US20060131371A1

US20060131371A1 - Exhibiting package with minimum amount of material

Info

Publication number: US20060131371A1
Application number: US11/067,178
Authority: US
Inventors: Luis de Alba
Original assignee: De Alba Luis F R
Current assignee: Power Retailing Group de C V SA
Priority date: 2004-12-17
Filing date: 2005-02-28
Publication date: 2006-06-22

Abstract

The present invention refers to the field of packages and bales, particularly to a an exhibiting and dispensing package with minimum amount of material that allows for transportation of the products contained therein from the manufacturer to points of sale where end consumers may take such products at the time of purchase, such package consists of a three-dimensional housing of a preferably rectangular shape characterized by four angular vertical corner pieces, spaced between each other in a rectangular arrangement, attached by diverse fixating devices on their lower and upper ends by means of lateral, front and back crossbars making empty rectangular windows on all its sides (front, back, lateral, upper and lower), limited by such angular corner pieces, at least one of its sides (preferably the one in the bottom) comprises a lid, either free or attached with diverse fixating devices, placed on the inner peripheral edge formed by their corresponding angular transversal corner pieces, which serves as a bottom support for the product to be contained and exhibited.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to the art of packaging and bailing, more particularly to a package that holds and exhibits products in a point of sale, aimed to end users. More specifically it refers to an exhibiting package and dispenser with a minimum amount of material that allows for transportation of its contained products from the manufacturer to the points of sale where the end consumer may take it at the time of purchase.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Currently most consumer products are individually packaged so they can reach end users; however, distribution and marketing of these products require bigger packages such as boxes or containers carrying a number of such individually packaged products in order to be transported and taken to points of sale for end users, where they are then unpackaged and placed on shelves or exhibitors designed for such purpose.
Otherwise, such as in shopping malls and self service stores, individually packaged products are usually set in islands, placed at various levels and piled on the floor, pallet, stand, box or similar devices.
A constant need to provide safer and trustworthy packages that allow for protection of transported products and their exhibition at points of sale at the same time, has generated the development of new packages that try to address these needs while avoiding additional expenses in the acquisition of shelves and exhibitors.
Hence, for example, the existence of corrugated cardboard boxes comprising in one or two of their faces dotted areas that upon arrival at the point of sale are then removed to display the product is well known; however, access to the products is relatively complicated, as it involves various efforts so the consumer may extract products at the beginning. Furthermore these types of boxes are not resilient, they are expensive, and their production time is longer.
A single patent was found in the prior art related to this invention, U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,176 granted to Stephen S. Applegate on Nov. 12th, 1996, entitled Minimum shipping container construction method thereof, said minimum container is made of pre-cut corrugated cardboard strips, fixed on stacked surfaces joined and bent in order to form a rectangular housing; without any waste of corrugated cardboard. This minimum container is designed to protect products contained in a shipment or forwarding order. Each side and upper and lower ends of this rectangular form have an open area and a plastic film set around said minimum container, wrapping and attaching thereto to protect it against dust and the environment.
As shown and described in FIG. 1, this minimum container comprises a three-dimensional housing constructed by a rectangular upper strip 12, a rectangular lower strip 14, corner strips 16, and a plastic film 18; all strips are made of corrugated cardboard, pre-cut, and corners bent, and attached on stacked ends. This minimum container is rectangular with four sides 20 and one upper end 22 and one lower end 24, all four sides and upper and lower ends have large open areas in order to minimize the weight of the container. Plastic film 18 is attached on the outside around these four sides and said upper and lower ends.
Accordingly, as shown and described, it is obvious that this minimum container is designed to minimize its weight, hence ample open areas are provided therein; furthermore, as can be seen on FIG. 1, both upper strips 12 and lower strip 14 are strips stretched around the perimeter in a frame manner, not as elements that provide further resiliency to the structure but as shaping elements; even though lower strip 14 comprises a perpendicular inner lower edge 28 that may provide resiliency. Due to its configuration, this minimum container can only be set in that position on a surface for its packaging, because if inverted or rested against any lateral surface it is prone to deformation due to its contained product's weight and produced forces; it further cannot be vertically stacked, because upper strip 12 does not provide additional structural resiliency.
It is obvious that this structure is weak due to its structural configuration and its being built with corrugated cardboard, of little structural resiliency, and its purpose is merely a package for products during their transportation, which, upon arrival to their point of sale, are unpacked and placed on exhibitors.
In the industry of packages and bales it is of the utmost importance that used materials are as economic as possible so they are not a substantial expense for consuming corporation which would imply raising their production costs; hence the importance of developing and finding an economic material that at the same time will be highly resilient in order to build more attractive, economic, functional, and resilient packages and bales.
This invention was developed as an alternative to provide an economically feasible and structurally resilient package that allows both containing such product during transportation and shipping, and during its exhibition at points of sale, where the end consumer may directly take said product.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of this present invention includes providing a products exhibiting package with minimum amount of materials, economically feasible and structurally resilient, that allows for product containing during its transportation and shipping, and further allowing to exhibit such product at points of sale from where end consumers may directly take the product.
Another objective of the present invention is to make such exhibiting package with minimum amount of material available, having an easy manufacture process and fast production, at a minimum cost.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide said exhibiting package with minimum amount of materials, which will further allow complete product exhibition from any angle.
Still another objective of this invention is to provide such exhibiting package with minimum amount of materials that will further make such contained and exhibited products highly attractive for end users at points of sale in self service stores.
A still further objective of this invention is to make such exhibiting package available with minimum amount of materials while also avoiding the need to be put together at stores, and will furthermore avoid such product's organization for its exhibition.
And all such qualities and objectives that will become apparent based on the general and detailed description of the present invention, supported by the embodiments described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Generally, the exhibiting package with minimum amount of material of the present invention consists of a three-dimensional housing of a preferably rectangular shape comprised by four angular vertical corner pieces, spaced between each other in a rectangular arrangement, attached by diverse fixating devices on their lower and upper ends by means of lateral, front and back crossbars making empty rectangular windows on all its sides (front, back, lateral, upper and lower), limited by such corner pieces, at least one of its sides (preferably the one in the bottom) comprises a lid, either free or attached with diverse fixating devices, placed on the inner peripheral edge formed by their corresponding angular transversal corner pieces, which serves as a bottom support for the product to be contained and exhibited.
