Abstract:
The disclosure shows a retail display stand that can be used to display products sold in tapered packages. The display stand has at least one row of upper product apertures and a corresponding row of lower product apertures. The lower product apertures have a lateral dimension that is smaller than the corresponding lateral dimension of the upper product apertures. The stand also has distinct forward and back sets of product apertures. The back apertures have a lateral dimension that is smaller than the corresponding lateral dimension of the forward apertures. The difference in sizing causes tapered packages in the back row to sit in an elevated position with respect to the packages in the forward row of apertures, improving purchaser visibility of the back row of products and creating a better retail display.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   Not applicable. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention relates generally to retail displays that include a stand that can be used to display products sold in tapered packages, such as chocolate roses. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY 
   The applicants have developed a retail display stand that can be used to display products sold in tapered packages, such as chocolate roses. Like one prior known device, the new display stand has at least one row of upper product apertures that are located in an upper section of a base on the display stand, and a corresponding row of lower product apertures that are located in a lower section of the base, beneath the upper product apertures. The lower product apertures have a lateral dimension (for example, width or depth) that is smaller than the corresponding lateral dimension of the upper product apertures, enabling product packages that have a tapering height to be held effectively in the apertures. 
   Unlike known prior display stands, however, the new display stand has distinct forward and back sets of product apertures. At least one row of back product apertures is located in the base, between a row of forward product apertures and the back on the display stand. Each of the back product apertures has a lateral dimension that is smaller than the corresponding lateral dimension of the forward product apertures. For example, the forward product apertures may have either a width dimension that is smaller than the corresponding width dimension of the forward product apertures, or a depth dimension that is that is smaller than the corresponding depth dimension of the forward product apertures. The difference in sizing of the front and back product apertures causes the product packages in the back row to sit in an elevated position with respect to the packages in the forward row of product apertures, improving purchaser visibility of the back row of products and creating a better retail display. 
   To facilitate manufacture of the display stand and provide rigidity, cardboard sides on the display stand can, if desired, be made integral with the back. The display stand can also be provided with cardboard flaps that are integral with front edges of lower sections of each of the sides. A lower section of the base can be made of cardboard, integral with and extending perpendicularly to the back. A front section of the base can also be made of cardboard, integral with the lower section of the base, and extending generally parallel to the back. An upper section of the base can also be made of cardboard, integral with the front section, and can extend generally parallel to the lower section of the base and perpendicularly to the back of the stand. Cardboard flaps on the base can also be provided to cooperate with the flaps on the lower sections of the sides, providing rigidity to the base. 
   The new display stand can also be provided with a cardboard back that is at least 12″ high, with tabs near an upper end of the back. When so provided, plastic hangers can be clipped into the tabs on the back to facilitate hanging the display stand. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention may be better understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a product display. 
       FIGS. 2-5  are front, side, back, and top views of the product display. 
       FIG. 6  is a plan view of the display stand in an unfolded condition. 
       FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the display stand in a partially-folded condition. 
       FIGS. 8 and 9  are front and side views of a product package that can be used in the display stand to create the retail display. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   The retail display  10  seen in  FIGS. 1-5  illustrates one embodiment of the invention. The illustrated display includes a display stand  12  and product packages  14 . 
   The Display Stand and its Assembly 
   The display stand  12  that is illustrated is made principally of folded cardboard, although it could also be made of other materials. The illustrated stand has a cardboard back  20  that extends from a base  24 . Sides  26  connect the back and the base. 
   The back  20  on the illustrated stand  12  is at least 12″ high. It has tabs  30  (see  FIGS. 2 ,  6 ) near an upper end  32  of the back, and plastic hangers  34  that are clipped into the tabs on the back. These hangers provide one way to hang the display stand  12  in a retail environment. For stability, the illustrated hangers are positioned about one foot apart, and about one foot above the top surface of the base  24 . The positioning of the hangers could vary. Alternatively, other structure could be used to hang the display from a wall, or, with the addition of a simple lower curtain wall or feet, the display could be arranged to sit on a horizontal surface. 
   As best seen in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the base  24  of the display stand  12  extends from a bottom end  36  of the back  20 . The illustrated base is also made of folded cardboard and has a lower section  40 , a front section  42 , and an upper section  44 . 
   Although the base could be made in other ways, as seen in  FIGS. 6 and 7  the illustrated base  24  and the back  20  of the stand are made from a single piece of cardboard. The lower section  40  of the base is folded perpendicularly forward from a lower back fold line  46  at the bottom end  36  of the back. The sides  26  are also folded forward, and lower flaps  52  that extend from a lower flap fold line  54  on a lower section of the sides  26  are positioned against the resulting top surface of the lower section  40  of the base  24 . 
