GB2345688A

GB2345688A - Carton with air pipe

Info

Publication number: GB2345688A
Application number: GB9900503A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Stephen William Hurrell
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1999-01-12
Filing date: 1999-01-12
Publication date: 2000-07-19

Abstract

A carton which permits the liquid contents of an enclosed folded cardboard or similar material carton 1 to be dispensed in a smooth continuous liquid stream 4 comprises a vacuum breaker pipe 2 run from the liquid outlet 6 to a point within the enclosed carton 1, the vacuum breaker pipe 2 being adapted to allow air to enter the carton 1 as the liquid is poured out 4. Preferably, an integral closure 3 is provide and a metalised film seal for the opening before use.

Description

IMPROVED CARTON This invention relates to an improved carton which permits the liquid contents of a cardboard or similar material carton to be dispensed in a smooth continuous liquid stream as the said liquid is being poured from said carton.

The existing market for enclosed carton containers is large with the cartons being used to contain a wide variety of liquids. These cartons are generally manufactured from folded cardboard or similar material and are in widespread use.

Because of the enclosed nature of these cartons they tend to exhibit the problem of surging when the liquid is poured from the carton. This surging, or glugging, is considered a problem due to the increased risk of sillage and the relatively reduced volume of liquid poured.

The surging of liquid poured from an enclosed carton occurs because as the liquid is emptied from the carton it forms a partial vacuum within the carton which reduces the poured liquid flow until air is sucked in to reduce the partial vacuum, whereupon the liquid flow is increased. This intermittent flow is the cause of the surging, or glugging, within the poured liquid stream.

According to the present invention there is provided an improved carton comprising of a folded cardboard or similar material carton, a vacuum breaker pipe run from the liquid outlet to a point within the said carton, the vacuum breaker pipe being adapted to ailow air to enter the said carton as the liquid is poured out thereby allowing the liquid to be emptied from the carton in a smooth continuous stream of liquid.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing in which: Figure 1 shows a section through an improved carton with a vacuum breaker pipe in position.

Figure 2 shows a detail section of an improved carton including the liquid outlet and vacuum breaker pipe.

Figure 3 illustrates liquid smoothly pouring from an improved carton with a vacuum breaker pipe in position.

Refer-ing to the drawing the improved carton comprises an enciosed carton1,avacuum breaker pipe 2, a resealab. e iid 3 and a shoulder 5 on the vacuum breaker pipe 2 arranged to produce a smooth poured liquid stream 4.

The vacuum breaker pipe 2 will preferably be incorporated into the improved carton at the manufacturing and liquid filling stage to form a new type of carton which removes the surging cf its liquid contents as they are poured from the carton by Referring to figure 1, figure 2 and figure 3 an improved carton is cut from 250-1000um thick paperboard and formed into a carton 1. This process is well known but in brief the paperboard is cut to shape in the flat to form a carton blank before it is folded into the carton box shape and sealed. This folding of the carton blank into a three dimensional shape is typically called carton erection.

An opening 6 is cut in the top of the carton to allow the liquid to be poured out. The opening is preferably cut with one end wider than the other to allow the later insertion of the vacuum breaker pipe 2. The carton also has a plastic moulding joined to the top of the container to act as a resealable cap 3. A plastic vacuum breaker pipe 2 is added to the carton. This plastic vacuum breaker pipe 2 is inserted through the opening 6 cut in the top of the carton 1 and fixed in position on the inside of the carton 1 with adhesive. The carton 1 is filled with a liquid and the opening 6 is sealed with a metal foil or similar material (not shown).

As illustrated in figure 3 in operation the end user removes the metai foil seal (not shown) to =nable the liquid to be poured out of the carton 1. As the liquid is poured out air enters the vacuum breaker pipe 2 thereby allowing the liquid to be emptied from the carton 1 in a smooth continuous stream of liquid 4. The shoulder 5 formed on the vacuum breaker pipe 2 acts to cleanly separate the liquid stream 4 from the vacuum breaker pipe 2. The end user may reseal the carton with the resealable iid 3.

It might be assumed that a reduction in area of the pouring orifice caused by introducing the vacuum breaker pipe 2 would reduce the amount of liquid which could flow, but this is not the case. In practice the uninterrupted flow of this improved carton results in an increased amount of liquid flowing in spite of the reduced area.

This is of course only an example of how the concept might be applied to a particular type of carton. The same concept could be applied to cartons of varying dimensions and materials.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. An improved carton comprising a carton, a vacuum breaker pipe run from the said cartons liquid outlet to a point within said carton, the said vacuum breaker pipe being adapted to allow air to enter the said carton as the liquid is poured out, thereby providing a smooth flow of liquid from the said carton.
2. An improved carton as in Claim 1 wherein the said vacuum breaker pipe incorporates a shoulder thereby providing a means to separate the said poured liquid stream from the said vacuum breaker pipe.
3. An improved carton as in Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein said liquid outlet incorporates a plastic flap for resealing the container.
4. An improved carton as in Claim 1 or Claim 2 or Claim 3 wherein said liquid outlet incorporates a metalised foil film to seal the opening.
5. An improved carton as in Claim 1 or Claim 2 or Claim 3 or Claim 4 wherein the said carton is manufactured from cardboard or similar material.
6. An improved carton substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1-3 of the accompanying drawing.