CA1316875C - Package having a built-in promotional piece - Google Patents

Abstract

PACKAGE HAVING A BUILT-IN PROMOTIONAL PIECE

ABSTRACT OF THE INVENTION

A package having a built-in promotional piece is provided. The package has a wall comprising an outer layer laminated to an inner layer. The piece is located between the layers, and held in place by the surrounding lamination. One layer may be a strip having the piece preattached to it so as to cause the piece to be placed between it and the remaining layer upon attachment. A window may be provided for viewing the piece from outside the package by making the area of the outer layer contacting the piece transparent.

Description

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PACKAGE HAVING A BUILT-IN PROMOTIONAL PIECE

BACKGROUND OF THE INV~N'rION
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he present invention relates to the retail promotions industry, and more particularly to a package having a promotional piece or other item built into its walls.

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It i.5 a common promotional strategy to distribute game lcards, coupons, or other promotional pieces with packaged products i;in an attempt to increase sales. Game cards in particular have ¦historically been a successEul meansfor obtaining quicl; consumer I,reaction to a product.

I In the past, various schemes have heen devised for 'distributing promotional pieces with the produc-t at the point o~
purchase. A fairly simple yet widely used metllod involves the printing of the information directly onto the packaging itself.
¦This has proven to be ine~ecient, however, because most pac~ging ! materials are not conducive to having printing placed upon them ;other than that relating to the sitandard label. In the particulnr ~ -Icase relating to game.s, it is important that certain printing be ¦hidd~n from view until ~fter the sale oE the product and opening !of the packaging. This re~uires the writing to be placed on the ¦inside portion o~ the package which, being designed for providing and maintaining the proper environment around the product, is in most instance.s not well suited ~or holding print. In the case of pla.stic packages, such as potato chip bags, such prinl:ing is ,undesirable. Also, the amount of printing is limited to the si~e of the space available on ~the label. Also, the high cost involved in varying the printing on each individual package limits the ability to use a large number of different ~ype.s of messageCi.

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A secor)d method Eor distributing promotiona]. pieces has ,been to glue or otherwise affix the game piece to the outside of the pacl;aye. For instance, a irst sticker may be placed upon the outer surEace of the package and h~ve in~ormation print~d on its exposed sur~ace. A second, more readily peelable sticker is then placed over tlle printing to be removed after sale. ~clated ~methods involve printing the information either on the package ¦directly and covering the ~rinting with a sticker, or printing the lin~ormation onto the bottom o~ an easily peelable sticker an~
Iplacing the sticker on the pack~ge. Quite often, however, game pieces s~ch as these ~re sub~ected to consumer ~:amperin~ in the ~stores. For exalnple, stickers on the outside of packages are ~easily peeled or removed. This r~nders the promotion useless, and Ihas the corresponding efEect of decreasing sales oE the product litself. Another problem with such "sticker" type game pieces is ! that the application oE the pieces to the package slows in-plant ~Iproduction. Still another problem is that the stickers are ! typically capable o~ hiding or carrying only ~ small ~mount oE
,printing.

1 ~nother means for distributing game pieces involves overwrapping the piece in cellophane and mechanically inserting the piece into the package. While t.his method allows piec~s oE
relatively large size to be employed, it is costly and typically results in slowing down in-plant production.

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I There~ore, there exists a need, Eor a package having a built-in promotional piece which is .simple in design and cost 'efEective.

