ES1269169U - Tray for the packaging of fruit and vegetable products and similar (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding) - Google Patents

Abstract

Tray for the packaging of horticultural and similar products, which is constituted from the development of a cardboard sheet, die-cut with cutting and folding lines, establishing in said development a central and rectangular sector in function of the bottom (1), that presents four chamfers (2) alternated with its four sides, forming an octagonal outline, characterized in that - From the larger sides (3) of the bottom two larger side walls (5) with an inverted trapezoidal configuration emerge by means of folding lines, which are prolonged by means of the corresponding fold lines in flaps (10), which in the reinforcement form a wing or horizontal cantilever. - Two smaller side walls (6) of inverted trapezoidal configuration emerge from the lower sides (4) of the bottom by means of folding lines, which are extended by means of the corresponding fold lines in flaps (11), which in the assembly form a wing or horizontal cantilever. - Four rectangular walls (7) emerge from the bottom chamfers (2) by folding lines, which are extended by means of the corresponding flap folding lines (12), which in the reinforcement form a horizontal wing or cantilever. and because both the flaps (10) and the flaps (11) extend laterally in sectors (13) that overlap the flaps (12) of the rectangular walls (7) and are fixed to them by adhesive, forming in the the flaps (10-11-12) are armed with a perimeter and horizontal wing or cantilever for fixing by heat sealing a plastic sheet to close the container. (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding)

Description

DESCRIPTION

Tray for the packaging of fruit and vegetable products and similar

TECHNICAL SECTOR

The present invention refers to a container for fruit and vegetable products, as a tray for packaging, transporting and marketing products such as fruits and vegetables, without ruling out other types of products.

The object of the invention is to provide the market and the general public with a packaging means that replaces the classic plastic trays.

The container of the invention is obtained in corrugated cardboard, and is only closed on the top by heat sealing a plastic sheet, thus minimizing the use of this type of polluting products.

It is also the object of the invention to provide a cardboard container whose assembly is as simple as possible, reducing the gluing areas for it, which results in easier manufacture and therefore reduction of costs in its production.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the packaging, transport and marketing of fruit and vegetable products, the use of containers or trays obtained in plastic by molding is common. Undoubtedly, this material has the advantages of a reduced cost while making it possible for the consumer to view the contents of the container. Now, plastic is a material that, as is known, is an important ecological problem, due to the large number of years it takes for its degradation and decomposition. There is therefore a growing need to find alternatives to this type of packaging.

On the other hand, the products contained in this type of tray may deteriorate or be damaged due to the flexibility of the plastic, unless it has a substantial wall thickness, which represents an extra supply of material that is clearly undesirable. That is, the drumsticks or containers traditionally used must guarantee a minimum of resistance. structural that can only be achieved by using significant amounts of plastic.

Another drawback is that this type of trays or plastic containers do not allow the direct stamping on them of the trademarks or product specifications they contain, so it is necessary to resort to these effects, to adhesive labels or strips also of other materials adding difficulty when it comes to recycling.

Thus, both consumers and producers are becoming more aware of the negative impact of plastic on the environment.

Trying to avoid this problem, the applicant himself is the owner of the utility model U201931427, which describes a container for fruit and vegetable products that is constituted from the development of a cardboard sheet, die-cut with cut and fold lines, establishing itself in said development a central and rectangular sector in function of the bottom, which presents four chamfers alternated with its four sides, forming an octagonal outline, so that from the longer sides of the bottom two larger side walls emerge through folding lines from whose two sides emerge respective inverted trapezoidal sectors that make up the walls corresponding to the chamfers, which in turn are finished off in respective flanges that are fixed by gluing to the smaller side walls through folding lines.

At the same time, two smaller side walls emerge from the lower sides of the bottom by folding lines, while the larger side walls and the smaller side walls are extended in flaps, which in the reinforcement form a perimeter and horizontal wing or cantilever for fixing by heat sealing. of a plastic sheet to close the container.

Although this container satisfactorily fulfills the function for which it has been designed, offering a cardboard container that is easier to recycle, making it an ecological material, smaller and lighter, making it a practical material to transport, it presents in practice a problem related to the multitude of gluing points that are necessary for their assembly, which has an impact on manufacturing costs.

EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION

The packaging for horticultural products that is advocated fully satisfactorily solves the aforementioned problems, based on a simple but effective solution.

For this, the container of the invention is materialized in cardboard, determining in its assembly a tray provided with wings or perimeter cantilever in its upper part that enables it to be closed by means of a heat-sealed plastic film.

