Abstract:
A caddy for storing products such as canned goods. The caddy connects to a dispensing - - - of purchase display unit. The product dispenser opening is - - - by a set of perforated tear lines on one or more of a plurality of forms of the caddy. The caddy eliminates the jumbled appearance of a shelf of loose cans or jars while allowing customers to easily withdraw canned goods from the caddy.

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM  
       [0001]     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/582,257 filed Jun. 23, 2004, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60,625,913 filed Nov. 8, 2004 the disclosures of which are incorporated in their entirety herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to improvements in dispensing caddies and in particular to shipping cartons that are convertable to dispensing point-of-purchase display units in stores, dispensing cartons for home use, and the like.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     Embodiments of dispensing caddies include shipping cartons that also serve as in-store product dispensing caddies and display units by simply removing tear-away perforated sections of the carton. Customers easily withdraw canned goods from the units, and as each can is withdrawn another can within the carton falls or rolls by gravity to take its place.  
         [0004]     In one embodiment, the carton has a lower dispensing window and an upper hinged opening allowing for easy replacement of a canned good when customers change their minds. In another embodiment, the cans roll down an inner ramp. In both embodiments, the lower edge of the dispensing window advantageously provides a lip or ridge that securely holds the canned goods within the container while permitting a can to be easily withdrawn by the customer.  
         [0005]     The cartons are advantageously printed with graphics to enhance the cartons as point-of-purchase display units and advertising vehicles.  
         [0006]     The improved dispensing caddies eliminate the jumbled appearance of a shelf of loose cans or jars. Instead, dispensing cartons located on shelves of supermarkets enhance both the appearance of the store and the advertising space for the dispensed goods. Moreover, the dispenser caddy eliminates the labor of stacking the individual canned goods that are offered for sale in a store.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]      FIG. 1A  is a perspective view of the exterior of one embodiments of the dispensing caddy in its unopened configuration;  
         [0008]      FIG. 1B  is a perspective view of the dividers used to partition the interior of the dispensing carton of  FIG. 1A ;  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the dispensing carton of  FIG. 1A  wherein the dividers of  FIG. 1B  are shown by phantom lines within the interior of this carton;  
         [0010]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the dispensing caddy of  FIG. 1A  showing, in phantom lines, the carton loaded with canned goods;  
         [0011]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the dispensing carton of  FIGS. 1A, 2  and  3  in its opened, dispensing configuration;  
         [0012]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the dispensing carton of  FIG. 1A , illustrating the canned goods loaded into the carton through a side opening;  
         [0013]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the dispensing caddy having an internal ramp and showing canned goods loaded into the carton through a side opening;  
         [0014]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the exterior of the dispensing carton of  FIG. 6 ; and  
         [0015]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the dispensing carton of  FIG. 6  in its opening dispensing configuration. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0016]     A first embodiment provides an upright dispensing caddy for a plurality of canned goods. This embodiment, as shown in  FIGS. 1A and 1B , includes a rectangular shipping carton  20  and one or more internal divider sections  21 .  
         [0017]     One side  22  of carton  20 , as shown in  FIG. 1A , includes perforated tear lines  25 , to provide, as described below, a hinged return opening panel or flap  26 . In addition, as described below, perforated tear lines  30  surround a panel  31 . As described below and shown in  FIG. 4 , removal of panel  31  provides a dispensing opening  32  through which customers can withdraw one or more of the canned goods. Advantageously, as shown in  FIG. 5 , one wall of carton  20  can be opened to facilitate packing of the canned goods  40  within the carton.  
         [0018]     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the dividers  21  are located within the carton  20  to divide the interior space of the carton into three compartments  35 ,  36  and  37 . As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 5 , canned goods  40  are loaded into these compartments with the walls of dividers  21  providing a separation between three layers of canned goods  40 , both during packing and shipment of the carton  20  and, as described below, as shoppers dispense the canned goods from the dispensing carton  20 . The cans are advantageously loaded so that their cylindrical axes are perpendicular to the walls of the divider  21 . The dimensions between the inside wall of carton  20  and a facing wall of divider  21  are such as to limit movement of the cans  40  and cushion each column of cans from an adjacent column during shipping, while allowing a sufficient gap so that each of the cans  40  are free to move vertically and horizontally within each of the compartments to replace  25 ,  26 ,  27  the cans  40  withdrawn by the shopper until the carton is empty. The dividers  21  further maintain the cans  40  with their axes perpendicular to the divider so that the cans  40  do not become wedged within the dispensing carton.  
