US3346318A - Shelf-forming carton - Google Patents

Description

Oct- 10, 1967 R. L. PROPST 3,346,313

SHELF-FORMING CARTON Filed June 8, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet l United States Patent C) 3,346,318 SHELF-FORMJNG CARTON Robert L. Propst, Ann Arbor, Mich., assignor to Herman Miller, Inc., Zeeland, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed June 8, 1966, Ser. No. 556,008 9 Claims. (Cl. S12-330) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A shelf-forming carton shippable as a sealed container having a top, bottom, rear face, front face and two spaced ends. 'Ihe top, bottom, ends and rear face are closed and the front face is provided with removable access panels wherethrough access is gained to the interior of the carton after arrival at the use situs. A runner element, preferably foldable, is positioned on the exterior surface of each of the ends and extends outwardly therefrom when in working position. The runner elements are received by grooves in the facing sides of a suitable support cabinet. The construction of the carton is such that the goods packaged therein will be supported thereby when the carton is suspended in shelf-like fashion across the cabinet from the runner members only. After the carton has been slid into the cabinet at the use situs, the front access members are removed and .access had to the carton without sliding it in and out of the support cabinet.

Background This invention relates to packaging, and more particularly, to a carton embodying means whereby it may be suspended within a receiving framework in shelf-like fashion.

In many modern enterprises and public institutions, much emphasis is accorded to the disposability of personal objects such as towels, bedding, wash cloths and the like after they have been used. This emphasis has been prompted primarily by the high labor costs incurred in laundering and sterilizing these articles for reuse when they are fabricated from relatively permanent materials such as cotton. The emphasis additionally has been prompted Iparticularly in hospitals by a desire to maintain the sterility of the entire premises at a relatively high level.

Currently, disposable paper products are being extensively utilized. Disposable sheets, wash cloths, towels and the like, which may be burned after they have been used, are now being marketed. Although the availability of these products has greatly increased the over-all sterility and reduced the overhead of the businesses concerned, several significant problems remain to be solved.

While the introduction of disposable materials has significantly improved sanitation and reduced labor costs, much improvement remains possible. This invention is directed at such an improvement. It provides a shipping carton which not only protects the articles during shipment and keeps them sterile until they reach the point of use but also provides a means of storing them until required.

Conventional practice requires these articles, when received, to be removed from their package and stored ori shelves or in drawers. In a typical hospital this is done in the linen room. The articles are then withdrawn from the shelves as needed. This arrangement is both labor consuming and wasteful of space.

Objects and ,specicaton This invention eliminates this by disposing of the shelves. The sealed packages, as received, are equipped with end flanges which form supporting runners. Using these runners the packages as received are inserted in storage bays in the linen room in vertically tiered arrangement. The front of the package is opened and the contents removed as needed.

Since each package is independently supported, any package in a tier may be removed or replaced without disturbing any other package. This materially reduces the direct labor cost. The double handling required to unpack and store on shelves is eliminated. Periodic cleaning of shelving is eliminated since the empty packages are destroyed. Maintenance of proper inventory is facilitated since it can be ascertained by reading the labeling on the front of the package and counting the number of packages. Counting of the individual articles is no longer necessary. The total quantity of articles which may -be stored in a given area is increased since, space previously occupied by shelving is made available for articles, the wall thickness of the packages and the clearance between them being materially less than that of a shelf.

Sanitation is improved since the articles are stored in their shipping container unopened until needed. Even after use begins, these articles which are not used immediately, remain in the original container, enclosed on all sides except the access opening through the front. This affords far more protection than storage on an open shelf.

Further, the packages can be racked on suitable carts equipped to handle them like shelves and the articles transported to the point of use in their original containers. This is far more sanitary than the open platform type cart now -conventionally utilized. Also, it permits rapid loading since the articles are handled in groups while in their original package rather than by one-by-one manual removal from the storage shelves.

These and other objects of this invention will be clearly understood by reference to the following speciiication and accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of one end of the shelf forming containers;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective sectional view illustrating one possible mode of fabricating the wing-like structure integrally with the storage container;

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevational view taken along the plane III--III of FIG. l;

FIG. 4 is a plan View of the carton forming blank utilized in the construction showni n FIG. 2 after it has been scored but prior to folding;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional, front-elevational View of the storage indicating the manner in which the wings may be folded against the ends for shipping;

FIG. 6 is a front-elevational view of a typical supporting framework having a plurality of shelf forming cartons disposed therein;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the device shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary front-elevational view of a modified nunner wing within a storage` cabinet;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary front-elevational view of another \modifred runner wing and its attendant supporting structure;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary View illustrating a modified rack and retaining wing combination; and

FIG. ll is a fragmentary plan View of the carton forming blank utilized in the wing construction shown in FIG. l0.

