GB2439064A

GB2439064A - Display carton with header flap

Info

Publication number: GB2439064A
Application number: GB0611138A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gary Barnes
Original assignee: Field Group PLC
Current assignee: Field Group PLC
Priority date: 2006-06-06
Filing date: 2006-06-06
Publication date: 2007-12-19
Also published as: GB0611138D0

Abstract

A display carton 36 formed of paperboard, cardboard, or other foldable sheet material comprising a side wall 4 and a header flap 18 attached to an upper edge of the side wall 4. The header flap 18 is rotatable relative to the side wall 4 about vertically extending hinge line 30 formed in the side wall 4. The header flap 18 may be attached to a sub-panel defined in the side wall 4, and which may rotate about the vertical axis with the header flap 18. The header flap 18 may be attached to the side wall 4 by means of a frangible hinge line 26.

Description

DISPLAY CARTON

The present invention relates to display cartons formed from paperboard, cardboard or other foldable sheet material.

Display cartons are widely used to display goods such as confectionary. In order to make the carton more attractive and/or to provide information to the consumer, the carton is sometimes provided with a flap, sometimes referred to as a header, upstanding from a wall of the container and containing graphical or textual matter.

The carton is normally made from a blank of sheet material such as paperboard which, for reasons of economy, is printed only on one side, namely that side which will form the externally facing surface of the erected carton. Thus, if a header were simply to be formed as a single flap of material, only its externally facing surface would be printed. This would be of little use since, in use, it would normally be the internally facing surface of the header which would be visible to a consumer.

In order to overcome this problem, it has been normal to form headers from two flaps folded one over the other. In this way, the printed external surface of one flap can be folded over the other so as to form the visible, inwardly facing surface of the header.

The problem with this approach is that it uses an unnecessary amount of board material to produce the header. The present invention seeks to provide a display carton with a header which can be produced using less material.

From a first aspect, therefore, the invention provides a display carton formed from paperboard, cardboard or other foldable sheet material, said carton comprising a side wall and a header flap attached to an upper edge of said side wall, said header flap being rotatable relative to the side wall about a vertically extending axis.

With such an arrangement, the header flap may be rotated such that its externally facing surface faces internally of the carton. This means that any decoration or printing provided on the externally facing surface can then be viewed without the need for providing a double flap thickness. This represents a significant saving in board material.

Preferably the header flap is hingedly attached to the side wall such that during transit it may be folded flat over the carton, for example so as partially to close the top of the carton.

Preferably, the header flap is attached to a sub-panel defined in said side wall and which also rotates about the vertical axis. The sub-panel may then be defined between a vertically extending hinge line provided in the side wall and a cut line in the side wall. The header flap and sub-panel then rotate together about the vertically extending hinge line.

The sub-panel may be any convenient shape, for example rectangular, but preferably it is generally triangular in shape, most preferably tapering in width from top to bottom.

In order to maintain the integrity of the carton prior to deployment of the header flap, the header flap may be attached to the side wall at least in part through a frangible connection, e.g. one or more cut and crease lines.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the vertical hinge line defined in the side wall is also frangible such that the header panel may be completely removed from the rest of the carton if so desired.

Preferably, the header flap is provided with means for retaining it in position after it has been rotated. Preferably the retention means comprises form interlocking means such as a tab or the like which can engage behind or through the side wall of the carton after the header flap has been rotated into position.

As mentioned above, an advantage of the invention is that a single thickness header flap can be provided. However, it is also possible within the scope of the invention to provide a double thickness header flap, with one flap folded over another. Although this would not save any material over existing designs, it gives the user the possibility of providing different graphics on either surface of the header. Thus, one flap may be printed with say a seasonal illustration and the other with a non-seasonal illustration. The illustration visible to the consumer can be changed merely by rotating the header flap. Thus if stocks are not used during the seasonal promotion the header can be rotated to provide the non-seasonal illustration.

The carton may be provided with one or more top closure flaps.

It will be appreciated that the invention also extends to a blank for forming a carton in accordance with the invention.

