WO2014162149A1

WO2014162149A1 - Improvements in and relating to covered box construction and methods relating thereto

Info

Publication number: WO2014162149A1
Application number: PCT/GB2014/051060
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chris Hallam
Original assignee: Concept Packaging Services Limited
Priority date: 2013-04-04
Filing date: 2014-04-04
Publication date: 2014-10-09
Also published as: GB201306090D0

Abstract

A partially constructed covered box suitable for construction into a made up covered box (100). The partially constructed covered box includes a covered box blank (2); an inner liner layer (10); and an outer cover layer (14). The covered box blank comprises three side walls each comprising an inner wall panel in face to face relationship with an outer wall layer; the inner liner layer covers the covered box blank on an inside; the outer cover layer covers the covered box blank on an outer side; and a fourth side wall (4a, 6d) is configured to be constructed by overlapping single layers from either end of the three other side walls to form an end inner wall panel and an end outer wall panel.

Description

Improvements in and Relating to

Covered Box Construction and Methods Relating Thereto

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to covered box construction and methods relating thereto.

Background to the Invention Relatively tall covered boxes, for instance those suitable for bottles of wine or whiskey, that are covered to improve their appearance are difficult to construct in a way that is convenient to transport and easy to construct. In particular they are normally transported in a made up state and are not possible to fold flat. It is an aim of preferred embodiments of the invention to address the problem identified above but the present invention is not limited to embodiments that solve the problem referred to above.

Summary of the Invention According to the present invention in a first aspect, there is provided a partially constructed covered box suitable for construction into a made up covered box, the partially constructed covered box comprising: a covered box blank; an inner liner layer; and an outer cover layer; wherein the covered box blank comprises three side walls each comprising an inner wall panel in face to face relationship with an outer wall layer; the inner liner layer covers the covered box blank on an inside; the outer cover layer covers the covered box blank on an outer side; and a fourth side wall is configured to be constructed by overlapping single layers from either end of the three other side walls to form an end inner wall panel and an end outer wall panel.

Suitably, the end inner wall panel overlaps the end outer layer by at least a third of its width; more suitably more than half its width and preferably for its full width.

Suitably, the end inner wall panel has a substantially squared off end.

Suitably, the partially constructed covered box additionally comprises a base arrangement that is made up of single layer elements.

Suitably, a liner layer has a free flap for closing over the end of the made up fourth side wall. According to the present invention in a second aspect, there is provided a covered box constructed from the partially constructed covered box of the first aspect of the invention.

According to the present invention in a third aspect, there is provided a method of construction of a covered box from a partially constructed covered box, the method comprising: providing a partially constructed covered box according to the first aspect of the invention in a first location; transporting the partially constructed covered box from the first location to a second location remote from the first location; and constructing a covered box from the partially constructed covered box in the second location.

Brief Description of the Drawings

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

Figure 1 is a plan view of a rigid board blank;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the blank of Figure 1 partially folded and glued; Figures 3a is a plan view of a an inner liner paper and Figure 3b is a plan view of an outer cover paper;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the blank of Figures 1 and 2 with the inner liner paper of Figure 3a applied thereto;

Figure 5 is a plan view of the blank of Figure 4 with the outer cover paper applied; Figure 6 is a perspective view of the top of a partly erect covered box from the blank of Figure 5; Figure 7 is a perspective view of the top of an erect covered box; Figure 8 is a perspective view of a fully erect covered box; and

Figure 9 is a plan view of a covered box blank according to another aspect of the present invention.

It is noted that the Figures are not necessarily each to the same scale. Detailed Description of Example Embodiments

Referring to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings, there is shown a covered box blank 2 formed from rigid board. The covered box blank comprises inner wall panels 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d and outer wall panels 6a, 6b, 6c 6d. Each wall panel is hingedly connected to an adjacent wall panel by a fold line. Each wall panel is substantially rectangular in shape. Depending from inner wall panel 4d and from outer wall panels 4b, 4c, 4d are base forming elements 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d hingedly connected to the respective wall panel from which they depend by a fold line. Inner wall panel 4a extends from outer wall panel 6a from a long edge thereof and is hingedly connected thereto by a fold line.

The fold lines can in each case be formed from any combination of:

- Slots (where there is no board material at all-the two paper layers form the join);

- V-grooves or routed grooves (where a substantial amount of the board is scooped away or routed out);

- Creases (where a folding line is indented); and/or

- Scores (where a partial cut is made in the board).

However, the method of forming a fold line is not limited thereto.

It is noted that inner wall panels and outer wall panels are dimensioned to be of effectively equivalent size, taking account of allowances for folding of the covered box blank to form the covered box as described below. A manner of construction of a covered box from the blank of Figure 1 will now be described.

Referring to Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings, there is shown the blank of Figure 1 with the inner wall panels 4b, 4c, 4d folded down and glued to outer wall panels 6a, 6b, 6c, respectively (it is noted that the blank is reversed as compared with Figure 1). Thus, three walls of the covered box are formed of double thickness board with wall panels in a face to face relationship.

Referring to Figure 3a of the accompanying drawings there is shown an inner liner paper 10 which corresponds to the shape of covered box blank 2 except for an extension tab 12 at one end to cover an exposed edge. Inner liner paper 10 is affixed to the inside of the blank of Figure 2 with glue as shown in Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings.

