US2963198A

US2963198A - Band type can carrier

Info

Publication number: US2963198A
Application number: US622630A
Authority: US
Inventors: Thomas W Foster; Frank W Hackman
Original assignee: Container Corp
Current assignee: Container Corp; Smurfit Kappa Packaging Corp
Priority date: 1956-11-16
Filing date: 1956-11-16
Publication date: 1960-12-06
Anticipated expiration: 1977-12-06

Description

Dec. 6, 1960 T. w. FOSTER ETAL 2,963,198

` BAND TYPE CAN CARRIER Filed Nov. 1e, 195e f7 ff ff EN is of considerable practical importance.

United States A Patent BAND TYPE CAN CARRIER Thomas W. Foster, Chicago, and Frank W. Hackman,

La Grange Park, Ill., assignors to Container Corporation of America, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Dela- {ware Filed Nov. 16, 1956, Ser. No. 622,630

1 Claim. (Cl. 2211-112) This invention relates to carriers for transporting Vchimed end cans and analogous containers, and has to do with carriers of the open end band type.

Carriers of the type above referred to are well known and, extensively used, many millions of such carriers being used annually. This is a highly competitive iield and one in which any saving in the cost of production The carriers referred to are commonly formed from sheet material, such as paperboard, from which the carrier blanks are cut, the blanks being then suitably folded and glued by machinery to produce the carriers. It is important, from the cost of production standpoint, that the blanks be so cut and scored as to avoid waste of material and that they be adapted to high speed folding and gluing operations by machinery. Our invention is directed to a carrier which requires a minimum of material, avoids waste of material, may be machine folded and glued at high speed, possesses adequate mechanical strength for its' intended use and may be produced at comparatively low cost. Further objects and advantages of our invention will appear from the detail description,

kIn the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a can carrier embodying our invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the blank from which the carrier of Figure l is' produced;

Figure 3 is a top plan view, partly broken away, on a reduced scale relative to Figure l, of a modified form of carrier embodying our invention; and

Figure 4 is a plan view of one end portion of a blank from which the carrier of Figure 3 is produced.

The carrier of Figure 1 is produced from the blank of Figure 2, which blank is cut from suitable sheet material, such as paperboard. The blank of Figure 2 is cut and -scored to provide a glue flap 5 attached along a fold line 6 to a rst bottom wall panel -7 attached along a fold line 8 to a first -side wall'panel 9 which is attached along aufold line 10 to a rst top Wall panel 11. The first top wall panel 11 is attached along a fold line 12 to a second top wall panel 13, the panels 11 and 13 constituting the top wall of the carrier and being integrally connected along fold line 12. A handle iiap 14 is cut from the midportion of the first top wall panel 11 and is integrally connected at its lower edge to the inner edge ofthe second top wall panel 13 along a fold line 12a, which is a portion of the fold line 12. The handle flap 14 is provided with two finger openings 1'5 and at the upper portion of each thereof with a tab 16 attached to flap 14 along a fold line 17. The second top wall panel 13 is connected, along a fold line 18, to a second side wall panel 19 connected to a second bottom wall panel 20, along a fold line 21, panel 20 being connected along a fold line 22 to a center partition panel 23 to the midportion of the upper edge of which is attached, along a fold line 24, a second handle ap 25 similar to the handle flap 14 and provided with finger openings 26 each having at its upper portion a tab 27 attached thereto along a fold line 28. The

panels

7, 11, 13 and 20 are all of the same width and the

panels

9, 19 and 23 are all of the same height. Each of the bottom wall panels and each of the top wall panels is provided adjacent each end thereof, with an arcuate retaining tab 29 cut therefrom and attached thereto along a fold line 3i). In the use `of the carrier, the retaining tabs 29 are folded inwardly about the fold lines 30 into proximity with the inner faces of the corresponding panels and engage the inner portions of the -chimes of the end cans of rows of cylindrical cans loaded into the carrier, as is known.

In order to produce the carrier of Figure 1 from the blank of Figure 2, adhesive is applied to the inner surfaces of the handle flaps 14 and 25, except the tabs 16 and 27 thereof, it being understood that the inner surface of the blank is shown in Figure 2. The blank is then folded about the fold line 21 so as to bring the handle iiap 25 into register with the handle Hap 14, with panel 20 overlying panel 19 and panel 23 overlying panel 119 in part and panel 13. Glue ap 5 is then folded over onto the inner face of panel 7 and a coating of adhesive is applied to the then upper face of glue flap 5, after which the blank is folded over about fold line 10 into position with panel 9 overlying panel 11 and the outer face of handle flap 25 and the upper portion of t-he then upper face of panel 23, and with panel 7 overlying the remainder of the upper face of panel 23, with the fold line 6 at the lower edge of panel 23 and the adhesively coated surface of glue ap 5 seating upon the corresponding lower portion of the upper face of panel 23. The blank thus folded is then maintained under appropriate pressure until the adhesive has set, thus producing, in at folded condition, the carrier, which may be shipped in bales or bundles in such condition.

In the folded carrier the handle flaps 1 4 and 25 extend from the top or upper edge of the center partition panel 23. The carrier may readily be set up for use by merely subjecting it to vertical pressure effective for moving the

bottom wall panels

7 and 20 and the top wall panels 11 and 13 outward to horizontal position, the setup carrier then appearing as shown in Figure 1. As previously noted, the retaining tabs V29 are folded inwardly of the carrier into position adjacent the inner faces of the top wall panels and the bottom wall panels, preliminary to loading the cans by machinery into the carrier. The carrier shown is intended to receive six cans arranged in two rows of three cans each, separated by the center partition panel 23, the end cans of each row being retained in the carrier by the retaining tabs 29.

