EP0738664A1 - Selfsupporting paperboard sales package,in particular for thermoformed pots - Google Patents

Abstract

The pack, consists of a base (18), two parallel sides (16, 20) with reinforcing members (78, 80) and a top (22), all made from a single cardboard panel. The reinforcing members are made from inward-facing accordion pleats in the pack's side walls (16, 20), folded along parallel lines. The pack is made from a rectangular cardboard panel which is marked out with lines for the base, sides and top, with additional lines for the side wall pleats. On the top of the pack the pleat material if folded outwards to form a carrying handle, while the base has a slot in it to receive the handle of a pack located beneath it in a stack.

Description

The present invention relates to a sales package made of cardboard or corrugated cardboard, in particular for thermoformed pots, for example individual yoghurt pots or assembled by their flange in plates of four, six or more pots.

The currently known cardboard packaging for yoghurt pots makes it possible to combine several stacked pot plates in a single packaging unit. Several of these packages are themselves grouped together in more resistant overpacks or trays, which are arranged on pallets in several layers. Since the known cardboard packaging does not have good stacking resistance, it is the overpack which fulfills this function.

The object of the invention is to eliminate the overpack and to produce a self-supporting sales package, that is to say a package which is capable of ensuring on its own resistance to stacking and which can therefore be stacked directly. on a pallet.

Self-supporting sales packaging is known in which the stacking resistance is ensured by the provision of reinforcement bellows glued in the height direction of the packaging. However, these bellows, which must be produced separately and then glued, introduce additional operations into the manufacturing process, loss of cardboard and an increase in the cost price of the packaging.

The present invention aims to remedy these drawbacks and for this purpose relates to a self-supporting packaging, characterized in that it comprises a bottom wall, two parallel side walls and an upper wall, said side walls having on their inner face and on any their height of the reinforcement beams formed in a single piece with them by accordion folding of said side walls towards the inside of the packaging according to parallel fold lines.

According to a first embodiment of the invention, the packaging is produced from a single blank of rectangular cardboard, on which are marked a first series of transverse fold lines which define a bottom wall, two side walls and an upper wall of the packaging, and at least a second series of three parallel and equidistant fold lines, extending in the longitudinal direction of the blank and defining therebetween, on the one hand on the side walls, two foldable bands capable of to be folded in accordion and to form on the inner side of the side walls at least two double thickness reinforcement beams and on the other hand, on the upper wall, foldable strips capable of being folded in accordion and to form on the outer face of the upper wall at least one double thickness projection forming a grip handle or stacking tenon, the bottom wall having over its entire long ur at least one recess located in the extension of said foldable bands and whose width is at least equal to the distance between the most distant longitudinal fold lines.

To volume the packaging, the blank is folded by pushing said foldable strips from the side and upper walls, which makes it possible to bring out the reinforcement beams and the projection and to bring the portions of said walls located on either side closer together. said strips, then the blank is folded around the first series of fold lines, to form a parallelepiped packaging.

After pleating the blank, the two superimposed strips forming the reinforcement beams and the projection must be joined together to prevent the blank from coming back flat. For this, one can either glue them together, or secure them by forming on one of the strips at least one slot and on the other strip at least one tab partially detached and capable of being pressed into said slot.

The reinforcement beams and the projection are therefore formed in one piece with the initial blank and do not require no separate manufacturing as in the packaging of the prior art. The beams make it possible to ensure remarkable resistance of the packaging vis-à-vis the vertical compression stresses which are exerted when several packages are stacked on a pallet. It is therefore no longer necessary to use overpacks.

Since the width of the recess which is formed on the bottom wall is greater than the total width of the strips formed on the side walls, a longitudinal slit is formed on the bottom wall, after pleating thereof. in which is likely to fit the projection formed on the upper wall of an underlying packaging of a stack of stacked packaging.

At the longitudinal edges of the bottom wall are articulated two flaps intended to be erected perpendicular to the bottom wall and to be glued to the side walls of the package. These flaps serve to oppose the withdrawal from the packaging of the lower plates of pots or individual pots which rest on the bottom wall.

