US20060124717A1

US20060124717A1 - Mailing package

Info

Publication number: US20060124717A1
Application number: US10/534,518
Authority: US
Inventors: Daniel Thomas Lintell
Original assignee: Glaxo Group Ltd
Current assignee: Glaxo Group Ltd
Priority date: 2002-11-12
Filing date: 2003-11-10
Publication date: 2006-06-15
Also published as: WO2004043806A1; AU2003288028A1; GB0226391D0; EP1560763A1; JP2006505465A

Abstract

A package that has a container part which defines a cavity having an opening for receiving a product, a closure part which is movable from a first closed position, in which it closes the opening to the cavity, to an open position in which it opens the opening to the cavity, and an outer surface having an address thereon which is covered by the closure part in the first closed position thereof is disclosed. The closure part has a first configuration in the first closed position and is adapted to be moved from the first configuration to a second configuration in which it is able to adopt a second closed position in which it closes the opening to the cavity, but leaves the address uncovered.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a package for sending goods in and is particularly, but not exclusively, concerned with a returnable package for exchanging goods between people, for instance returning used parts or refills in the same package in which the replacement is received

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is known for suppliers of refills for refillable devices to request the supplied person to return a used refill to a return address, e.g. the supplier, in the package in which a replacement is sent. However, it has been found difficult to achieve a high degree of compliance to this request. One reason for this is that typically the supplier provides a return address label inside the package sent to the user which the user then needs to adhere to the outer surface of the package for return mailing with the used refill.
The need for a high degree of compliance in having used or redundant products returned will be compounded for products having electrical or electronic features when the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive is implemented in the European Union. This is because the WEEE Directive will make the producers of such goods responsible for their recycling or disposal.
It is therefore an aim of the present invention to provide a package which promotes its return with a product therein to a predetermined address.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided a package having a container part which defines a cavity having an opening for receiving a product, a closure part which is movable from a first closed position, in which it closes the opening to the cavity, to an open position in which it opens the opening to the cavity, and an outer surface having an address thereon which is covered by the closure part in the first closed position thereof, the closure part having a first configuration in the first closed position and being adapted to be moved from the first configuration to a second configuration in which it is able to adopt a second closed position in which it closes the opening to the cavity, but leaves the address uncovered.
The invention further provides a blank of sheet material dimensioned and arranged to form a package according to the invention.
Preferred features of the invention are set forth in the subordinate claims appended hereto.
By way of example, a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying FIGURES of drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective front view of a mailable package in accordance with the present invention having a container part and a closure part in a closed position.
FIG. 2 is a perspective front view of the package showing the closure part in the process of being moved to an open position.
FIG. 3 is a further perspective front view of the package showing the closure part in the open position revealing a return mailing address on a front panel of the container part.
FIG. 4 is a yet further perspective front view of the package in which an outer portion of the closure part is being detached from an inner portion of the closure part.
FIG. 5 is a perspective front view of the package in a condition to be remailed with the inner portion of the closure part closing off the container part.
FIG. 6 is a plan view of a blank of sheet material from which the package is formed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The FIGURES of drawings show a hollow, box-like carton or package 1 in accordance with the invention which comprises a container part 3 and a lid or closure part 5.
The package 1 is made from a foldable board material, such as cardboard, and is formed into the rectilinear construction shown in the FIGURES from an appropriately shaped and sized blank of the board material, an example of which is shown in FIG. 6 indicating the fold lines in chain line about which the blank is folded to form the package 1.
The package 1 presents a front panel 7, opposed side panels 9,11, a rear panel 13 and a bottom panel 15. These panels of the package 1 define the container part 3. In addition, the package 1 further presents a top panel 17 and a front flap 19 hinged to the top panel 17 which overlies the front panel 7. The top panel 17 and front flap 19 define the closure part 5 of the package 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, for example, the front flap 19 of the closure part 5 is connected to the front panel 7 of the container part 3 through a perforate connection 21. Other types of frangible or detachable connection, however, could be used. As further shown in FIG. 1, the front flap 19 is formed with a tab 23 at its lower end and the front panel 7 is formed with a recess 25 adjacent the flap 23 to enable a user's thumb to lift the tab 23 to draw the front flap 19 upwardly to detach or tear the front flap 19 from the front panel 7. This is shown schematically in FIG. 2.
