Decorator box

Abstract

A box formed from a single cardboard blank has four sides and top and bottom covers. The sides of the box have double walls. The outer wall carries advertising and descriptive material and the inner wall is decorated with a suitable design. The outer wall is provided with tear lines so that once the customer purchases the box and its contents, the outer wall can be stripped away to reveal the decorated inner wall so that the box now constitutes a pleasant-looking dispenser or container for the contents.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a box for holding an article of merchandise. It relates more particularly to a box made from a single cardboard blank which can effectively merchandise the contents and also provide an attractive container for use by the purchaser.

There are presently on the market packages which function both to protect an article during shipping and while on the shelf and as an attractive container or dispenser for the article in the home. One type of which we are aware consists of a conventional cardboard box which is finished with an attractive design and is covered by a thin sheath of cellophane or the like which bears advertising and descriptive material relating to the product in the box. While the box is on the shelf, the customer can see the advertising material on the sheath and, when he brings the product home, the purchaser can strip away the sheath revealing the decorated box. Whereupon the box and its contents are suitable for presentation as a gift, for example.

Another conventional type of package consists of a conventional cardboard box with a decorative outer surface which is enclosed within a cardboard sleeve which carries the manufaturer's name and message. The sleeve protects the underlying decorative box and its contents while the product is being shipped and while on the shelf. When the customer brings the box home, he removes the sleeve, revealing the decorative product container. The box, containing facial tissues for example, can then be used as an attractive dispenser.

These prior conventional box constructions have certain disadvantages, however. More particularly, the thin cellophane sheath of the former type of package often becomes torn. This obscures the advertising message and also exposes the underlying decorative package to abrasions and scrapes that spoil its appearance. That box also is relatively expensive to make since it involves two packaging operations, one for the box itself and one for its cellophane sheath.

The second type of prior package is disadvantaged because the box per se and its sleeve are made separately and an appreciable amount of extra material is required to make the sleeve. Further additional personnel are required to slide the sleeve on the box. All of these factors make the overall package unduly expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention aims to provide a box made from a single cardboard blank which can be used both as a product container capable of withstanding the rigors of shipping and handling and as an attractive container or dispenser for the product when it reaches the ultimate user.

A further object of the invention is to provide a decorator box which is relatively economical to manufacture.

A further object of the invention is to provide a box which can carry an advertising message during the merchandising phase of its life, yet which provides an attractive container for the ultimate user.

Other objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the following detailed description, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

Briefly, the subject box is made from a single cardboard blank. The blank includes a series of aligned, hinged-together panels which, when wrapped around each other spiral fashion, form a tube. For purposes of discussion, we will describe a blank capable of making a four-sided box. However, it should be understood that a polygonal or cylindrical box is also within the scope of this invention.

Assuming a four-sided box, four of the panels in the blank suffice to form the four sides of the box. A decorative design or picture or the like is applied to one side of the blank and covers these four panels. The remaining panels in the series are wrapped around these decorated panels to form a portective outer wall for the box which completely covers the decorated panels. The free edge of the endmost panel of the series which is outermost on the box is adhered to an underlying panel so as to maintain the spiral arrangement of panels in the form of a tube having a rectangular cross section.

The blank also includes laterally extending cover panels hinged to appropriate panels in the series which, when folded, close off the top and bottom of the tube to form a closed box. Tear lines are provided between the outermost exposed undecorated panels and the cover flaps connected thereto and advertising and/or descriptive material is printed on these exposed panels.

After the blank is folded and glued as aforesaid by the box manufacturer, it can be shipped in a completely flattened condition to the product manufacturer. There the box is made up and a product such as cotton swabs, for example, is inserted and the cover flaps are closed. Thus, the product is now completely protected and the printing on the outside of the box advertises and identifies the product.

The box and its contents are now shipped to the retailer and placed on the shelf to await purchase with its product identification still intact. The purchaser, upon bringing the product home, can strip away the exposed panels carrying the printed material, thereby exposing the underlying decorated panels so that the box becomes an attractive container-dispenser for the product therein.

The blank can be arranged so that all sides of the box have both a decorative underlayer and a protective overlayer. Alternatively, a lesser number of box sides may be decorated. For example, in some cases, the purchaser may usually place the rear of the box against a wall so that it is not necessary to have the aforesaid double wall construction at the rear of the box.

Also, it should be understood that the invention is applicable to boxes having a variety of different closure configurations, including the "flip-top" variety and the more usual interfitting cover panels.

