Patent Abstract:
A consumer package is provided having a container for holding a consumable product. The container has an outer border and at least one surface, which may be planar, curved, irregular, rigid or soft. A medium such as a preprinted pad of written or graphic material is attachable to the surface(s) of the container. Adhesive tape, banding material, glue, or perforated slots are provided for attaching or retaining the medium to the surface(s). The use of the package stimulates consumers&#39; interest, provides entertainment and higher consumer satisfaction which translates into increased sales and a competitive advantage.

Full Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/191,096, filed Sep. 5, 2008, for CONSUMER PACKAGE, by Nicole Blazicek, included by reference herein and for which benefit of the priority date is hereby claimed. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates generally to a consumer package and, more particularly, to cardboard/paperboard boxes, containers, cartons and packages that are combined with an attachable multi sheet item for use by consumers for entertainment, education and advertisement. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Consumer product manufacturing often includes promotional items such as games and activities with their product packaging for promotion of the product beyond the marketability of the product itself. Product marketing is a very competitive. Most often promotional items are inexpensive and provided to the consumer as a purchase enticement. Problem is interest in the promotional item wanes long before the consumer product is used or exhausted; any benefits realized by including such promotions are short lived and potentially cheapen the product brand. 
         [0004]    The present invention is an attachable multi sheet item for a consumer cardboard/paperboard container, box, package or carton having walls in which articles can be contained. The inventive package is made of multiple sheets of paper or other material which have information that stimulates consumer interaction and interest. These pages can include details such as sports teams and highlights, facts on animals, educational information such as historical profiles, games, puzzles, mazes, advertisements, television and movie details and promotions, artwork, travel and coupons. 
         [0005]    Coordinating promotional campaigns with a hot market such as Jonas Brothers or Disney characters often provides a company with improvements in market share at the expense of its competitors. The inventive package will have an even greater impact on the company&#39;s sales when paired with a popular culture promotion by providing the ability to change the consumer&#39;s view with each serving by removing previously read attached sheets allowing the consumer to see a new attachable sheet improving customer satisfaction and their interests. 
         [0006]    The inventive multi sheet pad can be attached to multiple sides of boxes, containers, packages or cartons to lend itself to sharing the experience of stimulating reading and interaction. 
         [0007]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,579 for DOUBLE-SIDED STAND-UP BOOK, issued to Carolen Sadler on Jul. 13, 1999, discloses a spiral-bound stand-up book with pages printed with one set of textual materials on one side, and a second independent set of textual materials on the other so as to allow two persons looking at the book from opposite sides to simultaneously read two independent sets of textual materials. 
         [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,755,711 for BOX GAMES AND ACTIVITIES, issued to Karen McClung et al. on Jun. 29, 2004, discloses a play activity set having target apparatus at which at least one object may be directed; at least one object for throwing at the target apparatus; the target apparatus and the object made by separating box material from the box. The target apparatus and the object can be separated from a pizza box. 
         [0009]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,435,561 for FOLDING CARTON WITH ATTACHMENT AND COVER, issued to Gregory Verenski on Aug. 20, 2002, discloses a folding carton, box, container, envelope, sleeve or the like with at least one detachable panel in the form of an information card, an identification card, a reminder card, a business reply card, a return envelope or other item. At least one attachment in the form of informational material, brochures, pamphlets, media items, compact disks, cassette tapes, video tapes, packets or pouches, is suitably secured to the folding carton and/or the detachable panels between the outside of the box and the detachable panel or panels. The detachable panel is folded over the attachment and the open end of the detachable panel is secured down to the box by seals. An identification card can be removably formed in the panel, as can a window for viewing a label or other information. 
         [0010]    The prior art mentioned have several disadvantages: first, a double-sided stand-up book cannot be used to transport a consumable product and typically two different readers will not be interested in the same content; second, removing portions of the consumer package in order to create box games and activities is not conducive to multiple changes of displayed content and may weaken or render the consumer package useless; finally, a folding carton with attachment and cover is costly to manufacture and cumbersome to use. The cover must be unfolded to expose the content; this takes up additional table space and may contact other objects causing spillage. Furthermore, similar to traditional books, it is very difficult to manage pages unless both hands are used, especially if the cover&#39;s bottom edges are resting on a surface. 
