GB2191031A

GB2191031A - Information ticket holder

Info

Publication number: GB2191031A
Application number: GB08612493A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Christopher John Pendred
Original assignee: PENDRED NORMAN CO
Current assignee: PENDRED NORMAN CO
Priority date: 1986-05-22
Filing date: 1986-05-22
Publication date: 1987-12-02
Also published as: GB2191031B; GB8612493D0; FR2583195B1; FR2583195A1

Abstract

An information ticket holder assembly comprises a shelf edge rail 21 and an information ticket holder 1 received thereon in normally slidable relationship, wherein at least one surface 6,9 engages with a confronting surface 27,24 of the rail and wherein at least a portion of at least one of the or each pair of confronting surfaces 6,27 : 9,24 comprises a non- or anti-slip material 7,8, whereby the normally slidable relationship between the holder 1 and the rail 21 is eliminated or substantially reduced, such that the holder is retained in a desired position upon the rail or is substantially prevented from being slid along the rail from that desired position. The non- or anti-slip material is preferably a rubberised synthetic varnish or resin 7,8 and it may be employed as a coloured ink to display through the transparent front of the holder. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Information ticket holder and assembly This invention relates to an information ticket holder and associated assembly for use in a retail outlet where information, such as, unit price, cost per unit weight, country of origin, quality and/or the like, is displayed adjacent items for sale, for the benefit of potential pur chasers thereof.

In known assemblies of this type, an elon gate rail extends along the front edge of a shelf, upon which items for sale are displayed, and is arranged to receive one or more infor mation ticket holders which support respective tickets displaying information about the associated items for sale. Generally, such a ticket holder is made of a resiliently flexible plastics material, so that it can, say, be snap-fitted or slid into a desired position upon the shelf edge rail.To-date, the materials used for the holder and rail have been such that the holder can be slid fairly easily along the rail, when received thereon, whereby the holder can be inadvertently, or even deliberately, displaced along the rail from its desired location, thus tending to cause confusion amongst potential purchasers of the items for sale with which the holder, and its associated information ticket, should correspond.

Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an information ticket holder and associated assembly which eliminates, or at least substantially reduces, the disadvantages of the prior art information ticket holder arrangements discussed above, whilst also providing such an inventive holder and/or assembly which, as part of its structure, has decorative and/or information uses.

Accordingly, one aspect of the invention provides an information ticket holder assembly comprising a shelf edge rail and an information ticket holder received thereon in normally slidable relationship, wherein at least one surface of the holder engages with a corresponding confronting surface of the rail and wherein at least a portion of at least one of the or each pair of confronting and engaging surfaces comprises a non- or anti-slip material, whereby the normally slidable relationship between the holder and rail is eliminated, or at least substantially reduce such that the holder is retained in a desired position upon the rail or is at least substantially prevented from being slid along the rail from that desired position.

Preferably, and in a preferred embodiment of the inventive assembly, the non- or anti-slip material is in the form of a strip or ribbon which has been applied to one or other of the pair of confronting and otherwise engaging rail and holder surfaces. Advantageously, the strip of non- or anti-slip material is applied along the length of such a surface of the holder, optionally in a mottled pattern, such that it extends longitudinally of the rail when the holder is received thereon. However, it is possible for one or both of the pair of confronting and engaging, rail and holder surfaces to be made of the non- or anti-slip material, in which case, it is preferable that either or both of the rail and holder are made of that material.

The non- or anti-slip material may be of any suitable form, as long as it does not adhere to the surface with which it makes non- or anti-slip engagement; otherwise, the holder could not be removed from the rail for changing the associated information ticket or for cleaning purposes. Such a material may take the form of a slightly tacky material or one which provides a suitable coefficient of friction between.the pair of confronting and engaging rail and holder surfaces, which is sufficiently high to retain the holder in a desired position upon the rail or to at least substantially prevent the holder from being slid along the rail away from the desired position. It has been found that a rubberised synthetic varnish or resin is most suitable for this purpose, although any other suitable non- or anti-slip material would suffice.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided an information ticket holder which is arranged to be receivably mounted on a rail with at least one surface of the holder engaging with a corresponding confronting surface of the rail, wherein at least a portion of said at least one surface of the holder comprises a non- or anti-slip material, such that, when the holder is mounted on the rail with said at least one holder surface in engagement with the corresponding confronting rail surface, the holder is retainable in a desired position upon the rail or is at least substantially prevented from being slid along the rail from that desired position.

