GB2213468A - Carton sleeve - Google Patents

Abstract

An open-ended carton sleeve (10) formed from a blank can be loaded with a product container (12), when in a partly erected state, and then sealed in a closed position around the container (12) while leaving the ends of the sleeve open. The sleeve blank has panels which are separated by pre-determined fold lines which permit the blank to be erected so as to form a base (21), sidewalls (22 and 23) and flaps (24 and 25) turnable inwardly so as to overlap each other and to be sealable together to complete the formation of the sleeve. Each sidewall (22 and 23) comprises first and second wall portions (22a and 22b) and (23a and 23b) which join each other along fold lines (26 and 27) which permit the sleeve to be wrapped around in a tightly conforming relationship to the product container (12) loaded therein. To provide longitudinal restraint and thereby hold the product container (12) entirely captive within the carton sleeve (10), longitudinal slots are formed in the sidewalls into which flange portion of the container (12) are held captive. <IMAGE>

Description

CARTON SLEEVE This invention relates to a carton sleeve which is erectable from a carton-forming blank and which can be loaded with product when in a partly erected state and then closed around the product to retain the latter therein, but leaving the ends of the sleeve open.

Carton sleeves are usually made of cardboard, and are open at each end, though sometimes deformable end tucks are provided at each end which can be pressed-in so as to retain the product from being displaced longitudinally of the sleeve through either open end. However, the deformable tucks are provided by pre-formed fold lines in the blanks, and they do not maintain the pressed-in position reliably, nor do they present any serious obstacle to longitudinal displacement of the product, particularly when a relatively heavy or dense product is concerned and/or the carton is subject to a substantial impact.

There is a further problem with existing carton sleeves, in that the deformable end tucks can quite readily be manipulated e.g. by unauthorised personnel, back to the undeformed position, whereby the product can be extracted from the sleeve and tampered with, returned to the carton sleeve, and then the end tuck repositioned in its deformed position without leaving any visible indication of the tampering with the product. This is a very serious problem which both food manufacturers, and also wholesale and retail outlets have to consider very seriously these days, and there is therefore a presently unsatisfied demand for an improved means for retention of product in carton sleeves and which is able to provide visible evidence of unauthorised attempts to remove the product and then to return the product within the sleeve.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided an open-ended carton sleeve which is formed from a carton-forming blank which can be loaded with a product container when in a partly erected state and then sealed in a closed position around the product container while leaving the ends of the sleeve open, in which:: the sleeve blank has panels separated by predetermined fold lines which permit the blank to be erected so as to form a base, side walls connected to the base, flaps connected to the free edges of the side walls and turnableinwardly so as to overlap each other and to be sealable together to complete the formation of the sleeve;; and in which each side wall comprises two adjacent first and second wall portions having the first wall portion connected to the base and the second wall portion connected to the respective flap, a longitudinal fold line forming the joint between the first and second wall portions and permiting inward folding of the second wall portion relative to the first wall portion in order to follow the external contour of the product container loaded in the sleeve, and a respective longitudinal slot formed in each side wall adjacent to said longitudinal fold line in order to receive and to hold captive against longitudinal movement a projecting flange of the product container received in the sleeve.

A carton sleeve according to said one aspect of the invention is particular suitable for receiving a relatively flat plastic product container of the type now becoming available and for use in storing pre-cooked foods which only require heating in a microwave oven.

These plastics containers, suitable for introduction directly into a microwave oven, can be held reliably within the carton sleeve, by virtue of being tightly wrapped around by the sleeve, and also by means of its longitudinal restraint as it engages in the longitudinal slots in the side walls by its projecting flange portions.

A carton sleeve according to the invention may be particularly suitable for receiving "microwave ready" plastics food containers having two separate food components each located in a respective compartment, such as a meat and sauce product in one compartment and rice in a separate compartment.

The location of the longitudinal slots in the side walls will depend upon the positioning of the projecting flanges of the product container, in a direction along the depth of the container. In one convenient form, each longitudinal slot has one side edge located substantially along the longitudinal fold line, and the remainder of the slot located in the respective first wall portion which adjoins the base of the carton sleeve.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a food product container of plastics material which is adapted to be loaded into and to be retained captive within a carton sleeve, in which the product container comprises: a box-shaped base portion having a closure member which defines a first food storage compartment; and a lid portion which is detachably mounted on the base portion so as to define with said closure member a second food storage compartment.

Thus, the product container may be used for the refrigerated storage of "convenience foods", and if one or both of the base portion and the lid portion are made of plastics material suitable for introduction directly into microwave ovens, then either or both of the food compartments can be introduced into a microwave oven so as to have the food therein rapidly brought to an acceptable temperature for eating.

Preferably, the product container has one or more projecting flange portions so as to be receivable in a respective longitudinal slot in a carton sleeve according to said one aspect of the invention.

The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a carton-forming blank from which a carton sleeve according to the invention can be formed; Figure 2 is a plan view of a carton sleeve erected from the blank of Figure 1; Figure 3 is an end view of the carton sleeve with a product container loaded and held captive therein; and, Figure 4 is an exploded view of a plastics food container according to the invention.

