Environment friendly dual use package and associated manufacturing business method

Abstract

Dual use plastic packages for prepackaged retail product are constructed to be recyclable, making the package environment friendly. The package also provides an in-the-package display of the packaged product, and allows for inclusion of advertising and promotional material. The basic package structure is formed of injection molded virgin clarified polypropylene material, a transparent material. In one embodiment a sheet of advertising material is held in a thin narrow sleeve formed on the outside surface of the package, allowing the paper sheet to be withdrawn during recycling operations. In another embodiment, the printed material is printed on the thin plastic sheet, which is clearly recyclable, although recovering a darkened plastic when recycled. A novel lock device is disclosed. Either or both those packages or any other retail packages may include the lock device to prevent the package from being opened in store. In this, the lock device includes a lock bar.

Description

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This non-provisional application for patent is related to an earlier-filed provisional application for patent by the inventor, Ser. No. 60/808,273, filed May 24, 2006, entitled Environment Friendly Dual Use Package and Associated Manufacturing Method, the entire content of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. Applicant claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) based on the foregoing provisional application. This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 11/181,624, filed Jul. 13, 2005, entitled Reusable Environmentally Friendly Package and Storage Album, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference, which in turn is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/371,361, filed Feb. 24, 2003, and now U.S. Pat. No. 6,959,809 granted Nov. 1, 2005.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to product packaging for product that is sold to consumers through retail stores, and, more particularly, to a clamshell type plastic package for product that provides security against product in-store pilferage, permits a purchaser to reuse the package for post-sale storage of the product, carries advertising and/or promotional material for the product manufacturer on the package and is recyclable.

BACKGROUND

Discarding of plastic packaging materials, principally of polyvinyl chloride (“PVC”) material, is of concern to persons devoted to protecting the environment. Those packaging materials typically wind up in a landfill as waste and are difficult to decompose. As the quantity of such waste materials mounts, the difficult-to-decompose materials in the landfill pose a problem for the environment.

A related package invention of the present assignee promotes continued use of the plastic clamshell product package in which a product was purchased, particularly a multi-component product, for post-sale storage of the product. Instead of cutting apart and destroying the package in order to remove the product, and then discarding the cut-apart package as waste, the applicant discovered that the package could be designed to both prevent product pilferage in the store and yet be initially opened (and later re-closed) without destroying the package. The package could then be used for product storage. Then too, advertising and promotional material of the product seller could be included in the walls of the package and would remain with the package when the package was being used for product storage. That advertising and promotional material would continue to be viewed by the customer as long as the customer retained the product package, an obvious benefit that should encourage the seller to adopt a package construction that would be slightly more expensive package than otherwise. For one example, the interested reader is invited to refer to and consider a prior application of the present inventor, Ser. No. 11/181,624, filed Jul. 13, 2005, entitled Reusable Environmentally Friendly Package and Storage Album, and now U.S. Ser. No. ______, granted, ______, the content of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.

A reusable storage package or album, as variously termed, offers a convenient device to collect and store products, particularly products that contain a number of individual elements that could become separated and misplaced or lost. An indirect effect of successfully encouraging the consumer to retain the product package for product storage was that the package was not discarded as waste, and, hence, did not immediately wind-up in a landfill. By retaining the packaging materials with the purchaser for as long as possible the problem of disposal may be avoided or deferred long into the future, perhaps to a time when better technology becomes available to deal with the waste material. In that sense the product package environment friendly.

A more direct approach to make packaging more environmentally friendly is to construct the package to be recyclable. That approach did not go far due to the incorporation of printed material in the product. Basically, paper material is included in present clamshell package construction, such as in some of the embodiments presented in the specification of my prior application Ser. No. 11/181,624, earlier herein cited. The paper material is printed with the graphic and text material that includes the product trademark and name, manufacturer, instruction material, cross-sell advertising and other advertising and promotional advertising copy, which is mostly necessary information. That paper material is inserted between the PVC wall and an overlying transparent PVC sheet that is glued, specifically fused, to the PVC package walls. That paper cannot readily be removed afterwards. The inability to remove the paper defeats recycling of the package as a practical measure. Essentially, the recycling process involves grinding up the plastic material. However if paper material is ground up with that plastic material the resultant particles are not suitable for liquefaction or would blacken.

The principal plastic used in the past for construction of plastic clamshell packages found in retail stores is polyvinyl chloride (“PVC”). The process of making plastic sheet material of that substance into a clamshell package is referred to as thermoforming. Other plastic materials used to construct clamshells include PET, Styrene and PLA and the package fabrication process for packaging formed from those plastic materials was also thermoforming.

Not only is PVC material difficult to decompose, but the PVC material emitted vapors of chlorine gas. In significant amounts chlorine gas is hazardous. Though recycling of the plastic packaging could be deferred as described, applicant recognized that the problem was not yet solved. A better solution is desired.

One plastic material that's been accepted as a good substitute is polyethylene terephthalate (PET); clarified styrene is another. Still another plastic material viewed as environmentally friendly is polylactic acid (“PLA”), which is made from a vegetable, sweet corn, a completely natural renewable resource. The plastic is clear and as rigid as PVC and is price competitive with the latter PVC.

PLA material is currently in use for food packaging. Once placed in a commercial composting facility PLA decomposes into carbon, water and humus in approximately 40 to 80 days. The material is brittle and breaks easily, properties which are not desirable. A more significant negative to that plastic is that packages that are thermoformed to shape lose their shape when exposed to temperatures in excess of 110 degrees F. That temperature is not unusual inside of truck trailers crossing the Mojave desert or passing through the San Fernando Valley, making difficult the safe transportation of products that are packaged in packages of that plastic to many locations in the U.S. Hence, the PLA packages should preferably be shipped in refrigerated trucks or the pallets of packaged product should be covered with heat insulated blankets, which makes the transportation cost very expensive. Not only are such trucks more costly because of the added capital to obtain and maintain the refrigeration equipment, but the energy costs add up as well, particularly with the significant increases experienced recently in the cost of gasoline

Accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a novel product package for retail product that continues of use post-sale as a storage container for the product.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel product package for retail product that continues to be of use post-sale as a storage container for the product, serves to display the product seller's advertising material and is environment friendly.

