GB2433493A

GB2433493A - Container with separable lid and end wall

Info

Publication number: GB2433493A
Application number: GB0525943A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ian Bryant
Original assignee: SCA Packaging Ltd
Current assignee: SCA Packaging Ltd
Priority date: 2005-12-20
Filing date: 2005-12-20
Publication date: 2007-06-27
Also published as: GB0525943D0

Abstract

A container 2 made from cardboard, paperboard or other foldable sheet material, has separation means extending around the walls of the container 2 for separating said container into a lid 80 and a tray 78. The tray 78 has side walls 18a, 20a, 22a, 24 a and a base 14, one of said side walls 22a being removable. Respective side wall flaps 68 attached to either side of the removable side wall 22a, and a base flap attached to the lower edge of the removable side wall 22a are separable from the tray 78 with said removable side wall 22a. The container may be formed from a single blank.

Description

Containers The present invention relates to containers, and in

particular to containers which can be used to transport goods and subsequently to display the goods. Such containers are commonly known as transit and display containers.

Transit and display containers should, wherever possible, be transformable from their transit configuration to their display configuration with the minimum of effort on the part of the user, allowing the containers to be opened and placed on a shelf or other display surface as quickly as possible. They should also provide a tidy display configuration, avoiding unsightly tears as much as possible The present invention seeks to provide a transit and display container which may go some way to providing such a container From a first aspect, the invention provides a container made from cardboard, paperboard or other foldable sheet material, said container having separation means extending around the walls of the container for separating said container into a lid and a tray having side walls and a base, said tray portion having a removable side wall and respective side wall flaps attached on either side of the removable side wall and extending into the adjacent side wall of the tray, said side wall flaps being separable from the tray with said removable side wall.

In accordance with the invention, therefore, a tray formed from a container has a side wall which is easily removable after the lid of the container has been removed. Respective flaps extending into the adjacent side walls of the tray This advantageously permits a relatively clean edged opening to be produced in the tray.

The separation means preferably extends around the complete periphery of the container such that in the unopened condition, the lid is attached to the container about substantially the periphery of the container The separation means may comprise one or more lines of weakness, e.g. perforations, in the container wall Preferably, however, it comprises a tear strip formed in the container wall.

In the preferred embodiment, the tear strip comprises a tape attached to the inner surface of the container and which can be pulled through the container wall to release the lid portion. Perforations or other lines of weakness may be provided on one or both sides of the tape in order to produce a tidy tear.

As stated above, the removable portion of the tray includes a pair of flaps which extend into the respective adjacent side walls of the tray The ends of these flaps are preferably defined by lines of weakness, e.g. perforations, formed in the adjacent side walls. Preferably, however, the ends are substantially defined by cuts.

This has the advantage that when the removable portion of the tray is removed, a clean cut, rather than a torn edge, will be produced around the resulting opening in the tray.

Where cuts are provided, one or more narrow, easily frangible bridges of material may be provided at selected locations to assist in maintaining the integrity of the flap during transit. As these bridges are narrow, they will not adversely affect the appearance of the visible edge of the tray after the wall has been removed.

The cuts or lines of weakness defining the side wall flap ends may be vertical, inclined, straight or curved to give a desired aesthetic appearance.

The side wall flaps preferably extend to the bottom of the side walls.

In a preferred embodiment, the tray includes a base flap attached to the removable side wall and removable either fully or in part with that side wall. Most preferably that flap is not attached to any other panel of the tray, thereby facilitating its removal with the side wall.

Alternatively, the removable side wall may be attached to a base flap about a line of weakness facilitating its detachment from the base flap.

In order to provide support for goods in the tray in the region of a removable base flap after it has been removed, the side walls incorporating the side wall flaps may be provided with base flaps which extend to a position adjacent the removable side wall.

Preferably, the base flaps attached to the side walls incorporating the side wall flaps are provided with interlocking means to allow them to be assembled without bonding, thereby facilitating erection of the container and avoiding adhesion of the removable base flap to the remainder of the container base. a

It will be understood that the present invention also extends to a blank of cardboard, paper board or other foldable sheet material for forming a container in accordance with the invention.

From a further aspect, therefore, the invention provides a blank of cardboard, paper board or other foldable sheet material comprising a row of side wall panels interconnected by respective hinge lines, a row of top flaps attached to an upper edge of said row of side wall panels, a row of base flaps attached to the opposed edge of said row of side wall panels, separation means extending across said row of side wall panels for separating upper and lower parts of said side wall panels and respective side wall flaps defined in lower portions of two side wall panels and attached to and arranged on either side of a further side wall panel, said side wall flaps extending from adjacent said separation means towards the lower edge of said side wall panels.

Preferably the separation means comprises one or more line of weakness, e.g. perforations, but preferably it comprises a tear strip. Preferably the tear strip comprises a tape attached to one face of the blank.