As an option and one of the embodiments of the present invention, the package comprises two lids inside the corner pieces, set on opposite sides, in order to create a bottom and a cap, such package can be set on a surface with either one of these faces as a lid.
In another embodiment hereof, the previously configured and described package comprises a plastic film, either see-through or not, that wraps the package transversally, covering a portion of said empty rectangular windows of the side, front, and back faces, or the totality of them, said film is kept in place while the package is transported and is then removed at the points of sale for product exhibition.
In yet another embodiment of this invention, the package comprises in at least one of the upper transversal corner pieces frangible thinning lines, next to the attaching edges, in order to remove said crossbar and to ease disposition of products therein.
The manner in which said vertical and transversal corner pieces are attached is such that, edges of front and back transversal corner pieces are attached on the outside of the lower and upper ends of said vertical corner pieces attached to the front and back faces, while the edges of the lateral transversal corner pieces are attached to the upper and lower edges of the adjacent vertical corner pieces, or vice versa. This form of disposition and attachment of the vertical and transversal edges allows for the edges of vertical corner pieces to be covered in every face, providing a substantially flat surface on its faces which make a better support surface on the floor or other surfaces or other similar packages when stacked up.
Attachment and fixating devices for edges of angular vertical corner pieces and angular transversal corner pieces, as well as lids, are selected from a group consisting of staples, various glues, rivets, bindings, or combinations thereof.
Said angular vertical and transversal corner pieces, as well as lids, are preferably made of compressed rigid cardboard, which is both economic and highly resilient.
To allow for a better understanding of the characteristics of the foregoing invention this description includes, as an integral part hereof, drawings with illustrative, and not limitative, character, and are described below with regards to the favorite embodiment of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an augmented view of the exhibiting package with minimum amount of materials in its preferred embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a conventional perspective view of the exhibiting package with minimum amount of materials, assembled in accordance to FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a conventional perspective view of the exhibiting package assembled with minimum amount of materials in another preferred embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a conventional perspective view of the exhibiting package assembled with minimum amount of materials in another preferred embodiment.
A detailed description of some of the embodiments of this translation is given below to provide a better understanding hereof, with reference to the drawings attached hereto with illustrative, not limitative, purposes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Characteristic details of the exhibiting package with minimum amount of materials are clearly depicted in the following description and in the illustrative drawings attached hereto, with reference numerals used to indicate said parts.
With reference made to FIGS. 1 and 2, which portray an augmented view and a conventional perspective view of the exhibiting package with minimum amount of materials, respectively, in one of its preferred embodiments. Said Figures show that this exhibitor comprises one three-dimensional housing 1, preferably of rectangular shape, formed by four angular vertical corner pieces 2 spaced between each other in a rectangular arrangement, which tend to attach themselves with fixating devices 3 on their upper and lower ends to lateral angulated transversal corner pieces 4 and 5, front angular transversal corner pieces 6, and back angular transversal corner pieces 7, so that empty rectangular windows 8 are formed on all faces (front, back, sides, lower, and upper), limited by said corner pieces and forming a bottom face, an inner lid 9 free or attached by diverse fixating devices, set on the peripheral inner edge 10 made by the corresponding angular lower transversal corner pieces, and which serves as support for the product to contain and exhibit.
In this attachment, both lower and upper ends of the vertical corner pieces 2, adjacent to both front and back faces, are externally fixated to the edges of front 6 and back 7 transversal corner pieces, while edges of lateral angular transversal corner pieces 4 and 5 are internally attached to lower and upper edges of the vertical corner pieces 2 adjacent to said lateral faces, or vice versa. This form of disposition and attachment of the vertical (2) and transversal (4, 5, 6 and 7) edges allows for the edges of vertical corner pieces 2 to be covered in every face, providing a substantially flat surface on its faces which make a better support surface on the floor or other surfaces or other similar packages when stacked up.
FIG. 2 shows the manner on which edges of vertical corner pieces and transversal corner pieces are attached, pore specifically it shows the attachment of the upper right corner of the front face in detail, which is the same in remaining attachment points; thus, focusing in such area, vertical face 11 of the edge of the upper front angular transversal corner piece 6 is externally attached with fixating devices 3 on the front face 12 of the angular vertical corner piece 2; meanwhile vertical face 13 of the upper lateral angular transversal corner piece 4 is internally attached with fixating devices 3 on the lateral face 14 of the angular vertical corner piece 2; horizontal faces 15 and 16 of the corresponding upper front 6 and upper lateral 4 angular transversal corner pieces are attached to each other with fixating devices 3, thus the horizontal face 15 of upper front angular transversal corner piece 6 is on top of the horizontal face 16 of the upper lateral angular transversal corner piece 4. Disposition of said transversal corner piece's edges may be opposite from the one described herein.
This attachment manner may be different, only that this way provides a firmer and more resilient ensemble.
With reference now to FIG. 3, which portrays a conventional perspective view of the exhibiting package, assembled with minimum amount of materials in another embodiment. In said Figure, the previously configured and described package of FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a plastic film 17, either see-through or not, that wraps the package 1 transversally, covering a portion of said empty rectangular windows of the side, front, and back faces, or the totality of them, said film is kept in place while the package is transported and is then removed at the points of sale for product exhibition.
With reference now to FIG. 4, which portrays a conventional perspective view of the exhibiting package, assembled with minimum amount of materials in another embodiment. In said Figure, the package previously illustrated and described in FIGS. 1 and 2, comprises within said upper front angular transversal corner piece 6, frangible thinning lines 18, close to said edges of attachment to vertical corner pieces 2, in order to remove the crossbar and ease the disposition of the product contained therein.
This invention has been described with details enough so that those skilled in the art may reproduce it and get the results stated herein. However, any person skilled in the art of this present invention may do non-described modifications thereto but if the application of such modifications in a given structure or its manufacture process requires the subject matter included in the following claims, such structures shall be included in the scope of this invention.

