GB2420113A

GB2420113A - Wraparound container

Info

Publication number: GB2420113A
Application number: GB0523370A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jason Michael Fenton
Original assignee: SCA Packaging Ltd
Current assignee: SCA Packaging Ltd
Priority date: 2004-11-16
Filing date: 2005-11-16
Publication date: 2006-05-17
Also published as: GB0523370D0

Abstract

A wraparound container 5 comprises a base wall 8, a first side wall 6 upstanding from said base wall, a top wall 4, and a second side wall 10 extending between said top wall and said base wall. A plurality of flaps hingedly attached to said base, top and side walls, form front and rear walls 70, 72, of the container 58. The front wall 70 is formed with an opening 74 for access to the contents within container 58 while the rear wall is formed so that it may be opened or removed such that the container's contents may be unloaded there through by being pushed through the opening 74 in the front wall 70. The rear wall may be constituted by side flaps 36, 44 that have rebates 48 to define a window (16, Fig.2) and lines of weakness 50 to allow the whole rear face to be easily opened by manipulation through the access window to tear away the flaps. The bottom flap 40 may also have a line of weakness along the folding line to facilitate its removal. A second embodiment has weakness lines 134, 136 that spread across from the rear face to the side walls, so that the rear and a portion of the side walls can be removed.

Description

CONTAINER

The present invention relates to a wraparound container for stacking items packed therein directly onto a shelf or the like.

Items, such as cartons and packets for food and drink products, are generally packed into containers for delivery to shops and supermarkets. Once delivered, it is desirable to stack the items on the shelves in an orderly manner to make them readily available to customers and to make effective use of the available shelf space. To stack the items in this way, they have to be manually removed from the container and stacked onto the shelf. However this manual operation is time consuming.

The present invention seeks to provide an alternative to the above systems, and viewed from a first aspect, the present invention provides a wraparound container comprising a series of panels hingedly connected together to form, in series: a base wall; a first side wall upstanding from said base wall; a top wall; and a second side wall extending between said top wall and said base wall; and further comprising a plurality of flaps hingedly attached to said base, top and side walls, said flaps being folded and bonded to each other so as to form front and rear walls of said container; wherein: said front wall is formed with means defining an opening for access to the contents within the container; and the rear wall is formed such that it may be opened or removed such that the container's contents may be unloaded therethrough by being pushed through said opening in said front wall.

In accordance with the invention, therefore, items may be directly unloaded from a container into a desired position. The rear wall of the container is opened or removed so that the contents of the container can be pushed out through that end of the container. In most common use, the rear wall of the container may be removed by a user, e.g. a shelf stacker, the container placed on a shelf with the rear wall of the container facing away from the user, and the container drawn backwards over the items, while holding the items in position so as effectively to push the items out through the rear wall of the container.

The plurality of flaps may be bonded to each other in any manner known in the art, such as, for example by bonding using an adhesive applied in an overlapping region of two flaps, by additionally or alternatively applying an adhesive tape over the adhesive flaps and/or by stapling the flaps and/or any other convenient manner. The term bonding' should hereby be construed broadly, rather than in a limiting manner.

The front wall of the container may have an opening formed therein or a region defined by one or more lines of weakness which may be removed to define an opening.

In a preferred embodiment the opening is generally rectangular, more preferably generally square. Most preferably the opening is formed by opposed, generally U-shaped, front wall flaps.

A board may be provided on the inside of the container between the contents and the front wall of the container. This may help spread the dispensing load more uniformly over the contents which may assist in preventing jamming of the items as they are unloaded. The board may comprise one or more tabs for securing the board within the container.

The container, for example one or more of the flaps forming the rear wall of the container, is preferably provided with one or more lines of weakness, for example perforated tear lines, to facilitate the removal or opening of the rear wall.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, a first pair of flaps attached to the side walls of the container form side parts of the rear wall, and a second pair of flaps attached to the top and base walls form upper and lower parts of the rear wall.

Sections of the first and second pairs of flaps overlap and are preferably bonded together to close the rear wall. Any type of bonding or joining conventional in the art may be employed for this purpose as discussed above.

Preferably one of the respective pairs of flaps is provided with lines of weakness around the bonded areas so that the rear wall can be opened merely by tearing those lines of weakness. This considerably facilitates opening of the rear wall.

Preferably the lines of weakness extending on flaps follow a curved path. Such curved lines of weakness are less likely to be damaged when a container is erected and also provide improved crush resistance when compared to a container comprising linear lines of weakness. The lines of weakness are preferably arranged so that they do not extend along hinge lines. This again decreases the likelihood that the container is damaged along the hinge lines during erecting. A preferred curved line of weakness extends between cut edges of a rear wall forming flap. The cut edges may intersect each other.

