Abstract:
An apparatus for displaying palleted items arranged on a stack of pallets includes a generally flat main panel under the palleted items, having flaps with the palleted items positioned along fold lines, and with separable side panels configured to engage the flaps at the fold lines. When folded away from the palleted items and engaged together, the side panels securely hide the stack of multiple pallets under the palleted items, and present printed sides for advertising.

Description:
[0001]    This application claims the benefit of the priority filing date of provisional application no. 62/292,184, filed on Feb. 5, 2016, which is incorporated herein in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates generally to specialty packaging, and more particularly to a pallet display capable of assembly around a pallet stack, and disassembly into a more compact arrangement. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0005]    Pallets and similar flat standardized transport structures are known in the art and are used for supporting and transporting collections of small to medium-sized mercantile items. Conventional stocking of store shelves requires unpacking items from pallets, refilling the store shelves with new items and removing the pallets. This process is time consuming and inefficient, resulting in added costs which are passed on to consumers. To avoid these costs, warehouse stores and similar bulk item merchants allow customers to select and procure items directly from the pallets they arrive on, avoiding stocking costs and allowing the stores to pass on the savings to the customers. Warehouse stores account for an increasing share of retail sales as a consequence. 
         [0006]    While more efficient and cost-saving from a transport, delivery and stocking perspective, offering items directly on pallets has certain disadvantages in terms of marketing and promotion. First, the pallets themselves are frequently unsightly and the items obscured by packaging inserts or, if small, contained in poorly marked boxes on the pallet. Second, pallets are frequently moved or store layouts changed, making it difficult to find a particular item in the warehouse on a return visit. Additionally, when multiple pallets are stacked atop one another to raise items to an easily accessible height, the items are easier to reach but at the aesthetic cost of several unsightly pallets visible to the customer. To overcome these problems various displays to promote items on pallets have been developed. 
         [0007]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,305 teaches a pallet display assembly wherein items are packaged in structurally resilient display packs stacked vertically in open boxes from which they may be removed. While such an assembly presents the items upright and renders them easily retrievable, the labels are often too small to be seen from a distance and the assembly works only with items suitable for sturdy display packaging such as vacuum-molded plastic packaging. 
         [0008]    To avoid those limitations and provide a larger display area, visible from a distance, various apparatus having large side panels have been developed. The side panels can obscure the pallets on which the items are placed and provide a large surface area to display a variety of marketing indicia. 
         [0009]    One such panel system is embodied in U.S. Pat. No. 7,861,865 to Green. Green teaches a packaging assembly including four side panels for covering stacked pallets. The side panels each include a mounting flap and a main flap separated by a fold line. The mounting flap is affixed to a pallet using a stapler or similar method such that the fold line matches the edge of the pallet. Items are installed on the pallet and the main panels fold up adjacent the items prior to use, with a lid necessary to secure them in an upright configuration. To form the display, the mounting flaps are folded down and connected together by affixing a side tab on one flap to an adjacent mounting flap with tape or glue. 
         [0010]    Green has several disadvantages. Primarily, it requires affixing the mounting flaps to the pallet. This requires special tools, such as an industrial stapler or hammer in the case of conventional pallets, and other, unspecified fixation methods in the case of resin or metal pallets. Additionally, glue or tape is needed to adhere the side tab of one panel to another panel, thus making break down, removal and recycling the display difficult. Green is also not self-aligning, requiring users to ensure the mounting flaps are affixed to the pallet in just the right position to align the side tabs and panels. If not properly aligned, removing, realigning and reinstalling the mounting panels causes unsightly damage to the display. 
         [0011]    Accordingly there is need for an improved panel-type pallet display assembly for use with mercantile items sold directly from pallets that is easy to assemble and disassemble and that overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages inherent in the prior art. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0012]    An apparatus for displaying palleted items arranged on a pallet includes a substantially planar main panel for placement under the palleted items, a first flap hingedly coupled to the main panel along a first fold line, with the palleted items positioned along the first fold line. A second flap is hingedly coupled to the main panel along a second fold line, with the palleted items positioned along the second fold line 
         [0013]    A first side panel is configured to engage the first flap at the first fold line, and a second side panel is configured to engage the second flap at the second fold line, and the first side panel is configured to engage the second side panel such that when the first side panel and second side panel are folded away from the palleted items and engaged, the first side panel and the second side panel securely hide a predetermined number of pallets under the palleted items. 
