EP4255820A1

EP4255820A1 - Folding box for closing with a lid

Info

Publication number: EP4255820A1
Application number: EP21835973.5A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Bernard Skolik; Jens Eckermann
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2020-12-02
Filing date: 2021-12-02
Publication date: 2023-10-11
Also published as: DE202020106949U1; WO2022117734A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a folding box for closing with a lid, comprising: • • a base wall (2) with a polygonal main surface, • • lateral walls (3, 4, 5, 6) which are connected to the lateral edges of the base wall via lower folding lines (7, 8, 9, 10), • • pairs (11, 12, 13, 14) of two respective triangular tabs (11.1, 11.2, 12.1, 12.2, 13.1, 13.2, 14.1, 14.2) which are connected together via a central folding line (15.1, 16.1, 17.1, 18.1) and each of which is connected to a lateral edge of one of the two adjacent lateral walls via an outer folding line (15.2, 15.3, 16.2, 16.3, 17.2, 17.3, 18.2, 18.3), said triangular tabs being folded opposite each other about the central folding line and against one of the two adjacent lateral walls, and • • locking tabs (21, 22) which are connected to the upper edges of two opposing lateral walls via upper folding lines (19, 20) and each of which has a strip-shaped central section (23, 24), end sections (25, 26, 27, 28) on both sides of the central section that are adhered to the outer faces of the lateral walls and have a height, said height being increased relative to the central section, and folding lines extending upwards from the ends of the central section and away from each other in an inclined manner, wherein the central sections are pivoted into a pivot position which is held on the end sections outwards relative to the lateral walls via the inclined folding lines.

Description

Folding box to close with a lid

The invention relates to a folding box for closing with a lid.

The folding box can be used in particular to accommodate salads, fish, fruit, yoghurt, sauce or other small, moist or liquid products.

Rectangular or round delicatessen bowls, salad bowls or cups made of transparent plastic are known, which have an outwardly projecting, circumferential flange at the top edge, onto which a snap-on lid with projecting snap elements on the inside of an outer collar surrounding the bottom of the lid can be snapped. The flange can be convex in vertical section at the top and rest against a circumferential groove of the cover. A disadvantage of these bowls or cups made of plastic is that they have to be disposed of with the residual waste. Also known are compostable disposable bowls for salad or delicatessen made from PLA. These are relatively expensive. There are also salad bowls or cups made of cardboard which have a peripheral side wall which is connected to a bottom wall at the bottom and have a peripheral rolled edge at the top onto which a plastic lid can be snapped. Such bowls or cups are also available with an approximately rectangular bottom wall. Their production is relatively expensive.

Proceeding from this, the invention is based on the object of creating a container for salad, delicatessen or other small-piece, moist or at least partially liquid products which can be produced with less effort and whose material is easier to recycle.

The object is achieved by a folding box according to claim 1. Advantageous embodiments of the folding box are specified in the dependent claims. The folding box according to the invention for closing with a lid comprises:

• a bottom wall with a polygonal base,

• side walls that are connected to the side edges of the bottom wall via lower fold lines,

• Pairs of two triangular flaps joined together by a central fold line and each of which is joined by an outer fold line to a lateral edge of one of the two adjacent side panels, the triangular flaps about the central fold line towards each other and against one of the two adjacent side panels are folded and

• Locking tabs, which are connected via upper fold lines to the upper edges of two opposite side walls, each have a strip-shaped central section and end sections glued to the outsides of the side walls on both sides of the central section with an increased height compared to the central section and starting from the ends of the central section upwards fold lines which extend and are inclined away from one another, the central sections being pivoted about the upper fold lines into a pivoted position outwards with respect to the side walls and held in place by the inclined fold lines at the end sections, as a result of which a lid with an outer collar running around the bottom of the lid can be placed on the upper edge of the Side walls can be placed and cut with snap elements on the inside of the outer collar with the central from snapped.

