EP1209087A1

EP1209087A1 - Cardboard box for the transport of perishable products

Info

Publication number: EP1209087A1
Application number: EP00500243A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Emilio Mur Gimeno
Original assignee: Assidoman Iberoamericana SA
Current assignee: Assidoman Iberoamericana SA
Priority date: 2000-11-22
Filing date: 2000-11-22
Publication date: 2002-05-29

Abstract

The box is constituted from a laminated and monopiece body of stamped cardboard, with a central sector (1) constitutive of the bottom, and lateral sectors constitutive of the end panels (3) and side panels (4). The end panels (3) or in its case the side panels (4) present a double wall, so that the external wall (3) of the end panels or in its case the external wall (4) of the side panels, as well as the internal wall (3') or (3" ) of those or the internal wall (4') or (4" ) of said side panels (4) prolong into extensions (5) or (5'-5" ), and in its case (6) or (6'-6" ), which remain attached and fastened by gluing them to the side panels (4) or to the end panels (3), extensions (5) or (5'-5") which will be placed one by the interior and another by the exterior, or both by the interior, obtaining in this last case a greater capacity of the box, with it having means of stabilization and immobilization in the stacking, constituted by flanges (7) or (7') emerging from the upper edge complementary of cut-outs (8) and (8') provided in the lower part, fitting in a dovetailed manner into the stacking.

Description

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention refers to a cardboard box of the type used in the transport of perishable products, a box which has been conceived and structured in order to attain a maximum mechanical resistance with a minimum use of material.
It is likewise the object of this invention to attain a box which offers optimum stability properties when being stacked with other identical ones, and that also ensures an optimum ventilation for the products contained inside when in such a stacked situation.
It is also the object of the invention to attain a box with a noticeable resistance without deforming when stacked with other similar ones loaded with products.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The normal evolution in the design of cardboard boxes with the above-mentioned application has lead to the generalized use of monopiece boxes, in which by means of stamped lines a bottom is defined from which, by means of folding lines, two end panels and two side panels emerge which must have mutual means of fastening in order to obtain the assembly of the box.
One of the usual solutions consists in prolonging the ends of the side panels with fins which fold around the end panels, duplicating the height of these and adding flanges to their free edge which, after folding the end panel on itself and inserting the prolongations of the side panels, couple into openings located at the bottom of the box, thus attaining its assembly without adhesives, staples or any other element foreign to the laminated body of cardboard itself.
With this solution a box with reinforced end panels is obtained which, however, presents two fundamental problems, a complete absence of reinforcement in the area of the side panels and an excessive use of material.
A saving of material is attained making the end panels to be single, with these having the added prolongations at the ends and folding them over the side panels, and fastening these latter pieces with staples, glue, or something similar, but this solution causes an absence of reinforcement in the end panels, which are precisely the elements of the box that are going to support greater stresses.
On the other hand, solutions are also known which provide a higher rigidity and a consequent resistance in the stacking between full boxes, by forming end panels and sometimes side panels of double or even triple walls, as well as by adding to the box triangular prismatic reinforcements in the corners. However, these type of boxes which are very resistant for stacking present the inconvenience of their structural complexity, since the sheet from which the box will be obtained must be submitted to a special process to obtain all of the extensions, fins and folding lines which make it possible to carry out the assembly of the box and to make it resistant. The structural complexity of these type of boxes not only has the inconvenience of the high expense of the material and of the highly expensive machines related to them, but they also have other problems among which could be mentioned, maybe as the most important, the difficulty or assembly of the box, as well as the need of staples or other means to obtain an effective assurance of assembly.

