U.S. patent application number 11/503366 was filed with the patent office on 2007-03-08 for environmental packaging advantage.
This patent application is currently assigned to AVC CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Guy Marom.
Application Number | 20070051651 11/503366 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37829065 |
Filed Date | 2007-03-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070051651 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Marom; Guy |
March 8, 2007 |
Environmental packaging advantage
Abstract
A recyclable package for retail product contains two major
parts: a receptacle section, containing a receptacle for the
packaged product, and a tray section. The two sections are
assembled and mechanically held together to form the package for
the product, but are readily separated by a recycler. The two
sections are formed of different kinds of packaging material, such
as transparent plastic for one section and corrugated cardboard for
the other. Each section may be treated separately for recycling,
making recycling of the materials possible.
Inventors: |
Marom; Guy; (Calabasas,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
RONALD M. GOLDMAN;ROTH & GOLDMAN
SUITE 500
21535 HAWTHORNE BLVD.
TORRANCE
CA
90503
US
|
Assignee: |
AVC CORPORATION
|
Family ID: |
37829065 |
Appl. No.: |
11/503366 |
Filed: |
August 10, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60715554 |
Sep 8, 2005 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
206/459.5 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 5/503 20130101;
B65D 2565/385 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
206/459.5 |
International
Class: |
B65D 85/00 20060101
B65D085/00 |
Claims
1. A package for a product sold at retail comprising: a receptacle
section and a tray section; said receptacle section including a
receptacle for receiving and housing a product for retail sale,
said receptacle including an entrance; said tray section including
a holding device for holding said receptacle section inside said
tray section whereby access to said entrance of said receptacle is
blocked and removal of product housed in said receptacle is
inhibited, said holding device being manually releasable to permit
separation of said receptacle section from said tray section.
2. The package for a product sold at retail as defined in claim 1,
wherein said receptacle section comprises an open box-like
container comprising a base and side walls bordering and upstanding
from said base; wherein said receptacle is inverted and includes a
bottom side that is elevated above said base and an open entrance
located on the underside of said base; wherein said tray section
comprises a box-like container, said box-like container including a
base and upright side walls bordering said base; wherein said
holding device to said tray section comprises side-wall extensions
to said upright side walls; said side wall extensions extending
from respective ones of said side walls of said tray section and
joined to the outer edge of said respective ones of said side walls
by respective fold lines; each said side wall extension being
folded over a respective side-wall of said receptacle section and
extending downwardly along side of said respective side wall to
capture said respective side-wall of said receptacle section
between a side-wall extension and the side-wall of said tray
section from which said side-wall extension extends.
3. The package for a product sold at retail as defined in claim 1,
wherein said tray section consists essentially of a corrugated
cardboard material; and wherein said receptacle section consists
essentially of a plastic material.
4. The package for a product sold at retail as defined in claim 3,
wherein said plastic material is a member of the group consisting
of: polyvinylchloride ("PVC"), polypropylene ("PET"), and
polystyrene
5. The package for a product sold at retail as defined in claim 2,
wherein each side wall extension contains at least one tab, said
tab extending from an outer edge of the respective side wall
extension; wherein said base of said receptacle section includes at
least one slot underlying each said side wall extension and is
aligned with said tab of said respective side wall extension;
wherein said base of said tray section includes at least one slot
underlying each said side wall extension, said slot in said base
underlying a respective side wall extension being aligned with said
tab of said respective side wall extension; each tab in said side
wall extension extending through a respective slot in said
receptacle section and into a slot in said tray section to hold the
side wall extensions in place in the folded-over position and lock
the receptacle section to the tray section.
6. The package for a product sold at retail as defined in claim 2,
wherein each side wall extension contains two spaced tabs, said two
spaced tabs extending from an outer edge of the respective side
wall extension; wherein said base of said receptacle section
includes a pair of spaced slots underlying each said side wall
extension, with said two spaced slots being aligned with said two
spaced tabs of said respective side wall extension; wherein said
base of said tray section includes a pair of spaced slots
underlying each said side wall extension and said spaced slots in
said base of said tray section being aligned with said two spaced
tabs of said respective side wall extension; each tab in said side
wall extension extending through a respective slot in said base of
said receptacle section and into a slot in said base of said tray
section to hold said side wall extensions in place in the
folded-over position and lock the receptacle section to the tray
section.
