GB2407083A

GB2407083A - Carton having a tray with an inclined rear wall

Info

Publication number: GB2407083A
Application number: GB0501746A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Julian Michael Watt
Original assignee: SCA Packaging Ltd
Current assignee: SCA Packaging Ltd
Priority date: 2001-07-31
Filing date: 2001-07-31
Publication date: 2005-04-20
Anticipated expiration: 2021-07-31
Also published as: GB2378178A; GB2378178B; GB0118630D0; GB0501746D0; GB2407083B

Abstract

A carton 2 for sachets or other packs 8 comprises a tray 4 and a hood 6 removable from the tray 4 to expose the packs 8. The carton 2 is preferably provided with a hinged flap 40 in its upper surface which can be pushed inwardly into the carton 2 so as to angle the packs 8 in the carton 2 rearwardly. The rear wall 33 of the tray 4 has at least a lower portion 30 arranged to be inclined rearwardly. The inclined portion may be defined by a push-in panel.

Description

75266001.356

PACKAGING

The present invention relates to packaging and more particularly to display packaging for sachet packs, blister packs or other packs and containers. For ease of reference these will collectively be termed "packs" from now on, where appropriate.

It is common for certain foodstuffs such as soups and desserts to be sold in sachet packs. The packs are usually packed in a carton which includes a tray which supports the packs and is subsequently used to display the packs, and a hood which is arranged over the tray in order to protect the packs during transit. Once the carton arrives at a retail outlet, the hood is removed and the tray of packs placed on the shelf. Similar cartons are used for displaying other packs of product e.g. blister packed products.

One problem which is encountered with cartons of this type is that during transit, the packs may move within the carton. Typically they may slump forward in the carton, meaning that when the hood is removed they may fall out of the tray. At the very least, the shelf stacker may have to reposition the packs in the tray, ideally such they are angled rearwardly so that a purchaser can easily identify the product in the pack.

This is time consuming-and inconvenient.

The present invention seeks to overcome this problem and from a first aspect the invention provides a carton for packs, said carton comprising a tray portion and a hood portion removable from the tray portion to expose the packs, wherein said carton is provided with means which can be pushed inwardly into the carton so as to angle the packs in the carton rearwardly.

With this arrangement, the shelf stacker can position the packs correctly within the carton in a single operation before it is opened, which is - 2 - considerably more convenient than having to reposition them in the tray after the hood has been removed.

Preferably the means comprises a panel, more preferably a hinged panel, which is preferably formed in the hood of the carton.

In one embodiment, the panel may be formed in a front wall of the hood and preferably hinged at a location remote from the top wall of the hood so that it may be pushed inwardly at its upper end so as to engage the packs.

Preferably, however, the panel is formed primarily in the top wall of the hood, and is hinged at a location remote from the front wall of the carton so that it may be pushed inwardly at its end adjacent the front wall of the hood to engage the packs. To facilitate opening of the panel, it may extend into the front wall of the hood.

The panel may be defined by suitable lines of weakness such as perforation so as to maintain the integrity of the hood prior to the release of the panel.

In order to prevent the packs slumping forwardly from the base in the tray, the base and/or sides of the tray are preferably provided with hinged tabs, as is known in the art. However, in order further to assist in positioning the pack at the correct angle in the tray, a lower portion at least of the rear wall of the tray is preferably inclined rearwardly.

This is an advantageous arrangement in its own right, so from a further aspect, the invention provides a tray for displaying packs or the like, wherein a lower portion at least of the rear wall of tray is inclined rearwardly.

This may be achieved in a number of ways. In a first embodiment, the rear section of the tray base may be inclined upwardly to form the inclined section of the rear wall. In such an arrangement, the rear section of the tray base is preferably formed as a hinged panel which hinges upwardly from the base of the tray and engages the rear wall of the tray.

Most preferably, the upper end of the inclined panel is bonded to the rear wall of the tray in order to retain the panel in position. To facilitate this in a preferred arrangement the upper end of the panel is formed with a hinge line to define a glue tab which can be folded to lie face to face with the rear wall of the tray. In certain embodiments of the invention the rear wall of the tray may be formed by two opposed flaps, in which case the upper part of the sloping flap may act to locate the respective rear wall forming flaps in position relative to each other.

In an alternative embodiment, the rear wall of the tray may be formed with an inclined panel. Preferably the panel is a hinged panel which can be pushed in on location to form the inclined panel, so that the rear wall is planar during transit.

Preferably the panel is connected at its lower end to a hinged panel formed in the base of the tray such that when the rear wall panel is pushed inwardly, both panels move inwardly, the base wall panel then acting to support the lower end of the rear wall panel against rearward movement.

In order to facilitate the pushing in of the rear wall panel, it is preferably formed with an intermediate hinge line preferably formed close to the bottom of the panel.

