GB2480839A

GB2480839A - Tray with gusseted corners

Info

Publication number: GB2480839A
Application number: GB1009261A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jeremy Wiggns
Original assignee: SAICA Packaging UK Ltd
Current assignee: SAICA Packaging UK Ltd
Priority date: 2010-06-02
Filing date: 2010-06-02
Publication date: 2011-12-07
Also published as: GB201009261D0

Abstract

A tray 2 formed from a blank of cardboard, paperboard or other foldable sheet material comprises a base 4, a pair of side walls 6, 8 hingedly connected to opposed sides of the base 4 and a pair of end walls 10, 12 hingedly connected to opposed ends of the base 4. Respective arrays 14 of gusset panels are formed between adjacent end walls 10, 12 and side walls 6, 8. Interlocking means retain the side walls 6, 8 and the end walls 10, 12 in an erect condition. The interlocking means may comprise L-shaped tabs 24 extending into L-shaped openings 24 formed in platforms 16, 18 of the tray. Each array 14 of gusset panels comprises a first gusset panel 32 hingedly attached to an adjacent end wall 10, 12, and a second gusset panel 34 hingedly ay attached to the adjacent side wall 6, 8 and the first gusset panel 32. Preferably the first gusset panel 32 is glued to the end wall and crushed upon gluing. This forms the blank into a semi-erected condition for shipping, and allows for easy hand erection. A third gusset panel 36 may connect the first and second gusset panels.

Description

The present invention relates to trays and in particular to trays made from cardboard, paperboard or other foldable sheet material.

Trays, particularly cardboard trays, are very commonly used in the transportation and display of foodstuffs, for example fruit and vegetables. Typically the tray comprises means such as shelves or pillars to allow the trays to be stacked one upon the other. However, a drawback with such trays is that they must either be erected by machinery, meaning that eithpr such machinery must be installed at the point of use of the tray or that empty trays have to be transported, the latter being wasteful of space. Alternatively, the trays may be erected by hand, but this can be cumbersome and time consuming.

The present invention seeks to overcome or at least mitigate some of the above problems and from a first aspect provides a tray formed from a blank of cardboard, paperboard or other foldable sheet material and comprising: a base; a pair of side walls hingedly connected to opposed sides of said base; a pair of end walls hingedly connected to opposed ends of said base; respective arrays of gusset panels formed between adjacent end walls and side walls; and interlocking means for retaining said side walls and end walls in an erect condition.

The invention also extends to a blank of cardboard, paperboard or other foldable sheet material comprising: a base forming panel; a pair of side wall forming panels hingedly connected to opposed sides of said base wall forming panel; a pair of end wall forming panels hingedly connected to opposed ends of said base; respective arrays of gusset panels formed between adjacent end wall and side wall forming panels; and means which upon erection of the tray interlock so as to retain the side walls and end walls in an erect condition.

Thus, in accordance with the invention, a tray has opposed pairs of side and end walls which are connected by means of respective arrays of gusset panels.

:e.. Moreover, interlocking means are provided for retaining the side walls and end walls in an erect condition upon erection of the tray. The use of gusset panels between the end walls and side walls and the interlocking means considerably facilitate the manual erection of the tray, meaning that the tray can easily be erected where it is required and it does not have to be erected elsewhere and transported to its point of use.

In a preferred embodiment, each array of gusset panels comprises a first gusset panel hingedly attached to an adjacent end wall and a second gusset panel hingedly attached to the adjacent side wall.

The first gusset panel is preferably secured, e.g. glued, to the adjacent end wall. This feature helps the formation of the gussets in the corners of the tray during erection of the tray and allows the blank easily to be formed into a semi-erected condition for shipment.

Preferably, the first gusset panel is crushed upon gluing so as firmly to glue one panel to the other, but also to keep the thickness of the end wall relatively low in that region.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a platform forming panel js hingedly attached to the upper end of each end wall and folded inwardly over the top of the tray to form a platform at each end of the tray, allowing the trays to be stacked one upon the other.

