WO1999046180A1

WO1999046180A1 - Multiple pack for cans arranged side by side and combined with a support made of board or the like

Info

Publication number: WO1999046180A1
Application number: PCT/IT1999/000059
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lorenzo Francesconi; Angelo Forni
Original assignee: Aetna S.P.A.
Priority date: 1998-03-13
Filing date: 1999-03-11
Publication date: 1999-09-16
Also published as: ITFI980060A1; AU2955899A; ITFI980060A0

Abstract

Contributing to the forming and/or strengthening of the pack is a film wrapping (9) that at least partly encloses said group of cans; and said wrapping (9) is partial and is glued to the walls (5A) formed by the board support (3).

Description

- 1 - MULTIPLE PACK FOR CANS ARRANGED SIDE BY SIDE AND COMBINED WITH A SUPPORT MADE OF BOARD OR THE LIKE DESCRIPTION It is common practice to combine a plurality of cans - for drinks or other foodstuffs, and for other products - in a multiple pack in which the cylindrical or prismatic cans are arranged side by side. The pack may take the form of a film of heat-shrink and/or extensible synthetic resin or the like which completely encloses the cans; the film may also enclose an optional support, which is usually made of board. Such a support is generally shaped: as a simple flat sheet on which the cans are placed; or as a larger sheet folded to form two walls on opposite sides of the cans, usually along the long sides of the rectangular volume of the group of cans, thus forming a channel; or said support may be a box.

Packs of the abovementioned kind cause pollution when thrown away and are also costly in terms of the amount of synthetic material required and the work necessary to produce the pack.

The invention has the object of avoiding the disadvantages mentioned above, and also offers other advantages as will become clear from a reading of the text which follows. The invention relates to a multiple pack for cans arranged side by side and combined with a support made of board or the like on which the cans stand and which contributes to the forming and/or strengthening of the pack, which includes a film wrapping enclosing said group of cans; according to the invention, said wrapping is partial and is glued to the board support. In many cases the support is of the type shaped like a channel, with a supporting base and at least two walls extending along two parallel sides of the base; in this version said partial enclosing wrapping is glued to the outer surface of the walls.

Where however the support is laminar, the partial enclosing wrapping is glued underneath said laminar support.

Said partial wrapping may be formed from heat-shrink and/or extensible film. - 2 -

Also, said wrapping may advantageously consist of a film that is also applied to the generally coplanar upper annular edges of the group of cans (where designed for drinks) so as to act as a tearable hygienic protection when the user wishes to sip the drink by placing his or her lips against the top in which the opening is made.

The aforesaid film may include lines of breakage - such as perforations, notches or the like - in a closed annular line, to facilitate the tearing of the film without damaging the portion fixed to said annular edge.

Each of said lines of breakage - such as perforations, notches or the like - of the film may be shaped so as to surround the annular edges of at least two cans, the film thus forming a connection between said two cans. This is useful for the sale (or removal) of at least two cans connected together, whether the cans are for drinks or for other products. The film may also be of self-adhesive type in order to facilitate its application to the annular edges of the cans. Application to the support (made of board) will however be done with the use of a fast-acting glue, which may also be distributed at the appropriate stage.

The drawing shows a possible embodiment of the invention and in particular: Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a pack according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross section on ll-ll as marked in Fig. 1 ; Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of an alternative embodiment equivalent to that of Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section on IV-IV as marked in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 shows an alternative embodiment in a section similar to that shown in Fig. 2; and

Figs. 6 and 7 show still another alternative embodiment in perspective and in the view and partial section on VII-VII in Fig. 6. As illustrated in the accompanying drawing and with initial reference to Figs. 1 and 2, the numeral 1 denotes a plurality of cans of conventional cylindrical form, which are to be combined with a pack according - 3 - to the invention. The numeral 3 denotes a laminar support having the shape of the pack, on which the cans 1 are positioned. The laminar support 3 may be simply made of more or less reinforced board in a flat sheet. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the support 3 is completed by two walls 5 which are shaped by folding the material of the support 3 along the lines 7 corresponding to the long sides of the rectangle of the support 3; the walls 5 stand alongside the group of cans, containing them along the long dimension of the overall dimension of the cans; at the same time the walls 5, being firmly attached to the base 3, increase its stiffness. Hitherto, a pack of this kind would be completed by a film of usually heat-shrink thermoplastic, which would completely enclose both the cans 1 and the support 3, 5; the material necessary for such a wrapping is not inconsiderable and is therefore costly, causes pollution when thrown away, and the automated formation of said wrapping, which continues underneath the support 3, is also laborious. According to the invention, by contrast, the pack is completed with a film 9 which is shaped so as to cover the top of the group of cans and surround them along their sides with borders 9A which reach the walls 5 and are stuck up to the walls 5 with glues, which are usually fast-acting and which are easily distributed by automated means during the production line formation of the packs. Shown schematically at 10 is a band of adhesive, which may be distributed on the walls 5 or on the borders 9A or on both of these components.