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There also exists a need for a package having a promotion piece in which the piece is not susceptible to tampering and which can only be accessed after the package is sold and destroyed.
There also exists a need for a package having a promotional piece which prevents contamination of the piece by the product as well as contamination of the product by the piece.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a package having a promotional piece built into its wall.
Most packages currently in use to-day and particularly those used in sales of food items, are comprised of two layers, at least one of which is usually a plastic film, laminated together to form a single package wall. An inner layer typically is used to maintain the environment inside the package in a stable condition. The outer layer typically contains the labeling for the package.
The invention in a broad aspect provides a sealable package having an interior and a substantially unitary wall, comprising an outer ply and an inner ply. The outer ply comprises an exterior surface and an interior surface communicating with the exterior surface and itself comprising a first portion and a second portion. The outer ply also has a first side edge and a second side edge for sealing to the first side edge. The inner ply comprises an exposed surface and a contacting surface communicating with the exposed surface and itself comprising a first portion bonded to the first portion of the lnterior surface to form the substantially unitary wall and a second portion not bonded to the interior surface. A
removable piece ls positioned between but not adhered in any manner to the second portions of the contacting and interior surfaces and having a periphery entirely surrounded by and closely adjacent to the bonded first portions of the contacting and interior surface, for preventing movement of the piece relative to the second portions of the contacting and interior surfaces. A non-adhesive coating is applied to the piece prior to positioning between the second portions of the contacting and interior surfaces, for preventing the piece from bonding to the second portions of the contacting and interior surfaces and thereby facilitating removal of the piece from the package.
Preferably the exterior surface of the outer ply and the second portion of the inner ply are transparent for viewing through the outer ply.
More particularly, according to the present invention, a promotional piece, such as a paper game card, coupon, or other form of advertisement is located between two layers of the package so that it is actually built into the package wall. Alternatively, the piece may be located between a package wall and an attaching strip laminated to the package wa]l. In the latter embodiment, the strip layer may be attached to either the interior surface or the exterior surface of the package wall, which may be of single or multiple layers. In both embodiments, the lamination completely surrounding the piece maintains the position of the promotional piece within the package and prevents tampering and contamination. A window may be provided in the outermost layer so that the piece may be seen i without destruction o~ the package. This may b~ accom~ .hed by leavin~ the ar~a oE the outer layer contacting the piece transparent.

I The present invention has several advantages over the j~current means of distributing promotional pieces. First, the 'invention eliminates the need to "overwrap" th~ piece and .
therea~ter insert it into the pacl;age. In the package of the l present invention, the piece i5 protected from contamination of ¦ and by material inside the package by being located between the l~two layer.s of material. ~lso, the present invention allows the manufacturer of the product to accept packaging with the pieces already built into the package wall, thereby eliminating the need for an insertion step. This results in reduced manufacturing llcosts and fewer production line problems than with curren~ methods iof in-packing. Especially important is the Eact that production is never slowed down.
It has been recognized that the promotional piece may adhere to the layers after lamination, and removal of the piece without damage may be difficult. It has been found that this problem can be overcome by applying a transparent releasing agent to the outer surface of the piece prior -to the lamination process.

S~condly, the present invention greatly reduces or leliminates the tampering of packages containing game pieces. To lgain access to the piece, the package must he opened and destroyed. Such need to destroy the package also results in ¦increased consumption of the packRged product as consumers se~rch for the piece. Also, because the printing of the piece is ;~erformed separately from th~t oE the package, a greater variety 1~ messages may be provided. This enables e~ch individual package ! to carry a potentially different qame piece ~5~

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Another important advantage of the present lnvention is that security involving game pieces in the manufacturing plant is greatly enhanced by eliminating access to loose pieces. Rather, the pieces typically enter the plant already built into the package walls and are relatively inaccessible when the wall material is held in pre-production rolls. Also, security is further increased by eliminating the need to overwrap the game piece and by eliminating the subsequent need to load the overwrapped pieces into inserting machines.

10Therefore, the present invention seeks to provide a package having a built-in promotional piece which is simple in design and cost effective and which package is not susceptible to tampering and can only be accessed after the package is sold and destroyed and a package having a built-in promotional piece which prevents contamination to the piece by the product.

These and other aspects and advantages of the present invention can be seen with reference to the following description and related drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

20Fig. 1 is a rear elevational view of one embodiment of a package of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a package of the present invention with the width being exaggerated ~or clarity.

