WO2021254844A1

WO2021254844A1 - Packaging for bottles

Info

Publication number: WO2021254844A1
Application number: PCT/EP2021/065468
Authority: WO
Inventors: Eric DELENTRÉE
Original assignee: Asval
Priority date: 2020-06-17
Filing date: 2021-06-09
Publication date: 2021-12-23
Also published as: BE1028404A1; BE1028404B1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a packaging item for bottles, comprising (i) a box (10) which is intended to receive the bases of the bottles (12) and whose walls (14) are extendable, and (ii) an essentially flat covering card (30) provided with essentially circular perforations (32) that are intended to engage over the necks of bottles. The walls (14) of the box (10) comprise additional vertical folds (18) in the corners of the box and/or along a vertical axis in the lateral faces (14) of the box (10). The box comprises a means for locking the folds (18), such as a tearable adhesive strip (20) that is applied to the folds (18) made in the walls (14) of the box (10).

Description

BOTTLE PACKAGING

[1] The present invention relates to packaging or packaging of bottles. It relates more particularly to packaging of beer bottles.

[2] Beer bottles, and in particular bottles containing so-called special beer, namely beer fermenting in a bottle, are generally packaged in racks or cardboard crates carrying 3 to 6 bottles. Several crates are gathered in a cardboard box and stored on pallets suitable for transport. The dimensions of the crates as well as the cardboard boxes must be such that a maximum number of bottles can be loaded on a given pallet in order to reduce storage and transport costs.

[3] Connoisseurs appreciate specialty beers, especially beers that ferment in the bottle or have yeast residues in the bottle, for their variety of taste. Some prefer to consume these beers after having dispersed the deposit formed at the bottom of the bottle in the liquid. Others prefer to consume these beers without shaking the bottle and dispersing the deposit of yeast which gives a certain bitterness to the beer. To do this, either we do not completely empty the bottle in order to leave the deposit intact, or we store the bottle in an inclined position and we avoid causing the deposit when pouring the bottle.

[4] The present invention aims to provide a packaging or packaging of bottles which allows storage and transport in an essentially vertical position in order to optimize the loading of the means of transport, cardboard boxes, pallets and the like, while allowing storage. in the inclined position of the bottles at the end consumer, before consumption.

[5] According to the invention, the packaging of bottles comprises (i) a box in particular cardboard intended to receive the bottle feet and whose walls are extensible, and (ii) a cover in particular essentially flat cardboard provided with perforations essentially circular intended to engage on the necks of bottles.

[6] According to an advantageous embodiment, the walls of the box have additional vertical folds in the corners of the box. When a traction is exerted in an essentially horizontal direction on the walls, the folds are undone and allow the extension of the walls of the box. [7] According to another embodiment, the walls of the box each include folds along a vertical axis in the side faces of the box. Also in this case, a traction exerted essentially horizontally on the walls allows the extension of the walls of the box.

[8] According to a first embodiment, the bottom of the box is formed by flaps integral with the walls of the box. A perforated or widely open bottom is thus left in order to facilitate handling and handling of the bottles during bottling and / or packaging.

[9] According to another embodiment, the bottom is also extensible, just like the walls, so that it can "follow" and therefore allow the walls to extend while also extending itself. To do this, the bottom advantageously comprises folds along axes connecting the intersection of the fold axes of the side walls with the bottom of the box with a point of intersection of the fold axes made in the bottom of the box. Preferably, this point of intersection corresponds to the center of symmetry of the bottom of the box.

[10] In the context of the invention, the point of intersection of the fold axes made in the bottom of the box is materialized by a cutout in the cardboard in order to allow extensions in different directions.

[11] In order to facilitate storage and transport, the box, in particular made of cardboard, includes a means for locking the folds, such as for example a tear-off adhesive tape applied, preferably outside the box, to the folds made in the walls. of the box and / or in the bottom of the box. In order to facilitate tearing, the adhesive tape may have nicks or pits.

[12] The essentially circular perforations made in the cover, in particular the cover cardboard, are advantageously provided with serrated notches which facilitate the engagement of the periphery of the perforations under a bead of the bottle neck or under the cap of the bottle. bottle.

[13] Advantageously the cover and in particular the cover cardboard is dimensioned so as to enable the weight of the bottles to be supported. The user can thus carry the crate by said cover cardboard. To do this, it is possible to provide a cutout allowing the passage of the fingers of one hand, for example. [14] It is understood that in the context of the present invention, the terms "vertical" and "horizontal" have the usual meaning, the object being in the normal storage position.

[15] The packaging crates of the present invention can be arranged in the form of a prism to contain 3 bottles or preferably in the form of a parallelepiped to contain 4 bottles.

[16] The bottles are placed vertically in the packaging crate of the invention, in its constricted position, and are thus kept in a tight state against each other, for storage and transport, while taking up as little space as possible. For storage at the end consumer, the latter can then break the tear-off adhesive strips and rotate on itself, in an essentially horizontal plane, the cover connecting the bottle necks, namely the cover cardboard, thus twisting the arrangement of the bottles, which tilt in the box, like a bundle of straw or a bale of straw. It will easily be understood that this inclination is permitted by virtue of the extension of the box itself. The tear-off sticky tape may be ruptured by traction exerted upon twisting the arrangement of the bottles or by a tear made by the user.

[17] One can also provide one or more locking flaps fixed to the cover, which are arranged to allow fixing the angular position of the cover, or the inclined position of the bottles, by fitting the flap into the box.

[18] An inclination of the order of 15 to 45 ° for the storage of the bottles allows the lees to be deposited by gravity on only part of the bottom of the bottle. The end user will then be able, after a sufficient standing time, to empty the bottle into a glass while preventing the swirl occurring in the bottle during this operation following the entry of air from causing the dregs in the glass. .

