US3455439A - Container with removable easel - Google Patents

Description

B. F. WEINER CONTAINER WITH REMOVABLE EASEL July 15, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 27, 1968 gg) INVENTOR.

BENJAMW F. wzmzq M 1* W82, ATTORNEYS y 11969 B. F. WEINER 3,455,439

CONTAINER WITH REMOVABLE EASEL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 27, 1968 INVENTOR. BEA AMw F. wimgn.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent Office US. Cl. 206-4526 14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A container and easel assembly including an easel for supporting the container in a given inclined position. The container consists of sheet material having lines of perforations which form from walls of the container an easel which is removable from the container. Thus, the container may be used to ship articles to any desired location, and at this location the part of the container which will form the easel can be removed along the lines of perforations. The separated part of the container, which forms the easel unit, includes a pair of container tabs which formed part of the closure of the container during the shipping thereof. These tabs are received through slots in the sheet material of the container to attach the ease] unit to the container in a position for supporting the container at an inclined attitude.

Background of the invention The present invention relates to containers.

In particular, the present invention relates to that type of container which can be supported on an easel in an inclined position for rendering the contents of the container easily visible and removable therefrom.

As is well known, when articles in a container are shipped therein, the container is required to be closed. However, when the container arrives at its destination, it is often highly desirable to arrange the container in such a way that the articles can be conveniently removed therefrom which being displayed in such a way that they are easily visible. For this latter purpose it is known to provide easels which support the containers at suitably inclined attitudes.

However, considerable inconvenience and undesirable additional costs are involved in providing easels with which the containers are supported. It has, therefore, already been proposed to provide containers with special constructions which will enable easels to be derived from the material of the containers themselves when these containers reach their destinations.

However, all of the known structures provided for this purpose suffer from several drawbacks. The easels which are made from the material of the container itself do not always provide a suitable stable support. When they are removed from the container materiaL'the remaining container structure often is too weak to provide a suitable support for the articles therein. Also, considerable inconvenience is very often involved in removing the part of the container which will form the easel, and in addition considerable inconvenience is involved in setting up such an easel in a position to support the remainder of the container. Also easel devices of this general type often have such complex structures as to be prohibitively expensive.

Summary of the invention It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a container of the above general type which will avoid the above drawbacks.

In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide 3,455,439 Patented July 15, 1969 an inexpensive container structure which incorporates into the sheet material of the container an easel unit which can conveniently be removed when the container reaches its destination.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a simple inexpensive easel structure, made from the material of the container itself, and coacting with the container to provide an exceedingly stable support.

Another object of the invention is to provide a structure which improves the container upon removal of the easel therefrom.

Also, it is an object of the invention to provide a container structure of the above general type which will make it extremely convenient for the easel unit, after removal thereof from the container, to be attached in precisely the right way to the container so as to provide a stable support therefor.

In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide a container structure where substantially the entire easel unit is formed 'by parts of the container which in any event are required by the container, so that there is no special material, in addition to that of the container itself, which is required to form the easel unit.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide for a container of the above type a liner which can be optionally used depending upon the nature of the articles within the container to improve the condition of the articles in the container after removal of the easel from the material of the container and during shipment of the articles in the container, this liner also contributing in certain cases to the security with which the easel unit is connected to the container.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a container of the above type which in its entirety may be formed from a single body of sheet material, a portion of which forms the easel structure which is removed from the container when it reaches its final destination.

In accordance with the invention the container consists of sheet material having sections which respectively form top and bottom closures, a pair of opposed front and rear walls, and a pair of opposed side walls extending between the front and rear walls and between the top and bottom closures. The front wall has top and bottom edges and is formed between and parallel to the latter with a transversely extending line of perforations dividing the front wall into upper and lower portions. The side walls are also formed with lines of perforations extending thereacross, respectively. The lines of perforations of the side walls respectively extend from the ends of the line of perforations of the front Wall across the side Walls upwardly to corners where top edges of the side walls respectively intersect the top edge of the rear wall. The top edges of the side walls respectively have, swingably connected thereto, a pair of tabs around which the top closure extends when this top closure is in a closed position. When the top closure is displaced to its open position the tabs are exposed, and then the upper portions of the side and front walls can be removed along the lines of perforations from the lower portions thereof to form from these upper portions an easel unit which includes the tabs.