In addition, respective overlap panels are preferably hingedly connected to the sides of the platform such that when the platform forming panel is folded over the top of the tray, the overlap panels overlap external end portions of the adjacent side walls. This arrangement allows the platform to be constructed in a particularly simple manner.

In a further preferred arrangement, a third gusset panel is hingedly attached between each overlap panel and first gusset panel, the third gusset panel being sandwiched between the first and second gusset panels in the erected tray.

Any suitable form of interlocking means may be provided for maintaining the end walls and side walls in position. However, in a particularly advantageous embodiment, the interlocking means may comprise interlocking openings and tabs formed on respective parts of the tray.

** In the embodiment described above, the interlocking means may comprise ** 30 one or more openings provided in the platform with one or more tabs extending into * those openings.

In one arrangement, an opening may be provided in or adjacent a side edge of the platform, with a tab formed on the upper edge of the side wall extending into that opening.

In an alternative arrangement, an opening may be formed in or adjacent the edge of the platform adjacent the end wall, with a tab formed on a gusset panel extending into the opening.

Preferably, however, an L-shaped opening is provided extending around the corner of the platform adjacent the respective end wall and side panel. An L-shaped tab formed from adjacent portions of the upper edge of the side wall and gusset panel extend into the L-shaped opening. This provides particularly good retention of the end wall.

The tray may be provided with handle openings and stacking tabs in the end walls in a conventional manner.

As stated above, an advantage of the present invention is that the tray may be erected where it is needed rather than pre-erected and transported in situ. In a particularly advantageous arrangement, the blank is pre-folded such that the side walls are folded over the base panel and the first gusset panel referred to above glued to the adjacent portion of the end wall. The tray can then simply be erected by folding the side walls and end walls upwardly from the base, the gusset panels folding in to assist in the formation of the corners of the tray, with the interlocking means engaging one another as the walls are moved into their final position.

From a further aspect, therefore, the invention comprises a partially erected blank of cardboard, paper board or other foldable sheet material comprising a base panel; a pair of side wall panels hingedly connected to opposed sides of the base wall panel; a pair of end wall panels hingedly connected to opposed ends of said base; respective arrays of gusset panels formed between adjacent end walls and side wall panels and means for interlocking the side walls with the end walls upon * 25 erection of the tray from the blank, wherein said side wall panels and said gusset panels are folded inwardly SO asto overlie the base and end wall panels of the blank, a first gusset panel of each array of gusset panels being adhered to the :,:::. adjacent end wall. - ** A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described way of example only. With reference to the accompanying drawings in which: :: Figure 1 shows a tray in accordance with the invention; * Figure 2 shows a blank for making the tray of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows the blank of Figure 2 in a semi-erected configuration; Figure 4 shows the blank of Figures 2 and 3 in a subsequent state of -erection; and Figure 5 shows the blank of Figures 2 to 4 in a substantially erected configuration.

With reference to Figure 1, a tray of cardboard, paper board or other foldable sheet material comprises a base 4, opposed side walls 6, 8 hingedly S attached to opposed sides of said base 4 and opposed end walls 10, 12 hingedly connected to the other opposed sides of the base 4. The adjacent end walls and side walls are connected by respective arrays of gusset panels 14 which are more clearly shown in Figures 2 to 5. A platform 16, 18 is hingedly attached to the upper edge of each side wall 10, 12. The platforms 16, 18 are also attached to the adjacent end wall 10, 12 by means of respective overlap panels 20 which overlap the end portion of each adjacent side wall 6, 8.

Respective L-shaped openings 22 are formed around the corner of the platforms 16, 18 which receive L-shaped tabs 24 as will be discussed further below.

As is known in the art, the base 4 is provided with stacking openings 26 at each end, with each end wall 10, 12 being provided with a stacking tab 28 for stacking engagement with the stacking opening 26 of another tray.

Turning now to Figure 2, there is shown a blank for making the tray 2 of Figure 1. The blank 30 which is of cardboard, paper board or other foldable sheet material comprises a base panel 4' and side wall panels 6', 8' hingedly attached to opposed edges of the base panel 4'. The blank 30 further comprises end wall panels 10', 12' hingedly attached to the other opposed edges of the base panel 4'.

