GB2207657A

GB2207657A - Carton

Info

Publication number: GB2207657A
Application number: GB08714565A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Martin Hartley O'connell
Original assignee: Reed Packaging Ltd
Current assignee: Reed Packaging Ltd
Priority date: 1987-06-22
Filing date: 1987-06-22
Publication date: 1989-02-08
Anticipated expiration: 2007-06-22
Also published as: GB2207657B; GB8714565D0

Abstract

A carton made of cardboard or similar lightweight foldable semi-rigid sheet material includes at least one flap (11) arranged to extend transversely within the carton and to engage a part of an article (16) to be housed in the carton, so as to assist in retaining the article in its desired position in the carton. The or each flap (11) comprises a hinged extension of a respective reinforcing panel secured face-to-face to the inside of a wall (1,3) of the body of the carton. <IMAGE>

Description

"CARTON" This invention relates to cartons made of cardboard or similar lightweight foldable semirigid sheet material.

Cartons are known which incorporate at least one flap arranged to extend transversely within the carton and to engage a part of an article to be housed therein, so as to assist in retaining the article in its desired position in the carton.

For example, a carton for housing å bottle is frequently provided with at least one such flap adapted to engage over or around the neck of the bottle.

As previously proposed, such a flap forms an integral part of the body of a blank, e.g. of cardboard, from which the carton is erected, being integrally hingedly connected to the top edge of one of the side wall panels so as to be foldable inwardly in use. However, this has the disadvantage of increasing the amount of material used to form the body of the carton blank, which material can be comparatively expensive in cartons to be used as point of sale packs. Furthermore the presence of the additional flap can inhibit glueing speeds during automated erection of the carton from its blank.

According to the present invention there is provided a carton made of cardboard or similar lightweight foldable semi-rigid sheet material, including at least one flap arranged to extend transversely within the carton and to engage a part of an article to be housed in the carton, so as to assist in retaining the article in its desired position in the carton, wherein the said flap comprises a hinged extension of a reinforcing panel secured face-to-face to the inside of a wall of the body of the carton.

With such an arrangement the said flap or flaps, not being an integral part of the body of the carton blank, can be made of a less expensive material than that used for the blank body. Furthermore the flap(s) can be formed of a heavier material than the blank body if desired, so as to enhance the stabilising effect on an article to be housed in the carton. Also, as a result of not be hingedly connected to a side wall panel of the carton, the flap(s) can be so arranged as not to inhibit glueing speeds to the same extent as a flap integral with a said wall panel.

A further advantage which results from the said flap or flaps not being hingedly connected to the top edge of a side wall panel, as in the past, is that the hinged connection between the or each flap and its associated reinforcing panel may be located at a substantially lower level in the body of the carton than the said top edge of an associated side wall.This enables the flap to be arranged so as to extend inwardly from the side wall at exactly the level at which it is required to operate, for example at a level below the top of the neck of a bottle to be housed in the carton, as compared with known arrangements in which, with the flap hingedly connected to the top edge of its associated side wall, it had to be made to extend obliquely down into the carton interior in order to engage the desired part of an article, or alternatively be formed with a reverse fold in order to engage the article at a desired level.

The scope of the invention also extends to a blank for making a carton as set forth above.

Two embodiments of the invention wil now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a blank for making a carton according to a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of an erected carton made from the blank of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a partial perspective view of a carton according to a second embodiment of the invention.

Referring first to Figures 1 and 2, the carton of this first embodiment is a display and point of sale carton particularly for housing an easter egg. The cardboard body of the blank of -Figure 1 comprises four hingedly interconnected side wall panels 1 to 4, four interlocking base support flaps 5 which support a separate internal base panel 6 (Figure 2) in use, and a lid panel 7. The side wall panel 4 is provided with a glueing tab 8.

The side wall 2 is formed with an aperture 9 for displaying the contents.

Each of the side wall panels 1 and 3 has a rectangular reinforcing panel 10 glued to it face-to-face, on what is the inside face of the wall panel in the erected carton. The reinforcing panels are made of heavier board than the body of the blank, but this heavier board can at the same time be less expensive than that of the blank body because it is not visible in the closed, erected, carton and therefore does not have to be provided with a decorative facing. Each of the reinforcing panels 10 has a flap 11 integrally connected to it at a hinge line 12. The hinge line 12, which constitutes the top edge of the reinforcing panel 10, is located a substantial distance below the top edge 13 of the associated side wall panel 1 or 3.Each of the flaps 11 is formed with a semicircular cut-out 14 for embracing the top region of the easter egg to be housed in the carton, and the flaps are furthermore suitably formed at regions 15 thereof for interlocking engagement with each other.

In the erected carton, as seen in Figure 2, the flaps 11 extend transversely within the carton, interlocking with each other at their regions 15, and the cut-outs 14 embrace the top region of an easter egg whose general outline is indicated by ghost lines 16. In this embodiment both of the flaps 11 extend obliquely downwardly within the carton so as together to form an over-center configuration by virtue of their interlocking, whereby accidental upward displacement of the flaps, and their consequent disengagement from the easter egg, is substantially prevented.

Figure 3 shows an embodiment in which only one flap 11 is provided, hingedly connected to a reinforcing panel on the inside of the side wall 4. The hinge line between the flap 11 and its associated reinforcing panel (not visible) is again substantially below the top edge 13 of its associated side wall 1, thus enabling a circular hole 17 in the flap to engage over the neck of a bottle 18 housed in the carton at a location substantially below the top rim of the neck without it being necessary for the single flap to extend obliquely downwardly. in this embodiment reinforcing panels are provided on the inside surfaces of all of the four side walls of the carton, and on the lid 7.

In a modification, which is not illustrated, cut-outs of any desired shape or pattern may be provided in one or more side wall panels which is provided with a reinforcing patch. The reinforcing patch is then exposed to the exterior through such cut-outs and may be suitably coloured or otherwise treated to provide a decorative effect.

It is to be clearly understood that there are no particular features of the foregoing specification, or of the claims appended hereto, which are at present regarded as being essential to the performance of the present invention, and that any one or more of such features or combinations thereof may therefore be included in, added to, omitted from or deleted from any of such claims if and when amended during the prosecution of this application or in the filing or prosecution of any divisional application based thereon.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A carton made of cardboard or similar lightweight foldable semi-rigid sheet material, including at least one flap arranged to extend transversely within the carton and to engage a part of an article to be housed in the carton, so as to assist in retaining the article in its desired position in the carton, wherein the said flap comprises a hinged extension of a reinforcing panel secured face-toface to the inside of a wall of the body of the carton.

2. A carton as claimed in claim 1, wherein the or each said flap, and its associated reinforcing panel, are formed of a less expensive material than that of the body of the carton.

3. A carton as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the or each said flap, and its associated reinforcing panel, are formed of a heavier material than that of the body of the carton.

4. A carton as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the hinged connection between the or each said flap and its associated reinforcing panel is located at a substantially lower level in the body of the carton than the top edge of a side wall to which the said reinforcing panel is secured.

5. A carton as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein two of said flaps are provided on opposite side walls of the carton, arranged to cooperate in retaining a said article in its desired position in the carton.

6. A carton as claimed in claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 and 2, or Figure 3, of the accompanying drawings.

7. A blank for making a carton as claimed in any of claims I to 6.

8. A carton blank substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings.