ZA200400325B

ZA200400325B - Sales unit comprising a base element and a decorative element.

Info

Publication number: ZA200400325B
Application number: ZA200400325A
Authority: ZA
Inventors: Andreas Meyer
Original assignee: Henkel Kgaa
Priority date: 2001-07-19
Filing date: 2004-01-15
Publication date: 2004-10-14
Also published as: EP1406822A1; ATE358074T1; CN1533344A; EP1406822B1; HUP0400999A2; DE50209837D1; PL365276A1; CN1228219C; WO2003008296A1; DE20111957U1; SI21315A

Description

Sales Unit Comprising a Base Element and a Decorative Element

This invention relates to a sales unit of a non-food household article in the form of a object which is designed to be handled and used as a toy and which consists of a base element with a surface and closure cap that is intended for sale and, detachably arranged thereon, a decorative element which creates the impression of the object as a toy.

In the field of foods, it is known that luxury foods in particular, such as chocolate, can be provided with a seasonal pack. The base element for sale, in this case a chocolate bar, is provided, for example, with an outer pack in the form of an Easter rabbit. It is also known that plastic toys can : be sold with a chocolate filling. In the case of so-called “surprise eggs”, it is known that they can be provided with a seasonal outer pack, for example with an adhesively applied decorative element in the form of a rabbit's head with long ears.

Decorative elements in the form of paper bands or the like are well- known in the field of non-food domestic articles. In the stationery field, it is known that pencils can be provided at their upper ends with a pressed-on toy-like decorative element, for example a play figure. The play figure can be removed from the base element and used as a toy.

A sales unit of the type mentioned at the beginning is known from

US 6,237,787 B1. In this case, a bottle-like container is surrounded by a decorative element either completely or except for the closure and/or base region. The decorative element has the shape and appearance of, for example, a bear. In this prior art, the decorative element completely covers the base element intended for sale so that the base element is not visible to the user or consumer. However, it is often desirable for the base element intended for sale to be visible to the buyer or user, so that the product can

: ® WO 03/008296 2 PCT/EP02/07678 be identified or recognized.

In addition, US 4,749,104 describes a wall-mounted liquid dispenser which, after use and after emptying, can be converted into a toy in the form of a rocket. Only then are parts representing wings attached to the liquid dispenser or container. Accordingly, the liquid dispenser or container in question is not a sales unit which, at the time of sale, consists of a base element for sale and toy-like decorative elements arranged thereon.

In addition, DE 8 612 862 U1 discloses a toothpaste dispenser which consists of two container parts designed for rotation relative to one another by means of a screwthread, the upper of the two container parts being in the form of a decorative animal figure. However, the upper container part which forms a decorative element cannot be separated from the lower part. :

BE 54 28 39 and DE 7 537615 U1 both disclose sales units in which the base element is completely surrounded by the decorative element.

The problem addressed by the present invention in connection with a sales unit consisting of a base element for sale and a decorative element detachably arranged thereon was to guarantee adequate discernibility of the base element that would support the inducement to buy when the product was put on display in a display cabinet.

In a sales unit of the type mentioned at the beginning, the solution to this problem as provided by the invention is characterized in that the decorative element only partly surrounds the surface of the base element over a circumferential section, so that the base element forms a visually important part of the object as a whole.

In this way, the essential product — namely the base element for sale and its contents — is immediately visible and discernible to the potential buyer, despite the decorative embellishment, after the sales unit has been put on display in a display cabinet. Accordingly, special forms of packaging of the base element indicative of a particular manufacturer are not lost and can continue to be used to promote sales.

However, it is also important that, in spite of this, the sales unit as a whole, consisting of the base element and the decorative element attached thereto, forms an entire object designed to be handled and used as such, more particularly a toy. It is essential that the sales unit as such can be handled as an entire object, i.e. more particularly as a toy. Accordingly, the two parts of the sales unit, i.e. the base element and the decorative element, when fitted together, have a second use, i.e. that of the entire object, more particularly as a toy.

Another interesting aspect of the solution provided by the invention is that a base element whose contents have been consumed can be re- fitted together with the decorative element. The empty base element in conjunction with the decorative element can thus continue to be used as an : entire object in its second role, more particularly as a toy. Base elements subsequently purchased individually without decorative elements may also be combined with the decorative element already present.

Preferred embodiments and further developments of the teaching explained above are the subject of subsidiary claims.

Particular importance attaches to an embodiment of the sales unit according to the invention in which the base element is a rod-like adhesive stick while the decorative element is made of plastic in the form of a space shuttle which is attached or clipped from the side to the surface of the adhesive stick.