The sheet material is formed at the region of the intersections between the side and rear wall with a pair of elongated slots extending substantially parallel to these intersections, and the tabs are respectively adapted to pass through these slots situating the upper portion of the front wall at a position where it extends perpendicually from the rear wall with the top edge of the front wall engaging the rear wall and with the opposed edge of the upper part of the front wall, formerly located along the line of perforations, forming an edge on which the con- 3 tainer may rest while also resting on the bottom edge of its rear wall. Thus, by supporting the container on a suitable surface engaged by the bottom edge of the rear wall of the container and the edge of the upper front wall portion which is distant from the rear wall when the easel unit is attached to the container, it is possible to support the container in a position inclined at a suitable attitude. Because it is the upper portions of the front and side walls which are removed with the upper tabs to form the easel unit, the contents of the containers are exposed only at their upper portions so that the convenience which the articles in the container are exposed and can be removed from the container is enhanced by the removal of the easel unit.

Brief description of drawings FIG. 1 illustrates the configuration of a blank of suitable sheet material from which the container of the invention is made;

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a liner which may optionally be used in the container;

FIG. 3 is a perspective illustration of the container formed from the blank of FIG. 1, with the liner illustrated in the position it takes when oriented properly with respect to the container to enter into the latter;

FIG. 4 shows the easel unit of the invention after it has been removed from the container and laid fiat, FIG. 4- showing that surface of the removed easel which is opposite to the surface visible in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 shows an elevation the appearance of the rear wall of the container from the exterior thereof;

FIG. 6 is a perspective illustration of the manner in which the easel unit is inserted into the container to be joined thereto;

FIG. 7 shows how the container of invention is supported in an inclined position with the easel of the invention; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the closed container.

Description of a preferred embodiment Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a blank 10 of a suitable flexible sheet material, such as cardboard, from which the container 12 (FIG. 3) of the invention is made. This blank 10 is shown in FIG. 1 as it appears when looking at the surface of the blank which will form the inner surface of the container, so that it is the inside surface of the blank which is visible in FIG. 1, whereas the exterior surface is not visible in FIG. 1. This sheet material which forms the blank 10 and which preferably is cahdboard, as pointed out above, has a plurality of sections which respectively form the various parts of the container 12. These sections include the rear wall section 14, the front wall section 16 which is opposed to the rear Wall section 14 in the finished container, and a pair of opposed side walls 18 and 20.

The side wall sections 18 and 20 terminate in upper edges 22 and 24 to which tabs 26 and 28 are swingably connected. These tabs 26 and 28 are integral with the side wall sections 18 and 20 and are swingably connected to their top edges 22 and 24 simply by fold lines formed in the sheet material, so that the tabs 26 and 28 can fold inwardly toward each other and outwardly away from each other.

The blank also has a top closure 30 provided with a portion 32 which forms the top wall of the container when it is closed and with a flap 34 which becomes situated next to the inner surface of the front wall 16 when the closure 30 is in its closing position (FIG. 8). The top wall 32 is hingedly connected to the rear Wall 14 by a fold line situated at the top edge 36 of the rear wall 14, and when the container is closed the top wall 32 will extend across and over the tabs 26 and 28 with the flap 34 extending downwardly across the front edges of the tabs 4 and into engagement with the inner surface of the front wall16.

The blank 10 also provides the container with a bottom closure 38 which coacts with tabs 40 and 42 respectively hingedly connected to the bottom edges of the side walls 18 and 20 by suitable fold lines in precisely the same way as the tabs 26 and 28. The bottom closure 38 includes a portion 44 which will form the bottom wall of the container when it is closed, this portion 44 being-swingably connected tothe front wall 16 at its bottom edge 46 through a suitable fold line. Closure 38 has a rear fiap'48 connected to the portion 44 by a fold line 50 which at its central region is formed with an elongated slot 52. The rear wall 14 is formed at its bottom edge 54 with a pair of slits 56 which form for the rear wall a swingable depending portion 58 connected to the remainder of the rear wall 14 by a fold line 60 and also connected by a fold line 62, which coincides with the'edge 46, to a flap 64.

