GB2243596A

GB2243596A - Carton

Info

Publication number: GB2243596A
Application number: GB9007632A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Duncan B Robinson
Original assignee: Reed Packaging Ltd
Current assignee: Reed Packaging Ltd
Priority date: 1990-04-04
Filing date: 1990-04-04
Publication date: 1991-11-06
Anticipated expiration: 2010-04-04
Also published as: GB9007632D0; GB2243596B

Abstract

A carton comprises a tubular body of eight side wall panels (1, 2, 3, 4, 1', 2', 3', 4') and a crash-lock base. The base is formed from a first pair of interlocking panels (7, 7') and a pair of second base panels (11, 11') attached to diagonally opposed side wall panels and secured to the opposite one of the first base panels (7, 7'). Preferably, two pairs of third base panels (8, 9, 8', 9') are provided on the remaining four side panels. <IMAGE>

Description

CARTON This invention relates to a carton, and in particular to an octagonal carton having a crash lock base.

In recent years it has been known to design cartons, suitable for a wide range of products, with what is known as a "crash lock" base. Such cartons are usually supplied in a pre-assembled flat condition, with the base folded inwardly, requiring only to be erected by pushing the base outwardly, which automatically erects the side walls.

In the past such base designs have only been applied to relatively simple carton shapes. However, for some products, or simply for the desires of a packaging designer, an octagonal carton would be desirable.

Viewed from one aspect the present invention provides a carton made of cardboard or similar lightweight foldable sheet material having a tubular body comprising eight side wall panels and a crash-lock base at one end, said base including a pair of interlocking first base panels attached to respective opposed first side wall panels, and a pair of second base panels attached to respective diagonally opposed second side wall panels adjacent said first side wall panels, each said second base panel being secured to the opposite one of said first base panels and being foldable to allow the base to be collapsed.

By means of this arrangement there is provided an eight-sided carton having a crash lock base structure which can be quickly and reliably assembled to provide a secure base.

Preferably the remaining four side wall panels are provided with two pairs of third base panels, the panels of each such pair being provided on adjacent side wall panels and being secured together.

The carton need not be of regular octagonal shape.

That is to say, the side wall panels need not all be of the same width. In particular, the side wall panels to which the interlocking first base panels are attached may be wider than the rest. It will also be appreciated that the side wall panels may be provided, as desired, with printing or decoration in any conventional manner, or may be formed with cut-out portions.

At least some of the side wall panels may be provided with top forming flaps at the other end from the base panels, that form a top closure assembly.

The scope of the invention extends to cartons as set forth above whether erected or folded flat, and also to blanks for making such cartons.

Two embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a carton blank according to a first embodiment; Figures 2(a) and (b) are perspective and plan views respectively showing the base of a carton formed from the blank of Figure 1 in partially assembled configurations; Figure 3 shows in perspective view the base formed from the blank of Figure 1 when fully assembled; Figure 4 is a plan view of a carton blank according to a second embodiment, and Figure 5 shows in a perspective view the base of a carton formed from the blank of Figure 4 in a partially assembled condition.

Referring firstly to Figure 1 there is shown a blank that, when assembled, forms an eight-sided carton having a crash lock base. The blank is made of cardboard or a similar lightweight foldable sheet material. The blank comprises eight side panels divided by fold lines shown in chain line. The side panels consist of two principal side panels 1,1'; two secondary side panels 2,2'; and two pairs of third side panels 3, 4 and 3', 4'. It will be noted that the principal side panels 1, 1' are approximately three times the width of the remaining side panels. One of the principal side panels 1 is provided with a glue flap 5 along one side.

In assembly flap 5 is glued to secondary side panel 3' so that the flaps 1-4, 1'-4' define the sides of a closed container.

At one end of at least some of the side panels 1,2,3,4 (1',2',3',4') are provided a series of flaps 6 that co-operate to form a top closure assembly.

However, any conventional such top closure assembly can be provided and thus the top closure will not be described in any detail.

At the other end, however, each side panel 1,2,3,4 (1',2',3',4') is provided with a base panel attached thereto by a fold line. The base panels may be regarded as consisting of three groups. Firstly, there is a pair of first base panels 7,7'. As will be described further below, base panels 7,7' are formed on principal side panels 1,1' that are disposed opposite one another when the carton is assembled from the blank. In use base panels 7,7' interlock as will be described further below.

Secondary side panels 2,2' are formed with second base panels 11,11' which are also provided with gluing surfaces 12,12' separated from the remainder of the panels by fold lines. Third base panels 8,9,8',9' are formed on the two pairs of third side panels 3,4,3',4' attached thereto by a fold line. As may be seen in Figure 1 the base panels 8,9 and 8',9' may be regarded as being the same size and symmetrical about the fold lines separating side panels 3,4 and 3',4', but with one base panel 8,8' of each pair being provided with an additional portion 10,10' by means of which base panels 8,9 and 8',9' may be glued together. The gluing portions 10,10' are separated from the remainder of the base panels 8,8' by fold lines.

