Dividers for boxes

Abstract

 A method of producing box dividers is disclosed in which a web (W) is cut longitudinally thereby to produce a box divider (14) on each side thereof. The web is also cut transversely (at 10) to separate off individual box dividers. The longitudinal cut line is such that the two box dividers produced each have, along the edge formed by the cut line, a series of peaks (16) alternating with a series of valleys (18). The width of the web can equal that of the pair of dividers so that each divider has a further longitudinal edge constituted by one of the longitudinal edges of the web. In another form the web is cut longitudinally three times, once centrally and parallel to the longitudinal edges thereof, and twice to form dividers.

Description

[0001] THIS INVENTION relates to dividers for boxes.

[0002] According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a box divider comprising a horizontal edge, two vertical edges intersecting said horizontal edge, two sloping flanks each of which flanks intersects one of said vertical edges and which intersect one another to form a point, and slots parallel to said vertical edges, each slot being open at one end and closed at the other.

[0003] According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a box divider comprising a horizontal edge, two vertical edges intersecting said horizontal edge, two sloping flanks, two shoulders parallel to said horizontal edge, the outer end of each shoulder intersecting one of said vertical edges and the inner end intersecting one of said flanks, a further horizontal edge joining the ends of the flanks remote from the shoulders, said flanks and further horizontal edge, when the first mentioned horizontal edge forms the lower edge of the blank, bounding a truncated peak, and slots parallel to said vertical edges, each slot being open at one end and closed at the other.

[0004] The divider of the preceding paragraph can be modified so that said remote ends of the flanks intersect the outer ends of two further shoulders, said further shoulders being parallel to the first mentioned shoulders and the inner ends of said further shoulders intersecting two further vertical edges, said further vertical edges intersecting said further horizontal edge, and said further vertical edges and said further horizontal edge bounding a generally rectangular extension.

[0005] There can be slots which intersect said flanks and extend from the flanks towards the first mentioned horizontal edge and further slots parallel to said vertical edges and extending from said first mentioned horizontal edge.

[0006] According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of producing dividers for boxes which method comprises cutting a web longitudinally, the longitudinal cut line producing, on each side thereof, a box divider which has, along the edge formed by said cut line, a series of peaks alternating with a series of valleys.

[0007] In one form of the method the web is cut so that each divider has one edge formed by the longitudinal cut, another edge formed by the edge of the web, and two transverse edges formed by cutting the web transversely along lines intersecting said longitudinal cut and the edges of the web. In another form the method comprises cutting three longitudinal cut lines in said web, the centre cut line of the three cut lines being straight and parallel to the longitudinal edges of the web and the remaining cut lines each forming, on each side thereof, a box divider which has, along the edge formed by the respective remaining cut line, a series of peaks alternating with a series of valleys, another edge of each divider being constituted by said centre cut line or by an edge of the web, and the remaining two edges of each divider being formed by transverse cuts formed in the web.

[0008] Said cut line or remaining cut lines can be zig-zag in shape to provide pointed peaks and valleys of corresponding shape, can be such as to form truncated peaks with sloping flanks and valleys with sloping walls and flat floors, sinuous or arranged to provide a castellated effect.

[0009] According to a still further aspect of the" present invention there is provided a method of producing dividers for boxes which method comprises cutting a sheet along three longitudinal cut lines, the centre cut line of the three cut lines being straight and parallel to the longitudinal edges of the sheet and the remaining cut lines each forming, on each side thereof, a box divider which has, along the edge formed by the respective remaining cut line, a series of peaks alternating with a series of valleys, another edge of each divider being constituted by said centre cut line or by an edge of the sheet, and the remaining two edges of each divider being formed by transverse cuts formed in the sheet.

[0010] For a better understanding of the present invention, and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings in which :-Figure 1 illustrates a method of forming a pair of dividers for a box,

Figure 2 illustrates a method of forming a further pair of dividers for a box,

Figure 2A to 2C illustrate modifications of the methods of Figures 1 and 2,

Figure 3 is a pictorial view of a portion of a set of dividers for a box,

Figures 4 and 5 illustrate the production of further dividers,

Figure 6 is a pictorial view, to a larger scale, of a set of interlocked box dividers,

Figures 7 and 8 respectively illustrate the production of modified forms of the dividers of Figures 4 and 5, and

Figure 9 illustrates a modified method of producing dividers.

