Abstract:
The invention provides a retail sales package adapted for mounting on a peg display. The package is formed of two opposed sheets of plastic. At least one of the sheets of plastic is formed with a cavity into which a card and a product are placed. One of the sheets is printed on its inside surface. The two sheets of plastic are brought into contact and sealed together at their peripheral edges. A hang hole is formed during sealing and has its periphery sealed to form a fused edge. The printed card or paper is placed into the cavity with the product prior to the second sheet being sealed to the first sheet. The invention further provides a method for assembling the opposed sheets of plastic by placing them sequentially on a tool having protruding pins adapted for only allowing selected sheets to be mated.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO OTHER APPLICATION  
       [0001]    This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/322,041, which was filed on Sep. 14, 2001. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention relates to the field of retail sales packages and more particularly to retail sales packages that are at least partly transparent.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    A retail sales package has two primary purposes: to protect the product enclosed from damage or soiling and to catch the attention of the potential purchaser. Many known packages accomplish these goals in different ways. Some of these known packages involve a partial clear plastic resin and partial opaque product enclosure that protects the product and maintains partial product visibility, such as a paperboard box with a plastic window. Other packages have been known to fully enclose the product in a plastic resin casing. The drawback of the paperboard box is that the only visibility possible is through the window portion and the window is generally a minor amount of the total package surface area. The drawback of the full plastic package is that the amount of printing on a plastic surface is limited.  
           [0004]    A specific full plastic package encloses the product in a cavity with a printed panel on either side of the product. The cavity portion and the mating planar portion of the plastic package are connected in one of two ways. The first way is to form the two portions of a single sheet with a hinge between, connecting the edges opposite the hinge with snaps. This package has the drawback of not being securely sealed. The second way is to form the two portions of two sheets and assembling them to one another with an adhesive between a pair of mating flanges. This package requires that the flange be comparatively wide and has the additional drawback that the adhesive between clear plastic sheets is unattractive. Partly because of the appearance of the adhesive seal, this package is placed on display with the cavity as its front side. Any printing on the plastic sheet from which the cavity is formed would tend to become distorted during thermoforming. Therefore, a separate sheet is printed and inserted, which presents a further drawback by requiring the insertion step.  
           [0005]    The present invention overcomes the drawbacks of the known retail sales packages and accomplishes an advance in the field by providing a novel and useful retail sales package as described below. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]    [0006]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the retail sales package of the invention.  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 2 is an exploded side elevation view of the retail sales package of the invention; and  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 3 depicts tooling arrangement and its use in assembling the package of the present invention. 
     
    
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]    A pair of opposed plastic package portions are prepared, one having a cavity formed to receive a product and a printed sheet therewithin. The two portions may optionally have holes punched through for permitting a potential purchaser to touch the product enclosed. The printed card is placed within the cavity so as to be visible from outside the package and the product is placed on the card in the cavity. The second plastic package portion is printed on its inner surface in reverse orientation and the two portions are placed in contact with one another at their peripheral flanges. A sealing device, for example a high frequency vibratory sealer, is employed to seal the flanges together. The sealing operation is also used to form a hole by which the package may be suspended from a peg rack with a bonded flange surrounding the hole.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0010]    According to the accompanying drawings, retail sales package  10  of the invention is illustrated in perspective view in FIG. 1 and in exploded side elevation view in FIG. 2. Retail sales package  10  is useful for a variety of products in a retail environment, and particularly useful for encasing and displaying insoles for shoe use, which are commonly displayed for sale on a peg rack. Back sheet  12  is formed preferably of a planar sheet or strip of clear thermoplastic resin that is receptive of printing and also capable of being fused by known mechanical or thermal processes. A preferred plastic resin that has been found to perform according to the requirements of the invention, particularly sealing, is polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Back sheet  12  is configured with a cavity  20  that is sized to enclose the product for retail presentation in package  10 . Cavity  20  is, according to the preferred embodiment, formed in back sheet  12  by vacuum forming or thermoforming, as is known in the industry. A flange  18  extends outwardly around all sides of cavity  20  for a minimum width W that is sufficient to achieve a secure bond when package  10  is completed. For reasons of efficiency, it is preferred that sheet  12  is large enough to form a plurality of cavities  20 , e.g. eight, as will be described further below. The overall market appeal of package  10  is enhanced by flange  18  being as narrow as practical. Width W of flange  18  is on the order of 3 mm (⅛ inch), but may be narrower as desired. Planar portion  28  extends outwardly from one end of cavity  20  to provide an area from which package  10  may be mounted to a display panel, for example a peg rack. Hang hole  22  and optional touch hole  30  are formed as explained below.  
