GB2251600A

GB2251600A - Packages

Info

Publication number: GB2251600A
Application number: GB9127218A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Geoffrey John Radley
Original assignee: Waddingtons Cartons Ltd
Current assignee: Waddingtons Cartons Ltd
Priority date: 1991-01-09
Filing date: 1991-12-23
Publication date: 1992-07-15
Also published as: GB9100463D0; GB9127218D0

Abstract

A package comprises a rectilinear container 12, 14 which fits into a rectilinear sleeve 10, and to lock the two together, a section 34 of the sleeve at an edge and between two cuts 22, is pushed inwardly, deflecting inwardly a similar and aligned section 36 of the container 12, 14, whereby a lock between the container and sleeve is formed. The lock is one way in that it cannot be released except by tearing the sleeve, or the section 34 may take the form of a tear strip. A similar locking arrangement may be applied to a container 66 having a closure flap 60. <IMAGE>

Description

Improvements Relating to Packaging Container Structures This invention relates to packaging container structures, of a type comprising two parts mainly an outer part and an inner part which can be interfitted and are relatively slidable.

Mainly, the outer part will be of sheet material and will be of a cut and creased nature so as to be erectable into the outer shape configuration, whilst the inner part may be a separate container which is also of cut and creased sheet material, but need not necessarily be so. For example it could be a thermoformed plastics container or indeed it may be an article to be held by the outer part. Equally, in some instances the inner part may be integral with the outer part but is movable relative thereto so as to be insertable therein. In this latter case, the inner part may be a flap or panel which forms a closure portion for the outer part.

The present invention is concerned with providing a means for provision of a lock between the inner and outer parts, for example to prevent the inner part from becoming detached either accidentally or otherwise from the outer part.

In one particular example, where the outer part is a sleeve of cut and creased sheet materials which is cardboard, and the inner part is a container also formed from cut and creased material, and which slidably fits into the outer part, it is usual to provide the outer part with a retaining panel or flap which folds over the inserted inner part to prevent same from falling out of the outer part until required by the user or consumer.

Such a specific arrangement is adopted in the case of packaging chocolate easter eggs in pairs. An outer sleeve is adapted to receive two containers each holding a chocolate easter egg which containers are slid into the sleeve from the opposite ends thereof. It is usual to provide the sleeves with end flaps which are closed after the insertion of the inner containers. The present invention is one embodiment provides a specific means whereby the holding of the containers in the sleeve is achieved in an effective manner without requiring the use of such end flaps. The sleeves therefore can be of more simple construction, and such sleeves certainly will use less board which means that they will be less expensive than the conventional sleeves.

In this specific arrangement, by virtue of the locking arrangements suggested according to one aspect of the invention, there may also be provided another aspect of the invention, which is that the outer part is provided with means defining a tear strip and the lock between the inner and outer parts is such as to require the tearing of the tear strip to unlock the locking arrangement, whereby the tear strip provides a tamper indicating means, which indicates to a user or purchaser at a glance that whether or not the packaging structure has been tampered with.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a packaging container structure comprising inner and outer parts which are relatively slideable except for lock means interlocking the parts, said outer part being of sheet material and having a tear strip therein which requires to be torn away to release said lock means, thereby to form a tamper indicator.

Preferably, the said inner and outer parts comprise a packaging container and a sleeve for said container. The said container may be a container of cut and creased sheet material, or it may be another type of sheet material such as thermoformed plastics sheet material.

Where the container is of cut and creased sheet material, the lock means preferably comprises a section of the sleeve defined by spaced cut lines and which is deflected inwards after the sleeve and container are assembled, to engage in either a recess in the container or a recess created by deflection inwards of a section of the container, in register with the said sleeve section.

Preferably, the sleeve is a multi-sided section and the container is of corresponding shape so as to slide neatly into the sleeve.

Also, according to the invention there is provided a packaging container structure comprising inner and outer parts which are relatively slideable except for a lock means interlocking the parts, said outer part being of sheet material, and the lock means comprising a section of the sheet material which is defined by spaced cut lines, and which is deflected inwards to engage in a recess in the inner part.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, wherein Fig 1 is a perspective view of a container structure according to a first embodiment of the invention; Fig 2 is an enlarged detailed view showing how the respective part of the container structure of Fig 1 are interlocked; Fig 3 is a sectional elevation taken on a line III - III in Fig 2; Fig 4 is a prespective view of a container structure embodying another aspect of the present invention; Fig 5 is a view similar to Fig 4 but showing the container structure in a different position; Fig 6 is a perspective view similar to Fig 1 but showing a further embodiment of the invention; Figs 7, 8 and 9 are perspective views of a packaging container structure according to yet a further embodiment of the invention; and Figs 10, 11 and 12 are views similar to Figs 7, 8 and 9, but show a further embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, and firstly to Fig 1, a container structure as shown comprises three parts namely an outer sleeve 10, and two containers 12 and 14 adapted to be slid into the ends of the sleeve as indicated by arrows 16 and 18.