A still further object of the invention is to provide pre-packaged retail product in which the product may be displayed at least in part to potential purchasers in the retail store without opening the package, that carries advertising and/or promotional materials, including printed text and graphics of the product distributor or others, and is recyclable.

Another object of the invention is to recognize the ability to adapt an existing plastic material to application in a protective recyclable package.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a package for product that is not brittle and won't easily break, and may be exposed to high ambient temperatures, such as 110 degrees Fahrenheit without being damaged.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a novel lock structure for a retail package, such as a clamshell type package, to discourage, inhibit or prevent product in-store pilferage of the product.

And a related object of the invention is to provide a manufacturing procedure or business method for meeting product manufacturers package needs for product at the lowest possible cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the foregoing invention, various designs are provided for recyclable dual use plastic clamshell or, as variously termed, album type packages for prepackaged product sold at retail that are considered to make the package environment friendly. The package provides an in-the-package display of the packaged product for the customer, allows for inclusion and/or retention of the product manufacturers advertising and promotional material, and is recyclable. In accordance with a specific aspect to the invention, the basic package structure is formed of injection molded virgin clarified polypropylene material, a transparent material. In one embodiment a thin sheet of like transparent plastic material is attached to the flat backside surface of an open package, with two ends unattached, to define a thin narrow sleeve; and a paper sheet containing printed advertising and/or promotional material on the front and/or back sides is fitted into that narrow sleeve. When and if recycled, the sheet of paper can be removed and be recycled separately from the recycling of the plastic material. In another embodiment, the printed material is placed on either or both sides of the thin plastic sheet, and the sheet is then attached to the backside of the open package. That package is easily recycled, but the inclusion of the printed material results in a darkened plastic.

Further, a related feature that may be included with the foregoing or any clam shell or album like package comprises the addition of a tear-away lock bar. The lock bar locks the product package closed, preventing access to the contents and inhibiting pilferage. The lock bar may be torn away from the clamshell sections, ideally following the purchase, to unlock the package and permit access to the product. As an advantage, the unlocking procedure produces visible evidence of the removal of the lock bar. In one embodiment, pins contained in the lock bar are designed to break off from the lock bar when the lock bar is removed from the package. Once the pins break off the lock bar cannot thereafter be returned to the locked position to relock the package, providing visible evidence of tampering.

The foregoing and additional objects and advantages of the invention, together with the structure characteristic thereof, which were only briefly summarized in the foregoing passages, will become more apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, which follows in this specification, taken together with the illustrations thereof presented in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an embodiment of a package in accordance with the invention in which the injection molded package is in full open condition as removed from a mold;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows the embodiment of FIG. 1 in an open front perspective packed with a multi-part product and ready to be closed;

FIG. 4 shows another front perspective of the embodiment of FIG. 1 in a closed and locked condition;

FIG. 5 is another front perspective view of FIG. 4 with the lock bar 23 of the lock shown in an exploded view;

FIG. 6 shows an enlarged section view of the lock bar 23 of FIG. 5, showing the shape of the individual snap latching prongs or barbs that extend from the underside of the lock bar;

FIG. 7 shows the placement of a sheet of transparent clarified PP on the relatively planar surface of the back side of the clarified PP package form component following removal of the formed package component from a mold;

FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the package and the manufacturing technique used in which paper material is inserted between the wall of the plastic package form and a thin plastic overlay;

FIG. 9 shows an exploded view that corresponds to that in FIG. 7, but in which the overlay sheet component of the package structure that is secured to the back side of the package form, contains printed matter;

FIG. 10 shows a view of a pre-packaged product and package combination in accordance with an embodiment of the invention with the package open as in FIG. 3, but in which text and graphics material is visible on the inside of the package;

FIG. 11 illustrates printed text and graphic material as would appear in the view of the package of FIG. 10, when the package is completed, closed and locked;

FIG. 12 is an illustration that corresponds to that of FIG. 8 but in which the paper sheet component of the package contains printed material;

FIG. 13 shows in front planar view of a fully open album-type package designed for an MP3 player;

FIG. 14 shows the embodiment of FIG. 13 in a side view;

FIG. 15 shows in perspective a package component in accordance with the invention in fully open condition essentially as extracted from the forming mold; and

FIG. 16 shows the package embodiment of FIG. 15 in a front view with the package open the lock keepers fully visible and the lock bar shown in exploded view.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference is made to FIGS. 1 and 2, which illustrates a novel package 1 for a product in fully open front and side views, respectively, essentially views thereof as removed the package is removed from a mold in which the package is formed. The foregoing package member is formed of a plastic material, namely clarified polypropylene (“PP”) using previously unused (e.g. virgin) PP in an injection molding process. The virgin PP material is transparent, clear so that one is able to see through the package walls at this stage of manufacture. That “see-through” characteristic is not apparent from the illustration of those figures. FIG. 3 shows the package in a front perspective view with the package open and filled with a multi-element product. For present purposes in this figure the printed material, later described, is omitted from the package walls and the package walls, though transparent, also appears in this view as opaque for clarity of illustration.

Referring to FIG. 1, package 1 includes a first member or cover portion 3 and a second member or container portion 5, joined together by a spine 7, a narrow strip, to form a sort of album or storage container. As removed from the mold the foregoing package or, more accurately, package form is a one-piece integral assembly and constitutes the principal functional elements of a package. As completed in the package of FIG. 3 and later hereafter described, some additional structure is added onto the foregoing package form of FIGS. 1 and 2 before the package is considered completed. Rather than refer to both stages as the package, to avoid confusion, applicant refers to the initial stage of the molded structure as removed from the mold as the package form.

