AU665826B2 - Improvements in dispensers - Google Patents

Description

1- 65826 0a

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 ROTHMANS OF PALL MALL (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT 4 41 I I t t I Invention Title: Improvements in Dispensers The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to us:- 2 The present invention relates to dispensers and more particularly to dispensers suitable for discretely packaged or cartoned products.

Various forms of dispenser have been devised for cartoned or packaged products such as cigarettes, confectionery and the like as typified by the specification of Australian Patent 549520, the contents of which are included herein by reference.

The present invention relates to the general form of dispenser disclosed by Australian Patent 549520 in taking advantage of shelf depth to dispense more product and range of product from the same frontal area as would be occupied by a dispenser having vertical columns of product as exemplified by the disclosure of Australian Patent 540200.

The present invention is concerned with dispensers of the general type having drawers or shelving inclined downwardly and outwardly from a rear face and particularly concerned with a modular construction for a dispenser of that form whereby the modules can be readily fitted together horizontally and vertically to produce a dispenser assembly. By forming the components of each module as that they can be fitted together to form a discrete rigid structure without the necessity of or with only minimal fixing by adhesives, screws or the like, the assembly and dis-assembly of a multi module arrangement can be achieved without special tools.

The present invention provides a module for a dispenser comprising:a rear face member adapted for attachment to a wall or the like in a substantially vertical orientation; at least two wall members; at least one joining member; and at least one drawer or shelf member, wherein the said rear face member defines a top edge, a bottom edge and two sides which define vertical 3 edges and which are adapted to mount a wall member from each opposite side, said wall members being substantially vertically oriented when mounted to the vertically oriented rear face member, in which condition the wall members are arranged to receive and support a joining member which push or press fits into said wall members, said joining member providing an inclined plane for mounting the drawer on shelf member and on which the drawer or shelf member rests, the drawer or shelf iember being declined from the rear face member towards a front of the module when the module is assembled and attached to a wall or the like in a substantially vertical orientation wherein the angle of declination of the drawer or shelf member is sufficient to cause packages or the like on said drawer or shelf member to move forward to a front of the drawer or shelf member under the influence of gravity, and wherein said rear face member is adapted to inter-lock or inter-fit with an adjacent vertical edge of another similar rear face member, and wherein each assembled module is arranged to inter-fit with another similar 0 "t assembled module in a vertically adjacent location Thus the present invention provides a module for a dispenser which by virtue of its ease of construction and modular nature enables the construction of dispensers of 25 various sizes and capacities, depending on the number of o. conjoined modules used, from a kit which may be transported in a deconstructed state and when simply assembled without specialist tools, thus saving on transport and assembly costs.

The present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Fig. 1 comprises a view of the components of a two module kit in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. la is a section on line A-A of Fig. i.

fjTIR LO Y~Y,0 r I3/1 jj Fig. 2 is an exploded view showing the manner of assembly of the components of the kit of Fig. 1; Fig. 3a, b and c are transverse sectional views of the assembly of Fig. 2 showing the manner of fitting of a shelf or drawer into that assembly; and

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4 Fig. 4 is an isometric view of an assembly of modules formed from the components of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings in which Fig. 1 shows the components of a two module kit comprising two rear face members or wall mounting panels 10. The kit contains three wall members or dividers 11, four joiners or shelf supports 12, two end covers 13 and four drawers or shelf members 14 with as many drawer dividers 15 as needed.

Only one of each of those kit components is illustrated in Fig. 1.

The installation and assembly of the kit of Fig. 1 is shown in Fig. 2 and commences with the screw fixing to a wall (not shown) of wall mounting panels 10 with tongue and groove parts inter-fitted as shown in Fig. 1. After 15 panels 10 have been fixed to the wall, the wall members or dividers 11 are mounted to the panels 10 as shown with projecting locking tabs 16 fitting into complementary slots 17 in panels 10. The projections 16 pass into the r.°°.slots 17 and the wall member 11 then drops down so that the projections 16 are locked into respective recesses 17 preventing horizontal displacement of the wall members 11 relative to the panels After mounting the wall members 11 to panels 10 the 4 joiners or shelf supports 12 are then fitted into place by 25 entering four lugs 18, 19 into complementary slots 20, 21 respectively in opposed wall members 11. After the 4 0' joiners 12 have been fitted, the drawers 14 can then be mounted on the joiners 12 by inserting the rear end 14a of the drawer into a central step portion 12a, so that the rear end of the drawer is beneath projections 1la located on each opposed side wall member, pivoting the front of the drawer downwards in the direction shown by the arrow A, engaging the rear lateral edges of each drawer 14 in a step cut out 22 provided at each side of shelf support (one of which can be seen in Fig. la) and sliding the 7

