WO1995035240A1

WO1995035240A1 - Carton with compartment

Info

Publication number: WO1995035240A1
Application number: PCT/US1995/007700
Authority: WO
Inventors: Martinus C. M. Bakx
Original assignee: The Mead Corporation
Priority date: 1994-06-22
Filing date: 1995-06-22
Publication date: 1995-12-28
Also published as: GB9412545D0; AU2903795A

Abstract

A carton (110) for packaging an article comprising a plurality of hingeably interconnected panels (114, 116, 118, 120) which define a space within the carton, a compartment (131) comprising walls (134, 136, 138) partitioning a compartmentalized space in said carton space, and gusset panels for automatically causing at least partial formation of the compartment during erection of the carton.

Description

CARTON WITH COMPARTMENT

Background of the Invention The invention relates to a carton for packaging articles such as individual packs of liquid (known as bricks), cans or bottles for example. More particularly, the invention relates to a carton comprising a partially enclosed compartment or designated space for promotional item for example.

A known carrier is disclosed by, for example, U.S. Patent No. 3,913,739 to Hennessey which describes a sleeve-like carton having a partition wall for dividing the carton into two separate sections. The first section is an open-ended section for cans while the second section is provided with end closures to form a closed rectangular portion.

Summary of the Invention The invention seeks to improve, or at least mitigate problems of the prior art. According to one general aspect of the invention, there is provided a carton for packaging articles, comprising a plurality of hingably interconnected panels which define a space within the carton, and a compartment having walls defining a compartmentalised space in said carton for an insertable item. A more specific aspect of the invention provides a carton for packaging an article comprising a plurality of hingably interconnected panels which define a space within the carton, a compartment comprising walls partitioning a compartmentalised space in said carton space, and means for automatically causing at least partial formation of said compartment during erection of the carton.

Preferably the compartment is substantially enclosable thereby to retain an item within the compartment. More preferably the carton comprises a closure which is openable to allow access in to the compartment from outside the carton via an aperture therein.

The means can comprise a gusset panel hingably connected to a carton panel and a compartment wall thereby to enable co-operation there between and hence said at least partial formation of the compartment.

Preferably the carton panel is a carton closure panel which is moved away from its designated position in the formed carton to effect said at least partial formation of the compartment before being moved to said designated position.

The compartment can comprise a series of hingably interconnected wall panels hingably connected at one end to one of said carton panels. Preferably there is provided means to secure said series of hingably interconnected compartment wall panels to a carton panel. Two walls of the compartment can be formed by a carton panel and a panel portion struck therefrom. Preferably the carton is of the end-loading type.

Another aspect of the invention provides a carton for packaging an article comprising a plurality of hingably interconnected panels which define a space within the carton and a compartment comprising a plurality of walls partitioning a compartmentalised space in said carton space wherein one of said compartment walls comprise at least part of one carton panel and another of said compartment walls comprise a panel portion struck from said one carton panel. Preferably a compartment securing means secures a compartment wall panel to said carton panel portion struck from said one carton panel.

Another aspect of the invention provides a carton for packaging articles comprising a series of hingably interconnected panels which form an end-loadable sleeve, an end closure panel for at least partially closing one end of the sleeve, a compartment having walls which partition a space within the carton sleeve, and means which enables co- operation between the end closure panel and a compartment wall to effect at least partial erection of the compartment during movement of the end closure panel in the process of setting up the carton. This carton can, of course, comprise any feature of the other cartons according to the invention.

Advantageously, an aspect of the invention provides a carton for multiple articles, which is able to receive an additional article after all the other articles are packaged therein and which is yet able to confine such an additional article thereto.

A yet further aspect provides a multiple article carton having a compartment for an additional article, which compartment is automatically set up as the carton is asembled.

Another aspect provides multiple article carton having a compartment for an additional article, which compartment is accessible without disturbing the integrity of the carton. The invention also provides a blank for forming a carton according to any other aspect of the invention.

Brief Description of the Drawings In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a plan view of a blank for forming first carton according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of a blank for forming a second carton according to the invention;

Figure 3 is a schematic perspective view of part of the compartment of the carton shown in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a perspective view of a partially erect carton formed from the blank shown in Figure 2;

Figure 5 shows the carton of Figure 4 at a further stage of formation; and

Figure 6 shows a formed carton from the blank of Figure 2. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments

Referring to Figure 1 there is shown a plan view of a carton blank 10 according to the invention which is of the end loading type such that in this example, it comprises side panel 14, base panel 16, side panel 18 and top panel 20 which are hingably interconnected and formed into a tubular end-loading structure using a glue tab 12. Of course, any suitable form of conventional locking means could be used instead of glue tab 12. Indeed, the aspect of the invention which relates to defining a cavity within a carton could be implemented in relation to other types of carton such as wrap around or basket type carriers for example.