Spine 7 is joined to members 3 and 5 by respective hinges 8 and 10, referred to as living hinges. As presented in the side view in FIG. 2, cover portion 3 contains a short upwardly extending side wall 9 that extends about three sides of the periphery of the cover portion, excepting the side of the cover that along the line that connects to hinge 8 of the spine. That extending side edge may be referred to as an upper side edge wall, bottom side edge wall and left side edge wall, serially connected. Likewise, container member 5 contains an upwardly extending side wall 11 that extends about three sides of the periphery of cover member 5, but not the side that connects to hinge 10 of the spine. That side edge wall to container portion 5 may be referred to as an upper side edge wall, bottom side edge wall and right side edge wall, serially connected. Upstanding side wall 11 it is noted is of greater height than side wall 9. A region at an upper end of container portion 5 contains a conventional hanger slot 6 to permit the package to hang from a rack in the retail store.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the foregoing package form, exclusive of any printed material, is molded in one piece of PP material using an injection molding process, a known process elsewhere herein discussed. The particular package illustrated is for a practical application that's intended to house a memory cartridge product (17 in FIG. 3), not illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. That memory product includes multiple parts, as defined herein, namely a flash memory cartridge, which contains the semiconductor memory chip, a ball point pen 19 and a spiral notebook 21, also not illustrated in the figure, but illustrated in FIG. 3. For those product elements, the package includes a receptacle pocket 13, formed of plastic portions extending outwardly from the inside surface of first member 3 that are sized and spaced to grip the memory cartridge from the sides, and a ball-point pen grip 15, formed of four spaced prongs or nubs extending out of the inside surface of the first member 3, that are sized and spaced to grip the cylindrical surface of a pen, with an end stop at the front and back ends of the pen, also extending out from the inside surface of the cover member. A spiral notebook is to fit inside the volume available within container portion 5 with the size (and depth) of the volume preferably being just sufficient to receive the notebook.

Reference is made to FIG. 3 showing the package 1 in perspective view and in an open condition revealing the multi-element packaged product inside, namely, the memory cartridge 17 seated in receptacle 13, a pen 19 held in place by grip 15 in the cover portion 3 and a spiral notebook 21 housed inside the container portion 5. As one appreciates each of the components of the product may be individually removed from the package and may be later replaced in the package so that the package provides a convenient storage function for the product. The package is very reusable and serves the consumer well into the future. For greater clarity of illustration a portion of the lower right corner of the spiral notebook 21 is cutaway to reveal the inside surface of the container member 5. Initially the assembler installs the components in place and swings (e.g. pivots) cover 3 about the hinges pulling spine 7 upward and alongside container portion 5 and presses the cover portion into mating frictional engagement with container portion 5 to close the album-like structure. Wall 9 of the cover member is positioned so as to define a rectangular area that is just slightly smaller than the corresponding rectangular area defined by wall 11 in the mating container portion 5 so that the two walls frictionally engage slightly when the package is closed. The package may be closed, but it is not yet secure.

Reference is made to FIG. 4, which illustrates the package closed with the packaged product inside. For convenience the walls of the package are illustrated as opaque, though as earlier discussed, they are preferably transparent and the advertising text and graphic material visible on (or through) the transparent walls is omitted. To minimize or eliminate pilferage, the package should be sealed closed. Although package 1 may be sealed closed with tape, the preferred embodiment is sealed closed with a novel lock or lock bar 23, which is shown positioned inside a recessed region along the front side edge. Reference is again made to FIG. 1. As shown in this front open view of the package, edge wall 11 of container member 5 of the package contains a short portion 12A along the right side that is recessed from the remainder of that edge wall 11. A like recessed wall portion 12B is formed in edge wall 9 of cover portion 3, illustrated to the left in the figure. Each of those recessed portions contain small slots that extend through the thickness of the wall, later herein discussed in greater detail and better illustrated in later figures herein. As shown in FIG. 3, when the case is closed, Portion 12B is pivoted into place alongside portion 12A.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, to which reference is made, the lock contains recessed wall portions 12A and 12B aligned side by side, containing slots 14. When the package is closed, as in FIG. 5, sections 12A and 12B become aligned side-by-side as illustrated. Lock bar or locking bar 23 contains two rows of barbs along the inside surface in which, by design, each barb is aligned with a corresponding one of the slots found in sections 12A and 12B. To lock the package closed, the locking bar 23 is inserted and pressed into the recess and the two rows of barbs carried by the locking bar are pushed into the corresponding holes or slots 14. The lock bar fastens the two package portions 3 and 5 together and cannot be easily removed.

Each of wall portions 12A and 12B contains a number of spaced small openings, holes or slots 14, only one of which is numbered. The locking bar 23 contains a number of pins, prongs or barbs 24, as variously termed, only one of which is numbered. Those barbs are shaped to facilitate easy insertion of the barbs into the corresponding holes 14, but not to permit removal using a person's finger. Those barbs and, hence, the locking bar, are designed to be removed with reasonable utensils, not illustrated.

A cross section view of the locking bar 23 and barbs 24 is illustrated in an enlarged scale in FIG. 6 to which reference is made. The barbs in each row in the two package portions are spaced apart a short distance, slightly less distance than the spacing between the two barbs in the corresponding row of the lock bar. As the lock bar is pressed into place, the side walls of the respective hole or slot press against the curved surface of the barbs, which, being mounted at the end of respective flexible shafts, effectively squeeze the barbs in each row together as the barbs are pressed forward through the respective holes 14. That indirectly produced sideways force on the barbs results from the smaller difference in spacing between the holes in a respective row. However, once the barbs pass through the respective holes, the barbs, being attached to a flexible shaft, spring back upright and resume the original tip-to-tip spacing. That places the rear flat side of the barbs facing a respective flat wall portion 12A and 12B of the lock keeper portion of the edge walls of the container portions. As shown, the barb 24 has a curved side so the shaft of the barb that carries the curved side may easily be flexed to one side by the side wall of a slot as the barb enters the slot, and thereafter spring back in position after passing through the slot.

If one thereafter attempts to withdraw the lock bar thereafter, the flat surface on the barb abuts the flat surface of the side wall portion, which inhibits withdrawal. With eight of those barbs resisting withdrawal, it becomes near impossible to release the lock bar to open the package, and it will be necessary to force the barbs out with a tool, such as a screwdriver, to pry the lock bar away.

The locking bar thereby effectively prevents the package from being opened. With lock bar 23 in place, cover portion 3 cannot be pivoted out of engagement with container portion 5. It is virtually impossible to pry the lock bar 23 away without a tool such as a screwdriver, and in doing so breaking the lock. A finger slot may be added to the side of the cover portion to allow one to be able to try and pull the lock away or break the lock with one finger or to allow a better access for a screwdriver.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the depth of the internally recessed portions 12A in the container portion and 12 B in the cover member is sufficient to allow the lock bar 23 to fit within the recess so that the top surface of the bar lies flush with or under the remainder of side wall 11, a preferred feature.

