EP2135814B1 - Box with a transparent plastic outer shell stiffened by an inner band - Google Patents

Abstract

The box has a shell made up of transparent plastic material, comprising bottom (1) and a cover (2) articulated at a side (3) with double hinge, of the box. The cover has a side (4) opposite to the hinge. The side (4) is rigidly connected via lateral sides (5, 6) covering a portion of remaining lateral sides and includes fixing units formed of surface, external skirt, gutter (22) and a face (23) at the bottom. An automotive band with U-shaped faces is placed inside the cover in closed position and covers sides with the side (3). The band is positioned in a groove (7) practiced in the bottom.

Description

The present invention relates to a parallelepiped shaped box, constituting a package including food products such as pastries. In traditional bakeries, packaging is often made from a pre-cut cardboard blank and pre-finished so that it can be volumetrically folded to form the final packaging. These packages, adapted when the customer chooses an exposed pastry, fulfill a simple function of transport aid and are not suitable for modern distribution which involves a pre-packaging ensuring an additional function of presentation of the product through the packaging.

This is why it has been developed in the past transparent plastic packaging allowing customers to see the product before purchase. However, the use of plastic materials, generally in the form of thin sheets thermoformed at least partially in volume so as to constitute the final packaging, is only possible up to certain dimensions beyond which the mechanical strength is no longer assured.

It has therefore been proposed to combine some parts made of synthetic materials with others made of stiffer board. Thus, there are boxes with a cardboard bottom and a transparent cover, the bottom and the cover having reliefs / recesses allowing their association so as to create a coherent volume whose rigidity is improved in large dimensions.

According to other hypotheses, the case consists of two elements: a triptych of transparent plastic material and a cardboard crown, as in the document WO 97/18996 , figure 1 which describes a box according to the preamble of claim 1.

These solutions are satisfactory in terms of static, and correct in their dynamic behavior below certain dimensions, but they do not present sufficient guarantee for larger packages, those which correspond to large bakeries. In particular, larger boxes can not be taken from one side with one hand when they are filled, as their structure is not stiff enough unless larger material thicknesses are used, making the products economically unsustainable.

The present invention overcomes this, by proposing an original configuration whose mechanical strength is satisfactory even in large dimensions.

For this purpose, the parallelepipedic box of the invention is characterized principally in that it comprises the features of claim 1.

This box is characterized by a very great simplicity of implementation, since it is simply necessary to arrange the U-band inside the bottom before closing the cover. The inner strip only participates in a stiffening function, unlike configurations of the prior art in which the peripheral rings also participate in the fixing of the various components of the box by the clearance of the recesses / embossings, which decreased its holding mechanics by reducing its stiffening power.

In fact, the two elements of the box, the shell and the strip, do not individually have a mechanical strength sufficient to ensure any rigidity: it is their respective configurations and their relative arrangement that allows a self-locking conferring on the whole a adequate mechanical strength.

In the invention, the shell consisting of the bottom, the lid and the double hinge side is in a possibility made of transparent plastic material, the strip being provided in cardboard.

More preferably, at least the portions of the bottom groove along the first side and the sides adjacent thereto each comprise a relief intended to cooperate with a cutout or a corresponding recess formed in the edge of the strips of the strip intended for be inserted into the groove.

The purpose of these reliefs / recesses is first to facilitate the relative positioning of the headband in the slide, then to prevent the cardboard headband from leaving the groove by preventing the sides of the groove from falling apart. one of the other. The relief made in the groove also makes it possible to improve the rigidity of the plastic box in the direction of the axis of the groove.

According to one possibility, these reliefs and recesses are trapezoidal. Other forms are however quite possible.

It should be noted that, according to one possible configuration, the edge of each lateral pan of the strip inserted in the groove ends, towards its edge free, by a rectilinear portion inclined at an angle between 1 and 5 ° relative to the rest of the edge.

This feature makes it easier to fix the lid on the bottom, because it allows the tilting of the strip at the time of closure of the lid with respect to an axis passing through the points of intersection between the inclined rectilinear portions and the remainder of the lateral edges . When the cardboard headband returns to its original position by switching in the opposite direction under the effect of its weight, it also ensures the locking of the lid as will be seen in more detail below.

The bottom has in fact an outer rim for attaching a rim extending the opposite side of the cover to the first double-hinged side.

More specifically, according to one possible configuration, the outer rim of the bottom has a first surface of perpendicular shape to the bottom extended by an outer skirt of a shape perpendicular to the latter. The rim of the lid is in turn configured in a gutter oriented, in the closed position of the lid, so as to accommodate the outer skirt of the bottom rim, the free edge of the gutter being folded to snap under said skirt.

