US3494498A - Collapsible display bin - Google Patents

Description

United States Patent 3,494,498 COLLAPSIBLE DISPLAY BIN Alfred A. Atherton, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor of onetliird each to John B. Overall and John A. Privett, both of Los Angeles, Calif.

Filed Oct. 24, 1967, Ser. No. 677,592 Int. Cl. B65d 3/24, 5/48, 25/04 US. Cl. 217--33 I 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The collapsible display bin comprises a plurality of relative thin panels or partition members including longitudinal panels and transverse panels that interconnect the longitudinal panels, one panel at each juncture of a longitudinal panel and a transverse panel being formed with a transverse slot, the other of the two panels being formed with an end tongue to extend through the slot. The two side edges of the tongue are respectively formed with notches to engage said one panel at the opposite ends of the slot, the slot being crescent-shaped to permit the tongue to be bowed sufficiently to enter the slot in the course of assembly of the display bin.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In stores where refrigerated products are displayed in open top compartments for the convenience of purchasers, it is advantageous to provide partition assemblies to subdivide such compartments, the partition assemblies being commonly termed display bins. Preferably, the display bins are in the form of collapsible panel assemblies that may be shipped or handled in fiat or folded state.

Display bins not only serve to segregate different products in the compartment, but also make it possible to stack cans and cartons with the stacks confined to keep the stacks from being inadevertently toppled. The partition assembly may also be decorated for greater attractiveness and, in addition, may serve as means for conspicuous display of a brand name.

It is apparent that there is need for collapsible display bins that are economical and structurally efiicient. Since display bins are primarily used for food products, they should be sanitary to the extent of having smooth nonabsorbent surfaces and they should also have vent apertures to encourage air circulation. It is further desirable that a collapsible display bin be easy to fabricate, easy to handle, and easy to install. Finally, a collapsible display bin should be of an articulated construction that permits collapse into compact form without damaging stressing of the material of the panels in the regions of articulation.

The broad object of the present invention is to meet these various requirements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The collapsible display bin of the present invention is an articulated partition or panel assembly in which the longitudinal panels and the interconnecting transverse panels releasably interlock and may be assembled in a simple manner without the use of any kind of tools. The interlocking connections between panels permits sufficient articulation for the assembly to be folded flat without damaging stress of the panel material. Economy, durability, and sanitation are served by making the panels out of a suitable plastic material and for this purpose the panels may be molded or may be stamped out of smooth sheets. It is further desirable that suoh a panel assembly have numerous vent openings to provide free ventilation of the interior of the assembly.

A feature of primary importance is the manner in which the panels are interlocked. At each juncture of a longitudinal panel and a transverse panel, one of the two panels is formed with a transverse slot and the other panel is formed with a wide tongue at its end to extend into the slot. The opposite side edges of the end tongue are provided with notches that straddle the thickness of the sheet material at the two ends with the slot and thereby positively interengage the two panels.

The slot that receives the end tongue is centrally widened and preferably is crescent-shaped to permit the tongue to be bowed sufficiently to enter the slot and engage the opposite ends of the slot. Thus, with a notch on one side edge of the tongue engaged with one end of the slot, the sheet material of the tongue may be bowed sufficiently for the opposite side edge of the tongue to clear the other end of the slot. By virtue of this arrangement it is a simple matter to interlock the panels of the assembly and subsequently to disengage the panels if desired.

A further feature of the invention is the concept of making the opposite ends of each slot of a width at least approximately twice the thickness of the panel material, and of making the notches of the tongues also at least approximately twice the thickness of the panel material. With the ends of the slot and the notches of this minimum width, the panel assembly may be folded flat without flexing the panel material to a damaging extent or beyond the elastic limits of the material.

As heretofore stated, it is desirable to provide the panel assembly with a plurality of vent openings to encourage air circulation in the interior of the assembly. A feature of the invention in this regard is that the crescent-shaped slots serve additionally as vent openings, there being one such vent opening at each juncture of a longitudinal panel with a transverse panel. In addition, smaller vent apertures are provided elsewhere in the preferred embodiment of the invention.

The features and advantages of the invention may be understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawing, which is to be regarded as merely illustrative:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the assembly at an intermediate stage in the folding or collapsing of the assembly to flat state;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the panel assembly;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section taken as indicated by the line 4-4 of FIG. 1 showing how a tongue extends through a cooperating slot;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section taken as indicated by the line 5-5 of FIG. 4 showing how a tongue normally lies flat against the straight edge of the cooperating crescent-shaped slot; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 showing how a tongue may be bowed against the curved side of the cooperating slot to permit the tongue to pass into or out of the slot.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the collapsible display bin or panel assembly comprises two longitudinal side panels 10 and 12, two opposite transverse end panels 14 and 15, an intermediate transverse panel 16, and a pair of intermediate spaced short longitudinal panels 18 and 20 that interconnect the two transverse panels 15 and 16. Thus, the panel assembly forms a relatively large compartment 22 and three smaller compartments 24. As heretofore stated, the various panels are made of thin smooth flexible sheets of any suitable plastic material.

