Abstract:
Abstract of the Disclosure Packaging and display device that enables ready visual inspection of the contents of the package. The device includes an outer housing and an inner housing that are pivotally interconnected so that the inner housing can be moved from a first position interiorly of the outer housing to a second position wherein the inner housing extends outwardly from the outer housing in a manner to permit unobstructed viewing of the contents of the package.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates generally to packaging. More particularly, the invention concerns an improved package of unique design that comprises an outer housing and a pivotally mounted inner container housing for use in storing, transporting, and displaying a variety of small objects.  
           [0003]    2. Discussion of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    Numerous types of packaging and display devices have been suggested in the past. Many of the prior art display containers devices are formed from a blank cut from a sheet of heavy paper or plastic that is folded along fold lines to form the container. This approach is cost effective, but often the display container lacks structural integrity.  
           [0005]    For purposes of sales display, it is desirable that a display package be capable of being mounted or suspended from a rod secured within a pegboard. Several prior art-packaging devices include this feature. Exemplary of such a device is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,320 issue Vanasse. The Vanasse package includes a thin wall bottom structure and a thin wall top structure movable with respect to the bottom structure between open and closed positions. The improvement comprises a pair of back-to-back secured panels and a flap that are exteriorly removably attached to the box for positively locking the box in a closed position in response to the movement thereof from an open position into a.closed position. The closed box can be suspended from a pegboard peg or the like in the manner shown in FIG. 3 of the Vanasse patent.  
           [0006]    Another type of packaging device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,129 issued to Cugley. The Cugley patent discloses an improved one-piece, reusable container formed from transparent plastic. The lid of the container is clear and transparent with no distortion to permit easy viewing of the contents. The sides of the container chamber are slanted inward to allow nesting of the containers during shipping. The container has a latch to ensure that it will not open during shipping and display, but will only open when the lid and chamber are pulled apart in a predetermined manner.  
           [0007]    Many of the prior art packaging display devices are of a complex construction and frequently are difficult to open and close. Similarly, many of the prior art packaging devices are unattractive in appearance and some are of a fragile construction, which makes them generally unreliable in use.  
           [0008]    The thrust of the present invention is to provide a novel packaging and display container that overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art packaging and display devices and at the same time provides an attractive, highly reliable, and uniquely constructed packaging and display device that is easy to use and immediately attracts the attention of a potential purchaser of the goods being displayed.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved packaging and display device that is of a unique design that enables ready visual inspection of the contents of the package.  
           [0010]    Another object of the invention is to provide an improved packaging and display device that is fabricated from two blanks cut from plastic or paper material which can be assembled to form an outer housing and an inner housing that are pivotally interconnected so that the inner housing can be moved from a first position interiorly of the outer housing to a second position wherein the inner housing extends outwardly from the outer housing in a manner to permit unobstructed viewing of the contents of the package.  
           [0011]    Another object of the invention is to provide a packaging and display device of the aforementioned character that includes an improved peg board hanging structure which is moved into an operating position only upon the pivotal movement of the inner container housing relative to the outer housing.  
           [0012]    Another object of the invention is to provide a device as described in the preceding paragraphs, which is inexpensive to manufacture, and one, which can be readily assembled from two flat panels.  
           [0013]    Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described in the preceding paragraphs in which the inner the container that is typically connected to the outer container is formed from a substantially transparent material so that the contents thereof can be readily viewed.  
           [0014]    Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the class described that is easy to use and can be readily opened to gain access to the contents of the packaging.  
