DE20105978U1 - Cuboid folding box - Google Patents

Description

TERMEER STEINMEISTER & PARTNER GBR PATENTANWÄLTE - EUROPEAN PATENT ATTORNEYS

Dr. Nicolaus ter Meer, Dipl.-Chem. Peter Urner, Dipl.-Phys. Gebhard Merkle, Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Mauerkircherstrasse 45 D-81679 MUNICH Helmut Steinmeister, Dipl.-Ing. Manfred Wiebusch

Artur-Ladebeck-Strasse D-33617 BIELEFELD

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GUVPOl / Ol / G

St/mü/ec

2.4.2001

E. Gun diac h Verpackung GmbH

Hellweg 21-25 33813 Oerlinghausen

CUBOID-SHAPED FOLDING BOX

E. Gundlach Verpackung GmbH *..·...' *..* &Idigr; GUV*Böf/ OiJtfj 2.4.2001

CUBOID-SHAPED FOLDING BOX

The invention relates to a cuboid-shaped folding box, the side walls of which are designed as hollow profiles and on the bottom of which an insert shelf rests.

Folding boxes of this type are suitable for packaging different goods and products. The side walls, designed as hollow profiles, give the folding box a high level of stability, so that even very flat boxes have a high level of torsional rigidity. This makes such boxes particularly suitable for storing high-quality, sensitive products such as photo prints. In this case, the folding boxes appear more high-quality than conventional bags.

Since such boxes are usually made from cardboard material that is only printed on one side, the printed side of which represents the outside of the folded box, the box base necessarily shows the unsightly back of the blank. In addition, fastening tabs for the side walls are usually glued to the box base, which gives the base an unattractive appearance. The insert base resting on the box base therefore serves to visually enhance the folding box by covering the box base and any tabs glued to it as completely as possible.

This insert is an additional part that is inserted into the conventional folding box after the blank has been folded together. Due to the relatively large surface area of the insert, a comparatively large amount of cardboard material is required to produce such boxes. In addition, attaching the insert represents an additional manufacturing step that leads to increased production costs. For these reasons, producing folding boxes with inserts is relatively uneconomical.

The object of the present invention is therefore to create cuboid-shaped folding boxes of the type mentioned at the outset which, compared to the known folding boxes, can be produced with reduced material and manufacturing costs and are therefore less expensive.

E. Gundlach Verpackung GmbH *..*...* '..* !guVW/O*?G 2.4.2001

This object is achieved according to the invention in that the folding box and the insert base are formed from a single blank.

There is less waste in the production of the folding box according to the invention, so that less cardboard material is required for its manufacture. In addition, this folding box, including the insert base, can be manufactured simply by folding it up, so that the additional step of inserting the insert base, which is necessary in the known boxes, is unnecessary. The folding boxes according to the invention can therefore be manufactured with less effort and thus more economically.

Preferably, the insert is glued to the bottom of the folding box.

In a preferred embodiment, the blank has a frame-shaped part which forms the side walls either alone or together with other blank parts. The shelf is formed by a part of the blank which is enclosed by this frame-shaped part. This arrangement of the shelf in an inner area of the blank is particularly material-saving.
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In a further preferred embodiment, there is at least one stand in the interior of the folding box, which serves to hold, support or separate individual goods that are transported in the box. This stand is formed by a tab that also starts from the frame-shaped part of the blank and projects inwards into it. In this way, a possibility of arranging the goods within the box is created, which ensures good handling and an attractive presentation, while the manufacturing effort required for this is very low.

Further preferably, the folding box according to the invention can be closed by a hinged lid which is hinged to one of the side walls of the box when it is folded together.

In the following, a preferred embodiment of the invention is explained in more detail with reference to the drawing.

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E. Gundlach Verpackung GmbH ·.«·...* *..* &iacgr; GuVwt/OilG 2.4.2001

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a blank of an embodiment of the folding box according to the invention; and

Fig. 2 shows a section through the folding box which can be produced using the blank from Fig. 1.

The blank 10 of a folding box according to the invention shown in Fig. 1 is made of a cardboard material. It comprises a rectangular box base 12 which is arranged approximately in the middle of the blank 10 and to which four further blank areas 14, 16, 18, 20 are connected, which will be described below.

Adjacent to one of the longer sides of the box base 12, which is on the right in Fig. 1, is a cutting area 14 which serves to form a hinged lid 22 of the folding box. This cutting area 14 comprises a narrow, rectangular side wall part 24, which in turn is adjoined by the lid 22 itself, which is congruent with the box base 12. Adjoining the long side of the lid 22, which is opposite the side wall part 24, is a stiffening part 26 which serves to reinforce the lid 22 when the folding box is folded up. The box base 12, the side wall part 24, the lid 22 and the stiffening part 26 are each separated from one another by parallel folding lines 28, 30, 32.

