Patent Application
20210316923
Retail packaging requirements can vary depending on the product being sold as well as the retail environment in which the product is being sold. Factors to consider when products are being sold at big box retailers, for example, include marketing, store presentation and theft reduction. Other factors to consider may include environmental concerns as well as a cost of manufacturing the packaging. For example, some retailers may prefer to limit certain plastic materials in their packaging in an effort to reduce plastic pollution. However, reducing the use of plastic while maintaining suitable product presentation in a cost-effective manner may be difficult.
Exemplary embodiments include a package assembly. The package assembly includes a sheet precut and folded along scored lines to form a protruding portion defining a cavity within which a product is received and a planar, sealed portion extending from the protruding portion.
Exemplary embodiments also include a package assembly including a protruding portion defining a cavity within which a product is to be received and a planar, sealed portion extending from the protruding portion. The package assembly includes a sheet including a first portion configured to be folded to form a first side of the package assembly from which the protruding portion extends and a second portion forming a second, planar side of the package assembly opposite the first side of the package assembly, the first portion foldable toward and sealable against the second portion to define the protruding portion and the sealed portion.
Exemplary embodiments also include a method for assembling a package. The method includes folding a first portion of a sheet along scored lines to form a protruding portion defining a cavity, folding the first portion of the sheet toward a second portion of the sheet, and sealing the first portion against the second portion to fix the protruding portion and form a sealed portion extending from the protruding portion, the sealed portion being substantially planar.
The exemplary embodiments may be further understood with reference to the following description and the related appended drawings, wherein like elements are provided with the same reference numerals. The exemplary embodiments relate to retail packaging for a product. In particular, exemplary embodiments relate to a packaging assembled via a sheet of material such as, for example, a paper or other plant-based material, configured to be folded and sealed to form a cavity for holding the product. It will be understood by those of skill in the art that although the exemplary embodiments show a packaging assembly having a particular shape and configuration, the sheet of material from which the packaging assembly is formed may be cut and shaped in any of a variety of shapes and sizes to form packaging assemblies including cavities having any of a variety of dimensions and configurations.
According to one exemplary embodiment, a package assembly 100, as shown in
In one embodiment, the protruding portion 108 protrudes from one side (e.g., a front side) of the package assembly 100 so that an opposite side (e.g., a back side) of the packaging assembly 100 is substantially planar. The protruding portion 108 defines an enclosed, substantially rectangular cavity 106 that is configured to hold a product therein. In one embodiment, the cavity 106 is sized and shaped to substantially correspond to the product to be received therein. In another embodiment, the package assembly 100 further includes additional part(s) such as, for example, inserts and/or a fixing mechanism such as, for example, twist ties or zip ties, that may be received within the cavity 106 along with the product to better hold and present the product therein. These additional parts may be particularly useful when, for example, the product is non-uniform in size (e.g., is smaller than a size of the cavity 106 or does not conform to a shape of the cavity 106). The protruding portion 108 may also include an opening 112 extending through a portion thereof so that, when the product is received within the cavity 106, the product is visible to a consumer via the opening 112. The opening 112 may be die cut through the sheet 102 and may have any of a variety of shapes and sizes. The opening 112 may be positioned along any portion of the protruding portion 108 to display the contents of the cavity 106. In one embodiment, a transparent material such as, for example, a sheet of plastic, may extend over the opening 112 to protect the product within the cavity 106.
As described above, the package assembly 100 also includes the sealed portion 110 extending about the protruding portion 108. In one embodiment, the sealed portion 110 extends from three edges of the protruding portion 108. It will be understood by those of skill in the art, however, that the sealed portion 110 may extend from any edge of the protruding portion 108 and may have any of a variety of shapes and sizes. The sealed portion 110 is substantially planar to act as a billboard along which marketing material may be printed. The sealed portion 110 also facilitates theft reduction and store presentation. For example, the sealed portion 110 may facilitate receipt of the package assembly 100 within a correspondingly sized and shaped opening of a display tray.
