Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D1/00—Containers having bodies formed in one piece, e.g. by casting metallic material, by moulding plastics, by blowing vitreous material, by throwing ceramic material, by moulding pulped fibrous material, by deep-drawing operations performed on sheet material
  • B65D1/22—Boxes or like containers with side walls of substantial depth for enclosing contents
  • B65D1/225—Collapsible boxes

Definitions

• This invention relates to unitary-sheet articles.
• an article of unitary moulded-plastics sheet construction which is convertible between a three-dimensional erect state and a substantially-flat, folded state, the sheet incorporating a multiplicity of flexible membrane portions located between and integral with spaced parts of the sheet to define hinges for enabling those parts to be deflected angularly with respect to one another in conversion between the two states.
• the article of the invention when in the erect state may take the form of a container, for example a box (with or without a unitary lid) or a cup, carton or other vessel.
• the invention is in this respect of particular advantage in that the unitary, seamless nature of the container makes it very suitable on the one hand for containing liquids and other product, and on the other hand for keeping contained product (such as foodstuff or pharmaceutical product) sealed and free from contamination.
• the erect article may take any other form, for example, that of an article of furniture, or of packaging.
• Each membrane portion of the article according to the invention may be defined by a channel in one of the two faces of the sheet leaving a thin web or membrane contiguous with the two parts of the sheet located either side of the channel, for hinging those two parts to one another.
• the flanks of the channel may be inclined away from one another outwardly of the channel, with the angle between them determining to a substantial extent the range of angular deflection required or possible of the hinge. If, for example, the angle between the flanks is substantially a right -angle when the two parts located either side pf the channel are coplanar, the angular range of hinging will in general be of the order of 270 degrees, some 90 degrees in the sense closing the channel from the coplanar condition and virtually 180 degrees in the opposite, opening-up sense.
• the article in the erect state may form a container having at least four walls, and in which each of the walls is individually hinged to three said walls by respective membrane hinges.
• a container with just four walls each hinged to three others, is of triangular form with an open top.
• Five walls are required for a rectangular, open-top structure, a rectangular base and two pairs of opposite side-walls.
• the side-walls are hinged by respective membrane hinges to the base, and each of a first pair of the side-walls is similarly hinged to the two side-walls respectively of the second pair.
• Each side-wall of the second pair may then incorporate a further respective membrane hinge to enable that side-wall to fold onto itself between the side-walls of the first pair in the folded state.
• the base may incorporate an elongate flexible-membrane portion that extends substantially parallel to the side-walls of the first pair, together with six membrane ' inges extending from said elongate membrane portion, four to the four corners respectively of the base and two substantially-aligned with the flexible membrane portion in opposite directions from it.
• Figure 1 is a perspective view from below of the foldable box according to the present invention, in its three- dimensional erect state;
• Figure 2 is a plan view of the box of Figure 1 in one of two possible; folded, flat states;
• Figure 3 is illustrative of a membrane hinge typical of a multiplicity of such hinges of the box of Figure 1 that enable it to be readily converted between its erect and folded states of Figures 1 and 2 respectively;
• Figure 4 is a plan view from below of the box of Figure i;
• Figures 5 to 8 are sectional elevations to reduced scale of the box of Figure 1 taken on the lines V-V, VI-VI, VII-VII and VIII-VIII respectively of Figure 4;
• Figures 9 to 11 are views to enlarged scale showing details of regions of the box of Figure 1, identified as IX, X and XI. espectively in Figure 8; and
• Figure 12 is a perspective view of the box of Figure 1 modified to include a lid, shown in its three-dimensional erect state.
• the first box to be described which is open-topped, has five substantially-flat walls, namely a pair of opposite side-walls 1, a pair of opposite side-walls 2 and a base 3.
• Each wall 1 is hinged to each wall 2, and all four walls 1 and 2 are individually hinged to the base 3, with the whole of the box, including the hinging, formed by a unitary, injection-moulded sheet of plastics (for example polypropylene) .