   Front flaps  56  are folded forward from a front flap fold line  58  on lower sections of the sides  26  as the front section  42  is folded perpendicularly upward from a lower forward fold line  60  on a forward part of the lower section  40  of the base  24 . This folding operation results in the front section  42  of the base being generally parallel to the back  20  of the base, with the front flaps  56  behind the front section  42 . The angle of the front section can be varied as desired. The front section of the illustrated base is about three inches high. When, as here, the displayed packages  14  are no more than about two feet tall and the upper and lower sections of the base extend from the upper and lower edges of front section, for best visibility of the packages it may be preferred that the front section be not more than about six inches high. 
   The upper section  44  of the base  24  is folded back from an upper forward fold line  60  near the top of the front section  42 . As the upper section is being folded back, a rear flap  66  and side flaps  68  can be folded down from an upper back fold line  62  and from side flap fold lines  72  on a rear part and on sides of the upper section  44  of the base. The illustrated side flaps  68  have a curved lower edge  74  that can be folded without interference from the back  20 . In the illustrated embodiment of the display stand, this folding operation results in the upper section  44  of the base  24  being generally parallel to the lower section  40  of the base and perpendicular to the back  20  of the stand  12 , with the side flaps  68  on the base cooperating with the front flaps  56  on the lower sections of the sides  26  to provide rigidity to the base. 
   The upper section  44  and the lower section  40  of the base  24  need not be perfectly parallel, but a non-parallel construction may affect the dimensions of the apertures, discussed below. 
   Packages and their Arrangement in the Display Stand 
   The illustrated display stand  12  can be used to display products sold in tapered packages, such as chocolate roses. The illustrated packages  14  are made of folded cardboard, and are about 16½ inches tall. Although other sizes can be used, the bottom of the illustrated packages is about 1½ inches wide and about 1 inch deep. At mid-height, the packages are about 2″ wide and about 1 3/16 inches deep. The illustrated packages  14  fit in upper and lower apertures on the stand, as explained in more detail below. To accommodate the tapering shape of the packages, the upper apertures are slightly larger than the lower apertures. 
   At least one row of upper forward product apertures  80  is located in the upper section  44  of the base  24 . At least one row of lower forward product apertures  82  are located in the lower section  40  of the base, beneath the upper forward product apertures. Each of the illustrated forward product apertures has a width dimension and a depth dimension. (For conical packages, the apertures might have a common radial dimension.) Each of the lower forward product apertures has a width dimension that is smaller than the corresponding width dimension of the upper forward product apertures and a depth dimension that is that is smaller than the corresponding depth dimension of the upper forward product apertures. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, for example, the upper forward product apertures  80  are about 1⅞ inches wide and about 1¼ inches deep, and the lower forward product apertures are about 1¾ inches wide and about 1⅛ inches deep. This sizing results in the illustrated packages  14  sitting in the forward apertures so that about 1¾ inches of the packages extend below the lower section  40  of the base, and about 11½ inches of the package is visible above the upper section  44  of the base. 
   If the upper and lower sections  40 ,  44  of the base  20  are not parallel, the apparent depth of the apertures can be affected. For example, tilting the upper section so that it rises slightly toward the back one of the base will decrease the apparent depth of the apertures in that section. For determining the efficacy of an arrangement for holding tapered packages, it may be useful to measure the depth of the apertures along parallel planes. 
   At least one row of upper back product apertures  86  are located in the upper section  44  of the base  24 , between the upper forward product apertures  80  and the back  20  of the display stand  12 . At least one row of lower back product apertures  88  are located in the lower section  40  of the base, beneath the upper back product apertures  86 . Each of the illustrated upper back product apertures  86  has a width dimension that is smaller than the corresponding width dimension of the upper forward product apertures  80  and a depth dimension that is that is smaller than the corresponding depth dimension of the upper forward product apertures. For example, in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the upper back product apertures are about 1¾ inches wide and about 1⅛ inches deep. 
   Each of the illustrated lower back product apertures  88  also has a width dimension that is smaller than both the corresponding width dimension of the upper back product apertures  86  and the corresponding width dimension of the lower forward product apertures  82 . These lower back product apertures  88  also have a depth dimension that is smaller than both the corresponding depth dimension of the upper back product apertures  86  and the corresponding depth dimension of the lower forward product apertures  82 . For example, in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the lower back product apertures are about 1½ inches wide and about 1 1/16 inches deep. 
   This sizing of the back apertures  86 ,  88  causes tapered packages  14  held in those apertures to be held in an elevated position with respect to packages in the forward product apertures  80 ,  82 . In particular, packages sitting in the illustrated back apertures have about ¾ inch of the package extending below the lower section  40  of the base, and about 12½ inches of the package visible above the upper section  44  of the base, resulting in packages in the back apertures sitting about 1″ higher than the packages in the front apertures. This arrangement results in an attractive, functional display. 
   This description of various embodiments of the invention has been provided for illustrative purposes. Revisions or modifications may be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the invention. The full scope of the invention is set forth in the following claims.