초록 ▼

Mating engagement surfaces on the bottom panel and lid on each of two or more containers permit the containers to be helically stacked on an axis. As stacked, a front face of one container is displaced from front faces of adjacent ones of the containers by a predetermined angle preselected to be mor

Mating engagement surfaces on the bottom panel and lid on each of two or more containers permit the containers to be helically stacked on an axis. As stacked, a front face of one container is displaced from front faces of adjacent ones of the containers by a predetermined angle preselected to be more than zero but less than ninety degrees.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A container capable of being stacked in a helical stack of like containers, comprising: a body having a bottom panel which is substantially perpendicular to a stacking axis and further having a top panel axially displaced from the bottom panel, the top panel also being substantially perpendicular

1. A container capable of being stacked in a helical stack of like containers, comprising: a body having a bottom panel which is substantially perpendicular to a stacking axis and further having a top panel axially displaced from the bottom panel, the top panel also being substantially perpendicular to the axis, a front panel of the body disposed between the bottom and top panels and having a noncircular axial cross-section;a first engagement surface formed on a first of the top and bottom panels, the first engagement surface having a plurality of recesses equally horizontally displaced from the axis and each extending in a radial direction, the recesses being equally angularly spaced apart from each other;a second engagement surface formed on the other of the top and bottom panels, the second engagement surface having a plurality of protuberances which are an integral multiple of the number of recesses, the protuberances being equally horizontally displaced from the axis, the protuberances being equally angularly spaced apart from each other;the protuberances being organized into sets equal in number to said integral multiple, the protuberances in any set being spaced apart in angular position by protuberances in the other sets, at least one set of protuberances being angularly displaced relative to the angular position of the recesses by a predetermined angle which is chosen to be greater than zero but less than ninety degrees, such thatwhen the container is stacked on a like, second container, a first engagement surface engages with the second engagement surface, thereby defining a first angular displacement of the front panel of the first container relative to the angular position of the front panel of the second container; and such thatwhen a third container similar to said container is stacked on the first container while the first container is simultaneously stacked on the second container, a first engagement surface of the third container engages the second engagement surface of the first container thereby defining a second angular displacement of the front panel of the second container relative to the angular position of the front panel of the third container, the second angular displacement being preselected to be greater than zero but less than ninety degrees, the second angular displacement not being equal to the first angular displacement. 2. The container of claim 1 wherein the top panel is a lid. 3. The container of claim 1 wherein the protuberances project radially outwardly from the second engagement surface and the recesses are displaced from the axis by a distance greater than the protuberances. 4. The container of claim 1 wherein the recesses are inner vertices of a hollow star formed by at least one wall. 5. A container for use in creating a display stack formed from a plurality of such containers, the container comprising: a container body having a bottom panel, the container body disposed around a vertical axis extending through the center of the container body, a general exterior surface of the bottom panel being substantially perpendicular to the axis, a first engagement surface being disposed on the bottom panel, a plurality of first engagement members disposed on the first engagement surface;a top panel of the container body axially spaced from and opposed to the bottom panel, the top panel disposed around the axis and having a general exterior surface which is substantially perpendicular to the axis, a second engagement surface being disposed on the top panel, at least one second engagement member disposed on the second engagement surface;each of the plurality of first engagement members being spaced apart from adjacent first engagement members, a number of the first engagement members being such that a ratio of the first engagement members to said at least one second engagement member is a whole number greater than one;the container further having a front panel spaced from the axis and disposed between the bottom panel and the top panel, the front panel having a noncircular axial cross-section; andthe container being axially stackable on a second, similar container in at least a first position, the first engagement surface of the container cooperating with the second engagement surface of the second container to prevent axial rotation of the container relative to the second container, the first position being preselected such that as stacked, the front panel of the container is at an angle around the axis relative to the front panel of the second container, the angle being preselected to be greater than zero and less than ninety degrees;wherein a third container, similar to the first and second containers, is axially stackable on the first container in at least a second position while the first container is simultaneously stacked on the second container, the first engagement surface of the third container cooperating with the second engagement surface of the first container to prevent axial rotation of the third container relative to the first container, the second position being preselected such that as stacked, the front panel of the third container is at an angle around the axis relative to the front panel of the second container, the angle being preselected to be greater than zero but less than ninety degrees. 6. The container of claim 5, wherein the top panel forms at least a portion of a lid for the container. 7. The container of claim 5, wherein the containers are stackable such that the angular position of any container is angularly displaced from a next adjacent container by a constant amount. 8. The container of claim 5, wherein said at least one second engagement member is a raised rib star with a plurality of star points, the first engagement members including a plurality raised rib “V's” having sides with angles less than or equal to the angle of the star points and radially inwardly displaced from a locus of the star points so that each “V” is adapted to fit inside a selected star point. 9. The container of claim 5, wherein a preselected one of the first and second engagement surfaces is an eminence, the other of the first and second engagement surfaces being a depression sized to receive the eminence. 10. The container of claim 5, wherein at least one of the first a second engagement surfaces includes a polygon. 11. The container of claim 5, wherein the at least one second engagement member is formed by an elongate endless wall. 12. The container of claim 5, wherein at least one of the first and second engagement surfaces is a mesa. 13. The container of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second engagement surfaces includes a plurality of horizontally spaced-apart features. 14. The container of claim 13, wherein at least some of the features are circles. 15. The container of claim 13, wherein at least some of the features are ovoids. 16. The container of claim 5, wherein at least one of the first and second engagement surfaces includes a curvilinear shape. 17. The container of claim 5, wherein at least one of the first and second engagement surfaces includes at least one rod. 18. The container of claim 5, wherein at least one of the engagement surfaces includes a circle spaced from the axis. 19. The container of claim 5, wherein at least one of the first and second engagement surfaces includes a slot. 20. The container of claim 5, wherein the first engagement surface downwardly extends from the bottom panel and the second engagement surface upwardly extends from the top panel. 21. The container of claim 20, wherein the general exterior surface of the bottom panel has a plurality of feet which extend downwardly therefrom and which are laterally spaced from each other and the first engagement surface, a height of the feet as measured from the general exterior surface being greater than a height of the first engagement surface as measured from the general exterior surface and further being greater than a height of the second engagement surface as measured from the general exterior surface of the top panel.