On the upper wall of the packaging are cut hook-shaped studs which can be pressed towards the inside of the packaging to snap into holes formed in the collar which connects the pots of the upper plates , thus preventing their removal from the packaging.

According to an alternative embodiment, the upper plates of the pots can be maintained by the fact that along the edge formed between the upper wall and one of the side walls, there are cut, on the upper wall, tongues articulated along fold lines formed on said side wall, parallel to said edge and at a distance therefrom substantially equal to the thickness of the peripheral flange of the pots, said tabs being intended to penetrate under the flange between two neighboring pots of the same top plate.

The packaging described above is produced from a single blank, but it is also part of the invention to produce it from two separate blanks.

According to a particular embodiment, the packaging is produced from a first blank comprising the bottom wall and, on either side thereof, the two side walls on which are formed, by folding, the reinforcing beams, and a second flat blank, capable of being fixed to the edges of said side walls erected vertically, to form the upper wall of the package.

Said second blank may consist of a flat cardboard plate, therefore devoid of a projection on the upper wall.

The packaging according to this embodiment has the advantage of being stackable according to a so-called cross stacking mode, which consists in arranging the packaging in a layer so that their longitudinal dimension is oriented perpendicular to the longitudinal dimension of the packaging. layers located above and below said layer. This is possible here since the upper wall of the packages does not have a projection, but is not feasible with the packages formed from a single blank, because when the pleat is folded, the formation of the protrusion on the upper wall. The protruding packages must therefore be stacked in the so-called columnar mode, in which the packages of all the layers are oriented in parallel so that the sail of each package can fit into the slot formed in the bottom wall of the package. lying above him. A drawback of the columnar stacking mode is that the packaging columns have no connection with one another and therefore risk oscillating with respect to one another. To avoid this, it is usual to insert, every two or three layers of packaging, an intermediate cardboard plate extending over the entire surface of a layer. By dividing the height of the columns, the intermediate plates ensure good cohesion of the packaging on the pallet. It is understood that in the cross stacking mode, the intermediate plates become useless since the packages partially overlap and cannot move relative to each other.

A second advantage of producing the packaging in two separate blanks lies in the fact that the upper wall can be made of less resistant and more economical cardboard than the cardboard used for the rest of the packaging, since the upper wall does not have to endure stacking efforts. The upper wall can be constituted for example by a sheet of compact cardboard, and the other blank by corrugated cardboard.

According to another alternative embodiment from two blanks, the packaging is produced from a first blank comprising the upper wall with its projection and, on either side of said wall, the two side walls with their beam reinforcement and a second blank constituting the bottom of the packaging, the two blanks being connected to each other by gluing.

Here, too, we can use cardboard qualities for the two blanks that best suit the functions they fulfill. Thus, the first blank will be made of resistant corrugated cardboard, since the side walls must withstand the stacking efforts, with an interior face of printable quality in order to be able to print information thereon on the packaged product, while the second blank may be in one more economical, less resistant and non-printable cardboard.

• la figure 1 représente un flan à partir duquel peut être formé un emballage de vente autoporteur selon un premier mode de réalisation de l'invention, pourvu de deux poutres verticales ;
• la figure 2 montre le flan dans une première phase de pliage ;
• la figure 3 est une vue en perspective de l'emballage dans une seconde phase de pliage ;
• la figure 4 est une vue en perspective montrant l'emballage à l'état monté autour de quatre plaques de pots ;
• la figure 5 montre un second mode de réalisation du flan avec quatres poutres de renfort ;
• la figure 6 est une vue en perspective d'un troisième mode de réalisation de l'emballage pourvu de languettes pour le blocage des plaques supérieures de pots ;
• la figure 7 est une vue en perspective d'un quatrième mode de réalisation montrant un emballage autoporteur ayant un couvercle indépendant ; et
• la figure 8 est une vue en perspective d'un cinquième mode de réalisation montrant un emballage autoporteur ayant un fond indépendant.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