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drawer rearwardly as depicted in Figs 3b and Locking projections 23 on each side of each drawer engage the front edge of recess 24 in the step portion 12a of joiner 12 and thereby prevent the drawer 14 from the sliding forward out of the assembly unless the assembly steps shown in Fig. 3 are reversed.

With the exception of the drawers 14 and the dividers 15 which are made of clear toughened acrylic, the components described above are made from high impact styrene.

In the embodiments of Figs. 2 and 4 a lightbox 27 for illuminating and displaying advertising panels is fitted atop the assembled dispenser unit. The lightbox as shown is fixed to the wall (now shown) with projecting lugs 25 fitting into complementary openings 26 in horizontal flanges 11' of side member 11. Similarly, projections (not shown) on bottom flanges 11' are adapted to fit complementary openings 26 in a vertically adjacent side member 11 when a modular assembly is formed both horizontally and vertically as shown in Fig. 4.

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Claims (9)

1. A module for a dispenser comprising:- a rear face member adapted for attachment to a wall or the like in a substantially vertical orientation; at least two wall members; at least one joining member; and at least one drawer or shelf member, wherein the said rear face member defines a top edge, a bottom edge and two sides which define vertical edges and which are adapted to mount a wall member from each opposite side, said wall members being substantially vertically oriented when mounted to the vertically oriented rear face member, in which condition the wall members are arranged to receive and support a joining member which push or press fits into said wall members, said joining member providing an inclined plane for mounting the drawer on shelf member and on which the drawer or shelf member rests, the drawer or shelf member being declined from the rear face member towards a front of the module when the module is assembled and attached to S a wall or the like in a substantially vertical orientation tzit .oo wherein the angle of declination of the drawer or shelf member is sufficient to cause packages or the like on said drawer or shelf member to move forward to a front of the drawer or shelf member under the influence of gravity, and wherein said rear face member is adapted to inter-lock or inter-fit with an adjacent vertical edge of another :similar rear face member, and wherein each assembled module is arranged to inter-fit with another similar assembled module in a vertically adjacent location by inter engagement of the top and bottom edges of the rear face members of the vertical adjacent modules.

2. A module according to claim 1 wherein the or each rear face member defines tongue parts on one vertical edge and corresponding groove parts on its opposite vertical L 7 edge to, enable one rear face member -to inter-fit with another rear face member.

3. A module according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein side edges of the joining members define depending lugs which are arranged to locate in complementary slots in -two opposed wall members.

4. A module accora-ng to any preceding claim including covers adapted to fit to the exposed faces of wall members.

5. A module as claimed in any preceding claims wherein the joining members define a step portion, and the drawer defines one or more locking projections which are arranged to engage in said step portion to inhibit the drawer from sliding forward out of the assembled module.

6. A module according to claim 5 wherein the joining members define step cut out portions at each side into which lateral lower edges of each drawer can engage.

7. A module according to any preceding claim wherein the components are formed from a plastics material. le 20

8. A module according to any preceding claim wherein the divider and the draw or shelf member are formed from clear toughened acrylic.

9. A kit substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. A kit or module as claimed in any preceding claim I ~including a light box. DATED this 6th day of November 1995. ROTHM4AN'S OF PALL MALL (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: F.B. RICE CO. hL. ABSTRACT A kit for making a module for a dispenser for dispensing 6igarette car ons and the like includes a number of components which may be readily assembled to construct the module without the use of specialist tools. The components include a rear face member at least two side walls for inter-fitting to the rear wall and a shelf supports and shelves which fit between the side walls. All the parts inter-fit without the need for fixing by screws or adhesives or the like screws are only required to affix the rear face member to a suitable wall. When assembled and attached to a wall the shelves are inclined from the front of the module to the rear to cause cartons on the she'ves to tend to move to the front of the shelves under the influence of gravity. i 4 1 t t I 4 t '1