• the box is foldable from the erect state in which the! walls 1 and 2 are upstanding from the base 3, to a substantially-flat state illustrated in Figure 2. In this latter state the base 3 and walls 2 are folded to bring the walls 1 flat onto one another with two halves of the walls 2 folded back to back between them.
• the folding of the box is enabled by the hinging of the walls 1 and 2 to the base 3, and also by hinging within the walls 2 and the base 3.
• the hinges involved are each, as illustrated in Figure 3, defined on one face 10 (specific either to the inside or outside of the box) of the plastics, sheet 11 by a channel 12 moulded in that face 10.
• a thin web or membrane 13 (for example, of 0.3 mm thickness) of the sheet 11 remains intermediate the inclined flanks 14 of the channel 12 to establish a flexible joint integrally with the two parts 15 of the sheet 11 on either side of the channel 12.
• the hinge is fully open, that is to say when the parts 15 are coplanar as illustrated in Figure 3, the flanks 14 are inclined away from one another outwardly of the channel 12 substantially at a right angle to one another.
• the two parts 15 can accordingly be folded inwardly towards one another closing up the channel 12 as indicated by the arrows A until the flanks 14 come into abutment with one another to limit the extent of turning to some 90 degrees.
• they can be folded in the opposite, opening-up sense indicated by the arrows B, through some' 180 degrees to bring the parts 15 back to back.
• the side-walls 1 and 2 are integral with one another through membrane hinges 21, and each is integral with the base 3 through membrane hinges 22 and 23 respectively.
• the profiling of the hinges 21 to 23 is on the outside of the box- in the sense that the channels forming them are on the outside (reference to the profile or profiling of a hinge being on the inside' or outside' refers to whether the channel corresponding to channel 12 of Figure 3, is located inside or outside, respectively) .
• Each wall 2 also has a membrane hinge 24 which divides the wall 2 into two half-lengths 2a and 2b, the hinge-profile in this case, in contrast to the profiling of the hinges 21 to 23, being on the inside of the box.
• a break 25 is provided in the outside-profiled hinge 23 halfway along each wall 2. This enables the two half-lengths 2a and 2b of the wall 2 to fold inwardly about the hinge 24, flat onto one another back to back (outside face to outside face) between the two sides 1 in the folded state of the box ( Figure 2).
• the base 3 has four membrane hinges 26 profiled on the outside that extend diagonally from the corners of the base 3 to a central, rectangular recess 27.
• Two membrane hinges 28 profiled inside the box extend substantially in alignment with the recess 27 to the hinges 24 respectively, so that two triangular parts 3a of the base 3 defined between each hinge 28 and its adjacent hinges 26, can fold inwardly onto one another back to back (outside face to outside face) .
• the two parts 3a fold about their hinges 26 as the half-lengths 2a and 2b of the adjacent wall 2 fold inwardly also.
• the hinge-configuration of the base 3 allows it to fold in another mode from that described above and illustrated in Figure 2. In this latter respect, folding of the base 3 may be inverted such that, rather than folding outwardly with the parts 3b outside the sides 1, it folds in a mode in which the hinges 26, 28 and 29 turn in the reverse senses to locate the parts 3b between the sides 1.
• the box is manufactured by injection moulding in the three-dimensional state.
• the injection gates are strategically located to ensure that the fronts of the injected material are hot when they meet so that there is good fusion between them.
• the box described above is open-topped, but it may be modified to include a lid for closure, as illustrated in Figure 12.
• the lid 31 is simply formed integrally with one of the sides 32 of the box, through a membrane hinge 33, and has a hinged-down rim 34.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Ceramic Engineering (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Rigid Containers With Two Or More Constituent Elements (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

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Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

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• 2001
  • 2001-04-23 GB GBGB0109956.3A patent/GB0109956D0/en not_active Ceased
• 2002
  • 2002-04-23 WO PCT/GB2002/001938 patent/WO2002085594A2/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2002-04-23 US US10/475,405 patent/US20040164132A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2002-04-23 GB GB0209271A patent/GB2375100B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2002-04-23 AU AU2002251335A patent/AU2002251335A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2002-04-23 EP EP02720269A patent/EP1383635A2/de not_active Withdrawn

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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