7. The package for a product sold at retail as defined in claim 6,
wherein said tray section consists solely of a corrugated cardboard
material; and wherein said receptacle section consists solely of a
plastic material.
8. The package for a product sold at retail as defined in claim 6,
wherein said tray section consists essentially of a first packaging
material; wherein said receptacle section consists essentially of a
second packaging material; each of said first and second packaging
materials being of sufficient rigidity in characteristic to
maintain a shape in which formed; and wherein said second packaging
material is sufficiently different in physical properties from that
said first packaging material to require separate recycling to
reclaim the respective packaging materials.
9. The package for a product sold at retail as defined in claim 6,
wherein said base of receptacle section includes a plurality of
upwardly extending posts, each said post being adjacent and in such
proximity to a downwardly extending side wall extension sufficient
to require said side wall extension to be forced into place in
front of said post to attain said folded-over position.
10. The package for a product sold at retail as defined in claim 6,
wherein said underside of said base of said receptacle section
includes a plurality of spaced strips downwardly projecting from
said underside and defining an area underlying a shallow region on
the underside of said base, said shallow region, including said
entrance to said receptacle; a cover member, said cover member
positioned between said base of said tray section and said bottom
of said receptacle section and being sized to fit in said defined
area and serve as a barrier to said entrance to said
receptacle.
11. The package for a product sold at retail as defined in claim 9,
wherein said underside of said base of said receptacle section
includes a plurality of spaced strips downwardly projecting from
said underside and defining an area underlying a shallow region on
the underside of said base, said shallow region, including said
entrance to said receptacle; a cover member, said cover member
positioned between said base of said tray section and said bottom
of said receptacle section and being sized to fit in said defined
area and serve as a barrier to said entrance to said
receptacle.
12. The package for a product sold at retail as defined in claim
11, wherein said base, side walls, fold lines, posts, strips and
receptacle of said receptacle section are vacuformed from a single
piece of plastic material to produce a unitary one-piece
structure.
13. The package for a product sold at retail as defined in claim
11, wherein said tray section consists essentially of a corrugated
cardboard material; and wherein each of said receptacle section and
said cover member consists essentially of a plastic material.
14. The package for a product sold at retail as defined in claim
13, wherein said receptacle section and said cover member consists
essentially of a plastic material and wherein said plastic material
of said receptacle section is transparent.
15. The package for a product sold at retail as defined in claim 3,
wherein said said plastic material of said receptacle section is
transparent.
16. The package for a product sold at retail as defined in claim
13, wherein said plastic material is a member of the group
consisting of: polyvinylchloride ("PVC"), polyethylene
terephthalate ("PET"), polypropylene ("PP"), and polystyrene.