In this way, a box with closure is achieved that is perfectly attached to the box and therefore effectively protecting the product contained in it, seeing said product through the transparent plastic film and thus achieving a box that combines the properties of printing and recycling, typical of cardboard, with the advantages of visibility and good protection provided by the plastic closure.

More specifically, the container of the invention is constituted from the development of a cardboard sheet, die-cut and with cut and fold lines, to allow an easy assembly and obtain a container with an octagonal contour, thereby achieving better functionality in the automated filling lines. As is well known, rectangular containers make it difficult to move by means of conveyor belts in automated filling or packaging facilities. Today the packaging processes of horticultural products are increasingly automated, working on high-speed production lines with the aim of optimizing performance rates, eliminating human errors and reducing costs. In this type of installation, containers with curved or chamfered corners (as is the case with the octagonal box object of the invention) present important technical advantages for handling and storage.

The development of the cardboard sheet presents a central sector that functions as the bottom of the container, rectangular in shape, with chamfered corners.

Both the longer sides and the chamfers derive extensions that are to form the side walls of the container, which in turn are extended into flaps that, during the assembly of the box, fold outwards adopting a horizontal arrangement, which determine a Perimeter wing as a cantilever for the container mouth, on which the container closing foil is adhered by heat sealing, in such a way that these flaps extend around the entire perimeter of the container mouth, partially overlapping each other by means of lateral extensions that emerge from both the flaps of the major and minor faces, determining areas of overlap with the flaps of the walls associated with the chamfers, areas in which they are fixed by adhesive, being able to be fixed indistinctly on the upper face or bottom of said flaps.

Regarding the configuration of the side walls, the major and minor side walls will have a slightly trapezoidal configuration, in order to give the package as a whole a stackable and slightly divergent character towards its upper mouth, while the walls that emerge from the Chamfers shall have a rectangular configuration. This slightly trapezoidal shape also fulfills the function of not modifying the structure of the currently existing plastic trays, making it fully versatile with them and favoring a progressive transition from plastic to cardboard.

From this structuring it is possible to reduce the number of gluing zones by at least four zones.

It should also be noted that the design of the heat sealing flaps is such that they can be assembled and glued in a single machine step.

Another advantageous feature is the fact that the tub offers high structural strength, as well as easy assembly and gluing.

Another advantage of the container of the invention is that, being octagonal in shape, there are no sharp edges liable to be struck and its advantageous movement in automated high-speed packaging lines.

Regarding the material in which the container is obtained, it can be corrugated cardboard (micro, mini-micro) and compact cardboard, being able to present a multilayer structure in which it is combined with technical papers with anti-humidity treatments or without them.

Although the packaging of the invention is preferably and primarily intended for the packaging, transport and marketing of fruit and vegetable products, it is equally applicable to other food products.

It only remains to point out finally that, although in the simplest version of the packaging of the invention the edges or lateral edges of the eight walls that emerge from the base of the container are not linked to each other, to simplify the assembly of the box, it is not ruled out that between these elements fixing tabs are alternately established, either emerging from the sides of the main walls, or of the walls associated with the chamfers, in order to increase the rigidity of the container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To complement the description that is going to be made below and with the aim of helping a better understanding of the characteristics of the invention, according to a preferred example of a practical embodiment thereof, a set of drawings is attached as an integral part of said description. where, with an illustrative and non-limiting nature, the following has been represented:

Figure 1.- Shows the development in plan of a tray for the packaging of fruit and vegetable products and the like, an octagonal tray provided with flaps to heat seal the corresponding upper cover, all of this made in accordance with the object of the present invention.

Figure 2.- Shows a perspective view of the properly assembled container.

Figure 3.- Shows a view similar to that of figure 1, but corresponding to a variant embodiment in which the container is reinforced by the inclusion of fixing tabs emerging from the sides of the walls associated with the chamfers.

Figure 4.- Finally, shows a view similar to that of figure 1, but corresponding to a variant embodiment in which the container is reinforced by the inclusion of fixing tabs emerging from the sides of the main walls.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

In view of the outlined figures, it can be seen how the packaging for fruit and vegetable products is obtained from the development of a cardboard sheet, die-cut with cut and fold lines to allow its assembly, establishing itself in said development a central and rectangular sector serving as the bottom (1), which has four chamfers (2) alternated with its four sides, forming an octagonal outline.

The bottom (1) has two major sides (3) and two minor sides (4), from which the major (5) and minor (6) side walls of the container emerge respectively, with an inverted trapezoidal configuration, while the chamfers (2) rectangular walls emerge (7).