SPECIFICATION OF THE INVENTION

The box of the invention forms a part of the group of those considered of high resistance, although with simpler structural characteristics, allowing an assembly without difficulties, without sophisticated machinery and without the need of staples for assurance of the assembly.
More specifically, the box of the invention is of the type that are constituted from a laminated, monopiece, stampable body, preferably of cardboard, wherein is established a central and rectangular area determinant of the bottom, as well as four sectors that derive, after corresponding folding lines, from the four sides of the mentioned bottom, to constitute the two end panels and two side panels, all of this as is conventional.
From these characteristics, the box of the invention presents the peculiarity that either the end panels or the side panels are double walls, so that in each case both the internal wall as well as the external wall prolong into respective external extensions which fold over to remain attached to the internal face and to the external face, respectively, of the side panels or the end panels with the peculiarity that the internal wall is obtained by an inward folding of an extension which prolongs from the sector constituting the external wall, whether this corresponds to the end panels or it corresponds to the side panels. That internal wall, in both cases, can reach the same height as the external wall or present a smaller amplitude to remain with its lower edge far from the bottom, that is, without that internal wall of less height reaching to the bottom of the box. The same occurs with the end extensions which remain attached both on the interior as well as on the exterior, whether of the side panels or whether of the end panels, so that in determined cases the extensions which remain attached to the internal face and which correspond to the internal wall of less height, may remain placed in cut-outs provided to that effect at the ends and upper parts, either corresponding to the side panels or corresponding to the end panels.
The mentioned extensions of the double wall, either conformed in the end panels or conformed in the side panels may both be located on the inside, thus attaining a larger capacity of the box by increasing its width or length.
In one embodiment, the side panels may have less height than the end panels or vice versa, creating in both cases some ample passages or airing windows in the stacking of the boxes, although the height may be the same with the side panels and/or end panels having cut-outs corresponding to the larger part of the length of the upper edge to obtain the same end.
In another embodiment, the end panels and/or side panels have some upper flanges added which are complementary to cut-outs provided to this effect in the bottom, to obtain a dovetailing effect in the stacking, avoiding transverse movements between the stacked boxes, so that said flanges and cut-outs may be located at intermediate areas or at the ends, in which second case the configuration would be angular, affecting both the end panels as well as the side panels, thus obtaining four stabilizing points between the stacked boxes.
In another embodiment, the double wall corresponds to the side panels, where the internal wall may have the same height or be smaller than the external wall, with the end panels being of less height to determine the airing windows for the stacking. Furthermore, the lateral extensions of the side panels, which fold over the end panels, will be of the same height as these and their internal beveled edge affecting the section comprised between the upper edge of the end panel and the upper edge of the extensions themselves folded over it. In this possible embodiment the inferior part of the corners have angular cut-outs which cooperate in the stabilization and centering of the stacking with the complementary flanges or cut-outs located respectively in the upper and lower intermediate areas of the side panels.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To complement the description being made and with the object of assisting to have a better understanding of the characteristics of the invention, according to a preferred example of a practical embodiment of it, enclosed as an integral part of said description are a series of drawings in which, with an illustrative and non-limiting nature, the following has been represented:
Figure 1.- Shows a perspective view of a cardboard box for perishable products embodied according to the object of the present invention, where the double wall is determined in the end panels and these are of greater height than the side panels.
Figure 2.- Shows, according to a similar perspective to that of the previous figure, a box where the side panels reach the same height as the end panels.
Figure 3.- Shows another perspective view of a possible embodiment of the box represented in figure 1, in which the internal wall of the end panels does not reach to the bottom.
Figure 4.- Shows another possible embodiment of the box represented in figure 2, where the internal wall of the end panels does not reach to the bottom.
Figure 5.- Shows a perspective view of a box like that of figure 1 but with flanges, which in this latter one are provided on the upper edge and centered on all of the end panels, embodied in this figure 5 according to an angular configuration corresponding with the corners.
Figure 6.- Shows a perspective of a possible embodiment of the box represented in figure 2 but with the variations incorporated in the one shown in figure 5 respecting figure 1.
Figure 7.- Shows a possible embodiment of the box represented in figure 5 in which the end panels do not reach to the bottom.
Figure 8.- Shows a possible embodiment of the box represented in figure 6 in which the internal wall of the end panels does not reach to the bottom
Figure 9.- Shows a possible embodiment of the box in which the double wall is determined in the side panels, with these having upper flanges complementary to cut-outs in the lower part for stabilization and immobilization in the stacking between boxes.
Figure 10.- Shows a possible embodiment of the box represented in the previous figure in which the flanges of stabilization and immobilization in the stacking are materialized corresponding with the corners.
Figure 11.- Shows a possible embodiment of figure 9 in which the internal wall of the side panels does not reach to the bottom.
Figure 12.- Shows a possible embodiment of the box represented in figure 10 wherein the internal wall of the side panels does not reach to the bottom.
Figure 13.- Shows another possible embodiment of the box with double wall end panels, with end extensions of these which fold over the external face of the sides, wherein the internal wall of said end panels reaches the same height as their external wall.
Figure 14.- Shows a possible embodiment of the box represented in the previous figure, wherein the internal wall of the end panels does not reach to the bottom.
Figures 15 and 16.- Each show perspectives corresponding to two boxes in which the double wall is materialized in the side panels, one of them reaching to the bottom and the other one not reaching to the bottom, and where the end panels are of less height with the end extensions of the side panels which fold over the external face of the end panels with their upper and internal corner forming an oblique or beveled edge.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

