GB2164922A - Carton - Google Patents

Abstract

A carton formed from folded stiff sheet material has a tray-like base 21 having upstanding peripheral walls 2, 3 into which a foldable tubular wall- defining member 11, 12 can be inserted and locked thereto by inter- engageable edges 5, 6, 17 on the lower ends of the walls of the wall- defining member 11, 12 and the peripheral walls of the base 21. Each of a pair of opposite end walls 12 of the wall-defining member has an upright central crease 16 therein which permits the end walls 12 of the wall-defining member to be folded inwardly to effect corresponding closing together of the side walls 11 of the member, thereby to flatten the wall-defining member. Fold lines 9 facilitate folding down of the walls 2, 3 of the base 21 to a flattened condition. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Carton The invention relates to a carton, packing case or like container (herein called a "carton") formed from folded stiff sheet material such as plain card or laminated plain and corrugated card.

The invention is particularly concerned with the fitting together of a base, or a base and a lid, with a tubular wall-defining member and has as an object a carton construction in which the base, the lid where provided, and the folded tubular wall-defining member when flattened can be stored in a flat pack which in plan is of substantially the same size as the plan of the base and which can be erected and assembled by interengaging the tubular wall-defining member with the base and with the lid, where provided.

The invention also relates to blanks of the stiff sheet material from which the base, the lid, where provided, and the tubular wall-defining member can be formed.

According to the invention, a carton comprises a tray-like base having a floor which is rectangular in plan and has upstanding walls therein, the carton also comprising a separately-constructed tubular wall-defining member having the same plan-form as the floor of its base and defining a pair of side walls and a pair of end walls insertable at their lower ends within corresponding upstanding walls of the base, said end walls of the member each having an upright central crease therein which permits said end walls to be folded inwardly of the member with corresponding closing together of the side walls thereof, thereby to flatten the member, the height of the member being substantially equal to the width of the base, whereby the member when flattened can be laid on the base and will occupy substantially the same plan area as the floor thereof, the walls of the base being foldable in opposite pairs to lie flat on the floor of the base, the member having on the outer face of each of at least one pair of opposite walls thereof at the lower end thereof an upwardlyfacing ledge and the base having on the inner face of each corresponding wall thereof at the upper end thereof a downwardly-facing ledge, whereby on erection of the walls of the base and the member, said ledges will be interengaged by abutment of their respective upwardly and downwardly-facing edges when the member is inserted into the base, the upper edge of each abutting pair of ledges holding the lower edge of the pair beneath it, thereby to prevent separation of the member from the base.

The carton may also include a tray-like lid of similar construction to the base and which may be engaged, when inverted, with the upper end of the wall-defining member, when erected, the member having on the outer face of each of at least one pair of opposite walls thereof at the upper end thereof a downwardly-facing ledge engageable with corresponding upwardly-facing ledges on the lid, the lid also having its walls foldable in opposite pairs in a similar way to the walls of the base, whereby the lid can be laid flat against the member when flattened and the base in a flat pack.

Alternatively, the member may have hinged flaps on the upper edges of the walls thereof, which flaps are foldable in pairs across the assembled carton in the usual manner of a carton having upper end flaps.

The base may have beneath the floor thereof feet forming a pallet base which may be engaged with the forks of a fork-lift truck or the floor of the base may be attachable to or stackable on a separately-constructed pallet base.

As aforesaid, the carton also includes blanks from which the wall-defining member, the base, and, where provided, the lid can be formed.

In the preceding paragraph, the term "rectangular" may also include square.

By way of example, a carton in accordance with the invention is now described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a blank from which the base of the carton is folded; Figure 2 is a plan view, to a different scale, of a blank from which the wall-defining member is folded; Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the erected wall-defining member and a base therefor having feet defining a pallet, and Figure 4 is a vertical section through a portion of the assembled carton shown in Fig. 3.

