CA2876989C

CA2876989C - Packaging

Info

Publication number: CA2876989C
Application number: CA2876989A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Christopher Dunkle; Adam Lloyd
Original assignee: Kraft Foods R&D Inc USA
Current assignee: Kraft Foods Schweiz Holding GmbH
Priority date: 2012-07-24
Filing date: 2013-07-18
Publication date: 2017-05-02
Anticipated expiration: 2033-07-18
Also published as: CN104507818A; AU2013294680A1; GB201213157D0; RU2015102045A; NZ703640A; EP2877407A2; WO2014016674A2; CA2876989A1; GB2504298B; WO2014016674A8; WO2014016674A3; AU2013294680B2; BR112015001392A2; GB2504298A

Abstract

A package (1) for transporting and dispensing items for sale (8), the package having a transporting configuration which defines a compartment for retaining the items for sale (8) which is substantially closed, the compartment having at least a front and a top portion; the package further having a dispensing configuration from which items for sale (8) can be withdrawn from either an aperture (10,11) located in the front or top portion of the package; and wherein in the transporting configuration the package (1) comprises a plurality of panels and the display configuration is formable by removal and/or folding one or more of the panels.

Description

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.

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

2 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.

3

4 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.

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.

5 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;

6 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

7 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;

8 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.

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 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 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 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 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 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.

Claims

Claims:

1. 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 from which items for sale can be withdrawn from both a front aperture located in the front portion of the package and an upper aperture located in the 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;
wherein a support is 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; and wherein the support of the dispensing configuration is formable by folding one or more panels into a support configuration.

2. A package as claimed in claim wherein the apertures in the front and top portions are presented upon removal and/or folding of one or more panels into the support configuration.

3. A package as claimed in any one of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein in the transporting configuration the front and/or top aperture is obstructed or closed by one or more overlying panels.

4. A package as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein in the dispensing configuration an internal panel is provided to retain the items for sale in one or more inclined stacks.

5. A package as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 comprising 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 dispensing 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.

6. A package as claimed in claim 5 wherein the support is attached at or near a front edge of the one or more lower panels.

7. A package as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6 further comprising 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 dispensing configuration the outer front panel is folded downward and rearward to form the support and reveal the front aperture.

8. A package as claimed in claim 7 wherein the front panel comprises an advertisement space and in the transporting configuration the outer front panel overlies the advertisement space.

9. A package as claimed in claim 7 or claim 8 wherein a support portion of the top panel is hingedly attached to the outer front panel;
wherein in the dispensing configuration the support portion of the top panel and the outer front panel are folded downward and rearward to form the support.

10. A package as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9 wherein the support comprises an upstand portion which raises the front of the package and a base portion which forms a support surface for the package.

11. A package as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 10 wherein a distal end of the support comprises a tab and the one or more lower panels comprise a tab slot, wherein in the dispensing configuration the tab is received in the tab slot.

12. A package as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 11 wherein the top panel comprises a first portion which in the display configuration is detached to form at least a part of the upper aperture.

13. A package as claimed in claim 12 wherein the top panel further comprises a support portion which is folded downward and rearward to form at least a portion of the support.

14. A package as claimed in claim 13 wherein the first portion and the support portion are separably attached to one another in the transporting configuration.

15. A package as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 14 further comprising 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.

16. A package as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 15 wherein the front aperture is elongate and extends across the whole of the package.

17. A package as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 16 wherein the height of the front aperture is such as to allow withdrawal at one time of only a single item from a or each stack of items contained in the compartment.

18. A unit comprising a package as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 17 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.

19. A unit as claimed in claim 18 wherein the aperture in the front of the package has a height configured to permit withdrawal, by a sliding motion, of only a single flow-wrapped item for sale from each stack.

20. A unit as claimed in claim 18 or claim 19 wherein the aperture in the top of the package has a size configured to permit withdrawal, by a lifting motion, of a flow-wrapped item for sale located uppermost on each stack.

21. A unit as claimed in any one of claims 18 to 20 wherein the flow-wrapped items for sale are block-shaped.

22. A pair of blanks configured to form a package as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 17 comprising:
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;
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.

23. A pair of blanks as claimed in claim 22 wherein the first blank further comprises an internal wall panel.

24. A method of forming a package as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 17 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.

25. The method of claim 24 further comprising forming a front aperture in the front panel, and obstructing or closing the front panel by use of the outer front panel.