Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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This invention relates generally to the merchan-
dising of hardware and like articles in packages.
It is conventional merchandising practice to
offer for sale small numbers of hardware articles in pre-
packaged form, A package typically comprises a plastic
container having a hanging tab by which the package can
be suspended from a display rack in a store, and a number
of, say, nuts or bolts of the same size disposed in the
container. An example of a package of this kind is dis-
closed in Canadian Patent Application No. 265,505 filed
November 12, 1976 and entitled CONTAINER.
Display racks for packages of hardware and likearticles may take many forms. In one simple type, the
rack comprises a self-standing support structure carrying
fixed package suspension elements in the form of hooks
from which the packages hang. The structure may be
turnable so that packages can be carried on all sides.
In another type of display rack, the suspension elements
may be in the form of bars which project outwardly from a
support. An example of a rack of this general type is dis-
closed in Canadian Patent Application No. 270,405 iled
January 25, 1977, and entitled DISPLAY RACK. In any
event, the racks are designed so that a customer can inspect
the packages and remove selected packages from the rack
suspension elements. As the supply of packages on par-
ticular suspension elements becomes low, store personnel
re-stock the rack by loading new packages individually onto
appropriate ones of the suspension elements. It will
be appreciated that this is a time consuming and some-
what tedious operation. Also, care must be taken to en-
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sure that packages containing similar items are grouped
together on the rack.
An object of the present invention is to pro-
- vide improvements designed to facilitate the operation of
loading onto display racks, packages of hardware and like
articles.
According to the invention there is provided
a cartridge which includes a carton and a plurality of
similar packages of hardware and like articles disposed
in said carton. Each package includes a container having
a hanging tab which is formed with an opening and by
which the container can be suspended from a suspension
element of a display rack in use. The carton includes
front and rear walIs, opposite end walls and top and
bottom walls which together define an enclosure. The
packages are arranged in a row in said enclosure with
the openings in their hanging tabs aligned with one
another and with said end walls of the carton. The
front wall of the carton is formed with upper and lower
rows of perforations which extend from end to end oE
said front wall and which define a removable tear strip.
Each end wall of the carton is perforated to allow an
upper portion of the carton to be folded back about a
line extending transvèrsely of said back wall after re-
moval of the tear strip, thereby exposing the hanging
tabs of the packages in the carton and permitting the
packages to be loaded seriatim as a batch onto a sus-
pension element of a display rack. An elongate member
is disposed in the carton and passes through the
openings in the package hanging tabs. The member is
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in the form of a thin walled tube dimensioned to permit
an end thereof ~o be engaged over an end of a display
rack suspension element prior to loading of packages
onto said element, so that the tubular member acts as
a guide along which the packages can slide onto the
suspension element.
In order that the invention may be more clearly
understood, reference will now be made to the accompany-
ing drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of
the invention, and in which:-
Fig. 1 is a partly exploded perspective viewo~ a cartridge according to the invention;
Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing
the cartridge at a stage preparatory to loading of the
packages onto a display rack;
Fig. 3 is a side view of part of a display rack
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and illustrates loading of packages from the cartridge
onto the rack; and,
Fig. 4 illustrates the blank used to produce
the carton of the cartridge shown in the previous views~
Referring first to Fig. 1, the cartridge in-
cludes a cardboard carton 20 and a plurality of similar
packages 22 of hardware articles disposed in the carton.
One of these packages is shown in an elevated position
above the carton and is denoted 22'. The packages are
of the form disclosed in Canadian Patent Application No.
265,505. For present purposes, it is sufficient to note
that each package is in the form of a plastic box 24 (see
package 22') having a lid 26 which is slidably removable
but which is normally held in place by a label 28 adhered
both to the lid and to the sides of the box. The box is
formed with an integral hanging tab 30 having an opening
32 to receive a suspension element of a display rack. A
typical suspension element is indicated at 34 in Figs. 2
and 3, ~hich figures will be more specifically discussed
later.
Carton 20 is of generall~ rectangular ~ox form
and is assembled from a cardboard blank of the shape shown
in Fig. 4. The surface of the blank which is visible in
Fig. 4 forms the inner surface of the assembled carton.
The blank includes a plurality of adjoining panels which
are foldable with respect to one another. Fold lines be-
tween adjacent panels are shown by chain dotted lines. A
first rectangular panel 36 of the blank defines a front
wall of the carton. Second and third rectangular panels
38 and 40 respectively define end walls of the carton and
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adjoin panel 36 at fold lines 42 and 44 respectively. It
will be seen that the panels 38 and 40 are of the same
height as panel 36, but o a narrower width corresponding
generally to the width of the packages 22. Panel 40
terminates in an outer edge 46 at one end of the blank,
while panel 38 adjoins an end of a further rectangular
panel 48 which defines a rear wall of the carton. A ~old
line between panels 38 and 48 is denoted 50. At its end
opposite panel 38, panel 48 is provided with tabs 52 and
54. In assembling the carton, panels 36, 38, 40 and 48
are folded with respect to one another into a rectangular
section tubular form and the tabs 52 and 54 are secured
by adhesive to the inner surface of end panel 40. Part
of tab 52 is visible in Fig. 1.