         [0011]    After forming cavity  20 , back sheet  12  is removed from the planar sheet or strip by punching or die-cutting operations as are known. The dimensions of back sheet  12  after being removed from the planar plastic sheet are large enough to provide planar portion  28  and flange  18  beyond cavity  20 . Cavity  20  is depicted as being oval in contour, although different shapes are considered to be within the scope of the invention. If a touch hole  30  is desired to enable a potential purchaser to feel the product placed within package  10 , touch hole  30  is formed at the time that back sheet  12  is removed from the larger planar sheet. It is preferred not to form hang hole  22  at this stage for reasons that will be come apparent from the description below.  
         [0012]    Front sheet  14  is formed from a planar sheet of plastic resin that is preferably from the resin family of which the plastic resin for back sheet  12  is made, i.e. PVC, both for reasons of compatible appearance and for bonding integrity. Front sheet  14  is sized to be substantially congruent with back sheet  12 . As noted above with respect to back sheet  12 , front sheet  14  is initially part of a single large sheet that includes a plurality, e.g. eight, of individual front sheets  14 . Front sheet  14  is shown as being substantially planar; however, front sheet  14  may be formed with a second cavity according to the shape of the product to be enclosed. Front sheet  14  may be formed with a hole (not shown) similar to touch hole  30  in back sheet  12 . The optional hole in front sheet  14  may be in a matching location to or a different location from touch hole  30  in back sheet  12 . Front sheet  14  is printed according to the discretion of the user prior to being assembled to back sheet  12 . The printing of front sheet  14  is applied to inner surface  24  of front sheet  14 , thus requiring the printed portions  16   a  and  16   b,  for example, to be in reverse orientation. By printing the inner surface of front sheet  14 , the printing is not susceptible to being scratched or damaged in any way once the retail sales package is sealed shut. If a touch hole is formed in front sheet  14 , a design or message printing associated with such a touch hole may be desired. According to the preferred embodiment, retail sales package  10  is intended to be displayed with front sheet  14  visible to the purchaser and with cavity  20  positioned to the rear. The invention recognizes that it is difficult to print the inner surface of cavity  20  and not practical to print the outer surface thereof. Furthermore, printing on an outside surface is prone to damage by scuffing. Therefore, printing the inner surface of planar front sheet  14  provides the most preferred solution.  
         [0013]    Referring now to FIG. 2, the process of assembling retail sales package  10  is illustrated in an exploded side view. A further component of package  10  is card  26 . Card  26  is formed of a size to be able to nest within cavity  26 . Card  26  is optionally made in a shape and size to conform to the contour of cavity  26 , e.g. oval. If touch hole  30  is formed in back sheet  12  through the portion including cavity  26 , a matching hole is required to be formed in card  26 . Card  26  is preferably printed with information and merchandising messages for the product being packaged for sale. Card  26  may optionally be multiple sheets that are folded for expanded printing area or other purposes.  
