GB1604883A

GB1604883A - Tray for containers

Info

Publication number: GB1604883A
Application number: GB14509/78A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1978-05-31
Filing date: 1978-05-31
Publication date: 1981-12-16

Description

(54) TRAY FOR CONTAINERS (71) I, MICHAEL FRED JOYCE, of 25, Rangewood Avenue, Reading, in the county of Berkshire, a British subject, do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- The present invention relates to trays of paperboard used as a support for collated items during their passage through loading and shrink wrapping equipment.

Trays were originally high sided and strong enough to use as containers independent of a surrounding film and these trays continue in use as shrink-wrap trays because a flat rectangle of paperboard would not be compatible and there has been no way of providing a reduced quality tray and which is all that is necessary. Where the strength of a deep tray is required it is only necessary to strip away the top of the shrink wrap to have it open and leave behind sufficient of the wrap to reinforce a reduced quality tray to retain all the handleability of an expensive tray. For instance a line of weakness can be made around the line of preferred separation of the shrink wrap film after the wrap has been completed.

A reduced quality tray is especially apropriate where the containers have already been combined by a multipack for the subsequent convenience of handling by retail customers since much of the necessary strength resides in the multipack and in this way the cost of the total necessary package for shipment is to a large extent recovered by the benefit of that cost continuing for the attractive convenience of the retail customer.

The style of multipack most suited to shrink wrapping with reduced quality trays are those affording a positive gripping action to the top only of bottles or cans and which are most economic due to their reduced area. By using such a tray with shrink wrapping the bases of glass bottles and jars are well protected, handling is made easy and stacking and overstacking is facilitated. Such a reduced quality tray need only have two long side walls to make a trough, preferably with corner wall protection and no gluing to hold the corners erect because this is normally duplicated by the binding effect of the shrink wrap film. Therefore the tray of the present invention is objectively between the quality and cost of a complete tray and the quality and cost of a rectangular layer-pad.In this way the side walls required by tray loading machines and for travel through shrink wrap ovens are present.

According to the present invention there is provided a corner for a tray of sheet material such as solid paper board or corrugated paper board, comprising side wall hinged and substantially perpendicular to the base of the tray, a corner wall vertical edge hinged to a substantially perpendicular end of the side wall, a tab hinged to the bottom edge of the corner wall, a tongue hinged to the free end part of the tab, an aperture positioned in the base of the tray able to have the tongue pushed through it from beneath the tray base when the corner wall is erect and in contact with the base of the tray.For the purpose of maintaining the side wall and corner wall erect, additionally and as required there is provided an additional side wall adjacent the said side wall and hinged to the base for erection on the inside of the corner wall, for support by the corner wall optionally adhesive added to any two contacting surface.

The invention also extends to a blank for a tray including four corners formed from a rectangular piece of foldable sheet material such as solid paper board or corrugated paper board said folds to form hinges and comprising, a rectangular base, an essential side wall with a long side hinged to each of two opposite outer edges of the base rectangle each side wall end hinged to a corner wall end each sharing with a side wall an outer edge of the blank rectangle and each corner wall inner edge hinged with a tab the free end of the tab hinged to a tongue the tab and tongue cut from the blank rectangle the free end of the corner wall and the outer edge of the tab and the outer edge of the tongue sharing an edge of the blank rectangle adjacent the side wall edge of the blank rectangle an aperture in each corner of the base rectangle able to have passed therethrough from beneath the tray the tongue which is depending from a corner wall in contact with the base at that corner. Additionally and as required an additional side wall long side is hinged to one or both of the base rectangle edges adjacent the said essential side walls, optionally adhesive is added to any two contacting surfaces.The invention also extends to a method for erecting a blank corners according to the above into a corner for a tray wherein the base rectangle is pressed through a die restricted to raise any additional side wall and the side wall at right angles to the tray base, then turn the corner wall to lie against the edge of the base and turn the tab to be at an acute angle to the base, a surface parallel to the base to resist the tabs and press them flat against the underside of the base after the tray has left the die, opening in the surface at each corner for a probe to project through the opening and push the tongue through the aperture in the tray base when the tray base is pressed against the surface, retraction of the press action the surface ejecting the tray from the probe, the tray moving away from the means between the surface and the die.Additionally and as required a dab of adhesive applied to a contacting face of the tab and tray base underside for strengthening further when the adhesive has set.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a blank fior erecting into a tray shown by Fig. 2.

Figure 2 shows a blank erected for cylindrical containers.

Figure 3 shows a blank for erecting into a tray shown by Fig. 4.

Figure 4 shows a blank erected for rectangular containers.

Figure 5 shows an internal view of a corner of the means for erecting the blank shown by Fig. 1.

Figure 6 shows an internal view of a corner of the means for erecting the blank shown by Fig. 3.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference figures have like meaning, Figure 5 shows the means for erecting the blank of Fig. I into the form shown by Fig. 2 acording to the following method. The blank rectangle is placed with a corner into the recess above 9 of the die and pressed down by platten 8 in the direction of arrow "A" so that restriction 9 will raise the essential side wall 2 with its hinge to corner wall 3 vertical, therefore further movement in the direction of arrow "A" will turn the corner wall 3 against the tray base rectangle I as tab 4 and corner wall 3 engage sloping die face 11 which will also bend tab 4 inwardly. Tab 4 may be bent more toward the base by it then engaging an angled obstruction which will retract as it is passed by tab 4 and corner wall 3, such as a simple leaf spring (not shown).

