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
  • B65D71/50—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 otherwise than by folding a blank
• • 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

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 to 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 openings, each opening being generally dimensioned so as to be marginally smaller than the widest dimensions of the top rim of a can to be held and having an associated cover which is connected to the paperboard member by at least one interconnecting tab such that each top rim and the paperboard member are pushed relative to each other so that the rim passes through its associated opening which engages below the rim to prevent withdrawal of the can, each cover lies over at least a part of the top of the associated can and the tab or tabs span the rim of the can.
• each cover is formed from the paperboard member.
• the openings and can rims are substantially circular.
• each cover has three tabs.
• opening and associated tabs are formed by three separate cuts in the paperboard member. Ideally, the majority of each cut lies on a circle of slightly smaller diameter than the widest dimension of the top rim of the can, with one end of each cut extending outwardly and the other end of each cut extending inwardly, the outer end of one cut overlapping and being spaced from the inner end of an adjacent cut.
• each cover is dimensioned so as to wedge inside the top rim of its associated can.
• a circular fold may be provided on each cover spaced from the general outer edge of the cover to assist this.
• the paperboard member has dependent side walls, which side walls are attached to the paperboard member along fold lines whereby in use the side walls are folded down so as to engage the cans and are secured in the folded down positions. This strengthens and reinforces the pack and gives some 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 or after attachment to the cans.
• the openings 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.
• Figure 1 is a plan view of a blank for a holding arrangement according to the present invention .
• Figure 2 is a perspective view of the figure 1 arrangement in use
• Figure 3 is a partial plan view of a blank for a further holding arrangement according to the present invention.
• FIG 1 there is shown a paperboard blank 10 for making a holding arrangement 11 as shown in figure 2.
• the holding arrangement 11 is used to engage six cans 12 in a 2 X 3 array to form a pack of cans.
• Each can has a top rim 13 which projects radially outwards a small amount from the wall of the can.
• the blank 10 has a main member 14 to which are hingedly attached side walls 15 along fold lines. Gusset panels 16 are also incorporated so that the side panels can be folded so as to be generally perpendicular to the main member 14 in use.
• the main member 14 also has two finger holes 17 to facilitate carrying of the pack.
• the cuts 18 for each can location there are a series of three cuts 18 for each can location.
• the cuts 18 for each can have substantially part circular sections 19 which lie on a circle of slightly smaller diameter than the largest diameter of the rim 13.
• One end 20 of each cut 18 extends outwardly and the other end 21 of each cut 18 extends inwardly. Ends 20, 21 of adjacent lines overlap and are spaced from each other to constitute tabs 22.
• the cuts 18 generally form openings in the main member 14 and the paperboard in the middle of the sets of three cuts 18 constitute covers 23 which remain connected to the main member 14 by the tabs 22.
• An optional circular fold 24 is also provided on each cover 23 for reasons which will be apparent later.
• a can 12 is aligned with one of the openings in the main member 14.
• the can and the main member are brought together and the top rim 13 of the can is forced through the opening past the three part circular sections 19 of the cuts 18.
• These sections 19 snap into position immediately below the top rim 13 of the can which is thereby securely retained relative to the main member 14.
• the cover 23 is lifted and, due to the interconnecting tabs 22 is caused to rotate slightly around an axis perpendicular to the major surface of the cover 23. This movement causes the tabs 22 to span the rim 13 of the can 12 as is more clearly shown in figure 2.
• the covers 23 are intended to be pressed down so as to nestle inside the rim 13, retained by interference between the cover edge and the inside of the rim 13.
• the circular fold 24 assists in this regard. It is not, however, necessary for the covers to be pressed down.
• the covers 23 can simply sit on top of the rims.
• the side walls 15 are folded down and the gusset panels 16 tucked in behind the side walls 15.
• Adhesive is then used to secure the side walls 15 and gusset panels so that the cans 12 are held in a tight array by the side walls, with adjacent cans in preferably touching relationship with each other.
• covers 23 prevent the bases of upper cans touching the tops of lower cans.
• Such metal to metal contact is not desirable as the metal can be caused to react and leave unpleasant residues on the tops of the lower cans.
• the covers provide general protection for the can tops and provide a surface for additional printing.
• FIG 3 there is shown a main member 114 similar to that shown in figures 1 and 2 except that no side walls 15 or gusset panels 16 are provided. All other features are the same and have been given like reference numerals.
• the main member 114 engages cans 12 in a similar manner to that described above except that the added rigidity of the tightly engaging side panels 15 is not present.
• the resulting pack retains sufficient rigidity for some purposes and retains the above described advantages concerning stacking.
• main members 114 With the simple main member 114, the main members 114 could be hingedly connected to each other end to end. A concertina arrangement of main members could then be provided for use in a continuous packing machine .
• covers need not necessarily be circular and there could be any number of tabs retaining each cover. It is important, however, that the remaining part circular sections 19 are sufficient to securely retain the cans.
• the tabs may or may not be equiangularly spaced around the cover and in theory could be separately formed and adhesively secured between cover and main member.
• can rim shapes other than circular can also be accommodated by simple redesign of the blanks. Also, any array of cans can be retained using the techniques described above.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=10752440

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (6)

Cited By (4)

Families Citing this family (1)

Citations (5)

• 1994
  • 1994-03-24 GB GB9405857A patent/GB9405857D0/en active Pending
• 1995
  • 1995-03-16 AU AU18973/95A patent/AU1897395A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1995-03-16 WO PCT/GB1995/000560 patent/WO1995025679A1/en active Application Filing
  • 1995-03-20 ZA ZA952293A patent/ZA952293B/xx unknown
  • 1995-03-23 CO CO95011731A patent/CO4410231A1/es unknown
  • 1995-05-09 TW TW084104648A patent/TW277043B/zh active

Patent Citations (5)

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