Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6536655
-
Patent Number
6,536,655
-
Date Filed
Friday, March 1, 200222 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, March 25, 200321 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
- Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 229 115
- 229 148
- 206 320
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A package for holding a lamp and collapsible shade where a blank is folded into an open ended generally triangularly shaped box, the lamps and collapsible shade being disposed in the box and the open end of the box being closed off by a foldable panel.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to packaging, and, more particularly, to a package for accommodating a lamp and collapsible shade for shipment.
2. General Background and State of the Art
Various packages are known for shipping lamps and shades. Generally, such packages must be relatively large and bulky to accommodate a lamp and its shade. Some shades are collapsible but heretofore there has been no package that could economically accommodate a lamp and its collapsible shade for shipment in a safe manner.
There is a need for a package for shipping a lamp and its shade in a safe manner that uses less packaging material than known packages.
INVENTION SUMMARY
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved package for shipping a lamp and its collapsible shade.
It is a further object of this invention to carry out the foregoing object using a lesser amount of packaging material than known similar packages.
These and other objects are preferably accomplished by a blank which can be folded into an open ended generally triangularly shaped box, a lamp and a collapsible shade being disposed in the box and the open end of the box being closed off by a foldable panel.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a plan view of a blank for forming the package of the invention;
FIG. 2
is a view of the assembled blank of
FIG. 1
forming a package, a second identical package being disposed by the side of the first package;
FIG. 3
is a partially assembled view of the blank of
FIG. 1
into a package;
FIG. 4
is a view of one of the packages of
FIG. 1
open to show a lamp and collapsible shade mounted therein;
FIG. 5
is a view similar to
FIG. 4
showing another type of package in accordance with the invention; and
FIG. 6
is a view similar to
FIG. 2
showing four of the packages of
FIG. 5
mounted side by side.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to
FIG. 1
of the drawing, a blank
10
is shown for forming the box or package
11
shown in assembled position in
FIG. 2
(two such boxes
11
disposed side by side are shown, which is how they might be displayed on a store shelf or the like).
As seen in
FIG. 1
, a first flat planar generally square shaped panel
12
is shown foldably connected at fold line
13
to a second flat generally rectangular planar panel
14
. As will be discussed, panel
14
may be as long as panel
12
but slightly shorter.
A first flap
15
is foldably connected to panel
12
along fold line
16
. Flap
15
may be generally trapezoidally shaped having tapered spaced sides
17
,
18
.
A pair of smaller flaps
19
,
20
are disposed along side walls
21
,
22
, respectively, of panel
12
at generally the middle of each side wall
21
,
22
. Each flap
19
,
20
is foldably connected to panel
12
along its respective fold lines
21
,
22
. Each flap
19
,
20
is also generally trapezoidally shaped having tapered spaced side walls (side walls
23
,
24
of flap
19
and side walls
25
,
26
of flap
20
).
A pair of spaced slits (
27
,
28
for flap
19
and
29
,
30
for flap
20
) extend inwardly in panel
12
about the width of each flap
19
,
20
. These slits extend to a fold line on panel
12
(that is, slits
27
,
28
terminate at fold line
31
and slits
29
,
30
terminate at fold line
32
). Fold lines
31
,
32
are parallel to its respective fold line
21
,
22
and slits
27
,
28
and
29
,
30
extend normal thereto.
Panel
14
has a generally triangularly shaped panel
33
,
34
on each side thereof connected thereto along respective fold lines
35
,
36
. Panels
33
,
34
are as long as the shorter side walls of panel
14
and each has a flap (flaps
37
,
38
, respectively) connected to its respective panel
33
,
34
along respective fold lines
39
,
40
. Each flap
37
,
38
is also generally trapezoidally shaped having spaced tapered side walls
41
,
42
and
43
,
44
, respectively. A generally rectangular cut-out slot (slot
45
along fold line
39
and slot
46
along fold line
40
) is provided on each flap
37
,
38
.
A third generally planar rectangular panel
47
is provided connected to panel
14
along fold line
54
. Panel
47
is as wide as panel
14
along fold line
54
but lesser in width.
A pair of flaps
48
,
49
are foldably connected on opposite sides of panel
47
along respective fold lines
50
,
51
. A cut-out slit (slit
52
between flaps
33
,
48
and slit
53
between flaps
34
,
49
) is provided on each side of panels
14
,
47
for ease of assembly.
The assembly of panel
10
into the box
11
of
FIG. 2
will be now described. Panel
12
is folded along fold line
13
and panel
47
is folded along fold line
34
. Flap
15
is glued or otherwise secured to panel
47
(preferably on the side shown in FIG.
1
).
This intermediate position is shown in
FIG. 3
, the panels
12
,
47
being secured along fold line
54
. Panel
49
is folded inwardly and panel
34
is folded at fold line
36
on top of panel
34
with flap
38
extending under panel
12
closing off one end of box
11
. Tab
20
is now inserted into slot
46
thus securing panel
34
in place.
