DISPLAY CARTON

Abstract: A display carton having a window 11 formed of transparent plastics sheet material extending around a corner of the carton defined by two adjoining walls thereof, the carton body being apertured 8 to define the boundary of the window, the said sheet material being of a relatively stiff and self-supporting nature, and the sheet material not being secured to the carton body but being located in its desired position inside the carton body solely by engaging within the same.

Description: This invention relates to cartons and is particularly directed to the provision of an improved carton having a transparent window for displaying its contents at a point of sale. In such a carton it is desirable that the transparent window should extend around at least one corner defined by adjoining side walls of the carton, so as to increase the visibility of the contents. This makes it desirable to use a relatively stiff and self-supporting transparent sheet material to form the window, such as polyvinyl acetate sheet, in order to maintain the strength of the carton. However, the use of such a material raises a problem in that when a suitably scored and foldable transparent sheet is secured, e.g. glued, to the inside surface of a cardboard or paperboard blank around a window opening therein, and the combination thus formed is erected to form the carton, the stiffness of the sheet material, and the sharpness of the fold therein, tends to cause it to burst through the material of the blank at locations where a fold in the transparent sheet overlaps the inside of a corresponding fold in the cardboard, at the extremities of the corner defined in the transparent window. Various attempts have been made to avoid this problem, such as by forming notches in the transparent sheet where it overlaps the fold lines in the blank as in UK-B-2090230, but these proposals have up to now been rather expensive and/or complicated to put into practice. DE-U-8530488 discloses a carton for displaying an article, comprising an outer carton body formed with a window opening and an inner unit formed of relatively stiff transparent sheet material for supporting the article, the inner unit comprising a central panel and two wing portions connected to said central panel in a substantially U-shaped configuration. The arrangement of DE-U-8530488 is disadvantageous, however, in that it fails to provide adequate support for the article housed therein. FR-A-1225812 discloses a carton provided on the inside with blocks of synthetic material, e.g. expanded polystyrene, configured to match the shape of an article and thus provide adequate support. However, the carton of FR-A-1225812 completely prevents the article housed therein from being seen by, say, a prospective purchaser. According to the invention there is provided a carton for housing and displaying a substantially spherical or oval article, comprising an outer carton body formed with a window opening extending wholly across a first side wall thereof and around two adjacent corners of the carton into two adjoining second side walls on opposite sides of said first side wall, and an inner unit formed of relatively stiff transparent sheet material for supporting a said article, said inner unit comprising a central panel closing the window opening in the first side wall and two wing portions connected by fold lines to said central panel in a substantially U-shaped configuration, said wing portions being formed respectively with inwardly facing, substantially part-spherical recesses arranged to receive and support a said article by engagement with opposite sides thereof, whereby, in use, a said article is supported within the carton only by the said inner unit, characterised in that said recesses are sufficiently spherically extensive to embrace and substantially encompass a said article, in that the said wing portions thereof extend within the window openings in said two adjoining second side walls, and in that the fold lines define at least part of said two adjacent corners of the carton. By means of this arrangement there is provided a windowed carton for housing and displaying to best advantage a substantially spherical or oval article, whilst economising on the amount of transparent sheet material used to form an inner, article supporting, unit thereof, the inner unit having only three portions, i.e. a central panel and two wing portions. The aforementioned problems which stem from securing the transparent sheet to the carton body are avoided. Conceivably the said transparent sheet material could be pre-formed to have a natural configuration which fits directly within the carton body. In a preferred form of the invention, however, the transparent sheet material comprises a pre-formed unit whose natural configuration is larger than the internal dimensions of the carton body but which is resiliently compressed about at least one fold line in the sheet material unit for insertion in the carton body. With such an arrangement the sheet material unit, having been resiliently compressed for insertion into the carton body, then springs out into engagement with the interior of the carton body so as to be located in its desired position therein by frictional engagement with the inside walls. An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a transparent sheet material unit for use in a carton according to the invention; Figure 2 shows the said unit resiliently compressed about an article to be housed in the carton, prior to insertion in the carton body; Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the said unit and article inserted in the carton body, with the carton not yet closed; and Figure 4 is a perspective view of the finished carton. Referring to the drawings, the transparent sheet material unit 1 shown in Figure 1 is formed of polyvinyl acetate in a form which is sufficiently stiff and self-supporting to substitute for a major part of a wall of a cardboard carton without substantially detracting from the strength of the carton. The unit is pre-formed to a natural configuration as shown in Figure 1, with a somewhat inwardly bowed central panel 2 and two wing portions 3 hingedly connected to the panel 2 by way of vertical fold lines 4. Each of the wing portions is pre-formed as shown to define an inwardly concave part-spherical recess 5. In use, the unit 1 is compressed by urging the wing portions 3 towards each other about the fold lines 4, which has the effect of flattening the previously bowed central panel 2, to bring the unit into a substantially cuboid configuration as shown in Figure 2. At the same time a spherical article 6 which is to be housed in the carton for display and sale is inserted between the wing portions 3 so as to be supported and located in the recesses 5. The assembly thus formed is then inserted in a cardboard carton body 7 as shown in Figures 3 and 4, which body is formed with a window aperture 8 extending around three of its side walls, which side walls define coners 9 and 10 between them. Once inserted and released, the transparent sheet material unit 1 once again opens slightly about the fold lines 4 so as to come into frictional engagement with the inside wall surfaces of the carton body and thus to be supported and located therein as shown in Figures 3 and 4, with the exposed portions of transparent sheet material forming a window 11 and the corners of the window being formed by the fold lines 4. The carton may now be closed, with the article 6 located and displayed therein as shown.

Claims: A carton for housing and displaying a substantially spherical or oval article (6), comprising an outer carton body (7) formed with a window opening (8) extending wholly across a first side wall thereof and around two adjacent corners of the carton into two adjoining second side walls on opposite sides of said first side wall, and an inner unit (1) formed of relatively stiff transparent sheet material for supporting a said article (6), said inner unit (1) comprising a central panel (2) closing the window opening (8) in the first side wall and two wing portions (3) connected by fold lines (4) to said central panel (2) in a substantially U-shaped configuration, said wing portions (3) being formed respectively with inwardly facing, substantially part-spherical recesses (5) arranged to receive and support a said article (6) by engagement with opposite sides thereof, whereby, in use, a said article (6) is supported within the carton only by the said inner unit (1), characterised in that said recesses (5) are sufficiently spherically extensive to embrace and substantially encompass a said article (6), in that the said wing portions (3) thereof extend within the window openings (8) in said two adjoining second side walls, and in that the fold lines (4) define at least part of said two adjacent corners of the carton. A carton as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transparent sheet material comprises a pre-formed unit whose natural configuration is larger than the internal dimensions of the carton body (7) but which is resiliently compressed about at least one fold line (4) in the sheet material unit (1) for insertion in the carton body (7).

Inventors: HOLDSWOTH, KEITH
Applicants: FIELD GROUP LIMITED
Application year: 1988
Main classification: B65D5
IPC codes: B65D5