Card – picture – or sign exhibiting – Check – label – or tag – Bottle-carried indicia
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-10
2001-11-27
Green, Brian K. (Department: 3628)
Card, picture, or sign exhibiting
Check, label, or tag
Bottle-carried indicia
C040S673000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06321473
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates, generally, to promotional material for retail products. More particularly, the invention relates to coupons applied to necked containers, such as milk bottles.
2. Background Information.
The state of the art includes various coupons and display cards for retail products. The coupons offer consumers a discount on a product featured on the coupon. A coupon can substantially boost sales of a featured product, and lead to subsequent purchases of that product by a consumer, or purchases of related products. Paper coupons are printed in product advertising such as newspapers, magazines, supplements, and mailings. Coupons can be included in a product, such as dry cereal, or they may by included in a product's packaging. Paper board packaging easily facilitates printing coupons on it, and packaging that uses plastic wrap allows a coupon to be placed under the wrap.
Packaging for liquids does not as easily provide for coupons, especially for beverages such as milk, juice and carbonated beverages that are packaged in plastic or glass bottles. These packages typically have a paper label adhesively affixed to the plastic or glass container. In the past, coupons have been printed on the label of such containers, but to use such a coupon, a consumer must remove the label from the container. Since the label is intended to stay affixed to the container, this is difficult to do without mutilating the coupon. Coupons have also been adhesively affixed to the label, which can allow easier removal of the coupon, but such a coupon can obscure at least a portion of the label. Labels on liquid containers typically do not have much extra room which can be covered by a coupon.
Several patents disclose coupon or display vehicles having an aperture with radial slits extending therefrom for fitting over the top of a necked container. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,356 to Lapp, the aperture is larger than the neck of the container so that the coupon vehicle rests on the container below the neck and is not necessarily secured to the neck. The slits are for the purpose of facilitating the deformation and collapsing of the hole as the coupon vehicle is passed over the cap for engagement with the neck of a capped beverage container. The coupons themselves are of rectangular configuration and folded among themselves or contained in separate envelopes attached to the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,435 to Grody, U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,156 to Maroszek et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,650 to Follett also disclose devices with the similar apertures and radial slits for the same purpose.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,984 to Hartman et al. discloses an aperture with slits that allow a tab or flap to be punched out of the device when it is inserted over a bottle neck, but the flaps are folded significantly up against the neck of the bottle and may not necessarily hold the device securely on the neck, of the bottle.
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,423,861 to Forsythe discloses a card with an aperture for the neck which is smaller than the neck of the container, and which has a single locking flap to exert a ratchet-like grip against the neck below the cap so as to resist upward movement of the card on the container neck.
The Lapp, Hartman, and Forsythe patents also disclose at least one line of perforations which allows portions of the coupon vehicle to be separated from one another but those lines of perforations do not pass through the central aperture. When the usable coupons are separated from the coupon vehicle, a portion of the vehicle remains attached to the container. As these containers are recycled, this remaining portion of the coupon vehicle must be separately removed and disposed of.
None of the patents above disclose a disk-shaped coupon vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 1,353,531 to Heard discloses a disk-shaped marking card for milk bottles. The card has a central aperture with tongues which bear yieldingly on the neck and can abut against the bead to prevent accidental removal of the card from the neck, but it does not fit snugly against the top of the bottle. The card is not intended to be separated into portions and does not have any lines of perforations.
Applicant's invention provides a coupon vehicle for necked containers which overcomes the limitations and shortcomings of the prior art.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a coupon vehicle for necked containers which comprises a body having an outer edge, a central aperture having a diameter suitable for receiving the neck of a container onto which the coupon vehicle is installed, and at least one line of perforations extending from the outer edge to the central aperture. The body is preferably flat and disk-shaped, and preferably has a plurality of slits extending radially from the central aperture which form flaps that flex when the coupon vehicle is installed on the neck of a container. The central aperture has a diameter which preferably is slightly smaller than that of the neck of the container, thereby providing for the flaps to remain slightly flexed to securely attach the coupon vehicle to the container when the coupon vehicle is properly positioned on the neck of the container after installation.
The perforations allow the body to be fractured at the perforation line(s) so that the entire coupon vehicle can then easily be removed from the neck of the container. Preferably there are two lines of perforations that facilitate separating the body into two portions which can be used for separate purposes.
The features, benefits and objects of this invention will become clear to those skilled in the art by reference to the following description, claims and drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: D. 68845 (1925-11-01), Barry
patent: D. 89072 (1933-01-01), Neher
patent: D. 370386 (1996-06-01), Pallesen
patent: D. 408855 (1999-04-01), Ho
patent: 1353531 (1920-09-01), Heard
patent: 1682106 (1928-08-01), Banks
patent: 1796398 (1931-03-01), Richardson
patent: 2007685 (1935-07-01), Lyle
patent: 2138361 (1938-11-01), Snelling
patent: 2219562 (1940-10-01), Painter
patent: 2324093 (1943-07-01), Lhamon
patent: 2755584 (1956-07-01), Paige
patent: 3423861 (1969-01-01), Forsyth
patent: 3831300 (1974-08-01), Berkhouse
patent: 4197984 (1980-04-01), Hartman et al.
patent: 4847130 (1989-07-01), Cooper
patent: 5289650 (1994-03-01), Follet et al.
patent: 5348156 (1994-09-01), Maroszek et al.
patent: 5390435 (1995-02-01), Grody
patent: 5555655 (1996-09-01), Yager
patent: 5826356 (1998-10-01), Lapp
patent: 5943804 (1999-08-01), Linquist et al.
patent: 5947672 (1999-09-01), Cohen
Patent Abstracts of Japan; Publication No.: 08301338; Pub. Date: Nov. 19, 1996; Title: Bottle Holder; Applicant: Sanwa Shigyo KK; Inventor: Enami Zengoro; Published by: JPO.
Green Brian K.
Kotula Steven J.
LandOfFree
Coupon vehicle for necked containers does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Coupon vehicle for necked containers, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Coupon vehicle for necked containers will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2618238