GB2276538A - Display tray - Google Patents

Abstract

A display tray 10, e.g. for retail display, comprises a generally flexible mat 11 having a plurality of rib formations 12 on each of which an article to be displayed may rest and a support member 13 adapted to be located with respect to the mat 11 so as to define a display area on the mat of a desired size. The support member may be hollow so as to provide a storage space 36 for a rolled up unused section 25 of the mat The bottom surface of the support may be provided with suitable formation(s) to locate it on the rib 5. <IMAGE>

Description

Title: Display Tray Description of Invention This invention relates to a display tray and more particularly but not exclusively to a display tray of the kind adapted to be placed on a support such as a shelf to retain a plurality of articles in respective orientations for retail display.

Such display trays are conventionally made in a generally rigid plastic material by vacuum forming. Thus it is necessary to cut the tray to size to correspond with at least a depth dimension of a shelf or other support on which the display tray is to be placed. Such known display trays, by virtue of being generally rigid and by the nature of their construction of thin material, are prone to damage. Hence after a period of use, such display trays are usually discarded and replaced rather than being cleaned.

According to one aspect of the invention we provide a display tray comprising a generally flexible mat having a plurality of generally parallel rib formations on each of which an article to be displayed may rest, a support member adapted to be located with respect to the mat so as to define a display area of a desired size.

By virtue of the mat being generally flexible, it is not necessary to cut the mat to size, but rather the mat can be flexed such that any excess length of mat can be folded out of a general plane of the mat to a stowed position.

Alternatively, any excess length of mat can be rolled up in a direction transverse to the rib formations and accommodated within a hollow of the support.

By virtue of the mat being flexible, the mat can conveniently be cleaned by washing without risk of damage, and thus the tray can be reused time and time again.

The mat may conveniently be of a generally rectangular planar configuration having two sides, a front edge and a back edge, with the ribs extending between one side of the mat and the other.

The ribs may each comprise a plurality of separated sections. Along the front edge of the mat, there may be a display formation which is larger than adjacent ribs and may carry a marking such as the description of articles displayed on the tray.

The support member preferably extends across the entire width of the mat from side to side and has a lip formation which locates in a selected valley between two generally parallel ribs to locate the support member in position. The support member may comprise an upstanding wall which may carry a marking such as a description of the articles being displayed.

In side view, the support member may be generally triangular and provide a hollow in which any excess length of mat can be accommodated.

The support member may have a bottom face with the ribs which cooperate with the undersides of the ribs of the mat, in addition to locating the support member and to retain any excess mat accommodated in the hollow in a neat rolled condition.

The ribs of the mat may be formed by corrugations or the mat may comprise a sheet with integrally formed upstanding solid ribs.

The mat is conveniently made as an injection moulding in a generally transparent food grade PVC material such as is sold under the designation THERMAFLO PVC 546. Preferably the mat moulding has a general thickness of up to 1.5 mm, more preferably about 1 mm, excluding the ribs where the material comprises a sheet with integrally formed upstanding solid ribs. The overall thickness of the mat including the ribs, but not including any front edge display formation may be about 6 mm.

According to a second aspect of the invention we provide a display arrangement for displaying a plurality of articles. The arrangement comprising a support having a depth dimension, a display tray in accordance with the first aspect of the invention placed on the support, the mat of the display tray having an overall length greater than the depth dimension of the support with excess length of mat being folded out of the general plane of the mat to a stowed position or being rolled up in the direction transverse to the extent of the ribs, and being accommodated within a hollow of the support member.

Where the excess length of mat is folded out of the general plane of the mat to a stowed position, the excess length of mat may lie in a plane generally transverse to the extent of the remainder of the mat at a rear edge of the support.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 is a purely illustrative perspective view of a display tray in accordance with the invention, FIGURE 2 is a side view of the display tray of Figure 1, but modified.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a display tray 10 which comprises a generally flexible mat 11 having a plurality of generally parallel rib formations some of which are indicated at 12, on each of which in use an article to be displayed rests, a support member 13 which is arranged to be locatable with respect to the mat 11 so as to define a display area of a desired size.

In this example, the mat 11 is made as an injection moulding in a generally transparent food grade PVC material being a Thermoflow PVC 546.

The mat is generally rectangular in configuration having a pair of opposite sides 14 and 15, a front edge 16 and a rear edge 17. The mat is generally corrugated to provide the ribs 12 and the moulding has a general thickness of about 1 mm, but may have a thickness up to 1.5 mm.

As shown, the ribs 12 each comprise three separated rib sections, for example as indicated at 12alb and 12c. At the front edge of the mat 11 there is provided a display formation 17 which is larger than adjacent rib formations 12, and comprises a surface 18 which may carry a marking such as a description of articles displayed on the tray 10.

In this example, three rows of articles are in use supported on the ribs 12 and by each other, in a generally upright orientation, as shown for example by the articles 20 and 21 in dotted lines in figure 2.

The rearmost articles i.e. indicated at 22, will abut the support 13 thus to support each of the articles from the support 13 towards the front edge 16 of the tray 10, in a generally upright orientation.