Glue tab 12 comprises two slits 25 which operably are positioned below slits 24 in top panel 20 which form a handle strap 22 comprising cushioning tabs 23. Slits 24 are interrupted by an imperforate portion 27 which is positioned approximately adjacent the end edge of glue tab 12 in the formed carton in a set up condition. Carton 10 also comprises a tear-away strip 19 in side panel 18 in order to enable access to articles contained therein.

Each end of base panel 16 is hingably connected to an end closure flap 40. End closure flap 40 at one end of base panel 16 comprises side gusset panels 44 hingably connected to two side closure panels 46 as can be seen in Figure 1. End closure flap 40 at the other end of base panel 16 is connected at one end thereof by a gusset panel 44 to a side closure panel 46 and at the other end thereof by a second gusset panel 42 to an end panel 38 which forms part of a wall structure for defining a compartment 31 within the formed carton. Each of side closure panels 46 comprises a shoulder feature 45 which can co-operate with end closure panels 40 to keep the closure features 40 and 46 in position, for example, by gluing shoulder 45 to the inside surface of panel 40 in the formed carton.

End panel 38 is hingably connected to a compartment side panel 36 which in turn is hingably connected to a compartment end panel 34. Panel 34 is hingably connected to glue tab 32 which is operably glued to the inside of side panel 14 of the carton by folding compartment panels 34 and 36 inwardly about fold line 33 and 35 respectively. Glue tab 12 can then be adhered to the inside of top panel 20 to form a collapsed sleeve having a collapsed compartment contained therein.

The process of forming a carrier from blank 10 shown in Figure 1 entails two pre-forming steps of attaching tab 32 to the inside surface of side panel 14 and attaching glue tab 12 to the inside of the top panel 20 as previously described. The pre-formed blank can then be stored in a flat condition prior to end loading. To form the carton the collapsed sleeve is simply expanded to enable articles such as cans or bottles or "bricks" of fruit drink for example to be end loaded. The end loading of the carton can be performed in a number of ways, for example, in this embodiment blank 10 is designed to contain an array of bricks which, in the absence of compartment 31 would be in a three by three array. However, since it is designed to leave a space into which compartment 31 can later be formed, it is possible to load two rows of three bricks into position from one end of the carton, for example, and to form a compartment 31, as described later, prior to inserting a row of two bricks from the opposite end of the carton, thereby filling it. Alternatively, an array of eight bricks could be inserted from either end wherein a corner brick of an otherwise symmetrical array is absent. Thus, in this example where the carton holds two rows of three bricks and a row of two bricks, these could be inserted simultaneously leaving a space into which compartment 31 could be erected.

To form the compartment 31, as shown schematically in Figure 3, end closure flap 40 can be moved downwardly about hinge line 41 thereby causing compartment end panel 38 to rotate inwardly relative to the carton about fold line 37 due to gusset 42. At the same time as gusset panel 42 enables this movement of the compartment 31, gusset panel 44 causes side closure panel 46 also to rotate inwardly. Similar downward movement of end panel 40 at the other end of the carton causes inward movement of side closure panels 46. Of course, the design of the gusset panels 42 and 44 and the angle of the fold lines connecting them to adjacent panels should be such as to enable this automatic closing feature. Alternatively, other connections could be used to assist in the erection of compartment 31 during the process of forming a carton. An example of such alternative connections may be found by reference to European patent Application 0178702 A2 wherein the gussett panels are formed with apertures for facilitating the folding process. As compartment end wall 38 folds inwardly relative to the carton, gusset panels 30 rotate about the fold line 29 relative to compartment lid panel 28. To close compartment 31 shown in Figure 3 lid 28 is lowered about fold line 50 causing gusset panels 30 to fold inwardly. To complete the carton, end closure panel 40 could for example be glued to compartment end wall 38. Compartment lid 28 could be glued to carton panel 20 thereby sealing the aperture 26 in the top of the compartment. Of course, an item, such as a promotional gift, should be inserted in compartment 31 prior to sealing lid 28.