[19] The invention is described in more detail in the example below, in support of the figures in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a package according to the invention; and Figure 2 is a schematic cross section showing a box bottom of the packaging according to the invention. [20] As an example, consider a package of 4 bottles of special beer. As can be seen more particularly in Figure 1, the packaging of the invention comprises a cardboard box 10 arranged to receive four bottles of special beer 12, and a cover card 30 provided with perforations 32 arranged to engage. on the necks of the bottles. A characteristic of this packaging consists in that the walls 14 and the bottom 16 of the box 10 are extensible. This characteristic is achieved by folds in the cardboard forming the walls 14 and the bottom 16. According to the invention, the walls 14 each comprise at least one fold 18 in a direction or a vertical folding axis (when the packaging is in position storage). In order to prevent the folds from opening and the packaging from expanding during handling, transport and storage operations, the extension of the walls 10 or the unfolding of the vertical folds 18 made in the walls 10 by a tear-off sticky strip 20. In order to allow the bottom 16 to follow the extension of the walls and also to extend, folds 22, 24 are also made in the bottom of the box. In the example shown, two perpendicular folds 22 and 24 are provided which cross at the center 26 of the bottom 16 of the box 10. These allow the bottom to be extended in two essentially perpendicular directions.

[21] The intersection 26 of the two folds 22 and 24 made in the bottom 16 is hollowed out or materialized by a cutout or a hole in the cardboard box of the bottom 16.

[22] Advantageously, the bottom of the box is perforated, in particular at the place serving as a support for the bottle feet. This makes it possible in certain cases to facilitate the handling of the bottles. It is understood that an edge remains necessary to support the bottles in their housing.

[23] The box 10 is dimensioned such that it is suitable for receiving and clamping, in the unexpanded state, four bottles clamped against each other. The pressure is provided by the tear-off adhesive tape 20 which prevents the deployment of the corresponding vertical fold 18. During packaging, four bottles of special beer 12 are therefore placed in the box 10 thus formed and then the cover cardboard is pressed onto the necks of the bottles which come to engage in the bores 32. These may have a peripheral circumference. sawtooth or the like to facilitate hanging the cover cardboard under a bead of the bottle neck or under the bottle cap. The cover cardboard advantageously also comprises one or more cutouts 34, possibly partial, in its center in order to allow the passage of several fingers in order to carry the crate of beer bottles thus formed. Bottles pressed together take up as little space as possible. Several packages of this type can be placed in an appropriately sized cardboard box and cardboard boxes can be loaded onto a transport pallet.

[24] The end user purchases the four-bottle package and can store it as is or exert a pivoting force on the cover cardboard around its center or on the bottle necks and thus tip the bottles from one to the other. angle from 15 to 45 The tear-off sticky tape can be sized to tear due to the traction exerted by the pivoting force. As a variant, provision can be made for the user to tear the strip before performing the pivoting movement. The pivoting movement can be blocked by a locking flap 16 integral with the cover cardboard 30. The tilting of the bottles is allowed by virtue of the extension of the box 10.

[25] The adhesive tape may have nicks or pits to facilitate tearing.

[26] The visible faces of the packaging of the invention can receive advertising inscriptions, as generally practiced in the field.

[27] As mentioned above, we can omit the bottom as shown in the figures and replace it with simple flaps integral with the side walls in order to facilitate handling of the bottles. It is understood that the bottom does not play a major supporting role since the bottles are suspended from the cover cardboard.

[28] The packaging of the invention therefore makes it possible to store special beer bottles in an inclined position, thus offering the end consumer the possibility of consuming the beer without dispersing the deposit which has formed in the bottle.

Claims

1. Bottle packaging comprising (i) a box (10) intended to receive the bottle feet (12) and the walls (14) of which are extensible, and (ii) an essentially flat cover (30) provided with perforations (32 ) essentially circular intended to engage on the necks of bottles.

2. Bottle packaging according to claim 1 characterized in that the walls (14) of the box (10) have additional vertical folds in the corners of the box.

3. Bottle packaging according to claim 1 or 2 characterized in that the walls (14) of the box (10) each comprise folds (18) along a vertical axis in the side walls (14) of the box.

4. Bottle packaging according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bottom of the box (10) is formed by flaps integral with the walls.

5. Bottle packaging according to one of claims 1 to 3 characterized in that the bottom (16) of the box (10) is extensible and has folds (24) along axes connecting the intersection of the fold axes (18) side walls with the bottom of the box with a point of intersection (26) of the fold axes made in the bottom (16) of the box (10).

6. Bottle packaging according to claim 5 characterized in that the point of intersection (26) corresponds to the center of symmetry of the bottom (16) of the box (10).

7. Bottle packaging according to claim 5 or 6 characterized in that the point of intersection (26) of the fold axes (24) formed in the bottom (16) of the box (10) is materialized by a cutout in the material. of the box.

8. Bottle packaging according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the box (10) comprises a means for locking the folds, such as for example a tear-off adhesive tape (20) applied, preferably outside the box, on the folds (18) made in the walls (14) of the box (10) and / or in the bottom (16) of the box (10).

9. Bottle packaging according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the essentially circular perforations (32) made in the cover are advantageously provided with sawtooth notches.

10. Bottle packaging according to one of the preceding claims characterized in that one or more locking flaps (36) are fixed to the cover (30), said locking flaps (36) being arranged to fix the angular position of the cover (30) by fitting into the box (10).

11. Packaging according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the box and / or the cover are made of cardboard.