Configurable shipping and display box

Abstract

An article has two configurations including a shipping configuration box and a display configuration box. The article is formed from a folded cardboard blank which includes a sidewall portion, a plurality of top flaps, a plurality of bottom flaps, and a support tab. The sidewall portion is vertically bounded between a top fold line and a bottom fold line. The plurality of bottom flaps are joined to the sidewall portion along the bottom fold line. One of the bottom flaps extends from the bottom fold line to a distal edge which defines a tab fold line. The support tab is joined to the distal edge along the tab fold line. The support tab is configured to fold upwardly along the tab fold line and to engage an edge of a product container to support the product container in an upright orientation for product display.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . An article configured to ship and display a product comprising:
 a shipping and display box having two configurations including a shipping configuration box and a display configuration box, the shipping configuration box is formed from a folded cardboard blank which further includes:
 a sidewall portion vertically bounded between a top fold line and a bottom fold line and defining a plurality of vertical fold lines that individually extend between the top fold line and the bottom fold line; 
 a plurality of top flaps joined to the sidewall portion along the top fold line; 
 a plurality of bottom flaps joined to the sidewall portion along the bottom fold line, one of the bottom flaps has a proximal edge along the bottom fold line and extends from the proximal edge to a distal edge; 
 a support tab joined to the distal edge, the support tab is configured to engage an edge of a product container to support the product container in an upright condition providing visibility of a major surface of the product container in the display configuration box. 
   
     
     
         2 . The article of  claim 1  wherein the sidewall portion defines a lateral score boundary that enables the shipping configuration box to be separated along the sidewall portion into an upper box portion and a lower box portion, the lower box portion is the display configuration box. 
     
     
         3 . The article of  claim 2  wherein the lateral score boundary includes linear and non-linear portions. 
     
     
         4 . The article of  claim 2  wherein the lateral score boundary defines a vertical geometry of four side walls for the display configuration box including a front wall and a back wall, the front wall is shorter than the back wall sufficiently to provide visibility of the major surface for the product container and support of the product container against the back wall and the support tab. 
     
     
         5 . The article of  claim 1  wherein the support tab includes at least two support tabs for supporting at least two product containers in the upright orientation in the display configuration box. 
     
     
         6 . The article of  claim 1  including the product container contained within the shipping and display box. 
     
     
         7 . The article of  claim 6  wherein the product container includes a plurality of product containers. 
     
     
         8 . The article of  claim 7  wherein the plurality of product containers are oriented in an orientation for display, an edge of one of the plurality of product containers is engaging the support tab. 
     
     
         9 . The article of  claim 1  wherein the distal edge defines a tab fold line, and the support tab is configured to fold upwardly along the tab fold line. 
     
     
         10 . The article of  claim 9  wherein the support tab is configured to bend along the tab fold line during assembly of the shipping configuration box. 
     
     
         11 . The article of  claim 1  further wherein a second one of the bottom flaps has a second proximal edge along the bottom fold line and extends from the second proximal edge to a second distal edge and further comprising a second support tab joined to the second distal edge, the second support tab is configured to engage an edge of a second product container to support the second product container in an upright condition in the shipping configuration box. 
     
     
         12 . A method of manufacturing an article for shipping and then displaying a product in a display configuration box, the method comprising:
 forming a cardboard blank that includes:
 a sidewall portion vertically bounded between a top fold line and a bottom fold line and defining a plurality of vertical fold lines that individually extend between the top fold line and the bottom fold line; 
 a plurality of top flaps joined to the sidewall portion along the top fold line; 
 a plurality of bottom flaps joined to the sidewall portion along the bottom fold line, one of the bottom flaps has a proximal edge along the bottom fold line and extends from the proximal edge to a distal edge, the distal edge defining a tab fold line; 
 a support tab joined to the distal edge along the tab fold line, the support tab is configured to engage an edge of a product container to support the product container in an upright condition providing visibility of a major surface of the product container in the display configuration box; and 
   folding and gluing the cardboard blank to form a compacted shipping configuration box.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  further comprising flexing the compacted shipping configuration box to provide an open shipping configuration box. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein folding, gluing, and flexing the compacted shipping configuration box bends the support tab along the tab fold line. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12  further comprising placing a plurality of product containers into the shipping configuration box. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the product containers are placed into the shipping configuration box in an orientation for display and placed with an edge of at least one of the product containers in engagement with the support tab. 
     
     
         17 . An article configured to ship and display a product comprising:
 a shipping and display box having two configurations including a shipping configuration box and a display configuration box, the shipping and display box formed from a folded cardboard blank which further includes:
 a sidewall portion vertically bounded between a top fold line and a bottom fold line and defining a plurality of vertical fold lines that individually extend between the top fold line and the bottom fold line, the sidewall portion defining a lateral score boundary that extends between opposed lateral ends of the sidewall portion; 
 a plurality of top flaps joined to the sidewall portion along the top fold line; 
 a plurality of bottom flaps joined to the sidewall portion along the bottom fold line, one of the bottom flaps has a proximal edge along the bottom fold line and extends from the proximal edge to a distal edge, the distal edge defining a tab fold line; 
 a support tab joined to the distal edge along the tab fold line, the support tab is configured to fold upwardly along the tab fold line and to engage an edge of a product container to support the product container in an upright condition providing visibility of a major surface of the product container in the display configuration box; and 
   separating the sidewall portion along the lateral score boundary reconfigures the shipping and display box from the shipping configuration box to the display configuration box, the plurality of bottom flaps are interengaged to form a bottom of the display configuration box with the support tab above an upper surface of the bottom of the display configuration box to allow convenient access for supporting the edge of the product container.   
     
     
         18 . The article of  claim 17  wherein the lateral score boundary defines a geometry of an upper edge of four walls of the display configuration box including a relatively shorter front wall to enhance visibility of the product container and a relatively taller back wall to provide effective support of a back major surface of the product container. 
     
     
         19 . The article of  claim 18 , wherein the lateral score boundary includes linear and non-linear portions, the non-linear portions bound the taller back wall and curve upwardly from front to back toward the taller back wall. 
     
     
         20 . The article of  claim 17  wherein the support tab includes a plurality of support tabs joined to the distal edge along the tab fold line.