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(11) | EP 1 619 140 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Package for a roll of foil |
| (57) A package for a roll of foil comprises: an elongate holder (3) in which the roll
of foil is accommodated, which holder has an open top side through which the roll
of foil is accessible; a cover (12) connected to the holder by means of a first hinge
(28) for covering the open top side of the holder; a cutting edge (17) present on
a long edge of the open top side for severing a piece of foil; wherein the holder
with the cover has a prismatic form, the cross-section of which has the form of a
polygon. The package has the feature that the polygon is a triangle, so that the holder comprises two walls (6,7) enclosing a mutual angle, the cover (12) connects to the free edge of the first wall, the cover forms a third wall in the closed position, and the first wall and the second wall are fixedly connected to each other by two triangular end walls (8,9). |
[0001] The invention relates to a package for a roll of foil for use in for instance a kitchen, for instance a roll of aluminium foil, food wrap foil or microwave film, which package comprises:
an elongate holder of for instance cardboard in which the roll of foil is accommodated, which holder has an open top side through which the roll of foil is accessible and foil unwound from the roll can be dispensed;
a cover connected to the holder by means of a first hinge or formed integrally therewith for removably covering the open top side of the holder;
a cutting edge present on a long edge of the open top side, for instance a serrated edge of hard material, for severing a piece of foil of the desired length by pulling with the hand;
wherein the holder together with the cover has a substantially prismatic form, the cross-section of which has the general form of a polygon, for instance a regular polygon.
[0002] Such a package is generally known and common. It has a generally prismatic form, i.e. a form in which the package has the same cross-section at any longitudinal position. In the usual package this cross-section takes a substantially square form. A full roll of foil is enclosed in this known package in more or less closefitting manner by the square inner space of the package. Should it be wished to unroll and tear off a piece of foil from the roll, it is then necessary for this purpose to block the roll in one way or other against further unrolling. Because in particular a roll which is partially used up only fits with a clearance in the package, it is not usually sufficient to press the package on the outside. The package is less suitable for this purpose and the cover, which is open during dispensing of foil, then forms an obstacle here.
[0003] Taking the above stated considerations into account, it is an object of the invention to embody a foil package such that after the foil has been unwound from the roll over a determined length it can be severed from the remaining foil length easily and, by exerting small forces, effectively and with good quality.
[0004] It is a further object of the invention to embody a package such that it has an aesthetically attractive appearance which is clearly distinguishable from known and common packages of this type.
[0005] It is a further object of the invention to embody a package such that, for purposes of transport, storage and when offered for sale in retail premises, it can be stacked in the most compact stack with other like packages.
[0006] In the light of the above considerations, the invention provides a package for a roll of foil of the type stated in the preamble, which package according to the invention has the feature that
the polygon is a triangle,
the holder comprises two walls enclosing a mutual angle,
the cover connects to the free edge of the first wall;
the cover forms a third wall in the closed position; and
the first wall and the second wall are fixedly connected to each other at their ends by two triangular end walls.
[0007] The package preferably has the special feature that the triangle is an equilateral triangle. This is aesthetically a very attractive shape, and moreover has the advantage that particularly a full roll can be accommodated easily and, if desired, close-fittingly in the package while making use of a minimal quantity of material for the package. A further advantage of this preferred embodiment is that it can be placed for instance on a shop shelf in the most compact stack without shop personnel having to pay attention to the rotation orientation of the package.
[0008] A preferred embodiment has the special feature that the first hinge extends in the lengthwise direction of the package in the region of a corner point of the triangle. This hinge can be embodied in a manner known per se in this field as a weakened line or a fold-line which is for instance preformed in a blank from which the whole package can be integrally formed.
[0009] A preferred embodiment has the feature that the cutting edge has on at least one end an end zone inclining downward to the outside. This form ensures that less force is required at the start of the cutting.
[0010] This embodiment can have the feature that the angle of inclination has a value in the range of about 10°-45°.
[0011] Recommended is a variant in which the cutting edge has an end zone inclining downward to the outside on both its ends. In this variant it makes no difference whether the user is left or right-handed.
[0012] According to a following aspect of the invention, the package has the feature that a closed end part connects to the holder on either side of the open top side. In a known package the roll is usually completely loose in the holder or use is made of two blocking lips which can be pressed out of the surfaces of the two end walls and which prevent the outward displacement of the roll in that the lips engage in the cylindrical space inside the winding core of the roll.
