EP1640279B1

EP1640279B1 - Container

Info

Publication number: EP1640279B1
Application number: EP05255964A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Christopher Harold Chilton; Paul Matthew Johnson; Stuart James Cameron Simm; Christopher Pointon; Arthur Cutting
Original assignee: SCA Packaging Ltd
Current assignee: SCA Packaging Ltd
Priority date: 2004-09-24
Filing date: 2005-09-26
Publication date: 2008-07-30
Anticipated expiration: 2025-09-26
Also published as: EP1640279A2; GB0421334D0; ATE402874T1; EP1640279A3; GB2418419A; DE602005008529D1

Abstract

The present invention relates to containers 36 having a plurality of walls 6,10,12 wherein at least one 12 of the plurality of walls comprises an inner 4 and an outer 12 panel. The inner panel 4 comprises a line of weakness defining a closure member 32. The outer panel 12 comprises an edge 34. The edge 34 is arranged such that outer panel 12 covers substantially all of line of weakness such as to protect this line of weakness from outside forces during transport and obscures an edge created along the line of weakness after separating closure member 32 from panel 4 from view.

Description

The present invention relates to containers and in particular to containers that are configured to be transformed from a transport/transit configuration to a display configuration. Such containers are sometimes referred to as transit and display containers.
Some such containers have a base part and a top part separable from the base along lines of perforation. Such containers can accordingly be transformed, for example by shop personnel, from a transit state into a display state without the need for special tools or equipment.
After separation of such parts of the container from each other along such a line of perforation, an edge of the container panels created by this separating may not give a clean cut appearance but may instead comprise parts of the material that had connected the parts of the container prior to separation. This may negatively affect the overall visual appearance of the container in its display configuration.
US 3258156 discloses a tissue dispenser having a removeable section in the top panel.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome or mitigate the above problem, and from a first aspect the present invention provides a container as claimed in claim 1.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a container blank for erecting into a container as described above comprising: a first panel and a second panel, said first panel and said second panel arranged such that in the erected container the first panel overlaps at least partially with the second panel and being arranged inside of the second panel, said second panel having an access opening formed therein; said first panel comprising a line of weakness defining a section on said first panel that can be separated from said first panel to provide an opening in said first panel in alignment with said access opening in said second panel in the erected container; wherein said line of weakness lies behind said second panel so as to be covered by said second panel in the erected container.
As the line of weakness is arranged behind the front panel, when the section it surrounds is removed, any untidiness in the torn edge will be hidden by the front panel, leading to a tidier appearance. Also, since the line of weakness is covered it is protected to some extent from forces which might tend to tear it during transit.
Preferably the edge of said access opening in said outer or second panel is arranged to extend substantially parallel to the line of weakness.
Most preferably the line of weakness is set back between 1 and 3 mm from the edge of the access opening.
When erecting a container from a blank, overlap between two panels at opposing ends of a series of panels is desirable, such as to permit closure of all open edges of an erected container. In some previously known container constructions a narrow tab is provided at one end of a series of panels for this purpose. This tab can be glued, stapled or otherwise attached to a panel on the opposite end of a series of panels.
In a container blank of a preferred embodiment the first and second panels are arranged at opposing ends of a series of panels. An adhesive is preferably applied to an area of the face of the first panel that faces the second panel during erecting of the container or to an area of the face of the second panel that faces the first panel during erecting of the container such as to adhere the first and second panels to each other. This preferred embodiment accordingly dispenses with the need for glue tabs.
In an alternative arrangement, the first or inner panel may be directly hingedly connected to the second or outer panel. In this embodiment the first or inner panel can therefore be folded into the container so as to be arranged back to back in contact with the second or outer panel. Preferably one or more other side walls of the container also have a double thickness in their upper parts formed by panels being folded into the container into contact with outer panels.
The line of weakness can comprise a cut line, so that only parts of the line of weakness need to be torn during opening. Such a cut line can extend vertically along the entire height of the section on the inner panel. Preferably such cut lines extend along the entire height of the section of the inner panel on both sides of the section.
