GB1580966A

GB1580966A - Wrappers

Info

Publication number: GB1580966A
Application number: GB1451577A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Mead Corp
Current assignee: Mead Corp
Priority date: 1976-09-04
Filing date: 1977-04-06
Publication date: 1980-12-10
Also published as: DE2639906C3; DE2639906B2; FR2363488A2; FR2363488B2; DE2639906A1

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO WRAPPERS (71) We, THE MEAD CORPORATION, a corporation organised and existing under the laws of the State of , United States of America, of Courthouse Plaza Northeast Dayton, State of Ohio, 45463, United States of America, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- The invention relates to a wrapper blank for folding round a row of articles, such as bottles. Such a wrapper is known comprising foldably interconnected upper, side and base walls and possibly an oblique wail which is disposed between each side wall and the upper wall and whose front edges are connected by upper corner folds to a common front wall portion hinged on the front edge of the upper wall.With such folding wrappers, one of the difficulties is to prevent the articles, for example bottles, from falling out of end openings in the assembled wrapper. A conventional solution is to provide openings at the lower longitudinal edges of the folding wrapper and to hold the bottle bases in these openings, the side walls of the folding wrapper extending slightly obliquely in this region. This solution has the disadvantage of weakening the folding wrapper as a result of the bottle base openings so that care must be taken not to use too light cardboard or paper for forming the wrapper.

In addition to these bottle base openings or alternatively independently thereof, it is known practice to close the end openings of the folding wrapper at least partially. In a known folding wrapper of the type mentioned initially (German PS 1 297 541), only one upper end wall portion is provided which simply assists, in addition to bottle base openings and bottle neck openings, towards holding the bottles in the folding wrapper. Generally, this known end wall portion is used to protect the bottles and provide additional surface area for labels and advertising matter. If the bottles were not already held in the folding wrapper by the said openings, the end wall portions would not in themselves be sufficient under greater strain to prevent the bottles from falling out of the end openings.Another disadvantage of the known folding wrapper is that the folding wrapper must be relatively wide because not only do the side edges of the side walls and base wall project beyond the group of articles to be packed, but also because in particular the pattern piece forming the end wall portion in the finished folding wrapper is relatively wide and therefore determines the overall width of the cut. The upper corner folds which hold the end wall portion are disposed on the whole at a distance from the bottles so that the corner folds are not held or are not held sufficiently firmly by the bottles.

An aim of the invention is therefore to provide a folding wrapper such that with low material outlay the bottles or other articles may be held very securely in the folding wrapper so that there is no need for other holding means such as bottle base openings and the like and a relatively light cardboard or paper may be used. The packing process should nevertheless be relatively easy so that only slight modifications are necessary to adapt existing packing machines to the new folding wrapper. The folding wrapper should also be manufacturable advantageously with or without upper openings for bottle necks, with or without carrier handles and with or without additional holding parts in the end opening region.

There is provided by the present invention a wrapper blank for a row of articles, comprising an upper wall panel, a pair of sloping wall panels each connected by a fold line to a respective one of a pair of parallel edges of said upper wall panel, a pair of side wall panels, each connected by a fold line to an edge of a respective one of said sloping wall panels, parallel to the edge of the sloping wall panel which is connected to said upper wall panel, and a base wall panel in two parts, each part being connected by a fold line at an edge thereof, to an edge of a respective one of said side wall panels parallel to the edge of the side wall panel which is connected to a sloping wall panel, each side wall panel being joined at one edge by a fold line to a respective side support strip which is foldable against the associated side wall panel and which is connected by a fold line at one end to a respective triangular piece which in turn is foldably connected to a respective base wall panel part so as to form a curved corner piece between the base wall and said associated side wall upon assembly of the wrapper blank; each said triangular piece being foldably connected to the respective base wall panel part along a line passing obliquely to the longitudinal direction of the respective side support strip.

