US3233725A

US3233725A - Card display packaging

Info

Publication number: US3233725A
Application number: US367435A
Authority: US
Inventors: Kenneth D Bixler
Original assignee: Diamond International Corp
Current assignee: Smurfit Diamond Packaging Corp
Priority date: 1964-05-14
Filing date: 1964-05-14
Publication date: 1966-02-08
Anticipated expiration: 1983-02-08

Description

Feb. 8, 1966 K. D. BIXLER CARD DISPLAY PACKAGING 9 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 14, 1964 INVENTOR KENNETH D. BIXLER BY IFHRL CU'HOCHS ATTORNEY Feb. 8, 1966 K. D. BIXLER CARD DISPLAY PACKAGING 9 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 14, 1964 INVENTOR KENNETH D. BIXLER KHRL CU- HOG/(5 ATTORNEY Feb. 8, 1966 K. D. BIXLER CARD DISPLAY PACKAGING 9 Sheets-Sheet '5 Filed May 14, 1964 ZNVENTOR KENNETH D. BIXLER Ham a). TL OcHs ATTORNEY Feb. 8, 1966 K. D. BIXLER 3,233,725

CARD DISPLAY PACKAGING Filed May 14, 1964 INVENTOR KENNETH D. BIXLER HQRL Q). Hoe/(5 ATTORNEY 9 Sheets-Sheet 4'. I

Feb. 8, 1966 K. D. BIXLER CARD DISPLAY PACKAGING 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 14, 1964 INVENTOR KENNETH D. BIXLER Hem cu. Hoe/es ATTORNEY Feb. 8, 1966 K. D. BIXLER 3,233,725

CARD DISPLAY PACKAGING Filed May 14, 1964 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENT OR KENNETH D. BIXLER Hem a) HOCHS W ATTORNEY Feb. 8, 1966 K. D. BIXLER 3,233,725

. CARD DISPLAY PACKAGING Filed May 14, 1964 9 Sheets-Sheet '7 INVENTOR KENNETH D. BIXLER BY Ham 0). HOG/ s ATTORNEY Feb. 8,1966 K. D. BIXLER 3,233,725

CARD DISPLAY PACKAGING Filed May 14, 1964 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 INVENTOR KENNETH D. BIXLER BY KARL Q). Hoe/(s ATTORNEY Feb. 8, 1966 K. D. BIXLER 3,233,725

CARD DISPLAY PACKAGING Filed May 14, 1964 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 FIG. 38

INVENTOR KENNETH D. BIXLER BY l lq'RL CQHOCKS ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,233,725 CARD DISP AY PAQKAGENG Kenneth D. Bixler, Huntington, N.Y., assignor to Diarnond international Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 14, 1964, Ser. No. 367,435 13 Claims. (61. 20645.1l4)

The present invention relates to a card display package and method of packaging, and more particularly to the packaging of an article for display utilizing transparent heat shrinkable film and anchoring such film to a stiff supporting sheet with the article to be packaged therebetween.

Several modes of packaging for display, wherein an article is incapsulated between a backing layer or board and a transparent thermoplastic sheet, are known in the art. Thus the blister package comprises a preformed plastic bubble which is mechanically or adh'esively attached to a paperboard backing sheet and in which the products are maintained within the bubble. Blister packages, however, require a relatively expensive preforming operation and in addition are formed of relatively thick plastic.

Another modern card display package comprises a backing sheet having a hole therein and a plastic film which is stretchable and shrinkable being adhesively united to the backing sheet. In this form of package, the plastic is formed into a bubble by stretching the plastic through the hole in the card after which the article to be packaged is inserted through the hole and the plastic is shrunk to conform to the shape of the article. In such operations a flap is either glued to the back to seal the hole or the article placed through the hole has one dimension larger than the hole which prevents the article escaping back through the hole. The packaging procedure, although less expensive than the blister package, still suffers from the disadvantage that it requires expensive equipment for stretching the plastic film into a bag. The package and procedure also suitor from the difficulty of requiring the use of adhesives to cause the plastic film to stick to the backing sheet.

