GB2116147A - Cartons - Google Patents

Abstract

A carton comprises a body having front and rear wall panels (4, 6) and side wall panels (8), and a lid made up of a lid panel (16), a front skirt panel (18) and side skirt panels (20). The front skirt panel (18) overlaps the front wall panel (4) when the lid is closed, and the lower edge of the front skirt panel (18) is in the form of a shallow V so that its central region is further from the lid panel (16) than its ends. The side wall panels (8) have flaps (10) at their top edges. Edge portions (25) of the flaps (10) project beyond the front wall panel (4). When the lid is closed, each portion (25) is received in a gap (27) between a glue tab (22) and the lid panel (16) to retain the lid in the closed position. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Cartons This invention relates to a carton made from a folded blank of stiff material and having a lid, to a method and apparatus for erecting such a carton, and to a method and apparatus for loading a container which may or may not be such a carton.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a carton made from a blank of stiff material and comprising a body having an opening, and a lid for closing the opening, the lid having a peripheral skirt which, when the lid is in the closed position, overlaps wall panels of the body, at least one wall panel of the body being provided with a flap hinged to an edge of that wall panel adjacent the opening, the flap having an edge portion projecting outwardly of the body for engagement with the skirt of the lid to retain the lid in the closed position.

The engagement between the flap and the skirt may be frictional. Preferably, however, the skirt comprises at least two skirt panels, one of which has a glue tab bonded to the other skirt panel. The projecting edge portion of the flap on the body can then engage the upper edge of the glue to retain the lid in the closed position in a positive manner.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a carton comprising a body having an opening, and a lid for closing the opening, the lid being hinged to a wall panel of the body and having a lid panel and a peripheral skirt having a portion which, when the lid is closed, overlaps a further wall panel of the body disposed opposite that to which the lid is hinged, the distance between the lid panel and the edge of the skirt portion away from the lid panel being greater in the central region of the skirt portion than at the end regions.

The edge of the skirt portion away from the lid panel may be in the form of a shallow "V".

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of erecting from a blank a carton comprising a body having a base panel and wall panels defining an opening, and a lid for closing the opening, the lid being hinged to one of the wall panels of the body and having a lid panel and a peripheral skirt, the method comprising: (i) placing a former in contact with the lid panel; (ii) forming the peripheral skirt around the former; (iii) withdrawing the former; (iv) forcing the base panel to pass through an aperture from one side to the other, and forming the body portion during passage of the base panel through the aperture; and (v) withdrawing the erected carton from the said other side of the aperture.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for erecting from a blank a carton comprising a body having a base panel and wall panels defining an opening, and a lid for closing the opening, the lid being hinged to a side wall of the body and having a lid panel and a peripheral skirt, the apparatus comprising: (1) a former which is movable, in operation, into and out of engagement with the lid panel; (ii) means for forming the peripheral skirt around the former when it engages the lid panel; (iii) a forming head comprising an aperture; (iv) a plunger which is movable into and out of engagement with the base panel and which is disposed to drive the base panel through the aperture from one side of the aperture to the other; (v) means for forming the body of the carton during movement of the base panel through the aperture;and (vi) means for withdrawing the erected carton from the said other side of the aperture.

The method defined in the last paragraph but one may include at least one step of applying adhesive to portions of the blank at an appropriate stage during erection of the carton. For this purpose, the apparatus defined in the immediately preceding paragraph may comprise means for applying adhesive.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of loading a container with a plurality of similar articles, the articles being disposed in the container in at least two rows containing different numbers of articles, the method comprising: (i) positioning the container at a loading station; (ii) positioning a row of the articles at a receiving station and advancing both parts of a two-part pusher to transfer a first number of the articles from the receiving station into the container; (iii) before or after step (ii), positioning a row of the articles at the receiving station and advancing one part only of the two-part pusher to transfer a second number, smaller than the first number, of the articles from the receiving station into the container.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for loading a container with a plurality of similar articles, the articles being disposed in the container in at least two rows containing different numbers of articles, the apparatus comprising a container loading station, a product receiving station, and a loading mechanism for transferring articles at the product receiving station into a container at the loading station, the loading mechanism comprising a two-part pusher of which one part is dispia- ceable independently of the other to load the required number of articles for one of the rows, both parts of the pusher being displa- ceable together to load the required number of articles for the other row.

