GB2230201A - Crackers - Google Patents

Abstract

A cracker is assembled from a blank which is an integral construction, e.g. of foil board, to provide the necessary combined characteristics of strength and attractive surface finish for the assembled cracker, and the blank is provided with mechanical locking means 16, 17 for holding the blank together in its assembled form. <IMAGE>

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN CRACKERS This invention relates to crackers such as Christmas or party crackers.

Traditional cracker constructions consist of a number of components of different materials which are assembled together. The middle section of such crackers is usually stiffened by a rolled cardboard liner to provide shape and the necessary strength for the cracker body (the part which contains the toy or gift etc). The outer skin of these crackers usually has an attractive finishing material, such as crepe paper, often supported by a layer of paper underneath. The "ties" in these crackers are then formed in the outer skin to either side of the middle section to finish the cracker.

One of the problems with these traditional cracker constructions is that when they are assembled by hand (which is commonly the case), they rely heavily upon the skill of the worker to produce crackers which are of uniformly acceptable quality and at a reasonable rate.

The present invention is in recognition of the possibility to improve upon traditional cracker construction and hence reduce the problems associated therewith.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a method of manufacture of a cracker, which comprises providing a blank of a material or materials of an integral construction which has the necessary combination of strength and attractive surface finish for an assembled cracker, providing the blank with mechanical locking means for holding the blank together in an assembled form, and assembling a cracker from a blank by wrapping up the blank into the shape of a cracker and engaging said mechanical locking means whereby to hold the blank together in its assembled form.

One of the significant advantages of this method is that it enables crackers to be assembled from blanks simply in the hands, without need of a former or even a flat surface. Another important feature of this method is that the mechanical locking means serves to ensure that each assembled cracker has the correct diameter which means that even relatively unskilled workers can quickly and easily assemble crackers which are of uniformly acceptable quality.

The invention also provides a blank for a cracker, comprising a middle portion, an end portion to either end of the middle portion and a foldable region intermediate said middle portion and each respective end portion, in which the blank is an integral construction of a material or materials which provide the necessary combination of strength and attractive surface finish in the assembled cracker, there being provided in the blank mechanical locking means for holding the blank together in an assembled form.

The preferred material for the blank is so-called "foil board1,. Foil board is used eg to make some cigarette packets and comprises a cardboard base layer with a thin metal covering and sometimes a further finishing layer, e.g. of plastics.

Conveniently, the blank may be stamped and it may additionally be embossed and/or printed to enhance its appearance further.

The mechanical locking means for the blank may conveniently comprise interfitting tags and slits on opposing edge regions of the blank. The tags and slits are preferably provided for the middle portion as well as both end portions of the assembled crackers.

The foldable regions of the blank may each comprise a series of slots which between them define a series of fingers that are shaped so as to be able to fold radially inwardly when the blank is assembled. The advantage of this construction is that it enables the ties to be formed in the assembled blank using only the hands. The blank may be perforated or scored along the margins of the fingers to facilitate the folding action of the fingers for forming these ties.

The ties in the assembled blank may be finished by wrapping a tether around each inwardly folded region and a suitable material for such tethers is a tinsel coverd wire (as commonly used in Christmas decorations). Such tethers have the advantage of being able to enhance the appearance of the finished cracker. Also, such tethers tend to assist the "pulling" action of the cracker since they form effectively non-releasable constrictions about the fingers which cut through the fingers as they try to expand when the cracker is pulled.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows a blank according to the invention, Fig. 2 shows the first stage of assembly of the blank and Fig. 3 shows the final stages of assembly.

There is seen in Figure 1 a blank for forming a cracker. The blank comprises a middle portion 11, two end portions 12 and 13 to either end of the middle portion and a foldable region 14, 15 intermediate the middle portion and each respective end portion. The blank is an integral construction, here of a composite material known as "foil board", which comprises a cardboard base layer with a thin covering of metal, e.g. aluminium foil. The blank here is formed by stamping.

A foil board of 350 micron thickness has been found in practice to provide the necessary degree of stiffness for the finished cracker, with sufficient ease of "pulling". Other suitable materials, whether composite or unitary, may equally well be used to make the blank, providing the finished cracker has the necessary strength to retain its shape and integrity. This is particularly important during handling of the cracker prior to its actual use, especially if it contains a relatively heavy toy or gift etc.

