GB2169432A - Sales display device - Google Patents

Abstract

A mask-like device 10, for association with a box containing articles, e.g. bags of crisps or nuts, for display and sale and including an access aperture in one wall for removing articles from the box, can be fitted over such wall of the box and has a peripheral frame-like part, including outer wall parts 17 and inner wall parts 18, 19 which together define a rearwardly-open channel surrounding an access opening which cooperates with the access aperture in the box, the device also having a display panel 21. Secure attachment of the device 10 to the box may be achieved by providing projections 22, 23, 24 in the outer and inner wall parts 17, 18, 19. The projections may engage with corresponding depressions or apertures formed in the box walls. Each projection may comprise a rectangularly shaped, inclined area (51, Fig. 3) or a part circular U-shaped channel. The device is preferably a one piece plastics moulding or vacuum formed article, the frame like part concealing the edge of the aperture in the box wall. A rearwardly open tray device for use with a top opening box and having a display panel similar to that of device 10 may be provided in association with device 10 (53, Fig. 6). <IMAGE>

Description

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GB 2 169 432A 1

SPECIFICATION

Sales display device

5 This invention relates to merchanidising equipment and is concerned in particular with sales display devices for use in connection with the display and sale of articles. The sales display devices of the invention improve both the use-10 fulness and the appearance of containers holding articles. An example of the kinds of articles, packaged in containers, with which the invention is especially beneficial is bags of snackfoods.

15 A very wide variety of snackfoods, such as nuts, potato crisps, potato rings and other po-tatobased and cereal-based snack products, are commonly put up for sale in bags. Substantial quantities of these bags of snack-20 foods are displayed for sale in retail premises, such as supermarkets, shops in the grocery, confectionery and allied trades and in off-li-cences and public houses. For storage, transport and display purposes, the containers in 25 which the bags of snackfoods are packaged are usually cartons or cardboard cases. For ease of description, these and any other kind of container, with which a sales display device of the invention can be used, is referred to 30 below as a "box"; this term is to be understood as thus having this very wide meaning, in this context. It is customary for the out-sides of these boxes to be printed with design and information matter, so as to identify 35 the particular contents of each box and to make the boxes sufficiently attractive and eyecatching that such containers can be used, in addition to their basic storage and transport purposes, for display of the bags for sales 40 purposes. Accordingly, it is conventional practice for boxes, e.g. of bags of snackfoods, to be provided with readily openable or removable parts, which easily convert the boxes into a form which allows convenient display of the 45 bags for retail purposes.

The boxes used for this purpose are usually conventional rectangular cardboard boxes, having four upright wall panels forming two long side walls and two short sides or end walls, 50 which are connected together at the corners of the case. These side and end walls have closure flaps for the case attached to their bottom and top edges. When the boxes are being filled with the snackfood bags or other 55 articles, the bottom flaps are closed to make the base of the box, the contents are put in and the top flaps are then closed. In order to allow the box to be readily opened for display and sale purposes, one common practice is to 60 provide a circular, rectangular or other panel, for instance in one end wall, and this panel is defined for instance by means of one or more lines of perforations. This panel can easily be removed, by separating the material of the 65 box at the perforations, so that the bags can then be readily taken from the box by customers, as they pass the area where the boxes are displayed and so can select the number of bags required.