• FIG. 1 represents a blank from which a self-supporting sales package can be formed according to a first embodiment of the invention, provided with two vertical beams;
• Figure 2 shows the blank in a first phase of folding;
• Figure 3 is a perspective view of the package in a second folding phase;
• Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the packaging in the mounted state around four pot plates;
• Figure 5 shows a second embodiment of the blank with four reinforcing beams;
• Figure 6 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the package provided with tabs for blocking the upper plates of pots;
• Figure 7 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment showing a self-supporting package having an independent cover; and
• Figure 8 is a perspective view of a fifth embodiment showing a self-supporting package having an independent bottom.

The self-supporting sales package 10 shown in Figure 4 is made from the blank 12 of cardboard or corrugated board shown in Figure 1. The blank is substantially rectangular and its grooves 14 are oriented in the longitudinal direction.

It comprises four walls 16, 18, 20, 22 juxtaposed in the longitudinal direction and hinged together by fold lines 24, 26, 28, so that the blank can be folded to form a parallelepiped packaging in which said flaps respectively constitute a first side wall, a bottom wall, a second side wall and an upper wall.

On each of the side walls 16 and 20 are marked two re-entrant fold lines 30, 32 and a projecting fold line 34 between the two lines 30, 32, these lines being parallel and equidistant from each other and oriented in the longitudinal direction of the blank . The re-entrant fold lines 30, 32 are respectively equidistant from the longitudinal edges of the wall 16 (or of the wall 20). Lines 30, 32, 34 define between them foldable bands 35, 37.

On the upper wall 22 are marked two projecting fold lines 36, 38 and a re-entrant fold line 40 respectively located in alignment with the fold lines 30, 32, 34 of the side flaps 16, 20. The foldable strips of cardboard 39 , 41 included between the projecting fold lines 36, 38 occupy only the central part of the upper wall 22. The portions of this wall located in the extension of said strip up to the fold line 28 and up to extreme edge of the blank are hollowed out. The distance between the longitudinal edges of the recesses 42, 44 thus formed is the same as that which separates the fold lines 36, 38, but said edges are slightly offset in the transverse direction relative to the latter so as to define on the wall upper 22 of the projections 46, 48 and notches 50, 52 of shape complementary to that of the projections.

At the ends of the two portions of the upper wall located on either side of the recess 44 are provided two tongues 54, 56 intended to be glued to the side wall 16 to close the packaging.

The bottom wall 18 is provided with a recess 58 in Ω extending over the entire length of the wall and which divides it into two complementary portions 18a, 18b. The width of the central part of the recess is slightly greater than the total width of the foldable bands 35, 37. The edges of the recess 58 have at their ends protrusions 60, 62 and notches 64, 66 of complementary shape.

In the vicinity of the longitudinal edges of the bottom wall 18 are cut incisions 72 in U which define flaps 68, 70 of small width intended to be erected perpendicular to the plane of the bottom wall. When these flaps are raised, the interior portions of the incisions remain in the plane of the bottom wall, thus forming projections 73.

Gluing tabs 74, 76 are provided on the edges longitudinal side walls 16 and 20 to maintain the flaps in the upright position.

Hook-shaped studs 77 are formed on the upper wall 22.

We will now explain the packaging volume setting mode, with reference to Figures 1 to 4. We will assume below, but only by way of example, that the packaging receives sixteen yoghurt pots 81 joined together by plates of four pots arranged in two layers, but it goes without saying that the package can receive any number of pots combined in plates or individual pots.

The blank is shaped on an automatic machine which applies glue to the face of the strips 35 and 37 not visible in FIG. 1 and to the face of the strips 39, 41 visible in this figure, and which then exerts on the blank two transverse forces directed in the direction of the arrows in FIG. 1. There follows an accordion-like folding of the cardboard strips 35, 37 above the plane of the blank, thus forming two double-thickness reinforcing beams 78, 80, as well as the folding, under the plane of the blank, of the cardboard strips 39, 41, thus forming a projection 82 serving for example as a gripping handle or a stacking tenon, as shown in FIG. 2.

