Abstract:
A combined sample dispenser and merchandising unit product display and related method is provided herein. Included is an elongate tray having a first end and a second end, an upper compartment with open roof for standing a plurality of merchandising unit products each containing a flowable substance, and a lower compartment arranged directly below the upper compartment. A sample dispenser is provided which includes a dispensing unit arranged against the first end of the tray and a reservoir holding sampling amounts of the flowable substance, communicating with the dispensing unit and arranged within the lower compartment.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention concerns a device and method which allows a consumer to test products, especially personal care liquid products prior to purchase in a retail establishment. 
     2. The Related Art 
     Retail stores and especially the department and specialty cosmetic stores have counters displaying open packages for allowing consumers to test products. Some of these products are open jars containing creams. More frequently test samples are in pump dispenser bottles. Usually there is very little supervision in the sampling. Chances are high for microbial contamination. Although apparently secure, even pump bottles are sometimes unscrewed so a consumer can more accurately smell the fragrance component of a lotion/cream on display. 
     In instances where a consumer is favorably inclined after sampling to purchase, the product may be difficult to locate. This results from the sample dispenser not being located closely adjacent to a purchasable unit of product. 
     Still another issue is the scarcity of shelf space. Retailers prefer to use shelf space for purchasable product rather than for bulky non-revenue generating sample dispensers. 
     Accordingly, it is a prime object of the present invention to co-locate units of merchandisable product with a sample dispenser allowing consumers to evaluate product prior to purchase. Moreover, the present invention seeks to minimize the footprint on-shelf of a sample dispenser. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A combined sample dispenser and merchandising unit product display is provided which includes:
         (i) an elongate tray including a first end and a second end, an upper compartment with open roof for standing a plurality of merchandising unit products each containing a flowable substance, and a lower compartment arranged directly below the upper compartment; and   (ii) a sample dispenser which includes a dispensing unit arranged against the first end of the tray and a reservoir holding sampling amounts of the flowable substance, communicating with the dispensing unit and arranged within the lower compartment.       

    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
       Further advantages and features of the present invention will better be understood through consideration of the following drawing in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of our combined sample dispenser and merchandising unit product display resting on a store shelf interlocked with an adjacent but non-sample dispensing set of related display trays; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the sample dispenser and merchandising unit product display similar to  FIG. 1  except absent the merchandising unit products; 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view along line III-III of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a top plan view of the combined dispenser and display shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the sample dispensing unit being separated from an elongate tray component of the combined dispenser and merchandising unit product display; and 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view along line VI-VI of  FIG. 5 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Now there has been discovered a structural arrangement wherein the footprint of a sample dispenser can be co-located with a related merchandising unit product display. Not only can a consumer evaluate product, but a purchasable container filled with identical sample product is readily at hand. 
     The invention is intended for placement on a shelf of a retail store alongside either rows of plastic bottles or other trays with rows of plastic bottles containing purchasable product. A consumer prior to purchase can sample a dollop of the liquid product from the sample dispenser. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a combined sample dispenser  2  and merchandising unit product display  4 . The combined dispenser and display rests on a shelf  6  of a retail establishment adjacent a series of four related displays  8  holding identical product but in different container sizes and formats (e.g. pump and flip-top cap). These adjacent displays do not have any sample dispenser. Instead the related displays are positioned interlockingly with display  4  fitted with the sample dispenser  2 . 
       FIG. 2  reveals more details of the combined sample dispenser and merchandising unit product display. The standingly stacked unit product containers  10  shown in  FIG. 1  have been removed for clarity purposes. The display includes an elongate tray  12  having first and second ends  14 ,  16 . Tray  12  features an upper compartment  18  having a pair of side walls  20 ,  22 , a floor  24 , first and second end walls  26  and  28 , and an open roof  30  defined by upper edges of the side and end walls. 
       FIG. 3  best illustrates mechanical components of the sample dispenser  2 . A U-shaped housing  32  surrounds a pump  34 . The pump is activated by a lever  36  protruding from the housing. A dispensing nozzle  38  is arranged pointing downward from an upper fork  40  of the housing. Sampling amounts of a flowable substance are stored in a flexible walled elongate bladder serving as a reservoir  42 . An elongate rectangular paperboard carton  44  surrounds the reservoir  42  and is fittingly inserted within the lower compartment  31  of the tray. Carton  44  is fitted with slits in a side wall of the carton near an end opposite that from which the pump draws sampling amounts. The slits permit a slight compression of the carton walls as the carton is inserted into the lower compartment moving past indentations  46  of the lower compartment walls. These indentations lockingly secure the reservoir and sample dispenser to the tray. When the aforementioned components are sought to be separated, inward thumb pressure against the indentations  46  releases the reservoir and surrounding carton. 
