Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This inve~tion relat~s to carton blanks, to metho~s of packaging
using them, and to the folded and assemble~ cartons thus
produced, and more particularly though not excl~sively to tubular
cartons of rectangular cross-section having an opening at one or
both ends which in use is closed by overlapping flaps connected
on the edges of the opening and bonded to the exterior of the
flaps which they overlap. The invention is more particularly al-
though not exclusively concerned with cartons used for packaging
items which offer resistance to inward movement oE the flaps
ln adjacent one zone of the opening but which offer substantially no
resistance to such movement adjacent an opposite zone.
In the brewery industry, it is known to use tubular cartons of
elongated rectangular cross-section into which beer bottles are
loaded by being introduced through one or both ends of the
carton. These cartons have been employed for packaging rela-
tively short approximately cylindrical bottles, in a packaging
procedure consisting of folding inwardly the flaps which for the
sake of convenience of description may be termed "end flaps"
connected to the shorter sides of the cross-section to an
inwardly folded portion to abut against shoulder and base
portions of the bottles, applying glue to the exterior faces of
the end flaps, and then folding inwardly the flaps which for the
sake of convenience of description may be called "side flaps"
connected to the longer sides of the cross-section to press
against the glue-bearing faces of the end flaps. A strong bond
resulted between the side and end flaps because of the resistance
to inward movement of the flaps offered by the bottles.
Attempts have been made to employ these cartons for packaging
bottles which are taller and have a long tapering neck. In order
to accommodate these bottles, cartons were used having end panels
(i.e. the panels of shorter width) of approximately the same
length as the earlier cartons, but having side panels which were
somewhat heightened. When this carton was closed in the
conventional procedure described above, one flap, adjacent the
narrow neck of the bottle, was unsupported and flexed inwardly on
application of pressure, resulting in a failure to form a secure
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glued bond to the side Elaps which were folded onto it, because
the unsupported end flap is not long enough to abut in supported
relation against the shoulder or base portion of the bottle.
Attempts were made to solve this problem by using a carton with
end flaps elongated sufficiently to engage against the shoulder
or base portions of the long-necked bottles~ Although the carton
solved the above-noted problem because the thusly-supported end
flap did not flex inwardly, a substantial portion of the card-
board or other packaging material was wasted because the usual
procedure for forming the carton blank consists of severing the
blanks from continuous lengths of packaging material. The end
and side flaps are formed adjacent one side of the transverse
severing line. Hence formation of longer end flaps resulted in
longer side flaps, the side flaps thus comprising excess or
redundant end portions which might be but were not necessarily
cut off. In any event, the longer side flaps resulted in
excessive wastage of the packaging material. This was very
costly.
The present invention provides a method of packaging comprising
providing a generally rectangular cross-section tubular car.on of
stiff packaging material having at least one open end provided
with a flap connected to each edge thereof, and containing an
item or items offering resistance to inward movement of the flaps
adjacent one zone of the open end and substantially no resistance
to such inward movement adjacent an opposite zone, and wherein
said flaps are folded inward and overlapping flaps are bonded to
underlapping flaps to form a closed end, with the flap on the end
edge adjacent the opposite zone being folded inwardly after the
folding inwardly of the flaps on the side edges adjacent said end
edge and being bonded to the exterior thereof. ~ith this method,
the portions of the side flaps adjacent said one zone are
supported by engagement with the portion or portions of the item
or items that offer resistance to inward movement, and through
their own stiffness support and offer resistance to inward
movement of the end flap adjacent the said opposite zone, when
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this is folded inwardly after the side flaps. This results
in a good bond between the end flaps and the side flaps.
This method also allows the use o~ a carton blank with all
flaps of the same length, and reduces the costs as compared
with the known carton blank with elongated end flaps.
The present invention also provides a filled and assembled
generally rectangular cross-section tubular carton of stiff
packaging material containing an item or items offering
adjacent at least one zone of one end of the carton
resistance to endwise inward movement and substantially no
resistance to such inward movement adjacent an opposite
zone. The end is closed by flaps connected to the edges
thereof and folded inward with overlapping flaps bonded to
underlapping flaps, and having the flap on the edge
adjacent the opposite zone overlapping and bonded to the
exterior of the flaps on the side edges adjacent said edge.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be
described with reference to the drawings and detailed
description which follow. These are directed not only to
the aforesaid method of packaging and assembled carton
which are the subject of the present application, but also
to a printed carton biank adapted for use in the method.
The carton blank is the subject of a divisional
application. In the drawings: ........................
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Figure 1 is a partially fragmentary perspective view of a filled
generally rectangular cross-section tubular carton;
Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the carton after
closure of the side flaps and one end flap;
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the carton after closure of all
flaps; and
Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 4-4 in Fig.
2.