Referring now to FIG. 3, this shows the package 1 in its open state with the front flap 19 having been torn away from the front panel 7. It will firstly be seen that in tearing the front flap 19 away from the front panel 7, a return mailing address 27 on the front panel 7 is exposed. It will further be seen that the closure part 5 has separable inner and outer portions 29,31, respectively. The outer portion 31 of the closure part 5 comprises an outer portion 30 of the top panel 17 and the front flap 19 hingeably connected thereto at a fold line 33. The inner portion 29, on the other hand, comprises an inner portion 32 of the top panel 17 and a flap or tongue 34 hinged to the inner portion 32 at a fold line 36. The outer portion 31 has a frangible or detachable connection with the inner portion 29 at a rear edge 35. The outer and inner portions 30, 32 may also be releasably adhered together at the mutually facing surfaces thereof.
Conveniently, the inner surface of the inner portion 32 carries instructions on how to use the package 1. As will be understood, the instructions only become visible after opening the package 1. Such instructions may be diagrammatic
Turning now to FIG. 4, after the front flap 19 has been detached from the front panel 7, the outer portion 31 of the closure part 5 is detached from the package 1 by breaking the frangible connection between the outer portion 31 and the inner portion 29 at the frangible connection 35.
After a replacement product (not shown) contained in the hollow compartment 41 defined between the container part 3 and the closure part 5 has been removed and replaced with a used or old product (not shown), the package 1 is re-closed by the inner portion 29 of the closure part 5, as shown in FIG. 5. Specifically, the inner portion 29 of the closure part 5 is closed by tucking the flap 34 thereof into the compartment 41 so as to be held in place between side flaps 45,47 extending from the side panels 9,11 and an inner surface of the front panel 7. This is the same configuration adopted by the inner portion 29 when the closure part 5 is in the closed position when including the outer portion 31 (FIG. 1).
After appropriate sealing, for instance with adhesive tape, the package 1 is able to be mailed to the return address for appropriate recycling and/or waste disposal of the used product. In this regard, a posting frank or stamp 43 may be provided for promoting compliance of the user in returning the used or old product in the package 1.
Not only does the package 1 have the advantage of promoting its sending to the return address 27, the attachment of the front flap 19 to the container part 3 through the frangible connection 21 provides the package 1 with an advantageous tamper-proofing feature since the connection 21 has to be broken for opening of the package 1, but it cannot be restored after its breakage.
It will be understood that the present invention is not limited to the package 1 described with reference to the FIGURES, but encompasses all variations, modifications and other guises falling within the scope of the appended claims.
As an example, the outer and inner portions 30,32 of the closure part 5 of the package 1 may be stuck together and the front flap 19 frangibly connected to the outer portion 30 at the mutual fold line 33 so that the outer portion 30 is retained in the “return mode” of the package 1.
Alternatively, the outer portion 30 of the top panel 17 is dispensed with and the front flap 19 is frangibly connected to the inner portion 29 of the closure part 5 at fold line 36. In use, the front flap 19 is torn away from the container part 3 and the inner portion 29, and the inner portion 29 then opened.
A further variation would be to have the front flap 19 formed into an upper section extending downwardly from the fold line 33, and a lower section frangibly connected to the upper section and including the tab 23. To open the package 1, the lower section of the front flap 19 would be detached from the upper section to leave the upper section to form a double-layer flap with the flap 34 for tucking into the package 1 when it is to be sent to the return address.
A yet further variation would be to dispense with the outer portion 30 and have the front flap 19 form a detachable extension of the flap 34, e.g. through a perforated connection. In the initial closed position, the flap 34 would be on the outer surface of the front panel 7 with the front flap 19. In operation, the front flap 19 would be torn away from the front panel 7 and the flap 34 to just leave the inner portion 29. The flap 34 would then be tucked into the package 1 for closing the package 1 when it is to be sent to the return address 27.
In FIG. 6 the blank for the package 1 is shown as formed from two sheets of material. However, a package in accordance with the invention could be formed from a single sheet or more than two sheets.
It will further be understood that the use of relative orientation terms such as “front”, “rear” etc. in the specific description are not used in a limiting sense, but for simplicity.
Finally, the use of reference numerals from the specific description in the appended claims is not to be taken as having a limiting effect on the scope of the claims, but purely for illustration.