At its right side edge, as viewed in FIG. 1, the rear Wall 14 is foldably connected to an integral fastening tab 66 to be adhesively connected to wall 20 at its inner surface and along its edge 68 with the exterior surface of the tab 66, which is not visible in FIG. 1, being connected by a suitable coating of adhesive to the inner surface of the wall 20 along the edge 68 thereof.

The wall 14 has opposed vertically extending fold lines 70 and 72 by means of which it is pivotally extending fold with the tab 66 and the side wall 18, respectively. The side wall 18 and the front wall 16 are interconnected by a line of intersection formed by the fold line 74, and the front wall 16 and side wall 20 are interconnected by a fold line 76 which forms the line of intersection therebetween.

Thus, in order to form, from this blank of FIG. 1, the container 12 which is shown in FIG. 3 it is only necessary to bring the wall 16 around in front of and in alignment with the rear wall 14 with the edge 68 of the wall 20 extending along the fold line 70 and with the tab 66 engaging the inner surface of the wall 20 and adhesively connected thereto. Then the flaps 40 and 42 can be folded inwardly and the bottom wall 44 which forms part of the closure 38 can be folded horizontally with the flap 48 extending upwardly along the inner surface of rear wall 14 while the flap 64 is placed through the slot 52, so that the parts will be maintained in this assembled condition. The container 12 is shown set up in this way in FIG. 3. FIG. 8 shows the closed condition of the container.

At the fold lines 70 and 72 which form the intersections between the rear wall 14 and the side walls 20 and 18 the sheet material 10 is formed with a pair of elongated slots 78 and 80 which are thus situated in the region of the intersections between the rear wall and the side walls and extend along the fold lines 70 and 72.

As is apparent from FIGS. 2 and 3, it is also possible to provide for the container, as an optional addition thereto, the liner 82 formed of the same sheet material as the blank 10 and having a front Wall portion 84 and a pair of opposed side wall portions 86 and 88 having, respectively, lower inclined edges 90 and 92. This liner can be introduced into the container of FIG. 3 with the front wall 84 of the liner engaging the inner surface of the front wall 16 and with the side walls 86 and 88 of the liner engaging the inner surfaces of the side walls 20 and 18 respectively. Such a liner may be used depending upon the nature of the articles which are located in the container. If these articles are loose elongated articles, such as pencils, elongated pipette tubes, or the like, then the liner may be used to contribute to the reliable maintenance of these elongated articles in the container,

As is apparent from FIG. 1, the front wall 16 is formed with a line of perforations 94 parallel to the top edge 96 of the front wall 16 and the bottom edge 46 thereof and extending therebetween, so as to divide the front wall 16 into an upper portion 98 and a lower portion 100. Also, the side walls 18 and 20 are formed with lines of perforations 102 and 104, respectively. These lines of perforations 102 and 104 respectively extend-from the op posed ends of the line of perforation 94 across the side walls 18 and 20 hp to the upper rear corners where they intersect the top edge 36 of the rear wall 14.

When the container 12 closed as shown in FIG. 8, reaches its destination and is to be set up for display purposes and convenient removal of articles therefrom, the container is d'pened at its top end, and upper portion 98 of the front wall 16 will be removed therefrom along the line of perforations 94. The line of perforations 102 divides the side vstalls 18 into an upper portion -106 and a lower portion 108. When the upper portidn 98 of front wall 16 is removed, the removal operationsf are Continued along the line offperforations 102 so that the upper portion 106 of the vsijall 18 is also removed. Infthe same way the line of perforations 10.4 divides the side wall 20 into an upper portion? 110 and a lower portion: 112, and the removal is continued along the line of perforations 104 so that, with the upper portions 98 and .106, the upper portion-110 of the wall 20 will also be removed.