Briefly, the shelf-forming carton which is the subject of this invention comprises a package of sufficient structural rigidity to support the goods placed therein when suspended from its ends only. A wing or runner, which -rnay also conveniently serve as a handle, is either aixed to or formed integrally with each end of the package.

l Preferably, these wings are hingedly aixed to the package such that they may be folded against the ends thereof to reduce the over-all length of the carton during transit.

When it is desired to store the cartons, they are inserted into a storage framework having a plurality of runner or wing-receiving grooves in opposite interior faces thereof. The wings on the cartons are slid into these grooves and the carton is supported in shelf-like fashion thereby. When the carton has been emptied, it may be removed and discarded andv a new carton inserted in its place.

Referring now to the figures, a preferred embodiment of this invention will -be described in detail. FIGS. l through 5 illustrate the structural details of the shelf forming-carton and a preferred method for fabricating it. A package section having a top panel 11, a front panel 12, a bottom panel 13, a bottom reinforcing tab 14, a back panel 15, and end panel 16 has a pair of win-gs or runner elements 20 positioned at either end thereof. The front panel 12 conveniently may have incorporated therein one or a plurality of conventional punch-out subpanels 17 through which access is gained to the articles shipped and stored within package 10. The size, number and location of snap-out openings 17 will depend, of course, on the particular types of articles to be packaged within the carton 30.

The carton 30, which term includes the package 10 with its extending runner elements 20, may conveniently be fabricated as indicated in FIG. 4. The ends 16 each consist of a pair of converging end panels 21, a cover panel 22 having a wing-receiving slot 23 therein and a wingforming panel 24. As shown in FIG. 4, wing-forming panel 24 has a necked downsection 25 therein with a series of conventional parallel -folding scores 26 therealong.

To form the carton, the front panel 12, top 11 and back are folded along the score lines to form a rectangular tube of the configuration shown in FIG. 3. In so doing, the back panel 15 is aixed to bottom reinforcing tab 14 in any conventional manner such as by gluing or stapling. Converging end panels 21 are folded inwardly as indicated in FIG. 3 and the necked down section 25 of the runner-forming panels 24 are folded along the score marks 26 to form runner elements 20. The runner-forming panels 24 are :folded downwardly and cover panels 22 are folded thereover such that the inner elements are received by and extend through runner element-receiving slots 23 on cover panels 22 (see FIG. 2). Panels 21 and 22 are secured together in Iany conventional manner such as 'by 4gluing to complete the assembly of the carton 30. The size of runner element-receiving slots 23 is such that the two facing sections of the necked down area 25 will form a triangular solid having -a relatively horizontal bottorn section. Preferably, in this embodiment the tabs 27 are not glued to the other side and end panels. Such construction allows necked :down section 25 to oat above the lower edge of slot 23 when wing 20 is folded to the position shown in FIG. 5 for shipping. After receival at the location for utilization of the goods, wings 20 may be returned to the position shown in FIG. 2. The width of tab 27 with respect to slot 23 prevents Ythe wing stnucture from pulling free and allowing the container to fall from its storage cabinet.

While the loading of the carton is no part of this invention, by way of illustration, the carton can be folded, wit-h one end closed and one end open. The contents are then inserted through the open' end, the end closed and sealed.

The Agauge of the berboard, cardboard or corrugated board utilized to fabricate carton 30 must be such that the finished product will Ibe sufciently rigid to be supported in shelf-like fashion by each of the runners 20 when the package is fully loaded. That is to say, the package 10 must be s'uiciently rigid that there is little and .preferably no tendency for it to sag when completely lled and when supported vertically only at Ithe wings or runners 20. While corrugated board products have been found satisfactory for this purpose, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that many other types of materials may be substituted.

