Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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PACKAGING
The present disclosure relates to packaging for
transporting and displaying items for sale.
Background
It is known to transport items for sale from a
manufacturing site to a vending site in cartons such as
cardboard boxes. The main function of such a carton used for
transportation is to protect the items during transit from
physical damage. At the vending site, such as a shop, the
items may be unpacked from the carton and arranged on
display for sale, for example by being stacked on a shelf.
It may be desired to display and dispense the items for
sale in a carton and in such a case, it can be advantageous
to use the same carton for transporting and displaying the
items (such cartons are often referred to as 'shelf ready
packs'). US 7,284,662 describes a carton that allows a
product to be shipped, displayed and dispensed all from the
same carton.
Existing shelf ready packs exhibit a number of
problems. For example, items which are stacked in such
packs (whether horizontally, vertically or at an inclined
angle) look unsightly after removal of several items.
Furthermore, removal of items can result in poor on-shelf
presence of the product with the products often hidden from
view. It is therefore desirable to have a shelf ready pack
which maintains on-shelf presence of the product and allows
for the item to be dispensed to the consumer in a controlled
manner. It would also be desirable if such a shelf ready
pack could be formed and filled using existing manufacturing
and filling equipment.
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Brief Summary of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a package for
transporting and dispensing items for sale,
the package having a transporting configuration which
defines a compartment for retaining the items for sale which
is substantially closed, the compartment having at least a
front and a top portion;
the package further having a dispensing configuration
feom which items for sale can be withdrawn from either an
aperture located in the front or top portion of the package;
and wherein in the transporting configuration the
package comprises a plurality of panels and the display
configuration is formable by removal and/or folding one or
more of the panels.
Advantageously, the package provides a secure mechanism
for transporting the items for sale and allows for the
package to be easily converted to the dispensing
configuration which provides an attractive and easy-to-use
dispenser for the items. In particular, the package provides
two separate apertures through which the items may be viewed
by a consumer and withdrawn from the compartment. This
increases the visibility of the items. The upper aperture is
useful for viewing the items when the package is positioned
relatively low to the consumer's eye-level, for example on a
low shelf.
A support may be provided in the dispensing
configuration to tilt the package backwards such that a
front portion of the package is raised relative to a rear of
the package.
The backward tilting of the package increases the
visibility of the front panel and front aperture, again in
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particular when the package is positioned relatively low to
the consumer's eye-level. The backward tilting of the
package also helps to ensure that the items for sale do not
accidently fall out of the front aperture due to gravity.
The support of the dispensing configuration may be
formable by removal and/or folding one or more panels into a
support configuration.
Apertures may be presented in the front and top
portions upon removal and/or folding of one or more panels
into the support configuration.
In the transporting configuration the front and/or top
aperture may be obstructed or closed by one or more
overlying panels.
In the dispensing configuration an internal panel may
be provided to retain the items for sale in one or more
inclined stacks.
In one example the package may comprise in the
transporting configuration a front panel, two side panels
each attached to the front panel, a rear panel attached to
the two side panels, one or more lower panels and a top
panel together defining the compartment;
wherein in the display configuration:
i) the front aperture is located below the front
panel or as part of a lower portion of the front panel; and
ii) at least a part of the top panel is displaced to
form the upper aperture.
The front panel provides a readily visible location for
product information or advertising, for example a picture of
the item for sale.
The support may be attached at or near a front edge of
the one or more lower panels.
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The package may further comprise an outer front panel
which is hingedly attached to the one or more lower panels;
wherein in the transporting configuration the outer
front panel at least partially overlies the front panel to
obstruct the front aperture; and
wherein in the display configuration the outer front
panel is folded downward and rearward to form the support
and reveal the front aperture.
The front panel may comprise an advertisement space and
in the transporting configuration the outer front panel may
overlie the advertisement space.