According to the invention, the container that can be closed with the lid is formed by a folding box that can be made of cardboard. The folding box has locking tabs on the outside for snapping the lid on Centrally cut from which are held in an outwardly pivoted pivoted position. A conventional lid made of PE, PP, PLA, another plastic or another material can be snapped to the central sections of the locking tabs, so that it is held captively on the folding box. When snapping, the snap elements on the inside of an outer collar of the lid slide past the outer edges of the central sections of the locking tabs and finally reach under the central sections. The escape of liquid from the folding box is prevented in that the side walls are connected in one piece to the bottom wall via the lower fold lines and are connected to one another in a sealing manner at the corners via the triangular flaps. In addition, the folding box is held in the erected position by the triangular flaps. At the top, the product or liquid can be prevented from escaping from the folding box and the ingress of contamination into the folding box by the lid being put on. The use of covers made of transparent material also allows the product to be seen from the outside. The folding box can advantageously be made from a one-piece blank made of cardboard. Another advantage is that the cardboard is easy to print on. Manufacturing can be done simply by printing sheets, punching and creasing blanks from the sheets, and erecting and gluing the blanks.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the end portions of the locking tabs have transition zones in which their height gradually increases from the height of the central portions to a maximum height of the end portions. This avoids tearing of the cardboard material when swinging out the central sections. According to another embodiment, the inclined fold lines are located inside the transition areas. According to a further embodiment, the end portions of the locking tabs in the transition areas have lower edges which are rectilinear and extend downwards with respect to the upper fold line and are inclined away from one another, and in the adjacent edge areas have lower edges which are parallel to the upper fold lines.

According to another embodiment, the upper folding lines are perforation lines and/or the inclined folding lines are creasing lines. Folding the locking tabs around the perforation lines creates a sufficiently straight edge at the top edge of the side panels for lid placement. The scoring lines are advantageous for swinging open the central sections without tearing them off the end sections. According to a further embodiment, the folding box is designed in such a way that the snap elements can be snapped onto the central sections when the lid with the lid base is placed on the upper edge of the folding box. As a result, the folding box can be closed particularly tightly. According to a further embodiment, the folding box is designed in such a way that a lid can be snapped on, which has a groove on the underside that runs around the lid base and is delimited on the outside by the outer collar. When the cover is snapped on, the side walls engage in the groove with their upper edge. In this case, the side walls are preferably pressed with their upper edge against the underside of the groove. By engaging or pressing the upper edge of the side walls into the groove, the folding box is closed particularly tightly. According to another embodiment, the side walls slope outwards. This enables the folding boxes to be stacked in a space-saving manner by plugging them into one another.

According to another embodiment, the bottom wall is square. This format is used particularly frequently in plastic designs, and plastic lids that can be placed on the folding box are readily available for this purpose.

According to another embodiment, the triangular flaps are folded against the outsides of the side walls. This enables a smooth interior of the folding box, which makes it easier to remove the product. In principle, however, it is also possible to fold the triangular flaps towards the inside of the side walls.

According to a further embodiment, the triangular tabs are glued to the side walls of the side walls and/or to the end sections of the locking tabs. As a result, the triangular tabs are secured in the raised position and/or the locking tabs are additionally fixed in the raised position by the triangular tabs.

According to a further embodiment, the side walls with the locking tabs are longer than the other side walls. This achieves a particularly good fixing and sealing of the lid on the folding box.

According to a further embodiment, the triangular flaps, which are connected to the side walls via outer fold lines, which are connected to the locking flaps via upper fold lines, have a lower height than the other triangular flaps and have the side walls, which are connected to the Locking tabs are connected, above the outer fold lines, via which they are connected to triangular tabs, side edges inclined upward towards one another. This favors the rounding of the upper edge of the folding box at the corners of the folding box. The rounded corners are advantageous for a tight fit of the lid on the folding box.

According to a further embodiment, fold lines inclined away from each other extend from a point of the outer fold line, which connects a triangular flap to a side wall that is not connected to a locking flap via an upper fold line, to the upper edge of the triangular flap and the side wall. This favors rounding of the upper edge of the folding box at the corners between the side walls.

