GB2274451A - Lid for tray for packs of foodstuff - Google Patents

Abstract

A lid for a tray for displaying packets of foodstuff has a top panel 1, a pair of depending end walls 3, 4 for overlying the end walls of the tray, and for taping to the tray beneath the base thereof, and means 7, 8 on the lid for cooperating engagement with the tray to prevent outward bowing of the tray side walls, said means 7, 8 preferably comprising a pair of depending side walls which overlap the tops of the tray side walls. Preferably, locking flaps 11, 12 are connected to the ends of the lid side walls 7, 8, and locking means in the form of tabs 15 are provided which co-operate with apertures 23 in the end walls 4 of the lid. <IMAGE>

Description

(KG11898P.SPE) LID FOR TRAY FOR PACKS OF FOODSTUFF This invention relates to a lid for a tray for packets of foodstuff, such as potato crisps, and to a blank for the lid. The invention is particularly but not exclusively designed for use with the trays the subject of our copending U.K. Patent Application No.9224911.9.

Potato crisps and the like are often sold from high sided trays which have low end walls so that the packets are easily visible and accessible to shoppers when the trays are stored on a shelf at a point of sale. These trays must however be converted from enclosed boxes which are used for storage and transport of the packets. While it is possible to provide a tray from a traditional box which has one or more removable panels therein defined by lines of weakness, this type of tray does not stack well on a shelf at the point of sale, since removal of the panel(s) weakens the tray. In fact, the box when converted to a tray is likely to collapse if other full boxes are stacked on top of it, once some of the packets of crisps have been removed.It is preferred therefore to use purpose designed high sided trays with built in stacking pillars at the corners which are converted from storage and transport boxes by the removal or tearing back of an inverted U-shaped top or cover. Such tops are well known, and have a plane rectangular top panel of the same dimension as the base of the tray to which a pair of depending flaps are foldably connected about a pair of straight parallel spaced fold lines. The top panel rests on the top of the pillars and the lower ends of the flaps are tucked within the lower level end ledges at the ends of the trays. To hold top and tray together, self adhesive tape is passed down the flaps, over the outside of the ledges and a short distance beneath the trays at each end, and the whole package may then have an outer wrap applied, e.g. of shrink wrap material.

While such boxes have the desired stacking strength and are very satisfactory for storage and transport, they suffer from the disadvantage that when they are to be converted to a display and dispensing tray at a point of sale by removal of the top, the shopkeeper will normally rip the top in two at a fold line, and then pull it away from the tray, together with the adhesive tape passing over the outside of the end ledge. Normally, advertising or product identifying material is printed on the outer face of the end ledge and this material will be partially destroyed when the self adhesive tape is ripped off. This results in a most unsightly tray at the point of sale, which is unacceptable to many shopkeepers, supermarkets and other sale outlets.

One way to overcome this problem would be not to tuck in the depending flaps of the U-shaped top before taping. However, this is not very satisfactory because the top will not stay in position for taping easily.

The present invention seeks to overcome the above problems and to provide a lid which is quick to assemble on the filled tray, and which also, in combination with the filled tray, provides a strong box, without masking the side walls of the tray, as would be the case with a traditional lid.

According to the present invention, we provide a lid for a tray for packets of foodstuff such as potato crisps, the tray having high sides and lower end ledges, the lid having a top panel of a size and shape substantially corresponding to that of the base of the tray, two depending end walls foldably connected to respective ends of the top panel, and two depending side walls foldably connected to respective sides of the top panel, wherein the depending end walls are of a length so as to overlie at least an upper region of the respective end ledge of the tray and the two depending side walls are of shorter length so as to overlie only an upper area of the sides of the tray, each side wall having a locking flap foldably connected to an end thereof, and including locking means on each locking flap for locking engagement with co-operating locking means provided on each end wall.

Preferably, the end walls are of a length corresponding to the height of the side walls of the tray so as completely to overlie the end ledges of the tray.

One of the end walls may be divided into a central portion and two lateral tuck-in portions so that in use the central portion overlies the respective end ledge of the tray and can be taped in position without damaging the print on the outer faces of the ledges. Alternatively, some other form of interlock may be provided.

Preferably, the locking means comprise tabs foldably connected to the end of the locking flap along a fold line extending parallel to a fold line connecting the flap to its respective side wall, and a pair of wing flaps foldably connected to side edges of the tabs, and co-operating apertures in the end walls of the lid, through which the tabs and wing flaps can be pushed. Alternatively, slits may be provided in the end walls of the lid, through which the locking flaps are inserted.

