AU746356B2 - Shelf marker - Google Patents

Description

P/00/0h 11/M" I AUSTA~iARegulation 3.2 Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT lve to Til S E F M R E 000* @0 Th ol w n t t m n s a ul d s r p i no.h s in e t o ,i c u i g t e b s .l..vent..on.Title: I THIS INVENTION relates to a manually-operable marker and it is particularly, although not exclusively, concerned with a shelf marker used for stock control in a shop or a warehouse.

Items are usually stocked on shelving at localised positions from which they can be withdrawn as the demand for them requires. Markers distributed along the front of the shelving are used to identify the products stored at the positions of the markers and each marker carries legend to identify the product stored at its position.

As products are consumed from stock, it is necessary to order fresh stock to replace them. Such stock is normally ordered in batches and a fresh batch is ordered when the stock of products held on a shelf falls beneath a chosen number, for example six.

It is the responsibility of the staff removing products from the shelving to arrange for orders for fresh stock to be placed when the number of products falls beneath the chosen number. However over-ordering of replacement stock can occur if two members of staff both place stock-replacement orders without knowing that the other has already done so.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved marker.

Ir accordance with the present invention a stock-control marker for attaching to a shelf at a position corresponding to items of stock to be monitored, has the marker provided with three panels respectively marked with information denoting the nature of stock, a need for the stock to be replenished, and, the fact that replenishment stock has been ordered; the panels being arranged to hang vertically from the shelf and one of the panels being hinged at its lower marginal edge to support the weight of the other two panels each of which is independently upwardly turnable about the hinge from a first position at which information marked on it is displayed, to a second position at which the information marked on it is hidden, said two panels acting to hide 10 the information marked on the first panel when in their second positions, and manually releasable catches being provided to retain the second and third panels in their 3*o3 3 respective second positions.

The marker of the invention is particularly suited for use as a stock control aid on the front of shelving on which batches of different products are stored. At the end of a 15 working day, a member of the staff moving along the shelving can signify, by appropriately moving two panels of a marker relative to one another, that a particular product at the position of the marker requires re-ordering. That product can then be re-ordered and the marker adjusted to denote that re-ordering has taken place.

The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example, with reference to accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: FIGURE 1 shows a marker for attachment to a shelf shown partially in ghost outline, and in a first operating condition; FIGURE 2 shows the marker being partially unfolded to a second operating condition; FIGURE 3 shows the marker fully unfolded and in its second operating condition; S 0

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0* 0 FIGURE 4 shows the marker partially folded back to assume a third operating condition; and FIGURE 5 corresponds to figure 4 and shows an alternative form of marker using a hinge provided between its three panels, two of the panels being shown in full outline when one position, and in chain and double-dotted outline when in their second operating positions.

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Figure 3 shows a marker 1 made of thin resiliently flexible plastics sheet provided with parallel fold lines 2 and 3 and a vertical slit 4, which divide the marker into four rectangular panels 5, 6, 7 and 8.

The panel 5 has an adhesive under-surface normally covered by a removable cover slip (not shown) which allows the marker, after removal of the slip, to be attached by its adhesive under-surface to the upper surface of a shelf shown in ghost outline at 10 in figure 1. Two slots 11 and 12, clearly shown in figure 2, are provided in the panel adjacent the fold line 2 to receive respective catches or claws 13 and 14 provided on the free edges of the panels 7 and 8 as clearly shown in figures 2, 3 and 4. The two panels 7 and 8 are separated from one another by the slit 4 so that they can be independently moved about the fold line 3 between the positions shown in futures 1, 3 and 4. The fold line 3 is formed to provide a hinge allowing the panels 7 and 8 to fall independently under their own weight to the positions shown in figure 3 in which they lie in the same plane as, and beneath, the panel 6.

As shown in figure 3 panel 6 has two display areas 15 and 16 each shown in a broken outline. These are normally covered by the panels 8 and 7 respectively, when they are folded-up into the positions shown in figure 1. The panel 8 then displays a number (which in the figures is shown in broken outline and is the numeral "six") indicating the threshold at which a particular product, identified in words (not shown) on the goe oblong broken outline panel provided on the visible surface of the panel 7, is to be reordered. The panels 7 and 8 are held in their respective positions, shown in figure 1, 0.0.

