GB2086353A - Insulated cartons - Google Patents

Abstract

An insulated carton comprises a container portion (32) and a lid (37). The container portion (32) has an external base (19, 20, 21, 22) of board material and an internal base board (36) between which is located an insulating block (35), and side walls each having an external side wall (11, 12, 13, 14) of board material and internal side wall (15, 16, 17, 18) of board material and blocks (33, 34) of insulating material therebetween. The external base and external and internal side walls may be made from a single blank. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in cartons The invention relates to insulated cartons or containers of board for transporting or storing goods. The term "carton" will be used herein to refer to cartons or containers. Such cartons are generally made of corrugated board, solid board, fibre board or particle board, and hitherto insulation has been achieved by including in the carton a lining of insulating material which is simply fitted loose in the carton.

Such known insulated transport cartons have the disadvantage that the loose insulation lining does not constitute significantly to the strength of the carton, or if an insulating material is used which does add strength, the weight of the carton is significantly increased. Such a weight increase is costly, particularly when the loaded cartons are to be carried by air.

According to the invention there is provided an insulated carton of board material comprising a base having an external board layer and an internal board layer and insulating material therebetween, side walls extending from the base, each side wall having an outer board layer and an inner board layer and insulating material therebetween, and a lid having an outer and an inner board layer, and insulating material therebetween.

At least the side walls of the carton are preferably formed from a blank of board folded to provide the associated inner and outer board layers.

The insulating material is preferably in the form of a block or sheet, and is preferably a lightweight synthetic material, for example expanded polystyrene or polyurethane. Honeycomb or cellular materials or any such materials that may form air pockets through divisions or boxes of air may alternatively be used. It will be appreciated that insulating materials in other than block or sheet form may also be used.

The external board layer of the base and side walls may be formed from the blank, but where the container is of a large size it may be more convenient for the side walls only to be formed from the blank, forming a sleeve. The inner and outer board layers of the side walls may be formed from separate blanks. The internal layer of the base may be a loose sheet of board.

The carton may be cuboidal, or for some applications it may be required to have a carton configuration of 6 or 8 sides, or multiples thereof.

The insulating material and the internal board layers of the side walls may extend to the external board layer of the base to surround the insulating material and internal board layer of the base, or alternatively the insulating material and the internal board layer of the side walls may terminate above the external board layer of the base, the insulating material of the base, and preferably also the internal board layer of the base extending under the insulating material of the side walls.

The internal board layer and insulating material of the lid are preferably dimensioned to fit inside the side walls of the carton. The lid preferably comprises an annular rim, the rim and periphery of the inner board layer of the lid defining a channel dimensioned to be engaged by the side walls of the carton.

The base may comprise additional insulating material which is located on the outer board layer of the base and which extends to the outer board layer of the side walls.

Where the base is not formed from the blank, the base may be of the same construction as the lid.

Means may be provided for securing the lid to the side walls. The securing means may comprise a pair of washers, one secured to the lid and one to the side walls, and string wound around the washers. It will be appreciated that other securing means may be used.

Holes may be provided in the lid to communicate the inside of the carton with the outside, for use when solid carbon dioxide is used for cooling the cartons, or the contents contained therein.

One or more handles may be provided for carrying the carton.

The invention further provides a blank, insulating material and a lid for making into a carton according to the invention.

By way of example, three embodiments of a carton and a blank and modifications thereto according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a blank for forming a base and side walls of a carton; Figure 2 is an exploded and partly cut away view of a carton made from the blank of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a sectional view of part of the carton of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a sectional view of part of a modified carton; Figure 5 is an exploded and partly cut away view of a second embodiment of a carton; Figure 6 is a perspective view, partly cut away, of a modified lid or base of a carton; Figure 7 is a perspective view, partly cut away, of a yet further modified lid or base of a carton; and Figure 8 is a partly exploded perspective view of a side wall assembly of a third embodiment of a carton.

In Figure 1, a blank for forming the base and sidewalls of a carton is generally indicated at 1 0.

The blank is of a board material, for example corrugated board, solid board, fibre board, or particle board. It will be appreciated that other types of board than those listed could be used.

The blank 10 is shaped to provide external side walls 11, 12, 1 3 and 14, internal side walls 15, 16, 17 and 18, and flaps 19, 20, 21 and 22 which in an assembled carton form an external base. The external and internal side walls 11 and 15, 12 and 16, and 13 and 17 and 1 4 and 18 are linked respectively, by bridge portions 23, 24, 25 and 26.