An array 14 of gusset panels is provided between adjacent end wall and side wall panels. Each array 14 of panels comprises a first gusset panel 32, a second gusset panel 34 and a third gusset panel 36.

The first gusset panel 32 is hingedly attached to the end wall panel 10' along a hinge line 38 which is co-linear with the hinge line 40 between the adjacent side wall panel 6'. 8' and base panel 4'.

The second gusset panel 34 is hingedly attached along one edge to the first gusset panel 32 by a hinge line 42, e.g. a cut and crease line, and to the adjacent side wall panel 6', 8' by means of a further hinge line 44 e.g. a cut and crease line.

The hinge line 44 is angled slightly inwardly to the side wall panel 6', 8'.

Finally, the third gusset panel 36 is connected to the first gusset panel 32 along a further hinge line 46 e.g. a cut and crease line and to a side panel 20 along a yet further hinge line 48 which is generally parallel to the hinge line 44 between the second gusset panel 34 and the side wall panel 6', 8'.

A cut-out 50 is provided at the base of the hinge line 42 between the first and second gusset panels 32, 34 in order to facilitate folding.

A platform forming flap 16' is hingedly attached to the outer edge of the end wall panels 10', 12'. The flap 16' is also hingedly connected at its sides to the overlap panels 20. The respective L-shaped openings 22 are provided around the corner of the platform forming panel 16 extending between the end wall panel 10 and overlap panels 20.

The outer edge 54 of each overlap panel 20 and outer edge 56 of each second gusset panel are relieved so as to form a projecting tab 58 arranged over the third hinge line 44. As will be shown in the later description, when the tray 2 is erected, this tab 58 forms the aforementioned L-shaped tab 24 which engages in the adjacent L-shaped opening 22, as shown in Figure 1.

Turning now to Figure 3, there is shown a partially erected blank 30. The first stage of erection of the blank is to fold the side wall panels 6', 8' and arrays 14 of gusset panels inwardly over the base panel 4. Prior to folding, adhesive is placed on the exposed surface of the first gusset panel 32 such that when the side wall and gusset panels are folded inwardly, the first gusset panel 32 in each array becomes adhesively secured to the adjacent surface region of the end wall panels 10', 12'. This maintains the blank in a flat condition for transit. The glued area is crushed in order to provide good adhesion between the panels and also to reduce the thickness of the end wall 10, 12 in that region so as to avoid excess thickness in that region.

After transit, when the partially erected blank shown in Figure 3 arrives at its intended point of use, the tray 2 can very simply be erected. As shown in Figure 4, the platform forming panels 16', 18' are folded upwardly in the direction of arrow B and the overlap panels 20 pulled outwardly in the direction of arrow C. This causes the third gusset panel 36 of each array to fold outwardly about its hinged connection 46 to the first gusset panel 32 and overlie a portion of. the first gusset panel 32. The continued rotation of the end walls 10, 12 will, by virtue of the gusset panel arrangement, acts to urge the side walls 6,,8 outwardly in the direction of arrow D such that the second gusset panel 34 of each array 14 is brought adjacent to the adjacent end wall 10, 12, trapping the third gusset panel 36 between it and the first gusset panel 32.

As can be seen from Figure 5, as the end walls 10, 12 approach vertical, the L-shaped tab 24 formed along the edges of the side walls panels 6', 8' and second gusset panels 34 approach the L-shaped openings 22 in the platforms 16. When the walls are pushed fully inwardly these tabs 24 will be enter and interlock with the openings 22 so as to maintain the walls of the tray 2 in an erect condition.

From the above description it will be seen that the formation of the tray 2 from the partially erected blank is extremely easy and can be conducted in a matter of seconds, without an operative having to manipulate individual panels so as to interlock with others. The arrangement of gusset panels ensures that all that is required is that the end walls are folded upwardly.

