Device and method for filling a shop rack

Abstract

 A device and a method for offering goods for sale. The invention relates to a shop rack for offering articles for sale, which shop rack is provided with means for placing articles into a shop rack or affixing them thereto in a conveniently arranged manner. Keeping the shop racks filled and tidy is a labour-intensive activity, which hinders the shopping consumers in an undesirable manner. In order to avoid this inconvenience, the articles are placed in or attached to a sub-frame, which can be quickly affixed to the shop rack, or possibly to a means of transport. This makes it possible to exchange the sub-frame and the articles attached thereto as a whole, and to have the filling of said sub-frame take place outside the sales area.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a device in accordance with the preamble of claim 1.

[0002] Such devices are known, they are for example used in supermarkets.

[0003] The drawback of the known device is that the filling of the shop racks must be done by hand and takes up a great deal of time, whereby the aisles in the sales area are obstructed during said filling. Especially when a great number of different articles are concerned, which are sold in small numbers, the time required for said filling may be long, whereby the cost and inconvenience resulting therefrom are relatively high in comparison with the turnover that can be achieved.

[0004] Nevertheless these articles are important for the self-service shop, since these articles make the range of products more complete and usually make it possible to realise a considerable increase of the profit margin.

[0005] With the known shop racks the articles hang on a bar, for example, which may be passed through an opening, such as the usual EURO slot, in the packaging of the article. The consumers can thereby remove an article from the bar, inspect it, take it with them or hang it back.

[0006] In order to realise a careful presentation of the goods, specially trained staff must refill the shop rack regularly and hang the articles on the right positioning means. Furthermore it is necessary to keep small numbers of different articles in stock. This leads to a high stocking and handling costs.

[0007] The time which the staff need to fill a shop rack with articles may for example be 20 to 30 minutes for a rack which holds 30 to 40 different articles, during which time the shop rack is not freely accessible to the consumers. Furthermore the aisles in the shop are obstructed by the large amount of outer packages, for example boxes from which the articles to be affixed to the shop racks must be taken.

[0008] The object of the invention is to improve this situation, and in order to accomplish that objective the articles are placed in or attached to a sub-frame, which can be affixed to the shop rack, and possibly to the means of transport, in filled condition.

[0009] Since the articles are attached to a sub-frame, it is possible to affix an article-filled sub-frame to the shop rack. It is possible thereby to remove a filled sub-frame from the means of transport and affix it to the shop rack. This makes it possible to give the shop rack a form which is attractive to the consumers within a very short period of time. It is no longer necessary thereby to place outer packages such as storage boxes containing articles in the aisles, thus blocking the way in the sales area. After all, the filling of the sub-frames may take place elsewhere. According to one embodiment of the invention the width of the sub-frames is less than 0.5 m. In this manner it is achieved that the means of transport for use within the sales area does not need to be much wider either, as a result of which the goods can be transported through the aisles, which are often narrow, in a simple manner.

[0010] According to another embodiment the weight of a filled sub-frame is less than about 15 kg. This makes it possible to affix the sub-frames to the shop rack in a simple and ergonomically sound manner.

[0011] According to one embodiment the sub-frames are placed one above the other in the means of transport. This makes it possible to give the means of transport a limited width, so that the aisles will be obstructed as little as possible.

[0012] Furthermore the invention relates to a sub-frame for transporting articles from a storeroom to a sales area comprising one or more shop racks, and to a means of transport.

[0013] According to the invention the sub-frame comprises means, such as brackets or rims, for placing or attaching articles of varying types or dimensions thereto in a conveniently arranged manner, as well as fixing means, such as hooks or openings or recesses co-operating with such hooks, for affixing the sub-frame alternately to the shop rack and to the means of transport. This makes it possible to fill the sub-frame with articles from outer packages such as boxes and the like, whereby said outer packages can remain in the storeroom. Then the new stock, which is attached to the sub-frame, can be taken to the shop rack by the means of transport and be affixed to the rack in a simple manner. Empty or partly emptied sub-frames can be returned to the storeroom in a comparable manner. The advantages of this are that the filling of the sub-frame takes place outside the sales area, that outer packages of the articles are kept out of the sales area, and that the obstruction of the aisles only takes place during a short time, if at all.

[0014] The invention also relates to a method for stocking a shop rack which is disposed in a sales area of a shop by placing the articles on the shop rack or affixing them thereto, so that they can be taken along by the customers. Such a method is used in stocking the shop racks in a supermarket, wherein articles are taken from outer packages, such as boxes, which are placed in an aisle, and are placed in a shop rack. Said placing takes up a great deal of time, and during that time the passage through the aisles is obstructed, which is undesirable.