A number of different embodiments stem from the foregoing that are best address following a discussion of the production technique. An initial step is the mechanical design of a package and the reproduction of that design as a mold for an injection molding operation in which clarified polypropylene (“PP”) is used as the plastic material for the package. That's followed by the molding operation and removal of the molded package from the mold in which the PP material is heated, liquefied, injected into the mold, and then cooled and solidifies. It is found that clarified polypropylene (“PP”) is transparent. The material can be colored and can be recycled. As removed from the mold, the package (or at this stage the structure may be called the package form) is in the full open position, essentially as depicted earlier in FIG. 1. The package form is relatively thick and stiff, and possesses limited flexibility. In a practical embodiment the wall thickness of the cover and/or compartment section is about 0.060 inch thick. The foregoing procedures for injection molding are well known in the molding art and need not be repeated in detail.

The molded package forms are placed in an inverted position for the next operation. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the rear side of the package form 1 contains a side of cover portion 3, spine 7 and container portion 5, in a unitary one-piece structure. That side is relatively planar or flat. That's the situation, because the package form has not as yet been pivoted closed as would form the creases in the plastic surface for hinges 8 and 10 of spine 7. By inverting the package form as viewed in FIG. 2, the rear side of the package form is oriented upward and is accessible for the subsequent operation.

Separately a web or sheet 27, as illustrated in FIG. 7, of the same transparent plastic material as the package form, namely virgin clarified polypropylene, is obtained from the manufacturer. The sheet is cut to the appropriate size that just covers the rear side of the molded package form, such as the rear side of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2. Alternatively, the sheet material may be so sized and cut by the manufacturer and supplied as properly sized cut sheets. Sheet 27 is very thin relative to the thickness of the walls of the package, as example, about 0.025 millimeters in thickness, and, hence, is quite limp in physical characteristic. It is believed that any size between 0.01 mm to 0.60 mm may be suitable, but the particular size will depend on whether the plastic sheet is to be laminated or heat sealed in all corners as later herein described. At this stage there are three options for a completed package.

One option at this stage is to print background, text and/or graphic material directly on and entirely covering both the front and rear surfaces of the foregoing plastic sheet 27, while leaving a region of the surface, say a rectangular shaped region, as example, free of the printing inks. That rectangular shaped region defines a window 28 that makes it possible for a person to look through the sheet to the opposite side. Printing on plastic is well known to those skilled in the printing and those in the plastic packaging art and need not be described in detail herein. Reference is made to FIG. 9, corresponding to the structure of FIG. 7, which shows sheet 27′ with printed background 37, printed text 39, namely, the letter A and a printed graphic 40, an overturned triangle on one side, and the two regions on the sheet that remain transparent to form windows 28′ and 28.″

For convenience a note is made on the labeling convention used. When an element that appeared in one embodiment also appears in a related embodiment later, the element in the related embodiment may be identified by the same number used for the element in the first figure. Likewise, if the later illustrated element is the same but not necessarily identical to the earlier one, the same number is used as was used for the original figure but is primed or double-primed. A different presentation of background, text and graphics may be printed on the opposite or underside side of sheet 27′, such as illustrated in FIG. 10, in which a face of sheet 27 is visible through the transparent wall of package cover portion 3. FIG. 10 corresponds to the view presented earlier in FIG. 3. The printed text includes the letters A and F, 41 and 43, the pentagon 45 is a graphic and the background 47. Notebook 21 in place in container portion 5 obscures the printed material visible through the transparent wall of that portion of the package form.

FIG. 11 shows how the foregoing printed sheet 27′ might look in the closed package 1, which is a perspective view that corresponds to the illustration of FIG. 4. The memory cartridge 17 is viewed through the transparent wall of package form cover portion 3 and the underlying transparent window 28″ in overlay sheet 27′.

A second option to printing directly on both sides of the transparent PP overlay sheet leaving space without print for the windows is to print background text and graphic material directly on and covering both the entire front and rear surfaces of the plastic sheet without transparent windows. That makes it impossible for one to see through the sheet to the opposite side.

A third option is to print text and graphics on one side only (with or without an excepted region for a window) and leave the other side free of ink. For obvious reasons this option is least preferred. A fourth option is to leave the sheet free of printing altogether, leaving the sheet entirely transparent.

The printed sheet in the first three options as printed (or not) in accordance with the one of the three options selected, is carefully placed on the rear surface of the package embodiment, such as illustrated pictorially in FIGS. 7 and 9. There are two further options for fabrication. In accordance with a first of the two further options, the sheet is then laminated to the rear planar side of the package form, which serves as the outside walls of the album-like shaped package. Lamination basically glues the entire sheet surface to the underlying walls of the package form.

The foregoing partially completed package of product then continues along the assembly process. The foregoing partially assembled package is again inverted so that the container region now faces upward as in FIG. 2 and the various parts of the product are placed by an assembler into the proper positions in the package, as was depicted in FIG. 3. The package is then closed as in FIG. 5 and the lock bar 23 is pushed into place in the slots in the edge wall of the package to lock the package closed as was illustrated in FIG. 4.

The inks used for printing on the plastic are compatible with recycling of the PP package and during recycling function only to discolor the plastic, whereby the reclaimed plastic will be colored, but cannot be restored to the clarity and transparency that existed when the plastic was virgin. That coloring, though unwanted, can be used to make some packages where a black or otherwise dark color does not detract from the appeal of the product. Such reclaimed plastic can find application in at least one of the processes described herein. As of the present, lamination of PP sheets to the injected molded structure does not have the benefit of a long history, which is the only disadvantage at present.

Instead of laminating the entire sheet a better approach and the second further option is to use edge heat sealing of the sheet. Again, in this variation, the printed sheet from one of the options one through three, earlier described, is carefully placed on the rear surface of the package form, such as illustrated pictorially in FIG. 7. Then the edges of the sheet are heat sealed to the rear planar side of the package form 1, which serves as the outside walls of the album-like shape package.

This partially completed package of product then continues along the assembly procedure. The foregoing partially assembled package is again inverted so that the container region now faces upward as in FIG. 2 and the various elements or components of the product are placed into the proper positions in the package, as was depicted in FIG. 3. The package is then closed as in FIG. 4 and lock bar 23 is pushed into place to lock the package closed.

