Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D71/00—Bundles of articles held together by packaging elements for convenience of storage or transport, e.g. portable segregating carrier for plural receptacles such as beer cans or pop bottles; Bales of material
  • B65D71/40—Bundles of articles held together by packaging elements for convenience of storage or transport, e.g. portable segregating carrier for plural receptacles such as beer cans or pop bottles; Bales of material comprising a plurality of articles held together only partially by packaging elements formed by folding a blank or several blanks
  • B65D71/42—Bundles of articles held together by packaging elements for convenience of storage or transport, e.g. portable segregating carrier for plural receptacles such as beer cans or pop bottles; Bales of material comprising a plurality of articles held together only partially by packaging elements formed by folding a blank or several blanks formed by folding a single blank into a single layer element
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D71/00—Bundles of articles held together by packaging elements for convenience of storage or transport, e.g. portable segregating carrier for plural receptacles such as beer cans or pop bottles; Bales of material

Definitions

• This invention relates to arrangements for holding a plurality of cans.
• Multipacks of cans are well known for drinks and foodstuffs. Cans of drinks, and indeed some foods, are often sold in multipacks utilising a plastic ring having a number of apertures for receiving a corresponding number of cans. This number is often four or -six. It is, however, desirable to cease using plastic in such multipacks.
• an arrangement for holding a plurality of cans each of which has a top rim comprising a paperboard member having a plurality of apertures, each aperture being dimensioned so as to be c marginally smaller than the widest dimensions of the top rim of a can to be held wherein each top rim and each associated aperture are pushed relative to each other so that the rim passes through the aperture which engages below the rim to prevent withdrawal of n the can.
• the apertures have their marginal portion upturned prior to coupling with the can.
• This upturning may be a process performed by the packing machinery itself or the process may be performed when 5 the packing blank is originally stamped.
• the paperboard member has side walls provided around the apertures which side walls are attached to the paperboard member along fold lines whereby in use the side walls are 0 folded down so as to engage the cans and are secured in the folded down positions. This results in space for printing.
• the side walls may be secured with glue or by interlocking formations formed integrally with the side walls. This securing may take place before 5 or after attachment to the cans.
• the apertures are substantially circular.
• the apertures are formed in generally rectangular arrays such as 2 X 2 or 2 X 3 or 2 X 4 or even 1 X 2, 1 X 3, 1 X 4 or any other suitable configurations.
• finger gripping holes may be provided in the central space between each set of four apertures .
• two oppositely extending side walls are hingedly attached to the paperboard member, the side walls being adapted to fold over the tops of the cans and secured to each other with, for example, glue.
• Figure 1 is a plan view of a blank for a holding arrangement according to the present invention.
• Figure 2 is a partial plan view of a further blank according to the present invention.
• Figure 3 is a part sectional side view through the figure 2 arrangement in use.
• Figure 4 is a partial view of a still further blank according to the present invention.
• Figure 5 is a part sectional side view through the figure 4 arrangement in use.
• figure 1 there is shown a paperboard blank
• the apertures 12 are circular and each has a diameter which is marginally less than the maximum diameter of the top rim of a can (not shown).
• the marginal portion 31 surrounding each aperture 12 is upturned slightly along line 32 such that the marginal portions 31 are raised out of the general plane of the top panel 11. This upturn may be achieved by cold or hot forming of the blank. In some applications the can rims may require large marginal portions to be upturned and it may be preferable in such cases to use heat in the forming process.
• six apertures 12 are provided in a 2 x 3 rectangular array. Finger holes 13 are also provided, one at the centre of each 2 x 2 sub-array of apertures 12.
• Each panel 14, 15, 16, 17 is also formed with corner portions 24 at each end, which corner portions 24 are hingedly connected along fold lines 25.
• the blank 10 will be stamped from a sheet of paperboard of suitable thickness. Also the fold lines are formed by scoring, perforating or any other known means. The blanks 10 can then be transported to the actual packing line.
• a set of six cans will be arranged and the blank 10 will be positioned directly above.
• the blank will then be pressed over the can rims which engage in their respective apertures 12.
• Some elastic deformation of the marginal portions 31 surrounding the apertures occurs as the blank is pressed over the rims of the cans, the upturns of the marginal portions 31 providing a lead- in for the cans and assisting the accurate location of the blank on the cans.
• the marginal portions then snap into position below the rims, tightly engaging the cans just below the rims.
• the side, front and rear panels 14-17 are then folded down and the corner portions 24 are bent around the corner cans. Adhesive is applied to the underside of the corner panels 22 which are then folded down so as to adhere securely to the corner portions 24. The result is a secure multipack of cans which resists removal of the cans.
• the forming of the marginal portions 31 may occur when the blank is formed by using for example simple pressing techniques. Alternatively the forming could occur at the packaging area just prior to application to the cans.
• the side, front and rear panels result in a secure skirt which further prevents unwanted can movement relative to the paperboard holder and relative to other cans.
• FIG 3 there is shown the blank 30 assembled around cans 35 having top rims 36.
• the cans are shown in side elevation but the blank 30 is shown in section.
• a further blank 40 is shown in figures 4 and 5 and again similar features to those in figures 1, 2, 3 have been given like reference numerals .
• left and right web panels 41, 42 are hingedly connected along fold lines 43, 44 to the top panel 11.
• a main overpanel 45 is hingedly connected along fold line 46 to web panel 41 and a secondary overpanel 47 is hingedly connected along fold line 48 to web panel 42.
• the can rims are pressed through the apertures 12 and then the web panels 41, 42 are folded upwards and then the overpanels 45, 47 are folded across the tops of the cans and secured to each other using adhesive. This construction improves the rigidity of the multipack package.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)
• Filling Of Jars Or Cans And Processes For Cleaning And Sealing Jars (AREA)
• Control And Other Processes For Unpacking Of Materials (AREA)
• Centrifugal Separators (AREA)
• Braking Arrangements (AREA)
• Cartons (AREA)

Priority Applications (9)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=10720338

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (18)

Cited By (4)

Citations (6)

Family Cites Families (3)

• 1992
  • 1992-08-14 GB GB929217271A patent/GB9217271D0/en active Pending
• 1993
  • 1993-08-10 AU AU47241/93A patent/AU687357B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 1993-08-10 JP JP6505997A patent/JPH08502710A/ja active Pending
  • 1993-08-10 DK DK94908072.5T patent/DK0654000T3/da active
  • 1993-08-10 NZ NZ254932A patent/NZ254932A/en unknown
  • 1993-08-10 EP EP94908072A patent/EP0654000B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1993-08-10 CA CA002142022A patent/CA2142022A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1993-08-10 DE DE69305176T patent/DE69305176T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1993-08-10 WO PCT/GB1993/001695 patent/WO1994004431A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 1993-08-10 ES ES94908072T patent/ES2095153T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1993-08-10 KR KR1019950700568A patent/KR950702929A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1993-08-10 AT AT94908072T patent/ATE143642T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1993-08-10 BR BR9306889A patent/BR9306889A/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1993-08-11 ZA ZA935851A patent/ZA935851B/xx unknown
  • 1993-08-11 MY MYPI93001595A patent/MY134741A/en unknown
  • 1993-08-12 MX MX9304901A patent/MX9304901A/es not_active IP Right Cessation
• 1995
  • 1995-02-13 FI FI950630A patent/FI950630A0/fi unknown
• 1998
  • 1998-03-10 HK HK98101950A patent/HK1002912A1/xx not_active IP Right Cessation

Patent Citations (6)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events