Shipping And Display Package Of Nursery Flats

Abstract

A shipping package of nursery flats comprising two panels folded into carton form and joined is convertible into a display assembly by selectively removing either of two panel sections to expose for display a series of flats contained in the package. A separable price board display forms a part of the removed panel section and is integrated with the other panel in erecting the display.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is an improvement in the Shipping Package of Nursery Flats of U.S. Pat. No. 3,379,304 granted Apr. 23, 1968, disclosing a shipping package of nursery flats constructed of two matching specially formed panels formed into carton form and providing integral vertically spaced corner supports for nursery flats which, upon installation, were secured by stapling through the wings of the corner supports to retain them in rigid conjunction with the flats and thus provide a complete shipping package.

While this package served excellently for the purpose for which it was designed, the necessity for providing structural rigidity and strength in the package during shipping was inconsistent with the optimization of the package for display purposes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a shipping package corresponding to that of the above mentioned patent, which is readily convertible into a display assembly by selectively removing a portion of either of the two specially formed side panels which are interconnected by staples with a series of flats held between them, thus exposing for display the entire series of flats. The removed portion contains within itself a price board adapted for integration with the panel which is retained intact.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of the package of the present invention before conversion into a display configuration;

FIG. 2 is a view in perspective of the package in the process of conversion into a display configuration;

FIG. 3 is a view in perspective of the package fully converted into a display configuration;

FIG. 4 is a plan view in section of the package taken on the line 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view in elevation of the package taken on the line 5--5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a detail view in elevation of a portion of the package as viewed from the direction of the line 6--6 of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a view in perspective of the cut and scored blank used in fabricating the package of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As shown in FIG. 1, the package of the present invention, before conversion into its display configuration, corresponds generally to the shipping package disclosed and claimed in the above mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,379,304 in all essential respects.

In this form it comprises identical panels 10 of stiff corrugated paperboard or the like formed from a blank such as illustrated in FIG. 7, which is cut as shown in full lines at 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 and scored as shown in broken lines at 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24.

As shown in FIG. 1, the blank of FIG. 7 is bent on the score lines 23 and 24 at a right angle to the face 26 of the panel 10 to form wings 28. Likewise, the top portion 30 of the blank of FIG. 7 is bent downwardly along the score lines 20 and 21 and the cuts 12, 13 and 14; the end portions of the portion 30 being folded downwardly and stapled to the upper portions of the wings 28. The lower portion 32 of the blank of FIG. 7 is bent inwardly on the score line 22 and the lower portions of the wings 28 are likewise bent inwardly to underlie the portion 32 to which they are stapled.

The cuts 15 in conjunction with the score lines 19 outline kite-shaped areas on the blank of FIG. 7 which, in forming the package of FIG. 1, are knocked out and form corner nursery-flat support brackets 34. When the nursery flats are placed in position on the supports, each of the wings 28 formed as above described is stapled to each of the flats as at 36 to form the completed package, all as described in more detail in the aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 3,379,304.

The proportions of the various parts of the blanks in relation to the flats packaged are such that each of the wings 28 extends over only about 30 percent of the side of each flat, leaving about 40 percent exposed between the wings 28 of the two blanks composing the final package.

According to the present invention, the blank of FIG. 7 is, in addition to the cut lines and score lines mentioned above, provided with lines of perforations which facilitate the removal, by tearing along the lines of perforations or the like, of a portion of the panel for the purpose of converting the package to a display configuration and for the purpose of separating a part of the removed portion which is adapted to be folded and integrated with the panel which is retained in its original condition to serve as a price display board when so integrated.

One of such lines of perforations, designated 41 in FIGS. 1, 2 and 7, extends from the upper edge of the blank of FIG. 7 to a similar line of perforations 43 near the bottom edge of the blank and slightly above the score line 22, while a similar line of perforations 45 paralleling the line 41 extends from the upper edge of the blank of FIG. 7 to join the line of perforations 43 adjacent its opposite end. These lines of perforations 41, 43 and 45 have no significant effect upon the strength of the package when it is in the shipping configuration in which it is illustrated in FIG. 1, but permit the panel to be torn along the perforation lines 41, 43 and 45, as shown in FIG. 2, to remove the entire section 47 from the panel in the process of converting the package to its display configuration. The width of the section 47 preferably is such as to expose about 70% of the underlying sides of the packaged flats upon removal of the section.

Additional perforation lines 50, 51, 52, 53 and 54 are provided in the section 47 for separating therefrom a price board portion 56 provided with a tab 58 (FIG. 2) of lesser width than the price board portion 56 and a slot 60. The separated price board portion 56 is adapted to be mounted on the unmodified panel 10 opposite the panel from which the portion 47 is removed; this being accomplished by inserting the tab 58 into the corresponding slot 60 of that panel and inserting in the slot 60 of the price board portion 56 the vertical extension 62 of that panel, which corresponds to the vertical extension 40 illustrated and described in the aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 3,379,304. The price board 56 is thus integrated with the unmodified panel 10 in the position in which it is shown in FIGS. 3, 5 and 6.