According to a further embodiment, the fold lines arranged in the triangular flaps are congruent with the side edges of the side walls which are inclined toward one another and are connected to the locking flaps via upper fold lines. This is also advantageous for rounding off the upper edge of the folding box at the corners.

According to another embodiment, the folding box is made of cardboard, preferably cardboard that is impermeable or repellent to at least one of the following substances: water, oil, fat. For this purpose, the cardboard can have a hydrophobic, oil-repellent and/or grease-repellent impregnation or coating, in particular on the upper side. In particular, the cardboard can have a coating made from PLA, EVOH and/or from a biopolymer and/or from a renewable raw material and/or from a compostable raw material. According to a further embodiment, a lid made of plastic is placed on the folding box, which has snap-on elements on the inside of a circumferential outer collar, which are snapped onto the central sections of the locking tabs. For this purpose, the snap elements engage under the central sections of the locking tabs. According to a further embodiment, the lid sits with the lid base on the upper edge of the folding box and the snap elements are snapped onto the central sections of the locking tabs. According to a further embodiment, the lid base has a circumferential groove on the outer edge, which is bounded on the outside by the outer collar, the folding box engages with the upper edge in the groove and the snap elements are snapped with the central sections from the locking tabs.

Finally, the invention relates to a stack formed from a large number of nested folding boxes with outwardly inclined side walls.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying illustrations of an exemplary embodiment. The illustrations show:

1 shows a plan view of a blank of the folding box laid out flat;

Fig. 2 shows the blank when folding the locking tabs in one

perspective view obliquely from above and from the side;

3 shows the blank with folded and glued locking tabs in a perspective view obliquely from above and from the side;

4 erected folding box in a perspective view obliquely from above and from the side;

5 shows the folding box in a plan view;

6 shows the folding box with the lid snapped on in a perspective view obliquely from the front and from above. The information “below”, “above” and information derived from this, such as “below” and “above” refer to the erected folding box, the bottom wall of which is aligned horizontally and the side walls of which extend upwards away from the bottom wall.

According to FIG. 1, a blank 1 has a bottom wall 2 with a rectangular base area with long and short lateral edges. Side walls 3, 4, 5, 6 are connected to the side edges of the bottom wall 2 via lower fold lines 7, 8, 9, 10. The side walls 3, 5 connected to the long edges of the bottom wall 2 have a lower trapezoidal section 3.1, 5.1 below, which becomes wider towards the top. At the top you have an upper trapezoidal section 3.2, 5.2 that narrows towards the top.

The side walls 4, 6 connected to the narrower edges of the bottom wall 2 are trapezoidal, with their width increasing from bottom to top.

Between the adjacent side walls 3, 4, 5, 6 pairs 11, 12, 13, 14 of two triangular flaps 11.1, 11.2, 12.1, 12.2, 13.1, 13.2, 14.1, 14.2 are arranged, which have a central fold line 15.1, 16.1, 17.1, 18.1 are interconnected and each of which is connected via an outer fold line 15.2, 15.3, 16.2, 16.3,

17.2, 17.3, 18.2, 18.3 is connected to a lateral edge of one of the two adjacent side walls 3, 4, 5, 6. The triangular flaps 11.1, 12.1, 13.1, 14.1 connected to the wider side walls 3, 5 are over the outer fold lines

15.2, 16.2, 17.2, 18.2 only connect to the lower portions 3.1, 5.1 of the wider side walls 3, 5 and do not extend beyond. The wider side walls 3, 5 are connected at the upper edges via upper fold lines 19, 20 with locking tabs 21, 22. The locking tabs 21, 22 each have a strip-shaped central section from 23, 24 and end portions 25, 26, 27, 28 at both ends of the central portion 23, 24, the height of which exceeds the height of the central portion 23, 24. Each end section 25, 26, 27, 28 has, in a transition region 25.1, 26.1, 27.1, 28.1, an outwardly inclined lower edge in which its height gradually increases. Adjacent to this, each end section has an edge region 25.2, 26.2, 27.2, 28.2 with a lower edge parallel to the upper fold line 19, 20.