Note that the strips 35 and 37 can be joined other than by gluing. For example, on the strip 35 is cut a tongue 83 which can be folded along a fold line coincident with the longitudinal fold line 30, and on the longitudinal fold line 32 is cut a slot 85. When the blank is folded, introduces the tongue 83 into the slot 85, which locks the two strips 35, 37 in the position applied to one another.

The side walls 16, 20 and the flaps 68, 70 are then erected perpendicular to the bottom wall 18, then the flaps are glued to the tabs 74, 76. The packaging is then in the state illustrated in FIG. 3.

Then introduced into the packaging thus formed two lower pot plates 81 comprising four pots each or individual pots, so that two pots of each plate fit into the space formed between the beams 78, 80 and the flaps 68, 70 and that the other two pots are located outside the flaps and rest on the projections 73. Two upper plates of pots 81 or individual pots are then placed on the lower plates. The machine then closes the upper wall 22 and glues the tabs 54, 56 on the side wall 16, then it presses the hook-shaped studs 77 which snap into the orifice 88 formed on the upper plate of pots.

The lower plates can no longer be removed from the packaging since they abut against the flaps 68, 70. Likewise, the upper plates are retained by the hook-shaped lugs 77.

The beams 78, 80 being made up of two thicknesses of cardboard and extending over the entire height of the packaging, they give it excellent resistance to stacking.

The beams are provided at their upper end with tenons 90, 92 which are capable of projecting through holes 94, 96 drilled in the upper wall 22. When stacking several packages, the tenons 90, 92 of each package come s insert into holes 98, 100 drilled in the bottom wall 18 of the package located above it. The pins 90, 92 therefore ensure good centering of the stacked packaging.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, there remains in the bottom wall a slot 99 through which the projection 82 of a package located under the package considered is likely to fit. Alternatively, the recess 58 may have another shape so that there is no slit.

Referring now to Figure 5 which shows a blank 102 according to another embodiment of the invention. This blank also includes four walls successive 16, 18, 20, 22, but on each of the side walls 16, 20 are formed two foldable bands 35, 104 and 37, 106, intended to form two vertical beams in each side wall.

On the bottom wall 18 are formed two recesses 58, 108 which define thereon three portions 18a, 18b and 18c capable of approaching when folding said bands, and on the upper wall 22 are formed two foldable bands 41, 110 intended to form thereon two projections.

The blank 102 is set in volume exactly like the blank 12 in FIG. 1. The packaging obtained comprises four reinforcing beams.

Many modifications of detail can be made to the packages which have just been described.

For example, the bonding tabs 74, 76 can be articulated on the flaps 68, 70 instead of being on the bottom wall 18. Or, said tabs can be completely eliminated in the case of the embodiment of the Figure 4 where the lower pot plates are astride the flaps 68, 70, because the flaps will be held in a vertical position by the pots themselves and they can therefore oppose the withdrawal of the lower plates.

In addition, the packaging may include more than two beams per side wall. It is also possible to make a packaging for a single layer of pots.

The beams may have a mid-height notch in which can fit the edge of a plate flange.

Instead of tenons 77, it is possible to cut on the upper wall 22 of the packaging, on either side of the reinforcing beam 80, two tongues 108, 110 in V, articulated around fold lines 112, 114 marked on the side wall 20 and parallel to the fold line 28. The fold lines 112, 114 are at a distance from the fold line 28 substantially equal to the thickness of the flange 116 of the pots. So, after bringing the flange 116 of the pots. Thus, after having brought the tongues 108, 110 to the position shown in FIG. 6, the pot plates are put in place. The tabs are then located under the flange of the upper plates, inserted between two neighboring pots and therefore prevent the removal of the upper plates.