When the base rectangle 1 is level with the bottom of the die frame (comprising 9, 10, 11), the die frame will move with the press platten 8 against springs and tab 4 will contact surface 12 and tab 4 with its tongue 5 will be pressed flat between surface 12 and the underside of the base rectangle 1. Surface 12 will move as arrow "B" with base 1 allowing probe 13 to project through opening 14 to contact tongue 5 and push it through aperture 6.Press platten 8 will then retract and surface 12 will move as arrow "C" to eject the tray from probe 13 and the tray will leave surface 12 but be prevented from moving further with the die frame by spring extractor pawl 15 thereby making the erected tray free to move at rightangles to the line of press action, for instance in the direction of arrow "D" by gravity through having the line of press action at say 45 thereby presenting the die frame location surface to the operator at 45', or by other assistance. For instance a simple application of the invention may be hand fed and the press action begun only when the blank is placed correctly against a valve actuator.Trays are used to carry a number of items therefore the means described would only have to produce one tray for every so many containers and the means would not have to operate as fast as it could operate such movement, alternatively it could be automated to keep pace with a relatively fast packaging line.

Figure 6 shows a similar operation for the blank of Fig. 3 excepting that a restriction 10 of the die will erect additional wall 7 prior to the corner wall 3 being turned to contact the base rectangle 1, the additional wall 7 will therefore be supported by the corner wall 3 and provide a four sided tray for rectangular containers but which is not so economic of paperboard. When containers are placed onto the tray then tongues 5 will flatten for better retention of the corner however whereas the corner is well held it is not intended for strength where low grade economic paperboard is used, it is only intended to hold the walls reliably erect until they are held by the shrink wrap skin and so take advantage of the economy afforded by the holding power of the shrink wrap. Such a corner may be strengthened with no loss of speed by adhesive added to the contacting surfaces of tab 4 or base I or to additional wall 7 at point 16. The advantage then being that even though the inclusion of adhesive is messy and undesirable, no adhesive setting time is needed because the tray will remain reliably erect while the adhesive sets in its own time. The tray corner strength is related to the substance of the paper board and its thickness as in any less economically produced tray but the invention has the advantage that good quality board is not needed.

WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. A corner for a tray of sheet material such as solid paper board or corrugated paper board, comprising a side wall hinged and substantially perpendicular to the base of the tray, a corner wall vertical edge hinged to a substantially perpendicular end of the side wall, a tab hinged to the bottom edge of the corner wall, a tongue hinged to the free end part of the tab, an aperture positioned in the base of the tray able to have the tongue pushed through it from beneath the tray base when the corner wall is erect and in contact with the base of the tray.

2. A corner for a tray according to claim 1 an additional side wall hinged to the base adjacent the said side wall for erection inside the corner wall for support by the corner wall.

3. A corner for a tray according to claim 1 or 2 wherein adhesive is applied to any two contacting surfaces.

4. A blank for a tray including four corners formed from a rectangular piece of foldable sheet material such as solid paper board or corrugated paper board said folds to form hinges and comprising, a rectangular base, a side wall with a long side hinged to each of two opposite outer edges of the base rectangle each side wall end hinged to a corner wall end each sharing with a side wall an outer edge of the blank rectangle and each corner wall inner edge hinged with a tab the free end of the tab hinged to a tongue the tab and tongue cut from the blank rectangle the free end of the corner wall and the outer edge of the tab and the outer edge of the tongue sharing an edge of the blank rectangle adjacent the side wall edge of the blank rectangle an aperture in each corner of the base rectangle able to have passed therethrough from beneath the tray the tongue which is depending from a corner wall in contact with the base at that corner.

5. A blank for a tray according to claim 4 including an additional side wall long side hinged to one or both of the base rectangle edges adjacent the said side walls.

6. A method for erecting a blank corners according to claim I into a corner for a tray wherein the base rectangle is pressed though a die restricted to raise any additional side wall and the side wall at rightangles to the tray base, then turn the corner wall to lie against the edge of the base and turn the tab to be at an acute angle to the base, a surface parallel to the base to resist the tabs and press them flat against the underside of the base after the tray has left the die, opening in the surface at each corner for a probe to project through the opening and push the tongue through the aperture in the tray base when the tray base is pressed against the surface, retraction of the press action the surface ejecting the tray from the probe, the tray moving away from the means between the surface and the die.

7. A method for erecting the blank corners into corners for a tray according to claim.

6 wherein adhesive is added to any two contacting surfaces.

8. Means comprising a press, a die, a surface and a probe when used for carrying into effect the method for erecting the blank corners into corners for a tray according to

Claims

claim 6 or 7.

9. A corner for a tray with reference to the arrangement shown by the accompanying drawings Figures 2 and 4 and as described in the specification.

10. A blank for a tray with reference to the arrangement shown by the accompanying drawings Figures 1 and 3 and as described in the specification.

11. A method for erecting a tray corner with reference to the description of the specification and shown by Figures 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings.

12. Means for erecting a tray corner with reference to the description of the specification and with reference to the means shown diagrammatically by Figures 5 and 6.