Display and dispensing system for bottles

Abstract

A consumer display and dispensing rack having a front and a back, and a container rail inclined downwardly and forwardly from the back to the front for supporting a series of bottles thereon is disclosed. The rail provides a spaced apart pair of support flanges for supporting a series of bottles adjacent their tops. The rack has a stop on the front end to engage a bottom portion of a forwardmost bottle on the rail. The height of the stop is less than the distance between a top of the forwardmost bottle and a front edge inner surface of the rail. This allows the forwardmost bottle to be raised over the stop and removed from the display rack.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A consumer display and dispensing rack for bottles, said rack having a front and a back, and a container rail inclined downwardly and forwardly from said back to said front for supporting a series of bottles for movement from said back to said front thereon, said rail having a front end and a back end and defining a spaced apart pair of support flanges for supporting said series of bottles adjacent their tops comprising: 
 a stop on said front end to engage a bottom portion of a forwardmost bottle,    said height of said stop being less than the distance between a top of said forwardmost bottle and a front edge inner surface of said rail, whereby said forward most bottle can be raised over said stop and removed from said display rack.    
     
     
         2 . A display and dispensing rack for bottles in accordance with  claim 1 , and wherein a cap is threadingly secured to an associated bottle, said cap defining a circular flange adapted to be supported on said rail support flanges.  
     
     
         3 . A display and dispensing rack for bottles in accordance with  claim 1 , and wherein said rack includes a second stop at the front end of said rail, said stop being positioned to cooperate with said bottom stop to hold a bottle at the front end of said rail which position said bottle for manipulation and removal by a consumer.  
     
     
         4 . A display and dispensing rack for bottles in accordance with  claim 1 , and wherein said rack comprises vertical frame members, transverse flame members and side frame members, and said container rails are mounted on said transverse frame members.  
     
     
         5 . A display and dispensing rack for bottles in accordance with  claim 1 , and wherein said display rack comprises a plurality of side-by-side downwardly and forwardly inclined rails, said height of said stop being at least 0.25 in. less than the distance between the top of said forwardmost bottle and the front edge inner surface.  
     
     
         6 . A display and dispensing rack for bottles in accordance with  claim 1 , and wherein said display rack comprises a plurality of side-by-side downwardly and forwardly inclined rails, 
 said height of said stop being at least 0.50 in. less than the distance between the top of said forwardmost bottle and the front edge inner surface.    
     
     
         7 . A method of controlling the dispensing of bottles comprising providing a consumer display and dispensing rack for said bottles, said rack having a front and a back, and a container rail inclined downwardly and forwardly from said back to said front, said rail having a front end and a back end and defining a spaced apart pair of support flanges for supporting a series of bottles adjacent their tops, providing a stop on said front end to engage a bottom portion of a forwardmost bottle, wherein said height of said stop is less than the distance between a top of said forwardmost bottle and an front edge inner surface of said rail, whereby said forward most bottle can be raised over said stop and removed from said display rack.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , and wherein each said bottle top comprises a cap defining a circular flange adapted to be supported on said rail support flanges, and the further step of supporting a said series of said bottles by said circular flanges on said support flanges.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , and wherein said control lever head end defines a lower surface which is positioned to engage said bottle tops, and the further step of engaging said lower surface to be pivoted upwardly by said bottle tops, thereby to move said tail end downwardly to engage and stop a next succeeding bottle top.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , and wherein said rack includes stop means at the front end of said rail, said stop means being positioned to cooperate with said control lever to stop a bottle at the front end of said rail thereby to position a bottle for manipulation and removal by a consumer.