AU2005100595A4 - A display unit - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION INNOVATION PATENT Invention Title: A display unit The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: Freehills Patent Trade Mark Attorneys Melbourne 004681823 004678371 lA A DISPLAY UNIT Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display unit. More particularly, although not exclusively, the invention relates to temporary display units commonly found in supermarkets and other retail outlets for special promotions. The invention also relates to a method of forming a display unit.

Background to the Invention Temporary display units are known to be formed from a unitary blank of plastic or cardboard material. Generally, the customer such as a brand owner receives the blanks in flat unfolded configuration. It is then necessary for the brand owner to assemble the blank into its three dimensional configuration for display of the brand owner's products at a retail outlet. Generally, the blanks are assembled using interlocking tabs which is a convenient way to assembly the blanks without tools or special equipment. However, it takes the brand owners up to six minutes to assemble such units and where there are a large number of units to be assembled, this becomes a time consuming process.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to address the aforementioned difficulty or at least provide the public with a useful choice.

Summary of the Invention In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a partially preassembled display unit including: a plurality of walls formed from a plastics blank, two adjacent walls being glued together to define a tubular body which is provided in a collapsed configuration and which is erectable into an assembled configuration.

Preferably, the plurality of walls include a back wall, and two side walls. The back wall and the two side walls may be substantially continuous throughout the length of the display unit. The back wall may include mounting apertures for hanging on a wall.

004678371 2 However, the invention is not necessarily limited to the display device being of the hanging type and may be simply supported on the floor at the bottom. Alternatively, it may cooperate with a separate base unit.

The plurality of walls may further include a front wall which may be an apertured wall to provide access to the interior of the tubular body. Alternatively, the front wall may be comprised of a series of spaced front walled portions.

The display unit may present a series of display cells which may be defined by dividers. The number of dividers may vary between 2 and 10. In a particularly preferred form of the invention, the tubular body is elongate and the display cells may be disposed along the length of the unit. The display cells may be defined once the tubular body is erected into the assembled configuration. As such, the display cells may be defined by dividers or shelf portions. Preferably, the dividers or shelf portions are cut from material continuous with the front wall portions. However, the dividers or shelf portions could be defined from material cut from the side walls or even the back wall. In the collapsed configuration, the dividers or shelf portions are provided so as to be aligned with the front wall portions. Connecting tabs may be provided on the dividers/shelf portions to secure them in the assembled configuration.

In the assembled configuration, the display unit may be provided with a bottom wall. The bottom wall may be defined by a series of closure flaps, each extending from a respective wall including the two side walls and the back wall and the front wall. The bottom wall may be self-assembling and accordingly may be in the form of a crash bottom style closure with interlocking flaps.

The plastics blank is preferably a unitary blank. The material may be polypropylene or P.E.T.

In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of forming a partially preassembled display unit including: providing a blank; in a machine, performing the steps of: S004678371 3 folding the blank into a tubular configuration having a plurality of walls; and glueing two adjacent walls together.

As used herein, the term "comprise" and variations of the term, such as "comprising", "comprises" and "comprised", are not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers or steps.

This invention may also be said broadly to consist in the parts, elements and features referred to or indicated in the specification of the application, individually or collectively, and any or all combinations of any two or more of said parts, elements or features, and where specific integers are mentioned herein which have known equivalents in the art to which this invention relates, such known equivalents are deemed to be incorporated herein as if individually set forth.

The invention consists in the foregoing and also envisages constructions of which the following gives examples.

Brief Description of the Drawings In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, one embodiment will now be described by way of example with reference to the drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a blank used to form the partially preassembled display unit in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view illustrating the assembled display unit whereby the solid lines show the cut lines of the blank and the dotted lines show the folded lines of the blank; Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, except showing hidden detail; Figure 4 is a side view of the display unit of Figure 2; Figure 5 is a bottom view of the display unit of Figure 2; 004678371 4 Figure 6 is a plan view showing the partially preassembled display unit; and Figure 7 is a plan view similar to Figure 6, except showing hidden detail.

