JP2003526578A - Dividable multi-carton package - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] Multi-carton package 10 particularly useful for bottle shipping. The package is easily divided into separate packs or cartons 12,14. The pack includes an easy-to-use open tab. A package blank and a method of folding the blank are also disclosed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

The present invention relates to multi-carton packages that are particularly useful for shipping bottles. The package is easily divided into separate packs or cartons. The pack includes open tabs for ease of use. A packaging blank and a method of folding the blank into a package are also provided.

In most packages used today in the shipping industry, six bottles are packed in paperboard wraps or cartons. Two such cartons are placed in each shipping package. Shipping costs increase when a large number of packages and cartons are used. Therefore, it is desirable to use a shipping package that holds 12 bottles each and easily separates to form two 6-pack cartons.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-carton package in which the size of each carton can be changed. For example, the carton can be resized and more or less than six bottles or other containers can be included in each carton. In addition, it is possible to make packages that can be divided into more than two cartons.

A large number of types of multi-carton packages are known in the prior art.

US Pat. No. 3,135,457 (Risicci) describes a carton having a multi-compartment made of separable units.

US Pat. No. 2,998,179 (Zilles) describes a multi-compartment carton having ribs that separate the compartments. A flange extends from the rib and is glued to one interior panel of the carton. The edge of the second panel is glued to the outside of the third panel.

US Pat. No. 1,898,231 (Weiss) shows a multi-compartment carton with a mounting flap and a partition having a mounting wall continuous with the carton side wall.

US Pat. No. 2,697,544 (Morand) discloses a multi-compartment box formed from a unitary blank of sheet material.

Patents that disclose a weakened portion defined by a score or cut include US Pat. No. 2,828,060 (Brown) and US Pat. No. 3,015,432 (Tyr).
seck), US Pat. Nos. 3,491,937 and 3,719,317 (Blast).
Ad), and US Pat. No. 2,259,822 (Kienlen). Other cartons have been described in US Pat. Nos. 2,852,180, 2881968, 2,884,180.
No. 2,936,104, 2,992,767, British Patent No. 2,322,349, and European Patent No. 860371.

US Pat. No. 3,261,536 (Bixler) discloses a carton having a portion that is not laminated to the flap. US Pat. No. 2,936,104 (
De Blaere) discloses a slit that extends only in a part of the carton structure forming the front wall and provides a weakened outer surface area to assist in opening the carton and prevent delamination of the front wall during carton opening. ing.

US Pat. No. 3,182,887 (Larson) discloses a carton having unlaminated portions.

US Pat. No. 3,113,713 (Green) discloses a carton having non-printed triangular areas.

US Pat. No. 5,505,370 (Brown et al.) Discloses a multi-carton package that allows the consumer to easily separate the cartons into separate cartons.

The present invention relates to a package comprising at least two removable cartons. The package of the present invention is preferably formed from a single, unitary blank.
The two removable cartons share the top panel with weak lines, which allows the cartons to be separated. The two cartons each include a lateral panel, a bottom panel, a mid lateral panel, and a glue flap extending from the mid lateral panel. Each glue flap is glued to a respective part of the top panel. The carton includes front and rear opening flaps. It is preferred to include a lift tab in the front opening flap.

By providing a package that is split into two cartons, there is less tape usage than when placing the individual cartons in a larger shipping package as described above, thereby saving tape and printing graphics on the package. Is improved. The package of the present invention utilizes blank material very efficiently. The package also provides immediate carton separation and facilitates carton flap opening for product access.

For a fuller understanding of these and other features and advantages of the present invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which the embodiments are shown by way of example. Only.

As used herein, “top” refers to the side of the package to which the first and second glue flaps described below are glued together. Glue flap, as used herein, refers to a glue flap, described below, that is adhered to the other side of the package by a glue or other adhesive.

The package 10 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) comprises a first carton 12 and a second carton 14. The first carton 12 comprises a top panel 16 (see FIG. 1), adjacent top subpanels 18 and 20, a first near side panel 23,
Includes a first bottom panel 26 and a first medial lateral panel 28. The first glue flap 30 extends from the panel 28 and is glued to the underside of the first top subpanel 18.

The second carton 14 comprises a second top subpanel 20, a second near side panel 34, a second bottom panel 36, and a second middle side panel 38. A second glue flap 40 extends from the second middle lateral panel 38 and is glued to the bottom surface of the second top subpanel 20. The perforation cut line 42 separates the first top subpanel 18 from the second top subpanel 20.

The first front closure flap 46 is connected to the top sub-panels 18 and 20 by a fold line, said first front closure flap being connected by a weak line 42 continuous with a weak line 42 dividing the top sub-panels 18 and 20. Will be divided.

The second front closure flap 96 is connected to the opposite ends of the top subpanels 18 and 20 by a fold line, said second front closure flap 96 comprising:
It is divided by a weak line 42 that follows the weak line 42 that divides the top subpanels 18 and 20.

