Shelf bracket and shelving system

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit and priority of provisional application Ser. No. 60/762,965 filed on Jan. 27, 2006 and titled FULL AND HALF BRACKET, by Raymond M. Schneider. The entire contents of this application are hereby incorporated in its entirety herein.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to a shelf bracket and a shelving system, and more particularly, to a shelf bracket that enables an angle of a shelf thereon to be adjusted to assist in gravity feed of merchandise.

A conventional assembly for supporting a display shelf on a vertical support includes at least one elongate support (typically at least a pair of such supports) and at least one transversely-extending display shelf. Each elongate support includes an upright front surface and a plurality of longitudinally-spaced engaging means (or slots) facing forwardly in the front surface. Each shelf defines a generally upright back surface and at least one plurality of longitudinally-spaced engaging means (e.g., protrusions) facing rearwardly from the shelf back surface. The protrusions are configured and dimensioned for cooperation and interconnection with the slots of the elongate support for releasable maintenance of the shelf in a plane transverse to the plane of the support.

Alternate assemblies include the elongate support, at least one bracket and a shelf. In such assemblies, the bracket typically includes protrusions extending from a rear surface thereon. These protrusions of the bracket are configured and dimensioned for cooperation and interconnection with the slots of the elongate support. Additionally, the shelf and bracket are often configured to be connectable with one another.

These types of assemblies are well-known in the art, the supports and shelves are typically kept in reserve by a store, ready for use in maintaining the shelves transverse (perpendicular) to the supports. On the other hand, where the articles to be sold from a display tray are to be gravity fed along a track as a result of the angular disposition of the top surface of the shelf upon which the display shelf rests, the store typically stores at least one additional transversely-extending display shelf having a protrusion configured and dimensioned for cooperation and interconnection with the support slot for releasable maintenance of the shelf in a non-transverse plane to the plane of the support.

Thus, if a retailer is to display both non-gravity fed and gravity-fed products, he must store a rather large quantity of shelves, some of the shelves being suitable for the non-gravity-fed products and the other ones for the gravity-fed products. The storage of this large quantity of shelves may not be possible due to space considerations and, in any case, increases the necessary financial investment in the shelves. Further, it may be desirable to display one product at a different degree of inclination than another product.

Thus, it would be desirable to provide a support assembly which utilizes a shelf bracket and a shelf, the shelf being releasably maintained by the shelf bracket in a plurality of angled orientations (for gravity-fed displays) or in a horizontal orientation (for non-gravity-fed displays).

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates to a shelf bracket system including a body portion, a first protrusion, a second protrusion and at least one shim. The body portion includes a front surface, a rear surface, and a top surface disposed at an angle with respect to a horizontal axis. The first protrusion extends from the rear surface of the body and at least a portion of the first protrusion is insertable into a slot in a support. The second protrusion extends from the rear surface of the body. The shim is positionable in mechanical cooperation with at least one of the first and second protrusions to adjust the angle of the top surface.

The present disclosure also relates to a shelving system including at least one support, at least one shelf bracket, at least one shim and a shelf. The support includes a plurality of slots therein. The shelf bracket is insertable into the support and includes a body portion with two protrusions extending therefrom and a top surface disposed at an angle with respect to a horizontal axis. The shim is positionable in mechanical cooperation with at least one of the first and second protrusions to adjust the angle of the top surface. The shelf is positionable on at least one shelf bracket.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of a shelf bracket in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of the shelf bracket of FIG. 1 mounted on a support in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an enlarged cross-sectional view of portions of the shelf bracket and support of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of the shelf bracket, support and shims in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of a shim in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of the shim of FIG. 5 inserted on a protrusion of the bracket in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a top view of a plurality of the shims of FIGS. 5 and 6 inserted on a protrusion of the bracket;

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective view of a half bracket in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates a side view of the half bracket of FIG. 8; and

FIG. 10 illustrates a perspective view of shelves mounted to a bracket and the bracket mounted to a support in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the presently disclosed shelf bracket and shelving system are now described in detail with reference to the drawings, in which like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding elements in each of the several views. As used herein the term “distal” refers to that portion of the shelving system, or component thereof, farther from a wall, while the term “proximal” refers to that portion of the shelving system, or component thereof, closer to the wall.

Various embodiments of a shelf bracket are illustrated in FIGS. 1-10 and are generally referenced by numeral 100. Shelf bracket 100 includes a body 110, a first protrusion 120, and a second protrusion 130. At least one shim 150 (FIGS. 4-7) is positionable in mechanical cooperation with the first and/or second protrusion 120, 130.

Referring specifically to FIG. 1, body 110 of shelf bracket 100 includes a front surface 112, a rear surface 114 and a top surface 116. First and second protrusions 120, 130 extend proximally from rear surface 114. Top surface 116 is disposed at an angle Θ with respect to horizontal axis A-A. Shims 150 are positionable in mechanical cooperation with a protrusions 120 and/or 130 to adjust the angle Θ, as discussed below with reference to FIGS. 4-7.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, a support 200 is shown for supporting shelf bracket 100. Support 200 is mountable to a wall (for example) and includes a plurality of slots 210 therein, which facilitate the insertion and positioning of shelf bracket 100 thereon. At least a portion of at least one protrusion 120, 130 is insertable into slot 210. Both protrusions 120 and 130 are shown inserted into a corresponding slot 210 of support 200 in FIG. 2 (protrusions 120 and 130 are within support 200 and thus hidden from view in FIG. 2). FIG. 3 illustrates first protrusion 120 inserted within slot 210 of support 200.