The invention also extends to a blank for forming the lid as described above, a box comprising a lid in combination with a tray, and to a method of fitting the lid onto a tray.

Preferably, the lid is held on the tray by means of adhesive tape which is applied across the joint between the bottom edge of each lid end wall and tray base, using a bottom taping machine.

The invention is now described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a blank for a lid for a tray for packaging potato crisps, and FIGURE 2 is a perspective view showing one end of the blank formed into a lid, which has been secured in position on a tray.

In the drawings, fold lines are represented by broken lines, and cuts by full lines.

Referring to Figure 1, the blank has a top panel 1, a pair of end wall panels 3, 4 foldably connected to the ends of the top panel 1 along spaced parallel fold lines 5, 6 respectively and a pair of side wall panels 7, 8 foldably connected to the sides of the panel 1 along a pair of spaced parallel fold lines 9, 10 respectively extending at right angles to the fold lines 5, 6.

At each end of each side wall panel 7, 8 a locking flap 11, 12 is foldably connected to the panel 7, 8 about respective fold line 13, 14 formed as an extension of the fold line 5, 6. Each locking flap 11, 12 has a locking tab 15 foldably connected to it about a fold line 17 extending parallel to fold line 13, 14 and wing flaps 19 are foldably connected to each side of the tabs 15 about fold lines 21 extending at right angles to the fold lines 17. These tabs 15 and wing flaps 19 provide locking means for holding the side and end wall panels in an erected state, and co-operate with locking means in the end walls 3, 4 provided by spaced apertures 23 formed therein.

The above described blank is designed for forming a lid for a tray containing packets of potato crisps or other food stuff such as that the subject of our U.K. Patent Application No.9224911.9.

In Figure 2, one end of a tray (which would normally be stacked full of packets of foodstuff) is shown in outline with a partially erected lid mounted thereon. When it is desired to fit the lid to the tray, the top panel 1 of the lid is placed over the top of the tray by an operator and the end wall panel 3 remote from the operator is folded about its fold line 5 to overlie the end of the tray, whereupon the two side wall panels 7 and 8 are folded downwardly about their respective fold lines 9, 10 so that the locking flaps 11 extend outwardly beyond the end of the folded down end wall 3. These two locking flaps 11 are then folded inwardly through 90 so that the tabs 15 overlie the respective apertures 23 in the end wall panel 3. Pressure is then applied to these tabs 15 to push them through the apertures 23, thus causing the wing flaps 19 to reverse fold about their fold lines 21 and then spring back again after the tabs 15 have passed through the apertures 23 so as to hold the locking flap against the outside of the end wall panel 3.

In Figure 2 the end wall panel 3, which is invisible, has been folded down and is held in position as described above, but the visible end wall panel 4 nearest the operator and associated locking flaps 12 are shown in two different stages of their erection from a blank into a finished lid.

It will be appreciated, however, that the end wall panel 4 is held in its final position by the locking flaps 12 by folding the flaps 12 over the panel 4 and interlocking in the manner described in the previous paragraph, the operator merely folding in the respective flaps and pushing the tabs through the apertures 23 with his/her thumbs.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the lid is assembled from its blank while at the same time it is held in position on top of a filled tray and hence a person responsible for filling the tray can also fit the lid with the minimum of effort. The lid is easily assembled, by folding down the end and side walls and then folding-in the four locking flaps and flicking the locking tabs into position through the apertures in the end walls, and serves not only to prevent the contents of the tray from falling out but also strengthens the tray. It can be seen from Figures 2 and 3 that the tray side walls project upwardly well beyond the end walls and are thus prone to bowing outwardly, but because the lid embraces their upper edges, such bowing is prevented, thus providing a strong box.

Because the side walls of the lid only bear against upper regions of the outside of the side walls of the tray, matter printed on the side walls for identifying the contents of the tray is not masked. Furthermore, it is possible to assemble the lid with the above described quick assembly method because it does not matter that the locking tabs 15 and their associated wing flaps 19 project inwardly from the inner face of the end walls of the lid since both end walls of the tray are cut away and there is no tray material to get in the way of the tabs and wing flaps.

