EP0290596B1 - Packing boxes - Google Patents

Abstract

Packing boxes with a lower and an upper part (3 and 4) of cardboard material with an inner lining or facing, made from a single-piece cut-out (1), folded to form the box (2), ensure that the product packed is preserved as required for longer than if packed in known packing boxes, without other qualities of the packing box being thereby appreciably impaired. Such packing boxes should be even cheaper to produce than known packing boxes. This is possible either because the entire inner surface (6') of the lower part (3) is lined or faced, whilst the entire inner surface (7') of the upper part (4) is made entirely of cardboard material, or because the entire inner surface (6') of the lower part (3) is lined or faced with a first material whilst the entire inner surface (7') of the upper part (4) is lined or faced with a second material, the two lining or facing materials being physically different from one another.

Description

The invention relates to a packaging box with a base and a lid part made of cardboard material with an inner coating or lamination layer, made from a one-piece blank that can be folded into the box. As well as a method of making and using such packaging circuits.

Known packaging boxes for food, in particular pizzas, have a continuous coating or lamination layer made of heat and / or moisture insulating material on the entire inner surface of the blank. The blank is therefore made from a two-layer material. It has been found that the pizzas in such packaging boxes lose their crispiness relatively quickly.

Proceeding from this, the object of the invention is to create a generic packaging box in which the packaged goods retain their desired properties longer than in conventional packaging boxes, without other properties of the packaging box being significantly impaired thereby, and which with less, but in no way with, significantly is more expensive to produce than conventional packaging boxes.

To solve this problem, packaging boxes with the features of claim 1 or claim 2 are proposed. With regard to a manufacturing method and use, the object is achieved by the features of claims 9 and 12, respectively.

The invention makes it possible to control the atmosphere inside the packaging box, in particular with regard to the temperature and humidity caused by the properties of the packaged goods, and the desired properties of the packaged goods, in particular with regard to its temperature and humidity, can be maintained longer than in conventional packaging boxes.

For the purposes of the invention, “base part” is understood to mean the actual base together with the side walls extending upwards from the base edge and the associated folding, plug-in or adhesive tabs. Accordingly, "lid part" in the sense of the invention means not only the approximately horizontal lid surface closing the packaging box upwards, but also side walls or side wall strips extending downward from the lid edge with associated folding, plug-in or adhesive tabs.

"Cardboard material" is, for the purposes of the invention, any type of cardboard or paper in a more or less thin, optionally rib or similar reinforced, sufficiently inherently rigid layer, which is therefore suitable to serve as the side wall, lid or bottom of a packaging box. The cardboard material can be a receiving material made of cellulose products or it can be made from original cellulose material.

A "one-piece blank that can be folded into the box" is, in the sense of the invention, an initially flat cardboard layer which is punched or cut from a larger sheet and provided with embossed edges or scoring in such a way that the layer material can be folded into the box along this. Such a cut thus represents a coherent development of all wall and connection areas of the packaging box. The corners of such packaging boxes can can be snapped together or folded by means of appropriate tabs or produced by gluing between adhesive tabs and parallel wall surfaces of the box.

“Bottom inner surface” and “inner lid surface” of the packaging box, in the sense of the invention, is understood to mean that inner surface of the packaging box that belongs to the bottom and top plate.

As a "coating material" in the sense of the invention, any substance is suitable which can be applied to the web or layer of the cardboard material in liquid form and distributed to a layer which is as uniformly thick as possible and which dries or hardens in this state, e.g. Diophane, which is applied with a roller system and distributed with an air brush. As "lamination material", in the sense of the invention, any material is suitable, which can be produced in a thin, film-like layer and by surface gluing, with or without exposure to heat and with or without using a special adhesive layer with the web or the layer of cardboard material over the entire surface is connectable, such as films made of polyester, polypropylene and similar plastics, or those films which carry or represent the adhesive substance on a surface; Foils made of aluminum are particularly preferred.

If, also the side walls as well as adhesive, plug-in or folding tabs of the bottom part are coated or laminated on the inner surface, this creates a tray for holding the packaged goods, which enables heat exchange, but in particular a material exchange with the environment surrounding the packaging box Prevents the extent to which the environment of the substance within the packaging box has a greater density than the surrounding environment of the packaging box.