[0015] The object of the invention is to bring about improvement in this situation, and in order to accomplish that objective the articles are attached to a sub-frame outside the sales area, after which the filled sub-frame is affixed to the shop rack. The sale of the articles and the filling of the shop racks from the outer packages are more or less separated from each other, in that a sub-frame is used, which is filled outside the sales area and which is subsequently affixed to the shop rack.

[0016] According to another improvement of the method a sub-frame, which may be partially filled, is removed from the shop rack and placed into an empty position of a means of transport present beside the shop rack, and subsequently a filled sub-frame is taken from the same means of transport, or from another, and placed into the shop rack. This simplifies the transport of the sub-frames to and from the shop rack.

[0017] According to another improvement one means of transport is used, from which a number of sub-frames are successively exchanged between shop rack and means of transport, and wherein the number of exchanged sub-frames is at least one less than the number of positions on the means of transport. In this manner it is made possible to take the sub-frames to the shop rack and collect them from there with one and the same means of transport, so that the extent of the hindrance in the aisles will be minimal.

[0018] According to another aspect of the invention the means of transport carrying partially or completely emptied sub-frames is placed in a vehicle, taken to a central storeroom and provided with filled sub-frames there by exchanging or filling the sub-frames. This makes it possible to fill the sub-frames for a number of shops at a central location, for example at a depot of the supplier of the articles, as a result of which no outer packages for the articles are required, which saves money and reduces the amount of waste.

[0019] According to another aspect of the invention, wherein the articles are provided with an identification, which can be detected upon passing a checkout when leaving the sales area, the financial settlement for exchanging a partially emptied sub-frame for a completely filled sub-frame takes place on the basis of the number of articles that are identified and counted upon passing the checkout.

[0020] Having the settlement takes place on the basis of the number of articles that are identified upon passing the checkout obviates the need to count the articles that are taken to the shop racks and the articles that are returned when exchanging a partially filled sub-frame for a completely filled one. As a result of this it is no longer necessary for the shopkeeper to supervise said exchanging and counting. In that case the shopkeeper will pay for the number of articles that he is paid for at the checkout. This leads to savings for the shopkeeper, since he no longer needs to remain present during said exchanging, and also because he is no longer responsible for the correct recording of the numbers of articles that are being supplied and returned. Furthermore the risk of shoplifting no longer lies with the shopkeeper.

[0021] The invention will be explained in more detail hereafter in the description of a few embodiments, wherein reference is made to a drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a sub-frame which is partially filled with articles;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a shop rack to which the sub-frame of Fig. can be affixed;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the sub-frame as it is affixed to a shop rack;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view along line IV-IV in Fig. 3, which also shows the attachment of a lifting device to the sub-frame;

Fig. 5 is a side view of a means of transport provided with a sub-frame which is filled with articles and with a nearly empty sub-frame, which is being detached from a shop rack;

Fig. 6 is a side view of a modified version of the means of transport of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the means of transport of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 shows a second embodiment of a shop rack provided with sub-frames;

Figs. 9, 10 and 11 show empty sub-frames, which may be used in the shop rack of Fig. 8; and

Fig. 12 shows a means of transport for conveying sub-frames to or from the shop rack of Fig. 8.

[0022] Like parts are numbered alike in the various Figs. of an embodiment.

[0023] Fig. 1 shows a sub-frame 1, which is built up of a frame 2, which is provided on its rear side with four hooks 3, by means of which it can be hooked onto brackets 11 (see Fig. 2). Attaching eyes 4 are provided on the front side of frame 2, by means of which attaching eyes sub-frame 1 can be affixed to a trolley 20 (see Figs. 5, 6 and 7).

[0024] Bars 5 are fitted in frame 2, onto which articles 6 can be slid by means of a slot present in the packaging, for example a so-called EURO slot. Fig. 3 shows three different articles 6 present on frame 2, a sub-frame of this type may also hold 30 to 40 different articles 6, however, whereby each bar will carry about 15 items of the same article 6, for example. The various articles 6 are provided with an identification, for example a bar code, which can be scanned electronically at the checkout.

[0025] Fig. 2 shows a shop rack 7, which is built up of supports 8, to which shelves 9 are fixed. Shop rack 7 is accessible to consumers from two sides, whereby the two sides are separated from each other by means of a partition 10. Part of the shop rack 7 has been adapted for affixing sub-frame 1 thereto. To that end a few shelves 9 have been removed and brackets 11 have been fixed to supports 8.

