EP0508397B1 - Collapsible box - Google Patents

Abstract

A collapsible box is described which has end walls (53, 54) and side walls (51, 52) which are connected to a bottom (1) by folds (2, 3, 6, 7). Connected to the end and side walls (51, 52, 53, 54) via folds (55, 56) are lateral connecting flaps (18) which can be folded inwards and can be folded symmetrically over a diagonal fold (19) starting from the bottom corner (57). The end walls (53, 54) are of dual-walled construction, and the connecting flaps (18) are arranged in each case between the inner wall part (16, 17) and the outer wall part (8, 9) of the end walls (53, 54) and are fixed by the latter. The inner wall part (16, 17) of each end wall is prestressed resiliently inwards relative to its outer wall part (8, 9) and engages in cutouts (20) situated on the side walls (51, 52) whilst maintaining the prestress acting inwards. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to an erection box according to the preamble of claim 1.

An erection box is known for example from DE 33 02 972 C2. This is designed as an open, stackable crate, in which tongues protruding from the end of the side walls engage in corresponding recesses at the end of the end walls and thus hold the box in an erect state. However, when the box is erected and folded several times, the tongues lose their rigidity, so that the stability of the box is impaired. The known erection box is therefore unsuitable for repeated use if, for transport reasons, it requires folding and re-erecting the box. The tongues are also subjected to additional pressure when pressure is exerted against the side walls, which can also lead to a rapid loss of rigidity and thus the stability of the box.

A righting box according to the preamble features of claim 1 is known from GB-A-965 590, the end walls of the righting box being double-walled and being symmetrically foldable around a diagonal fold starting from the bottom corner. The side walls are also designed in duplicate, with recesses being provided in the area of the floor corners, into which locking tabs integrally formed on the outer corner of the cut of the end walls engage, so that a relatively stable erecting box results.

Although this enables a relatively quick erection of the blank of the erecting box, the reassembly of the erecting box is relatively complicated, since the four locking tabs in the corner region of the erecting box are laboriously removed with a fingernail or a tool from the resilient engagement with the Recess must be solved.

Accordingly, the invention has for its object to provide an erecting box that can be folded and re-erected in many ways without affecting its stability, and the folding and re-erection can also be carried out easily by inexperienced persons.

This object is achieved according to the invention by an erection box with the features of claim 1.

The proposed design with the features of claim 1 gives a dimensionally stable box, in which the recesses or recesses are only exposed to the load caused by the slight prestressing of the inner wall part of the end walls. External loads, however, do not act on the recesses and wall parts engaging therein, so that they remain dimensionally stable and their function is not impaired. In this case, locking tabs are provided in the corner area of the inner wall part of the end walls, which snap into correspondingly shaped recesses on the side walls. The locking tab is not subjected to bending, but only to pressure in the direction of the material, which results in greater stability due to the higher resilience of cardboard or cardboard in this direction of stress. The side walls are also double-walled, the inner wall part containing the recesses for receiving the inner wall part or the locking tabs, so that they fold and rest on the outer wall part of the side walls, and are thereby securely fixed in position.

The outer wall part of the side walls now contains through-holes in the area of the cutouts for pressing the locking tabs out of the cutouts, as a result of which the collapsing of the erected box is very simplified. If a large number of collapsed boxes are stacked on top of one another, bolts, rods, wires, strips or the like clamping means can be passed through the through holes, so that a compact, easily transportable package is obtained.

Since the erection box has an opening that is limited only by the narrow upper edges of the side and end walls, it can be used both as a bottom part and on the other hand as a lid part for a closed box.

Further advantageous developments of the erecting box result from the subclaims.

Fig. 1

den ausgestanzten Zuschnitt einer Aufrichteschachtel in der Draufsicht;

Fig. 2

die Aufrichteschachtel gemäß Fig. 1 in teilweise zusammengelegten Zustand in der Draufsicht;

Fig. 3

die Aufrichteschachtel im aufgerichteten Zustand in perspektivischer Darstellung;

Fig. 4

einen Längsschnitt entlang der Linie A-A durch die Aufrichteschachtel zur Verdeutlichung des Aufrichtevorgangs;

Fig. 5

eine abgewandelte Ausführungsform der Aufrichteschachtel;

Fig. 6

eine Draufsicht (gemäß Pfeil B in Fig. 3) auf den Eckbereich einer aufgestellten Aufrichteschachtel gemäß Fig. 5;

Fig. 7

eine Großverpackung mit Zwischenstück in Seitenansicht;

Fig. 8

das Zwischenstück gemäß Fig. 7 in Perspektivansicht.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to exemplary embodiments shown in the figures. Show it:

Fig. 1

the punched blank of an erection box in plan view;

Fig. 2

the erection box of Figure 1 in a partially folded state in plan view.