Advantageously, the outer front panel provides an
integrated mechanism for forming the support in the display
configuration. In addition, in the transporting
configuration the outer front panel protects the underlying
front panel thereby ensuring that any information provided
on the front panel, such as product information or
advertising, for example a picture of the item for sale, is
not liable to defacement or damage during transport. Also,
the use of the outer front panel to obstruct the front
aperture during transport means that it is not necessary to
provide another panel, such as a tear-off strip, to close
the front aperture. This not only reduces the complexity of
manufacture of the package but also makes conversion of the
package into the display configuration quicker and easier as
the vendor does not need to separately carry out a step of
opening the front aperture.
A support portion of the top panel may be hingedly
attached to the outer front panel;
wherein in the display configuration the support
portion of the top panel and the outer front panel are
folded downward and rearward to form the support.
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Similar to the above case of using the outer front
panel to form the support, a support portion of the top
panel and the outer front panel may together be folded down
and rearward under the package to form the support. The same
advantages of protection of the front panel and closure of
the front aperture apply.
The support may comprise an upstand portion which
raises the front of the package and a base portion which
forms a support surface for the package.
A distal end of the support may comprise a tab and the
one or more lower panels may comprise a tab slot, wherein in
the display configuration the tab may be received in the tab
slot.
In this way the support can be connected to the lower
panel of the package to provide a relatively rigid support.
The top panel may comprise a first portion which in the
display configuration is detached to form at least a part of
the upper aperture. The first portion of the top panel may
be discardable and may not form part of the display
configuration of the package.
The top panel may further comprise a support portion
which is folded downward and rearward to form at least a
portion of the support.
The first portion and the support portion may be
separably attached to one another in the transporting
configuration. The separable attachment may be a line of
perforation, a score line, or other line of weakness that is
easily frangible.
The package may further comprise an inclined wall
towards a rear of the compartment with a lower edge of the
inclined wall being nearer the front of the compartment than
an upper edge.
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Advantageously, the inclined wall forces a stack of
items in the compartment to adopt an inclined arrangement
whereby lower items are positioned nearer the front of the
compartment compared to upper items in the stack. This
ensures that the lowermost item in the stack is positioned
so as to be readily accessible through the front aperture.
The front aperture may be elongate and extend across
the whole of the package.
The height of the front aperture may be such as to
allow withdrawal at one time of only a single item from a or
each stack of items contained in the compartment.
The present disclosure also relates to a unit
comprising a package as described above and one or more
flow-wrapped items for sale, wherein the One or more flow-
wrapped items for sale are located in the compartment in one
or more stacks.
The aperture in the front of the package of the unit
may have a height configured to permit withdrawal, by a
sliding motion, of only a single flow-wrapped item for sale
from each stack.
The aperture in the top of the package of the unit may
have a size configured to permit withdrawal, by a lifting
motion, of a flow-wrapped item for sale located uppermost on
each stack.
The flow-wrapped items for sale in the unit may be
block-shaped. =
The present disclosure also relates to a pair of blanks
for forming a package as described above.
The pair of blanks may comprise:
a first blank comprising a plurality of panels for
forming an open-topped compartment having a front panel, a
rear panel, two side panels and one or more lower panels;
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a second blank comprising a plurality of panels for
forming a lid of the package having a top panel and an outer
front panel adapted to overly the front panel of the first
blank on assembly of the blanks into the package.
The first blank may further comprise an internal wall
panel.
The present disclosure also relates to a method of
forming a package comprising:
a) forming a first blank comprising a front panel, a
rear panel, two side panels and one or more lower panels;
b) forming a second blank comprising a top panel and
an outer front panel;
c) folding the first blank to form an open topped
compartment;
d) inserting one or more items for sale into the open
topped compartment;
e) folding the second blank to form a lid of the
package;
f) connecting the lid to the open topped compartment =
such that the outer front panel overlies the front panel.
The method may further comprise forming a front
aperture in the front panel, and obstructing or closing the
front panel by use of the outer front panel.