Claims

1. A package having a container part which defines a cavity having an opening for receiving a product, a closure part which is movable from a closed position, in which it closes the opening to the cavity, to an open position in which it opens the opening to the cavity, and an outer surface having an address thereon which is covered by the closure part in the closed position thereof, wherein the closed position is a first closed position, the closure part has a first configuration in the first closed position and is adapted to be moved from the first configuration to a second configuration in which it is able to adopt a second closed position in which it closes the opening to the cavity, but leaves the address uncovered.

2. The package of claim 1 in which the closure part is adapted in use to be sequentially moved from the first closed position to the open position in its first configuration and from the open position to the second closed position in its second configuration.

3. The package of claim 1 wherein the closure part has a cover section which in the first closed position covers the address and which in the second closed position does not cover the address.

4. The package of claim 3 in which the cover section of the closure part is a detachable cover section adapted to be detached from the closure part, detachment of the detachable cover section moving the closure part from the first to the second configuration.

5. The package of claim 4 in which the closure part has a permanent section which in the first and second closed positions is secured to the container part to close the opening to the cavity.

6. The package of claim 5 in which the permanent section is secured to the container part in the open position.

7. The package of claim 5 wherein in the first closed position the cover section forms an extension of the permanent section.

8. The package of claim 5, wherein the cover section overlies the permanent section.

9. The package of claim 5 wherein the container part has a plurality of sides of which a first side has the opening to the cavity and a second side presents the outer surface with the address, wherein in the first and second closed positions the permanent section overlies the first side to close the opening and wherein in the first closed position the cover section depends from the permanent section to overlie the address on the second side.

10. The package of claim 3 in which the cover section of the closure part is detachably affixed to the outer surface of the container part in the first closed position.

11. The package of claim 10 in which the cover section of the closure part is frangibly connected to the outer surface of the container part in the first closed position.

12. The package of claim 11 in which the frangible connection is a perforate connection.

13. The package of claim 1 in which the closure part and container part are integrally formed.

14. The package of claim 1 in which the closure part is hinged to the container part.

15. The package of claim 1 which is rigid or semi-rigid.

16. The package of claim 1 in the form of a box-like structure.

17. The package of claim 1 made from a board material.

18. The package of claim 1 which is formed from sheet material.

19. The package of claim 18 wherein the closure part has a cover section which in the first closed position covers the address and which in the second closed position does not cover the address, and in which the cover section is formed from a first piece of sheet material and the balance of the package is formed from a second piece of sheet material.

20. The package of claim 1 in which the address is on an outer surface of the container part.

21. The package of claim 1 in which the address is on a label affixed to the outer surface of the package.

22. The package of claim 1 in which the closure part is adapted so as to be unable to return to the first closed position from the open position.

23. The package of claim 1 in which the closure part is fixedly connected to the container part in the first closed position through a non-restorable connection.

24. The package of claim 23 adapted such that the closure part is unable to be moved from the first closed position to the open position unless the non-restorable connection is disconnected.

25. The package of claim 1 in which the closure part is provided with instructions thereon, the instructions only being visible in the open position of the closure part.

26. The package of claim 25 wherein the closure part has a cover section which in the first closed position covers the address and which in the second closed position does not cover the address, in which the cover section of the closure part is a detachable cover section adapted to be detached from the closure part, detachment of the detachable cover section moving the closure part from the first to the second configuration, in which the closure part has a permanent section which in the first and second closed positions is secured to the container part to close the opening to the cavity, and in which the instructions are provided on the permanent section of the closure part.

27. The package of claim 5 in which the permanent section of the closure part is secured to the container part at a joint about which the closure part is movable relative to the container part between its respective positions.

28. The package of claim 27 in which the closure part is fixedly connected to the container part in the first closed position through a non-restorable connection which, until disconnected, prevents the closure part moving about the joint.

29. A blank of sheet material dimensioned and arranged to form a package according to claim 1.

30. (canceled)