GB2211485A

GB2211485A - Containers and lids

Info

Publication number: GB2211485A
Application number: GB8824677A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Raymond Harry Hurst
Original assignee: Corrugated Products Ltd
Current assignee: Corrugated Products Ltd
Priority date: 1987-10-24
Filing date: 1988-10-21
Publication date: 1989-07-05
Also published as: GB8724941D0; GB8824677D0

Abstract

An open container intended principally for use as a lid of another container is manufactured from a blank whose external dimensions are the same as those of the blank from which the other container is made by arranging for the longitudinal and transverse axes (L, T) of the lid blank to be angularly displaced by, for example 3 DEG from the longitudinal and transverse axes (l, t) the base (30) of the lid. <IMAGE>

Description

Improvements in or Relating to Containers The present invention concerns improvements in or relating to containers. It is concerned particularly but not exclusively with containers which act as lids and with such containers when they are assembled from a blank of sheet material, for example corrugated paper.

A common form of package comprises a rectangjlar base which is formed from a first flat blank of corrugated paper using means to secure the four corners, for example adhesive, to produce a base container having a flat base and four vertical, equal height, side walls upstanding from the base. A lid for this container is formed in the same manner, conventionally by using a similar second blank having slightly larger dimensions than the first blank so that the assembled lid may fit with adequate clearanoe over the base.To maximize the strength of the package the walls of the lid are normally substantially equal in height to the walls of the base This arrangement is disadvantageous in that with the larger lid blank more material is used and consequently the lid is normally more expensive to produce than the base Aditionslly, as the lid blank differs from the base blank, different erection machinery is often required.

It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate these disadvantages.

According to the present invention, there is provided a blank from which an open-topped container can be assembled, the blank being cut from a rectangle of sheet material, the longitudinal and transverse axes of which are angularly displaced with respect to the longitudinal and transverse axes of the base of the container to be formed from the blank.

Further according to the present invention there is provided a blank for forming a container having a rectangular base and side walls extending perpendicularly away from said base, some or all of the side walls having extensions from the ends thereof to provide corner fixing means whereby a wall may be joined to its neighbour, the blank being cut from a sheet within a rectangular outline the longitudinal and transverse axes of which are angularly displaced with respect to the longitudinal and transverse axes of the base of the container.

Further according to the present invention there is provided a method for forming a box and lid from a sheet material, comprising cutting and forming fold lines on a first piece of material in a predetermined configjration at a first orientation relative to the outline of the piece, cutting and forming fold lines on a second piece of material of a substantially equal size and shape to the first piece in said predetermined configuration at a second orientation relative to the outline of the piece, the predetermined configuration being such that the first piece provides a first blank which can be made up into an open-topped box and the second piece provides a second blank which can be made up into a lid for said box, the lid having sides the depth of which varies along their lenghts but is equal at all its corners.

The present invention envisages also the manufacture of non-rectangular containers. In such circumstances it provides a blank formed from within an outline corresponding to the base shape of the container to be formed but extending in size by the depth of the container walls, the blank being cut in an orientation angularly displaced from the orientation of the said outline An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a blank from which a conventional open-topped rectangular container can be formed superimposed on a blank from which a conventional lid for the container can be formed; Figure 2 shows an isometric view of a conventional open-topped container; Figure 3 shows a blank for making a lid for the container according to the present invention; and Figure 4 shows an isometric view of the assembled lid according to the invention.

Figure 2 shows a conventional open-topped container manufactured from the blank shown in Figure 1. The container comprises a base 10 and two pairs of opposed side walls 12 and 14, the walls 14 each having a pair of corner flaps 16 at their end which are fixed to the inner surface of the walls 12 by adhesive on assembly of the container. The blank is formed from corrugated board with a rectangular outline by cutting along the rectangle's periphery and to form wall delineating slits 18, and by impressing fold lines 20 along those lines between the base and sides, and sides and corner flaps about which folding is carried out.

It will be realized that to provide a lid of a similar construction for the base shown in Figure 2 a correspondingly larger blank 22, shown in Figure 1 in chain dotted lines, will be required. This results in a lid blank which is more expensive than the base blank as a result of the larger area of material used. It also often calls for a different erecting machine in view of the larger size of the lid blank.