The items for sale may be of a wide variety of types,
shapes and sizes. The package is particularly suited for
transporting and dispensing items which can be stacked and
=are of uniform size. One example is confectionary bars such
as chocolate bars. The package is also particularly suited
for stacked items that can be gravity fed within the
compartment to the front aperture. One example is
rectangular slab-shaped chocolate bars being relatively thin
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compared to their width and length. The items may have
individual wrappings. They may be flow-wrapped items.
The compartment of the package may contain a single
stack of items or multiple stacks of items.
The package may be formed from a stiff, foldable
material such as cardboard, paperboard, corrugated
fibreboard, carton board and the like. In one example, E
flute corrugated fibreboard is utilised.
Brief Description of the Figures
An embodiment of the disclosure will now be described,
by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a view of a first blank for forming a first
portion of a carton according to the present disclosure;
Figure 2 is a view of a second blank for forming a
second portion of the carton;
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the carton formed
from the first and second blanks in a transporting
configuration;
Figures 4 to 8 are perspective views of the carton of
Figure 3 showing the carton being opened into a display
configuration;
Figure 9 is a perspective view of the carton in the
display configuration showing the carton containing items
for sale;
Figure 10 is a perspective view of the carton of Figure
9 showing an item for sale being withdrawn from a front
aperture;
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Figure 11 is a perspective view of the carton of Figure
9 from another angle illustrating stacking of the items for
sale within the carton;
Figure 12 and Figure 13 are perspective views of the
carton of Figure 9 with the items for sale removed so as to
illustrate internal components of the carton.
Detailed Description
In the following, the disclosure will be described with
reference to a package in the form of a carton, for example
only.
In the following, the expressions top and bottom, upper,
and lower, front and rear, outer and inner, upward and
downward and derivatives thereof are used to refer to the
completed carton and parts thereof when the carton is in its
intended orientation, as shown in Figure 9, for placing on a
shelf. However, the carton may be used and stored in other
orientations as desired.
The first blank A and the second blank B are each
formed from single pieces of a stiff, foldable material such
as 'E' flute size corrugated fibreboard.
The first and second blanks A and B are provided with
certain fold lines easing folding of the blank. Such fold .
lines may be formed in any suitable manner, e.g. by simply
creasing the blank material. In another example the fold
lines may be formed by partially cutting through the blank
material and then forming a crease in the remaining intact
material.
The first and second blanks A and B are also provided
with certain frangible lines of weakness. Such frangible
lines of weakness may be formed in any suitable manner, e.g.
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by perforating the material, scoring the material, or
partially cutting the material.
Blank A, shown in Figure 1, comprises a top panel 7 of
approximately square shape formed from a centre top panel
40, a front top panel 21 and a rear top panel 41. The
centre top panel 40 and the rear top panel 41 are separably
attached together by a frangible line of weakness 43. A
finger hole aperture 44 is provided at a centre of the rear
top panel 41 adjacent to the frangible line of weakness 43.
The front top panel 21 comprises a tab 23 centrally
= located on the rear edge of the front top panel 21 adjacent
= the centre top panel 40. A fold line 46 is provided between
the tab 23 and a remainder of the front top panel 21.
The centre top panel 40 and front top panel 21 are
separably attached together by a frangible line of weakness
42 which extends across the front top panel 21 and around
the tab 23. A finger hole aperture 45 is formed in a front
edge of the centre top panel 40 with a central location
adjacent to the frangible line of weakness 42 aligned with
the centre of the tab 23.
An outer front panel 20 is attached to the front edge
of the front top panel 21 by a fold line 22. An upstand
panel 29 is attached to the outer front panel 20 by a fold
line 26. A lower attachment panel 28 is attached to the
upstand panel 29 by a fold line 27.
A rear flap 37 is attached to a rear edge of the rear
top panel 41 by a fold line 38. Side flaps 35 and 36 are
provided attached to either side of top panel 7. Each side
flap 34, 35 is separably attached to the front top panel 21
by a frangible line of Weakness 25 and separably attached to
the centre top panel 40 by means of a frangible line of
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weakness 24. The side flaps 35, 36 are attached to the rear
top panel 41 by fold lines 31.