Each locking tab 21, 22 has fold lines 29.1, 29.2, 29.1, 29.2,

30.1, 30.2 on.

From one point each on the outer folding lines 15.3, 16.3, 17.3, 18.3, which the narrower side walls 4, 6 with the adjoining triangular flaps 11.2,

12.2, 13.2, 14.2, diverging inclined fold lines 31.1, 31.2,

32.1, 32.2, 33.1, 33.2, 34.1, 34.2, one of these folding lines 31.1, 32.1,

33.1, 34.1 to the upper edge of the adjacent triangular flap 11.2, 12.2, 13.2, 14.2 and the other of the two fold lines 31.2, 32.2, 33.2, 34.2 to the upper edge of the narrow side wall 4, 6.

The upper fold lines 19, 20, which connect the locking tabs 21, 22 to the wider side walls, are formed as perforation lines which are designed as broken slit lines. The remaining fold lines are designed as creasing lines. According to Fig. 2, when erecting the folding box, the locking tabs 21, 22 are first folded around the upper fold lines 19, 20 against the outer sides of the wider side walls 3, 5 and the end sections 25, 26, 27, 28 each have a glue point 35.1, 35.2, 36.1, 36.2 glued to the side walls 3, 5. Hot glue is used for this, for example.

According to FIG. 3, in a later processing step, the central sections 23, 24 of the locking tabs 21, 22 are pivoted slightly outwards. In the outwardly pivoted position, the central sections 23, 24 are held in place at the end sections 25, 26, 27, 28 via the inclined fold lines 29.1, 29.2, 30.1, 30.2.

To erect the folding box completely, the wider side walls 3, 5 are folded up, the less high triangular flaps 11.1, 12.1, 13.1, 14.1 being folded around the central fold lines 13.1, 16.1, 17.1, 18.1 against the higher triangular flaps 11.2, 12.2, 13.2, 14.2, the narrower side walls 4, 6 are folded up and the pairs 11, 12, 13, 14 of triangular flaps folded against one another are folded against the outer sides of the wider side walls 3, 5 and glued to these and/or the end sections 25, 26, 27, 28. This gluing can also take place via one or more glue points, for which hot glue can also be used.

The central sections 23, 24 from the locking tabs 21, 22 can also be pivoted outwards during or after the side walls 3, 4, 5, 6 are erected and the triangular tabs 11.1, 11.2, 12.1, 12.2, 13.1, 13.2, 14.1, 14.2 are folded will. The fully erected carton 37 is shown in Figs. The upper edge 38 of the folding box 37 has rounded corners 39, 40, 41, 42. According to FIG. 6, a cover 43 is snapped onto the folding box 37. FIG. The cover 43 has a cover base 44 which has a circumferential groove 45 on the outer edge on the underside. In the region of the circumferential groove 45, the cover base 44 is arched upwards and the outer edge of the circumferential groove 45 is formed by a circumferential outer collar 46 projecting downwards. The outer collar 46 has snapping elements 47 projecting on the inside, which are formed by a plurality of vertical ribs which end at a distance from the base 48 of the circumferential groove 45 . The lid 43 sits with the base 48 of the circumferential groove 45 on the upper edge 38 of the folding box 37 and the snap elements 47 in the central areas on the longer edges of the lid 38 are snapped to the central sections 23, 24. The folding box 37 closed in this way by the lid 38 is largely sealed and can be opened in a targeted manner by pressing the outer collar 46 upwards.

