Merchandising and shipping box

A merchandising and shipping box for implements, such as mops and brooms. The box may be used for shipping the implements as well as for supporting the implements on display. The box includes opposing side panels, front and rear panels, a bottom panel and a top panel. The top panel is provided with a plurality of apertures arranged in two spaced rows, and an elongated slot extending between the two rows of apertures. The apertures are adapted to support handle portions of the implement with head portions thereof oriented upwardly, and the elongated slot is connected to an enlarged transverse slot for receiving head portions of the implements therethrough whereby the implements may be positioned within the elongated slot with the head portion oriented downwardly. The different orientations of the implements within the box facilitates viewing of the implements as well as provides a stable support for the implements while on display.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a box for merchandising and shipping 
implements, and more particularly, to a box which facilitates organization 
of implements, such as brooms and mops within the box for both shipping 
and display. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Elongated implements or products sold by merchants are commonly displayed 
in boxes wherein handle portions of the implements are positioned within 
the box while a head portion of the implement, such as a broom head or mop 
head, is located upwardly for convenient viewing by a customer. Often, the 
brooms or mops are shipped in the display or merchandising box, and 
portions of the box are removable by the merchant in order to convert the 
shipping box to a display box. 
An example of such a box is disclosed in Vosbikian U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,111. 
This patent discloses a product display box useful for both shipping and 
displaying products wherein top and front panels of the box may be removed 
or folded back to enable loading of and access to products within the box. 
One problem associated with known shipping and display boxes relates to the 
stability of the box with the products located therein. Often, merchants 
prefer to orient the products with the head portion positioned upwardly 
and the handles positioned downwardly in order to provide an attractive 
display for the product and to facilitate viewing of the head portion of 
the product. Such an orientation of the product results in the display 
becoming top heavy and there being a risk of the box toppling over. 
Further, the products in such a display are commonly arbitrarily located 
within the box such that the display may have a disorganized appearance 
and the products may becomes entangled with each other making it difficult 
for consumers to remove the product from the box. 
Also, even when the products are oriented with the head portion down inside 
the box, the products may be difficult to view while in the box in that 
the handles tend to lean in arbitrary directions leading to a jumbled 
appearance of the products in the box. 
Accordingly, there is a need for a merchandising and shipping box which 
conveniently organizes elongated implements or products within the box for 
display and shipping, and which provides a stable display device for 
holding the products. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention provides a merchandising and shipping box which is 
adapted to ship and display implements or products having a handle and a 
head portion, and is particularly suited for displaying mops and brooms. 
The box of the present invention includes a pair of opposing side panels, a 
front panel, a back panel, a top panel and a lower support structure. The 
top panel is located adjacent to top edges of the side panels, front panel 
and back panel and includes spaced rows of apertures extending in a 
generally front to rear direction for receiving handles of the implements. 
An elongated slot is also formed in the top panel and extends between the 
rows of apertures for receiving handles of implements. The apertures are 
adapted to receive implements with the head portions thereof oriented 
upwardly, and the elongated slot is adapted to receive the implements with 
the head portions thereof oriented downwardly. 
In order to facilitate insertion of the head portions through the elongated 
slot, a transverse slot is provided at a forward end of the elongated slot 
extending substantially perpendicular to the elongated slot. The 
transverse slot provides an enlarged slot area for receiving the implement 
head portions. 
The implements located in the slot and having their head portions oriented 
downwardly provide a weight to the base of the box for resisting tipping 
forces applied against the box. Further, the implements located in the 
rows of apertures on either side of the slot are held by the apertures in 
a substantially vertical orientation to avoid tipping forces which may 
result if the implements were permitted to lean against the sides of the 
box. 
The front panel preferably includes a cut-out area to facilitate viewing 
portions of the implements located within the box. 
In addition, the arrangement of the apertures and the slot ensure that the 
implements are maintained in an organized arrangement to thereby maintain 
an attractive display. 
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a 
merchandising and shipping box for supporting implements having a handle 
and head portion in a stable arrangement. 
It is a further object of the invention to provide a merchandising and 
shipping box which facilitates organized arrangement of implements within 
the box. 
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a merchandising and 
shipping box which facilitates viewing of implements supported in the box. 
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the 
following description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring initially to FIG. 1, the present invention comprises a 
merchandising and shipping box 10 which is preferably formed of a 
cardboard material, such as corrugated cardboard. The box is adapted to 
hold elongated implements such as mops and brooms having an elongated 
handle and a head portion attached to one end of the handle. 
The box 10 includes a pair of opposing side panels 12, 14 wherein the side 
panel 12 includes a front edge 16, a rear edge 18, a top edge 20 and a 
bottom edge 22. Similarly, the side panel 14 includes a front edge 24, a 
rear edge 26, a top edge 28 and a bottom edge 30. 
A front panel 32 is located at a front portion of the box 10 and includes a 
top edge 34, a bottom edge 26 and side edges which are common with and 
connected to the front edges 16 and 24 of the side panels 12, 14. 
