The present invention relates on the one hand to a folding box for pastry, comprising, in the assembled state, a bottom panel for holding the pastry, delimited by a front wall and rear wall which are situated opposite one another and two side walls which are situated opposite one another, in which the front wall is attached to said side walls by means of folding attachment flaps which extend approximately at right angles to the front wall. On the other hand, the present invention relates to a cardboard blank for manufacturing such a folding box.
Such folding boxes for packaging delicate products such as pastry or other confectionery, also referred to as pastry boxes, have been known for a long time and have the advantage that they can be stored in a space-saving, folded state until they are used. Just before use, the box can be assembled in a simple manner by pulling up the various walls and folding the various attachment flaps in the direction of the mutually opposite walls, without the necessity of additional adhesive or extensive folding.
Despite the fact that the known boxes generally work well, they have the drawback that there is a significant risk that the packaged pastry and/or any decorations which may have been provided thereon become damaged when the customer removes the pastry from the box.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a folding box for pastry and the like which makes it possible, inter alia, to remove the packaged pastry in a simple and practical manner from the folding box.
The object of the invention is achieved by providing a folding box for pastry, comprising, in the assembled state, a bottom panel for holding the pastry, delimited by a front wall and rear wall which are situated opposite one another and two side walls which are situated opposite one another, in which the front wall is attached to said side walls by means of folding attachment flaps which extend approximately at right angles to the front wall, said attachment flaps comprising a tear lip which is provided in order to tear said attachment flaps from said side walls together with the front wall. The tear lips make it possible to open the front side of the folding box in a simple and practical manner, as a result of which the customer can slide the pastry out of the folding box much more easily and without any risk of damaging it.
The tear lip is preferably foldable. To this end, the tear lip is connected to the respective attachment flap by means of a folding line. By making the tear lip foldable, it is easier for the customer to open the front side of the folding box by means of this tear lip.
In a preferred embodiment of the folding box according to the invention, the side walls comprise a zone which is provided with a perforated tear line, at the location of the connecting zone between the side wall and the attachment flaps. This perforation zone is preferably of circular design. The perforation zone is intended to create a weak spot on the surface of the side wall so that the attachment flap readily comes off the side wall when the tear lip is pulled.
In a more preferred embodiment of the folding box according to the invention, the side wall and the attachment flaps are connected to one another via an adhesive connection. The adhesive connection is preferably a spot bond which is, more particularly, provided at the location of the abovementioned perforation zone. This has the advantage that even in the case of a strong adhesive connection between the side walls and the attachment flaps, the front wall comes off the side walls together with the attachment flaps and, if applicable, with the perforation zone when the tear lips are being pulled.
According to a particular embodiment of the folding box according to the invention, said front wall has a cutout. Said cutout is preferably oval, but other shapes of cutouts are likewise possible. The presence of a cutout in the front wall of the folding box facilitates packing and reduces the risk of damaging the pastry during packing. Additional advantages of providing a cutout in the front wall are: pastry can be placed in the box using one hand and creates a more appealing front view for the customer after the box has been opened. In a preferred embodiment, with a folding box in the assembled state, the lowest point of the cutout is situated at a level which is at least half the height of the folding box.
In an advantageous embodiment of the folding box according to the invention, said folding box comprises a lid panel which is movable between an open and a closed position, and in which the folding box furthermore comprises fixing means which are designed to fix said lid panel in the closed position. Such fixing means ensure that the lid cannot burst open of its own accord and the folding box remains securely closed. In addition, no adhesive tape, label or ribbon is required in order to prevent the lid from springing back.
The fixing means are formed in particular by a protuberance (thickening) on the folding line between the front wall and the attachment flaps.
In order to close the folding box according to the invention even more reliably, the latter, according to a more advantageous embodiment, comprises closing means which are designed to keep the lid panel in the closed position. In this way, it is ensured that the folding box remains closed. The closing means are formed in particular by an insertion lip which forms part of the lid panel and can be accommodated in an aperture provided in the front wall. Preferably, the closing means, in particular the insertion lip, comprise an oval cutout (aperture) through which a finger can be placed under the insertion lip. In this way, it is possible to lift the entire lid panel using one finger without having to move the box to the edge of the table.
