AU2010100633B4 - A container for retail display and marketing - Google Patents

Description

Regulation 3.2 Revised 2/98 AUSTRALIA Patents Act, 1990 COMPLETE INNOVATION SPECIFICATiON NAME OF APPLICANT Doo International Pty Limited (ACN 101 549 142) ACTUAL INVENTOR JENKINS, Anthony George ADDRESS FOR SERVICE Peter Maxwell and Associates Level 6 60 Pitt Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 INVENTION TITLE: A CONTAINER FOR RETAIL DISPLAY AND MARKETING DETAILS OF ASSOCIATED APPLICATION NO(S) Divisional of Australian Patent Application No. 2007 200 093 filed on 11 January 2007 The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to us: m:\docs\20071172\1 93860. doc 2 A CONTAINER FOR RETAIL DISPLAY AND MARKETING FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to receptacles. More particularly, although not 5 exclusively, it relates to a container for the display and marketing of small articles such as hair care products or items of haberdashery. BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION Many types of articles, such as for example hair pins, hair ribbons or the like are often simply mounted on display cards. During handling either before or 10 after sale these products are easily detached from the card, lost or damaged. It is therefore an object of this invention ameliorate the aforementioned disadvantages. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a container for the 15 display or storage of articles, said container including a tube formed from a heat weldable plastic sheet which is closed at one end thereof and at the other end is fitted with an interlocking assembly having a hinged closure resealable onto a portal insert and a surrounding retaining collar. In another aspect this invention also discloses a method of constructing 20 said container, the method including the steps of: - procuring a sheet of flexible heat weldable material, - forming the sheet into said tube, - closing the tube into a flattened configuration at one end, and - fitting to the other open end of the tube said interlocking assembly 25 which has a closure resealable onto a portal insert and a surrounding retaining collar. The collar may include a hanger for attachment to a display stand.

3 The closed end may be closed into a flattened configuration by heat welding or the like. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the tube is formed from a PVC sheet material using high frequency radio welding. 5 The interlocking assembly may be fitted to the tube using manual production techniques. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order that the invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in 10 which: Fig. I is perspective view of a container according to a first embodiment of the invention, Figs. 2 to 4 are perspective views of component parts of the container of Fig. 1, 15 Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a container according to a second embodiment of the invention, and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a container according to a third embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 20 The container shown in Figs. 1 to 4 is of a size and shape for holding small articles, such as hair pins for example, or other articles on point-of-sale displays. It includes an elongated pouch 1 which may be constructed from 0.5 mm thick PVC sheet material which has been formed into a tube by a longitudinal heat weld 2 down one side and then sealed flat at one end 3 by 25 heat welding. Preferably high frequency radio welding or other suitable process is used.

4 An interlocking assembly comprises a portal insert 4 with hinged closure cap 5 and a close fitting retaining collar 6 with flexible strap 7 and hanger loop 8 fitted to the opposite open end 8A of the pouch. The open end 8A is formed with a set of rectangular apertures 9 adjacent the edge 10 which correspond in 5 position to slots 11 around the skirt 12 of the insert 4. The insert 4 also has a ridge 13 adjacent its outer edge so that when it is inserted onto the open end 8A of the pouch 11 up to said ridge the slots 11 line up with the apertures 9. The insert 4 is then locked in place by means of lugs 14 on the inside of the retaining collar 6. 10 When collar 6 is placed over the open end 8A of the pouch and insert 4, it sandwiches the pouch wall against the skirt 12 whereby the lugs protrude through the aligned aperture and slots. The hinged cap 5 remains free for opening and resealing onto said portal to allow access to and storage of articles contained therein. 15 Although in this embodiment the insert cap and collar are of a rounded rectangular shape other configurations such as square, circular or oval may be used. With the second and third embodiments of the invention shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the main components which correspond in function to those of Fig. 1 to 3 20 are identified by the same numbers which however are primed (') (") to distinguish them. With the container of Fig. 5, the hanger loop is omitted from the retaining collar 6' and instead is incorporated into the opposite sealed end as a triangular aperture 8'. This form of display container would be hung on a display stand in 25 a similar manner to the first embodiment except that the closure cap 5' would face downwardly.

5 With the third embodiment of Fig. 6, the hanger 8" is also omitted from the retaining collar 6" and is formed as part of the PVC sheet blank used for the tubular pouch 1". This form of construction may provide advantages in terms of assembly costs. 5 It will thus be appreciated that this invention at least in the form of the embodiments disclosed provides a novel form of small article display container which is adapted for production using the low cost manual labour available in developing countries. Clearly, however, the examples described are only the currently preferred forms of the invention and a wide variety of modifications 10 may be made which would be apparent to a person skilled in the art. For example, the design of the container, the configuration of the closure cap, the placement and shape of the hanger and the materials used may all be changed according to application requirements or following further development work by the inventor. 15

Claims (5)

1. A container for the display or storage of articles, said container including an elongated pouch which is closed at one end and open at the other end, an interlocking assembly fitted on the open end, the interlocking assembly having -a portal insert having; -a closure, and -a skirt adapted to be disposed within the open end of the pouch, -a separate retaining collar around the portion of the pouch adjacent the open end; wherein the portal insert and separate retaining collar are adapted to be locked together such that the portion of the pouch adjacent the open end is sandwiched between the collar and the skirt.

2. The container of claim 1, wherein lugs are formed on the inside of the retaining collar which protrude through aligned apertures in the pouch into slots formed in the skirt which are adapted to receive the lugs and retain them in place.

3. The container of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said one end of the pouch is closed into a flattened configuration and a hanger is formed by an aperture therethrough.

4. The container of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the pouch is formed from a plastic sheet. 7

5. A method of constructing a container as claimed in claim 1, said method including the steps of: (a) procuring a sheet of flexible heat weldable material, (b) forming said sheet into a pouch, (c) closing the pouch into a flattened configuration at one end; and (d) fitting to the other end of said pouch an interlocking assembly which has a closure resealable onto a portal insert and a surrounding retaining collar. Dated this 2 day of February 2011 Doo International Pty Ltd Patent Attorneys for the Applicant PETER MAXWELL AND ASSOCIATES