EP0108614B1

EP0108614B1 - Reinforced multi-article carrier

Info

Publication number: EP0108614B1
Application number: EP83306698A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Charles Robert Helms; John Vance Bousum; Richard Thomas Walter; William Hunter Carr
Original assignee: PATENT DEVELOPMENTS INTERNATIONAL Ltd
Current assignee: PATENT DEVELOPMENTS INTERNATIONAL Ltd
Priority date: 1982-11-04
Filing date: 1983-11-03
Publication date: 1987-01-07
Also published as: NO834013L; DK504283D0; FI834049A; AU2092583A; ES284467U; IL70129A; EP0108614A3; DK504283A; PT77597A; DE3368902D1; PT77597B; EP0108614A2; FI834049A0

Description

This invention relates to article carriers, and more particularly to a carrier for receiving and retaining upper portions of packaged articles such as bottle or cans.
Relevant prior art documents are US-A-2401578; 2441346; 2487109; 2520203; 2892540; 2936070; 3199908; 3373867; 3443685; 3460863; 3567016; 3621628; 3688899; 3721337; 3757983; 3785484; 3884354; 3923155; 3938656; 4022363; 4139094; 4190149; 4304329; and CA-A-655425.
Of the listed specifications two are particularly significant. US-A-4190149 shows an article carrier particularly for carrying bottles each of which has at the neck a cap which projects radially outwardly relative to the bottle neck. The carrier is made up from a card blank which by means of fold lines defines a rectangular main panel with a side panel along each side of the main panel. In the main panel is an aperture in respect of each bottle to be carried, each aperture being radially smaller than the projecting cap of the associated bottle, the margin of the blank around the aperture having a number of radial cuts. When a cap is thrust into the aperture the margin allows the cap to pass but return of the cap through the aperture is prevented by the parts of the margin between cuts engaging under the projecting portion of the cap. The blank is folded along the fold lines to form by means of the side panels a skirt around the main panel which skirt will surround the bottles. To maintain that condition the adjacent ends of the side panels are overlapped and secured by adhesive. This carrier has weaknesses arising from the scoring required to define the fold lines and problems presented by the application of adhesive at four widely spaced areas and the strength of the bond provided by face-to-face adhesion, as well as the doubling of the thickness of material at the overlaps.
US-A-4332325 shows a moulded skeletal carrier in which loops integral with the moulding engage beneath the bottle caps and a promotional card is a simple blank trapped between the carrier and the bottles. The skeletal carrier does not itself provide a surface for carrying promotional material, the card requires an assembly step additional to the assembly of the carrier and the bottles and the skeletal nature of the carrier is an aesthetic appearance which may not be suitable for the product image.
According to the present invention there is provided a carrier for articles which have an end portion including laterally outward projecting means, the carrier comprising a polygonal blank having a main panel in which are provided article openings into which said end portions may be entered in a first direction with said projection means passing therethrough but from which the projection means may not be normally withdrawn in the opposite direction, the panel, with end portions in and projection means having passed through, the openings, serving to carry the articles suspended therefrom by engagement of the projection means and openings, blank having in addition to the main panel a plurality of side panels extending secured to the main panel along each side of that main panel junctions between the main panel and side panels being defined by fold lines about which the blank is foldable to a shell defining condition with the side panels folded out of the plane of the main panel, each article opening for receiving an end portion allowing the associated projection means to pass through from that face of the main panel from which the side panels project in the folded condition the blank being retained in the folded condition by union of adjacent ends of the side panels ends, according to US-A-4190149, and is characterised in that the union of the adjacent ends of the side panels, reinforcement of the fold lines and reinforcement around the article openings is provided by plastic material which has been moulded on and is bonded to the blank to form seams joining the adjacent edges of adjacent side panels, a reinforcing rim along the fold lines and reinforcing means adjacent the openings.
This arrangement will provide a large surface area for printing, the image is pleasing, the fold lines are fully reinforced, there is no double thickness of card in the made up blank and there is no risk of damaging the blank at the margins of the apertures.
Preferred arrangements are defined in the subclaims.
In order that the invention may be well understood there will now be described some embodiments thereof, given by way of example only, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which:-

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of an embodiment of carrier, according to the present invention applied to a group of six bottles;
Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view, as seen from the top, of the carrier of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is an underneath view of the carrier of Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a plan view of a blank of foldable sheet material for forming a shell portion of the carrier illustrated in the other views;
Figure 5 is a view similar to that of Figure 3, but illustrating another embodiment according to the invention;
Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of a reinforced article receiving opening of the embodiment of Figure 5;
Figures 7-11 are views similar to that of Figure 6, but illustrating modified forms of reinforced article receiving opening;
Figure 12 is a view similar to that of Figure 2, but illustrates another embodiment according to the invention;
Figure 13 is a side elevation of a carrier illustrating yet, another embodiment according to the invention;
Figure 14 is a view similar to that of Figures 3 and 5, illustrating a still further embodiment according to the invention;
Figure 15 is a fragmentary top plan view of a portion of the carrier illustrated in Figure 14;
Figure 16 is a fragmentary underneath view of another arrangement of the embodiment shown in Figure 14;
Figure 17 is a fragmentary top plan view of the arrangement of Figure 16;
Figure 18 is a fragmentary top plan view of another form of reinforced article receiving opening; and
Figure 19 is a perspective view of another embodiment of article opening with a bottle engaged therein.