According to a particular embodiment of the folding box according to the present invention, in the assembled state, the lid panel comprises a top panel and three wall panels which extend at right angles to the top panel, with the first and second mutually opposite wall panels being attached to the third front panel by means of folding and rounded attachment flaps which extend approximately at right angles to the third wall panel. As a result thereof, the lid can be folded in one simple movement in the flat initial position. Thanks to their rounded shape, the attachment flaps do not become jammed when being folded in. This offers the advantage that a box which has been wrongly picked can quickly be put back again.
In a more particular embodiment of the folding box, the lid panel is pivotably connected to the rear wall, in which the folding line between the lid panel and the rear wall has been weakened. By weakening the folding line compared to the other folding lines which are present, the folding box is prevented from tilting backwards (due to the weight of the lid) during assembly of the folding box.
The folding line can be weakened by using a modified cutting die when die-cutting the box and by additionally weakening the folding line by carrying out an additional folding operation on this folding line on the folding and gluing device. Regarding the die-cutting, it has to be noted that the cutting die is chosen such that at the location of the respective folding line a deeper cut is achieved in the sheet material from which the folding box is made than at the location of the other folding lines.
Another subject of the present patent application is a cardboard blank for manufacturing a folding box as described above, comprising at least one panel for forming the bottom of the folding box, as well as four wall panels which are provided pivotably on the periphery of the bottom panel for forming mutually opposite front and rear walls and mutually opposite side walls, in which the front and rear walls are provided with first and second attachment flaps, respectively, suitable for connecting the front and rear walls to the side walls and in which the first attachment flaps are furthermore provided with a tear lip.
In the following detailed description of some exemplary embodiments of a cardboard blank and folding box according to the present invention, the abovementioned features and advantages of the invention are explained further. The purpose of this description is only to illustrate the general principles of the present invention. Therefore, this description can in no way be interpreted as a limitation of the invention or of its area of use.
In this description, reference numerals are used to refer to the attached figures, in which:
The illustrated cardboard blank (1) comprises a rectangular bottom panel (2) which is pivotably connected to wall panels (3 - 6) via folding lines (a - d) which are at right angles to one another in order to facilitate folding over the wall panels (3 -6). The wall panels (3 - 6) form a mutually opposite front (3) and rear wall (4) which are connected to the bottom panel (2) via a first (a) and second (b) folding line, respectively, and two mutually opposite side walls (5, 6) which are connected to the bottom panel (2) via a third (c) and fourth (d) folding line, respectively.
The front (3) and rear (4) wall are provided with two first (7) and two second (8) attachment flaps, respectively, which make it possible to connect the front (3) and rear (4) wall to the side walls (5 and 6) via an adhesive connection. The first attachment flaps (7) are provided on the sides of the front wall (3) which extend at right angles to the first folding line (a), and are each pivotably connected to the front wall (3) via a fifth (e) and sixth (f) folding line, respectively.
The second attachment flaps (8) are provided on the sides of the rear wall (4) which extend at right angles to the second folding line (b), and are each pivotably connected to the rear wall (4) via a seventh (g) and eighth (h) folding line, respectively.
The illustrated cardboard blank (1) furthermore comprises a lid panel (12). However, it is evident that a cardboard blank (1) without this lid panel and provided with a separate lid is also covered by the scope of protection of the present invention.
The lid panel (12) is pivotably connected to the rear wall (4) via a ninth folding line (i). In this case, it should be noted that this ninth folding line (i) is weakened compared to the other folding lines which are present. This assists in the lid (12) "falling" automatically and prevents the complete folding box from tilting backwards (due to the weight of the lid) during assembly of the folding box.
The folding line can be weakened during manufacture of the cardboard blank (1) by using a modified cutting die during die-cutting of the cardboard blank, in which case the shape of the cutting die is chosen such that a deeper cut is made in the sheet material compared to the other folding lines and by weakening the folding line additionally by carrying out an additional folding operation on this ninth folding line (i) on the folding and gluing device compared to the other folding lines.
The lid panel (12) comprises a rectangular top panel (16) and three pivotable wall panels (17, 18, 19). These wall panels form a mutually opposite first (17) and second (18) wall which are connected via a tenth (j) and eleventh (k) folding line, respectively, to the top panel (16), and a third (front) wall (19) which is connected to the top panel (16) via a twelfth folding line (1). The tenth (j) and eleventh (k) folding lines extend at right angles to the ninth folding line (i), while the twelfth folding line (1) extends at right angles to the tenth (j) and eleventh (k) folding lines.
