SPIDER PACKAGE
A clamshell package is provided including an enclosure configured to hold a product. The enclosure includes a recess configured to receive an alarm component of an alarm spider wrap.
1. Field
The present disclosure relates to packaging and, more particularly, to a clamshell blister package.
2. Description of Related Art
A clamshell blister package is a formed plastic package used to encapsulate a product. The clamshell package may consist of one pre-formed plastic sheet folded over onto itself or two pre-formed plastic sheets that are fused at the edges. Clamshell packages are more secure than blister packages with paperboard and are difficult to open by hand. As such, clamshell packaging deters tampering and pilfering. For additional security, retail stores may attach an alarm spider wrap to the clamshell package. An alarm spider wrap includes an alarm component with expandable cables. The alarm component is attached to a clamshell package by wrapping the cables around the clamshell package and securing the cables with a locking clip. If a thief cuts the cables or walks out of the store with the alarm spider wrap still attached to the clamshell package, the alarm component sounds an alarm.
Unfortunately, thieves have been able to subvert the protection alarm spider wraps provide by slipping or prying off the cables from the clamshell packaging. In response, retail stores have been wrapping the cables more tightly around the clamshell packages. Wrapping the cables more tightly around the packages may crush or damage the packing and may not entirely prevent thieves from slipping or prying the cables from the clamshell packaging.
An additional issue with prior art clamshell packaging is that they are not designed to be integral with the alarm spider swap and do not control the location of the alarm component. The alarm component may interfere with the presentation of the product by obscuring view of the product or by preventing the clamshell package from being able to sit upright or rest flat.
Accordingly, there is a need for a clamshell package that provides a location for the alarm component of the alarm spider wrap for purposes of proper presentation and that allows the alarm spider wrap to be affixed more securely to the clamshell package.
SUMMARYIn one aspect of the disclosure, a clamshell package includes an enclosure configured to hold a product. The enclosure includes a recess configured to receive an alarm component of an alarm spider wrap.
In another aspect of the disclosure, clamshell packaging includes a bottom shell and a top shell. The bottom shell has a first bottom shell channel and a second bottom shell channel. The top shell has a first top shell channel and a second top shell channel. The top shell provides an enclosure with the bottom shell when the top shell is attached to the bottom shell. The first bottom shell channel aligns with the first top shell channel to form a first channel along an outer surface of the enclosure when the top shell is attached to the bottom shell. The second bottom shell channel aligns with the second top shell channel to form a second channel along the outer surface of the enclosure when the top shell is attached to the bottom shell. The first channel and the second channel are on opposite sides of the enclosure.
In a further aspect of the disclosure, a clamshell package with an exterior surface configured to attach an alarm spider wrap having cables and an alarm component includes means for recessing the alarm component within the exterior surface and means for preventing the cables from being slipped off of the clamshell package.
It is understood that other aspects of a clamshell package will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein it is shown and described only exemplary configurations of a clamshell package. As will be realized, the invention includes other and different aspects of a clamshell package and the various details presented throughout this disclosure are capable of modification in various other respects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and the detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.
The present invention is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which various aspects of a clamshell package are shown. This invention, however, may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited by the various aspects of the clamshell package presented herein. The detailed description of the clamshell package is provided below so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present invention to those skilled in the art.
The detailed description may include specific details for illustrating various aspects of a clamshell package. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well known elements may be shown in block diagram form, or omitted, to avoid obscuring the inventive concepts presented throughout this disclosure.
Relative terms such as “lower” or “bottom” and “upper” or “top” may be used herein to describe one element's relationship to another element illustrated in the drawings. It will be understood that relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of a clamshell package in addition to the orientation depicted in the drawings. By way of example, if a clamshell package in the drawings is turned over, elements described as being on the “bottom” side of the other elements would then be oriented on the “top” side of the other elements. The term “bottom” can therefore encompass both an orientation of “bottom” and “top” depending on the particular orientation of the apparatus.
Various aspects of a clamshell package may be illustrated with reference to one or more exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the term “exemplary” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration,” and should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments of a clamshell package disclosed herein.
