U.S. patent number 3,841,476 [Application Number 05/198,569] was granted by the patent office on 1974-10-15 for cartons, trays and the like.
Invention is credited to Peter Ellice Elford.
United States Patent |
3,841,476 |
Elford |
October 15, 1974 |
CARTONS, TRAYS AND THE LIKE
Abstract
Articles are assembled on a pre-cut blank of cardboard or like
material which is formed into a tray around the articles, the tray
having a substantially rectangular base with diagonal corners and
first and second pairs of peripheral wall portions. The blank is
scored and provided with cut-outs to form wall corner portions and
uniting portions at the ends of corresponding first wall forming
portions and also to form strengthening tabs. The tray is erected
by first erecting the strengthening tabs and by then erecting the
first and second wall forming portions and finally bending the
corner portions and uniting portions so that the latter can be
secured to the second wall forming portions.
Inventors: |
Elford; Peter Ellice (Reading,
EN) |
Family
ID: |
22733924 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/198,569 |
Filed: |
November 15, 1971 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
206/427; 229/109;
229/193 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D
5/2033 (20130101); B65D 5/28 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65D
5/28 (20060101); B65D 5/20 (20060101); B65d
079/00 (); B65d 005/28 () |
Field of
Search: |
;229/32,31R
;206/65S,65B,65R,427,432 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Summer; Leonard
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Young and Thompson
Claims
I claim:
1. A package formed from a plurality of articles and a tray blank
of cardboard or like material, said tray blank comprising:
a. a substantially rectangular base portion having diagonal corners
and defined by first and second pairs of parallel score lines and
by a respective diagonal score line at each corner;
b. first and second pairs of peripheral wall portions defined by
said first and second pairs of parallel score lines and by the
periphery of the blank;
c. a uniting portion and a wall corner portion defined at each end
of each of said first pair of peripheral wall portions by the end
of the peripheral wall portion, the periphery of the blank, and a
pair of parallel score lines, the uniting portion being nearer the
end of the wall portion and said pair of parallel score lines being
spaced apart by a distance substantially equal to the length of the
diagonal score line;
d. a cut-out and a substantially rectangular strengthening tab at
each corner of the blank, said tab at each said corner being
defined by said diagonal score line at the corner, the cut-out at
the corner and a pair of cuts between said pair of parallel score
lines defining said uniting and wall corner portions at the
associated corner, said pair of cuts being substantially at right
angles to one another, and said cut-out at each corner being
defined by said tab at the corner, the end of the peripheral wall
portion of the second pair thereof at the corner and said uniting
portion at the corner;
said articles being disposed in an ordered array on said base
portion of said blank and said peripheral wall portions being
folded about said first and second pairs of parallel score lines
whereby they are erected around said articles;
said uniting and wall corner portions at each corner being folded
about said pair of parallel score lines defining them such that
said wall corner portions form diagonal wall corners;
each said uniting portion being secured to an end of one of said
second pair of peripheral wall portions; and
each said strengthening tab being folded about said diagonal score
line defining it so that it is inside and adjacent to the
corresponding wall corner forming portion.
2. The package of claim 1, wherein each said uniting portion is
adhesively secured to the inside of said corresponding end of one
of said second pair of peripheral wall portions.
Description
The present invention relates to packages consisting of a tray and
a plurality of articles on the tray.
One of the techniques in the formation of such packages is to place
a pre-cut blank of cardboard or like flexible material on a support
in a forming machine, to place the articles on the blank and then
to erect the wall portions of the blank around the articles.
Numerous proposals have been made for the shape of the pre-cut
blanks, the shapes differing according to whether the corners of
the tray or carton are to be circular, square or diagonal and also
according to the method of fixing together the erected wall
portions. In some cases the shape of the pre-cut blank is such as
to enable the wall portions to interlock without the use of
adhesives but it is more usual for the pre-cut blanks to be shaped
so as to provide tabs to enable adjacent wall portions to be
secured together by the use of a suitable adhesive.
The present invention relates to a package in which the tray is
formed from a pre-cut blank of the type having tabs which enable
the adjacent wall portions to be secured together by a suitable
adhesive and which when the wall portions are erected provide a
tray with diagonal corners.
