Shipping and display system

Abstract

A light-weight, disposable and re-cycleable base for shipping and displaying multiple product packaging units, and which may be capable of supporting relatively heavy product loads. Several corrugated fiberboard support units having an internal brace element may be secured to each other to create a base. The base is placed upon a pallet and one or more layers of product cases containing the product to be shipped and displayed are placed on top of the base. Advertising graphics advertising the product to be displayed and sold may be placed on the exterior of the base or on a sleeve or wrap secured to the base for that purpose. The base and products may be secured together by for shipping. The entire system may be loaded by forklift into a standard trailer and a second unit may be loaded directly on top of the first unit. The units may be shipped to the end user, unloaded and placed directly on a sales floor display and sale of the products.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Technical Field. This application relates to a product shipping display system. In particular, the present invention relates to a light-weight, disposable and re-cycleable shipping and display stand support structure for the shipping and displaying of products. 2. Related Art. The expenses associated with shipping and displaying retail products that are typically sold in grocery stores, drug stores, and other similar retail operations are a large part of the overall cost of merchandising such products. Shipping and display stands formed of foldable sheet material, such as paperboard or corrugated board, are known for use in the shipping and display of merchandise items for sale in retail outlets. Shipping and display stands include pallet based units upon which multiple cases of products are stacked and secured to the pallet by various methods, including shrink wrapping, corrugated pallet wraps and the like. These shipping and display units utiliz...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This invention relates to a re-usable support base for a combination product shipping and retail product display system. In particular, the invention relates to a light-weight, disposable and re-cycleable base for shipping and displaying multiple product packaging units, and which may be capable of supporting relatively heavy product loads. The shipping and display system may be re-usable through multiple shipping and displaying cycles of the same or different products.

In a third aspect, the invention is a light-weight, disposable structure for use in a product shipping and display system, said structure comprising four non-product containing corrugated fiberboard support units each having at least one corrugated fiberboard internal brace element, where the support units have been secured to one another to form the structure, and where the structure will support at least 3000 lbs without collapsing.

In yet another aspect, the invention is a product shipping and display system comprising (a) a first shipping and display unit including a first pallet, a first corrugated corrugated fiberboard base placed on the pallet, a plurality of product containers placed on and secured to a top surface of the base, and (b) a second shipping and display unit including a second pallet placed on the product containers, a second corrugated corrugated fiberboard base placed on the second pallet, and a second plurality of product containers placed on and secured to a top surface of the second base, where the first and second bases comprise a plurality of substantially empty corrugated fiberboard support units each having an internal brace element and a compression strength of at least 150 lbs per square foot of the top surface of each support unit, and where the first shipping and display unit supports the second shipping and display unit during transit of the units without collapsing.

Problems solved by technology

The expenses associated with shipping and displaying retail products that are typically sold in grocery stores, drug stores, and other similar retail operations are a large part of the overall cost of merchandising such products.

Replenishment of empty cases in the topmost layers requires the added effort of rotating older products on the bottommost layers to the top so as to avoid the risk of newer products being sold first, thus increasing the expense of using such units.

Those items that are not rotated to the top layers of the unit may expire or spoil and, thus, become unsuitable for sale to consumers and have to been thrown out, resulting in product waste.

Other product support and display units are constructed of metal, plastic, or other material and may be bulky, heavy or difficult to dispose of when no longer needed.

These units may be light-weight and disposable, however, these units are not capable of supporting the shipment of one or more pallets of product cases, or are limited in the amount of weight the unit can hold before collapsing, either in transit or at the end retail location.

Further, these product support and display units require complicated assembly or disassembly by the retail outlet using such units.

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