Patent Application
20070125672
This invention relates to the design and construction of novel packaging for optical devices that allows for easy viewing and adjustment of the optical devices while contained within the product packaging.
Optical devices, such as hunting scopes and binoculars, are packaged for retail display in various product-packaging containers. The price point of the device often determines the product packaging. For example, more expensive optical devices may be packaged in cases or boxes and held behind a counter or in a display case. When a customer is interested in the more expensive optical devices, a sales representative may assist the customer by allowing him or her to remove the optical device from the case or box for a thorough inspection of the optical device before purchasing.
On the other hand, less expensive optical devices are often displayed on shelves in clear product packaging, often made of plastic or PVC material, which may not be removed until after the product has been purchased. This packaging is sometime referred to as “blister sealing”, “blister packaging” or a “clam pack”. This type of packaging is particularly useful because it allows large quantities of product to be displayed, such as when hung on shelving hooks. It also allows the customers to help themselves and provides theft deterrents due to the difficultly of removing the packaging. More importantly, because this type of product packaging is clear, customers may view the product without having to remove it from the packaging. The problem, however, with respect to optical devices in particular is that it is important for the customer to be able to view through a device, such as a scope or binoculars, and be able to adjust the device's mechanical features, such as the focus knobs.
The major disadvantage with the prior product packaging for these types of optical devices is that the devices are typically packaged with the device set in line with the packaging and often placed in the middle of the packaging. Even when the optical device is not divided by packaging and inserts, the placement of plastic over the device lenses impedes evaluation of the optical characteristics of the product. This makes it very difficult if not impossible for the customer to look through the optical device and inspect the device before purchasing. In particular, a scope that is packaged in this manner cannot be evaluated by the potential purchaser for such features as optical clarity of the lense system, reticle contrast, eye relief, brightness and other factors affecting the desirability of the optical scope. These same drawbacks also apply to packaging of binoculars or other optics systems in this manner. Furthermore, the packaging typically covers the entire product, including important mechanical features that need to be adjusted in order to determine how well the device works.
Clearly there is a need for packaging for optical devices that allows for easy viewing and adjustment of the optical devices while contained within the product packaging.
The inventive structure presents a number of advantages over the prior art. First, the invention is inexpensive and simple to form. While offering superior viewing benefits, the novel product packaging does not require new manufacturing techniques and may be formed from a single plastic mold or in any manner well-known in the art. In the preferred embodiment, the product packaging houses the optical device at an angle to the plane of the packaging, which will permit the customer to look through the objective and ocular lenses without removing the device from its packaging. The product packaging also may contain die-cut holes or flaps corresponding to the location of the scope lenses, allowing a potential purchaser to view through the scope without impediment.
In the preferred embodiment, it is also intended that the packaging may have die-cut holes or flaps at various points throughout the product packaging to allow the device's mechanical features to be exposed for adjustment by the customer. In an alternative embodiment, the ends of the product packaging and the various points that correspond to mechanical features of the device may be protected by recloseable components that are attached in part to the product packaging.
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