In order to enhance the attractiveness of the package in its display configuration, it is desirable in addition to removing the portion 47 of a selected one of the panels 10 to also remove the portions 65 of the corner sections of that panel extending substantially above the uppermost one of the flats and shown in dotted lines in FIG. 5. For this purpose, additional lines of perforations 67 may be provided in the panels 10 defining the portion 65 which is to be removed from the one from which the panel section 47 is removed.

When these alterations of the selected one of the panels 10 have been accomplished, the display configuration of the package will be as shown in FIG. 3. It will be apparent that when the package is converted to this configuration, it not only presents an attractive display of the contents of the several flats, but also constitutes a container from which the uppermost flat may be easily removed by withdrawal of the staples 36 by which it is secured to the four panel wings 28, and withdrawing it by an upward and forward motion. After removal of the uppermost flat, an additional portion of the corner sections of the front panel 10 extending above the second flat from the top may be cut away if desired in order to enhance the attractiveness of the remaining display and facilitate removal of the second flat, and so on.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An improved package of nursery flats comprising a pair of horizontally spaced separated panels each including a vertical panel face and a pair of wings integral therewith disposed at approximately 90.degree. to said panel face and extending toward the corresponding wings of the other panel, vertically spaced supports for flats comprising brackets at the juncture of said panel faces and wings, flats resting on said brackets, means connecting said wings and said flats together to form a rigid self-sustaining structure, and including the improvement comprising:

a removable panel section defined in at least one of said panels by parallel spaced lines of perforations extending from the upper edge of said panel and vertically down said panel face, said removable panel section being severable from said panel without disturbing said brackets supporting said flats whereby the remaining portions of said panels in conjunction with unremoved ones of said flats retains the rigid self-sustaining feature of the structure and provides visibility for display of said unremoved flats, said removable panel section including a separable portion foldable into a price board having a tongue and slot; and

a slot and adjacent tongue provided in the opposite panel which is adapted to interfit with the tongue and slot of said price board to mount the same on said opposite panel.

2. An improved package of nursery flats according to claim 1 in which said removable panel section is of a width approximately 70 percent of the width of said panel face of the package.

3. An improved panel blank for use in forming a shipping package of nursery flats which is readily convertible to a configuration for displaying associated nursery flats comprising a substantially rectangular sheet of stiff corrugated paperboard cut and scored for folding and stapling into a three dimensional carton member having a vertical panel, face side wings extending in substantially the same direction at approximately an angle of 90.degree. to said panel face, vertically spaced support brackets formed at the juncture of said panel face and wings for supporting nursery flats, and including the improvement comprising:

a removable panel section defined in said panel by parallel spaced lines of perforations extending from the upper edge of said panel and vertically down said panel face, said removable panel section being severable from said panel face without disturbing said support brackets for said flats so that the remaining portion of said panel when assembled with nursery flats and another similar panel forms a rigid self-sustaining structure which provides visibility for display of nursery flats, said removable panel section including a separable portion foldable into a price board, said price board having a tongue formed thereon and a slot formed therein which are shaped to interfit with the tongue and slot of an identical folded panel blank from which said removable panel section has not been removed so that said price board may be mounted thereon.

4. An improved panel blank according to claim 3 in which said removable panel section is of a width approximately 70 percent of the width of said panel face.

5. An improved panel for use with another identical panel and nursery flats for forming a shipping and display package of nursery flats, said panel comprising:

a vertical panel face having an upward extending tongue formed along its upper edge;

wings disposed on the sides of said panel face for extending substantially perpendicular to said panel face towards the corresponding wings of another one of said panels with which it is used;

vertically spaced supports at the juncture of said wings with said panel face for supporting nursery flats;

a top portion disposed at the upper end of said panel face for extending substantially perpendicular to said panel face towards the corresponding top portion of another one of said panels with which it is used, said top portion having a slot formed therein which is shaped to mate with the tongue formed on an identical panel; and

a removable panel section defined by parallel spaced lines of perforations extending from the edge of said top portion and vertically down said panel face, said removable panel section being severable from said panel without disturbing said supports for nursery flats so that an assembled package of nursery flats formed by a pair of said panel sections joined with nursery flats is rigid and self-sustaining even after removal of said panel section, said removable panel section having its upper portion separable to form a V-shaped price board which includes said tongue and said slot so that said tongue and slot of said price board may be mated with the tongue and slot of an identical one of said panels from which said removable panel section has not been removed to mount said price board thereon.

6. The invention recited in claim 5, wherein the upper corner portions of said panel are severable above the uppermost ones of said supports for nursery flats to provide greater visibility of and access to the uppermost nursery flat of a package of nursery flats formed with a pair of said panels.