GB1582131A

GB1582131A - Pack of sheet articles

Info

Publication number: GB1582131A
Application number: GB1624576A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: SHAW POLYTHENE Ltd
Current assignee: SHAW POLYTHENE Ltd
Priority date: 1977-04-22
Filing date: 1977-04-22
Publication date: 1980-12-31

Description

(54) AN IMPROVED PACK OF SHEET ARTICLES (71) We, SHAW POLYTHENE LIMITED, of Export House, Meitham, Huddersfield in the County of York, a British Company, 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: This invention relates to a pack of sheet articles particularly, but not exclusively, polythene bags.

A stack of articles of flexible sheet maw terial such as, for example, polythene bags are usually supplied in a pack which consists of a container of plastics or cardboard material into which the stack of articles is inserted. However, this form of packaging suffers from the disadvantage that it is difficult to extract a single article from the pack without removing the entire stack of articles.

The object of this invention, is to provide a pack for a stack of articles formed of sheet material which allows a single article to be removed therefrom without the necessity of removing the entire stack from the pack.

According to this invention, a pack of a stack of articles formed of flexible sheet material comprises a container having an aperture formed therein, the stack of articles being folded along at least one transverse fold line to form at least two layers and the folded stack being located within the container with the free ends of the articles of the top layer disposed closer to the aperture than the folded portions thereof, and a plate member of semi-rigid material which has been inserted in the folded stack between the top layer and the second layer thereof, wherein the plate member is separate from and is not connected to the container.

Preferably, a semi-rigid material from which the plate member is formed may be cardboard or like material. Alternatively, the plate member consists of a framework or lattice of wire or plastics material. Preferably, also, the plate member extends over a substantial part of the area of the container. The stack of articles is, preferably, folded along three transversely extending fold lines.

Preferably, the container is a carton formed of a semi-rigid material and the aperture may be formed in the top of the carton adjacent to one side edge thereof.

Preferably, also, the top of the carton is provided with an area which is bounded by a line of perforations enabling the area to be broken out to form the aperture. The aperture preferably extends across a substantial part of the length of the top adjacent to one side edge of the carton, and the carton may be provided with an openable side through which the folded stack of articles can be inserted.

Alternatively, the container can be formed of a flexible material and the container may be provided with a hand grip to enable the container to be held when an article is withdrawn therefrom through the aperture.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a carton; Figure 2 is a sectional side elevation of the carton having a folded stack of articles located therein; Figure 3 is a sectional side elevation of the carton with an alternative folded stack of articles located therein; Figure 4 is a perspective view of a jig for folding the stack of articles; Figure 5 is a perspective view of the jig with a folded stack of articles formed thereon; Figure 6 is a perspective view of an alternative container with a folded stack of articles partially inserted therein; and Fig. 7 is a perspective view of an alternative jig.

Referring now to Figures 1 to 5 of the drawings, a pack of a stack of articles of sheet material such as polythene bags, comprises a substantially rectangular carton 10 formed of cardboard or other semi-rigid material. The top of the carton 10 is provided adjacent to one side thereof with a line of perforations 12 enclosing an area 14 of the top which can be broken out to form an aperture 16 as shown in Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings. The aperture 16 is arranged to extend across a substantial part of the length of the carton 10 to allow one of a stack 18 of polythene bags to be withdrawn therethrough.

Referring now to Figure 2 of the drawings, the stack 18 of polythene bags is folded about two transversely extending fold lines to form each bag into substantially an S-shape and the stack 18 thus has a top layer 20, a second layer 22, and a third layer 24. A plate member 26 formed of a sheet of cardboard or other semi-rigid material is inserted between the top layer 20 and the second layer 22 of the stack 18, and the plate member 26 extends over a substantial part of the area of the carton 10.

The folded stack 18 of polythene bags and the plate member 26 enclosed therein, is inserted into the carton 10 through an openable end 28 thereof with the free ends of the polythene bags in the top layer 20 disposed adiacent to the aperture 16.

Referring now to Figure 3 of the drawings, a stack 30 of polythene bags of extended length is folded about three transversely extending fold lines to form a folded stack having four layers. The folded stack 30 is provided in the manner described with reference to Figure 2 of the drawings with the plate member 26 and is inserted in the same manner into the carton 10, thereby forming a pack of extended length polythene bags.

The folded stack 30 of polythene bags is convenientlv formed on a jig 32, which is shown in Figures 4 and 5 of the drawings.

The jig 32 is formed of sheet material and comprises a spine 34 having two plates 36 and 38 pivotally connected to the side edges of the spine 34 for movement between horizontal and upright positions. Two inner plates 40 and 42 are also pivotally connected to the spine 34 along pivotal axes 44 and 46 respectively, for movement between horizontal and upright positions. Each plate 40 and 42 is partially cut away to reduce the cross-sectional area thereof and the plates taper towards the free ends thereof.