Blank B, shown in Figure 2, comprises a front panel 2
having attached at one side a side panel 4 and at the other
side a side panel 3 by means of respective fold lines 61,
62. The front panel 2 has a reduced height compared to the
side panels 3 and 4 such that an upper edge of the front =
panel 2 is aligned with the upper edges of side panels 3 and
4 but a lower edge of the front panel 2 is higher than the
lower edges of side panels 3 and 4.
The side panel 4 has attached thereto a bottom flap 14
by means of a fold line 63 and a side flap 13 by means of a
fold line 64.
The side panel 3 has attached thereto a bottom flap 15
by means of a fold line 65 and a rear panel 5 by means of a
fold line 66.
The rear panel 5 comprises a hand hold aperture 16. An
outer lower rear panel 50 is attached to a lower edge of the
rear panel 5 by means of a fold line 67 and an internal
panel 51 is attached to an upper edge of the rear panel 5 by
means of a fold line 68. The outer lower rear panel 50
comprises a tab slot 30.
A floor stand panel 52 is attached to the free edge of
internal panel 51 by a combination of fold lines 53 and
frangible lines of weakness 54. Two sections of frangible
lines of weakness 54 are provided which demarcate two
spacers 55. The two spacers 55 are separated by a portion
of fold line 53.
Portions of the carton 1 may be printed on, or similar,
to provide product information, advertising or other
information to a user or shopper. In particular, front panel
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2 is well suited for bearing such items as will be discussed
below.
To assemble the carton 1, the fold lines 61, 62 and 66
of blank B are folded and the side flap 13 is fixedly
secured to the rear panel 5 by means of a suitable adhesive
or other fixing means, for example, staples. In this way,
front panel 2, side panels 3 and 4 and rear panel 5 are
formed into a tubular arrangement having an approximately
square-shaped cross section. Next, the bottom flaps 14 and
15 are folded about fold line 63 and 65 and the outer lower
rear panel 50 is folded about fold line 67 and fixedly
secured to the outer faces of bottom flaps 14 and 15 by
means of a suitable adhesive or other fixing means. In this
way, the bottom flaps 14, 15 and outer lower rear panel 50
together define a bottom of the carton 1. In addition, the
front panel 2, side panels 3 and 4 and rear panel 5 together
with the bottom of the carton 1 formed by the bottom flaps
14 and 15 and outer lower rear panel 50 define an open
topped compartment which forms an interior of the carton 1.
The internal panel 51 is folded downwardly and inwardly
about fold line 68 into the interior of the carton 1 and at
the same time floor stand panel 52 is folded about fold
lines 53 causing the frangible lines of weakness 54 to break
thus freeing the spacers 55 from the internal panel 51 as
shown most clearly in Figure 13. In the folded
configuration, the floor stand panel 52 lies flat in face-
to-face contact with the internal faces of the bottom flaps
14 and 15 with the distal ends of the spacers 55 abutting
against the internal face of the rear panel 5. As a
consequence, the internal panel 51 is inclined relative to
the rear panel 5 since the upper edge of the internal panel
51 is attached to the upper edge of the rear panel 5 at fold
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line 68 whilst the lower edge of the internal panel 51 is
displaced forwards by the length of the spacers 55.
If required, the floor stand panel 52 may be adhered to
the bottom flaps 14 and 15. At this point the items for
sale 8 may be inserted into the compartment of the carton 1.
In the next stage of assembly, blank A is folded to
form a top of the carton 1. Rear flap 37 is folded about
fold line 38, side flaps 35 and 36 are folded about
frangible lines of weakness 24 and 25 (which at this point
remain intact) and fold line 31 and outer front panel 20 is
folded about fold line 22. As shown in Figure 3, blank A is
placed on top of the part of the carton 1 constructed from
blank B and the rear flap 37 is adhered or otherwise fixed
to the upper part of rear panel 5, the side flap 35 is
adhered or otherwise fixed to the side panel 3 and the side
flap 36 is adhered or otherwise fixed to the side panel 4.
