FR3093710A1 - Box to contain food products in particular - Google Patents

Abstract

Box for containing in particular food products The invention relates to a box comprising: - a container made of cardboard or corrugated cardboard, comprising a bottom (2) and at least one wall (14, 6, 11, 3, 12, 4, 13, 5) upright relative to the bottom, said wall defining a blunt upper edge (23-26) opposite the bottom, at least one wall defining under its blunt upper edge a housing (27-34) opening at least towards inside the tray, - a plastic cover (50) comprising a panel (51) and at least one pair of walls erect in relation to said panel, said pair comprising a first (52-55) and a second (62- 65) facing walls, the second wall being located more to the outside than the first wall, and at least one lug (91-94) extending outwardly from at least a first wall, in which the cover can be installed on the tray so that between the first wall defining at least one lug and the second one king facing this first wall is received a corresponding blunt upper edge, and said at least one lug being received in said at least one respective housing located under said blunt upper edge. Figure for the abstract: figure 2

Description

Box for containing in particular food products

The invention relates to the field of receptacles for storing or transporting objects, in particular food products, for example salads, sushi, bakery food products, or others. It relates to a box comprising a tray, or tray, made of rigid or semi-rigid material such as cardboard or corrugated cardboard and a plastic lid, for example transparent plastic, separate from the tray.

It is known to provide on the lower periphery of the walls of the plastic lid lugs extending towards the inside of the packaging and cooperating with the walls of the tray when the lid is installed on the tray.

There is a need for better attachment of the plastic lid to the cardboard or corrugated cardboard tray.

A box is proposed for the packaging of content, in particular food products, comprising:

- a tray of rigid or semi-rigid material such as cardboard or corrugated cardboard, comprising a bottom and at least one wall erected relative to the bottom, said wall defining a clean upper edge opposite the bottom, at least one wall defining under its straight upper edge a housing opening at least towards the inside of the tray, for example an opening emerging on either side of the wall,

- a plastic lid comprising a lid panel intended to face the bottom when the lid is installed on the tray, and, at at least one lateral end of the lid panel, at least one respective pair of walls erected with respect to said panel, said pair comprising a first and a second wall facing each other, the second wall being located further to the outside than the first wall, and at least one lug extending outward from at minus a first wall.

The box is shaped so that the lid can be installed on the tray so that between the first wall from which extends at least one lug and the second wall opposite this first wall is received a corresponding clean upper edge, at least one wall among said first and said second walls, for example at least the first wall, exerting forces on said wall of the tray and said at least one lug being received in said at least one respective housing located under said clean upper edge .

Thus, the clean upper edge is not only received with forces between the first and the second wall, which can participate in maintaining the lid on the tray, but also the cooperation between the lug and the housing can make it possible to lock the fixation.

Since the lug extends from the first, inner wall, it can be relatively discreet. In particular, the lug may not be visible when the box is viewed from the side, which may be relatively satisfactory from an aesthetic point of view.

The cover can advantageously be shaped so that it can be obtained by thermoforming.

Advantageously and in a non-limiting manner, the clean upper edge can be pinched by said first and second walls.

By “pinched”, it is meant that the first and the second wall exert forces on the corresponding wall of the tray. These same efforts tend to push the ergot into the housing.

Alternatively, provision can be made for a single wall from among the first and second walls to exert forces on the wall of the tray.

For example, the first wall can exert forces tending to push the wall of the tray outwards and to push the lug into the housing. The second wall can then be used in particular to prevent the lid from collapsing in the tray.

The plastic cover can advantageously be made of transparent plastic, or not.

The plastic cover can for example be made by thermoforming, or the like.

The bottom and the wall(s) of the tray can define a space for receiving the content, i.e. the content can rest on the bottom under normal conditions of use.

The bottom may for example be triangular, rectangular, diamond-shaped, hexagonal, circular, oval, or other. The invention is in no way limited by the shape of the bottom.

The wall(s) of the tray can advantageously surround this reception space over 360°, in order to prevent the contents from coming out of the box laterally.

The tray can have a clean upper edge over its entire periphery (360°), or not.