Preferably the flaps in the side wall panels are defined by lines of weakness, more preferably cuts, extending downwardly from the separation means. The cuts may be bridged by one or more narrow, easily frangible bridges to maintain the integrity of the side wall until the container is opened.

Preferably the side wall panels incorporating the side wall flaps are provided with base flaps which can interlock to close the base of the erected container.

The invention also extends to a method of displaying product comprising the steps of separating a container containing the product into a lid and a tray, and removing a wall of the tray and parts of adjacent walls of the tray to form an access opening in the tray..

The removal of the tray wall preferably takes place on the surface where the product is to be displayed.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a container in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 shows a blank for forming the container of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows the container of Figure 1 in a first stage of opening; Figure 4 shows a second stage of opening the container of Figure 1, Figure 5 shows a third stage in the opening of the container of Figure 1; and Figure 6 shows the container of Figure 1 fully opened.

With reference to Figure 1, a container 2 in accordance with the invention comprises four side walls 4, 6, 8, 10, a top wall 12, and a base 14.

The container 2 is erected from the blank 16 shown in Figure 2. The blank 16 comprises first, second, third and fourth side wall panels 18, 20, 22, 24 joined by parallel hinge lines 26. The blank further comprises a row 28 of top flaps 30, 32, 34 and 36. The top flaps 30, 32, 34, 36 are attached to the adjacent side wall panels 18, 20, 22, 24, about respective hinge lines 38. The blank 16 further comprises a row 40 of base flaps 42, 44, 46, 48. The respective base flaps 42, 44, 46, 48 are attached to the adjacent side wall panels 18, 20, 22, 24 by hinge lines 50.

The base flaps 44, 48 attached to the longer side wall panels 20, 24 are provided with wings 52 on either side which extend almost as far as the respective adjacent flaps 42, 46. The flap 44 further comprises a tongue 54 which, in use, is received within a U-shaped cut 56 in the flap 48 as will be described further below.

A plastics tear tape 58 extends along the length of the blank 16 across the upper parts of the side wall 18, 20, 22, 24. Push through flaps 60 separated by a cut line 62, which also extends through the tear tape 58, are provided centrally of one 20 of the longer side wall forming panels.

The tear tape 58 divides each side wall panel into a lower, tray wall portion 1 8a, 20a, 22a, 24a, and an upper, lid wall portion I 8b, 20b, 22b, 24b.

The respective, wider tray wall portions 20a, 24a each comprise a line of weakness 64 extending upwardly from the hinge line 50 almost to the tear strip 58 The line of weakness 64 is defined by a cut line, having easily frangible bridges of material 66 provided at its lower end for integrity purposes. The lines of weakness 64 define one edge of two side wall flaps, 68 arranged on either side of one 22a of the narrower tray wall portions. The lower edge of each side wall flap 68 is defined by a cut line 70 having easily frangible connecting bridges 72.

Erection of the container 2 from the blank 60 will now be described. The blank 16 is first folded around the hinge lines 26, with the tear strip 58 facing inwardly, and then glued into a tubular blank using a glue tab 74. The bottom flaps 42, 44, 46, 48 can then be folded in to form the base of the carton In particular, the narrower flaps 42, 46 are folded in first, then flap 48 and finally flap 42, the tongue 54 of the flap 44 being received in the cut 56 and panel 48 to close the bottom of the container in the manner of an envelope. The open topped container can then be filled with product and the top flaps 30, 32, 34, 36 then folded over and closed, for example by a tape 76.

The container 2 is quite stable in this configuration. In particular, even though there are cuts 64 in opposed side walls 4, 8, these only extend up to the tear tape 58. Moreover, the bridges of matenal 66 assist in maintaining the edges of the cuts 64 together. Thus the container 2 can be handled and stacked in much the same way as a conventional container.

To open the container 2, a user pulls out the tabs 60 which are attached to the tear tape 58, grips the tabs 60 and pulls the tape 58 through the side walls 4, 6, 8, 10 of the container as shown in Figure 3. As the tape 58 extends around the entire periphery of the container 2, its removal separates the container into a tray 78 and lid 80, as seen in Figure 4 It will be understood that the lid 80 is formed from the top flaps 30, 32, 34, 36 of the blank 16 together with the lid wall portions 18b, 20b, 22b, 24b of the side wall panels 18, 20, 22, 24. The tray 78 is formed from the base flaps 42, 44, 46, 48 and the tray wall portions I 8a, 20a, 22a, 24a of the side wall panels 18, 20, 22, 24.

