Patent Application
20150114879
The present invention relates generally to display packaging for retail sale.
Display packaging is widely used to mount or contain articles for point of purchase displays. For a consumer, the packaging serves to provide information about the article. For instance, a customer may rely on information included on the packaging, such as depictions of the functions and features of the article in order to make an informed purchasing decision. The display of such information on the packaging may also aid the manufacturer and the retailers of the article; increasing the likelihood of a sale through the consumers informed purchasing decision. Additionally, the packaging of an article may be useful for marketing purposes, and may serve as a marketing platform. The coloring of the packaging, and the use of trademarks and other branding, may increase the likelihood of sale through brand recognition.
In some most display packages, articles are mounted or housed so as to be readily seen or appreciated by a consumer. While in some display packages, openings or windows of clear plastic are provided therein to allow the actual product to be seen and/or touched/manipulated, other display packages include pictures or representations of the product. It is understood that describing and showing the product in detail is desirable in a retain setting, since it may attract consumer attention by allowing consumers to become informed about the nature and operation of the article.
Outside of the retail setting, it may be desirable to occasionally obscure information about the content of a package. For example, when the package is to be given as a gift, obscuring the information and/or contents of the package until its unveiling by the recipient may heighten suspense and elation as to the contents. Some gift giving occasions are widely celebrated, thus it may be desirable to tailor display packaging for such occasions. Among other things, the present application relates to a unique display package that is configured to convert from a consumer/retail display form to a gift presentation form.
According to one aspect of the invention, a display package includes a first package portion configured to contain an article therein, a second package portion, and a coupling between the first package portion and the second package portion. The first package portion and the second package portion are movable via the coupling, between a retail configuration and a gift presentation configuration. Information describing the article is visible on an exterior of the display package when the first package portion and the second package portion are in the retail configuration. The information describing the article is obscured from the exterior of the display package when the first package portion and the second package portion are in the gift presentation configuration. The display package also includes a securement structure configured to releasably retain the first and second package portions in the retail configuration.
According to another aspect of the invention, a method for presenting a display package, the display package comprising a first package portion configured to contain an article therein, and a second package portion coupled to the first package portion by a coupling, includes releasing a securement structure configured to releasably retain the first package portion and the second package portion in a retail configuration where information describing the article is visible on an exterior of the display package. The method also includes moving the first package portion and the second package portion via the coupling from the retail configuration to a gift presentation configuration where information describing the article is obscured from the exterior of the display package.
These and other objects, features, and characteristics of the present invention, as well as the methods of operation and functions of the related elements of structure and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of the following description and the appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification, wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in the various figures. In one embodiment of the invention, the structural components illustrated herein are drawn to scale. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not a limitation of the invention. In addition, it should be appreciated that structural features shown or described in any one embodiment herein can be used in other embodiments as well. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. As used in the specification and in the claims, the singular form of “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
Features of the invention are shown in the drawings, in which like reference numerals designate like elements. The drawings form part of this original disclosure in which:
The display package 10 includes a first portion 20 and a second portion 30 joined at a coupling 40. In an embodiment, the coupling 40 is defined by a common edge between the first portion 20 and the second portion 30. For example, the coupling 40 may comprise a hinge between the first portion 20 and the second portion 30. In an embodiment, the hinge may comprise a living hinge formed by a common edge between the first portion 20 and the second portion 30. In an embodiment, the hinge may be formed by a separate hinge portion coupled between the first portion 20 and the second portion 30. Other configurations for the coupling 40 are possible in other embodiments, such as is described herein. In the illustrated embodiment, each of the first portion 20 and the second portion 30 generally have a triangular prism configuration, where the coupling 40 couples a front surface 20a of the first portion 20 with a front surface 30a of the second portion 30. In other embodiments, each of the first portion and the second portion may comprise another polyhedron configuration (e.g., being rectangular prisms, or having still additional faces). It may be appreciated that each of the first portion 20 and the second portion 30 may comprise a container for an article to be displayed in the display package 10. For example the first portion 20 and the second portion 30 may each include a hollow region therein for storage of a respective article, or portion of an article. As shown, in some embodiments one or more of the first portion 20 and the second portion 30 may include one or more apertures 50 therein (individually aperture 50a in the first portion 20 and aperture 50b in the second portion 30 in
In the illustrated embodiment, where the first portion 20 and the second portion 30 each comprise a triangular prism configuration, the first portion 20 and the second portion 30 may further comprise exterior side surfaces 20b and 30b respectively, as well as interior side surfaces 20c and 30c respectively. Each of the first portion 20 and the second portion 30 may additionally comprise top surfaces 20d and 30d respectively, and bottom surfaces 20e and 30e respectively.