17. A package for a product sold at retail comprising: a receptacle
section, said receptacle section comprising an open box-like
container comprising a rectangular base and four side walls
bordering and upstanding from said base and said rectangular base
including a receptacle for receiving and housing a product for
retail sale, said receptacle being inverted with a bottom side that
is elevated above said base and an open entrance located on the
underside of said base; a tray section, said tray section
comprising a four sided rectangular box-like container, said
rectangular box-like container including a rectangular base, four
upright side walls bordering said base, each of said four upright
side walls being joined to said base by a respective fold line, and
a holding device for holding said receptacle section inside said
tray section to block access to said entrance of said receptacle
and thereby inhibit removal of a product housed in said receptacle,
said holding device being manually releasable to permit said
receptacle section to be separated from said tray section; said
holding device further comprising four side-wall extensions, each
of said side-wall extensions extending from an outer edge of a
respective one of said four upright side walls and joined thereto
by a fold line; each said side wall extension being folded over a
respective side-wall of said receptacle section and extending
downwardly along side of said respective side wall to capture said
respective side-wall of said receptacle section between a side-wall
extension and the side-wall of said tray section from which said
side-wall extension extends; each side wall extension including two
spaced tabs, said two spaced tabs extending from an outer edge of
the respective side wall extension; said base of said tray section
further including a pair of spaced slots underlying each said side
wall extension and each of said slots in said base underlying a
respective side wall extension being aligned with a respective one
of said two spaced tabs of said respective side wall extension;
said base of said receptacle section further including a pair of
spaced slots underlying each said side wall extension and each of
said slots in said base of said receptacle section underlying a
respective side wall extension being aligned with a respective one
of said two spaced tabs of said respective side wall extension;
each tab in said side wall extensions extending through a
respective slot in said receptacle section and into a slot in said
tray section to hold the side wall extensions in place in the
folded-over position and lock the receptacle section to the tray
section for preventing access to the entrance of said receptacle
and confining any product received within said receptacle; wherein
said base of receptacle section further comprises a plurality of
upwardly extending posts, each said post being adjacent and in
close proximity to a downwardly extending side wall extension
sufficient to require said side wall extension to be squeezed into
place in front of said post to attain a folded-over position;
wherein said underside of said receptacle section includes a
plurality of spaced strips downwardly projecting from said
underside and defining an area underlying a shallow region on the
underside of said base of said receptacle section, said shallow
region, including said entrance to said receptacle; and a cover
member, said cover member positioned between said base of said tray
section and said bottom of said receptacle section and being sized
to fit in said defined area and serve as a barrier to said entrance
to said receptacle.
18. The package for a product sold at retail as defined in claim
17, wherein said tray section consists essentially of a one-piece
unitary assembly formed from a single piece of corrugated cardboard
material, said receptacle section consists. essentially of a
one-piece unitary assembly formed from a singe piece of plastic
material, and said cover member consists essentially of the same
plastic material used in said receptacle section.
19. The package for a product sold at retail as defined in claim
17, wherein said tray section consists essentially of a corrugated
cardboard material; and wherein each of said receptacle section and
said cover member consists essentially of a plastic material.
20. The package for a product sold at retail as defined in claim
17, wherein said receptacle section is transparent.
21. A recyclable package for a product sold at retail comprising: a
receptacle section and a tray section; said receptacle section
including a transparent sheet of plastic material vacuformed into a
panel and a receptacle integrally formed in said panel, said
receptacle being of a size for receiving and holding an article
packaged for sale in said recyclable package, said receptacle
having an entrance on an underside of said panel for inserting said
article therewithin, said panel portion containing side walls
bordering the periphery of said panel, said side walls folded up
perpendicular to said panel; said tray section comprising a folded
sheet of corrugated cardboard material, said sheet comprising a
base portion underlying said panel portion, said base portion being
slightly larger in size (length and width dimension) than said
panel portion, a plurality of fold-up side walls bordering the
periphery of said base portion, each of said side walls being
integrally attached to said base portion by a fold line;
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This non-provisional application for patent is related to an
earlier-filed provisional application for patent by the inventor,
Ser. No. 60/715,554, filed Sep. 8, 2005, entitled Environmental
Packaging Advantage, the entire content of which is incorporated
herein in its entirety by reference. Applicant claims the benefit
under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) and 35 U.S.C. 120 based on the foregoing
provisional application.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to an environmentally friendly
package for retail product and, more particularly, a display
package for displaying and securely packaging articles of value,
such as memory chips, with the constituents that form the package
being suitable for recycling.
BACKGROUND
[0003] The small size high value articles, such as add-on memory
chips, have become commodities and are being sold through
electronics departments of retail department stores and at discount
warehouse superstores. The memory chips are displayed to potential
store customers, typically, in a plastic clam shell type package
that either hangs from a rack or is set on a shelf. The clam shell
package is constructed of a tough transparent plastic material and
incorporates printed advertising and related information on the
enclosed product. The package permits the customer to view and
visually inspect the product and ensure that the product one wishes
to purchase is indeed inside the package. However, for reasons of
product security (e.g. potential shrinkage), the toughness of the
package plastic material prevents the customer from opening the
package with the customer's bare hands. So the package cannot be
easily opened inside the store.
