Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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CARTON AND CARTON BLANK WITH REINFORCED TOP
Background of the Invention
The present invention relates to a carton for containing a plurality of
similar articles, such as
bottles and a means for retaining the bottles within the carton and in
particular to a means of
accessing the articles.
Cartons for encasing multiple articles are useful for enabling consumers to
obtain and
transport a desired quantity of individual articles such as soft drinks or
other beverages. Such
cartons need to be strong enough to support multiple articles, especially if
the articles are
bottles. It is also desirable for such cartons to be easy to handle and
portable.
It often desirable for the articles contained within the carton to be
displayed and also for the
carton to have large areas which can be printed with advertising graphics. It
is also often
desirable for the articles to be easily accessible and it is also preferable
for the articles to be
secured in place within the carton, especially if the articles are fragile,
for example glass
bottles. It is however undesirable for articles to be accessed too easily, for
example, before
being purchased.
It is also desirable to have a carton which after the contents of the articles
have been
consumed can be used to return the empty articles to a recycling point.
The present invention seeks to provide a means for displaying the articles or
a portion of the
articles in combination with an access means for removal of the articles where
the access
means leaves the carton with sufficient integrity for replacement of articles
for the purpose of
returning to a recycling point.
Summary of the Invention
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According to a first aspect of the invention, in a carton of the type
comprising an open top
container and a separate top closure, the upper periphery of the open top
container is
reinforced around the perimeter by reinforcing panels hinged along an edge of
the upper
periphery, wherein the top closure is releasable from the open top container.
Preferably the reinforcing panels are hinged to at least one adjacent
reinforcing panel. The
top closure may be at an elevation below that of an upper extremity of the
open top container
when the carton is in use.
Alternatively the top closure is at an elevation substantially equal to that
of a lower extremity
of the reinforcing panels when the carton is in use. The carton may further
comprise at least
one reinforced handle aperture struck from one of said opposing walls, the
arrangement being
such that the handle apertures are located at an elevation above the top
panel.
Preferably the top closure comprises apertures for receiving articles or a
portion thereof,
wherein each aperture has a frangible connection with at least one other
aperture to facilitate
removal of the articles. The carton may retain sufficient structural integrity
such that it can be
re-used for returning empty articles.
According to a second aspect of the invention, a two part blank comprising a
first part that
forms an open top container and a second part which forms a top closure, the
first part
comprises reinforcing panels hinged along an upper edge of the open top
container, which
reinforce the upper periphery of the open top container in a carton in a setup
condition,
wherein the top closure is releasable from the open top container.
Preferably the top panel comprises apertures for receiving the articles or a
portion thereof,
wherein each aperture has a frangible connection with at least one other
aperture to facilitate
removal of the articles. The carton may further comprise at least one
reinforced handle
aperture being struck from one of said opposing walls.
Brief Description of the Drawings
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Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of
example only,
with reference to the accompanying drawings in which;
Figure 1A illustrates a first part of a blank for forming a carton according
to a first
embodiment of the invention;
Figure 1B illustrates a second part of a blank for forming a carton according
to a first
embodiment of the invention;
Figure 2 is a perspective view from the front, side and top of a carton being
constructed from
the blanks of Figs. IA and 1B;
Figure 3 is a perspective view from the front, side and top of a carton
constructed from the
blanks of Figs lA and 1B.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments
Figs. lA and 1B, show a first and second part of a two-part blank respectively
for forming a
carton 30, made from paperboard or similar foldable sheet material. It is
envisaged that a
unitary blank could be used instead, without departing from the scope of the
invention. In the
first embodiment of the invention two blanks 10 and 20, of Figs. IA & 1B are
formed into a
tubular crate and a cover respectively. The cover is inserted into the tubular
crate to form the
carton 30 of the first embodiment, which is shown in Fig. 1C.
In the embodiments to be described the carton 30 is of the fully enclosed
type, although it
will be recognised that the invention could be applied to a crash bottom
carton without
departing from the scope of the invention. The invention is designed to
receive similar
articles, such as bottles, but it is envisaged that the present invention
could be used to contain
other articles, without departing from the scope of the invention.
Turning to Figure 1 A, the blank 10 comprises a first side wall 12, a front
panel 14, a second
side wall 16 and a back panel 18, hingedly connected one to the next in series
along fold lines
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42, 44, 46 and 48 respectively. Handle apertures 54 are struck from the first
and second side
walls 12, 16. Finger gripping tabs 58 protrude inward from the upper edges of
the handle
apertures 54. The finger gripping tabs enable the erected carton to be easily
grasped and lifted
by the handle apertures 54.
The blank further comprises bottom end flaps 72 and 74 hingedly connected to
each of the
first and second side walls 12, 16 along fold lines 62 and to each of the
front and back panels
14, 18, along fold lines 64. The bottom end flaps 72, 74 provide a bottom end
closure means
when the blank is erected into a carton. It is envisaged that other bottom end
closure means
could be used without departing from the scope of the invention.
