NO312714B1 - Cardboard and dividing plate - Google Patents

Abstract

A divider panel (60) for separating stacked articles (A) in a packaged carton (100a) having two or more tiers of articles (A) where the panel (60) comprises deformable means (62, 62b, 62c, 62d) which is adapted operably to nest between stacked articles (A) on adjacent sides of the panel (60).

Description

The present invention relates to cartons for packing a variety of articles such as, for example, cans or bottles. More specifically, the invention relates to cartons and separating plates used for packing two or more layers or layers of articles, and further more specifically, the invention relates to a separating plate for separating stacked articles in a packed carton with two or more layers or rows of articles, where the plate includes deformable parts adapted to be nested between stacked articles on adjacent sides of the plate, the deformable parts comprising an area of the partition plate surrounding an opening of a diameter smaller than the diameter of an edge at the end of an article with which the deformable part is nested . of grouped articles are provided; and a carton comprising a top, a pair of side plates and a pair of secured base plates, which carton extends around the plurality of articles; and a partition plate comprising deformable portions adapted to nest between stacked articles on adjacent sides of the plate wherein the deformable portion comprises an area of the partition plate surrounding an opening having a diameter smaller than the diameter of an edge at the end of a article with which the deformable part is nested.

It is known from US 5246113 (Schuster) to provide a carton for a double layer of articles where the articles are placed one above the other end-to-end. Schuster also describes the use of a separator between the ends of stacked articles. Two types of dividing plates are described, both of which include an essentially flat, rectangular piece of cardboard. In one embodiment, the plate includes deformable portions surrounding the ends of the stacked articles, and in both embodiments, the plates include an end cam that is used to position the plate near a first article layer before an upper article layer is pushed over the separator plate to a position above the lower article layer.

The present invention aims to avoid, or at least reduce, various problems with the state of the art.

This is achieved by means of a dividing plate and packaging of the type mentioned at the outset, which is characterized by the features indicated in the characteristics of the respective independent patent claims 1 and 6.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention appear from the independent patent claims.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by means of examples with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 shows a schematic perspective sketch of a device used to pack a carton according to the present invention;

Figures 2 to 5 are schematic perspective views of a number of articles and a separator plate according to the invention at various stages of the packaging process;

figure 6 is a schematic perspective sketch of a first embodiment of a separating plate according to the invention at an article interlocking step in the packaging process shown in figure 1;

figure 7 is a schematic perspective sketch of a first embodiment of a separating plate according to the present invention at a punch wheel step in the packaging process;

figure 8 shows the partition plate according to the first embodiment of the invention; figure 9 shows a second separating plate according to the invention;

figure 10 shows a third embodiment of a dividing plate according to the invention;

figure 11 shows a fourth embodiment of a dividing plate according to the invention;

figure 12 shows a fifth embodiment of a dividing plate according to the invention;

figure 13 shows a cardboard blank for a cardboard according to the invention;

figure 14 is a perspective sketch of a cardboard made from the blank shown in figure 13.

Figure 15 shows a second cardboard blank for a carton according to the present invention, and

Figure 16 is a perspective view of a cardboard made from the blank shown in Figure 15.

With reference to Figure 1, a packaging machine 10 for packaging a carton according to the present invention is shown. In general terms, the machine has an incoming feed of articles such as beverage cans and divides these into upper and lower feed lanes. A separator plate is fed to the row of articles in the lower feed path and the plate is then manipulated to ensure that the deformable parts of the separator plate are satisfactorily nested with the top of the articles. The upper article layer is then stacked on top of the separator plate in alignment with a lower article so that the bottom of an upper article is nested in the deformable portion of the separator plate nested in the upper part of the lower article. The stacked divided double layer of articles is then packed in a carton which in this example is of a round-pack type.