As will be seen in Figure 4, with the tear tape 58 removed, the cuts 64 formed in the tray side wall panels 20a, 24a extend almost to the upper edge 82 of the tray 78 Narrow bridges of material 84 are left between the top of the cuts 64 and that upper edge 82. The side wall flaps 68 are thus maintained in the tray side walls 20a by those bridges of material 84 and the other bridges of material 66 formed nearer the base of the tray 78. In order to remove the wall 22a of the tray, that wall 22a can be rotated in the direction of arrow A in Figure 4. This breaks the bridges 84, 72, 66, thereby liberating the side wall flaps 68 from the tray side walls 20a, 24a and the base flaps 44, 48. Since the base flap 46 attached to the removable tray wall 22a is not attached to any other panel, the wall 22a can then be removed simply by pulling in the direction of arrow B in Figure 5 so that the flap 46 slides out from under the contents 86 of the tray. The wall 22a can be removed either before or after the tray 78 is placed on a shelf Since the side wall flaps 68 are defined by cut lines 64, the edges 88 of the tray side walls 20a, 24 will appear clean. Moreover, removal of the base panel 46 with the wall 22a means that no torn edge is visible at base of the tray 78. This is important as the open end will normally be placed at the front of a shelf so as to be accessible to customers.

It will be understood that the contents 86 of the tray will still be supported in the open region due to the extending wings 52 of the bottom flaps 42, 46.

The skilled person will appreciate that various modifications may be made to the embodiment described above without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, the base flaps 44, 48 need not be interlocking and could be taped together, provided they leave the base flap 46 free to be removed.

In other embodiments, the base flap 46 need not be removable with the tray wall 22a. Thus in containers in which, for example, the base flaps are bonded together, the tray wall 22a may be attached to the base flap 46 by a line of weakness.

44 allowing it to separate from the tray base.

Claims

Claims 1. A container made from cardboard, paperboard or other foldable

sheet material, said container having separation means extending around the walls of the container for separating said container into a lid and a tray having side walls and a base, said tray having a removable side wall and respective side wall flaps attached on either side of the removable side wall and extending into the adjacent side wall of the tray, said side wall flaps being separable from the tray with said removable side wall.

2. A container as claimed in claim 1 wherein the separation means extends around substantially the entire periphery of the container such that in the unopened condition, the lid is attached to the container about substantially the periphery of the container.

3 A container as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the separation means comprises one or more lines of weakness in the container wall.

4. A container as claimed in claim 3 wherein the separation means comprises a tear strip formed in the container wall.

5. A container as claimed in claim 4 wherein the tear strip comprises a tape attached to the inner surface of the container and which can be pulled through the container wall to release the lid portion.

6. A container as claimed in any preceding claim wherein an end of said respective side wall flaps is defined by a line of weakness formed in the said adjacent side walls.

7 A container as claimed in claim 6 wherein the said ends are substantially defined by cuts.

8. A container as claimed in claim 7 further comprising one or more narrow, easily frangible bridges of material provided at selected locations along the cut.

9. A container as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the side wall flaps extend to the bottom of the side walls.

10. A container as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the tray further includes a base flap attached to the removable side wall.

11. A container as claimed in claim 10 wherein the removable side wall is attached to the base flap about a line of weakness.

12. A container as claimed in claim 10 wherein said base flap is removable either fully or in part with the removable side wall.

13. A container as claimed in claim 12 wherein the removable base flap is not attached to any other panel of the tray.

14. A container as claimed in claim 12 or 13 wherein the side walls incorporating the side wall flaps are provided with base flaps which extend to a position adjacent the removable side wall.

15. A container as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the side walls incorporating the side wall flaps are provided with base flaps with interlocking means.

16. A blank of cardboard, paper board or other foldable sheet material for forming a container as claimed in any preceding claim 17. A blank of cardboard, paperboard or other foldable sheet material comprising a row of side wall panels interconnected by respective hinge lines, a row of top flaps attached to an upper edge of said row of side wall panels, a row of base flaps attached to the opposed edge of said row of side wall panels, separation means extending across said row of side wall panels for separating upper and lower parts of said side wall panels, respective side wall flaps being defined in lower portions of two side wall panels attached to and arranged on either side of a further side wall panel, said side wall flaps extending from adjacent said separation means towards the lower edge of said side wall panels.

18. A blank as claimed in claim 17 wherein the separation means comprises one or more line of weakness.

19. A blank as claimed in claim 18, wherein the separation means comprises a tear strip.

20. A blank as claimed in claim 19 wherein the tear strip comprises a tape attached to one face of the blank.

21. A blank as claimed in any of claims 17 to 20 wherein the side wall flaps are defined by lines of weakness extending downwardly from the separation means.

22. A blank as claimed in claim 21 wherein said lines of weakness are cuts.

23 A blank as claimed in claim 22 comprising one or more narrow, easily frangible bridges across said cuts.

24. A blank as claimed in any of claims 17 to 23 wherein the side wall panels incorporating the side wall flaps defined in them are provided with base flaps which can interlock to close the base of the erected container.

25. A method of displaying product comprising the steps of separating a container containing the product into a lid and a tray, and removing a wall of the tray and parts of adjacent walls of the tray to form an access opening in the tray. a S

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the removal of the tray wall takes place on the surface where the product is to be displayed.