GB2078500A - Container handles - Google Patents

Abstract

A container has a handle 4 with its end regions defined by adhesive tape 9 of suitable tensile strength and these end regions are attached to the outside of the container wall with adhesive tape 3 secured to the adhesive tape of end regions of the handle and to the outer surface of the container. A series of handles may be provided as a continuous roll with handles 4 folded flat and spaced at intervals along an endless band of tape 3. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to handles on contain ers and handle assemblies therefor THIS INVENTION relates to the provision of handles for containers and particularly containers employed for packaging purposes and in which products such as paints and other liquids or solids are packed; and also to handle assemblies for application to containers.

It is well known that many containers, such as paint containers or those containing other commodities and which are usually of a cylindrical configuration are difficult to carry as there is no means whereby they can be conveniently held. Containers of a more complex design can be manufactured but are generally far too costly for the marketing of many products.

Accordingly many inexpensive handles have been proposed for containers such as paint tints and the like. However, most of these handles suffer from one or other disadvantage. The most common such handle known to the inventor comprises perforated metal cups welded to the exterior of the container and having a handle hooked into the perforation.

These handles are however costly.

It is the object of this invention to provide a simple and inexpensive handle on a container as well as handles adapted to be secured to a container which are inexpensive and can be applied by a user of a container as opposed to the manufacturer thereof.

In accordance with this invention there is provided a container having a handle attached thereto the handle having its end regions defined by adhesive tape of suitable tensile strength and these end regions being attached to the outside of the container wall with adhesive tape secured to the adhesive tape of end regions of the handle and to the outer surface of the container.

Further features of the invention provide for the entire handle to be defined by a single length of tape at least the end regions of which are provided with pressure sensitive adhesive; for the pressure sensitive adhesive on the tape of the handle to be engaged with adhesive on the length of container engaging tape securing the handle ends to the container; forthe handle adhesive tapes to be positioned between the container and container engaging tape and to be doubled over around onto the outside of the container engaging tape; and for the tapes to be made of a production tape of synthetic plastics material provided with pressure sensitive adhesive on one face thereof and, in particular, polypropylene pressure sensitive adhesive tape.

Where pressure sensitive tape is utilised to define the handle itself, it is preferred that at least the central region of the handle, adapted to be engaged by a person's hand, will have the pressure sensitive adhesive either absent or covered by means of a suitable flexible cover strip. Also, for the purposes of filling the container in a factory or packing them in cartons or the like, the handles will preferably be accommodated in a position in which they extend around part of the periphery of the containers and thus, in the case of a conventional circular cylindrical shaped container, the handle will be located beneath the usual lip or seam at the upper edge of the containerto extend halfway around the periphery thereof.In this case the handle length will determine the fact that the handle is maintained in such a conventient position in addition to areas of adhesive arranged to hold the necessary forty five degree folds at the junctions between the handles and container engaging tapes. Conveniently the container engaging tapes form one integral length to which both ends of the handle are attached at suitably spaced positions.

The invention also provides prefabricated handle assemblies comprising a length of container engaging adhesive tape to which are attached a series of spaced handles having their end regions secured thereto transversely to the length of the container engaging tape by means of further adhesive tape.

Further features of this aspect of the invention provide for the handles to be defined by adhesive tape with the central region of each handle having the adhesive tape removed or being covered by a suitable cover strip and for the region of handles between the two ends thereof to be arranged, by suitable folds in the portions adjacent the end regions, to lie contiguous to the container engaging tape.

The most convenient form of handle assembly according to this invention and as envisaged above is a roll of pressure sensitive tape made of plastics material and carrying thereon a series of spaced handle sections as defined.

In all cases mentioned above the handle section, covered by the cover strip, can be provided with a centrally located tab to facilitate its movement from an inoperative position adjacent a container wall to an operative position in which it assumes an arched shape over the top of a container.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood a preferred embodiment thereof will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 illustrates, in isometric view, a container in the form of a paint or like tin having a handle secured thereto in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 illustrates an enlarged view of the connection between the handle tape and container engaging tape of the arrangement of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 illustrates the same junction as Fig. 1 but with the handle in an inoperative position; and, Fig. 4 illustrates, in isometric view, a row of a contiguous container engaging tape carrying handle sections at spaced intervals along its length such that sections of the tape define prefabricated handle assemblies.

