Abstract:
A container for storing an article of clothing having a tag for displaying an individual advertisement. The container is generally rectangular with top and bottom portions. When closed the container retains its rectangular shape but it has a slanted shape when opened and the top is stored below the bottom, such that the front of the container is lower than the rear of the container. A tag is pivotally connected to the bottom of the container with a large section distally located from the pivot. When the tag is pivoted outward of the opened container, the large section of the tag is suspended outside the front wall of the container. An LED may be mounted on the tag to allow for visual perception of the advertisement at a substantial distance from the container.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a container, and more specifically, to a container combined with means to facilitate visual exposure of the contents of the container and advertising material thereon. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is directed to the supplying of shoes in boxes and the like wherein a tag is hanging from the box for displaying advertisements that emphasize the importance of the contents of the box. 
     When a manager of a department s tore wants to advertise a product, such as shoes, there are several routs that the manager can take. For example, the manager may advertise internally or externally. An external advertisement includes, for example, those found in a newspaper or other periodical, or that on commercial television, cable, radio or Internet source. An internal option includes a large, generally directed sign which may comprise at least one flashing light. An internal advertisement may also consist of a circular which a customer attains upon entering the department store. A circular, for example, generally contains information on store sales as well as coupons for specific items. 
     The external advertisements bring the customer into the retail store and the internal techniques may grab the attention of the customer who has entered the store for reasons unrelated to any sale. However, store managers would find that each of the mentioned external advertising efforts have problems with respect to the actual impact on sales of a targeted product. Similar problems exist when the manager bombards the customer with an array of internal advertisements. Especially in a large department store, not one of the mentioned efforts assures the manager that the customer will look for or find the product. 
     One reason for the failure of current advertisements is that in a large department store, the manager is forced to display similar types of goods in similar locations. The manager may have targeted a particular good in an advertisement or a sign, which may bring the customer to a row of similar goods. The customer may walk toward a specific product in this row of similar goods, and lose focus as to which of the goods was the targeted item. In a row of shoes, for example, an adjacent grouping of shoes may blend together such that the customer loses the ability to hone in on an advertised pair of shoes. This problem may occur regardless of how many advertisements a manager utilizes in an effort to sell a pair of a particular brand of shoes. 
     Managers and marketing personnel have sought to overcome the mentioned problems with the current art in different ways. For example, a manager may place an individual style of shoe in a location which is separated from the rest of the shoe selections, and include a large advertisement emphasizing the importance of the sale of the particular product. A manager may also place individual signs and tags on each shoe, perhaps including red dots or other implements which attempt to indicate the sale. 
     The solution of individually locating the targeted shoes has an inherent problem. Space is limited in any store, so that selectively advertising many goods in this fashion is usually prohibited. For example, if there are dozens of shoes in a crowded department store&#39;s shoe department or a speciality shoe store and a manager wishes to distinguish a group of shoes, selectively placing shoes, which are “on sale” in a temporary area to distinguish them from others, may not be feasible. 
     The solution of individual signs and tags also has problems when considering the influence on customers and the impact on sales. Most individual signs and tags are not effective because they are not placed directly in the line of sight of a customer walking down the row of goods. Even tags that are placed directly in the line of sight of the customer usually fail to grab the attention of the customer. These tags are not sufficiently interesting to cause the customer to notice them and thus induce the customer to examine the goods. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     To address the problems in the art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a box which is designed such that a maximum amount of the product stored within the box is visible to a customer when viewed from the front of the box, while the lid of the box is not in place. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide an implement, such as a hanging tag, for locating an individual advertisement directly in the line of sight of the customers. It is a further object of the present invention to make this implement attractive to customers walking past the advertised goods. Further, this implement may be reusable in that it remains with the box of goods. 
     It is a further object of the present invention to provide this implement in a form which saves storage space, as it is permanently and easily stored within the box of the advertised goods. This easy storage further provides the advantage that the implement does not interfere with the advertisement of other goods during selected periods of time, such as when the goods associated with the particular implement are not on sale. 
     According to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention, the foregoing objects are achieved with a slant container for storing and advertising an article of clothing, e.g., shoes, comprising a top half and a bottom half. The top half has a rectangular top surface and two depending side panels and two depending end panels. The bottom half has a bottom surface and two upwardly projecting side panels and two end panels. A front end panel of the bottom is smaller in height than the back end panel, and the bottom side panels slope downwardly from the back end panel to the front end panel. The top half has a larger front panel and a smaller back panel. The side panels of the top have slopes from the back to the front so that when the top half is selectively laid over the bottom half, the depending panels of the top half enclose the corresponding projecting panels of the bottom half, and the resulting container forms a rectangular parallelepiped. However, when the top half is rotated 180° and stored under the bottom half, the bottom edges of the depending panels of the top half approximately meet the top the edges of the projecting panels of the bottom half. Further, in the orientation with the top under the bottom, the sloping shape allows the contents of the container to be easily viewed, e.g., from a store isle, because the front panel has a reduced height. 
     The container may further include a tag with a large surface extending in two dimensions and an elongated surface attached to one side of the large surface, e.g., perpendicular thereto. The elongated surface is attached to the bottom half of the container via a pivot. The elongated surface is dimensioned so that when the large surface is selectively pivoted to the maximum outward rotational distance, the large surface is suspended outside of the bottom half. The large surface is dimensioned so that the two dimensional face is large enough for an individual advertisement to be selectively placed on the face and small enough so that when the large surface is selectively pivoted to the maximum inward rotational distance, the large surface fits within the container. 
     The large surface of the tag has mounted thereon at least one LED which protrudes from at least one side of the large surface. The LED is large enough and emits a light intensity bright enough to allow for visual perception from a substantial distance from the tag. The LED is small enough to not interfere with the advertisement placed on the tag. The container further comprises an integrated circuit to power the LED. The integrated circuit and a power source, may be retained in a cube from which wires extend and pass into the tag to the LED. The related casing is stored on the inside panel of the bottom half. 
     The embodiment of the invention, as described, provides for a container which, due to its slanted sides, allows for a maximum allowable viewing of stored goods. The lighted tag when pivoted out of the open container attracts customers so that they may read advertisements placed on the tag. This assures that customers will notice the products within the container. The pivot attachment on the tag allows the tag to be selectively and efficiently stored and used. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Still other advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description, wherein is shown and described only the preferred embodiment of the invention, simply by way of illustration and in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of a preferred embodiment of the top half and bottom half of a container according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is another perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the top half and bottom half of the invention with the top half located on the bottom half; 
     FIG. 3 is a right side perspective view of an embodiment of the bottom half, tag and power supply according to an embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a right side perspective view of an embodiment of the bottom half, tag and power supply according to an embodiment of the invention with the tag pivoted out of the bottom half; and 
     FIG. 5 is a left side perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the invention showing the bottom half and tag. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 1 shows a slant container for storing and advertising an article of clothing according to an embodiment of the invention. The clothing which may be chosen for packaging in the container may consist of shoes, boots, sandals, shirts, pants, or any other article of clothing which may be fitted into a container for display in a store. 
     The container has a top half  12  composed of a semi-rigid, non-conductive material, having a rectangular top surface  13  and two downwardly depending side panels and two downwardly depending end panels. The end panels consist of a front end panel  15   b  and a rear end panel  15   c.  Each end panel is attached to the top surface  13  on opposing narrow edges of the top surface  13 , spanning the length of the narrow edge. The front panel  15   b  extends further, i.e., has a greater height, than the rear panel  15   b,  and each end panel is rectangular. The side panels consist of a third side panel  15   a  and a fourth side panel  15   b.  Each side panel is attached to the top surface  13  on opposing wide edges of the top surface  13 , spanning the length of the wide edge. Each side panel is trapezoidal so that adjacent edges between the side panels and the end panels have equal lengths. 
