WO2000076865A1

WO2000076865A1 - Collapsible container having a separate lid

Info

Publication number: WO2000076865A1
Application number: PCT/GB2000/002299
Authority: WO
Inventors: Robert Mcgeehin
Original assignee: Rexam Plastic Packaging Limited
Priority date: 1999-06-16
Filing date: 2000-06-14
Publication date: 2000-12-21
Also published as: GB9914068D0; AU5413800A

Abstract

A closable collapsible container (2) made from stiff paperboard or like material, and including a removable lid (20), has at the upper corners of each of its side walls (4) one component (14) of a two-component, separable, non-adhesive coupling (such as Velcro® fastening), and the lid (20) has a hinged flaps (24, 26) carrying on their lower surfaces the other component (16) of the respective coupling, in positions complementary to those on the side walls (4), whereby the lid (20) may be separably secured to the side walls (4) without the use of adhesive tape, thereby facilitating the collapsing, recycling and reuse of the container after delivery of its contents.

Description

COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINER HAVING A SEPARATE LID

This invention relates to collapsible hollow containers, and particularly to such a container having a separate detachable lid.

A wide variety of products and materials are transported in collapsible hollow containers. The container assists in handling its contents and affords a measure of protection for them. The material of its construction is commonly a sheet of paperboard such as cardboard or stiff flat paper, although other materials such as plastic sheeting may be used. The sheet is typically formed into a "carton blank" with cuts and embossed fold lines which enable it to be folded into the desired hollow shape. A second blank with cuts and embossed fold lines is employed for containers having a separate lid.

All sides of the container are usually rectangular in shape, giving a six sided container. The four sides that in usual filing and emptying operations will be vertically disposed are permanently secured, for example by a narrow overlapping adhesive flap and/or associated staples, but the top and the base are typically formed of openable overlapping flaps or a separate removable sheet of card as a lid or base. An integral base is commonly made from two pairs of folded-over flaps, of which the outer pair have their adjacent borders secured together, for example by means of strips of broad adhesive tape. After the container has been filled and closed, its upper flaps or lid are similarly secured.

When the container is to be emptied, the securing means is either wrenched off or cut, to give access to the contents. If the container is to be reused or recycled after it has been emptied, the securing means has to be removed, which in the case of adhesive tape is a messy and time-consuming operation, and the removal often damages the container to the extent of leaving it unusable for anything other than scrap.

Our earlier patent specification WO 98/05562 relates to a closable collapsible container having two pairs of side walls, each with two projecting flaps hinged about an edge of the side wall, in which the two openings of the container formed by the side walls are intended to be securely closed by two co-operating pairs of flaps, in which the inner flaps have on their outer surfaces, near the hinge line, one part of a two-part separable non- adhesive coupling, and in which the outer flaps have on their inner surfaces the other parts of the couplings, in positions complementary to those on the inner flaps, whereby the container may be erected and collapsed secured together in their closed positions without the use of adhesive tape. This provides a convenient way of ensuring that the container may be reused repeatedly without the use of adhesive tape or of any other potentially damaging connectors for holding the co-operating flaps securely together.

GB-A-2 169 587 discloses a container having a bottom and four side walls. The resultant open top is intended to be closed by causing a long flap to engage two small side flaps to hold the other long flap in place. This container uses the same type of non-adhesive couplings as do containers of the present invention. However, in this disclosure, the flaps provided with the couplings are kept spaced from each other by the thickness of the intervening flap, which militates against the mechanical integrity of the coupling. In addition, this container is inherently not collapsible, because the bottom does not use the same type of couplings to hold it together.

US 4 034 909 discloses a collapsible container, but one which uses non-adhesive couplings only on its 'top' flaps. Although its base is formed of overlapping flaps, these are intended to be held together by connectors having projecting lock tongues.

The latter are intended to be pushed through aligned openings in the pairs of overlapping flaps, and their internal ends to be clinched to secure the flaps together.