Consider ultimately recycling the package and reusing the material. In the foregoing options the ink for printing on plastic is one which does not adversely affect the recycling of the clarified polypropylene material, even though the ink is ground up with the plastic material. The reclaimed plastic will ultimately be reused as an opaque or colored plastic, but will not again be transparent as when the ingredients were virgin. With the foregoing design and materials the objectives of displaying the advertising material to the customer, and, perhaps allowing a view of the product and providing a reusable storage package for the product while at the same time complying with environmental imperatives such as providing a package that is recyclable are all achieved.

It is also possible to remove the ink prior to reclaiming the plastic. That removal is possible in the foregoing variation in which the sheet of printed material is heat sealed along the edges. A blade is used to cut out the sheet from the package form, releasing the package form for recycling and discarding the printed sheet of plastic. That takes a few extra steps and is easily accomplished.

As recalled in the fourth option the thin sheet of clarified polypropylene (plastic material) does not contain print, but remains transparent over the entire surface as one very large window. For this option reference is made to FIGS. 8 and 12 in which that sheet is denominated as 29. The thin sheet 29 of clarified polypropylene is carefully placed on the rear surface of the package embodiment, such as illustrated pictorially in FIG. 8. Then the opposed right and left edges 31 and 33 of sheet 29 are heat sealed to the rear side of the package form, which serves and the outside walls of the album or book-like shaped package. The remaining two opposite sides of sheet 29 remain detached from the planar surface of the rear side of the package form. As a result, the unattached side edge of the sheet may be raised slightly to permit insertion of a thin sheet of paper 35. That is what is planned for this embodiment. A sheet of paper 35 is cut to the size and shape to fit within the area defined by plastic sheet 29 or is cut slightly smaller. As better illustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 12, sheet 35 is printed with text 39′ and graphics 40′ and contains a cut-out regions that defines windows 36′ and 36″. In a practical embodiment the paper sheet used can be 70 pound C2S paper for printing up to 5 over 5 colors. That paper is about 0.005 inches thick, although acceptable paper for the disclosed application can vary in range from 60 pound to 100 pound paper and from 6 point to 24 point paperboard. That cut paper sheet 35 may be colored, contain printed graphics and/or text at least one side or both sides or may be left plain with no print or graphics and which, optionally, may contain window 36, such as illustrated in FIG. 7 or multiple windows 36′ and 36″ as in FIG. 12. The paper insert is held in place between the side wall of the package form portions and the thin overlay sheet by friction.

Although the foregoing embodiment heat seals the right and left side edges of sheet 29 to the underlying package portions and inserts the paper sheet 35 from either side, as those skilled in the art appreciate, the foregoing can be reversed as in FIG. 12. That is, the top and bottom side edges of sheet 29 may be heat sealed to the underlying package portion and right and left edges 31 and 33 left unattached. In that event the paper sheet is inserted into the space between sheet 29 and the rear walls of package form portions 3 and 5 from either the top or bottom edges. The result and operation remain essentially the same as before.

For this embodiment the partially completed package of product then continues along the assembly procedure. The foregoing partially assembled package is again inverted so that the container region now faces upward as in FIG. 2 and the various parts of the product are placed into the proper positions in the package as depicted in FIG. 3. The package is then closed as in FIG. 5 and the lock 23 is pushed into place to lock the package closed. Closing the package also adds additional friction to ensure that the paper sheet 35 remains in place.

Again consider the likelihood that someday the foregoing package will be discarded and wind up in the waste. As is apparent the package is recyclable. The person performing recycling operation can easily access the paper sheet from the open package to separate and discard the paper sheet and allow the plastic package to be ground up without interference from the paper.

The invention was illustrated using a rectangular shaped album type package that housed a small sized product, a game cartridge, as associated notebook or instruction book and a pen. As those skilled in the art appreciate, the invention is not limited to any particular package shape or to any particular size of prepackaged product. Prepackaged product that may be included in a form of the dual use package described herein can include any kind of merchandise, such as MP3 players, cameras, flash memory, DVDS, CDs, small electronic devices, office supplies and the like.

A package for an MP3 player takes the form presented in FIGS. 13 and 14 in respective front and side views. This is also an album-type package in which an MP3 player 32 is purchased and later stored. Package 34 is formed of injection molded virgin clarified polypropylene and, hence, contains transparent walls in each of the respective cover portion 36, container portion 38 and spine 40, as taken from the mold. The package includes a lock 44, shown for positioning in one of the lock keepers 42A and 42B. With the walls transparent and so much of the space being unused due to the relatively small size of the MP3 player, the various text and graphic symbols can be placed on a separate sheet of paper, not illustrated, that is placed inside the package or on the side of an instruction manual, also not illustrated, that may be disposed in the lower half of the container portion 38 of the package. As is appreciated such a package is both pilfer resistant in-store and is recyclable, the latter because the paper material may easily be removed. Alternatively, if one desires, the advertising material may be added by printing the material, background, text and graphics to the surface (or surfaces) of a thin sheet of transparent polypropylene and attaching that sheet to the the outer surface on the planar side of the package, which is the lower side shown in FIG. 14, or using any of the other techniques and/or processes described in the prior paragraphs in connection with FIGS. 7, 8, 9 through 12. In the latter cases, the structure shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 should be considered a package form, and the package would not be completed until the remaining plastic sheets are attached to the surface of the package form.

Although most of the foregoing package structure was devoted to structure that was injection molded from virgin clarified polypropylene and hence produced a transparent package structure, it should be recognized that the same package structures can also be injection molded using recycled polypropylene in which case the walls are not transparent, but opaque and colored, usually a dark color. As those skilled in the art appreciate, when the polypropylene is ground up as part of the reclamation process, the printing inks of various colors that may have been included, are all mixed together. As one knows, mixing paints or inks of various colors together ultimately produces a black or gray color to the material, and that also occurs with the reclaimed PP. The important fact is that the PP can be reclaimed and reused instead of filling the landfills.