Claims

1. An exhibiting package with minimum amount of material, comprising:

a three-dimensional housing of a rectangular shape further comprising

four angular vertical corner pieces, spaced between each other in a rectangular arrangement, wherein said corner pieces are attached by diverse fixating devices on their lower and upper ends by means of lateral, front and back crossbars forming empty rectangular windows the sides of the housing,

wherein at least one of the sides of the housing further comprises a lid, wherein the lid is free or attached with diverse fixating devices, the lid being located on the inner peripheral edge formed by corresponding angular transversal corner pieces, wherein said lid serves as a bottom support for the product to be contained and exhibited.

2. The exhibiting package with minimum amount of material according to claim 1, further comprising a plastic film that transversally wraps said package.

3. The exhibiting package with minimum amount of material, according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the upper transversal corner pieces is frangible adjacent to the attaching edges, in order to remove said crossbar and to ease disposition of products therein.

4. The exhibiting package with minimum amount of material, according to claim 1, further comprising an additional lid, wherein said additional lid is located opposite to the bottom lid.

5. The exhibiting package with minimum amount of material, according to claim 1, wherein the edges of said front and back transversal corner pieces are externally attached to lower and upper edges of said vertical corner pieces adjacent to said front and back faces, while the edges of said lateral transversal corner pieces are internally attached to the lower and upper edges of said vertical corner pieces adjacent to said lateral faces.

6. The exhibiting package with minimum amount of material, according to claim 1, wherein said angular transversal and vertical corner pieces, as well as said lids, are made of compressed rigid cardboard.

7. The exhibiting package with minimum amount of material, according to claim 1, wherein said fixating devices are selected from the group consisting of staples, glues, rivets and bindings, or combinations thereof.