Although this method of selling snackfoods is in common use, it has a number of disadvantages. The boxes can easily become untidy and look generally unsightly and disorganised. The perforated panel removable from the box, usually from one end wall, almost invariably is set well in from the edges of the wall in which it is formed and so removal of this panel only produces an access aperture of a relatively small area. When most of the bags have been removed from a box having a small removable panel of this common type, it is often difficult for an intending purchaser to see whether there are any bags left in the box and, if so, whether there are sufficient for that person's requirements. People generally prefer to take goods from a full or nearly-full display container, because this strongly suggests that the display is new and that the goods are therefore fresh, so that a nearly empty box with only a few bags in it, located behind an upstanding wall panel below the access aperture, is often by-passed in favour of another box which is newly opened or sometimes no purchase is in fact made.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide sales display devices, for use with boxes, i.e. cases of the kind conventionally used to transport and display articles, such as bags of snackfoods, which devices not only avoid these disadvantages, allowing the whole of a display area formed from a number of these boxes to retain a more attractive and orderly appearance, but which also generally improve the utility and attraction of this method of selling. In particular, the devices of the invention enable the particular kinds of products to be indicated more clearly, they enable the sales price to be changed readily, if desired, and also they provide larger openings for access to the contents of the boxes than is generally possible under the present practice. In this description, for clarity, the expression "access aperture" is used to mean the hole in the box and the expression "access opening" is used to mean the hole in the sales display device, by which articles in the prepared box can be taken out of it.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a sales display device is provided, for use in association with a box having a wall containing a removable panel, which comprises a mask having a size and shape so that it can fit over such wall of the box and including a peripheral frame defining an opening giving access to the interior of the box, through the aperture formed by removing the panel from the box wall, when the device is fitted over such wall.

Preferably, the frame conceals the edges of the aperture in the box, when the device is

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fitted over such wall. The edges concealed by the frame, in use of the device, most preferably are those which at least partly coincide with the edges of panels adjacent the box 5 wall containing the removable panel.

Preferably, the sales display device of the invention is a one-piece plastics moulding or vacuum-formed article.

According to an especially preferred em-10 bodiment of the invention, the sales display device includes a display panel, for instance for the receipt and indication of information. It is preferable, in accordance with this embodiment of the invention, for the access opening 15 to comprise from half to three-quarters of the area of the box wall fitted with the device in use and the display panel comprises the remainder of such area. The access opening advantageously comprises the upper part of the 20 mask and the display panel comprises its lower part.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the device is of approximately the same shape overall as the end of 25 the related box and of slightly larger dimensions, so that it can fit over that end.

According to another preferred feature of the sales display device of the invention it includes, along at least part of its periphery, a 30 rearwardly-open channel, comprising an outer wall part and an inner wall part, which in use are respectively located outside the box wall and inside the edges of the aperture. This channel formation can conveniently be dis-35 posed along at least a major part of the periphery of the device, corresponding for instance to the edges of an end wall of the box, and within this frame the device defines an access opening, which typically is equiva-40 lent in area to half, two-thirds or even as much as three-quarters of the whole area of the end wall of the box. Instead of the box being provided with a relatively small perforated panel, a substantial part or even the 45 whole of the end wall panel is preferably made easily removable, for instance by being defined by lines of perforations made in the box material. These lines may extend along the upper edge and along substantial lengths 50 of the two opposed side edges of the end or side wall or panel, with a lower line of perforations joining these side edges. The mask is preferably shaped to fit over an entire wall of the box, e.g. its entire end or side wall, with 55 the interior part of the frame, defining the access opening, fitting inside the access aperture formed in the side or end wall of the box when the panel has been removed.

According to another aspect of the inven-60 tion, a method is provided for preparing a box of articles for display and sale of the articles, such box having a wall containing a removable panel, which comprises removing the panel, fitting a sales display device over such wall of 65 the box, the device including a peripheral frame defining an opening giving access to the interior of the box through the aperture formed by removing the panel, and displaying the assembled box and device so that the wall fitted with the device is visible and accessible.

According to a further aspect, the invention resides in a kit of sales display devices, for use in association with boxes having a removable panel either in an end or side wall or in a top wall or having an openable top, which comprises at least one first sales display device for association with the end or side wall of one of the boxes and at least one second sales display device comprising a rearwardly-open tray for receiving the base of a top-opening box.

In order that the invention may be readily understood and appreciated, a preferred embodiment thereof is described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a typical sales aid or display device, according to the invention, in vertical cross-sectional view, on the line l-l of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 shows the sales display device of Fig. in perspective view, as it is about to be fitted to the prepared end wall of a box containing articles such as bags of a snackfood;

Fig. 3 shows another form of sales display device according to the present invention, in a perspective view similar to Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a cross-section on an enlarged scale, taken on the line IV-IV of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a cross-section, again on the same enlarged scale, taken on the line V-V of Fig.

