FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a container for packaging personal care articles,
especially sanitary absorbent articles of personal hygiene. The package container
has a hollow bottom being spaced away from the lower end of the container. The hollow
bottom is made out of a large bottom flap having the size and shape of the cross section
of the container and being held in place by a holding strip and at least one small
flap.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Packaging containers with oval cross-section and closed bottom are known in the art.
Exemplary disclosures can be found in EP 881 151; US 6,152,369 and US 6,170,740. However,
all containers suggested by those references have one drawback in common: Their bottom
is more or less flat and it has been found that such flat folded bottoms oftentimes
tend to be slightly roundish, in other words they are slightly extending beyond the
lower end of the sidewalls of the container in a convex manner. As a consequence such
containers don't stand very well and oftentimes fall over due to their typically relatively
small bottom area.
[0003] Therefore, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a container with
oval cross-section and a closed bottom, which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior
art by having a more stable stand.
[0004] A further objective of the present invention is to provide such a container, which
is easy and cost-efficient to produce.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] The present invention provides a container comprising a wall, an upper end and a
lower end, said wall having an inner and an outer surface. The container has a lower
portion extending from the middle distance between said upper and lower end of said
container to said lower end of said container. The lower end of the container is closed
by a hollow bottom, which is formed by one large bottom flap having approximately
the shape and size of said cross section of said container. The large bottom flap
resides in the interior of the container and is held in place by a holding strip,
which is attached to the large bottom flap along a line of connection, which is spaced
away from the lower end of the container. The container further comprises a small
flap being attached to the large bottom flap approximately opposite to said line of
connection. By this configuration the large bottom flap is spaced away from the lower
end of the container towards the upper end of the container and thus a hollow bottom
is formed. Due to this the container solely stands on the lower edge of its circumferential
wall. Thus the problems arising from a non-flat bottom are avoided. In a preferred
embodiment the container is formed from one interconnected piece of carton cut-out,
which is very economical and provides the possibility of forming the container on
the packaging line itself.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006]
Figure 1 illustrates the interconnected cut-out from which a preferred execution of
the container (1) of the present invention is formed.
Figures 2 and 3 illustrate the above cut-out from alternative views
Figure 4 illustrates how the container of the present invention is formed out of the
cut-out, namely by folding the two wall portions (2a and 2b) upon themselves and attaching
the wall connection flap (2c) to the inside of the opposite wall portion (2a). Further
the bottom is formed by folding the large bottom flap (3) onto the three small flaps
(4).
Figure 5 illustrates a finished container (1) with closed bottom. It is visible that
the large bottom flap (3) is spaced away from the lower end of the container (1) by
the holding strip (5) and that the folding lines (6) of the extensions of the wall
(2) forming the small flaps (4) and the holding strip (5) are spaced away from the
lower end of the container (I).
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The container of the present invention is made of rigid material, typically carton
board. 'Rigid material' as used herein refers to materials with at least some flexural
stiffness, i.e. a significant degree to maintain their original shape. Exemplary rigid
materials in the context of the present invention are carton paper, carton board,
card board, enforced paper, corrugate or the like or combinations thereof. Further
examples of rigid materials for use herein are plastic or rubber-like polymeric materials
with a significant degree to maintain their shape.
[0008] "Lower portion of the wall" refers the part of the wall extending from the mid height
of said wall, defined by the middle distance between the upper and lower ends of the
container, towards the lower end of the container.
[0009] "Interior" herein means the inner volume of the container volume, which is enclosed
by the wall.
[0010] The wall of the container can be made out of one or more wall portions. When the
container is made from a flat cut-out of material the wall is typically closed by
a wall connection flap, which is bonded to the inside of a wall portion as illustrated
in Figure 4. The arrangement of the wall of the container defines the cross section
of the container. In one embodiment herein the container herein is substantially cylindrical
with an essentially circular or ellipsoidal cross-section. In other embodiments herein
the container has a substantially square or rectangular cross-section. Generally,
there is basically no limitation in cross-sectional shape of the container.
[0011] The hollow bottom of the container is basically formed by a large bottom flap, which
is held in place by a holding strip on one side and at least one small flap on the
other. The large bottom flap resides in the interior of the container and is spaced
away from the lower end of the container. Both the holding strip and the small flap
are either attached to the inner surface of the wall or are interconnected extensions
of the wall, which are folded against the inner surface of the wall along folding
lines. The folding lines can extend along the lower end of the container but are preferably
spaced away from the lower end towards the upper end. The spacing away can be facilitated
by cuts, as illustrated e.g. in Figures 3, 4 and 5.
[0012] The upper end of the container of the present invention can be open or closed. The
upper end lower ends of the container preferably have the same cross-sectional shape
and are preferably coextensive. However, it is also within the scope of the present
invention that the upper and lower ends of the container are not co-extensive, such
as in case the side walls of the container have different heights, or in case one
or more side walls have a variable height, or in case the walls have an angle other
than 90° with respect to a substantially even horizontal surface the container is
placed on or have different angles for each wall.
[0013] It is furthermore within the scope of the present invention that the cross-section
of the container is variable between the upper and lower end of the container. In
an embodiment herein the lower of the container has a square shape, whereas the upper
end has a substantially ellipsoidal shape. Also the reverse configuration, i.e. circular
or ellipsoidal lower end and square upper end are within the scope of the present
invention. It will be apparent to the skilled artisan that also numerous other different
configurations are possible, which will lead to a variable cross-sectional shape of
the container.
[0014] In other embodiments the container herein is provided with windows, through which
its contents can be seen from outside. These windows can be provided by holes in the
wall of the container or by zones in the wall, which are transparent.
[0015] According to further embodiments herein the container according to the present invention
is provided with means for aiding collapsibility. This is beneficial for improving
the disposability of the container, since it requires less space in the garbage container
in collapsed state. Means for providing collapsibility are for instance cuts or weakness
lines, such as perforations or score lines.
[0016] All documents cited in the Detailed Description of the Invention are, in relevant
part, incorporated herein by reference; the citation of any document is not to be
construed as an admission that it is prior art with respect to the present invention.
[0017] While particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described,
it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications
can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is therefore
intended to cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications that are
within the scope of this invention.
1. Container comprising a wall, an upper end and a lower end spaced away from each other
by said wall, said wall having an inner and an outer surface and a lower portion extending
from the middle distance between said upper and lower end of said container to said
lower end of said container, said container further having a cross section, a length
extending along said wall and an interior enclosed by said wall, wherein said lower
end is closed by a hollow bottom,
said container being characterized in that said hollow bottom is formed by one large bottom flap having approximately the shape
and size of said cross section of said container, said large bottom flap residing
in said interior of said container and being held in place by a holding strip being
attached to said large bottom flap along a line of connection, wherein said line of
connection is spaced away from said lower end of said container along said length
of said container, said container further comprising a small flap being attached to
said large bottom flap approximately opposite to said line of connection.
2. The container of claim 1, wherein said holding strip and said small flap are extensions
of said wall on said lower end of said container, wherein said extensions are folded
against said inner surface of said wall along folding lines.
3. The container of claim 1, wherein at least one of said holding strip and said small
flap are connected to said inner surface of said wall.
4. The container of claim 2, wherein said folding lines are spaced away from said lower
end of said container towards said upper end of said container.
5. The container of any of the previous claims, wherein said cross-section varies along
said length of said container.
6. The container of any of the previous claims, wherein said container comprises more
than one small flap.