The display tray 10 is in use placed on a shelf (not shown) or other support. Whereas with conventional, rigid, vacuum formed display trays, it would be necessary to cut the tray to remove any excess length of tray over the depth of the support, according to the present invention, the display tray 10 is generally flexible and accordingly, any excess length of mat 11 can be flexed out of the plane of the remainder of the mat 11 and moved to a stowed condition. In figure 1, an excess length of mat indicated at 25 has been folded about a fold line F which is generally parallel to the ribs 12, to a stowed position in which it lies in a plane generally transverse to the extent of the remainder of the mat 12, for example, up alongside a back wall from which a shelf on which the mat 11 is placed, projects.Hence there is no need to cut the mat 11 to size to allow the mat 11 to be accommodated on the support.

It can be seen from figure 2, that the support member 13 is of a generally triangular hollow configuration in side view. The back of the support member indicated at 26 could have a rear wall, but preferably is open having a single strut 27 extending from one side 28 of the support member 13, to the other side 29.

The support member 13 extends across the entire width of the mat.

In the arrangement shown in figure 1, a front wall 30 of the support member 13 has, at its lower end, a lip formation 31 which co-operates with a selected valley between selected rib formations 12 to locate the support member 13 in position. In the arrangement shown in figure 2, the support member 30 includes a base wall 35 which has a plurality of upstanding ribs which are received within the hollows at the undersides of respective ribs 12 of the mat 11 to locate the support member 13 in position. Also, in the arrangement shown in figure 2, instead of an excess length 25 of the mat 11 being folded along a fold line F at the rear edge of the support, the excess length of the mat 25 has been rolled in a direction transverse to ribs 12 and is accommodated within the hollow 36 of the support member 13.The co-operation between the ribs of the base wall 35 and the undersides of the ribs 12 of the mat 11 thus not only locate the support member 13, but are also operative to retain the rolled excess length of mat 25 neatly within the hollow 36. The back strut 27 also provides assistance in achieving this.

The support member 13 is conveniently made of a plastics material, but could be made in cardboard or any other suitable material as desired.

Preferably, as indicated in figure 1, the sides 28 and 29 of the support member 13 depend either side of the mat 11 so that the support member 13 is not only located with respect to the front and rear edges 16 and 17 of the mat 11, but also between the sides 14 and 15 of the mat.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example in the arrangement described, the ribs 12 are provided by corrugations of the mat 11. In another arrangement, the mat 11 may comprise a sheet having integrally formed, solid generally upstanding ribs.

The configuration of the ribs and arrangement of the ribs on the matt 11 may be different to that described. For example, the ribs need not comprise three sections 12a-12c but could comprise one, or any number of sections. A different number of ribs may be provided if desired.

The underside of the mat 11 may have means to prevent the matt 11 slipping with respect to the shelf or other support.

The features disclosed in the foregoing descrption, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of am eans for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate, may separately, or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims (19)

CLAIMS:

1. A display tray comprising a generally flexible mat having a plurality of generally parallel rib formations on each of which an article to be displayed may rest, a support member adapted to be located with respect to the mat so as to define a display area of a desired size.

2. A tray according to Claim 1 wherein the mat is sufficiently flexible to permit of any excess length of mat to be folded out of a general plane of the mat to a stowed position.

3. A tray according to Claim 1 wherein the mat is sufficiently flexible to permit any excess length of mat to be rolled up in a direction transverse to the rib formations and accommodated within a hollow of the support member.

4. A tray according to any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein the mat is washable.

5. A tray according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the mat is of a generally rectangular planar configuration having two sides, a front edge and a back edge, with the rib formations extending between one side of the mat and the other.

6. A tray according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the ribs each comprise a plurality of separated sections.

7. A tray according to any one of the preceding claims wherein along the front edge of the mat, there is a display formation which is larger than adjacent ribs and is adapted to carry a marking on the tray.

8. A tray according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the support member extends across the entire width of the mat from side to side and has a lip formation which locates in a selected valley between two generally parallel rib formations to locate the support member in position.

9. A tray according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the support member comprises an upstanding wall adapted to carry a marking.

10. A tray according to any one of the preceding claims wherein in side view, the support member is generally triangular.

11. A tray according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the rib formations of the mat are formed by corrugations.

12. A tray according to any one of Claims- 1 to 10 wherein the mat comprises a sheet with integrally formed upstanding solid rib formations.

13. A tray according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the mat is as an injection moulding in a generally transparent food grade PVC material.

14. A tray according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the mat moulding has a general thickness of up to 1.5 mm, more preferably about 1 mm, excluding the ribs where the material comprises a sheet with integrally formed upstanding solid ribs.

15. A tray according to Claim 14 wherein the overall thickness of the mat including the ribs, but not including any front edge display formation is about 6 mm.

16. A display tray substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

17. A display arrangement for displaying a plurality of articles, the arrangement comprising a support having a depth dimension, a display tray in accordance with any one of the preceding claims placed on the support, the mat of the display tray having an overall length greater than the depth dimension of the support with excess length of mat being folded out of the general plane of the mat to a stowed position or being rolled up in the direction transverse to the extent of the ribs, and being accommodated within a hollow of the support member.

18. An arrangement according to Claim 17 wherein the excess length of mat is folded out of the general plane of the mat to a stowed position, the excess length of mat lying in a plane generally transverse to the extent of the remainder of the mat at a rear edge of the support.

19. Any novel feature or novel combination of features disclosed herein and/or shown in the accompanying drawings.