An important aspect for the package manufacturer is production efficiency. Molds for injection molding of packages or other parts cost money to manufacture as part of the injection molding process. If one customer is able to use the same package geometry as another customer, the same mold can be used to produce a package for both, and the overhead costs go down. Indeed if many different customers use the same package design, one could manufacture a mold of the highest quality that would have a very long production life and lower costs significantly. An inspection of the prepackaged products available in the retail stores shows that use of a common package design may be difficult to achieve, since most manufacturers wish to have the product be individualized and distinctive. While that predisposition may not be overcome in some cases, one realizes customers can be induced to change their ways if the costs can be significantly lowered. Thus for example, a package shape may be common to a number of products, but the advertising and promotional material, names and trademarks will be distinctive of each product manufacturer. To provide that inducement a universal package is necessary. Such a package is included within the inventions described in this application and is illustrated in FIGS. 15 and 16 to which reference is made.

Package 50 is injection molded of polypropylene material. In this case the polypropylene is either reclaimed polypropylene or virgin clarified polypropylene with an introduced dye that colors and makes the walls of the package translucent or opaque. The package 50 in FIG. 15 is shown fully open, essentially as extracted from the mold, and basically is a package form, which does not include (or illustrate) the advertising material that one may optionally introduce in the same procedures previously described for the prior embodiments. The package is an album-like structure that contains a cover portion 51, a container portion 53 and a spine 55. The spine is connected to cover portion 51 by a living hinge 52, a crease molded into the plastic material, and to container portion 53 by living hinge 54. As in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the foregoing package structure constitutes a one-piece integral assembly of the cited elements. The cover portion is bounded on three sides by a short upstanding sidewall 57 and the container portion is also bordered on three sides by a slightly higher upstanding wall 59.

The intermediate wall portion of wall 59 includes a lock keeper 61A that is recessed from the outer surface and a like recessed lock keeper 61 is included in the corresponding location in bordering side wall 57. As shown in the perspective view of FIG. 16 the lock keepers are aligned so that when the two package portions are pivoted about the hinges and placed in mating frictional engagement drawing the spine into place against the end edges of the sidewalls the keepers are aligned and the holes or slots in each keeper are placed in four parallel rows of two slots each (or from a different standpoint, two parallel rows of four slots each). Locking bar 63 of the lock contains eight barbs extending from the under surface that are spaced so as to align with the eight slots in the formed keeper. Locking bar 63 is then pressed into place with the eight outwardly barbs extending into the eight slots to lock the package closed. The operation of the lock is the same as earlier described in connection with the embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6 and need not be repeated.

Returning to FIG. 15, the inside surface of the flat rear wall in container portion 53 of package 50 contains six short upstanding posts or pegs 65, only four of which are labeled. Those four pegs are also labeled in FIG. 16. Three of the pegs are evenly spaced along the right hand side of the package portion and the remaining three pegs are evenly spaced along the left side of that portion. A product that is to be housed (and then later stored) in this package is initially mounted to a plastic fixture, not illustrated, that is thermoformed to the desired shape. That plastic fixture contains peg holes at the same locations as pegs 65 in the package, and mounts into the package with the product in place. The height of the plastic fixture and the product carried in that fixture cannot of course exceed the available height of wall 59 in the container portion.

Advertising and promotional material, text, graphics, names, trademarks, and other information are added to the foregoing package by attaching a printed-on-plastic PP sheet to the outside, which need be printed on one side only, if the package is opaque, such as described in connection with FIGS. 7 and 9, not here repeated. Alternatively, that may be accomplished by attaching a transparent sheet of plastic to the planar outer surface of the package, leaving two sides of that sheet unattached and then slipping the printed sheet through one of the unattached sides of the sheet, as described earlier in connection with FIGS. 8 and 12, not here repeated. With opaque walls in the package, there's no need for any of the printed sheets to include a window that exposes the opaque wall. Of course, If one chooses to mold the foregoing package of virgin clarified polypropylene, raising the cost, additional alternatives, earlier discussed with the prior embodiments, become available.

It is believed that the foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the invention is sufficient in detail to enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention without undue experimentation. However, it is expressly understood that the detail of the elements comprising the embodiment presented for the foregoing purpose is not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way, in as much as equivalents to those elements and other modifications thereof, all of which come within the scope of the invention, will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading this specification. Thus, the invention is to be broadly construed within the full scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A package product comprising:

a clamshell type case;

said clamshell type case including first and second clamshell sections and a spine; each of said clamshell sections defining a respective volume, and each said volume being open on one side; said clamshell sections being joined by respective living hinges to opposite side edges of said spine for pivotal movement about a respective living hinge, wherein said respective clamshell sections may be pivoted into frictional engagement closing said case and placing said open side of said respective volumes in confronting relationship to define a closed region adapted to receive and confine a product; and

a tear-away lock bar for locking said clamshell sections together to prevent said case from being opened, but which may be torn away from said clamshell sections to unlock said clamshell sections and permit access to any product confined therein, while producing visible evidence on said clamshell sections of the removal of said tear-away lock bar.

2. The package for product as defined in claim 1,

wherein each of said first and second clamshell sections include a top edge wall, a bottom edge wall and a front edge wall;

wherein said front edge wall of each of said first and second clamshell sections includes a recessed edge wall portion formed therein, recessed from the remainder of said front edge wall;

wherein each of said recessed edge wall portions include a plurality of slots therethrough; and

wherein said lock bar includes a plurality of protruding barbs protruding from a bottom surface thereof, said protruding barbs being adapted to fit through said plurality of slots and grip the inner wall surface of at least one of said recessed wall portions to inhibit withdrawal of said lock bar.

3. The package for product as defined in claim 2,

wherein said recessed edge wall portions of said first and second clamshell sections are positioned in alignment when said clamshell case is closed; and

wherein said lock bar is of a size to fit with said aligned recessed edge wall portions of said clamshell sections.

4. The package for product as defined in claim 2, wherein said lock bar is of a size to fit into said recessed edge wall portions of said first and second clamshell sections;

5. The package for product as defined in claim 1, wherein said lock bar includes a plurality of protruding barbs, said barbs being adapted to fit through a plurality of slots formed in an edge wall surface of said clamshell sections and grip an inner wall surface of said edge wall adjacent said slots to prevent withdrawal of said plurality of barbs from said plurality of slots and hold said lock bar against said edge wall.

6. The package for product as defined in claim 2, wherein each said protruding barb comprises a forwardly directed tapered head supported at a distal end of a shaft attached to the underside of said lock bar and positioned normal thereto, wherein the side walls of said slots force said forwardly directed tapered head in one lateral direction from the normal as the lock bar is pressed into said recessed wall portion to flex the shaft aside and permit said barbs to pass through respective slots and wherein said flexible shaft snaps back to the normal position to move a flat surface on the rear of said tapered heads against the underside of the recessed edge wall portion adjacent to prevent withdrawal of said barbs from the respective slots, and, thereby hold said lock bar in engagement with said recessed edge wall portion.

