CARRIER ARTICLE. WITH FALSE MARKING OF THE BACKGROUND PANEL
Field of the Invention This invention relates to a sleeve-type carrier for packaging articles, such as beverage bottles. More particularly, it relates to a sleeve-type carrier which has tapered sides. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Sleeve carriers are conventionally manufactured from an elongated preform, having a side panel section and one end and either the bottom panel section or the upper panel section at the other end. This preform is manufactured in a flattened tube, bending the end sections and adhering them to each other by a rubber flap in one of the end sections. This flattened tube, or folded carrier, as it is sometimes called, is then transported to the packing plant, where it is erected in a tube configuration, filled with the items to be packed and closed at its ends. In the final form of the carrier, the fold line that connects the rubber flap to the end section of the preform, is the main bending line of the carrier, which connects one of the side panels to either the top or bottom panel .
When bottles are packaged, the end panels are often tapered inward towards the top panel, to conform more closely to the shape of the bottles. To make this design, the bottom panel becomes longer than the top panel. This has no impact on the manner in which the carrier is manufactured from the preform, since it can still be bent in the manner described to create a folded carrier. This is possible due to the length of the carrier corresponding to the width of the preform, so that the dimensions that allow the rubber flap to meet the opposite end section of the preform are not changed. A dient situation arises when a carrier that incorporates tapered side panels is produced. In such a case, the width of the background panel is greater than the width of the top panel. Since this ats the length of the preform, if this preform is bent in the same manner as described, the rubber flap will not meet the opposite end section in the same place as in the previous case and the resulting tube will not be in the same position. the flattened condition. To overcome this problem, the industry has used a "false" marking on the top or side panel of the carrier. The rubber flap is gummed to the opposite end section of the preform in the same manner as before, but instead of bending the preform around the marking line, which connects the rubber flap to its panel section, it is Fold around a marking line on the top or side panel, spaced from the fold line of the rubber flap. However, when the resulting folded carrier is then erected in a packing plant, it tends to open in the false marking, instead of in the actual marking. To make the carrier open in the appropriate marking, any of the elements of the packing machine or the incoming bottles themselves must push the side panels of the carrier in its final square condition. It is preferred that the bottles carry out this function, so that the packing machine does not need to be made more complicated. This makes the bottles more difficult to long, however, since it is the upper, less stable portions of the bottles that make initial contact with the side panels and push them to the squat condition. In addition, placing the false marking on the top or side panels, this marking interrupts the surface of the panel on which it is to be placed, which tends to alter the graphics that appear in this area of the carrier. It would be highly convenient to supply a tapered carrier which does not require the use of a false marking on the top or side panels, but which, however, be loaded and squared in a fast and efficient manner. ThusIt is an object of the invention to provide a carrier that meets these criteria. Another object is to provide a carrier which is not visually damaged by the use of false marking on the top and side panels. Brief Summary of the Invention The invention is incorporated in a carrier whose bottom panel is wider than the upper panel. To allow the carrier to be in the flat bent condition when folded, the bottom panel is provided with an intermediate fold line, which is substantially parallel to the side edges of the bottom panel and which divides the bottom panel into a smaller portion and a larger portion. The folded carrier is folded around the intermediate fold line, with the minor portion of the bottom panel positioned substantially in the plane of one of the side panels and the major portion positioned substantially in the plane of the other side panel. When the folded carrier is opened, during the packer process, the intermediate fold line is initially operative, causing the resulting carrier sleeve to assume a non-square condition. The carrier sleeve is squared by the bottles pushing the side panels in the proper position, as the bottles are inserted into the sleeve. Slits extend from the ends of the intermediate fold line to the fold line closest to the bottom panel, which allows the bottom panel to be bent in this way without extending the fold line on the end panel fins connected to the background panel. Because the fake mark is on the background panel, it is not visible in the final package. These and other aspects and features of the invention will become readily apparent from the detailed description of the preferred embodiments described below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Figure 1 is an illustrative view of a partially enclosed cuff-type carrier incorporating the invention; Figure 2 is an end view of the carrier of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a partial illustrative view of the carrier with the bottles and the near-end panel removed, in order to show the interior; Figure 4 is a bottom view of the carrier of Figure 1; Figure 5 is a plan view of a preform for manufacturing the carrier of Figure 1; Figure 6 is a plan view of a folded carrier, fabricated from the preform of Figure 5;
