Gravity fed dispensing container

A gravity fed dispensing container for shipping merchandise

• and displaying it at a point of sale, comprising:
• a box having a front wall, a back wall, and a plurality of partitions extending across an interior of the box, dividing a plurality of merchandise compartments therein for holding a stack of articles to be dispensed;
• at least one dispensing opening in the front wall of the box at the bottom of said plurality of merchandise compartments, through which the articles can be dispensed;
• a yieldable panel adapted to lie over the stack of articles in each of the plurality of the merchandise compartments to prevent loss of articles through the top of the box during shipping and handling, but enabling articles to be placed in the merchandise compartment through the top, with the panel flexing downwardly to enable passage of the article and to guide the article into proper orientation as it falls into the merchandise compartment and wherein
• said yieldable panels are foldably connected to a top edge of said front wall;
• and
• interlocking tabs and slots on the partitions and yieldable panels hold the yieldable panels in their operative positions;
• and
• means being provided on the front wall for preventing unintentional discharge or displacement of articles from the compartment both during shipping and handling and while in use at the point of display and sale, said means for preventing unintentional discharge or displacement of articles from the compartment comprising a reduced size dimension of the dispensing opening relative to a size dimension of the article to be dispensed, so that either the article or the opening, or both, must be flexed or deformed in order to withdraw the article through the opening.

A dispensing container for shipping articles of merchandise to a point of sale and then displaying and dispensing the articles at the point of sale, comprising:

• a box having a front wall and a back wall;
• a lid pivoted along a back edge to a top edge of the back wall and having a flap on a forward edge that is inserted into the box behind the front wall when the lid is pivoted closed during shipping and storage;
• a plurality of partitions extending across an interior of the box, dividing it into a plurality of compartments, said partitions being formed on separate inserts placed in the box;
• a dispensing opening is provided in the front wall at the bottom of each compartment, said dispensing openings each having a width less than the width of an associated compartment to prevent unintentional movement of an article through the opening;
• a yieldable panel adapted to lie over the stack of articles in each of the plurality of the merchandise compartments to prevent loss of articles through the top of the box during shipping and handling, but enabling articles to be placed in the merchandise compartment through the top, with the panel flexing downwardly to enable passage of the article and to guide the article into proper orientation as it falls into the merchandise compartment and a the yieldable panel being provided in each compartment wherein
• said yieldable panels are foldably connected to a top edge of said front wall;
• interlocking tabs and slots on the partitions and yieldable panels hold the yieldable panels in their operative positions;
• and
• said lid having a transverse break line between the forward and back edges that enable the lid to be folded about the break line and the flap inserted into the box adjacent to back wall to form a display panel extending upwardly from the back wall, whereby the lid is convertible from a shipping configuration to a display configuration by the simple act of opening the lid, folding it in half about the break line, and reinserting the lid flap into the container and against the back wall to hold the display panel erect.