GB1603509A

GB1603509A - Packaging containers

Info

Publication number: GB1603509A
Application number: GB3980980A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Waddingtons Ltd
Current assignee: Waddingtons Ltd
Priority date: 1978-04-12
Filing date: 1978-04-12
Publication date: 1981-11-25

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO PACKAGING CONTAINERS (71) We, WADDINGTONS LIMITED, a British Company of Wakefield Road, Leeds LS10 3TP, West Yorkshire, 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 packaging containers of the type which are formed from cut and creased blanks of sheet material.

Containers of the type of which this invention relates are well known and are in extensive use for packaging a wide variety of goods, materials and merchandise and the containers are Droduced in a wide variety of shapes and types.

This invention is concerned with packaging containers of the above type and which are adapted to be sealed so as to be capable of holding goods or products, such as liquids or perishable products, so that the products will not leak or will be protected from the atmosphere until the container is opened.

Known containers for the above purposes heretofore have been provided with a body formed from a sheet material blank, and the ends have either been closed by means of separate closures which are subsequently sealed to the body or the ends of the body are closed by means of fin seals which are formed by bringing together and sealing regions of the ends of the body. Each of these arrangements has at least one disadvantage. Where separate end closures are used, these must be formed separately which causes difficulties in manufacture and transportation, and where the bodies are provided with fin seals, this usually means a reduction in the possible container volume.

The present invention seeks to provide a packaging container in which at least the above-mentioned disadvantages are obviated or mitigated.

According to the present invention there is provided a packaging container of cut and creased sheet material comprising a body having a plurality of sides and at least one end to be sealed closed by an integral closure panel having a corresponding plurality of edges of which one is directly hinged to one of the sides of the body at said one end, and the remaining edges of the closure panel have flange defining means so that when the closure panel is hinged about said one edge to close the said end, the said flange lies adjacent the inner surfaces of the sides of the body apart from said one side and can be sealed thereto to seal the said end of the body.

Preferably, the container has two ends to be sealingly closed and there are two similar integral end closure panels, although one of said end may be sealed by means of a separate closure.

The body and the closure or each of the closures may be of heat sealable synthetic plastics material, such as the material set forth in British Patent Applications Nos.

19469/75 and 24533/75 (Serial No.

1554143), so that the container end or ends may be sealed by heat sealing.

The sealing between the or each closure and the body can be effected readily as the closure flange lies inside the body end and the flange and adjacent end region of the body can be gripped between male and female heat sealing tools.

The body sides may be defined by a plurality of hingedly interconnected panels, one being provided with a sealing flap at its free edge, which is sealed to the free edge of another of said body panels.

The invention also provides a blank of sheet material erectable into a container as aforesaid.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein: Figure 1 is a plan of a blank erectable into a container according to the embodiment of the invention Figure 2 is a perspective view of a container erected from a blank as shown in Figure 1, prior to final sealing thereof; Figure 3 is a perspective view of the top end of the container shown in Figure 2, in the partly closed position; Figure 4 is an end view of the container of Figure 2; and Figure 5 is a detailed perspective view of a corner of the container of Figure 2, after final sealing thereof, showing the seal between the closure and the body.

Referring to the drawings, in Figure 1 of these figures there is shown a blank according to the invention, and in Figure 2 a container which is constructed from the blank and is also according te the present invention.

The blank is shown in Figure 1, and it will be seen to be of one piece, cut and creased construction. The blank is of sheet material and in this case is of synthetic plastics material which can be heat sealed. The blank has four rectangular panels, 10, 12, 14 and 16 hingedly interconnected along hinge lines 18. At the free edge of panel 16 there is hingedly connected a sealing flap 20. Panels 10 to 16 define the multi-sided body of the container which can be erected from the blank as will be explained.

Additionally, the blank is provided with two multi-sided end closures respectively hingedly connected to panel 12 along hinge lines 40. As the closures are identical, only one will be described in detail. Such closure comprises a closure panel 24 provided with three edge extensions 26, the fourth being hingedly connected directly to the panel 12 along the fold line 22. The adjacent edges of adjacent extensions 26 are connected by foldable corner fillets 28 having a central crease line 30 as shown.

In order to erect the blank of Figure 1 into a container according to the invention, the panels 10 to 16 are relatively folded along lines 18 so as to form an elongated tubular body 32 as shown in Figure 2, the flap 20 being heat sealed to the free edge of panel 10 which it overlaps in the erected container to form a liquid tight seal therewith. The ends of the tubular body are closed by means of the closures hinged to the ends of panel 12 in that extensions 26 are folded at 90 relative to panel 24 so as to form a closure flange about three edges, the corner fillets 28 being folded about crease lines 30 so as to lie, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, to the outsides of the closure flange formed by extensions 26 and the folded corner fillets 28 are folded agin the pair of opposite extension 26, again as shown clearly in Figure 3.The closures can now be hinged to a position closing the ends of the body 32 and so that the closure flange lies inside the body and adjacent the inner surface thereof in the regions of the body ends. The flange of the closure can now be heat sealed to the inner surface of the body at the end region by means of suitable male and female sealing tools so as to form a sealing bead 34 as shown at the bottom of the container in Figure 2, thereby to close the ends of the container in a liquid tight sealing manner.

It will be appreciated that the container contents are placed therein prior to the sealing of the second of the end closures.

By providing the fillets 28 it is ensured that the seal will be liquid tlght provided that there is effective heat seaiing along the seam 34. If the fillets 28 were not provided and the ends of the extensions 26 were left free, there would be the danger that the container would leak at the corners of closure panels 24 adjacent fillets 28.