         [0014]    The assembly of the retail sales package  10  of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 2. Card  26  is placed into cavity  20  of back sheet  12  with the face surface of card  26  against the inner surface of cavity  20 . In the embodiment contemplated having eight cavities formed in a single sheet and six printed portions formed on another sheet, a card  26  is placed into each of eight cavities  20 . A product P (shown in dashed lines), for example a pair of insoles, is next placed into each cavity  20 . Front sheet  14  is now placed against back sheet  12  with inner surface  24  closest to product P and with the optional touch hole in back sheet  12  within the area of cavity  20 . The edges of front sheet  14  and back sheet  12  are aligned and the sheets are sealed to one another to weld a periphery around each of six cavities  20 , preferably by being held between a pair of opposed jaws that are vibrated at a high frequency, such as is known as radio frequency bonding. Front sheet  14  and back sheet  12  are thus welded to one another at their respective flange portions with a permanent bond that is typically as strong as or stronger than the sheet material itself. The bonding jaws are shaped to cause the large plastic sheets to separate into multiple individual packages as the flange portions are being fused. The jaws that hold and seal the opposed edges of sheets  12  and  14  additionally have a portion adapted for forming an opening for hang hole  22 . The jaws are configured to create a fused flange portion around hang hole  22  that is equal to or less than the width W of flange  18 . The fused flange portion around hang hole  22  adds to the integrity of retail sales package  10 . Hang hole  22  is located on planar portion  28  (see FIG. 1) in alignment with the center of gravity of product P to ensure vertical hanging of package  10 . In the case of certain products P, a plurality of hang holes, e.g. two, may be formed through planar portion  28 .  
         [0015]    After retail sales package  10  is assembled by the process described, one may mount package  10  on a peg board with either major surface exposed, since the back surface adjacent back sheet  12  contains printing on card  26  and front sheet  14  is directly printed on its inner surface  24 . However, as described, retail sales package  10  is intended to be displayed with front sheet  14  positioned outwardly, thus enabling product P to have maximum marketing impact.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 3 depicts a tooling arrangement for rapid assembly of plural packages of the type embodied by the present invention. The arrangement of FIG. 3 includes an exemplary eight openings  302 , each of which conforms to the size, shape and position of each of an array of eight cavities similar to the cavity  20  previously described.  
         [0017]    When it is desired to assemble plural packages of the type described, a single bottom sheet comprising an exemplary eight cavities (not shown) is positioned into the tool  301 , with the cavities fitting within openings  302 . The bottom sheet is formed with a pair of holes that are positioned to engage pins  310 - 311  of tool  301  to ensure proper sheet orientation. In an optional next step, a paper or cardboard insert may be placed into each cavity with printing on it, the printing being preferably face down so as to show through the packaging. Optionally, the printing may be on both sides of the insert, or on either one side. The product P (see FIG. 2) is next placed into the cavity.  
         [0018]    The next step comprises placing a sheet  303  over the tooling apparatus. Sheet  303  includes printing on the bottom surface thereof, with each printed portion corresponding to one of the packages described herein. As described above, the printing on sheet  303  is oriented so that the message is readable from the outside when the package is sealed. Sheet  303  contains positioning holes  304 - 305 , which fit over pins  310 - 311  on tool  301  in order to ensure that the printed portions  320  are aligned with the openings  302  prior to sealing. Other identifying devices, for example positioned notches on the edge of sheet  303  or varied shaped pins, are contemplated.  
         [0019]    In an additional embodiment, pin  310  is removed from the position shown and inserted at one of positions  312 . In this manner, different sheets  303  with hole  305  at different locations can be utilized, with each type of sheet having the holes formed at a predefined location. By utilizing such a hole-positioning system, sheets with different characteristics can be used, and it is less likely that a mistake in packaging will be made. Specifically, if sheets  303  printed with packaging for men&#39;s products are being utilized, then a sheet  303  inadvertently mixed in, but labeled for women&#39;s products, will not fit onto the tooling. Thus, the men&#39;s products will not inadvertently be placed into women&#39;s packaging.  
         [0020]    Once sheet  303  is aligned, it is sealed to the bottom sheet around the border of each printed portion  320 , leaving a small amount of excess of sheet  303  to be peeled away after the sealing process. In the case of ultrasonic sealing, the sealing process will itself sever the excess and allow it to be easily lifted by an operator.  
         [0021]    While the present invention is described with respect to specific embodiments thereof, it is recognized that various modifications and variations thereof may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, which is more clearly understood by reference to the claims appended hereto.