US3178019A

US3178019A - Transparent package

Info

Publication number: US3178019A
Application number: US311754A
Authority: US
Inventors: Paul J Fetzek
Original assignee: Eltra Corp
Current assignee: Eltra Corp
Priority date: 1963-09-26
Filing date: 1963-09-26
Publication date: 1965-04-13
Anticipated expiration: 1982-04-13

Description

A ril 13, 1965 P. J. FETZEK 3,1 78,019

TRANSPARENT PACKAGE Filed Sept. 26, 1963 z INVENTOR.

PAUL J. FETZEK imzlimb ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,178,019 TRANSPARENT PAQKAGE Paul J. Fetzelr, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to Eltra Corporation, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of New York Filed Sept. 26, 1963, Ser. No. 311,754 1 Claim. (Cl. 206-78) This invention relates to a merchandizing package and more particularly to a method of showing an informative relationship between the merchandising package and its contents.

The invention contemplates the provision of a transparent plastic package of a type generally referred to as a bubble package, which is provided with an informative configuration relative to its end use, for example to indicate the fact that internal combustion engine ignition parts are contained in the package.

The invention provides a package structure for automotive ingnition parts having a first transparent outer portion resembling a distributor cap, and a second transparent inner holding portion to cooperate with the first portion to form chambers, both portions being suitably mounted in a cooperative relation on a stiff supporting card.

The invention further contemplates the provision of a transparent package having a suggestive configuration that is related to its contents and which also aids a purchaser by giving him technical information for the use of the contents.

It is, therefore, a principal object of the invention to provide a package having sales appeal for ignition parts which has a suggestive transparent cover formed to resemble a conventional distributor cap.-

It is another object of the invention to provide a transparent package of the type described which includes means to retain the ignition parts contained in the package in the same relative position within the package which they have during actual use, so as to indicate to a user the exact positions the parts are to be mounted in the automotive vehicle.

Other objects and advantages of this invention relating to the arrangement, operation and function or" the related elements of the structure, to various details of construction, to combinations of parts and to economies of manufacture will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following description and appended claim, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a transparent package having ignition parts contained therein, a portion of a support member of the package being broken away;

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation through the package elements showing the assembly of transparent shells and a support member; and

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the support member alone showing an integral flap member.

Referring to the drawings, particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, a preferred form of a sales package it is shown of a type generally referred to as a bubble package which consists of transparent shells provided with a suggestive form to indicate the type of merchandise oliered for sale in the package. The merchandizing package comprises a transparent outer shell member 12, an inner transparent shell member 1 fitted therein, and a relatively stiff card member 16 which supports the two transparent shell members in their cooperative relation.

The card member 16 is a one-piece member folded over on itself, as shown at 17 (FIG. 2), to provide a doublelayer construction having upper and lower plies 16a and 1611. A circular flap member 18 is cut in the card 16 which is hinged to the portion 1611' by an integral hinge portion 16:: of the card-(FIGS. 2 and 3). An aperture 19. is provided at the upper end of the card adjacent the fold 17 to facilitate displaying the package in a handling v the superposed flange portions 12a and 14a bearing against the' bottom side of the forward card portion 160. The lower ply 16b and the flap 18 underlie the flanges to support them in position between the plies'of the support member, the flanges 12a and 14a being cut away adjacent the hinge portion 160 to provide the necessary clearance at that point. The package may be maintained in assembled relation, as shown in FIG. 1, in any convenient manner by providing a holding means such as cement, staples, or the like around the edges of the card between the plies to hold the plies together.

An important feature of the invention is the novel method of relating the outer configuration of the package shells to the contents of the package being olfered for sale. The package disclosed is designed to contain repair parts for an ignition distributor including a condenser 21, a set of breaker points 23, and a rotor 24. The outer shell member 12 is formed of relatively thin transparent plastic material by a vacuum molding process from a fiat sheet of thermoplastic material and is conformed in outline to provide a relationship to the contents, as shown in FIG. 1. A con-figuration is given to the outer shell 12 resembling that of a typical distributor cap and usually has a plurality of projecting tower portions 121) formed in its upper surface to resemble the towers housing cableconnecting sockets of a typical distributor cap. The member 12 is not a distributor cap but merely a suggestive representation of one for sales appeal. The configuration of the cover thus indicates to a purchaser of repair parts the specific class of merchandise contained in the package (i.e., ignition parts), which also allows visual examination of the contents by a purchaser.

An additional feature in the package is the inner transparent shell member 14 which is mounted in nesting relation with the outer shell 12 to provide a transverse membrane to maintain some of the ignition parts in given positions to suggest the operating relations of the parts in an actual distributor housing. The member 14 is cupshaped and has a centrally-located depending cup-like cavity 141'; formed therein which holds the rotor 24 in a vertical position substantially as shown in FIG. 1. An annular space is formed in the inner shell 14 around the cavity 1412, between the bottom of the shell member 14 and the flap 18 of the holding card which is dimensioned to loosely hold the condenser 21 and the breaker points 23 in the annular space at a level below the rotor to resemble the final position during use. This provides a means for better visual examination of the portions of the various repair parts and also retains the parts in their final mounting positions during use in relation to each other.

The desirable characteristic of the package from a merchandizing standpoint can be further enhanced by providing a printed diagram on the backing member which will inform the purchaser of the exact mounting location or position of the various repair parts within a distributor housing on the automotive vehicle. This diagram (not shown) may be printed in color with photographic illustrations on the flap 18 of thecard 16 and may portray the parts exactly as they would appear in the distributor, the flap being used to representadistribw tor plate. a

The invention as shown and described is not to be limited.to-the'number of projections 1'2'b"on the cover 'member whichin this case represents a si-x cylinder engine. 'Fhe same type of package could. be'used for ignition parts for other engines such as four end eight cylinder engines.

It is to 'be understood thatthe above detailed descrip-" tion of the present invention is intended to disclose an embodiment thereof to those skilled in the art, but that the invention is not 'to be construed as limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings since I the'invention is capable of being practiced and carried o'utfin various ways without departing from the spirit of the invention. The language used in the specification relating to the-operation and functionof the elements of the "invention is employed for purposes of description and notof limitation, and it is not intended to limit the scope of the following claim beyond the requirements of the prior art "What isclaimed:

In apaekage for merchandising repair parts for anignition' distributor for internal combustion engines com;

prising an outer inverted cup-shaped transparent plastic cover memben an inner inverted cup-shaped transparent 185,890 Barton Aug. 11, 1959' 2,557,794 Nicolle June 19, 19 51 20 3,054,503 7 Hartman Sept. 18, 1962 3,063,557 Scholl a. Nov. 13, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,174,762; France V Nov. 10, 1958 V 4 f a 7 plastic holding member nested within the outer member, the bottom of which forms'a transverse wall across the outer member substantially parallel to the bottom thereof,

1 said wall having a central depending well to form a lower gReferen ces Cited in-the fileof this patent UNITED-STATES PATENTS" 7 OTHER REFERENCES I Publication:'(Modern Packaging) September 1957.

TI-I l-ERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner. j

GEORGE o. RALSTON, Examiner,