The disclosure is in the field of point-of-sale packaging, in particular for user mobility devices in certain embodiments.
User mobility devices are frequently purchased at retail locations. Many user mobility devices, in particular, walking canes, are bulky and difficult to display properly. Canes typically are provided with a telescoping collapsible shaft, which allows the length of the cane to be reduced for packaging and display. This mitigates some of the difficulty in displaying walking canes. Nonetheless, it can be difficult to package the cane in a way that allows the cane to hang in a substantially straight manner from a hanging rack, and that also permits a user to test the cane without removing the package by manually grasping the handle of the cane.
It has now been found that an assembly that comprises a user mobility device and a display package may be provided. The user mobility device comprises a handle region covered by an optional handle cover, a transition region, and a support region. The display package includes a front panel and a rear panel, first and second side panels, and top and bottom panels, each of the top and bottom panels having apertures for accommodating protruding portions of the walking cane or other user mobility device. The package is provided with a hanging panel having a hang tab region that extends past the handle region of the user mobility device and having a hanging aperture. The panels collectively define a container that is sized to envelope at least a portion of the mobility device and that further is sized to retain the mobility device in a hanging position, preferably a substantially vertical hanging position. The hanging panel has a boundary that defines an open region proximal to handle region of the user mobility device to permit manual grasping of the handle region without the necessity to remove the user mobility device from the display package. The user thus may test the cane at the point of purchase without removing the cane from the display package.
The disclosed embodiments can be better envisioned with respect to the accompanying figures, in which:
With reference now to
In this respect, the cane may be conventional. The cane may be imparted with various aesthetic surface designs, and further may be equipped with a surface that has a antimicrobial properties. The cane and its various components may be made of any suitable materials.
With regard to the package 200 and assembly 202 shown in
With further reference to
The tubular support region is best illustrated in
As seen in
In practice, the assembly may be configured and sized such that the shaft of the mobility device rests within 5 degrees of vertical in the direction forward or away from a direction facing the front panel (i.e., into and out of the page with regard to a user facing the assembly, as shown in
As heretofore described, the display package may be folded from a package blank, such as the package blank 1200 illustrated in
The blank 1200 includes a bottom panel portion 1206 having a bottom tab 1226. In this embodiment, the bottom panel portion is connected to the front panel portion 1205 although it might alternatively be connected to the rear panel portion 1204. In the illustrated configuration, the rear panel portion 1204 is equipped with a bottom interior panel portion 1224 that defines a slot 1225 in the same manner as slots 1222 and 1223. The blank 1200 further includes a top panel portion 1211 having top panel portion flaps 1233, 1234, 1235. The flap 1235 opposes bottom flap 1227 when assembled, and these flaps impart additional structural support.
Extending from the rear panel portion 1204, and integral therewith, is a hanging panel portion 1208. As illustrated, the hanging panel portion 1208 is composed of a first hanging panel part 1214 and a second hanging panel part 1215, the longitudinal dimension 1241 of the second hanging panel part 1215 being greater than the longitudinal extension 1240 of the first hanging panel part 1214 past the top edge 1236 of the rear panel portion 1204. The first and second hanging panel parts are connected to one another at a fold region 1220, which, in the illustrated embodiment, comprises dual folds. By virtue of dimension 1241 being larger than dimension 1240, a small tab portion 1244 is retained beneath top edge 1236 of the container when assembled to thereby retain the second hanging panel part 1215 in a folded state. As seen, tubular support slits 1250, 1251 extend across the rear side fold line 1232, preferably to an equal extent across each side of this fold line. The tubular slits may be positioned alternatively across fold lines 1231 or 1234.
In practice, the container blank is preferably fashioned from cardboard or heavy paper. The container is folded over the transition region of the cane, rendering the assembly suitable for a point-of-sale hanging display.
All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or language describing an example (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended to illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention. Any statement herein as to the nature or benefits of the invention or of the preferred embodiments is not intended to be limiting. This invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited herein as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The description herein of any reference or patent, even if identified as “prior,” is not intended to constitute a concession that such reference or patent is available as prior art against the present invention. No unclaimed language should be deemed to limit the invention in scope. Any statements or suggestions herein that certain features constitute a component of the claimed invention are not intended to be limiting unless reflected in the appended claims. Neither the marking of the patent number on any product nor the identification of the patent number in connection with any service should be deemed a representation that all embodiments described herein are incorporated into such product or service.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 62/564,125 filed Sep. 27, 2017, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62564125 | Sep 2017 | US |