An upwardly extending cut line defining part of the section on the inner panel preferably comprises a wave-like, undulating or zig-zag section. Providing such a wave-like, undulating or zig-zag section, ensures that vertical load in the container wall comprising the removable section is transmitted from the removable section to the remainder of the inner panel across the cut line without the need for bridging material connecting the removable section with the remainder of the inner panel, as would be the case in a line of perforation.
Preferably the inner panel is secured to the outer panel. More preferably the inner panel is adhered to the outer panel.
The inner panel preferably extends over substantially the entire height of the outer panel over at least part of the width of the outer panel. The inner panel therefore acts as an additional or reinforcing layer that is able to support a vertical load. Thus the combination of inner and outer layer is able to support a larger vertical load than the outer layer would be able to support in the absence of the inner layer. Preferably the inner panel extends over substantially the entire height of the outer panel along two side edges of said outer panel, thus acting to reinforce the edge regions of the outer layer. Preferably the inner panel is secured to the outer panel along at least a part of the two side edges.
The separable section of the inner panel is preferably arranged so as to narrow when the separable section of said inner panel is pulled through the access opening. It will be appreciated that, as the line of weakness is arranged behind the outer panel, the separable section is somewhat larger than the access opening. This can make it difficult to pull the separable section through the access opening. Arranging the separable section so that it narrows when it is being pulled through the access opening overcomes this problem.
Preferably, therefore, a fold line is provided on the separable section of said inner panel, the fold line being arranged so as to narrow the section of the inner panel when that section folds about the fold line. The fold line is preferably formed on the inside surface of said section.
The fold line preferably extends in an upward direction. The predetermined fold line preferably terminates adjacent a finger hole in said separable section. Forces introduced by pulling the separable section through the finger hole can, in this arrangement, facilitate bending of the separable section about the fold line.
The separable section is preferably hingedly connected to the container. More preferably the separable section is hingedly connected to the container along a line of weakness.
As mentioned above, in one arrangement, the first or inner panel may be directly hingedly connected to the second or outer panel. This arrangement is believed to be advantageous in that it allows a different surface finish to be provided in the upper inner part of the container. In particular, being folded into the container the visible surface of the inner flap will be the same as the surface of the outer container wall. This is typically printed, so that printed matter can be provided on the inner surface of the container in a convenient manner.
Preferably the inner panel is formed with a top flap which closes the container.
Preferably all the side walls of the container are formed with a double thickness in the manner above, and preferably each second, inner panel has a top flap.
In the preferred embodiment, the blank comprises a series of first, outer panels hingedly connected together and a series of second, inner panels hingedly connected together. Preferably only selected panels of the second series of panels are directly hingedly connected to the first series of panels. In a preferred embodiment, every other panel of the second series of panels is directly hingedly connected to the corresponding panel of the first series of panels. Preferably the hinged connections take place at the front and rear walls of the container.
Preferably flaps forming the bottom of an erected container are hingedly attached to those panels of the first series of panels which are not hingedly connected to the panels of the second series of panels. Most preferably, edges of the bottom flaps and the corresponding second panels lie adjacent each other in the blank.
As mentioned above, printing is preferably applied to one surface of the container blank such that it may be observed on the outside of the container and the folded in panels. This provides printing on both an outside and an inside surface of a container without the need for potentially costly printing on both surfaces of the container blank.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a preferred container blank;
Figure 2-1 shows a preferred container erected from the blank of Figure 1 in a close state;
Figure 2-2 shows the container of Figure 2-1 during a first stage of opening;
Figure 2-3 shows the container of Figures 2-1 and 2-2 during a second stage of opening;
Figure 2-4 shows the container of Figures 2-1, 2-2 and 2-3 in an opened configuration;
Figure 3 shows the bottom face of another preferred container blank;
Figure 4 shows the blank of Figure 3 with the lower half folded along line 3-3 of Fig. 3 onto the upper half of that blank;
Figure 5-1 shows a container erected from the blank of Figures 3 and 4 in a front perspective;
Figure 5-2 shows the container of Figure 5-1 from a back perspective;
Figure 5-3 shows the container of Figures 5-1 and 5-2 during opening;
Figures 5-4 shows the container of Figures 5-1, 5-2 and 5-3 in an opened state in a front perspective;
Figures 5-5 shows the container of Figures 5-1, 5-2 and 5-3 in an opened state in a back perspective;
Figure 6 shows a further preferred blank for erecting into a transit and display container; and
Figure 7 shows yet another preferred blank for erecting into a transit and display container.