[0013] In accordance with a very significant aspect of the invention, the package can advantageously have the special feature that the cover has a tongue which can be pressed out of its main plane and which is hingedly connected to the cover by means of a fold-line forming a second hinge, which second hinge extends parallel to the first hinge. After opening of the cover the package can be handled by a user with the one hand while a foil portion to be torn off is unwound from the roll with the other hand. With said first hand a force is now exerted on one side on the holder and on the other side on the upper surface of the roll of foil via the tongue with respectively the fingers and the thumb of the relevant hand such that the roll of foil inside the package is blocked against rotation. Starting at one end of the cutting edge, the unrolled portion can hereby be pulled easily downward over the cutting edge and thus torn off in the per se known manner. Attention is drawn to the fact that, in the case of the above described package of square cross-section, an unintended deforming force is exerted on the package, whereby the package will begin to display creases or is otherwise damaged.
[0014] In this latter structure according to the invention relatively little force is required to secure the roll against rotation. In the absence of the tongue in question, a greater force would have to be exerted on the package resulting in deformation of the package.
[0015] The above specified embodiment preferably has the feature that the second hinge lies some distance from the first hinge. This variant has the advantage that, using the hand with which the whole package is being held, a force can be exerted with for instance the thumb such that the cover can be placed and held in practically any desired position chosen by the user.
[0016] This latter embodiment preferably has the special feature that the cutting edge lies lower than the top side of the roll of foil and preferably connects onto a guide surface extending inward at least more or less parallel to the cover in closed position. This effectively prevents tearing as a result of repeated use. The lower position of the cutting edge provides the advantage that severing of the foil requires less force.
[0017] For strength purposes, the latter variant can have the special feature that the guide surface is supported by a support, for instance a plate arranged between the inward protruding free end edge of the guide surface and the inner surface of the associated wall of the package.
[0018] Another embodiment preferably has the special feature that the guide surface comprises two parts extending on either side of a free middle zone. Due to the presence of the guide surface, in particular the guide surface consisting of two parts, the foil can easily be removed from the cutting edge again after use in order to tear off a subsequent piece of foil.
[0019] According to yet another aspect of the invention, the package comprises a part protruding from the cover which is connected hingedly to the cover by means of a hinge extending in the longitudinal direction, can lie over a part of the second wall and can be inserted with a protruding tongue into a slit present in this second wall and extending in longitudinal direction.
[0020] This latter embodiment preferably has the special feature that the tongue takes the general form of a circular arc. The tongue can hereby be inserted easily into the slit.
[0021] The invention will now be elucidated with reference to the annexed drawings. In the drawings:
Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of an opened package according to the invention which is carried in the hand by a user;
Fig. 2 shows a schematic cross-section through the package;
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the package from a slightly different angle of view, wherein the package is likewise carried in the hand by a user;
Fig. 4 shows a schematic front view of the second wall;
Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the package according to the invention carried in the hand by a user, as seen from the rear; and
Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a part of the package carried in the hand by a user, wherein the pressing tongue is shown particularly clearly which can be pressed downward with the thumb out of the main plane of the cover to lock the roll of foil against rotation.
[0022] Fig. 1 shows a package 1 consisting substantially of cardboard for a roll of foil 2 consisting of a thin transparent plastic.
[0023] Package 1 comprises an elongate holder 3 with an open top side 4 through which the roll 2 is accessible and foil 5 unwound from the roll can be dispensed.
[0024] Holder 3 comprises a first wall or rear wall 6 not shown in Fig. 1, a second wall or front wall 7 and two end walls 8 (shown in Fig. 1) and 9 (not shown in Fig. 1) which each take the form of an equilateral triangle.
[0025] The end zones in longitudinal direction of the second wall 7 are connected at their upper end to the top side of the first wall 6 by means of respective upper wall parts 10, 11. The holder hereby possesses a great mechanical strength, while upper wall parts 10, 11 moreover ensure that the roll 2 of foil cannot unintentionally be pulled or drop out of holder 3.
[0026] A cover 12 connects hingedly to the upper edge of the first wall 6. The cover extends over the same length as walls 6, 7 and can thus wholly cover the open top side 4. For this purpose the cover also has an overhanging edge 13 which bears on its end a more or less semicircular tongue 14. This tongue 14 can be inserted into a slit 15 present in the second wall 7. Cover 12 can in this manner be locked in its closed position.
[0027] As Fig. 3 shows particularly clearly, a cutting edge 17 connects onto the free end zone 16 of the second wall 7. This consists of a strip of relatively hard material, for instance aluminium, steel, a hard plastic, an end zone impregnated with a curing plastic, or the like, and has a row of serrations as is per se known.