The third method of card display packaging presently in general use involves placing an adhesive coating on a porous board, placing the article to be packaged on the board, placing a thin, transparent plastic film over the article and the board, and lastly drawing vacuum through the board while applying heat to cause the board to adhere to the plastic. This last procedure suffers from the difficulty of necessitating the use of adhesives, requires the use of vacuum drawing equipment, and forms a package which is not entirely satisfactory for all display purposes.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved package and method of packaging for display which has the advantages of the prior art but which obviates all the disadvantages, such as indicated above.

It is another object of the present invention to eliminate the necessity of utilizing adhesives in providing a card display package.

It is another object of the present invention to eliminate the necessity of utilizing expensive equipment, such as vacuum drawing or plastic stretching equipment, in providing a card display package.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved card display package.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of card display packaging which is simple and inexpensive and yet produces a highly satisfactory package.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a card display package that is simple to construct and utilizes inexpensive materials.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a card display package which has a high degree of product appeal.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a card display package wherein the product is covered with a transparent plastic film which closely conforms to i the product and attaches the product to a. stiff backing board.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an economical card display package which gives a maximum product display.

These and other objects and the nature and advantages of the present invention Will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of a backing board utilized in the present invention;

FIGS. 28 are perspective views showing the packaging procedure applied to the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing another embodiment;

FIGS. 1012 are perspective views showing another package embodiment during packaging;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing another packaging feature of an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 14 is a section taken along line 14-14 of FIG.- 13;

FIG. '15 is a sectional view taken along line 15-15 of FIG. 13;

FIGS. 1618 are perspective views showing yet another package embodiment and the method of packaging;

FIGS. 19 and 20 are perspective views of yet another embodiment;

FIGS. 21-24 are perspective views of another embodiment;

FIGS. 25 and 26 are perspective views showing yet another embodiment;

FIGS. 27-3O are perspective views showing another package embodiment and the method of assembly;

FIG. 31 is a sectional view taken along line 31-31 of FIG. 30;

FIGS. 32-34 are perspective views showing still another embodiment and its method of assembly; 7

FIGS. 35-37 are perspective views showing another embodiment and its method of assembly; and

FIG. 38 is a sectional view taken along line 38'38 of FIG. 37.

The packages in accordance with the present invention utilize a transparent plastic film which is heat shrunk about the packaged article and mounted on a backingor supporting board having a trap-door cut therein. The trap-door is opened towards the back of the board, the plastic film is forced through the trap-door hole with the article to form a bag or tube at the front of the backing board with the article therein. The closed trap door exerts a pinching action on the marginal edges of the plastic film which stick through to the back of the board. If the marginal edges are sufiiciently long to overlap, they are heat-sealed around the trap doors. If, on the other hand, the marginal edges are short, they may be merely heat-shrunk so as to tightly adhere to the trap door by forming a cap it'herearound and, in addition, to thicken the marginal edges so that they cannot be pulled. through the pinch caused by the closed trap-door.

FIG. 1 shows an essentially flat backing or supporting board 10. This supporting board It) is preferably formed of paperboard although it may be formed of any suitable material such as plastic. In the final article the supporting board serves as a rigidifying means upon which the packaged article and the plastic film are anchored. As is conventional, the supporting board 10 may preferably have suitable advertising indicia printed thereon.

The supporting board 10 has therein two trap-

doors

12 and 14 which may be formed in any manner, but which are preferably die cut into the supporting board. Thus, the trap-

doors

12 and 14 are defined by the die cuts 16, 17 and 18. The die cuts 16 and 18 define the side edges 36 of the trap-doors and the edges 38 of the board forming the trap-door opening. The die cut 17 defines the facing edges of the trap-

doors

12 and 14. The trap-

doors

12 and 14 are hinged to the board 10 by the

folding score lines

20 and 22, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 2, the trap-

doors

12 and 14 can be opened to the back of the supporting board 10 by applying pressure to the front thereof to provide a trap-door opening 24. The

trapdoors

12 and 14 and the trap-door opening 24 can be made larger than the overall product size, if desired, or the trap-doors and the opening 24 may be varied in size and shape to reflect the product contour, as long as the hinged trap-doors are retained.

