EP0317379B1 - Tray-type multipackage, especially for yoghurt containers or the like - Google Patents

Description

The subject of the invention is a tray-type packaging device containing a plurality of individual objects, in particular pots enclosing fresh dairy products such as yogurts or the like.

We already know, in many embodiments, packaging devices made from a cardboard blank shaped in a case which envelops, totally or partially, a plurality of objects joined together by their very manufacture, for example pots of yogurt or other milk-based products, which are placed in the packaging in sets of pots superimposed on each other. If, on the other hand, it is sought to bring together in a packaging device no longer containers linked to each other, but individual containers which must be kept simply and securely in said packaging from their manufacture until their purchase by the user, on the one hand, and being able to be easily entered individually by said user, on the other hand, said device being, moreover, of a sufficiently low cost to allow its economic exploitation, then appear difficulties which cannot not be overcome by known devices for packaging containers initially joined together by their very manufacture. This is even more the case for individual containers or containers which, like the packaging of fresh dairy products, are plastic pots having at their upper part a heat-sealing collar with a cover, projecting radially around the opening. of the pot.

In an attempt to provide a solution to the problem posed, we have already proposed, for example in FR-A-2 570 351, a device of the tray type comprising a flat part pierced with transverse holding orifices of each container as well as means of axial and unidirectional holding of said containers. If such a device is satisfactory for holding the containers, however, it can only be manufactured from a large blank and is thus of high cost in raw material, since the device comprises a surface parallel to that having the openings of transverse holding on the one hand and that, on the other hand, additional areas of material are provided to join the last mentioned surface and the plane having the openings in order to form a case structure. In addition, the device according to the cited document is not intended to allow the superimposition of trays on one another in the same overpack simple to implement, in particular as regards its closure.

Also proposed in US-A-3,432,202, a packaging device for individual containers, in this case beer cans, comprising a cardboard blank having a surface pierced with orifices traversed by said containers and grooved along two lines delimiting two bands which, after folding, form two short parallel flaps or flaps, with tongues coming from the cutouts forming said orifices in the blank erected opposite the flaps. A device according to this patent does not allow presentation in a "tray", the consistency of the packaging being obtained by pressing the beer cans against each other at their lower part distant from their support by the tongues. It is the same with regard to the device shown by FR-A-2 138 409 where containers are joined together as a unitary packaging by a cardboard blank cut according to tabs intended to cooperate on at least two faces of said containers which they maintain by a clamping or clipping effect.

The problem therefore exists of providing a tray-type packaging device, but of structure simple enough not to increase its cost prohibitively on the one hand and, on the other hand, well suited to the formation of packaging with "trays" superimposed by use of an overwrap wrapping them at least partially.

It is therefore a general object of the invention to provide a packaging device which makes it possible to solve this problem.

It is, again, an object of the invention to provide a device for packaging a plurality of objects, such as yoghurt pots or the like, in which said objects or pots are retained simply and securely according to their longitudinal direction, the device is also particularly suitable for use on automatic packaging machines.

It is also an object of the invention to provide such a device which is easy to handle by its user both for all of the packaged products and for the individual products which it contains.

It is, finally, an object of the invention to provide such a device whose cost is comparable, if not lower, than that of known devices, in particular by the fact that it is produced in a blank of cardboard, plastic or analogue of relatively small area and therefore of a limited raw material price.

The problem is solved, according to the invention, by a packaging device for individual containers comprising a blank of cardboard or plastic material having a surface pierced with orifices traversed by said containers which are held there transversely and which is grooved in two continuous or discontinuous lines delimiting two bands which, after folding, form two short parallel flaps or flaps with tongues from the cutouts forming said bands orifices in the blank, said tabs being suitable for being erected from the blank opposite the flaps and substantially in the plane of these flaps, the total height of the tongues and flaps or flaps by which the device can rest on a surface display or any suitable support being substantially equal to the height of said containers which are supported by an external projection which they present, and on a small area of said projection, on said flaps or said tabs which then act at the manner of buttresses or struts placed substantially tangentially in an area, and only one area, of the side wall of said containers.

In a preferred embodiment, said flaps or flaps have on their free edge short lugs advantageously of trapezoidal shape.

