Corrugated containers are made from pieces of flat paperboard stock material that are die cut into shapes that define various panels. The shapes are folded along predefined lines between the panels with at least one overlapping strip or panel that is glued, taped or otherwise affixed to another panel to form an enclosed boundary. The panels are folded into place to become the walls of the container. The containers are traditionally provided to product manufacturers in a collapsed or knock-down configuration for storage, handling and shipping. The manufacturer opens the knock-down containers and folds appropriately to utilize the assembled container for packing products therein.
The knock-down containers are typically manufactured by feeding flat die cut sheets through a fold-and-glue machine. The fold-and-glue machine applies adhesive and folds over select panels so that the panels are in the knock-down configuration.
Many retailers, such as grocery stores, convenience stores, department stores, etc., display products to their customers on metal shelving units positioned throughout the retail floor space. These metal shelving units often include one or more vertical support post. Each vertical support post defines an inner area and a plurality of spaced-apart keyholes. The keyholes are configured to receive mounting lugs such that when a mounting lug is received by a keyhole, a portion of the mounting lug is positioned within the inner area of the vertical support and a portion of the mounting lug is positioned such that the mounting lug is capable of supporting at least a portion of a shelf. The keyholes of adjacent vertical support posts are positioned relative to each other such that a single shelf can be supported by a plurality of vertical support posts at a variety of heights without adjusting the height of any of the vertical support posts or adjusting the location of any of the keyholes.
Often retailers will include signage at the top of shelving utilizing an upright pole extender that fits into the top of a vertical support post. Such upright pole extenders are traditionally made out of metal in much the same manner as the support posts for the shelves themselves. Often, an upright extender includes a lower end that has a smaller diameter/dimension than the upper end of the extender. In this manner, the lower end fits within the inner area of the vertical support post tubing, while the outer surface of the upper end is generally flush with the outer surface of the support post. The upper end of the extender further includes a number of keyholes for accepting mounting lugs of the signage that is attached to the shelf extenders.
Metal shelf extenders are relatively heavy, non-recyclable, and expensive to manufacture. These shelf extenders can be easily damaged and often are inadvertently discarded with the signage. In addition, because of the expense, metal shelf extenders of the prior art are typically intended to be reused multiple times. Thus, in most cases the signage must be assembled onsite at the retail sales floor, adding to the amount of labor and expense required at the retail location. Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide an upright shelf extender and method of making the same out of corrugated paperboard material, such that the shelf extender can be manufactured in a less-costly manner and is capable of being recycled.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds