WO2014019037A1

WO2014019037A1 - A container for placing on a table

Info

Publication number: WO2014019037A1
Application number: PCT/BN2012/000001
Authority: WO
Inventors: Wei Chiang NG
Original assignee: Ng Wei Chiang
Priority date: 2012-08-03
Filing date: 2012-08-03
Publication date: 2014-02-06

Abstract

A container (100) for placing on a table is disclosed herein. In a described embodiment, the container (100) is in the form of a tissue box holder and comprises a plurality of inner walls (102) arranged to define a storage compartment (104) for holding a tissue box, at least one outer wall (106) spaced from one or respective inner walls (102) to create at least one display slot (108) for displaying indicia; and a base member (118) for supporting the tissue box in the storage compartment (104).

Description

A Container for Placing on a Table

Background and Field of the Invention The invention relates to a container for placing on a table, particularly but not exclusively, for holding a tissue box.

Summary of the Invention In a first aspect, there is provided container for placing on a table, comprising a plurality of inner walls arranged to define a storage compartment for holding an item, at least one outer wall spaced from one or respective inner walls to create at least one display slot for displaying indicia; and a base member for supporting the item in the storage compartment.

As it can be appreciated from the described embodiment, such a container may be used as a communications tool (for example, for displaying advertisement or artwork) in addition to its function of holding an item, for example a tissue box. Preferably, the display slot has an open end and a closed end. The base member may be releasably fastened to the plurality of inner walls for covering the open end to prevent access to the at least one display slot. In this way, this reduces unauthorized tampering of the indicia carried in the at least one display slot. Instead of the base member, the container may further comprise a locking frame for covering the open end to prevent access to the at least one display slot. Providing a locking frame is advantageous as this reduces unauthorized tampering of the indicia carried in the at least one display slot and at the same time, enables easy access to the storage compartment via the base member.

The locking frame may be disposed between the base member and the plurality of inner walls, and releasably fastened to the plurality of inner walls. The locking frame may include a periphery groove for receiving an end of the at least one outer wall. Preferably, the container further comprises a number of sockets fixedly attached to selected portions of the inner walls, and fasteners for fastening the locking frame to the sockets. Advantageously, the base member 136 may include a number of magnets for releasably attaching the base member to the locking frame. This makes detaching the base member from the container much easier and yet achieves the function of using the base member to support the item in the storage compartment. The number of magnets may be embedded at locations within the base member.

The one or more inner walls may be mounted or attached to an underside of the at least one outer wall to form the closed end of the display slot.

The at least one outer wall may be configured to extend over the inner walls to form a top surface for the container, the top surface being opposite to the base. Preferably, the top surface includes a dispensing aperture for accessing the item held in the storage space.

Preferably, the base member includes a finger recess. The indicia may include artwork or advertisement material carried on a medium, the medium being held in the at least one display slot.

The item may include a tissue box, cutlery, serviettes or bills. The container may further comprise a number of outer walls, with each outer wall spaced from a corresponding inner wall to define a number of display slots for displaying respective indicia.

In a second aspect of the invention, there is provided an advertising method using the container as described above, the method comprises leasing out advertisement space provided by the at least one display slot of the container.

Brief Description of the Drawings An example of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a container in the form of a tissue box holder according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a top view of the container of Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the container of Figure 2 in the direction AA with some parts separated; and

Figure 4 is a bottom view of the container of Figure 1. Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiment

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a container 100 for placing on a table and according to a preferred embodiment, the container 100 is in the form of a tissue box holder, and Figure 2 is a top view of the container 100 of Figure 1. The container 100 is generally cube-shaped and includes a plurality of inner walls 102 connected together to define a cubical or rectangular storage compartment 104 for storing or holding an item and in this example, a tissue box (not shown) for storing and dispensing tissues. The container 100 further includes a plurality of outer walls 106 spaced from the corresponding inner walls 102 to define respective display slots 108 (see also Figure 2) which surround the inner walls 102. The display slots 108 are configured to carry indicia and this will be elaborated in more detail below.