The integral construction of runner elements 20, as pointed out previously, allows them to be folded `against ends 16 during transit of the cartons 30 from the manufacturer to the rplace of use. AThe individual cartons 30 will ordinarily be shipped to their destinations in large boxes containing a number of such cartons. If runner elements 20 are not capable of being folded against ends 16 of package 10, the shipping boxes will have to have a width suicient to accommodate cartons 30 with their wings 20 in the horizontally extended position. This, of course, results in a great deal of wasted space at each end of the containers when they are placed in their shipping boxes. Also, the individual packages will not be firmly restrained within the larger shipping container. In this regard, the construction shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 is particularly useful. FIG. 5 illustrates the runners 20 folded for compact shipment. This folding, as previously noted, does not impair the functional characteristics of the wings 20 when the ultimate destination is reached. It is a hinge-like action which leaves suflicient rigid material outward of the joint to be effectively grasped by the runner receiving grooves.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 Iand 7, there is shown an openfaced storage Iframework 40 having a top 41, sides 42, a back 43 and a bottom 44. The opposite interior faces of sides 42 have a plurality of parallel runner or Wing-receiving ygrooves 45 and 45 formed therein. The framework 40, -for example, may be placed within a hospital room or Ward. It is predesigned such that a plurality of different shelf-forming containers 30a, 30b and 30e may be accommodated thereby. These containers may, for example, contain disposable towels, wash cloths and sheets respectively. When a new patient enters that particular room, new shelf-forming containers 30 are placed into the framework which has previously been sterilized by merely lifting .them to their respective storage levels and sliding the wings or runners 20 into left-hand runner-receiving grooves 45 and right-hand runner-receiving grooves 46 as indicated in FIG. 6. The wings 20 function as ydrawer runners and the shelf-forming container may be slid rearwardly until such time as its face is ilush with the ,front of framework 40. With the device shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, there is little or no tendency for the runner elements 20 to separate or pull Ifrom rgrooves 45 and 46 lbecause of (l) the abutting or nearly abutting relationship of the ends of the cartons and the opposing interior faces of walls 42 and (2) the bearing strength of the triangular wing arrangement within the retaining slots.

Punchout subpanels 17 are removed to allow access to the items contained within the storage containers. When a particular carton has been emptied, in may be removed for burning by merely sliding its runners 20 out of retaining grooves 45 and 46. A new container may then be inserted in its place by merely leveling wings 20 and sliding them into 4the runner-receiving grooves 45 and 46, Between patients, the inside of framework 40 may, if necessary, be disinfected easily by merely wiping the relatively at surfaces thereof and the runner-receiving grooves 45 and 46. Alternately, the entire framework may be removed and sterilized at a central facility. The articles contained within cartons 30 are handled only at the time they are removed for use and their containers are periodically disposed of. These two factors materially irnprove the conditions controlling sterility.

It will be recognized that by adding wheels to the framework 40 or placing it on an yappropriate cart, it can be made into an eicient means of transporting the articles through the hospital. The cart can be bulk loaded quickly at the central supply station. During movement around the hospital the articles are fully protected until the packages are opened and even then there is substantial protection for their contents. The packages keep the articles in neat order and accidental spillage is prevented.

More likely than storage in individual rooms is storage at central linen facilities. In this case, the supports for the cartons can consist of spaced panels with slots on each side. Such an arrangement is suggested by the panels 100 in FIG. 10. No top, bottom or back is required-the panels being hung on the wall. The panels can have slots to accommodate cartons of different heights and size and various articles will require different size packages as, for example, sheets and washcloths.

The wing and receiving slot structure shown in FIG. differs from that previously described in that receiving slots 45 and 46' are considerably narrower and the runner of wing is relatively flat rather than triangular in cross section. The wing structure 20 may be fabricated from a blank of the type shown in FIG. ll which is folded in a manner similar to that described in connection with FIG. 4. In this embodiment, however, the tab 27 is also glued to panel 22 such that the folded, necked-down section 25 protrudes from slot 23 in the relatively fiat configuration shown in FIG. 10. The bank shown in FIG. 1.1 differs from that shown in FIG. 4 only with regard to the reversed positioning of end panels 22 and 24. As in FIGS. 1 through 5, wing 20 may be crushed against the sides of containers for shipping without damaging their supporting properties.

The runner and slot combination shown in FIGS. 10 atnd 11 affords little or no tendency for the runner elements 20. The portion of element 20 received by grooves 45 and 46 should be substantially greater than the width of the receiving groove. For example, the runner length is preferably greater than twice the vertical height of the receiving groove. Any tendency of the cartons to shift downwardly causes runners 20 to wedge into their respective receiving grooves, thus checking further downward movement of the carton.

In the event the goods contained in the cartons are unusually heavy, or the paperboard utilized to fabricate them unusually light, the wedging action of the grooves 45 and 46 upon the wings 20 may be increased .as shown in FIG. 8 by inserting a wooden or metal rod or bar 51 on the interior of the wing during fabrication of the container. So constructed, runner 50 will wedge into receiving groove 52 in a more positive manner because this will decrease the clearance between the wings and the sides of the grooves, as indicated in FIG. 6.

Another mode for supporting the runners within the framework is indicated in FIG. 9. Here the construction of the carton is identical to that previously described. In the supporting framework, however, the supporting groove 61 is formed at an angle opening upwardly with respect to the horizontal. This mode of fabrication also increases the bearing capabilites of the slidable connection by creating a positive interference and lock situation before the wings are downwardly inclined. This reorganizes the forces acting on the fold line or the wings to make the weight of the package cooperate in retaining the wings in the grooves.

Thus, it will be seen that this invention has provided a shelf-like disposable carton which may be easily inserted into and removed from its supporting structure. It cornbines both the shipping carton and the storage shelf in a single disposable item.

