BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a cardboard box or sleeve for accommodating one or more articles, for example cans, bottles or the like formed from one or more preforms of cardboard or other suitable folding laminate and more particularly to a box capable of being formed with sealed compartments including an articulated lid with means for releasably securing the hinged lid to the box. The invention is particularly useful when it is desired that boxes containing articles be closed to protect the or each of the articles. An example of repeatedly closable sleeves formed from one or more cardboard preforms is found in US3,078,030 illustrating a box having a hinged integral lid that can be repeatedly closed. The upper part is provided with a front cover panel and a separator panel fixed to one side of the front cover panel to be interconnected with a corresponding upper portion of the front panel of a box. Mounting means are formed from the independent double layer portion of the front panel. However, the independent portion is attached to the inner surface of the lid resulting in a non-planar stepped front surface. A second aspect of the invention relates to the provision of a franchable connection for releasably fixing the lid. More particularly, a removable strip arrangement is described. There are several known types of peel-off or cutting lines of common use, examples of which are illustrated in US2,28,552 or US3, 355, 089. However, a problem associated with known peel-off or cut-off lines or lines is that the Detachment action is difficult to control. For example, the direction of grain of the cardboard or the direction of the detachment force will influence the direction of detachment. In order to help detachment along a given trajectory, detachment lines are used. A problem with the known release arrangements is that in certain circumstances the detachment may deviate from the desired trajectory leading to an irregular trajectory of the detachment line or even but to the deviation of the detachment line completely which may result in the integrity of the box is destroyed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A first aspect of the invention provides a box having a detachment line consisting of a plurality of perforations or short slots or small cuts placed in at least three rows, with the perforations or slots of each row being displaced in relation to the perforations or short slots of the next adjacent row. Preferably the perforations in a row are separated by a distance in the range of substantially 5 mm. More preferably, each row is separated from the next adjacent row by a distance of substantially 0.5 to 2.5 mm. A second aspect of the invention provides a box having a wall provided with a detachment opening comprises means for initiating detachment formed in the wall and at least three detachment lines extending from the detachment initiating means towards the perimeter of the wall. wall, wherein each line comprises a plurality of short holes or slots placed in at least three rows, wherein the perforations or grooves of each row are offset with respect to the short holes or slots of the next adjacent row. The characteristic of opening by detachment consists of four lines of detachment that extend towards the four corners of the wall respectively. Optionally, the detachment initiating means consists of a tongue emerging from the wall. A third aspect of the invention in a box formed of cardboard or any other laminate material with similar performance, a detachment structure defining a junction between two adjacent panels, defined means for grasping a panel to be detached at least partially by means of the detachment structure in such a way that it can move out of the plane it occupies during rest and fold lines disposed between these means and the release structure to improve the amount by which the detached panel can be displaced in such a way that the tearing forces exerted on the tear structure are sufficient to cause tearing of the tear structure to separate the panel and can be removed from the box. According to an optional feature of the third aspect, the peel panel provides access to the contents of the box when it is removed. Preferably the release panel is a top panel of the box and in which the release structure extends around the periphery of the panel and where the means for gripping the panel are disposed away from its periphery, the folding lines extend from those means in a multiplicity of directions to meet that structure in a plurality of points. More preferably the detachment structure comprises at least two adjacent perforated lines in which the perforations in one of the lines are arranged intermediate to the perforations in the next adjacent line and where the spacing between the adjacent lines is greater than the spacing between the lines. the perforations between any of them. A fourth aspect of the invention provides a preform or jig to form a box having a detachment line consisting of a plurality of perforations or short slots of the next adjacent row. Preferably, the perforations in a row are separated by a distance in the range of substantially 1 mm to 5 mm.