           [0015]    Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the class described which, because of its unique construction and operation, will tend to attract the attention of potential purchasers viewing the device on a conventional sales display. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]    [0016]FIG. 1 is a generally perspective view of one form of the packaging device of the invention.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines  2 - 2  of FIG. 1.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 3 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view taken along lines  3 - 3  of FIG. 2.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 4 is a generally perspective view, similar to FIG. 1, but showing the packaging device in an open configuration.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines  5 - 5  of FIG. 4.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines  6 - 6  of FIG. 5.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines  7 - 7  of FIG. 5.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 8 is a generally perspective view of the outer housing portion of the form of the packaging device shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 9 is a generally perspective view of the inner portion of the packaging device shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 10 is a plan view of the starting substrate that is folded to produce the outer housing of the packaging device shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 11 is an enlarged plan view of the substrate that is folded to produce the inner housing of the packaging device shown in FIG. 1. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0027]    Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1 through 4 one form of the packaging and display device of the invention is there shown in generally designated by the numeral  20 . The device here comprises an outer housing  22  having interconnected front, back, side and top walls  24 ,  26 ,  28  and  30  respectively. As best seen by referring to FIG. 4, the device also includes an inner housing  32  that is pivotally connected to outer housing  22  for movement between a first position shown in FIG. 1 wherein said inner housing is disposed within said outer housing and a second position shown in FIG. 4 wherein a substantial portion of the inner housing is disposed outside the outer housing. Inner housing  32  also has interconnected front, back, side and top walls  34 ,  36 ,  38 ,  38   a  and  40  respectively. As best seen in FIG. 9 each of the spaced apart side walls  38  and  38   a  of the inner housing  32  has an opening  42  which is indexedly aligned with openings  44  formed in the side walls of outer housing  22  (see FIGS. 4 and 9). As shown in FIGS. 4 and 8, specifically designed pivot pins or members  46  extend into the aligned openings in the side walls of the outer and inner housings to pivotally interconnect the housings together.  
         [0028]    Referring particularly to FIG. 5 it can be seen that the back wall of inner housing  32  includes first, second and third adjacent portions  48 ,  50  and  54  respectively. As indicated in the drawings, first portion  48  spans said side walls  3   8  and  38   a  of the inner housing  32  and the second portion  50  is disposed proximate back wall  26  of outer housing  22  (see also FIG. 2). As indicated in FIG. 2, the back wall  26  of the outer housing  22  is spaced apart from the top wall  30  of the outer housing to define a passageway  58  through which portion  52  of the back wall of the inner housing is slidably movable when the inner housing is moved from the closed position shown in FIG. 2 to the open position shown in FIG. 5. More particularly, when the inner housing is moved into the lower position shown in FIG. 5 portion  52  of back wall  36  will move from the retracted position shown in FIG. 2 to the extended position shown in FIG. 4 wherein portion  52  of the back wall of the inner housing extends through passageway  58 . To enable the portion  52  of the back wall to move from the retracted position into the extended position, the back wall is provided with a plurality of transverse striations  64  that cooperate to form a living hinge between portions  48  and  50  of the back wall (see FIG. 11). The function and operation of the living hinge will be described more fully hereinafter. In order that the device of the invention can be supported from a conventional peg in a pegboard, portion  52  of the back wall is provided with an aperture  60  there through.  
         [0029]    In one form of the invention the inner and outer housings are formed from generally planar foldable material. More particularly outer housing  22  is formed from a foldable blank of heavy paper or cardboard generally designated in FIG. 10 by the numeral  65 . Similarly, inner-housing  32  is formed from a generally planar foldable, substantially transparent, plastic blank generally designated in FIG. 11 by the numeral  66 . It is to be understood that the inner and outer housings can be formed of various materials including the metal or wood or, alternatively, the housings can be cast from various materials.  
         [0030]    Turning particularly to FIG. 10, it can be seen that in addition to the front, back, side wall and top segments  24 ,  26 ,  28  and  30  respectively of the outer container planar member  65 , this foldable member also includes a locking tab segment  68  that is foldably connected to top segment  30  and a pair of the side support segments  70  and  71  that are foldably connected to side wall segments  28 . Side support  70  has a foldable tab  70   a  and side support and  71  has a foldable tab  71   a . The purpose of these tabs will presently be described. In constructing the outer housing  22 , the side supports  70  and  71  are folded about first and second fold lines  73  and  73   a  respectively so that they are closely adjacent to the sidewalls  28 . As the side support  70  moves into engagement with the left sidewall as viewed in FIG. 10, tab portion  70   a  will engage back wall  26 . Similarly, as side support  71  moves into engagement with the right side wall  28  as viewed in FIG. 10, foldable. tab  71   a  will move into engagement with an extension wall segment  29  that is foldably interconnected with and extends outwardly from the right and side wall  28  as viewed in FIG. 10. Once in their folded position, the side supports are then interconnected with the sidewalls by any suitable means such as adhesive bonding.  