This upper edge can be received with forces between first and second walls over its entire periphery, or not.

The invention is not limited to a particular number of housing/lug pairs: it is possible, for example, to provide a single lug cooperating with a single housing, two lugs cooperating with two respective housings, or more.

When several pairs of housings/lugs are provided, provision may advantageously be made for arranging them at opposite ends of the box, in order to reinforce the attachment of the lid to the tray. Thus, advantageously, two first walls opposite each other can each define at least one lug extending outwards.

It can be provided that for each pair of first and second walls, the first wall defines a lug, or not. For example, it is possible to provide one or more first walls devoid of lugs, in which case the joining is carried out simply by receiving a clean upper edge between the first and second wall.

Provision can also be made for at least one side end of the cover panel to be devoid of a pair of first and second walls. It is for example possible to provide a single wall on one or more side edge(s), with one or more lug(s) or not.

The tray can be made from one or more sheets of rigid or semi-rigid material such as cardboard or corrugated cardboard.

The walls of the tray can advantageously be hinged to the bottom of the tray by fold lines. These fold lines are opposite the corresponding raw edges.

Alternatively, provision could be made to assemble the wall(s) at the bottom, in particular when a single circular wall is provided.

The tray may in one embodiment comprise a protective film, advantageously for food products. In the case of a tray from a blank from one or more sheets of rigid or semi-rigid material, provision can be made for at least one of these sheets to be covered with a protective film, for example of wax. paraffin, polyethylene, or other.

At least one wall of the tray defining a clean upper edge opposite the bottom can for example be made in a single panel, or not.

The invention is in no way limited to single-panel walls.

For example, a wall can comprise a panel and flaps for securing to the adjacent walls secured, for example by gluing, to this panel.

For example, at least one wall may define at least one fold line between the junction at the bottom and the free edge. This fold line, for example parallel to a junction line at the bottom, can for example make it possible to reduce the flaring of the wall, so that near the clean upper edge the wall is vertical or close to vertical.

A wall can be articulated with zero, one or two flaps, the invention not being limited to a particular architecture. For example, it is possible to provide that in the case of a three-sided tray, each wall is hinged to a single flap.

Advantageously the walls can be secured to each other by means of hinged flaps at their ends.

The box can for example have dimensions of the order of a few tens of centimeters for the bottom and a few centimeters for the height of the walls, or other.

The housing can be through, that is to say open on either side of the wall, or not.

For example, in the case of a corrugated cardboard tray, provision may be made to locally press the corrugated cardboard sheet so as to locally crush the grooves and define a housing opening towards the inside of the tray.

For example, in the case of a wall having at least in certain places a double thickness, provision can be made to define an opening in a single thickness. The housing only opens on one side.

The opening can be delimited by edges around its entire circumference (360°), or alternatively lead to a side end of the wall and/or a securing flap (elongated U-cut), at the junction with the bottom (inverted U cut), or not.

The tray can advantageously be stackable, or not. For example, several walls, advantageously at least three adjacent walls forming a belt, can be flared with respect to the bottom. For example, all the walls can be flared, or one wall can be vertical and the others flared, etc.

We can provide normal walls at the bottom, for example all the walls can be vertical, especially in the case of a tray put in volume by the customer immediately before packaging.

The container may have cylindrical, tapered, conical or other walls.

For at least one wall of the tray, the corresponding pair of first and second walls can define a distance between the first and second wall that is slightly less than, or equal to, within functional clearance, the greatest thickness of the wall of the tray. When the box is closed, this pair of walls is thus forced to introduce the clean upper edge of the tray. The first and the second wall exert forces on the wall of the tray thus sandwiched pinched.

This greater thickness may for example be twice the thickness of a sheet of rigid or semi-rigid material in the case of a tray wall comprising a flap for securing to an adjacent wall.

The first and second walls can be separated from each other by a distance of between 0.5 millimeters (or a minimum achievable by thermoforming) and 5 millimeters, for example between 1 and 2 millimeters.

In the case of a corrugated cardboard tray, the grooves at the level of the upper straight edge can be crushed during the introduction into the double wall of the lid.