More preferably, each error is separated from the next adjacent row by a distance of substantially 0.5 mm to 2.5 mm. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a preform or template for forming a box incorporating the arrangement of the detachment line according to a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a box formed of the preform illustrated in Figure 1 in an armed and loaded condition; Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the box with its lid partially open, - Figure 4a is an enlarged view of the characteristic of the strip detachable; Figure 5 illustrates a preform according to a second embodiment of the invention; Figure 6 illustrates a perspective view of the box formed by the preform of Figure 5 in a loaded and loaded condition; and Figure 7 illustrates the box of Figure 6 with the cover panel fully open.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring first to Figure 1, a unit preform 10 is shown to form a box made of cardboard or a similar foldable laminate. The box is adapted to accommodate one or more items. In this embodiment the preform 10 comprises a base panel 12, first side panels 14, upper panel 16 and a second side wall panel 18 connected in an articulated manner in series along fold lines 20, 22 and 24 respectively. It may further comprise opposite end wall panels 26, 30 hingedly connected to the opposite end edges of the base panel 12 along foldable lines 28 and 32 respectively. In this embodiment, the base panel is substantially square although other shapes of the base panel and / or the sleeve may be adopted according to the shape and / or size of the articles contained therein. In these embodiments with wall panels 26 and 28, these also comprise opposite end caps 34 and 38 hingedly connected to opposite edges of the top panel 16 along fold lines 36 and 40. In this embodiment, the support covers they are provided along longitudinal edges of the sidewall panel 14 and 18 respectively. As shown in Figure 1, there are side covers 42a and 42b hingedly connected to the opposite edges of the side panel 14 along fold lines 44a and 44b. Similarly, the end caps 42c and 42d are hingedly connected to the opposite edges of the second sidewall panel 18 along the fold lines 44c and 44d. In addition, a safety cap 46 hingedly connected to the base panel along the fold line 48 is provided to secure the opposite ends of the preform to each other. The safety cap 46 may be provided with fold lines 50 and 53. An aspect of the invention provides one or more removable covers formed in the top wall panel 16. In this embodiment there are four covers 54, 56, 58 and 60 for Cover the top surface of the box. The covers are hingedly connected to the box along the folding lines 22, 40, 24 and 36 respectively. The covers are interconnected in a frankable manner by means of non-removable lines, in such a way that in this mode the cover panel 54 is connected to the cover panels 60 and 56 along the franchable lines 62 and 64. The covers in FIG. this embodiment has a triangular shape although other polygonal shapes are contemplated without departing from the scope of the invention. In order to help separate adjacent covers, they also comprise a tongue 70, which is releasably connected to the top panel. In figure 1 the tongue 70 is centrally positioned at the point where the franchable lines 62, 64, 66 and 68 are interconnected. At each of the opposite ends of the franchable lines 62, 64, 66 and 68, there is provided a folding line 62a, 62b; 64a, 64b; 66a, 66b; 68a, 68b which bisects the franchable lines shown in Figure 4. The collapsible lines prevent the detachment from passing beyond the ends of the franchable lines by means of the dissipated detachment forces. Another aspect of the invention relates to the structure of the franchable lines 62, 64, 66 and 68. Figure 4 and 4A illustrate the preferred embodiment of the detachment line 68 that are formed of three or more individual rows 72, 74, 76 comprising a plurality of perforations or short slots. In each row, one perforation is separated from the next adjacent perforation by means of a distance L. The distance L will vary according to the particular release characteristics, although it has been found that a range of useful distance L is between approximately 1 and 5. mm. Each row 72, 74, 76 is also separated from the next adjacent row by a distance C. The distance C will vary according to the particular detachments required, although it has been found that a useful range of distance C is between approximately 0.5 and 2.5 mm. Each row of perforations is displaced from the next row in such a way that the perforations appear to have a "stepped" shape as shown in Figure 4a. During use it has been found that the detachment line 68 is more effective than the detachment strip with one or two rows of grooves because the central row of perforations 74 transmits the detachment along its length and the force passes to through its central line. The tearing forces are then applied across one side or the other of the central row 74 to loosen the space C between the central row 74 and the outer rows 72 and 76, as the detachment proceeds along the line of detachment. Thus it is easier to control the direction of detachment allowing a degree of flexibility in relation to where the detachment takes place within the outer rows. An advantage of this type of release line is that it is possible to produce a rounded release strip, for example to follow the shape of a logo in the advertising printed on the cardboard. It has been contemplated that any of the embodiments of the box of the present invention can be formed by means of a series of sequential bending and gluing operations, which can be formed on a straight machine in such a way that the box does not need to rotate or invert to complete His construction. The bending process is not limited to what is described below and may be altered according to the particular requirements of manufacture or use. For example the box could be constructed in parts, for which the side panel 18 and the security flap 50 are fixed together to form a tubular structure before loading it with articles. The base wall panel 12 opposite the side wall panels 14, 18 and the panels 16 are folded along the lines 20, 22 and 24 and folded into a tubular structure and the fixing cap 46 is fixed to the side panels 18 by means of glue or other means known in the art.