[0004] Even following the purchase after the packaged product is
brought home, opening the package remains difficult. To do so
requires the customer to carefully cut away the plastic of the
package with a very sharp knife or heavy duty scissors, taking
special care so as to avoid injuring oneself. Once the product is
removed, the cut-up package debris that formed the clam-shell
package is no longer useful and is discarded in the trash.
[0005] Plastic packages deposited in the waste ultimately collect
in the sanitation landfills along with other waste material instead
of being recycled. Because so many products are available in
plastic packages and cannot be recycled, the package debris creates
stress on the landfill. From experience one realizes that plastic
does not easily decompose, but may remain around forever. That
contributes to a landfill that's filled, staying filled, and the
problems that a filled landfill creates, one of which is to create
a need for more land to use as landfill far from one's
neighborhood. A definite need exists to alleviate the stress on the
environment and, more specifically, to make plastic packaging more
recyclable in nature than heretofore.
[0006] Communities throughout the country recognize a need to
recycle waste materials whenever possible, and the benefits that
recycling brings. In many communities, citizens are being asked by
their respective municipal officials to separate their waste into
separate trashcans so that each trashcan holds a distinct type of
waste. A typical example, paper products are deposited in one
trashcan, plastics in another and foodstuffs and tin cans in a
third. Paper products, such as newspapers, can be collected from
the trash by the community services, and sold to a manufacturer of
paper products who recycles the newspapers into new paper products.
The plastic products can be sold to a recycler who is able to grind
the plastic into a powder or beads and that powder is then re-sold
to a plastic fabricator. But recycling of the plastic can be
accomplished only if the plastic is free of paper or other printed
material. If paper is intermingled with the plastic and cannot be
easily separated out, then the plastic is effectively
non-recyclable. Often that's found to be the case.
[0007] Even with a prior environmentally friendly package of the
present assignee, paper and/or cardboard is attached to or held
between portions of plastic material. That being the case, the
packaging waste is too time consuming to separate into separate
components of plastic and cardboard and, hence, is too expensive a
procedure. So that discarded package is regarded as
non-recyclable.
[0008] The package designer must also consider the security of the
packaged product. A major reason the plastic clamshell package is
popular with retailers is that a shoplifter cannot easily pilfer
the product. The shoplifter cannot open the package in the store,
unobserved, and remove the product. That feature effectively saves
the store a great deal of money. Any new package design must also
take product security into account and, ideally, achieve the same
degree of security that is obtained with the clamshell package.
[0009] Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to
provide a recyclable package for product sold through retail
stores.
[0010] Another object of the invention is to provide a new display
package for use at retail that is both reasonably secure and
recyclable.
[0011] A related object of the invention is to provide a design for
a display package that permits the different materials that form
the package to easily be separated for individual recycling
processes.
[0012] It is still another object of the invention to provide a
display package that is reasonably secure, recyclable, is easily
separated into individual components for recycling and is
relatively inexpensive to produce.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0013] In accordance with the foregoing objects, a recyclable
package invention for product sold at retail contains two major
pieces or sections: a receptacle section, containing a receptacle
for the packaged product, and a tray section. The two sections are
assembled together to form the package for the product, but are
easily detachable from one another. The two sections are formed of
very different kinds of packaging material, such as plastic and
corrugated cardboard, respectively. Separation of the sections
enables recycling of each section to be handled separately, making
recycling of the materials possible as a practical matter.
[0014] Further, in accordance with the invention, the tray section
includes a holding device for holding said receptacle section
inside the tray section and blocking access to the entrance of the
receptacle, thereby inhibiting removal of a product from the
receptacle. The holding device is manually releasable to permit
said receptacle section to be separated from said tray section.
[0015] In a more specific aspect the receptacle section comprises
an open box-like container with a base and side walls bordering and
upstanding from the base while the receptacle is inverted with the
bottom side elevated above the base and an open entrance on the
base underside. Further the tray section is also a slightly larger
box-like container, that contains a base, upright side walls, and
side-wall extensions, with the side wall extensions extending from
the side walls of said tray section and joined by fold lines to the
outer edge of respective ones of the side walls of the tray. The
side wall extension folds over a respective sidewall of the
receptacle section and extends downward along side of the
respective side wall to capture the respective side-wall of the
receptacle section between the extension and the side-wall of said
tray section from which said side-wall extension extends. In that
way the package is assembled together with the product confined in
the receptacle.