A back panel 37 is provided including a top edge 38, a bottom edge 40, and 
a pair of side edges which are common with and connected to the rear edges 
18 and 26 of the side panels 12, 14. 
As seen in FIGS. 1 and 1A, a lower support structure 42 is located on a 
bottom side of the box 10. The lower support structure 42 includes a 
bottom panel 41 connected to the side panels 12, 14, front panel 32 and 
back panel 37 adjacent to the bottom edges 22, 30, 36 and 40, 
respectively. In addition, the lower support structure 42 includes an 
alignment panel 43 located above the bottom panel 41. The alignment panel 
43 is engaged with the side panels 12, 14 and the front and back panels 32 
and 37, and includes means for aligning implements displayed in the box 
10, as is described further below. 
A top panel 44 is located at a top side of the box 10 and is attached to 
the side panels 12, 14, front panel 32 and back panel 37 adjacent to the 
top edges 20, 28, 34 and 38, respectively. It should be noted that the 
upper edges 20, 28, 34, 38 define respective upper lip portions 46, 48, 
50, 52 which extend upwardly from the top panel 44. 
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the top panel 44 includes a plurality of 
apertures 54 arranged in a first row extending in a front to rear 
direction, and a plurality of apertures 56 arranged in a second row also 
extending in a front to rear direction parallel to the first row of 
apertures 54. The rows of apertures 54 and 56 are located in spaced 
relation to each other on either side of a front to rear centerline 58 of 
the top panel 44. The apertures 54, 56 are sized to receive handles of 
implements therethrough wherein the handles may be inserted with a head 
portion of the implement oriented upwardly. 
An elongated slot 60 is defined in the top panel 44 extending in a front to 
rear direction along the centerline 58. An enlarged transverse slot 52 is 
also defined in the top panel 44 adjacent to the front panel 32. The 
transverse slot 62 extends in a transverse direction substantially 
perpendicular to the elongated slot 60. The elongated slot 60 is sized to 
receive the handles of implements and the transverse slot 62 is sized to 
permit passage of the head portions of implements through the top panel 
44. Thus, the head portions of implements may be passed through the slot 
62 into the enclosure area defined between the various panels 12, 14, 32, 
37, 43, 44 defining the box 10, and the elongated slot 60 permits the 
implements to be either positioned rearwardly in the box or moved 
forwardly for removal from the box. It should be noted that although the 
transverse slot 62 is shown having a substantially rectangular shape, the 
rear edges 64 of the slot 62 may be modified and cut back to the location 
depicted by slot edges 64' in order to facilitate insertion and removal of 
the head portion of the implements through the top panel 44 by providing 
an additionally wide opening. 
As may be best seen in FIG. 1, the alignment panel 43 includes a first 
plurality of openings 66 and a second plurality of openings 68 arranged in 
first and second rows, respectively. The first plurality of openings 66 is 
aligned with the apertures 54 in the top panel 44 and the second plurality 
of openings 68 is aligned with the apertures 56. The openings 66, 68 are 
adapted to receive the end portions of implement handles in order to 
maintain the implements passing through the apertures 54, 56 in a vertical 
orientation. 
Referring to FIG. 3, an implement comprising a mop 70 having an elongated 
handle 72 and a head portion 74 is illustrated passing through the 
transverse slot 62 for the box 10. It should be apparent that the enlarged 
transverse slot 62 provides a convenient access aperture for permitting 
passage of the mop head 74 while the elongated slot defines a passage in 
sufficiently close conformance to the handle dimension 72 to maintain the 
mop 70 in an upright position once it is positioned within the box 10. 
FIG. 4 illustrates the box 10 with a plurality of implements in the form of 
brooms 76 organized in a typical arrangement for displaying the brooms 76. 
The brooms 76 located within the slot 60 are oriented with handles 78 
thereof positioned upwardly and head portions 80 positioned downwardly. 
Brooms 76 located on either side of the slot 60 and passing through the 
apertures 54, 56 are oriented with the handles 78 positioned downwardly 
through the apertures 54, 56 and openings 66, 68 and the head portions 80 
positioned upwardly. The brooms 76 positioned in the slot 60 operate to 
counteract any tipping forces which may result from the orientation of the 
brooms in the apertures 54, 56 having their head portions 80 positioned 
upwardly. 
Further, it should be noted that the front panel 32 is provided with a 
cutout area 82 which permits the portion of the brooms 76 located within 
the enclosure of the box 10 to be viewed by customers. 
It should also be noted that although two rows of apertures are described 
for receiving the handles, additional rows of apertures may also be 
provided within the scope of the present invention. 
From the above description it should be apparent that the present invention 
provides a merchandising and shipping box which facilitates an organized 
arrangement of implements within the box and which facilitates viewing of 
the implements when on display. Further, the present box facilitates 
insertion and removal of implements, such as mops and brooms to and from 
the box while also providing a stable support for the implements while 
they are on display. 
While the form of apparatus herein described constitutes a preferred 
embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that the invention is 
not limited to this precise form of apparatus, and that changes may be 
made therein without departing from the scope of the invention which is 
defined in the appended claims.