Article carrier

Description

[0001] This invention relates to carriers for the packaging of multiple articles such as bottles and which is particularly suitable for protecting bottled beverages whose organoleptic properties can be affected by ultraviolet light.

[0002] It is known from Italian Patent No. 665,218 to provide an article carrier for bottles which comprises an outer sleeve which is wrapped about and secured to inner sleeves which receive a number of the bottles and which provide closure panels to close the opposite ends of the outer sleeve.

[0003] In this known construction, the inner sleeves are provided to form separating partitions between the individual bottles and require a consid-- erable amount of packaging material to achieve this function. Furthermore, the inner sleeves are constructed so that edge portions of the outer sleeve may be tucked into slotted portions of the inner sleeves in order to secure the outer sleeve to the inner sleeves.

[0004] The present invention seeks to provide for a wrap-around article carrier, separate end closure elements to close the ends of the carrier by a closure element which is simple to form, which uses a relatively small amount of packaging material which is applied to only the end most articles in the carrier and which is held in position simply by cooperation between the endmost articles and the main packaging sleeve. In the present invention there is no requirement that the end closure elements provide separating partitions for the bottles since the main sleeve is tightened to bring the bottles into close clustered relationship.

[0005] To this end the invention provides a wrap-around type article carrier having a plurality of articles secured therein, which carrier comprises a pair of side walls, a top wall and a bottom wall, interconnected to form a sleeve, a separate tubular end closure element telescoped over at least one article disposed at one end of the carrier, said closure element comprising a front panel of a size and configuration substantially to close an end of the carrier, a pair of side panels joined respectively to the end edges of said front panel, and a back panel joined to the edges of said side panels remote from said front panels (as it is known from IT-A-665,218), characterized in that said closure element is retained within said sleeve by the article disposed at said one end and in that the said end article is retained in said carrier by article retaining apertures formed in said sleeve for receiving parts only of the bases and tops of the packaged articles.

[0006] Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an article carrier formed according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one form of the closure sleeve (or closure element) formed according to this invention;

FIGS. 3 and 4 depict intermediate stages of the formation of the carrier;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are side views of a portion of the carrier with part of one side wall broken away;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a pair of closure sleeve blanks shown in a nested condition;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a modified form of the closure sleeve; and

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the blank from which the closure sleeve of FIG. 8 is formed.

[0007] In the drawings and with particular reference to FIG. 3, the basic blank 'B' forming the main sleeve 'M' for the carrier 'C' is shown. More specifically the numeral 1 designates the top wall of the carrier to the side edges of which sloping panels 2 and 3 are joined respectively along fold lines 4 and 5. At each end of top wall 1, an end panel 1 a is joined thereto along fold line 1b. End panels 1a are further joined to the sloping panels by means of web panels 1 c. Side walls 6 and 7 are joined to lower edges of sloping panels 2 and 3 along fold lines 8 and 9. To complete the basic elements of the carrier, bottom wall panels.10 and 11 are foldably joined to the lower edges of side walls 6 and 7 respectively along fold lines 12 and 13.

[0008] As is well known, multiple neck receiving apertures a are formed in sloping panels 2 and 3 and, in similar fashion, multiple heel receiving apertures b are formed in the lower portions of side walls 6 and 7. Also as is well known, machine tightening apertures c are formed in bottom wall panels 10 and 11; locking tabs d are formed in bottom wall panel 11 and locking apertures e are formed in bottom wall panel 10.

[0009] According to this invention, a closure element in the form of a sleeve 's' is provided and comprises front panel 14. To the top edges of front panel 14, an upper panel 15 is joined thereto along fold line 16. Similarly side panel 17 is joined to a side edge of front panel 14 along fold line 18. Back panel 19 is joined to side panel 17 along fold line 20 and the back panel is cut away lower than the front panel at 19a to allow for nesting of a pair of blanks which form sleeve 's'. Side panel portion 21 is joined to front panel 14 along fold line 22 and side panel portion 23 is joined to back panel 19 along fold line 24. Side panel portions 21 and 23 combine to form the side panel of the closure sleeve opposite side panel 17. In order to accomplish economy of material, the closure sleeve shown in FIG. 7 can be nested with an adjacent closure sleeve by means of the cooperation between upper panel 15 of one blank and the recessed portion 19a of an adjoining blank as shown by the phantom lines in FIG. 7.

[0010] In order to form the closure sleeve from the blank shown in FIG. 7, it is necessary to make an application of glue to side panel portion 23 as shown by stippling in FIG. 7. Then the blank of FIG. 7 is manipulated to a position whereby side panel portion 23 is adhered to side panel portion 21 and the elements of the blank are disposed in positions whereby front panel 14 and back panel 19 are parallel and, similarly, side panel 17 is parallel to side panel 21, 23.