Preferably the flap forming the lower part of the rear wall is attached to the base panel by a line of weakness so that it may be removed entirely. This allows the contents to be removed more easily and potentially allows the lower rear part of the container to be properly positioned on a shelf without any obstruction from that flap.

Preferably the rear wall of the container is formed with openings which allow a user access to the inside of the container so that the flaps may easily be opened.

Most preferably selected flaps forming the rear wall are provided with aligned rebates in their free edges which align to form an elongate hand access slot.

Preferably respective openings are provided for access to the upper and lower rear wall flaps.

A line of weakness provided on a rear wall forming flap can extend Onto one of the adjacent side walls and define a removable area on that side wall.

A line of weakness may be provided on the opposite rear wall forming flap and may extend onto an adjacent side wall to define a removable area on that side wall.

The removable area on the side wall or walls may comprise an opening to facilitate opening the rear wall forming flaps.

An adhesive tape may be provided along adjacent edges of two oppositely arranged rear wall forming flaps. The adhesive tape may extend onto the removable area(s) on the side wall(s) The invention also extends to a one piece blank for a container in accordance with the invention.

More particularly, the invention also provides a one piece blank for a wraparound container, said blank comprising a series of panels hingedly connected together by a series of hinge lines said panels forming in the erected container, in series: a base wall; a first side wall upstanding from said base wall; a top wall; and a second side wall extending between said top wall and said base wall; and further comprising a plurality of flaps hingedly attached to said base, top and side wall forming panels, said flaps being foldable and bondable so as to form front and rear walls of said container; wherein: said front wall forming flaps comprise means for defining an opening for access to the contents within the container; and the rear wall forming flaps are formed such that they may be opened or removed so that the container's contents may be unloaded through the rear of the container.

The blank may have the relevant preferred features described above in relation to the container.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a blank for forming a container according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 shows a front perspective view of the container erected from the blank of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a rear perspective view of the container erected from the blank of Figure 1; Figure 4 shows a first stage in the unloading of the contents of the container; Figure 5 shows a second stage of the unloading process; Figure 6 shows a third stage of the unloading process; Figure 7 shows the unloaded contents; Figure 8 shows a blank for forming a further container according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 9 shows a further blank for forming a further container according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 10 shows a preferred container erected from a blank as shown in Figure 9.

With reference to Figure 1, a blank 2 of cardboard, paperboard or other foldable sheet material comprises a top wall forming panel 4, a first side wall forming panel 6, a base wall panel 8, a second side wall forming panel 10 and a glue tab 12. These panels are hingedly interconnected about a series of parallel hinge lines 14.

Various flaps are attached to the wall forming panels. On one side of the blank 2, an upper front wall forming flap 16 is attached to the top forming panel 4 about a hinge line 18. A first, U-shaped side front wall forming flap 20 is attached to the first side wall forming panel 6 about a hinge line 22. A lower front wall forming flap 24 is attached to the base forming panel 8 about a hinge line 26. A second, U-shaped side front wall forming flap 28 is attached to the second side wall forming panel 10 about a hinge line 30.

On the other side of the blank 2 an upper rear wall forming flap 32 is attached to the top forming panel 4 about a hinge line 34. A first side rear wall forming flap 36 is attached to the first side wall forming panel 6 about a hinge line 38. A lower rear wall forming flap 40 is attached to the base forming panel 8 about a hinge line 42. A second side rear wall forming flap 44 is attached to the second side wall forming panel 10 about a hinge line 46.

The first and second side rear wall forming flaps 36, 44 have rebates 48 formed in their free edges, with a tearable line of weakness 50, such as a line of perforations, running between a corner of each rebate 48 and the hinge lines 38, 46. This splits each flap into a central region 52 a pair of edge regions 54.

The sections 56 of the hinge lines 38, 46 connecting the edge regions 54 to the side wall forming panels 6, are also formed as tearable lines of weakness, as is the hinge line 42 connecting the lower rear wall forming flap 40 to the base forming panel 8. The reasons for this will be made clearer below.

The blank 2 is erected into a container 58 in situ around its intended contents, in this exemplary embodiment, six 1 litre drinks cartons 60 (see Figure 7). The cartons 60 are placed on the base forming panel 8 and the other panels 4, 6, 10 then folded up around the cartons 60 and secured by the glue tab 12 being glued to the outside of the second side wall panel 10. This forms the base wall 62, the side walls 64, 66 and the top wall 68 of the container 58.