Figure 7 is an end view of an erect carrier with the open ends, before loading it with the bottles; Figure 8 is a plan view of a preform for manufacturing another embodiment of the invention; Figure 9 is a partial illustrative view of a fully enclosed carrier manufactured from the preform of Figure 8; Figure 10 is a partial illustrative view of a carrier, similar to the carrier of Figure 1, but incorporating a modified form of the invention; Figure 11 is a plan view of a preform for manufacturing the carrier of Figure 10; and Figure 12 is a plan view of a folded carrier, fabricated from the preform of Figure 11. Detailed Description of Preferred Modes With reference to Figures 1 and 2, the carrier 10 is a sleeve type, designed to carry six B drink bottles. It is comprised of opposite side panels, 12 and 13, which are connected, in a foldable form, to the upper panel 14 and to a bottom panel, not visible in these views. The carrier also includes end panels 16, partially open, formed by the dust fins 18, which are bent from the side panels and are joined to the center line of the carrier. An intermediate fold line 20 in the dust flaps allows the flaps to bend around the end bottles in the carrier, in order to more closely hold the bottles in place. A flap 22 of the end panel extends upwardly from the bottom panel and is gummed to the dust flaps to complete the formation of the end panel. As seen in Figure 1, the bottom panel is longer than the top panel, and as best shown in Figure 2, it is also wider than the top panel, enabling wider body portions of the bottles they fit tightly in the lower portion of the carrier. As shown in Figure 3, the bottom panel 24 is connected to the rubber flap 26 by the fold line 28 and the rubber flap adheres to the side panel 13. The fold line 28 thus connects, in a foldable form. , the side panel 13 to the bottom panel. This bottom panel also includes a false marking 30, also mentioned in the specification and in the claims as an intermediate fold line. As best shown in Figure 4, the false marking or fold line 30 is spaced from and parallel to the fold line 28 and connected to the adjacent corners of the bottom panel 24 by the diagonal slots 32. The preform from the which the carrier is manufactured, is shown in Figure 5 and comprises the upper panel section 14 connected to the sections 12 and 13 of the side panel by the fold lines 34 and 36. Finger holes 38 in the upper panel section , they serve as handle grips. The dust flaps 18 are connected to the sections of the side panel by the fold lines 40, and the flaps 22 of the end panel are connected to the section 24 of the bottom panel by the fold lines 42. In addition to the section 24 of the bottom panel being connected to the rubber flap 26 by the fold line 28, it is also connected to the section 12 of the side panel by the fold line 44. The fold line 30 thus divides the section of the bottom panel into a smaller portion, limited by the fold line 28, the fold line 30 and the slits 32, and a larger portion, which comprises the rest of the bottom panel. The location of the fold 30 is dependent on the difference in width between the top and bottom panels, and the angle of the slits 32 is a matter of selection, as explained below. To form a flat folded carrier from the preform, the rubber flap 26 and the adjacent minor portion 46 of the bottom panel section are folded around the intermediate fold line 30. The rubber is then applied to either of the flap gum 26 or dotted portion 48 at the end of section 13 of the side panel, as shown in Figure 5. The section 13 of the side panel and the section 12 of the top panel then pivot as a unit around the fold line 34 to bring the dotted portion 48 into contact with the rubber flap, adhering these each other. The resulting folded carrier is shown in Figure 6. The edges 50 and 52 of the bottom panel, formed by the slits 32 in the section of the bottom panel of the preform, separate and diverge at this point. The folded carrier is erected to form a tube or sleeve, applying pressure to the inside of the bends 30 and 34 at the ends of the folded carrier, as is well known in the industry. As illustrated in Figure 78, the erect carrier is not yet square, because the fold line 30 is still operative, leaving the area 46 of the bottom panel in the same plane as the lower portion of the side panel 13. However, since the combined width of the bases of the two adjacent rows of bottles inserted into the sleeve is equal to the width of the bottom panel, the bottles themselves force the portion 46 of the bottom panel in the same plane as the rest of the panel. bottom panel, making the fold line 28 operative between the side panel 13 and the bottom panel 24, as shown in Figure 3. The edges 50 and 52 are, therefore, again adjacent to each other, as shown in FIG. shown in Figure 4. The actual location of the intermediate fold line in the bottom panel is determined by the widths of the top and bottom panels. To form a symmetrical carrier, the intermediate bending