It will be understood that, for purposes of clarity, certain elements may have been intentionally omitted from certain views for purpose of better illustration of the embodiments.
Referring first to Figure 1, there is illustrated a package, indicated generally at P, for holding a plurality of articles A, here shown as bottles, by means of a carrier, indicated generally at C.
Carrier C includes a shell S, which may be formed from a unitary blank B (Figure 4) of printed sheet material, such as paperboard, and a moulded plastic, skeletal frame, indicated generally at F (Figure 3) which is bonded to the interior of the shell in an insert injection moulding process of the type described in United States Letters Patent No. 3154617.
As best seen in Figures 1 and 4, shell S includes a relatively flat, generally rectangular main panel 10, which will be the top of the shell a plurality of first openings 11 in the main panel to receive end portions of articles, here the necks of the bottles and a pair of spaced second openings 13 which are designed to facilitate grasping and lifting of the package by a user.
Shell S also includes side panels here shown as opposed pairs of side panels 14 and end panels 16 which are foldably joined along fold lines 15 and 17 to side and end edges, respectively, of panel 10 to form therewith a cover for enclosing portions of the packaged articles adjacent the end portions.
In order to permit the shell to be formed of sheet material which is relatively thin so as to be less expensive than thicker materials, the first openings and the corners of the shell, are reinforced by the skeletal type moulded plastic frame indicated generally at F. The frame is formed by inserting the blank into an injection mould and then injecting plastics material to form and bond the blank to the frame.
As best seen in Figures 2 and 2, frame F includes a plurality of reinforcing ring elements 24 which are disposed around the article first openings 11. Each ring element or collar 24 is shown as including a plurality of radially inwardly extending, circumferentially spaced fingers or tabs 26 which project into the opening to form article restraining means for engagement with outward projection means on the ends of the articles, in this case the caps of bottles. In the case of packaging cans the projection means would be chimes on the cans.
The frame F also includes a reinforcing ring element or collar 20 surrounding each second or lifting opening.
As best seen in Figure 3, reinforcing rings 20 are preferably connected to each other by a strut 22 of the frame and are connected to the other reinforcing rings 24 by means of other struts 28. It should be understood, however, that it is not essential for all of the reinforcing rings to be interconnected. Although not shown, an acceptable alternate arrangement could omit certain of the struts.
Still referring to Figure 3 it will be seen that the frame includes a connecting rim 30 which surrounds top panel 10 at the junctures of the top panel with the side and end panels and seams the top panel to the side and end panels adjacent each corner.
Extending downwardly from rim 30 at each corner of the shell is a corner rib 32 which serves to seam adjacent edges of the adjacent side and end panel at the corner. Formed integrally with the lower end of each corner rib 32 is a horizontal bar 34, which extends a short distance in opposite directions from the lower end of rib 32 to form with the rib a generally T-shaped structure reinforcing the shell at the outer edge of the adjacent side and end panel.
In Figure 5 and other views illustrating other embodiments of the invention, portions of the structure therein corresponding to portions of the already illustrated embodiment are designated by related numerals.
The structure of Figure 5 differs in several respects from the embodiment of Figures 1 to 4.
A connecting rim 130 of frame F1 is not solid, but is provided with a plurality of openings 131 which permit the use of a lesser quantity of plastic material in forming the rim.
As seen in Figure 6, in the center article receiving openings the radially inner portion of each ring or collar 124 is shown as projecting above the plane of the panel 10, and the ends of the fingers 126 are squared off, rather than being rounded as in the case of the other collars 24.
This provides for a more snug engagement between the carrier ring and the end portion of the engaged article. To accommodate the upward projection of the collars 124, the overlying area of the panel 10 may be provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced V-shaped notches 119.
Referring to Figures 7 and 8 the openings 227 between the fingers 226 of ring 224 have been enlarged to relieve stress and make it easier to remove an article from the opening, but still prevent the article from coming out accidentally.
In Figures 9 and 10, it will be seen that the fingers 326 of ring 324 extend inwardly well beyond the edge of the first openings and also that the slots 327 between adjacent fingers is larger than in previous embodiments of the invention.
As best seen in Figure 11, every other finger 426 of ring 424 is larger than the adjacent finger 426a.
In the embodiment of Figure 12 shell S2 is provided in the main panel with weakened lines of tear 509 which extend diagonally outward from second finger openings 13 to first article receiving openings 11. The struts (not shown) of the frame under the top panel 510 may also be provided with aligned weakened lines or notches to facilitate tearing of structure to remove the packaged articles.
In Figure 13, side panels 614 are provided with contoured weakened lines of tear 609 to facilitate opening the carrier and removing the packaged articles.
In Figures 14 and 15 the shell S is the same as that of the first described embodiment, but the frame F2 differs in certain respects.
In this embodiment, the article receiving rings 724 on each side of the carrier are interconnected by a pair of struts 734, and the struts on opposite sides of the carrier are, in turn, connected to each other by cross struts 734a, which are again in turn connected to each other by a center strut 734b.
Reinforcement of second finger holes 13 is accomplished by a pair of semi-circular loops 720 extending outwardly from cross struts 734a around second finger openings 13.
The embodiment illustrated in Figures 16 and 17 is the same as that of Figures 14 and 15, except for the omission of loops around openings 13.
Figure 18 shows a reinforced first opening where there are no interruptions in the ring to define fingers, the radially innermost edge being sufficiently flexible to allow the projection on the article to be pulled through.
Referring to Figure 19 a ring element 824 has radially inwardly projecting fingers 828, which will engage the projection means on an article cap T, ring 824 being integral with a ring 822 through a weakened zone (not shown), preferably being formed by thin interconnecting webs. Ring 822 is bonded to the main panel M. A pull ring ortab 830 integral with ring 824 is moulded overlying the free ends of the fingers until an article end portion (here cap T and bottle neck) is thrust through ring 822 (from below as viewed in the drawing) which will displace the ring 830 and carry the projection means on the bottle cap past the finger ends. The projection means cannot return along the path by which they entered because of the fingers but pull on the ring 830 will rupture the ring 824, itself suitably weakened, for the purpose and the weakened connection to ring 822 allowing the fingers to be removed and the projections to pass back through ring 822 to release the article from the carrier.
Thus, it will be appreciated that the invention provides a unique way to form a composite carrier for a group of articles wherein the carrier may be formed from a sheet material which can be printed, which may be reinforced in the critical areas by a moulded plastic frame and to which articles can readily be applied.

