MXPA06003763A

MXPA06003763A - Package with retainment means

Info

Publication number: MXPA06003763A
Application number: MXPA/A/2006/003763A
Authority: MX
Inventors: Tietschert Hanka
Original assignee: Broedrene Hartmann A/S; Tietschert Hanka
Priority date: 2003-10-08
Filing date: 2006-04-04
Publication date: 2006-12-13

Abstract

The invention relates to packages of a fibrous material for receiving frangible products such as eggs, the packages being provided with a bottom part (2) and a cover part (3) hingedly connected to the bottom part and specifically to various retainment means for releasably retaining the cover part to the bottom part in a simple, yet reliable manner. According to the invention there is thus provided retainment means on the cover part for engagement with appropriate parts of an upper flange-like rim portion (6) of the bottom part, said means according to one embodiment consisting of protrusions (7) provided on the inner surface of the front side (4) of the cover part. When the cover part from an open position is swung to a closed position on the bottom part, one or more protrusions on the cover part are brought into engagement with the lower surface of said upper rim portion of the bottom part, thereby releasably retaining the cover part to the bottom part. The alternative possibility, i.e. the provision of appropriate protrusions on the upper edge region of the bottom part for engagement for instance with suitably shaped openings in the cover part is also described.

Description

CONTAINING WITH RETENTION MEANS TECHNICAL FIELD The relationship relates to containers of the type set forth in the preamble of claim 1 and more particularly to retention means to prevent unintentional opening of a cover portion or lid of those containers. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Containers of the above type, ie containers formed by suction molding a fibrous material to receive one or more fragile products to be packaged, eg, eggs, are well known in the art. Among those has been described a large number of different containers specifically for eggs. These packages generally comprise a lower part provided with a compartment pattern similar to cavities for accommodating the eggs and a cover part or lid, which is often hingedly connected to the bottom so that it can rotate between a closed position to an open one. Most of these packages are further provided with retaining means for releasably retaining the cover part or lid in its closed position on the bottom and a large number of different retention means have been described for this purpose. Such retention means are written for example in US 4,782,995 and US 5,860,528 and common to those means, and the corresponding retention means known from many other containers of the present type - is the production of retention means dedicated on the part of cover, like the bottom or both sides. A comparatively simple type of retaining means is that described in EP 1 098 826 Bl, which means comprises openings in the vicinity of the edge region of the front face of the cover part or cover provided for releasable retention with the members. which are projected extended located on the bottom. When the cover part is closed on the lower part, those members projecting outward enter the retaining coupling with a part of the periphery of the recesses and pulling outwards and upwards subsequently in the borden region in the part of the recess. With the cover it is possible to uncouple the projecting members from the holes, thus making it possible to open the container. The above packages suffer from different disadvantages. In this way the retention means are generally dedicated on both of the cover part and the bottom part are required and at least in relation to the aforementioned package described in EP 1 098 826 Bl the retention obtained not always sufficiently reliable, in part due to the fact that the retention openings in the cover part are placed in the vicinity of the edge region of the cover part, where the material does not always have the rigidity necessary to ensure reliable retention of the cover part. to the bottom.

THE INVENTION On the background above the object of the present invention is to provide improved retention of the cover part of a package to the lower part thereof, the cover part of the lower part of the package being connected in an articulated manner to each other. along a portion of the upper edge to the lower part and a portion of the lower edge of the cover part. Thus, according to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a package formed by the suction molding of a fibrous material to receive one or more fragile products, such as eggs, comprising the following main parts: - a lower part which it comprises a non-planar lateral surface for at least partially engaging the outer contour of the products to be packaged and provided with a portion of upper edges or upper edge portions running along the region of the upper edge of the lower part and which they extend out from the bottom; - a cover part comprising at least one top surface and one front surface which meet at an angle to form an edge; - the lower part being connected to the cover part by a hinge to allow the cover part to move between an open position and a closed position; - the front surface of the cover part extending downwardly from the edge and superimposing the non-planar side surface of the bottom part and placed on the joint when the cover part is in the closed position; - wherein the cover part is provided with at least one projection extending outwardly for block coupling by the upper edge portion of the lower part when the package is being closed; and - where the joint is placed above the level of the upper edge portion of the lower part. The provision of inwardly extending provisions for engaging with the upper edge portion of the bottom portion is advantageous since those projections are accordingly positioned away from the free edge portion of the cover part or lid, i.e. positions of the cover part where the total stiffness of the covering part is greater than in the vicinity of the free edge portion thereof. Furthermore, by placing the articulated portion above the level of the upper edge portion of the lower part, the lateral transverse suction shape of the cover part is modified in relation to the corresponding cross sectional shape of a cover part, in which the articulated portion is located in the edge portion, this modification itself producing an increase in lateral stiffness of the cover part and consequently a more secure retention of the cover part to the lower part. Furthermore, this positioning of the articulated portion is advantageous since it allows the retaining projections on the cover part to rotate on themselves retaining the position below the portion of the upper edge running along the region of the upper edge of the part. lower with only a slight deformation of the material of those corresponding retaining portions during closure and opening of the container.

