Abstract:
A product display system comprising a top and bottom, one or more display panels forming a display column together with the top and bottom, and one or more box openings adjacent to one or more eyeglass post openings in the display panels such that the eyeglasses are displayed adjacent to their boxes. Also a method of displaying eyeglasses adjacent to their packaging.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a display apparatus that can display the packaging of a product in the immediate vicinity and in visible relation to the product. More specifically, the invention relates to the retail display of eyeglasses.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Retail displays are critical to the sales of consumer products as they are the means by which products are positioned in the view and reach of prospective purchasers. Product displays are therefore configured to hold and position products in the view of consumers in an orderly and appealing arrangement. To this end, a great variety of product display racks and product support devices have been contrived for all types of products.  
         [0003]     In many industries products are packaged in material designed to directly relate aesthetically to the product. Typical retail displays are not capable of displaying this packaging in any relation to the product thereby diminishing the purpose of the packaging and its marketing potential.  
         [0004]     Additionally packaging often holds several products and as one product is purchased or removed the proximity of the packaging becomes important for the retailer. Retail displays are not designed to keep the packaging in immediate proximity to the products.  
         [0005]     There are various retail display devices available for the retail display of eyewear. These devices often include a case rotatably supported on a center post, where the case is comprised of, or accepts, panels on which eyeglasses (e.g., sunglasses) can be mounted for display. However these devices lack many of the desired functions of a modern retailer.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     This invention provides an eyeglass display system comprising a body having a top and bottom and back panels for accepting display panels for displaying eyeglasses and their box packaging in immediate proximity to each other.  
         [0007]     The present invention overcomes many disadvantages of prior art retail product displays by providing a single or multiple-sided vertically oriented display column for selective exposure of display panels. Each display panel is capable of displaying the product packaging and the product in immediate vicinity to each other. Specifically the inventive display system includes a single display column and single or multiple display panels for the display of eyewear and the box in which the eyewear is packaged.  
         [0008]     Among the many display systems embodied in this invention, the display may be floor standing with a single cylindrical display panel that enables customers to walk around the display. The display may also be counter standing and rotationally mounted to allow the customer to rotate the display for viewing different panels or for viewing different angles of a singular cylindrical panel. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a front plan view of the first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is a top plan view of the first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0013]      FIG. 5  is a front plan view of the second embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0014]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0015]      FIG. 7  is a front plan view of the third embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0016]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0017]      FIG. 9  is a front plan view of the fourth embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0018]     The present invention provides a product display system that allows for the simultaneous display, in immediate proximity, of the product and its packaging. In  FIG. 1  the display system comprises a top  102  and bottom  104  and four countered display panels, two of which are shown  106 ,  108 . The top and bottom are octagonal in this embodiment but may be of any desired shape including square and circular. The contoured display panels  106 ,  108  may be mounted to each other by connected side members  110  forming a display column. The connected side members  110  may be mounted to a center column (not shown) or may be free standing. Alternatively, the contoured display panels may be free standing and connected only to the top  102  and bottom  104 .  
         [0019]     The contoured display panels  106 ,  108  comprise one or more box openings  112  for receiving the packaging box for eyeglasses. The box openings  112  are adapted to receive the box so that it is supported enough to maintain itself in a substantially parallel plane relative to the top  102  and bottom  104 .  
         [0020]     One or more pairs of eyeglass post openings  114  are adapted to receive the posts of eyeglasses and support the eyeglasses in a substantially parallel plane relative to the top  102  and bottom  104 . The box openings  112  and the eyeglass post openings  114  are in close proximal relationship and adjacent to each other such that a viewer can view the box and the eyeglasses at once.  
         [0021]     In one preferred embodiment, the display system is rotationally mounted on a center mount such that it rotates around its center providing the ability to view all contoured panels without changing the viewers position.  
         [0022]      FIG. 2  is a front plan view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 . The side members  110  are shown relative to three contoured panels  106 ,  107 ,  108 . The proximity of the box openings  112  and eyeglass post openings  114  is also shown. While the exact distance between a box opening  112  and an eyeglass opening is not indicated by the drawings herein, the distance must be close enough to insure a viewer sees and relates both together.  