The third wall panel (19) is provided with two third attachment flaps (20) which make it possible to connect the third wall panel (19) to the first and second wall panels (17 and 18) of the lid panel (12) via an adhesive connection. The third attachment flaps (20) are provided on the sides of the third wall panel (19) which extend at right angles to the twelfth folding line (I), and are each pivotably connected to this third wall panel (19) via a thirteenth (m) and fourteenth (n) folding line, respectively.
As can be seen in
The lid panel (12) furthermore comprises a seventeenth (q) and eighteenth (r) folding line, which makes it possible to quickly and simply assemble and, if desired, disassemble the lid panel (12).
By means of the above-described cardboard blank (1), a folding box (22) is formed (by applying specific (spot-bonded) connections) which can be folded between an assembled state, in which the front wall (3), rear wall (4) and the mutually opposite side walls (5 and 6) extend at substantially right angles to the bottom panel (2) and in which the wall panels (17, 18, 19) of the lid panel (12) extend at right angles to the top panel (16), and a folded state, in which the abovementioned panels and walls (3, 4, 5, 6, 17, 18 and 19) between the top panel (16) and the bottom panel (2) are folded.
In order to produce a folding box (22) according to the invention and as illustrated in
In the assembled state of the folding box, the tear lips (9) will generally extend virtually against the side walls (5 and 6). Only when the customer wants to remove the pastry from the box by means of a sliding movement will he fold both tear lips (9) and pull them. As a result of the pulling movement, the adhesive connection between the first attachment flaps (7) and the side walls will be broken and these first attachment flaps (7) will come off the side walls (5 and 6) (together with the front wall (3)) and the front side of the folding box will be opened. Obviously, the tear lips can be printed and thus the tear lips can be provided with a printed text, such as for example "open here" in order to make the purpose of the tear lips clear to the customer.
As can be seen in
In order to facilitate opening and to prevent the risk of a customer not being able to open the box due to an excessively strong adhesive connection, the adhesive connection is produced between the first (second) attachment flaps (7, 8) and the side walls (5, 6), at the location of a perforation zone (10). This can be seen in the attached figures where this adhesive connection is indicated by reference numeral 24. This zone (10) is provided with a so-called perforated tear line at its periphery, so that a weak spot is created in the surface of the side wall (5, 6), as it were. Consequently, when a tensile force is exerted on the tear lips (9, 23), the perforation zone (10) will come off the side wall at this spot and the folding box (22) will be opened at its front side (rear side).
In order to facilitate packaging and to reduce the risk of damaging the pastry during packaging, the front wall (3) comprises a preferably oval cutout (11). The cutout (11) is only visible when the box is open and offers the customer a better front view of the pastry when the folding box is opened.
In the assembled state of the folding box, the above-described lid panel (12) is movable between an open and a closed position. In the closed position, the lid panel covers the front of the box completely. In order to fix this lid panel (12) in the closed position, the folding box furthermore comprises fixing means (13). The fixing means are formed in particular by one or more protuberances (thickenings, ridges) on the folding line (the fifth (e) and sixth (f) folding lines) between the front wall (3) and the attachment flaps (7). When the lid panel slides across these protuberances (13), the lid panel (12) is fixed, as a result of which the lid panel cannot burst open of its own accord and the folding box remains securely closed, and no additional adhesive tape, label or ribbon is required as is the case with the known folding boxes.
Upon closing the folding box, the lid portion (12) at the front slides completely across the front wall (3) so that, in the closed position, a double layer of cardboard is formed at the front side of the folding box. In the third wall panel (19) (outer cardboard layer), an insertion lip (14) is provided which, in the closed position of the lid panel (12), fits into an aperture (15) in the front wall (3) (inner cardboard layer). Once the insertion lip (14) has been introduced into the aperture (15), the lid can not be opened without lifting the lip (14). In this way the folding box according to the invention remains securely closed without the use of an adhesive tape, label or ribbon. In a preferred embodiment, the lip (14) can be provided with a so-called finger-aperture (25) in order to facilitate lifting of the lip (14), as can be seen in
As is illustrated in
Despite the fact that the above description refers mainly to a folding box for pastry or other confectionery, the present invention is not limited thereto. It is also possible to apply the invention to all kinds of other luxury packaging. Furthermore, the folding box can have various different shapes. Usually, it is a square or rectangular bottom with four upright walls. However, other shapes, such as triangular, pentagonal, etc... are also possible.
This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader's convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard.