IE950091A1 - Carton blank - Google Patents

Abstract

A carton blank 1 for a rigid carton defining a plurality of compartments each having discrete walls, the compartments being frangibly connected together remote from the seams of the carton such that the compartments may be separated along the frangible connection A to provide a plurality of discrete cartons.

Description

This invention relates to a carton blank and more particularly to a carton blank which forms a plurality of individual compartments which may be separated along frangible connections between the cartons.

In general, carton blanks are used to mass produce cartons for packaging various goods for example foodstuffs. The blanks are either folded by hand or by machine to produce the packages. It is known to produce multicompartment blanks which when folded to form a package have a plurality of individual compartments. These compartments share a common wall of the carton blank and cannot therefore be separated into individual cartons for use, such as removing only one carton from a freezer for cooking while leaving the other carton intact in the freezer. Carton blanks are known which provide individual compartments which can be separated from one another, however, these compartments are only held together along the fold lines of the carton blank and are very unstable and flimsy.

The present invention aims to overcome or at least mitigate the problems associated with the above described known cartons.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a carton blank for a rigid carton defining a plurality of compartments each having discrete walls, the compartments being frangibly connected together remote from the seams of the carton such that the compartments may be separated along the frangible connection to provide a plurality of discrete cartons.

Conveniently, the blank is formed from cardboard or any suitable material.

Such a carton blank may be used to package foodstuffs for storage, for example, in a freezer and when required, the carton may be separated along the frangible connection in order that only one package is removed for cooking. The remaining carton, with its discrete walls may be left in the freezer until required at a later date without any damage to the foodstuffs contained in the carton.

One example of a carton blank will now be described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 is a schematic view of a carton blank according to one aspect of the present invention; is a perspective view of the carton blank of Figure 1 in a partially folded condition; is a perspective view of the carton blank of Figure 1 in an assembled condition; is a schematic view of an alternative carton blank according to one aspect of the present invention; and is a perspective view of the carton blank of Figure 4 in a partially folded condition.

Turning now to the figures there is shown in Figures 1 to 3 a carton blank 1 according to one aspect of the present invention intended to be assembled by machine. The blank comprises two carton sections 2,3 frangibly joined together. The first carton section 2 comprises two substantially square sections 4,5 interposed by an integral rectangular joining member 6. The length of the rectangular member 6 is substantially equal to the length of one side of the square sections 4,5. A further rectangular section 7 is integrally joined to the square section 5 remote from the frangible connection A. Each of the sections 4,5,6 and 7 are provided, on their free sides, with integral tabs 8,9,10,11 and 12 the use of which will be described below. The second carton section 3 is substantially similar to that described above. The frangible connection A is located between the adjacent square sections 4 and extends between the tabs 8 of the central square sections.

In order to construct the carton from the blank 1, the sections 4,5,6 and 7 are folded along each of the dividing lines in order to bring the tabs 12 on the end most rectangular members 7 into contact with the centre square members 4. The tabs 7 are secured to the respective central portions of the blank by any suitable means, such as, heat treatment or adhesive bonding.

As shown in Figure 2, the square sections 4,5 of the carton blank form the top and bottom of the carton and the rectangular sections 6,7 form the sides of the carton. The tabs 8,10 on the carton sections are then folded to form the ends of the carton. As clearly shown in Figure 2, the tabs 12 on the two end sections 7 of the two cartons do not contact one another and remain entirely separate to ensure that the two compartments in the carton have discrete walls.

As shown in Figure 3, the final carton is in the form of a substantially rectangular rigid package comprising two discrete compartments. The compartments of the carton are held in rigid formation by the tabs on the carton blank sections. This prevents the compartments from separating until this is desired. When it is necessary to separate the carton into two, for example, to remove the contents of one compartment for cooking, while replacing the other compartment in a deep freeze etc, the carton is grasped and the two compartments separated along the frangible connection A. This provided two discrete cartons each having a single compartment. Neither of the resulting cartons is damaged by the separation process.

Figures 4 and 5 show an alternative carton blank 1 according to one aspect of the present invention which is intended to be assembled by hand. In this embodiment further tabs 8 are provided on the central square sections 41 of the blank and the tabs 10 on the outer square sections ' are removed.

Figure 5 shows the carton blank of Figure 4 in a partly constructed condition. As with the blank described with reference to Figures 1 to 3, the end tabs 12' of the outer rectangular sections 7' of the blank are folded in to contact the central square sections 4' to provide a single carton comprising two discrete compartments which may be separated along a frangible connection A' to provide two separate, intact rigid cartons.

It is envisaged that the cartons may be microwavable.

It is to be appreciated that although the cartons have been described for containing foodstuffs, the cartons may be used to package other goods.

Claims (4)

1. A carton blank for a rigid carton defining a plurality of compartments each having discrete walls, the compartments being frangibly connected together remote from the seams of the carton such that the compartments may be separated along the frangible connection to provide a plurality of discrete cartons .

2. A carton blank according to claim 1 wherein the blank is formed from cardboard.

3. A carton blank substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings .

4. A carton blank substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figures 4 and 5 of the drawings .