Container 14 is identical to container 12 and will not be described further.

As can be appreciated from the drawing, the sleeve 10 which is provided with a carrying handle 20 is for receiving the containers 12 and 14 which are slid into the respective ends thereof. The ends of the sleeve 10 are plain insofar as they are not provided with any covering flaps or the like.

The sleeve 10 is of rectangular cross section, and the containers 12 and 14 are of matching cross section so that the containers will fit neatly into the sleeve.

It is usual to provide flaps on the ends of the sleeve 10 to fold over the containers 12 and 14 when placed therein so that they will not fall from the sleeve, but the instant invention provides within at least one aspect a locking means as between the sleeve and each container so that the containers will not fall from the sleeve undesireably.

Such locking arrangement is provided by making cuts 22 in the sleeve 10 as shown, which extend from one side 24 to the base 26, and by making similar cuts 28 in the container 12 which extend from the side 30 to the base 32, it being understood of course that the sleeve 10 and the containers 12 and 14 are fabricated as blanks from cut and creased sheet material such as cardboard.

The cuts 22 and 28 provide therefore tuck in strips 34 in the sleeve and a tuck in strip 36 in each container. Each of these tuck in strips 34 and 36 can be tucked from an outwardly presented position in which they lie in the planes of the sides 24, 30 and bases 26 and 32, to the inwardly tucked position as shown in Fig 2 where the strips again define a right angle, but they are deflected inwardly to form a lock so that the containers as will be understood cannot move outwardly of the ends of the sleeve 10. The inwardly tucked strips 34 lock into the container recesses created by the inward tucking of strips 36 to achieve this lock, and Fig 2 shows the arrangement in greater detail.

It will be noted that the strips 34 and 36 are located intermediate the ends of the adjacent faces 24 and 30 of the sleeve and container, and it would also be understood that the strips 34 and 36 must be aligned before they are inwardly tucked to form the lock. When the lock is formed however, it is difficult manually to untuck the strip 34, and indeed it is difficult if not impossible to remove the containers 12 and 14 without tearing the sleeve 10 and effecting destruction of same.

In this connection therefore the invention provides a further aspect which is to provide in the case of the embodiment of Fig 1, tear lines 40 and 42 which form continuations of the cuts 22, the tear lines 40 and 42 leading to a finger cut out 44 shaped so as to define a gripping tab 46 engageable by the fingers. If the tab 46 is so engaged and torn from the panel 24, so that tearing of the panel takes place along lines 40 42, the inwardly tucked strip 34 can then be readily unfolded clear of the container 12, or 14, and the container can be removed from the sleeve. The tear strip therefore forms an anti-tamperproof device by which a user may observe readily whether or not the packaging structure, after the locks have been effected, has been tampered with.

The concept of providing a lock and an anti-tamperproof tear strip can be arranged in other embodiments of container.

For example, as shown in Figs 4 and 5, an arrangement is provided wherein a lock and tear strip device are embodied in a single container of which the outer part is an outer panel 48, and the inner part is a flap 50 which is part of a lid panel 52. The arrangement as shown in Fig 4 with the exception of the locking and tear strip to be described is conventional and well known.

The locking and tear strip device comprises a locking tab 54 defined by a cut line 56 in panel 48, and tear lines 58 and 60 leading from the tab 54 to a finger gripping tab 62 similar to tab 46 described in relation to Fig 2, a similar finger aperture 64 being provided.

In the flap 50 is provided a locking aperture 66.

The operation of the arrangement described in relation to Fig 4 will be readily understood insofar as the lid 52 is moved to the closed position so that the flap 50 slides into the inside of panel 48 to a sufficient extent so that the locking tab 54 can be pushed inwardly and engaged in the locking aperture 66 so that the position shown in Fig 5 is reached.

In this position, the lid panel 52 cannot be opened as it is locked in position by the tab 54 engaging in aperture 66. To open the lid 52 therefore requires the tearing of the strip between tear lines 58 and 60 and the total removal of the section of the panel 48 between the tabs 62 and 54 when the lid 52 can be readily opened.