The stack 30 of polythene bags is laid on the horizontal plates 36, 38, 40 and 42 of the jig 32. The inner plates 40 and 42 are first moved to the upright position and then the plates 36 and 38 are moved to the upright position shown in Figure 5 of the drawings, to produce the folded stack 30 shown in Figure 3 of the drawings. The plate member 26 is inserted into the folded stack 30 and the folded jig 32, containing the folded stack 30 of polythene bags and the plate member 26 is inserted into the carton 10 through the openable end 28 thereof. The jig 32 is then withdrawn from the carton 10 leaving the folded stack 30 of polythene bags and the plate member 26 therein. The reduction in area of the inner plates 40 and 42 and the tapering of the plates 40 and 42 facilitates the removal of the jig 32 without disturbing the folded stack 30 of polythene bags.

A single polythene bag is removed from the carton 10 by grasping the upper polythene bag of the stack 18 or 30 adjacent to the free end thereof through the aperture 16 and pulling the polythene bag out of the carton 10 through the aperture 16. The provision of the plate member 26 facilitates the slidable removal of the bag from the folded stacks 18 or 30 without disturbance of the remaining folded bags, thus enabling a single bag to be easily removed from the pack.

Referring now to Figure 6 of the drawings, in a modification the carton 10 is replaced by a container 48 formed of flexible material such as, for example, polythene.

One side face of the flexible container 48 is provided with an aperture 50 through which the polythene bags located within the container can be withdrawn therefrom. One side edge of the container 48 is provided with a hand grip 52 to allow the container 48 to be held whilst a polythene bag is withdrawn therefrom through the aperture 50. The stack of polythene bags can be inserted through an open side edge of the container 48 as shown in Figure 5 of the drawings, or alternatively, the flexible container 48 can be formed around a folded stack of polythene bags.

Referring now to Figure 7 of the drawings, in another modification, the jig 32 can be replaced by a jig 54 which again consists of four plates 56 pivotally connected to a spine 58 for movement between a horizontal and an upright position. The plates 56 are each provided on the sides thereof remote from the spine 58 with cut-away portions 60. A folded stack of polythene bags is formed on the jig 54 in the manner described above with reference to the jig 32. The stack of polythene bags together with the jig 54 is inserted through an openable bottom or top of the carton or the container instead of through an openable end thereof as previously described. The cut-away portions 60 of the plates 56 allow the folded stack of polythene bags to be gripped and held in position whilst the jig 54 is slidably removed therefrom.

In a further modification, the plate member 26 is formed of a wire framework or, alternatively, the plate member consists of a lattice formed of plastics material.

It will be appreciated that this invention can be applied to packs for articles of flexible sheet material other than polythene bags without departing from the scope of this invention.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A pack of a stack of articles formed of flexible sheet material comprising a container having an aperture formed therein, the stack of articles being folded along at least one transverse fold line to form at least two layers and the folded stack being located within the container with the free ends of the articles of the top layer disposed closer to the aperture than the folded portions thereof, and a plate member of semi-rigid material which has been inserted in the folded stack between the top layer and the second layer thereof, wherein the plate member is separate from and is not connected to the container.

2. A pack according to Claim 1, wherein the semi-rigid material from which the plate member is formed is cardboard or like material.

3. A pack according to Claim 1, wherein the plate member consists of a framework or lattice of wire or plastics material.

4. A pack according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the plate member extends over a substantial part of the area of the container.

5. A pack according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the stack of articles is folded along three transversely extending fold lines.

6. A pack according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the container is a carton formed of a semi-rigid material.

7. A pack according to Claim 6, wherein the aperture is formed in the top of the carton adjacent to one side edge thereof.

8. A pack according to Claim 7, wherein the top of the carton is provided with an area which is bounded by a line of perforations enabling the area to be broken out to form the aperture.

9. A pack according to Claim 7 or Claim 8, wherein the aperture extends across a substantial part of the length of the top adjacent to one side edge of the carton.

10. A pack according to any one of Claims 6 to 9, wherein the carton is provided with an openable side through which the folded stack of articles can be inserted.

11. A pack according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the container is formed of a flexible material.

12. A pack according to Claim 11, wherein the container is provided with a hand grip to enable the container to be held when an article is withdrawn therefrom through the aperture.

13. A pack of a stack of articles constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated by, the accompanying drawings.

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

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. cut-away portions 60 of the plates 56 allow the folded stack of polythene bags to be gripped and held in position whilst the jig 54 is slidably removed therefrom. In a further modification, the plate member 26 is formed of a wire framework or, alternatively, the plate member consists of a lattice formed of plastics material. It will be appreciated that this invention can be applied to packs for articles of flexible sheet material other than polythene bags without departing from the scope of this invention. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A pack of a stack of articles formed of flexible sheet material comprising a container having an aperture formed therein, the stack of articles being folded along at least one transverse fold line to form at least two layers and the folded stack being located within the container with the free ends of the articles of the top layer disposed closer to the aperture than the folded portions thereof, and a plate member of semi-rigid material which has been inserted in the folded stack between the top layer and the second layer thereof, wherein the plate member is separate from and is not connected to the container.