FR2648440A1 - Package of the sleeve type for grouping a set of objects such as necked bottles, comprising wedging means - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a package for grouping a plurality of objects B such as necked bottles disposed in at least two rows, touching each other over only a part of their height and defining in their upper region, between the two rows, a free space, of the type comprising a sleeve 100 surrounding the objects and comprising a top panel 130, a bottom panel 140 and two side panels 110, 120. It is characterised in that it furthermore comprises a part forming a strut 200 comprising: - at least one panel bearing against the upper surface of at least part of the objects; - a panel forming a strut, essentially horizontal and disposed closely between the upper regions of the objects of two adjacent rows, and - means of holding the said panel forming a strut at a pre-determined distance below the bearing surface.

Description

 The present invention relates generally to overpacks for grouping a set of objects such as bottles, and more specifically relates to improving the performance of this overpack temple.

 Such an overpack is conventionally produced by folding a cardboard or similar blank around the previously grouped objects, so as to form a sheath comprising an upper face, a lower face and two lateral faces.

 However, such a known overpack has a certain number of drawbacks, in particular when it is used for bottles with a neck.

 More precisely, and with reference now to FIG. 1 of the drawings which is a schematic cross-sectional view of a group of overwrapped bottles according to the prior art, such a group of bottles B is frequently grasped by the consumer from above, the fingers of his hand M being apart and exerting a gripping pressure on the region of the necks of the bottles.

 As a result, a relatively large force F is exerted on the necks C of the bottles, tending to bring them closer.

 Because the bottles are in mutual contact at the base of their necks (point P), this force F results in the appearance of a force F 'exerted by the base of the bottles on the sheath 100 and directed towards outside.

 These forces F ′ risk tearing the cardboard from the sheath in this region, and this risk is all the greater since the fold lines conventionally provided at the base of the sheath constitute as many points of weakness of the latter.

 The present invention aims to overcome these drawbacks of the prior art and to propose a packaging for group of objects, such as an overpack for bottles, in which this risk is eliminated in a simple manner, without it oit necessary to strengthen the sheath in the region of its base.

To this end, the present invention relates to a package for grouping a plurality of objects arranged in at least two rows, joined over only part of their height and defining in their upper region, between the two rows, a free space, of the type comprising a sheath enveloping the objects and comprising a top wall, a bottom wall and two side walls, characterized in that it further comprises a prop forming part comprising
- a bearing wall against the upper surface of at least part of the objects,
a wall forming a forestay, essentially horizontal and disposed closely between the upper regions of the objects of two adjacent rows, and
- Means for maintaining said wall forming forestay at a determined distance below the bearing surface.

Preferred but optional aspects of the packaging according to the invention are as follows
the forestay piece comprises two support walls located on either side of the forestay wall, arranged centrally.

 the holding means comprise vertical walls connected to the support walls and to the forestay wall by fold lines.

 the fold lines are alternately offset in a direction transverse to the direction of the rows and joined at the offsets by cut lines in this same direction, so as to define at the level of said vertical walls slots in which the regions engage objects.

 said prop forming part is either independent of the sheath, in which case its bearing walls are sandwiched between said top wall of the sheath and the upper surface of the objects, or is part of the sheath and constitutes its top wall, or again. is part of the catch; while the top wall and the forestay piece are respectively attached to the two side walls of the sheath and the sheath is closed by fixing said forestay piece below said top wall.

 * in the case where the forestay piece is made of cardboard, the general direction of the fibers is preferably chosen substantially perpendicular to the direction of the rows of objects.

 * the forestay wall comprises in at least one region a set of reinforcing grooves extending substantially perpendicular to the direction of the rows of objects.

Other aspects, aims and advantages of the present invention will appear better on reading the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, given by way of nonlimiting example and made with reference to the appended drawing, in which, in addition to Figure 1 described above
FIG. 2 is a plan view of a blank used to produce part of an overpack according to the invention,
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a group of bottles during a first step of placing an overwrap,
FIG. 4 is a similar perspective view, the overwrap being completed, and
Figure 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of the invention.

