Ribbon rack and method of supplying ribbon

Abstract

A ribbon rack for housing a supply of ribbon and method of supplying ribbon stored in cylindrical rolls is provided. A ribbon rack is formed from a rigid wire frame having an upper end, a lower end, a forward end, a rearward end and opposite sides located between said ends. A tray support is provided with the wire frame. A ribbon tray has a floor and longitudinal dividers projecting upward from the floor that define channels. Each channel receives a longitudinal row of ribbon rolls. The tray is carried by the tray support of the wire frame so that the floor is sloped to facilitate feeding of ribbon rolls loaded within the channels toward the forward end of the wire frame when the tray is carried by the tray support. When a roll of ribbon is removed from one of the channels from the forward end of the frame, any remaining rolls of ribbon is allowed to advance within the channel toward the forward end of the frame.

1 . A ribbon rack for housing a supply of lengths of ribbon stored in cylindrical rolls, the rack comprising: 
 a rigid wire frame having an upper end, a lower end, a forward end, a rearward end and opposite sides located between said ends;    a tray support provided with the wire frame; and    a ribbon tray having a floor and longitudinal dividers projecting upward from the floor to define channels, each channel receiving a longitudinal row of ribbon rolls, the tray carried by the tray support of the wire frame so that the floor is sloped to facilitate feeding of ribbon rolls toward the forward end of the wire frame when the tray is carried by the tray support.    
   
   
       2 . The rack of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 a seating prong that projects from one of the upper or lower ends of the rigid wire frame;    a seating prong aperture located on the other of said one of the upper or lower ends of the rigid wire frame, the seating prong aperture being configured to closely receive the seating prong of a similarly configured rack.    
   
   
       3 . The rack of  claim 2 , wherein: 
 the seating prong is formed from a non-linear length of rigid wire.    
   
   
       4 . The rack of  claim 2 , wherein: 
 the seating prong aperture is formed from an opening in the rigid wire frame.    
   
   
       5 . The rack of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 a swatch display coupled to the frame to facilitate identification of ribbon stored in rolls housed within the rack.    
   
   
       6 . The rack of  claim 1 , wherein: 
 the forward end of the wire frame is inclined rearward towards the upper end of the frame.    
   
   
       7 . The rack of  claim 2 , wherein: 
 the seating prong projects from a corner of the wire frame.    
   
   
       8 . The rack of  claim 1 , wherein: 
 there are at least two tray supports, one positioned over the other, with a tray carried by each tray support.    
   
   
       9 . The rack of  claim 1 , wherein: 
 the frame is provided with at least one hanger assembly that selectively mounts to the wire frame for suspending items from the hanger assembly.    
   
   
       10 . A method of supplying ribbon stored in rolls comprising: 
 providing at least one ribbon rack, the ribbon rack including: 
 (a) a rigid wire frame having an upper end, a lower end, a forward end, a rearward end and opposite sides located between said ends;  
 (b) a tray support provided with the wire frame; and  
 (c) a ribbon tray having a floor and longitudinal dividers projecting upward from the floor that define channels, each channel receiving a row of ribbon rolls, the ribbon tray carried by the tray support of the wire frame so that the floor is sloped downward toward the forward end of the wire frame when the ribbon tray is carried by the tray support;  
   loading ribbon rolls within the channels of the ribbon tray so that rolls of ribbon are fed toward the forward end of the frame;    removing at least one roll of ribbon from at least one of the channels from the forward end of the frame; and    allowing any remaining rolls of ribbon within said at least one of the channels to advance within the channel toward the forward end of the frame.    
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising: 
 providing a first ribbon rack with a seating prong that projects from one of the upper or lower ends of the rigid wire frame and a second ribbon rack with a seating prong aperture located on another corresponding upper or lower ends of the rigid wire frame, the seating prong aperture being configured to closely receive the seating prong; and    positioning the first and second ribbon racks in a stacked configuration so that the seating prong is received within the seating prong aperture.    
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein: 
 the seating prong is formed from a non-linear length of rigid wire.    
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein: 
 the seating prong aperture is formed from an opening in the rigid wire frame.    
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising: 
 providing a swatch display coupled to the frame to facilitate identification of ribbon housed within the rack.    
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein: 
 the forward end of the wire frame is inclined rearward towards the upper end of the frame.    
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 11;  wherein: 
 the seating prong projects from a corner of the wire frame.    
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein: 
 there are at least two tray supports of the ribbon rack, one positioned over the other, with a tray carried by each tray support.    
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein: 
 the frame is provided with at least one hanger assembly that selectively mounts to the wire frame for suspending items from the hanger assembly.    
   