The side support strips need not increase the cut width because they may be formed from what would otherwise be an edge margin of the material of the side walls, and they are located in the assembled state of the folding wrapper between a bottle or other article to be packed and the side wall and are held there securely. At their upper and lower ends, these support strips may hold an upper corner fold and therefore an upper wall edge portion and the lower triangular cornerpieces so firmly that an article, for example a bottle, cannot be removed until the folding wrapper material is damaged.

With fragile articles such as bottles, the firm, tight packing of the articles provides very good protection against breakage. By comparison, in known folding wrappers there are always cavities at the corners of the pack owing to the rounded shape of the packed articles with the result that the articles are not held tightly or sufficiently safely. Additional holding devices, in particular bottle base openings, are not required.

A particular advantage of the folding wrapper according to the invention is that the folding wrapper at corners of the pack conforms closely to the shape of the articles when the articles are rounded such as are bottles. The packing material closely adjacent to the outside articles is to a large extent only loaded in tension so that thinner material may be used which, though tearresistant, does not have to be as resistant to bending as in known packagings in which cavities occur at the corners because the articles are rounded, for example bottles, whilst the pack is square, i.e. angular.

If there is no edge portion provided on the upper wall, for example, when packing tins which have the same shape at the top and bottom, the support strips may be connected at their upper end also to the upper wall in the same manner as they are connected by their lower end to the base wall.

It is certainly known (US PS 2 943 427, GB PS 736 218) to provide at the edges of the front openings of packs folding strips which are foldably mounted on the front edges of the side walls and the upper wall and base wall. These folding strips, however, protrude beyond the usual cut width so that the material outlay for the cut is increased. Moreover, these folding strips are fixed by glueing or stapling. For this purpose, additional working processes are necessary after assembly of the pack whilst, in the case of the folding wrapper according to the invention, the folding strips assume their final position during the packing process and are held there solely by the contact pressure on the articles to be packed.The known forms of construction are also provided exclusively for square packs whilst, in the case of the folding wrapper according to the invention, it is easily possible to adapt to the shape of the articles to be packed, this also contributing to the particular stability and durability of the pack.

It is also known (US PS 2 849 111) in the case of a folding wrapper for tins disposed in two rows to fold a front edge of each side wall into a folding strip which is located between the exterior of one of the tin and the side wall when the folding wrapper is assembled. In that case, however, each folding strip is connected at its two ends by two foldably coherent cornerpieces, each of which has the shape of a rigt-angle triangle, to the base wall or the upper wall. These cornerpieces separated from one another by a folded edge are not applied to the cylindri cal shape of the tins but form a hollow projecting corner of the pack which is troublesome during handling of the pack because this corner can cause the pack to stick to other articles. In addition, the tins to be packed would not be held securely enough by this corner form at relatively high forces because the corner may become mis-shapen.

In particular there is the danger that this corner will initially become mis-shapen as a result of inadvertent contact and can then no longer hold the packed tins in the folding wrapper when greater forces occur.

In an embodiment of the invention, provision may be made for the free outer edges of the upper wall, the support strips, the triangular cornerpieces and the base wall to form a common rectilinear blank edge when a flat blank is used. Consequently the workload and the cost of materials are kept particularly low when manufacturing the blank. In addition, there is no danger that projecting parts at the blank edges during manufacture or conveyance of the blank or during assembly of the pack will become damaged or will be ripped off. In the flat state, it is particularly advantageous that the reciprocal distance between the two opposite blank edges can be selected so as to be identical to the length of the row of articles, i.e.

so that the minimum width of the blank is given by the sum of the dimensions of the articles so that there is no need for any additional material.

A front protective strip may be connected at both its ends each by a fold line extending obliquely to the strip longitudinal direction to the support strips. This protective strip, which during cutting lies directly along the outer cut edge so that no material is lost, is located in the finished erected folding wrapper at an arbitrarily selectible distance from the upper surface of the folding wrapper, i.e.

the articles to be packed are additionally protected from contact at a level of height which may be selected in dependence upon the shape and nature of the articles. For example, the protective strip may be placed at such a distance from the upper surface of a folding wrapper for bottles that it lies below the tapered bottle necks where the shape of the bottle is not yet tapered, this point being particularly at risk in reciprocal contact.