Referring to Fig. 1, the blank from which the base is folded comprises a rectangular floor portion 1. This has hinged along each of a pair of parallel edges a side wall-forming portion 2. Similarly an end wall-forming portion 3 is hinged along each of the other pair of parallel edges of the floor portion 1. The portions 2 and 3 are each foldable about their respective hinge-lines upwardly through 90 to form the side and end walls of the base, which when assembled will be in the form of an open shallow tray. To hold the wall portions 2 and 3 perpendicularly to the floor portion 1, the wall portions 2 each have end tabs 4 which are foldable along hinge lines on the portions 2 to lie inside the upright wall portions 3 and to be glued, stitched, riveted or otherwise secured to the wall portions 3.Each of the wall-forming portions 2, 3 has a further hinged flap 5, 6 thereon, which is foldable along hinge-lines 7, 8 through 180 to form in the assembled base a downwardly-facing ledge on the inside of the respective end or side wall of the base. The flaps 6 are hinged to the wall-forming portions 3 along parallel hinge lines 8, thereby to accommodate the combined thickness of the folded-in tabs 4.

An object of the invention is to provide for the upstanding walls of the base, when assembled, to be folded substantially flat on to the floor portion 1. To enable this to be done, the side wall portions 2 are scored with foldlines 9 at 45" to the hinge-line between the floor portion 1 and the side wall portions 2 and the hinged flaps 5 are similarly scored with fold-lines 10 at 90 to the respective fold-lines 9.When the flaps 5 have been folded through 180 onto the respective walls 2, the score-lines 10 will overlap part of the respective score-lines 9 and so the side walls 2, together with the ledges thereon formed by the flaps 5, can be folded substantially flat onto the floor portion 1 and then the end walls 3, together with the ledges thereon formed by the flaps 6, can be folded substantially flat onto the floor portion 1 and the already folded-in side walls 2. Alternatively, the score-lines 10 in the flaps 5 may be extensions of the score-lines 9 and in that case, the flaps 5 are not pre-folded to form the ledges, thereby enabling the wall-forming portions 2 and the flaps 5, while in the same plane as the wall-forming portions 2, to be floded to lie flat on the floor portion 1.The flaps 5 are folded to form the respective ledges after the wall portions 2 have been erected to form the side walls. The folding over of the flaps 5 will assist in holding the side walls 2 upright, as the score-lines 9 and 10 will not then be aligned.

Although the tray-like base formed from the blank shown in Fig. 1 is rectangular, it may alternatively be square.

The four walls of the carton are folded from the blank shown in Fig. 2, which comprises side wall-forming portions 11 and end wallforming portions 12 with hinge lines 13 therebetween. One end of the blank has a tab 14 hinged along line 15 to the respective portion 12. The tab 14 is permanently attached by gluing, stitching, riveting or otherwise along the opposite edge of the blank to the respective side wall-forming portion 11. When the tab has been so secured, the blank will form a tubular wall-defining member having four walls 11, 12 each hinged along the hinge-lines 13 and 15 to form the respective upright corner edge of the carton. A feature of the invention is to enable the tubular member to be folded flat with the two side wall portions 11 close together one on the other.This is made possible by providing each of the end wall portions 12 with a central fold-line 16 which in the erected wall-defining member will be upright. The fold-line 16 is scored to fold oppositely to the fold lines 13 and 15, thereby to enable the two half portions of each end wall 12 to be folded together inwardly of the member, thereby to puli the two side walls 11 towards each other. The height of the walls 11, 12 is substantially equal to the width of the base, that is the floor portion 1 and so the wall-defining member when flattened can be laid on top of the flattened base and will be of substantially the same size and rectangular or square shape having dimensions X, and Y, thereby enabling the base and the wall-defining member to be packed one on the other in a flat pack.

The blank shown in Fig. 2 also has flaps 17, 18 on the bottom and top edges of each wall portion 11, 12 hinged along lines 19, 20.

The flaps 17, 18 are foldable outwardly through 1800 to upstand against the outside of each wall-forming portion 11, 12 to provide at the lower end of the wall-defining member, upwardly-facing ledges which will abut beneath the ledges formed by the flaps 5 on the base and so hold the wall-defining member from upward spearation from the base, when the member has been inserted into the base and the ledges on the lower end of the member have been located beneath the ledges on the upper end of the walls of the base. The manner in which the respective ledges are interengaged is shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The flaps 17 and 18 when folded to form the respective ledges also act to hold the end walls 12 flat and prevent the wall 12 from folding inwardly of the member about the reverse fold-lines 16.When the wall-defining member is to be flattened it is necessary first to fold the flaps 17, 18 to lie in the planes of the corresponding wall portions 11, 12, thereby to enable the two half portions of each wall 12 to be folded inwardly about the reverse hinge lines 16.

