Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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US01245
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CARTON AND CARTON BLANK
This invention relates to a carton and a blank for forming a carton which is
used for
accommodating one or more articles, for example, flexible pouch packs or
bottles. It also
concerns the method of forming the carton from the blank and loading the same
with one or
more articles. More particularly, the invention relates to a wraparound carton
incorporating a
top-gripping structure which attaches to an upper portion of one or more
articles thereby to
secure the articles in an array.
1 o Top-gripping cartons are well known, particularly in the field of multiple
packaging of
bottles. One example is illustrated in US 3 168 963 or US 3692228 which
illustrates a
wraparound carton having an article retaining structure and a retention panel
between the top
and bottom walls formed with at least one article receiving aperture. Another
example is
shown in GB 825384, which discloses a tubular carton having a brace tab that
engages
is an inner surface of the tubular carton.
A problem associated with known top-gripping carriers is that the retention
panel and/or
tubular structure for retaining the article will tend to collapse which
creates an unstable
carrier.
The present invention seeks to overcome or at least mitigate the problems of
the prior art.
One aspect of the invention provides a carton for holding one or more
articles, for example,
flexible pouches, which carton comprises an article retaining structure for
preventing the
dislodgement of the packaged articles through the open ends of the carton. The
article
retaining structure comprises a retaining panel extends between the carton
side walls
intermediate the top and bottom walls of the carton to form a tubular
structure in cooperation
with the top wall. The retaining panel is formed with at least one article
receiving aperture,
wherein tubular structure is provided with a brace for retaining the tubular
structure in an
3o erected form. The brace comprises a brace panel hingedly connected to the
retention panel
and folded into the tubular structure to engage the inner surface of the
tubular structure.
AMENDED SHEET
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The brace panel is provided with a friction tab hingedly connected to the
brace panel,
the friction tab being adapted to be pressed against the inner side surface of
the tubular
structure to retain the tab in the folded position.
Optionally, the brace panel is struck from the retention panel and defines the
article receiving
aperture when folded into the tubular structure.
According to another optional feature of this aspect of the invention the
brace panel may be
provided with a friction tab hingedly connected to the brace panel, the
friction tab being
adapted to engage the upper portion of one of the carton side walls.
Preferably, friction tab is struck from the side wall of the tubular
structure.
According to a further optional feature of this aspect of the invention the
side wall may
t 5 comprises an upper side panel hingedly interconnecting the top wall and
the retention panel
and the lower side wall panel connecting the bottom wall and attached to the
upper side wall
panel and wherein said friction panel is struck from the upper side wall
panel.
Preferably, the lower side panel is attached to the outer surface of the upper
side panel to
2o cover the opening defined in the upper side panel by the friction tab. More
preferably, a
portion of the friction tabs is revealed in the opening defined in the upper
side panel and
wherein the friction tab is secured by glue to the lower side panel.
According to another optional feature of this aspect of the invention wherein
at least one
25 opening is formed in either the top wall or in the side wall of the article
retention structure to
allow the top portion of one of the articles to be exposed to view.
There may further comprise an end closure structure for closing the ends of
the carton, which
end closure structure comprising an enclosure panel and at least one glue flap
hingedly
connected to the end closure panel to be secured to one of the base or side
wall panels of the
carton.
AMENDED SHEET
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A second aspect of the invention provides a blank for forming a carton for
holding one or
more articles, for example, flexible pouches, which blank comprises a
plurality of panels for
forming a carton including a first side wall panel, a base panel, a second
side wall panel and a
top panel hingedly connected one to the next, and an article retaining
structure extending
from the top panel comprising a retaining panel and securing means to connect
the retaining
panel to the side walls panels to form a tubular structure in a set up carton,
the retaining panel
is formed with at least one article receiving aperture and a brace for
retaining~the tubular
structure in an erected farm. The brace comprises a brace panel hingedly
connected to the
retention panel and adapted to be folded into the tubular structure to engage
th'e inner side
to surface of the tubular structure.
According to an optional feature of the second aspect of the invention the
brace panel is
struck from the retention panel and defines the article receiving aperture
when. folded into the
tubular structure.
According to a further optional feature of the second aspect of the invention
the brace panel is
provided with a friction tab hingedly connected to the brace panel.
Optionally; the tab is
struck from the side wall panel.
2o According to another optional feature of the second aspect of the invention
the side wall panel
may comprise an upper side panel hingedly interconnecting the top wall panel
and a lower
side wall panel connecting the bottom wall and wherein said friction panel is
struck from the
upper side wall panel.