The container although not shown may be provided with a suitable opening device or tear strip to enable a user to gain access to the container contents.

An advantage of the arrangement of Figures 1 to 5, is that, the blank uses the minimum of material, as the closure panels 24 are located closer to the centre of the panel 12 to which they are hinged and only two foldable fillets 28 are required for each closure. It will be seen that lines 22 are inset relative to the adjacent edge of the panels 10, 14 and 16 defining the body, and the opposite extensions 26 of the closure meet panels 10 and 14 along inclined fold lines 42. These fold lines 42 define chamfered edges in the finished conl-ainer as shown clearly in Figure 2.

It will be seen that the container as shown in Figure 2 is an extremely suitable shape for transportation when the container is charged with the contents, which may for example be liquid or perishable goods, and the ends are sealed and furthermore it will be appreciated that the blank of Figure 1 can be produced in a one step cutting and creasing operation. The blank is furthermore extremely suitable for transportation in that it takes up a minimum of space and can be packaged with similar blanks in an effective space saving manner. Furthermore, almost all of the volume defined by the overall dimensions of the container of Figure 2 can be occupied by the container contents, apart from the end recesses created by the particular form of closure construction and when the containers are transported full, there will be very little transportation of air space, which minimises transportation costs.

The blank of Figure 1 was described as being of synthetic plastics material so that it would be heat sealed or perhaps high fre quency welded, but it will be appreciated that it may be of a cardboard material which has been coated to render it waterproof, the coating being of a nature which can be heat sealed or high frequency welded, or such coating may be of a nature enabling the sealing of the closure end by means of an adhesive such as a hot melt adhesive.

In the embodiment, the closure is pro vided with a flange which is located inside the end of the body so that the end region of the body and the flange can be readily gripped by sealing tools, and sealing is therefore easy to effect.

It will be appreciated that only one example of a container construction has been given. It will also be appreciated that the invention can be applied to a number of modified container forms.

It may be convenient in some cases to provide in a two ended container only one hingeable closure device, the other end be- ing closed by means of a fin seal or by a separate closure means, although we think the invention has its best advantage if both ends are closed by hingeable closure devices, having sealing flanges.

In the embodiment described, where the blank is of a coated board, in order to ensure that there is no raw cardboard edge inside the container, the tab 20 may be formed of double width and may be folded back upon itself before being secured to the panel 10 so that only the folded edge of the double width tab is exposed to the inside of the container.

This application is divided out of our application No. 24331/77 (Serial No.

1603508) which relates to a packaging container, of which the container described with references to Figures 1 to 5 hereof is an example, of cut and creased synthetic plastics material.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. A packaging container of cut and creased sheet material comprising a body having a plurality of sides and at least one end to be sealed closed by an integral closure panel having a corresponding plurality of edges of which one is directly hinged to one of the sides of the body at said one end, and the remaining edges of the closure panel have flange defining means so that when the closure panel is hinged about said one edge to close the said end, the said flange lies adjacent the inner surfaces of the sides of the body apart from said one side and can be sealed thereto to seal the said end of the body.

2. A packaging container according to Claim 1, wherein the container body has two ends to be sealingly closed and there are two similar end closure panels.

3. A packaging container according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the body and the closure panel or each of the closure panels are of heat sealable synthetic plastics material.

4. A container according to any preceding Claim, wherein the flange defining means comprises sealing strips and the sealing strips are connected to respective sides of the body and are interconnected by hinge fillets.

5. A container according to any preceding Claim, wherein the body comprises a plurality of hingedly interconnected panels, one being provided with a sealing flap at its free edge, which is sealed to the free edge of another of said body panels.

6. A one-Diece blank erectable into a container according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5.

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

Claims

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

vided with a flange which is located inside the end of the body so that the end region of the body and the flange can be readily gripped by sealing tools, and sealing is therefore easy to effect.

It will be appreciated that only one example of a container construction has been given. It will also be appreciated that the invention can be applied to a number of modified container forms.

It may be convenient in some cases to provide in a two ended container only one hingeable closure device, the other end be- ing closed by means of a fin seal or by a separate closure means, although we think the invention has its best advantage if both ends are closed by hingeable closure devices, having sealing flanges.

In the embodiment described, where the blank is of a coated board, in order to ensure that there is no raw cardboard edge inside the container, the tab 20 may be formed of double width and may be folded back upon itself before being secured to the panel 10 so that only the folded edge of the double width tab is exposed to the inside of the container.

This application is divided out of our application No. 24331/77 (Serial No.

1603508) which relates to a packaging container, of which the container described with references to Figures 1 to 5 hereof is an example, of cut and creased synthetic plastics material.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. A packaging container of cut and creased sheet material comprising a body having a plurality of sides and at least one end to be sealed closed by an integral closure panel having a corresponding plurality of edges of which one is directly hinged to one of the sides of the body at said one end, and the remaining edges of the closure panel have flange defining means so that when the closure panel is hinged about said one edge to close the said end, the said flange lies adjacent the inner surfaces of the sides of the body apart from said one side and can be sealed thereto to seal the said end of the body.
2. A packaging container according to Claim 1, wherein the container body has two ends to be sealingly closed and there are two similar end closure panels.
3. A packaging container according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the body and the closure panel or each of the closure panels are of heat sealable synthetic plastics material.
4. A container according to any preceding Claim, wherein the flange defining means comprises sealing strips and the sealing strips are connected to respective sides of the body and are interconnected by hinge fillets.
5. A container according to any preceding Claim, wherein the body comprises a plurality of hingedly interconnected panels, one being provided with a sealing flap at its free edge, which is sealed to the free edge of another of said body panels.
6. A one-Diece blank erectable into a container according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5.