7. A reusable package and storage album for a product, comprising:

first and second housing sections, said first and second housing sections being adapted to mate to one another in frictional engagement to define a closed condition and an internal region within which to hold the product;

a spine; and

a pair of hinges;

said first and second housing sections, said spine and said pair of hinges being integrally formed in a unitary one piece structure of transparent plastic material;

said spine being attached to said first and second housing sections by respective ones of said pair of hinges for permitting said first and second housing sections to be repetitively pivoted into mating frictional engagement to place said housing sections in a closed condition to confine product and, alternately, pivoted out of mating frictional engagement to open said housing sections to permit withdrawal of said product;

a layer of transparent plastic material covering said back side surface of said open package sections and said spine, said covering layer having two opposed side ends attached to the underlying back side surface and another remaining two opposed side ends remaining unattached to thereby define a thin wide sleeve through said back side of said package that includes two open ends;

a paper sheet, said paper sheet including graphic and text print material on at least one of the front and back side of said paper sheet, and said paper sheet being located in said thin wide sleeve and covering said back side surface of said package.

8. The reusable package and storage album for a product as defined in claim 7, wherein said paper sheet is accessible for manual withdrawal from and insertion in said formed thin wide sleeve through an open end of said thin wide sleeve.

9. A reusable package and storage album for a product as defined in claim 7, wherein said paper sheet includes graphic and text print material on each of said front and back sides.

10. The reusable package and storage album for a product as defined in claim 7, wherein said paper sheet comprises C2S paper in a weight in the range of from 60 pounds through 100 pounds, said C2S designation representing paper that is coating on two sides.

11. The reusable package and storage album for a product as defined in claim 7, wherein said paper sheet comprises a point rating anywhere in the range of from 6 points through 24 points

12. The reusable package and storage album for a product as defined in claim 7, wherein said layer of plastic material consists of a sheet of virgin clarified polypropylene, and wherein said unitary one piece structure of transparent plastic material consists of injection molded virgin clarified polypropylene.

13. The reusable package and storage album for a product as defined in claim 7, wherein said unitary one piece structure of transparent plastic material further comprises injection molded virgin clarified polypropylene.

14. The reusable package and storage album for a product as defined in claim 7, wherein said paper sheet comprises a point rating anywhere in the range of from 6 points through 24 points and includes graphic and text print material on each of said front and back sides, wherein said layer of plastic material consists of a sheet of virgin clarified polypropylene, and wherein said unitary one piece structure of transparent plastic material consists of injection molded virgin clarified polypropylene.

15. A reusable display package and storage album for a product, comprising:

first and second housing sections, said first and second housing sections being adapted to mate to one another in frictional engagement to define a closed condition and an internal region within which to hold the product;

a spine; and

a pair of hinges;

said first and second housing sections, said spine and said pair of hinges being integrally formed in a unitary one piece structure of transparent plastic material;

said spine being attached to said first and second housing sections by respective ones of said pair of hinges for permitting said first and second housing sections to be repetitively pivoted into mating frictional engagement to place said housing sections in a closed condition to confine product and, alternately, pivoted out of mating frictional engagement to open said housing sections to permit withdrawal of said product;

a sheet of thin bendable printable material having a top side and a bottom side and being opaque to light, said bottom side of said sheet being coupled to at least a surface of said first and second housing sections and covering said first and second housing sections and said spine;

said sheet of thin bendable printable material including a layer of ink on each of said top and bottom side at locations thereon overlying said first and second housing sections and said spine, said ink defining any of text and graphics symbols; and

said ink on said bottom side of said sheet of thin printable material being visible through said transparent plastic material of said housing sections and said spine.

16. The reusable display package and storage album for a product as defined in claim 15, wherein said sheet of thin bendable printable material comprises a sheet of virgin clarified polypropylene, and wherein said unitary one piece structure of transparent plastic material further comprises injection molded virgin clarified polypropylene.

17. The reusable display package and storage album for a product as defined in claim 15, wherein said sheet of thin bendable printable material consists of a sheet of virgin clarified polypropylene, and wherein said unitary one piece structure of transparent plastic material consists of injection molded virgin clarified polypropylene.

18. The reusable display package and storage album for a product as defined in claim 15, further comprising:

a tear-away lock bar for locking said housing sections together to prevent said housing sections from being opened, but which tear-away lock bar may be torn away from said housing sections to unlock said housing sections and permit access to any product confined therewithin, while leaving visible evidence of the removal of said tear-away lock bar on at least one of said housing sections.

19. The reusable display package and storage album for a product as defined in claim 18, wherein each of said first and second housing sections include a top edge wall, a bottom edge wall and a front edge wall;

wherein said front edge wall of each of said first and second housing sections includes a recessed edge wall portion formed therein, recessed from the remainder of said front edge wall;

wherein each of said recessed edge wall portions include a plurality of slots therethrough; and

wherein said lock bar includes a plurality of protruding barbs protruding from a bottom surface thereof, said protruding barbs being adapted to fit through said plurality of slots and grip the inner wall surface of at least one of said recessed wall portions to inhibit withdrawal of said lock bar.

20. The reusable display package and storage album for a product as defined in claim 19, wherein each of said recessed edge wall portions including a plurality of slots therein.

21. The reusable display package for sale and storage of a product as defined in claim 20, wherein each said protruding barb comprises a forwardly directed tapered head supported at a distal end of a shaft attached to the underside of said lock bar and positioned normal thereto, wherein the side walls of said slots force said forwardly directed tapered head in one lateral direction from the normal as the lock bar is pressed into said recessed wall portion to flex the shaft aside and permit said barbs to pass through respective slots and wherein said flexible shaft snaps back to the normal position to move a flat surface on the rear of said tapered heads against the underside of the recessed edge wall portion adjacent to prevent withdrawal of said barbs from the respective slots, and, thereby hold said lock bar in engagement with said recessed edge wall portion.

