GB2246114A

GB2246114A - Suspension packaging

Info

Publication number: GB2246114A
Application number: GB9109515A
Authority: GB
Inventors: William John Edwards
Original assignee: MORPLAN
Current assignee: MORPLAN
Priority date: 1990-05-03
Filing date: 1991-05-02
Publication date: 1992-01-22
Anticipated expiration: 2011-05-02
Also published as: GB9109515D0; GB2246114B; GB9010015D0

Abstract

A suspension package includes a merchandise support formed from foldable sheet material and a hook 9, the hook 9 having a root portion 9b formed with a pair of aligned shoulders and a hook part 9a projecting from the root portion between the shoulders, and the merchandise support having a fold line 8 defining an edge of the merchandise support. A cutout formed in the sheet material of the merchandise support so as to be partially bounded by a straight side extending along the fold line 8 is so dimensioned that the spacing between the shoulders of the root portion of the hook is greater than the length of the straight side of the cutout, but the remainder of the perimeter of the cutout defines an opening through which the hook part 9a can pass as the sheet material is folded along the fold line 8. <IMAGE>

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN SUSPENSION PACKAGING The present invention relates to packaging, and is particularly concerned with suspended packaging comprising a container or other supporting element for merchandise and a hook element attached thereto for hanging the package from a display rack.

Hitherto, the attachment of a suspension hook to a package has been effected either by forming a slit or slot in the package, and providing the hook with a resiliently barbed foot which can be inserted through the slit but cannot be withdrawn therefrom, or by simply binding a self-adhesive hook to the package's exterior. The production of such packages is however difficult, in that special machinery capable of assembling the hook to the package is required in addition to the package forming machinery. Such extra equipment is complicated and expensive, and necessitates an extra stage in the production process.

The present invention seeks to provide a package arrangement that may be easily assembled from a hook and a blank of sheet material at high speed on a conventional folding and gluing machine with little modification. The present invention, in a second aspect, seeks to provide a method of constructing a suspension package for which conventional machinery can be easily adapted.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a suspension package for merchandise includes a merchandise support formed from foldable sheet material and a hook, the hook having a root portion formed with a pair of aligned shoulders and a hook part projecting from the root portion between the shoulders, and the merchandise support having a fold line defining an edge of the merchandise support, a cutout being formed in the sheet material of the merchandise support so as to be partially bounded by a straight side extending along the fold line, the cutout being so dimensioned that the spacing between the shoulders of the root portion of the hook is greater than the length of the straight side of the cutout, but the remainder of the perimeter of the cutout defines an opening through which the hook part can pass as the sheet material is folded along the fold line.

The opening may be surrounded on all sides by sheet material, or may have an open side opposite to its straight side.

The merchandise support may be a simple folded sheet to which the merchandise is fastened, or between two portions of which the merchandise is 'sandwiched', or may be an enclosed carton containing the merchandise.

According to a second aspect of the invention, a method for attaching a hook to a sheet of foldable material comprises the steps of: a) Providing a hook having a generally planar root portion and a hook portion, the root portion including a pair of aligned shoulders formed at respective ends of one of its edges and the hook portion projecting away from the root portion between the shoulders, b) defining a fold line in the sheet material and forming a cutout therein one edge of which extends along the fold line for a distance substantially equal to the distance between the shoulders, the remainder of the perimeter of the cutout defining an opening in the sheet material capable of encircling the hook portion, c) placing and optionally securing the hook to the sheet material with the shoulders of the root portion aligned with the fold line and the cutout positioned between the shoulders, d) folding the sheet material along the fold line so that the hook portion passes through the cutout and the sheet material contacts both sides of the root portion adjacent the shoulders, and e) securing the folded sheet material in the folded configuration.

Preferably the sheet material is folded through 1800, but it is envisaged that a hook could be attached for example to an edge of a box by folding the material through 900 only.

The hook is preferably a substantially planar component formed from synthetic plastics material such as polystyrene or polyethylene or polypropylene.

Advantageously the hook is placed in registry with the sheet material by arranging the hook in the plane of the sheet material and advancing the hook until a locating surface or step formed on the hook engages an edge of the sheet material, preferably the straight edge of the cutout.

Various embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first suspension package; Figure 2 is an enlarged detail perspective view of the suspension hook of the package of Figure 1, prior to final assembly; Figure 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a second package according to the invention; Figure 4 is a plan view of a hook for a third package; Figure 5 is a side view of the hook of Figure 4; and Figure 6 is a detail perspective view showing the attachment of the hook of Figures 4 and 5 to a card.

