Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SaIlf Closzrig Boxes
The present invention relates to self-closing boxes, particularly though r,ot
necessarily of cardboard.
Certain snack and other foods cause a considerable amount of nuisance, in
entertainment establishrnents and elsewhere, when they are discarded
unfinished,
because the remains can easily spill from their containers if they are not put
tidily in refuse bins. Popcorn, for example, is a particular problem being
light
and readily epilt and also sticky with caramel, so that it readily soils
carpets, etc
iri establishments such as cinernas.
The object of the present inverition is to provide a self-closing box which
can alleviate such problems.
According to the invention there is provided a box of thin and resilient
rnaterial arid of generally polyhedral shape, characterized in that it has an
edge
(the closure line)' at which two faces (the closure faces) meet separably such
that
pressing the vertexes at the ends of that line together splays those faces
resili-
ently apart along that line to allow access to the interior of the box.
The box rnay conveniently be assembled from a flat blank of cardboard cut
and creased to the appropriate shapes.
. To provide greater initial security for the contents of the box, the two
closure faces may initially be secured together by temporary securing means
along their closure edges (the edges lying along the closure line). A strip of
adhesive tape which can be peeled off can be used; alternatively, the two
faces
may have extensions which are ir,itially attached together. These extensions
may
be tied together by a tie through matching holes in them. Alternatively, they
may be defined by perforated lines so that they can be torn off the closure
faces; in this case, they may be formed from a continuous portion of the card
which is folded double to form a tab which protrudes beyond the two closure
faces at the closure line, or may be formed separately on the two closure
faces
ar,d glued together. A further option for certain shapes of the box is a sepa-
rate cap having the same shape as the top part of the box (ie the part around
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the closure line) and slightly larger than that part to fit snugly but
removably
over that part of the box.
The closure edges of the two closure faces may simply abut at the closure lii-
,t. To provide a firrner closure of the box, however, the closure faces may
have arL overlap. For this, the two closure faces both project in the same
direc-
tion beyond the geometrically straight line betweer, the two vertexes (ends)
of the
r-losure line, and come apart frorn the inside outwardly as the two vertexes
are
pressed together. This construction results in the two closure faces being dis-
torted into slightly concave forrns, with the tensiori resulting from the
concavity
tending to hold the closure edges together.
A variety of shapes may be used for the box. Conveniently, the box has a
flat base with the closure lirie lyirig above and parallel to the base.
(Drie suitable shape is a triangular prism, with one rectangular face forming
the base of the box, the other two rectangular 'faces (side faces) forming the
closure faces (,su that the edge along whic,li tl-iey rrieet, the edge
opposite the base,
forms the closure line), ai-id the twc, triangular taces forming the ends of
the
box. The two closure faces rnay have integral extensions to provide rnatchir,g
overlap; alterriatively, this shape may be modified by adding a lune-shaped
element
to the top edge of each of the rectarigular side faces to form a pair of
closure
faces with slidirig overlap.
This shape can be modified by shortening the closure line so that the two
closure faces become trapeziforrn. This allows the boxes to be nested together
in a stack partially assembled form with oper, bases. The stack can be held
upside down, a filling poured into the top box in the stack, the base closed
up,
and the box removed from the stack. Alternatively, the closure line can be
exterided, so that the two closure faces become trapeziform in the opposite
orien-
tatiori.
A second suitable shape has a rectangular base with, rising from it, four
vertical sides with their top ends being sloped in zig-zag fashion, and closed
by
two sloping triangular top faces forming the closure faces with the closure
line
running between the two top-most points of the side faces. The side faces may
be trapeziform, or may have their top edges sloped right down to the base so
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that they are triangular. (Sloping them even further makes the two "top" faces
trapeziform ar,d the base hexagonal.)
= The box may be such that it can be stored flat in partially assembled form.
The base may be of a construction which assembles automatically when such a
partially assembled box is opened out.
Various boxes embodying the invention will now be described, by way of
example, with reference to the drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 shows a cardboard blank for a first box;
Figs. 2A and 2B show the first 'box in the closed and open states
respectively;
Figs. 3A to 3E show variants of the first box;
Fig. 4 shows a further variarit of the first box;
Figs. 5 and 5A, 6 and 6A, 7 and 7A, and 8 and 8A show further bixes and blanks
therefor.
Fig. I shows a blank of cardboard from which the first box may be made.
The cardboard must be stiff but resilient, and capable of being' permanently
folded along fold lines. (Obviously any thin or sheet-like material with these
= properties may be used.) =
The box is assembled by creasing and folding the blank along the broken
lines; all the folds are made in the same direction. The sides of the box are
formed by the two rectangles 17 and 18 and the two triangles 19`and 20; a tab
21
on triangle 20 is glued to the edge region 22 of rectangle 17 to hold the
shape
of the box. The base is a rectangle which is assembled by folding together
four flaps 10 to 13; flaps 11 and 13 are folded first, and then flaps 10 and
12
are folded together, with the tag forming part of flap 10 being inserted into
the
slot 14 in flap 12.
