The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 13, 1998
Filed:
Oct. 23, 1997
David C Boyer, Madison, WI (US);
Placon Corporation, Madison, WI (US);
Abstract
A thermoformed thermoplastic blister is connected to a backing card. The blister has a peripheral flange which is positioned adjacent the backing card, and a bubble which protrudes frontwardly from the flange. A catch is formed in the flange, and is deformed rearwardly through an opening in the card to extend downwardly. The plastic catch extends into a narrow slot on the bubble of another like package. The slot is approximately the same width as the catch and need be only slightly taller than the thickness of the flange. With this connection structure multiple packages may be supported one upon another. In addition, the packages will automatically link to one another when extracted from a shipping carton. The rearwardly protruding catch may be formed from the plastic flange alone, or may be formed together with a portion of the backing card for additional strength. The plastic catch may be deformed by heat or pressure, or may be held in a rearwardly extending position by interaction with configured slots on the backing card. Alternatively, the flange may be molded to deform a portion of the backing card to act as the catch. More than one catch and slot may be formed in a package to support greater loads with improved balance.