GB2477329A

GB2477329A - Reconfigurable display tray and stand

Info

Publication number: GB2477329A
Application number: GB201001535A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Stanislaus Goronwy Brown
Original assignee: DS Smith Packaging Ltd
Current assignee: DS Smith Packaging Ltd
Priority date: 2010-01-29
Filing date: 2010-01-29
Publication date: 2011-08-03
Anticipated expiration: 2030-01-29
Also published as: GB2477329B; GB201001535D0

Abstract

A tray 12 for displaying products comprises a base 14, side walls 20, a front wall and a back wall, wherein of a rear portion 32 of the tray is reconfigurable whilst containing products, from a horizontal position [fig. 2] to a position where at least a part of that rear portion is underneath the base [fig. 4] and provides at least one rear support 46 for the tray. The rear portion may comprise the back wall of the tray, rear parts of the side walls and part of the base which pivot around a hinge (34, figure 1) to move from a transportation configuration to a display configuration. In the display configuration displayed products slide towards the front of the tray. The display tray may be formed of single folded blank of corrugated cardboard.

Description

The present invention relates to a tray, and in particular a tray for displaying items on shelves in supermarkets and in other shops, or the like.

It is well known to provide products for sale in shops, such as supermarkets, on trays for displaying those products on the shelves within the shop. However, there is a developing trend to display the products in those trays in an aesthetic manner, such as stacked towards the front of the shelf so as to maximise the ease with which consumers can identify their products -products recessed towards the back of the shelves are harder to see. This is typically achieved by an in-store shelf stacker, i.e. an employee, who manually moves the front-most product, and any products behind it, forwards, i.e. either to or towards the front of the shelf. It can also be achieved automatically by using angled racks or shelves, such that products move towards the front of the shelves under the influence of gravity. Such solutions are generally restricted, however, to smaller items, such as herb jars.

It would be desirable, however, to provide a tray that can negate the need for supermarkets to employ so many shelf stackers, or to allow the shelf stackers to have more time to complete other jobs within the supermarket.

The present invention therefore provides a tray for displaying products on a shelf, the tray comprising: a base for supporting one or more products to be displayed, and side walls, a front wall and a back wall, each for providing a degree of structural rigidity to the tray, wherein the tray is reconfigurable whilst containing products, the reconfiguration comprising a re-orientation of a rear portion thereof so as to position at least a part of that rear portion of the tray underneath the base of the tray, the part providing at least one rear stand for tray. This arrangement allows the tray to be sat on a shelf such that the rear of the tray is elevated relative to the front of the tray.

Preferably the rear portion comprises an end portion of each side wall of the tray and also all of the back waIl of the tray. It also preferably comprises a continuous peripheral portion of the rear wall of the base, so as to form, together with the end portions of the side walls and the rear wall, a single, generally rigid, support member for the rear of the tray.

In alternative embodiments, different configurations for the rear portion, i.e. the or each re-orientable portion of the tray, can be provided. For example, two separate rear portions of the tray might be re-orientable under the rear of the tray so as to form two separate support legs for the tray at its rear.

Preferably the tray is formed from a single blank.

Preferably the tray is formed from cardboard.

Preferably the tray is formed from corrugated cardboard.

In a preferred configuration, the tray is formed with corrugated cardboard oriented such that the corrugations of the cardboard run with their parallel axes extending from the front of the tray generally towards the rear of the tray. This configuration allows the corrugations to maintain a sufficient bending stiffness for the base of the tray at it's now-cantilevered free end, i.e. once the tray has been reconfigured. This is particularly helpful where the rear portion consists of the end portions of the sidewalls since the cantilevered free end of the base thus formed still needs to support the weight of products thereon (bending in the transverse direction is less of a concern since the rear portion reorients into a position such as to maintain stiffness in that transverse direction, by virtue of the rear wall being rotated into a supporting position.

Once the tray has been re-oriented, items to be disp'ayed in the tray have an increased tendency to self stack towards the front of the tray (due to the forwardly inclined base thereby achieved). The appropriate orientation of the corrugations of the cardboard further assist this sliding the products on the tray -they will slide more readily on the base of the tray when following the axes of the corrugations, i.e. as opposed to sliding perpendicular thereto. This is a further reason to orient the corrugations such that their axes lie in the direction running from the font to the back of the tray.

To further improve the sliding action of products on the tray, the product receiving surface of the tray, i.e. the base of the tray, may be coated with a friction reducing compound. For example, a PTFE coating may be applied to the base of the tray.