In FIG. 3 the trap-

doors

12 and 14 are fully opened to the back of the board 11) and a flexible, transparent, heat shrinkable plastic film 26 is placed thereon preparatory for packaging. It is preferred, but not essential, that the

trap doors

12 and 14 then be returned to the vertical position, forming the film 26 into a U-shaped trough as shown in FIG. 4. The product 28 is then placed into the U-channel of the film 26 and/or over the trap-door opening 24 in the backing board 10. The trap-

doors

12 and 14 are then swung shut, trapping the article 28 within a tubular plastic bag 30 at the front of the board 10 (note FIGS. 14 and 15). Simultaneously therewith the

marginal edges

32 and 34 of the plastic film 26 (in the shape of a plastic tube 30) are pinched between the side edges 36 of the

trap doors

12 and 14 and the edges 38 of the board defining the trap door opening 24, as shown in FIG. 6.

When the trap-

doors

12 and 14 close as shown in FIG. 6, the product must be displaced in a forward direction. This can either be accomplished by a mechanical push on the product just before the doors swing in, or the inward motion of the doors may be used to push the article and film through the opening 24 into place. Also, a mechanical means of some sort, such as a pusher element, may also be utilized to force the plastic film 26 through the hole 24 prior to the placement of the article 28 above the hole 24. Closing the doors to push the article through the opening 24 is preferred.

The marginal edges 32 and 34 of the plastic film 26 are then folded over as shown in FIG. 7 and heat sealed together in a well known manner, such as by utilizing a hot bar. This securely anchors the now tubularly shaped film 30 about the

trap doors

12 and 14. v The film 2630 is not adhered to the board 10 or the trap-

doors

12 and 14 by any adhesive means, but instead is frictionally and mechanically engaged to the board 10 by being wrapped around the trap-

doors

12 and 14. After packaging, heat may be applied to the package to effect shrinkage of the tube 30 tightly around the product 28 and around the trap-

doors

12 and 14, thereby providing a neat and attractive package and further tightly locking the package elements together.

The application of heat to effect shrinkage, shown in FIG. 8, may be accomplished in a conventional manner, such as by blowing hot air on the package from the heaters 41), or by utilizing a radiant heat source. Since the trap-

doors

12 and 14, around which the film is shrunk, are preferably the approximate size and shape of the product 28, any distortion or warpage produced by the films shrink energy will be confined to the trap-doors and will not act on the board 10 itself to affect the appearance of the display package.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 9 is essentially the same as that shown in FIGS. 18, but utilizes in addition an extension 10' of the supporting board 10 which is secured to the back of the board 10 through adhesive 42 subsequent to packaging in accordance with the procedure of FIGS. 1-8. The fold-over portion 10 is often desirable when further advertising or display surface is desired. While the board 10' is shown as an extension of the support board 10 and is hinged thereto at fold-line 44 as shown in FIG. 9, such a board 10 may be separate,, if desired.

In the embodiment of FIG. 10, the

trap doors

112 and 114 are die cut from the supporting board 10 in a man-- ner so that the

hinges

120 and 122 are considerably shorter than the overall length of the doors and the facing edge 117 of the doors. This provides

curved die cuts

116 and 118 having longitudinal extensions 116 and 118', respectively, which form the curved trap-door side edges 136 and the complementary board hole edges 138.

The initial steps of the packaging procedure are the same here as that of the previous embodiments; thus, an article is placed within a U-shaped section formed of the plastic film sitting above the trap-door opening and the trap-

doors

112 and 114 are swung closed, thereby forming the film into a tube within which the article is trapped. the

terminal edges

132 and 134 of the plastic tube extending through the pinch between the edges 183 of the board 10 and the edges 136 of the trap-

doors

112 and 114 through to the back of the board 10, the article and plastic tube being forced to the front of the board and trap-doors. In this embodiment, however, the

marginal edges

132 and 134 of the plastic tube are somewhat shorter than in the previous embodiments and, as shown in FIG. 11, need only be shrunk, rather than heat-sealed by the application of hot air from the heaters 40, thereby causing the

marginal edges

132 and 134 to shrink around: the curved contoured edges 136 of the trap-doors to form caps 132 and 134' about the edges 136 which will hold-- the package together.