The invention is described hereinafter in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 a perspective diagram of a folding wrapper with bottles, the necks of the bottles protruding through openings in the upper wall, Fig. 2 a perspective diagram of a folding wrapper similar to that of Fig. 1 but having in addition an end or front holding strip, Fig. 3 a pattern for a folding wrapper according to the invention wherein in the left region of Fig. 3 the layout is shown of the pattern for a folding wrapper as in Fig. 2 having a front holding strip and in the right half of Fig. 3 the layout for the pattern for a folding wrapper as in Fig. 1 is shown, Fig. 4 a perspective diagram of a folding wrapper for bottles whose upper wall lies above the tops of the bottles, and Fig. 5 a section to an enlarged scale along the line V-V of Fig. 4.

The folding wrappers shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5 are designed to hold, for example, two rows of bottles 1. The folding wrappers have foldably interconnected upper walls 2, side walls 3, base walls 4 and oblique walls 5 disposed between each side wall 3 and the upper wall 2. The folding wrapper comprises a single-piece cutout whose two ends are joined together to form the base wall 4, for example by known clasps in which locking clasps are inserted in openings in the other part and are held there by lock clips.

Foldably mounted on the end or front edges 3.1 of each side wall 3 is a folding strip 6 which, in the assembled state of the folding wrapper, lies between the exterior of one of the bottles 1 and the side wall 3, as is shown by the dotted lines in Figs. 1, 2,4 and 5. The folding strip 6 is connected at its upper end by an oblique folded edge 6.1 to an end or front wall portion 7 hinged on the front edge 2.1 of the upper wall 2. The folding strips 6 form with the front wall portion 7 a corner fold in the region of the upper corners of the folding wrapper.

The oblique folded edge 6.1 forms an acute angle a with the front edge 3.1. The folded edge 5.1 between the oblique wall 5 and the side wall 3 extends at both ends only as far as the oblique folded edges 6.1 and ends there. The oblique folded edges 6.1 extend from their point of intersection 12.1 with the front edge 3.1, which is simultaneously the point of intersection with the edge of the hole 12 in the embodiment having bottle necks protruding through the upper wall (Figs. 1, 2, 3), beyond the folded edges 5 and only at the level of the side walls 3 do they reach the free outer edges 6.2 of the folding strips 6.

As may be seen from Fig. 3, the outer openings 12 protrude frontally beyond the front edge 2.1 of the upper wall 2 and into the front wall portion 7. As a result, the front wall portions 7 lie in the region near the corners of the pack completely and flatly adjacent to the shoulders of the bottles and in fact there is a snug fit from the centre point of the bottles to the sides so that there is no cavity in the corner. Thus, the bottles cannot slip into such a cavity.

A contributory factor to this narrow fit is the feature, which may also be seen from Fig. 3, that the front outer openings 12 are not quite round; the edges of the openings extend from the laterally and frontally outermost-lying points linearly to the point of intersection 12.1 of the folded edges 6.1 and 3.1.

At its lower end the folding strip 6 is connected foldably to an oblique corner edge 4.1 of the base wall 4 by way of a triangular cornerpiece 8 and possibly a small triangular corner fold 9 which may be provided for improved fit against the bottle curvature.

An oblique folded edge 8.1 lies between the folding strip 6 and the triangular cornerpiece 8.

The oblique folded edge 8.1 forms an acute angle b with the front edge 3.1. The angle c between the oblique folded edge 8.1 and the oblique corner edge 4.1 is an obtuse angle. The folded edge 4.3 between the base wall 4 and the side wall 3 ends at the point of intersection of the folded edges 3.1, 8.1 4.1, i.e. it does not extend further into the triangular cornerpiece 8. If another folded edge 3.2 is provided somewhat above the lower edge 4.3 for improved adaptation to bottles having a greater base radius, this folded edge 3.2 ends at both ends at the oblique folded edges 8.1.