As illustrated in Fig. 1 a conventional tin 1 having a cylindrical body of circular shape in cross-section and an open upper end adapted to releasably receive a lid (not shown) is provided with a handle according to this invention. Such tins are widely available on the market and are often referred to as paint tins or the like although they may be used for packing many other materials.

Such containers usually have an outwardly pro jecting lip 2 at each end of the container. These lips are made by folding the sheet material from which the sidewalls of the containers are made.

An adhesive tape 3 of suitable width and thickness is secured with its adhesive face engaging the sidewall of the container immediately adjacent the uppermost lip 2 of the container so as to encircle it Two ends of a handle defining tape 4 which can be conveniently of the same material are attached at spaced positions to the tape 3. In both cases the material of manufacture of the tape must be suitable to provide the required tensile strength and the adhesive must also be of a type suitable for resisting shearing forces on the tape relative to the container.

The handle4 has exposed adhesive 5 at its end regions and this adhesive is directed outwardly towards the container engaging tape 3 with the end portion of the handle being position between the container and such tape. The free end 6 of the handle defining tape is doubled over to engage the outer surface 7 of the container engaging tape 3 as is shown in Fig. 2.

The central section of the handle defining tape 4 is coated, in this case, with adhesive, but is covered by a suitable cover strip 8 having a suitable fixable nature. The cover strips may be made of a chemical paper, a silicone treated paper or a plastics and should not adhere to any adhesive tape other than that of the handle it is adapted to cover. The cover strip 8 has end regions cut off at 45" to the length of the handle defining tape to expose a triangular region of adhesive as shown clearly in Fig. 2 and indicated by numeral 9. It will furthermore be appreciated that the cover strip may be printed with advertising material ar instructions for example. This could, in many instances, obviate the necessity of applying further labels to the container.

Referring to Fig. 3, it will be seen that when the triangular adhesive section 9 is engaged with the outside of the doubled over portion 6 of the handle tape, the handle tape 4 may be located contiguous to the container engaging tape 3 as shown clearly by dotted lines in Fig. 1. This is achieved by a 450 fold 10 at the inclined end of the triangular adhesive section 9.

Atab 11, being an integral part of the cover strip, may be provided to extend laterally upwardly from the centre of the handle tape 4 to facilitate moving of the handle tape from the side of the container to an operative position. During such movement the 45" fold 10 is undone and the triangular adhesive area is disengaged from the surface of the doubled over portions 6 of the handle tape. Thus the condition of the handle and container engaging tape is formed as indicated in Fig. 2.

It will be understood that the above described fold ing of the handle tape may be achieved without the assistance of the triangular adhesive area and whether or not the handle tape would retain a desir able condition will depend on the nature of the materials from which it and the cover strip are made.

It is preferred, but by no means limitative, that the handle tape and container engaging tape both be made of a conventional polypropylene tape having pressure sensitive adhesive applied to one surface thereof.

Clearly the above described handle and container engaging tape assemblies can simply be formed dur- ing installation of the handle on a containerfrom-.

rolls of pressure sensitive adhesive tape. However, it is preferred to prefabricate the assemblies which, as will be appreciated from a reference to Fig. 3, can be easily achieved by suitable folding and engagement of the two lengths of tape which form the assembly.

It is within the scope of this invention to form single assemblies wherein the pressure sensitive adhesive of the container engaging tape is simply covered by means of a suitable releasable cover strip and/or the container engaging tape may be formed into a roll. It is most preferred, however, that the handle assemblies be made with the container engaging tape in a long length thereof, conveniently formed into a roll as indicated with a series of spaced handle assemblies 13 whereof the handle sections 14 are arranged exactly as described with reference to Fig. 3.

The handle sections will lie contiguous to the container engaging tape along the length of the handle sections and sections 15 of plain tape will be positioned between adjacent handle sections on the contiguous roll. all that is required in order to instail a handle assembly on acontainerwill beforthe required length of container engaging tape to be cut generally centrally in a plain section 15 thereof and located in a position in which it encircles the container and the pressure sensitive adhesive adheres thereto. The handle will automatically then be avail ableforfolding upwardly to an operative position as and when required.

