WO2002059002A1

WO2002059002A1 - Device at a packing for food

Info

Publication number: WO2002059002A1
Application number: PCT/SE2002/000110
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tony Norén
Original assignee: Noren Tony
Priority date: 2001-01-23
Filing date: 2002-01-23
Publication date: 2002-08-01
Also published as: SE0100189L; SE518239C2; SE0100189D0; WO2002059002A8

Abstract

The invention relates to an arrangement (1) for a pack (2) intended for food and similar in the form of a carton comprising a bottom (4), walls and an openable and closable upper part in th eform of folding lid flaps (10-13) with a locking means between pairs of lid flaps. Mutually opposing walls exhibit an arched, curved, concave upper edge. A lid flap (11, 13) extends from the respective arched edge with an arched, curved, folding hinge between the one aforementioned side of the carton pack and lid flap (11, 13), and both of the lid flaps (11, 13) exhibit locking devices (19, 20) capable of interacting with one another.

Description

Device at a packing for food.

The present invention relates to an arrangement for a pack intended for food and similar in the form of a carton comprising a bottom, walls and an openable and closable upper part in the form of folding lid flaps with a locking means between pairs of lid flaps. Packs for "Chinese" food have been available on the market for a long time in the form of cardboard cartons. The cartons were initially offered as an alternative to aluminium trays. The customers themselves were required to fold up the first packs at the time of use, and closure was effected with a "wire construction" or different types of flap locking means .

At a later stage the packs began to be supplied ready assembled. They exhibited conical form and were stacked inside one another, which gave more rapid handling. From the outset they were designed with so-called Web corners to provide a leakproof pack.

The new cartons made of cardboard material replace aluminium trays, which are not suitable for use in microwave ovens. Such cartons also offer the advantage of being suitable for the application of distinctive printing.

More recent years have also seen the introduction of cartons manufactured using entirely different technology, namely in accordance with US 5,358,175 A. These cartons are manufactured in the same machines that manufacture paper mugs and are manufactured in two parts with a bottom part and a part consisting of walls.

The packs are provided with four lid flaps, which are folded in and close the pack. The lid keeps the food hot during transport to the office or the home and also provides hygienic protection. The lids on today' s Chinese food packs very often do not have an entirely flat upper surface when the lid flaps are folded in, which means that the packs are difficult to stack during transport and distribution. Previously disclosed are gift packs in the form of an envelope with gable sides having folding end flaps of an elliptical and convex design, but these previously disclosed packs exhibit only two flaps and are also not intended to be stacked with one pack on top of another pack. Extra means for locking the flaps to one another are not available, however, in the aforementioned previously disclosed packs.

The principal object of the present invention is thus, in the first instance, to solve the aforementioned problems in respect of good stackability, but also to provide additional benefits to the pack, such as increased stability and simpler handling of the packs.

The aforementioned object is achieved by means of an arrangement in accordance with the present invention, which is characterized essentially in that mutually opposing walls exhibit an arched, curved, concave upper edge, in that a lid flap extends from the respective arched edge with an arched curved folding hinge between the one aforementioned side of the carton pack and the lid flap, and in that both of the aforementioned lid flaps exhibit locking devices capable of interacting with one another.

The invention is described below as a preferred illustrative embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a carton pack in the erected, raised position ready for filling;

Fig. 2 shows the blank for an intended carton pack after punching out;

Fig. 3 shows the carton pack viewed from one of its short sides with the lid flap folded up; Fig. 4 shows the carton pack in the closed position viewed from above;

Fig. 5 shows the carton pack viewed from above and with three lid flaps folded out and with one lid flap folded over the opening of the carton.

Fig. 6 shows the carton pack viewed from above and with both of its lid flaps provided with locking means folded over the opening of the carton; and

Fig. 7 shows a stack of two carton packs. In accordance with the present invention, the lid flaps are convex on two sides and have two straight sides. The act of closing the lid causes "dilation", which gives increased stability. This is also the case when several packs must be stacked one on top of the other. The convex design makes handling more rapid because the lid flaps are locked automatically in the locked position.

The convex design means that the pack is more stable during stacking and handling. When the lid is closed, the convex sides are pushed out and contribute to the increased stability. This is the same phenomenon utilized previously, for example when building stone bridges.

The corners of the pack and gable parts of the carton pack are specially designed to enable the pack to be glued together to make it leakproof. The cut-down part is designed to permit gluing to the inner flap at the corner, and there must be a creasing rule or embossing on the opposite side for optimal gluing. The creasing rule or embossing compensates for the thickness and contributes to gluing together at the top of the pack, which makes the pack leakproof.

To obtain better leak proofing, the angles have been adjusted so that two opposing sides are at a greater angle by one degree. The convex side is executed with an angle of six degrees, and the straight side is then executed at an angle of five degrees.

