1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to cartons and more particularly to the combination of a shipping carton and merchandise fixture for attachment to a vertically oriented structural member, such as a conventional slotted upright or standard for shelving, a wire rack, a slat wall, a peg board, etc.
2. Description of Related Art
Various structures for displaying merchandise are commonly found in commercial enterprises and several are the subject of patents. Many of such structures make use of a horizontally disposed member arranged to be mounted on a vertical surface to support, e.g., suspend, merchandise for sale or other purposes. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,866 (Shea), U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,706 (Shea) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,070,747 (Shea).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,720 (Mandelbaum) discloses a combination shipping and display device for neckties and the like. The device basically comprises a generally rectangular, open faced inner carton. That carton includes an assembly of hanger rods supported from an assembly of horizontal and vertical rods. The assembly of hanger rods and the associated horizontal and vertical rods are located and secured within the inner carton. The top of the inner carton folds backward and includes a flap affording an advertising panel and a tongue retained between the carton back panel and a top horizontal rod member in the display mode. A retainer assembly is also provided and includes spaced U-shaped apertures and baffles for laterally supporting columns of ties on the hangers. The inner carton and retainer assembly are inserted into a conventional outer carton for shipping. The assembly of hanger rods and the inner carton in which they are mounted, are arranged to be connected via a hook to a mesh panel, peg board or other vertical structure to support the inner carton holding the ties on that vertical structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,131 (Mandelbaum) discloses a combination shipping and display device for neckties and the like that is similar to the device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,720 (Mandelbaum), but which includes a hanger support structure. In particular, the hanger support structure is similar to the assembly of the hanger rods and associated horizontal and vertical rods, but is in the form of an outward facing U including a pair of end strips with holes for receipt of “Christmas tree” fasteners to secure the hanger support structure in the inner carton. The hangar support structure and the inner carton in which it is mounted, are arranged to be connected via a hook to a mesh panel, peg board or other vertical structure to support the inner carton holding the ties on that vertical structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,668 (Fenton et al.) discloses a revolvable rack for neckties that can be either temporarily or permanently hooked or fastened to a rod or a store fixture, and a container for shipping the rack while it is fully loaded with ties. The rack is easily rotated by hand, has a relatively small turning radius and has the capacity to hold several dozen ties. Once the tie rack is placed in the container, the container serves to both store and protect the ties in an organized and out-of-the-way manner. The tie rack and container combination can be hung together in an existing space. The container allows the fully loaded tie rack to be quickly and easily lifted out of the container in one smooth motion, and directly hung on a rod or on a merchandising fixture in a store without the use of special tools or equipment, such that the ties are readily and pleasingly displayed.
Other cartons including or adapted to make use hangers for garments or other merchandise are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. No. 2,796,977 (Divine), U.S. Pat. No. 3,659,704 (Collura et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,898 (Crane), U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,399 (Behtune et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,280 (Dove et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,369 (Lagin) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,415 (Runyan).
While the devices of the aforementioned prior patents appear generally suitable for their intended purposes, they still leave something to be desired from one or more standpoints, such as simplicity of construction, ease of opening the container, ease of use, ease of disassembly of the container, ease of assembly of the container's fixture components, ease of carrying the container to effect the mounting of the fixture onto a vertical support surface and the ability of the fixture to be mounted on various types of vertical support surfaces to project out from those surfaces in either of two opposite directions.
In our copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/305,501, filed on Nov. 27, 2002, entitled Ambidextrous Merchandise Fixture And Method of Displaying Merchandise Therefrom, which is assigned to the same assignee as this invention and whose disclosure is incorporated by reference herein, there is disclosed a fixture and method of use for supporting merchandise, e.g., plural garment belts, on a vertical support structure. That fixture is arranged to be mounted any one of various types of conventional vertical oriented support structures, such as a conventional slotted upright, a wire rack, a slat wall and a peg board, with the fixture projecting out from any of those structures in either of two opposite directions. To that end the fixture includes a bracket and an elongated display member having a pair of ends. The bracket includes a section for snap connection to either end of the display member and a connector that is configured to engage the vertically oriented support structure. The display member includes merchandise holders, e.g., plural prong hangers, for holding the merchandise thereon, e.g., suspending the merchandise therefrom.
The subject invention makes use of the fixture of our aforementioned patent application in an integrated system, i.e., a system including a shipping carton and the merchandise, that is simple in construction, low in cost and easy to use.