The carton as described thus far may be a one piece or two piece construction; i.e. the hood may be formed integrally with the tray or as a separate component.

Typically, however, cartons of this type are two piece constructions with the hood being adhesively bonded to the tray. Such constructions are inconvenient to use since the hood can only cleanly be separated from the tray by using a knife. This is not satisfactory since it may damage the packs inside the carton, and may - 4 represent a hazard to those opening the cartons. If the hood was merely torn away, this would potentially lead to a part of the tray also being ripped away, leaving unsightly tears on the tray.

The invention also seeks to overcome this problem and from a third aspect provides a carton for packs, said carton comprising a tray for receiving the packs and a hood removable from the tray, said hood being adhesively bonded to said tray at at least one bonding location, said hood or tray being provided with lines of weakness around the bond location.

With such an arrangement, when the hood is removed from the tray the lines of weakness break so as to allow the hood to be removed without tearing the tray or hood around the bond location.

Preferably the lines of weakness are provided on the tray rather than the hood, whereby a section of the tray is removed with the hood. This is preferable in that it does not leave any tabs of the hood material projecting from the tray, which is beneficial in that it means the trays may be closely stacked together on the shelf.

The line of weakness is preferably formed adjacent the base of the tray.

Preferably an aperture is provided in the base of the tray beneath the line of weakness so as to allow a user to gain access into the inside of the tray so that the material within the line of weakness can be manipulated e.g. pushed or pulled to break the lines of weakness prior to the hood being removed.

Preferably two bond locations are provided, one on each side of the tray.

It will be appreciated that a carton in accordance to the invention may incorporate more of the above aspects of the invention defined above.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a carton in accordance with the invention in an exploded view; Figure 2 shows a carton in accordance with the invention with a pack alignment panel partially depressed; Figure 3 shows a carton in accordance with the invention prior to removal of the hood therefrom; Figure 4 shows a carton in which the hood is being removed from the tray; Figure 5 shows a tray loaded with packs; Figure 6 shows a detail of the base of the tray; Figure 7 shows a further detail of the base of the tray; and Figure 8 shows a further embodiment of the invention.

Referring now to Figure 1, a carton 2 in accordance with the invention comprises a tray 4 and a hood 6. As shown in Figure 5, for example, the tray holds a number of packs 8, for example sachets of food products such as soups or desserts.

The hood 6 is adhesively bonded to the tray 4 at tabs 10, 12 defined in the tray 4 adjacent the base 14 of the tray 4, the tabs 10, 12 being defined by lines of weakness 16, 18. Respective apertures 20 are provided in the base 14 of the tray immediately below each tab 10, 12.

The base 14 of the tray 4 is also provided with a plurality of hinged tabs 22 and the sidewalls 24, 26 are also provided with hinged tabs 28 along their length.

The rear section 30 of the tray base 14 is formed by an upwardly inclined hinged flap 32, such that effectively the lower portion of the rear wall 33 is inclined rearwardly. The angle of the flap 32 is such as to present the packs 8 in the tray 4 at a desired angle when the tray 4 is on display. A glue tab 34 is formed at the upper end of the angled flap 32, this tab - 6 34 being glued to the panels 36, 38 which form the remainder of the rear wall 33 of the tray, so as to maintain the panels 36, 38 in position.

The hood 6 of the carton is of a generally conventional configuration, except that a hinged panel is provided in the top wall 42 of the hood 6. The panel 40 is hinged remotely from the front wall 48 of the hood 6 and is defined by lines of weakness 44 which extend into a glue tab 46 extending over the front wall lo 48 of the hood 6.

As stated above, in transit, the hood 6 is adhesively secured to the tray 4 via the tabs 10 and 12.

The hood 6 acts to protect the contents of the carton 2 during transit. However, during transit the packs 8 in the carton 2 may slump forwardly meaning that should the hood 6 be removed they may fall out of the tray. In order to obviate this problem, and as shown in Figure 2, prior to removing the hood 6, a user pushes the panel 40 inwardly to engage the upper end of the foremost packs 8 and push them backwardly so that they assume the correct orientation within the carton 2. The tab 48 of the panel 40 extending into the front wall 50 of the hood 6 facilitates the release of the panel 40.

After the panel 40 has been pushed inwardly, the hood 6 can be removed. As shown in Figure 3, this is achieved by a user inserting his or her finger through the aperture 20 formed in the base 14 of the tray 4 and pulling the tabs 10, 12 outwardly so as to break the lines of weakness 16, 18 around the tabs 10, 12. The tabs 16, 18 will remain attached to the side walls of the hood 6 which can then be simply lifted off, as shown in Figure 4. As is clear from Figure 4, as the tabs 10, 12 remain attached to the hood 6, there are no projections from the side walls of the tray 4 meaning that these may be stacked more closely one next to another on a shelf.

