U.S. patent number 3,856,137 [Application Number 05/319,531] was granted by the patent office on 1974-12-24 for display tray with merchandise-mounted card packages.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Union Carbide Corporation. Invention is credited to Robert E. Brindley.
United States Patent |
3,856,137 |
Brindley |
December 24, 1974 |
DISPLAY TRAY WITH MERCHANDISE-MOUNTED CARD PACKAGES
Abstract
A package comprising a tray of thermoplastic material having a
plurality of merchandise-mounted cards thereon. The tray has a
bottom provided with longitudinal and transverse ribs to resist
twisting of said tray, and side walls with vertical slotted ribs to
hold the cards in an erect position while the extending external
portion of said slotted ribs buttresses said side walls.
Inventors: |
Brindley; Robert E. (New York,
NY) |
Assignee: |
Union Carbide Corporation (New
York, NY)
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Family
ID: |
26818660 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/319,531 |
Filed: |
December 29, 1972 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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120698 |
Mar 3, 1971 |
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765852 |
Oct 8, 1968 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
206/564;
206/462 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D
25/107 (20130101); B65D 1/34 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65D
1/34 (20060101); B65D 25/10 (20060101); B65d
001/36 () |
Field of
Search: |
;206/45.14,72,73,44R
;211/40,41 ;220/72 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Summer; Leonard
Attorney, Agent or Firm: O'Brien; Cornelius F.
Parent Case Text
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 120,698,
filed Mar. 3, 1971, now abandoned, which in turn is a continuation
of application Ser. No. 765,852, filed Oct. 8, 1968, now abandoned.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. In combination a plurality of cards having merchandise-mounted
thereon, and a tray for supporting and displaying said cards in an
erect position, said tray being fabricated from a thin,
thermoplastic resin material and having a generally rectangular
bottom, a pair of upstanding side walls, an open end and an
upstanding end wall at the other end, said walls being integral
with said bottom; a plurality of ribs formed in said side walls and
extending externally thereof so as to buttress said side walls,
said ribs providing slots in each side wall with the slots in one
side wall being opposite and registering with the slots in the
other side wall so that the cards having merchandise mounted
thereon are inserted into opposite slotted ribs and held therein in
an erect position; the height of said side walls being less than
the height of the inserted cards so that said cards can be
displayed in said tray; a plurality of longitudinal ribs in the
bottom of said tray close to each of said side walls to resist
longitudinal bending of said tray; a plurality of transverse ribs
in said bottom to resist transverse bending of said tray so that
said transverse ribs and said longitudinal ribs cooperate to resist
twisting of said tray; and wherein said longitudinal ribs and
transverse ribs are disposed in a concave-convex arrangement
wherein the ribs in one direction are concave and the ribs in the
other direction are convex.
2. The combination of claim 1 wherein the longitudinal ribs are
concave and spaced equidistantly from the longitudinal center line
of the bottom, the transverse ribs are convex, the slots extend to
the bottom of said tray and the upstanding side walls are generally
perpendicular to the bottom with the top part of said side walls
bent outwardly over the externally extending portion of the ribs in
said side walls.
Description
The present invention relates to a display tray and more
particularly to a display tray for holding cards having merchandise
mounted thereon.
Many small articles for sale to the consumer are conventionally
mounted in transparent enclosures which are attached to cards. Rows
of these cards are frequently disposed in display drawers or in
display cartons provided with slots on their inner side walls for
receiving the sides of the cards and holding them in an erect
position. Sometimes the inner bottom wall of such drawers and
cartons is also provided with transverse slots registering with the
slots on the side walls, for additional support for the cards.
While these display drawers and cartons provide satisfactory
support for the merchandise, they present several disadvantages.
The drawers, which are a fixture of the store where the merchandise
is sold and are thus somewhat expensive, have specific dimensions
and, therefore, can only be used for displaying cards of
corresponding dimensions. The display cartons may be shipped flat
in another carton containing the articles to be displayed and in
this case are made to the dimensions of such articles, which is of
advantage over the drawers. However, these cartons have to be
assembled and erected at the point of use and then loaded with the
cards. These operations are time consuming and, therefore,
commercially undesirable. Moreover, while display cartons are
cheaper than display drawers, their cost cannot be disregarded and
must be added to the cost of the merchandise for sale. Another
common way of displaying the cards is to hang them, through an
aperture provided for that purpose in their upper part, in a row on
a peg board. While peg boards provide satisfactory display means,
the cards have to be hung onto them one by one, another time
consuming operation.
It is an object of the invention to provide a novel display tray so
constructed as to be packaged in shipping cartons with the rows of
cards already disposed thereon.