         [0011]    It would be advantageous to provide a consumer package with layers of removable content. 
         [0012]    It would also be advantageous to provide a consumer package with engaging and changeable entertainment and educational content. 
         [0013]    It would also be advantageous to provide a consumer package capable of delivering promotional content for products, services, corporations, or organizations. 
         [0014]    It would also be advantageous to provide a consumer package that can be competitively priced. 
         [0015]    It would further be advantageous to provide a consumer package with enhanced advertising and marketing appeal. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0016]    According to the principles of this invention, a consumer package is provided, which has a container for holding a consumable product. The container has an outer border and at least one surface, which may be planar, curved, irregular, rigid or soft. A medium such as a preprinted pad of written or graphic material is attachable to the surface(s) of the container. 
         [0017]    Adhesive material, banding material, glue, or perforated slots are provided for attaching the medium to the surface(s). Alternatively, a folder may be provided for containing sheets of material. 
         [0018]    The attachable multi sheet pad is provided within or outside the consumer box, package, container or carton for entertainment, education, advertisement and marketability. The multi sheet pad is attached on the consumer packaging and is made of several sheets of paper often equal to the number of servings contained with in the packaging. After the consumer has read, interacted or finished with one page, that sheet is detached from the box to unveil a new page of information. Consumer satisfaction will increase as the boredom of the same box, package, carton or container to look at everyday will be resolved by offering entertainment and information and an improved product experience. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0019]    A complete understanding of the present invention may be obtained by reference to the accompanying drawings, when considered in conjunction with the subsequent, detailed description, in which: 
           [0020]      FIG. 1   a  is a perspective view of the consumer package with peelable content cover sheet and hidden content pad in accordance with the invention; 
           [0021]      FIG. 1   b  is a perspective view of the consumer package with spacer, peelable content cover sheet, and hidden content pad in accordance with the invention; 
           [0022]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the consumer package with partially removed peelable content cover sheet exposing hidden content pad in accordance with the invention; 
           [0023]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the consumer package with peelable content cover sheet removed to expose content pad in accordance with the invention; and 
           [0024]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the consumer package with content pad exposed and first content page partially removed in accordance with the invention. 
       
    
    
       [0025]    For purposes of clarity and brevity, like elements and components will bear the same designations and numbering throughout the Figures. 
       DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0026]      FIG. 1   a  is a perspective view of the consumer package  10  with peelable content cover sheet  20  and hidden medium  14  in accordance with the invention. One or more content medium  14  can be secured to one or more surfaces of the container  12  by gluing or banding or any other means known by someone having ordinary skill in the art of manufacturing consumer packages. Content may include print and/or graphics including, but not limited to, games, stories, news articles, trivia, mazes, coupons, and the like. 
         [0027]    Optionally the content cover sheet  20  may include a starter tab  22  to ease the peeling process. As shown, the content cover sheet  20  is attached to the container  12  surface  16  using a low-tack reusable pressure sensitive adhesive  15 . The hidden medium  14  is secured to a surface  16  (not shown) which is in turn secured to the inner side of the container  12 . The container  12  has an opening (not shown) to allow room for the medium  14 . 
         [0028]    Alternatively, as shown in  FIG. 1   b , the medium  14  could be directly secured to the container  12  surface  16 . A spacer  13  made of container  12  material could surround the planar edges of the medium  14  and be secured to the container  12 . Furthermore, the content cover sheet  20  could in turn be secured to the spacer  13 . Optionally, one or more slots  21  can be formed in container  12  to retain the lower and/or upper corners of the pages of content pad  18 . 