Likewise the sides can be thus coated. Products, after all, also can rub against the sides of the tray. This can all be achieved by spraying, e.g. spraying the blank before folding, or spraying the inside of the tray once formed.

Preferably the tray is sized to receive six tins. As such, the base of the tray may have dimensions of approximately 152mm by 225mm.

Preferably the side walls of the tray are higher than the front wall of the tray. This allows the labels of the products to be more readily viewed from the front of the tray.

The higher side walls are preferably maintained to give the tray sufficient rigidity in its length dimension so as to be self-supporting between the front of the tray and the rear support(s), as formed by the re-orientation of the rear portion of the tray. This is preferred since the space therebetween will be raised above the shelf on which the tray sits. The orientation of the corrugations further assist with providing this stiffness.

Preferably the end portions of the sidewalls are tapered towards the rear. That taper is preferably angled such that the re-oriented rear portion of the tray will sit flat on the ground once inverted under the base of the tray.

Preferably the rear portion of the tray is folded underneath the tray to form the rear support. To that end, preferably one or more hinge line is formed in the base of the tray.

Preferably the rest of the rear portion is defined by continuous or discontinuous cut lines (i.e. perforations) elsewhere, such as in the side walls of the tray. Those hinge lines and perforations allow the tray to hold an initial configuration, e.g. during transit, until positively reconfigured into the re-oriented condition.

Preferably the perimeter portion defines a dovetail formation at the rear of the base, and it is provided by way of a cut or perforation into or through the base of the tray.

The dovetail portion defines the cantilevered free end, and by virtue of the stiffness properties of the blank, it carries at least part of the weight of the rear-most products upon first re-orienting the rear portion into the display configuration. A dovetail shape is preferred, although other shapes, such as rectangular (with square or rounded corners), can also be used. It might even be bifurcated to provide an additional, central, hinge for the rear portion.

That dovetail portion, i.e. the cantilevered free end, has a sufficient length to maintain adequate support for the products stacked towards the rear of the tray when the tray is first reconfigured. This is to allow the products to be loaded into the non-reconfigured tray during transportation, and for them all also to be able to be maintained within the tray even after its reconfiguration. To that end the length of that cantilevered free end is preferably less than half of the diameter (or depth -measured in the plane of the base, from the front to the back of the product) of the product to be displayed within the tray.

The tray may be loaded with its desired product(s).

The present invention also provides a blank for forming the above tray, and a method of self stacking of products comprising the provision of a tray as defined, loaded with products, reconfigured into a display configuration.

These and other features of the present invention will now be described in further detail, purely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a plan view of a preferred blank for forming a tray of the present invention; Figure 2 shows the assembled tray, with its four corners glued together; Figure 3 shows a side elevation of the reconfigured tray, with the rear portion thereof forming a plinth, a leg or a rear support for the tray; Figure 4 shows the reconfigured tray in perspective; Figure 5 shows the tray of Figure 2, i.e. in the non-reconfigured form, loaded with six tin cans; Figure 6 shows the tray of Figure 4, i.e. reconfigured and in perspective, loaded with six cans; and Figure 7 shows the tray of Figure 3, i.e. reconfigured and as a side elevation, loaded with the six cans -3 shown.

Referring now to Figure 1, a blank 10 is shown. This blank 10 is for forming a tray 12 in accordance with the present invention.

The tray 12 is show in its assembled form in Figure 2.

The blank 10 has a rectangular base 14, a front wall 16, a back wall 18 and two side walls 20. Those walls 14, 16, 18 are all joined to the base 14 by hinge lines 22.

In this preferred embodiment, there are also tabs 24, which are formed at the sides of the two side walls 20. They allow the side walls 20 to be glued to the front wall and the back wall, respectively, so as to form the tray 12. Conventional glues known in the art can be used for this purpose. Likewise, as is conventional, a crease line 26 is formed between the tabs 24 and the side walls 20 to facilitate the bending thereof relative to the side walls 20 during the assembly of the tray 12. The tabs might instead be arranged, however, on the front wall and the back wall.