Return flaps 27, 28, 29 and 30 are provided at the free ends of the internal side walls 15, 16, 17 and 1 8 respectively, the return flaps in an assembled carton extending between the associated internal and external side walls.

A securing flap 31 extends from the external side wall 14 and in an assembled carton lies against external side wall 11 and is secured thereto by, for example, staples.

The carton may however be constructed from separate single board panels each comprising an external side wall, an internal side wall and a base flap, but joined together by clips or edging material to form an assembled case. The clips or edge materials replace folding crease lines 41 (fig. 1) when made from one blank.

An assembled insulated carton or container is shown in Figure 2. The blank 10 goes to make up a container portion 32 together with insulating material. The insulating material is in the form of blocks of a lightweight synthetic material as polystyrene or polyurethane. It will be appreciated that other insulating material could be used, for example any honeycomb or cellular constructed material. In the container portion 32, four blocks of insulating material are shaped to fit between the associated side wall pairs 11 and 1 5, 12 and 16 and 13 and 17 and 14 and 18. In the cutaway portion of the container portion 32, two insulation blocks 33 and 34 can be seen.

The container portion 32 is assembled by positioning the insulation blocks between the associated internal and external side walls, folding the side walls so that adjacent side walls lie perpendicular to one another and arranging the base flaps 19, 20, 21 and 22 to form an external base, and securing the base flaps by, for example, adhesive tape or stapling. The securing flap 31 is stapled to the external side wall 11 (not shown in Figure 2).

To insulate the base, a further block of insulating material 35 is shaped to fit between the internal side walls 1 5, 1 6, 17 and 18 and a board 36 fits over the insulating block 35. The insulating block 35 and board 36 serve to hold the internal side walls 16 and 18 in position against their associated insulation blocks.

An insulated lid 37 is provided for closing the top of the container portion 32. The lid 37 is made from a blank of board material folded to provide a tray having an annular outer rim 38 for fitting around the external side walls of the container portion 32. A block 39 of insulating material is secured to the inside of the lid 37 by adhesive although there are other ways of effecting securement. An insulation cover 40 of board material is secured around the exposed surface of the insulating block 39 by adhesive such as self adhesive tape with silicon release paper or other suitable means. An annular channel is defined between the cover 40 and the rim 38 of the lid, in which channel are engaged the side walls of the container portion 32.

Where conditions of transporting require, means are provided for securing the lid 37 to the container portion 32. Such means may comprise a washer secured to the lid 37 and a further washer secured to the container portion 32 and string wound round both washers to hold the lid in place.

More than one pair of washers may be provided. It will be appreciated that many different ways of securing the lid to the container portion may be used.

One or more handles may be attached to the carton, either on the container portion 32 or the lid 37. No handle is shown in the drawings but it will be appreciated that many different forms of handle could be used.

Solid carbon dioxide or (dry ice) is commonly used as a coolant, and for the use of such a coolant material, ventilation holes are provided in the lid 37 to allow excess gas to escape. The ventilation holes are simply drilled through the outer board, the insulating block 39 and the board cover 40 to communicate the inside of the carton with the outside.

Two assembled container portions 32 can be used together to form one carton. These two container portions can be employed when an item to be packed is placed into one portion and the other is brought over to meet, to complete and form a total carton or container. Both portions may be held together by a variety of method E.G.

strapping or banding.

Figure 3 shows a sectional view of part of the assembled carton of Figure 2. In this embodiment, the internal side walls 1 5, 16, 17 and 18 extend fully down to the external base formed from flaps 19,20,21 and 22.

In Figure 4, however, is shown a modification in which the inner side walls, of which the side wall 18' is shown, and the associated insulation blocks, of which the insulation block 34' shown, terminates spaced above the external base of the container portion 32'. The base insulating block 35' and internal base board 36' extend beneath the end flaps of the internal side walls, of which the end flap 30' is shown. In the modified embodiment shown in Figure 4, it may be necessary to secure, for example either by adhesive or stapling, the internal side walls to the external side walls.