According to a preferred embodiment, the base part forms a trough or shell which is closed at the bottom and to the side in the aforementioned sense. This trough or tray is preferably designed such that the entire base part, including the associated side walls and folding or adhesive tabs, has no incisions or openings in the region of the blank forming the base part, at least at the transition between base plate and side walls and folding tabs. A liquid, such as water, fat or the like, which has escaped from the packaged goods, cannot escape from such shell-like or tub-like bottom parts, but they are nevertheless easy to produce.

The fact that the cover part remains uncoated or uncapped saves corresponding amounts of material. If, as is preferred, the side walls of the base part are also coated or laminated, the material consumption for coating or laminating the folding, plug-in or adhesive tabs is no longer significant, but enables a particularly efficient way of producing the packaging box. Then the cardboard material from which the blank is made can be completely laminated or coated in one part, while it remains completely uncoated or unlaminated in its other part. The boundary between the two areas is then formed by the folded edge at which the cover part is connected to the base part to form an integral whole and which generally also forms the hinge between the cover and base part. In particular, the coating or lamination of the cardboard material and the punching or cutting of the blank can then take place in a production line, because they are on a parallel path of the cardboard material, in particular up to to one of the side edges of a longer sheet of cardboard material. In particular, a still uncoated cardboard material and a laminating film can then be drawn off from a supply roll or the like and fed continuously to a laminating station on the production line, the film being narrower than the cardboard web in the transport direction.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, at least the cover itself (the cover plate) consists of a completely closed cardboard layer, that is to say has no openings or incisions; this makes it largely impermeable to rising heat or vapors from the packaging box, vapors being adsorbed.

According to another development of the invention, the cover part can be coated or laminated on the, in particular the entire, outer surface of the lid, specifically with the same or with a different laminating or coating material as the inner surface of the floor. As a result, the lid is a particularly effective barrier layer, which can have both moisture and heat insulation. Nevertheless, the physical properties of the inner surface of the lid are not affected by this outer coating or lamination.

In a packaging box according to the invention, the coating or laminating material on the inside surface of the floor should be heat and / or moisture insulating; the latter in particular when the packaged goods are foods which release or absorb moisture, particularly when the temperature changes, such as, for example, prepared and baked still warm pizzas or the like, or as in frozen foods. For the purposes of the invention, “moisture-insulating” means an insulating effect against the absorption and / or passage of moisture as a liquid or vapor from water, oils, fats and / or the like. Such packaging boxes keep the desired property of the packaged goods, in particular the aforementioned foodstuffs, particularly long if, according to the invention, the inner surface of the lid absorbs moisture and the lid is also heat-insulating if possible.

Packaging boxes according to the invention are suitable for packaging any goods that can be packaged in cardboard material, in particular for foodstuffs and especially for ready-made or largely ready-made meals, in particular ready-to-eat meals that are already at the consumption or storage temperature, such as e.g. Pizzas. Rising vapors, vapors and the like are then absorbed on the inside surface of the lid. In particular, ventilation holes in the packaging box can be dispensed with, at least to a large extent, as a result of which the temperature of the packaged goods can be kept in the desired temperature range over a comparatively long time, namely - in the case of the ready meals - in the range of the consumption or storage temperature.

Surprisingly, already filled and closed packaging boxes according to the invention can be stacked side by side and one above the other - as far as their stability permits; the advantageous effects achieved by the different coating or lamination of the inner surface of the packaging box according to the invention are practically not impaired by the stacking. Another packaging, such as a foil packaging or a plastic carrying case or the like, enveloping the packaging box or one or more stacks of packaging boxes is equally harmless. Insofar as the lid part remains unclad and uncoated, the known environmentally friendly properties of the cardboard material are fully preserved.

The aforementioned materials to be used according to the invention or features are not subject to any special exceptions in their design, material selection and technical conception, so that the selection criteria known in the respective areas of application can be used without restriction.