Figure 1 shows a blank 2 of paperboard, cardboard or other foldable sheet material for erecting into a transit and display container. The blank comprises a series of five panels 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 hingedly connected to each other. Blank 2 further comprises a series of top flaps 14,16,18 and 20 that are hingedly attached to panels 4,6,8 and 10 respectively via lines of perforations 22,24,26 and 28, and a series of bottom flaps 15, 17, 19, 21 also hingedly attached to panels 6, 8, 10 and 12. The panel 4 comprises a U-shaped line of perforations 30 which defines a removable flap 32. The panel 12 comprises an access opening 34.
Figure 2-1 shows a container 36 that has been erected from blank 2 in its closed configuration. The blank 2 is erected into a tubular form with the panel 12 arranged in front of and overlapping the panel 4 to give a double thickness front wall. The panels 4, 12 are glued to each other only in the area outside the line of perforations 30 in the inner panel 4. The top flaps 14,16,18 and 20 are folded over and closed for example by using adhesive tape, so as to form a lid 38. It should be noted that lid 38 is not attached to the outer front wall panel 12, but merely to the inner panel 4.
The line of perforations 30 in the inner front wall panel 4 is positioned and sized such that when the container is erected it lies wholly behind and is covered by the outer panel 12. In fact, the line of perforations is set back from the edge of the access opening by about 1-3 mm. Thus from the outside of the container only a part of the removable flap 32 of the inner panel 4 is visible. The remainder of panel 4 including the line of perforation 30 is covered by the outer panel 12.
Figure 2-2 shows a first stage of the process of opening the container 36. Firstly, the removable flap 32 is pressed inwardly, for example by shop personnel, so as to break the line of perforations 30 and detach it from the remainder of the inner panel 4. In an alternative embodiment the removable flap 32 may be configured such that it can be pulled outwardly such as to detach it from the remainder of the inner panel 4. Then the lid 38 is separated from container 36 along the lines of perforation 22,24,26 and 28 as is shown in Fig. 2-3. The flap 32 remains attached to the flap 14 so that the flap and lid 38 can be removed as one piece.
Figure 2-4 shows the container 36 in its open state. Goods displayed for purchase in container 36 in this open state can be taken from the container through the opening defined by edge 34 or through the top of the container.
As described above, since the access opening defined in the outer panel 12 overlies the line of perorations 30 in the inner panel 4, the edge created by separating the flap 32 from the inner panel 4 along that line of perforation 30 is accordingly hidden from view by panel 12. Accordingly, the user will see a clean cut edge defined around the access opening 34 rather than an untidy and possibly damaged edge created along the line of perforations 30. The visual appearance of container 36 in its opened state is therefore improved.
Figure 3 shows a blank 60 of a container according to a further embodiment of the invention. Blank 60 comprises a first section 62 and a second section 64. These sections are hingedly connected to each other along hinge lines 63 and 65.
Each of the first and second sections has a top face (which cannot be seen in Fig. 3) and a bottom face. Fig. 3 shows the bottom faces of the first and second sections of blank 60. The first section 62 of blank 60 comprises panels 66,68,70 and 72, with bottom forming flaps 82,84,86 and 88 hingedly attached thereto. Second section 64 of blank 60 comprises panels 74,76,78 and 80, with top flaps 90,92,94 and 96 hingedly attached thereto via lines of perforation 98, 100 and 102 and a hinge line 106. The flaps 82 and 86 are separated from the panels 74 and 78 by cut lines 103 and 105. Tabs 106 and 108 are provided for securing panels 66 and 72 to each other during erecting the container.
An access opening 109 is defined in panel 68, while a removable front flap 124 is defined in panel 76. In addition, a rear opening 127 is defined in panel 72 and an opening flap 126 defined in panel 80.
