Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
22819-5~6
The invention relates to a carrier for mainly
parallelepipedic packages, and includes a receptacle ~ormed from
four side walls and a handle centrally arranged on a receptacle
wall and substantially parallel to the axis of the receptacle, the
latter having an inwardly directed bottom flanye for carrying the
package in the receptacle.
Carrlers of the type mentioned find use with packagas of
the Brik Pak* and Pure Pa}c* type, i.e. cartons containing milk,
juice and the like. Carriers of the kind mentioned are already
known but have a series of disadvantages. A primary disadvantage
is that the carrier is relatively voluminous, so that considerable
spaca problems are experienced at the point of sale, with respect
to storage and display of the carrier. The known carriers, which
are manufactured from plastics, have been provided with lightening
holes, inter alia to save material, and this has resulted in that
the carriers easily catch in each other when they are stored
together. Another disadvantage is tha~ the carrier also take up
large space for the consumer, in such as storage space in kitchens
and the like. Yet another dlsadvantage is that the handle
attachment tends to be weak since, for many reasons, it is
attempted to maintain uniform material thickness in the plastics
material of the carrier. A further disadvantage i9 that the tool
for manufacturing such a plastics carrier is expensive.
An object of the invention is to provide a carrier with
which one or more of the mentioned disadvantages is completely or
partially eliminated.
*Trademark
5~
22~19-526
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides a carxier for mainly
parallelepipedic liquid packages, including a receptacle formed by
four walls and a U-shaped handle substantially parallel to the
axis of the receptacle, and arranged centrally on a receptacle
wall, the handle being parted into two substantially like halves,
the receptacle wall to which the handle joins being divided
substantlally in the partltion plane of the handle, the walls of
the receptacle being foldably connected to each other at the
corner edges of the recep~acle, each handle half being foldably
connected to the respective one of said wall parts, means being
arranged at the wall parts for preventing the edges of the wall
parts from mutual displacement in a direc~ion normal to the wall
parts, and means being arranged for preventing the handle halves
from mutual displacement in their plane and for making it more
dlfficult for the wall parts to part in their plane transverse the
partition line of the wall, whereby the carrier is erectable fxom
an essentially flat blank including the cohesive walls, said wall
parts and handle halves character.ized in that the blank is of
plastics and is ejection moulded, that at least one of tha walls
and wall parts have a fixed integral flange at a common free blank
edge, said flange being adapted so tha~ in the vertically oriented
carrier/receptacle erected from the blank ~ald flange supports a
package, the free cross-sectional area of tha receptacle
corresponding to that of the package, in that each oE the handle
halves has a flanga at least along its one free edye, the handle
flange being deflected from the flat surface of the flat blank 50
22819-S26
that the handle flanges bear agains~ each other in ~he assembled
handle of the erected blank, whereby, in the erected carrier the
distance between the joints of the handle halves to the respective
wall part are mutually spaced at a dis~ance corresponding to twice
the flange width of the handle halves and that the means for
preventing the assembled handle halves from mutual displacement in
their plane and for makiny it more difficult for the wall parts to
part in their plane transverse their mutual joint include
projections integral with the handle halves and dir~cted towards
each othex in pairs, one of which is tubular and the other adapted
for fitting into the tubular one when the handle halves are
assembled to each other.
Through the inventiva implementation of ~he carrier, the
disadvantages mentioned in the introduc~ion, which are associated
with previously known carriers of the kind in question, are
eliminated, and the carrier may be transported and displayed in
the form of flat, erectable blanks, the consumer being able
simply to erect them ~nto the carrier's operative æhape,
whereafter the consumer can collapse the carrier into a sheet-
shaped blank which requires small storage space. In the salesoutlet the carrier blanks can be packed separately in the form of
a flat, generally rectangular product whi~h to advantage can be
offered for sale and displayed, suspended via a handle half on a
generally horizontal wall-mounted bar, as is usual for many
articles ln -the retail trade.
The flange for supporting packages in the receptacle may
have a hei~ht from the wall corresponding to the height of the
~.~
C3~53
2281~-526
outstanding legs of the handle halves. The blank for the carrier
will thus substankially comprise a sheet of material with a
uniform thic~ness of such as 1.5 mm, from which flange portions
project ~o the same height a~ the legs in the U-shaped cross
section of tAe handle halves.
The tubular and cylindrical projections are preferably
arranged along the web as well as the legs of the U-shaped handle
halves. The coacting projections may suitably have a length such
that they produce a locking effect if a person attempts to part
the handle halves with folding movement.
Each of the wall halves preferably has a pair of
projecting tongues fitting into correspondingly formed depressions
in the opposing wall half. The tongues suitably have a thickness
corresponding to half the wall thickness and are situated on the
inside of the wall. The depressions are similarly arranged with a
thickness corresponding to half the wall thickness and are
arranged on the inside of the wall. The tongues and depressions
will thus coact to prevent the edges of the wall parts ~rom ~eing
mutually displaced in a direction normal to the wall parts in the
erected carrier. The handle halves with their coacting
projections prevent relative gliding between the handle halves in
their plane of divlsion, and the height in cross section of the
handle halves results in that the connections thereof to the
receptacle wall in question are well separated. Y'his means that
in the erected state of the carrier the handle is very stiffly
connected to the carrier wall in question, with respect to bending
relative this wall in relation to an axis parallel to the axis of
3a
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22~19-526
the receptacle.