line must be located remotely from the fold line of the nearest bottom panel, equal to half the difference between the widths of the top and bottom panels. According to the angle of the slits 32, it will be appreciated that this can be theoretically straight to the fold line 30, which would coincide with the fold lines 42 of the bottom panel. However, this will have the undesired effect of weakening the connection, which can be bent, between the flaps 22 of the bottom panel and the bottom panel 24. Therefore, it is preferred to angle the slits so that they are not close to the fold lines 42 so as to cause any significant weakening. An angle of 452 has been used in the example shown. The invention is not limited to use with the partially open end carrier, of the type illustrated in Figures 1-7, but can also be incorporated in other sleeve type carrier designs. The preform shown in Figure 8, for example, is designed to form a completely closed carrier to receive twelve bottles arranged in three rows of four bottles each. The preform is similar in the basic arrangement to the conventional preforms for forming closed carriers, which comprise the section 56 of the upper panel connected by the fold lines 58 and 60 to the sections 62 and 64 of the side panel. Each section of the side panel is connected to the opposite dust flaps 66, the fold lines 68 and 70 converging. A line 72 marking on the dust flaps, at the joint of the fold lines, 68 and 70, allow the upper portion of the dust flaps are bent around the fold line 70 against the neck of an adjacent bottle. The fins 74 of the end panel are connected to the section 76 of the bottom panel by the fold lines 78, as in the first embodiment, but in this embodiment the fins 80 of the end panel are also provided, being connected to the section 56 of the top panel by the fold lines 82. As in the first embodiment, a rubber flap 84 is connected to the bottom panel section by the fold line 86 and a fake marking line or intermediate fold line 88 in the section of the bottom panel is connected to the fold line 78 by the slits 90 to form the minor portion 91 of the bottom panel. The section of the bottom panel is also connected to the section 62 of the side panel by the fold line 92. The process for manufacturing the package from the preform is the same as that described in relation to the first embodiment. The resulting carrier, without the bottles, is illustrated in Figure 9 as having the false marking line 88 on the bottom panel. As in the carrier of the first embodiment, the initially erected non-square carrier is square by pushing in place at the base of the bottles as they enter the carrier tube. Another embodiment of the invention is shown in Figure 10, which is a carrier 94 with partially open ends, similar to the carrier 10 of Figure 3. In the carrier 94, however, the intermediate fold line 96 is spaced apart by a short one. distance from the fold line 44 rather than by a short distance from the fold line 28. The carrier 94 is formed from the preform shown in Figure 11, in which reference numbers similar to those used in Figure 5 denote elements Similar. It can be seen that the intermediate fold line or false mark line 96 is connected to the ends of the fold line 44 by the diagonal slits 98 to form the lower portion 99 of the bottom panel. To form a folded carrier, the section 24 of the bottom panel is folded around the fold line 96. Rubber is applied to the rubber flap 26 or to the end portion of the section 13 of the side panel, after which the section 13 of the side panel is folded around the fold line 36. This places the end portion of the section 13 of the side panel in contact with the rubber tab 26, adhering these together. The resulting folded carrier is shown in Figure 12. It will be appreciated that the folded carrier is similar in appearance to the inverted side of the folded carrier of Figure 6. Therefore, this mode results in the same type of carrier as the carrier of the carrier. Figure 1, but requires a different bending procedure used to form a flat folded carrier. The unfolding of the intermediate fold line 96 takes place in the same manner as in the previous embodiments by the bases of the bottles entering by forcing the lower portions of the side panels in a square relation with the bottom panel. As in the other embodiments, in order to produce a symmetrical carrier, the intermediate fold line is spaced by a distance from the fold line of the nearest bottom panel equal to half the difference in the widths between the top panels and in the background. Although the carrier has been described in connection with a sleeve-type carrier for packing bottles, it will be understood that it can be used to pack other types of articles tapered as well. The ability to use the base of the articles to force the erect carrier into the square condition makes the process more stable and it is easier to introduce the items into the carrier. Likewise, the location of the fake marking on the background panel does not have a visual impact, thus not interfering with any graphics printed on the side or top panels.
It will be understood that the invention is not limited to all the specific details described in relation to the preferred embodiments, except as they fall within the scope of the appended claims, and that changes are considered in certain characteristics of the preferred embodiments that do not alter the general basic function and the concept of the invention.