Preferably the blank 10 is formed from corrugated cardboard. As shown, it advantageously has its corrugations 28 oriented to extend with their axes running in the direction extending from the front wall 16 to the back wall 18, as indicated by the virtual window 30 into the heart of the cardboard, as shown in Figure 1. This preferred orientation for the cardboard results in a number of features: One result of choosing the direction of the corrugations is that preferred forms of hinge lines 22 between the side walls 20 and base 14 can be defined. This is because the cardboard bends differently dependant upon the axis of bending -it folds easier along an axis defined by a line lying between two corrugation peaks than in an axis lying perpendicular to the axes of the corrugations. As such, different forms of hinge lines can be formed in the blank, dependent upon their directions relative to the corrugations. Thus, the hinge line 22 between the front waIl 16 and the base 14 can be formed differently to the hinge line 22 between the back wall 18 and the base 14.

Likewise, the crease lines 26 between the tabs 24 and side walls 20 can be provided in a third form. In this embodiment, that third form is simply a continuous crease, rather than involving cuts. This is to maintain a good integrity between the tabs 24 and the side walls 20 such that once the tray 12 has been assembled, firstly it maintains a strong enough structure for retaining the products (see Figures 5 to 7) in the tray even once a display configuration, and secondly to ensure that the rear portion 32 (see below), once folded under the base 14, has sufficient strength to support the weight of the products thereon. It is of course possible, however, for each hinge line or crease line to be formed with a similar type of crease or cut, e.g. for allowing the blank 10 to be formed on a more rudimental cutting or scoring apparatus.

The preferred formation for the hinge lines 22 between the side walls 20 and the base 14 is an intermittent perforation or cut, spaced apart by gaps (i.e. non creased portions) all the way along the length of the base. For example, the intermittent cuts may be a repeating pattern of 6mm cuts, spaced apart by 6mm gaps (i.e. no treatment). As for the crease line 26 between the tabs 24 and the side walls 20, as suggested above they are preferably simply a continuous crease. As for the hinge lines 22 between the front wall 16 and the base 14 and the back wall 18 and the base 14, they are combined cuts and creases, preferably taking the form of a 6mm cut, followed by a 6mm crease again repeatedly across the full dimension (width) of the base.

In addition to those cuts or creases or hinge lines, the rear portion 32 of the blank 10 is defined on the blank 10 by further cut lines or perforations, and, in this example, by crease lines. The cuts, in particular, are important. They are intermittently spaced apart by short tags (uncut portions), whereby even with substantial cut lengths, the integrity of the blank 10 can be maintained until such a time as the perforated cuts are broken (i.e. by snapping the tags).

That rear portion 32 is further provided with a pair of hinge lines 34 located on the base 14, towards the two sides of the base 14. Those hinge lines 34 are preferably formed as a crease -pressed into the surface of the blank. Further, those hinge lines 34 are co-linear with cuts or perforations 36 that extend across the side walls 20 (preferably perpendicular thereto), which cuts or perforations 36 form a first part of the cuts or perforations.

The second part of those cuts or perforations that define the rear portion 32 -see reference sign 37-are formed in the base 14 of the blank 10. In this embodiment they define a dovetail shaped portion 38, which portion 38 might equally be rectangular, perhaps with rounded corners. That dovetail shaped portion 38 defines a cantilevered portion -the cantilevered free end 44 -of the tray once the tray 12 has been reconfigured into its display configuration, as shown in Figure 3, and it serves to support the rearmost products within the tray. Preferably the length of that cantilevered free end is less than half the diameter of the products intended to be carried thereon (or less than half the front-to-back dimension of those products, where not round).

The cuts or perforations 36, 37 are preferably all formed as perforations or as intermittent cuts, as discussed above to retain the structural integrity of the blank. This then requires the rear portion 32 of the tray to be snapped away from the main product carrying portion 40 of the tray by breaking through those perforations, thus just leaving the hinge lines 34 to attach the rear portion 32 of the tray 12 to the main portion 40 of the tray 12. This then allows a shop assistant to reconfigure the tray into its display configuration, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, or Figures 6 and 7, by rotating the rear portion 32 about the hinge lines 34 into a position underneath the base 14 of the blank 10.

That second cut or perforation 37, i.e. the one for defining the dovetail shape portion 38, also serves to define a peripheral portion 42 that extends around the inside of the rear portion 32. That peripheral portion 42 ensures that the rear portion 32 has structural strength, once rotated away from the main portion 40 of the tray 12, and even after its deployment into its display position underneath the base 14, as shown in Figures 3 and 4 (the tabs 24 within the rear portion 32 will be glued to the back wall 18 for completing the structural form of that rear portion).