Fig. 3

the erection box in the erected state in a perspective view;

Fig. 4

a longitudinal section along the line AA through the erection box to illustrate the erection process;

Fig. 5

a modified embodiment of the erection box;

Fig. 6

a plan view (according to arrow B in FIG. 3) of the corner area of an erected erection box according to FIG. 5;

Fig. 7

a large packaging with intermediate piece in side view;

Fig. 8

7 in perspective view.

The bottom 1 of the erecting box 50 is connected via folds 2 and 3 to the outer parts 4 and 5 of the side walls 51, 52 and via folds 6 and 7 to the outer parts 8 and 9 of the end walls 53, 54. The outer parts 4 and 5 are connected via folds 10 and 11 to inner parts 12 and 13 of the side walls 51, 52; Correspondingly, the outer parts 8 and 9 are connected via folds 14 and 15 to inner parts 16 and 17 of the end walls 53, 54. The connection of the end and side walls 51, 52, 53, 54 to one another takes place by means of connecting lugs 18, which are each connected to the adjacent end of an outer part of the end and side wall to be connected via a fold 55, 56. Each connecting strap 18 contains a diagonal fold 19, which starts from the assigned corner 57 of the base 1 and divides the connecting strap 18 symmetrically. The folds are drawn in thinner lines than the outline.

The inner parts 12 and 13 of the side walls 51, 52 have cutouts 20 at their outer corners. The outer parts 4 and 5 of the side walls 51, 52 are in the vicinity of the folds 2 and 3 and the provided with through holes 21 at the ends adjoining the connecting straps 18. Furthermore, the inner parts 16 and 17 of the end walls 53, 54 carry two locking tabs 22 on each side of their outer edge 58 via a short bending fold 24; this outer edge 58 also contains a punched-out portion 23 in its center, which serves to engage the fingers when folded after use. The shape of the locking tabs 22 corresponds to the cutouts 20, in which they engage in the folded and erected state of the erecting box 50 (cf. FIG. 3).

In a preferred embodiment, the wall part 9 has a punched-out viewing window 25, through which, in the erected state (FIG. 3), an inscription 26, which is printed on the wall part 17 or fastened in some other way, z. B. is visible as a label.

1 is further processed in such a way that the inner parts 12 and 13 of the side walls 51, 52 are bent inwards about the folds 10 and 11 and placed on the associated outer parts 4 and 5 and glued to them , so that the blank has the shape shown in FIG. 2. In this case, the cutouts 20 lie in the inner parts 12 and 13 over the regions of the outer parts 4 and 5 which contain the through holes 21.

In order to save material (e.g. cardboard, cardboard or plastic) for the production of the erecting box 50, it is also sufficient that the inwardly folded wall parts 12, 13, 16, 17 extend only over part of the height of the wall parts 4, 5, 8, 9 extend z. B. only over half, as indicated in dashed lines and the reference numerals 20 'and 22'. In this case, in the erected state of the box, the interlocking parts 20 'and 22', in contrast to FIG. 3, are not arranged in the region of the base part 1, but rather approximately half the height of the end or side walls 51, 52, 53, 54.

