Abstract:
A display stand with disposable serving ware containers, such as paper or plastic plates, platters, deep dishes or bowls, displaying the containers in a vertical position so the face of the front container is readily viewed by the consumer at the point of purchase.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/393,021 filed Mar. 30, 2006, which claims benefit of Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/672,733 filed Apr. 19, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates to a display stand for certain types of consumer products. More particularly, this invention relates to a display stand for disposable serving ware containers, such as paper or plastic plates, platters, deep dishes or bowls that will display the containers in a vertical position so the face of the container can be readily viewed by the consumer at the point of purchase. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Serving containers, such as paper or plastic plates are typically packaged in nested form in a plastic outer wrap. The containers are transported from the manufacturer ultimately to a retail outlet for purchase by the consumer. At the retail outlet, the containers are typically stacked horizontally on the shelves such that the consumer only sees the edge of the stack of packaged containers. For most purposes this arrangement is acceptable. However, some containers include decorative designs on the face of the container and some even include a theme such as animals. See for example U.S. Patent Publication No. U.S. 2004/0069788, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. When stacked horizontally on store shelves, the aesthetic appeal of these types of decorative containers is not readily apparent to the customer. In order to allow the store to stack these types of containers so that the decorative face of the container is readily apparent to the customer, a display stand for the containers that will hold them upright is required. 
         [0004]    In order for the display stand to be economically viable, it must allow the footprint of the package to remain small and it must allow the various packages of the containers to be nested. This minimizes the space needed to transport the packaged containers and display stands and allows the retail outlet to display a large number of such packaged containers and display stands on the shelves. This in turn minimizes the frequency that the store shelves need to be restocked with those items. In addition, the display stand should be easily manufactured and combined with the consumer product to be displayed with the display stand to allow easy incorporation into the manufacturing process of the consumer products. This will minimize cost for the consumer product manufacturer. The display stand should also work with the retail outlets&#39; current display system to avoid costly retrofitting of the retail outlets&#39; current display system and to avoid the need for the retail outlets to purchase new display systems. 
         [0005]    The display stand of this invention is preferably formed from a paperboard blank that is folded together to define an interior portion for accommodating a certain number of disposable containers. When the containers are placed in the display stand, the display stand holds the containers in a vertical position so the face of the container can be directed to the consumer at the point of purchase. The display stand has an open bottom and is defined by a straight bottom edge where the edges are substantially aligned with each other and generally perpendicular to a vertical axial line extending through the display stand. This straight bottom edge provides a flat surface on which the display stand rests to give the display stand, with the containers therein, stability. The front and rear portions of the display stand preferably have a concavely curved top edge such that the radius of curvature of the concavely curved portions are substantially similar to the radius of curvature of the face portion of the container. This provides the consumer with an unobstructed view of the decorative face of the container. It also provides a shoulder on which the rear of the container can rest so the edges of the containers do not extend below the bottom edge of the display stand, which could adversely affect the stability of the assembled package. The two sides of the display stand can be generally perpendicular to the front and rear portions of the display stand. Alternatively, each of the two sides can be formed from two angled portions so that each end defines a generally V-shaped configuration with the apex of the V pointing away from the containers. These sides of the display stand may also provide a shoulder on which the sides of the container can rest to also help prevent the bottom edge of the containers from extending below the bottom edge of the display stand to thus improve the stability of the package. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         [0006]    The invention will be described in detail in the following description of preferred embodiments with reference to the following figures in which like reference numbers refer to like parts and wherein: 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a first embodiment of the display stand of this invention with a plurality of disposable plates packed therein where the plates have an example of an aesthetic design on the face thereof; 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a rear perspective view of the first embodiment of the display stand of this invention with a plurality of disposable plates packed therein; 
           [0009]      FIG. 3A  is a top perspective view of the first embodiment of the display stand of this invention; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3B  is a bottom perspective view of the first embodiment of the display stand of this invention clearly showing the open bottom therein; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a plan view of the blank used to form the first embodiment of the display stand of this invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a front perspective view of a second embodiment of the display stand of this invention with a plurality of disposable plates packed therein where the plates have an example of an aesthetic design on the face thereof; 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a rear perspective view of the second embodiment of the display stand of this invention with a plurality of disposable plates packed therein; 
           [0014]      FIG. 7A  is a top perspective view of the second embodiment of the display stand of this invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 7B  is a bottom perspective view of the second embodiment of the display stand of this invention clearly showing the open bottom therein; and 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  is a plan view of the blank used to form the second embodiment of the display stand of this invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]    The display stand  100  of this invention is preferably formed from a paperboard blank that is folded together to define an interior portion for accommodating a certain number of disposable containers  600  therein. Preferably, display stand  100  can be formed from any paper-based material such as folding carton stock and corrugated paperboard, more specifically micro-flute corrugated paperboard. Display stand  100  defines an open bottom  200 , which in turn is defined by the straight bottom edge  300  of the various flaps forming display stand  100 . Straight bottom edge  300  provides a flat surface on which display stand  100  rests to give display stand  100 , with the containers therein, stability. Typically the paperboard blank is cut from a larger piece of the paperboard on a standard flatbed die-cutting piece of equipment. 