The form of the non- or anti-slip material may be any of those described above in relation to the inventive assembly.

Preferably, the holder is cut to length from an extrudate of desired cross-section, so that the holder can be receivably mounted on a shelf edge rail of at least partially similar cross-section. The holder may be made from any suitable material, preferably one which is extrudable and resiliently flexible, for instance, polyvinylchloride. Also, as the holder is to be used in a well illuminated environment, such as, a large retail outlet, at least its front surface is nonreflective. Further, it is to be appreciated that at least the front wall, which constitutes an effective window and behind which an information ticket is located, has to be transparent. However, and from a manufacturing point of view, the holder is a unitary structure, in which case, all of it is transparent, possibly with all its surfaces being nonreflective, as mentioned above.

The non- or anti-slip material, which can be applied in any suitable form to the or each surface of the holder that engages a corresponding confronting surface of the shelf edge rail, may be in any desired colour and, as such, acts also as an ink, for decorative or informative purposes, or both.

A preferred embodiment of information ticket holder and associated assembly in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an information ticket holder;, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a shelf edge rail on which the holder of Fig. 1 is receivably mountable; Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an information ticket holder assembly, with the holder of Fig. 1 mounted on the rail of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of the assembly shown in Fig. 3.

Referring firstly to Fig. 1 of the drawings, an information ticket holder 1 is formed from polyvinylchloride in a generally elongated Ushaped cross-section. As indicated above, the section of the holder may be cut from an extrudate. Alternatively, however, it may also be formed from a stamped blank which has been bent,say, by suitable heat treatment, into the desired, generally U-shaped cross-section.

The left-hand arm 2 of the generally Ushaped section has its free, upper end 3 bcnt double, such that it extends downwardly between a portion of the remainder of the arm 2 and of the right-hand arm 4 of the U-shaped cross-section of the holder 1. The free, upper end 5 of the right-hand arm 4 is also bent double but not to such an extent as the free, upper end 3 of the left-hand arm 2, whereby the end 5 extends outwardly from the righthand arm 4 at an angle of approximately 40 thereto.

The outwardly facing surface 6 of the free end 5 of the right-hand arm 4 of the generally U-shaped cross-section of the holder 1 has applied thereto a non-slip material 7 which is in the form of a strip extending along the length of the holder 1, as can be seen in Fig.

4, and defined by a mottled pattern thereof. A similar strip of non-slip material 8 is provided on the inwardly facing surface 9 of right-hand arm 4 of the holder section, as also shown in Fig. 4, with the two mottled pattern strips 7,8 being in overlying register with each other when the holder 1 is viewed from its left-hand side in Fig. 1, namely, from the front thereof, in the direction of the arrow A.

Referring now to Fig. 2 of the drawings, a rail 21, which can be secured to the front edge of a shelf (not shown) in any suitable manner, is configured to receive the holder 1 shown in Fig. 1. This shelf edge rail 21 is also generally U-shaped in cross-section but has, at the upper, free end 25 of its righthand arm 24, a dog-legged portion 26. Additionally, this right-hand arm 24 has a generally downwardly extending arm portion 27 at an angle of approximately 35 thereto. The left-hand arm 22 of the generally U-shaped cross-section of the rail 21 is substantially straight, except that its lower end is joined to that of the right-hand arm 24 by a generally squared portion of section 23.

The arrangement shown in Fig. 3 represents the inventive assembly when the holder 1 of Fig. 1 has been mounted upon the shelf edge rail 21 of Fig. 2. As can be seen from Fig. 3, the inverted V-shaped portion of the righthand arm 4 of the holder cross-section, which is defined by the downwardly extending free right-hand arm end 5 and the adjacent central portion of the arm 4, fits snugly into the inverted, generally V-shaped portion of the rail 21, which is defined by the downwardly extending arm portion 27 and the central to lower portion of the right-hand arm 24 of the cross-section of the rail.