More particularly, from a second aspect, the invention provides a blank of paperboard, cardboard or other foldable sheet material comprising a plurality of panels including a side wall panel and a header flap attached to an upper edge of said side wall panel, said header flap being rotatable relative to the side wall panel about a vertically extending hinge line provided in the side wall panel.

Other preferred features of the blank will be apparent from the above.

Some preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the following drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a blank for making a carton in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 shows the blank of Figure 1 erected into a carton; Figure 3 shows the header flap of the carton of Figure 2 being rotated to its display position; Figure 4 shows the header flap fully rotated to that position; and Figure 5 shows a blank for making a second carton in accordance with the invention.

With reference to Figure 1, a blank 2 of paperboard or other foldable sheet material comprises four side wall panels 4, 6, 8, 10 hingedly interconnected about crease lines 12. A glue tab 14 is provided along one edge of one of the side wall panels 10.

The blank 2 further comprises an array 16 of base panels which, when the carton is erected form a crash lock base in a known manner.

The side wall panel 4 which, in use, will form the rear wall of the carton has a header flap 18 attached to its upper edge 20 along a fold line 22. The fold line 22 comprises two frangible "cut-crease" portions 24 arranged on either side of a central portion 26 which hingedly attaches the header flap 18 to a generally triangular sub-panel 28 formed in the side wall panel 4. One edge of the triangular sub-panel 28 is formed by a vertically extending, frangible "cut-crease" fold line 30 and the other edge by a cut 32.

The header flap 18 is formed with a tab 34 which projects downwardly into the side wall panel 4 for a purpose which will be described further below.

The blank 2 will be printed with promotional and/or other information on one side only, i.e. on the side which will form the externally facing surface of the erected carton.

Turning now to Figure 2, there is shown a carton 36 erected from the blank 2 shown in Figure 1. The header flap 18 can be folded down in the direction of arrow A during transit so as to at least partially cover the open top of the carton 36.

Since only that side of the blank 2 which forms the outwardly facing surface of the carton 36 is printed, it will be understood that the inwardly facing surface 38 of the header flap 18 will be unprinted. In order to bring the printed, externally facing surface into view, the header flap 18 is rotated in the direction of arrow B about the vertical hinge line 30 formed in the rear wall 4, as shown schematically in Figure 3 which shows the header flap 18 partly rotated. The rotation breaks the frangible portions 24 of the fold line 22 and allows the header flap 18 and sub-panel 28 to rotate together.

In Figure 4 the printed surface side 40 of the header flap 18 is now visible, the header flap 18 having been turned substantially through 180 about the fold line 30. In this position the sub-panel 28 overlies the back wall 4, as shown.

In order to maintain the header flap 18 in position, the tab 34 is moved to lie in front of the rear wall 4. The resilience of the carton material biases the tab firmly into engagement with that wall to maintain it in position.

If desired, the whole header flap can be removed by also breaking the frangible fold line 30.

Referring now to Figure 5, a second blank in accordance with the invention is shown.

In this embodiment, the header flap is of double thickness rather than of single thickness. To this end, a second header flap 18' is hingedly attached to an edge of the first header flap 18 about a hinge line 50. As such, one surface of each header flap 18, 18' will be printed. The header flap 18' is folded over and secured, e.g. glued, to flap 18, such that when a carton is erected from the blank, a printed face of one or other of the header flaps 18, 18' will be visible seen depending on whether the carton is in a configuration as shown in Figure 2 or one as shown in Figure 4.

Referring to Figure 6, a third blank embodying the invention is shown. In this embodiment (where like numerals have been used to designate like features from the embodiment of Figure 1), the header panel 18 is generally similar to that shown in Figure 1, being attached to the rear wall panel 4 by cut-crease lines 24.

However, the cut 32 forming one edge of the triangular sub-panel 28 defines a dovetail like projection 60. A corresponding, but slightly smaller dovetail shaped flap 62 is formed in the rear wall panel 4 such that when the header panel 18 is rotated about the fold line 30, the dovetail projection 60 may be pushed through the cut 64 defining the flap 62 50 as to retain the header panel in position. This may be a more reliable from of retention than that of the first embodiment.

