US2602541A - Display carton - Google Patents

Description

July 8, 1952 OTTEN 2,602,541

I i INVENTOR.

i 4/ 1 By (@M flaw.

Patented July 8, 1952 DISPLAY CARTON Eri Q t icag Il Application No ena; 5, 1949-, Serial No. 125,818

H; r .This invention relates to improved display and shipping containers for merchandising cards, that is, cards on which articles of merchandise are carried and displayed for sale.

. In general, such cards are packed and shipped in large containers which are opened and discarded at the destination, and the cards, loosely or in trays, are displayed for sale. I r

. The cards may thus be individually handled several times before their ultimate display and many times thereafter, so that the cards and articles are liable to become dirty, tarnished and scratched, the articles perhaps loosened from the cards and lost, with the result that the cards and articles are. not attractively displayed for final merchandising. v I Itis an object of the. present invention to provide an effective display container for the cards and one which also may be filled by the manu- 'facturer, or at the source, and shipped to the store or destination and'there be placed on the counter or elsewhere for the display and mer chandising of the cards. A minimum of hanoiling, of the cards. individually or anumberin loose condition, tending to deface the same, thus results. Once placed in the containers at the source, the cards need not be touched through all the handling of packing and shipping the con-' tainers, their receipt, unpacking, distribution and placing on display for sale, and not then until final. disposal except as some customer may desire individual inspection, when the cardmay be readily liftedout, and if not sold, as readily replaced, The cards thus: arrive in prime condition and are maintained in that condition during their display andmerchandising. v

Accordingly, the invention comprlsese-a-nd that isglanjobjectriea lightweight display container having :arwholly transparent vertical body of thin; tmnsparent, plastic sheet material; pref-- erably a cellulosev ester or ether, such as cellu-i loseacetatc, cellulosenitrate, butyrate, etc., or ethyl cellulosegorthelike. Transparent plastics such as relatively rigid polyvinyl 1 polymers, stycal corners, andis of: a size to accommodate therein a plurality oi merchandising'cardsstand-,

3; Claims. (01. zoo-44.11)

ing 'on endandplai-nl-yandwholly visiblethrough the transparent sidesoi' the container. ;-A strong,

stiffi; fiat base; preferably of pasteboa'rd-Qand shaped like an} inverted "cover having upstandingperipheral side or edge strips ornanges or substantial width, is provided for the transparent body, the lower end of which telescopically fits into said flanges of the base and is suitably secured thereto, preferably by some form or glue or cement between the respective body sides and said flanges.

There is thus provideda merchandising card display container affording iull visibility of the cards inside through the entire sides of the body, even to and through the corners, the view not being hampered or lessened by supportingframework, corner posts, window frames, tops, orthe like. The transparent material is light in weight and not heavylike glass orbreakable and thus dangerous from splinters or the like, and is not as expensive as a molded product. The material of which the transparent-body is formed is thin and flexible, but the four vertical'corners, which are preferably formed by sharply bending the sheet material, together with the two sides ex-' tending in planes at right angles therefrom, and all four sides being secured at their lower-edges to the bottom base, produce corner post stiffening effects in the body and impart thereto a rigidity sufficient for the purpose ofdisplayand for the handling the container maybe subjected to during itsfuse While a most efiicient display container'is'thus producedjitis'desirable to fill thesame with" cards at the source, to avoid the necessity of handling thesa-mefor shipment or the like. But'the cards with their merchandise may be relatively heavy and] the 'wa'llsof the container are thin. It has been found, however, that by supplying the container withe cover which is relatively stiff and strong, nonwarpable and 'nondef'ormable, practicallya counterpart of 'the base member but reversed; with its-edge flanges overlap'pingand closelyfitting down over the top of the body, a

rugged filled container is produced which is well able to withstand the torsional and other. stresses and strains-caused by shipment,jhandling andthe like. Moreover, the -pa'ra1lel' top and bottom side flanges of: the cover and bottom members enable.- the containers to be closelypacked in largershipping cases, without: causing undue strain on the sidewalls of the containers,

from the detailed description and claims to follow, in connection with the accompanying drawing, which shows an embodiment of the invention, by way of exemplification but not of limitation, and in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a completed and filled container ready for shipment;

Fig. 2 is a similar View of the container with the temporary top removed as usedfor a display container; z 1 V Fig. 3 isa top view" of a shipping case in which some 16 of the containers of the present inven- With the box 13 properly proportioned. the contion are closely packed relative to each other with 5 the edges of their tops and bottoms in protective engagement;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a cardsuitable of h m for display in the containers vention; and

Fig. 5 is a vertical section through an empty" container. H

The side walls 6 of the container consist of thin, flexible but self-sustaining sheets of a suitable transparent plastic material, the four walls all being made from a single sheet of such material, bent at 90 angles to produce a rectangular structure. Where the four sides meet, one side is slightly larger, and lapped over the adjacent-side .as indicated at 6*, and secured thereto, for example, by a suitable cement. If the material of which the sides are made is soluble in a suitable solvent, such as acetone or ethyl acetate, and the like, the adherence may be secured by merely moistening the overlapping parts with such a-solvent and then-pressing the parts together; However, a suitable transparent cement may -be used; the mainobject being to retain-full transparencm soas not to hide any of 'the contents of the container. While any suitable-sufliciently stiff plastic transparent material will do, it is. preferred, both from a cost standpoint as well as forits physical properties, to employ so-called cellulose acetate sheet stock. This may vary in thickness but generally, for the present purposes, about 0.04" stock is sufiicient. This will produce. a rectangular tubeof self-supporting characteristics,

The bottom of the container 1 is made from some stiff and, more or less rigid materialysuch as heavy cardboard; shaped into the form of a trayjust large enough so that the rectangular v transparent plastic tube may be telescopically fitted thereinto, and secured on all four sides to the upstanding flanges 8 ofthebcttom. .This mayv be. done by cement, stitching, or stapling. This renders the structure substantially incollapsible and imparts enough strength to enable the container to maintain itself when on display.