By the implementa~ion of the inventive carrier~ ~he
blank for i~ may thus be produced with a material ~hickness
corresponding to the thickness of the walls, even in the
3b
4 ~ 3
projections (which may be tubular wi~h the same wall thick-
ness as the receptacle walls) on the handle halves and with
relation to the package-supporting flange and the projecting
flanges of the handle halves. This means ~hat the carrier in
accordance with the invention can to advantage be produced
from plastics without the need of material concentration which
can cause sinking etc. By enabling the blank for the carrier
in accordance with the invention to be produced in the form of
a substantially flat uniformly thick sheet of material, one
side of which is substantially smooth, and the other side of
which has the flange parts and the projections and flanges of
the handle halves, the configuration of the tool for producing
it will be simplified, and the tool cost minimized due to the
minor necessary thickness of the blank. The thickness is de-
termined by the projections on the handle halves.
An exemplifying embodiment of the carrier in accordance
with the invention will now be described in detail with refe-
rence to the accompanying drawing.
RAWING
Fig. 1 is a plan view of one side of a blank for a car-
rier in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is a section
along the line II-II in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section along the
line III-III in Fig. 1. Fig. ~ is a horisontal view of a
carrier, erected from the blank according to Figs 1-3. Fig. 5
is a view taken along the line V-V in Fig. ~. Fig. 6 is a
section along the line VI-VI in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a section
along the line VII-VII in Fig. 5. Fig. 8 is a section along
the line VIII-VIII in Fig. ~.
EMBODIMENT
; 30 Fig. 1 illustrates a substantially flat blank 1, eject-
ion moulded in plastics for a carrier which can be erected
from the blank and is usable for generally parallelepipedic
packages, usually such as contain a liquid and primarily of
the type Brick ~ak and Pure Pak.
The blank 1 is rectangular and includes three wall
~ 5~
parts 10,11 ,12 joined to each other via creases 42,43, the
parts 11 and 12 via creases 41 and 44 each being joined to its
wall half 14 and 13, these wall halves 13,14 together forming
a wall in the carrier. The walls 10 12 have a central depression,
reducing material consumption for the blank and exposing
information on the package. A yoke-like handle half 20,21
joins via creases 40,45 onto the respective wall half 14,13.
At the right-hand side o-f the blank in Fig. 1, there are a
plurality of upstanding flanges 3,31 which, in the erected
condition of the carrier, support the package in the recept-
acle of the carrier formed by the walls and wall parts. The
handle halves 20,21 are formed, as is apparent from Figs.
1-3 with a U-shaped cross section, the web 23 of which is in
the same plane and has the same thickness as the walls and
wall parts 10-14. The legs 22 of this cross section have the
same height as the flangcs 3 and 31.
The sections o the handle halves have on their insides
tubular projections 24,25 fitting into each other. The project-
ions 24,25 are arranged in both the web and legs o-f the
U-shaped or yoke-like handle halves 20,21, and have a length
of mutual engage~ent such that they produce a binding effect
if it is attempted to part them with a pivoting movement,
especially about an axis parallel to the creases 40~45.
At their free edges the wall parts 13~14 have tongues 50
and depressions 51 so that the tongues 50 on the one wall half
engage in the depressions 51 in the other wall half and vice
versa. As is apparent from Figs 2 and 3, the tongues 50 and
depressions 51 are disposed with a thickness corresponding to
half the wall thickness. In the illustrated embodiment the
tongues 5~ and depressions 51 are arranged onthe wall thick-
ness half which is exposed in Fig. 1. The crease joints 40,45
of the handle halves 20,21 to the wall halves 14,13 are along
a line at a distance from the free straigh-t edge 47 of the
wall halves 14,13 corresponding to the section height of the
handle halves 20,21. There is thus a slit between the inner
edge of the handle yoke and the respective wall half 14 and 13
up to the creases 40 and 45.
6 ~ 2 ~ Z ~ 3
Fig. 4 schematically illustrates a view from above of
a carrier which has been erected from the blan~ illustrated
in Figs 1-3. It can be seen from Fig. 4 and also from Fig. 3
that the flange portions 3 and 31 are bevelled at the crease
5 corners 41-44 of the carrier so as not to hinder erecting the
carrier into the illustrated embodiment. Fig. 5 illustrates
how the tongues 50 are exposed on the inside of the receptacle,
and Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate how the adjacent coacting pairs
of tongues and depressions in the axial direction of the re-
10 ceptacle lock the wall parts 13,14 against relative movementeither way in the direction normal to the wall parts 13,14.
It is further apparent from Figs 6 and 7 that the crease con-
nections 40,45 of the handle halves 20,21 to the respective
wall portion 14,13 are well separated so that in combination
15 with the coaction of the projections 24,25, the resulting
handle 2 is given a connection to the wall formed by the wall
parts 13,14 which is very resistant to bending. Fig. 8 illu-
strates the straight contact line 47 between the wall parts
13914 on the outside of the receptacle. However, it should
20 be clear that instead of arranging the tongues 50 and depress-
ions 51 on the inside part of the receptacle wall o-f the
carrier, these may be placed on the outside of the receptacle.