In view of the figures referred to, the box of the invention is constituted by a laminated and monopiece body, preferably of cardboard, in which a central sector (1) is defined, of rectangular configuration, constituting the bottom, which by means of four folding lines (2) it prolongs into the end panels (3) and the side panels (4), determining the walls of said box itself.
From these characteristics, one of the novelties of the box of the invention consists in that either the end panels (3) or the side panels (4) present a double wall, wherein the external one corresponds with the reference itself (3) in the end panels and (4) in the side panels, while the internal wall corresponds with the reference (3') in the end panels and with reference (4') in the side panels.
In the event that the end panels are of double wall, both the external wall (3) as well as the internal wall (3') prolong at their ends into extensions (5) and (5'), respectively, while in the event of the side panels being the ones of double wall, the external one will prolong into extensions (6) and the internal one into the extensions (6'), with the particularity that the extensions (5-5') of the end panels (3) are attach to the external face and on the internal face, respectively, of the side panels (4), while the extensions (6) and (6') of the side panels fold down and remain attached to the internal face of the end panels (3), fastening in both cases by means of gluing.
In one possible embodiment shown in figures 3 and 4, the internal wall (3" ) of the end panels (3) is of less height than the external wall, with the same occurring with the internal extensions (5" ) of that internal wall (3" ), extensions (5" ) which, the same as the extensions (5') and of course of the external extensions (5), remain attached and fastened by gluing them onto the internal face and onto the external face, respectively, of the side panels (4), although those extensions (5" ) of less height may remain located in cut-outs provided to that effect in the end and upper parts of the side panels (4), forming a surface continuity with these.
In any case, whether the internal wall (3') of the end panels (3) reaches the same height as these, or the internal wall (3" ) of said end panels (3) reaches a smaller height, the mentioned end panels present in their upper edge and centrally, respective vertical flanges (7) which are complementary of cut-outs (8) provided to that effect in the lower part, with the object that in the stacking between boxes the flanges (7) fit into the cut-outs (8) and obtaining a stabilization and immobilization of the stacked boxes, which logically support on the edges which are determined by their double walls.
Likewise, it has been contemplated that the side panels (4) may have less height than the end panels (3) to determine airing windows in the stacking for the product contained in the boxes, as represented in figures 1 and 3, or rather that those side panels (4) reach the same height as the end panels (3) but that they have a trapezoidal cut-out (9) in their lower edge which will likewise determine the airing windows referred to before, as represented in figures 2 and 4.
In another possible embodiment, the flanges (7), instead of being established in the center of the upper edge of the end panels (3) are provided at the corners determining angular flanges (7') complementary of cut-outs (8) provided to that effect in the lower part, as represented in figures 5, 6, 7 and 8. In this case the internal wall (3') of the end panels, as well as their extensions (5'), may have the same height as the external wall (3), as represented in figures 5 and 6, or rather present less height and refer to the numbers (3" ) and (5" ) for the internal wall of the end panels and the corresponding internal extension as shown in figures 7 and 8. In this case the side panels (4) may have less height than the end panels (3) to determine the airing windows, or those side panels (4) having the trapezoidal and upper cut-outs (9) to constitute those same airing windows.
The end panels (3), in the embodiments represented in figures 5, 6, 7 and 8 have central and upper cut-outs (10) that cooperate in the airing when the boxes are staked together.
In figures 9, 10, 11 and 12 the box is shown in which the double walls are conformed corresponding with the side panels (4), so that in figures 9 and 10 the internal wall (4') of the side panels reaches the same height as the external wall, while in figures 11 and 12 the internal wall (4" ) reaches less height than the external wall (4), being in both cases the end panels (3) of less height than the side panels (4) to determine the airing windows referred to, in which others collaborate established in the upper edge itself of the double wall of the side panels, where the cut-outs (9') exist which in the stacking between boxes determine airing windows with which those that originate by less height of the end panels (3) collaborate. In those figures the external extensions (6) folded over and fastened by gluing onto the external surface of the end panels, reaches the same height as the side panels (4) themselves, the same occurring with the extensions (6') in the embodiment shown in figures 9 and 10, since in the one represented in figures 11 and 12 the extensions (6" ) which fold over the internal face of the end panels (3) are also of less height the same as the internal wall (4" ) of the side panels.
In figures 9 and 11 the stabilization and transversal immobilization of the stacked boxes is attained as a consequence of the side panels (4) having vertical flanges (7) complementary of the cut-outs (8) provided in the lower part, while in figures 10 and 12 that function is performed by the angular flanges (7') with their complementary cut-outs (8'), the same as in the case represented in figures 5 and 6.
In figures 13 and 14 a possible embodiment is shown in which the flanges (7) are provided both in the central area of the end panels (3) as well as in the external extensions (5) of those end panels (3) which fold over the external face of the side panels (4), with these having cut-outs (9) to determine the airing windows, since said side panels (4) are of the same height as the end panels (3). In figure 14 the internal wall (3" ) of the end panels is shown, with its corresponding extensions (5" ), reaching less height than their external wall, maintaining the rest of characteristics exactly the same as those provided in the box represented in figure 13.
Finally, in figures 15 and 16 a box is shown in which the double wall corresponds with the side panels, with it being able to be of an internal wall (4') with equal height as the external wall (4) or of an internal wall (4" ) of less height, the same occurring with the internal extensions (6') and (6" ) of those internal walls (4') and (4" ), since the external extension (6) is of the same height as the side panels (4). In this case represented in the mentioned figures 15 and 16, the end panels (3) are of less height than the side panels (4) and the external extensions (6) present an oblique cut determinant of a bevel (11), which extends from the upper edge of the end panels (3) to the upper edge of the extensions (6) themselves. Also, in this embodiment the side panels (4) have a pair of upper extensions (7" ) complementary of lower cut-outs (8" ) provided in the lower part, which complement the cut-outs (8') of the corners for a correct stable and immobilized stacking of the boxes, where the airing windows determine the smaller height of the end panels (3) with respect to the side panels (4).