[0016] As an additional feature, an additional sheet of strong
plastic material may be placed on the underside of the receptacle
section in between that underside and the base of the tray section.
Where the tray material is formed of a material that is easily cut
through with a knife, the additional sheet prevents the knife user
from accessing the receptacle that houses the product.
[0017] The foregoing and additional objects and advantages of the
invention, together with the structure characteristic thereof,
which were only briefly summarized in the foregoing passages, will
become more apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the
detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention,
which follows in this specification, taken together with the
illustrations thereof presented in the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] In the Drawings:
[0019] FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of the package invention in
a not-to-scale isometric view with an article confined therein;
[0020] FIG. 2 is a layout of a tray section, a constituent element
of the package of FIG. 1 as viewed from the top side;
[0021] FIG. 3 is a layout of a receptacle section, another
constituent element of the package of FIG. 1, as viewed from the
top side;
[0022] FIG. 4 is a layout of the barrier panel optionally included
in the package of FIG. 1; and
[0023] FIG. 5 is a not-to-scale section view of a portion of the
right side wall of the package of FIG. 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0024] Reference is made to FIG. 1, which illustrates the new
package 1. The package includes a tray section 3 and a receptacle
section 5. The tray section 3 is formed of a material, such as
cardboard, that is folded, as later herein described, to form a
shallow box like structure that resembles the cardboard lid of a
cardboard storage box that is positioned upside down. The
receptacle section 5 is seated and held inside the tray section.
The receptacle section includes a receptacle 7, access to which is
through the open underside of the receptacle section. The
receptacle section is formed of a stiff transparent plastic
material. The receptacle section may optionally include printed or
other material. The sides of receptacle 7 at a minimum should
remain transparent to permit the contents of that receptacle to be
viewed. In this figure a memory chip 2 inside the receptacle can be
viewed through the receptacle walls. The open side of receptacle 7
is closed by either the bottom panel 9 of the tray section, that's
visible through the window cut-out 11 in the receptacle section or,
optionally, by a barrier panel 78, later described, that sits over
the bottom panel 9 of the receptacle section.
[0025] Although the foregoing embodiment is designed for a small
size article, one that takes up a small percentage of the surface
area of the package, as those skilled in the art realize on reading
this specification, the invention is not so limited. Larger size
articles would necessarily require a larger size receptacle 7 for
which there remains ample surface area. In fact in other
embodiments the receptacle may be of a surface area that covers
almost the entire available surface area inside the tray
section.
[0026] Receptacle section 5 additionally contains stiffening ribs
15, only one of which is numbered, and upwardly protruding posts or
catches 17, 19, 21 along the far side in the figure and 23 on the
right side. Corresponding posts or catches, not visible in the
figure, are included in the two opposite walls (and are later shown
in FIG. 3). Additional optional features of this section are also
later described. Receptacle section 5 is a vacuformed piece that is
formed from a sheet of transparent plastic material using the
vacuforming process. That process employs a mold. Thus, as is known
in the art, receptacle 7 is formed in the process by a mold portion
that during the process pushes the softened plastic upwardly in the
region for the receptacle, producing a bulge or protruding portion
on the upper side, as illustrated, and a depressed portion on the
underside, which forms a well or receptacle. The same construction
holds true for the posts or catches 17, 19, 21, 23, ribs 15 and the
like.
[0027] Tray section 3 is formed in a knocked-down condition from a
single corrugated paperboard blank shown in FIG. 2 to which
reference is made. The blank is a single thickness of conventional
corrugated paperboard, having one or more plies of corrugation,
depending on the ultimate strength required. A blank assembler
apparatus (or person) folds the two-dimensional cardboard blank of
the tray section into a three-dimensional rectangular shape. The
tray section includes a rectangular bottom panel 9. Four side walls
24, 26, 28 and 30 are respectively connected to four corresponding
sides of panel 9 along respective ones of the four fold lines, 32A
through 32D. Each of those sidewalls contains a flap extension 25,
27, 29 and 31, respectively, connected to the respective sidewall
by a respective one of four additional fold lines 34A through
34D.
