Patent Application
20050211756
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
In the shipment of cabinets such as kitchen cabinet units, vanities and similar furnishings, packaging constructed of corrugated paperboard is used which completely encloses the product inside. This presents few shortcomings when the product is shipped directly to the site for installation. On the other hand, when the cabinet housed in the carton is to be sold in a home furnishing outlet, such as the now popular “big box” home improvement stores, the consumer will likely wish to inspect the appearance of the product. This necessitates opening the carton and removing the item from the carton so the product can be examined by the prospective consumer. Ordinarily a sample unit will be removed from the carton for display. This requires the use of space for display of the unboxed cabinet product while also subjecting the specimen cabinet unit to wear and tear on the display floor and the incident reduction in value below full retail value of that unit. The desire for the retailer to display the actual product appearance and the desire of the potential consumer to examine the color and appearance of the cabinet product leads to the need for the present invention. Yet the protection in shipment of the cabinet product must be maintained by having a rugged outer covering surrounding the cabinet while in transit.
An improved carton for a cabinet product is provided by this invention. The carton is a corrugated cardboard enclosure which includes a front wall of corrugated cardboard which has been die cut for easy removal of a substantial portion of the front wall, a “cutout”, upon arrival of the product at the retail location. The cutout is separated from the front wall by perforations such that the cutout may be easily removed from the carton when the product is placed in the retail sales area while it will be retained as part of the front wall until its removal is desired. A transparent film covers the opening in the cardboard front wall underlying the cutout such that a window is provided in the front wall of the carton once the cutout has been removed. The transparent film is adhered to the rear face of the front wall of the carton so that the carton remains closed to dust and other contaminants even when the cutout is removed. The cutout may be retained and returned to its original placement on the carton by taping it in place once the boxed cabinet product is to be taken to the delivery vehicle after sale, thereby providing structural protection for the front wall of the cabinet within the carton.
It is a primary object of the invention to provide an improved carton for a cabinet unit which allows display of the front wall of the cabinet unit while the cabinet unit remains in an enclosed carton.
It is another object of the invention to provide a carton which allows visual inspection of the cabinet or other product inside without removal of the product from the carton.
It is another object of the invention to provide a display of a cabinet product without subjecting the product to wear and tear or the retail store environment.
Referring now to
In the well known manner, blank 26 can be transformed into carton 2 by folding the blank 26 about the creases 30, 32, 34, 38 at right angles with narrow flap 40 glued to the exterior of left side panel 28 along free edge 42 thereof.
Top flaps 56, 50, 54, and 48 are respectively separated from each other by die cuts 58. Left and right bottom flaps 60, 62 and front and rear bottom flaps 66, 68 are also separated by die cuts 58. Left and right bottom flaps 60, 62 may be folded about lower horizontal crease 64 and then front bottom flap 66 and rear bottom flap 68 are folded over bottom side flaps 60, 62 to form a bottom for the carton 2. Bottom flaps 66, 68 may be secured by taping, glue adhesive, or by stapling. With a cabinet unit and protection cushioning inserted in carton 2, left and right top flaps 48, 50 may be folded about upper horizontal crease 52 and then front and rear top flaps 14, 16 are folded about upper horizontal crease 52 to overlie left and right top flaps 48, 50, thereby completing formation of top 18 of carton 2.
As is readily understood from the foregoing, carton 2 containing a cabinet unit 3 may be shipped to a retail location such as a home improvement outlet where removable panel 4 may be quickly and easily removed by severing tabs 10 so that window 20 is uncovered and the appearance of the cabinet unit 3 contained in the carton 2 may be observed through transparent film 22.
The foregoing description of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations of the embodiments are possible in light of the above disclosure or such may be acquired through practice of the invention. The embodiments illustrated were chosen in order to explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one skilled in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto, and by their equivalents.
