Patent Publication Number: US-10306999-B2

Title: Two piece collapsible display hutch

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/813,323, filed Nov. 15, 2017, now pending, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/267,751, filed Sep. 16, 2016 and claiming priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/219,940, filed Sep. 17, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,844,282. Each patent application identified above is incorporated here by reference in its entirety to provide continuity of disclosure. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     This invention patent relates to a display hutch. More particularly, this invention relates to a display hutch that can be pre-assembled, shipped flat, and then easily set up before being loaded with items. 
     Description of the Related Art 
     Corrugated hutches, or hutch-like containers made primarily of corrugated board, can be used to ship items and then display the items in a retail setting. A need exists for an inexpensive corrugated hutch that can be pre-assembled at the source, shipped flat, and then easily erected before being loaded with items. The present disclosure addresses this need. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure relates to a collapsible, easy to assemble hutch. 
     In one aspect the hutch is formed from two blanks and comprises two laterally opposing, hinged sidewalls, elongated horizontal front panels, a rear wall and shelves. Each sidewall comprises a front sidewall panel and a rear sidewall panel hingedly connected to each other along a vertical sidewall fold line. The front panels have laterally opposing ends and extend between the sidewalls. Each end is connected to a front wall panel along a fold line. The rear wall comprises two rear wall half panels. Each rear wall half panel is hingedly connected to a rear sidewall panel. Each shelf extends between and is supported by one of the front panels and the rear wall, and comprises a front shelf panel, a rear shelf panel, a front facing panel hingedly affixed along a fold line to the front shelf panel and having a front facing surface affixed to one of the horizontal front panels, and a rear facing panel hingedly affixed to the rear shelf panel along a fold line and having a rear facing surface affixed to the rear wall. 
     The hutch is moveable between a first position in which the front shelf panel and the rear shelf panel of each shelf are positioned in substantially flat, abutting relationship, and a second position in which the front shelf panel and the rear shelf panel of each shelf form a substantially planar load supporting shelf bottom. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a hutch according to the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a rear view of a first blank used to make the body of the hutch of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a view of a second blank used to make the spine of the hutch of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIGS. 4-10  show how to pre-assemble the hutch of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a front perspective view of a spine in an initial stage of pre-assembly. 
         FIG. 5  is a front perspective view of the spine of  FIG. 4  in a later stage of pre-assembly. 
         FIG. 6  is a front perspective view of the spine of  FIG. 5  in a later stage of pre-assembly. 
         FIG. 7  is a rear perspective view of the spine of  FIG. 5  shown just before being affixed to a body blank. 
         FIG. 8  is a rear perspective view of the spine of  FIG. 5  after it has been affixed to the body blank. 
         FIG. 9  is a rear perspective view of the structure of  FIG. 8  in a later stage of pre-assembly. 
         FIG. 10  is a front perspective view of a pre-assembled hutch shown in its “flat” condition prior to final assembly (set up). 
         FIG. 11  is a front perspective view showing the hutch of  FIG. 10  during final set up. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     While this invention may be embodied in many forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail one or more embodiments with the understanding that this disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the illustrated embodiments. 
     As will be appreciated, terms such as “horizontal,” “vertical,” “left,” “right,” “up,” “down,” “top,” “bottom,” “front”, “back”, “rear”, etc., either used as nouns, adjectives or adverbs (e.g. “horizontally, “upwardly,” etc.), refer in this description to the orientation of the structure of the hutch as it is illustrated in the figures when that figure faces the reader. Such terms are not intended to limit the invention to a particular orientation. The terms “integral”, “integrally connected” or “integrally joined” when used to describe the relationship between two or more structures means that the structures are comprised of a single piece of material. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , the invention is a collapsible corrugated hutch  10  comprising a body  12  and a spine  14 , each made from a single die cut blank. In the assembled hutch  10  shown in  FIG. 1 , the spine  14  is slidably positioned within the body  12 . That is, the spine  14  can slide vertically with respect to the body  12  so that the hutch  10  can be converted from a substantially flat position for storing and shipping to a three-dimensional display configuration. From the flat position, as the spine  14  slides vertically with respect to the body  12 , the body opens up to form a three dimensional outer structure, while parts of the spine  14  spread out to form a three-dimensional inner structure comprising multiple shelves upon which merchandise can be displayed. 
     Still referring to  FIG. 1 , the hutch  10  comprises one or more front panels  18 , two laterally opposing hinged sidewalls  20 , a rear wall  21  and shelves  44 . 
     The one or more front panels  18  extend between and are connected at either lateral end to the two laterally opposing front sidewall panels  24  along front fold lines  30 . The front panels  18  are attached to one or more front facing panels  62  (obscured by the front panels  18  in  FIG. 1 ) to support of the shelves  44 . 
     Each hinged sidewall  20  comprises a front sidewall panel  24  and a back sidewall panel  26  integrally connected along a vertical sidewall fold line  28 . 