The embodiment of the self-supporting packaging of FIG. 7 will now be described. This packaging is produced from two separate blanks, one, 120, comprising the side walls 16, 20 provided with their reinforcing beam 78, 80 and the bottom wall 18, as in the embodiment of FIG. 3, and the other, 122, constituting the upper wall of the package.

The blank 120 is made of corrugated cardboard having good stacking resistance, while the blank 122 can be made of a less resistant compact cardboard since it does not support stacking effort.

The blank 122 is constituted by a simple rectangular cardboard plate provided on two parallel edges with tabs 124, 126 intended to be glued to the side walls 16, 20 of the other blank.

As explained above, since the blank 122 has no protrusion on its upper face, it is possible to arrange the packages in cross stacking, which avoids the use of intermediate plates between the layers of packaging.

The self-supporting packaging of Figure 8 is also made from two separate blanks. One of the blanks 130 includes the side walls 16, 20 with their reinforcing beam 78, 80 and the cover wall 22 with its projection 82, while the other blank 132 constitutes the bottom of the packaging. The blank 130 is made of corrugated cardboard having good stacking resistance and the outer faces of which are of printable quality. The other blank 132 does not necessarily have to be resistant, nor of printable quality, because it does not support any constraint and it is not intended to carry any inscription.

The blank 132 is substantially rectangular. It comprises a central portion 134 which constitutes the bottom proper of the packaging. On the sides of said portion are articulated flaps 136, 138, 140, 142 which are held in vertical position by means of fixing lugs 144. The opposite flaps 140, 142 have notches 146, 148 in the middle of their edge.

The blanks 130 and 132 are shaped, as shown in FIG. 8, then they are assembled by inserting the bottom 132 between the side walls 16, 20 and by fitting the lower ends of the beams 78, 80 into the notches 146, 148 The side walls 16, 20 are glued to the flaps 140, 142 of the bottom.

Claims (20)