This results in a box of the shape shown in Fig. 2A. In this box, the two
rectangular sides 17 and 18 form the closure faces. In the normal, closed,
state
of the box, as shown in Fig. 2A, the top edges 25A, 25B of these closure faces
meet to form a single commoi-i closure line 25. If the top corners of the box
at
the ends of this edge 25 are pressed together manually, as shown by arrows 26
in Fig. 2B, the closure edges 25A, 25B are sprung or splayed apart, as shown
by
arrows 27, so allowirig access to the interior of the box. If the pressure on
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the corners of the box is relaxed, the stiffness ar,d resilience of the
cardboard
will return the box to its closed state.
When the box has beeri partially assembled by gluing tag 21 to region 22 of
side 17, it can be flattened by folding the sides 19 and 20 (together with the
base flaps 11 and 13) along storage crease lines 30 and 31. A large number of
boxes may then be stored compactly. For this, the base flaps 10 to 13 are left
flat, ie riot folded away from the planes of their associated sides 17, 19,
18, ar,d
20 respectively. To complete the assembly of the box, the sides 19 and 20
lwitY,
their associated base flaps 11 and 13) are flattened out, and the base flaps
are
then folded together as described above.
Ir,stead of storing the partially assembled boxes in the completely flat
state,
they may be giver, a slight fold along the storage crease lines 30 and 31,
ar,d
nested in eacYi other to forrn a stack. This allows them to present a taper
and
to de-nest without jamrning. If the stack is then be placed upside down, the
top
box iri the stack can then be filled ~eg with popcorri), the base assembled,
and the
completed and filled box removed from the stack, turned the right way up, and
handed to a customer.
Fig. 3A shows a variant closure face shape for the box of Fig. 1. In this,
tY,e closure face 17 has its top edge 25A curved as shown; the other closure
face
1.8 is similar. The closure line of the box therefore becomes curved upwards
above the geometrically straight line 25 shown in Fig. 2A, and the top parts
of
the closure faces 17 and 18 are iri matching overlap when the box is closed.
The closure faces are forced into a slightly curved shape when the box is
closed,
with a positive pressure between their overlapping regions near their closure
edges. This variarit form of the box, like the other variants using the
closure
face shapes of Figs. 3B to 3E, may also be desirable as having a more
distinctive
appearance.
A hole 26 may be provided near the top edge of the face 17, and a corres-
ponding hole in the face 18. A ribbon or string can then be tied through the
two holes to form temporary securing means, which can be untied when access to
the box is required.
Fig. 3B shows a variant which is similar to the Fig. 3A variant. However,
the closure face 17 has a straight crease 31 across it, which is folded
slightly
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backwards. The overlapping portior,s of the closure faces 17 and 18 then lie
against each other, but witf-iout forcirLg the niain portions of those faces
out of
flat.
Fig. 3C shows a variant which is sirnilar to the Fig. 3B variant. However,
the closure face 17 has a crease 32 across it which is curved oppositely to
the
top edge 25A. The main use of this is with the Fig. 4 shape described below.
Figs. 3D and 3E show further variants of the boic of Fig. 1, in which the
sides 17 and 18 are trapeziums. This results iri the shape of the box being
that of a horizontal triangular prism with sloping ends. If the Fig. 3E shape
is
suitably chosen to match that of the triangular ends, the blank from which the
box is made may be straight (ie with the creases betweer, the sides of the box
and
various flaps forrning the base being a straight lirie).
Fig. 4 shows a further variant of the box of Fig. 1. In this variant, the
closure faces 17 and 18 are of the form showri in Fig. 3C, but the fold 31 is
initially made in the sarne sense as the other folds. The portions 17A and 18A
of the faces 17 and 18 are tl-ierefore rc,ughly horizontal, forming iriwardly
facing
overlapping lune shapes on those faces. (This also forces the faces 17 and 18
to be slightly curvilinear.) The result is a shape of the _"pillow-pack" type,
which retairis its contents with considerable tenacity; in effect, the iune
shapes
17A and 18A in effect form temporary initial closure means. To gair, access to
the interior of the box, these portions 17A and 18A have to be pulled out to
forrn srnootl-i extensions of the faces 17 and 18. The box thereupon becomes
in
effect the Fig. 3C type box. (Obviously this variant can be cornbined with the
variai-its of Figs. 3E) or 3E.?
