FR3063071A1 - PACKAGING, INCLUDING A CONTAINER WITH CARDBOARD WALLS AND A PLASTIC COVER COUPLED ON THE CONTAINER - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a packaging, comprising: - a carton (1) comprising a bottom (10) and at least one side wall (11) extending from the bottom, the side wall (s) (11) having at least two slots (110) arranged substantially opposite one another; - a plastic cover (2) for closing the opening, and having a peripheral flange (20) having at least two tabs (200), each tab being complementary to one of the slots, and the tabs are dimensioned to cause elastic deformation of the container and / or the lid when placing the cover in the cavity until reaching the slots through which the tabs are intended to be inserted.

Description

The field of the invention is that of the design and manufacture of packaging. More specifically, the invention relates to a packaging comprising a container intended to contain fresh food products (salads, pastries ...) or market garden products (berries, vegetables ...), and a lid intended to close the container. .

In the field of packaging, and more precisely the packaging of market garden products, packaging is known which includes containers taking in particular the form of trays.

These containers have a bottom and at least one side wall that extends from the bottom. Vegetable products are placed inside these containers.

Such containers can be, among others, plastic or cardboard. To facilitate transport and to protect the transported products, the containers are generally closed either by a film or by a lid.

In the context of plastic containers, lids compatible with these containers, also made of plastic, are produced.

According to an example of implementation of these plastic covers, the containers have on the upper part of the side wall of a flange designed to be assembled with the own flange of the plastic cover.

More specifically, the rim located on the containers has a shape complementary to the peripheral rim of the cover. This complementarity allows the peripheral rim of the lid to be fixed onto the rim of the container, to couple the lid in position on the container.

Using plastic offers advantages:

- possibility of having a transparent plastic allowing the product sold to be exposed to consumers;

- ease of making complex shapes

However, plastic has the disadvantage of causing additional design and tooling costs, and of not being easily biodegradable.

Indeed, in the case of cardboard containers, a lower design and tooling cost can be observed. In addition, cardboard is part of a sustainable development approach thanks to its recycling capacity.

Cardboard is also a material which is particularly compatible with market garden products and fresh food products.

Such cardboard material can also give a more qualitative image to the product compared to plastic, and offer a communication medium thanks to its ability to be printed.

To close such cardboard containers, the prior art conventionally proposes the use of plastic films intended to wrap the container.

Consequently, cardboard containers do not have a lid capable of being fixed, such as those described above for plastic containers.

We also find packaging using plastic lids positioned on cardboard containers. The lid is then held in place using a paper ring that is tightened around the container and the lid. This type of packaging has the disadvantage of requiring the use of a third element to hold the cover in position.

The object of the invention is in particular to overcome these drawbacks of the prior art.

More specifically, the invention aims to propose a solution reconciling the advantages of cardboard packaging and the advantages of plastic packaging.

These objectives, as well as others which will appear subsequently, are achieved by the invention which relates to packaging, comprising:

- a container comprising a bottom and at least one side wall extending from the bottom, the bottom and the side wall (s) forming a cavity having an opening;

- a plastic cover intended to close the opening, and having a peripheral rim, characterized in that:

- The side wall (s) are made of cardboard and have at least two slots arranged essentially opposite one another;

- The peripheral rim of the cover has at least two tabs, each tab being complementary to one of the slots, and in that the tabs are dimensioned to cause elastic deformation of the container and / or of the cover when the cover in the cavity until reaching the slots through which the tabs are intended to be inserted.

Thanks to the invention, the packaging comprises a container completely or partially made of cardboard.

Preferably, the container is entirely made of cardboard.

Such a container is economical to produce or purchase, and the carton is particularly suitable for fresh products or market garden products such as berries. In addition and as mentioned above, the cardboard container allows the packaging to benefit from a qualitative aspect and to form a communication medium that is simple to implement (printing on cardboard).

The packaging also includes a plastic cover which provides the advantageous characteristics of this type of cover.

Thanks to the invention, conventional plastic covers can be used.

More specifically, plastic covers intended for plastic containers can be advantageously reused as part of the packaging according to the invention. In fact, the conventionally used plastic covers have peripheral edges, the structure of which can be diverted to form the tongues necessary for packaging according to the invention.

Preferably, the cover is made of transparent plastic.

According to a preferred characteristic, the cavity is flared.

Thanks to such a flared cavity, the insertion of the lid into the container is facilitated. Indeed, this flared shape makes it possible to guide the insertion of the cover into the cavity, the container and / or the cover being deformed elastically during this insertion.