Referring to Figure 1, there is seen a generally parallelepipedal suspension package 1 formed from a folded blank of sheet material. The preferred sheet material is card, but transparent or opaque plastics sheet may be used. The package has front and side panels 2 and 3 respectively, a lid 4, and a rear panel 5. The rear panel is formed with an upstanding portion 6 which extends in the plane of the rear panel upwardly beyond the side panels 3. The upstanding portion 6 has a hook retaining flap 7 hingedly attached to its upper edge by a fold line 8. The flap 7 is preferably held against the upstanding portion 6 in its final configuration by means of an adhesive placed on one or both of their contacting surfaces.

A suspension hook 9 is held captive between the flap and the upstanding portion 6, the suspension hook 9 comprising a hook part 9a and a root portion 9b. Referring now to Figure 2, the hook part 9a of the suspension hook 9 has a straight edge 10 from which the hook part 9a extends. The ends of the straight edge 10 constitute shoulders 11, whose function will be described later. The flap 7 is formed with a cutout 12, one edge 13 of which follows the fold line 8. The remainder of the perimeter 14 of the cutout 12 forms an opening whose shape and size are so arranged that when the straight edge 10 of the root portion 9b is placed along the edge 13, the perimeter 14 of the cutout 12 can encircle the hook part 9a.

To assemble the hook 9 and the package, adhesive A is applied to one or both of the flap 7 and the area of the upstanding portion 6 adjacent the fold line 8. The adhesive may be applied to the entire area of the upstanding portion 6 which will underlie the flap 7, or to selected parts of the upstanding portion 6 only. The hook part 9a of the hook 9 is then placed on the upstanding portion 6, with the straight edge 10 aligned along the fold line 8 and the shoulders 11 positioned beyond the ends of the edge 13. The hook 9 is retained in this position by bonding, either by the adhesive previously described or by a bonding agent specially applied to the upstanding portion 6 adjacent the cutout 12. Such a bonding agent is advantageously a hot-melt adhesive.

The flap 7 is then brought over the hook part 9a of the hook 9 by folding along the fold line 8, so that the hook part 9a passes through the cutout 12 and the flap 7 contacts the upstanding portion 6 and is bonded thereto by the adhesive A. In this position the shoulders 11 underlie the folded material adjacent the ends of the edge 13 of the cutout 12, and thus the hook 9 is securely anchored to the package. The root portion 9b of the hook 9 will be visible through the cutout 12. In the embodiment shown, the root portion 9b is larger than the cutout 12, so the cutout is 'filled' by the root portion 9b to give a neat appearance to the package. rt is however possible for the root portion to be reduced in size without adversely affecting the security of the anchorage of the hook 9 in situations where the aesthetic appeal of the package is unimportant.For example, if the flap 7 is attached directly to the upper edge of rear panel 5, the root 9b of the hook and the cutout 12 will be concealed within the package in its assembled configuration, and thus the appearance of this part of the package is less important. The root portion 9b may be tapered in thickness towards its lower edge, in order that the flap 7 and rear panel 5 or upstanding portion 6 may be in close contact along the free edge 7a of the flap 7. This will avoid merchandise snagging on the free edge 7a white being withdrawn from the package.

The blank from which the package is formed may be laid flat during the application of the hook 9, or alternatively the hook 9 may be applied to a partially pre-formed package provided that the flap 7 has not yet been folded over the upstanding portion 6. The present method of attaching the hook is thus capable of teing simply incorporated into a conventional carton making machine in that the hook 9 may be placed on to the blank and secured by a hot-melt adhesive either as successive blanks enter the folding and gluing machine, or as the blanks pass from one folding operation to another within the folding and gluing machine. Since the hook is merely placed on to one face of the blank, and does not require insertion through a slot in the blank, the apparatus necessary for positioning the hooks is simple, inexpensive, and can operate at reasonably high line speeds.Hooks may be fed to an applicator from a magazine, and the hook part or the root portion of the hook may be shaped to cooperate with the magazine or applicator to ensure accurate alignment and orientation of the hook relative to the blank.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the root portion of the hook 9 is visible through the cutout 12. The root portion may thus carry size indicia or may be colour coded to identify the merchandise more readily to the customer.

To reduce the volume of the package for transport, the hook part 9a may be attached to the root portion 9b via a hinge, for example by forming a line of weakness 15 across the base of the hook part 9a.