[0011] Referring firstly to Figure 1, a blank in the form of a web W of cardboard is illustrated which is fed, in the direction indicated by the arrow A, to a set of cutters. The cutters cut the web transversly along the line 10 and longitudinally along the zig-zag centre line 12. This produces a pair of dividers 14 one edge of each of which includes five peaks 16 and four valleys 18. It will be noted that provided the sum of the transverse widths of the dividers 14 equals the width of the web then there is no waste.

[0012] The transverse edge of the next pair of dividers cut from the web follows the shape of the edge of the pair previously cut from the web so that there is no waste between pairs of dividers.

[0013] If a double width web W is used then this is cut centrally along a straight line parallel to the longitudinal edges of the web and is simultaneously cut along two zig-zag lines 12. The zig-zag lines 12 are one on each side of the straight cut line.

[0014] The dividers 20 produced by cutting the web of Figure 2 are similar to those of Figure 1 except in that each divider has six peaks 22 and five valleys 24. The dividers also have five slots 26 which extend inwardly from the straight longitudinal edges 28 thereof remote from the peaks 22 and valleys 24.

[0015] Five dividers 14 and three dividers 20 (Figure 3) together constitute a set of dividers which, when placed in a box, provides twenty four compartments for bottles of the 'nip' type. Portions of the dividers 14 which are between the valleys 18 and the edges 30 lie in the slots 26.

[0016] When the dividers are placed in a box, the peaks 16 and 22 are directed downwardly as shown in Figure 3. Thus the straight edges 28, 30 of the dividers bound the spaces into which the bottles must be placed. The bottles are themselves put in upside down. This procedure is adopted because the peaks 16, 22 can curl and inhibit insertion of the bottles.

[0017] It will be understood that the dividers of the set illustrated in Figure 3 are of sufficient height to prevent bottles from touching one another. However, the dividers do not extend upwardly to between the upper parts of the necks of the bottles. These parts cannot touch one another in any event because of the shape of the main parts of the bottles and the restraints placed on them by the dividers.

[0018] Figures 2A to 2C shown configurations in which the sharp zig-zag of the previous Figures is replaced by other configurations eg a sinuous curve in Figure 2A, a truncated pyramidal shape in Figure 2B and a castellated shape in Figure 2C. The necessary slots have not been shown in Figures 2A, 2B and 2C.

[0019] The dividers 32 of Figure 4 are cut from a web W and each, when standing upright, has a single peak 34, two sloping flanks 36, two horizontal shoulders 38, two vertical edges 40 and a bottom edge 42. A short slot 44 is cut in each sloping flank and a longer slot 46 extends downwardly from the flat top of the peak 34. The lower end of the slots are in the same horizontal plane, each slot being parallel to the vertical edges 40 and open at one end and closed at the other.

[0020] The dividers 48 of Figure 5 are similar to those of Figure 4 except in that the slots 44 and 46 are replaced by two slots 50 extending upwardly, when the divider is standing, from the horizontal lower edge 52. The lower part of Figure 5 illustrates in dashed lines how dividers can be cut four abreast from a double width web.

[0021] Two dividers 32 and three dividers 48 make up a set of dividers (see Figure 6) for a box containing twelve bottles. The portions of the dividers 32 below the slots 44 and 46 lie in the slots 50. The portions of the centre divider 48 above its slots 50 lie in the slots 36 and the corresponding portions of the two outer dividers 38 lie in the slots 34.

[0022] It will be understood that where wine which must have moist corks is being packed, the eventual arrangement is such that the bottles are upside down. Where spirits are involved, the bottles are the correct way up in the finished box.

[0023] Figure 7 illustrates the production of dividers 54 which are similar to the dividers 32 but are devoid of the shoulders 38. The flanks 36 thus intersect the bottom edge 42. For dividers 32 and 54 of the same height, the web W needed in Figure 7 is narrower than that required in Figure 4 by the amount Q. The flanks 36 in Figure 7 slope slightly more steeply than the corresponding flanks in Figure 4.

[0024] In Figure 8 another possible divider configuration is illustrated, the dividers 56 being cut from a web W. Compared with Figure 5, the web W of Figure 8 can be narrower by an amount Q while giving dividers of the same base length and height. However, considered along the web, the dividers take up more room i.e. less dividers 56 will be obtainable from a particular length of web than is the case with dividers 48.