For a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention, and to show how they may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a blank for erection into a carton having a lid; Figure 2 shows a carton erected from the blank of Fig. 11, with the lid in its open position; Figure 3 shows the carton of Fig. 2 with the lid in its closed position; Figures 4 to 8 diagrammatically represent various stages during the erection of the blank shown in Fig. 1; and Figures 9 to 11 diagrammatically represent various stages during the loading of the erected carton.

The blank shown in Fig. 1 is made from stiff material such as carton board. The blank comprises a rectangular base panel 2 disposed between front and rear wall panels 4 and 6 respectively. Side wall panels 8 are hinged to opposite edges of the front wall panel 4, and each of these side wall panels is provided with a dust flap 10. Glue tabs 1 2 are hinged to opposite edges of the base panel 2, and glue tabs 14 are hinged to opposite edges of the rear wall panel 6.

Adjacent edges of the glue tabs 1 2 and 14 on the same side of the carton are at right angles to each other.

A rectangular lid panel 116 is hinged at one edge to that edge of the rear wall panel 6 which is furthest from the base panel 2. At the opposite edge of the lid panel 1 6, there is a front skit panel 18, and at the other two edges of the lid panel 1 6 there are side skirt panels 20. Each side skirt panel 20 has a glue tab 22.

A method of erecting the blank of Fig. 1 will be described later, but Fig. 2 shows the resulting carton with the lid in its open position. Referring to both Figs. 1 and 2, it will be noticed that each dust flap 10 has a portion 25 (shaded in Fig. 11) which projects beyond the produced line of the crease 24 which separates the adjacent side wall panel 8 from the front wall panel 4. The creases 24 do not themselves extend onto the dust flaps 10. The result of this feature is that, in the erected carton (Fig. 2) the portion 25 projects beyond the front wall panel 4. Referring again to Fig.

1, it will be noticed that each glue tab 22 is cut short of the produced line of the crease 26 which separates the adjacent side skirt panel 20 from the lid panel 16. As shown in Fig. 2, this has the result that a gap 27 is left between each glue tab 22 and the lid panel 16.

When the lid is in its closed position, the portions 25 of the dust flaps 10 are positioned in the gaps 27. Abutment of the portions 25 against what are then the top edges of the glue tabs 22 provides positive resistance to opening of the carton, and provides a "snap" type of action when the carton is reclosed. It will be appreciated that opening and closing of the carton will be accompanied by deflection of the portions 25, to allow the glue tabs 22 to move past them.

Another important feature of the carton is illustrated most clearly in Fig. 3, and is that the lower edge of the front skirt panel 18 8 is in the form of a shallow ''V'' that is to say it comprises two straight portions 29 which slope downwardly from the the side wall panels 8 to meet in the middle of the carton.

The effect of this is that the width of the front skirt panel 1 8, measured between its lower edge and the crease which separates it from the lid panel, is greater in the central region of the front skirt panel 1 8 than it is at the ends. Apart from improving the appearance of the carton, this feature also reduces the possibility of the lower edge of the front skirt panel 1 8 abutting against the upper edge of the front wall panel 4 as the carton is closed.The reason for this is that the distance between the central region of the lower edge of the front skirt panel 1 8 and the crease at which the lid panel 1 6 meets the rear wall panel 6 is greater than would be the case if the front skirt panel 118 was cut straight between its ends. The result is that, as the carton is closed, the central region of the lower edge of the front skirt panel 1 8 is more likely to move over the outer face of the front wall panel 4.

This is particularly important when, as in the carton illustrated, the upper edge of the front wall panel 4 is cut away in its central region.

A method of erecting the carton described above with reference to Figs. 1 to 3 will now be described, together with associated apparatus, with reference to Figs. 4 to 8.

Referring first to Fig. 4, a horizontal stack of blanks is represented by the endmost blank B. To form a carton, a former 30 is advanced into contact with the endmost blank B of the stack, and grips the blank by means of suction pads. The former 30 is then retracted from the stack of blanks along the path indicated by 2 chain dotted line in Fig. 4, taking with it the end most blank B, which is subsequently placed on a female forming head 32.

During the movement onto the female forming head 32, guides one of which is indicated by an arrow 34, push the glue tabs 12 and 14 into upright positions (assuming, for the purposes of this description, that the plane of the female forming head 32 is horizontal) so that they lie against the sides of the former 30.

Adhesive guns 36 are then displaced from rest positions at &commat;e&commat;61 each side of the blank into operating positions over the ends of the front skirt panel 18 where they each deliver a respective dose of adesive as indicated by a spot 38 at one end of the front skirt panel 18.