The lid may include a junction part between the first and the second wall, to secure them together. The lid can thus define an opening under this junction part, through which the corresponding upper edge is introduced in order to be received between the first and second walls.

This junction part can extend along one end of the lid and have a thickness close to the distance between the first and second wall, for example a few millimeters.

When the lid is installed on the tray, the clean upper edge of the wall of the tray can come into abutment against this junction part or remain below this junction part.

This junction part can comprise a flat part, forming a spacer between the first and second walls, or not. It is possible, for example, to provide a rounding between the first and the second walls, an edge, or the like.

In one embodiment, the cover panel extends in the same plane as at least part of the junction part, for example in the same plane as the flat part of the junction part.

Alternatively, the cover panel can be closer or alternatively farther from the bottom, when the cover is installed on the tray, than the junction part.

Advantageously, the cover panel is in a plane below the junction part, which can facilitate obtaining the lug(s), in particular in the case of a thermoformed cover.

In one embodiment, the first wall extends between the cover panel and the junction portion, the junction portion being above the plane of the panel. The second wall can then extend between this junction part and an end edge lower than the junction part.

This end edge can be located above the plane of the panel, in the plane of the panel, or advantageously below the plane of the panel.

The invention is not limited to this cover wall structure.

One can for example provide that the first wall extends from the junction part to a free edge, and that the second wall extends from the junction part to its free edge, the two free edges being more lower than the junction part. The panel can then for example adjoin the junction part, be secured to the first wall under the junction part but above the free edge of this first wall, be secured to a third wall extending above the junction to the junction portion, or the like.

In the present application, by "under", "upper", "lower", "below", etc., we refer to a situation of use in which the box has its bottom placed on a support, for example the ground , normal to the gravity vector, so that a content received in the box rests on this background by its weight. But of course, the box can be turned over, and manipulated in various ways, especially during transport.

There is also proposed a process for obtaining a box for packaging content, in particular food products, comprising:

- providing a tray of rigid or semi-rigid material such as cardboard or corrugated cardboard, comprising a bottom and at least one wall erected or able to be erected with respect to the bottom, said wall defining a clean upper edge opposite the bottom, at least one wall defining under its straight upper edge a housing opening at least towards the inside of the tray,

- providing a plastic cover comprising a cover panel and, at at least one lateral end of the cover panel, at least a respective pair of walls erected with respect to said panel, said pair comprising a first and a second wall facing the one from the other, the second wall being located more to the outside than the first wall, and at least one first wall defining at least one lug extending outwards.

- install the lid on the tray so that the panel faces the bottom, that between the first wall defining at least one lug and the second wall facing this first wall is received a clean upper edge, said clean upper edge undergoing forces exerted by at least one of said first and second walls, said at least one lug being received in said at least one respective housing located under said upper edge.

There is also proposed a plastic lid intended to be installed on a tray made of rigid or semi-rigid material such as cardboard or corrugated cardboard, comprising a bottom and at least one wall erected with respect to the bottom, said wall defining an edge clear upper edge opposite the bottom, at least one wall defining under the clear upper edge a housing opening at least towards the inside of the tray, in order to form a box for packaging a content, in particular products food, said lid comprising

a lid panel intended to face the bottom of the tray when the lid is installed on the tray, and,

at least one lateral end of the cover panel, at least one respective pair of walls erected with respect to said panel, said pair comprising first and second walls facing each other to receive a clean upper edge of the tray between this first wall and this second wall, the second wall being located more to the outside than the first wall, and at least one lug intended to be received in a respective housing of the wall of the tray extending towards the outside from at least a first wall.

The lid may be able to be installed on the tray so that between the first wall defining at least one lug and the second wall facing this first wall is received a clean upper edge of the tray, said clean upper edge undergoing forces exerted by at least one of said first and second walls, said at least one lug being received in said at least one respective housing located under said clean upper edge.

The invention is now described with reference to the accompanying, non-limiting drawings, in which:

shows an example of a blank for a tray of a box according to one embodiment of the invention.

is a perspective view of an example of a lid according to one embodiment of the invention, this lid being capable of cooperating with the tray from the blank of FIG. 1.

is a top view of the lid of Figure 2.

is a side view of the lid of Figure 3.