[0025] Figure 9 illustrates a method of cutting dividers from a sheet S. The sheet is cut along a straight line 58 parallel to the longer edges 60 of the sheet S, the line 58 being midway between the edges 60. The sheet is also cut along generally zig-zag lines 62 and along straight transverse lines 64. These cuts give rise to two dividers 66 each with four peaks and six dividers 68 each with three peaks. Three dividers 68 and two dividers 66 constitute a set of dividers for a box containing twelve bottles. The slots which enable the divides 66 and 68 to interlock are shown at 70 and 72. The hatched corner areas of the sheet S are waste.

Claims

1. A box divider comprising a horizontal edge, two vertical edges intersecting said horizontal edge, two sloping flanks each of which flanks intersects one of said vertical edges and which intersect one another to form a point, and slots parallel to said vertical edges, each slot being open at one end and closed at the other.

2. A box divider comprising a horizontal edge, two vertical edges intersecting said horizontal edge, two sloping flanks, two shoulders parallel to said horizontal edge, the outer end of each shoulder intersecting one of said vertical edges and the inner end intersecting one of said flanks, a further horizontal edge joining the ends of the flanks remote from the shoulders, said flanks and further horizontal edge, when the first mentioned horizontal edge forms the lower edge of the blank, bounding a truncated peak, and slots parallel to said vertical edges, each slot being open at one end and closed at the other.

3. A box divider as claimed in claim 2, with the modification that said remote ends of the flanks intersect the outer ends of two further shoulders, said further shoulders being parallel to the first mentioned shoulders and the inner ends of said further shoulders intersecting two further vertical edges, said further vertical edges intersecting said further horizontal edge, and said further vertical edges and said further horizontal edge bounding a generally rectangular extension.

4. A box divider as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein there are slots intersecting said flanks and extending from the flanks towards the first mentioned horizontal edge, and further slots parallel to said vertical edges and extending from said first mentioned horizontal edge.

5. A method of producing dividers for boxes which method comprises cutting a web longitudinally, the longitudinal cut line producing, on each side thereof, a box divider which has, along the edge formed by said cut line, a series of peaks alternating with a series of valleys.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the web is cut so that each divider has one edge formed by the longitudinal cut, another edge formed by the edge of the web, and two transverse edges formed by cutting the web transversely along lines intersecting said longitudinal cut and the edges of the web.

7. A method as claimed in claim 5, and comprising forming three longitudinal cut lines in said web, the centre cut line of the three cut lines being straight and parallel to the longitudinal edges of the web and the remaining cut lines each forming, on each side thereof, a box divider which has, along the edge formed by the respective remaining cut line, a series of peaks alternating with a series of valleys, another edge of each divider being constituted by said centre cut line or by an edge of the web, and the remaining two edges of each divider being formed by transverse cuts formed in the web.

8. A method as claimed in claim 5 or 6, wherein said cut line is zig-zag in shape to form pointed peaks and valleys of corresponding shape.

9. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein said remaining cut lines are zig-zag in shape to form pointed peaks and valleys of corresponding shape.

10. A method as claimed in claim 5 or 6, wherein said cut line is such as to provide truncated peaks with sloping flanks and valleys with sloping walls and flat floors.

11. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein said remaining cut lines are such as to provide truncated peaks with sloping flanks and valleys with sloping walls and flat floors.

12. A method as claimed in claim 5 or 6, wherein said cut line is sinuous.

13. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein said remaining cut lines are sinuous.

14. A method as claimed in claim 5 or 6, wherein said cut line comprises portions extending transversely to the edges of the web alternating with portions extending longitudinally of the web whereby each divider has a castellated edge.

15. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein each of said remaining cut lines comprises portions extending transversely to the edges of the web alternating with portions extending longitudinally of the web whereby each divider has a castellated edge.

16. A method of producing dividers for boxes which method comprises cutting a sheet along three longitudinal cut lines, the centre cut line of the three cut lines being straight and parallel to the longitudinal edges of the sheet and the remaining cut lines each forming, on each side thereof, a box divider which has, along the edge formed by the respective remaining cut line, a series of peaks alternating with a series of valleys, another edge of each divider being constituted by said centre cut line or by an edge of the sheet, and the remaining two edges of each divider being formed by transverse cuts formed in the sheet.

Drawing