Holder for name badges and the like

Abstract

A holder is formed of a single sheet of thin, flexible, thermoformed plastic material. The holder consists of a platform having multiple receptacles for supporting an item upright and a cover attached to the platform along a hinge that allows the cover to be moved from an open position to a closed position. The hinge may be formed with cut score lines to allow easy detachment of the cover from the platform for separable storage. Each receptacle is disposed below the top surface of the platform and consists of a slot of sufficient width and length to allow the insertion of an item such as a name badge. The receptacle is of sufficient depth to hold the item in an upright position. A protrusion or multiple protrusions may be formed within each receptacle to narrow the width of the slot, and thereby, provide additional support for the item.

1 . A holder suitable for holding name badges, comprising: 
 (a) a platform formed of a single sheet of thin, flexible, thermoformed plastic material, the platform including a top wall, the top wall having an exterior peripheral edge and the top wall comprising a plurality of integrally formed receptacles disposed below the top wall, each receptacle comprising 
 (1) a peripheral edge having a width and a length and defining a slot in the top wall;  
 (2) a first receptacle wall extending down from the top wall along a first edge of the peripheral edge to a first depth below the top wall;  
 (3) a second receptacle wall extending down from the top wall along a second edge of the peripheral edge to a second depth below the top wall, the second depth less than or equal to the first depth; and  
 (4) a bottom connecting the first receptacle wall to the second receptacle wall, the width defined by the distance across the slot between the first receptacle wall and the second receptacle wall, the length defined by the distance across the slot in the direction perpendicular to the width;  
   (b) a cover formed of the single sheet of thin, flexible, thermoformed plastic material, the cover comprising 
 (1) a ceiling;  
 (2) a cover support integrally formed with the ceiling and extending downward from the ceiling to form an opening with a cover interior peripheral edge generally matching the exterior peripheral edge of the top wall; and  
 (3) a cover flange integrally formed with the cover support and extending outward from the cover support; and  
   (c) a hinge, the cover flange integrally formed with the platform along the hinge whereby the cover can be swung from an open position to a closed position about the hinge.    
   
   
       2 . The holder of  claim 1  wherein the ceiling includes a reinforcement rib extending from a first edge of the ceiling to a second edge of the ceiling, the second edge opposed to the first edge.  
   
   
       3 . The holder of  claim 1  wherein cut score lines extend partially through the thickness of the hinge to easily detach the cover from the platform along the hinge.  
   
   
       4 . The holder of  claim 3  wherein the ceiling includes a reinforcement rib extending from a first edge of the ceiling to a second edge of the ceiling, the second edge opposed to the first edge.  
   
   
       5 . The holder of  claim 3  wherein for each receptacle the first receptacle wall has an integrally formed first protrusion to narrow the width at the first protrusion.  
   
   
       6 . The holder of  claim 5  wherein for each receptacle the second receptacle wall has an integrally formed second protrusion to narrow the width at the second protrusion.  
   
   
       7 . The holder of  claim 6  wherein the first protrusion and the second protrusion narrow the width at a common distance along the length.  
   
   
       8 . The holder of  claim 7  wherein the common distance is at a midpoint of the length.  
   
   
       9 . The holder of  claim 7  wherein the common distance is offset from the midpoint by one-quarter of the length.  
   
   
       10 . The holder of  claim 9  wherein for each receptacle the first receptacle wall has an integrally formed third protrusion at a distance offset from the midpoint by one-quarter of the length on the side of the midpoint opposite that of the first protrusion and the second receptacle wall has an integrally formed fourth protrusion at a distance offset from the midpoint by one-quarter of the length on the side of the midpoint opposite that of the second protrusion.  
   
   
       11 . A holder suitable for holding name badges, comprising: 
 (a) a platform formed of a single sheet of thin, flexible, thermoformed plastic material, the platform including a top wall, the top wall having a generally rectangular shaped exterior peripheral edge and the top wall comprising a plurality of integrally formed receptacles disposed below the top wall, each receptacle comprising 
 (1) a peripheral edge having a width and a length and defining a slot in the top wall;  
 (2) a first receptacle wall extending down from the top wall along a first edge of the peripheral edge to a first depth below the top wall;  
 (3) a second receptacle wall extending down from the top wall along a second edge of the peripheral edge to a second depth below the top wall, the second depth less than or equal to the first depth; and  
 (4) a bottom connecting the first receptacle wall to the second receptacle wall, the width defined by the distance across the slot between the first receptacle wall and the second receptacle wall, the length defined by the distance across the slot in the direction perpendicular to the width;  
   (b) a cover formed of the single sheet of thin, flexible, thermoformed plastic material, the cover comprising 
 (1) a generally rectangular ceiling;  
 (2) a front cover wall integrally formed with the ceiling and descending downward in a generally perpendicular direction from the ceiling;  
 (3) a right cover wall integrally formed with the front cover wall and the ceiling and descending downward in a generally perpendicular direction from the ceiling;  
 (4) a back cover wall integrally formed with the right cover wall and the ceiling and descending downward in a generally perpendicular direction from the ceiling;  
 (5) a left cover wall integrally formed with the back cover wall, the front cover wall, and the ceiling and descending downward in a generally perpendicular direction from the ceiling; and  
 (6) a cover flange integrally formed with the right cover wall and extending outward in a generally perpendicular direction from the right cover wall, and  
   (c) a hinge, the cover flange integrally formed with the platform along the hinge whereby the cover can be swung from an open position to a closed position about the hinge.    
   