reference list

cutting

bottom panel, 4, 5, 6 side panels .1, 5.2 lower trapezoidal section.2, 5.2 upper trapezoidal section, 8, 9, 10 lower fold line 1, 12, 13, 14 pairs 1.1, 11.2, 12.1, 12.2, 13.1 , 13.2, 14.1, 14.2 triangle flaps 5.1, 16.1, 17.1, 18.2 middle fold line 5.2, 15.3, 16.2, 16.3, 17.2, 17.3, 18.2, 18.3 outer fold line 9, 20 upper fold line 1, 22 locking flap 3, 5, 2 central section 6, 5 27, 28 end section 5.1, 26.1, 27.1, 28.1 transition area 5.2, 26.2, 27.2, 28.2 edge area 9.1, 29.2, 30.1, 30.2 fold line 1.1, 31.2, 32.1, 32.2, 33.1, 33.2, 34.1,3 fold line 36.2 glue point 7 folding box 8 upper edge 9, 40, 41, 42 rounding 3 lid 4 lid base 5 groove 6 outer collar snap element

reason

Claims

Expectations:

1. Folding box for closing with a lid, comprising:

• a bottom wall with a polygonal base,

• Pairs of two triangular flaps joined together by a central fold line and each of which is joined by an outer fold line to a lateral edge of one of the two adjacent side panels, the triangular flaps about the central fold line towards each other and against one of the two adjacent side panels are folded, and

• Locking tabs, which are connected via upper fold lines to the upper edges of two opposite side walls, each have a strip-shaped central section and end sections glued to the outer sides of the side walls on both sides of the central section with an increased height compared to the central section and extending upwards from the ends of the central section and have fold lines inclined away from one another, the central sections being pivoted about the upper fold lines into a pivoted position outwards relative to the side walls and held in place by the inclined fold lines at the end sections, whereby a lid with an outer collar running around the bottom of the lid can be placed on the upper edge of the side walls and with snap elements on the inside of the outer collar with the central sections can be snapped. Folding box according to Claim 1, in which the end portions of the locking tabs have transition areas in which their height gradually increases from the height of the central portions up to a maximum height of the end portions. Folding box according to Claim 1 or 2, in which the end portions of the locking tabs in the transition regions have lower edges which are rectilinear and extend downwards with respect to the upper fold line and are inclined away from one another, and in the adjacent edge regions have lower edges which are parallel to the upper fold lines. Folding box according to one of Claims 1 to 3, in which the upper folding lines are perforation lines and/or in which the inclined folding lines are creasing lines. Folding box according to one of Claims 1 to 4, in which the side walls are inclined outwards. Folding box according to one of Claims 1 to 5, in which the bottom wall is square. Folding box according to one of Claims 1 to 6, in which the side walls with the locking tabs are longer than the other side walls. Folding box according to one of Claims 1 to 7, in which the triangular flaps are folded against the outsides of side walls and/or in which the triangular flaps are glued to the side walls and/or to the end sections of the locking flaps. - 16 - Folding box according to one of claims 1 to 8, in which the triangular flaps, which are connected to the side walls via outer fold lines, which are connected to the locking flaps via upper fold lines, have a lower height than the other triangular flaps, and in which the Side walls connected to the locking tabs by upper fold lines have side edges sloping upwards towards each other above the outer fold line by which they are connected to triangular tabs. Folding box according to one of Claims 1 to 9, in which, starting from a point on the outer fold line which connects a triangular flap to a side wall which is not connected to a locking flap via an upper fold line, fold lines which are inclined away from one another up to the upper edge of the triangular flap and the side wall are extended. Folding box according to Claims 9 and 10, in which the folding lines arranged in the triangular flaps are congruent with the side edges of the side walls which are inclined towards one another and are connected to locking flaps via upper folding lines. Folding box according to one of Claims 1 to 11, which is made from cardboard, preferably from cardboard which is impermeable or repellent to at least one of the following substances: water, oil, fat. Folding box according to one of Claims 1 to 12, on which a lid made of plastic is placed, which has snap elements on the inside of a peripheral outer collar which are snapped onto the outer edges of the central sections. - 17 - Folding box according to claim 13, which engages with the upper edge in a circumferential groove on the outer edge of the lid base, the snap elements being snapped onto the central sections of the locking tabs. Stack formed from a large number of nested folding boxes according to one of Claims 5 to 12.