As is shown with reference to the embod iment of the pattern on the right in Fi. 3 for a folding wrapper as in Fig. 1,whente pattern is lying flat, the free outer edges 7.2 of the front wall portions 7, the free outer edges 6.2 of the folding strips 6, the free outer edges 8.2 of the triangular cornerpieces 8 and the free outer edges 4.2 of the base wall 4 form a rectilinear cutting edge, the width of the pattern not being greater than in a conventional pattern whose edges have no folding strips 6.

From the enlarged scale partial diagram of Fig. 5 it may be seen that the cornerpieces 8 conform to the bottle curvature in the region of the bottle base and fit tightly against the bottle so that in this region between the bottle and the cornerpiece 8 there is no cavity which could allow deformation of the ack. Thus, the bottles or similar articles to be packed are held safely and securely in the pack.

The embodiment of the folding wrapper of Fig. 2 differs from the described embodiment of Fig. 1 only in that there is provided in addition on both front faces a protective strip 11 which is joined at both ends by a fold line 11.1, which extends obliquely to the strip longitudinal direction, to the in this case somewhat wider folding strip 6. If the folding strip 6 is inserted in the manner described during the packing process between the exterior of the bottle 1 and the side wall, the protective strip 11 is unfolded along the fold line 11.1 by the folding strip 6 and rests in the manner shown in Fig. 2 against the bottles to protect the outer bottles, for example when the packs are in contact frontally on a conveyor belt or during transport.

The embodiment of the folding wrapper of Fig. 4 differs from the embodiment of Fig. 2 only in that the necks of the bottles 1 do not protrude through the upper wall, i.e.

no bottle neck openings 12 are provided as in the conventional embodiments. In this case, the front wall portion 7 does not hold the bottle shoulder as in the usual embodiments but the bottle neck.

Fig. 4 shows how a carrier handle 14 may be formed in the upper wall 2 by means of recesses 13.

If, as shown, a tearing perforation 15 is provided in the upper wall 2, the pack may be opened for the removal of bottles without the pack falling apart because the protective strip 11 still holds the pack frontally together and also prevents the bottles from falling out of the front.

Since it is possible with all the illustrated folding wrappers to dispense with special holding openings for the bottle bases, a relatively thin packaging material may be used and this has a particularly favourable effect on material and manufacturing costs.

The invention has been described using by way of example folding wrappers for two rows of articles. The invention may, however, alternatively be used with folding wrappers for, for example, a single-row arrangement.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. A wrapper blank for a row of articles, comprising an upper wall panel, a pair of sloping wall panels each connected by a fold line to a respective one of a pair of parallel edges of said upper wall panel, a pair of side wall panels, each connected by a fold line to an edge of a respective one of said sloping wall panels, parallel to the edge of the sloping wall panel which is connected to said upper wall panel, and a base wall panel in two arts each art being connected by a fold Iine at an edge thereof, to an edge of a respective one of said side wall panels parallel to the edge of the side wall panel which is connected to a sloping wall panel, each side wall panel being joined at one edge by a fold line to a respective side support strip which is foldable against the associated side wall panel and which is connected by a fold line at one end to a respective triangular piece which in turn is foldably connected to a respective base wall panel part so as to form a curved corner piece between the base wall and said associated side wall upon assembly of the wrapper blank; each said triangular piece being foldably connected to the respective base wall panel part along a line passing obliquely to the longitudinal direction of the respective side support strip.

2. A wrapper blank as claimed in claim 1, in which the free edges of an edge strip of the upper wall panel, the two support strips, the triangular cornerpieces, and the base wall panel parts form a common rectilinear cutting edge.

3. A wrapper blank as claimed in claim 2, having two, opposed, cutting edges, the distance between the two cutting edges being equal to the length of a row of articles to be wrapped.

4. A wrapper blank as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, in which a protective strip is joined at each end to a respective support strip by way of a fold line extending obliquely to the longitudinal direction of the protective strip.

5. A wrapper blank as claimed in claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, in which the triangular cornerpieces are foldably connected by triangular corner folds to the oblique corner edges of the base wall panel.