 With reference to the drawings, an overpack in accordance with the present invention, intended in this example to group six bottles B each having a neck C and closed at their upper end by a closure cap BF, comprises a sheath 100 which envelops the bottles to handle to keep them grouped and a forestay piece 200 which is enclosed by the sheath 100 and cooperates with the upper region of the bottles as will be seen below.

 The sheath mainly comprises two lateral faces 110, 120, a top face 130 and a bottom face 140.

 The side faces are each divided into three parts, namely a central part 110a, 120a substantially vertical which marries the side of the adjacent bottles, a reclining inclined upper part llOb, 120b which approximates the shape of the neck C of each bottle, and a inclined lower part also reentrant llOc, 120c, forming a transition with the bottom wall 140 and having openings O in which the bases of the bottles engage laterally to be immobilized.

 At the upper end of the side parts 110b, 120b are provided openings O 'in which project laterally the upper ends of the necks of the bottles, thereby immobilizing them.

 The top face 130 is applied against the top of the bottle caps and traps the forestay piece 200 which will be described below.

 Finally, the bottom face 140, in a manner not illustrated for the sake of simplification, is separated into two parts which are assembled by conventional mechanical locking means or by gluing, to close the blank on itself after shaping. scabbard.

 The various parts of the sheath are all separated from each other by LP fold lines which are substantially horizontal and parallel to each other.

 The imprisonment of the upper and lower parts of the bottles in the openings O 'O, together with the clamping performed during the closure of the sheath ensures stable and secure maintenance of the bottles in their grouped state.

 In accordance with the present invention, such a conventional sheath is supplemented by the part 200 forming a forestay, the main role of which is to avoid, when the pack is grasped as described above with reference to FIG. 1, that excessive force to the base of the bottles does not come to risk tearing the sheath.

 More specifically, the object of this part 200 is itself to provide the reaction necessary for the forces F described with reference to FIG. 1, by preventing this reaction force from having to be provided by the base of the sheath with the risk of tearing that that involves.

 The part 200, shown in detail in FIGS. 2 and 3, essentially comprises a central part 203 and two lateral parts 201 and 202 offset in height relative to the central part.

 The lateral parts 201 and 202 are able to bear by their underside on the top of the bottles, while the central part 203 serves as a forestay or spacer between the necks of the containers of a row and those of the containers of the opposite row.

 The lateral parts and the central part are joined together by substantially vertical parts of the same height, detailed below, which are judiciously offset with respect to each other in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction of the package (direction of the rows bottles) so as to block the part 200 longitudinally.

 More precisely, fold lines 215 and 216 of general longitudinal orientation comprise parts, respectively 215a, 215b and 216a, 216b which are offset laterally to define, in line with the walls 208 to 213, re-entrant slots whose positions correspond to those of the necks of the bottles, these slots being separated by walls 204 to 207. For this purpose, cutting lines 214 of transverse orientation connect four by four the ends opposite the folding lines 215a, 216a, 215b, 216b at the level of the offsets, so as to allow the part to be shaped as illustrated in FIG. 3 by folding around 900 along lines 215 and 216.

 The fold lines 215, 216 can be produced by successive perforations, by creasing, etc.

 Each slot 208 to 213, by accommodating a respective neck, prevents the part 200 from sliding towards the outside of the packaging via one of the open end faces of the latter. In addition, the transverse distance d (FIG. 2) between the fold lines 216a situated on each side is chosen to be substantially equal to the internal distance between the necks when the bottles are grouped, so that the part 200 effectively makes it possible to avoid that the necks cannot come close to each other when a force, for example the gripping force illustrated in FIG. 1, is applied. More specifically, the forces F as described above with reference to FIG. 1 are here counterbalanced by the part 203, forming wedge or forestay, of the part 200, thus advantageously avoiding that this role is assigned to the base regions of the sheath 100.

 To give the part 200 the greatest possible rigidity in the transverse direction, which is that in which the most troublesome efforts are likely to be exerted, it is preferable to use for this part a cardboard whose fiber direction is itself transverse, that is to say horizontal in FIG. 2. Furthermore, in order to minimize the thickness of cardboard required, it is possible to provide in at least one region of the central part 203 of transverse creasing lines which give it even more rigidity in this direction.