The box is erected in such a way that the double-walled side walls 51, 52 around the folds 2 and 3 and the End walls 53, 54 are bent upwards about the folds 6 and 7 perpendicular to the bottom 1 (FIG. 4). The connecting flaps 18 are bent along the diagonal fold 19 towards the inside of the box (right half of FIG. 4), their two mirror-image halves abutting one another. The kinked connecting straps 18 are then pressed in the direction of the respective outer part 8 or 9 of the end walls, and the corresponding inner part 16 or 17 is bent inwards about the fold 14 or 15 which then lies above, so that the side walls 51, 52 are vertical are erected and the connecting straps 18 are clamped between the outer part 8 and 9 and the inner part 16 and 17, respectively. As a result, the side walls 51, 52 are also fixed in their vertical position. When the inner parts 16 and 17 are bent over, the locking tabs 22 they carry, preferably provided, are bent at a right angle such that they point parallel to the side walls 51, 52 into the interior of the box. When the inner parts 16 and 17 are completely bent over, the locking tabs 22 and the cutouts 20 overlap, so that the locking tabs 22 snap into the associated cutout 20 due to the outward biasing still present in their bending fold 24 and / or by finger pressure or snap in audibly. This locking effect is obtained by the inward bias of the inner parts 16, 17 of the end walls 53, 54. In this case, the outer edge 27 (cf. also FIG. 1) of the locking tab 22 on the wall part 16, 17 and a supporting edge 28 on the recess 20 face each other or touch and support each other. This prestressing results on the one hand from the elasticity of the folds 14, 15 and on the other hand from the elasticity of the folds 55, 56 of the clamped connecting lugs 18. The erection box shown in FIG. 3 is thus obtained, which is provided with the reference symbol 60 in the erected state is and has a high stability. As a result of the external shape of the connecting strap 18, the degree of prestress can be varied. If, for example, the offset m of its outer edge 62 relative to the fold 14 is chosen to be larger, as shown in broken lines in FIG. 1 is shown, the wall part 16 can be folded more easily over the wall part 8 and the clamping tab 18 clamped in between, so that the pretension is less. The support edge 28 on the recess 20 in the corner region of the erecting box can also be realized in that instead of the double-walled design of the side walls 51, 52 one or more support strips 29, 30 are glued to the inside of the side wall 4, 5 with the omission of the wall part 12, 13 as shown in dash-dot lines in Fig. 3.

To fold the box 60, the locking tabs 22 are slightly bent inwards through the through holes 21 from the outside by finger pressure, so that they are moved out of the cutouts 20. The bias of the inner parts 16 and 17 also moves them parallel to the side walls 51, 52, so that they no longer coincide with the recesses 20 and can no longer spring back into them after being released by the finger. The inner parts 16 and 17 are now gripped behind in the area of the punched-outs 23 and bent outwards, so that the box 50 folded flat is obtained again as shown in FIG. 2.

It makes sense to fold the inner parts 16 and 17 inwards around the folds 14 and 15 in the folded flat state and place them on the outer parts 8 and 9, as a result of which the locking tabs 22 are better protected.

It is therefore possible to stack a large number of such flat-folded boxes on top of one another in such a way that their respective through holes 21 overlap. With the aid of screws, rods, tapes or similar clamping means inserted through the through holes 21, a compact package is obtained which can be easily transported.

A closed box can be formed from two erection boxes 60 serving as the bottom part and the lid part according to FIG. 3, the lid part being slightly larger than the bottom part in order to be able to be put over it.

The boxes can be used in such a way that their intended contents are transported from the supplier to the customer, that after the contents have been removed, the customer folds the boxes together and, preferably in large numbers, sends them back to the supplier, who sets them up again and can provide new content. In this way, a reusable use of the erecting boxes z. B. possible as a shoe box.

It should be noted that the box can also be erected mechanically by folding up the end walls 53, 54 and pressing together the inner and outer parts 8, 9, 16, 17 until the snap connection snaps into the recess 20. For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 5, the half of the connecting bracket 18 facing the wall part 8, 9 is preferably attached to the wall part 8, 9, preferably glued or clipped, as shown in dotted lines. As a result, the buckling of the connecting flap 18 is achieved automatically when the end walls 53, 54 are folded in, so that a separate work step is no longer necessary for this.

A simplified embodiment is shown in the lower half of FIG. 5, which has no locking tabs 22 compared to the embodiment described above. The snap-in connection in the erected state is achieved by engaging the outer edge 27 of the wall part 16, 17 in the recess 20, which are formed here by cut edges of the wall part 13 offset by the dimension 31 relative to the fold 31. These cut edges also form the support edges 28 on which the outer edges 27 of the wall parts 16, 17 are supported in the erected state, as is shown in plan view in FIG. 6. The support edge 28 on the wall part 13, which is set back by the dimension n (where n corresponds approximately to the simple material thickness), results in a groove-shaped recess 20 into which the outer edge 27 of the wall part 16 engages. The greater the material thickness, the preferred Cardboard-made erection box is, the greater the depth of the recess 20 and thus the width of the support edge 28. This embodiment is therefore particularly suitable for thick-walled erection boxes. To fold this embodiment, the through holes 21 are no longer provided in the side walls, but in the outer wall part 8 of the end wall, as indicated by the arrow 21 '(see FIG. 5, lower half). By pushing through the through holes 21 ', the inner wall part 16 is bent so that its two outer edges 27 slide out of the recess 20 and then the erecting box can be folded flat again.

