Display rack with improved shelf assembly

Claim 2

A display rack with an improved shelf assembly that gravity feeds a column of containers one after another to the front edge of a shelf as that column's lead containers are successively removed by a customer, said display rack comprising a conveyor belt disposed at an angle relative to the horizontal, said conveyor belt sloping generally upward from the front edge of said shelf, each container in said column being positioned in generally vertical fashion on said belt during use of said rack, a support floor disposed beneath said conveyor belt, said conveyor belt and said support floor cooperating to support said containers in said column on the upper surface of said belt, the upper surface of said conveyor belt having a friction relation with said containers that inhibits movement on said belt of said containers relative one to the other, and said support floor and the under surface of said conveyor belt having a friction relation with one another that allows movement of said belt over said support floor when said belt is at least partially loaded with containers and when not restrained against movement, said friction relationships being such that said belt can slide over said support floor while said containers remain generally stationary relative one to the other on said conveyor belt after removal of the column's lead container during use of said rack, and a bumper rail disposed adjacent the front edge of said shelf, said conveyor belt conveying all of said containers in said column forward together toward said bumper in response to gravity on the remaining containers in said column after removal of the lead containers from said column, said conveyor belt and said container column being stopped by contact of the container in back of the lead container with said bumper rail, thereby positioning a new lead container adjacent the front edge of said shelf.

Claim 3

A display rack as set forth in claim 1, the outside surface of said conveyor belt having a high coefficient of friction, and the inside surface of said conveyor belt having a low coefficient of friction, relative one to the other.

Claim 4

A display rack as set forth in claim 1 in which said conveyor belt is an endless conveyor belt, said endless conveyor belt passing around an idler spool at each end thereof, said idler spool permitting the upper run of said conveyor belt to pass above said support floor and the lower run to pass beneath said support floor.

Claim 5

A display rack as set forth in claim 3 in which said shelf is horizontal, said rack including framework adapted to rest on said shelf, said framework carrying said conveyor belt and bumper rail thereon, thereby providing a removable container column feed unit for use with the horizontal shelf.

Claim 6

A display rack as set forth in claim 3 in which said shelf slopes upward from the front edge thereof, the upper run of said conveyor belt being disposed generally parallel to the sloping shelf.

Claim 7

A display rack as set forth in claim 3 including side rails extending along the length of said conveyor belt from one end thereof to the other, said side rails cooperating with said front bumper rail to define the columnar configuration for the containers carried on said conveyor belt. .Iadd. 7. A display rack with an improved shelf assembly that gravity feeds a column of containers one after another to the front edge of a shelf as that column's lead containers are successively removed by a customer, said display rack comprising a conveyor belt disposed at an angle relative to the horizontal, said conveyor belt sloping generally upward from the front edge of said shelf, each container in said column being positioned in generally vertical fashion on said belt during use of said rack, a support floor disposed beneath said conveyor belt, said conveyor belt and said support floor cooperating to support said containers in said column on the upper surface of said belt, the upper surface of said conveyor belt having a friction relation with said containers that inhibits movement on said belt of said containers relative one to the other, and said support floor and the under surface of said conveyor belt having a friction relation with one another that allows movement of said belt over said support floor when said belt is at least partially loaded with containers and when not restrained against movement, said friction relationships being such that said belt can slide over said support floor while said containers remain generally stationary relative one to the other on said conveyor belt after removal of the column's lead container during use of said rack. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 8. A display rack with an improved shelf assembly that gravity feeds a column of containers one after another to the front edge of a shelf as that column's lead containers are successively removed by a customer, said display rack comprising a conveyor belt disposed at an angle relative to the horizontal, said conveyor belt sloping generally upward from the front edge of said shelf, each container in said column being positioned in generally vertical fashion on said belt during use of said rack, a support floor disposed beneath said conveyor belt, said conveyor belt and said support floor cooperating to support said containers in said column on the upper surface of said belt, the upper surface of said conveyor belt having a friction relation with said containers that inhibits movement on said belt of said containers relative one to the other, and said support floor and the under surface of said conveyor belt having a friction relation with one another that allows movement of said belt over said support floor when said belt is at least partially loaded with containers and when not restrained against movement, said friction relationships being such that said belt can slide over said support floor while said containers remain generally stationary relative one to the other on said conveyor belt after removal of the column's lead container during use of said rack, and means at the front of said shelf for stopping the gravity-urged movement of said containers beyond the front of said shelf. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 9. A display rack with an improved shelf assembly that gravity feeds a column of containers one after another to the front edge of a shelf as that column's lead containers are successively removed by a customer, said display rack comprising a conveyor belt disposed at an angle relative to the horizontal, said conveyor belt sloping generally upward from the front edge of said shelf, each container in said column being positioned in generally vertical fashion on said belt during use of said rack, a support floor disposed beneath said conveyor belt, said conveyor belt and said support floor cooperating to support said containers in said column on the upper surface of said belt, the upper surface of said conveyor belt having a friction relation with said containers that inhibits movement on said belt of said containers relative one to the other, and said support floor and the under surface of said conveyor belt having a friction relation with one another that allows movement of said belt over said support floor when said belt is at least partially loaded with containers and when not restrained against movement, said friction relationships being such that said belt can slide over said support floor while said containers remain generally stationary relative one to the other on said conveyor belt after removal of the column's lead container during use of said rack, and a bumper rail disposed adjacent the front edge of said shelf, said conveyor belt conveying all of said containers in said column forward together toward said bumper in response to gravity on the remaining containers in said column after removal of the lead containers from said column thereby positioning a new lead container adjacent the front edge of said shelf, said bumper rail being operative to prevent the lead container on said conveyor belt from falling off over the front edge of the shelf. .Iaddend.