There may further comprise at least one opening is formed in either the top
wall panel or in
the side wall panel of the article retention structure to allow the top
portion of one of the
articles to be exposed to view in the set up carton.
According to a still further optional feature of the second aspect of the
invention there further
3o comprises an end closure structure for closing the ends of the carton,
which end closure
AMENDED SHEET
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structure comprising an enclosure panel and at least one glue flap hingedly
connected to the
end closure,
Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of
example only,
with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIGURE 1. is a plan view of a blank of a first embodiment of the invention;
FIGURE 2 is a plan view of a blank of a second embodiment of the invention;
FIGURE 3 is a plan view of a blank of a third embodiment of the invention;
FIGURES 4 and 5 illustrate the first stages of construction of the first
embodiment so that the
carrier is in a flat collapsed condition ready to be supplied to an end user;
1s
FIGURES 6, 7 and 8 illustrate the construction of the carrier from a
flatcollapsed condition
illustrated in Figure 5;
FIGURE 9 illustrates the carrier shown in Figure 5 in an erected and loaded
condition;
25
FIGURE 10 illustrates the carrier shown in Figure 5 in a set-up and completed
condition;
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FIGURES 11 and 12 illustrate the construction of the carrier according to the
third
embodiment of the blank shown in Figure 3;
FIGURE 13 is a perspective view of the erected carton formed from the blank of
Figure 3;
and
FIGURE 14 is a fragmentary plan view of a blank of a fourth embodiment of the
invention.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments
Referring to the drawings, and in particular Figure 1, there is shown a
unitary blank 10 for
forming an article carrier made from paperboard or similar foldable sheet
material. In other
embodiments there may comprise a two-part blank, for example a blank for
forming the
wraparound carrier and a separate blank for forming the internal article
retention structure.
The blank 10 comprises a series of panels hingedly connected one to the next
in series to
define a top wall, opposed side walls and a base. Preferably, there comprises
upper and lower
side wall panels. Thus, the blank 10 comprises a plurality of panels for
forming a wraparound
carton, which in this embodiment comprises a first side wall panel 14, a base
panel 16,
second side wall panel 18, an upper second side wall panel 20 and top wall
panel 22 hingedly
2o connected together in series along fold line 32, 34, 36 and 38
respectively.
In order to secure the first side wall panel 14 to the top panel 22, suitable
securing means is
provided. In this embodiment, the securing means is provided by a securing
flap 12 that is
hingedly connected to the lateral edge of side panel 14 along fold line 30.
There further comprises a plurality of panels for forming the article
retention structure which
are hingedly connected to the top panel 22 along fold line 40. In this
embodiment, the article
retention structure is provided by a first spacer panel 24, a retention panel
26 and a securing
panel 28 hingedly connected together in series along fold lines 42 and 44
respectively. The
spacer panel 24 spaces the retention panel 26 from the top panel 22.
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There may further comprise one or more display windows which are provided by
apertures
46, 48 struck from upper second side wall panel 20 that extend into top panel
22, shown in
Figure 1. In use, the display apertures 46, 48 reveal a portion of the cap of
the article retained
within the carrier.
A brace is provided to prevent the article retention structure from
collapsing. In Figure 1,
there comprises a brace panel 50 struck from and hingedly connected to
retaining panel 26
along fold line 54. Preferably, there further comprises a friction tab 58
struck from the
adjacent spacer panel 24 and hingedly connected to bracing panel 50 along fold
line 62. In
use, the bracing panel 50 is folded out of alignment with retaining panel 26
to reveal an
article receiving aperture 90 (Figure 7). A second bracing panel may be
provided which, in
this embodiment, is designated by a reference numeral 52 and is struck from
retaining panel
26 and hingedly connected thereto along fold line 56. Similarly, a friction
tab 60 is hingedly
connected to bracing panel 52 along fold line 64.
Turning to the second embodiment illustrated in Figure 2, the blank 110 is
substantially the
same as the first embodiment and like features are designated by the same
reference numerals
with the prefix "1 ". Therefore only the differences shall be described in any
further detail.
2o An end closure structure is provided to prevent the articles from
inadvertently being removed,
for example, before the product has been sold. The end closure structures are
provided by
opposing end panels 176a and 176b hingedly connected to opposing sides of side
wall panel
118 along fold lines 175a and 175b respectively. Suitable securing means is
provided to
secure the end closure panels 176 in place, for example a locking tab and
aperture
arrangement could be used.