Referring to Figure 3b of the accompanying drawings, there is shown an outer paper cover 14, which is configured to overlap the covered box blank on the top edge, that being the edge defined by the hinged connections between inner wall panels 4b, 4c, 4d and outer wall panels 6a, 6b, 6c and on the made up exposed edges of the base forming elements. The outer paper cover 14 is affixed to the covered box blank 2 on the outside and folded over the raw edges except for final extension flap 16 as shown in Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings.

It is possible, but not preferred, for the partially constructed covered box to be transported in this flat state that the partially constructed covered box can be transported from a first point of manufacture to a second point of manufacture typically a large distance from the first point of manufacture. Usually the partially constructed covered boxes will be packaged together for transport and in doing so considerable space is saved by transporting them flat.

Next the covered box is made up by folding the wall panels round to form the erect covered box shape, in this case a square. The outer wall panel 6d is arranged over the inner wall panel 4a and glued thereto in a face to face relationship. That is the inner wall panel 4a that extends from outer wall panel 6a is attached to the outer wall panel 6d at the opposite distal end of the line of outer wall panels 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d. Thus a fourth wall of double thickness is formed.

The wall panels 4a and 6d (end wall panels) are dimensioned so that an open end 18 of inner wall panel 4a butts into the hinge 20 between the outer wall panel 6d at the distal end of the outer wall panels and the adjacent outer wall panel 6c to align the inner 4a and outer 6d walls correctly. Thus the walls are squared off even if the construction is manual. This partially formed construction is shown in Figure 6 of the accompanying drawings with the final extension flap 16 not yet folded over the open edge of the inner wall panel 4a and outer wall panel 6d. It is noted that the open longitudinal edges of panels 4a and 6d are square and not bevelled. This makes for a strong construction especially at the corners.

Next the final extension flap 16 is folded over to cover the open edge of the inner wall panel 4a and outer wall panel 6d and glued down as shown in Figure 7 of the accompanying drawings.

It is preferred that the partially constructed covered box is folded-flat and transported in this state from a first point of manufacture to a second point of manufacture typically a large distance from the first point of manufacture before the base is made up. Usually the partially constructed covered boxes will be packaged together for transport and in doing so considerable space is saved by transporting them in a fold flat state.

The base forming elements are now assembled in known manner to form the base of the constructed covered box 100 as shown in Figure 8 of the accompanying drawings. The base construction is of single thickness board. In an example modification to the embodiment described above, it is possible for the closing panels, those that connect the ends of the construction, panels 4a and 6d in the embodiment described above, to be formed so that panel 4a is truncated to mate with an additional partial inner wall panel 50 adjacent wall panel 4d . Such a construction is illustrated as a blank in Figure 9 of the accompanying drawings. Other tessellating structures can be used in place of walls 4a and 50.

The wall panels could be hingedly connected by routed grooves or could be applied as separate pieces to an inner or outer cover layer.

Although referred to as a paper, the inner and outer liner layers can be made from other suitable materials. The base panels can be integral to the blank as shown in the Figures or a separate piece or pieces can be fixed on to the lined and covered blank before it is formed into a tube. Furthermore, the base panels can be of thinner material and would be fixed only at the bottom of the blank (say by a short 40mm sidewall). In addition a blank can be produced wherein the three inner sidewalls are shorter than the outer walls. This allows for a separate base section to be fixed into a recess. The top of the pack is identical comprising the strong join features.

The invention extends to open ended covered boxes as well as to covered boxes closed at both ends. Although in the described embodiment the inner liner is applied first, it is possible to apply the outer cover first and then the inner liner. In each case, the final panel 16 is always turned over last.

The joining method and construction of embodiments of the present invention with substantial face to face contact and adhesion with a flap wrapped around the top to finish the covered box makes for a significantly stronger construction. This would allow for an inner fitting tight plug lid with there being no significant likelihood of the join to open up.

Attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference. All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s). The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Claims

1 . A partially constructed covered box suitable for construction into a made up covered box, the partially constructed covered box comprising:

a covered box blank;

an inner liner layer; and

an outer cover layer;

wherein the covered box blank comprises three side walls each comprising an inner wall panel in face to face relationship with an outer wall layer;

the inner liner layer covers the covered box blank on an inside;

the outer cover layer covers the covered box blank on an outer side; and

a fourth side wall is configured to be constructed by overlapping single layers from either end of the three other side walls to form an end inner wall panel and an end outer wall panel.

2. The partially constructed covered box according to claim 1 , in which the end inner wall panel overlaps the end outer layer by at least a third of its width.

3. The partially constructed covered box according to claim 1 or 2, in which the end inner wall panel overlaps the end outer layer by more half its width.

4. The partially constructed covered box according to claim 1 , 2 or 3, in which the end inner wall panel overlaps the end outer layer for its full width.

5. The partially constructed covered box according to any preceding claim, wherein the end inner wall panel has a substantially squared off end.

6. The partially constructed covered box according to any preceding claim, additionally comprising a base arrangement that is made up of single layer elements.

7. The partially constructed covered box according to any preceding claim, wherein a liner layer has a free flap for closing over the end of the made up fourth side wall.

8. A covered box constructed from the partially constructed covered box according to any preceding claim.

9. A method of construction of a covered box from a partially constructed covered box, the method comprising:

providing a partially constructed covered box according to any of claims 1 to 7 in a first location;

transporting the partially constructed covered box from the first location to a second location remote from the first location; and

constructing a covered box from the partially constructed covered box in the second location.