EP3356242B1

EP3356242B1 - Packaging box and integrated detachable lid structure

Info

Publication number: EP3356242B1
Application number: EP16850437.1A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Mika Tuhkunen
Original assignee: Stora Enso Oyj
Current assignee: Stora Enso Oyj
Priority date: 2015-10-02
Filing date: 2016-09-23
Publication date: 2022-05-04
Anticipated expiration: 2036-09-23
Also published as: DK3356242T3; CN207225879U; FI11491U1; EP3356242A4; JP3218024U; ES2914693T3; PL3356242T3; WO2017055683A1; EP3356242A1; RU191648U1

Description

The object of the present invention is a packaging box and a detachable lid structure integrated into it as defined in the preamble of claim 1.
Numerous different packagings are known in the packaging sector, which have been developed for differing needs. The construction of packaging is primarily determined by the intended use. However, other aspects related to the manufacture and use of a packaging must also be taken into account in the design of the packaging. The handlability of packagings that must be liquid-tight and leakproof is in most cases a problematic point, especially when moving and stacking them when they are packed.
For example, liquid-tight and leakproof packagings that can be carried and stacked one on top of another are needed in the food industry for packing meat and fish. Moreover, the packagings of meat and fish must be made of hygienic materials, i.e. the material must be approved for coming into contact with fatty food. In addition to this, boxes for meat and fish must be very firm, because there can be up to 20 kg of weight in one packaging and boxes are generally stacked one on top of another generally 10 layers high. As a consequence of this, another essential problem has been the structural rigidity of the packagings and their stacking strength.
According to what is known in the art, leakproof packagings fabricated from expanded polystyrene or plastic pressed into shape, fillable from above and stackable one on top of another have often been used for preserving and transporting meat. However, such boxes require a large storage space before they are taken into use, and this incurs unnecessary costs. Also their disposal after use is problematic. Additionally, the materials used in manufacturing them are not renewable, so from an environmental perspective use of the packagings described above is not ecological.
Also known in the art are liquid-tight packagings fabricated from corrugated board, and one such solution is disclosed in utility model FI 10658. A solution provided with a corner bellows, which is per se known in the art, is used in the aforementioned publication. A failing of the structure is the integrated lid flaps, in which case filling of the box from above is problematic. The flaps are in the way in the filling stage, both when filled manually and by a machine in a factory line. In many factories there is no room on the conveyor lines for upright flaps. Folding the flaps out of the way is awkward and it possibly requires expensive additional technology for existing tracks. When manually erecting a box, double folds extending the whole length of the stacking planes are stiff to fold by hand and it is difficult to add a simple lid to the structure.
Another problem of corrugated board boxes with liquid-tight corners and provided with corner bellows has been that with heavy box weights the end of the box bulges outwards. As a consequence of this, when another box is stacked upon it, it tries to press inside the box below it. This considerably hampers the handling of the box, particularly the handling of the lid of a box possibly below it.
In some liquid-tight corner solutions the long sides are locked with cardboard slips between the end fold; the solution does not, however, provide sufficiently tight locking for the long sides and consequently the loose structure lessens the load-bearing capability.
Leakproof solutions fabricated from corrugated board that are fillable from above and are also better at keeping their shape have also been used for stacking and handling foodstuffs with liquid content, but in these the stacking planes of the top parts are mechanically glued. This is a substantial drawback, because it requires a separate and expensive packaging machine. At the point where packagings are manufactured, their cost-efficiency is essential and from the structural viewpoint the functional joining and fastening of the parts of packagings is extremely important.
GB 2 266 704 A discloses a packaging box and detachable lid structure integrated into it according to the preamble of claim 1.
The aim of the present invention is to achieve a solution by means of which the drawbacks of prior art are avoided. With the solution according to the invention a completely new lid solution can be realized. The lid solution is particularly well suited to a fully liquid-tight and leakproof packaging box. That being the case, handling of the packaging according to the invention remains easy also when heavily packed. In addition, the packaging retains its shape essentially unchanged, even though a number of layers are stacked one on top of another on top of it.
The invention relates to corrugated board packagings, and blanks thereof, to be formed mechanically or manually without adhesive, that are tight against liquid and leaks from inside and also tight against damp and liquid from outside. The packagings are stackable one on top of another; they do not have lid flaps detrimental to packing but instead have short stacking shoulders.
More precisely, the invention is characterized by what is presented in the claims. In the following, the invention will be described in more detail by the aid of an embodiment with reference to the attached drawings, wherein

Fig. 1 presents a packaging box blank according to the invention.
Fig. 2 presents the packaging box and lid according to the invention, when assembled.
Fig. 3 presents a packaging box and a lid structure integrated into it.
Fig. 4 presents a structure of the lid.