3;

Fig. 6 is a general perspective view, illustrating the use of a sales display device according either to Figs. .1 and 2 or Figs. 3 to 5, in conjunction with an associated tray-like sales display device, for use with containers of a different format and designed to provide an integrated and visually satisfactory display of one or more of each of the different kinds of sales display device.

The sales display device of the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1 and 2, indicated generally at 10, is intended to be used with a typical rectangular cardboard box or case, an end portion of which is indicated generally at 11 in Fig. 2. The box 11 consists of an opposed pair of side walls 12 joined by a corresponding opposed pair of end walls (only the lower part of one of which is shown at 14 in Fig. 2), these side and end walls 12,14 typically being joined at each of the resultant four upright corners of the box, the join at one of the corners usually involving gluing and/or stitching, as is well known in the cardboard box art. The top and bottom of the box 11 are closed by interengaging flaps in conventional fashion, parts of the top and bottom wall panels of the box 11, formed from such flaps, being indicated at 15 and 16

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respectively in Fig. 2. In manufacture, the box 11 is filled with articles, such as bags of a snackfood, for instance 48 1-ounce (28 gm) bags of potato crisps. Information about the 5 contents of the box, such as the flavour, bag weight and other details of the snackfood, is indicated in a bold fashion on the outside surfaces of the box 11. One of the walls of the box 11, for instance, an end wall typically, is 10 provided with a large and readily-removable panel, not shown in Fig. 2, but defined for instance by perforated lines which are located, for example, along the upper edge of the end wall of the box 11, down a substantial part of 15 each of its sides and across the end wall about one-third of the distance up from its lower edge, so that the resulting removable panel represents the upper two-thirds of the end wall of the box 11. The box 11 is shown 20 in Fig. 2 as it appears after this panel has been removed. The non-removable part 14 of the end wall, as shown in Fig. 2, thus represents the lowest one-third thereof.

The lines of perforations in the box and 25 thus included in the blank from which it was made can typically be located along the fold lines which join adjacent panels together, except perhaps for the line of perforations on one side of the panel, as is shown in effect in 30 Fig. 2; thus, removal of the panel defined by these lines exposes the edge or thickness of the cardboard or other sheet material along at least some of the sides of the resultant access aperture. These edges are shown at 25 35 for parts of the side panels 12 and at 26 for the top panel 15. The edge or thickness of the cardboard or other material is also exposed, e.g. as shown at 27 for the end panel 14, where part of the end panel is not in-40 eluded in the removable panel.

The sales display device 10 consists of a generally rectangular mask-like one-piece plastics moulding or vacuum-formed article, which has a framelike outer wall part 17 extending 45 rearwardly from the rectangular periphery of the sales display device 10 and thus from a plane representing the front surface of the device 10. The wall part 17 is intended to fit over and around the exterior of the end of the 50 box 11 and so completely conceals or masks the parts of the side walls 12 and the top and bottom of the box 11 adjacent the end wall with the removable panel, i.e. the parts immediately adjacent the edges 25 and 26 around 55 the access aperture formed on removal of the panel. At the upper part and the opposed side parts of the sales device or mask 10, corresponding to the portion of the box 11 having the removable panel, i.e. co-extensive with the 60 edges 25 and 26, the wall part 17 is associated with a corresponding internal wall part 18, so that these wall parts 17 and 18 of the mask 10 consist of a rearwardly-open and divergent U-shaped channel, as indicated most 65 clearly at the top in Fig. 1. The channel comprising the wall part 18 and the associated portions of the wall part 17 thus defines a generally rectangular access opening of substantial size, which preferably corresponds very closely in size and shape to the access aperture formed in the end of the box 11 by removing the removable panel. It will be appreciated that a mask 10 could be used with a box 11 having an access aperture larger than the access opening in the mask 10, so that the same mask could be used with boxes having different sizes or shapes of access apertures, if desired or necessary.