         [0014]    The apparatus also preferably has a first side panel slot formed along the first fold line between the main panel and the first flap for engaging a first side panel tab, and a second side panel slot formed along the second fold line between the main panel and the second flap for engaging a second side panel tab. The first side panel and the second side panel each comprise a printed side configured to face away from the predetermined number of pallets when the first side panel and the second side panel are folded away from the palleted items. 
         [0015]    Preferably, the apparatus includes a locking tab for releasably engaging the first side panel and the second side panel, and the pallet comprises a first top edge in collinear alignment with the first fold line, and a second top edge in collinear arrangement with the second fold line, such that the palleted items are in collinear arrangement with the first fold line and the second fold line. In various alternative embodiments, the first side panel may be shorter in length than the second side panel, the main panel may completely cover the pallet, and the main panel, the first side panel and the second side panel may be made of corrugated cardboard. 
         [0016]    The apparatus may also be characterized as an apparatus for displaying palleted items on a pallet, with a substantially planar main panel configured for placement substantially covering the pallet, a first flap foldably attached to the main panel along a first fold line, a first side panel slot formed along the first fold line between the main panel and the first flap and a first side panel having a first printed side, the first side panel foldably attached to a first side panel tab with the first side panel tab sized for insertion into the first panel slot. 
         [0017]    The first side panel preferably has a locking tab configured to engage a second side panel having a second printed side, such that when the first side panel and the second side panel are moved away from the palleted items and held together by the locking tab, the first printed side and the second printed side face away from the pallet. Preferably the main panel also includes a second flap hingedly coupled to the main panel along a second fold line having a second side panel slot, and the locking tab may be configured to engage the second side panel such that when the first side panel and the second side panel are folded toward the palleted items, the first printed side and the second printed side face the palleted items. 
         [0018]    In various embodiments the main panel may have two opposing first flaps and two opposing second flaps, and the pallet may have a first top edge in collinear alignment with the first fold line, and a second top edge in collinear arrangement with the second fold line. Preferably the first side panel is shorter in length than the second side panel, the main panel completely covers the pallet, the first side panel and the second side panel are sized to hide a predetermined number of stacked pallets, and the main panel, the first side panel and the second side panel are made of corrugated cardboard. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         [0019]      FIG. 1  illustrates an exploded view of a pallet display assembly, including a plurality of pallets and a plurality of assembled items to be displayed on the pallet; 
           [0020]      FIG. 2  illustrates the pallet display assembly in a first stage of construction; 
           [0021]      FIG. 3  illustrates the pallet display assembly in a second stage of construction; 
           [0022]      FIG. 4  illustrates the pallet display assembly fully constructed atop the pallets, under the assembled items displayed for sale. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION 
       [0023]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , a pallet display assembly  10  includes a main panel  12 , at least one first or short side panel  14  and at least one second or long side panel  16 , all preferably made of corrugated cardboard and corresponding to the standard surface area of commercial pallets  100 . The pallets  100  hold and display assembled items  200  to be sold in warehouse store environments. Preferably, two short side panels  14  and two long side panels  16  are used to engage the main panel  12  in order to completely cover the pallets  100 . In various embodiments, the short side panels  14  and long side panels  16  may be appropriately sized to cover a predetermined number of stacked pallets  100 . 
         [0024]    The main panel  12  preferably includes two sets of first or short flaps  18  connected along first or short fold lines  20 , and two sets of second or long flaps  22  connected along second or long fold lines  24 . The short fold lines  20  and long fold lines  24  correspond to the short top edge  104  and long top edge  106  of the pallets  100 , respectively, such that the main panel  12  covers the pallets  100 , with the short flaps  18  and long flaps  22  extending over and able to fold down against the pallets  100 . 
         [0025]    A series of first or short panel slots  21  and second or long panel slots  23  are formed along the short fold lines  20  and long fold lines  24  to align the short side panels  14  and long side panels  16  with the main panel  12 . In the illustrated embodiment two short panel slots  21  and two long panel slots  23  are shown along each of the short fold lines  20  and long fold lines  24 . In alternative embodiments, other configurations of short panel slots  21  and long panel slots  23  may be positioned according to preference and effectiveness. Preferably, at least one of the short side panels  14  has a first printed side  15 , and at least one of the long side panels  16  has a second printed side  17 , the first printed side  15  and the second printed side  17  bearing indicia related to the palleted items  200 . 