Finally, upstand panel 29 is folded about fold line 26
and the upstand panel 29 and/or the lower attachment panel
28 are adhered or otherwise fixed to the outer faces of
bottom flaps 14 and 15.
Figure 3 shows the carton 1 in a transporting
configuration in which the items for sale 8 are securely
retained within the compartment of the carton 1 and the
carton is fully closed and sealed.
Figures 4 to 8 illustrate the manner in which the
carton 1 is opened to convert it from its transporting
configuration into its display configuration. Firstly, as
shown in Figure 4, the centre top panel 40 is removed by
inserting finger into the finger hole aperture 44 and
pulling upwardly on the centre top panel 40 to break the,
frangible lines of weakness 43 and 42. As shown in Figure
5, this results in the centre top panel 40 being separated
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from the remainder of the carton 1 and it may then be
disposed of. Next, as shown in Figure 6, the tab 23 and/or
front top panel 21 are grasped and pulled upwardly to break
the frangible lines of weakness 25 between the front top
panel 21 on the side flaps 35 and 36. The front top panel
21 and outer front panel 20 are now free to be folded
downwardly and rearwardly under carton 1 as shown in Figure
7. This movement is accommodated by folding of fold lines
26 between the outer front panel 20 and upstand panel 29 and
fold line 27 between the upstand panel 29 and lower
attachment panel 28.
Then to complete the conversion, the tab 23 is inserted
to be retainably held in the tab slot 30 of the outer lower
rear panel 50.
As shown in Figure 9, in this display configuration,
the outer front panel 20 and front top panel 21 form a base
for the carton 1 which can be placed on a support surface
such as a shelf. The upstand panel 29 raises a front of the
carton 1 relative to a rear of the carton such that the
carton 1 is tilted rearwardly. In other words, the upstand
panel 29 and front top panel 21 and outer front panel 20
together form a wedge-shaped support for the carton 1.
In addition, as illustrated in Figure 9, in the display
configuration, an upper aperture 11 has been formed in an
upper face of the carton 1 through which the items for sale
may be viewed. The upper aperture 11 is formed from the
removal of the centre top panel 40 and front top panel 21 of
the top panel 7.
Further, displacement of the outer front panel 20
underneath the carton 1 reveals the front panel 2 and a
front aperture 10 which is formed below the front panel 2
= due to the front panel 2 not extending the full height of
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the side panels 3 and 4 as discussed above. The front
aperture 10 provides a mechanism for allowing individual
items for sale 8 to be withdrawn from the carton 1 as
=
illustrated in Figure 10 using a pulling motion causing a
sliding movement of the items for sale 8. Advantageously,
any printed information or similar on the front panel 2 is
protected from damage in the transporting configuration by
the presence of the overlying outer front panel 20.
As illustrated in Figures 11 and 12, the presence of
the internal panel 51 causes the items for sale 8. to be
stacked in an inclined arrangement whereby each item for
sale 8 is displaced forwardly compared to the item for sale
immediately above it. The result of this is that the
lowermost item for sale 8 in each stack is promoted forwards
such that it is readily accessible through the front
aperture 10.
In use, the rearward tilting of the carton 1 allows for
the front aperture 10 and any information on the front panel
2 to be easily seen by a shopper, even where the carton 1 is
placed on a relatively low shelf. As each item for sale 8 is
withdrawn through the front aperture 10, the remaining items
for sale 8 within the stack are fed downwardly through the
compartment of the carton by gravity. In addition, at any
time the uppermost item for sale 8 in any stack may be
viewed and removed through the top aperture 11 if preferred.
The invention is not intended to be i'estricted to the
details of the foregoing embodiment.
