AU2005202926A1 - Merchandising stand - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION NAME OF APPLICANT(S):: Coates Signco Pty Limited ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: DAVIES COLLISON CAVE Patent Attorneys Level 10, 10 Barrack Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000 INVENTION TITLE: Merchandising stand The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:- 5102 P;\WPDOCS\AMDSpifitiionsI256856I.dc-27 J- 2005 -1- MERCHANDISING STAND Background of the Invention The present invention relates to a merchandising stand, and in particular, to a merchandising stand for merchandising newspapers, magazines, books, or like printed articles.

Description of the Prior Art At present, when newspapers, magazines, books or the like are sold in retail outlets, they are generally merely stacked on relatively low shelving, such that the user can look down, view the stacks of articles, and select the top article from a stack. As will be appreciated, this is a relatively unsophisticated system, which is not particularly aesthetically pleasing.

Summary of the Invention The present invention seeks to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a merchandising system which is considerably more aesthetically appealing, and which incorporates various forms of advertising thereon, such that the articles being sold may be advertised and/or other advertising may be incorporated with the stand.

The present invention also seeks to provide a merchandising stand which incorporates illuminated advertising material in the form of strips positioned along the front of shelves, and other lighting means associated therewith, for improved aesthetic appearance.

In one broad form, the present invention provides a merchandising stand for merchandising newspapers, magazines, books or like printed articles, said merchandising stand including: a frame to support at least one shelf above a substrate surface, each shelf extending outwardly from a backing panel, and adapted to receive newspapers or like articles thereon; P:\WPDOCS\AMD\Spifations\12568561.d-27 June 2005 -2at least one display means mounted on said backing panel to display advertising material and/or other articles associated with said newspapers or like articles.

Preferably, said display means includes an illuminated or non-illuminated display, and may be a static or changing display.

Preferably, at least one display means mounted on said backing panel includes any one or combination of: an illuminated header sign; a poster holder for display of printed graphics such as a front or other page of a newspaper, magazine, book or like article; a magazine rack for the display of magazines, book or like articles; and, a paper hanging rack over which a newspaper or like article is adapted to be hung.

Also preferably, said display means includes lighting means for illumination of said display means.

Preferably, each shelf includes an illuminated advertising strip along the front thereof.

Also preferably, said stand is modular, to permit one, two, or any number of stacks of newspapers, magazines, books or like articles to be displayed.

Preferably, stands may be positioned back to back, or formed integrally to have at least one shelf extending from either side of said backing panel.

Also preferably, said frame optionally includes castors, wheels or the like for movement of said stand over a substrate surface.

Also preferably, said lighting means and/or said illuminated advertising strip is illuminated using LED's, electroluminescent, fluorescent, plasma or any other lighting P:\WPDOCS\AMD\SpoificationsI2560S6I.do-27 J 2003 -3means.

Preferably, said stand may include electrical components/wiring and may be powered by an internal battery or power supply or by mains power.

Brief Description of the Drawings The present invention will become more fully understood from the following detailed description of preferred but non-limiting embodiments thereof, described in connection with the accompanying drawing(s), wherein: Figure 1 illustrates perspective views of a double-sided merchandising stand in accordance with the present invention, showing newspapers being displayed thereon; Figure 2 illustrates the merchandising stand of Figure 1, without the articles incorporated thereon; Figure 3 illustrates plan, elevational and side views of the merchandising stand shown in Figures 1 and 2; Figure 4 illustrates a pair of merchandising stands shown in Figures 1 to 3, being placed side-by-side, showing different displays on the backing panel; Figure 5 also illustrates a pair of merchandising stands being placed side-by-side, but with alternative displays on the backing panels to that of Figure 4; Figure 6 illustrates an alternatively embodiment of the merchandising stand of the present invention, incorporating positions for four stacks of newspapers; Figure 7 illustrates an alternative arrangement to that of Figure 6, also with four stacks of newspapers, but with different displays on the backing panel; Figure 8 illustrates yet an alternative embodiment of the present invention, but with six positions for stacking newspapers, and also illustrating magazine racks attached to the backing panels; Figure 9 illustrates a similar embodiment to that of Figure 8, but showing articles being merchandised on the merchandising stand; and, Fig. 10 illustrates, in Fig 10(a) an exploded view of the key components of an electroluminescent (EL) film lighting means, Fig. 10(b) showing a partially exploded isometric view of the device of the present invention having an EL film display, and Fig.

showing the completed display in use.

P:\WPDOCS\AMD\Spifdcldons\1256856I.doc27 Joe 2005 -4- Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments Throughout the drawings, like numerals will be used to identify similar features, except where expressly otherwise indicated.

As shown in the drawings, the merchandising stand of the present invention, and generally designated by the numeral 1, is for the merchandising of newspapers, magazines, books or like printed material. The merchandising stand includes a frame 3 to support at least one shelf 4 above a substrate surface 5, each shelf extending outwardly from a backing panel 6 and adapted to receive newspapers or like articles 2 thereon. At least one display means may then be mounted on the backing panel 6, to display advertising material and/or other articles associated with newspapers or like articles.

A variety of display means are illustrated in Figures 1 to 9, and include any one or combination of an illuminated header sign 8 as shown in Figure 5, a poster holder 10 as shown in Figure 4 for the display of printed graphics such as a front or other page of a newspaper, magazines, book or the like, a magazine rack 9 as illustrated in Figures 8 and 9, or, a paper hanging rack 11, such as illustrated in Figure 2, over which a newspaper or like article is adapted to be hung, as shown in Figure 1.

