Display Packages

Abstract

A pair of juxtaposed identically constructed transparent box members are positioned at opposite sides of a display card which is formed with an opening in register with the box members, so that the latter coact to define a closed compartment. The box members are provided with pairs of flanges which have the card sandwiched between them, and detents passing through the card locking the flanges together, thus holding the box members and the card in assembled relation. The locked flanges are intended to be broken off the box members so that the latter may be separated for gaining access to contents of the compartment. The box members may be used again to hold the contents.

Description

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in display packages, and in particular the invention concerns itself with improvements in so-called "bubble" or "blister" packages in which merchandise is contained in a transparent plastic bubble or blister mounted on a display card, the latter being capable of being suspended, for example, from a hook on a display rack.

Conventional packages of this type require the card to be coated with plastic in order that the plastic bubble or blister may be heat-sealed thereto. This requires expensive coating and heat-sealing equipment as well as skilled labor to operate the same, and even at best, the rate of package production is limited by the number of heat-sealing stations which are available on the packaging line. Moreover, the conventional package itself has some disadvantages, such as that merchandise in a bubble on one side of the display card cannot be seen from the opposite side, and that the bubble, once broken for removal of the merchandise, can serve no further useful purpose.

It is, therefore, the principal object of the invention to provide an improved display package which eliminates the above outlined disadvantages of conventional bubble or blister type packages, and lends itself to easy and rapid assembly without the use of expensive equipment or skilled labor. As such, the invention provides a package consisting of a pair of juxtaposed, transparent box members which are positioned at opposite sides of a display card in register with an opening formed in the card, so that the two box members define a closed compartment in which merchandise is contained for visibility from both sides of the card. The box members are provided with frangible flanges which have the card sandwiched between them and the flanges are locked together by detents which pass through the card and serve to hold the box members and the display card in assembled relation until such time as the locked flanges are broken off the box members and the box members are separated for removal of the merchandise. Although the invention contemplates the positioning of the box members on a display card, the box members may also be used themselves as a merchandise container without a display card.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of reference are used to designate like parts, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a display package in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view thereof;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged isometric view of one of the box members;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional detail taken substantially in the plane of the line 4--4 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional detail taken substantially in the plane of the line 5--5 in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view showing the alignment sustaining means of the box members.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the display package of the invention is designated generally by the reference numeral 10 and, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, mainly consists of a pair of complemental, juxtaposed box members 12 which are positioned at the opposite sides of a display card 13. The card is thus sandwiched between the two box members and a portion of the card in register with the box members is cut out to form an opening 14 (see FIG. 5) so that the box members are in communication through the card opening and define a closed compartment for containing merchandise. The display card 13 may be printed with suitable indicia and may have its upper portion provided with an aperture 15 for suspension of the entire package from a hook, as for example, on a display rack or peg board.

The two box members 12 are identical in construction and are formed from transparent plastic material so that their contents may be viewed from both sides of the display card 13. Although the box members are shown as being rectangular, they obviously may have any other suitable geometrical configuration. In any event, each box member 12 is formed integrally at its opposite ends with outwardly projecting flanges 16, 17, the flange 16 of each box member being provided with laterally projecting, hook-shaped detents 18 for locking engagement with apertures 19 formed in the flange 17 of the other box member, as will be presently explained.

The display card 13 is provided adjacent the opening 14 with apertures or passages 20 through which the detents 18 may extend from one side of the card to the other. Although the two box members 12 are of identical construction as aforesaid, they are applied to the opposite sides of the card 13 in reverse orientation, that is to say, so that the flange 16 of each box member is juxtaposed to the flange 17 of the other box member and the detents 18 on the flanges 16, after passing through the card apertures 20, are received in the apertures 19 in the flanges 17. As will be apparent from FIG. 4, the transverse spacing of the two detents 18 on the flange 16 is such in relation to the spacing of the apertures 19 in the flange 17 that the hook-shaped ends of the detents 18 must be deflected in order to pass through the apertures 19, whereupon the hook-shaped ends of the detents spring out into locking engagement with the flange 17 in the manner of a snap-fitted assembly. When this has been accomplished the flanges 16, 17 are locked together and serve to sustain the two box members 12 and the card 13 in assembled relation. It is to be particularly noted that this snap-fitted assembly can be effected without the use of any special equipment or skilled labor, as is necessary with conventional blister type packages utilizing a plastic coated display card and a plastic blister heat-sealed thereto. Also, as already stated, the transparent box members 12 permit viewing of the merchandise from both sides of the display card, and this affords a further advantage in that, assuming the card to be printed with indicia on both sides, the package may be hung on a rack with either side facing outwardly.

