CA1218965A - Accordian fold packaging tray - Google Patents

Accordian fold packaging tray

Info

Publication number
CA1218965A
CA1218965A CA000402903A CA402903A CA1218965A CA 1218965 A CA1218965 A CA 1218965A CA 000402903 A CA000402903 A CA 000402903A CA 402903 A CA402903 A CA 402903A CA 1218965 A CA1218965 A CA 1218965A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
tray
compartments
shape
articles
article engaging
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA000402903A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
James E. Gilley
Henry R. Vigue
Wesley C. Sanborn
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Keyes Fibre Corp
Original Assignee
Keyes Fibre Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Keyes Fibre Corp filed Critical Keyes Fibre Corp
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1218965A publication Critical patent/CA1218965A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65DCONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
    • B65D5/00Rigid or semi-rigid containers of polygonal cross-section, e.g. boxes, cartons or trays, formed by folding or erecting one or more blanks made of paper
    • B65D5/42Details of containers or of foldable or erectable container blanks
    • B65D5/44Integral, inserted or attached portions forming internal or external fittings
    • B65D5/50Internal supporting or protecting elements for contents
    • B65D5/5028Elements formed separately from the container body
    • B65D5/5088Plastic elements
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65DCONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
    • B65D81/00Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents
    • B65D81/02Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents specially adapted to protect contents from mechanical damage
    • B65D81/05Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents specially adapted to protect contents from mechanical damage maintaining contents at spaced relation from package walls, or from other contents
    • B65D81/127Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents specially adapted to protect contents from mechanical damage maintaining contents at spaced relation from package walls, or from other contents using rigid or semi-rigid sheets of shock-absorbing material
    • B65D81/133Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents specially adapted to protect contents from mechanical damage maintaining contents at spaced relation from package walls, or from other contents using rigid or semi-rigid sheets of shock-absorbing material of a shape specially adapted to accommodate contents, e.g. trays

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Containers Having Bodies Formed In One Piece (AREA)
  • Packages (AREA)
  • Packaging Frangible Articles (AREA)
  • Buffer Packaging (AREA)
  • Container Filling Or Packaging Operations (AREA)
  • Wrapping Of Specific Fragile Articles (AREA)
  • Laminated Bodies (AREA)

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
An accordian fold molded packaging tray is disclosed having article engaging surfaces thereon which change orientation relative to articles stored in the tray such that when articles are placed in the tray such surfaces help to channel the stored articles into position within the tray and then the surfaces are rotated into engagement or proximity to such stored articles to hold the articles during subsequent shipment and storage. This change in orientation of the article engaging surfaces is accomplished by reduction of the overall dimension of the tray which causes the article engaging surfaces to rotate about fold lines formed in the tray.

Description

9~5;
ACCORDIAI~ FOLD PACKAGING TRAY

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTI0~3 .

The inv~ntion pr~vides an inexpensive molded packa~ing tray for snugly holding bottles or other stored articles. The overall dimensiGn of the tray can be changed by bending along fold lines formed in the tray to acilitate placement of articles in the tray and subsequent safe shipment of such articles. The tray is preferably molded in a configuration wherein the overall dimension of the tray is at its maxim~m, or expanded position, which results in ease of molding and insertion of stored articles. Thereafter ~he dimension of the tray is reduced causing portions of the tray to engage and securely hold the ar~icles stored in the tray in place.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRA~INGS

Numerous advantages of tne present invention will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in this art from a reading of the detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts, and in which:
FIG. 1 is a top plan view of one embodiment of the tray of this invention in its expanded or maximum dimension position;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view and partial front elevational view, ~aken through FIG. 1 along line 2-2,showing the tray of FIG. 1 in its expanded position with articles placed therein.
FIG. 3 is a side eleva~ional view of the tray shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;
FIG. 4 is at top plan view of the tray of FI~. 1 in its closed or minimum dimension position;

'1 '' 9L2~9~5 FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view and partial elevational view, taken through FIG. 4 along lin~ 5-5 showing ~he tray of FIG. 1 in its closed position wi~h articles stored therein;
FI~. 6 is a side elevational vlew of the tray shown in FIGS. 4 and 5;
FIG. 7 is a top plan view sf another embodiment of the tray of this invention in its closed or minimum dimension position with articles s~ored therein and placed within a carton or similar o~erwrap.
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view and partial front elevational view, taken through FIG. 7 along line 8-8; and FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the tray shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTI01~

