Patent Application
20190210763
The techniques described herein relate to a collapsible product display container and its assembly, and particularly to a product display container designed to be easily shipped in two main pieces and then assembled at the point of sale without bolts, screws or other separate hardware, and to have built-in receptacles for insertion and display of marketing materials and banners at the point of sale.
Current collapsible containers are known in the art for use as pet crates, or for displaying and shipping products. Most current art collapsible containers require assembly via screws, bolts, or other separate hardware. Some current containers are collapsible, wherein four side walls are designed so as to be independently detachable and are configured to each be vertically inserted into a pallet base or bottom via downward protrusions at the base of the side walls that interact with recesses on the pallet base to engage through vertical motion. Collapsible pallets are also known. Some current foldable pallets that are assembled without screws, bolts, or other similar hardware comprise a pallet bottom having four permanently affixed sides that hinge inward so that the edges of the sides meet and snap together with an attached latch system, wherein the sides are not detachable from the pallet bottom for shipment or storage.
It would be desirable to provide a collapsible pallet/product display container having features desirable for ease of shipping or storage of the containers, ease of assembly at the point of sale, and that also has advantageous product display features that are designed to display banners and other marketing materials after easy assembly of the collapsible pallet/product display container at the point of sale.
The techniques described herein provide an apparatus for a collapsible product display container comprising four hingedly connected side walls and a pallet bottom configured to allow traditional lifting and moving of the display container following assembly. The four side walls of the product display container are hingedly interconnected to each other so that they may be folded flat for ease of shipment of the container, but such that they may also be expanded to a rectangular form and attached to the pallet bottom to serve as four upright sides of the product container following assembly. The four hingedly connected sides and the pallet bottom may be shipped individually and then easily connected in order to assemble the product display container at the point of sale. The product display container also includes desirable advertising/marketing features for use as a product display container.
In one embodiment, a collapsible product display container is provided. The container may comprise a pallet bottom configured to allow lifting and moving of the display container. The container further comprises four side walls, including a front side wall, a back side wall, and two lateral side walls, wherein the four side walls are permanently hingedly connected to each other, but are reversibly attachable to the pallet bottom. The container may further comprise at least one, and preferably multiple, clamping attachment protrusions that are rigidly affixed to the pallet bottom that will hold the four side walls in upright vertical orientation in relation to the top surface of the pallet bottom following assembly of the product display container without screws or bolts. During shipment, prior to assembly, or following disassembly of the product display container, the four side walls may be folded at their hinge connection points so as to lay substantially flat for shipment or storage.
Another aspect of the techniques described herein provides a collapsible product display container that also serves as a marketing vehicle for product advertisements and sales banners at the point of sale following the assembly of the container. The container may comprise a pallet bottom and four hingedly connected side walls whose bottom edges may be “snapped” into place in the one or more clamping attachment protrusions that are affixed to the pallet bottom such that the four side walls will then be in upright vertical positions attached to said pallet bottom following assembly. The container may further comprise a first advertisement display case that is hingedly connected by one or more hinges to the uppermost edge of the back side wall, and which is designed to hold advertising banners or marketing materials after assembly at the point of sale. During assembly of the container, the first advertisement display case may be rotated upwards pivoting around the one or more hinges connecting it to the back side wall such that the first advertisement display case is raised above but into a vertical plane with the back side wall and therefore has a vertical planar alignment with the back side wall of the display container. The first advertisement display case may be held in the vertical planar alignment in relation to the container's back side wall by use of a pin that can be inserted through a cylindrical-shaped guide member that is rigidly attached to the first advertisement display case and into cylindrical-shaped receiving means that is rigidly attached to the back side wall. The container may further comprise a second advertising display case that is rigidly affixed to the front side wall of the container and which may also be used for display of an additional advertising banner or other marketing material at the point of sale.