Other modes of closure, for example by simple pressure, are of course possible.

When the cardboard headband tilts in the opposite direction when the closing pressure on the lid is released, said free edge of the gutter slides under the outer rim of the skirt and ensures proper closure of the lid on the bottom.

The bottom, lid and double-hinged side are thermoformed in a single plastic sheet. This sheet, in one piece, has a double crease delimiting a separation zone between the bottom and the lid, which constitutes the first aforementioned double hinge side.

The implementation of the invention is as follows: when the thermoformed shell forming the aforementioned triptych is placed flat on a plane, the strip is introduced, itself consisting of a blank of rectangular shape to two cross creases to form U in the groove of the bottom, before proceeding with a double rotation around the two hinges to close the lid by simply pressing. The closing, except the spring effect of the headband, is carried out with means that are exclusively located in the plastic sheet. The cardboard is not weakened in any way to participate in this closure, and it can play its role of stiffening to its full extent.

One of the advantages of the invention lies in the fact that the shell being thermoformable, one can take advantage of the characteristics of this technology: reduced cost, great variability in the design of shapes (bosses, ...), use of a transparent plastic sheet, configuration such that the unfolded hulls are stackable and occupy a reduced volume etc ...

Similarly, the carton is delivered flat, requiring only a reduced storage volume, and it is printable according to the needs of end users for informational purposes, advertising, etc ...

It should also be noted that, according to one possible configuration, the corners of the bottom, on the opposite side to the double hinge, have a bevelled and chamfered shape. This characteristic makes it possible in particular to ensure a smooth sliding of the lid on the bottom. The corners participating in the closure system, they further facilitate the guiding of the lid relative to the bottom at the time of closing.

Finally, according to the invention, the double hinge results from a double transverse creasing obtained by stamping and delimiting the first side.

Other hinges, for example with grooves or grooves, could also be used.

• la figure 1 est une vue en perspective de la boîte en position fermée, sans le bandeau ;
• la figure 2 représente, toujours en vue perspective, le bandeau prêt à être inséré à l'intérieur de la boîte de la figure 1 ;
• la figure 3 montre une vue latérale de la boîte en position dépliée ;
• la figure 4 est une vue en section de la boîte, en position repliée, avec le couvercle refermé contre le fond ;
• la figure 5 est une vue en section d'un détail agrandi des moyens de fermeture du couvercle sur le fond ; et
• la figure 6 constitue une vue agrandie d'un coin du fond opposé à la charnière.

The invention will now be described in more detail, with reference to the appended figures, for which:

• the figure 1 is a perspective view of the box in the closed position, without the headband;
• the figure 2 represents, always in perspective view, the headband ready to be inserted inside the box of the figure 1 ;
• the figure 3 shows a side view of the box in the unfolded position;
• the figure 4 is a sectional view of the box, in the folded position, with the cover closed against the bottom;
• the figure 5 is a sectional view of an enlarged detail of the closure means of the lid on the bottom; and
• the figure 6 is an enlarged view of a corner of the bottom opposite the hinge.

With reference to the figure 1 , the shell consists mainly of a bottom (1) and a cover (2), both being articulated to a first side (3) of the box in a double hinge in the manner of a triptych, which is also shown in unfolded position in the figure 3 . The side (4) opposite the side (3) comprising the double hinge has, in its lower part, fixing means to the bottom (see below).

The lateral sides of the cover (5, 6) are in this case triangular, that is to say that they do not cover all of the side faces. They are intended to stiffen the two main parts of the lid, namely the main surface parallel to the bottom, and the side (4). As such, the lateral sides (5, 6) can be considered as lateral stiffening ribs. They result from the thermoforming technique.

However, they have a second function, which is to maintain the U-band (10) inside the housing formed by the folded triptych. This strip, whose dimensions allow it to be contained inside the housing that is the folded triptych, is disposed in a groove (7) U. This groove is disposed near the edges of the bottom (1).

Preferably, as mentioned, the strip (10) is made of cardboard, while the remainder of the shell formed of the triptych (1, 2, 3) is plastic, for example transparent.

The portions of the groove (7) located at the lateral sides (5, 6) comprise a trapezoidal-shaped relief (8) designed to cooperate with recesses or cutouts (11) arranged in the lateral sides (13, 14). of the headband (10). Other forms of reliefs / cuts are of course possible.