[0011] To complete formation of the carrier, the articles to be packaged are placed on a carrier blank as shown in FIG. 3. Following this operation a closure sleeve as shown in FIG. 2 is simply slipped over the end two articles at each end of the carrier as shown in FIG. 4. Then the elements of the main blank are simply wrapped around the articles whereby the necks of the articles are inserted into neck receiving apertures 'a' and the heels of the articles are inserted into heel receiving apertures 'b'. Then the blank is simply locked in position by the known cooperation between locking tabs 'd' and locking apertures 'e'. In order to complete the carrier, upper panel 15 is folded inwardly of the carrier along fold line 16 preferably at an angle of greater than 90° with respect to the inner face of the front panel 14 (Figure 1) and the end panels 1a are folded downwardly respectively in overlapping face contacting relation with the outer surface of auxiliary panels 15. This operation is best shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The carrier then appears as shown in FIG. 1 and the contents thereof are protected from damaging effects of light. This invention would also be well adapted for use in connection with a wrap-around carrier of the shrink film variety.

[0012] The modified form of the closure sleeve is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. More specifically this version of the closure sleeve comprises similar front and back panels 25 and 26 respectively. Upper panels 27 and 28 are foldably joined respectively to front panel 25 and back panel 26 along fold lines 29 and 30. Also side panel 31 is joined to front and back panels 25 and 26, respectively along fold lines 32 and 33. The opposite side panel comprises side panel portions 34 and 35 which are joined respectively to front and back panels 25 and 26 along fold lines 36 and 37. To form the closure sleeve as shown in FIG. 8, it is simply necessary to adhere side panel portion 34 to side panel portion 35 as described in connection with the closure sleeve shown in FIG. 7.

Claims

1. A wrap-around type article carrier (c) having a plurality of articles secured therein, which carrier comprises a pair of side walls (6, 7), a top wall (1) and a bottom wall (10, 11) interconnected to form a sleeve, a separate tubular end closure element (5) telescoped over at least one article disposed at one end of the carrier, said closure element comprising a front panel (14) of a size and configuration substantially to close an end of the carrier, a pair of side panels (17, 21) joined respectively to the end edges of said front panel and a back panel (19) joined to the edges of said side panels remote from said front panel, characterized in that said closure element is retained within said sleeve by the article disposed at said one end and in that said end article is retained in said carrier by article retaining apertures formed in said sleeve for receiving parts only of the bases and tops of the packaged articles.

2. An article carrier according to claim 1, further characterized in that said closure element comprises an upper panel (15) foldably joined to the uppermost edge (16) of said front panel (14) and in that an end panel (1a) is joined to each of the opposite ends of said top wall, one of said end panels being disposed in overlapping face contacting relationship with said upper panel (15) and said upper panel (15) extending inwardly of the carrier.

3. An article carrier according to claim 1 or claim 2, further characterized in that one of said separate end closure element is provided at each end of the sleeve.

4. An article carrier according to claim 2, further characterized in that said upper panel (15) extends inwardly of the carrier at an angle of greater than 90° with respect to the inner surface of said front panel (14).

5. An article carrier according to any of the preceeding claims, further characterized in that the back panel (19) of said closure element is cut away lower than said front panel to provide a recessed portion (19a) so that when said closure element is in blank form the upper panel (15) of one blank can be nested into said recessed portion of an adjoining blank.

6. An article carrier according to any of claims 1-4, further characterized in that said back panel (26) is similar to said front panel (25) and has an upper panel (28) foldably joined thereto.

7. An article carrier according to any of the preceeding claims, further characterized in that one side panel of said end closure element is provided by a pair of panel portions (21, 23: 34, 35) secured together intermediate the front panel and the back panel of said closure element.

Ansprüche

1. Artikelträger vom Falthüllentyp (c) mit einer Mehrzahl darin gehaltener Warenartikel, wobei der Träger zwei Seitenwände (6, 7), eine Oberwand (1) und eine Bodenwand (10, 11) aufweist, die miteinander verbunden sind, um eine Hülle zu bilden, sowie ein separates röhrenförmiges, uber mindestens einen an einer Stirnseite des Trägers angeordneten Artikel geschobenes Stirnseitenverschließelement (5), welches einen Vorderwandabschnitt (14) von einer solchen Große und Gestalt, daß es eine Stirnseite des Trägers im wesentlichen verschließt, zwei Seitenwandabschnitte (17, 21), die mit entsprechenden Stirnkanten des Vorderwandabschnitts verbunden sind, und einen Rückwandabschnitt (19) aufweist, der mit den Kanten der Seitenwandabschnitte beabstandet vom Vorderwandabschnitt verbunden ist, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß das Verschließelement innerhalb der Hülle durch den an der einen Stirnseite angeordneten Artikel gehalten wird und daß der stirnseitige Artikel in dem Träger durch Artikelhalteöffnungen gehalten wird, die in der Hülle gebildet sind, um nur Teile der unteren und der oberen Enden der verpackten Artikel aufzunehmen.