In this embodiment it is not necessary to adhere the

marginal edges

132 and 134 to each other or to the card. Thus the variation in the die cut outline of the trap-doors in FIG. 10 is to accommodate shrink film caps 132 and 134 over the end portions of the trap door shape. In the package of FIG. 12, the article is held within a tube formed by the plastic film and the film is maintained on the card 10 by the formation of heat shrunk caps 132 and 134' about both ends 136 of the trap-doors which tightly grips the trap-doors, by pinching action between the edges 136 of the trap-doors and the internal edges 13% of the board 10, and also by the increased thickness, due to heat shrinkage, of the

edges

132 and 134.

FIG. 13 shows an embodiment somewhat similar to that of FIGS. 10-12 except that the marginal edges of the plastic film are pinched not only between the side edges 236 of the trap-doors and the edges 238 of the board 11), but also between the facing edges 217 of the trap-doors 212 and the 214. This embodiment has an advantage in that it may utilize a plastic film of smaller size than that in other embodiments. After the

trap doors

212 and 214 have been closed in accordance with the packaging procedure, the marginal edges 233 of the film project through and are pinched between the facing; edges 217 of the trap-doors and the marginal edges 232. and 234 project through and are pinched by the side edges; 236 of the trap-doors and the hole forming edges 2381 of the board 111 while the article 28 is securely maintained at the front of the board 111 within the tubular plastic: bag 30. The application of heat to such marginal edges: 232, 233 and 234 of the film projecting through to the. back of the board 10 and the trap-

doors

212 and 214.. causes such edges to shrink and thicken, thereby providing thick

marginal edges

232, 233" and 234' as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15. These thickened marginal edges 234', 233, and 232' prevent the tubular plastic bag 30 and the article 28 packaged therein from being pulled through the pinch.

FIGS. 16-18 show an embodiment having four

trap doors

312, 314, 313 and 315. In this embodiment, the

trap doors

312 and 314 open in the same manner as those of the previous embodiments by swinging to the back of the card 11). The side trap-doors 213 and 215, on the other hand, swing in the opposite direction to the front side of the card 10. FIG. 17 shows the packaging pro" cedure similar to that of the preceding embodiments, and the terminal edges 32 and 34 of the plastic film 26 are heat-sealed together around the back of the

closed trapdoors

312 and 314 as in FIG. 7. In the meantime, the trap-

doors

313 and 315 at the front of the board 19 are maintained in opened position by the force of the article 28 within the tubular plastic film 30. The frontwardly extending trap-

doors

313 and 315 thereby provide shielding edges to protect the article and package from being crushed after the plastic film has been shrunk.

FIGS. 19 and 20 show another embodiment in which the trap-door structure is modified to provide a protective well or recess for'the packaged article below the front surface of the board Thus,

trap doors

412 and 414 are provided which have the same general shape as the trap-doors in FIG. 1. These trap-doors differ, however, in the provision of two hinged

fold lines

420, 422 and 421, 423 which define the primary trap-

door portions

412 and 414 and the secondary trap-

door portions

413 and 415. During packaging the trap-doors are opened to the back of the board 10 about the

hinges

420 and 422 and the. article is packaged within the plasticfilm 26 as previously described. Howevenwhen closing the trap-doors, such. trap-doors 412 and. 414 are-closed about the

hinges

421 and 423, respectively. The secondarytrap-

door portions

413 and 415 of each trap-toor are thereby maintained in a direction substantially normal to the plane of the board 10.

After heat sealing the.

marginal edges

32 and 34 of the plastic film, the article is maintained in a recessed position so that only part of the article projects forward beyond the front surface of the board 10 and the remainder of the article projects backwardly through the card 10 and into the protectivewell or recess provided by the trap doors. 414 and 412; It will be noted that due to the secondary trap-

door portions

415 and 413 which serve to provide the protective recess, a space remains between the facing edges 417 of the trap-doors after closure thereof.