According to a preferred embodiment, the cover has a polygon shape.

Thanks to such a shape, the cover has a peripheral border having corners and straight sides which can be used to form the tongues.

Preferably, the polygon shape corresponds to a simple convex polygon.

According to an advantageous characteristic, the cover has a rectangular shape.

Such a rectangular cover, of conventional design, is economical to produce or procure.

Preferably, the tabs are located at the corners of the cover.

The tabs located at the corners of the lid allow to optimize the coupling in position of the lid on the container.

More precisely and according to an example of application, the peripheral rim of a rectangular-shaped cover may have, at the corners of the cover, rounded or protuberances. These rounded or protuberances can then cleverly form the tongues.

According to a preferred embodiment:

- The peripheral edge of the cover defines a perimeter P;

- the opening, and the side wall (s) have:

- a general shape corresponding essentially to the perimeter P;

- beveled corners, and the beveled corners of the side wall or walls have the slots.

According to this design, the container has a shape particularly suitable for receiving a cover having a simple convex polygon shape, and in particular a cover of rectangular shape, with tongues located at the corners of the cover.

Indeed, thanks to the presence of the slots on the side walls forming the bevels, the tabs are then easily inserted inside the slots to couple the cover in position.

According to a preferred embodiment, the side wall or walls have four slots, and the peripheral flange has four tabs complementary to the slots.

According to this embodiment, when the cover closes the opening and the tabs are inserted into the slots, the cover has a stability and a particularly stable anchoring.

According to an advantageous characteristic, the cover has a domed shape, the cover being able to be invertedly coupled to the container to form a container.

According to this characteristic of the packaging according to the invention, the container and the lid have a storage and transport function which can be diverted, and more specifically by forming a plastic container coupled inside a cardboard container, to a preset height.

According to an example application, the container and the lid can be used to form a plant pot holder system.

In this example, the lid is previously invertedly coupled inside the container. Then, the plant and its pot are inserted inside the container and are brought to rest on the container lid. When watering the plant, the cover retains excess water and prevents it from flowing onto the container and degrading the carton.

According to a preferred design, the container is formed from a single cutout of a cardboard plate.

Thanks to such a design of the container, the manufacturing and design costs of the container are controlled.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly on reading the following description of several preferred embodiments of the invention, given by way of illustrative and nonlimiting examples, and of the appended drawings among which:

- Figure 1 is a schematic representation according to a perspective view of the packaging according to the invention;

- Figure 2 is a schematic representation according to a perspective view of the cover;

- Figure 3 is a schematic representation according to a view of the bottom of the container as well as the tabs of the cover inserted through the slots located on the container;

- Figure 4 is a schematic representation according to a top view of the cover;

- Figure 5 is a schematic representation of the single cutout of a cardboard sheet to form the container;

- Figure 6 illustrates a method of folding the cardboard forming the packaging container.

Referring to Figure 1, the packaging according to the invention comprises:

- a container 1;

- A cover 2 intended to close the container.

More specifically, with reference to Figures 1,3, 5 and 6, the container 1 comprises a bottom 10 and side walls 11 which extend from the bottom. The bottom and the side walls together form a cavity intended to contain fresh products such as berries. The container is made of cardboard.

The cavity has an opening which is intended to be closed by the cover 2.

As shown in Figure 1, the container has a flared shape. This flared shape is also presented by the cavity formed by the container.

According to Figures 2 and 4, the cover 2 has a peripheral flange 20. This cover is made of plastic.

With reference to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the peripheral rim 20 of the cover 2 forms tabs 200. These tabs are in particular formed by the rounded edges presented by the cover at its corners, the cover having a simple convex polygon shape, and more precisely being rectangular.

According to the principle of the invention, and with reference to Figures 1,3, 5 and 6, the side walls 11 of the container 1 have slots 110, at least two of which are arranged opposite one of the other. As described in more detail below, the tabs on the lid are inserted into the slots in the container when the lid is in a closed position.

These two slots 110 arranged essentially opposite one another with respect to the cavity designate, for example, according to FIG. 3, slots located on either side of the cavity.

More precisely and as illustrated by FIG. 3, these two slots arranged essentially opposite can correspond to the two slots located diagonally from one another, being located on either side of the axes X and Y.

These two slots arranged essentially opposite serve to exert a tension which makes it possible to maintain the cover in the closed position of the opening on the container.