The subject box thus serves a very useful merchandising function. It can be used by the product manufacturer to advertise its product, yet it can also be used by the ultimate purchaser to provide an attractive holder or dispenser for the product at home. Yet, the box is made from a single cardboard blank with a minimum number of cutting and gluing steps to that its cost of manufacture is relatively low. Also, since the box is of a one-piece construction and can be stored in a flattened condition and is easily made up, handling and packaging costs are kept to a minimum.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view with parts broken away of a decorator box made in accordance with this invention as the box would appear in a store;

FIG. 2 is a similar view from a different angle and with the box cover shown partially open and its removable panels partially stripped away to reveal underlying decorated box panels;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the cardboard blank from which the FIG. 1 box is made; and

FIG. 4 is a similar view of a modified blank for making a box with four instead of three decorative panels.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Turning first to FIG. 2 of the drawings, the subject decorator box is shown generally at 10. It includes four contiguous panels 12, 14 (FIG. 1), 16 and 18 forming the four sides of the box and which are hinged along fold lines 20 at the four corners of the box. A glue flap 16a (FIG. 3) hinged to panel 16 is secured to the inside of panel 18 by glue applied to flap 16a as indicated at 19 in FIG. 3. These four panels are covered with a suitable decorative design 22 which may be printed directly on the panels or a separate decorated coating of paper, plastic or the like may be adhered to those panels.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the box 10 also includes a series of three contiguous outer panels 32, 34 and 36 hinged together along fold lines 40 also at the corners of the box. The panel 36 is also hinged at a corner of the box to panel 18 along a fold line 41 which is perforated so it also functions as a tear line. A glue flap 32a hinged to panel 32 along fold line 42 is adhered to the edge margin of panel 18 by glue spots 43 to hold the three outer panels adjacent the decorative under panels. These outer panels may carry advertising or printed material as shown at 44 in FIG. 1.

Four conventional bottom flaps 45 (only one of which is shown in FIG. 1) are hinged to the side panels 12, 14, 16 and 18 which, when folded and secured by gluing, close off the bottom of the box. Also, suitable cover flaps are provided to close the top of the box. More particularly, two auxiliary cover flaps 62 and 64 are hinged along fold lines 66 to the outer panels 32 and 36 respectively and a main cover flap 68 is hinged along a fold line 70 to the outer panel 34. When the auxiliary flaps are folded down and the hinged extension 68a of the main cover flap is tucked in between the edges of the auxiliary cover flaps 62 and 64 and the panel 18, the top of the box is completely closed.

The illustrated box is of the "flip-top" variety. Accordingly, the upper portions of the outer front and side panels 34, 32 and 36 respectively constitute part of the box cover as will be shown presently.

As best seen in FIG. 1, a tear line 72 extends across the exposed panels 32, 34 and 36 near the tops thereof and an accessible pull tab 74 is hinged to the edge portion of glue tab 32a, below tear line 72.

When the customer wishes to use the box as a dispenser, she grasps tab 74 and strips away the portions of the exposed outer panels 32, 34 and 36 below the tear line 72 as illustrated in FIG. 2. The vertical tear line 41 between panels 18 and 36 allows the trailing edge of the series of stripped-away panel portions to part from the rest of the box. Thus, the decorative box panels 12, 14 and 16 are now exposed while the remaining portions of the outermost panels 32, 34 and 36 above tear line 72 form the four sides of the "flip-top" box cover which is hinged to panel 18 along fold line 75.

In the illustrated embodiment, the portions of the outside panels 32, 34 and 36 forming the sides of the cover are of a different color than the decorative panels 12, 14 and 16. If desired, the same design may be applied to these elements and the cover flaps 62, 64 and 68 so that the front, sides and top of the box would have the same design throughout.

Also, conventional cover flaps may be employed in lieu of the illustrated "flip-top" cover, in which case, these flaps would be hinged to the top edges of panel 12, 14, 16 and 18, as are the flaps closing off the bottom of the box.