Referring back to Fig. 4, a further rectangular
panel 56 adjoins an upper edge of panel 48 at a fold line
58 and orms a top wall or lid of the carton. Panel 56
has along its outer edge, a flap 60 which is foldable
about a fold line 62 so that the flap can be tucked in
behind the front waIl of the carton when panel 56 is in
its closed condition as shown in Fig. 2. End flaps 64
and 66 are provided at the upper edges of panels 38 and
40 respective~y and are folded inwardly below pan~l 56 at
this time. Flaps 64 and 66 adjoin the respective end
panels 38 and 40 at fold lines 68 and 70 respectively
(Fig. 4),
Interlocking flaps 72 and 74 are provided along
the lower edges of the respective front and rear panels
36 and 48 and co-operate with end flaps 76 and 78 at the
lower edges of end panels 38 and 40 to form a botto~ wall
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of the carton. When the panels 36, 38, 40 and 48 are in
the rectangular configuration the~ assume in the assembled
carton as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the bottom wall is formed
by first folding up flap 72 so that it extends generally
normal to the front wall 36. Next, the end flaps 76 and
78 are folded inwardly and their projecting outer end
portions 76a and 78a respecti~ely are engaged in recesses
72a in flap 72 so that the end flaps adopt the positions
shown in ghost outline at 76' and 78' respectively. Fin-
ally, flap 74 is folded inwardly and its tabs 74a areengaged through the respec~ive recesses 72a of flap 72
to complete the bottom wall.
It will be appreciated that the carton construc-
tion described has the advantage that cartons can be partly
assembled by securing the tabs 52 and 54 of each carton
to the end wall 40 while leaving the bottom flaps 72, 74,
76 and 78 in their unfolded positions. For ease of stor-
age and transportation, the cartons can be flattened,
bringing panels 36 and 48 into surface contact. Subse-
quently, each carton can be assembled by displacing thepanels 36, 38, 40 and 48 into a rectangular configuration
and assembling the bottom flaps 72, 74, 76 and 78 as des-
cribed above.
The panel 36 which defines the front wall of
the carton 20 is formed with upper and lower rows of per-
forations 80 and 82 respectivel~ which extend from end to
end of the panel and which define a removable tear-strip
84. The end of tear-strip 84 adjacent panel 40 is defined
by perforations 86 which extend along part of the fold
line 44 between panels 36 and 40. The opposite end of
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tear-strip 84 includes a rounded pull-ta~ 88 cut from end
panel 38. As can be seen from Fig. 1, this tab lies in
a common plane with end panel 38 in the assembled carton
but can be grasped and pulled outwardly to remove the
tear-strip as shown in Fi~. 2. In this connection, it
will be noted that the lines of perforations 80 and 82
are formed by respective series o~ angled cuts denoted
individually by the reference numeral 90 in Figs.l, 2 and 4.
These cuts are specially designed to ensure clean separ-
ation of the tear-strip from the remainder of the front
panel.
End panel 38 is perforated to define not only
tab 88, but also two parallel cut edges 92 and 94 (Fig. 4)
aligned with the respective rows of perforations 80 and 82,
and a further tab 96 having a generally semi-circular
outer end portion formed with a circular aperture 9B~ Tab
96 adjoins panel 48 at a line of perforations 100 so that
the tab is removable for the purpose to be described.
The areas 102 and 104 between the two tabs are open.
The other end panel ~0 of the blank is formed
with a single transverse line of perforations 106 which is
aligned with the upper line of perforations 80 of the
front panel 3S. Accordingly, in the assembled carton as
shown in Fig. 2, the top portion 108 of the carton above
the lines of perforations 80 and 106 and cut edge 92 can
be folded back about a line 110 extending transversely
of the rear wall 48 of the carton after removal of the
tear-strip 84; the folded back position of top portio~
108 is indicated in chain dotted outline. Fold line 110
is defined by a series of spaced aligned slits 112 arranged
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bokh to ensure that the rear wall folds accurately, and
to prevent the top portion 108 of the carton from be-
coming completely detached from the remainder of the car-
ton and possibly causing a waste problem.