   
       19 . A method of providing ribbon from a supplier to a seller of said ribbon comprising: 
 having the supplier provide at least one preloaded ribbon rack, the ribbon rack including: 
 (a) a rigid wire frame having an upper end, a lower end, a forward end, a rearward end and opposite sides located between said ends;  
 (b) a tray support provided with the wire frame; and  
 (c) a ribbon tray having a floor and longitudinal dividers projecting upward from the floor that define channels, each channel receiving a row of ribbon rolls, the ribbon tray carried by the tray support of the wire frame so that the floor is sloped downward toward the forward end of the wire frame when the ribbon tray is carried by the tray support; and wherein  
 ribbon rolls are loaded within the channels of the ribbon tray so that rolls of ribbon are fed toward the forward end of the frame;  
   providing the preloaded ribbon rack to the seller for display and purchase by customers;    having customers remove at least one roll of ribbon from at least one of the channels from the forward end of the frame; and    allowing any remaining rolls of ribbon within said at least one of the channels to advance within the channel toward the forward end of the frame.    
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein: 
 having the supplier provide at least one ribbon rack includes providing a first ribbon rack with a seating prong that projects from one of the upper or lower ends of the rigid wire frame and a second ribbon rack with a seating prong aperture located on another corresponding upper or lower ends of the rigid wire frame, the seating prong aperture being configured to closely receive the seating prong; and wherein    providing the preloaded ribbon rack to the seller for display and purchase by customers includes preloading both the first and second ribbon racks and stacking the ribbon racks in a configuration so that the seating prong is received within the seating prong aperture.    
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein: 
 the seating prong is formed from a non-linear length of rigid wire.    
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein: 
 the seating prong aperture is formed from an opening in the rigid wire frame.    
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising: 
 providing the preloaded ribbon rack to the seller for display and purchase by customers includes providing a swatch display coupled to the frame to facilitate identification of ribbon housed within the rack.    
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein: 
 the forward end of the wire frame is inclined rearward towards the upper end of the frame.    
   
   
       25 . A ribbon rack for housing a supply of lengths of ribbon stored in cylindrical rolls, the rack comprising: 
 a rigid wire frame having an upper end, a lower end, a forward end, a rearward end and opposite sides located between said ends;    at least two tray supports, one positioned over the other, provided with the wire frame;    at least two ribbon trays, each ribbon tray having a floor and longitudinal dividers projecting upward from the floor to define channels, each channel receiving a longitudinal row of ribbon rolls, the tray carried by the tray support of the wire frame so that the floor is sloped to facilitate feeding of ribbon rolls toward the forward end of the wire frame when the tray is carried by the tray support; and    at least one hanger assembly that selectively mounts to the wire frame for suspending items from the hanger assembly.    
   
   
       26 . The ribbon rack of  claim 25 , wherein: 
 the rearward end of the wire frame is provided with a plurality of hanger receiving areas located at various positions at the rearward end so that the at least one hanger assembly can be selectively located at the various positions.    
   
   
       27 . The ribbon rack of  claim 26 , wherein: 
 the hanger receiving area is a wire lattice structure.    
   
   
       28 . The ribbon rack of  claim 25 , wherein: 
 the wire portions of the wire frame forming the upper and lower ends are squared.    
   
   
       29 . The ribbon rack of  claim 25 , wherein: 
 there are a plurality of the hanger assemblies.