WO2006057564A1

WO2006057564A1 - Wheeled shelf

Info

Publication number: WO2006057564A1
Application number: PCT/NO2005/000440
Authority: WO
Inventors: Henning Bersagel
Original assignee: Ebeco As
Priority date: 2004-11-29
Filing date: 2005-11-28
Publication date: 2006-06-01
Also published as: NO323380B1; CN101065040A; NO20045208L; NO20045208D0; EP1816930A1; EP1816930A4

Abstract

A wheeled shelving device for storage, transport and display of goods, where the shelving (1) , which comprises a substantially vertical frame (2) , is provided with at least one shelf (14) that is rotatable about a horizontal axis, and where the vertical frame (2) of the shelving (1) is located at the rear of the shelving (1) , the frame (2) of the wheeled shelving (1) being provided with at least two paired, cooperative brackets (10) that are fixed to the frame (2) , wherein the brackets (10) are arranged to provide suspension for the shelf (14) .

Description

WHEELED SHELF

This invention regards a wheeled shelf. More particularly, it regards wheeled shelving for storage, transport and display of goods, where the shelving, which comprises a substantially vertical frame, is provided with at least one shelf that can be rotated about a horizontal axis. The vertical frame of the shelving is located at the rear of the shelving, the frame of the wheeled shelving being provided with at least two paired, co-operative brackets fixed to the frame, wherein the brackets are arranged to provide suspension or mounting for the shelf.

Today, trolleys are used to display soft drinks and similar products in large refrigerators to be found in the retail trade and similar. These trolleys replace the traditional shelves in refrigerators which made for a cumbersome and laborious process of restocking. The present trolleys comprise systemized shelves, but they still have to be restocked from the rear to achieve efficient restocking. The shelving system, which is supported by four uprights mounted at each corner of a horizontal frame, is fitted with four wheels for transport purposes. The purpose of the trolley is to allow it to be pulled out of the refrigerator for restocking from the rear, and also to make sure the products are exposed at the front when the trolley is returned to the refrigerator. Furthermore, the trolley provides a form of "empty case", as it is returned empty to the bottling plant to be refilled and returned to the point of sale.

Today's trolley has the following disadvantages: It is only restocking from the rear that is practical. This means that the trolley must be pulled out of the refrigerator in order to be restocked at the point of sale. The shelving system being supported by four fixed vertical uprights means that it occupies extra space. Two of these uprights are visible from the front when the trolley is positioned in the refrigerator, which from the seller's point of view is undesirable. Furthermore, the design of the trolley causes it to occupy the same amount of space empty as when full of products, which means that when empty, it will take up space in the retailer's storeroom while awaiting return to the supplier. Also, the impracticality of the return transport to bottling plants, suppliers etc. for restocking of products does not represent good logistics and is therefore uneconomical, as each trolley occupies a large volume in proportion to its weight.

The object of the invention is to remedy or reduce at least one of the disadvantages of prior art.

The object is achieved in accordance with the invention, by the characteristics stated in the description below and in the following claims .

A device comprising wheeled shelving for storage, transport and display of goods, where the shelving, which comprises a substantially vertical frame, is provided with at least one shelf that can be rotated about a horizontal axis. According to the invention, the vertical frame of the shelving is located at the rear of the shelving, the frame of the wheeled shelving being provided with at least two paired, co¬ operative brackets fixed to the frame, wherein the brackets are arranged to provide suspension or mounting for the shelf.

What characterizes the shelving of the invention is a transportable system of shelves supported in its entirety in a vertical plane at the rear, in which products such as soft drinks and other articles can be restocked from two sides, that is from the front and from the rear. Furthermore, each shelf can be folded up when empty of goods. The shelving is further constructed so that two or more of these can fit together, thus saving a significant amount of space at the recipient and supplier when not in use, and also ensuring an equally significant reduction in volume when returning several sets of shelving from the point of sale to bottling plants, suppliers etc.

The wheeled shelving is particularly suited for handling, transporting and displaying soft drinks and similar products to and from the type of large refrigerators that can be found at retail dealers.

The invention facilitates highly efficient and economic restocking of soft drinks and other products for display in large refrigerators. Furthermore, the device according to the invention will represent a major economic gain, seeing as it is collapsible when empty, which leads to a reduced requirement for storage space and a reduction in the volume occupied during the return transport to bottling plants, product suppliers etc.