To facilitate loading o~ the packages 22 onto
the suspension element 34 o~ a display rack, a thin walled
tubular plastic member, similar to a drinking straw, is
inserted through the openings 32 in the hanging tabs 30
of the packages inside the carton. Part of one end of
this member is visible at 114 in Fig. 1 prior to inser-
tion into the package and the member is shown in :its in-
serted position in Fig. 2. Member 114 is inserted into
the carton through a star-shaped perforation 116 positioned
in end wall 38 in alignment with the openings 32 in the
package hanging tabs. After the member has been inserted
through perforation 116, the portions of the end wall in
which the perforation is formed tend to return naturally
torwards their flat positions and partly close of~ the
opening in the carton, thereby preventing the member acci-
dentally leaving the carton. Member 114 is dimensionedto fit easily within the hanging tab openings 32 of the
packages and so that it can be fitted over one end of a
display rack suspension element for loading o~ the pack-
ages onto the element as will be described.
It is intended that complete cartridges con-
taining the packages 22 will be made available to stores
by the manufacturer or distributor Orc the packages. The
cartons 20 will be delivered to or produced by the manu-
facturer or distributor and will be erectecl and loaded
with packages prior to shipment to stores. As shown in
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Fig. 1, the packages are loaded in a row with their hang-
ing tabs aligned with one another. Tubu:Lar member 114
is then inserted through perforation 116 to the position
in which it is shown in Fig. 2. Mext, the flaps 64 and
66 are closed and the top wall flap 56 fDlded dow~ and its
flap 60 tucked in behind the front wall 36. The carton
will be appropriately marked to indicate the contents of
the cartridge and will normally carry information such
as the manufacturer's name, trade marks, etc. Also, the
removable tab 96 in end wall 38 will be marked to indicate
the contents o the cartridge, for example, by means of
a re-order number. It will be appreciated that the car-
tridge is designed so that it can be readily shipped and
stored with other similar cartridges with minimum wasted
space. When the packages are to be offered for sale, the
tear-strip 84 is removed by grasping the tab 88 and pulling
the strip outwardly as shown in Fig. 2. The detached strip
is then torn from the remainder of the box along perEor-
ated line 86 ~Fig. 4) and the tear-strip is discarded.
The packages are thereby exposed along one side and can
be individually marked, eOg. with adhesive price labels.
Prior to loading the packages onto the suspen-
sion element 34 of a display rack, the tab 96 marked
with the re-order number of the product is detached and
fitted onto the suspension element 34. Next, the top
portion 108 of the carton is folded back about the trans-
verse line 110 of the rear wall of the carton by tearing
along the perforated line 106 (Figs. 2 and 4) of end
wall 40 to bring the top portion 108 to the folded back
position in which it appears in chain line in Fig. 2.
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This exposes the hanging tabs of the packages 22 and the
tubular member 114. The cartridge is then brought into
a position in which an end of member 11~ can be engaged
over the outer end of the suspension element 34 as shown
in Fig. 3. If the opposite end of the member is supported
while the carton is withdrawn from the packages as indi-
cated by the arrow in Fig. 3, the packa~es can slide
freely down the member onto element 34. The carton is
then discarded. When all of the packages have moved onto
the suspension element, the tubular member 114 is removed
and is itself discarded. The packages are then exposed
for sale. When the supply of packages is exhausted, tab
96 remains on the suspension element and indicates to store
personnel the type of packages to be re-ordered.
To summarize, the cartridge of the invention
allows rapid batch loadiny of packages onto display racks.
Also, the cartridge makes for convenient storage and
handling of packages of hardware articles in batches prior
to sale and allows the packages to be individually priced
or otherwise marked.
It will be appreciated that the preceding des-
cription relates to a specific embodiment and that many
modifications are possible within the broad scope of the
invention. For example, while the description relates
specificallv to packages of hardware articles, there is
no limitation in this. The packages themselves need not
be of the specific form shown. Also, it is not essential
to use a tubular member (as member 114) for guiding the
packages onto a display rack suspension element. The
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packages could be successively guided onto the element
by manipulating the cartridge. Also, it should be noted
that the carton need not be of the specific form shown~
For example, instead of providing a carton with inter-
locking tabs to form the bottom wall, the bottom wall
could be formed by a flap similar to that used to form
the top wall. Also, the carton could be made from a
blank comprising a plurality of panels defined hy fold
lines extending transversely of the blank and foldable
with respect to one another to form a carton in a manner
somewhat reminiscent of the normal method of making en-
velopes. In any event, variations in the manner of manu-
facture of the carton will be apparent to a person skilled
in the box-making art. It is also to be noted that the
terms "front" and "rear" as applied to opposite walls of
the carton are used merely for convenience of description;
in practice the wall formed with the tear-strip might be
considered as the rear wall of the carton.
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