GB2461568A

GB2461568A - Package

Info

Publication number: GB2461568A
Application number: GB0812278A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Dominic Bryant
Original assignee: CELLPAK SOLUTIONS Ltd
Current assignee: CELLPAK SOLUTIONS Ltd
Priority date: 2008-07-04
Filing date: 2008-07-04
Publication date: 2010-01-06
Also published as: GB0812278D0

Abstract

A package, produced from a single blank, comprising a support surface (12) and a retaining member (15). The package can be made from boxboard, chipboard, paperboard, cardboard, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyester, vinyl or a combination of these. The retaining member (15) comprises a plurality of fingers (75) which are joined to and integral with the retaining member at only one end. The fingers (75) are alternately joined to the two different sides of the retaining member (15), and they are interlaced. Each end piece of the retaining member (15) comprises a plurality of tongues (86) which are also joined to and integral with the retaining member at only one end. The package is suitable for mobile telephones, PDAs, laptops, MP3 players digital cameras and the like.

Description

PACKAGE

The invention relates to a package for packaging an article.

It is very common for electronic objects to be posted to customers, either by standard mail or by specialist delivery companies. Typical of electronic products which are frequently sent by mail include laptops, mobile phones, digital cameras, PDAs and pagers.

The most common forms of packaging are currently custom moulded foam or polystyrene inserts inside standard rectangular cartons, or alternatively bespoke cardboard inserts which are designed to be specific to a particular article. Therefore, if a company frequently mails articles with a variety of different shapes and sizes, multiple different inserts must be made and stored. This is acceptable for manufacturers, who will typically have a need to package large quantities of objects of each size and shape. However, for example in the after care or repair market, relatively small numbers of each different size of article commonly need to be sent back to the owner. It is not practical for an after care company to hold large numbers of inserts for each different sized article. For example, in the mobile telephone market, there are over a hundred different mobile telephone types, having different dimensions. An after care company would find it very expensive to hold a different insert for each phone shape. Furthermore tooling costs are often considerable and the resulting packaging waste is environmentally unfriendly.

One common solution is to wrap each article in a protective coating such as bubble wrap before packaging it in a carton. This method has disadvantages such as being time consuming.

An alternative solution which is used is the provision of a single sheet of card with a polyethylene layer attached at each end of the sheet. The card has two parallel creases in the middle of the card. The article to be held in place is positioned between the card and the polyethylene layer. When the card is folded at the creases, the polyethylene layer is pulled tight to hold the article in place. This apparatus holds the article rigidly in place, but consists of both cardboard and polyethylene, which makes it more difficult to recycle.

Accordingly, there exists a need for an improved packaging insert which can hold an article in position and can provide a degree of protection for the article during transit and which can be made from a single material to aid recycling. In particular, there is a need for an insert which can be used for a number of different sized articles.

In a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a package for packaging an article comprising: a support having a support surface for receiving the article; and a retaining member for retaining the article in position on the support surface, wherein the retaining member is formed from a resiliently deformable sheet material and has a plurality of slits formed therein to form a plurality of article retaining fingers, each said finger having a first end, at which the said member is joined to, and is integral with the said sheet material forming the retaining member, and a second end, at which the said retaining finger is free and not joined to the said sheet, whereby the said free end may be flexed resiliently out of the plane of the sheet to form an article receiving space between the support surface and the article retaining fingers, wherein the article retaining fingers are arranged such that at least a first pair of article retaining fingers extend in a first direction over the article receiving space and at least one opposing article retaining finger extends in the opposite direction over the article receiving space and is located between the first pair of article retaining fingers.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the support and the retaining member are formed from a single blank of material.

Suitable resiliently deformable materials include boxboard, unlined chipboard, brown lined chipboard; white lined chipboard, corrugated paperboard, corrugated cardboard polypropylene, polystyrene, polyester, vinyl, acetate or a combination of these materials. Other suitable resiliently deformable materials are known to the skilled person. It is preferred that the resiliently deformable material is chipboard, paperboard, cardboard or boxboard as such a material is more readily recycled.