Referring first to Figures 1 to 3 of the drawings, there is disclosed an embodiment of open-ended carton sleeve 10 which is formed from a carton-forming blank 11 which can be loaded with a product container 12, when in a partly erected state, and then sealed in a closed position around the product, while leaving the ends of the sleeve open.

The sleeve blank 11 has panels 13 to 19, as shown in Figure 1, which are separated by predetermined fold lines 20 which permit the blank to be erected into the form shown in Figures 2 and 3. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the carton sleeve 10 formed from the erected blank 11 has a base 21, side walls 22 and 23 connected to the base 21, and flaps 24 and 25 connected to the side walls 22 and 23 respectively and turned inwardly so as to overlap each other and to be sealable together to complete the formation of the sleeve.

The base 21 is formed from panel 16, and the side walls 22 and 23 are formed by the panels 17 and 18 and 14 and 15 respectively, whereas the flaps 24 and 25 are formed by the panels 19 and 13 respectively.

Each side wall 22 and 23 comprises first and second wall portions 22a and 22b and 23a and 23b respectively, with the first wall portions 22a and 23a adjoining base 21, whereas the second wall portions 22b and 23b adjoin the respective end flaps 24 and 25.

The first and second wall portions 22a and 22b are formed by the panels 17 and 18, whereas the wall portions 23a and 23b are formed by the panels 14 and 15. Each of the adjacent wall portions adjoin each other along a respective longitudinal fold line, shown by references 26 and 27 in Figure 3, and which comprise the fold lines 20 between the panels 14 and 15 and 17 and 18 respectively of Figure 1. The fold lines 26 and 27 permit the sleeve to be wrapped around in a tightly conforming relationship to the product container 12 loaded therein.

However, to provide longitudinal restraint and thereby hold the product container 12 entirely captive within the carton sleeve 10, in such a manner that the product container could only be removed by leaving visible evidence e.g. by tearing of the carton, longitudinal slots 28 are formed in the side walls into which flange portions of the product container can be received. As can be seen in Figure 2 particularly, the product container 12 is provided with a pair of opposed projecting flange portions 29, which are taken each through a respective one of the slots 28, thereby to hold the product container 12 captive against longitudinal displacement through either of the open ends of the carton sleeve. The fit between the flange portions 29 and the edges of the slots 28 will be such as to restrict any movement of the product container to a limited extent.

The product container 12 may be used to store "microwave ready" food, in which case the container will be made of a suitable plastics material to enable it to be loaded directly into a microwave oven so as to bring precooked food up to convenient eating temperature.

An alternative construction of food product container is shown in Figure 4, which is an exploded view, and which is designated generally by reference 30. withe food product container 30 is adapted to be loaded into an open-ended carton sleeve, such as the carton sleeve 10 shown in Figures 2 and 3, and has a box-shaped base portion 31 provided with a closure member 32, which may be a plastics foil seal, which thereby define a first food storage compartment 33. A lid portion 34 is detachably mounted on the base portion 31 so as to define with the closure member 32 a second food storage compartment 35. Thus, the food product container 30 can store two different types of food product separately, such as meat and sauce in first compartment 33 and rice in second compartment 35.

The base portion 31 has projecting flange portions 36, and the lid portion 34 has projecting flange portions 37, and since the flange portions 37 are located outwardly of the flange portions 36, these can be received and held captive within suitably arranged slots in the side walls of the carton sleeve, similar to the slots 28 shown in Figure 1.

Claims (8)

1. An open-ended carton sleeve which is formed from a cartonforming blank which can be loaded with a product container when in a partly erected state and then sealed in a closed position around the product container while leaving the ends of the sleeve open, in which: The sleeve blank has panels separated by pre-determined fold lines which permit the blank to be erected so as to form a base, sidewalls connected to the base, flaps connected to the free edges of the side walls and turnable inwardly so as to overlap each other and to be sealable together to complete the formation of the sleeve; and in which each sidewall comprises two adjacent first and second wall portions having the first wall portion connected to the base and the second wall portion connected to the respective flap, a longtitudinal fold line forming the joint between the first and second wall portions and permitting inward folding of the second wall portion relative to the first wall portion in order to follow the external contour of the product container loaded in the sleeve, and a respective longitudinal slot formed in each sidewall adjacent to said longitudinal fold line in order to receive and to hold captive against longitudinal movement a projecting flange of the product container received in the sleeve.

2. A carton sleeve according to claim 1, including a relatively flat plastic product container received therein.

3. A carton sleeve according to claim 2, in which the product container is made of a material capable of use in a microwave oven.

4. A carton sleeve according to any one of claims 1 to 3, in which each longitudinal slot has one side edge located substantially along the longitudinal fold line, and the remainder of the slot located in the respective first wall portion which adjoins the base of the carton sleeve.

5. A product container of plastics material which is adapted to be loaded into and to be retained captive within a carton sleeve according to claim 1, in which the product container comprises: a box-shaped based portion having a closure member which defines a first food storage compartment; and a lid portion which is detachably mounted on the base portion so as to define with said closure member a second food storage compartment.

6. A food product container according to claim 5, and having one or more projecting flange portions so as to be receivable in a respective longitudinal slot in the carton sleeve.

7. A carton sleeve according to claim 1 as substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the, and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

8. A food product container according to claim 5 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the, and as shown in the accompanying drawings.