[0028] Sidewall 28 includes left and right side flaps 36 and 37
connected to the side wall by respective fold lines 38A and 38B.
Respective cut lines 39A and 39B free respective flaps 36 and 37,
respectively, permitting the flaps to be bend upward and positioned
at right angles to side wall 28. In like manner sidewall 30
includes left and right side flaps 40 and 41 connected to the
sidewall by respective fold lines 42A and 42B. Respective cut lines
43A and 43B free respective flaps 40 and 41, respectively,
permitting the flaps to be bend upward and positioned at right
angles to side wall 30.
[0029] Bottom panel 9 of the tray section includes eight slots, in
pairs located along each of the four sides of the panel. The slots
are denominated 44A and 44B, 45A and 45B, 46A and 46B and 47A and
47B. Reference is again made to the flap extensions 25, 27, 29 and
31 attached to associated ones of the side walls. Each of those
flaps contains a pair of extending tabs: flap 25 contains tabs 49A
and 49B, as example. The height of the flap extension is at least
equal to the height of the associated side wall. Therefore, when
side wall 24 is bent upward and positioned perpendicular to the
plane of flat panel 9, and flap extension 25 is folded over fold
line 34A and folded down alongside side wall 24, tabs 49A and 49B
extend past the upper surface of panel 9 and extend into respective
corresponding slots 44A and 44B to lock the flap extensions in
place alongside the connected side wall. As later herein described,
a sidewall formed on the receptacle section 5 is sandwiched
in-between the flap extension and the adjacent side wall to fix the
receptacle layer in place.
[0030] Flap 27 contains tabs 50A and 50B which in like manner
engage tabs 45A and 45B, when the side 26 and flap extension 27 are
appropriately folded over the respective fold lines 32b and 34B;
Flap 29 contains tabs 51A and 51B that engage slots 46A and 46B;
and Flap 31 contains tabs 52A and 52B that engage slots 47A and
47B. The slots, cut lines and fold lines are all formed in the
blank concurrently when the blank is die-cut from a sheet of
corrugated paperboard. The foregoing is routine work to a blank
manufacturer.
[0031] Reference is next made to the layout illustration of
receptacle section 5 presented in FIG. 3, a section that was
vacuformed to the geometry illustrated. This section includes the
receptacle 7 and upstanding posts 17, 19, 21 and 23 earlier noted
in FIG. 1. It also includes like posts 14, 18, and 20 along the
bottom side and post 22 along the left side, that were not visible
in the view of FIG. 1, and includes the upstanding ribs 15. The
section is bordered by flat side wall flaps 54, 56, 58 and 60
connected to the central section by fold lines 55, 57, 59 and 61.
Side wall 58 contains flap extensions 66 and 67 at each end
connected by respective fold lines, 70 and 71, and with flap
extension 66 and 67 respectively separated from side walls 54 and
56, respectively, by cut lines 74 and 75. Likewise side wall 60
contains flap extensions 68 and 69 at respective ends that are
connected to the wall by respective fold lines, 72 and 73, with
flap extension 68 separated from side wall 54 by cut line 76 and
flap extension 69 separated from side wall 56 by cut line 77. The
fold lines allow the side walls to be bent upward and positioned
perpendicular to the central area of the section to form a
structure that in this embodiment also resembles a shallow
rectangular box. Receptacle 7 is viewed in this figure from the
bottom side. The open side of that receptacle is on the opposite
side of the section. The side walls when bent up form a shallow
container on the closed side of receptacle 7.