The triptych consisting of the bottom (1), the double hinge side (3) and the lid (2) is manufactured by thermoforming in a single sheet of plastic material for example transparent. The double hinge located at both ends of the side (2) consists of a double creasing obtained by stamping which weakens the thickness of the plastic in two transverse lines, and allows a double rotation to close the lid (2). ). Once this double rotation is performed, the shell or plastic box is found in the position appearing in figure 4 . The closure means are made using special profiles of the outer edges of the one part of the bottom (1), and secondly of the side (4) opposite the side (3) double hinge.

As it appears in more detail in figure 5 , the outer rim of the bottom (1) consists of a flange comprising a first surface (20) of parallel shape to the bottom (1) and extending into an outer skirt (21) of perpendicular shape to the bottom (1) .

The rim of the lid (2), located in the extension of the side (4), has a gutter (22) ending, towards its free edge, by a pan (23) which folds in the direction of the skirt (21). This pan (23) allows clipping of the gutter (22) as it rises to the skirt (21) due to the spring effect printed by the U-band (10) to the lid (2) after closing.

Referring again to the figure 2 the lower edge of the strip (10) intended to be introduced into the groove (7) of the plastic shell is inclined, convexly after the recess (12) towards its free edge, by an angle α of the order of 1 ° to 5 °, preferably 2 to 3 ° which allows, when closing the lid (2) on the bottom (1), to perform a slight tilting precisely at the time of clipping of the gutter (22) on the skirt (21) forming the outer edge of the bottom (1).

This slight tilting is actually done by pivoting about an axis (A) (see figure 2 ) which allows the pan (23) to go beyond the lower end of the skirt (21), in the closing phase.

When the U-shaped strip (10) naturally rebases in the opposite direction about the axis (A), the panel (23) rises under the skirt (21), ensuring a good closure of the lid (2) on the bottom (1) .

It should be noted that this panel (23) can, at least in part, be configured in U, so as to include a gripping element facilitating handling of the lid (2) in particular when opening the lid (2).

With reference to the figure 6 the bottom corners (1) opposite the double-hinged side (3) have a chamfered surface (24), which is inclined downwards in the manner of a chamfer, which serves to facilitate the closing of the cover (2) by not causing obstacles at the corners.

The configuration example of the box as illustrated in the various figures is not exhaustive of the present invention. On the contrary, it encompasses variants of shapes and configurations that are within the reach of those skilled in the art.

Claims (10)

1. A box having a block shape, composed of:

   - a shell comprising a bottom (1) and a lid (2), each articulated at a first vertical side (3) of the box by a double hinge in a three-part configuration,

   - a self-supporting band (10) with three U-shaped panels, arranged within the shell in a closed position, said band (10) being positioned in a groove (7) made in the bottom (1),
   characterized in that

   - the lid (2) has an opposite side (4) to the double hinge, said opposite side (4) being rigidly connected thereto by lateral sides (5, 6) covering at least partially the remaining lateral surfaces, the lid comprising bottom fastening means (20, 21, 22, 23), and in that
   the band (10) covers the first side (3) and the two lateral sides (5, 6).
2. The box according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the shell is made of transparent plastic material, the band (10) being provided of cardboard.
3. The box according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least the portions of the bottom groove (7) located along the first side and the sides adjacent thereto each comprise a relief (8) provided for cooperating with a corresponding cutout (11, 12) or hollow made inside the border of the panels of band (10), said border to be inserted into the groove (7).
4. The box according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said reliefs (8) and corresponding hollows (11, 12) have a trapezoidal shape.
5. The box according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the edge of each side panel of the band (10) inserted into the groove ends in the direction of the free rim thereof in a straight portion convexly inclined by an angle (α) comprised between 1 ° and 5° in relation to the remaining edge.
6. The box according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the fastening means comprise an outer flange (20, 21) to allow for engagement with to a flange (22, 23) extending the side of the lid (2) opposite the first double hinge side (3).
7. The box according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the outer flange of the bottom (1) comprises a first surface (20) having a shape parallel to the bottom, extended by an outer skirt (21) having a shape perpendicular to the latter, with the flange of the lid (2) being configured as a gutter (22), which in a closed position of the lid (2) is oriented so that it can house the outer skirt (21) of the flange of the bottom (1), with the free rim (23) of the gutter (22) being folded back to be clipped under said skirt (21).
8. The box according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the bottom (1), the lid (2), and the double hinge side (3) are heat formed from a single plastic sheet.
9. The box according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the corners of the bottom (1) of the side (4) opposite the double hinge have a beveled and chamfered shape (24).
10. The box according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the double hinge is the result of a double transverse scoring obtained by die stamping and delimiting the first side (3).

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