While a preferred embodiment of this invention, along with several minor modifications thereof, has been illustrated in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that a number of other modifications of the structures disclosed herein are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. Such modifications are to be deemed as included in the hereinafter appended claims unless these claims, by their language, expressly state otherwise.

I claim:

1. A storage unit comprising: a framework having a plurality of runner receiving grooves in opposite interior faces thereof; a plurality of shelf-forming cartons having a width approximately equal to the distance between said opposite interior faces of said framework, each of said cartons having a t-op, bottom, rear face, front face and two spaced ends, said top, bottom, ends and rear face being closed, said front face being provided with access means wherethrough access may be gained to the interior of said carton, said carton having sufhcient structural rigidity to support the goods to 4be placed therein in shelf-like fashion when suspended from said ends only; and a runner element positioned on the exterior surface of each of said ends and extending outwardly therefrom, said runner elements adapted to act as runners and be slidably received by said grooves whereby said cartons are slidably suspended within said framework supported solely on said runner elements, access being had to said carton through said front-face access means when said carton has been so slidably suspended.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said grooves are horizontal.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said grooves are inclined downwardly away from the ends of said carton and the portion of each of said runner elements received in a groove is a multiple of the vertical height of said groove.

4. A shelf-forming carton shippable as a sealed container comprising a top, bottom rear face, front face and two spaced ends, said top, bottom, ends and rear face being closed, said front face being provided with access means wherethrough access may be gained to the interior of said carton, said carton having suicient structural rigidity to support the goods packaged therein in shelflike fashion when suspended from said ends only, and a runner element positioned on the exterior surface of each of said ends and extending outwardly therefrom, said runner elements adapted to serve as runners and thus slidably support said carton when placed in a supporting frame, access `being had to said carton through said frontface access means when said carton has been slid into supporting engagement with said frame.

5. The structure as set forth in claim 4 wherein said carton is formed from a disposable paper product.

6. The shelf forming carton as set forth in claim 4 wherein said runner elements are hingedly secured to said carton to fold generally parallel to said ends for reducing the over-all length of said carton during shipment.

7. The shelf forming carton as set forth in claim 6 wherein said runner elements are integral with said package.

8. The shelf forming carton as set forth in claim 7 wherein said runner elements extend a substantial portion of the distance between the front and back of said carton.

9. A shelf forming carton as set forth in claim 4 wherein a reinforcing strip is secured to each of said runner elements to stiften said runner against cross sectional bending and to increase its cross sectional thickness.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 864,761 8/ 1907 Erickson. 2,125,813 8/1938 Roscoe S12-108 2,539,963 1/1951 Moberg 312-350 X 2,625,456 1/ 1953 Rostau 312-107 2,676,080 4/ 1954 Stedman 312--261 X 2,763,526 9/ 1956 Falek 312-270 2,811,404 10/ 1957 Brooks etal 312-270 3,287,075 11/1966 Batke et al 312-108 DAVID I. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner. JAMES T. MCCALL, Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. A STORAGE UNIT COMPRISING: A FRAMEWORK HAVING A PLURALITY OF RUNNER RECEIVING GROOVES IN OPPOSITE INTERIOR FACES THEREOF; A PLURALITY OF SHELF-FORMING CARTONS HAVING A WIDTH APPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO THE DISTANCE BETWEEN SAID OPPOSITE INTERIOR FACES OF SAID FRAMEWORK, EACH OF SAID CARTONS HAVING A TOP, BOTTOM, REAR FACE, FRONT FACE AND TWO SPACED ENDS, SAID TOP, BOTTOM, ENDS AND REAR FACE BEING CLOSED, SAID FRONT FACE BEING PROVIDED WITH ACCESS MEANS WHERETHROUGH ACCESS MAY BE GAINED TO THE INTERIOR OF SAID CARTON, SAID CARTON HAVING SUFFICIENT STRUCTURAL RIGIDITY TO SUPPORT THE GOODS TO BE PLACED THEREIN IN SHELF-LIKE FASHION WHEN SUSPENDED FROM SAID ENDS ONLY; AND A RUNNER ELEMENT POSITIONED ON THE EXTERIOR SURFACE OF EACH OF SAID ENDS AND EXTENDING OUTWARDLY THEREFROM, SAID RUNNER ELEMENTS ADAPTED TO ACT AS RUNNERS AND BE SLIDABLY RECEIVED BY SAID GROOVES WHEREBY SAID CARTONS ARE SLIDABLY SUSPENDED WITHIN SAID FRAMEWORK SUPPORTED SOLELY ON SAID RUNNER ELEMENTS, ACCESS BEING HAD TO SAID CARTON THROUGH SAID FRONT-FACE ACCESS MEANS WHEN SAID CARTON HAS BEEN SO SLIDABLY SUSPENDED.

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