It is envisaged that automatic cutting and folding machines could be employed to form a contiguous handle and container engaging tape assembly as just described but these could also be made manually if desired.

Furthermore when the handles are in the form of a roll, they can easily be applied to containers at high speed using known tape applying machines.

It will be understood that the present invention provides inexpensive yet effective handle assemblies for containers both in prefabricated and installed forms relative to a container. It must be emphasised that one of the most important aspects of the invention is the provision of the prefabricated handle and container engaging tape assemblies since these can be applied by any person distributing or filling containers with products.

Also it will be understood that the length of handle and spacing of positions of attachment of the ends thereof to the container engaging tape will be dictated by the size of the container in conjunction With which such assembly is to be utilized. The dimensions and positions of attachment will be quite apparent to those skilled in the art.

Many variations may be made to the above described embodiments of the invention without departing from the scope hereof. In particular, the handle could be a plain type or strap, free of adhesive, and secured to the adhesive container engaging tape in any suitable manner. In either case, the handle and container engaging tape could be of thermoplastic material in which case this could be heat welded together. The handle could also be of adhesive tape wiped with a pad treated with silicone in the central region to render the adhesive ineffec tire.

Claims (22)

1. A container having a handle attached thereto the handle having its end regions defined by adhesive tape of suitable tensile strength and these end regions being attached to the outside of the container wall with adhesive tape secured to the adhesive tape of end regions of the handle and to the outer surface of the container.

2. A container as claimed in claim 1 in which the entire handle is defined by a length of tape at least the end regions of which are provided with pressure sensitive adhesive.

3. A container as claimed in claim 2 in which there is no adhesive on the central region of the handle adapted to be engaged by a person's hand.

4. A container as claimed in claim 2 in which the pressure sensitive adhesive in the central region of the handle adapted to be engaged by a person's hand is covered by means of a suitable flexible cover strip.

5. A container as claimed in claim 2 in which the pressure sensitive adhesive, on the tape of the handle, is engaged with adhesive on the length of container engaging tape securing the handle ends to the container.

6. A container as claimed in any of the preceding claims in which the handle adhesive tapes are positioned between the container and container engaging tape and to be doubled over around onto the outside of the container engaging tape.

7. A container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the tapes are made of a production tape of synthetic plastics material provided with pressure sensitive adhesive on one face thereof.

8. A container as claimed in claim 5 in which the plastics material is polypropylene.

9. A container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the handle when not in use may be accommodated in a position in which it extends around part of the periphery of the containers.

10. A container as claimed in any of the preceding claims in which the container engaging tapes form one integral length to which both ends of the handle are attached at suitably spaced positions.

11. A container substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

12. A handle as claimed in any of the preceding claims.

13. A handle assembly suitable for a container, the handle assembly comprising a handle having its end region defined by adhesive tape ofsuitableten- sile strength, and further adhesive tape secured to the adhesive tape of the end regions of the handle and adapted to secure the end region to the outer surface of the container.

14. Prefabricated handle assemblies comprising a length of container engaging adhesive tape to which are attached a series of spaced handles having their end regions secured thereto transversely to the length of the container engaging tape by means of further adhesive tape.

15. Prefabricated handle assemblies as claimed in claim 14 in which the container engaging tape is in a roll.

16. Prefabricated handle assemblies as claimed in claim 14 in which the container engaging tape is provided with a suitable cover strip over the ad hesive surface thereof.

17. Prefabricated handle assemblies as claimed in any of claims 14to 16 in which the handles are defined by adhesive tape with the central region of each handle having the adhesive tape removed.

18. Prefabricated handle assemblies as claimed in any of claims 14 to 16 in which the handles are defined by adhesive tape with the central region of each handle being covered by a suitable cover strip.

19. Prefabricated handle assemblies as claimed in any of claims 14to 18 in which the region of the handles between the two ends thereof are arranged, by suitable folds in the portions adjacent the end regions, to lie contiguous to the container engaging tape.

20. Prefabricated handle assemblies as claimed in any of claims 14to 19 which is in the form of a roll of pressure sensitive tape material and carrying thereon a series of spaced handles.

21. Prefabricated handle assemblies substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

22. Any novel feature or combination features described herein.