GB2480645A

GB2480645A - Box hook for detachable mounting to a packaging box

Info

Publication number: GB2480645A
Application number: GB201008790A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael Edward Jones; Holly Elizabeth Nugent
Original assignee: Mainetti UK Ltd
Current assignee: Mainetti UK Ltd
Priority date: 2010-05-26
Filing date: 2010-05-26
Publication date: 2011-11-30
Anticipated expiration: 2030-05-26
Also published as: GB201008790D0; GB2480645B

Abstract

A box hook 10 which can be easily secured to and released from a packaging box includes: a hook 16 to hang the packaging box from a rail; edge engaging portions 18 to attach the hook to the edges of a slot or aperture formed in the packaging box [see Figure 3] ; biasing means, e.g. spring hinges 28, for biasing the edge engaging portions 18 into engagement with the edges of the slot; and release tabs 30 to allow easy grasping by a user so that the arms can be moved inwards to release the box hook for recycling or reuse. The edge engaging portions 18 of the box hook are preferably provided at the end of spring biased arms 24. The release tabs 30 are preferably arranged to slide against the rear of a label portion 32 formed between a body 26 supporting the spring biased arms 24 and the suspension hook 16. A method of removing the hook from the packaging is also disclosed.

Description

Device for suspending a box from a rail and method of recycling such a device S The present invention relates to a method for suspending a box from a rail and for recycling and reusing such devices, and relates particularly, but not exclusively, to a device for attaching a hook to be hung on a rail to a box that contains a garment of clothing for retail display.

The use of a moulded plastic hook, with a label area and connecting portion, to allow a hook to be easily attached to a box, such as a cardboard box, is well known. An example of such a device is disclosed in UK Design registration number 2022278. The device disclosed therein is designed to slide into a slot cut in a box so that the upmost hook and rectangular label area extend out of the box with the retaining arms and the remainder of the body extending into the box. The hook shaped end portions of the arms move inwards on insertion of the device into the slot and the hooks engage the edges of the slot, preventing the device from being removed. The device is designed for almost permanent engagement with the box so as to ensure that the hook is not accidentally disengaged from the box.

However, this makes the process of recycling the packaging more complicated. For example, it is typical that the hook portion is made from plastic and that the box is made from cardboard or another form of plastic. In the case of a cardboard box and plastic hook, the most effective way to ensure recycling is to remove the hook portion from the cardboard box at the point at which the product is sold. The hook can then be recycled or reused and the customer takes the product home in the cardboard packaging which can be easily recycled by the customer.

It is also the case that for many combinations of box hook and cardboard container it is necessary to tear the container in order to extract the hook. This increases the likelihood that a customer will not separate the container and hook allowing them to be recycled. It also increases the likelihood that the retaining portion of the hook will be damaged during extraction making impossible to reuse it.

Further example of the prior art are disclosed in UK registered design application numbers 2024404, 1022918, 2097707, 2079650, 2042456, 2039422, 2013613 and 1046500.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention seek to overcome the above described disadvantages of the prior art.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device for suspending a product retaining device from a rail, the device comprising:-suspension means for suspending the device from a rail; a plurality of edge engaging portions for engaging opposing edges of an aperture cut into a product retaining device; biasing means for biasing said edge engaging portions in opposite directions and in use into engagement with said edges; and release tabs extending from said edge engaging portions and adapted to be manually engaged to push said edge engaging portions against said biasing means so as to release the device from the product retaining device.

By providing release tabs extending from the edge engagement portions, the advantage is provided that the device can be very easily removed from the packaging to allow easy recycling of the plastic hook and the packaging.

Because the hook can be easily removed, this encourages staff working in the shop selling the product contained in the packaging to remove the tab without taking significant additional time in doing their work. As a result, the hook is much more likely to be removed in the shop where it can be collected and reused rather then relying on the customer to recycle the hook separately from the cardboard or other packaging material. Furthermore, by leaving the, for example, cardboard only packaging for the customer to recycle makes it much more likely that this cardboard will be recycled since the customer does not have to go to the effort of separating the packaging into parts for separate recycling. Because the hooks can collected in the shop they can be reused which is a much more efficient way to reuse the plastic material forming the hook.

The device may further comprise a label area and the release tabs can be adapted to slide along a rear surface of said label area.

By providing a label area with the release tabs sliding along the rear surface of the label area, the advantage is provided that the release tabs are hidden from view, and therefore do not affect the aesthetics of the packaging.

Furthermore, this arrangement allows particularly easy removal of the hook using two fingers and a thumb of one hand. This easy removal is particularly important in order to encourage staff working in a shop to remove the hook and the one-handed operation allows the other hand to hold the packaging or even to be doing something else whilst the hook is removed.

The device may further comprise a body portion extending away from said suspension means.

By having a body portion extending away from the suspension means, the advantage is provided that the biasing means and edge engaging portions can be provided in the form of a pair of arms extending from the distal end of the body portion back towards the suspension means. This in turn allows a biased hinge to be produced from a very small quantity of plastic material.

In a preferred embodiment the edge engaging portion comprises a hook shaped portion, the concaved surface of which engages said edge of said aperture.