FIG. 7 shows a packaging formed from two erection boxes described above, an intermediate piece 42 being inserted between a bottom part 40 erected according to FIG. 3 and a cover part 41. The intermediate piece 42 is preferably formed in one piece, which can be folded flat by folding over the four edges 43, 44, 45, 46, as is indicated in FIG. 8 by dashed lines with corresponding reference symbols 44 ', 45'. The intermediate piece 42 can also be in several parts, for. B. be composed of two overlapping U-shaped sections.

It should be noted that the designation end wall and side wall are not limited to the shorter or longer boundary wall of the erection box. Although the recess 20 on the longer side wall 51, 52 and the wall parts 16, 17 engaging therein are preferably provided with locking tabs 22 on the shorter end wall 53, 54, the arrangement can also be reversed.

Claims (8)

1. A collapsible box comprising end and side walls connected to a bottom (1) via folds (2, 3, 6, 7), wherein:
   lateral connecting flaps (18) are connected to the end and/or side walls, said connecting flaps (18) being foldable in an inward direction;
   the end walls (8, 9, 16, 17, 53, 54) are formed as double walls;
   said connecting flaps (18) are respectively connected to the adjacent ends (55, 56) of both the outer wall portions (8, 9) of an end wall (53, 54) and a side wall (4, 5, 51, 52) and are symmetrically foldable about a diagonal fold line (19) extending from bottom corner (57);
   in an erected state, said connecting flaps (18) are respectively folded between and fixed by the inner (16, 17) and outer (8, 9) wall portions of said end walls (53, 54);
   and
   each inner wall portion (16, 17) of an end wall (53, 54), opposing its outer wall portion (8, 9), is resiliently prestressed toward the interior of the box and lockably engages in recesses (20) provided in said side walls (4, 5, 12, 13, 51, 52), while maintaining the prestressing which is acting to the interior; and
   each inner wall portion (16, 17) of an end wall (53, 54) has arresting flaps (22) secured to the edges facing said respectively adjacing side walls (51, 52) and extending in parallel to said side walls (51, 52), said arresting flaps (22) engaging in said correspondingly formed recesses (20); and
   said side walls (51, 52) are at least partially formed in the form of double walls, wherein the inner wall portion (12, 13) includes said recesses (20) to receive said inner wall portion (16, 17) or said arresting flaps (22), respectively;
   characterized in that
   the outer wall portion (4, 5) of said side walls (51, 52) provides through-holes (21) in the area of recesses (20) for the purpose of pushing out said arresting flaps (22) from said recesses (20).
2. The collapsible box of claim 1, characterized in that support strips (29, 30) are pasted on the inner surfaces of said side walls (51, 52) to form said recesses (20).
3. The collapsible box of claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the bottom edge of said inner wall portion (16, 17) of said end walls (53, 54) is provided with a notch (23) to facilitate getting hold thereof.
4. The collapsible box of any of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it is formed both as a bottom element (40) and as a cover element (41) of a closed box.
5. The collapsible box of claim 4, characterized in that a flat foldable, one- or multipart intermediate element (42) is fitted between said bottom element (40) and said cover element (41).
6. The collapsible box of any of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said inner wall portion (16, 17) of said end wall (53, 54) only occupies part of the height of said outer wall portion (8, 9), and said recesses (20) in said side walls (51, 52) are located at a corresponding level to comply therewith.
7. The collapsible box of any of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the half of said connecting flap (18) facing said outer wall portion (8, 9) of said end walls (53, 54) is attached thereto, preferably glued thereon.
8. The collapsible box of any of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that a viewing window (25) is blanked out of at least one of said outer wall portions (8, 9) of said end walls (53, 54).

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