   
       12 . The holder of  claim 11  wherein the ceiling includes a reinforcement rib extending from the front cover wall to the back cover wall.  
   
   
       13 . The holder of  claim 11  wherein cut score lines extend partially through the thickness of the hinge to easily detach the cover from the platform along the hinge.  
   
   
       14 . The holder of  claim 13  wherein the ceiling includes a reinforcement rib extending from the front cover wall to the back cover wall.  
   
   
       15 . The holder of  claim 13  wherein for each receptacle the first receptacle wall has an integrally formed first protrusion to narrow the width at the first protrusion.  
   
   
       16 . The holder of  claim 15  wherein for each receptacle the second receptacle wall has an integrally formed second protrusion to narrow the width at the second protrusion.  
   
   
       17 . The holder of  claim 16  wherein the first protrusion and the second protrusion narrow the width at a common distance along the length.  
   
   
       18 . The holder of  claim 17  wherein the common distance is at a midpoint of the length.  
   
   
       19 . The holder of  claim 17  wherein the common distance is offset from the midpoint by one-quarter of the length.  
   
   
       20 . The holder of  claim 19  wherein for each receptacle the first receptacle wall has an integrally formed third protrusion at a distance offset from the midpoint by one-quarter of the length on the side of the midpoint opposite that of the first protrusion and the second receptacle wall has an integrally formed fourth protrusion at a distance offset from the midpoint by one-quarter of the length on the side of the midpoint opposite that of the second protrusion.  
   
   
       21 . A holder suitable for holding name badges, comprising: 
 (a) a platform formed of a single sheet of thin, flexible, thermoformed plastic material, the platform comprising 
 (1) a top wall, the top wall having an exterior peripheral edge and the top wall comprising a plurality of integrally formed receptacles disposed below the top wall, each receptacle comprising 
 (i) a peripheral edge having a width and a length and defining a slot in the top wall;  
 (ii) a first receptacle wall extending down from the top wall along a first edge of the peripheral edge to a first depth below the top wall;  
 (iii) a second receptacle wall extending down from the top wall along a second edge of the peripheral edge to a second depth below the top wall, the second depth less than or equal to the first depth; and  
 (iv) a bottom connecting the first receptacle wall to the second receptacle wall, the width defined by the distance across the slot between the first receptacle wall and the second receptacle wall, the length defined by the distance across the slot in the direction perpendicular to the width;  
 
 (2) a support integrally formed with the top wall along the exterior peripheral edge of the top wall and extending downward from the top wall to a depth greater than or equal to the first depth; and  
 (3) a flange integrally formed with and extending outward from the support;  
   (b) a cover formed of the single sheet of thin, flexible, thermoformed plastic material, the cover comprising 
 (1) a ceiling;  
 (2) a cover support integrally formed with the ceiling and extending downward from the ceiling to form an opening with a cover interior peripheral edge generally matching the exterior peripheral edge of the top wall; and  
 (3) a cover flange integrally formed with the cover support and extending outward from the cover support; and  
   (c) a hinge, the cover flange integrally formed with the flange along the hinge whereby the cover can be swung from an open position to a closed position about the hinge.    
   
   
       22 . The holder of  claim 21  wherein the ceiling includes a reinforcement rib extending from a first edge of the ceiling to a second edge of the ceiling, the second edge opposed to the first edge.  
   
   
       23 . The holder of  claim 21  wherein cut score lines extend partially through the thickness of the hinge to easily detach the cover from the platform along the hinge.  
   
   
       24 . The holder of  claim 23  wherein the ceiling includes a reinforcement rib extending from a first edge of the ceiling to a second edge of the ceiling, the second edge opposed to the first edge.  
   
   
       25 . The holder of  claim 23  wherein for each receptacle the first receptacle wall has an integrally formed first protrusion to narrow the width at the first protrusion.  
   
   
       26 . The holder of  claim 25  wherein for each receptacle the second receptacle wall has an integrally formed second protrusion to narrow the width at the second protrusion.  
   
   
       27 . The holder of  claim 26  wherein the first protrusion and the second protrusion narrow the width at a common distance along the length.  
   
   
       28 . The holder of  claim 27  wherein the common distance is at a midpoint of the length.  
   
   
       29 . The holder of  claim 27  wherein the common distance is offset from the midpoint by one-quarter of the length.  
   
   
       30 . The holder of  claim 29  wherein for each receptacle the first receptacle wall has an integrally formed third protrusion at a distance offset from the midpoint by one-quarter of the length on the side of the midpoint opposite that of the first protrusion and the second receptacle wall has an integrally formed fourth protrusion at a distance offset from the midpoint by one-quarter of the length on the side of the midpoint opposite that of the second protrusion.