[0026] Fig. 3 shows how sub-frame 1 is affixed to supports 8. Hooks 3 are hooked into brackets 11, and sub-frame 1 can be lifted to detach it from supports 8, after which it can be moved to the front, that is, away from partition 10. Strips 12 are fixed in frame 2, to which strips one or more heavy pins 13 and/or one or more light pins 14 may be secured, whereby the type of pin is selected in dependence on the articles to be attached thereto. Attaching eyes 4 are secured in such a manner that a lifting frame 15 (see Fig. 4) can be attached to sub-frame 1, whilst the movement of lifting frame 15 is not impeded by articles 6 that are placed on heavy pins 13 or on light pins 14.

[0027] Fig. 4 shows in side view the manner in which sub-frame 1 is affixed to support 8, whereby the Fig. also shows how lifting frame 15 can be hooked into attaching eye 4 by means of a pin 16. Lifting frame 15 is guided by means of two levers 17 and is moved in vertical direction by means of a pulling cable 18.

[0028] Fig. 5 shows the arrangement in a sales area of two shop racks 7 which are filled with articles to be sold, whereby an aisle 19 has been left open between the shop racks 7. A trolley 20 can travel through said aisle 19. Trolley 20 is built up of an upright 21, which is placed on a baseplate 22 fitted with castors 23.

[0029] Mounted on upright 21 are a bracket 24, by means of which trolley 20 can be moved along, a winch 25, on either side thereof, onto which pulling cable 18 can be wound, and levers 17, which are pivoted to upright 21. A filled sub-frame 26 is attached to trolley 20 in Fig. 5, whilst trolley 20 is also connected to a partially emptied sub-frame 27, which is still affixed to support 8.

[0030] Trolley 20 is constructed in such a manner that it can be partially moved under shop rack 7 with one side, whereby pins 16 of one of the lifting frames can be moved between shelves 9 and be hooked into attaching eyes 4. When pulling cable 18 is wound onto winch 25, lifting frame 15 can be moved upwards and the partially emptied sub-frame 27 can be lifted off the brackets 11 fixed to supports 8.

[0031] Sub-frame 1 is especially intended for use in supermarkets that wish to add to their range of products several different articles which will be sold in small numbers and whereby a proper presentation of the articles is important.

[0032] Sub-frame 1 is thereby placed in shop rack 7, whereby the articles 6 to be sold are placed on a light pin 14 or a heavy pin 13. In order to prevent shop personnel having to carry out the placing of the articles on pins 13 or 14 in the shop after some time, whereby the passage through the aisle 19 is obstructed, the partially emptied sub-frame 27 is lifted from support 8 in the above-described manner. Trolley 20 is turned round, after which the sub-frame 26 present on trolley 20 is affixed to the supports. Said exchanging of the sub-frames can take place within a few minutes, so that the inconvenience for the shopping consumers is reduced to a minimum.

[0033] After a filled sub-frame 26 has been placed in shop rack 7, the partially emptied sub-frame 27 is taken to a loading station. Said loading station may form part of the shop, it is also possible, however, to take the partially emptied sub-frame 27 to a loading station situated outside the shop. It is conceivable thereby for the sub-frames to be placed in a lorry, which lorry is refilled with filled sub-frames at the supplier's distribution points.

[0034] Since the counting of the articles present on the full and the partially emptied sub-frames at the moment of entering or leaving the sales area will not always take place accurately, the articles being sold are counted at the checkout, and the supplier will be informed of the number of articles that have been sold, whereby the supplier will invoice the shopkeeper for the goods on the basis of said number. Use is thereby made of the possibility to identify the articles by scanning them electronically at the checkout and record the numbers of articles in sub-frame 1 that have been sold in a separate database. In that case both the shopkeeper and the supplier agree that the manager of said separate database will correctly record the numbers that are sold, and that this data will form the basis of their mutual settlement.

[0035] Fig. 6 shows a modified version of trolley 20. A vertical support 28 is fixed to baseplate 28, to which support stationary rails 29 are horizontally secured. Stationary rails 29 are provided in such a manner that two storage positions are created, on which a rack support 30 can be placed. A horizontal frame 31 of rack support 30 is provided with wheels, which are capable of travelling over stationary rails 29. A vertical rack support 32, to which pins 16 are attached, is secured to horizontal frame 31. A sub-frame 1 can be affixed to pins 16 in the manner described before.