It should be appreciated that in Figure 1 , the inner walls 102 and the outer walls 106 are illustrated as transparent in order to show various features of the container 100 but it should be appreciated that this may not be so. Certainly, the inner walls 02 may be opaque and in the embodiment, the outer walls 106 are transparent plastic to function as display panels.

The plurality of inner walls 102 includes an upper end 1 0 and a lower end 112 and the container 100 includes sockets 114 at each corner of the inner wall 102 near the lower end 112. The sockets 114 are fixedly coupled to the respective inner walls 102.

The container 100 further includes a locking frame 116 for coupling to the plurality of inner walls 102 (at the lower end 112) and the plurality of outer walls 106, and a base member 118 for supporting the tissue box in the storage compartment 104. The plurality of outer walls 106 extends above and across the upper end 110 of the inner walls 102 to form a top surface 120 for the container 100, and this is shown more clearly in Figure 3 which is a cross section of the container 100 of Figure 2 and in the direction A-A. Figure 3 illustrates the locking frame 116 separated from the inner walls 102 and the outer walls 106, and the base member 1 18 separated from the locking frame 116. It can be appreciated that the upper end 110 of the inner walls 102 is attached to the underside of the top surface 106 and thus, the display slot 108 is closed at that end. In other words, the display slot 108 is not accessible from the upper end 110 of the inner walls 102.

It would be appreciated that the arrangement of the top surface 120, the inner and outer walls 102,106 forms a cover-like part for the container 100 which is held together as one piece, and thus, a user may simply hold on to the outer walls 106 when moving the container 100. The top surface 106 includes a dispensing aperture 122 through which tissues from the tissue box may be dispensed.

Referring to Figure 3, the locking frame 116 has a generally square/rectangular body to match the configuration of the inner and outer walls 102,106 with an opening 124. The locking frame 116 includes a periphery groove 126 configured to receive edges 128 of the plurality of outer walls 106. It is preferred that the edges 128 of the plurality of outer walls 106 sits frictionally in the periphery groove 126, although this may not be necessary. The locking frame 116 further includes fastener holes 130 and when the plurality of outer walls 06 sits in the periphery groove 126, each fastener hole 130 is in registration with respective threaded holes of the sockets 114. Fasteners in the form of screws 132 are used to fasten the locking frame to the sockets 114 and thus, the locking frame 116 when mounted or fastened to the sockets 114 prevents access to the display slots 108. To access the display slots 108, it is necessary to unfasten the screws 132 and separate the locking frame 116 from the inner and outer walls 102,106 (as shown in Figure 3).

The base member 1 8 has a generally thin and planar body 134 and includes magnets 134 selectively embedded in the base member 118 to match the locations of the screws 132. When the base member 118 is brought close to the locking frame 116 and with the locking frame 116 fastened to the inner and outer walls 102,106 as discussed above, the base member 118 is thus releasably attached to the locking frame 116 via the magnets 136 which "sticks" to the respective screws 132. In other words, it would be useful to choose screws 132 which contain substantial amounts of ferrite for the magnetic action to work effectively.

The base member 118 also includes a finger recess 138 to allow the user to insert a finger through the finger recess 138 to separate the base member 118 from the locking frame 116.

To use the container 100, the base member 118 is first separated from the locking frame 116 and the screws 132 removed to separate the locking frame 116 from the cover-like part (i.e. the inner and outer walls 102,106 and the top surface 106) of the container 100. With the locking frame 116 removed, this enables the user to access the display slots 108 for adding the indicia. The indicia may be in the form of sheets of paper (or any other medium) carrying artwork or advertisement etc and which may be replaceable. Taking the example of advertisement material, the user inserts the sheets of advertisement material into the display slots and the advertisement material is visible through the outer walls 106. The user next attaches the locking frame 116 to the inner and outer walls 02,106 to prevent access to the advertisement material by attaching the screws 132 to the sockets 114. A box of tissue is next placed in the storage compartment 104 (inserted through the opening 124 of the locking frame 116) with the box's opening for dispensing tissues aligned to the dispensing aperture 122 of the top surface 106 and the base member 118 is attached to the locking frame 116 as discussed earlier to support the box of tissue. The container 100 may then be placed on tables of restaurants, eateries or cafes for supplying tissues to customers. In addition to dispensing tissues, the container 100 doubles up as a device for displaying advertisements.