The device advantageously comprises at least two rows of orifices which are symmetrically arranged with respect to a longitudinal central axis of the blank and a tongue and only one comes from each orifice.

The blank is preferably made of cardboard with micro-grooves.

The invention also envisages within its framework of providing a packaging characterized in that it comprises at least one device of the tray type, as defined above, lined with a plurality of containers, such as yogurt pots with flange or similar, the tray being wrapped in an overwrap, most simply a cardboard blank shaped in a case and the ends of which are either assembled and fixed to each other by any known means or, as a variant, immobilized with respect to the tray itself and the containers it holds.

A package of this type can also consist of at least two trays, as defined above, superimposed on each other, each filled with a plurality of containers and wrapped in an overpack shaped in a case.

In such a case, and according to another characteristic of the invention, the free edges of the overpack are provided with lugs capable of ensuring the locking of said overpack relative to the tray by their positioning between the bases or bottoms of two adjacent containers held in the lower shelf.

According to the invention, also, the packaging is characterized in that the flanges or other projecting parts of certain containers are supported on flanges or other projecting parts of other neighboring containers.

• la figure 1 est une vue en plan d'un flan de carton, matière plastique ou analogue, propre à entrer dans la constitution d'un dispositif selon l'invention ;
• la figure 2 est une vue dudit flan, après érection partielle des languettes formant contrefort ou contrefiche d'arc-boutement des récipients que le dispositif est destiné à maintenir ;
• la figure 3 illustre le maintien dans le dispositif du type plateau d'une première série de récipients pour un premier mode d'utilisation du dispositif ;
• la figure 4 est une vue analogue à celle de la figure 3, mais montrant le dispositif garni de tous ses récipients ;
• la figure 5 est une vue d'un emballage incorporant deux dispositifs superposés du type plateau tels qu'illustrés sur les figures précédentes ;
• la figure 6 est une vue en coupe selon la ligne 6-6 de la figure 5 ;
• la figure 7 est une vue schématique de dessous illustrant un dispositif de verrouillage de l'enveloppe de suremballage dans une première condition ;
• la figure 8 est une vue analogue à celle de la figure 7 pour une autre condition, à savoir de verrouillage;
• la figure 9 est une vue en plan analogue à celle de la figure 1, mais pour une variante de réalisation ;
• la figure 10 est une vue de dessus du dispositif réalisé à l'aide du flan selon la figure 9 dans sa condition opératoire ;
• la figure 11 est une vue partielle de la figure 9 à plus grande échelle ;
• la figure 12 est une vue de côté du dispositif montré sur la figure 2 ;
• la figure 13 est une vue en coupe selon la ligne 13-13 de la figure 12 ;
• la figure 14 est une vue schématique en perspective du dispositif représenté sur les figures 10, 12 et 13.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description, given by way of example and with reference to the attached drawing in which:

• Figure 1 is a plan view of a blank of cardboard, plastic or the like, suitable for forming a device according to the invention;
• Figure 2 is a view of said blank, after partial erection of the tabs forming a buttress or buttress bracing of the containers that the device is intended to maintain;
• FIG. 3 illustrates the maintenance in the tray-type device of a first series of containers for a first mode of use of the device;
• Figure 4 is a view similar to that of Figure 3, but showing the device packed with all its containers;
• Figure 5 is a view of a package incorporating two superimposed devices of the tray type as illustrated in the previous figures;
• Figure 6 is a sectional view along line 6-6 of Figure 5;
• Figure 7 is a schematic bottom view illustrating a device for locking the overwrap envelope in a first condition;
• Figure 8 is a view similar to that of Figure 7 for another condition, namely locking;
• Figure 9 is a plan view similar to that of Figure 1, but for an alternative embodiment;
• Figure 10 is a top view of the device produced using the blank according to Figure 9 in its operating condition;
• Figure 11 is a partial view of Figure 9 on a larger scale;
• Figure 12 is a side view of the device shown in Figure 2;
• Figure 13 is a sectional view along line 13-13 of Figure 12;
• FIG. 14 is a schematic perspective view of the device shown in FIGS. 10, 12 and 13.