It will be noted that with this removal the tabs 26 and 28-are also removed to form with the portions 110, 98, and 106 the easel unit 114 which is shown in FIG. 4 as it appears at the side thereof which is not visible in FIG. 1. As is apparent. from FIG. 4 the- tabs 26 and 28 respectively have identifying indicia in the form of arrows and designations TABA and TAB B.

Furthermore, it is apparent from FIG. 5 which shows the rear wall 14 as it appears at the exterior of the container, the slot 78 is designated as SLOT A, while the slot :80 is designated SLOT B. In this way the identifying indicia on the exterior surface of the rearwall 14 of the container 12 coacts with the identifying 'indicia on the tabs 26 and 28 to identify particular tabs with particular slots, respectively. Thus, the tab 26 will necessarily be identified with the slot 78 while the tab 28 will necessarily be identified with the slot 80.

With the easel 2 unit 114 thus removed from the container, the wall 98 is situated so that it extends perpendicularly to the wall 14 (FIG. 6) and the upper portions 106 and 110 of the side walls are bent downwardly to extend at right angles'downwardly from the wall 98. The tabs 26 and 28 will thus be aligned with the slots 78 and 80 and introduced into the latter in the manner shown in FIG.; 6. This intrpduction is continued until the top edge 96 of the front wall 16, now forming an inner edge of the upper,portion 98 of the front wall, engages the exterior surface of the wall 14. In the case where. the liner 82 is situated in the container the tabs 28 andf26 can extend between the side walls 18 and 20 and the diner side walls 86 and 88. However, this liner 82 may be removed at any time, to facilitate access to the articles. It is to be noted that this access is enhanced by removal of the easel unit 114 since in this way the upper portions of the front and side walls are removed to provide for a free and easy access to the interior of the container and the articles therein.

With the easel unit 114 thus joined to the container, it may be set up, as indicated in FIG. 7, on any suitable supporting surface 116. It is to be noted that a line 118, shown in dot-dash lines in FIG. 7, situated in the plane of the surface 116 and extending perpendicularly across the bottom edge 54 of the rear wall and the edge of wall 98 which engages the surface 116 defines with the edge 70 at the intersection between the side wall 20 and the rear wall 14 a space within which the free edge 120 is located, so that this free edge 120 is situated above the surface 116. In the same way the free edge of the upper portion 110 of the wall 20 is situated above the surface 116 when the container is set up in the manner shown in FIG. 7. It is preferred to extend the lines of perforations 102 and 104 at an angle where they will make 45 angles with the lines of intersection 74 and 76 between the side walls and front wall and also 45 angles with the top edges 22 and 24 of the side walls 18 and 20.

It will be noted that tab 26 is initially at the side 18 opposite from-slot 78 and tab 28 is initially at the side 20 opposite from. slot 80.

Also, top wall 32 and flap 34 are folded against the exterior surface of wall 14 to be situated between the latter and edge 96.

What is claimed is:

1. A container consisting of sheet material having sections which form a top closure, a pair of opposed front and rear walls'and a pair of opposed side walls extending between said front and rear walls, said front wall having a top edge which coacts with said top closure and said side wallsr'espectively having at the elevation of said top edge of said front wall freely swingable tabs around which said top closure extends when in a closed position, said tabs being exposed when said top closure is displaced to an open position giving access to the ,interior of the container, saidl'front wall being formed with a transverse line of perforations extending across said front wall to divide the latter in-to upper and loweri portions separable from each other along said line of perforations, said side walls respectively being formed with lines of perforations extending from opposed ends of said line of perforations formed in said front wall angularly across said side walls to said rear wall, so that-lines of perforations of said side walls also divide each of the latter intoupper and'lower portions separable from each other, whereby upon separation of said upper portions of said side and front walls from the said lower portions thereof along said lines of perforations, the separated upper portions of said front and side walls will form a unitary easel which includes said tabs, said opposed side-walls forming with said rear wall a pair of intersections, and said container being formed with a pair of slots respectively extending substantially in the direction of said intersections and having a length sufliciently great to receive said tabs, so

