GB2309962A

GB2309962A - Packaging

Info

Publication number: GB2309962A
Application number: GB9602592A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Iain Alexander Blair
Original assignee: Rexam Packaging Ltd
Current assignee: SCA Packaging Britain Ltd
Priority date: 1996-02-08
Filing date: 1996-02-08
Publication date: 1997-08-13
Also published as: GB9602592D0

Abstract

A carton insert (10) has a hole (20) surrounded by a margin of resilient material (21). An article (30) is pushed through the hole (20) in the direction A whereby the material (21) conforms to a part of the shape of the article (30) and holds it in place. The assembled insert (10) and article (30) can then be placed in a box without the need for other filling to protect the article.

Description

PACKAGING METHOD The present invention relates to methods of packaging articles of merchandise. Articles are packaged for a variety of reasons including protecting them against damage and enabling them to be stacked and transported more readily.

Also, certain types of package are designed for improved merchandising by providing a better visual display of the articles. Currently available packaging methods include placing the articles in rectangular boxes and filling the remaining space in the boxes with loose material such as polystyrene chips. This method is expensive in terms of the amount of material required. Other methods use polystyrene spacers moulded to the shape of the article to be packed. There is always a need for packing methods which require less material not only from the point of view of cost but also, more recently, to reduce wastage and be more "environment friendly".

The present invention provides a method of packing an article comprising forming a hole in a sheet of rigid material, closing the hole, at least in part, with resilient sheet material and inserting the article into the hole whereby the resilient material conforms to a part of the shape of the article. The rigid material is preferably cardboard and the resilient material is preferably polyethylene or some other suitable plastics material. The resilient material is preferably adhered to the rigid material. This ensures that it stays in place on insertion of the article to be packed. Preferably a hole is provided in the resilient material, within the area of the hole in the rigid material. This helps to guide the insertion of the article to be packed.The hole could be a simple slit but preferably the resilient material simply forms a margin around the edge of the hole in the sheet material. The article is preferably pushed in the direction causing the resilient material to be pushed through the hole in the rigid material.

It has been found that with suitable choice of the materials, depending on the nature of the product to be packed, the article can be held securely with respect to the sheet of rigid material as a result of the deformation of the resilient material. The article can then be placed in a carton, with the sheet of rigid material forming a transverse wall of the carton, and there will be little movement of the article with respect to the carton. For certain articles it might be necessary to provide two sheets of rigid material each having a hole partially closed by resilient material. The holes might be of different dimensions to accommodate different parts of the article.

The sheet of resilient material may be integrally formed in a carton blank. Thus, for example, the carton could be erected and the article inserted, through the hole in the sheet of rigid material, before the carton was closed.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a carton blank including outside wall members defining the carton volume and at least one transverse wall member which is partially surrounded by the outside wall members in the finished carton, the transverse wall member being provided with a hole which is at least partially closed by resilient sheet material.

The resilient sheet material is preferably transparent.

This is particularly advantageous where the article is to be held in an "open" carton or a carton having one or more transparent walls to enable the article to be viewed.

Instead of the sheet of rigid material being integrally formed with a carton blank, it might form part of a separate carton insert designed to receive the article and then be inserted in an erect carton.

Certain embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a carton insert for use in the method of the present invention; Figure 2 shows a carton insert similar to that of Figure 1, erected ready for insertion of an article; Figure 3 shows the carton insert of Figure 2, complete with inserted article; and Figure 4 shows the carton insert of Figure 2 with an alternative article inserted.

Figure 1 shows a blank 10 for a carton insert and Figure 2 shows the same blank in its erect or folded configuration.

The carton insert includes a transverse wall member 11 surrounded by outside wall members which may conform to the volume of the carton in which the insert is to be placed.

Specifically, the transverse wall member 11 is surrounded by wall members 12,13,14,15 which serve to space the transverse member 11 from an end of the carton in which it is inserted, a back wall member 16 and additional side wall members 17 and 18.

The folding steps required to erect the carton insert as shown in Figure 2 will be familiar to those in the carton making industry and will not be described in detail herein.

The transverse wall member 11 is provided with a backing layer of resilient sheet material 21. The wall member 11 has a hole 20 through which an article 30 to be packaged (see Figure 3) may be inserted. The sheet material 21 also has a hole 22 which is a little smaller than the hole 20 so that the resilient sheet material forms a margin around the edge of the hole 21 in the transverse wall member 11. Thus, when an article such as the figurine 30 shown in Figure 3 is inserted through the hole 20 in the direction shown by arrow A in Figure 3, and assuming that the hole 22 in the resilient material is a little smaller than the cross-section of the article, the resilient material 21 will conform to a part of the shape of the article.

By suitable choice of the resilient material and sizes of the holes 20 and 22, according to the article 30, the article 30 may be sufficiently firmly held that the completed assembly of article 30 and carton insert 10 may be turned upside down without the article 30 falling out of the hole.

It will be appreciated that the carton insert 10 may be placed, complete with the article 30, inside a closed carton.

Alternatively the carton may be partly open to enable the article 30 to be examined or have transparent walls to enable the article to be viewed. In such cases, the packaging method of the present invention is particularly advantageous if the article has a base portion which is wider than the remainder of the article so that the material 21 firmly grips the base portion. However, the method of the invention is suitable for use with articles of substantially uniform cross-section such as the article 300 shown in Figure 4.

It is not essential for the resilient sheet material 21 to have a hole 22. A hole may not be needed in the case of an article which is relatively small compared to the size of the transverse wall member 11. Furthermore, the hole may simply be in the form of a slit leaving the maximum possible amount of material to mould itself around the article 30 or 300.

Claims

Claims:

1. A method of packing an article comprising forming a hole in a sheet of rigid material; closing the hole, at least in part, with resilient sheet material; and inserting the article into the hole whereby the resilient material conforms to a part of the shape of the article.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which the rigid material is cardboard.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which the resilient material is polyethylene.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 in which the resilient material is adhered to the rigid material.

5. A method as claimed in any preceding claim in which a hole is provided in the resilient material.

6. A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4 in which the resilient material forms a margin around the edge of the hole in the sheet material.

7. A method as claimed in any preceding claim in which the article is pushed in the direction causing the resilient material to be pushed through the hole in the rigid material.

8. A carton blank including outside wall members defining the carton volume and at least one transverse wall member which is partially surrounded by the outside wall members in the finished carton, the transverse wall member being provided with a hole which is at least partially closed by resilient sheet material.

9. A method of packing an article substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.