EP0738664B1 - Selfsupporting paperboard sales package,in particular for thermoformed pots - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a sales packaging in cardboard or corrugated cardboard, especially for pots thermoformed, for example individual yogurt pots or assembled by their flange in plates of four, six or more pots.

Currently known cardboard packaging for pots of yogurt allow to combine several plates of pots stacked in a single packaging unit. Several of these packages are themselves grouped in more resistant overpacks or trays which are arranged on pallets in several layers. The packaging known cardboard not having good stacking resistance, it is the overpack which fulfills this function.

The object of the invention is to eliminate the overpack and to make a self-supporting sales package, i.e. a packaging which is capable of ensuring alone the resistance to stacking and which can therefore be stacked directly on a pallet.

We know a self-supporting sales package in which the stacking resistance is ensured by the forecast of reinforcement bellows glued in the height direction of packaging. However, these bellows, which must be made separately then glued, introduce operations additional in the manufacturing process, a loss of cardboard and an increase in the cost price of packaging.

By document DE-U-8412387 which constitutes the state of the closest technique to the invention, we know a self-supporting packaging according to the preamble of claim 1.

In this packaging, reinforcement beams are present on the four walls and provide resistance both for stacking and for lateral compression.

In the case of the packaging concerned by the invention which applies to the grouping of plates of yogurt pots, the horizontal reinforcement beams are useless because the packaging is not subjected to lateral compression. The packaging according to document D1 therefore does not cover for this application. In addition, nothing is provided on the packaging according to this document to prevent it from sliding over to another package on which it rests in a pile packaging. There is also no provision for gripping on the upper surface of said packaging for the grab in order to move it.

The present invention aims to remedy these disadvantages and for this purpose it relates to packaging self-supporting according to the characterizing part of the claim 1.

Thus, the invention takes advantage of the fact that we fold the side walls in order to make the beams appear there reinforcement, to form at the same time a handful of grip or a stacking post on the upper wall and a slot on the bottom wall.

The reinforcement beams and the projecting portion of gripping or stacking are therefore formed in a single piece with the initial blank and do not require separate production as in the technical packaging anterior. Beams provide remarkable strength of packaging vis-à-vis compression constraints vertical, so there is no longer any need to use overpacks.

Other characteristics of the invention are the subject subclaims.

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 mode de réalisation similaire à l'invention revendiquée montrant un emballage autoporteur ayant un couvercle indépendant ; et

la figure 8 est une vue en perspective d'un mode de réalisation également similaire à l'invention revendiquée 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 folding phase;

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 an embodiment similar to the claimed invention showing a self-supporting package having an independent cover; and

Figure 8 is a perspective view of an embodiment also similar to the claimed invention showing a self-supporting package having an independent bottom.

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

It includes four walls 16, 18, 20, 22 juxtaposed in the longitudinal direction and articulated between them by fold lines 24, 26, 28, so that the blank can be folded to form a rectangular package in which said flaps respectively constitute a first wall side, 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 line of protruding folding 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 lines of re-entrant folding 30, 32 are respectively equal distance from the longitudinal edges of the wall 16 (or from the wall 20). Lines 30, 32, 34 define between them foldable bands 35, 37.

On the upper wall 22 are marked two lines of protruding folding 36, 38 and a re-entrant folding line 40 respectively located in alignment with the lines of folding 30, 32, 34 of the side flaps 16, 20. The strips foldable cardboard 39, 41 between the lines of protruding folding 36, 38 occupy only the central part, of the upper wall 22. The portions of this wall located in the extension of the said strip to the fold line 28 and to the 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 fold lines 36, 38, but said edges are slightly offset transversely to these so as to define on the top wall 22 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 tabs 54, 56 intended to be glued to the wall side 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 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 shape complementary.

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 inner portions at the incisions remain in the plane of the bottom wall, thus forming advanced 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 volume setting mode of the packaging, opposite Figures 1 to 4. We will assume below, but only as an example, that the packaging receives sixteen pots of yogurt 81 assembled in plates of four pots arranged in two layers, but it stands to reason that the packaging can accept any number of pots assembled in individual plates or pots.

The blank is shaped on an automatic machine which apply glue to the face of strips 35 and 37 no visible in Figure 1 and on the face of the bands 39, 41 visible in this figure, and which then exerts on the blank two transverse forces directed in the direction of the arrows in Figure 1. This results in an accordion folding of strips of cardboard 35, 37 above the plane of the blank, forming thus two double thickness reinforcing beams 78, 80, as well as the folding, under the plane of the blank, of the strips of carton 39, 41, thus forming a projection 82 serving by example of a grip handle or a stacking post, as shown in figure 2.