As shown, in an embodiment the interior side surfaces 20c and 30c of the first portion 20 and the second portion 30 may be coupled by a securement structure 60, described in greater detail below. In an embodiment, the securement structure 60 may also have a triangular prism configuration, which may engage with the first portion 20 and the second portion 30, to form a trapezoid prism shape when coupled together. In an embodiment, the securement structure 60 may comprise a removable backing material to the first portion 20 and the second portion 30. It can be appreciated that securement structure 60 is configured to releasably retain the first portion 20 and the second portion 30 in the retail configuration, until at least the time at which the securement structure 60 is removed.
In an embodiment, the first portion 20, the second portion 30, and the securement structure 60 may be covered in a removable film (e.g., shrink-wrapped), or may be surrounded by a removable sleeve or shell, which may further hold the arrangement in the consumer/retail display configuration. It may be appreciated that the removable film, sleeve, or shell may be at least partially transparent so as to facilitate viewing of the remainder of the display package 10, and/or the article(s) to be displayed, such as when the display package 10 comprises one or more apertures 50 therein. It can be appreciated that the securement structure 60 may also provide rigidity to the display package 10 in its consumer/retail display configuration. In an embodiment, the securement structure 60 may be configured to structurally retain the first portion 20 and the second portion 30 in the shape of the retail display configuration, while the removable film, sleeve, or shell may secure the securement structure 60 to the first portion 20 and the second portion 30, holding the first portion 20 and the second portion 30 in the retail configuration. In some such embodiments, when a consumer removes the film, sleeve, or shell, the consumer may be able to manipulate the display package 10 to remove the securement structure 60 from the first portion 20 and the second portion 30, and place the first portion 20 and the second portion 30 into the gift presentation configuration, as described in greater detail herein.
Rather than a triangular prism box structure, the securement structure 60 may take the form of other structures. For example, it may comprise a removable rod connected at opposite ends between the first portion 20 and the second portion 30. Alternatively, the securement structure 60 may comprise perforated portions coupling the first portion 20 and the second portion 30, which may be detached or otherwise broken to allow the first portion 20 to move relative to the second portion 30 at the coupling 40 (which in an embodiment may lack perforations, so as to discourage separation of the first portion 20 and the second portion 30 at the coupling 40). Accordingly, in some embodiments the first portion 20 and the second portion 30 may be joined faces that align with one another in the retail configuration, but fold away from one another to convert to the gift presentation configuration.
In an embodiment, the coupling 40 between the first portion 20 and the second portion 30 may comprise a relatively thin material, which may allow the front surface 20a of the first portion 20 to fold against the front surface 30a of the second portion 30 when converting the display package 10 from the consumer/retail display configuration into the gift presentation configuration, as described below. For example, in some embodiments the coupling 40 may be defined by a common piece of cardboard or other such material forming both the front surface 20a and the front surface 30a. In an embodiment, such a common piece of material may be perforated to assist in facilitating folding thereat, as described in greater detail below. In some embodiments where the coupling 40 is perforated, the perforations may be sufficiently strong to discourage physical separation at the coupling 40 (such as in embodiments where the securement structure 60 comprises perforations, to prevent confusion between perforations configured to be broken, and perforations configured to be folded across). In an embodiment, the first portion 20 and the second portion 30 may be formed from a common piece of material (e.g., cardboard), which may be folded and secured into the polygonal shape, and may have a perforation therein at the coupling 40.
In some embodiments, a cover material may be mounted across both the front surface 20a and the front surface 30a (e.g., a common piece of cardboard, cardstock, or paper), which may couple the first portion 20 to the second portion 30 in both the consumer/retail display configuration as well as in the gift presentation configuration. In an embodiment, the cover material mounted across both the front surface 20a and the front surface 30a may be thin enough to facilitate folding at the coupling 40 between the first portion 20 and the second portion 30. In an embodiment comprising the cover material mounted across both the front surface 20a and the front surface 30a, the cover material may have apertures aligned with the apertures 50 in both the front surface 20a and the front surface 30a. In some such embodiments, transparent material or materials may be mounted between the cover material and each of the front surface 20a and the front surface 30a, so as to form a transparent window over the apertures 50.
In some embodiments, one or more of the first interior surface 60b and the interior side surface 20c of the first portion 20 may be joined with a separable material configured to hold the securement structure 60 to the first portion 20. Likewise, in some embodiments one or more of the second interior surface 60c and the interior side surface 30c of the second portion 30 may be joined with a separable material configured to hold the securement structure 60 to the second portion 30. In some embodiments, the securement structure 60 may be removably secured to the gift subassembly 70 by perforations which may be broken when separating the securement structure 60 from the gift subassembly 70. In other embodiments, a light adhesive may be placed between the securement structure 60 and the interior side surface 20c and/or the interior side surface 30c (e.g., to either or both sides, on either or both of the securement structure 60 and the gift subassembly 70), holding the securement structure 60 to the gift subassembly 70 until force is exerted to remove the securement structure 60. In an embodiment, such an adhesive may be applied to the securement structure 60 in a manner that does not remain on the gift subassembly 70 when the securement structure 60 is removed.