To fold the folding box, the side wall part 24 is folded upwards along the fold line 28 at a right angle to the box base 12 so that it is perpendicular to the plane of the drawing in Fig. 1. The stiffening part 26 is completely unfolded along the fold line 32 onto the inner surface of the lid 22 visible in Fig. 1 and glued to it so that the parts 22 and 26 are connected to form a unit. The lid 22 can be pivoted along the fold line 30 in relation to the side wall part 24. A closure tab 34 punched out of the stiffening part 26 is used for closing, which is hinged to the fold line 32, which forms the free edge of the lid 22 when folded.

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E. Gundlach Verpackung GmbH ·· ··· ·· · GUVPOl /(JlVG 2.4.2001

The stiffening part 26 is further provided with a pair of cutouts 36, 38 into which, for example, a photo contact print can be inserted on the inside of the cover 22.

Opposite the blank area 14, the blank area 16 extends from the box base 12 and comprises essential components of the side walls. This part 16 of the blank comprises in particular an almost completely circumferential rectangular frame 42 which forms the upper sides of the four hollow frame side walls and to which further blank parts are connected which complete the side walls when folded together.

The frame 42 is connected to the box base 12 by a narrow wall part 40 which, when folded, forms an outer wall surface of the folding box. To fold, the wall part 40 is folded upwards at a right angle relative to the box base 12 and the frame 42 is folded so that it lies parallel to the box base 12 and is spaced from the box base 12 by the side wall parts 24, 40. For this purpose, the box base 12, the wall part 40 and the frame 42 are each separated from one another by folding lines 44, 46.

A blank part 48 is hinged to the long side of the frame 42, which is opposite the box base 12, and is separated from the frame 42 by a scored line 50 and is itself divided into narrow, strip-shaped areas 58, 60, 62, 64 of equal width by a further scored line 52 and two folding lines 54, 56 running parallel thereto. These strip-shaped areas 58, 60, 62, 64 can be folded together to form a hollow profile with a square cross-section, which forms a side wall together with the longer side of the frame 42 arranged on the left in Fig. 1 and the wall part 24 already described.

In addition to two inward-facing tabs 66,68 on the shorter sides of the frame, the frame 42 encloses a shelf 70 which is connected to the right-hand side of the frame 42 in Fig. 1 by a narrow wall part 72.

E. Gundlach Verpackung GmbH ·.,·...* " ·..· **J*GUVpj)t/qiyjD 2.4.2001

The frame 42, the wall part 72 and the shelf 70 are each separated from one another by folding lines 74, 76. Two tabs 78, 80 protrude from the opposite side of the frame 42 into a recess in the shelf 70, which are separated from one another by a cutting line and which themselves each have folding lines which are collectively designated 82 in Fig. 1 and are used to fold out the tabs 78, 80 to form stands in the interior of the folding box.

Further tabs 84,86 extend along the short outer sides of the frame 42. In addition, the section 58 of the cut part 48, which is directly connected to the frame 42, is also provided with tabs 88,90.

In this section 58 as well as in the outermost sections 62,64 of the part 48, further cutouts 94,96 are provided which, in the case of the cutout 94, together with a corresponding cutout 98 in the frame 42, form a recess in the side wall which enables the insertion of an object (not shown) into the wall.

The two identical tabs 18, 20 extend from the two narrow sides of the box base 12 and are themselves divided into four narrow sections 106, 108, 110, 112 of equal width by folding lines 100, 102, 104 in a similar manner to the blank part 48. A short tab 114 is laterally hinged to the section 106 that is directly adjacent to the box base 12.

In the following, the folding of the cutting area 16 with the two tabs 18,20 and the wall part 24 to form the complete folding box will be described.

First, the leftmost part 48 of the blank 10 in Fig. 1 is folded together to form a hollow profile by folding the individual strip-shaped regions 58, 60, 62, 64 against each other by 90°, starting with the outermost section 64, so that a hollow profile with a square cross-section is formed by a type of rolling process.

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E. Gundlach Verpackung GmbH ·· * GUV ff}\ /(JfAG 2.4.2001

This hollow profile is secured by gluing the outermost strip-shaped region 64 to the frame 42.

Then the left wall part 40 in Fig. 1 is folded vertically upwards along the fold line 44 on the box base 12, and the frame 42 is folded 90° relative to the wall part 40 so that the hollow profile formed by the cut part 48 rests with the section 60 on the right edge of the box base 12 and can be glued to it. The wall is completed by folding the right cut part 14 upwards in the manner already described so that the wall part 24 is vertical and can be glued from the outside onto the section 58 of the hollow profile 48. This completes the right side wall of the folding box in Fig. 1.

At this point, a special feature should be pointed out that is not absolutely necessary but is advantageous. Three tabs 120, 122, 124 are punched out of the strip-shaped area 58 of the blank part 48 shown on the left in the drawing, which is made up of four strips and which borders the frame 42. These tabs are connected to the frame via the scoring line 50, but can otherwise be pivoted independently of the strip-shaped area 58. Only these tabs 120, 122, 124 are glued to the upstanding wall part 24 of the lid bordering the cavity. In this way, it is possible to prevent tensions from forming between the lid and the lower box after folding, which would impair the easy closing of the lid and the exact position of the lid above the lower box.