The lateral closure flaps 48 and 50 are attached to the opposite ends of the first proximal lateral panel 23 by fold lines.

The lateral closure flaps 52 and 54 are attached to the opposite ends of the second proximal lateral panel 34 by fold lines.

The lateral closure flaps 60 and 64 allow the bottom panel 26 to pass through the fold lines.
Is attached to the opposite end of. The lateral closure sub-flaps 62 and 66 are attached to the lateral closure flaps 60 and 64 via weak lines 80, respectively.

The lateral closure flaps 68 and 70 connect the bottom panel 36 through the fold lines.
Is attached to the opposite end of.

The package is assembled by folding the blank as shown in FIG. 1 and described below. The package folds the bottom panels 26 and 36 so that they face and are parallel to the top subpanels 18 and 20, and include the far side flaps 28 and the far side flaps 38, the bottom panels 26, 36 and the top subpanels 18, 20. It is assembled by bending it vertically. The proof wraps 30 and 40 are adhered to the top subpanels 18 and 20, respectively. The bottom sub flap 62 is overlapped and adhered to the bottom closing flap 68, and the bottom sub flap 66 is overlapped and adhered to the bottom closing flap 70.

Closing flaps 60, 48, 46, 52, 68, 70, 54, 96, 50, 64
And 30 are then closed. Lateral closure flaps 48, 50, 52 and 54
It is preferred to close the bottom closure flaps 96 and 46 after closing.

From the package thus formed, breaking the weak lines 42 and 80 creates two cartons. The weak line 42 is the middle lateral panel 28.
Breaking this weak line reveals the upper ends of the two contained cartons, since and 38 are parallel to the lines tangent to the top subpanels 18 and 20, respectively. The weak line 80 is parallel to the line where the two middle lateral panels abut or approach each other, so breaking the weak line exposes the trailing ends of the two contained cartons.

Weak lines 90 and 100 are for opening each carton after separating it from its original packaging.

In the blank according to the present invention, each folding line between the glue flap and each of the intermediate lateral panels may include a large perforation so that the large perforation portions are overlapped during package assembly. it can. The resulting opening is
It can be used to carry a package when the weak line on the opening and the part between the two top subpanels are open.

If desired, the large flaps and / or the small flaps can be reduced. That is, paperboard is saved by reducing the length of those flaps in the direction facing the opposing flaps.

The carton can be made of paperboard, coated paperboard, or other suitable material. A hot melt adhesive such as glue or a chemical adhesive can be used to bond the parts of the carton together. A suitable coating would be a low density polyethylene extrusion coating.

The blank may be made of a material known in the art or similar to a material known in the art by methods known in the art or by methods similar to those known in the art. It can be made from material.

Certain changes can be made to the package of the present invention without departing from the obvious teachings of the disclosure. For example, instead of dividing the top panel by weak lines, divide both lateral panels by weak lines that are parallel to the folding lines that attach the lateral panels and the top panel, and the weak lines of each lateral panel are
The configuration of the intermediate lateral panels can be varied so that the two intermediate lateral panels are parallel to the line of abutment or proximity to each other. In that case, an intermediate lateral panel is attached to each lateral panel. In that case, of course the carton is 2 in the other direction.
Divided into two cartons.

Of course, the specific form of the invention illustrated and described herein is exemplary, as certain changes can be made without departing from the obvious teachings of the disclosure. It should be understood that it is not too much. Therefore, reference should be made to the following claims to determine the full scope of the invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

[Figure 1]   It is a top view of the blank used for package manufacture of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of a package of the present invention assembled with the front and side closure flaps partially open.

FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view of the package of the present invention assembled with the bottom and lateral closure flaps partially open.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the package of the present invention assembled with all closure flaps partially open.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a side panel, two bottom panels, a bottom and a top closure flap of a fully assembled package of the present invention.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (81) Designated countries EP (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, I T, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE), OA (BF, BJ , CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG), AP (GH, GM, K E, LS, MW, MZ, SD, SL, SZ, TZ, UG , ZW), EA (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ, TM), AE, AG, AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR, BY, BZ, C A, CH, CN, CR, CU, CZ, DE, DK, DM , DZ, EE, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, JP, K E, KG, KP, KR, KZ, LC, LK, LR, LS , LT, LU, LV, MA, MD, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, MZ, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, R U, SD, SE, SG, SI, SK, SL, TJ, TM , TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, UZ, VN, YU, ZA, ZW F-term (reference) 3E060 AA03 AB05 AB07 AC02 AC09                       BA02 BC04 CE05 CE07 CE15                       CE18 CE19 CE23 CF05 DA30