According to the invention, in a package consisting of a tray and a
plurality of articles placed on the tray, the tray is formed around
the articles from a pre-cut blank of cardboard or like material
having a substantially rectangular base portion with diagonal
corners and peripheral wall portions surrounding the base portion,
the blank having score lines defining the base portion and two
parallel score lines forming wall corner portions and uniting
portions towards the ends of corresponding first wall portions, the
blank also having cut-outs formed at both ends of corresponding
second wall portions and strengthening tabs formed by at least one
cut between said parallel score lines, one edge of each of said
cut-outs and the score lines of the diagonal corners, the tray
being constructed around the articles, firstly by erecting said
strengthening tabs, secondly by erecting said second wall portions,
thirdly by erecting said first wall portions and finally by bending
the corner-forming portions and uniting portions so that the
uniting portions are securable to said second wall-forming portions
against the articles whereby the strengthening tabs are wholly on
the inside of the corner portions of the tray.
The invention will be understood from the following description of
two embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing
in which:
FIG. 1 shows a plan view of the pre-cut blank,
FIG. 2 shows a view of one corner of the tray or carton in the
course of erection,
FIG. 3 shows one corner of an alternative pre-cut blank,
FIG. 4 shows a plan view of one corner of the tray when erected
and
FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the tray formed around the
articles.
Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawing, it should be explained that the
portion of the blank 10 which forms the base of the tray, i.e. the
area 11, is shown as small compared with the wall portions 12 and
13 in order to reduce the dimensions of the figure. It should also
be explained that the dotted lines are lines along which the blank
is bent and may be creases or scorings in the blank.
As shown in FIG. 1, a cut-out 14 iy provided in each corner portion
of the blank, the cut-out portion having two edges 15 and 16 of
which the edges 16 are perpendicular to the shorter sides of the
blank while the edge 15 has a slight slope. The cut-out is
completed by a further edge 17. An important feature of the
invention is the formation of strengthening tabs 20 by the
provision of cuts 18 and 19 in the blank, the distance a being half
the distance between the creases 18a and 18b. Similar shaping is,
of course, employed at the four corners of the blank.
In the formation of the tray, the articles 23 are first placed on
the blank as shown in FIG. 1 and the blank is erected into a tray
by a suitable forming tool. Forming tools for this purpose are well
known, the general principle of operation being that the loaded
tray is placed on a platform which is lowered through a die. The
passage of the tray through the die erects the strengthening tabs
20 and the wall portions in the appropriate order. In the present
instance the forming tool would be arranged to first erect the
strengthening tabs 20 defined by the edges 17, 18 and 19. Next the
wall portions 12 are erected and the portions 21 and 22 are bent
along the scores 18a and 18b to form respectively corner-forming
portions and uniting portions, the portions 21 engaging with the
strengthening tabs 20 while the portions 22 are adjacent to the
wall portions 13 which are the final portions to be erected. FIG. 2
shows one corner in the course of erection. At a suitable stage in
the formation of the tray an applicator applied adhesive to the
uniting portions 22 to enable them to be secured to the wall
portions 13 to complete the formation of the tray.
It will be understood that the formed tray remains within the
forming die for a period sufficient to enable the pressure exerted
on the uniting portions 22 and the wall portions 13 by the walls of
the die and the articles on the tray to ensure firm adhesion
between the two portions. The uniting portions 22 may extend either
along the outer or inner surface of the wall portions 13 but the
latter is preferred because the adhesive is then applied to the
outer surface of the each uniting portion 22 and there is less
chance of any adhesive seeping on to the strengthening tab. The
preferred arrangement is shown in the plan view of one corner of
the erected tray illustrated in FIG. 4.
A further embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 3 in which,
instead of the cuts 18 and 19 of FIG. 1, a single cut 23 is formed
in alignment with the edge 15 of the cut-out. This merely alters
the shape of the strengthening tabs, the erection sequence being
the same as that described for the embodiment of FIG. 1.
It will be seen that, when the tray is erected around the articles,
the articles are restrained against movement on the base of the
tray and the use of a shrunk-wrapped film may be considered
unnecessary although the use of such a film may be advantageous for
other reasons.
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