The opposite long side wall is formed by bending the inner wall part 72 vertically downwards relative to the frame 42 in this position, so that the insert shelf 70, which is itself angled in the opposite direction relative to the wall part 72, can lie flat on the box bottom 12. By gluing the insert shelf 70 to the box bottom 12, a high stability of the arrangement is achieved.

To form the short side walls, the tabs 66,68,84,86, which run along the short sides of the frame 42, are angled vertically in the direction of the box bottom 12, and the tabs 88,90 are also folded over.

E. Gundlach Verpackung GmbH *,.·...*■ * *,.*** I*GUVf Qi I Ω,ζ/.G 2.4.2001

The tabs 18,20 can then be folded upwards and placed over the short sides of the frame 42 so that the narrow section 106, which forms the vertical outer part of a side wall, rests against the tab 84 or 86 and the section 108 hinged thereto rests flat on the upper side of the frame 42, while the section 112 outermost on the blank 10 is placed flat against the box bottom 12. In this case, a projection 126 which projects from the outer flap 112 into the area of the inwardly adjacent flap 110 and is punched out of the flap 110 slides under the hollow frame or the inner flap 68 of the frame, while the outer free edge of the outer flap 112 is supported on an edge 128 which is formed by the fact that the short flaps 66, 68 of the frame which are folded downwards are punched out of the surface of the shelf 70. The edge 128 mentioned also has a projection 130 which projects slightly into the area of the flaps 66, 68 and which has the function of preventing the outer flap 112 from sliding on the short sides under the shelf 70 which may not be completely glued.

Finally, stops can be formed inside the box by unfolding the flaps 78,80 along their fold line 82 to form a support or a separating aid for the goods in the folding box. For example, if the folding box is used for photos of different formats, the flaps 78,80 can be used as stops for shorter format photos starting from the top in Fig. 1 of the drawing, while the longest photos occupy the bottom of the entire box.

It is precisely the folding of the short side by the two tabs 18,20 on the narrow front sides of the box base that gives the box a high level of stability without the need for complex gluing work in the area of the short walls.

The section through the folded folding box in Fig. 2 shows again how the sections 58,60,62,64 together with the wall part 24 form a side wall 116, while the opposite side wall 118 is formed only by the frame 42 and the wall parts 40,72.

in the »

E. Gundlach Verpackung GmbH *..*...* *..* Iguv«)1/9>>G 2.4.2001

Compared to the frame 42, the insert shelf 70 is stepped downwards inside the folding box and rests directly on the box bottom 12.

If the cardboard material used to produce such folding boxes is only printed on one side and thus has a visually appealing printed side and an unsightly back, the box blank according to the invention is advantageous in that almost exclusively the printed side is visible when the box is folded up. In particular, the top side of the insert base 70 is also the printed side, while the surface of the box base 12 is largely covered by the insert base 70.

Claims (9)

1. Cuboid-shaped folding box, the side walls ( 116 , 118 ) of which are designed as hollow profiles and on the box bottom ( 12 ) of which an insert base ( 70 ) rests, characterized in that the folding box and the insert base ( 70 ) are formed from a single blank ( 10 ). 2. Folding box according to claim 1, characterized in that the insert base ( 70 ) is glued to the box base ( 12 ). 3. Folding box according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the blank ( 10 ) has a frame-shaped part ( 42 ) for forming the side walls ( 116 , 118 ), and that the insert base ( 70 ) is formed by a blank part which is enclosed by the frame-shaped part ( 42 ). 4. Folding box according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by at least one stand ( 78 , 80 ) in the interior of the folding box, which is formed by a tab which starts from the frame-shaped part ( 42 ) of the blank ( 10 ) and projects into it. 5. Folding box according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by a hinged lid ( 22 ) for closing the folding box, which is hinged to one of the side walls ( 116 ) in the folded state. 6. Folding box according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the folding box consists of a blank which comprises a rectangular box base ( 12 ), on one longitudinal edge of the box base two parts ( 24 , 26 ) of a lid ( 22 ) which can be folded onto one another, on the other longitudinal edge a frame construction ( 42 , 44 ) which can be folded over onto the box base ( 12 ) to form hollow frame side walls of the folding box and on the two short sides tabs ( 18 , 20 ) for forming hollow walls which can be folded in. 7. Folding box according to claim 6, characterized in that the frame construction ( 42 , 48 ) which can be folded onto the box base ( 12 ) has four parallel strip-shaped regions ( 58 , 60 , 62 , 64 ) on the outer edge with respect to the box base ( 12 ), which can be rolled up to form a longitudinal hollow frame part. 8. Folding box according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the insert base ( 70 ) in the blank is formed adjacent to the long side of the frame-shaped part ( 42 ) facing the box base ( 12 ) and is connected to the upper level of the hollow wall frame formed via a downwardly folded wall part ( 72 ), and that on the short sides of the frame construction ( 42 , 48 ) downwardly folded tabs ( 66 , 68 ) are punched out of the surface of the insert base ( 70 ). 9. Folding box according to one of claims 4 to 8, characterized in that the stands ( 78 , 80 ) for forming longitudinal stops in the interior of the box are punched out of the surface of the insert base ( 70 ) and extend from the upper level of the hollow frame.