     The rear wall  21  may be a single panel hingedly connected to a sidewall  20 , but preferably is formed from two rear wall half panels  22 . The rear wall half panels  22  are attached to and support one or more rear facing panels  82  (at least one of which can be seen in  FIG. 1 ) of the shelves  44 . 
     The shelves  44  extend between and are supported by the front panels  18  and the rear wall  21 . Each shelf  44  comprises front and rear shelf flaps  56 ,  76  which form the load supporting bottoms of the shelves, and front and rear facing panels  62 ,  82 . The front and rear shelf flaps  56 ,  76  are hingedly affixed to front and rear panels  48 ,  50  respectively. The front and rear facing panels  62 ,  82  are hingedly affixed to the front and rear shelf flaps  56 ,  76  respectively. 
       FIG. 2  is a rear view of a first blank  16  used to make the body  12  of the hutch  10  of  FIG. 1 . The body  12  is made from a first (body) blank  16 , preferably made of corrugated board, and comprises at least five and preferably six vertically oriented panels and one or more horizontally oriented panels. The vertically oriented panels comprise the two hinged sidewalls  20  and either one full rear wall panel  21  or two rear wall half panels  22 . The horizontally oriented panels are the front panels  18 . 
     Each folding sidewall  20  comprises a front sidewall panel  24  and a back sidewall panel  26  connected along a vertical sidewall fold line  28 . Preferably the total width of each pair of front sidewall panel  24  and back sidewall panel  26  exceeds the total depth of the shelves  44  so that each sidewall  20  forms a slight angle in the assembled hutch  10  as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     The front panels  18  extend between and are connected at either end to the opposing front sidewall panels  24  along left and right vertical front fold lines  30 . Each front panel  18  may have a free top edge  33  and a free bottom edge  34 , although it is preferred that the bottommost front panel  18  extend down to the base  36  of the hutch  10  and be hingedly attached to a bottom flap  40  that folds under the base  36 . 
     Each back sidewall panel  26  is connected along one vertical edge to its corresponding front sidewall panel  24  by a vertical sidewall fold line  28  and on the other vertical edge to a rear wall half panel  22  along a rear vertical fold line  32 . The vertical sidewall fold lines  28  and rear fold lines  32  preferably extend from the base  36  to the top edge  38  of the body  12 . 
     Bottom flaps  40  may be hingedly attached to the rear wall half panels  22  and other bottom flaps  41  may be hingedly attached to the sidewalls  20  along the base  36 . The bottom flaps  40 ,  41  are intended to be folded inwardly to help stabilize the base  36 . A pair of slots  35  may be formed in the body blank  16  along the vertical sidewall fold lines  28 . These slots  35  may be configured to receive outwardly extending tabs  88  located on the sides of the spine  14  to lock the hutch  10  into its final assembled position. 
       FIG. 3  is a view of a second blank  46  used to make the spine  14  of the hutch  10  of  FIG. 1 . The second blank  46  preferably is made of corrugated board. The second (spine) blank  46  comprises a front panel  48  and a rear panel  50  integrally connected by a vertical spine fold line  52 . When folded together the front panel  48  and the rear panel  50  form a frame  15  having a double thickness of corrugated board or of whatever material the spine blank  46  is made. The shelves  44  are hingedly attached to the frame  15 . The shelves  44  are suspended from and within the frame  15 . 
     The front panel  48  comprises a front frame  54  and one or more front shelf flaps  56  attached to and suspended within the front frame  54 . The front frame  54  is a ladder-like structure and comprises a front header board member  90  located at the top of the front frame  54 , a pair of vertical members  57  extending downward from either laterally spaced side of the header board  90 , and one or more elongated horizontal members  55  extending between the vertical members  57 . 
     Each front shelf flap  56  comprises a front shelf panel  60  and a front facing panel  62 . Each front shelf panel  60  is hingedly and rotatably attached to the front frame  54  and, more particularly, to an elongated horizontal member  55 , along a horizontal front shelf fold line  58 . Each front facing panel  62  is hingedly connected along a front facing panel fold line  64  to a front shelf panel  60 . In addition, the front shelf flaps  56  may be affixed to the front frame  54  along scored or perforated lines which must be broken during pre-assembly. 
     Preferably the height of each front facing panel  62  does not exceed the height of the corresponding front panel  18  to which it will be attached so that the front facing panels  62  are hidden behind the front panels  18  is the final assembled hutch  10 . 
     Similarly, the rear panel  50  comprises a rear frame  74  and one or more rear shelf flaps  76  attached to and suspended within the rear frame  74 . Like the front frame  54 , the rear frame  74  is a ladder-like structure and comprises a rear header board member  90  located at the top of the rear frame  74 , a pair of vertical members  77  extending downward from either laterally spaced side of the header board  90 , and one or more elongated horizontal members  75  extending between the vertical members  77 . 
     Similar to the front shelf flaps  56 , each rear shelf flap  76  comprises a rear shelf panel  80  and a rear facing panel. Each rear shelf panel  80  is hingedly and rotatably attached to the rear frame  74  and, more particularly, to an elongated horizontal member  75 , along a horizontal rear shelf flap fold line  78 . Each rear facing panel is hingedly connected along a rear facing panel fold line  84  to a rear shelf panel  80 . In addition, the rear shelf flaps  76  may be affixed to the rear frame  74  along scored or perforated lines which must be broken during pre-assembly. 