The flanges 16, 17 have a reduced or a weakened thickness along the line where they are connected to the box members 12, as shown at 21, thus providing a frangible connection by virtue of which the flanges, while still locked together by the means 18, 19, may be broken off the box members 12 and remain attached to the card 13 while the box members 12 are separated from each other and from the card for removal of the packaged merchandise. The card 13, which may be of cardboard, is sufficiently flexible to permit breaking off of the flanges by bending, and inasmuch as the locked together flanges must be broken off before the package may be opened, the invention safeguards against pilfering and makes it easy to detect a package which has been tampered with.

It may be also noted that the detents 18 have cam-surfaced edges 18' for coaction with cam-surfaced edges 19' of the apertures 19, whereby to assist in insertion of the detents through the apertures, as will be apparent from FIG. 4.

As shown in FIG. 3, each of the box member 12 is provided at its diagonally opposite corners with projecting guide elements 22 and with recesses 23, the arrangement being such that when the two box members are juxtaposed as already described, the guide elements 22 of each box member are received in the recesses 23 of the other box member. This arrangement assists in maintaining the two box members in alignment with each other while they are being applied to the display card 13 ad is of even greater importance when, after the flanges 16, 17 have been broken off and the box members are separated for removal of the merchandise, the two box members may be placed to further use, without the card 13, by juxtaposing them as shown in FIG. 6 to provide a container of general utility to hold the original contents for repeated usage. In such instance the interfitting guide elements 22 and recesses 23 serve to hold the box members together in proper alignment.

It may be also noted that although the invention primarily intends to utilize the two box members 12 in conjunction with the display card 13 in the environment of a display package of the character described, it is possible to omit the card 13 and to use the box members 12 with their associated flanges 16, 17, locking means 18, 19 and alignment means 22, 23, in the environment of a simple container or package by simply snap-fitting the two parts together without sandwiching the card 13 therebetween. Such a simple package may be opened by breaking off the flanges 16, 17, whereupon the two box members may be used to provide a container of general utility as already mentioned in connection with FIG. 6.

Claims

What is claimed as new is:

1. A display package comprising a pair of juxtaposed complemental box members coacting to define a closed compartment, at least one of said box members being transparent so that contents of said compartment may be viewed, at least one pair of juxtaposed flanges projecting from and frangibly connected to perimetric edges of the respective box members, means provided on said flanges and locking the flanges together whereby to secure the box members in their juxtaposed assembled relation, and a display card provided with an opening, said box members with their flanges being disposed at the respective opposite sides of said card in register with said opening, said locking means of said flanges extending through said card whereby to secure the box members and the card in assembled relation, the frangible connection of said flanges to the box members permitting the flanges with said locking means to be broken off whereby the box members may then be readily separated for gaining access to contents of said compartment, said display card being flexible and facilitating breaking off said flanges from said box members while the flanges remain secured to the card.

2. The package as defined in claim 1 which is further characterized in that said box members are of identical construction.

3. The package as defined in claim 1 wherein said flanges have a reduced thickness along their line of attachment to the perimetric edges of said box members, whereby to provide the frangible connection of the flanges to the box members.

4. The package as defined in claim 1 together with a guide element projecting from each box member into a recess formed in the other box member, whereby to sustain the box members in alignment with each other even after said flanges are broken off.

5. The package as defined in claim 1 wherein said means locking said flanges together comprise at least one detent projecting from one flange in the pair into locking engagement with an aperture formed in the juxtaposed flange, said display card being sandwiched between the juxtaposed flanges and being provided adjacent said opening with passages having said detents extending therethrough.