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

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 plates of pots 81 comprising four pots each or individual pots, so that two pots of each plate fits into the space formed between the beams 78, 80 and flaps 68, 70 and that the other two pots lie on the outside of the flaps and rest on the projections 73. Two upper plates of pots 81 or individual pots are then placed on the plates lower. The machine then closes the upper wall 22 and sticks the tabs 54, 56 on the side wall 16, then she pushes in the hook-shaped tenons 77 which snap into hole 88 formed on the plate top of pots.

The lower plates can no longer be removed from the packaging as they abut the flaps 68, 70. Likewise, the upper plates are retained by the hook-shaped posts 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 let's stick 90, 92 which are likely to protrude at through holes 94, 96 drilled in the upper wall 22. When stacking several packages, the pins 90, 92 of each package are inserted into holes 98, 100 drilled in the bottom wall 18 of the packaging located above from him. The pins 90, 92 therefore ensure a good centering of stacked packaging.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, it remains in the bottom wall a slot 99 through which the projection 82 of a package found under the package in question is likely to fit together. Alternatively, the recess 58 can have another form so that no slot.

We will now refer to Figure 5 which represents a blank 102 according to another embodiment of the invention. This blank also includes four walls 16, 18, 20, 22, but on each of the walls side 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 likely to approach when folding said bands, and on the upper wall 22 are formed two foldable bands 41, 110 intended to form thereon two protrusion.

The blank 102 is set in volume exactly like the blank 12 of Figure 1. The packaging obtained comprises four reinforcement beams.

Many detail changes can be made to the packaging which has just been described.

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

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

The beams may have at mid-height a indentation in which can fit the edge of a plate collar.

Instead of tenons 77, we can cut on the wall upper 22 of the packaging, on either side of the reinforcement beam 80, two tabs 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 tabs 108, 110 in the position shown in FIG. 6, we set up the pot plates. The tabs are then find under the collar upper plates, inserted between two neighboring pots and therefore prevent the removal of the upper plates.

Since the packaging described so far have a projection on their upper wall, they must be stacked in the so-called columnar mode, in which packages of all layers are oriented at the same time, so that the sail of each package can fit into the slot formed in the bottom wall of the packaging above it. This stacking mode has the disadvantage that it requires to improve the cohesion between the columns, to insert, both or three layers of packaging, a cardboard plate interlayer extending over the entire surface of a layer.

The embodiment of the self-supporting packaging of the Figure 7 overcomes this drawback. This packaging is made from two separate blanks, one, 120, comprising the side walls 16, 20 provided with their reinforcement 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 a good stacking resistance, while the blank 122 can be made of a less resistant compact cardboard since does not support stacking effort.

The blank 122 consists of a simple flat plate of cardboard with no protruding portion on its upper face and provided on two parallel edges with lugs 124, 126 intended to be glued to the side walls 16, 20 of the other blank.

An advantage of this embodiment is that the packaging can be stacked using a so-called stacking method crossed, which consists of placing the packaging in a layer so that their longitudinal dimension is oriented perpendicular to the longitudinal dimension of packaging of the layers above and below said layer. This is possible here since the wall top of packaging has no portion prominent.

We understand that in this stacking mode, the plates dividers become useless since the packaging is partially overlap and cannot move together compared to others.

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 beam reinforcement 78, 80 and the cover wall 22 with its projection 82, while the other blank 132 constitutes the bottom of packaging. The blank 130 is made of corrugated cardboard having good stacking resistance and the faces of which exteriors are printable quality. The other blank 132 does not does not necessarily have to be resistant or of good quality printable because it does not support any constraint and it is not intended to carry no inscription.

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

The blanks 130 and 132 are shaped, as shown on figure 8, then we assemble them by inserting the bottom 132 between the side walls 16, 20 and by fitting the lower ends of beams 78, 80 in the notches 146, 148. The side walls 16, 20 are glued to the flaps 140, 142 at the bottom.

Claims (13)