• Fig. 1 den Zuschnitt eine erfindungsgemäßen Verpackungsschachtel mit sechs Klebelaschen;
• Fig. 2 den Zuschnitt einer anderen erfindungsgemäßen Verpakkungsschachtel mit vier Stecklaschen;
• Fig. 3 eine aus dem Zuschnitt gemäß Fig. 2 durch Falten hergestellte Schachtel in perspektivischer Darstellung;
• Fig. 4a einen Zuschnitt einer anderen erfindungsgemäßen Verpackungsschachtel mit Stecklaschen zum Erstellen von im unteren Bereich feuchtigkeitsundurchlässigen Bodenteilen - ausschnittsweise - in perspektivischer Darstellung der Aufrichtsituation, in der der Zuschnitt nicht mehr plan liegt, sondern an seinen Faltlinien bereits leichte Knicke aufweist;
• Fig. 4b einen weiteren Zuschnitt einer ähnlichen Verpackungsschachtelwie in Fig. 4a in derselben Darstellung wie in Figuren 1 bzw. 2 sowie
• Fig. 5 eine schematische Darstellung einer Fertigungsstraße zum Herstellen erfindungsgemäßer Zuschnitte.

Further details, features and advantages of the subject matter of the invention result from the subclaims and the following description of a packaging box according to the invention with reference to the accompanying drawing. The drawing shows:

• 1 shows the blank of a packaging box according to the invention with six adhesive flaps;
• 2 shows the cutting of another packaging box according to the invention with four plug-in tabs;
• 3 shows a perspective view of a box produced from the blank according to FIG. 2 by folding;
• 4a shows a cut of another packaging box according to the invention with plug-in tabs for creating bottom parts which are impermeable to moisture in the lower region - in sections - in a perspective representation of the erection situation in which the cut is no longer flat but already has slight creases on its fold lines;
• Fig. 4b shows a further cut of a similar packaging box as in Fig. 4a in the same representation as in Figures 1 and 2 as well
• 5 shows a schematic representation of a production line for producing blanks according to the invention.

The blanks 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and 4b are cut or cut in the region of all solid lines and - to facilitate folding - in Grooved area of all dashed lines or scored in the area of all dash-dotted lines.

Each one-piece blank 1 consists of a base part 3 and a cover part 4. The base part 3 consists of a base 6 and on the edge of which there are adjoining side walls 8. By means of known adhesive tabs 9, the base part 3 is formed into a bowl-shaped structure after the folding and gluing step . Punching lines 5 can be provided in one or more side walls 8 for creating ventilation holes.

The cover part 4 consists of the cover (cover plate) 7 at the edge of which side wall strips 11 can be attached. Here, too, the corner connections are made using adhesive tabs 9. Instead of the adhesive connections in the corner areas - as shown in FIG. 2 - folding tabs 10 (plug-in tabs) can be provided for plug-in connections. Short incisions 12 facilitate the making of the corner connections in a known manner. The blank according to FIG. 1 can be folded relatively flat after the folding and gluing step and thus stored. The storage space for the unused packaging box is then larger than with the blank according to FIG. 2, but the already folded and glued blank according to FIG. 1 is ready for use faster, i.e. erected to pick up a good to be packed.

The blanks according to FIGS. 1, 2 and 4b are made from cardboard material known for pizza boxes using recycled cellulose products. In both blanks, all inner surfaces belonging to the bottom part 3, namely the bottom inner surface 6 'and the inner surfaces 8' of the side walls 8, but also the inner surfaces 10 'of the folding tabs 10 which are to be attributed to the bottom part 3 or the inner surfaces 9' of the glue tabs 9 which are to be attributed to the bottom part 3 laminated with a 6 to 12 µm thick aluminum foil by gluing in a continuous processing system. The lamination layer made of aluminum has both heat and moisture insulation.

In contrast, in both cases, all of the lid part 4 attributable inner surfaces, namely the lid inner surface 7 ', as well as the inner surfaces 11' of the side wall strips 11 but also the inner surfaces of the folding tabs 10 or adhesive tabs 9 to be assigned to the lid part 4, are completely non-laminated and uncoated, i.e. consist of pure Cardboard material. These surfaces can alternatively be coated or laminated with a particularly moisture-absorbing material, but this is usually not necessary, since uncoated and non-laminated cardboard material has proven to be sufficiently moisture-absorbent for most applications.

In the packaging box 2 shown in Figure 3, the entire outer surface 4 'of the cover part 4 is laminated with printed paper or the like or, alternatively, coated in a suitable manner so that the thermal insulation value of the cover part 4 increases and also moisture, such as oils, water and the like is largely prevented from passing through the surfaces of the cover part 4.

