Sleeve blister package assembly for confectionary products
A packaging assembly supports and dispenses a plurality of retail products, such as confectionary products. The assembly includes a housing having a plurality of package sleeves that are removably attached to one another. A blister tray attachment is slidably insertable into one or more of the package sleeves.
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This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/841,294 filed Aug. 30, 2006, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/841,291 filed Aug. 30, 2006, the contents all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates generally to consumer product packaging. More particularly, the present invention relates to packaging of confectionary products, pharmaceutical products, or the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe packaging for consumable products is very important to the storage of the product. Frequently, the packaging attempts to visually convey indicia about the type of product, the taste of the product or the purpose of the product. For example, some packages for consumer products, such as gum or candy, frequently include indicia on the package indicating the type of tasting product available in the package. Once a consumer identifies the type of product from the package, the consumer typically chooses a product based solely on the packaging indicia.
Various types of blister package assemblies are known in the art. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,118 to Thompson et al., a stepped-edge blister pack for containing and dispensing units of doses of medication such as capsules, tablets, caplets or fast-dissolving dosage forms is disclosed. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,660 to Rune et al., a blister pack is disclosed that comprises at least one blister pack with individually openable blisters including a number of blisters containing placebo (placebo blisters), and a number of blisters containing an active pharmaceutical drug.
Although today's blister packages adequately support products contained therein, there are some disadvantages. For example, if it is felt that an entire portion of the product may be consumed in one sitting, such as in the case of a candy bar, the manufacturer may wish to provide a once only usable package to store the product, rather than a reusable package. Furthermore, there are also practical facets to packaging consumable products, namely, ease of access to the products stored in the packaging, flexibility of the packaging once pieces of the product are removed, and providing a reusable package.
It is therefore desirable to provide a product package assembly that supports one or more products in a reusable assembly that is not costly and is robust enough to support less than all the products that are removed from the package. Furthermore, it is desirable to provide a packaging assembly that is flexible and yet robust enough to support one or more various types of products once some are consumed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA packaging assembly supports and dispenses a plurality of retail products, such as confectionary products. The assembly includes a housing having a plurality of package sleeves that are removably attached to one another. A blister tray attachment is slidably insertable into one or more of the package sleeves.
For example, in one aspect of the invention, a method of providing a package assembly for consumable products includes forming a housing including a plurality of sleeves, removably attaching the plurality of sleeves to one another using an adhesive, and providing a blister tray slidably insertable into one or more of the sleeves, the blister tray supporting consumable products. The method also can include attaching the plurality of sleeves to one another using an adhesive.
In one preferred embodiment, the method includes forming at least one cut score on an outer surface of one of the plurality of sleeves and applying the adhesive to the at least one cut score. Preferably, the method further includes forming the cut score by cutting a fifty percent cut score through a top layer of one of the plurality of sleeves.
In one preferred embodiment, the method includes attaching the plurality of sleeves to the housing at a detachable perforated line so as to allow the removal of one of the plurality of sleeves. The method can also include folding ends of a flat piece of paperboard material toward one another and attaching at least one surface of the ends to the housing.
In another aspect, a blister package assembly for consumable products includes a housing including a plurality of sleeves, a blister tray slidably insertable into at least one of the plurality of sleeves, the blister tray supporting consumable products, wherein the plurality of sleeves are removably attached to one another using an adhesive, the adhesive applied to an outer surface of one of the plurality of sleeves.
In one preferred embodiment, the adhesive is applied to a cut score formed on the outer surface. Preferably, the cut score is a fifty percent cut score formed on the outer surface. In another preferred embodiment, the package assembly includes a plurality of cut scores formed on the outer surface, each of the plurality of cut scores including adhesive.
Preferably, the plurality of sleeves are attached to the housing at a detachable perforated line so as to allow the removal of one of the plurality of sleeves.
Additional features and advantages will be readily apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings and the claims.
Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTSThe present invention provides a packaging assembly for supporting and dispensing retail products. The products are consumable or confectionery products. The products include any type of consumable or confectionery products such as gum or candy. The products can alternatively be any other type of consumable products. For instance, the products can be gum or candy or other type of medical or consumable product.
As shown in
Preferably, the blister trays 14, 15 of the present invention are made primarily from plastic and/or plastic or metal foils. As shown in
As shown in
The sleeves 17, 19 of the present invention are made from single or multiple pieces of cardboard or other suitable material and are shaped to support the blister trays 14, 15. The material for the sleeves 17, 19 is preferably chosen to be relatively inexpensive and may in certain embodiments be biodegradable or recyclable. For example, biodegradable paperboard may be used to form the sleeves 17, 19. Of course, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that other materials, such as unbleached board as well as polymeric material, may be used to form the sleeves 17, 19 depending on the desired appearance of the assembly 10. If paperboard is used, preferably, the paperboard is coated on at least one side with a conventional coating selected for compatibility with a printing method and board composition chosen for the assembly 10.