Pushers, one of which is indicated by an arrow 40 in Fig. 5, then raise the glue tabs 22 to upright positions, and further pushers 42 and 44 then raise the side skirt panels 20 and the front skirt panel 1 8. The pusher 44 applies pressure to compress the glue tabs 22 and the front skirt panel 1 8 against the former 30 (which, for this operation, is still in the lower position represented in Fig. 4), to seal the glue tabs 22 to the front skirt panel 1 8 by means of the glue spots 38.

The former 30 is then lifted off the blank on the forming head 32 and is returned to a waiting position ready to take the next blank from the stack. Two adhesive guns 46 are moved from rest positions at the sides of the blank into operating positions at which they apply adhesive strips 48 to the side wall panels 8.

Referring to Figs. 8 to 8, a male plunger 50, corresponding to the female forming head 32, then descends into contact with the base panel 2 and presses the base panel 2 through an aperture 52 in the forming head 32. Two guide plates 54 extend into the aperture 52, and these engage the front and rear wall panels 4 and 6 to cause these wall panels to be deflected into upright positions as the base panel 2 is driven through the aperture 52. At the same time, curved guide rods 56 engage the side wall panels 8 to deflect them towards the rear wall panel 6. These side wall panels 8 are then pressed inwardly, as indicated by arrows in Fig. 6, by pivoting pushers 58.At this stage, the plunger 50 is still within the body of the carton (for clarity, it is shown withdrawn in Figs. 7 and 8), and the pivoting pushers 58 can thus apply pressure to the side wall panels 8 so as to bond them to the glue tabs 1 2 and 14 by means of the adhesive strips 48.

It will be appreciated from Figs. 6 to 8 that the plunger 50 holds the forrned lid in a position which is just sufficiently open to permit the necessary movement of the plunger 50. This means that, at the end of the sequence of operations described above, the dust flaps a 10 lie over the outer surfaces of the side skirt panels 20. When the plunger 50 is at the bottom of its stroke, a bottom plunger 6a engages the base panel 2 and grips it by suction pads. The plunger 50 is then stripped out of the formed carton and the bottom plunger 60 withdraws the formed carton through the aperture 52 and positions it on a carton conveyor 62 (Fig. 8).The suction effect on the bottom plunger 60 is then re leased and the bottom plunger 60 returns to await the next formed carton being driven through the aperture 52.

Loading of the carton will now be described with reference to Figs. 9 to 11.

The carton conveyor 62 comprises a flight conveyor which moves in a stepwise manner and has projecting fingers which engage behind each carton. The conveyor 62 conveys each carton in turn to a loading station indicated by a carton C in Fig. 9. As it approaches the loading station, the lid is ploughed down until the lid panel 1 6 is at right angles to the rear wall panel 6, and the dust flaps 10 are deflected outwardly to leave the mouth of the carton unobstructed. At the loading station, the carton is raised to bring the front wall panel 4 to a datum level 64 (Fig. 10) by pusher elements which project through the conveyor 62.The product to be loaded into the carton C is represented in the drawings as comprising elongate cylindrical articles A which may, for example, be medical or sanitary products which are individually wrapped in flexible material such that the outer contour of the products is not entirely uniform. The articles A are brought to a product receiving station opposite the mouth of the carton C by means of a product conveyor 66. On reaching the product receiving station, the articles A are arrested by one of a pair of guides 68 which provide a passage for the transfer of the product from the product receiving station over an intermediate table 69 (Fig. 10) into the carton C.

In the operation which is to be described, the carton is to be loaded with twenty articles to be disposed in three rows, of which the outer two rows are each to contain seven of the articles and the middle row is to contain six of the articles. To achieve this, a two-part pusher 70 is used comprising a first part 72 (Figs. 10 and 1 11) and a second part 74. In Fig. 9, the pusher 70 is about to transfer a row of seven articles into the carton e. Both parts 72 and 74 of the pusher 7a are ad vanced together, and their combined width is substantially the same as the length of a row of seven of the articles.The pusher 70 thus pushes the row of seven articles over the intermediate table 69 and into the carton C, where they fall onto the rear wall panel 6.

The pusher 70 then withdraws, and the guides 68 are automatically moved closer together to provide between them a passage having the same width as the length of a row of six of the articles. The product conveyor 66 continuously delivers articles to the product receiving station and so, in normal operation, the product receiving station will immediately receive the required number of articles as the pusher 70 withdraws. To insert the next row, of only six articles, only the part 74 of the pusher 70 is advanced, while the part 72 remains stationary. The part 74 has a width which is the same as the length of the row of six articles, and these articles are thus ad vanced over the intermediate table 69 into the carton C where they drop onto the previously inserted row of seven articles.