[0036] Furthermore a slide guide 33 is mounted on baseplate 22, along which a slide 34 can move in vertical direction. Movable rails 35 are connected to slide 34 by means of a pivot pin 36. Said movable rails 35 can be positioned at the same level as stationary rails 29 by moving slide 34 in vertical direction, whilst they can also be pivoted about pivot pin 36 so as to be positioned in line with stationary rails 29.

[0037] Rack support 30 can be moved from the storage position on stationary rails 29 to movable rails 35 after removing a bolt 37 from rack support 30. Rack support 30 can now be moved in vertical direction by slide 34, so that a shop rack attached to rack support 30 can be moved to the desired level.

[0038] Slide 34 is moved in vertical direction by means of a toothed belt 38, which is driven by a pulley 39. Pulley 39 is driven by a motor, in a manner which will not be explained in more detail, which motor is mounted on baseplate 22. A large vertical movement can be realised by causing slide 34 to move in vertical direction, as a result of which sub-frames 1 will be positioned as low as possible and possibly on top of each other on trolley 20 during transport, this for reasons of stability, whilst it is still possible to lift the sub-frames as high as the upper side of shop rack 7 (see Fig. 5).

[0039] The width of the trolley 20 shown in Figs. 6 and 7 more or less corresponds with the depth of sub-frame 1, it is approximately 60 cm, for example. By placing the storage positions of sub-frames 1 above each other it becomes possible to make trolley 20 smaller and narrower. This makes it possible to move trolley 20 into the shop past the checkout, so that the exchanging of the sub-frames can take place quickly and the inconvenience to the consumers is reduced to the minimum.

[0040] Fig. 8 shows a second embodiment comprising a shop rack 40. As usual the shop rack 40 is about 1.0 m wide, and it is provided with sub-frames, in such a manner that two or three sub-frames are placed side by side in shop rack 40. Two low suspension boards 41 are affixed to the top of the shop rack 40 by means of a supporting section 49 and a hook 50. The low suspension board 41, which is shown separately in Fig. 9, comprises a back plate 51, to which brackets 52 are fixed. The articles to be sold can be slide onto brackets 52 in the above-described manner.

[0041] Three high suspension boards 42 are affixed under the two low suspension boards 41. The structure and the use of the suspension boards 41 and those of the high suspension boards 42 are similar to each other.

[0042] A wire rack 43 is fixed to a shelf 44 affixed to shop rack 40. Said wire rack is shown separately in Fig. 10 and consists of a platform 53, a rear wall 54 and a bracket 55. Rear wall 54 comprises openings 56, which co-operate with a fixed hook 47 on shelf 44, and platform 53 comprises a recess 57, which co-operates with a resilient hook 48 fixed to shelf 44. Wide boxes 45 and narrow boxes 46 are affixed to the lower two shelves 44 in a similar manner as to wire rack 43. Fig. 11 shows wide box 45 comprising a bottom 58, side walls 59 and a rear wall 60, in which openings 61 are provided. A recess 62 is provided in bottom 58. Of course also embodiments are possible which do not use a shelf 44, but wherein wire rack 43 and boxes 45 and 46 are affixed to shop rack 40 in a different manner.

[0043] Fig. 8 shows in chain-dotted lines the contours of the articles which can be attached to the sub-frames, such as low suspension board 41, high suspension board 42, wire rack 43, wide box 45 and narrow box 46. As will be apparent from the above description, the articles are attached to the sub-frames in such a manner that they will remain firmly connected thereto during the transport of the sub-frames. To this end the illustrated brackets are provided, among other things, as are for example the side walls and the rear walls of boxes 45 and 46. The sub-frames themselves and shop rack 40 comprise means, such as the illustrated supports and hooks, which make it possible to affix the sub-frames to shop rack 40 in such a manner that they can easily be detached, which means may be operated and/or be used with completely filled and with partially emptied sub-frames, and also the fixing elements shown in Figs. 1 - 7. Also a trolley 63 shown in Fig. 12 is provided with such supports and hooks, so that the sub-frames can readily be fixed thereto. The width of trolley 63 is maximally the width of a sub-frame, that is, less than half the width of a shop rack 40, and less than about 0.50 m, therefore, since the sub-frames are placed above each other in trolley 63.