At the opposite open end, panel
48
is folded inwardly and panel
33
is folded on top of panel
48
with its flap
37
abutting against panel
12
on the side thereof shown in FIG.
1
. Flap
19
is now folded about its fold line
21
and inserted into slot
45
thus closing off the open end of box
11
.
As seen in
FIG. 2
, the side panels
12
can be disposed adjacent each other forming a generally rectangularly shaped shipping package where two such boxes
11
may be shipped together.
Any suitable dimensions may be used. For example, panel
12
may be about 19¼″×19¼″, panel
47
may be about 10½″×19¼″ inches and panel
14
may be about 19¼″×16½″. The other panels and flaps may be similarly dimensioned.
Any suitable materials may be used. Cardboard is preferred for its economical cost and foldability.
The packaging of a lamp and its collapsible shade are shown in FIG.
4
. Box
11
is shown looking down inside toward one of the side wall panels, such as panel
34
. A conventional lamp
55
is shown having its base
56
resting on the bottom panel
34
. A collapsible shade
58
is collapsed and disposed between lamp
55
and side wall panel
12
. The other end or panel
33
is now folded and closed as heretofore discussed. If desired, packaging material, such as bubble wrap or the like, may be disposed inside of box
11
between lamp
55
and shade
58
. Also, the lamp
55
and shade
58
may be wrapped in protective material. Although the shade
58
is shown in
FIG. 4
as disposed along the “hypotenuse” side of box
11
(panel
12
), it may also be disposed along the base side (panel
14
).
Although the triangularly shaped sides
33
,
34
,
48
,
49
are shown as connected to their respective panels in a particular orientation, obviously the hypotenuse of each side may extend in a mirror image thereof. Also, although a blank is disclosed, the panels may be separate parts secured in any suitable manner to form the triangularly shaped open ended box shown in FIG.
3
. The open end can then be closed off in any suitable manner after the lamp and shade are mounted therein.
As seen in
FIG. 5
, lamp
55
and shade
58
are shown disposed inside of a box
100
wherein the panel
120
, otherwise identical to panel
12
, extends at an angle from the base thereof.
As seen in
FIG. 6
, four boxes
100
similar to those in
FIG. 5
are disposed side by side, the angled sides adjacent each other as shown.
Although a particular embodiment of the invention is disclosed, variations thereof may occur to an artisan and the scope of the invention should only be limited to the scope of the appended claims.
While the specification describes particular embodiments of the present invention, those of ordinary skill can devise variations of the present invention without departing from the inventive concept.
Claims
- 1. A blank for forming a package to hold a lamp and a collapsible shade comprising:a first generally planar panel (12) connected by a fold line (16) to a second generally planar panel (14); a third generally planar panel (47) connected to the second generally planar panel (14) the width of said panels being substantially the same and the first panel (12) being slightly longer than the second panel (14) and the third panel (47) being substantially shorter than the second panel (14); a flap (15) connected to said first panel (12) along a fold line (16) remote from the fold line (13) where said first panel is connected to said second panel (14); a pair of side flaps (19, 20) foldably connected to spaced sides of said first panel (12); a pair of generally triangularly shaped panels (33, 34) connected by fold lines (35), (36) to spaced sides of said second panel (14), one of said triangularly shaped panels being connected to the same side as where one of said side flaps is connected to said first panel (12), and the other of said triangularly shaped panels being connected to the same side as where the other of said flaps is connected to said first panel, each of said triangularly shaped panels (33, 34) having flaps (37, 38) connected thereto by fold lines (39, 40) spaced from the fold lines (35, 36) connecting said triangularly shaped panels to said second panel; and a pair of triangularly shaped panels (48, 49) connected by fold lines (50, 51) on opposite sides of said third panel (47), one of said last mentioned triangularly shaped panels being connected to the same side as where one of said first mentioned triangularly shaped panels is connected to said second panel (14), and the other of said last mentioned triangularly shaped panels being connected to the same side as where the other of said first mentioned triangularly shaped panels is connected to said second panel.
- 2. The blank of claim 1 wherein a pair of slits extend through said first panel from opposite sides of each of said pair of side flaps connected to spaced sides of said first panel at the point where each of said pair of side flaps are connected to said first panel inwardly to a fold line spaced from the fold line connecting each of said flaps to said first panel.
- 3. The blank of claim 1 including a pair of slots formed along the fold lines where each of the flaps are connected to the triangularly shaped panels connected to said second panel.
- 4. The blank of claim 1 wherein each of said triangularly shaped panels has a long side, a short side and a hypotenuse connected to one end of said short side, said short sides of respective ones of said triangularly shaped panels connected to said third panel being disposed against the short sides of respective ones of said triangularly shaped panels connected to said second panel.
US Referenced Citations (9)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
2043595 |
Oct 1980 |
GB |