The package is preferably made of molded pulp, although other materials of adequate elasticity could also be contemplated. The present invention takes advantage of the presence on the lower portion of the upper edge portion portions of the upper edge running along the region of the upper edge of the lower part and extending outwardly from the lower part. Those portions of the upper edge are similar to flanges on the lower part of the containers of the type treated in the present context are well known for example from the documents mentioned above and from a part of the bridge-shaped structure connecting the different cavities in the lower part of egg trays, etc. According to the present invention this feature, ie the portion of the upper edge is similar to a flange of the lower part, can be advantageously used as the aforementioned complementary retaining means, the covering part being provided with projections suitable complementary which during closure of the container enter retaining engagement with the upper edge portion. A specific embodiment of this mechanism is described in the detailed description of the invention. The aforementioned projection and projections of the cover part can initially be placed on the cover part in such positions that they engage the upper flange portion of the bottom portion anywhere along this portion of the cover portion. edge. Since the edge portion typically only extends outwardly from the corresponding portion of the bottom portion over a very limited distance in those regions of the bottom portion, where the edge portion runs along the cavities in the bottom portion. it may, however, be advantageous to place the projections on the cover part, so that when the closure of the package comes into engagement with the potion of the upper edge of the lower part in the regions between the adjacent cavities. This will immediately become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention. Although the possibility of using the upper flange portion similar to a flange without modification of the lower part as one of the complementary retention means has been described as an advantageous embodiment of the principles of the invention, however, it is also possible to provide a or more separate flaps or the like on the upper edge portion similar to a flange. This possibility could for example be used if for some reason it were desirable to provide the projections on the cover part in places corresponding to the coupling with the upper edge portion similar to a flange of the lower part in places, where that portion only extends one short distance out from the bottom, as for example, along the outer surface of the cavities, as described above. Especially compared to the package described in the aforementioned document, EP 1 098 826 Bl, the retention means according to the present invention offer a simple and still reliable solution to the problem of occasionally unreliable retention of the part of the cover to the part bottom of the container. In this way placing the projections on the cover part for the coupling with the portion of the upper edge is similar to a flange the lower part, one of the complementary retention means, that is, the projections, is necessarily located further away from the region of the lowermost edge of the front surface of the container cover part described in EP 1 098 826 Bl, ie in a region of the cover part with less transverse conformation (greater stiffness) than the corresponding retaining means the cover part of the container according to EP 1 098 826 Bl. As a different and complementary embodiment of the retaining means according to the present invention it is also possible to provide the lower part of the container with projections for the block coupling with cooperating means provided on the cover part. In this way, according to this embodiment of the invention, there is provided a package formed by suction molding a fibrous material to receive one or more fragile products to be packaged, such as eggs, comprising: a lower part comprising non-flat lateral surfaces to be at least partially coupled to the external contours of the external products to be packaged and provided with an upper edge portion; - a cover part comprising at least one top surface and a front surface which meet at an angle to form an edge. - the lower part (2) being connected to the cover part by a hinge to allow the cover part to move between an open position and a closed position; - the front surface extending down from the edge and superimposing on the non-planar side surface of the lower part opposite the joint when the cover part is in the closed position; wherein the adjacent lower portion of the upper portion is provided with at least one projecting projection outwardly for engagement by blocking with cooperating means provided on the cover part and where the joint (5) is placed on top of the level of the upper edge portion (6) of the lower part (2). Specifically the means cooperating on the cover portion of this embodiment are one or more openings in the front surface of the cover part, although other equivalent means may be contemplated by one skilled in the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a package shown in its open condition and provided with mutually holding means corresponding according to the present invention for retaining the cover part to the lower part of the container when the package is in the closed state; Figure 2A is a first perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a package provided with retention means according to the present invention; Figure 2B is a second perspective view of the preferred embodiment of a package shown in Figure 2A and provided with retention means according to the present invention; Figure 2C is a perspective view of one embodiment of a package provided with retaining means according to the invention; Figure 3 is a side elevational view of a package in the open condition and provided with retaining means according to the present invention; Figure 4 is another and a more preferred package provided with retaining means according to the present invention; and Figure 5 is a perspective view of a package provided with additional retention flaps according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the following, a detailed description of a specific embodiment of the retaining means according to the invention will be given with reference to exemplary packages comprising said means for the purpose of providing a reliable blocking of the covering part. from the container to the lower part thereof, when the container is in its closed state.