The embodiment of FIGS. 21-24 shows a board 1d having four trap-

doors

512, 513, 514 and 515 cut therein and providing fold line hinges 520, 521, 522 and 523 about the entire trap-door opening so that there are no board edges forming the trap-door opening 24. As shown in FIGS. 22 and 23, the packaging procedure followed is similar to that previously described except that a smaller piece of plastic film 526 may be utilized. All four trap.- doors are folded to the back of the board 10 and the plastic film 526 is placed over the opening 24. To form the U-channel, only the trap-deors 514 and 512 are moved to the vertical position. After the article 28 is trapped within the plastic tube and all four trap doors are closed, the marginal edges of the plastic film 526 are pinched solely between the facing

edges

517 and 517 of the trap.- doors and project through to the back of the trap-doors in a mannerfsimilar to that shown in FIG. 13. The marginal edges of the film 526 are then heat-sealed to form flattened and sealed marginal portions 432;, 533 and 534". These marginal portions, together with the pinching action, prevents the article and film from being pulled through the trapadqors,

In the device of FIGS. 25 and 26, the trap-

doors

512 and 614 are provided so that the side edges 636 of the trap-doors do not frictionally contact the inner edges 635 of the board forming the opening 24. Thus, when the trap-

doors

612 and 614 are closed, as shown in FIG. 25, holes 24 and 24" are provided between the side edges 636 of the trap-doors and the inner edges 638 of the board. Consequently, after the packaging procedure, the plastic tube will extend from the front of the board 10 to the back thereof behind the closed trap-

doors

612 and 614 through the

openings

24 and 24", as shown in FIG. 26, and hence no pinching action will be provided. The plastic tube and the article contained therein will be secured to the trap-

doors

612 and 614 and the board 11} solely by the heat-seal joining the

marginal edges

32 and 34 of the tubular plastic film.

The embodiment of FIGS. 27-31 is particularly adapted for use as a counter top display. Since the film 26 is not adhered to the card 7161 itself, portions of such card can be bent about fold lines to give a standing easel. Thus the board 71% is formed from a blank having a generally rectangular shape and having long sides 759 and 752 and

short sides

754 and 756. About a third of the way along the long edge 752, an outwardly projecting tab portion 755 is provided having a friction tip 758. A fold line 76% is provided entirely across the width of the blank at the middle thereof, separating the blank into the facing board 711) and the backing board 710'. Two trap-

doors

712 and 714 are provided in approximately the middle of the rectangular blank with their one common edge 716 being superimposed on the middle fold line 760 and their other common edge 718 being displaced towards the end 754 of the blank, so that the trap-doors are at the edge of the facing board 710. On the opposite side of the fold line 760 and forming a space equal in size to the trap-door opening 724 provided by the trap-

doors

712 and 714, is another hole 724' of a size preferably identical with that of the opening 724. A diagonal fold line 762 is provided from about the middle of the edge 752 to the edge 756 approximately a fourth to a third of the distance across edge from edge 752 to edge 750. A triangular hinged section 764 is defined by the fold line 762, the edge 756, and the edge 752, which hinged section 764 contains a slot 7% passing therethrough adapted to mate with the friction tip 753.

As shown in FIG. 28, the article 28 to be packaged may be equal in size to the combined holes 724 and 724'. The article 28 is packaged in a manner similar to that previously discussed. As the

marginal edges

732 and 734 of the plastic tube 30 are overlapped and heat sealed together, the trap-

doors

714 and 712 lying thereunder cover only part of the back of the article 28. The blank is then folded along the fold line 760 and the facing and backing boards 710 and 714] are secured together with adhesive 742'. The tab 753 is then bent about its fold line 771) and the tip 558' is forced through the slot 766 as shown in 6 FIG. 31 with the triangular section 764 bent about fold line 762 to form a stand.