[0032] In the assembled package illustrated in FIG. 1, the side
walls of this receptacle section were not visible since those walls
were covered by the flap extensions, that locked the flap
extensions in place sandwiched between the side walls and
corresponding flap extension. Continuing with FIG. 3, Slots 62A,
62B, 63A, 63B, 64A, 64B, 65A and 65B are die-cut through the
plastic. The slots are positioned so as to align with the slots
that were die cut into the tray section 3 and are of like size and
shape to those slots. That permits the tabs on the flap extensions
of the tray section to extend through the slots in the receptacle
section. In that way the tabs further lock the receptacle section
to the tray section. The receptacle section is thin and in a
practical embodiment is between about 0.015 through 0.030 inches
thick.
[0033] As an additional feature, there is positioned adjacent each
slot in the receptacle section an elongate rectangular depression
that contains a straight edge facing the central portion of the
section, depression 79A, as example. On the opposite side of this
vacuformed piece, the depression is in fact a protrusion from the
underside (as viewed in this FIG. 3) surface of the section. There
are a total of eight of those protrusions (or depressions), two
located on each of the four sides. They are identified as 79A and
79B on the left side as viewed in FIGS. 3, 80A and 80B on the right
side, 81A and 81B on the rear side, and 82A and 82B at the front
side. The straight edges of those protrusions are seen to define a
shallow rectangular pocket on the underside of the receptacle
section, which may be somewhat difficult to visualize from the
figure. That shallow rectangular pocket is recessed from the bottom
surface of the receptacle section. That pocket is essentially the
same size and shape as the rectangular barrier panel 78 illustrated
in FIG. 4, next considered.
[0034] FIG. 4 illustrates a barrier panel 78, which is a preferred
option to the package. That element is preferred since the panel
enhances the security for the package, as later herein described.
The panel is a simple thin rectangular sheet of plastic material,
suitably the same material that is used for the receptacle section.
The length and width dimensions are sized so that the panel fits in
and can be seated in the shallow pocket described in the preceding
paragraph formed in the underside of the receptacle section. The
sides of the pocket prevent panel 78 from sliding around inside the
assembled package and making undesirable noise. If left loose, on
shaking the package, the panel would bang into the side of the
cardboard in the tray section, producing some noise. Such noise
might lead a customer to think that something in the package was
broken.
[0035] Assembly of the package commences with the die-cut tray
section 3, the vacuformed and die cut clear plastic receptacle
section 5, the barrier panel 78, and the memory chip product that
is to be packaged. Preliminarily the side walls of the tray
section, 24, 27, 28 and 30, are bent perpendicular to the central
area of the section, but without bending over the flap extensions
attached to those side walls, which now are also positioned
perpendicular to central area 9. The corresponding plastic
sidewalls of the receptacle section are bent upwardly, and the tabs
tacked in place to form a shallow rectangular shape in that
section.
[0036] The receptacle section is then inverted to expose the entry
to receptacle 7 and the memory chip or card is inserted inside the
accessible receptacle. The plastic barrier panel 78 is then placed
in the shallow pocket on the receptacle section covering receptacle
7 and, holding the section and panel together the subassembly is
then deposited inside the tray section. The flap extensions of the
tray section, 25, 27, 29 and 31, are then bent over and down, one
at a time. The flaps are pushed into the narrow space between the
posts and the adjoining cardboard side wall, as example flap
extension 29 is pushed in front of posts 17, 19 and 21 adjoining
cardboard side wall 28. And the flap extensions are pushed down so
that the tabs carried at the end of those extensions through the
slots in the receptacle section and into the slots in the tray
section, locking the flap extensions in place and thereby locking
the receptacle section to the tray section. FIG. 5, to which
reference is made, is a section view of a portion of the final
relationship of the side wall of the tray section and receptacle
section. If necessary, auxiliary presses may be used to force the
flap extension ends in place in the corners of the tray
section.
[0037] Referring again to FIG. 1, the package gives a wide display
for prospective customers and reasonable security, blocking product
pilferers. That is, the package is tamper resistant. The ribs 15 in
the exposed outer surface of the receptacle layer make it very
difficult for a person to inconspicuously draw a knife along the
receptacle layer and cut openings through which to extract the
memory in receptacle 7. The high and low of the surface interrupts
that procedure. Further, with the barrier wall installed, one who's
attempting to cut through the backside of the package, namely
through the cardboard of the tray layer, soon finds a tough plastic
layer beneath the cardboard, frustrating an easy cut into a most
difficult one. In addition to a successful function as a package
with tamper resistance built in, the package is environmentally
sound and is suitable for recycling, a principal advantage.