6. A wrapper blank as claimed in claim 1, in which the support strips are connected

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. triangular cornerpiece 8. If another folded edge 3.2 is provided somewhat above the lower edge 4.3 for improved adaptation to bottles having a greater base radius, this folded edge 3.2 ends at both ends at the oblique folded edges 8.1. As is shown with reference to the embod iment of the pattern on the right in Fi. 3 for a folding wrapper as in Fig. 1,whente pattern is lying flat, the free outer edges 7.2 of the front wall portions 7, the free outer edges 6.2 of the folding strips 6, the free outer edges 8.2 of the triangular cornerpieces 8 and the free outer edges 4.2 of the base wall 4 form a rectilinear cutting edge, the width of the pattern not being greater than in a conventional pattern whose edges have no folding strips 6. From the enlarged scale partial diagram of Fig. 5 it may be seen that the cornerpieces 8 conform to the bottle curvature in the region of the bottle base and fit tightly against the bottle so that in this region between the bottle and the cornerpiece 8 there is no cavity which could allow deformation of the ack. Thus, the bottles or similar articles to be packed are held safely and securely in the pack. The embodiment of the folding wrapper of Fig. 2 differs from the described embodiment of Fig. 1 only in that there is provided in addition on both front faces a protective strip 11 which is joined at both ends by a fold line 11.1, which extends obliquely to the strip longitudinal direction, to the in this case somewhat wider folding strip 6. If the folding strip 6 is inserted in the manner described during the packing process between the exterior of the bottle 1 and the side wall, the protective strip 11 is unfolded along the fold line 11.1 by the folding strip 6 and rests in the manner shown in Fig. 2 against the bottles to protect the outer bottles, for example when the packs are in contact frontally on a conveyor belt or during transport. The embodiment of the folding wrapper of Fig. 4 differs from the embodiment of Fig. 2 only in that the necks of the bottles 1 do not protrude through the upper wall, i.e. no bottle neck openings 12 are provided as in the conventional embodiments. In this case, the front wall portion 7 does not hold the bottle shoulder as in the usual embodiments but the bottle neck. Fig. 4 shows how a carrier handle 14 may be formed in the upper wall 2 by means of recesses 13. If, as shown, a tearing perforation 15 is provided in the upper wall 2, the pack may be opened for the removal of bottles without the pack falling apart because the protective strip 11 still holds the pack frontally together and also prevents the bottles from falling out of the front. Since it is possible with all the illustrated folding wrappers to dispense with special holding openings for the bottle bases, a relatively thin packaging material may be used and this has a particularly favourable effect on material and manufacturing costs. The invention has been described using by way of example folding wrappers for two rows of articles. The invention may, however, alternatively be used with folding wrappers for, for example, a single-row arrangement. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1. A wrapper blank for a row of articles, comprising an upper wall panel, a pair of sloping wall panels each connected by a fold line to a respective one of a pair of parallel edges of said upper wall panel, a pair of side wall panels, each connected by a fold line to an edge of a respective one of said sloping wall panels, parallel to the edge of the sloping wall panel which is connected to said upper wall panel, and a base wall panel in two arts each art being connected by a fold Iine at an edge thereof, to an edge of a respective one of said side wall panels parallel to the edge of the side wall panel which is connected to a sloping wall panel, each side wall panel being joined at one edge by a fold line to a respective side support strip which is foldable against the associated side wall panel and which is connected by a fold line at one end to a respective triangular piece which in turn is foldably connected to a respective base wall panel part so as to form a curved corner piece between the base wall and said associated side wall upon assembly of the wrapper blank; each said triangular piece being foldably connected to the respective base wall panel part along a line passing obliquely to the longitudinal direction of the respective side support strip.

by oblique fold lines to an edge strip of the upper wall panel, the angles formed between the oblique fold lines and the edges of the side wall panels being acute.

7. A blank constructed substantially as herein particularly described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 and 3 or in Figures 2 and 3 or in Figures 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.