The sales device 10 includes a further internal wall 19, which in use is located above and immediately adjacent the edge 27 and so completes the interior of the frame around the access opening in the device 10, by forming its lowest part. Below this internal wall 19, namely between it and the bottom portion of the wall part 17, the sales device 10 includes a rectangular panel-like area 20, which preferably includes a recessed region 21, for receiving a self-adhesive indicator panel, such as a price ticket or label which can typically be supplied to retail premises with the box and the sales device 10 and can form part of a kit of sales display device components. Thus, a delivery of a range of boxes of snackfoods, e.g. to a supermarket, will include the corresponding sales devices 10 and the indicator panels and other items associated with them.

In order to prepare a box for display for retail purposes, it is merely necessary to form the access aperture by removing the prepared panel, by separating it from the rest of the box along the lines of perforations, and then to fit the corresponding sales device or mask 10 into place over the thusprepared wall panel of the box 11, as indicated in Fig. 2. The rectangular frame formed i.a. by the wall parts 17 thus surrounds the end of the box 11 and the internal wall parts 18 and 19 define the access opening and also form a frame or lining for the access aperture, in which the bags of snackfoods are thus displayed and are readily available for removal. One or more labels appropriate to the particular snackfood in the box 11 are then applied to the recessed area 21 and, if required, the appropriate self-adhesive price ticket is then attached to the label. It is found that the U-shaped configuration of the wall parts 17, 18, 19, with the preferred tapering configuration of the channel between the wall parts 17 and 18, can be sufficient to ensure that the sales device 10 will remain in place while the bags are removed, as may occur over a period of time until the box 11 is empty. This can be achieved simply, by matching the cross-section of the channel between the wall parts 17 and 18 to the thickness or gauge of the cardboard or other sheet material, so that the latter fits tightly in the U-profile of the channel.

In accordance with a further preferred fea-

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ture of the invention, the sales device 10 is provided with means which give a positive engagement or interlock between the prepared end or other wall of a box, i.e. which has 5 been opened by removal of a panel to form the access aperture, and the corresponding mask-like sales display device of the invention. The positive engagement or interlock means can take the form, for instance, of appropri-10 ately-directed projections, located at spaced points around the external wall part 17 and/or the internal wall parts 18 or 19. These projections, such as the projections or pips shown at 22 in the wall part 17 or at 23 in the wall 15 part 18 in Fig. 1, can be so arranged as to press against the material of the box, which thus enables the mask 10 to grip the underlying parts of the box 11. A further possibility is to arrange the projections so that they can 20 engage with corresponding depressions or apertures formed in the parts of the box 11 which are covered by the wall parts 17 and/or 18 when the device 10 is fitted into place. Another possible form of positive inter-25 lock is given by downwardly-directed projections, shown at 24 in Fig. 1, provided in the wall part 19, which snap behind the upstanding edge of a box wall, e.g. the wall panel 14, when the mask 10 is pressed into place over 30 the end of the box 11.

Many other features can also be used to provide a positive interlocking relationship between the mask 10 and the associated box 11. Some of these are illustrated in relation to 35 the form of the sales device described below in connection with Figs. 3, 4 and 5 of the drawings.

In Figs. 3, 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings, parts similar to those shown in 40 Figs. 1 and 2 have reference numerals increased by 20, in comparison with the same or equivalent parts in the earlier Figures. Thus the sales device or mask shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 is indicated at 30 and likewise consists 45 of a one-piece article, such as a plastics moulding or a vacuum-formed plastics article. A large access opening in the upper part of the mask 30 is defined by internal wall parts

38 which, with external wall parts 37, form a 50 rearwardly-open U-shaped channel. At the bottom of the access opening, the mask 30 includes a rearwardly-directed internal wall part

39 and below this, i.e. between the wall parts 37 and 39, the mask 30 includes a display

55 panel 40, preferably incorporating a recessed portion 41.