Also, it will be seen that in this embodiment, top closing flaps 66, 68, 70 are hingedly attached to the other wall panels 6, 8, 10. These are removed from the erected carton by tearing along a frangible line 72.

It will be appreciated that various modifications can be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, while the second header flap 18' of the second described embodiment has been shown as being attached to a side edge of header flap 18, it may of course be attached to another edge, for example the upper edge of the header flap 18. Such an arrangement may be particularly advantageous in situations where top closure flaps are attached to the upper edges of the side wall panels of the carton.

Also, whilst in the arrangements shown the front wall 8 of the carton has a dispensing opening 52 formed therein, this is not necessary.

In addition, while the header flap 18 has been shown as being rotated clockwise into position, such that the sub-panel 28 attached thereto lies in front of the rear wall 4 of the carton, if this is not possible due to the nature of the carton's contents, it may of course be rotated in an anti-clockwise direction.

Claims

Claims I. A display carton formed of paperboard, cardboard or other

foldable sheet material, said carton comprising a side wall and a header flap attached to an upper edge of said side wall, said header flap being rotatable relative to the side wall about a vertically extending axis.

2. A carton as claimed in claim I wherein said header flap is hingedly attached to said side wall.

3. A carton as claimed in claim I or 2 wherein said header flap is attached to a sub-panel defined in said side wall and which rotates about the vertical axis with the header flap.

4. A carton as claimed in claim 3 wherein said sub-panel is defined between a vertically extending hinge line in said side wall and a cut line in said side wall.

5. A carton as claimed in claim 3 or 4 wherein said sub-panel is generally triangular in shape.

6. A carton as claimed in claim 5 wherein said sub-panel tapers in width from top to bottom.

7. A carton as claimed in any preceding claim wherein said header flap is attached to said side wall at least in part through a frangible connection.

8. A carton as claimed in any of claims 4 to 6 and claim 7 wherein said vertical hinge line is frangible whereby said header flap is completely removable from the rest of said carton.

9. A carton as claimed in any preceding claim wherein said header flap is provided with means for retaining it in position after it has been rotated.

10. A carton as claimed in claim 9 wherein said retention means comprises form interlocking means.

11. A carton as claimed in claim 10 wherein said form interlocking means comprises a tab for engagement behind the side wall of the carton after the header flap has been rotated.

12. A carton as claimed in claim 10 wherein said form interlocking means comprises a tab for engagement through the side wall of the carton after the header flap has been rotated.

13. A carton as claimed in any preceding claim wherein said header flap has a double thickness.

14. A carton as claimed in claim 13, wherein said header flap comprises one flap folded over and secured to another.

15. A carton as claimed in any preceding claim comprising one or more top closure flaps.

16. A blank of paperboard, cardboard or other foldable sheet material for forming a carton in accordance with the invention.

17. A blank of paperboard, cardboard or other foldable sheet material comprising a plurality of panels including a side wall panel and a header flap attached to an upper edge of said side wall panel, said header flap being rotatable relative to the side wall panel about a vertically extending hinge line provided in the side wall panel.

18. A blank as claimed in claim 16 wherein said header flap is hingedly attached to said wall panel.

19. A blank as claimed in claim wherein said header flap is attached to a sub-panel defined in said side wall panel and which also rotatable about the vertical axis.

20. A blank as claimed in claim 19 wherein said sub-panel is defined between said vertically extending hinge line and a cut line in the side wall panel.

21. A blank as claimed in claim 19 or 20 wherein said sub-panel is generally triangular in shape 22. A blank as claimed in claim 21 wherein said sub panel tapers in width from top to bottom.

23. A blank as claimed in any of claims 17 to 22 wherein said header flap is attached to the side wall panel at least in part through a frangible connection.

24. A blank as claimed in claim 23 wherein said vertical hinge line is frangible.

25. A blank as claimed in any of claims 17 to 24 wherein said header flap comprises a tab for retaining said header flap in position after it has been rotated.

26. A blank as claimed in any of claims 17 to 25 wherein said header flap has a further header flap hingedly connected thereto.