2. Artikelträger nach Anspruch 1, weiterhin dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß das Verschließelement einen oberen Wandabschnitt (15) aufweist, der faltbar mit der obersten Kante (16) des Vorderwandabschnittes (14) verbunden ist und daß stirnseitige Wandabschnitte (1a) mit jedem der gegenüberliegenden Stirnseiten der Oberwand verbunden sind, wobei einer der stirnseitigen Wandabschnitte in einer überlappenden, in Oberflächenkontakt befindlichen Beziehung zum oberen Wandabschnitt (15) angeordnet ist und sich der obere Wandabschnitt (15) im Inneren des Trägers erstreckt.

3. Artikelträger nach Anspruch 1 oder 2, weiterhin dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß ein separates Stirnseitenverschließelement an jeder Stirnseite der Hülle vorgesehen ist.

4. Artikelträger nach Anspruch 2, weiterhin dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß sich der obere Wandabschnitt (15) unter einem Winkel, der größer als 90° bezüglich der inneren Oberfläche des Vorderwandabschnittes (14) ist, im Inneren des Trägers erstreckt.

5. Artikelträger nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, weiterhin dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß der Rückwandabschnitt (19) des Verschließelementes tiefer weggeschnitten ist als der Vorderwandabschnitt, um einen ausgesparten Bereich (19a) zu schaffen, so daß bei Vorliegen des Verschließelements in der Zuschnittsform der obere Wandabschnitt (15) eines Zuschnitts im ausgesparten Bereich des angrenzenden Zuschnitts untergebracht werden kann.

6. Artikelträger nach einem der Ansprüche 1-4, weiterhin dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß der Rückwandabschnitt (26) ähnlich dem Vorderwandabschnitt (25) ist und einen mit diesem faltbar verbundenen oberen Wandabschnitt (28) besitzt.

7. Artikelträger nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, weiterhin dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß ein Seitenwandabschnitt eines Stirnseitenverschließelements mit zwei Wandabschnittsbereichen (21, 23: 34, 35) vorgesehen ist, die zwischen dem Vorderwandabschnitt und dem Rückwandabschnitt des Verschließelements befindlich miteinander fest verbunden sind.

Revendications

1. Porte-articles du type enveloppant (c) comportant un grand nombre d'articles fixés dedans, ce support comprenant une paire de parois latérales (6, 7), une paroi supérieure (1) et une paroi inférieure (10, 11) mutuellement reliées pour former un manchon, un élément de fermeture d'extrémité tubulaire séparé (5) emmanché au-dessus d'au moins un article disposé à une extrémité du support, cet élément de fermeture comprenant un panneau avant (14) présentant une dimension et une configuration permettant de fermer sensiblement une extrémité du support, une paire de panneaux latéraux (17, 21) reliés respectivement aux bords d'extrémité du panneau avant, et un panneau arrière (19) relié aux bords des panneaux latéraux opposés au panneau avant, caractérisé en ce que l'élément de fermeture est retenu à l'intérieur du manchon par l'article disposé à ladite extrémité et en ce que cet article d'extrémité est retenu dans le support par des ouvertures de retenue d'article façonnées dans le manchon pour recevoir des parties uniquement des bases et des sommets des articles emballés.

2. Porte-articles suivant la revendication 1, caractérisé en outre en ce que l'élément de fermeture comprend un panneau supérieur (15) relié, de manière à pouvoir être replié, au bord situé le plus haut (16) du panneau avant (14) et en ce qu'un panneau d'extrémité (1a) est relié à chacune des extrémités opposées de la paroi supérieure, un de ces panneaux d'extrémité étant disposé dans une position de recouvrement et de contact de face par rapport au panneau supérieur (15), ce panneau supérieur (15) s'étendant vers l'intérieur du support.

3. Porte-articles suivant l'une des revendications 1 et 2, caractérisé en outre en ce qu'un élément de fermeture d'extrémité séparé susdit est prévu à chacune des extrémités du manchon.

4. Porte-articles suivant la revendication 2, caractérisé en outre en ce que le panneau supérieur (15) s'étend vers l'intérieur du support sous un angle supérieur à 90° par rapport à la surface interne du panneau avant (14).

5. Porte-articles suivant l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, caractérisé en outre en ce que le panneau arrière (19) de l'élément de fermeture est découpé plus bas que le panneau avant pour former une partie évidée (19a) de façon que, lorsque l'élément de fermeture est en forme de flan, le panneau supérieur (15) d'un flan puisse être emboîté dans la partie évidée d'un flan adjoint.

6. Porte-articles suivant l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 4, caractérisé en outre en ce que le panneau arrière (26) est semblable au panneau avant (25) et en ce qu'il comporte un panneau supérieur (28) relié à lui de manière à pouvoir être replié.

7. Porte-articles suivant l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, caractérisé en outre en ce qu'un panneau latéral de l'élément de fermeture d'extrémité est formé par une paire de parties de panneau (21, 23; 34, 35) fixées ensemble entre le panneau avant et le panneau arrière de l'élément de fermeture.

Drawing