As shown in
Accordingly, in some embodiments, while marketing, information, and/or sales indicia are confined to the front surface 20a and the front surface 30a, the surfaces 20b-e and the surfaces 30b-e may be covered in decorative imagery, which may be reminiscent of wrapping paper traditionally utilized to obscure products for gift presentation. In some embodiments, information and/or sales indicia that do not provide details as to the contents or nature of the product(s) in the display package 10 may still be provided on one or more of the surfaces 20b-e and the surfaces 30b-e, such as a barcode or other machine readable indicator.
In some embodiments, placing the gift subassembly 70 into the gift presentation configuration may fix the gift subassembly 70 into that configuration, obscuring the contents and nature of the product(s) therein until the gift subassembly 70 is opened (e.g., by a gift recipient). As an example, in an embodiment the front surface 20a and/or the front surface 30a may include an attachment component thereon configured to hold the front surface 20a to the front surface 30a. For example, in an embodiment one or more of the front surface 20a and the front surface 30a may comprise an adhesive portion with a removable cover. The removable cover may be removed by the consumer when converting the display package 10 into the gift presentation configuration, exposing the adhesive, which may bond between the front surface 20a and the front surface 30a, holding the gift subassembly 70 in the gift presentation configuration, whereupon it may subsequently be opened by a gift recipient. As another example, in an embodiment, magnets and/or corresponding metal portions on opposing ones of the front surface 20a and the front surface 30a, which may hold the gift subassembly 70 in the gift presentation configuration until opened by a gift recipient. In another embodiment, tabs on one or more of the first portion 20 and the second portion 30 may be configured to selectively engage with slots on the other of the first portion 20 or the second portion 30, to hold the front surface 20a against the front surface 30a. Other mechanisms for holding the front surface 20a to the front surface 30a may be implemented in other embodiments.
In some embodiments, the securement structure 60 may contain therein or thereon attachments associated with converting the display package 10 from the consumer/retail display configuration into the gift presentation configuration, or enhancing the gift presentation configuration. For example, as shown in
In the illustrated embodiment, the securement product may comprise a ribbon 80 which may be utilized to hold the gift subassembly 70 in the gift presentation configuration, by sliding the ribbon over the gift subassembly 70 in the gift presentation configuration, as illustrated in
In an embodiment, hook and loop fastener material may be utilized in the display package 10, and may hold the first portion 20 and the second portion 30 in either the retail configuration or the gift presentation configuration. For example, in an embodiment, material comprising hooks and/or loops may be positioned on one or more of the first portion 20 and the second portion 30. In an embodiment, the securement structure 60 may comprise one or more hook members positioned to engage loop members on the interior side surfaces 20c and 30c, to hold the display package 10 in the retail configuration, which may be detached, and the hook members may be repositioned (or other hook members may be provided) to engage loop members on the front surface 20a and the front surface 30a, to hold the display package 10 in the gift presentation configuration. Accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more portions of the exterior of the first portion 20 and the second portion 30 may comprise hook members and/or loop members, which may engage with others of hook members and/or loop members provided with or on the display package 10 (such as on or stored within the securement structure 60) to hold the display package 10 in either the retail configuration or the gift presentation configuration. In an embodiment, the ribbon 80 or other products stored in the securement structure 60 may comprise hook and/or loop portions to facilitate removable securement thereof onto or around the gift subassembly 70, or other products associated therewith.
In some embodiments, the ribbon 80 may have opposing loose ends, and may be secured around the gift subassembly 70 by adhesive or other securement mechanisms, which may be contained in the securement structure 60. In an embodiment, the ribbon 80 may include adhesive preassembled thereon, which may be covered by a removable cover, thus allowing the ribbon to be secured about the gift subassembly 70 with a tightness selected by the consumer placing the display packaging 10 into the gift presentation configuration. In some embodiments, the ribbon 80 may comprise a loop of elastic material configured to snugly surround the gift subassembly 70, and hold the gift subassembly 70 in the gift presentation configuration.
In an embodiment where a ribbon 80 is provided in the securement structure 60, the ribbon 80 may contain a bow 90 preassembled thereon. Such a configuration is illustrated in
As further shown in
Although the invention has been described in detail for the purpose of illustration based on what is currently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that such detail is solely for that purpose and that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover modifications and equivalent arrangements that are within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example, it is to be understood that the present invention contemplates that, to the extent possible, one or more features of any embodiment can be combined with one or more features of any other embodiment.
