from the lower edge of the front panel 21. The front riser 20 is thereafter fixed to the shelf 10 by inserting the lower edge of the front panel into the channel, such that the elongate protruding portion 36 of each insert 30 is inserted through a respective through opening 17 in the bottom wall 14 of the channel 11. Finally, the front riser is secured to the shelf by fixing a respective locking member 40 to each protruding elongate portion 36. In the shown example, the locking member 40 is threaded onto the elongate portion 36 and tightened sufficiently hard such as to prevent easy removal without the use of a wrench or other tool.

[0036] When the front riser 20 has been fixed to the shelf 10 as described above it may not quickly or easily be removed by unauthorized persons, such that shelf sweeping is prevented. Since the cavities 22 are arranged concealed, at least essentially below the upper edges of the vertical walls 12, 13 of the channel 11, neither the cavities 22 or the inserts 30 negatively affects the visual impression of the front riser. Such recessed positioning of the cavities and inserts further prevents manipulation aiming at separating the front panel from the shelf.

[0037] The front riser thus provides a very simple but yet efficient means to prevent shelf sweeping.

[0038] The aspects of the present disclosure have mainly been described above with reference to a few embodiments and examples thereof. However, as is readily appreciated by a person skilled in the art, other embodiments than the ones disclosed above are equally possible within the scope of the invention, as defined by the appended patent claims.

Claims

1. A front riser (20) for a shelf (10) of the type provided with a recessed channel extending along the front edge of the shelf for receiving a front riser, which front riser (20) comprises a front panel (21) having a front face, a rear face, an upper edge and a lower edge, characterized in that the front panel (21) exhibits at least one cavity (22) which extends from the lower edge to the front and/or rear face of the front panel and in that the front riser (20) further comprises an insert (30) and a locking member (40), wherein the insert (30) is insertable in the cavity (22) and comprises an elongate portion (36) which protrudes downwardly from the lower edge of the front panel (21) when the insert (30) has been inserted into the cavity (22) and wherein the locking member (40) is fixable to the elongate portion (36).

2. A front riser according to claim 1, wherein the insert (30) comprises a first member (31) which is insertable in the cavity (22) and a second member (32) which is receivable in the first member (31) and which comprises the elongate portion (36).

3. A front riser according to claim 2, wherein the first member (31) is arranged to be press-fitted or snap-fitted into the cavity (22).

4. A front riser according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the first member (31) comprises an injection moulded polymer component.

5. A front riser according to any of claims 2-4, wherein the first member (31) comprises a body (33) with a vertical bore (37) for receiving the second member (32) and at least one resilient wing (38) arranged to engage the front panel (21).

6. A front riser according to any of claims 2-5, wherein the second member (32) comprises an externally threaded bolt and the locking member (40) comprises an internally threaded nut.

7. A front riser according to claim 6, wherein the first member (31) comprises a recess (34) for form-locking engagement with a head (35) of the bolt (32).

8. A front riser according to any of claims 1-7, wherein the cavity (22) is generally T-shaped and exhibits a first horizontally extending portion (22a) and a second vertically extending portion (22b) which extends downwardly from the first portion (22a) to the lower edge of the front panel (21).

9. A front riser according any of claims 1-8, wherein the cavity (22) penetrates the front panel (21) from the front face to the rear face.

10. A shelf assembly comprising a shelf (10) provided with a recessed channel (11) extending along the front edge of the shelf (10) and a front riser (20) according to any of claims 1-9, wherein the channel (11) exhibits a through opening (17) arranged to receive the elongate portion (36) of the insert (30).

Drawing