The packaging boxes shown in the figures allow storage e.g. of ready-made and warm pizzas for comparatively long times, without the heat loss being too high and without the packaging box being dampened by oils or water vapors; nevertheless, the crunchiness of the pizzas packaged in this way hardly suffers.

Furthermore, it has been found that packaging boxes according to the invention are also excellently suitable for being inserted into ready-made meals in microwave ovens in which the packaged goods are heated to the required extent within the packaging.

According to Figure 4a, the bottom part 3, e.g. in its lower half, be moisture-proof, without having to do without adhesive tabs, in particular pluggable or latchable tabs for producing a stable corner connection. For this purpose, the blank in the area of the base part 3 is completely coated or laminated, i.e. on the bottom inner surface 6 ', the inner surfaces 8' of the side walls 8 and also on the inner surfaces 10 'of the plug-in tabs 10. In addition, the plug-in tab 10 connects the associated edges of adjacent side walls 8 in such a way that in the region near the bottom of the corner between the bottom, side walls and plug-in tab none Openings or incisions, as are otherwise common, are present. Merely a diagonally running fold line 10D, which starts from the corner of the bottom part and usually halves the angle between the edges of adjacent side walls (with a flat cut), divides the plug-in tab 10 into a tab part surface 10A, which is assigned to the one side wall, and one Tab portion 10B associated with the adjacent side wall. The lowest height of the plug-in tab 10 or the side wall incision 12 measured from the bottom 6 determines the height of the moisture-tight area of the base part 3 close to the bottom . Instead of a plug-in tab and a corresponding incision, all other locking means known for packaging boxes can also be used for corner connections.

According to FIG. 4b, a tub-like moisture and liquid-tight bottom part 3 can also be produced without plug-in or adhesive tabs. Instead, folding tabs 10 and 13 are used, which are on adjacent side walls 8 or 11 of the bottom part 3 or the lid part 4 are hinged, the folding tabs 10 with the side walls 8 or side wall strips 11 forming vertical edges of the packaging box, while the folding tabs 13 with the adjacent side walls 8 or side wall strips 11 form horizontal edges (in the erected condition of the packaging box). In this erected state, the folding flaps 13 overlap the folding flaps 10. The folding flaps 13 can have an additional edge zone 13 'which, when the box is erected, lie parallel on the bottom 6 or lid 7, while the folding flaps 10 and 13 lie parallel to the vertical side walls. Such a system of folding tabs is known per se. In order to now create a moisture-impermeable trough for the base part, in a manner similar to the embodiment according to FIG. 4a, tab parts 10A and 10B are again provided, which connect to the edges of adjacent side walls 8 without incisions and are connected in the region of an obliquely folding line 10D . In the right half of Fig. 4b this situation is shown for a bottom part 3, in which the moisture-proof tub part of the bottom part 3 is only about half as high as the bottom part 3 itself. However, it is also possible to create a moisture-proof trough over the full height of the base part 3, namely when the folds and cuts are arranged as in the left half of FIG. 4b.

The tab portions 10A and 10B are in the erected state of the packaging box on the same side wall 8. The resulting thickening can be undesirable, in particular if several packaging boxes are to be stackable one inside the other and for this purpose have slightly tapering side walls at the top. In order to avoid such thickening while maintaining the moisture-proof trough shape of the base part, the tab part surfaces 10A and / or 10B can only consist of a thin skin made of moisture-proof material, ie that in this area no cardboard material but only laminating or Coating material is provided. The correspondingly manufactured or producible tab partial surfaces 10A / 10B are designated by x in the left half of FIG. 4b. - Such a blank 1 is preferably produced in such a way that first the areas designated with x are punched out of a cardboard material, subsequently the cardboard material is laminated or coated according to the invention in the region of the base part and finally the blank 1 is completely punched out, grooved and / or scored becomes. This can also be done continuously or batchwise in a production line - as explained below in FIG. 5.

