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
  • B65D25/00—Details of other kinds or types of rigid or semi-rigid containers
  • B65D25/02—Internal fittings
  • B65D25/10—Devices to locate articles in containers
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61J—CONTAINERS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR MEDICAL OR PHARMACEUTICAL PURPOSES; DEVICES OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR BRINGING PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS INTO PARTICULAR PHYSICAL OR ADMINISTERING FORMS; DEVICES FOR ADMINISTERING FOOD OR MEDICINES ORALLY; BABY COMFORTERS; DEVICES FOR RECEIVING SPITTLE
  • A61J1/00—Containers specially adapted for medical or pharmaceutical purposes
  • A61J1/03—Containers specially adapted for medical or pharmaceutical purposes for pills or tablets
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B1/00—Packaging fluent solid material, e.g. powders, granular or loose fibrous material, loose masses of small articles, in individual containers or receptacles, e.g. bags, sacks, boxes, cartons, cans, or jars
  • B65B1/20—Reducing volume of filled material
  • B65B1/22—Reducing volume of filled material by vibration
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B25/00—Packaging other articles presenting special problems
  • B65B25/005—Packaging other articles presenting special problems packaging of confectionery

Definitions

• PRODUCT CONTAINER INCLUDING SURFACE WITH BUMPS
• the present invention relates to a container for product pieces.
• Containers for products not only hold the product, but may also provide a desired appearance for marketing purposes. It is desirable to have a container to hold individual product pieces that is easy to fill and easy to remove the product pieces.
• a product container includes a surface with bumps that help to orient the product pieces when the container is filled.
• the products can be more efficiently packed as compared to a container without the bumps.
• a product container includes a tray.
• the tray includes a bottom surface and at least one side wall extending from the bottom surface.
• a plurality of bumps is disposed along the bottom surface.
• a method of loading product pieces into a product container includes providing a tray and a lid.
• the tray includes a bottom surface.
• At least one side wall extends from the bottom surface.
• a plurality of bumps is disposed along the bottom surface.
• a plurality of product pieces is provided and disposed into the tray. The tray is vibrated to position the product pieces onto the bottom surface. The lid is then attached to the tray.
• FIG. 1 is a top view of an embodiment of a tray of a product container.
• Fig. 2 is a side sectional view of the tray of Fig. 1.
• FIG. 3 is a bottom view of an embodiment of a lid of a product container.
• Fig. 4 is a side sectional view of the lid of Fig. 3.
• Fig. 5 is a side sectional view of the lid of Fig. 3 connected to the tray of Fig. 1.
• Fig. 6 is a top schematic view of two product pieces disposed on a portion of the tray bottom.
• Fig. 7 is a top schematic view of three product pieces disposed on a portion of the tray bottom.
• Fig. 8 is a side schematic view of two product pieces disposed on a portion of the tray bottom.
• the present invention provides a container particularly suitable for product pieces, for example confectionery product pieces.
• An embodiment of a tray 20 of a product container 10 is shown in Fig. 1.
• the tray 20 includes a bottom surface 22 and at least one side wall 24 extending from the bottom surface 22.
• a plurality of bumps 26 is disposed at regular intervals along the bottom surface 22.
• the bumps are convex protuberances extending from the bottom surface 22.
• the bumps 26 may be of any suitable shape, hi one embodiment, the bumps 26 are semi-spherical in shape.
• the bumps 26 may also be conical, pyramidal, or cylindrical in shape.
• the side wall 24 includes a height 28.
• the side wall may include four side walls 32, 34, 36, and 38 to provide a rectangular tray 20.
• the bottom surface 22 includes a length 40 and a width 42.
• the tray 20 may be generally shallow in height compared to its length and width.
• the height 28 of the side wall 24 is less than the longest dimension 61 of the product pieces 60 contained within the container 10.
• the interior height 28 of the container 10 is about 1 to 4 mm greater than the thickness 63 of the product piece 60.
• Typical dimensions of the product container 10 are between 4 and 6 inches in length, between 2 and 4 inches in width, and between 0.3 and 0.5 inches in height.
• the product container may also include a lid 30, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.
• the lid 30 may be connected to the tray 20 in any suitable fashion. In embodiments, the lid is hingedly connected to the tray or connected in other configurations. In the shown embodiment, the lid 30 may be slidingly connected to the tray 20. The slidingly connected lid 30 may also be configured to snap on to the tray 20, particularly in a high-speed filling operation.
• the lid 30 may include a , flat inner surface 31 and rolled edges 43 which slidingly engage corresponding rolled lips 39 on the tray 20. The rolled edges 43 extend along three sides of the lid 30, terminating at a point 33 to allow the lid 30 to slide open to reveal the contents of the container 10. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the lid 30 may include side walls 35 that extend over the rolled lip 39 of the tray 20.
• the lid 30 may include a portion 37 with no side wall or lip, to allow the lid 30 to slide off the tray 20 without interference.
• the lid 30 may also include one or more small bumps 44, 45 projecting into the interior of the container 10.
• One or more bumps 45 may be positioned roughly adjacent to the back wall 46 to engage the corresponding Hp 39 on the tray 20 to act as a detent preventing accidental opening of the container.
• Additional bumps 44 may be located at chosen distance(s) from the rear wall 46 of the lid 30 to encourage partial opening of the lid 30 to one or more pre-selected positions.