In fact, according to the principle of the invention, the tongues presented by the peripheral rim of the cover are dimensioned so as to be able to cause elastic deformation of the container and / or of the cover when the cover is placed in the cavity until it reaches the slots through which the tabs are intended to be inserted. The elastic deformation of the lid is allowed by the use of plastic, and the elastic deformation of the container is allowed by the use of cardboard and the shape taken by the container.

Indeed, as illustrated in FIG. 1 and in FIG. 3, the tabs 200 of the cover 2 are inserted through the slots 110 of the container 1.

Referring to the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1 to 5, the side walls 11 of the container 1 have four slots 110, and the peripheral flange 20 of the cover 2 has four tabs 200 complementary to the slots.

As mentioned above and as illustrated in FIG. 4, the cover has a simple convex polygon shape and more precisely a rectangular shape (FIGS. 2 and 4), and the tabs 200 are located at the four corners of the shaped cover. rectangular.

Still with reference to FIG. 4, the peripheral rim 20 of the cover 2 of rectangular shape defines a perimeter P.

According to Figures 1 and 3, the opening presented by the cavity, and the side walls 110 of the container 1 have a general shape similar to that of the cover, that is to say a shape corresponding essentially to the perimeter P, with wedges of bevelled shape.

In other words, the side walls 110 located at the corners of the polygonal shape corresponding essentially to that of the cover are oriented obliquely and form bevels. These walls forming the bevels then have the slots so that the slots are located opposite the tongues formed by the corners of the cover.

The general shape of the opening corresponds essentially to the perimeter P.

Consequently, since the cover has a rectangular shape which defines the perimeter P, the tabs located at the four corners of the cover are intended to come into direct contact with the bevelled corners of the side walls when the cover is inserted into the cavity. .

According to this embodiment, the slots 200 are presented by the bevelled corners of the side walls. Consequently, by continuing to insert the cover into the cavity, the tabs presented by the cover will arrive opposite the slots located on the side walls 110, then be inserted into these slots.

According to other embodiments not illustrated, the cover and the opening may have other shapes of simple convex polygon, regular or not:

- triangle;

- pentagon;

- hexagon ;

- octagon;

Of course, a cover can have a simple convex polygon shape (rectangular shape for example) and also have aesthetic curvatures or undulations at its sides between each corner.

Referring to Figure 5, it can be seen that the container 1 is formed from a single cutout. In this case, this container is formed from a single cut out of a cardboard plate.

To form the container in volume (illustrated by FIG. 1) from its flat conformation (illustrated by FIG. 5), the side walls 11 are brought into contact with each other, and the flaps 12 are coupled, by example by being glued, on adjacent side walls.

With reference to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6, the container 1 forms a cavity by folding without its side walls being formed by means of a cut in their height as is the case in the mode of realization illustrated by figure 5.

Folding thus creates a container that does not have a notch on its bottom or in its height. By then using a cardboard having water-repellent properties, a container is thus obtained capable of containing or retaining liquids.

Referring to Figure 2, it is observed that the cover has a domed shape. This cover 2 is thus able to be invertedly coupled to the container to form a container. In this context, the cover must not have any openings.

Claims (6)

Packaging, including: - a container (1) comprising a bottom (10) and at least one side wall (11) extending from the bottom, the bottom and the side wall (s) forming a cavity having an opening; - a plastic cover (2) intended to close the opening, and having a peripheral rim (20), characterized in that: - The side wall (s) (11) are made of cardboard and have at least two slots (110) arranged essentially opposite one another; - The peripheral rim of the cover has at least two tabs (200), each tab being complementary to one of the slots, and in that the tabs are dimensioned to cause elastic deformation of the container and / or of the cover during placing in place of the cover in the cavity until reaching the slots through which the tabs are intended to be inserted. Packaging according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the cavity is flared. Packaging according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cover (2) has a polygon shape. Packaging according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the cover (2) has an essentially rectangular shape. 5. Packaging according to any one of claims 3 and 4, characterized in that the tongues (200) are located at the corners of the cover. 5 6. Packaging according to the preceding claim, characterized in that: - The peripheral rim (20) of the cover (2) defines a perimeter P; - the opening, and the side wall (s) (11) have: - a general form corresponding essentially to 10 perimeter P; - beveled corners, and in that the beveled corners of the side wall (s) have the slots (110). 15 7. Packaging according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the side wall or walls (11) have four slots (110), and in that the peripheral flange (20) has four tabs (200) complementary to the slots . 8. Packaging according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cover (2) has a convex shape, the cover being capable of being coupled inversely to the container (1) to form a container. 9. Packaging according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the container (1) is formed from a single cutout of a cardboard plate. 200