By this means the pack is adequately wrapped, keeping the contents secure but saving a large percentage of synthetic material in terms of thermoplastic film or the like for the formation of the wrapping. The application of the adhesive and the positioning of the partial wrapping 9, 9A can easily be done during the continuous packaging operations, with a movement of linear relative advance.

In the alternative embodiment shown in Figs. 3 and 4, where the same reference numerals are used to denote the same components as in version 1 and 2, the film 9 is enlarged with borders 9B along the sides perpendicular to those incorporating the walls 5 and the borders 9A glued to - 4 - said walls; these borders 9B can be stuck to the corresponding outer rows of cans 1 by the heat-shrinking of the film from which the partial wrapping 9 is formed, said borders 9B being stabilized in some suitable way to withstand the heat-shrinkage. This version increases the strength of the pack.

Fig. 5 shows another alternative embodiment, in a cross section similar to that shown in Fig. 2, in which the support 3 is in the form of a flat base without walls 5; in this version the film 19 - corresponding to the film 9 - possesses borders 19A and optionally also borders on the sides perpendicular to those surrounded by the borders 19A; these borders 19A are folded down under the sheet of the support 3 and glued at 19C to the underside of the laminar support 3.

In the further alternative embodiment shown in Figs. 6 and 7, a support made of board or the like has walls on all four sides of the base 3, as denoted by 5 and 5A, respectively, to form a box without a lid. Here, the borders 9A of the partial wrapping 9 are glued to the outside of the longitudinal walls 5, while borders 9D are glued to the outside of the walls 5A perpendicular to the longitudinal walls 5. In this version the pack is even more robust (walls 5 and 5A can be connected to each other), but it is also more expensive both in terms of materials used and operations required to form the complete pack.

In all cases there are advantages, as already indicated, in terms of savings in polluting synthetic material which must be thrown away when the pack is broken up. The film used for the partial wrapping, such as 9 or 19, can also be used to form a hygienic protection along the upper annular edge of the packaged cans, which is useful for guaranteeing hygiene in the case of cans that are designed so that an easy opening can be formed in the top of the can, with a preincision and with a throw-away fitting fixed to the can top; this kind of can is usually used to contain drinks intended to be consumed by sipping directly from the can, with the lip being placed on the can top. The film 9 of the partial wrapping can be applied to the upper edges 1X of the cans - 5 - and the film 9 can be designed to be broken in such a way that the section of film stuck to the edge 1X of each can is left unbroken when any one can is removed from the others. This arrangement may involve making incisions 29 or creating other different lines of predetermined breakage along the film 9 to enable said portions of film to be separated.

Because it is common to sell pairs of cans together (or more than two), the incisions or other equivalent lines of breakage can be positioned in such a way that a breakage line can surround the upper edges 1X of two adjacent cans, so that the portions of film 9 can also form the connection between two cans. The same can also be done for more than two cans. If the cans are of the drinks type, to allow separation of the two cans from each other an incision line which is stronger than that surrounding the edges of the pair can be provided, so that after the user has separated the pair of cans in the manner indicated above, he or she can also separate the cans of that pair from each other, for independent use. Obviously, an incision can surround more than two cans for a connection between the cans.

It will be understood that the drawing is only illustrative, being provided purely as a practical demonstration of the invention, and that the invention can be altered in its shapes and arrangements without thereby departing from the scope of the concept on which the invention is based. The presence of any reference numerals in the accompanying claims is for the purpose of facilitating the reading of the claims with reference to the description and drawing, and does not limit the scope of protection represented by the claims.

Claims

- 6 - CLAIMS

1. A multiple pack for cans (1) arranged side by side and combined with a support (3) made of board or the like on which the cans stand and which contributes to the forming and/or strengthening of the pack, which includes a film wrapping (9) enclosing said group of cans, the pack being characterized in that said wrapping (9) is partial and is glued to the board support (3; 5).

2. Pack as claimed in claim 1 , in which the support (3, 5) is channel-shaped, with a supporting base (3) and at least two walls (5) extending along two parallel sides of the base, characterized in that said enclosing wrapping (9, 9A) is glued to the outer surface of the walls (5).

3. Pack as claimed in claim 1 , in which the support is laminar, characterized in that the wrapping (19) is glued underneath said laminar support (13).

4. Pack as claimed in at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said wrapping is formed from heat-shrink and/or extensible film.

5. Pack as claimed in at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said wrapping consists of a film that is applied to the generally coplanar upper annular edges (1X) of the group of cans (1), being thus able to act as a tearable hygienic protection.

6. Pack as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that said film includes lines of breakage (29) - such as perforations, notches or the like - in a closed annular line, to facilitate the tearing of the film.

7. Pack as claimed in claim 5 or 6, characterized in that each of said lines of breakage (29) - such as perforations, notches or the like - of the film surrounds the annular edges of at least two cans, forming a connection between them which is useful for the sale (or removal) of at least two cans connected together.

8. Pack as claimed in at least one of claims 5 ff, characterized in that the film is of self-adhesive type.

9. Multiple pack for cans arranged side by side and combined with a - 7 - support made of board or the like; the whole being as described above and as illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing.