Patent Application
20110147239
A wet wipe, also known as a wet nap, wet towel or a moist towelette, is a small moistened piece of paper or cloth that often comes folded in a package or individually wrapped for convenience. While wet wipes have become a standard part of diaper changing kits, they also serve a number of household purposes. They are typically used for cleansing, sanitizing, treating, or disinfecting. Wet wipes are generally moistened with a product-specific solution.
Wet wipes offer a versatile and efficient method for the delivery of liquids to surfaces whether for personal hygiene, cleansing, disinfection or treatment. Wipes can be used on surfaces or for personal use in every room of the house including toilet seats and flush handles, bathroom sinks, counters and faucet handles, kitchen countertops, exterior appliances surfaces, stoves, refrigerator handles, door knobs, telephones, non-wood desk surfaces, diaper pails, stair case banisters, pet areas, and even TV remote controls.
For consumers, portability adds to the appeal of pre-moistened wipes in today's mobile, fast-paced culture. Wipes can be used at home, at the gym, outdoors, and while traveling or dining out. For healthcare professionals on the go, the portable delivery system is critical. Wet wipes are typically packaged in tubs formed from rigid material. Flow wrap or “soft pack” packages have been used to supply refills of wet wipes for use with traditional tub products or even as stand-alone dispensers.
Fears over the spread of disease, such as swine or bird flu, have increased the use of disinfecting wet wipes in recent years. In addition, the spread of big box stores that sell products in bulk have further increased the sale of wet wipe products.
A need exists to address problems associated with efficiently packing wet wipe products for individual use in a bulk or multiple pack configuration that is acceptable and convenient for consumer distribution. Therefore, it would be beneficial to have a superior alternative to bags, bands or boxes for distributing multiple packages.
The needs set forth herein as well as further and other needs and advantages are addressed by the present embodiments, which illustrate solutions and advantages described below.
The bundle of packages of the present embodiment includes, but is not limited to: two or more adjacent packages, with or without wipes (e.g., empty refill container), for consumer use, each of the two or more adjacent packages having a generally rectangular shape with a long side and a short side and positioned adjacent to each other such that their long sides and short sides align with each other, and a label having a first side and a second side, the second side of the label at least partially affixed to the two or more adjacent packages in order to retain them, the label adapted for separating at locations between each adjacent pair of the two or more adjacent packages to facilitate removal of an individual package, and the label further having a handle portion at least partially separable from the label, wherein the handle of the label in a first position is generally parallel with the label such that it has a low profile, and wherein in a second separated position the handle of the label allows a user to grasp the label and carry the two or more adjacent packages. The label may be oriented on the long, short, or even both sides of the stack. Furthermore, the label may wrap around the horizontal side panel and attach to the top and/or bottom of the stack.
The method of manufacturing a bundle of packages, includes, but is not limited to: arranging two or more packages adjacent to each other, each package having a plurality of wet or dry wipes, and affixing a label to each of the two or more packages to retain them, the label adapted for separating at locations between each adjacent pair of the two or more adjacent packages to facilitate removal of a package, and each label further having a handle portion at least partially separable from the label, wherein the handle of the label in a first position is generally parallel with the label such that it has a low profile, and wherein in a second separated position the handle of the label allows a user to grasp the label and carry the two or more adjacent packages.
Other embodiments of the label and method of manufacturing are described in detail below and are also part of the present teachings.
For a better understanding of the present embodiments, together with other and further aspects thereof, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and detailed description, and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.
The present teachings are described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the present embodiments are shown. The following description is presented for illustrative purposes only and the present teachings should not be limited to these embodiments.
Increased fears over the spread of germs and disease, as well as the increased ability to purchase products in bulk, although not limited thereto, have lead to an increase in demand for wet wipe products. Packaging or ganging multiple units of similar or dissimilar product types and sizes together provides benefits to both the consumer, who can purchase a desirable amount of wet wipes in a unitary product at a bulk-rate price, as well as to the manufacturer, who gains increased sales and savings with easier distribution.
To accommodate the increased demand for wet wipes, in one embodiment, although not limited thereto, multiple wet wipe packages 100 may be stacked and the label 102 affixed to one side of the stack in order to create a unitary bundle as shown in
Wet wipe packages 100 coupled together with the embodiment of a label 102 in
Referring now to
Referring now to
It is desirable to provide a moisture-lock lid 120 to a foil pack wet wipe package 110. In this way, a foil pack wet wipe package 110 is provided for stand-alone use with the benefits of ease of distribution and reseal-ability to protect the wet wipes therein. The moisture-lock lid 120 may comprise a base portion affixed to the foil pack wet wipe package 110 and a top portion hingedly affixed to the base portion, although not limited thereto. The foil pack wet wipe packages 110 may be bundled for distribution with the label 102 in a way similar to those shown in
Referring now to
In one embodiment, although not limited thereto, the label 102 may have a number of perforations 132 or adapted with some other means for separating the multiple packages. Perforations 132 may be provided between each pair of adjacent wet wipe packages 100, discussed further below. This allows a consumer who purchases a bundle of wet wipe packages 100 to individually remove each individual package one at a time for use. The remaining wet wipe packages 100 are then retained with the remaining label 102 portion for continued ease of transportation and storage.
Referring now to
In one embodiment, although not limited thereto, the handle 142 may be in a generally rectangular shape as shown, and be positioned along the length of the label 140. One side of the handle 142 may be partially separable from the label 140 with perforations, separations, or some similar means for allowing the handle 142 to be folded up from the label 140 as shown in
Perforations 132 may be provided on the label 140 to permit multiple wet wipe packages 100 to be easily separated from each other. The handle 142 may similarly have perforations 132 so that each individual wet wipe package may be easily removed from the bundle, yet any remaining packages may remain retained to each other and still may have the use of the remaining portion of the handle 142 to aid in transportation.
Referring now to
Referring now to
In one embodiment, although not limited thereto, the handle 162 may be in a generally oval shape as shown, and may be positioned along the length of the label 160. One side of the handle 162 may be partially separable from the label 160, with perforations, separations, or some similar means for allowing the handle 162 to be folded up from the label 160 as shown in
It is appreciated that the label 160 and the handle 162 may be configured in any number of different shapes and orientations, and the present teachings are not limited to these specific embodiments, which are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to be limiting.
The label 160 may also have advertisements, coupons, or other designs thereon (not shown). In another embodiment, the label may be clear so as not to affect the design of the individual packages. It is appreciated that one skilled in the art could create any number of different label designs according to the present teachings and the present teachings are limited to these particular embodiments. For example, the label may also contain a detachable coupon.
Referring now to
Referring not to
While the present teachings have been described above in terms of specific embodiments, it is to be understood that they are not limited to these disclosed embodiments. Many modifications and other embodiments will come to mind to those skilled in the art to which this pertains, and which are intended to be and are covered by both this disclosure and the appended claims. It is intended that the scope of the present teachings should be determined by proper interpretation and construction of the appended claims and their legal equivalents, as understood by those of skill in the art relying upon the disclosure in this specification and the attached drawings.