With continued reference to FIG. 3, first protrusion 120 is shown including a downward-depending tab 122 and an upward-depending tab 124, in accordance with a disclosed embodiment. It is contemplated that downward-depending tab 122 helps maintain shelf bracket 100 mounted to support 200. When shelf bracket 100 is mounted to support 200, as shown in FIG. 3, it is envisioned that a distal portion 126 of upward-depending tab 124 is below a slot divider 212 of support 200, such that distal portion 126 of upward-depending tab 124 would limit upward motion of shelf bracket 100 with respect to support 200. Generally, upward movement of shelf bracket 100 with respect to support 200 may place shelf bracket 100 in an unacceptable load-bearing position. Thus, distal portion 126 of upward-depending tab 124 helps maintain shelf bracket 100 in an acceptable load-bearing position.

With reference to FIGS. 4-7, shims 150 are positionable in mechanical cooperation with at least one protrusion 120 and 130 to adjust the angle Θ. In the illustrated embodiment, a downward-depending tab 132 of second protrusion 130 is proximally spaced a distance from body 110 of shelf bracket 100, thus allowing a lower portion of shelf bracket 100 to be pivoted away from support 200 and allowing second protrusion 130 to accept a plurality of shims 150, for example. As can be appreciated, the addition of each shim 150 adjusts the angle Θ with respect to horizontal axis A-A. (It is envisioned that horizontal axis A-A is substantially perpendicular to support 200.) FIG. 7 illustrate four shims 150a, 150b, 150c and 150d in place on second protrusion 130.

In a contemplated embodiment, the addition of each shim 150 adjusts (e.g., decreases) the angle Θ between about 0.5° and about 10°. It is also contemplated that the addition of a pre-determined number of shims 150 adjusts body 110 such that top surface 116 is substantially to horizontal axis A-A. Further, shims 150 of different thicknesses may be provided to provide more or less of an adjustment.

With reference to FIGS. 5-7, an embodiment of shim 150 is disclosed in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Shim 150 is shown having an elongated portion 152 and an E-shaped portion 154. Elongated portion 152 may be used to facilitate gripping and placement of shim 150 onto second protrusion 130. E-shaped portion 154 is dimensioned to fit on second protrusion 130. With specific reference to FIG. 6, two outer legs 156 and 158 of E-shaped portion 154 may fit on either side of second protrusion 130, while a middle leg 160 may fit between two portions of second protrusion 130, in accordance with a disclosed embodiment. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, shims 150 are configured to fit between rear surface 114 of body and support 200.

Referring to FIG. 10, a shelving system 500 is shown which includes at least one shelf bracket 100, at least one support 200 and at least one shelf 300 (e.g., a commonly-used grocery gondola shelf). A plurality of apertures 160 are disposed on front surface 112 of shelf bracket 100. Each aperture 160 may be configured to accept a lug 302 disposed adjacent a rear surface 304 of shelf 300, thus enabling shelf 300 to be mounted on shelf bracket 100.

With continued reference to FIG. 10, when shelf 300 is mounted on shelf bracket 100 and when shelf bracket 100 is mounted on support 200, the placement of shims 150 adjusts the angle Θ of top surface 130 of shelf bracket 100 and correspondingly adjusts the angle (e.g., substantially equal to Θ) of a top surface 310 of shelf 300 with respect to horizontal axis A-A. Thus, shelf 300 is able to be positioned at a plurality of angled positions (including substantially parallel to horizontal axis A-A). It may be useful to alter the angle of shelf 300, for instance, based on the product being displayed (e.g., gravity-fed vs. non-gravity-fed items), the height of shelf 300 (e.g., a relatively large angle Θ may be desired for shelves 300 above eye-level to facilitate a user being able to clearly view product), etc.

With reference to FIGS. 8-10, a half bracket 100b is shown. A half bracket 100b may be used when it is desirable to position an angled shelf 300a next to a horizontal shelf 300b, for example (see FIG. 10), or an end panel (not explicitly shown). In these circumstances, a single half bracket 100b may be positioned into slots 210 of support 200.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure and shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, half bracket 100b includes a plurality of walls 170 disposed adjacent apertures 160. Each wall 170 may extend distally beyond front surface 112 of half shelf bracket 100b. Wall 170 is configured to prevent (or reduce the occurrences of) a shelf 300 sliding off a side of half shelf bracket 100b. It is envisioned that walls 170 of half shelf bracket 100b may be disposed on the right side or the left side of apertures 160 for use as a bracket adjacent the right end or the left end of a shelf 300, thus effectively creating a right half shelf bracket and a left half shelf bracket.

As illustrated in FIG. 10, angled shelf 300a is positioned adjacent horizontal shelf 300b and are both mounted on half shelf bracket 100b. In an embodiment, angled shelf 300a may be positioned on apertures 160 (e.g., without adjacent walls 170) towards top surface 116 of half shelf bracket 100b and horizontal shelf 300b may be positioned on apertures (e.g., with adjacent walls 170) away from top surface 116 of half shelf bracket 100b.

It will be understood that various modifications may be made to the embodiments disclosed herein. For example, it is contemplated that shelf bracket 100 includes only first protrusion 120 (and does not include second protrusion 130). In such an embodiment, first protrusion 120 may include an elongated portion for supporting shims 150. Further gravity would keep a bottom portion of shelf bracket 100 against support 200. Additionally, while shelf 300 is shown mounted to shelf bracket 100, it is envisioned that shelf 300 may rest on top surface 116 of shelf bracket 110. Here, shelf bracket 100 may include an extension for supporting shelf 300. Further, while shim 150 is shown resembling a particular shape, other regular and non-regular shapes are contemplated. It is further envisioned that half shelf bracket 100b includes two sides and that each side (and its corresponding top surface 116) is independently adjustable. Therefore, the above description should not be construed as limiting, but merely as exemplifications of various embodiments. Those skilled in the art will envision other modifications within the scope and spirit of the claims appended hereto.