     The container further includes a bottom half  14 , composed of a semi-rigid, non-conductive material. The bottom half consists of a rectangular bottom surface  16  and two upwardly projecting side panels and two upwardly projecting end panels. Each upwardly projecting side and end panel corresponds to an opposing downwardly depending side and end panel. The side panels consist of a front  17   b  and a rear end panel  17   c.  Each end panel is attached to the bottom surface  16  on opposing narrow edges of the bottom surface, spanning the length of the narrow edge. The rear panel  17   c  is longer, i.e., has greater height, than the front panel  17   b,  and each panel is rectangular. The side panels also consist of a third side panel  17   a  and a fourth side panel  17   b.  Each side panel is attached to the bottom surface  16  on opposing wide edges of the bottom surface  16 , spanning the length of the wide edge. Each side panel is trapezoidal so that adjacent edges between the side panels and the end panels have equal lengths. 
     The bottom half  14  is dimensioned such that when the top half  13  is selectively laid over the bottom half  14  so that the inside surface of the upper surface  13  faces the inside of the bottom surface  16  (FIG.  2 ), the depending panels of the top half  12  enclose the corresponding depending panels of the bottom half  14 . The resulting container forms a rectangular parallelepiped. When the top half  12  is selectively stored under the bottom half  14  (FIG.  3 ), the bottom edges of the depending panels of the top half  12  approximately meet the top the edges of the depending panels of the bottom half  14 . This storage is attained by inverting the top half  12 , rotating it by 180° and placing the bottom half  14  within the upper half  12  so that the inside face of the front panel of the top half  15   b  is adjacent to the outside face of the rear panel of the bottom half  17   c.    
     The material for the container may be chosen from cardboard, plastic, or the like. The shaped design for the container allows for an enhanced visual perception of the goods, such as shoes, stored within the container. When a customer in a store walks past the shelf with a pair of shoes located in this container, with the front of the container facing the customer and the top half  12  being stored under the bottom half  14  as described, the container allows for a maximum amount of visibility to the shoes. Comparatively, when a customer walks past a shelf with a pair of shoes in a container that has only rectangular side panels of the same height, the customer often sees only the panels of the container. 
     The design is also preferred because it has a strength which mimics that of a container with only rectangular side panels. When the top half  12  is covering the bottom half  14  (FIG.  2 ), the container allows for a maximum shipping and crushing strength, and requires the same storage space as conventional shoe boxes. 
     The container may also be provided with a tag  30 , that is made of a semi-rigid and nonconductive material. As shown in FIG. 3, the tag  30  has a large surface  31  extending in two dimensions with a nominal thickness, and an elongated surface  32  perpendicular thereto. One end of the elongation  32  is attached to the bottom half  14  by a pivot  33 . The pivot attachment  33  is on an inwardly facing surface of either of the side panels on the bottom half  14 , such that the plane parallel to the face of the large surface  31  is parallel to the plane parallel to the face of either side panel of the bottom half  14 . The pivot attachment  33  allows the large surface  31  to pivot inward and outward from the inside face of the bottom surface  16 . 
     The elongated surface  32  is dimensioned so that when the large surface  31  is selectively pivoted to the maximum outward rotational distance, the large surface  31  is suspended outside of the bottom half  14  and is supported by at least two points: a first point being the pivot attachment  33 ; and a second point being where the edge of the elongated surface  32  then contacts the top edge of the front face  17   b  of the bottom half  14  (FIGS.  4  and  5 ). The large surface  31  is dimensioned so that the two dimensional face is large enough for an individual advertisement to be selectively placed on the face  31  and small enough so that when the large surface  31  is selectively pivoted to the maximum inward rotational distance (FIG.  3 ), the large surface  31  fits within the container. 
     The material used for the tag  30  could be the same or different from that used for the other container parts. The large surface  31  may be the same or different material from the elongated surface  32 . The elongated surface  32  may be, for example, planarly cylindrically or rectangularly shaped. The shape for the large surface  31  on the tag  30  could be any two dimensional shape which may be utilized for an advertisement. For example, the shape could be square, rectangular, octagonal, hexagonal, circular, elliptical, and any other desired two dimensional design. 