         [0026]    Still referring to  FIG. 1 , each short side panel  14  includes a series of first tabs  28 , sized to engage the panel slots  26  along the short fold lines  20 . The first tabs  28  are located along first tab fold lines  30  that become collinear with the short fold lines  20  of the main panel  12  when the first tabs  28  are fully inserted into the panel slots  26 , thereby allowing the short side panel  14  (along with the short flaps  18 ) to fold relative to the main panel  12 . Each short side panel  14  also includes two locking tabs  32 . Each locking tab  32  is located along a locking tab fold line  34 . The locking tab fold lines  34  allow each locking tab  32  to engage the long side panels  16  when the short side panels  14  and long side panels  16  are folded down to cover the pallets  100 . 
         [0027]    Each long side panel  16  includes a series of second tabs  36 , sized to engage the panel slots  26  along the long fold lines  24  of the main panel  12 . The second tabs  36  are located along second tab fold lines  38  that become collinear with the long fold lines  24  of the main panel  12  when the second tabs  36  are fully inserted into the panel slots  26 , thereby allowing the long side panels  16  (along with the long flaps  22 ) to fold relative to the main panel  12 . Each long side panel  16  also includes two corner flaps  40 . Each corner flap  40  is connected along a corner flap fold line  42  aligning with a corner  108  of the pallets  100 . The corner flaps  40  extend under the short side panels  14  when the pallet display assembly  10  is constructed to create a uniform appearance without the pallets  100  being visible at the corners  108 . A locking slot  44  is located along each corner flap fold line  42  for retaining a locking tab  32  when the short side panels  14  and long side panels  16  are folded down over the pallets  100  to retain the pallet display assembly  10  in a displayed position with the first printed side  15  and the second printed side  17  facing outwardly. 
         [0028]    The structure of the pallet display assembly  10  having been shown and described, its method of operation will now be discussed. 
         [0029]    Referring to  FIGS. 2-4 , in order to install the pallet display assembly  10 , the main panel  12  is placed atop the pallets  100  such that the short fold lines  20  and the long fold lines  24  are aligned with the short top edges  104  and the long top edges  106 , respectively, of the pallets  100 . The short flaps  18  and long flaps  22  extend off the pallets  100  and are folded down along the pallets  100  to make room for the short side panels  14  and long side panels  16 . The first tabs  28  and the second tabs  36  are fully inserted into the panel slots  26  such that the first tab fold lines  30  are substantially collinear with the short fold lines  20  and the second tab fold lines  38  are substantially collinear with the long fold lines  24 . With the first tabs  28  and second tabs  36  fully inserted into the main panel  12 , the short side panel  14  and the long side panel  16  can be folded down to cover the pallets  100 . 
         [0030]    Still referring to  FIGS. 2-4 , as the short side panels  14  and the long side panels  16  approach the pallets  100 , the corner flaps  40  of the long side panels  16  are folded along each corner flap fold line  42  and inserted under each short side panel  14 . The short flaps  18  and the corner flaps  40  may be slanted in profile as illustrated to avoid overlapping when covered by the short side panel  14 . As each corner flap  40  travels under a short side panel  14 , the locking tabs  32  come within range of the locking slots  44 . When the long side panels  16  are folded against the pallets  100 , two locking tabs  32  on either side of each short side panel  14  are inserted into the locking slots  44  on either side of each long side panel  16  to lock both the long side panels  16  and the short side panels  14  against the pallets  100 . 
         [0031]    During installation, at any time after the main panel  12  is placed in position atop the pallets  100  with the first tabs  28  and the second tabs  36  inserted in their respective panel slots  26 , the assembled items  200  can be placed atop the main panel  12 . With the pallet display assembly  10  covering the pallets  100 , customers can view promotions  46  for the assembled items  200  on the short side panel  14  and on the long side panel  16 , and at their election, remove one or more of the assembled items  200  for purchase. Once the assembled items  200  are all removed, the pallet display assembly  10  can be easily and conveniently disassembled by disengaging the locking tabs  32  from the locking slots  44 , removing the first tabs  28  from the panel slots  26  by pulling each short side panel  14  away from the main panel  12 , removing the second tabs  36  from the panel slots  26  by pulling each long side panel  16  away from the main panel  12 , and removing the main panel  12  from atop the pallets  100 . None of the short side panels  14 , long side panels  16 , or main panel  12  are affixed to the pallets  100 , thereby allowing easy disassembly. Since they lay flat when disassembled, they can also be conveniently stacked, and because no glue or tape is used they can be easily recycled. 
         [0032]    The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the Invention is sufficient in detail to enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention. It is understood, however, that the detail of the preferred embodiment presented is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, in as much as equivalents thereof and other modifications which come within the scope of the invention as defined by the claims will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading this specification.