GB2068902A - Packaging member - Google Patents

Abstract

A packaging member has a base 1 and hollow tubular sections 3-5 foldably connected to the base 1 along at least two opposite edges. The tubular sections tend to return to a flattened, collapsed condition after erection. Packs can be formed from single packaging members which can have cover flaps foldably connected to the base or from two packaging members, one forming the bottom and one the top of the pack. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Packaging member This invention relates to a packaging member and particularly to a packaging member that is glued and transported in the collapsed flat condition and is ready for erection at the point of use.

It has been previously proposed to provide packaging members for use as internal fitments within a case or carton, the members being of the kind folded from a flat blank and having a base member, and attached to each of two opposite edges thereof a hollow tubular section, each hollow tube section having a first wall extending at right angles to the base member and attached to the respective edge of the base by a first fold line, a second wall spaced from and parallel to the base member and connected by a second fold line to the first wall, a third wall spaced from and parallel to the first wall and connected to the second wall by a third fold line, and a fourth wall connected to the third wall by a fourth fold line, the fourth wall lying contiguous with the base member with its free edge remote from the fourth fold line lying adjacent the first fold line.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a packaging member of the aforesaid kind which can be readily erected at the point of use and having other advantages as hereinafter described.

According to the present invention there is provided a packaging member comprising a base member and hollow tubular section forming panels foldably connected to at least two opposite edges thereof along first fold lines, each hollow tubular section being formed by first, second, third and fourth wall panels foldably interconnected by second, third and fourth predetermined fold lines respectively, the fourth panel being secured to the base member, the first and third predetermined fold lines being folded through sub stantially 1 80 degrees whilst the second and fourth predetermined fold lines are formed by lines of weakness.

The packaging member can be readily erected to bring the hollow tubular section forming panels into the form of hollow tubular sections by effecting the second and fourth folds along the lines of weakness. When the first and third wall panels are at right angles to the base member the second and fourth folds have been folded 90 along the lines of weakness whilst the first and third folds have been folded back from the 180 position through 90 towards the flat position. Thus all the fold lines are tending to urge the hollow tubular sections to the position in which the first and third folds are at 180 and the second and fourth folds are flat.The result is that the tubular sections are urged towards the base panel which is advantageous in a number of end uses for the packaging mem ber.

For example a packaging member according to the invention can be used as a tray on which articles are placed and the tray and contents subsequently enclosed in the well known manner by shrink wrapping with a plastics film. The tubular sections which form the walls of the tray are urged into contact with the contents before the shrink film is tightened thereby minimising the movement of the tray walls to be effected by the film as it shrinks and facilitating the production of tight packages.

If desired, sharp edges at the corners of the tray can be reduced by providing that the base member is recessed at the corners and the ends of the tubular sections are substan tially aligned with the recessed corners of the base panel when the first and third wall panels are at right angles to the base mem ber.

Extension flaps can be provided foldably connected to the ends of each of the first and second wall panels and adapted to be folded to be within the tubular sections. The provi sion of these end flaps can be arranged to at least partially resist the tendency of the tubu lar sections to return towards the base panel, i.e. to hold the tubular sections in a more upright position, thereby facilitating the load ing of goods onto the base panel.

Alternatively the tubular sections can be provided along two edges of the base member and cover flaps can be foldably connected to one or both of the other two edges to fold over the tops of the tubular sections to form a closed package. Such a package provides good protection as a result of the tubular sections along two edges.

In another embodiment a pack can be formed from two packaging members accord ing to the invention, each member having tubular sections along two edges of the base member. One of the packaging members can form the bottom of the pack and the other packaging member can form the top of the pack in the inverted position relative to the packaging member forming the bottom. Such a pack is well suited for the packaging of books since protection is afforded on all four outer edges by the tubular sections. In order that the two base members are of the same size one or other of the tubular sections adjacent one another at the corners of the pack can terminate short of the corner but preferably the ends of the second, third and fourth wall panels are formed so that the ends of the erected tubular sections are inclined to form a mitre between adjacent tubular sec tions.This avoids the open ends of tubular sections being visible in the completed pack.

Ideally the lengths of the third panels are such that adjacent third panels do not meet at the corners of the assembled pack. This is particularly advantageous when the pack is used for books in virtually eliminating damage to the corners of the book since the corners of the book are not in contact with the tubular sections.