The downwardly extending free end 3 of the left-hand arm 2 of the holder cross-section is fitted in between the two arms 22,24 of the rail 21.

As both the holder 1 and rail 21 are made from polyvinylchloride, their inherent resilience, and particularly that of the holder which tends to be more resiliently flexible than the rail, permits them to be snap-fitted together and causes adjacent portions of the holder and rail to be urged together, thus providing a close fitting assembly.

Because the angle between the free end 5 and its arm 4 of the holder 1 is about 5 greater than that between the arm portion 27 and its arm 24 of the rail 21 before assembly of the holder and rail,the free right-hand arm end 5 is urged against the arm portion 27 on assembly, as shown in Fig. 3. Because the holder material is more flexible than the rail material, the free arm end 5 of the holder 1 assumes more or less the same angle as the arm portion 27 of the rail 21,in relation to their respective right-hand arms 4,24. As a consequence of this resiliency, the central portion of the right-hand arm 4 of the holder 1 is urged against the right-hand arm 24 of the rail 21.

Thus, the strip of non-slip material 7 applied to the outwardly facing surface 6 of the free arm end 5 of the holder 1 engages the inwardly facing surface of the arm portion 27 of the rail 21, in non-slip relationship with respect thereto. Similarly, the strip of non-slip material 8 applied to the inwardly facing surface 9 of the right-hand arm 4 of the holder 1 engages the outwardly facing surface of the central to lower portion of the right-hand arm 24 of the rail 21 also in nonslip relationship with respect thereto.

In this manner, the holder 1 is prevented, or at least substantially prevented, from being slid along the rail 21 away from a desired position at which the holder has been placed upon the rail.

It is to be appreciated that the various components of the cross-sections of the holder 1 and rail 21, as described above with reference to Figs. 1 to 3, constitute the corresponding three dimensional components referenced by like numerals, but in dashed form, in Fig. 4, when those cross-sectional components are produced in the longitudinal direction of the holder 1 and rail 21. For instance, the arm portion 27 of the rail 21 in Figs. 2 and 3 becomes a longitudinally extending rib 27' in Fig. 4. Similarly, the left-hand arm 2 of the cross-section of the holder 1 in Figs. 1 and 3 becomes the front 2' of the assembly holder in Fig. 4.

At least the front 2' of the holder 1 is transparent with at least a non-reflective outer surface. In this particular embodiment, however, the holder is made as a unitary structure from the same material, namely, polyvinylchloride, in which case, the whole of the holder is transparent, apart from where several thicknesses of material overlap, thus rendering the total thickness of holder in that region semiopaque.

As indicated above, the non-slip material may also be employed as an ink, in which case it should be suitably coloured and applied to provide any desired decorative effect and/or information, when viewed through the transparent front of the holder.

As indicated above also, the non- or antislip material is preferably a rubberised synthetic varnish or resin, although any other suitable non- or anti-slip material will suffice. For example, it has been found that a heavily plasticised synthetic resin or varnish is very suitable.

An information ticket, containing information relevant to items for sale with which the holder is associated, can be inserted into the assembly, preferably by a sliding action, between the left-hand arm 2 of the holder 1, which arm constitutes the front of the holder in the iongitudinal direction thereof, and the left-hand arm 22 of the rail 21. The dimensions of the ticket are preferably such that it also extends downwardly to or adjacent the U-shaped juncture between the left-hand and right-hand arms 2,4 of the holder 1, so that it extends over substantially the whole depth of the front 2' thereof.

In this embodiment of inventive assembly, the rail 21 is secured to the front edge of a shelf by means of the doglegged portion.26 and the arm portion 27. In more detail, the front edge of a shelf (not shown) to which the rail 21 is to be secured comprises upper and lower elongate opposed lips for receiving the upper edge of the dog-legged portion 26,26' and lower edge of the arm portion 27,27', in respective snap-fitted relationship therewith.