The fact that the upper and lower articles are nested, which will be described in more detail with reference to Figures 2 to 5, means that the stacked articles will not shift significantly in the packed carton during storage or transport. The articles will thereby be held securely in the round package carton. Of course, the separator plate 60 ensures that the top and bottom of adjacent articles do not rub against each other in a packed carton, which would otherwise create unintended marks on the end of at least one of the articles. For example, when the articles A are made of aluminum, constant rubbing of adjacent ends of stacked articles could lead to an accidental deposit containing aluminum oxide on one of the ends. In addition, movement of the articles can cause damage to the ends of the articles, such as the ring opening mechanisms at the end of a box.

With more particular reference to the components of the machine 10, as shown in Figure 1, it can be seen that two lower rows of articles 38 are fed along a conveyor 36 into the machine. The flow of articles A in the rows 38 is regulated by a pair of so-called star wheels 40. A sorting mechanism 16 retrieves separator plates or inserts 60 from a stack 13 in a silo 12 which in this example includes an extension device 14 to hold a large number of inserts. The feeding mechanism 16 may for example include vacuum cups which pick up the front separator plate 13 from the silo and transport it to a position near the top of the articles A in the lower rows 38.

As shown in Figure 2, the separator plates 60 include side cutouts 64 which enable the plate to be passed with pin chains 42 provided near the top of the articles A on either side of the rows 38. By synchronizing the movement of the pin chains 42 with the regulated flow of rows 38 and the feeder 16, a row of articles and a separator plate 60 can be brought together with the deformable portion 62 of the plate 60 in alignment with the top of the articles A in the row.

The row of articles and the separator plate are then fed along the lower feed path to an insert shear wheel 18 which causes locking flaps 66, defined in the insert 60, to be pushed out of the plane of the separator plate so that they are wedged between the tops of adjacent plates in the lower row. In this example, the articles A are boxes having an upper edge R of smaller diameter than the major diameter of the substantially cylindrical boxes. The locking flaps 66 can therefore be placed in the opening between the edges of adjacent articles and thereby hold the dividing plate 60 in place during movement of the lower row of articles.

The insert cutting device 18 is shown in more detail in Figure 6, which shows that the device includes a cylindrical wheel which is driven by means of means not shown, so that radially extending fingers rotate about the central axis of the wheel. The shaped end portion of a finger abuts the upper surface of a locking flap 66 of the partition plate 60 as the fingers rotate to a lower position. Advantageously, the end parts can be rounded so that the fingers can easily enter and exit the openings surrounding the flap 66 in the plates 60.

A number of articles as shown in Figure 3 are then fed to a punch wheel 20 which is shown in more detail in Figure 7. The punch wheel includes a cylindrical wheel which is driven about its cylindrical axis by means of means not shown. The cylindrical surface of the wheel includes two rows of hollow cylindrical cups having a rim simulating the bottom of an article. The movement of the punch wheel 20 is again synchronized with the movement of the lower rows of articles and insert plates, so that individual cups cause the deformable part 62 in the plates 60 to deform and thereby nest in the top of the articles A. As shown, for example in figure 5, the articles include an upper end which is longitudinally recessed with respect to the upper edge R. The deformable part 62 thereby forms a cup-like structure between the edge R and the end of an article. This arrangement is shown in figure 4. The dividing plate 60 can thereby be held in place on a lower row of articles due to the action of one or both flaps 66 and the deformable part 62. In addition, the cam chain 42 can still engage the recesses 64 and thereby ensure that individual dividers 60 are precisely positioned with respect to the row of articles.

An upper row of articles is now formed which is ready to be stacked on top of a row as shown in Figure 4. In this example, two upper rows 44 of articles are guided along the conveyors 22. The rows may be guided by fixed rails, not shown, in the accompanying drawings. The flow of rows of articles 44 can be regulated by a star wheel 46 and thereby the movement of both the upper and lower rows of articles can be regulated by a device 48 such as a vertically extending star wheel. In this example, the regulator 48 which produces the stacking of an upper and lower pair of articles will include a pair of side-by-side star gears (not shown).