The article or articles are introduced into the box by means of known packaging means. The support covers 42 are folded inwardly along the fold lines 44 and the opposite ends are constructed by folding the end wall panels 26 and 30 upwards along the fold lines 28 and 32 respectively. Likewise, the covers 34 and 38 are folded down along fold lines 36 and 40 and the outer face of the end caps 34 and 38 are fixed to the inner face of the end wall panels 26 and 30 by means of of glue or other means known in the art. Thus the box is in an armed and loaded condition as shown in figure 2. In order to have access to the interior of the box the tongue 70 is compressed inwardly by the user to reveal an edge 1 which is held by the user to detach one of the lids 56 in an upward and outward direction as shown in Figure 3. As the lid 56 continues to be pulled outward, the detachment lines 64 and 66 detach to reveal an opening of the lid. access A. The detachment process corresponds to that described above and illustrated in figures 4 and 4A. A second embodiment is illustrated in Figures 5,6 and 7, that embodiment shares many identical panels and folding lines in such a way that similar parts have been designated by the same reference number with the prefix "1". Therefore, only the differences will be described in greater detail. The preform of the box 110 is provided with a unitary cover panel 116 which hingedly interconnects the side panels 114 and 118. The unitary cover panel 116 has a substantially square shape which is defined along its edges by means of lines of detachment 162, 164, 166 and 168. In some embodiments, it further comprises one or more fold lines 167, 169, 171, 173 for directing the lifting forces, described in more detail below. A tab 170 is provided in the central region of the cover panel 116, although in other embodiments it may be positioned close to a corner of the cover panel to assist with the start of detachment from that corner. The construction of the second embodiment is identical to the first embodiment as shown in Figure 6, so it will not be described in detail. In order to remove the cover panel, the tab 170 is depressed to reveal an opening. The user then inserts a finger into the opening and pulls the lid 116 which then detaches from the remaining panels of the box when peeling along the peel lines 162, 164, 166 and 168, as shown in Figure 7. An advantage of this arrangement is that the lid is removed from the box with a single pulling action. In a beneficial manner the embodiments of the invention described above provide a structure that is strong enough to retain articles and provide an integral sleeve or closed box. The use of cardboard material provides an environmental alternative to boxes made of plastic materials and the sleeves made of papers may include printed material for commercial purposes. It will be recognized that the terms used here, such as "upper", "lower", "lateral", "extreme" with respect to the panels of the box (or box preform) are relative terms and that the boxes (formed of the preform) can be reoriented as necessary or desirable. Furthermore it will be noted that rather the bottom wall will be formed of the inter-coupled panels, the preform of the box can be rearranged whereby other walls such as the top or side walls are formed with the inter-coupled panels.
Any reference to an articulated connection should not be understood as necessarily referring to a single fold line, in fact it has been considered that the articulated connection can be formed by one or more of the following a marked line, a flanking line or a folding line without departing from the scope of the invention. The invention and its preferred embodiment refers to a box or sleeve shaped to provide a satisfactory stiffness for storing objects such as information discs such as flexible disks or food with a certain. degree of flexibility. The shape of the preform or template minimizes the amount of cardboard required for the box. The box can be constructed from a flat condition collapsed to a position of use and / or can be loaded manually or by means of automatic machinery. It is envisioned that the invention can be modified without departing from the scope of the invention: for example, the height or width of the side and end panels can be increased to provide a box that receives one or more articles with different shapes and / or sizes. Additionally, the detachment lines shown in the different embodiments can be applied to other known types of boxes, for example a completely closed box or wrapping boxes for beverage containers or food containers, without departing from the scope of the invention.