Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
WRAP-AROUND ARTICLE CARRIER ~ITH eND PANEL LOCK
Field of the Invention
This invention relates to wrap-around article carriers which
have end panels that are unattached to the bottom panel. More
particularly, it relates to a wrap-around article carrier of this
type which incorporates an improved locking means for holding the
end panels in place.
Back~round of the Invention
Wrap-around beverage container carriers are available in many
different styles and designs, some of which include end panels. End
panels offer more area for printed material and also protect the
labels on bottles from being scuffed or otherwise damaged during
passage of the bottles through the packaging mach;ne and during
subsequent handling. In order to provide these functions at a
minitnum of expense, end panels have been used which do not fully
cover the ends of the carriers and which are llot connected at their
bottom edges to the bottom panel of the carrier, thus reducing the
amount of paperboard required for each carrier blank. End panels of
this type are normally foldably comlected to tuck panels which
themselves are foldably connected to the top and side panels of the
carrier. This arrangement requires that the carrier be desi~ned so
as to prevent the end panels from unfoldillg and springin~ out from
their generally vertical position.
A number of different arran~ements have been suggested to
provide this function. For example, U.S. Patent No. 3,398,856,
issued on August 27, 1968 to Graser, discloses an end panel
arrangement comprised of three foldahly connected tuc~ flaps, the
central tuck flap having edges which are designed to frictionally
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engage the necks of beverage bottles to hold the flaps and the end
panels in place. While this design works well with beverage bottles
havitl~ necks for the central tucX flap to engage, it could not be
used effectively with bottles having no necks. Bottles of this type
have wide openillgs and are shaped more like a jar, leavin~ little or
no room for enga~ement with a tuck flap.
It would be desirable to use wrap-around carriers of the type
discussed to package beveraee containers having no necks, and still
be able to incorporate locking means for maintaining the end panels
of the carriers in place.
Brief Summary of the Invention
This invention incorporates end panels which at least partially
cover the ends of the carrier and which are foldably connected to
tuck flap means. The tuck flap means is foldably connected to the
top panel along the end edge thereof, and a portion of the tuck flap
means extends between the adjacent article in the carrier and the
top panel of the carrier to lock the tuck flap means and the
attached end panels itl place.
This arrangement can be carried out with a generally triangular
center tuck flap and two generally triangular end tuck flaps
connected to the center tuck flap along a fold line. Cutouts in the
fold lines produce ed~es on the center tuck flap which are adapted
to overlie portions of adjacent articles between the article top and
the top panel. The cutouts also produce edges on the end tuck flaps
which are adapted to engage the sides of the adjacent articles a
short distance below the top of the article to further support the
tuck flaps.
Other features and aspects of the invention, as well as its
various benefits, will become more clear in the detailed description
of the preferred embodiment which follows.
Brief Description of the Invention
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a production blank used in forming the
carrier of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a pictorial view of a carrier of the present invention
in an intermediate stage of formation resulting from wrapping the
blank of FIG. 1 around four bottles and securing the bottom panels
together;
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FIG. 3 is a pictorial view similar to that of FIG. Z, but
showing the end panels in the final stage of folding;
FIG. 4A is an enlarged partial longitudinal sectional view taken
along line 4~-4~ of FIG. 3, showing the tuck flaps as they are being
folded to their final positions;
FIG. 4B is an enlarged partial longitudinal sectional view taken
along line 4B-4B of FIG. 6, showing the tuck flaps and the end panel
in their final folded positions;
FIG. 5 is a top view of a fully formed carrier, with a portion
of the top panel removed to show the tuck flap arrangement with
respect to an adjacent bottle;
FIG. 6 is a pictorial view of a fully folded carrier formed from
the blank of FIG. l;
FIG. 7 is a partial end view of the carrier of FIG. 6; and
FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view taken along line 8-8 of FIG.
6.
Description of the Preferred Embodiment
Referring to FIG. 1, a carrier blank 10 is comprised of a top
panel section 12 foldably connected to side panel sections 14 along
score lines 16. The top panel section may be provided with a
suitable handle, which for purpose of illustration is shown as a
finger hole 18. The side panel sections are also provided with
cutouts 20 adjacent the score lines 16 for receiving the tops or
bottle caps of containers packaged in the carrier. Although in this
case the blank is shown as bein~ designed to form a carrier for
holding four containers, the invention is not limited to use in a
four-pack carrier.
Both side panel sections are connected by score lines 22 to
short sloped side panel sections 24, one of which is comlected by
score line 26 to an inner bottom panel section 28 and the other of
which is connected by score line 30 to an outer bottom panel section
32. Cutouts 34 in the sloped sections 24 allow the heel portions of
containers packaged in a carrier formed from the blank to extend
therethrough to assist in holding the containers in place. The
outer bottom panel section 32 is illustrated as having alternate
primary male locking tabs 36, a secondary locking aperture 38 and
tertiary locking tabs 40. The inner bottom panel section 28 is
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illustrated as having alternate primary locking edges 42, a
secondary male lockitlg tab 44 and tertiary female locking openings
or notches 46. These locking components do not form a part of the
present invention but are used to lock the bottom panel sections
together to form the bottom panel of a car~ier i.n a manner
understood in the industry. For a more complete description of
related locking components and their functions, attention is
directed to U.S. Patent No. 4,437,606, issued March 20, 1984 to
Graser.
