DISPLAY SHELF FOR ELECTRICALLY POWERED CONSUMER PRODUCTS |
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申请号 | US14824634 | 申请日 | 2015-08-12 | 公开(公告)号 | US20170042323A1 | 公开(公告)日 | 2017-02-16 |
申请人 | Target Brands, Inc.; | 发明人 | Jason W. Johnson; Erin L. Zobel; Timothy J. Martell; | ||||
摘要 | A display includes a shelf having an elongated slot for receiving a power cord of at least one electrically powered consumer product being displayed on the shelf in front of the elongated slot. The elongated slot is defined by a portion of a free edge of a rotatable door that covers a pocket in a closed position and by a back end of a table having an upper surface for supporting the electrically powered consumer products. Remaining portions of the free edge of the rotatable door engage with a lip that protrudes from a front wall of the pocket so that a top side of the rotatable door is in alignment with the upper surface of the table when the rotatable door is in the closed position. | ||||||
权利要求 | |||||||
说明书全文 | Retail stores use a variety of display fixtures to present products to customers for purchase. These display fixtures can support the product, indicate the product price and include signage and graphics for highlighting the product. Exemplary display structures include shelves, trays, racks, peg hooks and other similar structures. The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. A display is mounted to a gondola display unit and includes a shelf having an elongated slot for receiving a power cord of at least one electrically powered consumer product being displayed on the shelf in front of the elongated slot. The elongated slot is defined by a portion of a free edge of a rotatable door that covers a pocket in a closed position and by a back end of a table having an upper surface for supporting the electrically powered consumer products. Remaining portions of the free edge of the rotatable door engage with a lip that protrudes from a front wall of the pocket so that a top side of the rotatable door is in alignment with the upper surface of the table when the rotatable door is in the closed position. A display shelf includes a table, a trough, a door and a lip. The table has an upper surface for displaying at least one electrically powered consumer product and a back end. The trough has a front wall, a bottom wall and a back wall and is defined between the back end of the table and the back wall of the trough. The bottom wall of the trough is located below the upper surface of the table. The door has right and left side edges, a fixed edge rotatably coupled to a top of the back wall of the trough, a free edge and a top side. The free edge includes a first linear portion spaced from the fixed edge by a first distance, a second linear portion spaced from the fixed edge by a second distance that is less than the first distance and a third linear portion spaced from the fixed edge by the first distance. The lip protrudes from the front wall of the trough and engages with the free edge of the door along the first linear portion and the third linear portion when the door is in a closed position. The top side of the door is in alignment with the upper surface of the table when the door is in the closed position so that between the back end of the table and the second linear portion of the free edge of the door there is an elongated slot in the display shelf for receiving a power cord from the at least one electrically powered consumer product displayed on the table. A method of displaying electrically powered consumer products is provided. At least one electrically powered consumer product is set on an upper surface of a table of a display shelf. The at least one electrically powered consumer product includes a power cord. The power cord of the at least one electrically powered consumer product is plugged into a power strip located in a trough behind the table. The trough is defined by a front wall, a bottom wall and a back wall and wherein the bottom wall of the trough is located below the upper surface of the table. A rotatable door is shut that covers a portion of the trough so that portions of a free edge of the rotatable door engage with a lip that protrudes from the front wall of the trough so that a top side of the rotatable door is in alignment with the upper surface of the table and a remaining portion of the free edge of the rotatable door defines an elongated slot for the power cord to pass into the trough. This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. The claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in the background. When electrically powered consumer products are displayed in a retail store, their power cord is often connected to an electrical power source so that the product is displayed in its operational state. For example, lamps are often displayed with their power on. Displaying these products in this way is challenging because of the need for providing a power source in what may be the center of a store floor and also the need for power cord management without detracting from the consumer products on display. As described in detail below, a display shelf is provided for mounting to uprights of a gondola display unit. The display shelf includes a trough enclosed by a door that holds one or more power strips for powering consumer products displayed on the display portion and components for managing the power cords from the consumer products that are displayed. The door that encloses the trough fits seamlessly with the table portion so as to mask the existence of the trough. Display shelf 100 includes a table 102, a trough or pocket 104 and rotatable door 112. Table 102 is located at the front of display shelf 100 between front panel 110 and trough 104. As illustrated and discussed briefly above, trough 104 includes a front wall 124, a bottom wall 126 and a back wall 128. Trough or pocket 104 is located at the rear of the display shelf 100 between a back end 111 of table 102 and back wall 128. Therefore, front wall 124 of trough 104 is located behind table 102. Table 102 includes an upper surface 114 for displaying consumer products. As best illustrated in As illustrated in Cantilevered from or protruding from a top of front wall 124 of trough 104 in a direction pointing into the interior space of trough 104 is a lip 130 that runs along the entirety of front wall 124 of trough 104 and therefore the entirety of back end 111 of table 102. As illustrated in As illustrated in Also disclosed is a method of displaying electrically powered consumer products. The method includes setting at least one electrically powered consumer product 170, such as a lamp, on upper surface 114 of table 102 on display shelf 100. See Rotatable door 112 is then shut or rotated about hinge 113 and closed so that the interior space of trough 104 is covered and hidden from view. In particular, power strip 160, a portion of the power cord 171 and its plug 173 are hidden from view and do not detract from the consumer product or products being displayed on table 102. In the closed position, portions 148 and 152 of free edge 146 engage with lip 130 that protrudes from front wall 124 of trough 104 so that top side 134 of door 112 is in alignment with upper surface 114 of table 102 and a remaining portion 150 of free edge 146 defines an elongated slot. When performing this operation, a user can shut or close the door by placing their fingers on the elongated slot. This way, a user's fingers will not get pinched when the portions 148 and 152 are rested on lip 130. Passing through the elongated slot into trough 104 is power cord 171 for electrically powered consumer product 170. Power strip 160 also includes a power cord 166. Power cord 166 is threaded through one of the holes 168a-d in bottom wall 126 of trough 104 to couple to a power source. To finish the display, electrically powered consumer product 170 is switched on. Although elements have been shown or described as separate embodiments above, portions of each embodiment may be combined with all or part of other embodiments described above. Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims. |