The part 74 then withdraws, a further supply of articles reaches the receiving station, and the guides 68 are moved apart again to provide a passage having a width equal to the length of a row of seven articles. This row is inserted in the same manner as the first row, by both parts of the pusher 70 moving together.

When the carton is fully loaded, it is conveyed away from the loading station, the dust flaps 10 are folded inwardly of the carton over the product, and the lid is closed.

Each of the parts 72 and 74 of the pusher 70 is operated by a respective pneumatic cylinder (not shown). When both parts of the pusher 70 are displaced together, it is necessary only for the pneumatic cylinder connecked to the part 72 to be actuated, since this part 72 will automatically advance the part 74. Consequently, under these circumstances, the cylinder connected to the part 74 must be vented to atmosphere.

The operation of the loading mechanism described with reference to Figs. 9 to 11 is controlled by microprocessor circuitry, which is programmed to set the guides 68 to the required width and to advance one or both of the parts 72 and 74 of the pusher 90. The loading mechanism may be adapted to accommodate different sizes of product (and consequently rows of different length) by replacing the guides 68 and the two parts of the pusher 70 by corresponding components having the required dimensions.Similarly, the operation of the mechanism can be controlled to provide different loading patterns, For example, the loading mechanism can be used to load cartons with ten articles disposed in two rows of five, in which case only a one-part pusher is required, and no displacement of the guides 68 is necessary between rows. One parameter which remains constant regardless of the load ing pattern is the requirement for the &commat;agon carton C to be raised to the datum level 64.

It will be appreciated that the carton erection and loading sequence can be used with cartons other than that specifically described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3. Furthermore, the loading sequence is applicable to containers other than cartons made from folded blanks, and is not restricted to containers having an integral lid.

Claims (11)

1. A carton comprising a body defining an opening and a lid which is hinged to a wall panel of the body for closing the opening, the lid comprising a lid panel and a skit having a portion which, when the lid is closed, overlaps a portion of a wall panel disposed opposite the wall panel to which the lid is hinged, the distance between the lid panel and the edge of the skirt portion away from the lid panel being greater in the central region of the skirt portion than it is at the end regions.

2. A carton as claimed in claim 1, in which the lid panel is flat.

3. A carton as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the edge of the skirt portion away from the lid panel comprises two edge portions each of which slopes from the central region of the skirt portion towards a respective one of the end regions and towards the lid panel.

4. A carton as claimed in claim 3, in which the skirt portion is in the form of a shallow V.

5. A carton as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the wall panel which is overlapped by the skirt portion has an edge defining the opening, the distance between that edge and the lid panel, when the lid is closed, being grea-r in the central region of the edge than at its end regions.

6. A carton as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the body is rectangular, comprising a base and two pairs of oppositely disposed side wall panels, the side wall panels of one pair, measured in a direction parallel to the base panel, being longer than those of the other pair, the lid being hinged to one of the longer side wall panels and the skirt, when the lid is closed, overlapping a portion of the other of the longer side wall panels.

7. A carton made from a blank of stiff material and comprising a body defining an opening, and a lid for closing the opening, the lid comprising a peripheral skirt which, when the lid is closed, overlaps wall panels of the body, at least one wall panel of the body being provided with a flap hinged to an edge of that wall panel adjacent the opening, the flap having an edge portion projecting outwardly of the body for engagement with the skirt to retain the lid in the closed position.

8. A carton as claimed in claim 7, in which the edge portion of the flap frictionally engages the skirt when the lid is closed.

9. A carton as claimed in claim 7, in which the skirt comprises two portions which are connected together by a tab on one of the portions which is secured to the other portion, the edge portion of the flap engaging an upper edge of the tab to retain the lid in the closed position.

10. A carton as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 9, in which the body comprises a base panel and two pairs of oppositely disposed wall panels, the lid being hinged to one of the wall panels and the flaps being hinged to the wall panels adjacent the well panel to which the lid is hinged, the edge portions of the flaps projecting beyond the wall panel disposed opposite the wall panel to which the lid is hinged to engage the skirt when the lid is closed.

11. A carton as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 and incorporating the features of any one of claims 7 to 10.

1 2. A carton substantially as described herein with reference to and as shown in the accomapnying drawings.

1 3. A blank of stiff material for erection into a carton in accordance with any one of the preceding claims.