However, it is to be appreciated further that any other suitable securing arrangement may be used.

Claims

1. An information ticket holder which is arranged to be receivable mounted on a rail with at least one surface of the holder engaging with a corresponding confronting surface of the rail, wherein at least a portion of said at least one surface of the holder comprises a non- or anti-slip material, such that, when the holder is mounted on the rail with said at least one surface in engagement with the corresponding confronting rail surface, the holder is retained in a desired position upon the rail or is at least substantially prevented from being slid along the rail from that desired position.

2. A holder according to claim 1. wherein the non- or anti-slip material is in the form of a strip or ribbon extending along at least a portion of the length of one or more of the holder surfaces.

3. A holder according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the nonor anti-slip material wholly covers one or more of the holder surfaces.

4. A holder according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the non- or anti-siip material is in a mottled pattern.

5. A holder according to any preceding claim, wherein the non- or anti-slip material is a rubberised synthetic varnish or resin.

6. A holder according to any preceding claim, wherein the holder has been cut to length from a suitably cross-sectioned extrudate.

7. A holder according to any preceding claim, wherein the holder has been formed by folding to shape a suitably dimensioned, substantially planar blank.

8. A holder according to any preceding claim, wherein the holder is resiliently flexible.

9. A holder according to any preceding claim, wherein a front viewing surface thereof is non-reflective.

10. A holder according to any preceding claim, wherein the holder is a unitary structure.

11. A holder according to any preceding claim, wherein the holder is made of polyvinylchloride.

12. A holder according to any preceding claim, wherein all surfaces of the holder are non-reflective.

13. An information ticket holder assembly comprising a shelf edge rail and an information ticket holder received thereon in normally slidable relationship, wherein at least one surface of the holder engages with a corresponding confronting surface of the rail and wherein at least a portion of at least one of the or each pair of confronting surfaces comprises a non- or anti-slip material, whereby the normally slidable relationship between the holder and rail is eliminated or at least substantially reduced, such that the holder is retained in a desired position upon the rail or is at least substantially prevented from being slid along the rail from that desired position.

14. An assembly according to claim 13, wherein the non- or anti-slip material is in the form of a strip or ribbon extending along at least a portion of the length of one or both of the or each pair of confronting and engaging rail and holder surfaces.

15. An assembly according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the strip or ribbon of non- or anti-slip material extends along substantially the whole length of one or more of the holder surfaces.

16. An assembly according to claim 13, 14 or 15, wherein the non- or anti-slip material is in a mottled pattern.

17. An assembly according to any one of claims 13 to 16, wherein the non- or anti-slip material is a rubberised synthetic varnish or resin.

18. An assembly according to any one of claims 13 to 17, wherein the holder has been cut to length from a suitably cross-sectioned extrudate.

19. An assembly according to any one of claims 13 to 17, wherein the holder has been formed by bending to shape a suitably dimensioned, substantially planar blank.

20. An assembly according to any one of claims 13 to 19, wherein the holder is resiliently flexible.

21. An assembly according to any one of claims 13 to 20, wherein a front viewing surface of the holder is non-reflective.

22. An assembly according to any one of claims 13 to 21, wherein all surfaces of the holder are non-reflective.

23. An assembly according to any one of claims 13 to 22, wherein the holder is made of polyvinylchloride.

24. An assembly according to any one of claims 13 to 23, wherein the holder is a unitary structure.

25. An assembly according to any one ofclaims 13 to 24, wherein the holder is snapfitted on to the rail.

26. A holder according to any one of claims 1 to 12 or an assembly according to any one of claims 13 to 25, wherein the non- or antislip material is also an ink which is suitably coloured and applied to the or each surface of the holder to provide a desired decorative effect and/or information thereon.

27. An information ticket holder substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accomp'anying drawings.

28. An information ticket holder assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

29. In combination, a shelf and an information ticket holder according to any of claims 1 to 12, 26 and 27 or an information ticket holder assembly according to any of claims 13 to 25 and 28.