The embodiment of FIGS. 32-34 also shows a counter top display package. A rectangular blank is provided having three

fold lines

844, 8611 and 862 extending completely across the width of the blank defining the blank into a facing board 810, a backing board 81%, a base S58 and a base support 864. Trapdoors 812. and 814 are provided inthe facing board 810 adjacent the fold line 844, the center of the rectangular card lying somewhere between the fold lines 844 and 361). The article 23 is packaged in the manner set forth above, and the backing board 816', which hasan adhesive coating 8 42 thereon, is folded over and adhered to the back of the facing board 810 in a manner similar to that carried out in the embodiment of FIG. 9,

In place of a relatively wide plastic film which is first formed into a U-shaped channel and then into a tubular plastic bag to hold the article, a relatively narrow film 92% may be utilized, which film is equal to the width of. the trap door opening 24. A film of such a width may be used in any of the preceding embodiments, but for purposes of illustration the film 926 is shown in FIGS. 35-38 utilizing a backing board 10 provided with the trap-

doors

12 and 14 according to the embodiment of FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 36, the trap-

doors

12 and 14, opened to the back of the supporting board 10, do not shape the narrow film 926 into a U-shaped channel as in the previous embodiments. When the product 28 is placed on the film 926 and the trap-

doors

12 and 14 are closed, the product is maintained at the front of the board and trapdoors, not in a tubular bag as in the previous embodiments but in a hammock-like bag 930. Depending on the shape of the product and the exact relative widths of the trap-doors and fiilm, the sides 28' of the product may be only partially covered by the bag 930.

The

marginal edges

932 and 934 of the plastic film may be heat-treated in any of the manners indicated above and for purposes of illustration are shown in FIG. 38 to be overlapped and heat-sealed together about the

trapdoors

12 and 14. After the film has been heat-shrunk, the film will wrap over the edges of the product 28 to hold it tightly in place on the card. This embodiment has the advantage of using less plastic film, but in certain cases the product is not as Well protected or as tightly secured on the card as when a wider film is used and traps the article within a tubular bag.

The display packages of the present invention are economical and give maximum product display. In addition, the packaging requires no expensive machinery and utilizes only minimal amounts of plastic film and paperboard support sheet. The maximum surface configuration of the articles packaged are displayed and yet are tightly adhered to the support board so as to resist pilferage. Support boards of various sizes can be used to vary the background display for the product. The trap-door openings can reflect the exact product size which is easily varied by changing the shape and size of the die cut, or a trap-door can be of a general size and shape to let one die cut board accommodate a line of several products.

The method of forming and packaging is well adapted for continuous in-line manufacture and this can effect further savings by increasing the speed of the packaging machines.

The product appeal is very high since the appearance of the package is good. This is due to the fact that the film is not adhered to the card itself but only to the extension of the card, i.e. the trap-doors. Thus the card itself is not subject to warpage or distortion from shrink tension of the plastic film. In addition, there is no unsightly die cut hole in the display card to give the package a poor appearance. Since the die cut trap-doors are returned behind the article, the background appearance behind the article in those cases where it is visible is generally uniform.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention and therefore the invention is not intended to be limited to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification but only as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A display package comprising a stitf supporting board having a trap-door providing an opening therethrough, said trap-door having two side edges and a front edge and being hinged along an edge of said opening to the remainder of said board at the back edge of said trap-door, a film of transparent plastic extending through said trap-door opening and forming a plastic bag at the front side of said board and trap-door, the marginal edges of said film extending through said closed trap-door along its side edges, said marginal edges of said plastic film at the back of said trap-door being heat-treated in the absence of adhesive to reshape and anchor said film only to said trap-door to prevent being pulled through said closed trap-door, and an article packaged within said plastic bag.

2. A package in accordance with claim 1 wherein said marginal edges passing through said closed trapdoor from the front to the back of said board and trapdoors are pinched between the side edges of said trap 8 door and the edges of the board forming said trap-door opening.

3. A package in accordance with claim 1 comprising at least two facing trap-doors defining a single trap-door opening, each of said trap-doors having two side edges and a front edge, wherein said marginal edges passing through said closed trap-doors from the front to the back of said board and trap-doors are pinched between the facing edges of said trap-doors.