i that upon insertion of said tabs respectively through said slots said separated upper portion of said front wall can be located at a position extending rearwardly from said rear wall to support said rear wall in an inclined position resting on its bottom edge and on said separated upper portion of said front wall with at least a portion of the edge of said front and said wall upper portion which formerly extended along the line of perforations of said front and sidewalls engaging a supporting surface in common with the bottom edge of said rear wall.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a single body of flexible sheet material forms all of said sections.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said sheet material is cardboard. .a'

4. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said slots are situated between top and bottom edges of said rear wall.

5. The combination of claim 4 and wherein said slots are situated substantially at and extend along said intersections between said side and rear walls.

6. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a liner having a pair of opposed end walls and a front wall portion extending therebetween is situated with said end walls thereof located between an engaging said opposed side walls and with said front wall of said liner located inwardly of and engaging said front wall of said sheet material, said liner having an upper portion which is exposed upon removal of said upper portions of said front and side walls to form said easel.

7. The combination of claim 6 and wherein said slots are situated substantially at intersections between said side and rear walls and between top and bottom edges of said rear walls, and said tabs, after passing through said slots, being situated outwardly of and in engagement with said end walls of said liner and inwardly of and in engagement with said side walls of said sheet material.

8. The combination of claim 6 and wherein said liner only frictionally engages said sheet material to be removable therefrom at any time.

9. The combination of claim 1 wherein said lines of perforations respectively extend across said side walls from the opposed ends of said line of perforations formed in said front wall and respectively terminating at the upper rear corners of said side walls where the latter intersect said rear wall.

10. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said lines of perforations which respectively extend across said walls respectively form substantially 45 angles with the intersections between said front and side walls and with the top edges of said side walls.

11. The combination of claim 1 and wherein free edges of said upper portions of said side walls, which respectively formerly extended along the lines of perforations of said side walls, are located, when said easel unit is connected to said sheet material with said tabs respectively passing through said slots thereof, between said rear wall and a plane which contains the bottom edge of said rear wall and the edge of said upper portion of said front wall distant from said rear wall.

12. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said sheet material has at its exterior surface in the region of said slots predetermined indicia and said tabs respectively having at their exterior surfaces predetermined indica which coact with the indicia in the region of said slots for identifying said tabs with said slots, respectively, so that said tabs can be placed through the slots which are respectively identified therewith.

13. The combination of claim 12 and wherein before removal of said upper portions of said front and side walls the tabs extending from said side walls are respectively identified by said indicia thereto with the slots which are respectively located in the region of the opposite side walls, so that when the easel is attached to said sheet material a tab initially located at one side wall will be passed through a slot situated in the region of the other side wall.

having a top edge which coacts with said top closure and said side walls respectively having at the elevation" of said top edge of said front wall freely swingable tabs around which said top closure extends when in a closed position, said tabs being exposed when said top closure is displaced to an open position giving access to'the interior of the container, said front wall being formed with a transverse line of perforations extending across said front wall to divide the latter into upper and lower portions separable from each other along said line of perforations, said side walls respectively being formed with lines of perforations extending from opposed ends of said line of perforations formed in said front wall angularly across said side walls, so that lines of perforations of said side walls also divide each of the latter into upper and lower portions separable from each other, whereby upon separation of said upper portions of said said side and front walls from said lower portions thereof along said lines of perforations, the separated upper portions of said front and side walls will form a unitary easel which includes said tabs, a pair of spaced slots in said rear wall, each having a length sufiiciently great to receive said tabs, so that-upon insertion of said tabs respectively through said slots said separated upper portion of said front wall can be located at a position extending rearwardly from said rear wall to support said rear wall in an inclined position resting on its bottom edge and on said separated upper portion of said front wall.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,810,475 10/ 1957 Ringler 206--45.27 3,065,848 11/1962 Kufiik 20645.27

JAMES B. MARBERT, Primary Examiner

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