Special receptacle or package – For a sport implement – exercise device – or game – For a ball
Reexamination Certificate
1996-05-10
2001-03-13
Fidel, David T. (Department: 3728)
Special receptacle or package
For a sport implement, exercise device, or game
For a ball
C206S780000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06199692
ABSTRACT:
As natural resources diminish and become more costly, the public and industry are becoming more concerned and making decisions about environmental issues concerning the products they use and the products they make. One area where environmentalists and the general public have become more vocal over the years has been in the area of excessive product packaging. Environmentalists and the public have objected on numerous instances to superfluous packaging that wastes important natural resources whether it be petroleum for plastic packaging or trees in paperboard or cardboard packaging. Once superfluous packaging was more common only with respect to expensive products. Unfortunately, over time the concept has expanded to more mundane items.
Apart from the issue of unnecessary packaging, there frequently are other competing considerations in packaging that preclude a completely minimalist approach to package design. For small objects that could be readily subjected to theft or misplacement, package design can help minimize the risk. For example, small compact disks and cassette tapes are frequently packaged in boxes larger than the tape or the CD or tape to make it more difficult to steal by hiding the products in handbags or pockets.
Another consideration that must be factored into a package design is the aspect of product display. Packaging is also a medium of advertising to help convince the public to make a purchase. For many items, it is also advantageous from a marketing standpoint to permit the potential purchaser to view as much of the product as possible to enhance marketability particularly where the product has unique features that packaging can emphasize. Alternatively, some manufactures use packaging to hide the size or quantity of a product from consumers by using large packaging that creates a false impression.
Product placement in the marketing environment must also be taken into consideration in packaging decisions. Retail store owners have more products available to be displayed than they frequently have room on the shelf space. Furthermore, depending on the product, premium display space is at eye level and this space is usually the most desirable and the least available. Packaging design can also enhance the products chance of securing placement in the favorable display area that will give the product its best chance for purchase. Many package designers, as a result, rely, for example, on color to draw the purchaser's eyes to the products. Another factor that is important to store owners and manufactures together is the ability of a store owner to display sufficient quantities of good selling products so that there are not unnecessarily long periods where the shelf space is empty and these products are not on the shelf because the quantity originally displayed has been sold. Store owners and manufactures wish to be able to have as much product as possible in given area so that the risk of out of stock on the shelf is minimized.
One of the more difficult items to display have been round or spherical objects such as balls. One common way of displaying balls for sale is to have a bin or other receptacle available where all of the balls of a particular type may be presented. A problem with bins is that when a great quantity of balls are to be displayed the walls of the bin's tend to be too high so that as the balls at the top are sold, the purchasing public has difficultly in reaching the lower balls. If the bin's walls are too low insufficient stock may be displayed. Many store owners also object to the use of bins for round objects particularly when the objects are of different designs or colors. Customers sifting through the bins tend to drop balls which then roll around the store soiling the product and generally get in the way of traffic in the aisles.
Smaller balls such as golf balls are usually not packaged individually. Larger balls are usually packaged in a variety of ways. One approach to package these larger balls is to wrap them in a cardboard or paperboard box. The advantage of this box is that it is stackable on a store shelf and it protects the balls from blemishes during shipment and handling.
Another approach to packaging larger balls is a plastic bag or pouch. The advantage of the plastic bag is low cost, but there are drawbacks. One of the drawbacks is the susceptibility of the packaging material to tears, rips or punctures. In selecting a plastic material that is easy to open there is the tradeoff that the packaging material is usually thin and easy to rip. Another disadvantage is that the balls packaged in plastic bags or pouches are not stackable and subject to movement or rolling when displayed on a shelf.
More recently, balls have been packaged in a heavy polypropylene blister pack. The blister pack has the advantage of being clear so the product can be seen and but it is a costly packaging material. One disadvantage to blister packs is the difficulty of opening the package. Many people complain that blister packs are almost impossible to open unless an extremely sharp instrument is used. Even when a sharp object is used there is a risk of injury from the sharp object. Blister packs can have an additional drawback which is the inability to stack them. Many products when packaged in blister packs are only able to be displayed by hanging on a rod in the store. While this usually gives the product a good selling location as the product can be close to eye level, hanging the product on a rod, particularly bulky items, prevents a quantity items from being hung from the rod because of the weight of the product. Due to the need to provide an area in the blister pack for the pack to hang from a rod the blister pack also tends to be significantly larger than the corresponding cardboard or paperboard box. Another drawback to blister packs is that because these packages must hang from a rod there are restrictions on the number of items that can be hung from the rod. As a result, store owners have a dilemma on the use of blister packs. Since only a few can be hung from a rod the store owner must either run the risk that the display may run out of product at times because insufficient numbers are displayed or devote additional space to the item by way of multiple rods for hanging the product. This is difficult for the store owner because unless the item packaged in the blister pack is a high margin item and a high volume seller, there is a reluctance to devote too much shelf space to each item. As a result, there is a need for packaging for spherical objects such as balls.
There are a number of prior art packaging approaches to round objects such as balls. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,726 to Pratt discloses a package formed from a blank of cardboard having two square panels, two rectangular panels and two triangular panels. The rectangular panels have circular recesses open to the edges and the blank is folded such that the recesses lie in perpendicular intersecting planes so the spherical article can be engaged and supported between opposed recesses.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,893 to Hanson there is disclosed a one piece paperboard blank for forming a display carton capable of packaging an article such as a ball so that opposed surfaces of the article are exposed. There is a solid top bottom and side panels. The back panel is defined by specially curved portions articulated to the top and bottom panels. The lock panels and the curved panels are interconnected by intermediate articulate webbed corners.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,939,622 to Ippolito relates to packages for fragile containers such as glass flasks, jars and bottles. Other patents that relate to packaging curved or spherical objects include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,363,747 to Nowak, 2,890,790 to Gibson, 3,767,043 to Margolis, 3,815,735 to Cucuo and 4,315,569 to Jaeschke.
None of the prior art and patents have an appreciation however, of the modern packaging requirements in the display, packaging and stacking of spherical objects such as balls so that they can be advantageously displayed.
The pres
Ness William Van
Thresher Glenn
Fidel David T.
O'Rourke Thomas A.
Van Ness Plastic Molding Inc.
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