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Fig. 3 is a ~ront elevational view of a package ol the pre.sent invention having a window.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sec-tional view of a package ol the present invention h~ving more than two laminated layers with the width being exaggerated Eor clarity.

Fig. 5 is an elevational view oE a package of the present inven~ion havin~ the promotional piece held in place by ~n a-ttaching strip.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred embodiment i5 now described with reference to the drawings. The present invention relates to a package Ihaving a promotional piece built into it.s wall. This ernbodiment relates to the use of the invention as a bag, althou~ll any other l~orm of packaging may be used. BeEore assembly, as shown in Fig.
l, the package is comprised oE a rect~ngular piece of material Eorming a package wall. The pac-cage wall 8 has a top edge 11, a`

Ibottom edge 13, a first side edge 15, and a second side edge 17.
I TO ~orm a bag, the Eirst side e~ge 15 and the seconc1 side edge 17 lare brought together and ~ealed. To complete ~he enclosure, the two halves oE the now doubled over top edge 11 are sealed, as are the two h~lves of the doubled over bottom edge 13. Located in the wall ~ is a prolnotional piece 24.

Fig. 2 shows a cross-s~ctional view of a package 10 of 'the present invention having a promotional piece 24 built into its 2~ `wall 8. A fir.st layer of material is provided to form an outer package wall layer 12. The outer layer 12 has an exterior surface 14 and an interior surface 16. The outer layer 12 may be made of -.
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any suitable material, although for proper lamination discussed in greater detail below, it is preferable that the outer layer 12 be made of a plastic film. The exterior surface 14 of the outer layer 12 may contain printing for labeling or other purposes. A second layer of material is provided to form an inner package layer 18, which has a contacting surface 20 and an exposed surface 22. The inner layer 18 may be made of any suitable material, although it should preferably be of a type which can be effectively laminated to the outer layer 12.
Plastic film and metallized films are examples of such material. The two layers 12, 18 are laminated by extrusion lamination in such a manner that the contact surface 20 of the inner layer 18 contacts the interior surface 16 of the outer layer 12. It is important to note that for purposes of this description, laminate is defined as the formation of a structure by bonding or otherwise attaching layers and a preferred lamination process is extrusion lamination.
A promotional piece 24 is located between the contact surface 20 of the inner layer 18 and the interior surface 16 of the outer layer 12. Upon extrusion lamination, the two layers 12, 18 surround the piece 24 and act to hold it firmly in place. The piece 24 is therefore built into the package wall 8. The piece 24 may be a game card, coupon or ad~ertisement made of folded paper, or it may be any other item capable of being placed between and held in position by the two attached layers 12, 18. Means for easily removing the piece 24 from between the layers 12, 18 may be provided. For instance, a pull tab and perforation combination 19, as seen in Fig. 1, may be employed. It is also preferred that the inner layer 18 be transparent so that the promotional piece 24 is visible to one viewing the interior portion of the package 10. Also, if the product sold in the package 10 is greasy or is susceptible to becoming stale, the inner layer 18 material can be ~ 3 ~ rj of such type as to provide pro~ection to the piec~ 24 as well as to maintain a proper environment inside the pack~ge 10. Also, the product i9 prote~ted rom the piece 24. Vpon the sealing of the ledges 11, 13, 15, 17, the piece becomes enclosed in the pacXage 10 !and is protected ~rom contaminAtion and i5 less susceptible to ! tampering. A release coating may be provided on the outer surfaces of the piece 24 to better allow the separation of the piece 24 from the laminated layers 12, 18. For example, a transparent silicone-based agent may be sprayed onto or otherwise applied to the piece 24 before it is placed between the layers 12, 18.