The rear portion 32, in this embodiment, comprises the entire rear wall 18 of the tray/blank. That rear waIl 18 thus extends across the underneath of the base 14 of the tray 12 once the rear portion 32 has been re-oriented into its position underneath the base 14. By extending underneath the full width of the base (a rotation thereof of about degrees), that rear wall 18 still provides the tray 12 with a bending stiffness across the width of the back of the tray 12, even though the rear wall 18 has been moved. As such, the weight of the products on the tray 12 will still not cause the tray markedly to sag at the rear-middle of the tray 12, even though in that display configuration the rearmost part of the base 14 of the tray 12 is elevated above the shelf on which the tray may sit. This is a particular advantage of the present invention.

The cuts or perforations 36 extending across the side walls 20 of the blank serve to define a demarcation between the end portion 46 of the side walls 20 and the rest of the side walls 20. Those end portions 46 are arranged to form part of the rear portion 32, and serve as supports 48 for the tray when the tray 10, 12 assumes its display configuration, as shown in Figure 3. To allow those supports 48 to sit accurately on the shelf in the supermarket, the blank 10 is formed with a tapered edge 50 thereat. That tapered edge 50 forms an angle a with respect to the hinge lines 22 between the side walls 20 and the base 14. That angle a is chosen to suit the tray in question to ensure that the supports 48 sit correctly both on the ground and on the underside of the base 14 of the tray 12. The required angle and can be calculated using simple geometry.

The angle is chosen such that the finished edge, once rotated through 180 degrees underneath the tray 12, as shown in Figure 3, aligns with the lower front edge 52 of the assembled tray 10, 12.

A cut-out 54 is also provided in each side wall 20, positioned to be coincident with the cuts or perforations 36 that extend across the side waIfs 20. Those cut-outs 54 are angular so as to define a point at that coincidence position. This provides a stress concentration point thereat, whereby the snapping apart of the uncut tags in the cuts or perforations 36, 37 is more easily achieved (when it comes to re-orienting the rear portion 32 of the tray 12 into its display configuration, underneath the base 14 of the tray 12).

Referring next to Figure 2, the assembled tray, in its transportation configuration, is shown. As can be seen, the illustrated tabs 24 are glued in place against the back wall 18. Likewise, but unshown, the tabs 24 for attaching to the front wall 16 will be glued against the front wall 16. Figure 2 also shows one of the hinge lines 34 -the faint line in the top surface of the base 14. That hingel line is formed by a pressing of an edge into the top of the blank. As for the cuts or perforations 36, 37 for also defining the rear portion 32 of the tray 12, they will typically be difficult to see in the tray 12, prior to reconfiguring the tray 12, since the tags 56 hold the sides of the cuts in a tight and close abutment.

To deploy the tray into its display configuration, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, the rear portion 32 of the tray 12 must be rotated about the hinge lines 34. In doing this, the shop attendant will have to snap apart the cuts or perforations 36, 37, as held by the tags 56. By keeping the tags 56 small, this is readily achievable. The rear portion 32 can then be rotated underneath the base 14, through roughly 180 degrees, as shown by arrow 58 in Figure 3. This leaves the dovetail shaped portion 38 of the base 14 still in plane with the rest of the base 14, thereby defining (or leaving) the cantilevered free end 44 as the new rear of the tray. That dovetail shape for that cantilevered free end 44 is shown more clearly in Figure 4.

Figure 4 also clearly shows a tapered cut 60 at the front ends of the two side walls 20.

This tapered cut 60 is to brings the height of the side walls 20, at their front ends, down to the level of the front wall 16 -a lowered front wall 16, compared to the rest of the side walls 20, allows products displayed within the tray to have their labels more readily seen by a consumer -the front wall masks less of those labels.

Referring finally to Figures 5 to 7, it can now be seen that six cans 62 have been loaded into the tray 12. Those six cans 62 substantially fill the base 14 of the tray.

Other numbers of products, or products of different shapes, can likewise be loaded into the trays of the present invention. Similarly, larger or smaller trays (or wider or thinner trays) can be provided for increased or reduced numbers of product, respectively.