1. Self-supporting package (10; 120; 122; 130, 132) for grouping articles in a single unit, such as individual thermoformed pots or thermoformed pots assembled in trays (81), of the type produced from a blank of rectangular cardboard (12), on which are marked a first series of fold lines (24, 26, 28), which extend in the transverse direction of the blank and define thereon a base wall (18), two aligned lateral walls (16, 20) and an aligned upper wall (22), and a second series of three parallel and equidistant fold lines (30, 32, 34; 36, 38, 40), which extend in the longitudinal direction of the blank on the lateral walls (16, 20) and on the upper wall (22) and which define, on each of these three walls, two foldable longitudinal strips (35, 37; 39, 41), characterised in that the base wall (18) has, over all its length, a slot (58) which is situated in the extension of the longitudinal strips (35, 37) of the lateral walls, and the width of which is slightly greater than the distance between the external fold lines (30, 32) of said strips, and in that the blank is folded, on the one hand, by pressing inwardly the dihedron formed by the foldable strips (35, 37) of the lateral walls to form two vertical reinforcing struts (78, 80) on the internal faces thereof, and, on the other hand, by making the dihedron, formed by the foldable strips (39, 41) of the upper wall, come out towards the outside to form, on the external face thereof, a projecting portion which serves as a gripping handle or as a stacking tab (82), and finally by bringing together the two portions (18a, 18b) of the base wall, which are situated on each side of said slot, so that there exists in the base wall, formed thereby, a gap (99) into which may be fitted the gripping handle or the stacking tab (82) of a package situated therebeneath in a pile of packages.
2. Package according to claim 1, characterised in that there are hinged, on the longitudinal edges of the base wall (18), two flaps (68, 70) which are intended to be raised perpendicularly to the base wall and to be inserted between pots of a single tray of pots placed on the base wall, said flaps being kept in the raised position by means of gluable lugs (74, 76).
3. Package according to claim 1, characterised in that the strips (39, 41), situated on the upper wall (22), extend over a central part of the length of said wall, the portions of this wall situated on both sides of said strips being slotted (42, 44).
4. Package according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterised in that the flaps (68, 70) are detached from said base wall portions (18a, 18b) by cutting thereon a V-shaped incision (72) so that, when these flaps are raised, the portions inside the incisions form projections (73) which remain in the plane of the base wall.
5. Package according to claim 1, characterised in that the struts (78, 80) are provided, at their upper end, with tabs (90, 92) which are intended to project through holes (94, 96) pierced on the upper wall (22) and to penetrate into holes (98, 100) pierced in the base wall (18) of a package situated above the package in question in a pile of stacked packages.
6. Package according to claim 1, characterised in that, on the upper wall (22), tabs are cut-out in the form of a hook (77) which are capable of being pressed into and engaging in holes (88) formed in the flange (116) of an upper tray of pots in order to prevent the withdrawal of said tray from the package.
7. Package according to claim 1, characterised in that, along the edge (28) formed between the upper wall and one of the lateral walls (20), there are tongues (108, 110) cut-out on the upper wall, which tongues are hinged along the fold lines (112, 114) formed on said lateral wall, parallel to said edge and at a distance therefrom, which distance is substantially equal to the thickness of the peripheral flange (116) of the pots, said tongues being intended to be inserted under the flange between two adjacent pots of one and the same upper tray.
8. Package according to claim 1, characterised in that the superimposed strips (35, 37), which form the struts (78, 80), are integral with each other, for example by gluing or again by cutting-out, on one of them, a tongue (83) which can be folded along a fold line identical with the corresponding external longitudinal fold line (30) and by cutting along the other external longitudinal fold line (32) a slot (85), into which the tongue is capable of penetrating, thereby locking the two strips (35, 37) in position when applied one on the other.
9. Package according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it comprises:

   on each of the lateral walls (16, 20) two foldable strips (35, 104; 37, 106) intended to form two vertical struts;

   on the base wall (18) two slots (58, 108) which define thereon three portions (18a, 18b, 18c), which are capable of coming together when said strips are folded; and

   on the upper wall (22) two foldable strips (41, 110) intended to form two projecting portions (41, 110) on the upper wall.
10. Package according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the struts comprise, at mid-height, a cut-out portion in which can fit the edge of the flange (116) of a lower tray of pots.
11. Package according to claim 1, characterised in that it is produced from a first blank (120) of resistant cardboard, comprising a base wall (18) formed by bringing together two portions (18a, 18b) and by providing a slot (99) and two lateral walls (16, 20) on which reinforcing struts (78, 80) are formed by folding the strips (35, 37), and from a second flat blank (122) formed from less resistant cardboard, capable of being secured to the ends of said lateral walls, raised vertically, to form the upper wall of the package.
12. Package according to claim 1, characterised in that it is produced from a first blank (130) of resistant cardboard and having a printable external face, comprising the upper wall (22) with its projecting portion (82) and the two lateral walls (16, 20) with their reinforcing strut (78, 80), and from a second blank (132) formed from less resistant cardboard and having non-printable faces, forming the base of the package, the two blanks being interconnected by gluing.
13. Package according to claim 12, characterised in that the second blank (132) comprises a base wall (134) and two flaps (140, 142) perpendicular to the base wall on which may be stuck the lower ends of the lateral walls (16, 20), and in that, on the edges of said flaps, notches (146, 148) are cut-out, in which notches the lower ends of the reinforcing struts (78, 80) are fitted.

Images