When the carrier is loaded with cans, the load at the central portion of the carrier is supported to large extent by the handle flap 25 attached directly to the upper kedge of the center partition panel 23 and constituting an 11pward extension thereof. The portions of the center partition panel 23 extending beyond the ends of the handle flap 25 provide shoulders 32 disposed in abutting relation to the underface of the top wall of the carrier at the central fold line 12 thereof and assist materially in supporting the load at the end portions of the carrier trans'- mitted to the top Wall through the

side Wall panels

9 and 19. The blank of Figure 2 is thus Well suited for high speed machinery folding and gluing operations and by cutting the handle flap 14 from the top wall panel 11 a carrying handle structure of adequate mechanical strength is provided and waste of material is reduced to a minimum, wit-h the result that the carrier may be produced at comparatively low cost.

The carrier of Figure 3 is produced from a blank the same as that of Figure 2 except as to the center Wall panel. Referring to Figure 4, the center Wall panel 23a is provided, at its upper edge, with a handle ap 25a of substantially inverted U-shape attached to the upper edge of panel 23a along fold lines 34 and provided with a tab 27a attached to the upper or bight portion of handle `panel 25a along a fold line 28a. Two glue iiaps 33 of substantially U-shape are attached to the upper edge of the center partition panel 23a, adjacent the ends of the handle ap 25a along foldA lines 34a constituting extensions of the fold lines 34. It will be understood that the top wall panel of the blank of Figure 4 corresponding to panel 11 of the blank of Figure 2 is cut to provide `at the midportion thereof a handle flap similar to the handle ap 25a. In order to produce the carrier of Figure 3 from the blank of Figure 4, the handle flap 25a and the glue flaps 33 are coated with a suitable adhesive, with the exception of the tab 27a, after which the blank is folded in the same manner as above described in respect to the blank of Figure 2. In the first step of the folding operation the glue flaps 33 are disposed upon the inner face of the top wall panel corresponding to panel 11 of the blank of Figure 2, and straddle the inner end portions of the retaining tabs 29 of that panel. The second step in the folding of the blank is then performed, followed by the retention of the folded blank under pressure until the adhesive has set, as previously described. The blank may be set up from its folded condition for use by subjecting it to vertical pressure, as above described, and during such setting up operation the glue tiaps 33 are folded into position at right angles to the center partition panel 23a, being then adhesively secured to the under face of the top wall panel 11ar and straddling the inner end portions of the retaining tabs 29 of that panel. The glue flaps 33 thus provide reinforcement for the end portions of the top wall panel 11a from w-hich the handle flap 25a has been cut and the shoulders of the center partition panel 23a, to which the glue flaps 33 are attached, assist in supporting the load at the end portion of the carrier in the manner previously described. The carrier of Figure 3, formed from the blank of Figure 4, is well suited for high speed machine folding and gluing operations and reduces waste of material to a minimum, which is conducive to comparatively low cost of production, an important consideration in this highly competitive field, as has been pointed out above.

It will be understood that changes in detail may be resorted to without departing from the field and scope of our invention, and we intend to include all such variations, as fall within the scope of the appended claim, in this application in which the preferred forms only of our invention have been shown.

We claim:

A carrier formed from a one piece blank of sheet material comprising, a glue flap, a irst bottom wall panel, a first side wall panel, a first top wall panel, a second top wall panel, a second side wall panel, a second bottom wall panel and a center partition panel, connected together along fold lines in the order stated,

said blank further comprising a first handle flap cut from the midportion of said iirst top wall panel and attached to the inner edge of said second top wall panel along a fold line coincident with the fold line between said top wall panels and a second handle liap attached along a fold to the midportion of the free edge of said partition panel; said blank initially being folded iiatwise with said partition panel and second bottom panel overlying said second side wall panel and second top wall panel with said second handle flap seating on and adhesively secured to said first handle ap and with said rst bottom wall panel and first side wall panel overlying Asaid partition panel and second bottom wall panel with said glue flap folded over onto the inner face of said first bottom wall panel and seating on and adhesively secured to the upper face of said partition panel; said blank being erectible from its flatwise folded condition to car,-` rier form by opposing pressures applied at the fold line between said partition panel and second bottom wall panel and at the fold line between said iirst side wall panel and first top wall panel; said blank, when so erected from its flatwise folded condition, provided a carrier comprising when empty two bottom wall panels, two side wall panels attached at their lower edges along fold lines to the outer edges of said bottom wall panels and extending upward therefrom, a unitary top wall attached at its side edges along fold lines to the upper edges of said side wall panels, a first handle ap cut from the midlength portion of said top wall at one side of the lengthwise medial line thereof and integrally attached thereto at said median line, a center partition panel attached at its lower edge along a fold line to the inner edge of one of said bottom wall panels and extending therefrom upward to said top wall, a glue iiap Iattached along a fold line to the inner edge of the other of said bottom wall panels and extending therefrom upward along and adhesively secured to said partition panel at the side thereof facing the opening in said top wall corresponding to said handle ap, and a second handle flap attached at its lower edge along a fold line to the upper edge of said partition panel and extending therefrom upward through said opening in face to face relation to said first-handle flap and adhesively secured thereto, said top wall being provided with lengthwise median fold lines extending from the ends of said opening to the ends of said top wall.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,372,351 Arneson Mar. 22, 1945 2,614,737 Parker Oct. 2l, 1952 2,656,961) Carruth Oct. 27, 1953 2,768,741 Currie Oct. 30, 1956 2,790,590 Toensmeier Apr. 30, 1957 2,830,726 Foster Apr. 15, 1958