Particular significance also attaches to another variant of the sales unit in which the base element is a rod-like adhesive stick while the decorative element is made of plastic in the form of an astronaut's helmet, preferably with a rocket backpack, and in which the decorative element is in two parts, the parts being fitted — more particularly pushed or clipped — together so that the rod-like adhesive stick is held between them from above.

: ® WO 03/008296 4 PCT/EP02/07678

Preferred embodiments and further developments of the invention are described in detail in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a base element of a sales unit according to the invention, for example in the form of a rod-like adhesive stick.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of a toy-like decorative element for a sales unit.

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the base element shown in Fig. 1 with the decorative element shown in Fig. 2 attached thereto.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the object shown in Fig.3.

Figure 5 is a view from above of the object shown in Fig. 3.

Figure 6 is a view from beneath of the object shown in Fig. 3.

Figure 7 shows a second embodiment of a sales unit according to the invention with the base element of Fig. 1 and another decorative element.

Figure 8 is a side elevation of the object shown in Fig. 7.

The present invention relates to a sales unit of a base element 1 intended for sale and a preferably toy-like decorative element 2 detachably arranged on the base element 1, the base element 1 being a non-food household article. :

Figure 1 shows the base element 1, for example, in the form of a rod-like adhesive stick for gluing paper. Sticks such as these are used by the million. Other base elements 1 may be used; examples are described hereinafter.

Figure 2 shows a toy-like decorative element 2 while Fig. 3 shows how the sales unit of the base element 1 and the decorative element 2 attached thereto as a whole form an entire object 3 designed to be handled and used as such. The handling ability of the entire object 3 is clearly apparent from the illustration. In the present embodiment, the usability of

: ® WO 03/008296 5 PCT/EP02/07678 the entire object 3 lies in the fact that it forms a toy — in the illustrated embodiment a space shuttle. A child is able to play with such a toy.

In reference to the prior art, it was explained in the general part of the present specification that, in known sales units of a base element 1 and a decorative element 2, the decorative element 2 forms virtually the entire pack for the base element 1.

An interesting aspect of the illustrated sales unit is that the decorative element 2 surrounds the surface 4 of the base element 1 only partly over a circumferential section, so that the base element 1 is a visually important part of the entire object 3. Accordingly, the base element 1, i.e. the non-food domestic article, is a design and structural element of the entire object 3 — here in the form of the toy.

As the illustrated and particularly preferred embodiment shows, the : sales unit according to the invention comprises with particular advantage a rod-like base element 1 of which the basic shape is preferably a circular cylinder. The adhesive stick shown here represents such a — particularly appropriate - base element 1. The illustrated and preferred embodiment shows the base element 1 in the particularly preferred form of an adhesive stick with an outer surface 4, a screwthreaded section 5 at its lower end and a closure cap 6 at its upper end.

Decorative elements 2 in the form of paper sleeves or paper loops, etc. are known from the prior art, even in the non-food sector. The usefulness of the entire object 3, more particularly as a toy, is significantly promoted by the fact that, in the object according to the invention, the decorative element 2 is made of plastic. This makes the entire object 3 very attractive and valuable as a plaything.

The embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6 shows that the decorative element 2 is attached or clipped to the base element 1, preferably to its outer surface. Figure 6 shows particularly clearly that the decorative element 2 surrounds the cylindrical base element 1 by more than 180°

: ® WO 03/008296 6 PCT/EP02/07678 transversely of the direction of attachment. Accordingly, the side wings 7 of the decorative element 2 resiliently surround the cylindrical base element 1 on both sides using the elasticity inherent in the plastic.

Figures 7 and 8 show a modification of the decorative element 2 in conjunction with the same base element 1 already illustrated in Fig. 1. In this modification, the decorative element 2 is in two parts, the parts 2a and 2b being fitted, more particularly pushed or clipped, together so that the base element 1 is held between them. It can be seen that the two parts 2a and 2b of the decorative element 2 are permanently joined together by a plastic film hinge 8.

Whereas in the first embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 6, the decorative element 2 is clipped onto the rod-like base element 1 from the side, in the embodiment shown in Figs. 7 and 8 the initially opened : decorative element 2 is pushed over the head of the base element 1, after which the parts 2a and 2b of the decorative element are brought together and fitted — in the illustrated embodiment clipped - together, holding the base element 1 between them.

The embodiment illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 is further distinguished by the fact that, on its inside, the decorative element 2 has ribs 9 which engage with ribs 10 on the base element 1 when the decorative element 2 is in place. Accordingly, the ribs 9 on the inside of the parts 2a and 2b of the decorative element 2 hold the decorative element 2 in the illustrated position on the closure cap 6 of the adhesive stick, i.e. engage with the ribs 10 present there. In this way, the decorative element 2, once it has been closed over the closure cap 6 of the adhesive stick, cannot easily be removed upwards from the base element 1. Instead, the decorative element 2 has to be “opened” again to enable the base element 1 to be used.

The base element 1 does not, of course, have to be an adhesive stick even though an adhesive stick is a particularly interesting base

: ® WO 03/008296 7 PCT/EP02/07678 element 1 for the sales unit according to the invention. However, a number of alternatives to the base element 1 in the form of an adhesive stick are available. For example, the base element 1 could be a writing aid, for example a plastic bottle for a correcting fluid. The base element 1 could also be an adhesive tube, more particularly a standing adhesive tube. In a totally different application, the base element 1 could be, for example, a standing toothpaste tube. It is easy to see that the decorative element 2 shown in Figs. 1 to 6 also lends itself very interestingly to a standing toothpaste tube.

In the embodiment of a sales unit shown in Figs. 1 to 6, the decorative element 2 is in the form of a space shuttle. The body of the preferred base element 1, namely an adhesive stick, corresponds particularly attractively to the outer design of the decorative element 2 as : the outer shell of a space shuttle. Another particularly attractive feature is that, in the illustrated embodiment and as so clearly visible in Fig. 3, the decorative element 2 ends just above the screwthreaded section 5 of the adhesive stick forming the base element 1. As the illustrated embodiment shows, this screwthreaded section 5 is longitudinally ribbed. The overall impression in the illustration in Fig. 3 is that the screwthreaded section 5 forms, so to the speak, the “engine” of the space shuttle as represented by the decorative element 2. | :

Figure 3 in conjunction with Fig. 4 shows another feature which is that, at its upper end, the base element 1 in the form of an adhesive stick has a closure cap, the decorative element 2 having a window-like opening 12 at the level of the closure cap 6 of the base element 1. This can be seen in Fig. 4 from the ribs 10 laterally visible in the opening 12.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the window-like opening 12 is on the right in Fig. 8. In this embodiment, the decorative element 2 is in the form of an astronaut's helmet with a rocket back pack 11. The window-like opening 12 is the viewing window for the astronaut.

Interesting variants for the decorative element 2 are, for example, a knight's helmet or other forms of headgear.

Other air, land and marine craft may also be used as the decorative element.

In a particularly interesting variant, the decorative element 2 is a rescue craft.

In this particular case, the empty adhesive stick — base element 1 — may also be usefully employed.

Thus, the inner transport part is screwed back by means of the screwthreaded section 5 and the adhesive stick is closed by means of the closure cap 6. In this position, it represents a float of the rescue craft of which the outer shell is formed by the decorative element 2.

Claims

’ 9 PCT/EP02/07678 CLAIMS:

1. A sales unit of a non-food household article in the form of a object which is designed to be handled and used as a toy and which consists of a base element with a surface and closure cap that is intended for sale and, detachably arranged thereon, a decorative element which creates the impression of the entire object as a toy, characterized in that the decorative element only partly surrounds the surface of the base element over a circumferential section, so that the base element forms a visually important part of the object as a whole.

2. “A sales unit as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the base element has a rod-like, preferably cylindrical basic shape.

3. A sales unit as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the decorative element is made of plastic.

4. A sales unit as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the decorative element is attached or clipped to the base element, preferably to its surface.

5. A sales unit as claimed in any of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the decorative element surrounds the cylindrical base element by more than 180° transversely of the direct of attachment.

6. A sales unit as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the decorative element is in two parts and the parts are fitted - more particularly pushed or clipped - together so that the base element is held between them.

7. A sales unit as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the two parts of the decorative element are joined permanently together by a plastic film hinge.

8. A sales unit as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that, on its inside, the decorative element has ribs which engage with ribs on the base element when the decorative element is in place. AMENDED SHEET

! 10 PCT/EP02/07678

9. A sales unit as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the rod-like base element is an adhesive stick.

10. A sales unit as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the decorative element is in the form of a space shuttle.

11. A sales unit as claimed in any of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that ‘the decorative element is in the form of an astronaut’s helmet, preferably with a rocket back pack.

12. A sales unit as claimed in any of the preceding claims, the base : element in the form of an adhesive stick having a preferably longitudinally ribbed screwthreaded section at its lower end, characterized in that the decorative element ends just above the screwthreaded section.

13. A sales unit as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the decorative element has a window-like opening at the level of the closure cap of the base element.

14. A sales unit as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 13, substantially as herein described and illustrated.

15. A new sales unit, substantially as herein described. AMENDED SHEET