The aligned recesses in the upper and lower sets of plates in each star wheel provide an arrangement of an upper and lower article such that when an upper article is moved away from its support platform and when a star wheel is rotated, an effective funnel is formed through which an upper article falls by gravity into the cup defined by the deformable portion 62 at the top of the lower article. By repeating this process, a stacked array is formed as shown in Figure 5. Of course, the number of articles in a stacked group can be anything from a stacked pair, three or four stacked articles, and so on. The rows can of course include any number of rows.

The stacked row can be transferred as a unit, for example by using a conventional conveyor below the lower row of articles to a carton filling station.

In this example, the stacked rows of articles are filled into roundpack cartons to form a packed carton 100 or 100a as shown in Figures 14 or 16, respectively. Referring to Figure 1, the machine 10 includes a silo 24 for a stack 26 of carton blanks (90 or 90a). . An individual cardboard blank can be removed from the front of the stack 26 by using a feed mechanism 28 corresponding to the mechanism 26 described earlier. A cardboard blank can thereby be fed from the silo 24 to a feed chain 30 which, for example, can include knobs that engage cooperating parts on the cardboard, so that it can be transferred to an overlying outrigger chain 34. At the front part 50 of the outrigger chain 54, a device will first press the top plate 93, 93a of the carton against the upper ends of the upper articles. The sides 92 and 94 of the carton 100, 100a are then folded down using folding wheels 32. The sides of the cartons are then guided by a carton side cam chain 52 along an article whole expansion device 54 which includes known article whole engaging devices 97, 97a, where these are provided of the carton, to expand before the sides of the carton 92 and 94 are pressed against the sides of the row of stacked articles. The cantilever chain 34 can continue to press the top of the carton against the row of articles, while a locking mechanism 56 produces folding of the bottom plate portion 91 and 95 to the underside of the stacked row of articles.

Figure 8 shows a form of a separating plate 60 according to the invention. As described

previously, the separator plate includes a series of deformable parts 62, side recesses 64 and locking lugs 66. In addition, the separator plate 60 includes end recesses 76, which is shown in Figure 6 can be used so that a series of separator plates can be continuously processed through the cutting wheel 18, since an opening 77 is formed by adjacent recesses 76 which can accommodate the ends of the fingers of the cutting device.

The deformable portion 62 in this example includes a series of foldable flaps 74. Each lug is defined by an inner circular cut 68 and a pair of radial cuts 72. In this example, an effective fold line is formed by providing a series of cuts 70 thereby forming hinges in the dividing plate 60, which can for example be made of cardboard.

Figure 9 shows a further embodiment of the separating plate 60a. This plate is substantially similar to plate 60, where like numbers are given the same reference number by adding the letter a. In this case, a fold line for the flaps 74a is not specifically defined and the deformed cup cover can be formed by using a device similar to the punch wheel described earlier . Figure 10 shows another embodiment of a separator plate 60b according to the invention. Again, features are common to the separator plate 60 indicated by the same reference number, but with the addition of the letter b. In this example, the deformable parts 62b include rounded flaps 74b, where a serrated inner edge is defined by a wave-cut line 68b. The flaps need not have a predetermined fold line where, for example, a punch wheel as described earlier is used to form the cup-forming feature. However, it is preferred that the flap 74b extends substantially within the outer diameter of the edge R of an article as shown schematically in Figure 10 with a dashed line. The flaps 74 will thereby be able to form a barrier between the ends of stacked articles. Figure 11 shows another embodiment of a separator plate 60c according to the invention. Again, the partition plate preferably includes side recesses 64c and end recesses 76c. In this example, however, deformable flaps are not defined in a deformable portion 62c which is instead simply defined by a circular cutout in the plate. The diameter of the opening formed should be smaller than the diameter of the edge R of an article, so that a cup-forming feature can be formed by using a device, such as the punch wheel, to deform the cardboard into the cup-like nesting feature. This draft can of course also be created by applying a load to the stacked articles themselves, which preferably happens before closing a round package carton where such a carton is used. Preferably, article locking flaps 66d are provided.