The construction of each end closure structure is the same, so like reference
numerals have
been used in Figure 2 with the addition of letter's 'a' and 'b' respectively.
In this
embodiment, glue flaps 178 and 180 are provided to be secured to the adjacent
first side wall
3o panel 114 and the base wall 116 respectively. It will be seen from Figure 2
that glue flap 178
is secured to a longitudinal edge of end closure panel 176 along fold line 182
and that glue
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flap 180 is secured to a lateral edge of end closure panel 176 along fold line
184, which in
this embodiment is an extension of fold line 134.
Turning to the third embodiment illustrated in Figure 3, it is similar to the
first embodiment in
its overall construction; and it is similar to the second embodiment in that
there are provided
end closure panels 276. Like features of the first and second embodiments are
designated by
the same reference numeral with the prefix "2". Therefore, only those
differences between
the second and third embodiments are described in any further detail.
to In the third embodiment, there further comprises an additional aperture 270
along the
opposing part of top panel 220 which is aligned with the corresponding
aperture 246.
Aperture 270 is struck from top panel 220 and extends into spacer panel 224.
In use, aperture
270 provides a second display window for the upper portion of the adjacent
article A.
Likewise, in those embodiments with two rows of articles, a second aperture
272 struck from
15 top panel 220 and extending spacer panel 224 is provided to be
substantially aligned with
aperture 248.
There are also corresponding recesses 286, 288 along the free edge of side
panel 214. In use,
the recesses 286 and 288 are aligned with aperture 270 and 272 respectively to
provide a
2o display window.
In one class of embodiments, the friction tab 258 is not co-extensive with
bracing panel 250
and terminates short, so that an aperture or notch 266 is provided. In use,
the notch 266
functions to allow the tab 258 to protrude through the opening 270 to be
engaged with an
25 article. There is a similar notch 268 provided adjacent to bracing tab 260
that functions in the
same way.
There may further comprise an aperture 274 struck from one of the side panels
and a
corresponding recess portion 289 in glue flap 228 to provide an additional
display window to
30 reveal part of the side wall of an article A.
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Turning to the fourth embodiment illustrated in Figure 14, it is virtually
identical to the third
embodiment in its overall construction except for the details of the friction
tabs. Like features
of the third embodiment are designated by the same reference numeral with the
prefix "3".
Therefore, only those differences between the third and fourth embodiments are
described in
any further detail.
In the fourth embodiment, the friction tab 358, again, is not co-extensive
with bracing panel
350 and terminates short. However, an aperture or notch 366 is defined
adjacent to the free
end edge of the bracing panel 350 remote from fold line 354. In use, the notch
366 functions
to to prevent the tab 358 from being exposed to view through opening 370. In
other words, the
notch 366 is struck from the friction tab 358 to cooperate with the opening
370 to provide a
window to reveal the top portion of one of the articles. There is a similar
notch 368 provided
adjacent to the free end edge of bracing panel 352. The notch 368 functions to
prevent
friction tab 360 from being exposed to view through opening 372.
Turning to the construction of the carton formed from one of the blanks
illustrated in Figures
l, 2, 3 or 14, it is envisaged that the carton of the present invention can be
formed by a series
of sequential folding and gluing operations which can be performed in a
straight line
machine, so that the carton is not required to be rotated or converted to
complete its
2o construction. The folding process is not limited to that described below
and can be altered
according to particular manufacturing requirements.
Turning now in particular to Figure 4, the blank 10 of the first embodiment is
folded in
direction X along fold line 40 to form the internal article retention
structure. Thus, spacer
panel 24 and retaining panel 26 are placed in face-contacting relationship
with top panel 22
and upper second side wall panel 20 and are held in place by securing flap 28
to side wall
panel 18 by glue G or other suitable securing means known in the art. The
carrier is at an
intermediate stage construction, shown in Figure 5, whereby it is in flat
collapsed condition
ready to be supplied to a user, for example a bottler, to be loaded with
articles, described
below.
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In order to construct and load the carrier, the retention structure and brace
are formed,
whereby panels 20, 22, 24 and 26 forming the article retention structure are
folded along fold
lines 38, 40, 42 and 44 in direction Y so as to form a tubular structure T as
shown in Figure 6.
This folding action reveals friction tabs 58 and 60 that are ready to form the
brace.
Thereafter, the brace is formed by folding brace panels 50 and 52 in
directions W and V
respectively along fold lines 54 and 56 as shown in Figure 7 to take up a
bracing position.