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window 32, as shown in Fig. 3, may be provided to make Ithe piece 24 visible while inside the sealed pac~age 10. This may ¦,be accomplished by making the area o~ the outer package layer 12 ~which contacts the piece 24 transparent. This will allow the ¦piece to have its printing observed by consumers be~ore sale o~
the product and without d~struction oE the packago 1~ and enables printing to be provided on the package lO in a manner juxtaposed with the firmly maintained location of the promotional piece 24, as shown in Fig. 3.

20 . It can be seen, there~ore, that the present embodiment utllizes already existing elementæ o~ a two-layered package 10, i.e~ the inner layer 18 and the o~ter layer 12, and make.s use of them in a unique manner. However, the present invention may also ,~be used wi~h packagcs whicl~ do not ~tili%e two layer.s, as shown in 25 ithe ~ollowing embodiments I .
, The package 10 o the present invention may also have : Imore than two laminated layers, as shown in Fig. 4. ~ Eirst, innermost layer:52 is la~inated to a .second, middle, layer $4, :: :

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w~lch is laminated to a third, outermost layer 56. A promotional piece 24 may be placed between the first layer 52 and second l~yer 54 and held in place by the lalnina~ion surrounding the piece 24.
IAlternatively, the piece 24 may be placed between tl~e second layer l54 and the third layer 56. Each layer of material between tlle loutside portion oE the package 10 and the promotional piece 24 may j,have a transparent portion corresponding to the location o the 'piece 24 so that the piece ~4 i,s vi.sible from ou~side the pack~ge 10. ~lso, eacl1 layer o~ material between the inner portion oE the 'p~ckflge 10 and the promotional piece 24 may have a transparent portion correspondin~ to the location o~ the piece so that the piece 24 i.5 visible from inside tl1e package 10. Fig. 5 shows a ,package wall 40 which may be oE sin~le or multipJ.e layers and Iw11ich may be used to Eorm a package. ~n attachmen~ strip 42 is 'provided which has an inner sur~ace 44 and an outer surPace 46.
~rhe strip 42 hAs a promotional piece 24 attached to its inner s~r.eace 4~, The attachment .strip 42 can be then attached to the package wall 40, by extrusion lamination, thereby sealing and l'holdin~ the piece 24 between the wall 40 and the strip 42. The 'strip 42 containing the piece 24 may be applied to either the interior surface o~ the package wall 40, in which case the promotional piece will be inside the packa~e when sealed, or the ,:exterior sur~ace oE the package wall 40, in which case the piece ''24 will be plainly visible to prospective buyers. In both cas~.s I'the ~iece 24 will he protected Erom c,ontamination and tampering 'with minirn~l change to the package. The width o~ the .strip 42 .can depend upon the width of the promotional piece 24, and therefore material co.sts are saved.

' ' While the inven~ion ha.s been described in detail with Iparticular re~erence to the preerred em~odiment thereof, it will be under.stood that variations and modific~tions can be efected l,within the splrit and scope of the invention as previously.
,, ,I.'describe~ and as deined in the cl~ims.

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Claims (8)

1. A sealable package having an interior and a substantially unitary wall, comprising:
a. an outer ply comprising:
i. an exterior surface;
ii. an interior surface communicating with the exterior surface and comprising:
A. a first portion; and B. a second portion;
iii. a first side edge; and iv. a second side edge for sealing to the first side edge;
b. an inner ply comprising:
i. an exposed surface; and ii. a contacting surface communicating with the exposed surface and comprising:
A. a first portion bonded to the first portion of the interior surface to form the substantially unitary wall: and B. a second portion not bonded to the interior surface;
c. a removable piece positioned between but not adhered in any manner to the second portions of the contacting and interior surfaces and having a periphery entirely surrounded by and closely adjacent to the bonded first portions of the contacting and interior surface, for preventing movement of the piece relative to the second portions of the contacting and interior surfaces; and d. a non-adhesive coating, applied to the piece prior to positioning between the second portions of the contacting and interior surfaces, for preventing the piece from bonding to the second portions of the contacting and interior surfaces and thereby facilitating removal of the piece from the package.