Just as before described for the unloaded tray, with a loaded tray the rear portion can be re-oriented into its tray-display position (underneath the base 14 of the tray 12), and this can be achieved without unloading even the rearmost products on the tray since the snap-apart tags are sufficiently short to allow this. Further, once the tray has been reconfigured into its display configuration (as shown in Figures 6 and 7), the rearmost two cans 62 can still remain on the tray 12 -they are retained on the cantilevered free end 44 of the base 14 of the tray 12. (That cantilevered free end 44 provides adequate support for the two cans by virtue of the orientation of the corrugations of the cardboard used to form the blank 10 -to bend the cantilevered free end, the base would need to be bent across the axes of the corrugations, which is sufficiently difficult so as not readily to occur. It should also be appreciated that when the tray is in this display configuration, the cans are tilted forwards. This moves the point of loading on the base of the tray (from those rearmost cans) sufficiently forwards relative to the cantilevered free end 44 of the tray 12 to avoid that cantilevered free end from "breaking" -i.e. bending under the weight of the products.

It should also be observed that as a result of this tilted arrangement for the tray, the products or cans 62 will have a tendency to slide towards the front of the tray, as shown by the arrow 63 in Figure 7. Thus, should a front can 62 be removed from the tray 12 by a customer, the can behind that front can will slide forwards to self-stack itself (and any cans behind it) towards the front of the tray 12. This self-stacking feature of the tray can be further enhanced by coating the product receiving surface of the blank 10 or tray 12 with a friction reducing coating, such as spraying PTFE on it. The orientation of the corrugations of the cardboard also help to reduce friction since any ridges within the top surface of the cardboard (i.e. corresponding to the gaps in the corrugations) will extend in the direction running between the front and rear of the tray.

Other helpful surface treatments for the product receiving surface of the blank (or just of the base) could also be something to harden that product receiving surface, thereby resisting any indentations therein that might arise from the weight of the products or cans 62 thereon during transportation thereof. To that end, a harder/stiffer top surface sheet for the cardboard used to form the blank might be provided, or a hard/stiff insert might be fitted between the products and the base of the tray 12.

The present invention has therefore now been described above purely by way of example. Modifications in detail may be made to the invention within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

Claims

CLAI MS: 1. A tray for displaying products on a shelf, the tray comprising: a base for supporting one or more products to be displayed, and side walls, a front wall and a back wall, each for providing a degree of structural rigidity to the tray, wherein the tray is reconfigurable whilst containing products, the reconfiguration comprising a re-orientation of a rear portion thereof so as to position at least a part of that rear portion of the tray underneath the base of the tray, the part providing at least one rear stand for tray.
2. The tray of claim 1, wherein the rear portion comprises an end portion of each side wall of the tray and also all of the back wall of the tray.
3. The tray of claim I or claim 2, wherein the rear portion comprises a continuous peripheral portion of the rear wall of the base.
4. The tray of any one of the preceding claims, wherein a single structural element is reconfigured underneath the base of the tray so as to provide a single stand for the tray that extends across the full width of the rear of the tray.
5. The tray of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tray is formed from a single blank.
6. The tray of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tray is formed from cardboard.
7. The tray of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tray is formed from corrugated cardboard.
8. The tray of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tray is formed with corrugated cardboard oriented such that the corrugations of the cardboard run with their parallel axes extending from the front of the tray generally towards the rear of the tray.
9. The tray of any one of the preceding claims, wherein a product receiving surface of the tray is coated with a friction reducing compound.
10. The tray of any one of the preceding claims, wherein a product receiving surface of the base of the tray is harder or stiffer than the opposing, underside, surface of the base.
11. The tray of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the side walls of the tray are higher than the front wall of the tray.
12. The tray of any one of the preceding claims, wherein end portions of the sidewalls are tapered towards the rear wall of the tray.
13. The tray of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the rear portion of the tray is folded underneath the tray to form the rear support for the tray in its display configuration, thus rotating it through 180 degrees compared to its transportation configuration.
14. The tray of any one of the preceding claims, wherein one or more hinge line is formed in the base of the tray about which the rear portion can be reoriented for locating it underneath the base of the tray.
15. The tray of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the rear portion is part defined by a semi-continuous set of cut lines, separated by tags, for forming a snap-apart connection between the rear portion and a main, product-carrying portion of the tray.
16. The tray of any one of the preceding claims, wherein a rear of the tray, once in its display configuration, comprises a cantilevered free end for supporting a rearmost product in the tray.
17. The tray of claim 16, wherein the cantilevered free end has a dovetail shape.
18. The tray of claim 16 or claim 17, carrying multiple products of substantially identical dimensions, wherein the cantilevered free end has a length, measured in the direction extending between the front and the back of the tray, no greater than half of the corresponding dimension of one of the products.
19. The tray of any one of the preceding claims, loaded with a plurality of products of substantially identical dimensions.
20. A blank substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 1.
21. A tray substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one or more of Figures Ito 7.