Preferably, the sleeves 17, 19 are formed by folding the housing 12 so that after folding, the coated side of the housing would become the external surface of each sleeve 17, 19. This allows for indicia concerning the product contents of the assembly 10 to be viewed without removing the package trays 14, 15 from the sleeves 17, 19. Details with respect to folding the housing 12 to form the sleeves 17, 19 are discussed in connection with
As shown in
Referring now to
For example, as shown in
For example, in one preferred embodiment, as shown in
Of course, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the points of adhesion on the flaps may be varied and that various sleeve diameters may be achieved to support varying tray diameters. For example, as shown in
As shown in
Referring now to
As shown in
Similar to the blister trays 14, 15 described above, the blister trays 44, 45 of the second embodiment are configured to include a slot 52 that may aid the consumer in removing and inserting the blister trays 44, 45 into the sleeves 47, 49. The slot 52 similarly may be adapted to receive a product display bracket to display the assembly 40 from a product display module.
Similar to the sleeves 17, 19 described above, the sleeves 47, 49 of the second embodiment are made from single or multiple pieces of cardboard or other suitable material. Preferably, the material chosen is relatively inexpensive and may, as described previously, in certain embodiments, be biodegradable or recyclable. Preferably, if paperboard is used to form the sleeves 47, 49, the paperboard is coated on at least one side with a conventional coating selected for compatibility with a printing method and board composition chosen for the assembly 40.
The sleeves 47, 49 are also formed by folding the housing 42 so that after folding, the coated side of the housing 42 becomes the external surface of each sleeve 47, 49. By using this technique, indicia concerning the product contents of the assembly 40 may be viewed without removing the package trays 44, 45 from the sleeves 47, 49.
As shown in
Referring now to
Similar to the attachment flaps 116, 134 described above, as shown in
As shown in
It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the current invention is not limited to a housing including only two sleeves nor a single hinge, but can include any number of sleeves and multiple hinges or detached perforated lines. For example, referring now to
Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiments and that various other changes and modifications may be affected herein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention, and that it is intended to claim all such changes and modifications that fall within the scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A blister package assembly for consumable products comprising:
- a housing comprising a plurality of sleeves; and
- a blister tray slidably insertable into at least one of said plurality of sleeves, said blister tray supporting consumable products,
- wherein said plurality of sleeves are removably attached to one another using an adhesive, said adhesive applied to an outer surface of one of said plurality of sleeves.
2. The package assembly of claim 1, wherein said adhesive is applied to a cut score formed on said outer surface.
3. The package assembly of claim 2, wherein said cut score is a fifty percent cut score through a top layer of said outer surface.
4. The package assembly of claim 2, further comprising a plurality of cut scores formed on said outer surface, each of said plurality of cut scores including adhesive.
5. The package assembly of claim 2, wherein said plurality of sleeves are attached to said housing at a detachable perforated line so as to allow the removal of one of the plurality of sleeves.
6. A method of providing a blister package assembly for consumable products comprising:
- forming a housing comprising a plurality of sleeves;
- removably attaching said plurality of sleeves to one another using an adhesive; and
- providing a blister tray slidably insertable into at least one of said plurality of sleeves, the blister tray supporting consumable products.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein said forming step further includes:
- forming at least one cut score on an outer surface of one of said plurality of sleeves; and
- applying said adhesive to said at least one cut score.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising forming said cut score by cutting a fifty percent cut score through a top layer of one of said plurality of sleeves.
9. The method of claim 6, further comprising attaching said plurality of sleeves to said housing at a detachable perforated line so as to allow the removal of one of the plurality of sleeves.
10. The method of claim 6, wherein said forming step further includes:
- folding ends of a flat piece of paperboard material toward one another; and
- attaching at least one surface of said ends to said housing.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 29, 2007
Publication Date: Mar 6, 2008
Applicant:
Inventors: James A. Glydon (Cedar Knolls, NJ), Simon Richard Gainey (Media, PA), Ken deJaray (Mississauga), Thomas E. Wells (Chadds Ford, PA)
Application Number: 11/897,128
International Classification: B65D 83/04 (20060101); B65B 11/50 (20060101); B65D 75/36 (20060101);