As can be seen more clearly from Figure 5, in use the packs 8 should be angled rearwardly in the tray 4 so that a purchaser can easily identify the product that he or she wishes to purchase. As is evident from Figure 6, as packs 8 are removed from the tray, the tabs 22 which have previously been pushed into the tray 4 from below by a user engage the bottom sealed edge 52 of the pack 8 to stop it sliding forwardly at its base.

Furthermore, as shown in Figure 7, it will be appreciated that the angled flap 32 in the rear wall 33 of the tray 4 will keep the rearmost packs 8 at a desired angle.

The carton shown may be made from cardboard, paper board or other foldable sheet material, either cellulosic or plastics. Most preferably, however, it is made from corrugated board.

While the embodiment above has been described with reference to packaging for sachet packs, it will be clear that the packaging is also suitable for use with other packs such as blister packs, carton packs and so on.

It will also be clear that modifications may be made to the embodiment described above without departing from the scope of the invention. For example the sloping rear wall of the tray may be formed in another manner. This is illustrated in Figure 8.

In this embodiment, the tray 60 is formed with a base 62, side walls 64, 66, a front wall 68 and a rear wall 70. The side walls 64, 66 and base 62 are provided with anti-slip tabs 72, 74 and glue tabs 10, 12 as in the earlier embodiment. The front wall 68 and rear wall are glued to the side walls 64, 66 through glue tabs 76, 78.

The rear wall 70 is provided with a push-in panel whose upper end is hingedly connected to the upper part of the rear wall 70 by a hinge line 82. The lower end of the panel 80 is hingedly connected to a panel 84 formed in the base 62 through a hinge line 86 which is, - 8 in fact, a part of the hinge line 88 formed between the rear wall 70 and the base 62. The panel 84 in the base 62 is hinged to the base through a hinge line 90.

In order to facilitate the pushing in of the panel 80, it is formed with an intermediate hinge line 92 towards the bottom of the panel 80.

During transit, the panel 80 lies flush in the plane of the rear wall 70, and in fact may be retained in the wall 70 by frangible lands (not shown).

Similarly the panel 84 lies flush in the plane of the base 62. When the tray 60 is being placed on the shelf, the rear wall panel 80 is pushed inwardly about the hinge line 82. This pulls the base panel 84 upwardly.

The intermediate hinge line 92 in the rear wall panel 80 allows the panel to flex in a controlled manner facilitating its movement and preventing it buckling.

When the rear wall panel 80 has been pushed fully in, it assumes the inclined position shown in Figure 8.

The hinge line 86 at the bottom of the rear wall panel 80 is actually spaced from the base 62 of the tray, but the base panel 84 supports the bottom of the rear wall panel 80 against backward movement, so that it can satisfactorily support the packs in the tray.

In another embodiment, not shown, it may be possible to form a selectively deployable panel in the base of the tray in a similar manner to the panel 80 in the rear wall 70. - 9 -

Claims

Claims 1. A tray for displaying packs or the like, wherein a lower portion

at least of the rear wall of the tray is inclined rearwardly.
2. A tray as claimed in claim 1 wherein a rear portion of the base of the tray is angled upwardly to form the inclined portion of the rear wall of the tray.
3. A tray as claimed in claim 2 wherein the angled section of the tray base is formed as a hinged panel which hinges upwardly from the base of the tray and engages the rear wall of the tray.
4. A tray as claimed in claim 3 wherein the upper end of the sloping panel is bonded to the rear wall of the tray.
5. A tray as claimed in claim 4 wherein the upper end of the panel is formed with a hinge line to define a glue tab which can be folded to lie face to face with the rear wall of the tray.
6. A tray as claimed in claim 5 wherein the rear wall of the tray is formed by two opposed flaps which are held by the glued tab.
7. A tray as claimed in claim 1 wherein the rear wall of the tray is formed with an inclined panel.
8. A tray as claimed in claim 7 wherein the inclined panel is a hinged panel.
9. A tray as claimed in claim 8 wherein the inclined panel is connected at its lower end to a hinged panel formed in the base of the tray. 10
10. A tray as claimed in claim 9 wherein the hinged panel is formed with an intermediate hinge line.
11. A carton comprising a tray as claimed in any preceding claim and a hood removable from the tray.
12. A carton as claimed in claim 11 wherein the carton is a two piece construction.
13. A carton as claimed in claim 12 wherein the hood of the carton is adhesively bonded to the tray of the carton at at least one bonding location, said hood or tray being provided with a line of weakness around the bond location.
14. A carton as claimed in claim 13 wherein the line of weakness is provided on the tray.
15. A carton as claimed in claim 14 wherein the line of weakness is formed adjacent the base of the tray.
16. A carton as claimed in claim 14 or 15 wherein an aperture is provided in the base of the tray beneath a line of weakness.
17. A carton as claimed in claim any of claims 13 to 16 wherein two bond locations are provided, one on each side of the tray.