As will be seen in Figure 1, the blank is provided with mechanical locking means, here in the form of interfitting tags 16 and slits 17 on its opposing edge regions, which is for holding the blank together in its assembled form. In the first stage of assembly, as seen in Figure 2, the blank is wrapped up into the shape of a cracker and the opposing edges are then fastened together by clipping the tags 16 into their respective slits 17. Other mechanical locking means could alternatively or additionally be provided in the blank for achieving the purpose of holding the blank together in its assembled form.

It will be seen that the dimensioning of the mechanical locking means in the blank, i.e. in this embodiment the distance between the tags and their respective slits, determines the finished size of the assembled cracker. Thus, it is not necessary to rely upon the skill of the worker to produce crackers which are of an accurately controlled size. This is important not only to maintain uniformity in the finished product but also to ensure that sets of creackers fit properly in their presentation boxes.

As will be seen in Figure 1, the foldable regions 14,15 of the blank each comprise a series of slots 18 which between them define fingers 19. The slots 18 are of a particular shape as shown here in order to enable the fingers 19 to fold radially inwardly to form the ties when the blank is assembled. This is the next stage of assembly and is seen in Figure 3. The blank here has perforations 20 along the margins of the fingers 19 (as seen in Figure 1) to facilitate the folding action of the fingers. The fingers 19 can be folded radially inwardly when the end portions are moved axially towards the middle portion.

The other function of the fingers 19 is to provide relatively weakened areas of the cracker at the ties formed by the foldable regions 14, 15 which are designed to rupture when the cracker is pulled.

The ties in the cracker, are finished here by wrapping tethers 21 around the fingers 19. The tethers 21 here are of tinsel covered wire. These tethers 21 can be wrapped once or twice around the fingers 19 and then simply given a twist to retain them in position. As well as adding to the attractiveness of the appearance of the finished cracker, the tethers 21 also have the effect of assisting the "pulling" action of the cracker since they form effectively non-releasable constrictions about the fingers which cut through the fingers as they try to expand when the cracker is pulled.

The fact that the blank combines the necessary strength with an attractive finish means that manufacture of crackers can be reduced to the minimum number of steps. Also, the quality of the finished crackers is almost guaranteed to be of an acceptably high standard, even when assembled by unskilled workers.

Using this cracker construction, it is easily possible to make a cracker which is bigger than normal and capable of carrying a heavier object, whilst still allowing a relatively easy "pulling" action, simply by adjusting the material of the blank.

A further advantage is that, even after pulling, the various portions of the cracker tend to remain intact in themselves and hence retain their attractive appearance.

Claims (13)

1. A method of manufacture of a cracker, which comprises providing a blank of a material or materials of an integral construction which has the necessary combination of strength and attractive surface finish for an assembled cracker, providing the blank with mechanical locking means for holding the blank together in an assembled form, and assembling a cracker from a blank by wrapping up the blank into the shape of a cracker and engaging said mechanical locking means whereby to hold the blank together in its assembled form.

2. A method as claimed in Claim 1 and further comprising wrapping a tether around the assembled cracker intermediate the middle portion and each end portion of the assembled cracker to form the ties therein.

3. A method of manufacture of a cracker substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

4. A blank for a cracker, comprising a middle portion, an end portion to either end of the middle portion and a foldable region intermediate said middle portion and each respective end portion, in which the blank is an integral construction of a material or materials which provide the necessary combination of strength and attractive surface finish in the assembled cracker, there being provided in the blank mechanical locking means for holding the blank together in an assembled form.

5. A blank as claimed in Claim 4 wherein the blank is made of a composite material known as foil board.

6. A blank as claimed in Claim 4 or Claim 5 wherein the blank is embossed and/or printed.

7. A blank as claimed in Claim 4, Claim 5 or Claim 6 wherein the mechanical locking means comprises interfitting tags and slits on opposing edge regions of the blank.

8. A blank as claimed in Claim 7 wherein respective tags and slits are provided for each of the middle portion and two end portions of the blank.

9. A blank as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the foldable regions of the blank each comprise a series of slots which between them define a series of fingers that are so shaped as to be able to fold radially inwardly when the blank is assembled.

10. A blank as claimed in Claim 9 wherein the blank is perforated or scored along the margins of the fingers to facilitate the folding action of the fingers.

11. A blank as claimed in any preceding claim and including a tether for wrapping around each radially inwardly folded region to finish the ties in the assembled cracker.

12. A blank for forming a cracker substantially as herein described with reference to the accompaying drawings.

13. A cracker assembled from a blank as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 12 or in accordance with a method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3.