FIGS. 1-6 illustrate a tray 10 in accordance with one embodiment of this invention. As indicated therein tr y 10 includes a bottom or base 12 and multiple article engaging areas 14 extending from the base 12 to an upper surface 16.
As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tray 10 as molded, for example from molded pulp, contains parallel fold lines 1~, 20 in base 12 and 22, 24 in ~he upper surface 16. These fold lines 18, 20, 22 and 24 are formed in the molding process, for example, by reducing the thickness of the tray 10 along these lines. This reduction of thickness can be accomplished by standard molding techniques well-~nown to those skilled in the art.
The tray 10 as molded is best illustra~ed in FIG. 2. As shown in this Figure the article engaging areas 14 form an angle "A"
with a plane perpendicu~ to base 12 of 20-30 which facilitates molding and nesting of the tray 10 itself and, more importan~ly, provides a "lead-in" for the centering of articles 26 to be stored in the tray 10. This "lead-in" is achieved by the angulation of the article engaging areas 14 wi~h the base which permi~s wide latitude in placing articles 26 into the tray 10.
Typically such articles 26 ~re placed in packing ~rays by mechanical packing devices which are diffirult to adjust and keep in adjustment. Thus, the tr~y lO of this in~ention which permits wide latitude in placement of the articles 26 in the ~ray 10 requires less adjustment of packing machinery and therefore less maintenance.
After placement of the articles 26 in the tray 10 one overall dimension of the tray 10 is reduced to bring the article engaging areas into engagement with or close proximity to the stored articles 26. This is achieved by pushing the two ends 28 and 30 of the tray 10 towards each other, for example, by placing the tray 10 on a conveyor belt which passes through an area having sidewalls which taper inward as the tray 10 passes through that area (not illus~rated). The sidewalls straddling the conveyor would push the ends ~8 and 30 of tray lO together which in turn would cause the tray lO to bend along fold lines 18, 20, 22 and 24 in accordian-like fashion.
As this occurs, angle A decreases and the ar~icle engaging areas 14 become steeper relative to the base 12. The angle A
is preEerably decreased and one overall dimension of the tray 10 decreased until the article engaging areas 14 are in engagement with or close proximity to the stored articles 26. (See FIGS. 3-6).
At this point in the packaging process the tray lO acts to secure the stored articles 26 in place within the tray lO
and isolate the stored articles 26 from each other and external forces. The latter feature is particularly important where the stored articles are made of glass or other breakable material. After the tray 10 is suitably compressed to hold the stored articles 26 in place the compressed tray may then be placed in a suitable carton 32 (see FIG. 7) or other overwrap for shipment to the consumer.

~ ~ 5 The article engaging areas 14 shown inthe embodiment of this invention illustrated in FIGS. l-S are essentially L-shaped surfaces 34 extending between fold line5 18 and 20 in the base 12 and fold lines 22 and 24 in the upper surfaee 16 (or ends 28 and 30) with projections 36 extending from ~his surface 34 into the areas betw~en adjoining articles 26 stored - in tray 10. As illustrated in FIGS. 1-6 these projections 36 are triangular shaped when viewed from the top of the tray 10, however, these projections 36 may be of any shape which will best conform to ~he shape of the stored ar~icles 26.
FIGS. 1-6 are directed ~o the practice of the invention wherein the ar~icle engaging areas 14 have projections 36 which extend into areas between adjacent stored articles 26 on two sides of such ~rticles 26. The inven~ion, however, may also be practiced in other manners. For example, FIGS. 7-9 illustrate the practice of the invention where article engaging areas 14A contain no projections but rather a cu~out 38 in one of such areas 14A which cutout generally corresponds to the configuration of the stored article 26. This cutout 38 is formed in the area between adjacent fold lines 22A and 24A in the upper surface 16A of the tray lOA of this embodiment or between one of these fold lines and end skirt 44~ In this embodiment when the overall dimension of the tray lOA is reduced the stored articles 26A are held from moving lengthwise along the tray lOA by the multipoint engagement of the cutout 38 with the stored article 26A and are restrained in the other direction by the vertical surfaces 40 and 42 of the complemen~ary article engaging area 14A (see FIG. 7). In this embodiment a single thickness of the article engagin~ area 14A separates adjoining articles stored in the tray lOA thereby maximizing the number of articles 26A which may be stored in a given tray area.

The remaining structure and f~mction of this alternate embodiment of the invention is generally similar to the prior embodiment and accordingly like reference numerals have been used f~r like parts but designated by th~ suffix l'A".
As is apparent the invention may be practieed in various manners including the particularly illustrated embodiments.
For example, v~rious configurations of article engaging areas may be utiliæed depending upon the shapes and siz~ of articles being stored and shipped in the tray.
While the above embodiments canstitute the presently preferred mode of practicing thls invention, other embodiments and equivalents are within the scope of the actual invention, which is set forth in the claims which follow.