 Thus, FIG. 2 shows grooved lines 217 in the end regions of the central part 203.

 The overpack in accordance with the present invention is produced by first grouping the bottles in an appropriate manner, then by folding the piece 200 along lines 215 and 216 to give it the required gutter shape and placing it on top of the group. of bottles so that its lateral parts 201 and 202 are pressed against the top of the caps BF, that the necks penetrate into the above-defined slots and that as a corollary the central part 203 engages closely between the upper regions of said necks (Figure 3).

 Then, the blank 100 is put in place in the conventional manner, by folding it around the group of bottles, immobilizing the latter and the part 200, and ensuring closing, for example at the bottom face.

 Of course, the part 200 can take any other form without departing from the scope of the invention, the main thing being that it includes means extending between the necks to prevent them from coming closer.

 In addition, although a part 200 distinct from the overpack 100 has been described above, it is understood that these two elements can be combined in a single blank.

 For example, the top part 130 of the sleeve of FIG. 4 could be eliminated and replaced by the part 200, then abutted with the side parts 110 and 120.

 Another solution, advantageous when the sheath is closed on itself at the level of the top face, is illustrated in FIG. 5. In this figure, elements or parts identical or similar to those of the preceding figures are designated by the same numbers reference.

 In this variant, the blank comprises. in addition to the bottom face 140 and the lateral faces 110, 120, a flat top face 130 abutted to one of the lateral faces and a stay forming part 200 abutted to the other lateral face and which therefore here forms part of the blank. In this case, the single blank is closed on itself, for example using a bonding between the lower surface of the part 130 and the upper surface of the lateral parts 201, 202 of the part 200.

 Finally, the invention applies in general to the grouping of completely arbitrary objects, having non-planar lateral faces and capable of generating in a region of the sheath significant forces towards the outside when they are subjected to usual stresses such as a gripping effort.

 Of course, the present invention is in no way limited to the embodiment described above and shown in the drawings. but those skilled in the art will be able to make any other variant or modification in accordance with his spirit.

Claims (9)

 1. Packaging for grouping a plurality of objects (B) such as bottles arranged in at least two rows, joined over only part of their height and defining in their upper region, between the two rows, a free space, type comprising a sheath (100) enveloping the objects and comprising a top wall (130), a bottom wall (140) and two side walls (110,120), characterized in that it further comprises a prop forming part (200 ) including  - at least one bearing wall (201,202) against the upper surface of at least part of the objects1  a wall forming a forestay (203), essentially horizontal and arranged closely between the upper regions of the objects of two adjacent rows, and  - Means (204-213) for maintaining said wall forming forestay at a determined distance below the bearing surface.  2. Packaging according to claim 1, characterized in that the prop forming part comprises two support walls (201,202) located on either side of the prop forming wall (203), centrally disposed.  3. Packaging according to claim 2, characterized in that the holding means comprise vertical walls (204-213) connected to the support walls and to the forestay wall by fold lines (215,216).  4. Packaging according to claim 3, characterized in that the fold lines (215a, 215b, 216a, 216b) are alternately offset in a transverse direction, ale to the direction of the rows and joined at the offsets by cutting lines (214) in this same direction, so as to define, at the level of the said vertical walls, slots in which the upper regions of the objects engage.  5. Packaging according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said piece (200) forming forestay is independent of the sheath and in that its bearing walls (201,202) are sandwiched between said top wall ( 130) of the sheath and the upper surface of the objects.  6. Packaging according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said stay forming part is part of the sheath and constitutes its top wall.  7. Packaging according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said stay forming part is part of the sheath1 in that the top wall and the stay forming part are respectively attached to the two side walls of the sheath and in that the sheath is closed by fixing said piece forming forestay below said top wall.  8. Packaging according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the prop forming part (200) is made of a cardboard whose general direction of the fibers is substantially perpendicular to the direction of the rows of objects.  9. Packaging according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the forestay wall comprises in at least one region a set of grooved lines (217) of reinforcement extending substantially perpendicular to the direction of the rows of objects.