Patent Publication Number: US-2011073517-A1

Title: Containers with reduced material content

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
     This is a non-provisional application of provisional application serial No. 61/246,692, filed on Sep. 29, 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference and the priority benefit of which is hereby claimed. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to packaging, and more particularly, to containers with reduced material content. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A need exists for a package or container such as a plastic container which uses less plastic material. By using less plastic material, a lower cost package will result, less plastic will be processed and less plastic will be disposed of, for example, in garbage dumps and landfills. In this manner, by reducing the amount of plastic in a potentially disposable container, economical and environmental improvements may be achieved. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In one embodiment, a plastic injection molded open-walled cage or open plastic framework is formed to provide structural support to a closed-wall package. The cage or framework is then covered or wrapped with a thin sheet or label to cover the openings in the cage or framework. The label can either be clear, opaque or a combination of clear and opaque. For example, a label can be provided with a clear plastic window to allow a user to view within the container to see the level of product remaining inside of the container or package. 
     The label which covers the opening in the cage or framework is provided with an adhesive in predetermined areas which corresponds only to those areas which will contact the cage or framework. In this manner, no adhesive will be exposed to any product within the cage or framework. Stated another way, only those portions of the label which do not include adhesive will be exposed to the product within the framework. The label can be formed of any conventional sheet material such as paper, plastic, fabric, etc. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A more complete understanding of the present invention, and the attendant advantages and features thereof, will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1A  illustrates an exemplary prior art container; 
         FIG. 1B  illustrates another exemplary prior art container; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an embodiment of a container with reduced material content; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of another embodiment of a container with reduced material content; 
         FIG. 4  is a plan view of an embodiment of a label for placement on the container of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a plan view of another embodiment of a label for placement on the container of  FIG. 3 ; and 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an assembled container assembly assembled from the container of  FIG. 3  and the label of  FIG. 4 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     One application in accordance with the present disclosure is the provision of a plastic injection molded container and label assembly for use as a dental floss container. However, the general construction and concept of this disclosure may be applied to virtually any type of package constructed from any type of material for any type of article. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1A and 1B , illustrated are exemplary prior art plastic dental floss containers formed entirely of solid wall plastic. In order to reduce the plastic material usage in the constructions of  FIGS. 1A and 1B , the open framed container  10  of  FIG. 2  has been developed in accordance with the present disclosure. 
     As seen in  FIG. 2 , the container  10  is formed with an open-walled cage-like construction which includes, for example, solid side walls  12 , a solid bottom wall  14  and a solid hinged top  16 . In order to reduce the amount of plastic usage, the front wall of the container  10  has been provided with large openings  18  which are separated by a front vertical plastic reinforcing bar  20 . 
     A top reinforcing bar  22  extends between the side walls  12  and interconnects with the central support or stabilizing bar  20 . A similar construction is provided on the back wall of the container  10 . 
     The hinged top  16  can include a lip  17  having a detent  17   a  that engages a notch (not shown) on the top reinforcing bar  22 . The detent  17   a  on the lip  17  secures the hinged top  16  in a closed position to secure the contents of the contents of the container  10  therein. 
     The container  10  of  FIG. 2  reduces the amount of plastic as compared to its counterpart in  FIG. 1  by approximately 50%. This results in significant material costs savings as well as reduced recycling of plastic material and reduced material destined for landfill. 
     A generally rectangular flexible label is bonded to the container  10  to cover all of the openings  18  (other than the top opening which is covered by lid  16 ). Only selective areas of the label are bonded to the container  10 , for example along side walls  12  and/or supports  20 ,  22 . 
     Another example of the disclosure is shown as the dental floss container  10  in the embodiment of  FIG. 3  which has a construction similar to that of  FIG. 2 . Although in this embodiment, an additional opening  26  is provided in each sidewall  12  to further reduce the material usage. In order to further reduce the material usage, the container  10  is constructed with a generally “U” shaped profile to closely receive a generally circular reel of dental floss. 
       FIG. 4  shows an example of a one-piece integral label  30  suitable for use in covering the open walled container  10  of  FIG. 3 . In this example, the periphery or border of the label  30  is provided with a narrow tacky adhesive strip or region  32 . The region  32  corresponds to the solid portions of the container  10  or framework of  FIG. 3  such that the adhesive only makes contact with the solid regions and is not exposed to any internal area of the container  10 . Stated otherwise, any contents within the container  10  are prevented from contact with any of the adhesive due to the limited area of exclusive contact between the adhesive and the plastic container  10 . 
     The openings  18  in the front and back of the container  10  are covered by label portions  36  and the side windows  26  are covered by label portions  38 . When the label  30  of  FIG. 4  is applied to the framework or container  10  of  FIG. 3 , the container assembly  50  of  FIG. 6  results. 
     As seen in  FIG. 5 , instead of using a single integral adhesive panel, a series of individual adhesive panels or labels may be applied in a manner similar to that as described above. In each of the labels of  FIGS. 4 and 5 , a clear or transparent opening  42  may be provided in one or more portions of the label to allow a user to view the contents within the container  10 . This clear window  42  can be provided by making the entire label of clear plastic or a cellophane type material and applying an opaque coating on the rest of the label, other than on the openings or windows  42 . Alternatively, an aperture can be formed in the label and covered over with a clear plastic window such as by adhesives, bonding, melting or the like. An entirely clear or opaque label may also be used. 
     All references cited herein are expressly incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
     It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described herein above. In addition, unless mention was made above to the contrary, it should be noted that all of the accompanying drawings are not to scale. A variety of modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, which is limited only by the following claims.