Thus, with reference to Figure 1 there is shown an egg package 1 comprising lower parts 2 and cover parts 3 connected in an articulated manner to each other by a joint portion 5. The cover part 3 comprises a surface substantially flat upper 16 and a substantially flat front side 4 which in the closed state of the container extends substantially downwards along the entire length of the lower part 2, that is, downwards from the lower level as indicated by the number reference 15 in Figures 1 and 3. The lower portion 2 of the package shown in Figure 1 comprises a total of 12 egg cavities, generally designated 12. Along the upper edge of the lower part 2 a portion extends of edge similar to an upper flange 6 defining the upper level of the lower part itself. Elevated above this level is a joint portion 5 connecting the lower part 2 and the cover part 3. The edge portion similar to an upper flange 6 extends a few millimeters outwardly from the egg cavities 12 and forms a bridge with the spaces 13 formed between the cavities for adjacent eggs. Those bridge portions of the upper edge portion 6 were designated 6 'in the Figures and the lower surface of one or more of those bridge portions 6' may advantageously be used as one of the mutually holding means corresponding according to the present invention in a form to be described below. The internal surface of the front side 4 of the cover part 3 is according to this embodiment of the invention provided with inwardly extending projections 7, the coupling surface 8 of which faces towards the upper surface 16 of the part of cover which is substantially flat although other shapes of this surface - and of the projections 7 generally - would also be possible. When the cover part 2 is closed the innermost part of the projections 7 passes over the corresponding outer part of the edge portion similar to an upper flange 6, thus being possible, due to the elasticity of the front side 4 and the projections 7 enter into space 13 under the corresponding bridge portion 6 ', so that the coupling surface 8 of the projections engages with the bottom surface of the bridge portion 6 'by retaining and retains the cover part 7 to the bottom part 2. To open the container again, the front side 4 of the cover portion 3 is pulled in an outward direction, whereby the coupling between the projections 7 and the corresponding bridge portions 6 'can be released. Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B there is shown a preferred embodiment of a package comprising retaining means according to the invention. This package is specifically designed to accommodate two rows of 5 eggs and comprises a single lower part 2 and a corresponding cover part 3. The container shown in Figures 2A and 2B comprises the retention projections 7 on the cover part and additionally the known retaining means 10, 11 of European Patent No. 1 098 826 initially cited. Further, according to this embodiment of a package, the upper edge portion 6 of the lower part 2 is provided with retaining flaps 25A and 25B to engage the corresponding projections 7 in the openings 10, respectively, provided on the part of the container. cover 3. Those retaining flap pairs 25A, 25B are shown in Figure 2B. Referring to Figure 2C there is shown one embodiment of a package which only comprises retention projections 7 on the cover part 3 and the corresponding flaps 25A on the upper edge portion of the lower part. This embodiment of a packaging is thus not provided with the known retaining means of the European Patent No. 1 098 826 cited initially. Referring now to Figure 3, there is shown a side elevational view of the container shown in Figure 1. The transition between the surface. 16 and the flat front side 4 takes place in this container via the rounded edge portion 17 and the projection 7 is located located approximately halfway between this edge portion 17 and the front edge portion 21 of the front side 4. A side elevation view of an alternative package is shown in Figure 4, in which the portion of the rounded edge 17 of the package shown in Figure 3 has been replaced by a substantially flat edge region 20 longitudinally joined by the edge portions. 18 and 19. The projections are located in this case in the vicinity of the edge portion 19. Returning to Figure 1, the bottom part 2 and the cover part 3. are further provided - as an option - with those means of already known retention of European Patent No. 1 098 826 initially cited. The main advantage of the retention means according to the present invention becomes evident by a comparison between the retention means described in EP 1 098 826 and those of the present invention. The retaining means according to EP 1 098 826 comprise one or more rectangular holes 10 on the front side 4 and the corresponding projections 11 placed -in one or more of the cavities 12 of the lower part 2. As is evident from of Figures 3 and 4, these projections terminate downward in the inclined portions 22 and when the cover part 3 is closed, a retention coupling is established between those inclined portions 22 and the corresponding edge portion 23 of the hole in the side 4. The projections, however, project only a few millimeters - typically approximately 3 mm - outwardly from the corresponding surface of the cavity 12 and reliable retention by these means requires that the front side 4 be substantially flat and that does not exhibit an arched shape outward in relation to the lower part 2. In practice, this requirement is not always satisfied, and thus is propen so to produce problems during the packaging process and in warehouses, where the container tends to open. These problems are solved by the retention means according to the present invention. Referring finally to Figure 5 there is shown an embodiment of the retention means as set forth in the invention according to which the upper edge similar to a rim 6 of the lower part 2 is additionally provided with retention flaps which are They extend outwardly 25. Those flaps can - as described above, as a possibility be placed in the upper edge portions 6 corresponding to the positions of the retaining openings 10 in the cover part 3, in which case they can serve as retaining means supplementary to the retaining means provided by the openings 10 and the corresponding projections 11 on the lower part 2, so that when the coupling between the openings 10 and the projections 11 is released, the part of The cover still remains completely open due to the subsequent coupling between the openings 10 and the corresponding flaps 25. Without any However, it is also possible to place the retaining flaps 25 in the upper flange regions of the lower part 2 between the cavities 12, ie in the desirable regions 6 'in the Figures, in which case the flaps can serve as reinforcement of the coupling between the projections 7 on the cover part 3 and this position 6 'of the upper edge 6 of the lower part 2. Although various embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described in the preceding parts of the detailed description, it should be understood that A person skilled in the art can devise other embodiments of the invention without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims. As an example, various combinations of the retaining means described above can be used and an appropriate number of corresponding retaining means and their placement on the cover part and the lower part can vary according to specific requirements. Also, as described, retention flaps may be provided as appropriate over - or in the region around - the upper edge region of the lower part.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS 1. Package 2. Bottom of the package 3. Cover part of the package 4. Front side of the cover part 5. Joint portion 6. Upper edge portion similar to a bottom flange 6 ' Top edge portion similar to a bottom flange between egg cavities 7. Projection on the cover part 8. Coupling surface of the projection 9. Edge 10. Retention opening in the cover part 11. Retention projection on the bottom 12. Cavity 13. Region between adjacent cavities 14. Opening 15. Adjacent surfaces 16. Top surface 17. Rounded edge portion 18. Edge portion 19. Edge portion 20. Flat edge region 21. Portion of the distal edge of the front side of the cover part 22. Portion inclined on the retaining projection 23. Portion of the retaining cover edge 24. Side surface of "the bottom opposite the joint portion 25. Retention flaps