The rearwardly-open U-shaped channel defined by the wall parts 37 and 38 incudes one or more inwardly-directed projections 50. Each 60 of these is directed inwardly, in the sense that it reduces in its locality the cross-sectional width of the interior of the channel. The projections 50 in the wall part 37 are thus made inwardly towards the access opening, while 65 the projections 50 in the wall part 38 are made inwardly of the channel and are therefore directed away from the access opening. Preferably, at least three of the projections 50 are provided along each side of the access opening, which is rectangular as shown in Fig. 3, there being two spaced projections 50 in the respective portion of the outer wall part 37 and a central projection 50 in the associated part of the inner wall part 38. When the mask 30 is fitted over the end of a box, the projections 50 reduce the effective width of the rearwardly-open channel and firmly engage the edge of the cardboard or other material forming the side walls and top of the case, from which a panel has been removed to form the access aperture in the case. This material does not need to be selected so as to have a gauge or thickness which is accurately matched to the dimensions of the channel, as the projections 50 ensure a tight fit over a wide range of sheet material thicknesses. Each of the projections 50 preferably consists of a part-circular U-shaped channel, shown in more detail in cross-section in Fig. 4.

For further positive interengagement between the mask 30 and the case, the rear-wardly-directed wall part 39 forming the lower periphery of the access opening is provided with one or more and preferably, as shown in Fig. 3, three downwardly-directed projections 51. Each of these can consist of a major rectangular area having a greater inclination from rear to front than the associated portions of the wall part 39, to which they are connected by side webs, as indicated in Fig. 5 at 58 and 59 respectively.

A sales display device 30 having the internal projections 50 and 51, shown in Figs. 4 and 5, makes a more positive interengagement with the edges of the access aperture in a box, in use, and is thus a further improvement over the forms of device disclosed above.

The present invention also provides a form of sales display device for use with boxes such as cardboard or other cartons or cases which either are not suitable for the inclusion of a removable access panel, i.e. in an end or side wall, or which have such a panel in the top or have any desired form of openable top. It is nevertheless desirable for such boxes to have an integrated appearance and means of use in association with boxes which are suitable for use with the above-described sales display devices of the invention, embodiments of which are illustrated in relation to the masks 10 and 30 described above. The associated sales display device consists preferably of a rearwardly-open tray, shown in Fig. 6 at 53, and, like the masks 10 and 30, preferably comprising a one-piece plastics moulding or vacuum-formed plastics article. The tray 53 preferably consists of a rectangular base 54, sized to accommodate the base of a box 52, an upstanding front panel 56, preferably hav70

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ing a recessed panel portion 57 and generally corresponding in function and appearance to the lower part of the sales display device or masks 10, 30 with their recessed panel por-5 tions 21 or 41, and, joining the side edges of the base 54 to the side edges of the upstanding panel 56, triangular side panels 55.

The various sales display articles of the invention, such as are shown at 10, 30 and 53, 10 allow better display and use of cartons and cases of all kinds, whether or not they include removable access panels, and they also ensure that an integrated display of a plurality of such cases can be maintained to a higher and 15 more satisfactory standard and ensure a substantially improved appearance for sales displays equipped with these devices. Also, they can form, for instance in conjunction with suitable labels and/or price tickets, a set or kit of 20 sales display devices for use with two or more different types of boxes. For instance, such a kit of parts can consist of one or more filled boxes having removable panels producing access apertures in one of their upright 25 walls when standing, normally on their bases, most probably in an end wall and one or more other filled boxes having removable or openable top panels.

Claims (29)

30 CLAIMS

1. A sales display device, for use in association with a box having a wall containing a removable panel, which comprises a mask having a size and shape so that it can fit over 35 such wall of the box and including a peripheral frame defining an opening giving access to the interior of the box, through the aperture formed by removing the panel from the box wall, when the device is fitted over such wall. 40

2. A device according to claim 1, in which the frame conceals the edges of the aperture in the box, when the device is fitted over such wall.

3. A device according to claim 2, in which 45 the edges concealed by the frame, in use of the device, at least partly coincide with the edges of panels adjacent.the box wall containing the removable panel.