4. A package in accordance with claim 1 wherein said heat-treated marginal edges of said plastic film overlap behind said trap-door and are heat-sealed to each other.

5. A package in accordance with claim 1 wherein said heat-treated edges of said plastic film comprise heat thickened portions.

6. A package in accordance with claim 1 wherein said heat-treated marginal edges overlap and grasp the edge of said trap door and are heat-shrunk about said trap-door edge.

7. A package in accordance with claim 1 wherein said board has an opening cut through adacjent said trapdoor and said plastic film partly passes through said opening without being pinched by said trap-doors.

8. A package in accordance with claim 1 wherein said plastic bag is tubular.

9. A package in accordance with claim 1 wherein said board has a bent section providing a display stand.

10. A package in accordance with claim 9 wherein said supporting board is formed from a blank having a generally rectangular shape, a first fold line at the middle of said blank defining said supporting board on one side and a backing board on the other side, a tab projecting from the bottom edge of said supporting board and having a friction tip thereon, said trap-door being adjacent the center of said blank, said first fold line being along the edge of said trap-door, an opening in said backing board approximately the same size as said trap-door lying adjacent said trap-door beyond said first fold line, a diagonal fold line in said backing board running from about the end of said first fold line to the opposite edge of said backing board farthest from said first fold line to form a triangular section, and a slot for said friction tip in said triangular section.

11. A package in accordance with claim 9 wherein said supporting board is formed from a blank having a generally rectangular shape, a first fold line across said blank defining said supporting board and a base, a second fold line across said blank defining said base and a base support, a third fold line across said blank defining said base support and a backing board, said trap-door lying adjacent said first fold line, and a connection binding the back surface of said supporting board to the front surface of said backing board. A

12. A package in accordance with claim 1 comprising at least two facing trap doors, each of said trap doors having two side edges and a front edge wherein said trap doors contact one another along their facing front edges.

13. A display package comprising a stiff supporting board having a trap-door coplanar therewith, said trap door providing an opening therethrough and being hinged along an edge of said opening to the remainder of said board, said board defining an extension of said opening therethrough on either side of said trap-door, a film of transparent plastic extending through said extensions at the sides of said trap-door forming a tubular plastic bag at the front side of said board and trap-door, the marginal edges of said film being sealed together behind said trapdoor, and an article packaged within said tubular plastic bag, said extensions being of substantially greater size than the thickness of said film.

(References on following page) References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Horwath 248-152 Tanner 206-80 Gittens 206-79 McCarty 206-4533 Zastrow 206-78 1 0 3,046,711 7/ 1962 Harrison 206-65 3,061,091 10/1962 Wichman 206-78 3,076,542 2/ 1963 Lowry et a1 206-78 3,116,154 12/1963 Rumsey 206-4531 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

W. T. DHSON, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. A DISPLAY PACKAGE COMPRISING A STIFF SUPPORTING BOARD HAVING A TRAP-DOOR PROVIDING AN OPENING THERETHROUGH, SAID TRAP-DOOR HAVING TWO SIDE EDGES AND A FRONT EDGE AND BEING HINGED ALONG AN EDGE OF SAID OPENING TO THE REMAINDER OF SAID BOARD AT THE BACK EDGE OF SAID TRAP-DOOR, A FILM OF TRANSPARANT PLASTIC EXTENDING THROUGH SAID TRAP-DOOR OPENING AND FORMING A PLASTIC BAG AT THE FRONT SIDE OF SAID BOARD AND TRAP-DOOR, THE MARGINAL EDGES OF SAID FILM EXTENDING THROUGH SAID CLOSED TRAP-DOOR ALONG ITS SIDE EDGES, SAID MARGINAL EDGES OF SAID PLASTIC FILM AT THE BACK OF SAID TRAP-DOOR BEING HEAT-TREATED IN THE ABSENCE OF ADHESIVE TO RESHAPE AND ANCHOR SAID FILM ONLY TO SAID TRAP-DOOR TO PREVENT BEING PULLED THOUGH SAID CLOSED TRAP-DOOR, AND AN ARTICLE PACKAGED WITHIN SAID PLASTIC BAG.