A container 120 as shown in Fig. 5-1 to 5-5 is erected from blank 60 by folding the second section 64 of blank 60 relative to the first section 62 of blank 60 about hinge lines 63 and 65. Figure 4 shows the arrangement 106 of the blank after this folding step. Surfaces that are part of the bottom face of first section 62 of the blank 60 or part of the bottom face of the second section 64 of the blank 60 are shown hatched. Surfaces that are part of the top face of the first section 62 of the blank 60 or part of the second section 64 of blank 60 are shown plain. These latter surfaces are intended to be printed, e.g. for display purposes. No part of the top surface of the first section 62 of blank 60 or of the bottom surface of the second section 64 of blank 60 is visible in Figure 4.
Figures 5-1 and 5-2 show perspective views of a container 120 erected from blank 60 in front and back perspectives respectively. The intermediate blank shown in Figure 4 is assembled into a tubular form, and the bottom flaps 82, 84, 86, 88 folded over and secured to close the bottom of the container. Product is then filled into the container and the top flaps 90,92, 94, 96 then secured together to close the top of the container.
Surfaces that are part of the bottom face of the first section 62 or that are part of the bottom face of the second section 64 are shown hatched throughout Figures 5-1 to 5-5. As can be seen from Figures 5-1 to 5-2 the outer surface of the container in lid 122, flap 124 and opening flap 126 of container 120 comprises the bottom face of the second section 62 of container blank 60 i.e. these parts are unprinted.
Figures 5-3 shows the container 120 during opening. In the opening process opening member 126 is separated from the remainder of panel 80 (which is not visible in the illustration of Figure 5-3) along the line of perforation 128. Thereafter lid 122 is separated from the remainder of the container 120 along lines of perforation 98 and 102. Panels 74 and 78 which formed part of the top face of the second section of container blank 60 can be seen on the inner surface of container after the lid is removed. Thus a user may see printed matter on the inner wall of the container as product is being removed from the container.
Figures 5-4 and 5-5 are perspective views of container 120 in its open or display state seen in a front and back perspective respectively with lid 122 fully detached from the remainder of the container along lines of perforation 98,100 and 102 and removable flap 124 fully detached from panel 76. It should be noted that in this embodiment, as in the earlier embodiment, the access opening 109 is slightly smaller that the flap 124 such as to cover the line of perforations 125 defining the flap 124. Thus when the flap 124 is removed, a clean access opening is produced, as in the earlier embodiment.
Opening of container 120 may of course be accomplished in the reverse order, by first detaching front closure member 124 from panel 76, followed by detaching lid 122 from the remainder of container 120 along lines of perforation 98 and 102 and final detachment of flap 126 from panel 80.
Figure 6 shows another preferred blank 150 for erecting into a transit and display container. The blank 150 comprises a series of five hingedly connected panels 152, 154, 156, 158 and 160. The four panels 152, 154, 156 and 158 comprise wall panels 162, 164, 166 and 168 which, in an erected state, define the front, back and side walls of a transit and display container. Panel 160 forms a further wall panel which, in an erected state of the container overlies the wall panel 162 and is arranged on the outside of the wall panel 162.
Bottom flaps 170, 172, 174 and 176 are attached to the wall panels 162, 164, 166 and 168 along hinged lines 178, 180, 182 and 184. Top flaps 186, 188, 190 and 192 are hingedly attached to the wall panels 162, 164, 166 and 168 along lines of weakness 194, 196, 198 and 200, so that top flaps 186, 188, 190 and 192 are separable from wall panels 162, 164, 166 and 168 along these lines of weakness 194, 196, 198 and 200.
A closure flap 202 is defined in the wall panel 162. The vertical edges 204 and 206 that define the closure flap 202 are cut lines. The bottom edge 208 of the closure flap 202 is defined by a line of weakness that connects the closure flap to the remainder of the panel 162. Prior to removal of the closure flap 202 the closure flap 202 is prevented from movement towards the inside of an erected container by its connection to the remainder of the panel 162 through the line of weakness 208. The top edge of the closure flap 202 is connected to the top flap 186 along a hinge line 210, so that the closure flap 202 can be removed from the panel 150 in one piece, together with the top flap 186.