Dismantling the bottom of the container would be tedious and time-consuming, because it would entail straightening out each of the flattened tongues to permit the connector to be withdrawn, which is not a practicable solution.

US 4 333 602 also uses non-adhesive couplings on just two flaps intended to close the single opening of the container. There is no disclosure of the base of the container using the same type of coupling, so that the container is inherently not collapsible and reusable.

The present invention aims at providing a lidded container in which the lid is secured to the container without the use of adhesive tape, to permit an opened-up and empty container and lid to be collapsed flat and placed in a stack with like flattened containers and lids for return and reuse.

According to the present invention there is provided a closable collapsible container (2) made from stiff paperboard or like material, the container having four side walls (4) intended to form an enclosed space when the container is erected, in which each side wall has projecting from it a flap hinged about a lower edge and foldable about that edge to co-operate separably with the other such flaps to form a base for the container, and having a lid formed of a four-sided sheet of stiff paperboard or like material, characterised in that each of the side walls has on its upper outer surfaces adjacent to each of its upper corners one component of a two-component, separable, non-adhesive coupling, and in that the lid has a flap hinged about each of its four sides, and each lid flap has on its lower surface and closely adjacent to its hinge axis the other component of the respective coupling, in positions complementary to those on the side walls, whereby the lid may be secured to the side walls without the use of adhesive tape.

It is preferred that the flaps forming the base of the container should similarly carry one component of two-component, separable, non-adhesive couplings, in positions to co-operate on contact with the other component of the couplings on another such flap so as to permit closing and opening of the base.

One suitable two-component, separable, non-adhesive coupling for the purposes of the invention is that sold under the trademark 'Velcro ', of which each component is made from fabric. One component presents a looped pile, while the other presents a hooked pile. When the two components are pressed together, the hooks engage the loops to hold them in a firm grip, which may be loosened and released by pulling the two components apart.

An alternative kind of two-component, separable, non-adhesive coupling is one in which the couplings are made from moulded plastics material of which the two components may be latched together.

The respective components of the couplings used in the invention on the container's walls, lid flaps and overlapping base flaps are secured permanently to their respective walls and flaps by means of an adhesive. The couplings are not damaged by repeated application and separation, as long as the grip between them is less than the force by which the adhesive holds them on their respective walls or flaps.

It is intended that when the lid is in position the lid flaps will be substantially coplanar with the respective side walls. This assists in ensuring a good degree of adhesion between the respective parts of the couplings.

Also with a view to ensuring good adhesion between the respective parts of the couplings, the component of each coupling on a lid flap preferably extends from the line of the hinge to the edge of the flap remote from the hinge.

In one embodiment of the invention the respective components of the coupling are colour-coded, the components to form one part of the coupling, for example the looped pile component of a Velcro® fastening, being of a different colour from the components forming the other part, for example the hooked pile component of a Velcro® fastening. The colour coding assists in correctly aligning the respective components when assembling the container. Preferred colours are orange for the looped components and yellow for the hooked components.

When using Velcro® fastenings it is preferred that the looped components should form the inner part of the coupling, i.e. being placed on the walls of the container and on the inner flaps of the base, and the hooked components should form the outer part of the coupling, i.e. be on the inner side of the lid flaps and on the inner side of the outer base flaps.

The present invention will now be described by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an isometric view of one form of container according to the present invention, with its lid in position.

Figure 2 is an isometric view of the container shown in Figure 1, but with its flaps in an intermediate position and its lid shown remote from the rest of the container.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the lid of the container shown in Figures 1 and 2, with its side flaps in an unfolded position.

The container, indicated generally by the reference number 2, is made from cardboard. It is shown in its loading position, with continuous upright sidewalls 4 and a base made from two pairs of overlapping flaps, i.e. a pair of inner flaps (not shown) and a pair of outer flaps 8. When closed, it further includes a lid 20. The lid 20 has a central flat portion 22, hinged flaps 24 on its shorter sides and hinged flaps 26 on its longer sides.