Reference is first made to FIG. 1 which shows, in plan, a blank of plastic, cardboard, advantageously of cardboard with micro-grooves, or of similar material capable of forming a packaging device according to the invention, of the "tray" type for holding and presenting R containers that the device is intended to package. The blank 10, with a substantially rectangular outline, is thus limited by sides of large dimensions 11, 12 and sides of small dimensions 13 and 14. It is cut out, as shown by the lines 15₁, 15₂, 15₃, etc. along a plurality of orifices O, each of which comprises, in the embodiment shown, two substantially parallel edges 16, 17 joined by a rounded end part 18, the edges 16 and 17 ending at their free ends 19 and 20, respectively , to a creasing line 22 which prevails, -in being interrupted in line with the orifices O-, from one end to the other of the blank between the sides 13 and 14. The device being with mirror symmetry with respect to an axis median 25, it also includes a crease line 23 parallel to line 22 and cutouts which define orifices O also symmetrical to those which have just been described with respect to the median axis 25. As also visible in the figure 1, the sides of large dimensions 11 and 12 are shaped substantially opposite the solid parts 26 of the blank, between two adjacent cutouts 15₁, and 15₂ along short lugs 27₁, 27₂, 27₃, ... having in plan a substantially trapezoidal outline .

The crease lines 22 and 23 make it possible to shape the blank 10 along a "plate" by folding said blank along said lines; during this operation, the material of the blank inside the cutting lines 15 is then erected from the crease lines 22, 23 along a plurality of tabs 30₁, 30₂, 30₃ etc ... (eight in number in the example described and shown) Figure 2, each associated with an orifice O, the rest of the blank 10 between the orifices O, the crease lines 22, 23 and the small sides 13 and 14 forming a surface or plate 31, while the parts of the blank between the crease lines and the large sides 11 and 12 form flaps or flaps 32 and 33, respectively, FIGS. 2 and 3.

When, starting from the semi-opening condition shown in FIG. 2, the tongues 30 symmetrical with respect to a longitudinal median plane passing through the axis 25 are further apart from one another and, in fact, brought substantially perpendicular to the "tray" 31, the containers R can be introduced into the orifices O (FIG. 3) for their immobilization with respect to a transverse movement, while the immobilization of said containers R₁, and R₂ with respect to a longitudinal or axial downward movement, that is to say directed substantially orthogonally to the plate 31, is obtained using the tongues 30₁ and 30₁ which each cooperate, respectively, with an external projecting part of the container . In the embodiment described and shown, this projecting part is the flange C of the container R which is provided around the opening of the latter and which is used mainly for heat sealing a film for closing the container, in particular when these are yoghurt pots or enclose similar milk-based products, such an indication having, of course, no limiting character. The tongues 30 which bear only on a small area of the collar C support receptacles R in the manner of buttresses or struts.

When, in the case of a packaging device with two rows of four pots each, the whole of the tray 31 is lined with containers R the condition is that shown in FIG. 4 in which flanges C of adjacent pots of the same row or two adjacent rows, overlap as shown schematically in H, and in which the flaps or flaps 32 and 33, opposite the tabs 30 and directed downward, form the means by which the device rests on a display.

The overlap like H increases the rigidity of the whole device to which also contributes the fact that the tongues 30 which bear under the flanges C, like buttresses or struts, tend due to the elasticity of the constituent material of the device, to exert compressive forces aimed at folding said tabs towards each other and, consequently, bringing the containers opposite one another opposite two adjacent rows.

Both the effect of axial retention of the containers R in the packaging device and the action developed by said tongues and tending to bring the pots closer to one another can be obtained, of course, using tongues of another form than that described and shown, with the sole reservation that their height is sufficient to allow their support under the flange or another projecting part of the container, the total height of the tongues 30 and of the flaps or flaps 32, 33 being substantially equal to the height of the receptacles R. The tongues can be cut out, during the preparation of the blanks of cardboard with micro-grooves, or similar material, for example as shown diagrammatically at t in FIG. 3 to evoke an advertising motif, which can also be printed on part or all of the tab if necessary.