The cut lines 204 and 206 can be straight cut lines or can alternatively be wave-shaped cut lines, also known as safety edges in the art, or zig-zag shaped cut lines. An advantage of using wave-shaped cut lines is that a vertical load can be transmitted between the closure flap 202 and the reinforced remainder of the panel 162 without requiring bridging material between the closure flap 202 and the remainder of the panel 162, as used in lines of perforation.
A finger hole 212 is further provided in the closure flap 202. This finger hole 212 permits inserting of a finger into the container in an erected state and pulling of the closure flap 202 in an outward direction, thus facilitating separation of the closure flap 202 from the remainder of the panel 162.
An aperture defined by cut edge 214 is provided in the panel 160. The aperture area defined by this cut edge 214 is smaller than the area of the closure flap 202, so that the edge 214 extends inwards of the edges 204 and 206 and of the line of weakness 208 when the panel 160 is in alignment with and overlies the wall panel 162 in a container erected from the blank 150.. Accordingly, in a container erected from the blank 150 shown in Fig. 6, the edges 204 and 206 and the line of weakness 208 are hidden from view by panel 160, thus ensuring that the visual appeal of a container erected from the blank 160 is not diminished by a remainder of the line of weakness 208 being visible to a customer after opening of such a container.
In a preferred container erected from the blank 150 shown in Fig. 6, the top flaps 186, 188, 190 and 192 form the top closure of the container and can be adhered to each other. The bottom closure flaps 170, 172, 174 and 176 form the bottom closure of the preferred container in the erected state.
A container erected from the blank 150 shown in Fig. 6 is preferable opened by a user by insertion of a finger into the container through the finger hole 212 and by exertion of a pulling force onto the closure flap 202. This pulling force causes the line of weakness 208 to break and the closure flap 202 to move forwardly and towards the outside of the container through the aperture in panel 160 defined by the cut line 214. The top closure of the container can be removed in one piece with the closure flap 202 by separating the top of the container from the remainder of the container along the lines of weakness 194, 196, 198 and 200 after the closure flap 202 has been pulled through the aperture in panel 160 defined by the cut line 214.
Fig. 7 shows a further preferred blank 220 for erecting into a transit and display container. The blank 220 is similar to the blank 150 shown in Fig. 6 and like components are designated by like reference numerals in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7.
The blank 220 shown in Fig. 7 differs from the blank 150 shown in Fig. 6 in the way the closure flap 222 is configured. As can be seen from Fig. 7, the finger hole 224 provided in the closure flap 222 is arranged at the bottom edge of the closure flap 222 and is partly defined by the line of weakness 208. This is advantageous as a pulling force applied to the closure flap 222 through finger hole 224 is applied immediately adjacent the line of weakness 208 that is to be broken by this pulling force.
As discussed above, the area defined by the cut edges 204 and 206 and by the line of weakness 208 is larger than the aperture defined by cut edge 214. Depending on the difference in size of the aperture defined by cut edge 214 and of the closure flap 202/222, it may be difficult to pull the closure flap 202 shown in Fig. 6 through the aperture defined by cut edge 214.
To overcome this, the closure flap 222 shown in Fig. 7 comprises three fold lines 226 that divide the closure flap 222 into four sections 228, 230, 232 and 234. When the closure flap 222 is pulled outwardly to open a container erected from the blank 220, the edges of the closure flap 220 are prevented from moving past the edge 214 in panel 160. This interaction of the edges of the closure flap 220 with the cut edge 214 on panel 160 causes relative hinged movement between sections 230 and 228 and between sections 232 and 234 of the closure flap 222, so that sections 230 and 232 can move forwardly and outwardly while sections 228 and 234 hinge backwardly and inwardly relative to sections 230 and 232. This causes the overall width of closure flap 222 to be reduced, so that closure flap 222 can more easily be pulled through the aperture in the panel 160 defined by cut line 214.
