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Merchandiser assembly

Merchandiser assembly description/claims

The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/201,903 filed Aug. 11, 2005 and entitled “MERCHANDISER ASSEMBLY,” which claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/601,096 filed Aug. 12, 2004. The present application claims priority to and the benefit of both U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/201,903 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/601,096, and the disclosure of each is incorporated by reference herein.

This invention relates to an assembly for transporting and displaying rugs.

In the rug industry, manufacturers design and produce rugs for shipment to distributors and/or vendors. Once produced, it is desired that the rugs are packaged in a manner to allow easy loading/unloading of the rugs onto/off of a truck. In the past, manufacturers would roll the rugs and place them lengthwise on pallets. The problem with this approach was that pallet loaders or forklifts had difficulty accessing the pallet and loading the pallet full of rugs on the truck. To solve this problem, manufacturers began using open top merchandiser assemblies so that rugs could be stood on end (e.g. vertically) within the cage of the assembly. However, these merchandiser assemblies proved to be weak and often failed due to the weight of the heavy stacked rugs. In addition, as vendors desired to display rugs in the same assemblies in which the rugs were shipped, stronger, more functional assemblies were needed.

As such, there is a need for durable merchandiser assemblies configured to secure a number of rugs during transport and display.

Accordingly, the present invention is intended to address and obviate problems and shortcomings and otherwise improve previous merchandiser assemblies.

In one embodiment, a merchandising assembly includes a base and a plurality of support hoops that include support arms and a divider arm, wherein the support arms are secured to the base and wherein a plurality of gaps are defined between the support hoops for containing rolled articles from movement in a traverse direction. The assembly further includes a plurality of gate assemblies, the gate assemblies including at least one wing hingedly connected to a center section, wherein the gate assemblies are located on the divider arms of the support hoops for containing a rolled article from movement in a direction substantially perpendicular to said traverse direction. The at least one wing of said gate assemblies is capable of bending from a substantially flat configuration in an upward or downward direction, wherein when the wing is in a substantially flat configuration, the rolled article is contained from movement in a direction substantially perpendicular to the transverse direction, and when the wing is bent in an upward or downward direction, the rolled article is not contained from movement in a direction substantially perpendicular to the transverse direction.

In another embodiment, a merchandising assembly includes a base and a plurality of support hoops that include support arms and a divider arm, wherein the support arms are secured to the base and wherein a plurality of gaps are defined between the support hoops for containing rolled articles from movement in a traverse direction. The assembly further includes a plurality of gate assemblies, the gate assemblies including at least one wing hingedly connected to a center section, wherein the plurality of gate assemblies are located on the divider arms of the support hoops for containing the rolled article from movement in a direction substantially perpendicular to the traverse direction. The plurality of gates are capable of hinged movement from a clearance position to a support position, wherein the gate assemblies are oriented in clearance position when the at least one wing is positioned in an upward or downward orientation, and the gate assemblies are oriented in a support position when the at least one wing is positioned in a substantially flat orientation and supports at least a portion of the weight of the rolled article in an upright orientation.

Still other embodiments, combinations and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following descriptions wherein there are shown and described alternative illustrative embodiments of this invention for illustration purposes. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other different aspects, objects and embodiments all without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description should be regarded as illustrative and illustrative in nature only and not as restrictive.

It is believed that the present invention will be better understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a merchandiser assembly in accordance with one illustrative embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the assembled merchandiser assembly of FIG. 1 with a rug secured therein;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a merchandiser assembly in accordance with another illustrative embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a view of a portion of the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 3, showing a portion of a support hoop with attached gate assemblies.

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

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