The aforementioned difference in degrees means that the pack occupies less height when stacked one on top of the other, which gives better packing and distribution economy. You save a number of millimetres for each pack, which gives large savings expressed as a percentage.

The change involving different degrees on the short side and the long side creates a better "wedge" effect for the inner lid (tray) . This type of pack is not used at the present time for soups, because the leakproof properties are not adequate during transport, although this is now possible with the new design.

This gives better elasticity for the inner lid. The inner lid is a specially designed tray, which means that the pack can be used for the distribution of soups.

To make the pack more practicable, the Web corners and the outer edge of the gluing surfaces will be provided with scribed lines so that the carton can be laid flat, which means that the pack can be unfolded to form a plate, i.e. it can be transformed from a food carton to a plate.

More specifically, the characteristic features of the present invention are as follows:

An arrangement 1 for a pack 2, which is arranged and intended for the purpose of accommodating food therein in its internal space 3, is manufactured in the form of a carton which comprises a bottom 4 and four walls 5, 6, 7, 8 and an openable and closable upper part 9 in the form of folding lid flaps 10, 11, 12, 13 and with a locking means 14 between pairs of lid flaps 11, 13. In accordance with the present invention, two mutually opposing walls 6, 8 each exhibit an arched, curved, concave upper edge 15, 16. An aforementioned lid flap 11, 13 extends from the respective arched edge 15, 16 with a formed arched, curved folding hinge 17, 18 respectively between one aforementioned side 6, 8 and lid flap 11, 13 of the carton pack. Both of the aforementioned lid flaps 11, 13 exhibit a locking means 14 in the form of locking devices 19, 20 , which locking devices 19, 20 are capable of interacting with one another in order to provide locking 14 of both of the aforementioned lid flaps 11, 13. The aforementioned carton pack 2 is preferably manufactured from a cardboard material that is processed in such a way that it is resistant to fluids, for example waxed, and so that the bottom 4 of the carton pack 2 exhibits a smaller surface area than its top side 9.

Of the aforementioned side walls 5-8 of the carton pack 2, two side walls 5, 7 are essentially flat and are inclined slightly in a direction outwards viewed from the bottom 4 of the carton pack, and they preferably exhibit a number of reinforcing grooves 21, which extend vertically 22 on the carton pack.

The aforementioned locking devices 19, 20 exhibit male and female shape respectively and are formed by a locking tongue 20 projecting in a direction outwards 23 from the outer end 13A of one of the hinged lid flaps 13, which locking tongue is capable of being accommodated in a transcurrent slot-shaped lock opening 19 arranged in the outer end 11A of the opposing lid flap 11. The locking tongue 20 exhibits pairs of retaining flaps 27, 28 extending in a direction away from one another 24, 25 across the hinging direction 26 of the lid flap.

The slot-shaped lock opening 19 is formed in turn by an accommodating slot 19 extending across the hinging direction 29 of the associated lid flap 11 and passing through the lid flap 11 at its outer free end 11A, with an arched opening 30, which is so arranged for the purpose of accommodating the matching locking tongue 20 in the opposing lid flap 13. The four hinged lid flaps 10-13 exhibit bevelled corners 31 at the respective free end 10A, 11A, 12A, 13A of the flaps.

The aforementioned carton pack 2 is manufactured from a punched-out cardboard blank 32, for example as illustrated in Figure 2, or from similar material with creases and/or embossing 33-50 extending along edges intended for folding on the bottom 4, walls 5-8, folding connecting pieces 51-58 between the walls 5-8 and the lid flaps 10-13, and which in the folded-up position I are glued together to form an aforementioned pack 2.

The connecting pieces 51-58 between the walls 5-8 each exhibits its own crease rule 45-48, which extend from the respective corners 59-62 of the bottom and out to the outer edge 63-70 of the aforementioned respective connecting pieces 51-58.

The invention is described in detail above, and its function should have emerged clearly on the whole from the general and the specific description together with the drawings.

The most distinctive and unique feature of the invention should be the arrangement with the upper part 9 of the pack such that it forms an arched concave upper part 9 when the lid flaps 11, 13 are folded in towards the internal space 3 of the pack and with slightly outward-bulging sides 6, 8. It can be seen clearly from Fig. 5 that the side 6 is forced to bulge outwards when the lid flap 11 is folded into the pack, while the side 8 bulges inwards if the associated lid flap 13 is instead folded in a direction out from the pack.

The bottom 4 of the respective pack 2 can now be accommodated securely on a similar pack 2, which is standing on a base 71, or directly on the aforementioned base 71 without the risk of falling over, as can be appreciated from Fig. 7. Pairs of mutually opposing short edges 33, 35 on the bottom 4 are in contact with the concave top surface 9 of the pack 2 parallel with the pairs of short edges 49, 50 of the top surface 9.