     As compared to individual tags known in the prior art, placement and design of the tag  30  allows for easy storing and usage of the tag  30 . For example, if a label which advertises a sale of a pair of shoes is provided, the tag  30  on the container may be flipped outward so that the advertisement may be readily attached and viewed from the isle by customers. If only certain pairs of shoes are on sale, tags for those shoes may be flipped outward while all other tags remain or are flipped inward. This way, only tags indicating a sale may be visible to customers, minimizing any possible confusion as to which shoes are being promoted. 
     The tag of the inventor may also include at least one light emitting diode or LED  23  (FIG.  5 ). The LED  23  is mounted on the large surface  31  of the tag  30  such that the LED  23  protrudes from at least one side of the large surface  31 . The LED  23  is large enough and emits a light intensity bright enough to allow for visual perception at a substantial distance from the tag  30 . The LED  23  is small enough so that it does not interfere with the advertisement placed on the tag  30 . The container further comprises an integrated circuit (not shown) to power the LED  23 . The integrated circuit and a power source (e.g. a battery) may be located in a case  24  and connected to the LED  23  by wires  22 . The case  24  is mounted in the bottom half  14  as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. In alternative embodiments, the power source may be a typical alternating current source, or perhaps a direct current source other than a battery, e.g., a solar power source. 
     The LED  23  allows for clear and distinct visual perception of the advertisement on the tag  30 . The LED  23  and tag  30 , in combination, provide an accentuation to a particular item, such as a pair of shoes, which would otherwise be practically unnoticeable in a sea of similarly situated goods. In a department store or speciality store with thousands of items on sale, an individual tag  30  with an LED  23  is clearly a needed implement to further the sales of any particular product. 
     In an alternative embodiment, the integrated circuit comprises a slow rate oscillator or pulse generator, so that a continuous current pulse flows to and illuminates the LED  23 . The effect of this pulsating LED  23  is to emphasis the advertisement on the tag  30  as well as the goods within the container. A pulsating LED  23  is likely to attract the attention of those who are more affected by a varying stimulus. 
     In an alternative embodiment, the tag is made of folded material or two pieces of material, so that it has two parts or sides, with one edge  35  being open and the other side, representing the fold, being closed. Electrical contacts  25  are provided within the opening on opposite parts of the tag. Contacts  25  are connected to the wires  22 . Under normal circumstances, the tension in the tag causes its two parts to close upon each other sufficiently that the contacts  25  touch each other and complete an electrical connection. However, a piece of non-conductive  34  may be placed in the open side to keep the contacts  25  separated from each other, thus breaking the electrical connection. This will prevent the LED  23  from flashing, when not necessary. Further, the wires  22  can be arranged so that the power source is disconnected when the non-conductive material  34  is in place, thus saving power, e.g., during shipping. 
     In a still further embodiment, the container includes a small non-conductive and semi-rigid piece of material  28 . The small material  28  is integrally connected to the same panel as the tag  30  at an area of the small material  28  closest to the bottom surface  16 . The small material  28  is located and dimensioned so that when the large surface  31  is selectively pivoted a maximum inward rotational distance, the top area of the small material  28  becomes inserted into the opening  35  in the tag  30  and breaks the connection between contacts  25  (FIG.  3 ). The integrated circuit is thus opened so that the LED  23  does not flash, and battery power may also be totally disconnected. (This alternative embodiment allows for a power saving feature which would decrease overhead expenses related to utilizing the invention.) 
     In an embodiment, the power source is an alternating current (A.C.) source. If an A.C. source is used, a business saves not only on batteries, but also on compensation to workers who take time to monitor and replace the batteries. 
     As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments from those set forth in the foregoing specification, and its several details are capable of modifications in various respects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawing and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive. The invention is limited only by the following claims.