It is noted that the appended drawings illustrate only exemplary embodiments of the techniques described herein and are, therefore, not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the techniques may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
The techniques described herein provide an apparatus for a collapsible product display container comprising a pallet bottom configured to allow traditional lifting and moving of the display container and four side walls. The four side walls of the container are not attached to the pallet bottom during shipment or storage of the collapsible product display container. The four side walls are permanently hingedly connected to each other. At the time of assembly of the container, the four side walls may be easily attached in an upright vertical position to the pallet bottom by means of one or more clamping attachment protrusions on the pallet bottom so as to form a rectangular cuboid structure that is open at the top upon final assembly of the container that is capable of holding products to be sold. The opening at the top of the container allows customers to reach in and remove products from the container at the point of sale. The product display container may also include desirable features for use in the marketing and sales of products at the point of sale, namely, two separate advertisement display cases that can hold removable product display signage.
Because the four side walls of the product display container are hingedly connected, they may be laid substantially flat when they are not connected to the pallet bottom. When laid flat, the hingedly connected side walls may be shipped to a product supply company, along with the pallet bottom, as an unassembled, relatively compact arrangement to lessen shipping and handling costs. A supplier of product may then easily assemble the product display container at the point of sale by pulling open the hingedly connected side walls, standing the four side walls upright so that their joint perimeter forms a rectangle, and then attaching the bottom edges of each of the four side walls to the pallet bottom by means of snapping them into place within the one or more clamping attachment protrusions connected to the pallet bottom. The supplier of product may then fill the product display container with products to be sold. The pallet aspects of the container may than be used to assist in the movement and placement of the container and any product that the supplier may have placed into the container at the point of sale location (such as a retail store).
The product display container may be manufactured from a wide variety of materials. For example in one embodiment the container may be formed from thick rigid metal wire having a mesh pattern. In one embodiment, all of the side walls and the pallet bottom may be formed of such metal wire material. It is understood that the product display container could also be made of metal without a mesh pattern, or made of plastic, or some other rigid material or combinations thereof. In addition, the various components may be formed via a mesh pattern, solid sheets, or other arrangement or combinations thereof. In fact, it will be recognized that the advantageous container provided herein that combines a collapsible mechanism with advantageous product shipping and display functionality is not limited to any particular type of material.
With reference to
The first advertisement display case 120 can thus be rotated either upward or downward in relation to the back side wall 206 by means of the hinging mechanism provided by the back side hinge member 122 and display hinge member 124 provided that the pin 130 has first been removed from the cylinder-shaped guide member 126 and the cylinder-shaped receiving means 128. As shown in
A highly versatile container is therefore provided having a variety of independent features that may be used together or in alternative embodiments may be comprised of some subset of the features. For example, the container is collapsible into two main pieces to provide an ease of shipping and storage of the container itself. The container includes a pallet bottom that assists in shipping and movement of the container (for example to and at a point of sale location), and also includes the four side walls that are permanently hingedly connected in the manner described above and as illustrated in the drawings, but which may be laid substantially flat for shipping or storage of the container. The container may be easily assembled from the two main pieces (pallet bottom and four side walls) without the need for additional hardware, screws and the like. Further, a variety of point of sale uses may be achieved by embodiments of the container providing an open space in the front side wall and/or two separate advertisement display cases that may be optionally included as parts of container.
It will be recognized that the various hinges, receiving mechanisms, pins, and other elements described herein are merely illustrative. One skilled in the art will recognize the functionality described herein may be achieved through a wide variety of hinges, receiving mechanisms, pins, locking mechanisms, attachment means, or the like. It will also be recognized that the container described herein has a variety of independent features that may be used separately from each other and all features are not required in order to gain the benefit of the concepts disclosed herein.
Further modifications and alternative embodiments of the techniques described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of this description. It will be recognized, therefore, that the techniques described herein are not limited by these example arrangements. Accordingly, this description is to be construed as illustrative only and is for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the manner of carrying out the techniques described herein. It is to be understood that the forms of the techniques described herein shown and described are to be taken as the presently preferred embodiments. Various changes may be made in the implementations and architectures. For example, equivalent elements may be substituted for those illustrated and described herein and certain features of the techniques described herein may be utilized independently of the use of other features, all as would be apparent to one skilled in the art after having the benefit of this description of the techniques.