The assembly of the base panels, once glue panel 5 has been glued to panel 3' to define the side walls of the carton, will now be described by way of example and with reference to Figures 2(a), 2(b) and 3. The pairs of third base panels 8,9 and 8',9' are glued together via gluing portions 10,10'. By means of the fold lines separating the gluing portions 10,10' from the remainder of base panels 8,8' the resulting composite glued panels retain a degree of flexibility. As is best seen in Figure 2(a), the first base panels 7,7' are caused to interlock with each other. Each first base panel 7,7' is formed with a substantially right-angled notch 13,13', by means of which they engage one another, and an extending portion 14,14'. When interlocked, the extending portion 14,14' of each first base panel 7,7' underlies the other first base panel.As can also be best seen in figure 3(a), the glued base panel 8,9 is received between the interlocked first base panel 7,7'.

It will be appreciated of course that while Figure 2(a) shows the two ends of the base in different states of assembly, this is for the purpose of illustration only, in practice the two ends will be assembled concurrently.

After the first base panels 7,7' have been interlocked, and the glued third base panels 8,9,8',9' have been interleaved between them, the second base panels 11,11' are folded over and their gluing portions 12,12' are glued to the exposed portion of interlocked base panels 7,7' as shown in Figures 2(b) and 3. It will be understood that by virtue of the fold line provided between gluing surface 12 and the remainder of base panel 11, the base panel 11 is allowed to flex, at least to a certain extent, with the main part of the base constituted by interlocked base panel 7,7'. It will be seen that the assembled base has four glue points providing a high degree of strength.

Figures 4 and 5 show a second embodiment employing the same principles as Figures 1 to 3. Indeed the same reference numerals are used in Figures 4 and 5 to indicate the same elements. The main difference between the embodiment of Figures 4 and 5 and that of Figures 1 to 3 is that in the embodiment of Figures 4 and 5 the principal side panels 1,1' are the same width as the remaining side panels. That is to say, all eight side panels are the same width and the resulting carton is a regular octagon in cross-section. The corresponding first base panels 7,7' are a different shape from those of the first embodiment, but they interlock in the same manner, and the base structure is generally assembled in the same manner, as the first embodiment.

The side panels may be provided with printing or decorative material as desired in any conventional manner. Similarly the side panels may be provided with cut-out portions 13 (Figure 1) for inspection or decoration purposes, again as is conventional.

It is to be clearly understood that there are no particular features of the foregoing specification, or of any claims appended hereto, which are at present regarded as being essential to the performance of the present invention, and that any one or more of such features or combinations thereof may therefore be included in, added to, omitted from or deleted from any of such claims if and when amended during the prosecution of this application or in the filing or prosecution of any divisional application based thereon.

Furthermore the manner in which any of such features of the specification or claims are described or defined may be amended, broadened or otherwise modified in any manner which falls within the knowledge of a person skilled in the relevant art, for example so as to encompass, either implicitly or explicitly, equivalents or generalisations thereof.

Claims

1. A carton made of cardboard or similar lightweight foldable sheet material having a tubular body comprising eight side wall panels and a crash-lock base at one end, said base including a pair of interlocking first base panels attached to respective opposed first side wall panels, and a pair of second base panels attached to respective diagonally opposed second side wall panels adjacent said first side wall panels, each said second base panel being secured to the opposite one of said first base panels and being foldable to allow the base to be collapsed.

2. A carton as claimed in claim 1 wherein the remaining four side wall panels are provided with two pairs of third base panels, the panels of each such pair being provided on adjacent side wall panels and being secured together.

3. A carton as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the side wall panels are all of the same width to define a carton of regular octagonal cross-section.

4. A carton as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the side wall panels to which the interlocking first base panels are attached are wider than the remainder of said panels.

5. A carton as claimed in any preceding claim wherein at least some of the side wall panels are provided with top forming flaps at the other end from the base panels to form a top closure assembly.

6. A carton substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1-3 of the accompanying drawings.

7. A carton substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.

8. A carton blank made of cardboard or similar lightweight foldable sheet material comprising, eight side wall forming panels, a pair of first base forming panels attached to respective first side wall forming panels, said first side wall forming panels being opposed when assembled, and adapted to interlock when assembled, and a pair of second base forming panels attached to respective second side wall forming panels, adjacent said first side wall forming panels, said second side wall forming panels being diagonally opposed when assembled, each said second base forming panel being adapted to be secured when assembled to the opposite one of said first base forming panels and being flexible to allow the base to collapse.

9. A carton blank as claimed in claim 8 wherein the remaining four side wall forming panels are provided with two pairs of third base forming panels, the panels of each such pair being provided on adjacent side wall forming panels and being securable together.

10. A carton blank as claimed in claim 8 or 9 wherein the side wall forming panels are all of the same width.

11. A carton blank as claimed in claim 8 or 9 wherein the said wall forming panels to which the first base forming panels are attached are wider than the remainder of said side wall forming panels.

12. A carton black as claimed in any of claims 8 to 11 wherein at least some of said side wall forming panels are provided with top closure forming flaps at the other end from the base forming panels.

13. A carton blank substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings.

14. A carton blank substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Fig. 4 of the accompanying drawings.