The packaging insert according to the present invention is suitable for holding any type of article. It is particularly suited to holding articles which are generally cuboid in shape, and more particularly articles which are thin. Such articles include electronic devices such as mobile telephones, PDAs, laptop computers, MP3 players, digital cameras and the like.

In a preferred embodiment, the plurality of retaining fingers comprises a first set of article retaining fingers extending in the first direction and a set of opposing article retaining fingers extending in the opposite direction, wherein the fingers are located such that the first fingers alternate with the opposing fingers.

The retaining fingers hold the article in place on the support surface by lying over a portion of the article when the article is in position on the support surface. It is preferred that, when the article is held in position, the retaining fingers are is interlocked. The article is prevented from moving away from and around the retaining surface by the resilient nature of the fingers.

It is ftirther preferred that the fingers are formed from a plurality of parallel slits of equal length, with perpendicular slits at alternate ends of the parallel slits to form the two sets of alternating fingers.

It is yet further preferred that the retaining member and the support surface are connected together. More preferably, the retaining member and the support surface are formed from a single sheet of resiliently deformable material and are separated by a single fold in the resiliently deformable material. It is further preferred that the retaining member and the support surface are provided with locking means to hold the layers together when the article is in position. This prevents the retaining member from opening so that the article is no longer retained in position. Preferably, the locking means is a tab in one of the retaining member and support sheet and a slot in the other layer. More preferably, the tab or slot are positioned on the opposite side of the fingers on the retaining later to the fold.

It is further preferred that the retaining sheet is provided with an end support at either side of the retaining fingers to prevent the article from sliding out from under the fingers. Any suitable end supports can be used.

In a preferred embodiment, an end support is formed from a plurality of tongues which extend in a direction perpendicular to the retaining fingers, and wherein the free ends of the tongues point towards the retaining fingers. Preferably, these tongues are formed from a series of slits in the retaining surface. More preferably, the tongues are of equal length. In one particularly favourable embodiment, the slit forming the edge of a first retaining finger also forms the free ends of the tongues. In use, the article is positioned on the support surface. The retaining surface is positioned over the article such that the article sits in the article receiving space and the retaining fingers bend over the article to hold the article in position. The ends of the article fit under at least a portion of the tongues to frirther assist with holding the article in position.

Preferably, the package comprises a lid. It is preferred that, when an article is in position in the article receiving space, the lid abuts a portion of the opposing flaps to keep them in position and assist with preventing the article from moving.

The features of any aspect of the above invention can be combined with the features of any other aspect.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-Figure 1 shows a blank of a packaging item; Figure 2 shows a container with retaining surface and lid open; Figure 3 shows a container with lid open; Figure 4 shows a closed container.

Figure 1 shows a blank 1 of a packaging item which forms a container and an integral insert according to the present invention. The blank 1 is formed from a single piece of corrugated cardboard. The blank 1 has 7 main parallel crease lines 3 which are positioned along the panel to divide the blank into a base panel 5, a first side panel 8, a second side panel 10, a support surface 12, a retaining surface 15, an internal upper side panel 18, a lid 20 and a lid lip 25. The blank is symmetrical about an axis running perpendicular to the crease lines 3.

First and second side panels 8, 10 each have a pair of flaps 30, 32, with one flap being positioned at each side of the panel 8, 10. The base panel 5 has a pair of larger flaps 35. Each flap 35 has a pair of parallel crease lines 38, 40 at the mid point of the flap to allow the flap to be folded in half whilst providing a gap between the halves for receiving side panel flaps 30 and 32. The flap 35 is provided with two slots 42, 44, which are positioned where the flap 35 meets the base panel 5. At the outside edge of each flap is a pair of tabs 47, 49 which are shaped to be received by slots 42, 44 to provide the end walls of the container.

The lid 20 is connected to the first side panel and the lid lip 25 is connected to the lid 20. The lid has a pair of flaps 52 and the lid lip 25 has a further pair of flaps 54 for holding the lid closed.