The various aspects of this disclosure are provided to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the present invention. Modifications to various aspects of a clamshell package presented throughout this disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the concepts disclosed herein may be extended to other applications. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the various aspects of a clamshell package presented throughout this disclosure, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. §112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for.”
Claims
1. A clamshell package comprising:
- an enclosure configured to hold a product, wherein the enclosure includes a recess configured to receive an alarm component of an alarm spider wrap.
2. The clamshell package of claim 1, wherein the enclosure comprises a plastic shell fused at exterior edges of the plastic shell.
3. The clamshell package of claim 1, wherein the enclosure comprises a bottom shell and a top shell fused to the bottom shell.
4. The clamshell package of claim 1, wherein the enclosure includes a first channel and a second channel along an outer surface of the enclosure, the first channel being configured to allow a locking clip of the alarm spider wrap to rest within the first channel, the second channel comprising the recess.
5. The clamshell package of claim 4, wherein the first channel and the second channel each extend in a direction to allow cables of the alarm spider wrap to wrap once around a circumference of the enclosure through the first channel and the second channel.
6. The clamshell package of claim 5, wherein the first channel and the second channel are in circumferential alignment.
7. The clamshell package of claim 4, wherein the first channel and the second channel are separated.
8. The clamshell package of claim 4, wherein the first channel and the second channel are on opposite sides of the enclosure.
9. The clamshell package of claim 4, further comprising a flange extending across the first channel, the flange having a hanger hole configured to allow the locking clip of the alarm spider wrap to insert within the hanger hole.
10. The clamshell package of claim 4, wherein the second channel comprises a rectangular recess portion and said recess, said recess being a circular recess, and wherein the first channel comprises a rectangular recess.
11. Clamshell packaging comprising:
- a bottom shell having a first bottom shell channel and a second bottom shell channel; and
- a top shell having a first top shell channel and a second top shell channel, the top shell for providing an enclosure with the bottom shell when the top shell is attached to the bottom shell,
- wherein the first bottom shell channel aligns with the first top shell channel to form a first channel along an outer surface of the enclosure when the top shell is attached to the bottom shell,
- wherein the second bottom shell channel aligns with the second top shell channel to form a second channel along the outer surface of the enclosure when the top shell is attached to the bottom shell,
- wherein the first channel and the second channel are on opposite sides of the enclosure.
12. The clamshell packaging of claim 11, wherein the first channel is in circumferential alignment with the second channel when the top shell is attached to the bottom shell.
13. The clamshell packaging of claim 11, wherein the bottom shell and the top shell have an outer edge contour such that edges of the top shell can be fused to edges of the bottom shell to provide the enclosure.
14. The clamshell packaging of claim 11, wherein the first channel has a width that allows a locking clip of an alarm spider wrap to rest within the first channel.
15. The clamshell packaging of claim 11, further comprising a flange extending across the first channel, the flange having a hanger hole.
16. The clamshell packaging of claim 11, wherein the first top shell channel comprises a rectangular recess, the first bottom shell channel comprises a rectangular recess, and the second top shell channel comprises a rectangular recess, and wherein the second bottom shell channel comprises a first portion and a second portion, the first portion being a rectangular recess and the second portion being a circular recess.
17. A clamshell package with an exterior surface configured to attach an alarm spider wrap having cables and an alarm component, the clamshell package comprising:
- means for recessing the alarm component within the exterior surface; and
- means for preventing the cables from being slipped off of the clamshell package.
18. The clamshell package of claim 17, wherein the means for preventing the cables from being slipped off of the clamshell package comprises a first channel and a second channel on opposite sides of the clamshell package.
19. The clamshell package of claim 18, wherein the first channel and the second channel are in circumferential alignment.
20. The clamshell package of claim 17, wherein the means for recessing the alarm component comprises a recess within the second channel, the recess being larger than the alarm component.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 11, 2009
Publication Date: Dec 16, 2010
Inventors: Peter Gabriel Sconzert (Bentonville, AR), Peter Butcher (Simi Valley, CA), Jesse Vandiver (Oxnard, CA)
Application Number: 12/483,150
International Classification: B65D 25/00 (20060101); B65D 6/00 (20060101);