The bracing panels 50, 52 act as braces by their free edges coming into
contact with opposed
spacer panels 24, 28 or, as the case may be, side walls. Additionally, or
alternatively, the
bracing tabs may abut the top wall to provide a brace between the top and
retention panels 22,
26.
In those embodiments with friction tabs 58 and 60 are folded along fold lines
62 and 64, so as
to come into face contacting relationship with spacer panel 24. It is
envisaged that in some
embodiments the spacer panels are dispensed with, in which case the friction
tabs come into
face contacting relationship with the side walls.
Turning again to the embodiment shown in Figure 7, the brace panels 50, 52 are
held in place
by the frictional engagement between the inner face of spacer panel 24 and the
tabs 58 and 60
respectively, thereby to maintain the tubular structure in a set-up condition.
Optionally, glue
2o may be applied to friction tabs 58, 60 so that they are secured to spacer
panel 24. The tabs 58,
60 may be shaped so as to protrude in part 59, 61 (Figure 9), through
apertures 90, 92.
Beneficially, this allows tabs 58, 60 to be secured directly to an outer panel
of the carrier, for
example, securing tab 12 to provide a structure of improved rigidity.
In order to complete construction of the carton, the panels forming the
wraparound carrier are
formed, so that the base panel 16 and first side wall panel 14 are folded out
of alignment with
second side wall panel 18 along fold lines 34 and 32 respectively as shown in
Figure 8.
Prior to constructing the wraparound carrier, the articles are applied to the
carrier by relative
3o movement between the article A and the tubular structure T, preferably
during continuous
forward movement. The articles are grouped in a two-by-two array although is
anticipated
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that other groupings or even a single article could be packaged without
departing from the
scope of the invention.
As shown in Figures 9 and 10 the articles pass through apertures 90 and 92 to
be held in place
within the tubular structure T. In some embodiments, suitable retention means
engage the
upper part of the articles) to prevent any movement within the apertures 90,
92. Thereafter,
the side and base walls are folded as described above and the first side wall
panel 14 is
secured to the article retention structure by securing glue flap 12 to spacer
panel 24 by glue or
other suitable means known in the art. Thus, the carton is in set-up and
loaded condition as
to shown in Figure 10.
It will be seen that the articles to be packaged, in this embodiment, are
flexible foil pouches
and so, in order to retain the articles in place, the panels forming the
wraparound carrier are
drawn in tightly by moving the securing flap 12 up along spacer panel 24 prior
to being
is secured therewith so as to provide a stable and easy stacking package.
The construction of the second, third and fourth embodiments are substantially
the same as
the first embodiment described and illustrated in Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7 and,
therefore, only the
construction of the end closure structure is described in any greater detail.
The articles A are
2o applied to the article retention structure by relative vertical movement
during continuous
forward feed, as shown in Figures 11 and 12, and before folding the base and
side wall panels
216, 214, the end closure structure is formed. This is achieved by folding end
wall panel 276
inwardly along fold line 275. In addition, glue flaps 278 and 280 are folded
along fold lines
282 and 284 respectively around the articles A, as illustrated in Figure 12.
Thereafter, the
25 base and/or first side wall panel 214 may be secured to the glue flaps 278
and/or 280
respectively to retain the end closure panels 276 in place. Thus, the carton
is in a set-up
condition as shown in Figure 13.
a
In the embodiment shown in Figure 12, the friction tabs 258 and 260 axe
engaged in apertures
30 270 and 272 respectively, to retain the brace panels 250 and 252 in a
bracing position.
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The present invention and its preferred embodiments relate to an arrangement
for forming a
brace in an article retention structure formed from material that also forms
one or more article
receiving apertures. However, it is anticipated that the invention can be
applied to a variety
of carriers and not limited to those of a wraparound type described above.
It will be recognised that as used herein, directional references such as
"top", "base", "end",
"side", "inner", "outer", "upper" and "lower" do not limit the respective
panels to such
orientation, but merely serve to distinguish these panels from one another.
Any reference to
"hinged connection" or fold line should not be constructed as necessarily
referring to a single
1o fold line only; indeed, it is envisaged that "hinged connection" can be
formed from one or
more the following, score line, a frangible line or a fold line, without
departing from the
scope of the invention.
It should be understood that various changes can be made within the scope of
the present
15 invention. For example, the size and shape of the panels and apertures rnay
be adjusted to
accommodate articles of different size or shape, alternatively top and base
closure structures
may be used. The carton may accommodate more than one article in different
arrays. In the
illustrated embodiment, there comprise four articles arranged in two-by-two
array although,
of course, other arrays are envisaged.