Referring now to Figure 3, there is seen a suspension package similar to that of Figure 1, like parts being designated with equivalent references to those of Figure 1. The principal differences between the packages of Figures 1 and 3 are firstly that there is no upstanding portion extending from the rear wall 5 of the package, and secondly that the hook carries an area for the display of information. The information carrying area is shown here as a rectangular area, but may equally be square, circular, ellipsoidal, or have any desired shape. In packages where the hook is required to fold flat for storage, a hinge may be formed at the base of the information carrier by a line of weakness 15. In the package of Figure 3, the rear wall 5 of the package terminates in a fold line 8 level with the upper edges of the side panels 3 of the package.

A flap 7, shown in phantom lines in its initial position and in solid lines in its final position, is joined to the rear panel 5 by the fold line 8. It will be readily appreciated that the flap 7 has a 'height' H greater than the flap 7 of the package of Figure 1, and indeed greater than the depth D of the package. This does not present a problem in production since the flap 7 is folded over the hook 9 before the side and front panels of the package are folded and glued.

The hook 9 of the Figure 4 package comprises a hook part 9a, a root 9b having shoulders 11 and between the hook part 9a and root portion 9b an information carrier 9c. In the embodiment shown the information carrier 9c is a generally rectangular area of substantially the same width as the hook part 9a, but it is foreseen that other shapes of information carrier, such as circular or elliptical areas, or outlines of house emblems or cartoon characters may be used. The width of the information carrier may exceed that of the hook part, provided that the cutout 12 in the flap 7 is suitably shaped to accommodate the hook part 9a and information carrier 9c.

Indicia such as letters, numbers, colour coded areas etc may be placed on one or both faces of the information carrier 9c, and the hook 9 itself may be formed of coloured plastics material. The material for the hook bearing indicia is preferably polystyrene, as printing on this material is more readily achieved than on to other synthetic plastics.

In order to improve adhesion between the hook and the sheet material of the package, the root portion may be roughened or otherwise keyed at areas where adhesive bonding is required.

The package of Figure 3 is assembled in the same way as that of Figure 1, in that a suitably cut sheet blank has the hook 9 attached thereto before any folding is preformed, and the flap 7 is then folded and secured to fix the hook to the blank. Preferably hot-melt adhesive is used to initially hold the hook 9 to the blank, since its rapid set ensures that the hook is not disturbed during he folding of the flap 7. Since prolonged pressure on the folded flap 7 may cause creasing of the flap at the edges of the root portion 9b of the hook 9, a rapidly setting hot-melt adhesive may be used to secure the flap.

Figures 4 and 5 show an advantageous configuration of a hook for use in a package of the present invention. The hook as before comprises a hook part 9a, an information carrier 9c, and a root portion 9b. The information carrier 9c is substantially planar and rectangular, and has a thickness equal to that of the hook part 9a.

The root portion increases in thickness from its lower edge (as seen in Figures 4 and 5) and a step 13 at the junction of the information carrier and the root portion is formed, facing towards the root portion. The height of the step 20 is arranged so as substantially to correspond with the thickness of a card to which the hook is to be attached.

The end parts of the base 9b project laterally beyond the information carrier 9c, the upper edges 11 of the base forming shoulders as before.

For attachment of the hook to a package blank, the blank is formed with a substantially rectangular cutout in one of its edges E, the width of which cutout corresponds to the width of the information carrier 9c, and with the depth of the cutout corresponding to the height B of the base part 9b of the hook. Crease lines 21 are formed parallel to the edge E of the card to extend collinearly with the inset edge of the recess.

The construction of the hook 9 of Figures 4 and 5 is particularly advantageous in that it permits the hook 9 to be automatically applied to package blanks in a high-speed cartonforming machine.

To apply the hook 9 to a package blank, the hook is arranged in the plane of the card blank, with the step 20 parallel to, and facing towards, recessed edge E of the card blank in alignment with the recess.

The hook 9 and card blank are then brought together, either by moving the hook, the card, or both, until the step 20 engages with the inset edge of the recess. The hook and card may be held in this position by an adhesive, previously applied to the hook or the card, bonding the base portion 9b to the region of the card adjacent the recess. By arranging the step 20 to be equal in height to the thickness of the card blank, a smooth junction between the face of the card and that of the hook is assured.

To complete the attachment of the hook 9 to the card, the card is folded along fold lines 21 to cause the areas F of the card, situated between edge E and the fold lines 21, to overlie the end regions of the base part 9b. The shoulders 11 of the base part 9b engage the crease areas of the card blank, to prevent withdrawal of the hook 9.