It is another object of the invention to provide a novel display
tray which can be packaged in shipping cartons in stacks of trays
supporting rows of cards with merchandise mounted thereon and which
can be easily removed from the shipping cartons ready to be placed,
with the rows of cards, on counters, shelves and other supports in
retail stores.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel display
tray, very light, yet strong, and cheap, and which may be discarded
after the merchandise displayed thereon has been sold.
The foregoing and additional objects will become more fully
apparent from the following description and the accompanying
drawing in which:
FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional view of a preferred embodiment of the
display tray of the invention, showing in broken lines cards with
articles mounted thereon, supported and displayed on said tray,
and
FIG. 2 is a top view of the tray of FIG. 1 with the cards
removed.
According to the invention, there is provided a display tray of
thin, flexible thermoplastic material having a generally
rectangular bottom with a pair of upstanding side walls and an
upstanding end wall integral with the bottom. A plurality of
longitudinal ribs formed in the bottom of the tray extends
substantially the length thereof and preferably in close proximity
to each side wall. These ribs resist longitudinal bending of the
tray. A plurality of slotted ribs is formed in each side wall, the
ribs in one side wall being opposite and registering with the ribs
in the other side wall. The slotted ribs are so shaped as to form
buttresses for the side walls on their external surface. A
plurality of ribs extends across the bottom of the tray, transverse
to the longitudinal ribs and between the slotted ribs. The
transverse ribs resist transverse bending of the tray. One
extremity of the tray is preferably left open, to permit easy
gripping and handling of the tray.
Cards with merchandise mounted thereon are inserted in the slotted
ribs which hold the sides of said cards and maintain them in an
erect position. A great advantage of the tray of the invention is
that it is at the same time extremely light and strong and is
capable of supporting a relatively very heavy load of merchandise,
as will later be explained in detail.
The thin tray may be made of any synthetic organic thermoplastic
resin material as long as said material is capable of providing a
tray having the desired characteristics of strength and lightness.
The resin material may contain any of the usual additives such as
pigments and the like provided that such additives do not make the
resin brittle. Resins such as a styrene polymer or a polycarbonate
are preferred. A material particularly suitable for producing a
very thin and yet strong tray according to the invention is an
extrusion grade high impact polystyrene material, such as described
in "The Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology," Kirk-Othmer, Volume
13, page 159, for example, and having the following property
range:
ASTM Test No. Units Range ______________________________________
Izod Impact foot pounds at 73.degree.F. D 256-56 per inch 0.80-2.00
at 0.degree.F. D 256-56 of notch 0.60-1.80 Tensile Stress at yield
D 638-61T p.s.i. 3000-5000 at rupture D 638-61T p.s.i. 2800-4000
Tensile Elongation at yield D 638-61T % 1.2-2.0 at rupture D
638-61T % 15-65 Tensile Modulus D 638-61T p.s.i. 250,000- 400-000
Heat Deflection Temperature D 648-56 .degree.F. 170-200 Vicat
Softening Point D1525-58T .degree.F. 180-220 Rockwell Hardness D
785-62 L scale 65-85 ______________________________________
The thin tray may be injection molded, but is preferably
thermoformed and more preferably vacuum formed.
Referring now to the drawing, there is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 a
preferred embodiment of a display tray according to the invention,
generally designated as 10. The tray 10 has a thin, rectangular
bottom 12, a pair of thin upstanding side walls 14 and 16, and a
thin upstanding end wall 18. The front of the tray is preferably
left open to facilitate gripping of said tray. The side walls and
the end wall are integral with the bottom. A pair of longitudinal
ribs 20 and 22 extends across the bottom 12, in close proximity to
the side walls 14 and 16, respectively. The longitudinal ribs 20
and 22 are preferably equidistantly spaced from the center line of
the bottom 12. A plurality of transverse ribs 24 extend across the
bottom, from one longitudinal rib to the other and preferably from
one side wall to the other. The ribs 24 are disposed in spaced,
parallel relationship with respect to each other. The longitudinal
ribs 20 and 22 are preferably concave, whereas the transverse ribs
24 are convex, but this concave-convex order may be reversed. Also,
the ribs 24 may be disposed in alternate concave-convex
arrangement. Each side wall 14, 16 is provided with a plurality of
slotted ribs 26, the ribs 26 in the side wall 14 being opposite,
and registering with, the ribs 26 in the opposite side wall 16. The
slotted ribs 26 project outside the side walls 14 and 16 and form
buttresses for these thin side walls. The slotted ribs 26 are
disposed between the transverse ribs 24 which extend intermediate
said slotted ribs. The side walls 14 and 16 are preferably formed
generally perpendicular to the bottom 12, with the top part of said
side walls bent outwardly over the projecting portion of the
slotted ribs 26, to facilitate the die trim operation, when the
edges of the tray are cut after forming.