[0028] Cutting edge 17 has on the ends end zones 18, 19 which extend sloping downward at an angle, in this embodiment, of about 30°.
[0029] Fig. 3 and 4 clearly show the form wherein cutting edge 17 is placed in a lower position relative to the upper side of the roll of foil and has the inclining end zones 18, 19 on its ends. These form notches together with the end zones of the second wall 7. End zones 20, 21 connect to the respective upper wall parts 10, 11.
[0030] Fig. 2 shows that a guide surface 22 connects onto cutting edge 17. This surface is supported by a folded plate 23 which, just as guide surface 22, is connected to the second wall 7. Guide surface 22 has in the middle a recess 29. The presence of this recess has the effect that, after a foil portion 5 has been severed, the subsequent foil portion can be easily grasped to be pulled off roll 2.
[0031] Of significance for the invention is that cover 12 has a clamping tongue 24 which can be pressed out of the main plane of cover 12. By means of this tongue a downward directed force can be exerted with for instance the thumb in the manner shown in Fig. 1, 3, 5 and 6, whereby the roll 2 of foil is pressed against walls 6, 7 and is thus blocked against rotation by the clamping caused in this manner. In this way foil can be torn off easily and reliably in the correct manner once the unwound foil 5 has reached a determined desired length.
[0032] Fig. 6 shows that clamping tongue 24 is pivotable along a weakened line consisting of two parts 25, 26.
[0033] It is noted that hinge lines are drawn everywhere in the drawings as broken lines. The hinge lines are weakened lines and can be embodied as crease lines or be provided with perforations. The parts 25, 26 of the hinge are separated from each other by a separate zone, i.e. provided with a slit 27.
[0034] Shown particularly clearly in Fig. 5 is that hinge 25, 26 extends some distance from the lower edge 28, i.e. the intersecting line of walls 6 and 7, and this in parallel relation thereto. As a consequence hereof and in the situation shown particularly clearly in Fig. 1 and 3, the angular position of cover 12 can be chosen and set as desired by sliding the clamping tongue 24 back and forth over the upper surface of the roll 2 of foil.
[0035] Package 1 can be manufactured predominantly from one blank. The blank is provided with fold lines and formed into a whole by means of adhesive zones. During folding of the blank the roll 2 of foil is also placed prior to closing of end walls 8, 9 or the arranging of upper wall parts 10, 11. After said components have been definitively placed in position, roll 2 is in any case blocked and can only be removed from package 1 by destroying it. The cutting edge is arranged at an appropriate stage in the manufacture of the package.
[0036] It will be apparent from the above description that the package according to the invention combines many advantages. The package thus has an attractive appearance and provides the option, in very simple and reliable manner, of grasping foil, pulling it out while clamping the roll of foil in the package and of severing the unwound foil portion.
an elongate holder of for instance cardboard in which the roll of foil is accommodated, which holder has an open top side through which the roll of foil is accessible and foil unwound from the roll can be dispensed;
a cover connected to the holder by means of a first hinge or formed integrally therewith for removably covering the open top side of the holder;
a cutting edge present on a long edge of the open top side, for instance a serrated edge of hard material, for severing a piece of foil of the desired length by pulling with the hand;
wherein the holder together with the cover has a substantially prismatic form, the cross-section of which has the general form of a polygon, for instance a regular polygon;
characterized in that
the polygon is a triangle,
the holder comprises two walls enclosing a mutual angle,
the cover connects to the free edge of the first wall;
the cover forms a third wall in the closed position; and
the first wall and the second wall are fixedly connected to each other at their ends by two triangular end walls.
Amended claims in accordance with Rule 86(2) EPC.
an elongate holder of for instance cardboard in which the roll of foil is accommodated, which holder has an open top side through which the roll of foil is accessible and foil unwound from the roll can be dispensed;
a cover connected to the holder by means of a first hinge or formed integrally therewith for removably covering the open top side of the holder;
a cutting edge present on a long edge of the open top side, for instance a serrated edge of hard material, for severing a piece of foil of the desired length by pulling with the hand;
wherein the holder together with the cover has a substantially triangular prismatic form;
the holder comprises two walls enclosing a mutual angle;
the cover connects to the free edge of the first wall;
the first wall and the second wall are fixedly connected to each other at their ends by two triangular end walls;
characterized in that
the cover forms a third wall in the closed position;
the first hinge extends in the lengthwise direction of the package in the region of a corner point of the triangle; and
the cover has a tongue which can be pressed out of its main plane and which is hingedly connected to the cover by means of a fold-line forming a second hinge, which second hinge extends parallel to the first hinge.