Self-supporting sales package (10; 120, 122; 130, 132) for individual thermoformed pots or assembled in plates (81), characterized in that it comprises a bottom wall (18), two parallel side walls (16, 20 ) and an upper wall (22), said side walls having on their inner face and over their entire height of the reinforcement beams (78, 80) formed in one piece with them, by accordion folding of said side walls inwards of the packaging along parallel fold lines (30, 32, 34). Packaging (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that it produced from a single rectangular cardboard blank (12), on which are marked a first series of transverse fold lines (24, 26, 28) which define a bottom wall (18), two side walls (16, 20) and an upper wall (22) of the package, and at least a second series of three equidistant and parallel fold lines (30, 32, 34) , extending in the longitudinal direction of the blank and defining therebetween, on the one hand on the side walls (16, 20), two foldable bands (35, 37) capable of being folded in accordion and forming on the face inside the side walls at least two double thickness reinforcement beams (78, 80) and on the other hand, on the upper wall, foldable strips (39, 41) capable of being folded in accordion and forming on the face exterior of the upper wall at least one double thickness projection (82) forming a handle gripping or stacking pin, the bottom wall (18) having over its entire length at least one recess (58) located in the extension of said foldable strips and whose width is at least equal to the distance between the lines of most distant longitudinal folds (30, 32). Packaging according to claim 1, characterized in that the recess (58) which is formed on the bottom wall (18) has at least over part of its length a width greater than the total width of said strips (35, 37, 39, 41), so that after folding said strips and bringing together the two portions (18a, 18b) of the bottom wall located on either side of said recess, there remains in said bottom wall a slot (99) in which is likely to fit the projection (82) of an underlying packaging of a packaging stack. Packaging according to claim 1, characterized in that on the longitudinal edges of the bottom wall (18) are articulated two flaps (68, 70) intended to be erected perpendicular to the bottom wall and to be inserted between pots of 'A single plate of pots placed on the bottom wall, said flaps being held in the upright position by means of gluing tabs (74, 76). Packaging according to claim 1, characterized in that the strips (39, 41) located on the upper wall (22) extend over a central part of the length of said wall, the portions of this wall located on either side another of said bands being hollowed out (42, 44). Packaging according to claim 5, characterized in that at the ends of the two portions of the upper wall situated on either side of the recess (44) are provided two tongues (54, 56) intended to be glued to the flap side (16) to close the packaging. Packaging according to claim 4, characterized in that each of the flaps (68, 70) is defined by a U-shaped incision (72) made on the bottom wall (18), so that when the flaps are raised, the inner portions at the incisions form projections (73) which remain in the plane of the bottom wall. Packaging according to claim 1, characterized in that the beams (78, 80) are provided at their upper end with studs (90, 92) intended to protrude through holes (94, 96) drilled on the upper wall (22 ), and to penetrate holes (98, 100) drilled in the bottom wall (18) of a package located above the package considered in a stack of stacked packages. Packaging according to claim 1, characterized in that that on the upper wall (22) are cut hook-shaped tenons (77) which are capable of being pushed in and snapping into holes (88) formed in the flange (116) of an upper plate of pots to prevent it from being removed from the packaging. Packaging according to claim 1, characterized in that along the edge (28) formed between the upper wall and one of the side walls (20), are cut out, on the upper wall, tabs (108, 110) articulated along fold lines (112, 114) formed on said side wall, parallel to said edge and at a distance therefrom substantially equal to the thickness of the peripheral flange 116 of the pots, said tabs being intended for s '' insert under the collar between two neighboring pots of the same top plate. Packaging according to claim 1, characterized in that the superimposed strips (35, 37) forming the beams (78, 80) are glued together. Packaging according to claim 1, characterized in that on one of the bands (35) forming the beams (78, 80) is cut a tongue (83) which can be folded along a fold line coincident with the longitudinal fold line ( 30) and in that on the longitudinal fold line (32) is cut a slot (85), the tongue being capable of penetrating into the slot, thus locking the two strips (35, 37) in the applied position one on the other. Packaging according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is produced from a blank (102) comprising four successive walls (16, 18, 20, 22) and in that it has: - on each of the side walls (16, 20) two foldable strips (35, 104 and 37, 106) intended to form two vertical beams on each of the side walls, - on the bottom wall (18) two recesses (58, 108) which define thereon three portions (18 a , 18 b , 18 c) likely to approach when folding said strips, - And on the upper wall (22) two foldable bands (41, 110) intended to form two projections on the upper wall. Packaging according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the beams comprise at mid-height a notch in which can fit the edge of the flange (116) of a lower pot plate. Packaging according to claim 1, characterized in that it is produced from a first blank (120) comprising the bottom wall (18) and, on either side thereof, the two side walls ( 16, 20) on which are formed, by folding, the reinforcing beams (78, 80) and a second flat blank (122), capable of being fixed to the edges of said side walls, erected vertically, to form the wall top of the package. Packaging according to claim 15, characterized in that the second blank (122) is made of a less resistant material than the first blank, for example in compact cardboard. Packaging according to claim 15, characterized in that the second blank (122) comprises a rectangular central part (134) provided on two of its parallel edges with tabs (124, 126) intended to be glued to the edges of the side walls (16 , 20) of the first blank. Packaging according to claim 1, characterized in that it is produced from a first blank (130) comprising the upper wall (22) with its projection (82) and, on either side of said wall, the two side walls (16, 20) with their reinforcing beam (78, 80), and a second blank (132) constituting the bottom of the package, the two blanks being connected to each other by collage. Packaging according to claim 18, characterized in that the first blank (130) is made of cardboard resistant to stacking and whose outer faces are of printable quality and the second blank (132) is made of a cardboard less resistant and with non-printable faces. Packaging according to claim 18, characterized in that the second blank (132) has a bottom wall (134) and two flaps (140, 142) perpendicular to the bottom wall on which the lower ends of the side walls can be glued (16, 20), and in that on the edges of said flaps are cut notches (146, 148) in which are fitted the lower ends of the reinforcing beams (78, 80).

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