Locking of the upper part 9 takes place in the manner illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 6, where the side flaps 10, 12 are folded outwards in order to illustrate the locking sequence more clearly.

When the central flaps 11, 13 are folded together, the locking tongue 20 engages with the lock opening 19. Continued downward pressure on the central flaps 11, 13 causes the locking tongue 20 to be accommodated fully by the lock opening 19. Both of the retaining flaps 27, 28 of the locking tongue 20 are held securely locked inside the lock opening 19, and the pack 2 is thus securely closed in the locked position II, as illustrated in Fig. 4.

Opening of the pack 2 is effected, for example, by causing one of the locking flaps 11 to be pushed down so that the two mutually locked locking flaps 11, 13 endeavour to disengage from one another, after which the locking tongue 20 can be withdrawn carefully from the lock opening 19 without the food inside the pack 2 being forced out. Alternatively, one of the lid flaps 13 can be lifted up so that the locking tongue 20 is withdrawn from the associated lock opening 19 at the same time as the other lid flap 11 is pressed down carefully.

The packs 2 can be stacked on top of one another when they are assembled as shown in Fig. 1 with the lid flaps extending vertically upwards 22, 23.

Dismantling a pack 2 to form an eating plate can take place by drawing apart the glued side connection pieces 51-58 from one another and from connecting sides 6, 8 and by unfolding the entire piece of material into the form of a plate . The pack is also environmentally friendly and can be deposited in a returnable packaging container after use and after rinsing.

The invention is not restricted to the illustrative embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings, but may be varied within the scope of the Patent Claims without departing from the idea of invention.

Claims

P a t e n t C l a i m s

1. Arrangement (1) for a pack (2) intended for food and similar in the form of a carton comprising a bottom (4), walls (5-8) and an openable and closable upper part (9) in the form of folding lid flaps (10-13) with a locking means (14) between pairs of lid flaps, characterized in that mutually opposing walls (11, 13) exhibit an arched, curved, concave upper edge (14, 15), in that a lid flap (11, 13) extends from the respective arched edge (14, 15) with an arched curved folding hinge (16, 17) between the one aforementioned side (6, 8) of the carton pack and the lid flap (11, 13), and in that both of the aforementioned lid flaps (11, 13) exhibit locking devices (19, 20) capable of interacting with one another.

2. Arrangement in accordance with Patent Claim 1, characterized in that the carton pack (2) is manufactured from a cardboard material, and in that the bottom (4) of the carton pack (2) exhibits a smaller surface area than its top side (9) .

3. Arrangement in accordance with Patent Claim 2, characterized in that the carton pack (2) exhibits four side walls (5-8), and in that two of these are inclined and are essentially flat.

4. Arrangement in accordance with Patent Claim 3, characterized in that the aforementioned flat side walls (5, 7) exhibit reinforcing grooves (21), which extend vertically (22) on the carton pack.

5. Arrangement in accordance with one or other of Patent Claims 1-4, characterized in that the locking devices (19, 20) are formed by a locking tongue (20) projecting in a direction outwards (23) from the outer end (13A) of one of the hinged lid flaps, which is capable of being accommodated in a transcurrent slot-shaped lock opening (19) in the outer end (11A) of the opposing lid flap (11) .

6. Arrangement in accordance with Patent Claim 5, characterized in that the locking tongue (20) exhibits pairs of retaining flaps (27, 28) extending in a direction away from one another (24, 25) across the hinging direction (26) of the lid flap.

7. Arrangement in accordance with Patent Claim 6, characterized in that the slot-shaped lock opening (19) is formed by an accommodating slot (19) extending across the hinging direction (29) of the associated lid flap (11) and passing through the lid flap (11) at its outer free end (11A) for the purpose of accommodating the locking tongue (20) in the opposing lid flap (13) .

8. Arrangement in accordance with one or other of Patent Claims 1-7, characterized in that the four hinged lid flaps (10-13) exhibit bevelled corners (31) at the respective free end (10A, 11A, 12A, 13A) .

9. Arrangement in accordance with one or other of

Patent Claims 1-8, characterized in that the carton pack (2) is manufactured from a punched-out cardboard blank with creases (33-50) extending along edges intended for folding on the bottom (4), walls (5-8), connecting pieces (51-58) between the walls (5-8) and the lid flaps (10-13), which are glued together to form a pack.

10. Arrangement in accordance with Patent Claim 9, characterized in that the connecting pieces (51-58) between the walls (5-8) each exhibits its own crease rule (45-48) extending from the respective corners (59-62) of the bottom and out to the outer edge (63-70) of the aforementioned respective connecting piece (51-58).