Traditional lids for open top trays have depending side and end walls of the same depth which are connected together with glue flaps, staples, or the like, but because the side walls of the lid of this invention are relatively shallow, there is a considerable saving of board material over traditional lids. Furthermore, there is no need for the lids to be pre-assembled and they can be stored lay-flat in blank form until they are used. Once the lids have been applied to the filled trays and erected thereon they can be held in position by means of bottom tapes applied at each end so as to place a length of adhesive tape around the junction between the bottom of the end walls and the base of the tray.

The lids of this invention are applied to filled trays by a wrap-around action, i.e. they are placed on top of the filled tray, and then erected around the tray. This means that if the top portions of the side walls of the tray are bowing outwards somewhat, due to pressure from the contents, the folding down of the lid side walls 7, 8 about their respective fold lines 9, 10, will push the tray side walls back into position below the fold lines 7, 8, thus providing a fully squared up container. This is far more difficult to achieve with a pre-formed lid.

If desired, the lid end wall 3, which overlies the higher of the two end ledges or end walls of the tray, may be shortened somewhat so as not completely to overlie the end ledge or end wall of the tray, thus making a further saving in board material. This end wall can then be held in position either with a length of self-adhesive tape or, alternatively, the end wall may be split into three sections by two parallel cuts extending inwardly of the end wall from its bottom edge. It is also envisaged that a similar arrangement could be provided on the other end wall, thus allowing outer portions of each end wall to be tucked within the end walls or end ledges of the tray and the central portions to extend outwardly thereof for taping in position, all largely as described in our co-pending U.K. Patent Application No.9210449.6.

It will be appreciated that after the lids have been applied to the trays and taped in position, a strong storage box is provided which can be stored and subsequently delivered to a supermarket or other outlet. When the supermarket wishes to dispense the contents of the container, the lid is removed merely by cutting through the two pieces of tape and can be disposed of or recycled. The tray with its shorter end ledge or end wall foremost is then placed on a shelf so that customers can see the contents thereof and remove them from the tray as required.

It will of course be understood that the present invention has been described above purely by way of example, and modifications of detail can be made within the scope of the invention.

Claims (12)

CLAIMS:

1. A lid for a tray for packets of foodstuff such as potato crisps, the tray having high sides and lower end ledges, the lid having a top panel of a size and shape substantially corresponding to that of the base of the tray, and two depending end walls foldably connected to respective ends of the top panel, wherein the depending end walls are of a length so as to overlie at least an upper region of the respective end ledge of the tray and including two depending side walls foldably connected to respective sides of the top panel, the two depending side walls being of shorter length than the end walls so as to overlie only an upper area of the sides of the tray to prevent them bowing outwards.

2. A lid according to claim 1 wherein each side wall has a locking flap foldably connected to an end thereof, and including locking means on each locking flap for locking engagement with co-operating locking means provided on each end wall.

3. A lid according to claim 2 wherein the locking means comprise tabs foldably connected to the end of the locking flap along a fold line extending parallel to a fold line connecting the flap to its respective side wall, and a pair of wing flaps foldably connected to side edges of the tabs, and co-operating apertures in the end walls of the lid, through which the tabs and wing flaps can be pushed.

4. A lid according to claim 3 wherein slits are provided in the end walls of the lid, through which the locking flaps are inserted.

5. A lid according to any one of claims 1-4 wherein the end walls are of a length corresponding to the height of the side walls of the tray so as completely to overlie the end ledges of the tray.

6. A lid according to any one of claims 1-5 wherein one of the end walls is divided into a central portion and two lateral tuck-in portions so that in use the central portion overlies the respective end ledge of the tray and can be taped in position without damaging the print on the outer faces of the ledges.

7. A lid for a tray, for packets of foodstuff, the lid being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

8. A blank for forming a lid as claimed in any one of claims 1-7.

9. A blank for a lid for a tray for packets of foodstuff, the blank being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings.

10. A box comprising a tray having a rectangular base, a pair of upstanding side walls foldably connected to opposite side edges of the base, and a pair of end walls foldably connected to opposite ends of the base, at least one of the end walls being lower than the side walls, and a lid as claimed in any one of claims 1-7.

11. A box according to claim 10 wherein the lid is held on the tray by means of adhesive tape which is applied across the joint between the bottom edge of each lid end wall and tray base.

12. A method of fitting a lid to a tray to provide a box as claimed in claim 10 or 11, said method being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.