Where the container is above a certain size, it may be inconvenient to make the external base of the container portion out of the same blank as the side walls. Referring to Figure 1, if the base flaps 19, 20, 21 and 22 are not included, the blanks will form, when assembled, a tubular side wall assembly, or sleeve. In such an assembly, it will be necessary to attach the bottom end of each external side wall to the associated end flap of the internal side wall. In such a modification, the base would be provided by an insulated tray of the same configuration as the lid 37 shown in Figure 2, and the lid 37 would be as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 5 shows a second embodiment of a carton in the form described in the preceding paragraph having six sides. The carton comprises two end sections 50 and 51 both equivalent to the lid 37 and a sleeve 52 for fitting around the goods to be contained. The sleeve 52 is constructed from a blank of board material folded to form under and outer board layers, between which are located blocks of insulating material. It will be appreciated that the embodiment of Figure 5 could be modified to be cuboidal, or have eight sides or any other convenient number of sides.

As shown in Figure 6, a modified lid or base generally indicated at 61 and an annular rim 62. It will be appreciated that various different types of board material as mentioned earlier could be used, or indeed that the tray could be a moulding of, for example plastics material.

Secured to the base 61 is a sheet or block 63 of insulated material such as polystyrene. A layer 64 of board or suitable sheet material covers the insulating layer 63 and a further sheet or block 65 of insulating material, such as polystyrene, is secured to the layer 64. Finally, an outer cover 66 of board or other suitable sheet material is secured to the insulating block or sheet 65. This arrangement provides an annular channel 67 between the board layer 66 and the annular rim 62, the channel 67 being engageable by the side walls of a carton.

Figure 7 shows a further modified lid or base generally indicated at 68 of a carton. The lid or base 68 has an outer layer 69 of board or other suitable sheet material to which is secured an insulating block or sheet 70 of material such as polystyrene. The outer layer 69 instead of providing an annular rim is formed to wrap around the outer edge of the block or sheet 70. A second block or sheet 71 of insulating material is secured directly to the first block 70 and a cover 72 of board material or suitable sheet material is secured to the second block or sheet 71. Thus the base or lid 68 has a similar external configuration as the base or lid 60 of Figure 6 except that there is no annular rim equivalent to the annular rim 62 of the base or lid 60.

The advantage of the bases or lids 60 and 68 is that the part of the lid or base which lies against an end of the tubular side board assembly is itself insulated, whereas the lids shown in Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5 have simply an uninsulated cardboard layer lying against an end of the side wall assembly.

Figure 8 shows a side wall assembly of a third embodiment of a carton, generally indicated at 73.

The side wall assembly comprises an outer layer 74 of board or other suitable material creased or hinged to provide four side walls 75, 76, 77 and 78 and a securing flap 79. To each side wall is secured a block or sheet of insulating material, such as polystyrene, the blocks or sheets being numbered 80, 81, 82 and 83. An inner layer 84 of board or other suitable sheet material is secured to the insulating blocks or sheets 80 to 83, the material of the layer 84 being creased or hinged to provide inner side walls 85, 86, 87 and 88, together with a securing flap 89. Furthermore.

cover flaps 90,91,92 and 93 are provided to cover the ends of the insulating sheets or blocks 80 to 83. The cover flaps may be omitted. It will be appreciated that a further set of cover flaps are provided at the bottom end of the inner side wall layer 84, but again these cover flaps may also be omitted.

It will be appreciated that the side wall assembly of Figure 8 can easily be assembled and that by use of suitable adhesive to secure the inner and outer board layer to the insulating blocks, and the securing flaps 79 and 89 to the associated side wall layers, a rigid side wall assembly is provided. Stitching or stapling may also be used for assembling the side wall assembly.

These embodiments of a carton or container according to the invention are light in weight yet strong due to the double board walls, which in turn combined with insulated liner accord high insulation values. These in principle relate to layers of air entrapped between outer walls of corrugated board (single, doubie, triple wall or multiples thereof) then the insulated liner. Plus internal air entrapped between inner layers of corrugated, the whole thereby giving exceptional high insulation values combined with high strength to carton or container. Stacking strength is gained due to the wide ledge accorded by wide container walls, giving enhanced compression properties. The thickness of the walls may be determined by insulation factor required, or compression strength required, or puncture resistance required.Board materials used in the construction may be required to have wet strength properties. These cartons have strong corners. The carton can either be supplied ready assembled, or alternatively blanks may be supplied for making the container portion, together with the necessary insulating blocks and internal base board. The lid can also be supplied in an unassembled form with a blank of board for the tray portion of the'lids, insulation blocks and board covers for the insulating blocks. In order to secure the insulating block to the tray portion and the board cover to the insulating block, double sided adhesive tape may be used. The tape would conveniently be applied around the edge of the upper surface and the peripheral surface of the insulating block with a protective material still covering the outwardly facing side of the tape. In order to assemble the lid all that would be necessary would be for the protective material to be removed from the double sided adhesive tape, the insulating block to be pressed against the lid and the board cover to be pressed against the tape surrounding the insulated block. It must be borne in mind that these cartons or containers accord high protection qualities. The ability to be supplied unassembled gives savings in transit and storage costs due to reduced bulk.

