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Title: Inventory-control merchandise display apparatus
Claims: What is claimed is: 1. Merchandise display apparatus adapted for use in an inventory control system, including a support, and an elongated arm of essentially uniform cross-section at least along most of its length, said arm having at a supported end thereof means for securing the arm to the support so that the arm projects in cantiliver fashion with a free end exposed for readily entering openings in a series of merchandise-bearing cards, plural demarcation means distributed along the arm for providing a measure of the quantity of merchandise-bearing cards carried by the arm, and said arm including an elongated label portion substantiallly longer than its maximum transverse dimension remote from the supported end of the arm serially connected to the remainder of the arm, said label portion bearing at least one character and being adapted to bear plural characters distributed therealong for enabling the arm to be related to any one of many kinds of mechandise-bearing cards, the maximum transverse dimension of the whole arm including its plural demarcation means and its label portion being no more than moderately larger than the maximum transverse dimension of said essentially uniform cross-section of the arm for readily being recived in openigns of the merchandise-bearing cards. 2. Merchandise display apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein said arm is of metal and has a series of flattened portions and associated bumps mutually spaced apart along the arm constituting said plural demarcation means, the bumps having smooth transitions to the rest of the arm so as to enable merchandise-bearing cards to be moved along the arm easily. 3. Merchandise display apparatus in accordance with claim 2, wherein the cross-sectional area of the arm is nearly constant throughout its length at the flattened portions and elsewhere. 4. Merchandise display apparatus in accordance with claim 2, wherein said flattened portions are oriented to dispose the facets thereof vertical and thus to disposed said series of bumps along the upper surface of the arm. 5. Merchandise display apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein said plural demarcation means are regularly spaced and bear progressive indicia to constitute a scale. 6. Merchandise display apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein the label portion of said arm has a facet having corners along its longitudinal margins, enabling merchandise-bearing cards with round holes to be slid along said label portion without rubbing and consequent threat of damage to said character or characters. 7. Merchandise display apparatus in accordance with claim 6, wherein said arm has a relatively short upward sloping end portion remote from said supported end, and wherein said facet is located along said sloping portion. 8. Merchandise display apparatus in accordance with claim 6, wherein said corners are enlarged to form small ribs, and wherein a label is adhered to said facet between said ribs, said ribs enhancing the protection of the label from damage that might occur when merchandise-bearing cards are slid along said arm. 9. Merchandise display apparatus in accordance with claim 6, wherein said facet is concave and is bounded by overhanging corners and including a similarly concave label retentively confined between said overhanging corners. 10. Merchandise display apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein said label portion has opposite esentially parallel and vertical facets and wherein at least a said characters is applied to each of said opposite facets and are thereby disposed for inspection from either side of the arm. 11. Merchandise display apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein said label portion of the arm extends in alignment with the portion of the arm along which said demarcation means are distributed. 12. Merchandise display apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein said label portion of the arm has a facet tilted about an axis along the arm. 13. Merchandise display apparatus in accordance with claim 12, wherein said apparatus includes plural arms each constituted as aforesaid, at least one of said arms located relatively high on the apparatus having said facet bearing its said character on characters tilted so as to face horizontally in one direction and downward and at least one other of said arms lower on the apparatus than said one arm having its facet bearing its label means tilted so as to face horizontally in said one direction and upward. 14. Merchandise display apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein said arm is a metal rod and the label portion of the arm is swaged to form a facet bounded by longitudinal corners, and including a label bearing said character or characters adhered to said facet between said corners, the corners being effective to guide round-holed merchandise-bearing cards along the rod without threat of damage to the label. 15. Merchandise display apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein, said label portion of the arm bears plural repeated sets of characters disposed around the arm for viewing from various angles, each set of characters being distributed along said elongated label portion. 16. Merchandise display apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein said arm is a round rod and wherein the elongated label portion of the arm is flattened and is moderately wider than the diameter of the rod. 17. Merchandise display apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein the maximum transverse dimension of the elongated label portion of the arm is limited so as to be receivable in a round hole no more than moderately larger than a hole of minimum diameter needed to be received by the arm along most of the length thereof. 18. Merchandise display apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said arm is of uniform cross-section along most of its length and includes an end portion of said uniform cross-section, said elongated label portion adjoining said end portion and being enlarged transversely, and said label portion having at its ends rounded transitions to the adjoining portions of the arm. 19. Merchandise display apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein said elongated label portion has a facet that faces generally away from the supported end of the arm, so as to be viewed by a person looking at the free end of the arm and toward said support. 20. Merchandise display apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said character and any other characters distributed along said elongated label portion faces or face generally away from the supported end of the arm, so as to be viewed by a person looking at the free end of the arm toward the support. Other info: Inventors: Herzog, Milton W. (Valley Stream, NY, US) Application Number: 580560 Filing Date: 1975-05-27 Publication_date: 1977-12-13 Assignee: H. Goodman & Sons, Inc. (Kearny, NJ) Primary Class(es): 40/657 211/59.1, 248/220.41, 248/542 Other Classes: US Patent Ref:
Other Refs:
Primary Examiner: Pitrelli, John F. Assistant Examiner: Attorney: |
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