The arrangement of the orifices O is, of course, in no way limited to that described and shown. Thus, for a device intended to bring together a larger number of individual objects, provision may be made in the blank 10 for complementary cutouts, advantageously in the central region of the blank, and thus between containers or rows of lateral containers. In such an embodiment, the orifices provided for receiving these complementary containers can be pre-cut so that, after introduction of the container into the corresponding orifice, the material of the blank inside said cut forms tabs of height corresponding to that of the flaps or flaps 32 and 33 and which contribute to the support of the "tray" device on a presentation surface. In this embodiment, also, the axial retention of the complementary containers placed in said orifices of the central areas of the blank is then achieved by pressing the flanges or other protruding parts of these containers on the same parts of the other containers, by similar overlapping zones. to those described above.

The device according to the invention is also particularly well suited for producing a packaging comprising several such superimposed devices, wrapped in a common overwrap, as shown, by way of example, in FIGS. 5 and 6. In this embodiment, a first tray device 40 a as described above, is surmounted by a second device 40 b , identical, to form a unitary package with sixteen containers. The plate 41 of the device 40 b rests by its flaps or flaps 32, 33 on the containers of the device 40 a and the two devices 40 a and 40 b are enclosed in an envelope 42 of overwrapping whose ends 43 and 44 are either glued between they, as shown in Figure 6, either secured by means of latch, stapling or others known per se. The pins 27 of the device 40 b placed between the flanges of the containers R a of the tray device 40 a oppose the longitudinal displacement one with respect to the other of the two devices, while the pins 27 a ₁, 27 a ₂, 27 a ₃ , etc ... of the device 40 implemented in corresponding apertures formed in the overpack 42 provide for the longitudinal blocking of the device of "plateau" lower relative to said overwrap.

In the alternative embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the closure of the overpack 42 is not obtained by means of conventional locks, by gluing or stapling of the free edges of said overpack, but by means of tabs 50, articulated by fold lines 52 on the opposite longitudinal edges 51 of the overpack and which are shaped to be housed between the bottoms of adjacent containers R a , i and R a , j of the lower container layer. To this end, the legs 50 have a somewhat "hammer" outline which, when said legs are folded down, from the condition shown in FIG. 7 to be brought into the condition shown in FIG. 8, can no longer be accidentally extracted and, therefore, ensure the positioning of the overpack with respect to the two tray devices.

Whatever the embodiment and closure of the overpack, the presence of the tongues 30 makes it possible to transmit the compression forces via the thickness of the flanges of the containers, so that the latter being practically non-load-bearing, they can be made using less material, and therefore in better economic conditions.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 9 and 11 which show, in plan, a variant of the blank of plastic, cardboard, advantageously cardboard with micro-grooves, or similar material intended for another mode of use of the packaging device according to the invention for holding and presenting a plurality of objects, in particular P pots. The blank 100, with a substantially rectangular outline, is thus limited by sides of large dimensions 111 and 112 and sides of small dimensions 113 and 114. It is cut, as shown, by the lines 115₁, 115₂, 115₃, etc ... according to a plurality of orifices O each of which comprises, in the embodiment described and shown, a part 116 in an arc of a large angular span, the ends 117 and 118 of which are extended by rectilinear segments 119 and 120, respectively, which themselves continue first with fillets 121 and 122, respectively, then by short rectilinear segments 123 and 124 leading at their ends 125 and 126 to a crease line 130. This reigns from one end to the other of the blank, between the sides 113 and 114 being interrupted in line with the orifices O, which, as clearly visible in FIG. 9, are arranged in mirror symmetry with respect to a longitudinal median axis A of the blank and also with respect to a transverse median axis B parallel to the sides 113 and 114.

The segments 123 and 124 are extended, away from the creasing line 130, by edges 132 and 133 joined at their ends by a side 134 to define tongues 135₁, 135₂, 135₃, etc. each associated with an orifice O and eight in number in the example described and shown.

The creasing lines 130 and 130 a make it possible to shape the blank 100 along a "plate" 142 by folding said blank along said lines; during this operation, the parts 140 and 141 of the blank comprised between the longitudinal edges 111, 112 and the crease lines 130 and 130 a , respectively, are erected according to short flaps or returns h , FIGS. 12 and 13, while the tongues 135 are deployed in the plane of said flaps, but downwards if the flaps are erected upwards. The "tray" 142 receives objects such as the pots P in its orifices O which ensure the transverse maintenance of said objects, while the maintenance in the longitudinal direction, -which is the substantially vertical direction in the drawings-, is ensured by support of the slices 143 and 144, respectively, of the flaps 140 and 141 under an external projection s of the objects or pots P.

