AU2006252046A1 - Improvements in cartons for dispensing tissues - Google Patents

Description

1

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 ABC TISSUE PRODUCTS PTY LIMITED COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: Improvements in cartonsfor dispensing tissues The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to us:- O2 0 Cross-Reference to Related Applications SThe present application claims priority from Australian Provisional Patent SApplication No 2005907180 filed on 20 December 2005, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

SField of the Invention This invention relates to improvements in cartons for dispensing tissues.

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C1 Background of the Invention It has long been a problem in the dispensing of a stack of interleaved facial C tissues from tissue boxes/cartons that while the top tissues in the stack dispense relatively well from the tissue carton, as the stack of interleaved tissues is gradually used up, those tissues at the bottom of the box become more and more difficult to reach and pull out. There is also the problem of separating the top tissue in the stack from the following tissues in the stack. Also, while many existing tissue cartons include a slit plastic sheet covering the dispensing opening which assists in the separating and dispensing of tissues by retaining the leading or front portion of the topmost tissue in the stack, as the stack of tissues diminishes in height, this sheet becomes less effective.

When the box is close to empty, it will cease to work effectively, and persons trying to pull out a single tissue from the remaining tissues, will typically pull out several tissues at once, or in some cases the entire stack and/or have to place their entire hand through the slit and into the box in order to pull any tissues out from the carton.

In order to solve this problem, it is known to provide what is known as a "tissue elevator" in the base of a tissue carton by forming perforations and hinges in the base of the carton. The tissue elevator define prongs which project into the box and raise the level of the lowermost tissues in the box. Tissue elevators do not work particularly well in practice, are awkward and fiddly to deploy and consequently are not often used by consumers.

The present invention aims to address and at least partially alleviate the problems of prior art tissue boxes as discussed above.

Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.

Summary of the Invention SIn a first broad aspect, the present invention provides a carton defining a top wall and a base, for containing a stack of, typically interleaved, tissues disposed between the base and the top wall, an aperture or means for forming an aperture being INO defined in the top wall, characterised by the aperture being at least partially closed by two sheets of material characterised in that an edge of one sheet of material overlaps an C, edge of the other sheet of material to define an exit aperture between overlapping C sheets for removing tissues from the carton.

The sheets of material are most typically plastic and the size of the overlap is typically from about 1 to 5mm, most preferably about 1 to Surprisingly, by using two sheets of plastics material, rather than a single slit sheet, as is typically been done in the past, it has been found that much more efficient tissue separator and retainer is provided than the existing slit plastic sheet with only a marginal increase in manufacturing complexity.

Low density polyethylene is typically used for the plastic sheets. However, any suitable plastics material could be used.

Brief Description of the Drawings A specific embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which;- Figure 1 is a plan view of a tissue box embodying the present invention; and Figure 2 is a schematic sectional side view of the carton of tissues in the direction of the arrow II shown in Figure 1.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 shows a top plan view of a box of, typically facial tissues 10 embodying the present invention comprising a cardboard carton 12 and a stack of tissues 13 (refer to Figure 2) inside the carton 12. The carton 12 is in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped having a base, side walls and a top wall 14. A generally oval shape 16 is perforated in the top wall 14 to allow the removal of an oval sheet of material, commonly known in the trade as a "surfboard" to leave an oval aperture 17 in the top wall 14 of the carton 12. The carton defines a longitudinal axis L passing through the centre of the top of the carton.

Two rectangular sheets of plastic, typically low density polyethylene LDPE or some other suitable plastics material, are fixed to the underside 14a of the top wall 14 O 4 (refer to Figure 2) covering the oval aperture 18. The sheets are aligned so that their Slongitudinal side edges 18a, 18d and 20a and 20d respectively are aligned parallel to Sthe longitudinal axis L of the carton. The adjacent longitudinal side edges of each sheet _18a and 20a overlap along the middle of the opening 17 and generally aligned with the longitudinal axis, by a distance typically of the order of 1 to 5mm. The plastic IDsheets may be fixed in any suitable way to the underside 14a of the top wall but are typically glued along their lateral edges 18b and 18c, 20b and 20c respectively and along their longitudinal edges 18d and 20d respectively, distal from the opening 17.

,IC Because of the flexibility of the plastic sheets, it is relatively easy to pull a tissue 30 between the overlapping longitudinal edges 18a and 20a of the plastic sheets, as illustrated in Figure 2. However, it has been found that the 1 to 5mm overlap provides much better tissue separation than pre-existing systems comprising a single split plastic sheet and also that by using such overlapping sheets, the following tissue 32 in the stack which is pulled through with the top tissue 30 is more likely to be retained between the sheets 18 and 20 and is less likely to drop back into the carton 12 than in the case of existing cartons when the stack of remaining tissues in the carton diminishes.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims (9)

1. 2. A carton as claimed in claim 1 wherein the two sheets of material comprise a Nplastics material. 10 3. A carton as claimed in claim I or claim 2 wherein the extent of the overlap is O from about 1 to
2. 4. A carton as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the carton defines a longitudinal axis passing through the centre of the top of the carton, the sheets of material are rectangular and fixed to the underside of the top wall and are aligned so that their longitudinal side edges are aligned parallel each other and to the longitudinal axis of the carton. A carton as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 4 wherein the plastics material comprises low density polyethylene.
3. 6. A carton defining a top wall and a base for containing a stack of facial tissues disposed between the base and the top wall, the carton defining an aperture or means for forming an aperture being defined in the top wall, characterised by the aperture being at least partially closed by two sheets of material characterised in that an edge of one sheet of material overlaps an edge of the other sheet of material to define an exit between the overlapping sheet edges through which tissues may be removed from the carton.
4. 7. A carton as claimed in claim 6 wherein the two sheets of material comprise a plastics material.
5. 8. A carton as claimed in claim 6 or claim 7 wherein the extent of the overlap is from about I to
6. 9. A carton as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 8 wherein the carton defines a longitudinal axis passing through the centre of the top of the carton, the sheets of material are rectangular and fixed to the underside of the top wall and are aligned so that their longitudinal side edges are aligned parallel each other and to the longitudinal axis of the carton.
7. 10. A carton as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 9 wherein the plastics material comprises low density polyethylene. \o 6 O N
8. 11. A carton substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown ad in the accompanying drawings.
9. 12. A carton of tissues substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and Sas shown in the accompanying drawings. O Dated this fourteenth day of December 2006 C ABC Tissue Products Pty Limited C1 Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: RICE F B RICE CO