Secured by adhesive to the upper corners of the side walls 4 of the container 2 are looped Velcro® components 14, having a rectangular shape. Similar looped components are secured by adhesive to the inner flaps of the base. Correspondingly shaped and located hooked Velcro® components 16 are secured by adhesive to the lid flaps 24 and 26, close to their respective ends, and to the inner side of the base flaps 8. The components 16 on the lid flaps 24 and 26 extend most of the distance from the flap hinge to the flap edge.

Before the container is filled, the inner flaps for the base are folded over into coplanar positions and the outer flaps 8 are pressed against the contacting surfaces of the inner flaps to hold them together. The holding action is achieved by pressing together the respective hooked components 16 on the outer flaps 8 and matching looped components on the inner flaps. After the container 2 has been filled, the lid 20 is applied to close it. The lid flaps 24 and 26 are folded into position and their hooked components 16 are pressed into contact with the matching looped components 14 on the side walls 4.

The contents of the filled container provide an 'anvil' to support the looped components while pressure is applied to the hooked components, and thus assist in achieving a firm hold between the respective hooked and looped components.

After the lid 20 has been removed, by pulling its flaps 24 and 26 away from the sidewalls 4 with sufficient force to cause the coupling components to lose their grip on each other, and the filled container has been emptied the lid flaps 24 and 26 are hinged back to a flat position and the open-box part of the container 2 is collapsed, for example by gripping a base outer flap 16 and pulling it away from the inner flap with sufficient force to separate their coupling components. The box may then be folded flat by causing the two pairs of side walls 4 to be flattened together, with their respective flaps lying in the same plane as the side walls.

Flattened container boxes and lids as above can be returned to a filling point in a compact stack occupying much less space than the filled container and thus making the return much more economically viable. Moreover the containers can be reused many times, typically for at least 15 fill, empty and return cycles. If a lid or container is prematurely damaged its corresponding container or lid may be undamaged and may still be acceptable for reuse.

Accordingly it will be seen that this invention provides a convenient way of ensuring that hollow paperboard or like containers may be recycled and reused repeatedly without the use of adhesive tape or of any connectors for holding the cooperating flaps securely together. This has considerable environmental and cost- saving advantages, especially in significantly reducing the requirements for new packaging material. The environmental advantages include savings on consumption of fuel, wood-pulp and potentially hazardous treatment chemicals used in the primary manufacture and repulping of wood-pulp. The cost savings include a saving on any packaging tax or levy.

Claims

1. A closable collapsible container (2) made from stiff paperboard or like material, the container having four side walls (4) intended to form an enclosed space when the container is erected, in which each side wall has projecting from it a flap (8) hinged about a lower edge and foldable about that edge to co-operate separably with the other such flaps to form a base for the container (2) , and having a lid (20) formed of a four-sided sheet of the stiff paperboard or like material, characterised in that each of the side walls (4) has on its upper outer surfaces adjacent to each of its upper corners one component (14) of a two-component, separable, non-adhesive coupling, and in that the lid (20) has a flap (24, 26) hinged about each of its four sides, and each lid flap (24, 26) has on its lower surface and closely adjacent to its hinge axis the other component (16) of the respective coupling, in positions complementary to those on the side walls (4), whereby the lid (20) may be secured to the side walls (4) without the use of adhesive tape.

2. A container as claimed in claim 1, in which the couplings are of a fabric type, with one component (14) comprising a looped pile, and with the other component (16) comprising a hooked pile.

3. A container as claimed in claim 1, in which the couplings are made from moulded plastics material of which the two components may be latched together.

4. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the lid flaps

(24, 26) are intended to be substantially coplanar with the respective side walls (4) when the lid (20) is in position.

5. A container as claimed in claim 4, in which the component (16) of each coupling on a lid flap (24, 26) extends from the line of the hinge to the edge of the flap remote from the hinge.

6. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the components (14) to form one part of the coupling are of a different colour from the components (16) forming the other part.