The major side walls (5), the minor side walls (6) as well as the rectangular walls (7) associated with the chamfers (2) are extended by means of the corresponding weakened folding lines (marked in the figure with a differentiated line) in flaps (10-11-12) respectively, which in the assembly form a perimeter and horizontal wing or cantilever for fixing by heat sealing a plastic sheet that will close the container with the products in it.

Both the flaps (10) and the flaps (11) extend laterally in sectors (13) that overlap the flaps (12) of the rectangular walls (7), so that said superposition can be done superiorly, as shown in Figure 2, or below, determining the gluing and consequent assembly areas of the box.

In this way, only four adhesive application zones are needed to be able to assemble the box quickly and fully automated. These four areas correspond to the flaps (12), upper or lower depending on the embodiment.

The size of the flaps will be the minimum necessary for an automated assembly with machinery to be possible, so that the plastic film can be added later by heat sealing.

However, and as shown in Figures 3 and 4, optionally, and if greater rigidity performance is required for the container, the edges or lateral edges of the eight walls that emerge from the base can be linked together by means of flanges. fixation (14-14 '). These fixing tabs can be configured as a lateral extension on both sides of the main walls, that is, fixing tabs (14 ') as represented in Figure 4 that emerge from the sides of the larger side walls (5). and minors (6). During the assembly of the tray, these fixing tabs (14 ') will be fixed on the rectangular walls (7) associated with the chamfers (2), reinforcing said walls.

In another alternative, they can be configured as fixing flanges (14) that emerge from the sides of the rectangular walls (7) associated with the chamfers (2). In this case, when the tray is assembled, these fixing tabs (14) will be fixed on the larger (5) and smaller (6) side walls.

In this way, an extremely resistant tray is obtained in its assembly, ecological and economical in its production.

Claims (8)

1 Tray for the packaging of horticultural and similar products, which is constituted from the development of a cardboard sheet, die-cut with cutting and folding lines, establishing in said development a central and rectangular sector as the bottom (1), which It has four chamfers (2) alternated with its four sides, forming an octagonal outline, characterized in that • Two larger side walls (5) with an inverted trapezoidal configuration emerge from the longer sides (3) of the bottom by means of folding lines, which are extended by means of the corresponding fold lines in flaps (10), which in the reinforcement form a wing or horizontal cantilever. • From the smaller sides (4) of the bottom two smaller side walls (6) with an inverted trapezoidal configuration emerge through folding lines, which are prolonged by means of the corresponding fold lines in flaps (11), which in the reinforcement form a wing or horizontal cantilever. • Four rectangular walls (7) emerge from the bottom chamfers (2) through folding lines, which are extended by means of the corresponding flap folding lines (12), which in the reinforcement form a horizontal wing or cantilever. and because both the flaps (10) and the flaps (11) extend laterally in sectors (13) that overlap the flaps (12) of the rectangular walls (7) and are fixed to them by means of adhesive, forming in the the flaps (10-11-12) are armed with a perimeter and horizontal wing or cantilever for fixing by heat sealing a plastic sheet to close the container. 2. - Tray for the packaging of fruit and vegetable products and the like, according to claim 1, characterized in that the sectors (13) are superimposed on the flaps (12). 3. - Tray for packaging horticultural and similar products, according to claim 1, characterized in that the sectors (13) overlap the flaps (12) below. 4. Tray for the packaging of fruit and vegetable products and the like, according to claim 1, characterized in that it is obtained in corrugated cardboard (micro, mini-micro) and / or compact cardboard. 5. Tray for the packaging of fruit and vegetable products and the like, according to claim 4, characterized in that it has a multilayer structure in which the cardboard is combined with technical papers, with or without anti-humidity treatments. 6. - Tray for the packaging of horticultural and similar products, according to claim 1, characterized in that the edges or lateral edges of the rectangular walls (7) are linked to the major (5) and minor (6) side walls by means of tabs. fixing (14) emerging from said rectangular walls (7). 7. - Tray for the packaging of fruit and vegetable products and the like, according to claim 1, characterized in that the edges or lateral edges of the rectangular walls (7) are linked to the larger (5) and smaller (6) side walls by means of tabs. fixing (14 ') emerging from said larger (5) and smaller (6) side walls. 8. - Tray for the packaging of horticultural and similar products, according to claims 6 or 7, characterized in that the link between the rectangular walls (7) and the larger side walls (5) and / or smaller (6) by means of the tabs fixing (14 or 14 ") is done by gluing.