At the same time, the various flaps are folded in to form the front and rear walls 70, 72 of the container 58.

More particularly, the upper and lower front wall forming flaps 16, 24 are folded in followed by the side front wall forming flaps 20, 28. The latter are glued to the former to form the front wall 70. It will be seen from Figure 1 that the U shape of the flaps 20, 28 defines a generally square opening 74 in the front wall 70.

The upper and lower rear wall forming flaps 32, are folded in followed by the side rear wall forming flaps 36, 44. Just the outer portions 54 of the side rear wall forming flaps 36, 44 are glued to the upper and lower rear wall forming flaps 32, 40.

It will be seen that the rebates 48 in the side rear wall forming flaps 36, 44 together form elongate hand access slots 76, 78 in the rear wall 72.

In order to remove the cartons 60 from the container, the user first inserts his or her fingers in the slots 76, 78 and under the upper and lower rear wall forming flaps 32, 40 and pulls them outwardly.

This acts to break the perforations 50 in the side rear wall forming flaps 36, 44 such the upper and lower rear wall forming flaps 32, 34, with the edge regions 54 of the side rear wall forming flaps 36, 44 still bonded thereto can be freed, as shown in Figure 4.

Next, the lower rear wall forming flap 44 is torn away along the perforation line 42 as shown in Figure 5.

The container 58 may then be placed on a shelf with its rear wall 72 facing away from the user who then pushes the cartons 60 out through the rear wall by pushing through the window 74 in the front wall 70 while at the same time pulling the container towards him or her. The remaining regions 52 of the rear side wall forming flaps 36, 44 are hinged out of the way as the cartons are unloaded.

The invention thus provides a simple way in which the contents of a wraparound container can be deposited on a shelf or the like without being individually removed from the container.

It will be appreciated that sequence of closure of the various flaps may be changed. For example, while the embodiment described above shows the side rear wall forming flaps 36, 44 overlying the upper and lower rear wall forming flaps 32, 40, the latter may in fact overlie the former instead.

Moreover, it will be appreciated that the lines of weakness 50 shown in Figure 1 can be arranged in a different manner, while still achieving the advantages of the present invention. A further preferred blank comprising differently arranged lines of weakness is shown in Figure 8, in which blank parts corresponding to blank parts in Figure 1 have been given the same reference numeral as used in Figure 1.

On the rear side of the blank 80 an upper rear wall forming flap 82 is attached to the top forming panel 4 about a hinge line 84. A first side rear wall forming flap 86 is attached to the first side wall forming panel 6 about a hinge line 88. A lower rear wall forming flap 90 is attached to the base forming panel 8 about a hinge line 92. A second side rear wall forming flap 94 is attached to the second side wall forming panel 10 about a hinge line 96.

As can be seen from Figure 8, curved lines of weakness 98 extend from rebates 100 provided in the first and second side rear wall forming flaps 86 and 94 to the side edges 102 of the first and second side rear wall forming flaps 86 and 94. Adhesive is applied to the areas defined by lines of weakness 98 to join rear wall forming flaps 82, 86, 90 and 94.

The curved lines of weakness 98 provide the advantage that hinge lines 88 and 96 do not need to incorporate weakened sections to permit opening of the container. Thus the blank 80 is more resilient than a blank that comprises lines of weakness that extend along hinge lines. The blank 80 is accordingly less likely to be damaged along the hinge lines 88 and 96 when a container is erected from the blank 80.

Moreover, as the direction of each line of weakness 98 changes smoothly in a curved shape, tearing along the lines of weakness 98 can be performed more easily, making tearing beyond the lines of weakness 98 less likely.

Finally, it has been noted that by providing a curved line of weakness 98, the crush resistance of the rear part of the container is improved.

Another preferred blank 110 is shown in Figure 9.

Again blank parts corresponding to parts of the blanks shown in Figures 1 or 8 have been given like reference numerals.

On the rear side of the blank 110 an upper rear wall forming flap 112 is attached to the top forming panel 4 about a hinge line 114. A first side rear wall forming flap 116 is attached to the first side wall forming panel 6 about a hinge line 118. A lower rear wall forming flap 120 is attached to the base forming panel 8 about a hinge line 122. A second side rear wall forming flap 124 is attached to the second side wall forming panel 10 about a hinge line 126.

It will be appreciated that the first and second side rear wall forming flaps 116 and 124 do not comprise the rebates 48 and 100 provided in the blanks 2 and 80 shown in Figures 1 and 8 respectively.