Referring to Figure 1, the blank 1 comprises a bottom 2, for example rectangular, hinged to four wall elements 3-6 by respective fold lines 7-10.

Two 3, 5 of the four wall elements, opposite each other, are hinged at their lateral ends to securing flaps 11-14 by respective fold lines 15-18.

These fold lines 15-18 form a slight angle, between 5 and 15°, with the corresponding fold lines 10, 8.

In addition, the wall elements 4, 6 have end edges 19-22 forming a slight angle, between 5 and 15°, with the corresponding folding lines 7, 9.

When erecting, the wall elements 3-6 are erected relative to the bottom 2, and the flaps 11-14 are glued to the corresponding adjacent walls 6, 4 to secure the wall elements together.

The flaps can be glued to the exterior or advantageously interior face of the corresponding wall elements.

Due to the slight angles described above, the wall elements are flared with respect to the bottom, which facilitates the stacking of the trays thus obtained.

After securing via the flaps 11-14, a tray is obtained comprising the bottom 2 and four walls:

- a wall comprising the elements 11, 6 and 14,

- a wall coinciding with wall element 3,

- a wall comprising the elements 12, 4 and 13, and

- a wall coinciding with the wall element 5.

Each of these walls defines a clean upper edge 23-26.

The two walls comprising the elements 11, 6, 14 and 12, 4, 17 define housings passing through the thickness of these walls.

In this example, these housings pass through the corresponding walls.

In this example, these accommodations are located in these areas lined by shutters 11-14.

These housings are obtained by defining openings 27-30 in the wall elements 4, 6 and openings 31-34 in the flaps 11-14. The locations of the openings 27-34 are chosen so as to make them coincide two by two during the volume setting.

The openings 31-34 defined in the flaps 11-14 may have dimensions slightly larger than those of the openings 27-30 in order to overcome the lack of precision during assembly by gluing.

For example, the openings 27-34 can be rectangular, with sides of the order of a centimeter, for example 14 millimeters long and sides 7 millimeters long for the openings 31-34, and for example 12 millimeters long and sides 5 millimeters long for openings 27-30.

The bottom of the tray can have a length between 15 and 50 centimeters, advantageously between 20 and 30 centimeters, for example 25 centimeters, and a width between 5 and 40 centimeters, for example between 8 and 20 centimeters, for example 10 centimeters.

The walls can have a height between 25 millimeters and 150 millimeters, for example 3 or 4 centimeters.

Referring to Figures 2 to 4, a thermoformed transparent plastic cover 50 defines a panel 51 of curved rectangular shape, and, at each of the four lateral ends of this panel, a first wall 52-55 and a second wall 62-65 superimposed .

The first walls 52-55 are further inside the cover than the corresponding second walls 62-65.

Each first wall 52-55 is secured to the corresponding second wall 62-65 by a junction part 72-75.

In this example, junction portions 72-75 are flat, coplanar, and above panel 51.

Each first wall 52-55 extends from the panel 51 to the corresponding junction part 72-75.

Each second wall 62-65 extends from the corresponding junction part 72-75 to a corresponding free edge 83-85. In this example, these free edges 83-85 are under the plane of the panel 51.

The cover thus defines openings over its entire circumference, of which only two 113, 115 are referenced in FIG. 4, through which are introduced the corresponding free upper edges 23-26 of the walls of the tray.

Furthermore, the lid defines four lugs 91-93. More precisely, the first wall 53 defines two lugs 91, 92 and the opposite first wall 55 defines two other lugs 93, 94.

These lugs extend outwards, and are intended to be received in the openings 27-34 defined in the tray of Figure 1.

These lugs being obtained by thermoforming, the cover can be designed with shapes facilitating their obtaining, in particular surfaces defining recesses 100-103.

As a variant, provision could be made for arranging the panel 51 in a lower plane, that is to say that the junction flanges 72-75 would detach further from the panel 51, which would make it easier to obtain the lugs by thermoforming.