4. A device according to any preceding 50 claim, which comprises a one-piece plastics moulding or vacuum-formed article.

5. A device according to any preceding claim, which includes a display panel, for instance for the receipt and indication of infor-

55 mation.

6. A device according to claim 5, in which the access opening defined by the frame comprises from half to three-quarters of the area of the box wall fitted with the device in use

60 and the display panel comprises the remainder of such area.

7. A device according to claim 5 or 6, in which the access opening comprises the upper part of the mask and the display panel

65 comprises its lower part.

8. A device according to any preceding claim, which includes, along at least part of its periphery, a rearwardly-open channel comprising an outer wall part and an inner wall part, which in use are respectively located outside the box wall and inside the edges of the aperture.

9. A device according to claim 8, in which the outer wall part extends around the complete periphery of the mask, the inner wall part extends around part of the periphery of the mask and a further inner wall part completes the interior of the frame adjacent the access opening.

10. A device according to claim 8 or 9, in which the outer and inner wall parts are arranged so that the channel has a tapering configuration.

11. A device according to any preceding claim, which includes means giving, in use, a positive engagement or interlock with the box.

12. A device according to claim 11, in which one or more projections are provided, which in use press against and grip the material of the box.

13. A device according to claim 11 or 12, in which one or more projections are provided, which in use engage with corresponding depressions or apertures formed in the material of the box.

14. A device according to claim 11, 12 or 13, in which one or more downwardly-directed projections are provided, which in use snap behind the upstanding edge of a wall panel of the box.

15. A device according to claim 14, in which each of the downwardly-directed projections comprises a rectangular area having a greater inclination from front to rear than the associated parts of the wall part to which they are connected.

16. A device according to any of claims 12 to 15, in which the projections are dirrcted inwardly with respect to the U-shaped channel.

17. A device according to claim 16, in which at least three projections are provided along each side of the access opening, comprising two spaced projections in the one wall part and a central projection in the other wall part.

18. A device according to any of claims 12 to 17, in which each projection comprises a part-circular U-shaped channel.

19. A sales display device according to claim 1, substantially as described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 or Figs. 3 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.

20. A method of preparation of a box of articles for display and sale of the articles,

such box having a wall containing a removable panel, which comprises removing the panel, fitting a sales display device over such wall of the box, the device including a peripheral frame defining an opening giving access to the

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interior of the box through the aperture formed by removing the panel, and displaying the assembled box and device so that the wall fitted with the device is visible and ac-5 cessible.

21. A method according to claim 20, in which the device used is as defined in any of claims 1 to 19.

22. A method according to claim 20, sub-

10 stantially as described with reference to Figs.

1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.

23. A kit of sales display devices, for use in association with boxes having a removable panel either in an end or side wall or in a top

15 wall, or having an openable top, which comprises at least one first sales display device for association with the end or side wall of one of the boxes and at least one second sales display device comprising a rearwardly-

20 open tray for receiving the base of a top-opening box.

24. A kit of sales display devices according to claim 23, in which the first device is in accordance with any of claims 1 to 19.

25 25. A kit of sales display devices according to claim 23, in which the first device is in accordance with claim 5 or any of claims 6 to 19 as dependent thereon and the second device includes an upstanding front panel, for

30 instance for the receipt and indication of information.

26. A kit of sales display devices according to claim 25, in which the display panel of the first device and the front panel of the second

35 device are substantially the same.

27. A kit of sales display devices according to claim 26, in which the display panel of the first device and the front panel of the second device each include a recessed panel portion.

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28. A kit of sales display devices according to any of claims 23 to 27, which includes one or more labels attachable to the devices and, optionally, one or more price tickets attachable, for instance, to the labels.

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29. A kit of sales display devices according to claim 23, as described with reference to Fig. 6 of the accompanying drawings.

Printed in the United Kingdom for

Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Dd 8818935, 1986, 4235.

Published at The Patent Office, 25 Southampton Buildings,

London. WC2A 1AY, from which copies may be obtained.

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