         [0031]    In continuing the folding process, back  26  is next folded along a third fold line  75  causing foldable tab  70   a  to fold along a fourth fold line  77 . This done, extension wall segment  29  is folded along a fifth fold line  81  causing foldable tab  71   a  to fold along a sixth fold line  83 . Back  26  is then further folded along fold line  75  until the outboard portion of the back  26  overlaps extension wall  29 . The back wall portion  26  is then secured to the extension wall segment  29  by any suitable means such as adhesive bonding to form a precursor, box-like structure. With the back wall  26  secured to the extension wall segment  29 , sidewall tab portions  86 , which are foldably connected to sidewalls  28  along seventh fold lines  89  are folded inwardly along the fold lines. This done, top wall  30  is folded along a ninth fold line  91  and at the same time locking tab  68  is folded along a tenth fold line  93  and is inserted into the previously identified passageway  52  to close the top of the box-like structure (see FIGS. 2 and 5). Finally, bottom wall  96 , which is foldably connected to back wall  22 , is folded inwardly along fold line  99  in the manner shown in FIG. 8 to partially close the bottom of the box-like structure.  
         [0032]    Turning to FIG. 11, the generally planer member  66  from which inner housing  32  is formed is there shown in its planar configuration. In addition to the back wall segment  36 , which has a first second and third portions  48 ,  50  and  52 , the planar starting member includes a side extension wall segment  48   a  that is connected to portion  48  of the back wall segment along an eleventh fold line  101 . Disposed between sidewall segments  38  and  38   a  is an inner support segment  104  that includes first and second portions  104   a  and  104   b  that are interconnected by a living hinge formed from a plurality of transverse striations  106 . Also forming a part of starting member  65  are inner side wall support segments  108   a  and  108   b . Sidewall support segment  108   a  is connected to portion  104   a  of segment  104  along a fold line  109 . While sidewall support segment  108   b  is connected to portion  104   b  along a old line  111 .  
         [0033]    In constructing the inner housing, side wall support segments  108   a  and  108   b  are first folded along fold lines  109  and  111  land segment  104  is then folded along living hinge striations  106  in a manner to bring support segments  108   a  and  108   b  into engagement with side segments  38   a  and  38  respectively which have been folded along thirteenth and fourteenth fold lines  113  and  115  respectively. Segment  108   a  is then interconnected with side segment  38   a  by any suitable means such as adhesive bonding and segment  108   b  is interconnected with side segment  38  by any suitable means such as adhesive bonding to form a first subassembly. Next, portion  48  of back wall segment  36  is folded a long a sixteenth fold line  117  to bring the back wall portion into engagement with the previously formed first subassembly. This done, segment  48   a  is folded about fold line  101  to bring it into engagement with sidewall segment  38 . Segment  48   a  is then affixed to sidewall segment  38  by any suitable means such as adhesive bonding to form a second subassembly. Locking tabs  120 , which are interconnected to side wall segments  38  and  38   a  are then folded inwardly along fold lines  121  and top wall  40  is folded along a fold line  123  in a manner to bring a locking tab  40   a  that is connected to top  40  along fold line  125  into engagement with portion  104   a  of inner segment  104  in the manner shown in FIGS. 5 and 9. Finally, back wall  36  is folded along living hinge striations  64  in a manner to bring portion  50  thereof into engagement with segment  104   a  and to form a curved bottom wall  124  (FIG. 9).  
         [0034]    The assembly shown in FIG. 9 that is formed in the manner described in the preceding paragraph is interconnected with outer housing  22  by inserting the inner housing into the outer housing in a manner to align apertures  42  of the inner housing within apertures  44  of the outer housing. This done, pivot pins  46  are inserted through the apertures to pivotally interconnect together the inner and outer housings  22  and  32  (see FIG. 1). With the inner and outer housings thus assembled, movement of the inner housing from the position shown in FIG. 1 to the position shown in FIG. 5 will cause portion  52  of back wall  36  to move upwardly through passageway  58  into the extended position shown in FIG. 5. Because the starting member  66  is preferably formed of a substantially transparent plastic, when the device is either in the position shown in FIG. 1 or in the position shown in FIG. 5, articles contained within the inner housing are readily visible to the prospective purchaser. To permit to the inner housing to be expeditiously pivoted into the second position shown in FIG. 5, front wall  24  of the outer housing is provided with a finger receiving opening  128  (FIG. 8).  
         [0035]    In use, housing  32  can easily be opened to access its contents by folding top wall  40  along fold line  91 .  
         [0036]    Having now described the invention in detail in accordance with the requirements of the patent statutes, those skilled in this art will have no difficulty in making changes and modifications in the individual parts or their relative assembly in order to meet specific requirements or conditions. Such changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, as set forth in the following claims.