It will be understood that the above description is of a preferred embodiment only and that various modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the scope of the claims. For example, each end wall 10, 12 may be provided with a handle slot so as to facilitate its stacking and movement. It will also be understood that the terms "hingedly attached" or "hingedly connected" as used herein simply mean that the respective walls or panels are connected via one or more hinge or fold lines. Also, the term panel as used herein should also be understood to mean a panel which is itself made from one or more hingedly interconnected panels. *... * *

S

**S**. * * * ** * S * *** * S. ** * S 5 * *

Claims

Claims 1. A tray formed from a blank of cardboard, paperboard or other foldable sheet material and comprising: a base; a pair of side walls hingedly connected to opposed sides of said base; a pair of end walls hingedly connected to opposed ends of said base; respective arrays of gusset panels formed between adjacent end walls and side walls; and interlocking means for retaining said side walls and end walls in an erect condition.
2. A tray as claimed in claim 1 wherein each array of gusset panels comprises a first gusset panel hingedly attached to an adjacent end wall and a second gusset panel hingedly attached to the adjacent side wall and to the first gusset panel.
3. A tray as claimed in claim 2 wherein said first gusset panel is glued to the end wall.
4. A tray as claimed in claim 3 wherein the first gusset panel is crushed upon gluing.
5. A tray as claimed in claim 2, 3 or 4 comprising a platform hingedly attached to the upper end of each end wall and extending inwardly over the top of the tray.
6. A tray as claimed in claim 5 comprising overlap panels hingedly connected to respective sides of the platform and overlapping external end portions of the adjacent side walls. a.

*
7. A tray as claimed in claim 6 wherein a third gusset panel is formed between each overlap panel and first gusset panel, the third gusset panel being sandwiched between the first and second gusset panels. ** **

* *
S. . . . . . * * 8. A tray as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the interlocking means comprises interlocking openings and tabs formed on respective parts of the tray.
9. A tray as claimed in claim 8 wherein the interlocking means comprises one or more openings provided in the platform with one or more tabs extending into those openings.
10. A tray as claimed in claim 9 wherein a said opening is provided in or adjacent a side edge of the platform, with a tab formed on the upper edge of the side wall extending into that opening, and/or a said opening is provided in or adjacent the edge of the platform adjacent the overlap panel, with a tab formed on a gusset panel extending into the opening.
11. A tray as claimed in claim 9 wherein an L-shaped opening is provided extending around the corner of the platform adjacent the respective end wall and overlap panel and an L-shaped tab formed from adjacent portions of the upper edge of a side wall and a gusset panel extending into the L-shaped opening.
12. A blank of cardboard, paperboard or other foldable sheet material comprising: a base forming panel; a pair of side wall forming panels hingedly connected to opposed sides of said base forming panel; a pair of end wall forming panels hingedly connected to opposed ends of said base forming panel; respective arrays of gusset panels formed between adjacent end wall and side wall forming panels; and means which, upon erection of the tray, interlock so as to retain the side walls and end walls of the tray in an erect condition.
13. A blank as claimed in claim 12 wherein each array of gusset panels comprises a first gusset panel hingedly attached to an adjacent end wall forming panel and a second gusset panel hingedly attached to the adjacent side wall forming panel. *...
14. A blank as claimed in claim 12 0113 comprising a platform forming panel hingedly attached to an edge of each end wall forming panel.
15. A blank as claimed in claim 14 comprising overlap forming panels hingedly connected to respective sides of the platform forming panels. * -9-
16. A blank as claimed in claim 15 comprising a third gusset panel formed between each overlap forming panel and first gusset panel.
17. A blank claimed in any of claims 12 to 16 wherein the interlocking means comprise openings and tabs formed on respective parts of the blank.
18. A blank as claimed in claim 17 comprising an L-shaped opening extending around the corner of the platform forming panel adjacent the respective end wall forming panel and overlap forming panel and a tab formed from adjacent portions of edges of a side wall forming panel and a gusset panel.
19. A partially erected blank comprising a blank as claimed in any of claims 13 to 18 wherein the side wall forming panels and gusset panels are folded inwardly so as to overlie the base and end wall forming panels of the blank, a first gusset panel of each array of gusset panels being adhered to the adjacent end wall forming panel. * *** * * *S..**.*S. * * * ** * I I S...I U* IS * S * SII