To return to Figures 2-4, when this cover 50 is installed on the tray from the blank 1 of Figure 1, each pair of first and second walls 52-55, 62-65 grips a respective upper edge 23-26 of the tray. In addition, the lugs 91-94 are received in the corresponding openings of the tray, thus locking the attachment.

The first and second walls are separated from each other by a distance of the order of a millimeter. The tray can come from a sheet 0.5 or 0.6 millimeters thick.

Furthermore, the lugs can extend from the first wall to the second wall while remaining distant from the second wall, for example by 0.3 millimeters.

In an alternative embodiment, at least one lug could come into contact with the second wall: during the introduction of the cardboard wall, the second wall deforms for the passage of the cardboard wall.

Claims (8)

Plastic lid (50) intended to be installed, in order to form a box for packaging a content, on a tray made of rigid or semi-rigid material such as cardboard or corrugated cardboard, comprising a bottom (2) and at at least one wall (14, 6, 11, 3, 12, 4, 13, 5) raised relative to the bottom, said wall defining a clean upper edge (23-26) opposite the bottom, at least one wall defining under the straight upper edge a housing (27-34) opening at least towards the inside of the tray, said lid comprising
a lid panel (51) intended to face the bottom of the tray when the lid is installed on the tray, and
at least one lateral end of the cover panel, at least a respective pair of walls raised with respect to said panel, said pair comprising a first (52-55) and a second (62-65) walls facing one of the 'other to receive a corresponding free upper edge (23, 25) between said first wall and said second wall, the second wall being located further to the outside than the first wall, and at least one lug (91-94) s' extending from at least a first wall (53,55) outwards, said lug being intended to be received in at least one respective housing located under said clean upper edge. Lid according to claim 1, in which two first walls (53, 55) opposed to each other each define at least one lug (91-94) extending outwards. Lid according to any one of claims 1 or 2, further comprising a junction part (73, 75) between the first (53, 55) and the second (63, 65) wall, to secure them together, and in which
the cover defines an opening (113, 115) under this junction part, through which the corresponding upper frank edge can be introduced in order to be received between the first and second walls. Lid according to claim 3, in which the panel is located under the junction part (73, 75). Lid according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it is shaped so that it can be obtained by thermoforming. Box for packaging content, in particular food products, comprising:
a tray made of rigid or semi-rigid material such as cardboard or corrugated cardboard, comprising a bottom (2) and at least one wall (14, 6, 11, 3, 12, 4, 13, 5) erected with respect to the bottom , said wall defining a clean upper edge (23-26) opposite the bottom, at least one wall defining under its clean upper edge a housing opening at least towards the inside of the tray,
and
the cover (50) according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
in which
the box is shaped so that the lid can be installed on the tray so that between the first wall from which extends at least one lug and the second wall opposite this first wall is received a corresponding clean upper edge ( 23, 25), said clean upper edge undergoing forces exerted by at least one of said first and second walls, said at least one lug being received in said at least one respective housing located under said clean upper edge. Box according to Claim 6, in which the upper edge is pinched between the said first and second corresponding walls. Process for obtaining a box for packaging content, in particular food products, comprising the steps:
provide a tray of rigid or semi-rigid material such as cardboard or corrugated cardboard, comprising a bottom (2) and at least one wall (14, 6, 11, 3, 12, 4, 13, 5) erected or able to be erected relative to the bottom, said wall defining a clean upper edge opposite the bottom, at least one wall defining under the clean upper edge a housing opening at least towards the inside of the tray,
providing a plastic cover (50) comprising a cover panel (51) and, at at least one side end of the cover panel, at least a respective pair of walls upstanding with respect to said panel, said pair comprising a first (52- 55) and a second (62-65) walls facing each other, the second wall being located more to the outside than the first wall, and at least one lug (91-94) extending towards the exterior from at least a first wall (53, 55),
install the lid on the tray so that the panel is facing the bottom, and that between the first wall from which extends at least one lug and the second wall facing this first wall is received a clean upper edge (23 , 25), said clean upper edge undergoing forces exerted by at least one of said first and second walls, said at least one lug being received in said at least one respective housing located under said clean upper edge.