     The front and rear panels  48 ,  50  may further comprise integrally formed tabs  88  extending laterally from the free side edges  85  of the blank  46 . Another tab  88  may be die cut into the spine blank  46  and extend from the vertical spine fold line  52 . These tabs  88  are positioned so that they fit into slots  35  located in the hutch body along vertical sidewall fold lines  28  during final set up. 
     Pre-Assembly 
     Pre-assembly as used herein refers to the process of assembling the two components of the hutch  10 , i.e., the body  12  and the spine  14 , wherein the pre-assembled hutch  10  is in a flat (“unopened”) configuration, suitable for storage or for delivery to a customer. The hutch  10  may be pre-assembled as follows: 
     1. Taking a spine blank  46 , apply glue to the front facing areas of the horizontal members  75 , the outer vertical member  77  and the header portion  90  of the rear panel  50  as indicted by the “X&#39;s” in  FIG. 3 . Alternatively, glue may be applied to various rear facing areas of the horizontal members  55 , or to any areas of the front panels  48  or rear panels  50  that enable the front panels  48  and rear panels  50  to be glued together. 
     2. Fold the front panel  48  over onto the rear panel  50  as indicated by arrow A in  FIG. 4  to obtain the assembled double thickness spine  14  shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     3. If desired, pre-break the shelf scores on the sides of the hutch spine  14  as shown in  FIG. 6  before the next pre-assembly step. 
     4. Taking the body blank  16 , apply glue to the rear facing surfaces of the horizontal front panels  18  as indicated by the “X&#39;s” in  FIG. 2 . 
     5. Position the assembled spine  14  from Step 2 or 3 onto the rear facing surface of the body blank  16  as indicated by the arrow B in  FIG. 7  so that the shelf front facing panels  62  adhere to the body front panels  18  to obtain the configuration shown in  FIG. 8 . ( FIG. 7  is a rear perspective view of the partially pre-assembled hutch  10 .) 
     6. Apply glue to the rear facing surfaces of the rear facing panels  82  as indicted by the areas of the spine  14  marked with “I&#39;s” in  FIG. 8 . 
     7. Fold the sidewalls  20  and rear wall half panels  22  backwards along sidewall fold lines  28  as indicated by the arrows C in  FIG. 9  so that the rear wall half panels  22  adhere to the rear facing panels  82 . The flattened, pre-assembled hutch  10  is ready for shipping. 
       FIG. 10  is a front perspective view of the pre-assembled hutch  10  shown in its “flat” condition prior to final assembly (set up). The hutch  10  is substantially flat. Each front sidewall panel  24  is in substantially flat abutting relationship with a corresponding rear sidewall panel  26 . The spine  14  is folded in half and sandwiched between the front sidewall panels  24  and the rear sidewall panels  26 . 
     Final Assembly (Set Up) 
     The hutch  10  can be easily set up on-site by a single person by pushing down on the body  12  with one hand in the direction indicated by arrow D in  FIG. 11  while holding the spine  14  upright with the other hand. Because the front shelf flaps  56  are glued to the front panels  18  of the body  12 , and the rear shelf flaps  76  are glued to the rear wall half panels  22 , when the body  12  is pushed downwardly relative to the spine  14 , the shelf flaps  56 ,  76  will rotate along their respective front shelf flap fold lines  58  and rear shelf flap fold lines  78  and splay outwardly, away from each other, until they form the horizontal shelves  44  shown in  FIG. 1 . More specifically, as the body  12  moves downward relative to the spine  14 , the front shelf flaps  56  rotate forward about front shelf flap fold lines  58  and lock into a horizontal position while the rear shelf flaps  76  rotate rearward about rear shelf flap fold lines  78  and lock into the same horizontal plane as the front shelf flaps  56 , creating the shelves  44  shown in  FIG. 1 . Each pair of front and back sidewall panels  24 ,  26 , which lay almost flat against each other prior to set up, will fan out along sidewall fold line  28  to form an angle. As the body  12  reaches its final position relative to the spine  14 , the tabs  88  extending laterally from the spine  14  may fit into the slots  35  in the body  12  to further stabilize the hutch  10 . The integrated header board  90  may emerge above the body  12 . Finally, the bottom flaps  40 ,  41  may be folded inwardly to help stabilize the base  36 . 
     The assembled hutch  10  forms a three-dimensional display having a width equal to the width of the front panels  18  and a depth equal to the depth of the sidewalls  20 . 
     INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY 
     The hutch described herein can be used in retail or other settings for the display and sale of any suitable items, including salty snacks, cookies and household goods. 
     It should be understood that the embodiments described above are only particular examples which serve to illustrate the principles of the invention. Modifications and alternative embodiments are contemplated which do not depart from the scope of this disclosure as defined by the foregoing teachings and appended claims. It is intended that the claims cover all such modifications and alternative embodiments that fall within their scope.