It will be appreciated, that although three fold lines 226 are shown in Fig. 7, other fold line arrangements achieving deformation of the closure flap 222 when the closure flap 222 is pulled through the aperture provided in the panel 160 are also contemplated. For example, the central one of the three fold lines 226, that is the fold line 226 extending vertically on the panel 162, can be dispensed with without significantly impeding the ability of panel 162 to move areas 228 and 234 inwardly when the closure flap 222 is being pulled through the aperture in the panel 160.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that many changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the accompanying claims. For example, the base of the preferred container can form a standard crash lock base, such as a three point glued crash lock base.

Claims

A container (36) comprising a plurality of walls;
at least one of said plurality of walls comprising an inner panel (4) and an outer panel (12), said outer panel (12) having an access opening (34) formed therein;
said inner panel (4) comprising a line of weakness (30) defining a section (32) on said inner panel (4) that can be separated from said inner panel (4) to provide an opening in said inner panel (4) in alignment with said access opening (34) in said outer panel (12);
wherein said line of weakness (30) lies behind said outer panel (12) so as to be substantially covered by said outer panel (12);
characterised in that said container (36) has a front wall including said inner and outer panels and a removable lid (38) formed at the top of the container, wherein the separable section (32) of the inner panel (4) is connected to the lid (38) so that said separable section (32) and said lid (38) can be removed as one piece.
A container blank (2) configured to be errected into a container (36) as claimed in claim 1; comprising a first panel (4) and a second panel (12), said first panel (4) and said second panel (12) arranged such that in the erected container (36) the first panel (4) overlaps at least partially with the second panel (12) and being arranged inside of the second panel (12), said second panel (12) having an access opening (34) formed therein;
said first panel (4) comprising a line of weakness (30) defining a section (32) on said first panel (4) that can be separated from said first panel (4) to provide an opening in said first panel (4) in alignment with said access opening (34) in said second panel. (12) in the erected container (36);
wherein said line of weakness (30) lies behind said second panel (12) so as to be substantially covered by said second panel in the erected container (36).
A container or container blank as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said line of weakness (30) is set back between 1 and 3 mm from the edge of the access opening (34).
A container or container blank as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the edge of said access opening (34) is arranged to extend substantially parallel to said line of weakness (30).
A container or container blank as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said first or inner panel (4) and said second or outer panel (12) are arranged at opposite ends of a series of panels (6,8,10) of a or said container blank (2) for erecting into a container (36) .
A container or container blank as claimed in any one of claim 1 to 4, wherein said first or inner panel (4) is directly hingedly connected to said second or outer panel (12).
A container or container blank as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said line of weakness (30) comprises a cut line.
A container or container blank as claimed in claim 7, wherein said cut line (30) extends upwardly along the entire height of the section (32) on the inner panel (4).
A container or container blank as claimed in claim 7 or 8, wherein one cut line (30) extending along the entire height of the section (32) of the inner panel (4) is provided on both sides of said section (32).
A container or container blank as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein an upwardly extending cut line (30) defining part of said section (32) on said inner panel (4) comprises a wave-like, undulating or zig-zag section.
A container or container blank as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said inner panel (4) is secured to said outer panel (12).
A container or container blank as claimed in claim 11, wherein said inner panel (4) is adhered to said outer panel (12).
A container or container blank as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said inner panel (14) extends over substantially the entire height of said outer panel (12) over at least part of the width of said outer panel.
A container or container blank as claimed in claim 13, wherein said inner panel (4) extends over substantially the entire height of said outer panel (12) along two side edges of said outer panel.
A container or container blank as claimed in claim 14, wherein said inner panel (4) is secured to said outer panel (12) along at least a part of the two side edges.
A container or container blank as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said section (32) of said inner panel (4) is arranged so as to narrow when said section of said inner panel is pulled through the access opening (34).
A container or container blank as claimed in claim 16, wherein a fold line (226) is provided on said separable section (202) of said inner panel (162), said fold line being arranged so as to narrow said section of said inner panel when said section of said inner panel folds about said fold line.
A container or container blank as claimed in claim 17, wherein said fold line (226) is formed on the inside surface of said section (202).
A container or container blank as claimed in claim 17 or 18, wherein said predetermined fold line (226) extends in an upward direction.