5, a web 14 of cardboard material is removable from a supply roll 14A. Likewise, a film 15, for example made of aluminum as laminating material, can be removed from a supply roll 15A. The web 14 made of cardboard material is about twice as wide as the film 15. In the area of a laminating station represented by an arrow 16, the web 14 made of cardboard material and the film made of aluminum are glued together (laminated). Passing the different widths of the web 14 and the film 15, only about half of the web 14 is laminated. In a subsequent punching station represented by an arrow 17, blanks 1 are punched out of the partially laminated web 14 in such a way that the bottom part 3 consists entirely of laminated and the cover part 4 completely consists of non-laminated cardboard material. If now only laminating material, but no cardboard material is to be provided in partial areas of the blank - namely in the case of the aforementioned tub formations in the base part - then a further punching station, represented by an arrow 18, is provided and the laminating station 16 is pre-arranged.

Reference symbol list:

1

Cutting

2nd

box

3rd

Bottom part

4th

Cover part

4 ′

Outside surface

5

Punching line for ventilation holes

6

ground

6 ′

Floor inner surface

7

cover

7 ′

Lid inner surface

8th

Side walls (bottom part)

8th'

Interior surfaces

9

Adhesive tabs

9 ′

Interior surfaces

10th

Folding tabs

10A

Tab part area

10B

Tab part area

10C

Tab connector

10D

Fold line

10 ′

Interior surfaces

11

Side wall strips (cover part)

11 ′

Interior surfaces

12

Incisions

13

Folding tabs

13 ′

Edge zone

14

train

14A

Supply roll

15

foil

15A

Supply roll

16

Laminating station

17th

Punching station

18th

Punching station

Claims (12)

1. A packing box having a base part and a lid part made of cardboard material with an inner coating or lining layer, manufactured from a single-piece cut (1) which can be folded to form a box (2),
characterised in
that the base part (3) is coated or lined on the whole inner face (6′) of the base with a heat-insulating and/or moisture-insulating coating or lining material, while the lid part (4) consists of moisture-absorbing cardboard material on the whole inner face (7′) of the lid.

2. A packing box having a base part and a lid part made of cardboard material with an inner coating or lining layer, manufactured from a single-piece cut (1) which can be folded to form a box (2),
characterised in
that the base part (3) is lined or coated on the whole inner face (6′) of the base with a first material, while the lid part (4) is coated or lined on the whole inner face (7′) of the lid with a second material, and that the physical properties of the two coating or lining materials are different from each other.

3. A packing box according to Claim 1 or 2,
characterised in that the base part (3) is coated or lined, also on the inner faces (8′) of the side walls (8) and on the inner faces (9′ or 10′) of the adhesive, insert or folding flaps (9 or 10), with the heat-insulating and/or moisture-insulating coating or lining material, or with the first material.

4. A packing box according to Claim 3, characterised in that the coating or lining is provided only up to about half the height of the side walls of the base part.

5. A packing box according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the lining material is an aluminium foil.

6. A packing box according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the coating material is a setting synthetic substance which can be applied liquid and can be spread to form a uniformly thick layer.

7. A packing box according to any one of Claims 1 to 6, characterised in that the lid (7) of the lid part (4) forms a completely closed face.

8. A packing box according to any one of Claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the lid part (4) is coated or lined at least partly on its outer face (4′).

9. A method for manufacturing a packing box as in the generic clause of Claim 1 by coating or lining and punching out a cut of cardboard material,
characterised in
that the area of the cardboard material forming the base part is lined or coated at least on the inner face of the base, and the area of the cardboard material forming the lid part remains completely uncoated or unlined or is lined or coated with a material having a physical property which is different from the lining or coating material of the base part.

10. A method according to Claim 9, characterised in that not-yet-coated cardboard material is drawn off a supply roll or a supply stack, and a lining foil is drawn off a supply roll or the like or coating material is drawn off a stocking-up element, and both are conveyed to a lining or coating station of a production line, in particular a continuous one; the foil or coating material used being one which, in the conveying direction, is narrower than the web of cardboard and can be applied to the latter, and the cut being made in a punching station which is arranged either before or after the lining or coating station.

11. A method according to Claim 10, characterised in that partial areas of the cardboard material are punched out in a further punching station arranged before the lining or coating station, and these partial areas too are lined or coated subsequently.

12. Use of a packing box according to any one of the preceding claims to pack foodstuffs while they are being heated up in microwave cookers.

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