Universal shoe box

Abstract

A universal shoe box has plural faces formed of a common continuous material with each face having a preferential fold disposed between adjacent faces which enable the quick assembly and disassembly of the shoe box. The shoe box includes a display window to enable quick and efficient visual identification of the contents of the shoe box on an image / photograph depicted on a card which may be disposed within the window. Two embodiments of the shoe box are presented, one primarily suited for residential / after market usage and one primary suitable for retail storage usage.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]Not ApplicableSTATEMENT RE: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH / DEVELOPMENT[0002]Not ApplicableBACKGROUND[0003]The present invention relates generally to a universal shoe box.[0004]When a customer in a shoe store requests a pair of shoes to try on, a sales person typically goes to a room filled with shoe inventory stored in boxes that may identify a particular shoe by style no., model no., size, color, and / or other information describing the contents of the box. Often, the numbers and / or letters printed on a box to describe its contents are small and difficult to read. As a result, the sales person looking for a pair of shoes requested by a customer may end up spending an inordinate amount of time looking for the specific box that contains the requested shoes. Needless to say, this reduces the amount of time the sales person may spend with the customer, thereby affecting the customer's perception of the quality of customer service, as well as po...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010]The shoe box is innovative in that the preferential folds enable the quick assembly and disassembly of the shoe box into a flat configuration that may be readily stored and may save space when the shoe box is not being used. The preferential folds may be configured to enable the shoe box to be universally adapted to shoes of different types and sizes. The shoe box may also be adapted for the storage of articles of clothing and other miscellaneous items The access aperture on the front face of the shoe box enables ready access to and / or retrieval of a single shoe box, either by hand or through the use of a tool. The first display window enables quick and efficient visual identification of the contents of the shoe box based on the image depicted on the product card. The non-removable top face and bottom face have no lid that may be dropped or dislodged, thereby improving the stackability and underlying support provided by the shoe box.

[0024]In another embodiment, the product card may be mounted on a product card face behind the first display window, the product card face being slidably disposable between the front face and a first front face fold behind the front face. In a further embodiment, a product card retaining tab disposed on the product card face may be operative to hold the product card in position behind the first display window. These embodiments of the shoe box may be most advantageously used in a retail commercial shoe store setting, wherein the front face of the shoe box is not pivotally extendable. In this configuration, the product card may slide behind the front display window onto the product card face without having to disassemble or otherwise open the shoe box. In yet another embodiment, the product card may be disposed behind the first display window between the front face and a second front face fold. This embodiment of the shoe box may be most advantageously used in a residential aftermarket setting, wherein the front face of the shoe box may be pivotally opened, thereby allowing the individual to slide the product card behind the first display window between the front face and the second front face fold.

Problems solved by technology

US2006 / 0054674 A1 as discussed above has a removable lid that may be dislodged, thereby impairing the stackability and support of shoe boxes placed thereon.

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