Claims

Cardboard box for the transport of perishable products, which being of the type constituted from a laminated, stampable body, preferably of cardboard, in which a central sector is established constituting the bottom from which are derived four other sectors determinant of the end panels and the side panels, by the folding of those sectors, characterized in that either the end panels (3) or the side panels (4) present a double wall, in which the corresponding internal wall (3'-3" ) for the end panels or (4'-4" ) for the side panels, prolong into respective extensions (5'-5" ) or (6'-6" ), respectively, which attach and remain fastened by gluing onto the internal face and onto the external face, respectively, of the side panels (4) or, in its case, on the internal face or on the external face, respectively, of the end panels (3).
Cardboard box for the transport of perishable products, according to claim 1, characterized in that the internal wall (3') of the end panels or (4') of the side panels, as well as their respective extensions (5') and (6'), present the same height as the external wall (3) of the respective end panel and of the external wall (4) of the respective side panel.
Cardboard box for the transport of perishable products, according to claim 1, characterized in that the internal wall (3" ) of the end panels or (4" ) of the side panels, as well as their respective extensions (5" ) and (6" ), present less height than the external wall (3) of the end panels and of the external wall (4) of the side panels, respectively.
Cardboard box for the transport of perishable products, according to the above claims, characterized in that the side panels (4), in the boxes of double wall end panels (3), or these in the boxes of double wall side panels (4) themselves, are of less height to determine airing windows in the stacking between boxes, with this smaller height being susceptible of being attained by means of cut-outs (9) provided to that effect in the side panels (4) or in its case, in the end panels (3), in which case the rest of side panels and end panels reach the same height.
Cardboard box for the transport of perishable products, according to the above claims, characterized in that in correspondence with the central area of the end panels (3) in double wall boxes of these, or in its case, of the side panels (4) in the case of double wall boxes on said side panels, intermediate flanges (7) are provided, projecting from the upper edge of said end panels (3) or side panels (4), complementary of cut-outs (8) established to this effect in the lower part, to obtain a dovetail fitting of said flanges in the cut-outs in the stacking between boxes, ensuring their stabilization and immobilization.
Cardboard box for the transport of perishable products, according to the above claims, characterized in that the flanges (7') and their complementary and lower cut-outs (8') are established in correspondence with the corners, according to an angular configuration which affects both the side panels as well as the end panels.
Cardboard box for the transport of perishable products, according to the above claims, characterized in that the extensions (5-5') and (6-6') of the end panels and the side panels remain placed on the exterior and on the interior, respectively, of the side panels (4) and the end panels (3), and are fastened by means of gluing; having contemplated that these extensions (5-5') and (6-6') are susceptible of both being located in the interior of the side panels (4) or of the end panels (3), endowing the box with a greater capacity.
Cardboard box for the transport of perishable products, according to the above claims, characterized in that boxes whose double wall corresponds with the side panels (4), the end panels (3), are of less height than those and the external extensions (6) of the side panels (4) present a bevel determinant of an inclined surface (11) which extends from the upper edge of the end panels to the upper edge of those external extensions (6), also providing that in correspondence with the upper edge of the side panels (4) pairs of flanges (7" ) are included complementary of cut-outs (8" ) from the lower part, to obtain the stabilization and transversal immobilization in the staking between boxes.