By having the edge engaging portions formed as hooks, the advantage is provided that the concave surface of the hook readily engages the edges of the packaging, allowing the device to be simply slid into the slot in the packaging. As a result, the edge engaging portions automatically engage the edges of the aperture in the packaging.

The biasing means may comprise a plurality of arms, each arm connected adjacent one end to said body portion and adjacent the other end to a respective edge engaging portion.

The use of arms connected to a body portion allows the device to be made in a single moulded piece, making it very inexpensive to produce and with very few moving parts unlikely to be damaged and can therefore easily be reused.

In a preferred embodiment the suspension means is connected to said label area below said suspension means, said body portion is connected to said label area below said label area and at said junction between said body portion and said label area said body portion is substantially the same dimension as the distance between said opposing edges of said aperture in said product retaining device, wherein said edge engaging portions engage said aperture so as to substantially prevent lateral movement of said device relative to said product retaining device.

By having the body portion that at its connection to the label area has the same width as the aperture provides the advantage that lateral movement of the device is prevented and this in turn assists in maintaining the edge engaging portions in engagement with the edges of the aperture.

In another preferred embodiment the release tabs extend from said arms in a direction perpendicular to said surface of said label area.

By providing the release tabs extending perpendicular to the surface of the label area provides the advantage that 1 -the release tabs can be easily engaged by a finger and thumb whilst a further finger engages the front surface of the label area. This allows very easy one-handed removal of the device from the packaging.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of recycling and/or reusing a device for suspending a product retaining device from a rail, comprising the steps of:-at the point that a customers is buying a product contained in a product retaining device having a device, substantially as set out above, partially inserted into an aperture in said product retaining device, placing one of a thumb and two fingers of the same hand on a front surface of said label area and the other two of said thumb and two fingers on said release tabs; moving said other two of said thumb and two fingers towards each other so as to move said release tabs towards each other sufficiently far to ensure disengagement of said edge engaging portions from engagement with said product retaining device; applying a gripping force with said thumb and two fingers to said label area and pulling the device from engagement with the product retaining device; giving the product retaining device containing the product to the customer and retaining the device; and collecting the device with similar devices and returning said collected devices to a collection point for recycling or reuse.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-Figure 1 is a perspective view from the front of the device of the present invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view from the rear of the device of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of the device of Figure 1 being inserted into a box in stages shown as a, bThnd c; and Figure 4 is a perspective view of the device of Figure 1 being removed from the box in stages a, b and c.

Referring to Figures 1 to 3, a device 10 is provided to suspend a product retaining device, for example a box 12, from a rail 14. The device 10, hereinafter referred to as box hook 10, has suspension means, in the form of hook 16 that is used to suspend the box hook 10, and the box 12 attached thereto, from rail 14. The box hook 10 has edge engaging portions 18 that engage the edges 20 of an aperture, in the form of a slot 22, which is cut into box 12. The edge engaging portions 18 are formed as a hook-shaped portion of arms 24 that are attached to a body portion 26 via biasing means, in the form of moulded spring portions or spring hinges 28, that bias the arms 24 in the direction indicated by arrows A. Release tabs 30 extend from the end of the edge engaging portions 18 on arms 24 and allow manual engagement, typically using a finger and thumb, to push the edge engaging portions 18 against the biasing action of the spring hinges 28 to release the edge engaging portion from engagement with the edges 20 of slot 22 thereby releasing the box hook 10 from its locked engagement with box 12.

A label area 32 is provided on a front surface of the box hook 10 just below the hook 16 and above the body 26. A rear surface 34 of label area 32 allows the tabs 30 to slide along when coming into engagement with the aperture of the box or when being released. The tabs 30 are formed extending perpendicular to the rear surface 34 thereby allowing user easy engagement with thumb and finger.

Adjacent the junction between the body portion 26 and the label area 32, a widest portion 36 of body 26 is provided. The width, or dimension B, of widest portion 36 is substantially the same as, or slightly less than, the distance between the edges 20 of slot 22. As a result, when the box hook 10 is inserted, the body edges 38 come into engagement with edges 20 preventing lateral movement, that is movement in the same plane as label area 32, of the box hook within slot 22.

The distal end 40 of body portion 26 has a curved shape when viewed perpendicular to the plane of label area 32 and is chamfered, when viewed from the side, towards the distal end in order to allow easy insertion of the box hook 10 into slot 22. The body 26 is also provided with two apertures 42 that reduce the volume of plastic required to form box hook 10. Also to reduce the volume of plastic used, the rear surface 34 of label area 32 and parts of the body 26 are provided with an outer rib 44 that provides strength without significantly increasing the volume of plastic used.

Operation of the box hook 10 will now be described, with reference to Figure 3. A box 12 is provided with a slot 22 that has edges 20 that are a distance apart, approximately the same, or slightly more than the distance B. The distal S end 40 of box hook 10 is inserted into slot 22 and as the body 26 and arms 24 extend through slot 22 (moving in direction C) the arms 24 are moved towards each other in a direction D, opposite to direction A. Because the spring hinges 28 are thinner than the arms 24 and the body 26 to which the arms are attached the spring portions are very flexible. This ensures that the arms do not tear the edges of slot 22 as they enter. Furthermore, their flexibility increases the tolerance of the arms 24 and edge engaging portions 18 within the aperture. As a result, the box hook 10 can be used in boxes having a range of sizes of slot.