The merchandising stand, in accordance with the present invention, preferably incorporates lighting means for the illumination of displays, particularly the illuminated header 8. The merchandising stand of the present invention preferably also incorporates an illuminated advertising strip 12 positioned along the front of shelf 4 for providing advertising material thereon. The illuminated advertising strip may be illuminated using any form of lighting means including, but not limited to, LEDs, electroluminescent (EL) film displays, fluorescent tubing, or the like. Light emitting diodes are considered to be a preferred form of lighting means for use in the present invention. An alternative form of lighting means which may be used in the present invention is electroluminescent (EL) film.

An exploded view of the arrangement of the typical components required to embody an EL film display is shown in Fig. 10(a), whilst Fig. 10(b) shows a partially cut away view of P:\WPDOCS\AMDSpmificions\1l26856.doc27 Jo 2005 how an EL film may be embodied in the strip lighting device of the present invention, and, Fig. 10(c) shows a perspective view of the strip light device of the present invention in assembled form. As illustrated in Fig. 10(a), the EL device includes a graphic with sequenced EL backing 20, having front and rear backing sheets 21 and 22 which may typically be formed of clear acrylic. The sheet 22 may be formed with a cutout 23 to accept cables to the EL film 20, and, an appropriate power pack 24 may be supplied to contain necessary circuitry, driver, batteries, transformer, etc. to power the EL display. It will be appreciated that the user of EL film in the device of the present invention is a preferred form of lighting means due to the inherent advantages of EL film, including the flexibility of the thin laminated EL sheets which can be die cut to any desired shape and curved to any desired profile, the ability to use low voltage to power the EL film, using, for example film batteries, and, the ability to control the illumination sequence using driver such that any desired pattern of illumination may be displayed. The illuminated advertising material may optionally include flashing or other pattern illuminating means.

As shown in the various drawings, the merchandising stand is preferably formed of a modular type construction, so as to permit one, two or any number of stacks of newspapers, magazines, books or like articles to be displayed. For example, in Figures 1 to 3, four stacks of newspapers may be displayed, two on each stand placed back-to-back.

Likewise, four stacks of materials may be displayed using the stands of Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7, Figures 4 and 5 showing two double merchandising stands positioned adjacent to each other, whilst Figures 6 and 7 illustrate a single merchandising stand having four stacks. A further variation is shown in Figures 8 to 9, wherein six stacks of newspapers may be displayed. It will be appreciated that any number of stacks of newspapers may be displayed by altering the dimensions of the merchandising stand, positioning various stands adjacent, or back-to-back, to each other.

In a preferred embodiment, the merchandising stand of the present invention has castors, wheels or the like, incorporated on the frames, such that the stands can be moved over a substrate surface as required. Appropriate braking mechanisms, etc., may be incorporated, as will be understood by a person skilled in the art.

P:\WPDOCS\AMD\Speiciuzions\12568561.do-27 Jmc 2005 -6- Obviously when lighting means is incorporated in the merchandising stands in accordance with the preferred arrangement of the present invention, the merchandising stand may include appropriate electrical components, wiring, etc., and may be powered by an internal battery or power supply, or, may be plugged into mains power.

It will be appreciated that numerous variations and modifications to the present invention will become understood to persons skilled in the art. The merchandising stand of the present invention provides an aesthetically appealing merchandising stand, particularly designed for the merchandising of newspapers, magazines, books or like printed articles.

It will, however, be appreciated that variations and modifications for the display of such articles may be made, and, variations to the merchandising stand may also be made to display alternative articles. All such variations and modifications should be considered to be within the spirit and scope of the present invention-as broadly hereinbefore described.

Claims (9)

1. A merchandising stand for merchandising newspapers, magazines, books or like printed articles, said merchandising stand including: a frame to support at least one shelf above a substrate surface, each shelf extending outwardly from a backing panel, and adapted to receive newspapers or like articles thereon; an inventory control means optionally being associated with each shelf, to monitor the quantity of articles placed on a respective shelf; at least one display means mounted on said backing panel to display advertising material and/or other articles associated with said newspapers or like articles.

2. A merchandising stand as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one display means mounted on said backing panel includes any one or combination of: an illuminated header sign; a poster holder for display of printed graphics such as a front or other page of a newspaper, magazine, book or like article; a magazine rack for the display of magazines, book or like articles; and, a paper hanging rack over which a newspaper or like article is adapted to be hung.

3. A merchandising stand as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said display means includes lighting means for illumination of said display means.

4. A merchandising stand as claimed in any one of clams 1 to 3, wherein each shelf includes an illuminated advertising strip along the front thereof.

A merchandising stand as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said stand is modular, to permit one, two, or any number of stacks of newspapers, magazines, books or like articles to be displayed.

6. A merchandising stand as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein stands may be positioned back to back, or formed integrally to have at least one shelf extending from P:\WPDOCS\AMD\Spificdtios\2568561.dc-29 Awe 2005 -8- either side of said backing panel.

7. A merchandising stand as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein said frame includes castors, wheels or the like for movement of said stand over a substrate surface.

8. A merchandising stand as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein said lighting means and/or said illuminated advertising strip is illuminated using LED's, luminescent, fluorescent or any other lighting means.

9. A merchandising stand as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein said stand may include electrical components/wiring and may be powered by an internal battery or power supply or by mains power. A merchandising stand as claimed in any of claims 1 to 9, wherein said inventory control means includes means to display the quantity of articles on said shelf or means to communicate the quantity of articles to a remote device, either by cable or by wireless transmission. DATED this 29th day of June, 2005 COATES SIGNCO PTY LIMITED By Their Patent Attorneys DAVIES COLLISON CAVE