In the arrangement of Fig 6, which is essentially similar to that illustrated in Figs 1 and 2, instead of an inner container of cut and creased material being provided, the inner container 70 is for example a thermoformed plastics container provided with at least one integral recess 72 into which the strip 34 can be tucked to lock the container 70 in the sleeve 10. Release of the container 70 is by the same method i.e. the tearing of the tear strip bounded by the tear lines 40 and 42.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9, again a conventional packaging container somewhat similar in construction to that shown in Figs. 4 and 5 is provided with a closure flap 60 which has an overlay tab 62, and a claw lock 64 of the configuration shown. On the front 66 of the container is provided a receiving aperture 68 for the claw 64 so that as the container is closed as shown in Fig. 8 in which the flap 60 is folded onto the top of the container, and the tab 62 is folded over the front 66, the claw 64 is forced into the aperture 68 and hooks to same so that it cannot be removed.

Traversing the tab 62 are tear lines 70 and 72 which lead to a slot 74 formed in the flap 60 so that as shown in Fig. 9 to release the covering flap 60 the portion 76 between the tear lines 70 and 72 is torn forwardly as shown in Fig. 9 to disconnect it from the remainder of the tab 62, and the flap 60 can now be raised to open the container, but obviously the tearing of the section 76 forms a means indicating that the container has been opened and if the opening is unauthorised, that the container has been tampered with.

The embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 10, 11 and 12 operates somewhat on the same principle as the arrangement of Figs. 7, 8 and 9, except that the claw 64 is provided in the front panel 66 as are the tear lines 70 and 72 leading to the finger slot 74, whilst the tab 62 of the covering panel 60 is provided with the claw engaging aperture 68. As the panel 60 is moved to the closed position as shown in Fig. 11, the tab 62 is tucked to the inside of the front 66 of the container, and the claw 64 enters the aperture 68 as shown in Fig. 11 and locks therein.

To open the container, the user inserts his finger into the slot 72 and grips the portion 76 between the tear line 70 and 72, and removes such portion as shown in Fig. 12 from the front panel 66. This tearing of the section will again indicate that the container has been opened or tampered with if the opening is unauthorised. In these embodiments the effective combination of a lock and tear strip provide an excellent means for indicating tampering with a container.

It can be seen therefore that the invention has a wide application. In one aspect the utilisation of an inwardly deflectable strip provides a locking means, and that locking means can be used as indicated in relation to a container assembly in two separable parts, or in a container which has two parts which interf it. The deflectable strip can deflect a strip on the inner part as in the Fig 1 arrangement, or can be deflected into an aperture in the inner part. The strip preferably is dimensioned to fit neatly into the aperture or the aperture created by the deflection of the inner strip so that it is not easy to insert the finger into the resulting aperture by the inward displacement of the outer strip, in order to retract the deflected outer strip. A particularly secure lock which is difficult to tamper with is created.

Again, the concept of the utilisation of a tear strip in conjunction with a lock provides an excellent means of providing tamper evidence.

The invention therefore can be constructed in any of a substantial number of embodiments.

Claims

1. A packaging container structure comprising inner and outer parts which are relatively slidable except for lock means interlocking the parts, said outer part being of sheet material and having a tear strip therein which requires to be torn away to release said lock means, thereby to form a tamper indicator.

2. A structure according to Claim 1, wherein said inner and outer parts comprise a packaging container and a sleeve for said container.

3. A structure according to Claim 2, wherein the said container is of cut and creased sheet material.

4. A structure according to Claim 2 or 3, wherein the lock means comprises a section of the sleeve defined by spaced cut lines and is deflected inwards after the sleeve and container are assembled, to engage a recess in the container.

5. A structure according to Claim 4, wherein the recess in the container is created by the deflection inwards of a section of the container, in register with said sleeve section.

6. A structure according to Claim 2, 3 or 4 wherein the container comprises a container of thermoformed plastics material.

7. A structure according to any of Claims 2 to 6, wherein the sleeve holds two of said containers, each locked to the sleeve in the same manner.

8. A structure according to any of Claims 2 to 7 wherein the or each container holds a chocolate Easter egg.

9. A structure according to Claim 1, wherein the inner and outer parts are parts of the same container, which is of cut and creased material.

10. A structure according to Claim 9, wherein the inner and outer parts comprise a panel and a flap which slides behind the or in front of the panel.

11. A structure according to Claim 10, wherein the flap is part of a lid of the container.

12. A structure according to Claim 10, wherein the tear strip is in the flap and has a portion adapted to engage an aperture in the panel to form said lock means.

13. A structure according to Claim 10, wherein the tear strip is in the panel and has a portion adapted to engage in an aperture in the flap to form said lock means.

14. A packaging container structure comprising inner and outer parts which are relatively slidable except for a lock means interlocking the parts, said outer part being of sheet material, and the lock means comprising a section of the sheet material which is defined by spaced and which is deflected inwards to engage in a recess in the inner part.

15. A packaging container structure substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3, Figs.

4 and 5, Fig. 6, Figs. 7, 8 and 9, or Figs. 10, 11 and 12 of the accompanying drawings.