The support surface 12 is connected to the second side panel 10. There are two cut lines 56 running at 45° from the crease line 3 into the second side panel 10. There is a further crease line 58 between the end points of the cut lines. The support surface has a pair of flaps 60, which serve as lower end panels to hold the support surface 12 in place. A slot 62 is cut in the centre of the crease line 3 between the support surface 12 and the second side panel 10.

The retaining surface 15 is connected to the support surface 12. The retaining surface has a pair of flaps 65 which serve as lower end panels to hold the retaining surface in place. A flap 70 is cut into support surface 12 and the retaining surface 15. A portion of the flap 70 acts as a lower side panel to hold the support surface and the retaining surface in place, whilst another portion of the flap 70 acts as an upper side panel.

The retaining surface 15 has a number of opposing interlocked fingers 75. The fingers are formed from a plurality of parallel cuts 77 in the retaining surface. The sections formed by the parallel cuts are cut at alternate ends 79, 80 to form the opposing fingers. At either side of the opposing fingers, there is a further series of parallel cuts 84, which are perpendicular to the first plurality of parallel cuts to form a plurality of tongues 86.

The retaining surface 15 is connected to the internal upper side panel 18. A small tab is cut into the centre of the crease line 3 between the retaining surface and the upper side panel to cooperate with slot 62.

Figure 2 shows the blank 1 formed into a container with the support surface 12 in position, the retaining surface 15 in the open position and the lid 20 open. The support surface is held in position approximately half way up the container by the lower end panels and lower side panel.

An article 100 to be retained by the container is positioned in the middle of the support surface.

Figure 3 shows the container with the retaining surface 15 in the retaining position and the lid 20 open. The article is held under the opposing fingers 75, and is prevented from moving longitudinally in the box by the short fingers. The resilient nature of the opposing fingers prevents the article from escaping. Tab 90 is pushed into slot 62 to prevent the retaining surface 15 from opening.

Figure 4 shows the container with the lid 20 closed. When the lid 20 is closed, the bottom of the lid 20 presses on the opposing fingers 75 and prevents them from moving, improving the hold of the retaining surface 15 on the article 100.

Other embodiments within the scope of the claims would be immediately apparent to the skilled person.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A package for packaging an article comprising: a support having a support surface for receiving the article; and a retaining member for retaining the article in position on the support surface, wherein the retaining member is formed from a resiliently deformable sheet material and has a plurality of slits formed therein to form a plurality of article retaining fingers, each said finger having a first end, at which the said member is joined to, and is integral with the said sheet material forming the retaining member, and a second end, at which the said retaining finger is free and not joined to the said sheet, whereby the said free end may be flexed resiliently out of the plane of the sheet to form an article receiving space between the support surface and the article retaining fingers, wherein the article retaining fingers are arranged such that at least a first pair of article retaining fingers extend in a first direction over the article receiving space and at least one opposing article retaining finger extends in the opposite direction over the article receiving space and is located between the first pair of article retaining fingers.
2. A package as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of article retaining fingers comprises a first plurality of article retaining fingers extending in the first direction and a plurality of opposing article retaining fingers extending in the opposite direction and the article retaining fingers are located such that the first article retaining fingers alternate with the opposing article retaining fingers.
3. A package according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the retaining surface additionally comprises at least one end piece to prevent the article from sliding from under the fingers.
4. A package according to claim 3, wherein the retaining surface comprises two end pieces.
5. A package according to claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the end piece is formed from a plurality of slits in the retaining surface to form a plurality of tongues.
6. A package according to claim 5, wherein the tongues are essentially perpendicular to the retaining fingers.
7. A package as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the support surface and the retaining surface are formed from a single sheet of material.
8. A package as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7 comprising a lid, wherein the lid limits the movement of the retaining fingers to assist the retention of the article.
9. A package as claimed in any of claims ito 8, wherein the package is formed from a single material blank.
10. A blank for producing the package of any one of claims ito 9.