Reclosable sleeve package

Details Reclosable sleeve package Reclosable sleeve package

1995-09-20

2001-01-02

Gehman, Bryon P. (Department: 3728)

Special receptacle or package

Article housing attached to panel

Movable or detachable housing closure

C206S335000, C206S806000

Utility Patent

active

06168020

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to reclosable packages. In particular, the present invention relates to reclosable sleeve packages.
B. Description of Related Art
Windshield wipers are mainly sold as after-market replacement parts in auto supply shops, service stations, and other retail outlets. Industry practice typically allows a customer to purchase the wipers on condition that the wipers fit the customer's vehicle. Frequently, the customer buys the wrong windshield wiper, but only realizes the error after opening the wiper package. In that case, the customer returns the opened package for a refund. Once opened, however, the package is often mutilated, which makes the windshield wiper unsalable because other customers are unwilling to buy the same wipers in damaged packages. Thus, several reclosable packages for windshield wipers have been developed.
One type of reclosable package is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,947 to Reighart. As shown in
FIGS. 1A and 1B
, the Reighart package includes a hollow container
20
to hold a windshield wiper and a sleeve
40
which slides over the container
20
. A portion
29
of the back of the container
20
is left open to allow for removal or replacement of the wiper. The container
20
also has a tab
50
attached to the top
22
of the container
20
. The tab
50
contains an aperture
51
which is used to hang the container
20
on a display rack.
The sleeve
40
slides over the top
22
of the container
20
and is used to cover the opening
29
in the container
20
during shipment and display. The sleeve
40
is constructed and arranged to expose the aperture
51
in the tab
50
when the sleeve
40
covers the opening
29
in the container
20
.
This prior art embodiment of the sleeve
40
has an enclosure
42
over the tab
50
. The enclosure
42
contains two apertures
41
which align with the tab aperture
51
when the sleeve
40
is placed on the container
20
to cover the opening
29
in the container
20
.
However, a problem arises when the apertures
41
in the sleeve
40
and the aperture
51
in the tab
50
are not aligned. A salesperson or customer may unknowingly hang the package only from the apertures
41
in the sleeve
40
and not the aperture
51
in the tab
50
. In which case, the container
20
falls out of the sleeve
40
and fails to stay on the display rack.
Attempts to solve this problem have been made without success. One attempt has been to increase the interference between the sleeve
40
and the container
20
to ensure that the container
20
would not fall out of the sleeve
40
if the package were hung only from the sleeve
40
. The interference, however, limits the ease with which the sleeve
40
is placed on the container
20
. Thus, this attempt has had limited success.
Therefore, a need exists in the art for a reclosable sleeve package that does not require careful alignment of the apertures in the sleeve and the aperture in the tab before hanging, that has limited interference between the sleeve and the container, and that prevents the container from falling out of the sleeve when hung.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide for a reclosable sleeve package that overcomes the problems associated with prior art reclosable sleeve packages and where careful alignment of apertures in the sleeve and the tab is unnecessary.
A further object of the present invention is to provide for a reclosable sleeve package where the sleeve slides freely and easily over the container.
A further object of the present invention is to provide for a reclosable sleeve package where the container does not fall out of the sleeve when the package is hung on a display rack.
A further object of the present invention is to provide for a method for assembling a product having a reclosable sleeve package of the present invention.
These and other objects of the invention will be more readily understood by reference to the following summary, detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, and the appended drawings.
The present invention achieves all of the foregoing objects and solves the problems associated with prior art reclosable sleeve packages. In particular, the present invention relates to a reclosable package that includes a container and a sleeve which slides freely over the container. The container has a tab at one end, a space or cavity to hold a commercial article at the other end, and an opening along a portion of the container. This opening is in communication with the space in the container to allow the commercial article to be placed in and removed from the container. The tab contains an aperture to enable the package to be hung on a display rack.
The sleeve has an opening at one end which allows the sleeve to slide easily over the container. The sleeve fits over the tab end of the container and covers the opening in the container when the sleeve is in place on the container. The other end of the sleeve contains an enclosure which covers the tab end of the container including a portion of the tab. The enclosure has a slot or cutout which exposes the aperture in the tab and a portion of the tab when the sleeve is in place on the container. The slot or cutout is such that would require the package to be hung on a display rack by the aperture in the tab and not allow the package to be suspended from the sleeve. During hanging of the package, the sleeve rests on the container.
The present invention also includes a method for assembling a product having a reclosable sleeve package of the present invention.


REFERENCES:
patent: 2577862 (1951-12-01), Shaw, Jr.
patent: 3217867 (1965-11-01), Harris
patent: 3367491 (1968-02-01), Dunham et al.
patent: 3382972 (1968-05-01), Phipps
patent: 3530978 (1970-09-01), Lewandowski
patent: 3812963 (1974-05-01), Zahuranec et al.
patent: 4091927 (1978-05-01), Lunsford
patent: 4119203 (1978-10-01), Kuchenbecker
patent: 4120400 (1978-10-01), Kotyuk
patent: 4305504 (1981-12-01), Bredal
patent: 4415084 (1983-11-01), Hauser et al.
patent: 4854450 (1989-08-01), Fisher
patent: 5027947 (1991-07-01), Reighart
patent: 5154293 (1992-10-01), Gould
patent: 5379896 (1995-01-01), Snow et al.

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