In the case of use of the device for packaging containers such as yoghurt cups, this projecting portion s is advantageously the flange provided around the opening of the pot which serves mainly to heat seal a film or closing cap.

As can be clearly seen in FIGS. 12 and 13, the length l of the tongues 135 is chosen so that the sum l + h is less than or substantially equal to the longitudinal dimension of the objects or pots P to be packed, so that the device can be completed by an overpack 150, most simply a blank of cardboard shaped in a case and the ends of which are assembled and / or fixed to each other, preferably at the top of the package, this is that is to say in the vicinity of the flanges of the pots P.

The shape described and shown of the tongues 135 is, of course, given only by way of nonlimiting example, it being understood that said tongues can be cut, during the preparation of the cardboard blanks with micro-grooves or material analogous, according to identical or different drawings and this according to the wishes of the practice, in particular for obtaining advertising effects if the overpack is made of transparent material, such effects being complementary to that of protection of the packed objects or jars provided by the tabs which, in the operating condition of the device, are adjacent to said objects or pots, as visible in FIG. 14.

The structure of the device according to the invention allows it to be used on automatic packaging machines provided with means making it possible to simply fold around the creasing lines 130 and 130 a .

The invention is not, of course, limited to the embodiment described and shown, in particular as regards the general outline of the plane 100 which can be substantially square, instead of rectangular, for example for the packaging of four jars in the instead of the eight illustrated.

Claims (8)

1. A pack containing individual receptacles, comprising a panel of cardboard or plastics material having a surface pierced with openings (O) through which pass the said receptacles which are thereby retained transversely, and which is scored along two continuous or discontinuous lines (22, 23; 130, 130a) delimiting two strips which, after bending, form two parallel short flaps or wings (32, 33; 140, 141) with tongues (30, 135) projecting from cut-outs (15, 115) forming the said openings (O) in the panel (10; 100), the said tongues being adapted to be erected on the side of the panel opposite to the flaps, substantially in the planes of the flaps (10), the total height of the tongues (30; 135) and of the flaps or wings (32, 33; 140, 141) by means of which the pack may be rested on a display surface or any suitable support being substantially equal to the height of the said receptacle (R, P) which make abutment by means of an external projection which they possess, over a small region of the said projection, with the said flaps or the said tongues which then act like struts or buttresses disposed substantially tangentially relative to one region, and only one region, of the sidewall of the said receptacles (R, P).
2. A pack according to claim 1, characterized in that the said flaps or wings (32, 33) have short lugs (27), advantageously of trapezoidal shape, on their free edges (11, 12).
3. A pack according to either of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises at least two rows of openings (O) symmetrically disposed relative to a central longitudinal axis (25; A) of the panel (10; 100) and in that each opening (O) is the origin of one tongue (30, 135) and one only.
4. A pack according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the panel (10; 100) is made of micro-corrugated cardboard.
5. A package for a plurality of individual receptacle, characterized in that it comprises at least one tray-type pack according to any one of the preceding claims, and an outer packing (42; 150) such as a panel of cardboard or like material, shaped into a case and whose ends (43, 44) are fixed together by means of an adhesive, with the aid of known connectors, stapling or any like means.
6. A package according to claim 5, characterized in that the rims or other projecting parts of receptacles of the package bear on the rims or other projecting parts of other adjoining receptacles.
7. A package according to claim 5 or claim 6, characterized in that it comprises at least two packs of the tray type according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the said packs (40a, 40b) each filled with a plurality of receptacles being superimposed and wrapped in an outer packing shaped into a case.
8. A package according to any one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the free edges (51) of the outer packing (42) are provided with tongues (50) adapted to ensure attachment of the said outer packing to the tray (40a, 40b) by being positioned between the bases or bottoms of two adjacent receptacle (Ra) held in the lower tray (40a).

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