Fig. 5 shows a second form of box, which is based on a vertical square
prism. This box has a base 30 and four vertical sides 31-34, each vertical
side
beirig in the form of a rectangle with the top end sloped off to turn it into
a
trapezium. The box is closed by two sloping triangular faces 35 and 36 at the
top; these two faces form the closure faces, and their common edge 37 forms
the
closure line of the box. This box is assembled frorn the blank shown in Fig.
5A.
All tabs for gluing are shown in Fig. 5A; sorne are shown, in lightly broken
liries, ir, Fig. 5.
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It will be noted that the closure line 37 of the box is showri in Fig. 5 as
having a strip 38 above it. Fig. 5A, which is a blarik for this box, shows
this
strip as a double strip which is joined to the faces 35 and 36 and has a
crease
lirie 39 along its centre. Wl-,en the box is assembled, this strip 38 is
folded double along the line 39. its joins to the faces 35 and 36 are defined
by lines
of perforatiori, as shown at 37, which will forrn the closure edges of the
faces 35
and 36. When the box is first assembled, it is therefore sealed by the strip
38,
which forms a ternporary seal. To gairi access to the box, the strip 38 has to
be torn off. The box can then be opened along its closure line 37 by pressing
the corners at the ends of this line together, and will close again when this
pressure is removed. If the box of Fig. 5 is made without the sealing strip
38,
ther, it can be rnade frorn a "straight" blank in which the four main sides 31-
34
forrn a straight band.
With this shape of box, an alternative ternporary initial closure rneans can
be used in the forrn of a large cap having the same shape as the upper part of
the box and fitting snugdy over the upper part of the box.
Fig. 6 shows a box whose shape is a variarLt of that of Fig. 5, in which the
triangular closure faces 35 ar,d 36 exterid down to the base 30. As a result,
the
side faces 31-34 are triangular. (For convenience, the tabs and the temporary
sealing strip are omitted in Fig. 6.) The shape of this second box can also be
varied in other ways, eg analogously to Figs. 3D arid 3E. Fig. 6A shows a
blank
for this box. This "shape can be partially assembled and stored flat with only
the base remaining to be assembled for final assembly.
The shape of Fig. 5 cannot be treated in the same way, because when the
three faces 31, 32, and 35 are joined they form a 3-dimensional shape which
can-
not be flattened. However, for sorne purposes it may be acceptable to
partially
assemble the shape of Fig. 5 is a flattenable forrn, leaving the joins between
faces
31 and 32, ar,d between 33 and 34, unrnade.
It is also possible to utilize the techr,iques of Figs. 3A to 3C with Fig. 5
type boxes. If this is done, the ternporary sealirig strip can be formed with
a
straight ceritral crease and curved liries of perforatiori. Alternatively, it
can be
formed in another way, eg by gluing together two portions, one attached to
each
of the closure faces. The technique of Fig. 4 can also be used with boxes of
the shapes of Figs. 5 and 6, though that would require the omission of the
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sealing strip. If desired, a strip of removable adhesive tape cari be used to
provide a temporary seal for the box.
For a rectangular box which is stored flat, a technique is knowri for for-
ming the base by gluing and folding flaps up inside the box in such a way that
when the box is opened out, the base flaps are pulled down and automatically
iraterlock in such a manner that a substantially rigid base is automatically
formed.
This technique can be applied to most of the present boxes.
However, for some forms of the present box, a slight modification of this
technique is required. The box of Fig. 7 (which is a box of the Fig. 1 type as
modified by combining Figs. 3B ar,d 3D) is an example. Fig. 7A is a blank for
this box. This consists of four faces 41-44, with a flap 45 which has to be
glued to the outer erid of face 44, plus base parts 46-53. The base parts cori-
sist of two mairi flaps 46 and 50, plus various minor flaps and portions 47-49
and 51-53. The two portions 47 are glued together, and the two portions 51 are
glued together.
When the box has been partially assembled P.,y the gluings just *noted, it
carn
ther, be stored flat, with 1 80 ber,ds down the centre lines of the end faces
42
and 44, and with the base flaps all tucked up inside the box. When the
assembly
of the box is to be completed, it is operied out by pulling the sides 41-44
apart.
This pulls the base flap portiorts down from inside the box. As -a result, the
lowermost parts of the mairi flaps 46 and 50 form two tongues which
autornatically
engage with each other (each sliding over the adjacent part of the other
flap), to
forrn a firm arid secure base.
Figs. 8 and $A show a box and a blank therefor of the same general shape
as the Fig. 5 bor, but which is assembled in a different manner. This box has
sides 55-58, top closure faces 58 and 59, and a base 60. This box cari be
stored flat in partially assembled form, with only tongue and groove matching
required for completing its assembly.