Although having a slot larger than the dimension B is not as good as when the slot and widest portion 36 are the same size the increased tolerance in the arms means that the box hook still operates effectively.

At the point where the bottom-most edge of label area 32 engages the surface of box 12 adjacent slot 22, this being the maximum extent to which the box hook 10 can extend into slot 22, the edge engaging portions 18 become aligned with edges 20, the arms 24 are able to move in direction A such that the concave parts of the hook-shaped portions of edge engaging portions 18 come into engagement with edges 20 of slot 22. The box hook 10 is then in locked engagement with the box 12 and the box 12 can be hung on rail 14 by the hook 16. During this method of application there is no need to manually engage the release tabs 30 as the arms 24 move inwardly in direction D, as a result of engagement of the arms with edges 20 and then move to lock the edge engaging portions into engagement with edges 20, by moving arms in direction A, as soon as the edge engaging portions 18 become aligned with edges 20.

S Referring to Figure 4, in order to remove the box hook from box 12, the index finger of one hand is placed on label area 32. The thumb and middle finger of the same hand are brought into engagement with release tabs 30 and press the release tabs 30, and arms 24 in direction D (opposite to direction A) . This releases the edge engaging portions from edges 20 and once the arms 24 move sufficiently close together so that the arms are closer together than distance B, a gentle gripping force can be applied between the index finger and the thumb and middle finger against the label area 32 and rear surface 34 in order that the box hook 10 can be slid in direction E and removed from the box 12.

The box hooks 10 can then be collected together and returned to a product manufacturer, or product packager, for reuse. The product contained in box 12 is given to the customer and taken home in this packaging. The box 12, typically made from cardboard, can be easily recycled by the customer.

The box hook 10 is typically made from a plastic material, such as Polypropylene, and is moulded in a single piece. In order to gain the optimum spring action from spring hinges 28, the tool within which the box hook 10 is formed is designed to produce the box hook with the arms 24 and release tabs 30 extending beyond the edges of the label area 32. The box hook be easily made in large quantities using a two part tool.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiment has been described by way of example only, and not in any limitative sense, and that various alterations and modifications are possible without departure from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. For example, box 12 could be some other form of product packaging that can contain an aperture or slot. For example, die cut card or Polypropylene are often used to hold articles such as socks, gloves and jewellery and can be formed with a slot suitable for receiving a device of the present invention. The packaging shown in the above embodiment is a narrow slot located on an edge of the box 12.

It should be noted that the aperture could be another shape other than a slot, for example a circular aperture, and that the aperture need not be on an edge of the packaging.

Claims

Claims 1. A device for suspending a product retaining device from a rail, the device comprising:-suspension means for suspending the device from a rail; a plurality of edge engaging portions for engaging opposing edges of an aperture cut into a product retaining device; biasing means for biasing said edge engaging portions in opposite directions and in use into engagement with said edges; and release tabs extending from said edge engaging portions and adapted to be manually engaged to push said edge engaging portions against said biasing means so as to release the device from the product retaining device.
2. A device according to claim 1, further comprising a label area and wherein said release tabs are adapted to slide along a rear surface of said label area.
3. A device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a body portion extending away from said suspension means.
4. A device according to any one of the preceding claims wherein at least one said edge engaging portion comprises a hook shaped portion, the concaved surface of which engages said edge of said aperture.
5. A device according to claim 3 or 4 wherein said biasing means comprises a plurality of arms, each arm connected adjacent one end to said body portion and adjacent the other end to a respective edge engaging portion.
6. A device according to any one of claims 2 to 5 wherein said suspension means is connected to said label area below said suspension means, said body portion is connected to said label area below said label area and at said junction between said body portion and said label area said body portion is substantially the same dimension as the distance between said opposing edges of said aperture in said product retaining device, wherein said edge engaging portions engage said aperture so as to substantially prevent lateral movement of said device relative to said product retaining device.
7. A device according to claim 6 wherein said release tabs extend from said arms in a direction perpendicular to said surface of said label area.
8. A device for suspending a product retaining device from a rail substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
9. A method of recycling and/or reusing a device for suspending a product retaining device from a rail, comprising the steps of:-at the point that a customers is buying a product contained in a product retaining device having a device according to any one of the preceding claims partially inserted into an aperture in said product retaining device, placing one of a thumb and two fingers of the same hand on a front surface of said label area and the other two of said thumb and two fingers on said release tabs; moving said other two of said thumb and two fingers towards each other so as to move said release tabs towards each other sufficiently far to ensure disengagement of said edge S engaging portions from engagement with said product retaining device; applying a gripping force with said thumb and two fingers to said label area and pulling the device from engagement with the prodi.ict retaining device; giving the product retaining device containing the product to the customer and retaining the device; and collecting the device with similar devices and returning said collected devices to a collection point for recycling or reuse.
10. A method of recycling and/or reusing a device for suspending a product retaining device from a rail substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.