• the bumps 26 are disposed at regular intervals in a pattern of rows and columns. For example, as shown in Fig. 1, the bottom surface 22 includes multiple rows 50 and columns 52 of bumps 26.
• the bumps 26 may be disposed at equal intervals 54 along rows 50, and at equal intervals 56 along columns 52. Intervals 54 and 56 may be the same distance or different distances. Additionally, the bumps 26 in adjacent rows and columns may either line up or be offset from each other.
• the bottom surface 22 includes a plurality of interstitial spaces 58 between the bumps 26. The interstitial spaces 26 are defined by the four adjacent bumps 26. In other embodiments (not shown) the bumps 26 may be arranged in other patterns or randomly distributed on the bottom surface 22 of the tray 20.
• the tray 20 is adapted to hold a plurality of product pieces 60.
• Fig. 6 is a top view showing product pieces 60 with a circular cross section disposed in the interstitial spaces 58 between bumps 26.
• the bumps 26 and interstitial spaces 58 are configured to allow pieces 60 to pack to high density, where each piece 60 touches or almost touches up to four other adjacent pieces 60.
• the bumps 26, interstitial spaces 58 and product pieces 60 are sized and shaped to prevent contact between the product pieces 60 when they are precisely positioned in the interstitial spaces 58.
• the product pieces 60 may be any suitable shape.
• the product pieces 60 include at least one portion with a substantially flat or slightly curved surface, which may be disposed at least partially against the bottom surface 22.
• the product pieces 60 are roughly spherical in shape.
• the product pieces 60 are shown with a curved portion and a round cross section, but other shapes are possible, such as square, rectangular, cylindrical, oval, or spherical.
• Square product pieces 62 are shown in Fig. 7. Most efficient packing and maximization of the benefits of the bumps 26 occurs when the faces of the pieces are symmetrical in at least four axes, such as for circular and square pieces. As shown in Fig.
• the curved pieces 60 may have a relatively small flat equatorial portion (called a belly band) 64 to minimize them standing on their sides when the containers 10 are filled.
• the bumps 26 help to encourage the product pieces 26 to lie down even if the flat equatorial portion 64 is large.
• the pieces 60 have a longest dimension 61 and a height 63.
• the bumps 26 may facilitate removal of the product pieces 60 by preventing the pieces 60 from lying completely flat on the bottom surface 22 of the tray 20.
• the exact size and shape of the face of the individual pieces 60 maybe chosen to prevent a piece 60 from simultaneously contacting more than three of the bumps 26 defining the interstitial space 58 in which the pieces 60 resides. This ensures that the face of the product piece 60 will remain in contact with the tray bottom surface 22.
• the product container 10 may be filled with product pieces 60 via a high speed loading operation.
• the orientation of the bumps 26 relative to the size of the product pieces 60 is helpful in ensuring proper loading of the product pieces 60.
• the bumps 26 help disperse the pieces 60 evenly across the surface 22 of the tray 20 in a single plane and reduce the likelihood of a piece 60 being oriented on edge in the container 10.
• the product pieces 60 may be easily counted, for example, by the use of machine vision.
• a prior art practice is to size the product 60 and container 10 such that the height 28 of the interior of the container 10 should be at least equal to the diameter (or longest dimension) of the product pieces 60, plus a clearance factor which is typically 1 to 2 mm for typical confectionery products.
• the height 28 of the interior of the tray 20 may be somewhat thinner than the prior art practice and still allow for high speed loading.
• the interior height 28 of the container 10 will be less than the greatest dimension 61 of the product piece 60.
• the interior height 28 of the container 10 will be about 1 to 4 mm greater than the thickness 63 of the product piece 60.
• the tray 20 may be vibrated to position the pieces 60 in the interstitial spaces 58 in the tray 20 and to encourage each piece 60 to lay flat on the bottom surface 22 of the tray 20.
• the lid 30 may then be attached to the tray 20.
• the configuration of container 10 allows a thinner (lower height) package and allows more pieces 60 to be fit within a container of a given size, and increase the perception of the consumer that the container 10 is full.
• the container 10 may be made of any suitable material.
• the tray 20 and lid 30 may be made of metal, plastic, molded fiber, wood, or other suitable materials.
• the container 10 may include an outer covering such as a shrink wrap or a sleeve (made of paperboard or other material).
• Several containers 10 may be provided in a box or other suitable larger container.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Pharmacology & Pharmacy (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Animal Behavior & Ethology (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Veterinary Medicine (AREA)
• Details Of Rigid Or Semi-Rigid Containers (AREA)
• Containers Having Bodies Formed In One Piece (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=38920718

Family Applications (1)

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• 2007
  • 2007-10-15 CA CA002672918A patent/CA2672918A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2007-10-15 CN CNA200780038697XA patent/CN101541641A/zh active Pending
  • 2007-10-15 US US12/446,067 patent/US20110056865A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2007-10-15 AU AU2007311115A patent/AU2007311115A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2007-10-15 EP EP07844288A patent/EP2074037A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2007-10-15 WO PCT/US2007/081366 patent/WO2008048920A1/en active Application Filing

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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