Special receptacle or package – File for plural cards or sheets
Reexamination Certificate
2002-07-22
2003-10-28
Bui, Luan K. (Department: 3728)
Special receptacle or package
File for plural cards or sheets
C206S764000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06637594
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to improvements in user-erectable (‘pop-up’), stand-alone containers that are constructed of cardboard or similar materials, that may be pre-packed for shipping and subsequently used to display brochures or to dispense packaged products at point of purchase.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
There are currently a number of brochure holders and product dispensers made of plastic and similar materials on the market. There are also a number of variations of cardboard pop-up brochure display packs available, as well as cardboard pop-up gravity-fed dispensing packs.
Current cardboard pop-up brochure display and product dispensing units have an advantage over similar units constructed of plastic due to their ability to be economically printed in full colour over their entire surface, thus enhancing the point of purchase advertising appeal.
However, the main reason that cardboard units have not exceeded the market penetration of traditional plastic brochure holders or product dispensers is due to the high cost of their manufacture and assembly.
Current cardboard units are generally manufactured from a single piece blank of complex shape, thereby using a relatively large area of cardboard sheet. This tends to result in excessive wastage of material.
Assembly of the unit from the blank is a slow and predominantly manual process requiring skilled operators using potentially dangerous hot-melt glue, or expensive double-sided tape, to assemble each unit. As with any manual gluing operation, there is a potential that quality problems in the gluing operation may not be detected until the unit has been in service for some time.
In addition, using hot manual application equipment and very hot glue streams gives rise to Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) issues for assemblers, adding to the cost of assembly.
Once assembled, current units in their unfilled state cannot be ‘flattened’, so they occupy a large unit volume. Therefore, attendant storage costs add to the expense of pre-making large quantities of these units.
The object of the present invention is to provide a design and method for manufacturing ‘pop-up’ brochure holders and/or product dispensing units that reduces the waste involved in manufacturing blanks, eliminates the need to use expensive and/or dangerous methods of erection and allows the units to be transported or stored in a flattened state and easily erected at the intended point of dispensing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes the shortcomings of current versions of cardboard pop-up brochure display and product dispensing units by:
(a) providing a construction configuration based on two blanks, that, when cut from one piece or two single pieces of cardboard, may use a lesser amount of material than configurations based on a single blank, consequently minimising wastage;
(b) providing improvements to mechanisms of erection currently used in these forms of packaging; and
(c) providing a different method of manufacture and assembly to that of conventional units.
The present invention's configuration enables the use of available machinery to manufacture the pop-up units as two components, rather than die cutting a single blank requiring further manufacture.
More specifically, the invention provides a display unit for displaying and/or dispensing items, including a sleeve part and a container part, wherein:
(a) said sleeve part is formed from a first shaped blank of card or other flat material and by folding about four substantially parallel first fold lines is movable between a first condition in which said sleeve part defines a sleeve of rectangular cross section in a plane perpendicular to said first fold lines and a second condition in which said sleeve part lies at least approximately flat;
(b) said container part is formed from a second shaped blank of card or other flat material and by folding about four substantially parallel second fold lines is movable between a first condition in which said container part at least partially defines a container of rectangular cross section in a plane perpendicular to said second fold lines and a second condition in which said sleeve part lies at least approximately flat;
(c) said sleeve part is slideable within said container part in a sliding direction parallel to said first and second fold lines, at least in said first condition of said sleeve part and said first condition of said container part;
(d) said sleeve part and said container part are secured to each other by connecting means so that when said container part is slid by a user in said sliding direction within said sleeve part, sections of said sleeve part are folded about further fold lines in said sleeve part and said sections define protruding feet of said sleeve part.
Other aspects of the invention are disclosed in the appended claims.
One of the components, an outer sleeve, is conventionally die cut and creased. It is then glued in-line to form a sleeve with tabbed or straight extensions. The other component, an inner base/pocket, is also conventionally die cut and creased then glued in-line to form a box with e.g. a crash-lock bottom; a folded bottom; a snap-lock bottom, or optionally any other type of bottom. Both components may be shipped flat so they occupy a minimum of space in transport and/or storage.
Final assembly simply involves slipping the outer sleeve over the base and inserting locking tabs into corresponding slots. This operation may be undertaken by unskilled labour. It can be done at the manufacture stage, so that the entire unit is shipped in a form ready to simply “pop up” on site, or the base and sleeve may be shipped and stored separately and only brought together when they are to be erected for use.
In another embodiment of the invention, there exists an alternative to the above-described ‘tab and slot’ method of connecting the outer sleeve to the inner box. The alternative method is to glue the ends of the outer sleeve extensions to the front and back of the inner box, either by hand or machine, as part of a combined manufacturing and assembly procedure. There are various configurations possible for this, as shown in
FIGS. 21 and 22
.
If the units are to be filled with brochures or product, the pack can be snapped open, the crash-lock bottom, snap-lock, or folding bottom, holding the unit in the erected position. If the units are to be filled later or shipped to another location for filling, they can be left unopened so they lie flat for efficient transport.
Another embodiment of the invention, as applied to the dispensing application, may use an alternative to the crash-lock, or snap-lock, bottom combined with a base insert piece. This alternative features an extended flap that is folded up during assembly inside the bottom of the inner box to form a false bottom at the correct height for sliding the product out of the dispensing slot. Other flaps in the base may also aid in securing all panels in place. Also disclosed is an improvement to a crash-lock or snap-lock bottom construction, usable with the invention to enhance its resistance to loss of contents.
Once erected at point of dispensing, location tabs in the front and back of the outer sleeve engage with corresponding slots in the inner base/pocket, providing extensions which give stability and prevent the units from collapsing when displayed.
Enhancements can be made to accommodate variations to the brochure or product that is to be contained in the display unit. For example, the brochure display unit may feature a window cut out of the front to display a picture on the brochure; or it might have a ‘cut-down’ front to reveal more of the brochure.
In another embodiment of the invention, the dispensing unit might be required to dispense two or more different products side by side. In this case, dividers may be used to separate the products. Alternatively, product may be dispensed from front and back of the unit simultaneously, or from two different levels simultaneously. This may be achieved with insert spacers in both t
Adze Pty. Ltd.
Bui Luan K.
Sheridan Ross PC
LandOfFree
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