Instead, cuts 128 are provided on side wall forming panels 6 and 10. Cuts 128 terminate at hinge lines 130 and define openings 132 in the side wall forming panels through which a user can insert his or her hand to open a container erected from the blank 110.

Lines of weakness 134 extend from the respective junctions of cuts 128 and hinge lines 130 across hinge lines 118 and 126 onto and across side rear wall forming flaps 116 and 124. Further lines of weakness 136 are provided on the upper rear wall forming flap 112 and on the lower rear wall forming flap 120.

Lines of weakness 134 and 136 can be arranged so that lines of weakness 136 appear to be extensions of lines of weakness 134 in a container erected from the blank 110.

Adhesive can be applied to the areas 138 between the lines of weakness 134 on the side rear wall forming panels 116 and 124. Areas 138 can accordingly be joined to the areas 140 between the lines of weakness 136 on the upper and lower rear wall forming flaps 112 and 120, so that, when a user inserts his or her hand into the openings 132 and pulls the area between the lines of weakness 134 outwardly, both the areas 138 and the areas 140 can be removed from the erected container in one piece, thus opening the rear end of the container and enabling loading of the goods in the erected container onto a shelve.

To join areas 138 and 140 more strongly, a length of adhesive tape can be applied along all or part of the edges 142 of areas 140 in addition to adhesive applied to areas 138. These edges 142 are adjacent ii each other in a container erected from the blank 110 (as shown in Figure 10) and it will be appreciated that by applying such adhesive tape, the position of the two areas 140 relative to each other is maintained more securely, thus ensuring that areas 140 do not separate from each other when they are removed from a container erected from the blank 110.

Alternatively, the areas 138 and 140 (and thereby side wall forming flaps 112, 116, 120 and 124) can be joined to each other by an adhesive tape that is applied along the edges 142 of the areas 140 and that extends onto the side walls 6 and 10 of a container erected from the blank 110 onto the areas defined by lines of weakness 134. In this embodiment it is not necessary for adhesive to be applied to the areas 138, although an embodiment in which such adhesive is applied in addition to the adhesive tape is of course also intended to be within the scope of the present invention.

A board 144 can further be provided for use with a container erected from the blank shown in Figure 9.

The board 144 can be located inside of a container erected from the blank 110, so as to close of the front opening of the container. To retain board 144 in a position just inside the front opening of a container erected from blank 110, tabs 146 are provided on the board 144. When the board 144 is placed in a position just inside the front opening of a container erected from the blank 110, the tabs 146 can protrude through cuts 148 provided along the hinge lines 22 and 30, thus securing board 144 in place.

It will be understood that the embodiments described are merely exemplary and that modifications may be made to them without departing from the scope of the invention. It should be understood that the terms front and back are used in a relative sense and should not be construed as imposing an absolute orientation on the container. Also, it will be understood that when referring to a user pushing the contents through the opening in the front wall, this includes the container being drawn back over the contents while the contents are being held in position through that opening.