Figure 12 shows yet another embodiment of a separation plate 60d according to the present invention. In this example, end and side recesses may be provided, respectively 76d and 64d. In addition, there may be provided locking devices 66d which are not shown. The deformable portion 62d includes a movable flap 77d defined by a continuous inner circular section 68d and a discontinuous outer, substantially circular section 70d. The outer cut 70d includes inwardly extending end portions 71d which can

is used to help achieve greater deformability of the deformable portion 62d during use and possibly prevent revival. The flap 74d is hinged to the rest of the plate by hinges 75d formed by the discontinuous outer cut 70d.

Figure 13 shows a flat carton blank 90 for a carton according to the invention. The cardboard blank 90 includes a first bottom plate part 91, a side plate 92, a top plate 93, a second side plate 94 and a second bottom plate part 95. These plates are hinged in series, where between the bottom plates and the side plates there is a chamfered strip of a known type which can also provide engaging formations 96, which are shown in use in figure 14. In addition, the top plate and side plates are hinged by known shoulder plates, which in turn may include article engaging parts, or shoulder engaging parts, such as 97 shown in both figures 13 and 14. In the produced carton 100, shown in figure 14, it can be seen that the bottom plate parts 91 and 95 are overlapped in a known manner and form a cardboard bottom wall which is held together by using known locking means 98, provided at each of the bottom plate parts. Of course, the carton side walls 92 and 94 are longer than in known cartons and whole and article engaging parts are separated more than usual and associated pairs will engage different articles stacked on top of each other instead of the same article as in known cartons.

In Figures 13 and 14, the carton is adapted to two layers of six articles in two rows of wood. In a further example shown in figures 15 and 16, a carton 100a is adapted to two layers of

eight articles in two rows of four. In this example, the features common to the carton 100 are indicated by using the same reference number with the addition of the letter a. Of course, each of the cartons may include a handle which may be one of the many shapes, such as those shown in the drawings .

Although the cartons shown here include only two layers or layers of articles, it is possible to provide a carton that accommodates three or more layers. The number of rows of articles in each layer can also be varied from one upwards.

Claims (6)

1. Separator plate (60d) for separating stacked articles in a packaged carton (100) with two or more layers or rows of articles, the plate including deformable parts (62d) adapted to nest between stacked articles on adjacent sides of the plate (60d ), where the deformable parts comprise an area of the partition plate which surrounds an opening with a diameter smaller than the diameter of an edge at the end of an article with which the deformable part (62) is nested, characterized in that the deformable part comprises a continuous inner edge (68d) adapted to be moved out of alignment with the partition plate, and in that the deformable part (62d) comprises an outer edge defined in part by at least one cut (70d) where the at least one cut is substantially concentric with the inner edge (68d ) to the deformable part. 2. Partition plate according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one cut (70d) is discontinuous to thereby provide one or more hinges (75) and where one or more ends (7ld) to one or more of the at least one cut (70d ) is turned inwards. 3. Partition plate according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the deformable part comprises an annular area (74d) defined by the inner edge (68d) and the at least one cut (70d). 4. Separation plate according to claim 3, characterized in that the ring-shaped area (74d) is continuous. 5. Partition plate (60d) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further comprises a flap (66, 66a, 66c) which is hinged to the partition plate (60d), which flap can be folded inwards so that it butts against or intervenes against an upper part of adjacent articles in the first article layer. 6. Package or package intended to include a plurality of articles each having a cylindrical cross-section defining a longitudinal axis, which articles are arranged in a group of at least one row forming a layer, and where a stack of two or more layers of grouped articles is provided; and a carton comprising a top, a pair of side plates and a pair of secured base plates, which carton extends around the plurality of articles; and a partition plate comprising deformable portions (62d) adapted to nest between stacked articles on adjacent sides of the plate (60d) wherein the deformable portion comprises an area of the partition plate surrounding an opening having a diameter smaller than the diameter of an edge at the end of an article with which the deformable part nests, characterized in that the deformable part comprises a continuous inner edge (68d) adapted to be moved out of alignment with the partition plate, and in that the deformable part (62d) comprises an outer edge defined in part by at least one cut (70d), where the at least one cut is essentially concentric with the inner edge (68d) of the deformable part.