Referring to the drawings, a printed carton blank 1 comprises
four serially connected rectangular panels 2,3,4,5 of the same
length. Connected to panel 5 is an edge flap 5a, bonded to panel
2 so tha~ the blank forms, when erected, a tubular elongated
rectangular cross-section carton. Preferably, the edge flap 5a
is bonded to flap 2 with glue. An end flap 9,10,11,12 is
connected to each end of each panel 4,5 forming a shorter side of
said cross-section and a side flap 19,20,21,22 is connected to
each end of each panel 2,3 forming a longer side of said cross-
section. One end flap 10,11 at each end bears printed matter 32
arranged so that the printed matter 32 appears continuous with
the printed matter 33 borne on adjacent portions of the carton
when the end flap 10,11 is folded on the outer side of the
adjacent side flaps 19,20,21 and 22. For example, one side flap
may bear a representation of a lower portion of a beer bottle
which is completed by a representation of the upper portion of
the neck of the bottle borne on the adjacent end flap.
In use, the blank is preferably employed for packaging an item or
items 41 offering resistance to inward movement of the end flaps
9 and 12 adjacent one zone of each open end and substantially no
resistance to such inward movement of the end flaps 10 and 11
adjacent an opposite zoneO Examples of such item or items 41 are
long-necked beer bottles which have a wide diameter base and a
long tapering neck. The length of the neck is sufficiently great
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that the end flaps 10,11 do nok contact the shoul~er of the
bottles when folded inwardly.
In the packaging method, the bottles 41 are introduced into the
executed carton blank as shown in Figure 1, though one or both
ends, using conventional bottle handling machinery. ~efore
closing the ends of the carton, a separator, for example a
longitudinally eY.tending panel 13 shown in broken lines in Figure
1, may be introduced bet~een the bottles. In closing the ends,
preferably the lower end flaps 9 and 12 are folded inwardly
first. This arrangement produces a tray-like configuration,
formed by the lower end flaps 9 and 12, the bottom panel 4 and
the opposite side panels 2 and 3, which is considered to
strengthen the finished packageO Glue is applied on the outer
side of the flaps 9 and 12, and the side flaps 19,20,21 and 22
are folded and pressed inwardly to bond their lower portions to
the outer sides of the end flaps 9 and 12. Preferably, the end
and side flaps are each of the same length, approximately
one-half of the width of the opening between the panels 2 and 3
to which the side flaps are attached. Thus, when folded
inwardly, the side flaps 19 to 22 substantially close the end
openings of the carton. The small space between the adjacent
edges of the inwardly folded side flaps 20 and 21 is shown
exaggerated in figures 2 and 3. Glue is applied on the upper
portions of the side flaps 19,20,21 and 22, and the upper end
flaps 10 and 11 are folded inward and bonded to the underlapping
side flaps 19,20,21 and 22 as seen in Figure 3.
As best seen in Figure 4, the side flaps 20,21, through the
underlying flap 9, engage against the base portion of the bottles
41 that offer resistance to inward movement of the flaps 9, 20
and 21. Thus, when pressure is applied to the upper end flap 10
to bond this to the side flaps 20 and 21 the latter, through
their own stiffness, react with the flap 10 so that a good bond
is achieved. Typically, the carton blank is made of corrugated
cardboard, or like stiff packaging material.
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The resulting filled and closed carton has at each en~ one end
flap folded on the outer ~ace oE each side flap and one end flap
folded underneath each side ~lap. In the preferred form, the
carton blank bears printed matter on each lower end flap 9 and 12
arranged so that the printed matter appears continuous with
printed matter borne on the remainder of the carton where the
flap 9 or 12 is folded under the side flaps. For example, a
central upper portion of the ~lap 9 may bear a printed
representation of a pile of ice cubes which will appear
continuous with representations of a pile of cubes continuing
along the lower portions of the side flaps 20 and 21.
In the preferred form, the side and end flaps are generally
rectangular with rounded corners. The lower end flaps 9 and 12
may be generally trapezoidal with the side edges thereof tapering
slightly inwardly away from the line of attachment of the flap to
the lower panel 4 The lower edges of each side flap may incline
slightly inwardly away from its line of attachment to the side
panels of the carton. The inclining edges of lower end flap and
the side flaps then cooperate together in a camming action to
assist in erecting the carton to its rectangular cross section
tubular configuration from a flat-folded configuration.
Although in the above detailed description both ends of the
carton are closed in the same manner, it will be appreciated that
if allowed or required by the nature of the contents to be
packaged therein, one end of the carton may be closed by the
method described above in detail and the other end closed in a
conventional manner.
It will be appreciated that, if the manufacturer of the carton
blank is not the user thereof, the carton blank ma~ be supplied
to the user with the panels 2 and 5 connected together along
their longitudinal edgesr or disconnected, in which case a first
step in the packaging method may be to bond the edge flap 5a to
the panel 2.
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Instead of employing glue to bond the portions of the blank and
carton together other means of pressing and bondiny together may
be employed, for example heat sealing methods in the event that
the blank and carton are formed from or coated with heat-fusible
material.
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