With the locking frame 116 blocking access to the display slots 108, the container 100 is relatively tamper-proof since it is not easy for the customers (or anyone else) to remove or tamper with the advertisement material in the display slots 108. On the other hand, it provides easy access to replace the tissue box when it runs out of tissues which is by way of removing the "magnetic" base member 118.

This is particularly useful since owners of the container 100 may lend the container 100 to restaurants etc and provide free supplies of tissues in exchange for the restaurants etc to place the containers 100 on tables for diners to view the advertisement material carried by the containers 100.

It is also envisaged that the display slots 108 may be considered as advertisement space which may be leased to advertisers for a fee, for example.

The described embodiment is not to be construed as limitative. For example, the outer walls 106 may not be fully transparent, but translucent or slightly tinted to give certain visual effects to the indicia in the display slots.

In the described embodiment, a cube-shaped container 100 is shown but the container 100 may come in different shapes and sizes for example, cylindrical, oval, rectangular etc. This may depend on what the container 100 is configured to hold. Indeed, in addition to a tissue box holder, the container 100 may be configured as a cutlery holder, serviette holder, bills holder etc or whatever item(s) which may be held or stored in the storage compartment 104. If the container 100 is configured as a cutlery holder or similar, it may be useful to create a bigger opening than the dispensing aperture 122 for tissues, and the base 118 and the frame member 116 may be combined as one element for blocking the access to the display slots 108 since placement and removal of the cutlery may be via the top of the container 100.

Also, it may not be necessary to have display slots 108 at all sides (i.e. outer walls 106) of the container 100 but at just one outer wall, depending on the container's configuration.

Instead of using magnets 136, other quick-release fasteners may be used, for example, Velcro™. Likewise, other fasteners, instead of the screws 132 and the sockets 114 may be used too. Having now fully described the invention, it should be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that many modifications can be made hereto without departing from the scope as claimed.

Claims

1. A container for placing on a table, comprising

a plurality of inner walls arranged to define a storage compartment for holding an item,

at least one outer wall spaced from one or respective inner walls to create at least one display slot for displaying indicia; and

a base member for supporting the item in the storage compartment.

2. A container according to claim 1 wherein the display slot has an open end and a closed end.

3. A container according to claim 2, wherein the base member is arranged to be releasably fastened to the plurality of inner walls for covering the open end to prevent access to the at least one display slot.

4. A container according to claim 2, further comprising a locking frame for covering the open end to prevent access to the at least one display slot.

5. A container according to claim 4, wherein the locking frame is disposed between the base member and the plurality of inner walls, and releasably fastened to the plurality of inner walls.

6. A container according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the locking frame includes a periphery groove for receiving an end of the at least one outer wall.

7. A container according to any of claims 4 to 6, further comprising a number of sockets fixedly attached to selected portions of the inner walls, and fasteners for fastening the locking frame to the sockets.

8. A container according to any of claims 4 to 7, wherein the base member 136 includes a number of magnets for releasably attaching the base member to the locking frame.

9. A container according to claim 8, wherein the number of magnets are embedded at locations within the base member.

10. A container according to any of claims 2 to 9, wherein the one or more inner walls are mounted to an underside of the at least one outer wall to form the closed end of the display slot.

11. A container according to any preceding claim, wherein the at least one outer wall is configured to extend over the inner walls to form a top surface for the container, the top surface being opposite to the base.

12. A container according to claim 11 , wherein the top surface includes a dispensing aperture for accessing the item held in the storage space.

13. A container according to any preceding claim, wherein the base member includes a finger recess.

14. A container according to any preceding claim, wherein the indicia includes artwork or advertisement material carried on a medium, the medium being held in the at least one display slot.

15. A container according to any preceding claim, wherein the item includes a tissue box, cutlery, serviettes or bills.

16. A container according to any preceding claim, further comprising a number of outer walls, with each outer wall spaced from a corresponding inner wall to define a number of display slots for displaying respective indicia.

17. An advertising method using the container of any preceding claim, the method comprising leasing out advertisement space provided by the at least one display slot of the container.