The schematic view of compartment 31 shown in Figure 3 (which, inter alia, does not include lid 28 and gusset panel 30) show how a regular three dimensional space within the carton 10 is defined by carton base panel 16 and side panel 14, together with compartment walls 34, 36 and 38. As stated above, the compartment can be closed using a lid 28, where aperture 26 can be cut into top panel 20 thereby to enable access to the compartment when lid 28 is lifted up about fold line 50. Lid 28 could be retained in position for example using a locking means such as a tab and aperture arrangement or simply using glue, for example. A carton 110 similar to carton 10 is shown in Figure 2 and Figures 4 to 6 wherein reference numerals of like integers are prefixed with the numeral 1. In this embodiment carton blank 110 comprises end walls 134 for the compartment structure which are panel portions cut from and hingably connected to carton side panel 114. Naturally the design of walls 134 could be varied but in this example a retaining strap 139 is left in side wall 114 to assist in retaining any items which might be placed within compartment 131 in the completed carton.

The formation of a packaged carton from blank 110 can be substantially as described above. To form a compartment 131, compartment side panel 136 is folded inwardly about fold line 135 and tab 132 is attached to the side wall panel portions which form compartment end walls 134. For example, this could be done by placing glue on selected parts of the inside surface of tab 132 so that when panel 136 is folded inwardly about fold line 135 in the pre-forming stage, tab 132 is glued only to end panels 134 and not to carton side wall 114. Of course, other means of attaching the panels together such as using locking tabs and co-operating apertures, for example, could be used. Thus, a collapsed compartment 131 can be formed similar to that described in relation to Figure 1. To erect compartment 131, end closure panel 140 is folded downwardly as shown in Figure 4 causing compartment end panel 138 to rotate inwardly with respect to the partially erected sleeve like carton about fold line 137. This causes compartment end walls 134 also to rotate inwardly about their respective fold lines 154.

As shown in Figure 5, compartment 131 forms a defined space within the compartment at one corner thereof. An array of eight bricks, as shown schematically in the top panel 120 of the carton shown in Figure 5 surround compartment 131. As discussed above, the compartment can be formed after loading of the bricks into the carton. Alternatively, compartment 131 can be formed by lowering panel 140 and then raising it and closing the end of the carton with compartment 131 by attaching panel 140 to the end panels 138 of compartment 131 and panel 146. An array of eight articles could then be loaded from the opposite end of the carton. Of course, any number of articles could be accommodated by a suitably adapted carton. After attaching end closure panel 140 to panels 138 and 146 the carton is in a substantially formed condition, however, a promotional item can be inserted within compartment 131 prior to closing lid 128 to form the completed carton shown in Figure 6.

Claims

1. A carton for packaging an article comprising a plurality of hingably interconnected panels which define a space within the carton, a compartment comprising walls partitioning a compartmentalised space in said carton space, and means for automatically causing at least partial formation of said compartment during erection of the carton.

2. A carton according to claim 1 wherein the compartment is substantially enclosable thereby to retain an item within the compartment.

3. A carton according to claim 1 further comprising a closure which is openable to allow access to the compartment from outside the carton via an aperture therein.

4. A carton according to claims 1 wherein said means comprises a gusset panel hingably connected to a carton panel and a compartment wall thereby to enable co-operation therebetween and hence said at least partial formation of the compartment.

5. A carton according to claim 4 wherein said carton panel is a carton closure panel which is moved away from its designated position in the formed carton to effect said at least partial formation of the compartment before being moved to said designated position.

6. A carton according to claim 1 wherein the compartment comprises a series of hingably interconnected wall panels hingably connected at one end to one of said carton panels.

7. A carton according to claim 6 further comprising means to secure said series of hingably interconnected compartment wall panels to a carton panel.

8. A carton according to claim 1 wherein two walls of the compartment are formed by a carton panel and a panel portion struck therefrom.

9. A carton for packaging an article comprising a plurality of hingably interconnected panels which define a space within the carton and a compartment comprising a plurality of walls partitioning a compartmentalised space in said carton space wherein one of said compartment walls comprise at least part of one carton panel and another of said compartment walls comprise a panel portion struck from said one carton panel.

10. A carton according to claim 7 wherein said securing means secures a compartment wall panel to said carton panel portion struck from said one carton panel.

11. A carton for packaging articles comprising a series of hingably interconnected panels which form an end- loadable sleeve, an end closure panel for at least partially closing one end of the sleeve, a compartment having walls which partition a space within the carton sleeve, and means which enables co-operation between the end closure panel and a compartment wall to effect at least partial erection of the compartment during movement of the end closure panel in the process of setting up the carton.