2. A package according to claim 1 in which the inner ply comprises:
a. a first side edge; and b. a second side edge for sealing to the first side edge.

3. A package according to claim 1 in which the inner ply is of smaller size than the outer ply.

4. A sealable package having an interior and a substantially unitary wall, comprising:
a. an outer ply comprising:
i. an exterior surface having a substantially transparent part;
ii. an interior surface comprising:
A. a first portion; and B. a second, substantially transparent portion communicating with the substantially transparent part of the exterior surface for permitting viewing through the outer ply;
iii. a top edge comprising:
A. a first top edge portion; and B. a second top edge portion sealed to the first top edge portion;
iv. a bottom edge comprising:
A. a first bottom edge portion; and B. a second bottom edge portion sealed to the first bottom edge portion;
v. a first side edge abutting the top and bottom edges; and vi. a second side edge abutting the top and bottom edge and sealed to the first side edge;

b. an inner ply comprising:
i. an exposed surface; and ii. a contacting surface communicating with the exposed surface and comprising:
A. a first portion bonded to the first portion of the interior surface to form the substantially unitary wall: and B. a second portion not bonded to the interior surface;
c. a removable piece positioned between but not adhered in any manner to the second portions of the contacting and interior surfaces and having a periphery surrounded by and closely adjacent to the bonded first portions of the contacting and interior surfaces, for permitting viewing of the piece through the outer ply and preventing movement of the piece relative to the second portions of the contacting and interior surfaces; and d. a non-adhesive, silicone-based coating, applied to the piece prior to positioning between the second portions of the contacting and interior surfaces, for preventing the piece from bonding to the second portions of the contacting and interior surfaces and thereby facilitating removal of the piece from the package.

5. A package according to claim 4 in which the inner ply is of smaller size than the outer ply.

6. A sealable package having an interior into which snack food is placed and a substantially unitary wall, comprising:
a. an outer ply comprising a plastic film having:

i. an exterior surface containing printing thereon and having a substantially transparent part;
ii. an interior surface comprising:

A. a first portion; and B. a second, substantially transparent portion communicating with the substantially transparent part of the exterior surface for permitting viewing through the plastic film of the outer ply;
iii. a top edge comprising:
A. a first top edge portion; and B. a second top edge portion sealed to the first top edge portion;
iv. a bottom edge comprising:
A. a first bottom edge portion; and B. a second bottom edge portion sealed to the first bottom edge portion;
v. a first side edge abutting the top and bottom edges; and vi. a second side edge abutting the top and bottom edge and sealed to the first side edge;
b. an inner ply comprising a plastic film having:
i. an exposed surface comprising:
A. a first portion; and B. a second portion; and ii. a contacting surface comprising:
A. a first portion laminated to the first portion of the interior surface to form the substantially unitary wall; and B. a second portion not laminated to the interior surface but communicating with the second portion of the exposed surface;
c. a removable printed promotional piece positioned between but not adhered in any manner to the second portions of the contacting and interior surfaces and having a periphery surrounded by and closely adjacent to the laminated first portions of the contacting and interior surfaces, for permitting viewing of the piece through the plastic film of the outer ply and preventing movement of the piece relative to the second portions of the contacting and interior surfaces while preventing viewing of the snack food when the package is sealed;
d. means, connected to the second portion of the exposed surface, for detaching the second portions of the exposed and contacting surfaces from, respectively, the first portions of the exposed and contacting surfaces, thereby permitting removal of the printed piece from the interior of the package without delaminating the first portions of the contacting and interior surfaces; and e. a non-adhesive, silicone-based agent, applied to the piece prior to positioning between the second portions of the contacting and interior surfaces, for preventing the piece from bonding to the second portions of the contacting and interior surfaces and thereby facilitating removal of the piece from the package.

7. A package according to claim 6 in which the inner ply is of smaller size than the outer ply.

8. A package according to claim 6 in which the detaching means comprises a tab.