         [0029]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the consumer package  10  with partially removed peelable content cover sheet  20  exposing a content pad  18  medium  14  and optional finger relief  24 . The finger relief  24  provides an area for a user&#39;s finger to access the edge of the content pad  18 . The content pad  18  is secured to a surface  16  and the surface  16  is secured to the inner side of the container  12 . 
         [0030]    Alternatively, the content pad  18  could be directly secured to the container  12  surface  16 . A spacer  13  made of container  12  material could surround the planar edges of the medium  14  and be secured to the container  12 . Furthermore, the content cover sheet  20  could in turn be secured to the spacer  13 . Alternatively, one or more bands (eg. rubber bands)  25  can be used to restrain the pages of content pad  18 . Bands  25  can be placed at the upper most portion of content pad  18 , as shown on  FIG. 2  and/or can be placed at the lower most portion of content pad  18 . 
         [0031]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the consumer package with peelable content cover sheet  20  removed (not shown) and fully exposed content pad  18 . A permanent or high-tack adhesive  15  (shown hidden) could be used to secure the content pad  18  to the surface  16 . 
         [0032]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the consumer package with content pad  18  fully exposed and first content page partially removed in accordance with the invention. The content printed on the content cover sheet  20  ( FIG. 1 ) preferably differs from the first and subsequent content pad  18  pages. The first content pad  18  page may differ from the second and subsequent content pad  18  pages, etc. Generally speaking, the present invention features a consumer package  10  that has a container  12  for holding a consumable product. The container  12  has an outer border and at least one surface  16 , which may be planar, curved, irregular, rigid or soft. A medium  14  such as a preprinted pad of written or graphic material is attachable to the surface  16 ( s ) of the container  12 . 
         [0033]    In practice the consumer will view and/or read the content provided on the container  12  and content cover sheet  20 . Either by instruction, clues, or natural progression the consumer will remove the content cover sheet  20  to expose the hidden medium  14 . In the preferred embodiment the medium  14  consists of a content pad  18 . Either by instruction, clues, or natural progression the consumer will remove the first page of the content pad  18  to expose subsequent content pad  18  pages. Subsequent pages of content pad  18  can be exposed in due course. Optionally the content cover sheet  20  and content pad  18  pages may contain content printed on both sides of the page. 
         [0034]    The present invention recognizes and addresses the previously mentioned problems and long felt needs and provides a solution to those problems. To one skilled in this art who has the benefits of this invention&#39;s realizations, teachings, disclosures and suggestions, other purposes and advantages will be appreciated from the description. The detail in these descriptions is not intended to thwart this patent&#39;s object to claim this invention no matter how others may later disguise it by variations in form or additions for further improvements. 
         [0035]    The inventive package should utilize materials that are food safe materials if packaged inside the consumer product. The container  12  and medium  14  may be made from recycled paper to increase the positive marketing campaign and demonstrates an ecological awareness. If cut paper is utilized, being held in place by a holder, banding material or perforated cuts can be provided. Printing on both sides of the paper is recommended as another environmental advantage and reduction of costs. 
         [0036]    The medium  14  can be adhered to the container  12  via methods such as banding materials, attachable holders, partial cut lines which cuts are perforations, use of adhesive  15  tape, spot glue or peelable cover sheets. 
         [0037]    If the content pad  18  is sold separately from the product container  12 , box, package or carton, corporations that utilize promotional items to increase market share will lose a valuable tool to differentiate themselves and increase their sales and revenue. Another area to market this invention to is businesses/publishers such as magazines already in the print business as another outlet to increase their reader base. 
         [0038]    The invention is not limited to the above embodiments. The present invention has been described above purely by way of example. Modification in detail may be made to the invention as defined in the claims appended hereto. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many changes can be made in the embodiments described without departing from the spirit and scope of this present invention. 
         [0039]    Since other modifications and changes varied to fit particular operating requirements and environments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention is not considered limited to the example chosen for purposes of disclosure, and covers all changes and modifications which do not constitute departures from the true spirit and scope of this invention. 
         [0040]    Having thus described the invention, what is desired to be protected by Letters Patent is presented in the subsequently appended claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6