The carton may be closed by a lid which is substantially the same as the base, when inverted, and has locking ledges similar to those formed by flaps 5, 6 but extending upwardly to engage beneath the downwardly-facing ledges on the top of the walls 11, 12 and formed by the flaps 18. The flaps 18 are not shown in Fig. 3.

Although in the carton shown in the drawings there are ledges extending along each wall of the base and member, and the lid where provided, the ledges may be formed along only one pair of opposite walls of each of the base and member, and the lid where provided.

The carton when assembled will be held rigid by the interengaged ledges and by contents within the carton and the base can only be separated from the member by deformation of the walls of the member or the base or both. Similarly when the lid is provided, this also can only be removed by deforming the walls of the member or the lid or both.

Alternatively to providing a lid like the base, the wall-forming portions 11, 12 of the member may have integral top-forming flaps, instead of the short ledge-forming flaps 18.

The member, the base and the lid, when provided, are preferably made of a heavy duty stiff card such as laminated plain and corrugated card-board.

The base may be placed on a separate pallet base 21 shown in Fig. 3, or the pallet base 21 may be permanently or temporarily attached to the base in known manner. The pallet base 21 may have feet 22 arranged in three rows in each direction so as to enable the forks of a fork-lift truck to be inserted between the rows of feet from either a side or an end of the pallet.

The base, the member and the lid, where provided, may be folded flat, as hereinbefore described, and arranged in a flat pack together with the pallet base were provided.

Claims (8)

1. A carton comprising a tray-like base having a floor which is rectangular or square in plan and has upstanding walls therein, the carton also comprising a separately-constructed tubular wall-defining member having the same plan-form as the floor of its base and defining a pair of side walls and a pair of end walls insertable at their lower ends within corresponding upstanding walls of the base, said end walls of the member having an upright central crease therein which permits said end walls to be folded inwardly of the member with corresponding closing together of the side walls thereof, thereby to flatten the member, the height of the member being substantially equal to the width of the base, whereby the member when flattened can be laid on the base and will occupy substantially the same plan area as the floor thereof, the walls of the base being foldable in opposite pairs to lie flat on the floor of the base, the member having on the outer face of each of at least one pair of opposite walls thereof at the lower end thereof an upwardly-facing ledge and the base having on the inner face of each corresponding wall thereof at the upper end thereof a downwardly-facing ledge, whereby on erection of the walls of the base and the member, said ledges will be interengaged by abutment of their respective upwardly and downwardlyfacing edges when the member is inserted into the base, the upper edge of each abutting pair of ledges holding the lower edge of the pair beneath it, thereby to prevent separation of the member from the base.

2. A carton as claimed in Claim 1 also including a tray-like lid of similar construction to the base and which may be engaged, when inverted, with the upper end of the wall-defining member, when erected, the member having on the outer face of each of at least one pair of opposite walls thereof at the upper end thereof a downwardly-facing ledge engageable with corresponding upwardly-facing ledges on the lid, the lid also having its walls foldable in opposite pairs in a similar way to the walls of the base, whereby the lid can be laid flat against the member when flattened and the base in a flat pack.

3. A carton as claimed in Claim 1 in which the member has hinged flaps on the upper edges of the walls thereof, which flaps are foldable in pairs across the assembled carton in the usual manner of a carton having upper end flaps.

4. A carton as claimed in any preceding claim in which the base has beneath the floor thereof feet forming a pallet base to be engaged with the forks of a fork-lift truck.

5. A carton as claimed in any one of Claims 1-3 in which the floor of the base is attachable to or is stackable on a separatelyconstructed pallet base.

6. Blanks of stiff sheet material from which the wall-defining member and the base of a carton in accordance with any preceding claim are formed.

7. Blanks of stiff sheet material from which the wall-defining member, the base and the lid of a carton in accordance with Claim 2 are formed.

8. A carton constructed and arranged substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.