Patent Application
20080087556
Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals generally designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and more particularly to
Terms “above,” “on,” “under,” “underneath,” “top”, “bottom,” “interior,” “inside,” “outside,” “inwardly,” and “outwardly” used in the description and/or claims are in reference to the relative positions of the display container 10 as shown in
The display container 10 includes a tray 12 and a cover 14 hingedly connected to the tray 12 along a first fold line 36. The tray 12 includes a bottom 16, a front wall 18, a back wall 20 and side walls 22, 23. The cover 14 includes a display panel 24, a base 26 and a positioning tab 34. It will be appreciated that the display container 10 can be made of a variety of materials suitable for forming a container, such as paperboard, plastic, metal, etc., or combinations of such. For convenience, in the following description, the display container will be described as being made of paperboard.
The display panel 24 is defined between the first fold line 36 and a second fold line 38 and is hingedly connected to the back wall 20 of the tray along the first fold line 36. A display label 40 that conveys information, such as brand, price, or other characteristic of the product, other point of sale information, etc., to the consumer, can be attached or disposed on a surface 25 of the display panel 24. It will be appreciated that the display label 40 might be a separate label which can be suitably attached to the surface 25 of the display panel 24, or might be printed or otherwise transferred directly onto the surface 25 of the display panel 24, by any user and at any time as desired. For example, the display label 40 can be attached or transferred to the surface 25 of the display panel 24 by the retailer right before the display container 10 containing the products is placed on a store shelf. In another example, the display label 40 can include adhesive on one of its surfaces so that it can be easily attached to the display panel 24 at any time desired.
In the embodiment shown, the display panel 24 has a height defined between the first fold line 36 and the second fold line 38, which is preferably not less than a height of the back wall 20 of the tray, which is defined between the first fold line 36 and a bottom edge of the back wall 20. As shown in
The base 26 refers to the portion of the cover 14 extending beyond the second fold line 38. The base 26 includes a base panel 28, a front wall 30 and side walls 32, 33. The side walls 32, 33 include respective angled edges 102, 104, which serve to tilt the container 10 forward when the cover 14 is folded under the tray 12 of the display container for displaying the contents of the container to the consumer, as shown in
The positioning tab 34 can be a tab slotted in the base panel 28 so that it is hingedly connected to the base panel 28 and can remain within the base panel 28 of the container when the display container 10 is in an enclosed position, as shown in
The positioning tab 34 is included in the base panel 28 and spaced from the second fold line 38 so as to prevent the display panel 24 from sliding toward the back wall 20 of the tray when in the display position and thereby retain the display panel 24 at the predetermined downward angle θ relative to the back wall 20 of the tray. As shown in
It will be appreciated that the positioning tab 34 can be either an integral part or a discrete component of the display container 10. The display container 10 can also include more than one positioning tab, for example, having multiple positioning tabs to allow the display panel 24 to be adjusted between multiple predetermined downward angles relative to the back wall 20 of the tray in the display position. In another example, the display container 10 can have additional positioning tabs, providing extra support to the tray 12 in the display position.
Alternatively, in one embodiment, the positioning 34 tab might be a discrete component of the display container 10, where the positioning tab 34 can be attached to an outside surface of the base panel 28 by a suitable fastening mechanism. In yet another embodiment, the tab might be a plastic “T” shaped component which is inserted through a slot in the base panel 28 to engage the back wall 20 of the tray.
It will be appreciated that the positioning tab can be made of a variety of material suitable for positioning the tray 12 as desired, such as paper board, plastic, metal, etc., or combinations of such. The positioning tab can also be of different shapes suitable for positioning the tray 12 of the display container. It will be appreciated that the positioning tab 34 might have a variety of configurations and arrangements.
In the embodiment shown, because of the predetermined downward angle θ between the display panel 24 and the back wall 20 of the tray, the base panel 28 is slightly bent along the connecting line 35, forming an angle α as can be seen in
As shown in
The container 10 is adapted to adjust from the enclosed position in
Next, the base 26 of the cover is folded down and underneath the tray 12 along the second fold line 38, causing the tray 12 to be supported upon the base 26. In the embodiment depicted in
Referring to
It will be appreciated that the display container can also be made from separate pieces of components, for example, a discrete tray-forming portion and cover-forming portion, rather than a unitary piece of paperboard, and form into the display container 10 as in
The blank 50 in
The cover-forming portion 54 of the container 10 in
The base-forming portion 55 includes the base panel 28, the front wall 30 hingedly connected along score line 76 to the base panel 28, and side walls 32, 33 hingedly connected along score lines 78, 80 to the base panel 28, respectively. The front wall 30 of the base is hingedly connected along a score line 86 to a front wall flap 30a. The side walls 32, 33 of the base are hingedly connected along score lines 82, 84 to side wall flaps 32a and 33a, respectively.
The positioning tab 34 can be a tab slotted in the base panel 28 so that it is hingedly connected to the base panel 28 and can remain within the base panel 28, when the display container 10 is in the enclosed position, as shown in
Typically, the inside surface and outside surface of the blank 50 are unprinted except that the inside surface of the display panel 24 might include the display label 40.
The tray-forming portion 52 may be made to form the tray 12 of the container by folding the front wall flaps 18a, 18b of the tray upward along the respective score lines 66, 68 to a position approximately perpendicular to the front wall 18 of the tray and folding the front wall 18 of the tray upward along the score line 58 to a position approximately perpendicular to the bottom 16 of the tray. Similarly, the back wall flaps 20a, 20b of the tray are folded upward along the respective score lines 70, 72 to a position approximately perpendicular to the back wall 20 and the back wall 20 is folded upward along the score line 60 to a position approximately perpendicular to the bottom 16.
Thereafter, the side wall 22 of the tray, together with the side wall flap 22a, is folded upward along the score line 62 to a position approximately perpendicular to the bottom 16 and the side wall flap 22a of the tray is folded inwardly and downward along the score line 90 to encompass the front wall flap 18a and the back wall flap 20a, and is fastened by inserting a tab 120 that is on an edge 106 of the side wall flap 22a into a corresponding slot 122 that is within the score line 62. The side wall 23 of the tray, together with the side wall flap 23a, is folded upward along the score line 64 to a position approximately perpendicular to the bottom 16 and the side wall flap 23a is folded inwardly and downward along the score line 92 to encompass the front wall flap 18b and the back wall flap 20b and is fastened by inserting a tab 124 that is on an edge 108 of the side wall flap 23a into a corresponding slot 126 that is within the score line 64. It will be appreciated, however, that the order and manner in which the folding steps are performed may be varied according to the level of skill in the art.
Similarly, the cover-forming portion 54 may be made to form the cover 14 of the container by folding the side wall flaps 32a, 33a of the base upward along the score lines 82, 84 to a position approximately perpendicular to the side walls 32, 33 of the cover and folding the side walls 32, 33 upward along the score lines 78, 80 to a position approximately perpendicular to the base panel 28. Then, the front wall 30 of the cover, together with the front wall flap 30a, is folded upward along the score line 76 to a position approximately perpendicular to the base panel 28 and the front wall flap 30a is folded inwardly and downward to encompass the side wall flaps 32a, 33a and is fastened by inserting a tab 128 that is on an edge 110 of the front wall flap 30a into a corresponding slot 130 that is within the score line 76.
Specific embodiments have been shown by ways of example in the drawings and described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the invention(s) claimed in the appended claims is/are not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed. Rather, the invention(s) claimed in the appended claims cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention(s) as claimed by the appended claims.