Claims

1. A carrier (C) for articles (A) which have an end portion including laterally outward projecting means, the carrier comprising a polygonal blank (B) having a main panel (10) in which are provided article openings (11) into which said end portions may be entered in a first direction with said projection means passing therethrough but from which the projection means may not be normally withdrawn in the opposite direction, the panel, with end portions in and projection means having passed through, the openings, serving to carry the articles suspended therefrom by engagement of the projection means and openings, blanks (B) having in addition to the main panel (10) a plurality of side panels (14,16) extending secured to the main panel (10) along each side of the main panel junctions between the main panel and side panels being defined by fold lines (15, 17) about which the blank is foldable to a shell (S) defining condition with the side panels folded out of the plane of the main panel, each article opening (11) for receiving an end portion allowing the associated projection means to pass through from that face of the main panel (10) from which the side panels (14, 16) project in the folded condition the blank being retained in the folded condition by union of adjacent ends of the side panels ends, characterised in that the union of the adjacent ends of the side panels, reinforcement of the fold lines and reinforcement around the article openings is provided by plastic material which has been moulded on and is bonded to the blank to form seams (32) joining the adjacent edges of adjacent side panels, a reinforcing rim (30) along the fold lines and reinforcing means (24) adjacent the openings.

2. A carrier according to claim 1 in which the reinforcement (24) at each article opening (11) forms means (26) to receive said article end portion and allow the projection means to pass there through and hold them against return there through.

3. A carrier according to any of the preceding claims including lifting means which comprise lifting openings (13) in the blank.

4. A carrier according to claim 2 and claim 3 in which the seams (32), article opening reinforcements (24) rim (30) and lifting opening reinforcements (20) are parts of a one piece moulding (F).

5. A carrier according to any preceding claim in which a moulded reinforcing member (34) extends from each seam (32) along the region of each associated side panel (14, 16) adjacent the free edge of that associated panel.

6. A carrier according to any preceding claim in which each article receiving means (26) is inclined out of the plane of the main panel in the direction of entry movement of an end portion of an article into the opening.

7. A carrier according to claim 6 in which means (830) are provided to rupture each reinforcement to release the projection engaging part of the projecting means from the main panel to allow the projection means to pass back through the article opening in the direction opposite to that by which the projection means entered that opening.