Claims (8)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION TO WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY
OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. An accordian fold tray for packaging a plurality of articles in separate compartments having substantially vertical article engaging areas, the tray comprising at least two longitudinal rows of such compartments with at least two such compartments in each row, the tray being molded to a first deeply contoured shape having no vertical walls wherein like empty trays may be nested one within another in a stack thereof for shipment and storage, the first shape being capable of changing dimensions to a final shape wherein the width of the tray is decreased and the article engaging areas become substantially vertical to establish the aforesaid compartments, the dimension changes from the first shape to the final shape occurring around at least one predetermined first longitudinal fold line along the bottom of each row of compartments and at least one predetermined second longitudinal fold line along an upper surface of the tray between each row of compartments, the improvement being that the accordian bending around the first and second fold lines occurs substantially simultaneously in response to an evenly applied horizontal compressing force, and the amount of bending around each fold line to change the tray from the first shape to the final shape is no greater than about 30°.
2. A packaging tray as in claim 1 wherein the amount of bending around the fold lines along the bottom of each row of compartments, and the amount of bending around the fold lines along the upper surface between each row of compartments, is substantially equal.
3. A packaging tray as in claim 2 wherein the dimension changes in response to an evenly applied horizontal compressing force decrease the width of the tray from the first shape to the final shape by no more than about 44%.
4. A packaging tray as in claim 3 wherein the decrease in the width of the tray is accompanied by a commensurate increase in the effective depth of the article compartments.
5. A packaging tray as in claim 4 wherein articles may be packaged in the compartments either before the tray is changed from its first shape wherein it is wider, or after it has been changed to its final shape wherein the compartments have substantially vertical article engaging areas.
6. A packaging tray as in claim 5 wherein the tray is molded to its first deeply contoured shape from fibrous pulp material, and the limited bending around the fold lines to the final shape does not rupture the molded pulp material to the extent that any significant weakness is created.
7. A packaging tray as in claim 5 wherein the sub-stantially vertical article engaging areas include generally triangular ribs separating the compartments.
8. A packaging tray as in claim 5 wherein the sub-stantially vertical article engaging areas of the compartments include the edges of openings through the tray.
CA000402903A 1981-06-22 1982-05-13 Accordian fold packaging tray Expired CA1218965A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US27586581A 1981-06-22 1981-06-22
US275,865 1981-06-22

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1218965A true CA1218965A (en) 1987-03-10

Family

ID=23054145

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA000402903A Expired CA1218965A (en) 1981-06-22 1982-05-13 Accordian fold packaging tray

Country Status (21)

Country Link
JP (2) JPS581601A (en)
AR (1) AR228659A1 (en)
AU (1) AU547404B2 (en)
BE (1) BE893580A (en)
BR (1) BR8203599A (en)
CA (1) CA1218965A (en)
DE (1) DE3222927A1 (en)
DK (1) DK151556C (en)
ES (1) ES275095Y (en)
FI (1) FI821982A0 (en)
FR (1) FR2508009B1 (en)
GB (1) GB2100707B (en)
GR (1) GR76845B (en)
IE (1) IE52962B1 (en)
IL (1) IL65893A (en)
IT (1) IT1208475B (en)
NL (1) NL8202265A (en)
NO (1) NO155959C (en)
NZ (1) NZ200579A (en)
SE (1) SE8203418L (en)
ZA (1) ZA823436B (en)

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS59127603A (en) * 1983-01-08 1984-07-23 Sumitomo Electric Ind Ltd Gas permselective membrane and preparation thereof
JPS6111580U (en) * 1984-06-27 1986-01-23 積水化成品工業株式会社 Packaging materials for fruits

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB349468A (en) * 1929-08-09 1931-05-26 Holed Tite Packing Corp Improvements in or relating to cartons or packages for fragile articles
US1982428A (en) * 1930-02-10 1934-11-27 Packing Products Corp Packing holder for fragile articles
IL23229A (en) * 1964-04-08 1969-03-27 Koene H Container for breakable articles
GB1165923A (en) * 1965-10-22 1969-10-01 Monsanto Co Containers

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AU547404B2 (en) 1985-10-17
FR2508009B1 (en) 1986-11-28
NO155959B (en) 1987-03-23
IE52962B1 (en) 1988-04-27
GR76845B (en) 1984-09-04
IL65893A0 (en) 1982-08-31
AR228659A1 (en) 1983-03-30
BE893580A (en) 1982-12-21
ES275095U (en) 1984-02-16
ES275095Y (en) 1984-10-01
IL65893A (en) 1984-09-30
NO821715L (en) 1982-12-23
NO155959C (en) 1987-07-01
FR2508009A1 (en) 1982-12-24
DK151556B (en) 1987-12-14
NL8202265A (en) 1983-01-17
FI821982A0 (en) 1982-06-03
DK151556C (en) 1988-08-15
NZ200579A (en) 1985-07-31
JPH0489723U (en) 1992-08-05
IE821119L (en) 1982-12-22
DK278382A (en) 1982-12-23
ZA823436B (en) 1983-03-30
GB2100707A (en) 1983-01-06
BR8203599A (en) 1983-06-14
IT1208475B (en) 1989-07-10
IT8221915A0 (en) 1982-06-17
JPS581601A (en) 1983-01-07
AU8383882A (en) 1983-01-06
SE8203418L (en) 1982-12-23
GB2100707B (en) 1985-04-03
DE3222927A1 (en) 1983-01-13

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Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
MKEX Expiry