Claims

Claims 1. A wraparound container comprising a series of panels hingedly

connected together and forming in series: a base wall; a first side wall upstanding from said base wall; a top wall; and a second side wall extending between said top wall and said base wall; and further comprising a plurality of flaps hingedly attached to said base, top and side walls, said flaps being folded and bonded to each other so as to form front and rear walls of said container; wherein: said front wall is formed with means defining an opening for access to the contents within the container; and the rear wall is formed such that it may be opened or removed such that the container's contents may be unloaded therethrough by being pushed through said opening in said front wall.
2. A container as claimed in claim 1 wherein the front wall of the container has an opening formed therein.
3. A container as claimed in claim 1 wherein the front wall has a region defined by one or more lines of weakness which may be removed to define an opening.
4. A container as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the opening is generally square.
5. A container as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the opening is formed by opposed generally U- shaped flaps.
6. A container as claimed in any preceding claim wherein a board is provided on the inside of the container between the contents and the front wall of the container.
7. A container as claimed in claim 6, wherein the board comprises one or more tabs for securing the board within the container.
8. A container as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the container is provided with one or more lines of weakness to facilitate the removal or opening of the rear wall.
9. A container as claimed in any preceding claim comprising a first pair of flaps attached to the side walls of the container form side parts of the rear wall, and a second pair of flaps attached to the top and base walls form upper and lower parts of the rear wall.
10. A container as claimed in claim 9 wherein sections of the first and second pairs of flaps overlap and are bonded together to close the rear wall.
11. A container as claimed in claim 10 wherein one of the pairs of flaps is provided with one or more lines of weakness around the bonded areas so that the rear wall can be opened by tearing those or or more lines of weakness.
12. A container as claimed in claim 8 or 11, wherein said one or more lines of weakness are curved.
13. A container as claimed in claim 12, wherein a said curved line of weakness terminates at cut edges of a rear wall forming flap, defining a removable section on the rear wall forming flap
14. A container as claimed in claim 13, wherein said cut edges intersect each other.
15. A container as claimed in any of claims 9 to 14 wherein the flap forming the lower part of the rear wall is attached to the base wall by a line of weakness so that it may be removed entirely.
16. A container as claimed in any of claims 9 to 15 wherein the rear wall of the container is formed with one or more openings to facilitate opening the rear wall forming flaps.
17. A container as claimed in claim 16 wherein selected flaps forming the rear wall are provided with one or more aligned rebates which form one or more elongate hand access slots in the rear wall.
18. A container as claimed in claim 17 wherein respective openings are provided for access to the upper and lower rear wall forming flaps.
19. A container as claimed in any of claims 1 to 15, wherein a line of weakness provided on a rear wall forming flap extends onto an adjacent side wall and defines a removable area on said side wall.
20. A container as claimed in claim 19, wherein a line of weakness is provided on the opposite rear wall forming flap and extends onto an adjacent side wall, thereby defining a removable area on said side wall.
21. A container as claimed in claim 19 or 20, wherein the removable area(s) on the side wall(s) comprise(s) an opening to facilitate opening the rear wall forming flaps.
22. A container as claimed in claim 19, 20 or 21, comprising an adhesive tape along adjacent edges of two oppositely arranged rear wall forming flaps.
23. A container as claimed in claim 22, wherein said adhesive tape extends onto said removable area(s).
24. A one piece blank for making a container as claimed in any preceding claim.
25. A one piece blank for a wraparound container, said blank comprising a series of panels hingedly connected together by a series of parallel hinge lines said panels forming in the erected container, in series: a base wall; a first side wall upstanding from said base wall; a top wall; and a second side wall extending between said top wall and said base wall; and further comprising a plurality of flaps hingedly attached to said base, top and side wall forming panels, said flaps being foldable and bondable so as to form front and rear walls of said container; wherein: said front wall forming flaps comprise means for defining an opening for access to the contents within the container; and the rear wall forming flaps are formed such that they may be opened or removed so that the container's contents may be unloaded through the rear of the container.
26. A blank as claimed in claim 25 wherein the front wall forming flaps are configured to define an opening in the front wall of the container.
27. A blank as claimed in claim 25 wherein the front wall forming flaps comprise one or more lines of weakness which may be removed to define an opening in the front wall of the container.
28. A blank as claimed in claim 25, 26 or 27 wherein the front wall forming flaps comprise a pair of generally U-shaped flaps.
29. A blank as claimed in any of claims 25 to 28 wherein one or more of the rear wall forming flaps are provided with one or more lines of weakness to facilitate the removal or opening of the rear wall.
30. A blank as claimed in any of claims 25 to 29 comprising a first pair of rear wall forming panels attached to the side wall forming panels of the blank, and a second pair of rear wall forming flaps attached to the top and base wall forming panels of the blank.
31. A blank as claimed in claim 30 wherein one or both of a pair of flaps is provided with one or more lines of weakness therein.
32. A blank as claimed in claim 29 or 31, wherein the one or more lines of weakness is curved.
33. A blank as claimed in claim 32, wherein a said line of weakness extends between cut edges of a rear wall forming flap.
34. A blank as claimed in claim 33, wherein said cut edges intersect each other.
35. A blank as claimed in any of claims 31 to 34 wherein the flap forming the lower part of the rear wall is attached to the base wall forming panel by a line of weakness.
36. A blank as claimed in any of claims 30 to 35, wherein the flaps forming the sides of the rear wall are provided with one or more rebates in their free edges.
37. A blank as claimed in claim 36, wherein two rebates are provided in each said flap.
38. A blank as claimed in any of claims 25 to 35, wherein said one or more lines of weakness extend onto an adjacent side wall, thereby defining a removable area on the first or second side wall.
39. A blank as claimed in claim 38, wherein said one or more lines of weakness extend onto another side wall, thereby defining a removable area on the another side wall.
40. A blank as claimed in claim 38 or 39, wherein the panels forming said side wall(s) is (are) formed with opening(s) to facilitate opening the rear wall forming flaps.