Claims (29)

1. An insulated carton of board material comprising a base having an external board layer and an internal board layer and insulating material therebetween, side walls extending from the base, each side wall having an outer board layer and an inner board layer and insulating material therebetween, and a lid having an outer and an inner board layer and insulating material therebetween.

2. A carton as claimed in Claim 1 wherein at least the side walls of the carton are formed from a blank of board folded to provide the associated inner and outer board layers.

3. A carton as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the side walls and the external board layer of the base are formed from the blank.

4. A carton as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the base is formed separately from the side walls.

5. A carton as claimed in Claim 4 wherein the inner and outer board layers of the side walls are formed from separate blanks.

6. A carton as claimed in Claim 1, Claim 2 or Claim 3 wherein the insulating material and the internal board layers of the side walls extend to the external board layer of the base to surround the insulating material and internal board layer of the base.

7. A carton as claimed in Claim 1, Claim 2 or Claim 3 wherein the insulating material and the internal board layers of the side wall terminate above the external board layer of the base, at least the insulating material of the base extending under the insulating material of the side walls.

8. A carton as claimed in Claim 7 wherein the insulating material of the base and the internal board layer of the base extend under the insulating material of the side walls.

9. A carton as claimed in any one of Claims 1, 2,3, 6, 7 and 8 wherein the internal board layer of the base is a loose sheet of board.

10. A carton as claimed in Claim 5 wherein the internal board layer and insulating material of the base are dimensioned to fit inside the side walls of the carton.

11. A carton as claimed in Claim 10 wherein the base comprises additional insulating material, the additional insulating material being located on the outer board layer of the base and extending to the outer board layer of the side walls.

12. A carton as claimed in Claim 10 or Claim 11 wherein the base comprises an annular rim, the rim and periphery of the inner board layer of the base defining a channel dimensioned to be engaged by the side walls of the carton.

13. A carton as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the internal board layer and insulating material of the lid are dimensioned to fit inside the side walls of the carton.

14. A carton as claimed in Claim 13 wherein the lid comprises additional insulating material, the additional insulating material being located on the outer board layer of the lid and extending to the outer board layer of the side walls.

1 5. A carton as claimed in Claim 13 or 14 wherein the lid comprises an annular rim, the rim and periphery of the inner board layer of the lid defining a channel dimensioned to be engaged by the side walls of the carton.

1 6. A carton as claimed in any preceding claim comprising means for securing the lid to the side walls.

17. A carton as claimed in Claim 1 6 wherein the securing means comprises a pair of washers, one secured to the lid and one to the side wall, and string wound around the washers.

18. A carton as claimed in any preceding claim comprising holes in the lid to communicate the inside of the carton with the outside.

19. A carton as claimed in any preceding claim comprising handles.

20. A carton as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the insulating material is in the form of blocks.

21. A carton as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 1 9 wherein the insulating material is in the form of sheets.

22. A carton as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 1 9 wherein the insulating material is in the form of pumped polyurethane.

23. A carton as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 1 9 wherein the insulating material is in the form of granules of polyurethane.

24. A carton as claimed in Claim 1 to Claim 22 wherein the insulating material is polystyrene.

25. A carton as claimed in any preceding claim which is cuboidal.

26. A carton as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 24 which is hexagonal in section.

27. A carton as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 25 which is octagonal in section.

28. A blank of board material, insulating material and a lid for making a carton as claimed in any preceding claim.

29. A carton substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figures 1 to 3, or in Figures 1 to 3 as modified by Figure 4, or in Figure 5, or in Figures 6 to 8 of the accompanying drawings.