Claims

CLAIMS 1. Container formed by suction molding a fibrous material to receive one or more fragile products to be packaged as eggs, comprising: a lower part comprising non-flat side surfaces to at least partially engage the outer contours of the products to be packaged, an upper edge portion of the lower part that extends outwardly from the lower part; a cover part or cover comprising at least one top surface and a front surface which meet at an angle to form an edge; the lower part being connected to the cover part by a hinge to allow the cover part to move between an open position and a closed position; the front surface extending downwardly from the edge and overlying the non-planar side surface of the lower part opposite the joint when the cover part is in its closed position; characterized in that the cover part is provided with at least one projection extending inwardly from the lock coupling with the upper edge portion of the lower part when the container is being closed, and because the joint is positioned above the level of the upper edge portion of the lower part.
2. Packaging according to claim 1, characterized in that the agricultural products are eggs and in that the lower part of the package is provided with a pattern of cavities to accommodate the eggs.
3. Packaging according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the package is a molded product.
4. Packaging according to claim 3, characterized in that the package is molded as one piece.
5. Packaging according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the package is made of molded pulp.
6. Packaging according to claim 1, characterized in that the cover part or cover on the front side thereof is provided with an edge portion and in that one or more projections are provided substantially adjacent to the edge portion. The package according to claim 2, characterized in that the coupling by blocking of one or more projections with the portion of the upper edge with the lower part taking place in the portions of the upper edge of the lower part takes place in the similar upper edge portions. to flanges between adjacent cavities. The package according to claim 1, characterized in that the package is further provided with retaining means comprising one or more openings in the front side of the cover part and retaining projections cooperating on the lateral surface of the lower part opposite to the joint 9. Packaging according to claim 1 or 8, characterized in that the portion of the upper edge is similar to a flange of the lower part is further provided with retaining flaps that extend outwardly. 10. Packaging according to claim 9, characterized in that the flaps are positioned to engage with the coupling surface of the projections on the cover part or cover. The package according to claim 9, when dependent on claim 9, characterized in that the flaps are positioned to engage with a portion of the edge of the openings provided in the cover part. 12. Container formed by suction molding a fibrous material to receive one or more fragile products to be packaged, eggs, comprising: a bottom portion comprising non-planar side surfaces to at least partially engage the outer contours of the products to be packaged and provided with a top edge portion; a cover part comprising at least one top surface and a front surface which meet at an angle to form an edge; the lower part being connected to the cover part by a hinge to allow the cover part to move between an open position and a closed position; the front surface extending downwardly from the edge and overlying the non-planar side surface of the lower part opposite the joint when the cover part is in its closed position; characterized in that the lower part adjacent to the upper edge portion is provided with at least one projection extending outwardly by the lock coupling with cooperating means provided on the cover part or cover and the joint is positioned above the level of the upper flange portion of the lower part. 13. Packaging according to claim 12, characterized in that the means cooperating on the cover part or cover are one or more openings in the front surface of the cover part.