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A package comprising at least two removable cartons formed from a unitary blank and separated by three weak lines, the package comprising a first and a second adjacent by one of the weak lines. A top panel divided into two top sub-panels, a first near side panel adjacent to the first top sub panel and extending from the first top sub panel, and the first near side panel A first bottom panel adjacent to the panel and facing the first top sub-panel; and a first near lateral panel between the first top sub-panel and the first bottom panel A first intermediate lateral panel facing the first intermediate lateral panel and a first intermediate lateral panel extending from the first intermediate lateral panel and bonded to the first top subpanel.
Glue flaps, a second near lateral side panel adjacent to the second top sub-panel, and a second bottom adjacent to the second near lateral side panel and facing the second top sub-panel. A panel and a second intermediate lateral panel between the second top sub-panel and the second bottom panel and facing the second lateral panel, the first and second intermediate panels The lateral side panels contact or are in close proximity to each other and overlap each other, and the second glue flap extends from the second intermediate lateral side panel and is adhered to the second top sub-panel, and each carton is Includes a lateral closure flap with lateral closure flaps attached by fold lines to each end of each lateral panel, the front closure flaps being attached to each opposite end of the top panel and each front closure flap. The wrap is divided by a weak line continuous with the weak line between the two top sub-panels, each carton comprising a bottom panel closure flap with a separate bottom panel closure flap attached by a fold line to each end of each bottom panel. Both bottom panel closure flaps of one carton have portions that extend and are glued over the bottom panel closure flaps of adjacent bottom panels and have weak lines that separate one carton from the other, A package with weak lines along the fold lines between each bottom panel and the adjacent mid-lateral panel. 2. The package of claim 1, wherein there is a weak line along the fold line between each bottom panel and an adjacent mid-lateral panel. 3. The package according to claim 1, wherein the weak line is a perforation line. 4. Both bottom panel closure flaps of one carton extend over the bottom panel closure flaps of adjacent bottom panels and are bonded to said bottom panel closure flaps of adjacent bottom panels to extend both. The package according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the bottom panel closure flaps are outside of the bottom panel closure flaps of both adjacent bottom panels. 5. One bottom panel closure flap of one carton extends across the bottom panel closure flaps of adjacent bottom panels and is adhered to the bottom panel closure flaps of adjacent bottom panels to form one of the cartons. The package according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein one bottom panel closure flap is outside of the bottom panel closure flap of an adjacent bottom panel. 6. Both bottom panel closure flaps of one carton extend over the bottom panel closure flaps of adjacent bottom panels and are bonded to said bottom panel closure flaps such that both extended bottom panel closure flaps are attached. The package of any one of claims 1-5, wherein the package is inside the bottom panel closure flaps of both adjacent bottom panels. 7. The package according to claim 1, wherein the weak lines are two mutually parallel perforation lines. 8. A blank for packaging having at least two separable cartons and having a longitudinal axis, the blank comprising first and second adjoining lines with weak lines extending transversely to the longitudinal axis. Adjacent to a top panel that is divided into a second top subpanel and a first top subpanel opposite the second top subpanel, and separated from the first top subpanel by a first near lateral scoreline. Adjacent to the first near lateral side panel and the first near lateral side panel on the opposite side of the first top sub-panel, from the first near lateral side panel by the first central lateral score line The first bottom panel to be divided and the first near lateral side panel are adjacent to the first bottom panel on the opposite side, and are separated from the first bottom panel by a first far lateral score line. A first intermediate lateral side panel that extends from the first intermediate lateral side panel opposite the first bottom lateral panel and is separated from the first far lateral lateral panel by a first lateral glue flap score line. A first glue flap,
A second near lateral panel adjacent to a second top sub panel on the opposite side of the first top sub panel and separated from the second top sub panel by a second near lateral scoreline; and a second top Adjacent to the second nearer lateral panel on the opposite side of the panel,
Second separated from the second near lateral panel by a second central lateral scoreline
Bottom panel and a second middle lateral panel adjacent to the second bottom panel on the opposite side of the second near lateral panel and separated from the second bottom panel by a second far lateral scoreline. A second glue flap extending from the second middle lateral panel and separated from the second middle lateral panel by a second lateral glue flap score line; and a fold line for both the top panel. A front top main panel closure flap attached at each end of said top panel, each front top main panel closure flap having a weak line continuous with the weak line between two top sub-panels, and a bottom main panel. Closure flaps are attached by fold lines to each end of each of the two bottom panels, and the closure flaps of both A Tom main closure panel has a portion extending over the bottom main panel closure flap of the adjacent bottom panel when the blank is assembled into a package with two cartons, the extending bottom main closure flap including the blank. At the time of assembly, there is a weak line located between the two cartons, there is a weak line along each fold line between each bottom panel and the adjacent middle lateral side panel, and the lateral closure flaps are First and second
A blank attached to each end of the middle lateral panel of the. 9. The blank according to claim 8, wherein the weak line is a perforation line. 10. A blank according to claim 8 or claim 9, wherein the weak lines are two perforation lines located parallel to each other. 11. The package according to claim 8, wherein each fold line between the glue flap and each intermediate lateral panel has a large perforation such that the large perforation portions overlap during package assembly. Blank described in.