S 10 by the engagement of the catches 13 and 14 in the respective slots 11 and 12.

If the number of the products on the shelf at the position of the marker 1, falls to six, a member of the staff responsible for re-ordering stock, manually releases the catches 13 and 14 from their respective slots 11, 12 so that the panels 7 and 8 fall under their own weight about the hinging fold line 3 to the positions shown in figure 3. The 15 panels may be weighted to ensure they fall clearly into the vertical plane. This allows the display areas 15 and 16, formerly hidden by the panels 8 and 7, to be viewed.

Legend in display area 16 indicates the product together with its stock number and the number of units of the product which must be re-ordered. The action of releasing the panels 7 and 8 also exposes prominent coloured disc indicators 20 and 21 on the panels 7 and 8 to signal to the staff that some action is required. A number of the staff then responds by noting that replacement stock is now necessary, and folds the panel 7 upwardly to the position shown in figure 4 to indicate that action to order new stock has been taken. Panel 8 is left hanging in the position shown in figure 4 to warn other staff members that re-ordering had taken place and fresh stock is awaited.

When the fresh stock has been received, it is placed on the shelf 10 at the position of the marker 1, and the panel 8 is restored to its original position shown in figure 1 and in which it is held by the catch 13 re-engaged in its slot 11.

The above-described marker is cheap and easy to manufacture and simple and reliable in use.

In the hinge modification shown in figure 5, parts corresponding in operation to parts already described in earlier figures are similarly numbered, but the numbers are primed.

The panel 8' in figure 5 is made separately from the panels 7' and 8' and three panels S: have their adjacent edges 16 and 19 scrolled, looped or otherwise formed to provide aligned channels and/or tubes 16 and 19. A hinging pin 18 is threaded through the tube of the edge 19, and its respective opposite end-positions are held in the looped edges 16 of the panel 6' to provide the horizontal hinge securing the panels 8' to the underside of the panel 6'.

In another form of marker the panels are provided by different ones of a thin flexible plastics card integrally formed with the required hinges by crease lines and/or lines of perforations. The thin flexible card can be stamped out of sheeting, and the catch for retaining either of the movable panels in its upper position, can be provided by a tab or formation on one of the panels which temporarily locks behind a slot or similar stop provided on one of the positionally fixed panels. The nature resilience of the card allows it to flex for manual engagement and disengagement of the catch to occur.

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Claims (8)

1. A stock-control marker for attaching to a shelf at a position corresponding to items of stock to be monitored, the marker being provided with three panels respectively marked with information denoting the nature of stock, a need for the s;ock to be replenished, and, the fact that replenishment stock has been ordered; the panels being arranged to hang vertically from the shelf and one of the panels being hinged at its lower marginal edge to support the weight of the other two panels each of which is independently upwardly turnable about the hinge from a first position at which information marked on it is displayed, to a second position at which the information marked on it is hidden, said two panels acting to hide the information marked on the first panel when in their second positions, and manually releasable catches being provided to retain the second and third panels in their respective second positions.

2. A marker as claimed in claim 1, in which the second and third panels are 15 arranged alongside one another beneath the lower edge of the first panel.

3. A marker as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, in which a fourth panel hinged to the :i upper marginal edge of the first panel provides an anchorage for securing the marker to the upper marginal edge surface of a supporting shelf. i

4. A marker as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the first and 20 fourth panels are connected by a fold line enabling them to be readily moved with respect to one another.

5. A marker as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the fold lines provide hinges at the upper edges of the second and third panels.

6. A marker as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, in which pin-and-tube hinges are provided at the ends of the second and third panels.

7. A marker as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which each of said catches is provided by a tab, claw, or detent positioned to be manually releasable, from a slot, groove or ridge on the panel to which it is hinged.

8. A marker as claimed in claim 1, arranged and adapted to operate substantially as described with reference to either of the examples illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Dated: this 17 day of February 2002 MANREX PTY LIMITED By H J Rantzen (Applicant's Patent Attorney) *5 *oo go oo, o* oo go* o* oo* **o*o