An important feature of the application of the hook to the card is that it occurs before any folding of the blank is necessary, and can be achieved by making the edges E the leading edges of a series of blanks progressing through a carton-forming machine. By appropriately positioning a stack of hooks 9 adjacent the path of the blanks, each blank can be made to engage the step 20 of the end hook in the stack as the card blank passes the position of the stack to remove the hook from the stack and attach it to the respective blank.Since the hooks are applied to the blanks in the 'machine direction' before the blanks are folded, reliable assembly can be achieved at a higher rate than can be attained in arrangements where hooks are applied in directions transverse to the machine direction, or in arrangements which require the hook or the blank to be deformed or folded prior to or during assembly. This method of applying a hook to a card blank may be used irrespective of whether the hook has a hinge (as at 15 in Figure 1) or not, and/or irrespective of whether an information carrier 9c is present.

A further advantage of the hook of Figures 4 and 5 is that packaging for an article which is provided in different sizes can be readily achieved by using a 'universal' package blank printed with common information applicable to all styles or sizes of the particle, and providing hooks 9 bearing individual size or style information, and possibly even colour-coded by being formed of coloured plastics material printed on their information carrier 9c.

The printing costs for the package blanks, and losses due to erroneously printed blanks, can be substantially reduced.

Claims

1. A suspension package including a merchandise support formed from foldable sheet material and a hook, the hook having a root portion formed with a pair of aligned shoulders and a hook part projecting from the root portion between the shoulders, and the merchandise support having a fold line defining an edge of the merchandise support, a cutout being formed in the sheet material of the merchandise support so as to be partially bounded by a straight side extending along the fold line, the cutout being so dimensioned that the spacing between the shoulders of the root portion of the hook is greater than the length of the straight side of the cutout, but the remainder of the perimeter of the cutout defines an opening through which the hook part can pass as the sheet material is folded along the fold line.

2. A suspension package according to Claim 1, wherein the cutout is formed adjacent an edge of the sheet material, the straight edge of the cutout being substantially parallel to the edge of the sheet material.

3. A suspension package according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the cutout is bounded on all sides by the sheet material of the package.

4. A suspension package according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the cutout has an open side opposite its straight side.

5. A suspension package according to any preceding Claim, wherein the hook part includes a step at the junction of the root portion with the remainder of the hook, the step facing towards the root portion and in use engaging the straight edge of the cutout in the sheet material.

6. A suspension package according to any preceding Claim, wherein the root portion is tapered in thickness in a direction away from the hook part.

7. A suspension package according to any preceding Claim, wherein the hook part is hingedly attached to the root portion.

8. A suspension package according to any preceding Claim, wherein the hook part includes an information carrier situated adjacent the root portion.

9. A method of attaching a hook to a sheet of foldable material comprising the steps of: a) Providing a hook having a generally planar root portion and a hook portion, the root portion including a pair of aligned shoulders formed at respective ends of one of its edges and the hook portion projecting away from the root portion between the shoulders, b) defining a fold line in the sheet material and forming a cutout therein a straight edge of which extends along the fold line for a distance substantially equal to the distance between the shoulders, the remainder of the perimeter of the cutout defining an opening in the sheet material capable of encircling the hook portion, c) positioning and optionally securing the hook relative to the sheet material with the shoulders of the root portion aligned with the fold line and the cutout positioned between the shoulders, d) folding the sheet material along the fold line so that the hook portion passes through the cutout and the sheet material contacts both sides of the root portion adjacent the shoulders, and e) securing the folded sheet material in the folded configuration.

10. A method as claimed in Claim 9, wherein the hook has a step facing the root portion at its junction with the hook part, and wherein the hook is positioned relative to the sheet material by arranging the hook and sheet material in a plane with the step facing the straight edge of the cutout, and bringing the sheet material and the hook together in a direction perpendicular to the fold line so that the straight edge engages the step.

11. A method as claimed in Claim 10 wherein a plurality of hooks are arranged in a stack and sheet material is arrange to pass in a plane containing the end hook of the stack in a direction perpendicular to the height of the stack, so that successive blanks strip successive hooks from the stack by engagement of their straight edges with the respective steps of the hooks.

12. A method according to Claim 9, 10, or 11, wherein the hook is secured to the blank with an adhesive prior to the folding of the sheet material along the fold line.

13. A suspension package substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1 and 2, Figure 3, or Figures 4 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.

14. A method for attaching a hook to a blank, substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1 and 2, Figure 3, or Figure 6 of the accompanying drawings.