For the purpose of illustration, FIG. 1 shows in broken lines two
cards 28 inserted into opposite slotted ribs 26 in the side walls
14 and 16 and held in an erect position by the slotted ribs 26. The
cards 28 each have four cylindrical batteries 30 mounted thereon in
a transparent enclosure, in conventional manner. If desired, the
cards 28 may be provided with an aperture 32 in the upper part
thereof. As shown, the tray of FIG. 1 with two sets of 12 slotted
ribs 26, may hold 12 cards, and thus must be strong enough to carry
the relatively heavy weight of the 48 batteries mounted on the 12
cards.
When the tray is fully loaded with all the cards, the weight is
distributed evenly over the tray. But when the tray is gripped at
its extremity to be lifted, this even weight distribution is
destroyed and substantial longitudinal bending moment is created.
Additionally, unless the tray is gripped at the center of the
extremity, a substantial transverse bending moment is created, and
the resultant of these moments places substantial stress on the
tray. The longitudinal ribs resist the longitudinal bending moment
and the transverse ribs resist the transverse bending moment. The
cooperative combination of longitudinal and transverse ribs resists
the resultant from these moments which tends to cause twisting of
the tray.
When the tray is gripped on the front part thereof, the greatest
stress is on the side walls, and the slotted ribs 26, in addition
to serving as supports for the cards, have a buttressing action on
the walls 14 and 16 for they increase the area of said walls
sufficiently to resist the forces applied onto said walls.
Furthermore, the actual thickness of the bottom and side walls of
the tray is the same before forming, but the concave-convex
arrangement of the ribs 20, 22 and 24 in the bottom 12 greatly
increases the effective thickness of the very thin, flexible bottom
and the ribs 26 have the same effect on the side walls.
An embodiment of the display tray of the invention will now be more
particularly described in the following Example:
EXAMPLE
A tray as shown in FIG. 1 was made by vacuum-forming an extruded
sheet of high impact polystyrene having a thickness of 50 mils
(0.05 in.). The polystyrene contained about 8 per cent by weight of
butadiene. The polystyrene sheet contained blue pigments in an
amount of 0.88 parts per 100 parts by volume of the resin. The
extruded sheet had the following properties:
Property ASTM Test Units Value
______________________________________ Izod Impact at 73.degree.F.
D 256-56 ft. lb./in. 1.40 at 0.degree.F. notch 0.85 Vicat Softening
Point D1525-58T .degree.F. 207 Tensile Stress at yield D 638-61T
lbs./inch.sup.2 3500 at rupture lbs./inch.sup.2 3000 Tensile
Elongation at yield % 1.15 at rupture % 40 Tensile Modulus
lbs./inch.sup.2 300,000 Heat Deflection Temperature at 264 psi
Unannealed D 648-56 .degree.F. 185 Rockwell Hardness L scale D
785-62 . . . . 75 ______________________________________
The vacuum-formed tray had the following dimensions:
Length: 77/8 in. Width: 41/4 in. Height: 1 in. Thickness: 0.050 in.
Weight: 0.9 oz.
The total weight of the 12 cards and 48 batteries (AA size) carried
by the tray was 2.85 lbs.
The unusual weight-carrying capacity of the tray of the invention
is due to the ribs and to their particular disposition on the
bottom and side walls of the tray as above explained. A
conventional tray would have to be rather thick and, therefore,
relatively heavy to have the strength and rigidity necessary to
carry such a load. Yet the tray of the invention is very light and
so thin that millions of units may cheaply be produced by
vacuum-forming. The trays with rows of cards placed thereon by the
battery manufacturer are thereafter easily stacked in shipping
cartons. An advantage of stacking the trays with the rows of cards
thereon is that the trays have a honeycomb effect on the packed
merchandise and provide an internal support for the shipping
cartons. The weight of the trays in the cartons is negligible. The
trays are easily removed from the shipping cartons and ready for
display in the retail stores. If desired, when each of the cards is
provided with an aperture in the upper part thereof, the apertures
are automatically aligned when the cards are placed on the tray,
and the whole row of cards may easily be transferred from the tray
onto a peg board in a single, rapid operation.
While the tray of the invention has been described with batteries
displayed thereon, it should be well understood that any kind of
merchandise mounted on cards may be displayed on the tray and that
the tray may be made to hold cards of any dimensions and
shapes.
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