The invention will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a flat blank for a packaging member according to the invention; Figure 2 is an end view of a packaging member formed from the blank of Fig. 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the packaging member of Fig. 1 and 2 with the extension flaps partly folded into position; Figure 4 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment; Figure 5 is a partial perspective view of the end of a tubular section of a further embodiment; and Figure 6 is a perspective view of a pack formed from two packaging members according to the invention.

Referring to Fig. 1 there is shown a flat blank of corrugated cardboard material having a base member 1. Joined to two opposite edges of the base member by fold lines 2 are first wall panels 3. Joined to the first wall panel 3 are second, third and fourth wallpanels 4, 5 and 6 respectively foldable connected together along predetermined fold lines 7, 8 and 9 respectively formed by lines of weakness.

Extension flaps 10 are joined by fold lines 11 at each end of the first wall panels 3, each flap 10 being divided into 2 portions by a fold line 1 2 to form a portion 1 0a between the fold lines 11 and 1 2. Extension flaps 1 3 are joined by fold line 14 at each end of the third wall panel 5.

The corners of the base member 1 are recessed at 1 5 and the ends of the second wall panels 4 are similarly shaped at 1 6 so as not to extend beyond the recessed corners of the base member when the tubular sections are erected as hereinafter described. The length of the fourth wall panels 6 is not greater than the length of the first wall panels 3 between the fold lines 11. The width of the fourth panel 6 is less than the width of the second panel 4.

The blank of Fig. 1 is formed into a packaging member by folding along the lines of weakness 2 and 8, commonly termed breaking the folds, whilst the folds along the lines of weakness 7 and 9 are not broken. The blank is thus folded to the position shown on the left hand side of Fig. 2 and the fourth panel 6 is secured to the base member 1.

Depending upon the thickness of the blank and the design of the lines of weakness 2 a fairly heavy pressure will be required and some deformation of the material will occur in order to fold the blank in this way. Undesirable deformation is largely avoided in the illustrated example in that the width of the fourth panel is less than the width of the second panel so that the free edge 1 7 of the fourth panel remote from the fold line 9 does not extend to the fold line 2 as shown in Fig.

2.

After the fourth panel 6 has been secured, e.g. by glue, to the base member and the pressure is released the resiliency of the board material will tend to urge the wall panels away from the base member as indicated on the right hand side of Fig. 2.

The packaging member can be transported in this substantially flat condition to the point of use where it can be readily engaged between the third wall panel and the base member to be erected into the form shown in Fig. 3. The wall panels are folded away from the base member to form hollow tubular sections thus tending to break the folds along the, lines of weakness 7 and 9 whilst the already broken folds are folded back through 90 towards the flat position. Having thus erected the tubular section so that the first and third wall panels are at right angle to the base member the tubular sections nevertheless are resiliently urged towards the base member by the resilience of the board material at the folds 2, 7, 8 and 9. It will be seen from Fig.

3 that the ends 1 6 of the second wall panels which form the top of the tubular sections are aligned with the recessed corners 1 5 of the base member, the length of the first wall panel 3 being less than the length of the third wall panel 5. This results in the ends of the tubular section being substantially in line with the recessed corners of the base member.

When the tubular sections resile towards the base member to an extent which would impede the use of the packaging member the extension flaps 10 and 1 3 can be provided to maintain the tubular sections in a more upright position. As shown in Fig. 3 the extension flap 10 is folded along fold lines 1 2 and 11 to lie within the end of the tubular section, the width of the portion 1 0a being slightly less than the internal width of the tubular section. Flap 1 3 is then folded into the end of the tubular section until its free edge 1 3a snappingly engages with the fold line 1 2 of the flap 1 0. Flaps 10 and 1 3 tend to maintain the tubular sections more upright relative to the base member but not completely at right - angles thereto.

The erected packaging member of Fig. 3 can be used as a tray into which one or a plurality of articles are loaded and the loaded tray enclosed e.g. with a shrink wrap film.

The tubular sections of the loaded tray are urged inwards to contact the contents even before the shrink wrap film is heated to shrink so the formation of a tight package is greatly facilitated. The inclined ends of the tubular sections minimise the risk of the corners of the tray puncturing the film.

If desired, tubular sections may also be provided along the other two edges of the base member.

An alternative method of closing a package formed from a packaging member according to the invention is shown in Fig. 4. In this example the ends of the tubular sections are not provided with the internally folded extension flaps 10 and 1 3 and the corners of the base member are not recessed. Cover flaps 1 8 and 1 9 are foldably connected to the base member and can be folded to cover the ends and top of the package. The cover flaps can be secured in position by any well known means e.g. by taping, which is preferably arranged to prevent the tubular sections being forced outwardly to release the contents of the package. The tubular sections will however tend to maintain the contents in position in the package by virtue of their resilience towards the contents and will also provide good protection.