Description of the Drawings Figure 1 illustrates an elongate blank 10 die cut from polypropylene sheet. Prior to being cut, the polypropylene material is first printed with any desired information or pattern. The elongate blank 10 includes a number of longitudinal crease lines 12, 14 and 16 which define a front wall 18, a rear wall 20, a first side wall 22 between the front wall 18 and the rear wall 20, and a second side wall 24. The rear wall 20 incorporates a glue flap 26 which extends along the length of the rear wall 20. The elongate blank has a top end 28 and a bottom end 30. At the bottom end 30, each of the walls 18, 22, 24 is provided with a respective closure flap 32, 34, 36, 38. The closure flaps define a crash style base as will be known to those skilled in the field.

The front wall 18 is made up of a number of front wall portions 40 which bridge between the two side walls 22, 24. Further, the front wall 18 is made up of shelf portions 42 which are cut so as to separate them from the adjacent side walls 22, 24. The shelf portions 42 are connected via a crease line to a respective front wall portion 40. The shelf portions 42 include tabs 44, 46 on the remaining three edges. The tabs 46 serve as connecting tabs to locate into connection cut outs 48 provided in the rear wall The rear wall 20 also includes apertures 50 to receive a nail or hook for mounting of the display unit.

Partial assembly of the display unit to the partially preassembled configuration will now be described. Once the blank 10 has been cut, glue is applied to the glue flap 26 and the portions of the closure flaps 32, 34 where indicated in Figure 1 by shading.

The type of glue used is preferably a moisture curing glue such as PUR (hot melt) glue.

The glue is applied and the blank is folded into a collapsed tubular configuration by a folding and glueing machine. A suitable machine is Bobst Media 100 (A2) "folder and gluer". The glue applied to the dark shaded areas indicated will be spread to the light shaded areas by the folding and glueing machine. At the exit of the folding and glueing machine, a partially preassembled display unit will be provided which is tubular in form S004678371 but of collapsed configuration able to be easily packaged in bulk and shipped to the customer. Such a partially preassembled display unit is shown in Figures 6 and 7. The glue may take up to 7 days to cure.

When the customer receives the partially preassembled display unit, assembly to the configuration illustrated in Figure 2 can be achieved by configuring the collapsed tubular configuration into an open tubular configuration. At the bottom end 30, the closure flaps 32, 34, 36, 38 can be pushed from the inside into the closed configuration as shown in Figure 3 to form the bottom wall of the display unit 60. Further, the shelf portions 42 can each be folded about crease 41 and the connecting flaps 46 located in the respective cut outs 48 in the rear wall 20. The tabs 44 on the sides of the shelf portions 42 will thus serve to brace the shelf portions 42 against the side walls 22, 24 as can be seen in Figure 3. The display unit 60 is now ready to hang at the intended selling location.

The foregoing describes only one embodiment of the present invention and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims (4)

1. A partially preassembled display unit including: a plurality of walls formed from a plastics blank, two adjacent walls being glued together to define a tubular body which is provided in a collapsed configuration and which is erectable into an assembled configuration.

2. A method of forming a partially preassembled display unit including: providing a blank; in a machine, performing the following operations: folding the blank into a tubular configuration having a plurality of walls; and glueing two adjacent walls together.

3. The display unit as claimed in claim 1 or the method as claimed in claim 2 wherein of the two adjacent walls, one wall is provided with a glue flap which overlaps the other wall.

4. The display unit as claimed in claim 1 or claim 3, or the method as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3 wherein the plurality of walls defined side walls, there being further provided, a bottom closure in the form of a crash bottom closure. A preassembled display unit or a method of forming a preassembled display unit substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying Figures. Dated 21 July 2005 Freehills Patent Trade Mark Attorneys Patent Attorneys for the Applicant/s: Megara (Australia) Pty Ltd