Still refer~ing to FIG. l, the end edges of the top panel
section 12 are connected to tuck sections 48 along fold lines 50.
Each tuck section is comprised of a generally triangularly shaped
center tuck flap 52 connected to the top panel section along the
fold line 50 and two generally triangularly shaped end tuck flaps 54
colmected to the center tuck flap along fold lines 56. It can be
seen that the fold lines 56 are interrupted by cutouts 58 bounded by
center tuck flap edges 60 and end tuck flap edges 62. Each of the
cutout edges is curved to conform to the shape of the bottles or
other containers to be carried in the carrier. End paneL sections
or flaps 64 are connected to end tuck flaps 54 along fold lines 66
and to the side panel sections 14 along fold lines 68. The fold
lines 66 represent the edges of the end tuck flaps 54 and are shown
as extending at a slight angle to the score lines 16. The fold
lines 68 are extensions of the edges of the side panel sections 14.
In practice, the blanks lO are supplied to an automatic
packaging machine which wraps the blanks around the beverage
containers and secures the bottom panel sections together to form
the intermediate form of carrier shown in FIG. 2. As illustrated,
the tuck flaps 52 and 54 extend outwardly from the top panel 12 and
the end panel sections or flaps 64 extend outwardly at an an~le to
the tuck flaps and to the side panels 14. The bottles B are
securely held in the carrier by a combination of pressures, snugly
fitting between the side panels 14 and partially extending through
the heel cutouts 34. The caps C of the bottles partially extend
through the cap cutouts 20 to further assist in holding the bottles
in place.
Pressure applied by a packaging machine element (not shown)
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against the outermost portion of center tuck flap 52 causes the tuck
flap S2 to fold inwardly about score line 50, carrying with it the
end tuck flaps 54. This also causes the end panel flaps 64 to fold
inwardly about the fold lines 68. The fold lines 66 allow relative
folding movement between the end panel flaps 64 and the end tuck
flaps 54, and the fold lines 56 allow relative folding movement
between the center tuck flap 52 and the end tuck flaps 54, such
relative movements taking place as a consequence of the movement of
the center tuck flap 52.
A final intermediate stage in the folding of the flaps is shown
in FIGS. 3 and 4A. As the center tuck flap is folded inwardly, the
edges 60 and 62 of the cutouts separating the center tuck flap 52
and the end tuck flaps 54 SWitlg through an arc carrying them in
toward the bottles and up toward the top panel of the carrier.
Eventually, the cutout edges 60 of the center tuck flap 52 engage
the sides of the caps C, as best shown in FIG. 4A. At this point
the cutout edges 62 of the end tuck flaps 54 have not yet reached
the bottles s. Continued folding movement of the tuck flaps finally
causes the portions of the center tucX flap 52 immediately adjacent
the edges 60 to flex past the upper edges of the caps C and the
edges 62 to assume a position abutting or spaced immediately
adjacent from the sides of the caps. This final position is shown
best in FIGS. 4B and 5. The flexing of the center tuck flap past
the bottle cap is possible because the edge 60 extends in only a
short distance over the edge of the cap and because the ~aterial of
the carrier, preferably paperboard, permits such flexing to take
place.
The completed carrier resulting from continued folding movement
of the tuck flaps and end panel flaps is sho~l in FIGS. 4B, 5, 6, 7
and 8. The end panel flaps 64 are substantially vertical and the
cutout edges 62 are adjacent the lower portion of the caps C. The
cutout edges 62 may be in actual abutting contact with the caps C or
may be slightly spaced therefrom. In either case, when the carrier
is lifted by the finger hole 18 or other handle means which may be
provided on the top panel, the lifting stresses tend to pull the end
tuck flaps 54 and the cutout edges 62 in toward the caps C. As a
result at least parts of the cutout edges 62 abut the caps C of the
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esld bottles during lifting and carrying of the carrier to provide
firm support for the end tuck flaps and the end panels and to
provide additional stabilizing SUppoLt to hold the bottles in
place. The portions of the center tuck flap overlying the bottle
caps C are trapped in the small space between the top panel 12 and
the bottle caps and are thus locked in place. Since they cannot
move from this position the tuck panels ~nd attached end panels
cannot be moved from their final positions, and the carrier retains
its desired shape until the consumer removes the bottles from the
carrier.
A number of modifications may be made to the carrier of the
present invention if desired. For example, tear strips can be
provided to facilitate removal of the bottles. In addition, score
lines can be provided in the side panels to cause the side panels to
conform more readily to the sloped shape of the bottles between the
caps and the barrel portion of the bottles, although the side panels
will normally conform to the. bottle outline even without such fold
lines if properly dimensioned. Further, the length of the end
panels may be varied as desired, since the locking means of the
invention will function to hold any length of end panel in place at
substantially right angles to the top and bottom panels of the
carrier.
~ lthough the invention has been disclosed in connection with
bottles or jars having little or no neck portions, it should be
understood that it can be used in contlection with any container or
article which extends substantially completely from the bottom panel
to the top panel and which does not extend upwardly through a
support opening in the top panel.
It should now be obvious that although a preferred embodiment of
the invention has been described, changes to specific details of the
embodiment, including but not limited to the modifications mentioned
above, may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of
the invention as defined in the appended claims.