The sheet 102 may be formed of a paper or other plant-based material so as to reduce plastic usage in packaging. In one embodiment the sheet 102 is formed of cardboard and, in particular, a corrugated cardboard. The sheet 102, however, may include any material so long as the sheet 102 is sufficiently rigid to hold the shape of the cavity 106, once folded and sealed, while also being foldable along scored lines 104, 105, 138. As shown in
In one embodiment, the first portion 114 includes a substantially rectangular face portion 134 and four side wall portions 136a, 136b, 136c, 136d (collectively referred to as side walls 136) which, when folded relative to the rectangular face portion 134, form the protruding portion 108 of the package assembly 100. Scored lines 104a, 104b, 104c, 104d define the four sides of the rectangular face portion 134 so that the four side wall portions 136 may be folded relative to the rectangular face portion 134 therealong. The side walls 136 are folded along the scored lines 104 until corresponding edges 118 defining corners 120 of the package assembly 100 are drawn toward one another to form the protruding portion 108. In one embodiment, the side walls 136 are also substantially rectangular. It will be understood by those of skill in the art that opposing ones of the side walls 136a, 136c and 136b, 136d have the same size and shape to form the substantially rectangular protruding portion 108. It will also be understood by those of skill in the art that the dimensions of the rectangular face portion 134 and the side walls 136 determine the dimensions of the cavity 106 defined via the protruding portion 108.
The first portion 114 also includes mating portions 126a, 126b, 126c (collectively referred to as mating portions 126) extending from corresponding ones of the side walls 136. The mating portions 126 are foldable relative to a corresponding one of the side walls 136 along scored lines 105a, 105b, 105c so that, when sealed against the second portion 116, the mating portions 126a-126c form the sealed portion 110 of the package assembly 100. It will be understood by those of skill in the art that the mating portions 126 are folded relative to corresponding side walls 136 along scored lines 105 in an opposite direction than along the scored lines 104. Interior edges 124 of adjacent mating portions 126a-126c are aligned and the first portion 114 is folded toward the second portion along scored line 138 so that the mating portions 126 of the first portion 114 may be sealed against the second portion 116 to fix the protruding portion 108 in the desired configuration and to form the sealed portions 110 of the package assembly 102. It will be understood by those of skill in the art that a size and shape of each of the mating portions 126 may vary depending on a desired shape, size and configuration of the sealed portion 110.
In one embodiment, the second portion 116 may have a substantially rectangular shape. It will be understood by those of skill in the art that the dimensions of the second portion 116 may vary depending on desired dimensions for the protruding portion 108 and the sealed portions 110. As shown, the second portion 116 and portions of the first portion 114 may have rounded corners so that corners of the sealed edges 132 of the package assembly 100 are also rounded to prevent injury. Although the exemplary embodiments show and describe three mating portions 126a, 126b. 126c, it will be understood by those of skill in the art that the first portion 114 may include four mating portions, each mating portion extending from a corresponding one of the four side walls 136a-136d.
It will be understood by those of skill in the art that exterior edges 128 of mating portions 126 of the first portion 114 and edges 130 of the second portion 116 will align to form sealed edges 132 of the package assembly 100. The mating portions 126 may be sealed to the second portion 116 via sealing methods including, for example, cold seal, hot seal and hot melt processes. It will be understood by those of skill in the art that prior to sealing the mating portions 126 of the first portion 114 with the second portion 116, the product and any additional parts (e.g., inserts, ties) for holding the product will be inserted into the cavity 106 for sealing therewithin.
As described above, marketing material including, for example, relevant images and product information, may be printed along the sealed portion 110. Since, however, the entire exterior of the package assembly 102 is comprised of the same sheet material, marketing material may be printed along any portion of the package assembly 100, including the protruding portion 108 and the planar opposite side formed via the second portion 116 of the sheet 102.
The sheet 102 may include any of a variety of shapes and sizes and include scored lines 104 in any of a variety of positions to form a protruding portion 108 and sealed portion 110 of the package assembly 100 having any of variety of dimensions. As described above, the first portion 114 of the sheet 102 may also include the opening 112 extending therethrough so that, once folded and sealed to form the package assembly 102, the opening 112 extends through the protruding portion 108. In one embodiment, the opening 112 extends through the face portion 134 of the sheet 102. According to one example, the opening 112 may extend through both the opening 112 and one or more of the side walls 136. As described above, a plastic sheet may be affixed over the opening 112 to cover and/or protect the product received within the formed cavity 106.
It will be understood by those of skill in the art that although the exemplary embodiments show and describe one sheet 102 for forming the package assembly 102, the package assembly may be comprised of one or more sheets. For example, in another embodiment, the first and second portions 114, 116, as described above, may be configured as two separate sheets of material.
According to an alternate embodiment, as shown in
A package assembly 200, as shown in
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in the present disclosure, without departing from the spirit or the scope of the disclosure. Thus, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalent.