       FIG. 4  in a top plan view best illustrates the upper compartment  18 . Along floor  24  are a set of parallel tracks  48 ,  50 . Containers of product  10  (shown in  FIG. 1  but not in  FIG. 4 ) stand upright in stacked relationship within the upper compartment of the tray. A support panel  52  is movably urged along the parallel tracks  48 ,  50  by a coiled spring  54 . The support panel insures that the plurality of product containers  10  remain standing flush against one another and as close as possible to the first end  14  of the tray. Ordinarily the trays can accommodate anywhere from 4 to 40, preferably from 6 to 25, optimally from 8 to 15 product containers. 
     The combined sample dispenser and merchandising unit product display operates in the following manner. A consumer wishing to evaluate advertised product will place their hand palm upwards within the U-shaped housing of the sample dispenser. The consumer&#39;s hand will then apply upward pressure against lever  36 . Upward motion of the lever initiates a downward stroke of pump  34  resulting in a discrete amount of sample moving from the flexible bladder reservoir  42  downstream to the pump and from there through a conduit  56  exiting at nozzle  38 . Evacuation of product from the reservoir  42  causes vacuum contraction of the flexible bladder and will eventually require replacement. The collapsing mechanism does not require a dip tube for transporting liquid from a bottom closed end towards the pump. In the present system, sample product at the distant end of the bladder is the last portion of product to be evacuated. 
     Amounts of sampling substance can be monitored through a window  62  of carton  44 . In a preferred embodiment, a colored area is positioned below the flexible bladder reservoir  42 . As the bladder evacuates, it flattens and becomes more transparent. In turn, the colored area as viewed from window  62  becomes visibly more intense. The level of the color intensity signals the level of remaining sampling amount. 
       FIG. 5  best illustrates how the sample dispenser is replaced. Thumb pressure is applied against indentations  46  on either side of the second end of the tray. This helps release sample dispenser  2  from engagement against the first end  14  of the tray. The dispensing device constituted of the housing  32 , pump  34 , lever  36 , dispensing nozzle  38  and conduits is pulled outward away from the first end of the tray. Concomitantly this motion withdraws the paperboard carton with flexible bladder reservoir. If a refill sample dispensing unit  2  is available, it will be inserted in an operation reversed from that of the aforedescribed removal procedure. In the event, a replacement is not immediately available, an opening  58  at the first end of the lower compartment can be sealed by a door  60  downwardly movable from a storage position along the first end of the upper compartment  18 . 
     A concept, but not the only one of the present invention, is that the lever  36  for actuating dispensing as well as the reservoir  42  is positioned below the dispensing nozzle  38 . The arrangement allows easy access of a human hand in a single action to receive a dollop sample from the nozzle concomitant with moving the lever. Systems of this type ordinarily position product sump about the nozzle/lever. By moving the sump or reservoir below the pump and nozzle/lever, space is left at an upper end to allow product display in a merchandising unit. 
       FIG. 6  best illustrates details of reservoir  42 . This reservoir is constituted by an elongate bladder  41  which is a flexible foil of medium density polyethylene. The bladder features gusseted side-walls  64   a  and  64   b  running along a length of the bladder opposite one another. A distal end of the bladder proximate to wall  28  is used to fill the bladder with sample substance such as a lotion or cream. A crimp through heat application seals the distal end. Dispensing of the sample substance occurs at a front end of the bladder proximate to wall  26  and pump  34 . The front end features an exit conduit  66  heat or adhesively welded to walls of the bladder. 
     An anti-collapse beam  68  is positioned along a length of the bladder inside thereof to support upper and lower bladder walls  70  and  72 . The anti-collapse structure may come in a variety of different shapes but all function to insure that as sample substance is pumped from the bladder, the resultant vacuum should not cause sectional collapse of the bladder that might prevent full sample substance evacuation. Structure  68  may include apertures within the wall, may be a T-shape, and/or have only a plastic wire frame to minimize excess structural plastic. 
     Surrounding the bladder is the elongate rectangular paperboard carton  44 . A paperboard second wall  74  is adhesively glued along one of the side walls of carton  44 . Second wall  74  ensures a good friction fit within walls of the lower compartment  31  of the tray. The second wall  74  does not fully extend to the front end of the reservoir thereby leaving that end with a single wall cross-sectional footprint. The smaller sized footprint at the front end allows the carton to engage with receiving slots  76  in housing  32 .