22. A reusable package and storage album for a product, comprising:

first and second housing sections, said first and second housing sections being adapted to mate to one another in frictional engagement to define a closed condition and an internal region within which to hold the product;

a spine; and

a pair of hinges;

said spine being attached to said first and second housing sections by respective ones of said pair of hinges for permitting said first and second housing sections to be repetitively pivoted into mating frictional engagement to place said housing sections in a closed condition to confine product and, alternately, pivoted out of mating frictional engagement to open said housing sections to permit withdrawal of said product;

said first and second housing sections, said spine and said pair of hinges being integrally formed in a unitary one piece structure of transparent plastic material;

a sheet of plastic material attached to and covering said back side surface of said housing sections; and

opaque printed material covering a major portion of the surface of said sheet of plastic material leaving at least one transparent portion uncovered to define a window whereby a portion of the interior of the package may be viewed from the exterior when the package is closed,

23. The reusable package and storage album for a product as defined in claim 22, wherein said opaque printed material covers a major portion of both sides of said sheet of plastic material leaving at least one transparent portion uncovered to define a window, said opaque printed material including text and/or graphic material on each of said front and back sides of said sheet of plastic material.

24. The reusable display package and storage album for a product as defined in claim 22, wherein said unitary one piece structure of transparent plastic material comprises injection molded virgin clarified polypropylene.

25. The reusable display package and storage album for a product as defined in claim 24, wherein one of said housing sections includes a plurality of mounting pegs projecting from the base inside the respective housing section, said mounting pegs being adapted to mount a product carrier in said housing section; said product carrier for holding said product on the inside said package.

26. A method for efficient production of reusable plastic packaging for product, comprising the steps of:

securing an order from a product vendor for a predetermined quantity of clam shell plastic packages for a product;

determining if said plastic package for said product is also useful for packaging a variety of different products or for like products of other vendors, and, if the determination is affirmative, continue with the steps that follow;

fabricating a quantity of clam shell package forms in a full open condition in a quantity greatly in excess of said predetermined quantity, said package forms being of a size and shape capable sufficient to confine any of a predetermined variety of additional product and free of any advertising text, information materials and graphics symbols specifically related to any one kind of product in said predetermined variety;

printing any of advertising text, information materials and/or graphics symbols particular to said vendor product on sheets of printable material to produce a printed sheets for inclusion with said package forms and/or products sufficient in number to cover the predetermined quantity of product;

coupling each printed sheet to a respective one of said package forms to produce open display packages that includes advertising text, information materials and/or graphics symbols particular to said vendor product;

filing said open display package with said vendor product; and

closing said display package and delivering the packaged vendor product to said vendor.

27. The method for efficient production of reusable plastic packaging for product as defined in claim 26, including the additional step of locking said display package, following the step of closing said display package and before the step of delivering said packaged vendor product to said product vendor.

28. The method for efficient production of reusable plastic packaging for product as defined in claim 26, wherein said printable material used in said step of printing any of advertising text, information materials and/or graphics symbols particular to said product on a sheet of printable material to produce a printed sheet for inclusion with said package form and/or product comprises any of a sheet of paperboard, a sheet of paper, and a sheet of plastic material.

29. The method for efficient production of reusable plastic packaging for product as defined in claim 26, wherein said step of inclusion of said printed sheet with said package comprises the steps of placing said sheet of paper inside said package.

30. The method for efficient production of reusable plastic packaging for product as defined in claim 26, wherein said step of inclusion of said printed sheet with said package comprises the steps of

fusing a sheet of transparent plastic material over the backside of an open clamshell package form to define with said backside of said clamshell package form a wide narrow sleeve; and

inserting said printed sheet inside said wide narrow sleeve.

31. The method for efficient production of reusable plastic packaging for product as defined in claim 26, wherein said step of inclusion of said printed sheet with said package comprises the step of

fusing said printed sheet of plastic material to said clamshell package form.

32. A method for efficient production of reusable plastic display packaging for a vendor's product, comprising the steps of:

securing an order from a product vendor for a predetermined quantity of clam shell plastic packages for a product;

determining if said plastic package for said product is also useful for packaging a variety of different products or for like products of other vendors, and, if the determination is affirmative, continue with the steps that follow;

fabricating a quantity of clam shell package forms in a full open condition in a quantity greatly in excess of said predetermined quantity, said package forms being of a size and shape capable sufficient to confine any of a predetermined variety of additional product and free of any advertising text, information materials and graphics symbols specifically related to any one kind of product in said predetermined variety;

printing any of advertising text, information materials and/or graphics symbols particular to said vendor product on sheets of printable material to produce a printed sheets for inclusion with said package forms and/or products sufficient in number to cover the predetermined quantity of product;

coupling each printed sheet to a respective one of said package forms to produce open display packages that includes advertising text, information materials and/or graphics symbols particular to said vendor product;

filing said open display package with said vendor product; and

closing said display package and delivering the packaged vendor product to said vendor;

placing in inventory the excess of said full open clam shell package forms not used in filling said order for said predetermined quantity to await a need for product packages;

searching for and locating at least one additional product vendor with a need for display packaging for product that falls within said predetermined variety of product for that product and securing a purchase agreement from at least that additional product vendor for packaging a second predetermined quantity of said additional product;

withdrawing a quantity of said full open package forms from said excess in inventory sufficient to fulfil said purchase agreement

printing any of advertising text, information materials and/or graphics symbols unique to said vendor product on sheets of printable material to produce printed sheets for inclusion with said package forms and/or products sufficient in number to cover said second predetermined quantity of product;

coupling each of said printed sheets to a respective package form in said excess to produce an open display package that includes advertising text, information materials and/or graphics symbols particular to said product;

filing said open display package with said product; and

closing said display package and delivering same to said second product vendor.

33. A package product comprising:

a clamshell type case;

said clamshell type case including first and second clamshell sections; each of said clamshell sections defining a respective volume, and each said volume being open on one side; said clamshell sections being joined by a living hinge to said first and second clamshell sections, wherein said respective clamshell sections may be pivoted into frictional engagement closing said case and placing said open side of said respective volumes in confronting relationship to define a closed region adapted to receive and confine a product; and

a tear-away lock bar for locking said clamshell sections together to prevent said case from being opened, but which may be torn away from said clamshell sections to unlock said clamshell sections and permit access to any product confined therein, while producing visible evidence on said clamshell sections of the removal of said tear-away lock bar.