[0044] In this embodiment the filled sub-frames and the partially emptied sub-frames are exchanged by hand. First a partially emptied sub-frame, for example a wide box 45, is removed from shop rack 40 by detaching wide box 45 from shop rack 40, which is done by pressing aside resilient hook 48. Wide box 45 is placed into an empty position of trolley 63 or into a second trolley 63. A completely filled wide box 45 is removed from trolley 63 and placed into shop rack 40. Since said lifting of the sub-frame into and out of shop rack 40 is carried out by hand, the maximum weight of a filled sub-frame will be about 15 kg, possibly less than 10 kg, in order to further facilitate handling. Trolley 63 is used for taking the sub-frames to and from shop rack 40, whereby the trolley is constructed such that it is capable of passing through narrow aisles. The sub-frames may be filled outside the sales area, for example in an adjacent storeroom or in a supply lorry present beside the sales area. An efficient way of operating is to place the partially emptied sub-frames into a lorry and to fill them at a central depot. In that case no outer packages will be needed and less waste will be produced.

[0045] Besides the above-described embodiments also combinations of the various embodiments are possible, wherein use is for example made of the possibility to identify the articles by means of a bar code and to carry out the registration of the numbers of articles supplied by counting the numbers of articles that have been sold at the checkout, and to record this data in a separate database.

[0046] The above-described sub-frames may be made of metal. It is also conceivable to use other materials, however, such as plastic material or possibly cardboard. The sub-frames will thereby always be constructed in such a manner that the articles are kept together during transport and during the placing of the sub-frame into the shop rack or the removal of said sub-frame therefrom. The sub-frames are clamped down in the shop rack, or at least affixed thereto in such a manner that the articles cannot be shifted or easily be moved otherwise. The sub-frames are constructed in such a manner that they can be re-used by refilling them with articles.

Claims

1. A device for offering goods for sale, said device comprising a shop rack (7; 40) which is disposed in a sales area of a shop, in which articles (6) may be placed or to which articles (6) may be affixed in such a manner that they can be taken along by customers, as well as a means of transport (20; 63) for transporting the articles in the sales area to the shop rack (7; 40), characterized in that the articles are placed in or attached to a sub-frame (1; 41, 42, 45, 46), which can be affixed to said shop rack (7; 40), and possibly to said means of transport (20; 63), in filled condition.

2. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that the width of the sub-frames (41, 42, 45, 46) is less than 0.5 m.

3. A device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the weight of a filled sub-frame (41, 42, 45, 46) is less than about 15 kg.

4. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sub-frames (41, 42, 45, 46) are placed one above the other in the means of transport (63).

5. A sub-frame (1; 41, 42, 45, 46) for transporting articles from a storeroom to a sales area comprising one or more shop racks (7; 40), and a means of transport (20; 63), characterized in that said sub-frame (1; 41, 42, 45, 46) comprises means, such as brackets (5, 13, 14, 52, 55) or rims (59, 60), for placing or attaching articles of varying types or dimensions thereto in a conveniently arranged manner, as well as fixing means, such as hooks (3) or openings or recesses (4; 56, 57, 61, 62) co-operating with such hooks, for affixing the sub-frame alternately to the shop rack (7; 40) and to the means of transport.

6. A method for stocking a shop rack (7; 40) which is disposed in a sales area of a shop by placing the articles (6) on the shop rack or affixing them thereto, so that they can be taken along by the customers, characterized in that the articles are attached to a sub-frame (1; 41, 42, 45, 46) outside the sales area, after which the filled sub-frame is affixed to the shop rack.

7. A method according to claim 6, characterized in that a sub-frame (1; 41, 42, 45, 46), which may be partially filled, is removed from the shop rack (7; 40) and placed into an empty position of a means of transport (20; 63) present beside the shop rack, and subsequently a filled sub-frame is taken from the same means of transport, or from another, and placed into the shop rack.

8. A method according to claim 7, characterized in that one means of transport is used, from which a number of sub-frames are successively exchanged between shop rack and means of transport, and wherein the number of exchanged sub-frames is at least one less than the number of positions on the means of transport.

9. A method according to any one of the claims 6 - 8, characterized in that the means of transport carrying partially or completely emptied sub-frames is placed in a vehicle, taken to a central storeroom and provided with filled sub-frames there by exchanging or filling the sub-frames.

10. A method according to any one of the claims 6 - 9, wherein the articles (6) are provided with an identification, which can be detected upon passing a checkout when leaving the sales area, characterized in that the financial settlement for exchanging a partially emptied sub-frame for a completely filled sub-frame takes place on the basis of the number of articles that are identified and counted upon passing the checkout.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the articles are identified by means of an electronic scanning device.

Drawing