Housed within the container are-aplurality of cards 9 to'which the particular merchandise in is attached. In the 'illustrations,.-sets of bob pins are shown merely for purposes of exempliflcation, itgbeing obvious that any sort of merchandisesuitable for such attachment to cards may be employed. .One of these cards is shown outside of the container inZFigJ l, and usually bears attractive; ornamentation, picturesend legends on-its face indicative of. theyproduct i play dr While the container isintended foruse in the form: shown in Eig. ;2, -qthat is with-its top removedyso asto afford access tothe cards,as by ;the purchaser or sales person, it-sis shipped with-atop fitted-i thereon as, shown in 'Figs. 1, 3 and 5. This top is made of cardboard, and is ;quite similar-to ,the, bottom 1, ;but has detainers will fit snugly and serve to support each other. As only the respective tops and bottoms are thus in contact, the transparent sides of the containers will be spaced slightly apart, thus avoiding scratching and marring. The articles within' the containers also serve to prevent the collapse of" the containers by engaging the sides,

while any strain placed on the containers by violent movements of the shipping case will be primarily taken up. by the cardboard'tops. and bottoms. Thus thexcontainers and their contents are well protected; during shipping, and all that it is necessary for the merchandiser to'do is to remove the containers, take off their tops,

and place them on display.

temporarily to secure at least one ofthe cards to'the inside of thefcontainer, so'that it will remain upright and fully visible fromthe front of the-container; This may bedone,v as indicated in Fig. 2, by securinga card 9.to the inside "of the front wall 6 of: thecontainer by a small piece of adhesive tape I4- The'rear card. likewise be secured by a faced outwardly may similar strip I5.

The containers are thus very useful, in that they serve. a multiplicity of-purposes, afiording both good protection to the merchandise during. shipping and alsoduring its display and ultimate sale; particularly as the full transparency makes it possible at a glance to note the number of'articles-remaining. on display;

Iv It will, of course, be .within the scope of the presentwinvention to make the containers either square orrectang-ular, or polygonal, and even round (i. :e. cylindrical), depending upon the nature of the contents to be shipped and displayed therein.

Accordingly applicant claims: 3 l. A shipping. and display device comprising a container for merchandisecarried on' displaycards, comprising a transparent vertical body rectangular in 'cross'section and of a size to receiveiand hold therein a plurality of said cards vertically and'juxtaposed flatwise and visible through the full: area of the wallsx of said body, said bodyV-beingJof thintrans'parent plasticsheet self sustaining. material bent/at the four vertical ccrners thereof toform the sides and relatiyely rigid ,-c,orn'er s ithereof, -a rectangular base forming thebottomof;saidbody, said base be-V' ingtof relatively; strong and. stiff material corresponding in sizeto the cross section of said bodyand-havinga peripheral upstanding edge flange telescoping.-.over the lower end of said and form as said base and also of relatively strong and still material and having a depending ing the merchandise lying against the inside of said wall so as to be visible therethrough, whereby as the cards are removed from the container the visibility of the secured card will maintain the appearance of the display so as to attract purchasers.

2. A display device'comprising a container for fiat objects capable ofstanding on ends, con-' sisting of a flexible tube composed of a transparent self-sustaining plastic material, a bottom corresponding in shape to the cross section of said tube and provided with upstanding flanges overlying the outer surface of said tube and secured thereto, the said bottom imparting to the assembly sufiicient rigidity to prevent its 001- lapse and to enable it to :be used as a display container, and a plurality of rectangular cards carrying the merchandise affixed thereto ver-' tically disposed in said body with at least one of the cards secured to a transparent wall of the container with the side carrying the merchandise lying against the inside of said'wall so as to be visible therethrough, whereby as the cards are removed from the container the visibility of the secured card will maintain the appearance of the display so as to attract purchasers.

3. A display device comprising a container for fiat objects capable of standing on ends, con- 6 sisting of'a flexible tube composed of a transparent self-sustaining plastic material, a bottom corresponding in shape to the cross section of said tube and provided with upstanding flanges overlying the outer surface of said tube and secured thereto, and a similar top having dependent flanges overlying the outer side of said tube, the said bottom and top imparting to the assembly sufficient rigidity to prevent its 001- lapse and to enable it to be used both as a shipping as well as a display container, and a plurality of cards carrying the merchandise affixed thereto being vertically disposed in said body, with at least one of the cards secured to a transparent wall of the container with the side carrying the merchandise lying against the inside of said wall so as to be visible therethrough, whereby as the cards are'removed from the container Y the visibility of the secured card will maintain the appearance of the display so as to attract purchasers.

ERIC OT'I EN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

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