Top end flaps 76, 96 are also provided and are hingedly connected to each of
the first and
second side walls 12, 16 and the front and back panels 14, 18 along fold lines
68 and 66
respectively. The top end flaps 76, 96 are hingedly connected one to another
and can provide
reinforcement to the top edges of the first and second side walls 12, 16 and
the front and back
panels 14, 18 when the blank is erected into the carton 30. The top end flaps
76, 96 can also
be used to secure the cover formed from blank 20 within the carton without the
need for
adhesive. The blank 10 also comprises a glue flap 88 which is hingedly
connected to the back
panel 18, along fold line 48.
Turning to the construction of the tubular crate from blank 10, a series of
sequential folding
and gluing operations are required, which preferably can be performed in a
straight line
machine, so that the crate and/or blank 10 are not required to be rotated or
inverted to
complete the construction. The folding process is not limited to that
described below and can
be altered according to particular manufacturing requirements.
The first stage is to apply glue to the outside edge of glue flap 88 and then
fold it 180 about
fold line 48 so that it lies in flat face contacting relation with the inside
face of back panel 18.
The front panel 14 is then folded about fold line 44 to lie flat on top of the
inside face of
second side panel 16. This causes the first side panel 12 to come into flat
face contacting
relation with the back panel 18 and the glued outer edge of glue flap 88, so
that the first side
panel 12 becomes stuck to the glue flap 88, thus connecting the first side
panel 12 and back
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panel 18. The blank 10 can then be erected into a tubular structure and using
a similar series
of folding and gluing steps, the bottom end flaps 72, 74 can be secured to
form a bottom end
closure means.
A second blank 20 is shown in Figure 1B, which can be formed into a cover for
the tubular
crate formed from the blank 10 of Figure IA. The blank 20 comprises a main
panel 22,
which is, on either side, hingedly connected to cover end flaps 28a and 28b
along fold lines
38a and 38b respectively. The cover end flaps 28a and 28b can provide
structural rigidity as
well as aesthetic appeal to the carton 30, when assembled.
The main panel 22 further comprises apertures 56 for receiving the similarly
configured
articles and each aperture is connected to at least one other aperture by a
frangible connection
or nick 37. In this first embodiment the apertures 56 are arranged in four
rows and each
aperture 56 is connected to at least one other aperture 56 of the same row by
a frangible
connection or nick 37. In other embodiments of the invention the arrangement
of the
apertures 56 or frangible connections or nicks 37 may differ from that
described in the first
embodiment of the invention. It is envisaged that many arrangements could be
used without
departing from the scope of the invention.
Once the tubular crate has been loaded with the bottles or other similar
articles, the blank 20
is folded to form a cover. To ensure that the cover flaps 28b do not obscure
the handle
apertures 54 when the cover formed from the blank 20 is inserted into the
tubular crate, the
cover flaps 28b are folded downward out of the plane of main panel 22 and are
obscured
from view when the carton 30 is fully erected. The cover flaps 28a can be
folded either
upward or downward out of the plane of main pane122 and may or may not be
secured to the
tubular crate by use of glue.
The folded blank 20 is then inserted into the loaded carton so that the
apertures 56 of the
main panel 22 are brought into registry with the bottle necks. If the cover
flaps 28a are folded
upward out of the plane of the main pane122 then the cover formed from the
blank 20 may be
locked within the tubular carton by folding the top end flaps 76 and adjacent
inner handle
panels 96 about fold lines 66 and 68. This action may lock the cover within
the tubular crate
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such that the cover flaps 28a are in flat face contacting relationship between
top end flaps 76
and an adjacent upper portion of the front and back panels 14, 18.
The carton formed from the blanks 10 and 20 is shown in Figure 1C. It can be
seen that the
bottles are secured within the carton, once the cover made from blank 20 has
been secured
inside the tubular crate. Access to the bottles is gained by separating the
frangible
connections or nicks 37. This may be achieved simply by pulling out a bottle
contained
within the carton 30. In this way each bottle can be accessed individually,
whilst the
structural integrity of the carton 30 is maintained. Bottles not removed are
held in position by
the apertures 56 and the main panel 22. Therefore the carton provides an
adaptable carrying
container, the structural integrity of which is not destroyed when the bottles
are accessed.
This enables the carton to be reused for the convenient returning of the empty
bottles. In this
embodiment of the invention, when all bottles are removed, no material from
the cover
formed from blank 20 is actually removed from the carton 30.
In other embodiments of the invention the apertures formed within the top
panel may not be
circular and may also be provided with additional tabs protruding into the
aperture, to aid
retention of the bottle necks or other articles contained within the carton.
The present invention and its preferred embodiments relate to an arrangement
for providing a
top closure in an open top container. However, it is anticipated that the
invention can be
applied to a variety of carriers and is not limited to those herein before
described and could
be used for numerous applications for example a crash bottom carton.
It will be recognised that as used herein, directional references such as
"top", "bottom",
"front", "back", "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 should not be construed as
necessarily referring
to a single fold line only; indeed it is envisaged that hinged connection can
be formed from
one or more of the following, a score line, a frangible line or a fold line
without departing
from the scope of the invention.