Figure 3 shows a lid blank according to the present invention The lid comprises a top 30 and two pairs of downwardly depending side walls 32 and 34, the side walls each being provided with corner flaps 36 at their outer end. This blank is formed from within a rectangular outline of corrugated board, the external dimensions of which are indicated by the lines D, its longitudinal and transverse axes being shown by the lines L and T. Slits 38 are formed in the blank to delineate the ends of the walls 32 and fold lines 40 are indented into the corrugated sheet.

Figure 3 shows that the longitudinal and transverse axes of the blank "I" and "t" are angularly displaced by a relatively small angle (for example 30) with respect to the longitudinal transverse axes L and T of the rectangular outline, so that additional peripheral lines of cut 44 which do not align with the rectangular outline are made during the blank forming operation at each of its corners.

The blank is assembled in the normal manner to form the lid of the present invention illustrated in Figure 4, from which it will be observed that each wall has a portion of full depth corresponding to the cut 44 and a portion of diminishing depth terminating in a corner where full depth is provided by a corner flap 36 (which will be of reduced width when compared with the base.) It will be realized that the lid according to the present invention can be manufactured from a rectangular piece of corrugated board the area of which is equal to the area of the piece from which the base is assembled.

M3chinery to erect a pack according to the present invention, that is a base and lid combination, requires only one apparatus of standard width having only one blank magazine and one station for forming blanks into erected containers with their corner flaps fixed. Lid and base blanks are present simultaneously in the magazine of the apparatus and, owing to the different shape of the lid and base blanks automatic detection means can readily be provided so that the forming section of the apparatus can alter instantaneously from a base forming operation to a lid forming operation. As each blank is withdrawn from the magazine the profile of the base or lid is sensed and during the period of travel of the blank from the magazine to the forming section, the forming section would be arranged to erect a lid or base as appropriate.

Various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention The blanks illustrated are of the simplest form and alternative more complicated shapes can be chosen provided that the shape and area of the corrugated board piece from which the lid is formed is no larger or greater in area than that from which the base is formed. Thus the invention is equally applicable to containers (and lids) of non-rectangular form. For example hexagonal, triangular, and other similar shaped containers can be made according to the invention and in the introductory paragraphs the word rectangular is intended to be replaced by the appropriate geometric shape definition.

Claims

Claims:

1. A blank from which an open-topped container can be assembled, the blank being cut from a rectangle of sheet material, the longitudinal and transverse axes of which are angularly displaced with respect to the longitudinal and transverse axes of the base of the container to be formed from the blank.

2. A blank as claimed in claim 1, in which the said axes are displaced by 30.

3. A blank as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, in which the container has a base and side walls, said side walls having a depth which varies along their length.

4. A blank for forming a container having a rectangular base and side walls extending perpendicularly away from said base, some or all of the side walls having extensions from the ends thereof to provide corner fixing means whereby a wall may be joined to its neighbour, the blank being cut from a sheet within a rectangular outline the longitudinal and transverse axes of which are angularly displaced with respect to the longitudinal and transverse axes of the base of the container.

5. A blank as claimed in claim 4, in which said axes are displaced by 30

6. A blank as claimed in claim 4 or claim 5, in which said side walls have an edge opposite to the edge by which they are joined to the base which has a first portion parallel to the longitudinal or transverse axis of the blank and a second portion parallel to the longitudinal or transverse axis of the base.

7. A blank as claimed in claim 6, in which said edge portion parallel to a blank axis is formed by the edge of the blank and said edge portion parallel to a base axis is formed by cutting.

8. A method for forming a box and lid from a sheet material, comprising cutting and forming fold lines on a first piece of material in a predetermined configuration at a first orientation relative to the outline of the piece, cutting and forming fold lines on a second piece of material of a substantially equal size and shape to the first piece in said predetermined configuration at a second orientation relative to the outline of the piece, the predetermined configuration being such that the first piece provides a first blank which can be made up into an open-topped box and the second piece provides a second blank which can be made up into a lid for said box, the lid having sides the depth of which varies along their lenghts but is equal at all its corners.

9. - A method of manufacturing non-rectangular open-topped containers or lids, including providing a blank formed from within an outline corresponding to the base shape of the container to be formed but extending in size by the depth of the container walls, the blank being cut in an orientation angularly displaced from the orientation of the said outline.

10. A blank substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs 3 of the accompanying drawings.

11. A method of manufacturing a container substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.

12. Any novel subject matter or combination including novel subject matter disclosed in the foregoing specification or claims and/or shown in the drawings, whether or not within the scope of or relating to the same invention as any of the preceding claims.