[0038] As one appreciates, the foregoing package is much easier to
open than a plastic clamshell package. The opening can be
accomplished by hand, by bending back the sides, one at a time, and
uplifting the tab from the slot and pulling the flap extension
outwardly. Once the receptacle section is thereby released from the
tray section, the tray section may be lifted out and the memory
chip is removed. The packaging materials may now be discarded.
However, what one has as waste material is at most three separate
pieces the tray section, which is cardboard, the receptacle section
which is transparent plastic and perhaps, the barrier wall which is
also transparent plastic. Unlike the case with the plastic
clamshell package, the waste from this package is easily separated
and is recyclable.
[0039] In a practical embodiment the tray section is formed of
b-flute or e-flute cardboard, the receptacle section is formed from
PVC or other stiff plastic packaging material and may range in
thickness from 0.015 through 0.030 inches. The barrier panel is
formed of same material and thickness as used in the receptacle
section. Although not illustrated in the embodiment, either portion
of the package components or both may contain printed or
lithographed material, if desired, or may be wrapped in printed
sheet packaging material. The plastic material may be
polyvinylchloride ("PVC") that is vacuformed to shape. Other
plastic materials, which may be more environmentally friendly than
PVC, may be substituted, such as polyethylene terephthalate
("PET"), polystyrene, PLA and any other equivalent material that
gives the receptacle section a reasonably stiff form and is used
for packaging, whether currently existing or which may be developed
hereafter. Even polypropylene ("PP") may be used. One may notice a
faint similarity of the foregoing package to a regular lidded
container, one that's been inverted so that the lid, traditionally
located at the top of a container receptacle, is, instead, located
at the bottom. And the receptacle, normally on the bottom, is on
the top. But such an inverted container doesn't contain a lid that
restrains and holds the container.
[0040] The foregoing embodiment is of a rectangular shape. However,
the invention is not so limited. As those skilled in the packaging
art realize on reading this specification in other embodiments
other polygon shapes may be substituted for the rectangular shape
used in this embodiment. As example a hexagon, a heptagon or the
like, any of which contains straight sides may be used. As one
appreciates, it becomes necessary to change the shape of both the
tray and receptacle sections, the various fold and cut lines and
the like so as to produce a structure in which the tray section
holds onto the receptacle section. Although applicant has not as
yet developed such an alternative, those skilled in the art may
follow the teachings of this application and through trial and
error produce useful alternatives.
[0041] If one were to question as to why is such a large area or
volume used with a small receptacle that occupies only a fraction
of the available area to hold a small article. One seemingly would
save a of packaging material. The answer again is security. It's
not very easy for a shoplifter to stuff a large package into the
pocket of the shoplifter's coat, but it's very easy to do with a
box that's so small that it fits in one's hand.
[0042] If that's the case, one might ask why not just display the
articles unpackaged in a display case. A store clerk may take the
article from the case and hand it to the customer for inspection,
much like the practice in a jewelry shop. The person finds the
answer to that is economics. Jewelry store clerks are trained in
the product and thus are more highly paid, and the stores are
smaller in size than a retail store and there are fewer customers
to monitor so that the sales personnel can keep track of the
customers and the product. The retail store personnel are rarely
fully trained in all products handled by the store and are lower
paid. The personnel turnover is high. Management wants to keep the
overhead down. Shrinkage can also occur through that breed of
personnel. The foregoing all leads back to the existing rack held
product in clamshell plastic packaging.
[0043] It is believed that the foregoing description of the
preferred embodiments of the invention is sufficient in detail to
enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention without
undue experimentation. However, it is expressly understood that the
detail of the elements comprising the embodiment presented for the
foregoing purpose is not intended to limit the scope of the
invention in any way, in as much as equivalents to those elements
and other modifications thereof, all of which come within the scope
of the invention, will become apparent to those skilled in the art
upon reading this specification.
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