         [0019]     At the point-of-purchase, side  22  of carton  20  is pressed along perforation  25  to separate the ends and bottom of flap  26  to allow flap  26  to be opened as shown in  FIG. 4 . In addition, side  22  of carton  20  is pressed along the perforations  30  to facilitate removal of panel  31  to create dispensing opening  32 .  
         [0020]     The height of dispensing opening  32  is advantageously larger than its diameter of the cans  40  so that the cans can be easily withdrawn by a shopper. As each can  40  is withdrawn, another can drops down within the compartments  35 ,  36 , or  37  from which the can  40  was withdrawn until each compartment is emptied.  
         [0021]     For irregular shaped articles, the height of the dispensing opening  32  may be further enlarged since, even if an extra container is inadvertently withdrawn though the enlarged opening  32 , the shopper can simply and easily return the extra item(s) to the dispensing caddy through panel  26 .  
         [0022]     Canned goods  40  include any merchandise, whether a food or non-food item, that is packaged in a container having an external shape compatible with an embodiment of the dispensing caddy. Thus, although a cylindrical can is shown in the drawings, it will apparent that jars of food, e.g., baby food, jams, canned fruit and vegetables, etc. are readily adapted for shipment and on-site dispensing using embodiments of this invention. Additional myriad examples of goods that can be advantageously shipped in and dispensed from the dispensing caddy can be found on store shelves and include pet food; canned salmon; tennis balls in cans, beverage bottles, i.e., any type of package that will freely fall or slide within a compartment of the dispensing caddy.  
         [0023]     Another embodiment of the dispensing caddy is illustrated in  FIGS. 5, 6 ,  7  and  8 . As shown, dispensing carton  100  includes a side  102  having perforated tear lines  105  surrounding a tear-out panel  110 .  
         [0024]     Interior of carton  100 , dividers  115  form compartments  135 ,  136 ,  137  form separate columns of canned goods  40 . In addition, a sheet of cardboard  120  has folded end sections  125 ,  126  which taper from the back to the front of carton  100  to provide a ramp within the carton  100 . This ramp is inclined downwardly from the back side of carton  100  to the front side  102 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , three layers of canned goods  40  are loaded for shipment into carton  100  through one side of the carton  100  into respective compartments  135 ,  136 ,  137 . The center axis of each can  40  is perpendicular to the divider  115  so that the substantially flat top and bottom surfaces of each can  40  face an end wall or divider wall of carton  100 . When located at the point-of-sale, the tear out panel  110  is removed, leaving a dispensing window  150  for each compartment of the dispensing carton  100 . As the buyer withdraws a can  40 , the can above or behind the one withdrawn either falls or rolls down ramp  120  to replace the withdrawn can.  
         [0025]     A feature of the embodiments of  FIGS. 1 through 8  is that the lower edge of the dispensing window forms a lip or ridge  150  in the embodiment of  FIG. 4  and lip or ridge  155  in the embodiment of  FIG. 8 . This lip or ridge is sufficiently higher than the floor of the caddy to securely retain the canned goods within the cartons until they are withdrawn by a purchaser.  
         [0026]     The cartons described above are typically formed from corrugated cardboard or chip board having the requisite thickness and strength to accommodate the weight of the canned goods carried with in the shipping dispenser container.  
         [0027]     The face of side  22  of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 4  and the face of side of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 8  are advantageously printed with graphics. Such graphics can be used to both make a marketing statement and enhance the appearance of the store in which the goods are shelved. Thus, instead of the jumbled appearance often presented by a stack of canned goods on a store shelf, embodiments of the dispenser caddies described above will typically enhance the appearance of store shelves while providing a very positive marketing statement.  
         [0028]     An additional feature of the dispersing caddy is that the ultimate consumer can advantageously use the caddy to take home a bulk pack of canned goods. Thus, this caddy provides a convenient carton to bring the canned goods home from the store and then use the caddy at home to store the cans and dispense each caN only as it is needed.  
         [0029]     The above presents a description of the best mode contemplated for the dispensing caddy in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use this apparatus. This dispensing caddy is, however, susceptible to modifications and alternate constructions that are fully equivalent to the embodiments discussed above. Consequently, this dispensing caddy is not limited to the particular embodiment disclosed. On the contrary, this dispensing caddy covers all modifications and alternate constructions coming within the spirit and scope of the present invention.