The packaging box according to the invention is a one-piece, liquid-tight packaging box fabricated from corrugated board to be formed mechanically or manually without adhesive. According to Figs. 1 and 2, the box has a base surface 1, a folding surface 2 of the long sides, a vertical surface 3 of the short sides, a stacking plane 4 of the short side, an underside 5 of the stacking plane of the short side, and also bellows 6 and 7 for achieving a liquid-tight corner structure. According to Fig. 1, with these a packaging according to Fig. 2, formed without adhesive mechanically or manually, is obtained from one die-cut blank, in which packaging the surfaces 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 form a liquid-tight and leakproof structure. The bellows 6 and 7 fold against each other onto the inside surface of the vertical surface 3 owing to the inclined fold 18.
According to Figs. 3 and 4, the invention relates to a packaging box and to a separate detachable lid structure 25 integrated into it. What is essential in the packaging box is that a shaped tongue 15 is formed on the outer ends of a stacking plane 4, and the corner 27 of the lid structure 25 and the flattening 28 formed in the corner is guided to slide under the shaped tongue The shaped tongue 15 is formed on the shoulders of the outside of the double-folded fold 10.
The cut-to-shape sides 8 of the long sides are also essential to the invention, the cut-to-shape sides stiffening the structure of the long side and simultaneously functioning as a support for the detachable lid structure 25 when stacking boxes one on top of another. The shaped tongue 15 is folded into the horizontal plane from the crease 17 between the vertical surface 3 of the short side and the stacking plane 4 onto the surface 8. Together with the tongue 15 and the surface of the sides 8, the corner 27 functions as a locking means of the lid structure in such a way that the flattening 28 of the corner 27 is pressed between the tongue 15 and the surface 8, locking into place by means of friction.
The structure of the detachable lid 25 is essentially a planar sheet, the width and length of which varying according to the requirements. In most cases the width of the lid 25 is, however, in practice about as wide as the packaging box itself or at least as wide the width of the aperture itself. The length of the lid 25 is determined according to the tongue 15 in such a way that the corner 27 of the lid locks firmly under the tongue 15. In most cases the length of the lid 25 is the length of the inner edges between the stacking planes 4 and/or the length of the aperture between the double folds 16, or at least the length of the aperture of the packaging box itself. In addition to this, a transverse crease 26 over the lid in the direction of the short end side of the packaging box is formed in the center of the lid 25. This crease 26 facilitates installation of the lid 25 by guiding the flattening 28 of the corner 27 into position under the shaped tongue 15. In this way the structure is far simpler with respect to what is known in the art. Despite this, the solution enables the use of an advantageous sheet lid and speeds up the lidding of a box. The solutions used earlier have been more complex and considerably more expensive to fabricate. A factor to be considered is that cost-efficiency is without question one of the most important competitive assets in the packaging industry.
In addition to what is presented above, the integrated lid solution is well suited as a protective cover for leakproof and liquid-tight packagings. In this way a particularly advantageous packaging box application is obtained, which comprises a rigid sheet to be installed under the shaped tongues 15 of the packaging box, the sheet functioning as a separate detachable lid structure 25. The packaging box comprises an inclined fold 18 between the liquid- tight corner bellows 6, 7. In addition to this, the box comprises an inclined conical fold 21 between the folding surfaces 2 and the corner bellows 7 in such a way that the folding line 21 is inclined with respect to the crease 22 between the base surface 1 and the vertical surface 3. In this way a cone structure inclining inwards into the box is obtained, by means of which the corners 27 of the lid structure lock extremely tightly to the packaging box.
Now the packaging box comprises an integrated lid functioning as a separate structure 25. Together with the embodiment presented above, it forms an extremely good packaging box construction. It is obvious to the person skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the embodiments presented above, but that it can be varied within the scope of the claims presented below.

Claims

Packaging box and detachable lid structure (25) integrated into it, which packaging box is formed from a base surface (1), folding surfaces (2) of the long sides of the box each being stiffened by a cut-to-shape side (8) functioning as a support surface for the detachable lid structure (25) and vertical surfaces (3) of the short sides of the box each being folded into a vertical attitude from a crease (22) between the vertical surface (3) and the base surface (1) and further folded onto the said support surfaces into a horizontal stacking plane (4) from a crease (17) between the vertical surface (3) and stacking plane (4), whereby a shaped tongue (15) is formed on the outer ends of the stacking planes (4), and characterized in that a corner (27) of the lid structure (25) comprises a flattening (28), such that said corner (27) of the lid structure (25) is guided to slide under the shaped tongue (15) whereby the shaped tongue (15) together with the said support surface function as a locking means of said corner (27) of the lid structure (25) in such a way that the flattening (28) of the corner (27) is pressed between the tongue (15) and the said support surface, locking it in place by means of friction.
Packaging box and detachable lid structure (25) integrated into it according to claim 1, whereby the shaped tongues (15) are formed on shoulders of the outside of double-folded folds (10).
Packaging box and detachable lid structure (25) integrated into it according to claim 1, whereby the structure of the separate lid (25) integrated into the box is a planar sheet, over the center of which a crease (26) is formed in the direction of the short sides of the packaging box, for guiding the flattening (28) of the lid (25) into position under the shaped tongue (15).
Packaging box and a detachable lid structure (25) integrated into it according to claim 1, whereby the packaging box comprises a separate rigid sheet installed under the tongues (15) of the packaging box, functioning as the lid structure (25), an inclined fold (18) between liquid-tight corner bellows (6, 7), and an inclined conical fold (21) between the folding surfaces (2) and the corner bellows in such a way that the folding line is inclined with respect to the crease (22) between the base and the vertical surface (3) such that a cone structure inclining inwards into the box is obtained.