Referring now to Figs. 5 and 6 there is shown a package formed from two packaging members according to the invention. Each of the packaging members is provided with tubular sections along two opposite edges of the rectangular base member 101, the first wall panels 103 of the tubular sections extending the full length of the respective edges of the base members 101. The base members of both packaging members are the same size and the width of the first and third wall panels 103, 105 are the same for each packaging member. The ends of the tubular sections are inclined so that the ends of adjacent tubular sections of the two packaging members are mitred, first side wall panels of one packaging member covering the open ends of the tubular sections of the other packaging member.The length of the third wall panels 105 are such that they do not meet at the corners which is achieved in the illustrated embodiment in which the tubular sections of each packaging member have second wall panels 104 of the same width, by terminating the third wall panels 105 short by a distance Y from their theoretical intersection line XX as shown more clearly in Fig. 5.

A package formed as shown in Fig. 6 is particularly suitable for the carriage of books.

The two packaging members can be supplied to the packing point in the flat condition as illustrated in Fig. 2 and be erected there to form the tubular sections. The tendency of the tubular sections to resile inwardly enables the tubular sections to be opened wide enough apart for the book to be readily inserted therebetween and laid on the base member, the tubular sections moving inwardly to grip the book when the force holding them apart is released. The other packaging member can then be placed thereover whilst holding the tubular sections apart and when in position the tubular sections released to grip the book in the other direction. The mitred ends of the tubular sections assist in correctly locating the top packaging member, the inclined ends of the second wall panels engaging the inclined ends of the fourth wall panels of adjacent tubular sections.The assembled packages can be secured together e.g. by taping with adhesive tape. It should be noted that a knife inserted between the base member and a tubular section to cut the tape to open the package will not damage the book even if the knife is inserted deeply into the package. The package provides excellent allround protection for the book and the possibility of damage to the vulnerable corners of the book is virtually eliminated because the corners of the book are not in contact with the package.

Whilst the ends of the tubular sections are mitred in the illustrated embodiment other designs of the packaging members are of course possible. For example, the ends of the tubular sections may be inclined at angles other than 45 or a tubular section can terminate short of the corner of the base member to lie within the adjacent tubular section with its end adjacent to the third wall panel forming the inner wall of the adjacent tubular section.

If desired an extension flap can be foldably connected to the end of the third wall panel 105 of one or both of the packaging members of the package of Fig. 6. This extension flap can be folded to lie within the tubular section to resist the tendency of the tubular section to resile towards the base member whilst still allowing sufficient inward movement of the tubular section to grip the book. Because the extension flap is foldably connected to the third wall panels 105 away from the theoretical intersection line XX of the inner walls of the tubular sections the corners of the book are not contacted by the extension flaps.

Claims (9)

1. A packaging member comprising a base member and hollow tubular section forming panels foldably connected to at last two opposite edges thereof along first fold lines, each hollow tubular section being formed by first, second, third and fourth wall panels foldably interconnected by second, third and fourth predetermined fold lines respectively, the fourth panel being secured to the base member, the first and third predetermined fold lines being folded through substantially 180 whilst the second and fourth predetermined fold lines are formed by lines of weakness.

2. A packaging member according to Claim 1 in which the base member is recessed at the corners and the ends of the tubular sections are substantially aligned with the recessed corners of the base panel when the first and third wall panels are at right angles to the base member.

3. A packaging member according to Claim 1 or 2 comprising extension flaps foldably connected to the ends of each of the first and second wall panels and adapted to be folded to be within the tubular sections.

4. A packaging member according to Claim 1 comprising tubular sections along two edges of the base member and cover flaps foldably connected to one or both of the other two edges to fold over the tops of the tubular sections to form a closed package.

5. A pack formed from two packaging members according to Claim 1, each member having tubular sections along two edges of the base member.

6. A pack according to Claim 5, in which the ends of the second, third and fourth wall panels are formed so that the ends of the erected tubular sections are inclined to form a mitre between adjacent tubular sections.

7. A pack according to Claim 6 in which the lengths of the third panels are such that adjacent third panels do not meet at the corners of the assembled pack.

8. A packaging member substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs.

1 to 3 or Fig. 4 or Figs. 5 and 6.

9. A pack substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Fig. 4 or Figs. 5 and 6.