At the juncture of each longitudinal panel and a cooperating transverse panel, one of the two panels is formed with a slot and the other panel at the juncture is formed with an end tongue that is inserted into the slot, the tongue having notches on its opposite sides to engage the sheet material at the opposite ends of the slot. In the construction shown, each of the two longitudinal side panels 10 and 12 is provided with three spaced transverse crescent-shaped slots 25 and the end transverse panel 15 and the intermediate transverse panel 16 are provided with pairs of the crescent-shaped slots.

The sceond of the two panels at each of the junctures is formed with a tongue 26 at one end of the panel and the two opposite side edges of the end tongue are formed with notches 28, the notches being best shown in FIG. 4. It is important to note, as may be seen in FIG. 5, that each of the two opposite ends of each of the crescentshaped slots 25 is of a width at least approximately twice the thickness of a tongue 26, the end of the slot having a straight edge perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the panel. It is further important to note, as may be seen in FIG. 4, that each of the notches 28 of a tongue 26 is at least approximately twice as wide as the thickness of the material of the cooperating panel.

As best shown in FIG. 4, each of the two notches 28 of a tongue 26 straddles the thickness of the material of the cooperating panel and it is to be noted that the distance between the bottoms of the two notches 28 is only slightly less than the length of a cooperating slot 25, the ditference being less than the depth of a notch to insure positive interengagement of the two panels. FIGS. and 6 show the normal configuration of a tongue 26 with the tongue lying flat against the straight edge 30 of the cooperating slot.

FIG. 6 shows how, with one of the notches 28 engaging one end of a cooperating slot 25, the tongue 26 may be bowed against the curved edge of the slot sufliciently for the second of the two notches to be retracted sufficiently for withdrawal from the slot. Thus, with a panel bowed to bow its tongue 26 in the manner shown in FIG. 6, the upper notch 28 of the tongue clears the upper end of the slot 25 and the lower notch in engagement with the lower end of the slot may serve as a fulcrum for rocking movement of the tongued panel into or out of engagement with the slot.

The relative dimensioning of the slots 25'and the tongues 26 to permit the described releasable interlocking of the panels may be understood by reference to FIGS. 4, 5, and 6. In FIGS. 4 and 6 the length dimension of the slot is designated B. In FIG. 4 the distance from one side edge of a tongue 26 to the bottom of the notch 28 at the other side edge of the tongue is designated A. It is apparent in FIG. 6 that the bowing of the tongue 26 against the curved wall of the slot 25, in effect, retracts the dimension A to the dimension B to permit the tongue to pass into and out of the slot.

The various slots 25 not only serve the purpose of receiving the cooperating tongues 26, but also serve the purpose of providing vent apertures in the region of each of the junctures of two panels of the assembly to encourage air circulation inside the assembly. Thus, the widening of each notch 25 not only permits a tongue to be bowed therein sufliciently to pass into and out of the slot, but also provides a vent opening when the cooperating tongue is in its normal position against the straight edge of the slot as shown in FIG. 5. In the present embodiment of the invention a number of additional relatively small vent apertures 32 are provided in the two longitudinal panels 10 and 12 but these additional vent apertures may be omitted in view of the fact that the crescent-shaped slots permit air to flow freely into and out of the interior of the assembly.

My description in specific detail of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention will suggest various changes, substitutions and other departures from my disclosure.

I claim:

1. A display bin of the character described comprising:

a plurality of relatively thin flexible upright panels including longitudinal panels and transverse panels interconnecting the longitudinal panels,

one panel at each juncture of a longitudinal panel and a traverse panel being formed with a vertical slot in which one side edge of the slot is substantially straight and the opposite side edge of the slot is curved, and wherein each of said side edges extends the full vertical dimension of the slot,

the other panel of the two panels at each juncture being formed with a tongue at one end thereof with the tongue extending into the slot, the two opposite side edges of the end tongue being formed with notches straddling the thickness of said one panel at the opposite ends of the vertical slot,

the vertical dimension of the slot being substantially equal to the distance between the bottoms of the two notches of the tongue, said slot being centrally widened between its straight and curved edges sufficiently to permit the tongue therein to be bowed until the distance between the bottom of one notch of the tongue and the opposite side edge of the tongue is less than the length of the slot thereby to permit the bowed tongue to pass into the slot for interconnecting the two panels, and

said slot at each end having a width between the ends of the slot edges which is at least approximately twice the thickness of said other panel.

2. A display bin as set forth in claim 1 in which the notches of the tongue have parallel sides with a notch width spacing at least approximately twice the thickness of said one panel.

3*. A display bin as set forth in claim 1 in which the width of the notches of the tongue is at least approximately twice the thickness of said one panel to facilitate collapsing of the bin by angular movement between the two panels at each of the junctures.

4. A display bin as set forth in claim 1 in which at least some of said panels have separate vent apertures in addition to said vertical slots for ventilating the interior of the display bin.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,346,025 4/1944 Guszmann 21731 682,306 9/1901 Woolsey 21731 XR 1,498,785 6/1924 Coyle 217-33 1,754,541 4/1930 Benoit 217-33 3,330,464 7/1967 Thyen 217-33 XR DAVIS T. MOORHEAD, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 229-15

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