         [0023]      FIG. 3  is a top plan view of the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The top  102  has substantially the same dimensions as the bottom  104 . It is preferred that the top  102  and bottom  104  are large enough to hang over the contoured panels. In a preferred embodiment the bottom side  116  of the bottom  104  has small feet of a non-slip material such as rubber or is covered in a non-slip material.  
         [0024]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment has a top  402  and bottom  404  substantially similar to the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 . The contoured display panels  406 ,  408  are mounted to each other forming a display column by connected side members  410 . The connected side members  410  may be mounted to a center column (not shown) or may be free standing. Alternatively, the contoured display panels  406 ,  408  may be free standing and connected only to the top  402  and bottom  404 .  
         [0025]     The contoured panels  406 ,  408  comprise one or more box openings  412  for receiving the packaging box for eyeglasses. The box openings  412  are adapted to receive the box so that it is supported enough to maintain itself in a substantially parallel plane relative to the top  402  and bottom  404 .  
         [0026]     One or more pairs of eyeglass post openings  414  are adapted to receive the posts of eyeglasses and support the eyeglasses in a substantially parallel plane relative to the top  402  and bottom  404 . Again, the box openings  412  and the eyeglass post openings  414  are in close proximal relationship and adjacent to each other such that a viewer can view the box and the eyeglasses at once.  
         [0027]      FIG. 5  is a front plan view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 4 . The side members  410  are shown relative to three contoured display panels  406 ,  407 ,  408 . The proximity of the box openings  412  and eyeglass post openings  414  is also shown. In this embodiment there are four box opening  412  and two eyeglass post pair openings  414  for each box opening  412 .  
         [0028]     The exact number of box openings  412  and eyeglass post openings  414  are determined by the desired height of the display system and the number of eyeglasses packaged in the box. It is undesirable that the height be too great as to make the counter type embodiment unstable or put the top glasses out of reach. It is also undesirable that the number of eyeglass post openings  414  relative to the number of box openings  412  be too great as to deplete too quickly the number of glasses in the box due to the sale of eyeglasses.  
         [0029]     While the exact distance between a box opening  112  and an eyeglass opening is not indicated by the drawings herein, the distance must be close enough to insure a viewer sees and relates both together.  
         [0030]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment the display system is floor standing with multiple curved display panels  606 ,  607 ,  608 . These curved display panels are separated by dividers  609  that in a preferred embodiment is mirrored. The top  602  is circular and overhangs the display column formed by the curved display panels. The curved display panels are supported by a bottom  604  that is approximately at the height of an average waist of a viewer. This bottom  604  rests on a stand  605  that stands on the floor.  
         [0031]     The curved panels  606 ,  607 ,  608  comprise one or more box openings  612  for receiving the packaging box for eyeglasses. The box openings  612  are adapted to receive the box so that it is supported enough to maintain itself in a substantially parallel plane relative to the top  602  and bottom  604 .  
         [0032]     One or more pairs of eyeglass post openings  614  are adapted to receive the posts of eyeglasses and support the eyeglasses in a substantially parallel plane relative to the top  602  and bottom  604 . Again, the box openings  612  and the eyeglass post openings  614  are in close proximal relationship and adjacent to each other such that a viewer can view the box and the eyeglasses at once.  
         [0033]      FIG. 7  is a front plan view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 6 . The proximity of the box openings  612  and eyeglass post openings  614  is also shown although as mentioned above the exact relative dimensions are not indicated or depicted in these figures. In this embodiment there are five box opening  612  and two eyeglass post pair openings  614  for each box opening  612 .  
         [0034]     In  FIG. 8  the display system is similar to that shown in  FIG. 6 , however, the pairs of eyeglass post openings are placed closer together to each other and closed to the box openings  612 . This is further shown in  FIG. 9  which is a front plan view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 8 .  
         [0035]     Accordingly, it should be readily appreciated that the display system of the present invention has many practical applications. Additionally, although the preferred embodiments have been illustrated and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. Such modifications are to be considered as included in the following claims.