The following describes a non-limiting example of a preferred embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a side view of the frame for a set of wheeled shelving;

Fig. 2 shows a plan view of the frame of Figure 1;

Fig. 3 shows a plan view of two frames in a storage position;

Fig. 4a shows a plan view of a shelf frame

Fig. 4b shows a side view of the shelf frame;

Fig. 5 shows a schematic view of the wheeled shelving in various positions of use;

Fig. 6 shows a side view of the wheeled shelving in a filled state;

Fig. 7 shows a schematic top view of two empty sets of wheeled shelving in the transport position;

Fig. 8 shows a schematic view of several sets of shelving in the transport position; and

Fig. 9 shows a schematic side view of several sets of shelving in the transport position. In the drawings, reference number 1 denotes a wheeled set of shelves where a supporting structure in the form of a vertical frame 2 is mounted at the rear of a bottom frame 4, wherein the bottom frame 4 is fitted with a set of fixed wheels 6 and a set of swivelling and lockable wheels 8. Attached on either side of the vertical frame 2 are six pairs of brackets 10 equidistantly spaced in the vertical direction. The brackets are designed as shown, with two notches "a" and "b" , in addition to a vertically positioned slot "c". It should be noted that for practical reasons, the bottom pair of brackets has no "a".

Figure 3 shows how the bottom frame is constructed, with a view to stacking several sets of wheeled shelving 1 on top of each other.

The shelving comprises six shelves 14. The supporting structure 16 of the shelves 14, see figures 4a and 4b, is constructed as a metal frame comprising two side members 18 reinforced by four struts 20. The struts 20 and the side members 18 form the supporting structure 16 that is arranged to support and maintain a plastic tray 22 in position.

The plastic tray 22, which forms the bearing surface of the shelves 14 and is designed with grooves to keep soft drink containers 24 and other products in position, may be removed from the supporting frame in order to be cleaned or replaced. The side members 18 are provided with a set of pegs 26 and a set of bushings 28. The distance between the peg 26 and the bushing 28 corresponds to the distance between a vertical slot "c" and a notch "a" in the brackets 10, see figure 1. The supporting structure 16 of the shelves 14 is placed in the supporting vertical structure 2 of the wheeled shelving 1, see figure 1, by placing the set of pegs 26 in notches "a" and passing a shaft 29, see figure 6, through the set of bushings 28 and the vertical slots "c" in the two side members of the vertical frame 2.

The construction of the vertical slot "c" and the bracket 10 allows the supporting frame 16 of the shelf 14 to be swiveled up about the shaft 29, the set of pegs 26 locating in notch "b" to allow the frame 16 and thereby the shelf 14 to be secured also in this position. Thus it is possible to secure the shelves 14 in two positions, folded up and dropped down.

Figure 5 shows how the wheeled shelving is made ready for restocking of goods 24, in this case soft drinks. The bottom shelf 14, which is shown here with its supporting structure 16 and plastic tray 22, is pulled out in the direction of the arrow, ref. A, and is then swiveled down, ref. B, to the position of use, ref. C.

The shelf is then stocked with soft drink containers 24, either from the rear or from the front, whereupon the second shelf from the bottom is swiveled in the same way.

Upon completion of restocking, the device will be loaded as shown in figure 6.

Figures 7 and 8 show how empty wheeled sets of shelving 1 fit into each other, with figure 9 showing how the wheeled shelving 1 according to the invention may represent a considerable financial gain in terms of space saving when it comes to storing and returning these to the bottling plant or supplier.

Claims

Patent claims

1. A wheeled shelving device (1) for storage, transport and display of goods, where the shelving (1) , which comprises a substantially vertical frame (2), is provided with at least one shelf (14) that is rotatable about a horizontal axis, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the vertical frame (2) of the shelving (1) is located at the rear of the shelving (1), the frame (2) of the wheeled shelving (1) being provided with at least two paired, co-operative brackets (10) that are fixed to the frame (2), wherein the brackets (10) are arranged to provide suspension for the shelf (14) .

2. A device in accordance with Claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that at least the side members of the frame (2) or the brackets (10) are provided with a slot (c) that corresponds to a bushing

(28) in the shelf (14), a peg (26) radially spaced from the bushing (28) and projecting from the shelf (14) fitting into one of several notches (a, b) in the bracket (10) in a complementary manner.

3. A device in accordance with Claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the shelf (14) is individually suspended/mounted and so arranged to be swiveled independently of any other shelves (14) .