Turning now to FIG. 3, the cardboard blank for making the FIGS. 1 and 2 box is comprised of a series of seven hinged-together panels arranged in a straight line. These panels and their hinge lines are given the same identifying numerals as their counterparts in FIGS. 1 and 2. The glue flap 32a is hinged to the free edge of the leftmost panel 32 and glue is applied to its underside so that when the blank is folded, the glue becomes adhered to three small, unvarnished, cut-scored circular areas 43 at the right-hand margin of panel 18, forming three small glue spots which make it easier to strip away the outer panels. Glue flap 32a has a side extension 74 hinged thereto which functions as a pulll-tab as noted above. A glue flap 16a is also hinged to the free edge of the rightmost panel 16 and glue 19 is applied to that flap so that when the box is folded as shown in FIG. 1, the flap becomes adhered to the underside of panel 18 at the left-hand margin thereof.

The blank also includes the top and bottom cover flaps which are given the same identifying numerals as they are in FIG. 1. These are hinged to the top and bottom edges of the various panels as shown.

The decorative design 22 is printed or otherwise applied to the upper sides of the three rightmost panels 12, 14 and 16 as viewed in FIG. 3. Tear line 72 extends across the three leftmost panels 32, 34, 36 and glue flap 32a and the vertical tear strip 41 extends along the fold line between panels 18 and 36 below the horizontal tear line 72.

FIG. 4 shows a modified cardboard blank for forming a box having four decorative panels instead of three. That is, panel 18 is also covered by design 22. It is similar to the FIG. 3 blank except that there are four panels to the left of the vertical tear line 41 and the cut-scored circles 43 are in the right margin of panel 136. Also, the top cover flaps have been hinged to three of those four panels as shown so that when the box is made up, the two auxiliary cover flaps 62 and 64 are positioned on the outermost panels at the sides of the box while the main cover flap 68 is hinged to the rear panel.

In this embodiment, glue is applied to panel 18 above hinge line 75 thereon as shown at 81 to secure that portion of the panel to the portion of the leftmost panel 82 above tear line 72 to retain the cover flaps when the portions of the outer panels below the tear line are pulled off. On the other hand, if the box is to be used as an open-top dispenser, glue 81 can be omitted, in which case, the cover panels will come off with the removable panels if the tear line 41 is extended to the tops of panels 18 and 36.

It will be seen from the foregoing, then, that the subject decorator box is easily and inexpensively made from a single cardboard blank. A design in the form of a decorative covering of paper or plastic can be applied to one or more of the inner box panels during the normal gluing operation or the design may be printed directly on those panels during the normal printing step and the outer panels can then be folded and glued to form the finished box. Consequently, no special processing steps are required to make the subject box. Until used, the various box panels can be folded flat to save shipping and storage space. When it is time to use the box, it is made up easily simply by pressing together the opposite corners of the box and closing its cover flaps. Until used, the decorative design on the inner panels is completely protected. Accordingly, the box should serve a useful merchandising purpose.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description, or shown in the accompanying drawings, be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described .

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A box comprising:

A. a first series of aligned, hinged-together panels,

B. means for connecting the free side edges of the end panels in the first series together to form a tube,

C. a second series of aligned, hinged-together panels,

D. means for connecting the free side edge of one panel in the second series to a free side edge of an end panel in the first series, said second series of panels being wrapped at least partway around said tube formed by the first series of panels being wrapped at least partway around said tube formed by the first series of panels,

E. means for removably connecting the free side edge of the other end panel in the second series to a panel in the first series so that panels in the second series cover panels in the first series,

F. a decorative design applied to the outside of one or more panels in the first series underneath panels of the second series,

G. a tear line at the boundary between the first and second series of panels so that the second series of panels can be stripped away from the tube to reveal the decorative design on the panels in the first series, and

H. a second tear line extending along the second series of panels near the top edges thereof so that only the portion of the panels in the second series below the second tear line can be stripped away.

2. The box defined in claim 1 wherein

A. there are four panels in the first series, and

B. the decorative design is applied to three of said four panels.

3. The box defined in claim 1 wherein

A. there are four panels in the first series, and

B. the decorative design is applied to all said four panels.

4. The box defined in claim 1 wherein the closure means at one end of the tube comprises a "flip-top" cover hinged to a panel in the second series of panels.

5. The box defined in claim 1 wherein the closure means comprise cover flaps hinged to panels in the first series of panels.

6. A blank for forming a decorator box comprising

A. a first series of aligned, hinged-together panels,

B. a second series of aligned, hinged-together panels, a free side edge of one end panel in the second series being hinged to a free side edge of one end panel in the first series,

C. a decorative design applied to at least one panel in the first series on at least one surface of the blank,

D. cover flaps extending laterally of the panel series and hinged to said panels, and

E. a glue tab hinged to the remaining free side edge of the other end panel in each series.