         [0018]    Preferably, the front and rear portions of display stand  100  have a concavely curved portion  110  such that the radius of curvature of the concavely curved portions  110  is similar to, or generally the same as, the radius of curvature of the outer circumference  605  of the face portion  610  of the container  615 . This is generally located adjacent to the rim  620  of the paper plate and can in some cases be considered the interface  625  therebetween. The degree of similarity between the radii of curvature should be such that display stand  100  provides the consumer with an unobstructed view of the aesthetic design, i.e. the decorative face, of the container. Thus the radius of curvature of concavely curved portion  110  can be less or greater than that of the face portion of the container as long as the face is not obstructed. Concavely curved portion  110  also provides a shoulder on which the rear of the container can rest so the edges of the containers do not extend below the bottom edge of the display stand, which would adversely affect the stability of the assembled package. See  FIGS. 2 and 6 . In addition, the concavely curved portion  110  on the rear of display stand  100  allows the face of one package to nest with the rear of another package to minimize the amount of space needed to pack and ship a large quantity of display stands  100  with containers packaged therein. Although it is possible to configure only one of the front panel or the rear panel with a curved top edge, this is not the preferred arrangement. In addition, although a concavely curved configuration is preferred for the top edge of the front panel and the rear panel, any other configuration, such as a linear, angular or scalloped or some other complex curved configuration, could be used as long as the configuration provides a clear view of the face of the container to display the decorative features of the container. Also the configuration should provide (i) some type of shoulder on which the rear of the container can rest and (ii) space to allow multiple packages to nest and minimize the footprint requirements of the display stand with the containers packed therein. 
         [0019]    The depth of display stand  100  is determined by the dimensions of the container and the number of containers to be packaged in display stand  100 . Preferably the width of display  100  stand is less than the width of the containers to be packaged in display stand  100 . This allows the ends of display stand  100  to provide another shoulder  120  on which the sides of the containers can rest to prevent the bottom of the container from extending below the bottom of display stand  100 , thus adversely affecting the stability of the assembled package. See  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The two sides of display stand  100  can be generally perpendicular to the front and rear portions of display stand  100 . See  FIGS. 1-3 . Alternatively, each of the two sides can be formed from two angled portions so that each end defines a generally V-shaped configuration  130  with the apex of the V pointing away from the containers. See  FIGS. 5-7 . Where such a V-shaped configuration  130  is provided for the ends of display stand  100 ′, preferably the apex of the V is inside of the tangent to the outermost side portion on the container or at most is aligned with the tangent to that outermost side portion. 
         [0020]    The blank for the first embodiment of display stand  100  has a continuous straight bottom edge  300 , a connection tab  410 , a front flap  420 , a first end flap  430 , a rear flap  440  and a second end flap  450 . As seen in  FIG. 4 , connection tab  410  is connected along its right edge to the left edge of front flap  420  along a first vertical fold line  415 . Front flap  420  is connected along its right edge to the left edge of first end flap  430  along a second vertical fold line  425 . First end flap  430  is connected along its right edge to the left edge of rear flap  440  along a third vertical fold line  435 . Rear flap  440  is connected along its right edge to the left edge of second end flap  450  along a fourth vertical fold line  445 . To assemble the blank into display stand  100 , each vertical fold line is folded so that each portion of the blank is perpendicular to the adjacent portion. This allows connection tab  410  to overlap a portion of second end flap  450  and can be adhered thereto by any standard means such as an adhesive, staples or other mechanical interlocking means. 
         [0021]    The blank for the second embodiment of display stand  100 ′ has a continuous straight bottom edge  300 , first rear flap  510 , a first end flap  520 , a second end flap  530 , a front flap  540 , a third end flap  550 , a fourth end flap  560  and a second rear flap  570 . As seen in  FIG. 8 , first rear flap  510  is connected along its right edge to the left edge of first end flap  520  along a first vertical fold line  515 . First end flap  520  is connected along its right edge to the left edge of second end flap  530  along a second vertical fold line  525 . Second end flap  530  is connected along its right edge to the left edge of front flap  540  along a third vertical fold line  535 . Front flap  540  is connected along its right edge to the left edge of third end flap  550  along a fourth vertical fold line  545 . Third end flap  550  is connected along its right edge to the left edge of fourth end flap  560  along a fifth vertical fold line  555 . Fourth end flap  560  is connected along its right edge to the left edge of second rear flap  570  along a sixth vertical fold line  565 . To assemble the blank into display stand  100 ′ each vertical fold line is folded so that each portion of the blank is at an angle to the adjacent portion to allow first and second rear flaps  510 ,  570  to be aligned with, and preferably overlap, each other. This allows a portion of first and second rear flaps  510 ,  570  to be adhered to each other by any standard means such as an adhesive, staples or other mechanical interlocking means. 
         [0022]    Thus, it is seen that a display stand is provided that is stable, economical, easy to manufacture and use with various consumer products, such as disposable serving ware, and that has a small footprint and allows for unobstructed viewing of the front face of the product.