PACKAGING

Abstract: An article of packaging comprises an open topped container (2) with side walls (26) converging downwardly to a floor (25) and a cover (1) formed from a blank having a main panel (10; 101) over the open top of the container and side panels (11, 14; 104, 105) with side extensions (16; 114, 15) by which the side panels are connected together to converge downwardly from the main panel so as to be inseparable from the container without tearing of the cover.

Description: PACKAGING DESCRIPTION The invention relates to packaging and more specifically to the assembly together of packaging components to provide a package. It is common to package certain products, for example some frozen food products, in tray-like open- topped containers, which can be conveniently moulded in plastics material, and which are usually closed by a thin transparent plastics film or membrane sealed across the open top to protect the product and help retain it within the container. The package is completed by enclosing the tray-like container in a box formed of card material of suitable gauge which bears graphic material and which serves to provide protection for the relatively easily pierced membrane, and for the container and its contents generally. Such packaging has been found effective, but there remains a requirement for packaging which is equally effective but uses less material and is more easily assembled. The present invention accordingly provides packaging comprising an open-topped container and a cover therefor, the open-topped container having a cross-sectional area which decreases from the free edge of its side wall structure down towards its floor, and the cover comprising a main panel shaped to overlie the open top of the container, with depending side wall or panel means which taper inwardly from the main panel. The container and cover are then separable by tearing of the cover. The cover can be prepared as a blank of card or other suitable sheet material, preferably with fold lines to define the side panels. Connection together of the side panels into the desired configuration can be effected by adhesive and/or by interengaging connection portions, for example, tab and slot formations. The cover and tray can be held against relative movement by other means than the engagement of the cover panel configuration with the tray side walls, as by arranging for parts of the panel configuration to underlie an outwardly projecting rim of the container. Adhesive can be used additionally or instead between the depending cover panels and the side walls of the tray, in particular where the cover is required to be sealed to the tray. The invention thus also provides a sheet material blank for use in packaging having a central panel and side panels extending from the sides of the central portion, the side panels being arranged to be secured together, or to the side walls of a container to which the cover is applied, so that the free edges of the side panels enclose an area less than that of the central panel. The open-topped container of the package of the invention can have a side wall structure which tapers inwardly from the free edge around the open top, as is convenient when the tray is moulded in a plastics material to facilitate release from the mould. An in- turned or out-turned rim may be provided, in particular to provide for the closure of the open top by means of a thin plastics film or membrane, and an out-turned rim can provide the necessary side wall configuration for retention of the cover. Below the side wall configuration, the container can have any desired shape. Where it is shaped as a flat tray, the assembled package has an inverted f rusto-pyramidal shape and packages can be stacked together on one edge so that the central panels of the covers are rearwardly inclined, to thereby display graphics material on the foremost cover, or the contents of the foremost package through a transparent panel portion. The cover and the container can be readily assembled in accordance with the invention by relatively moving a blank for forming the cover and a tray, previously filled with its contents, so that the blank overlies the tray. Adhesive is then applied to the appropriate surfaces of the blank and the side panels of the blank are folded downwardly onto the tray and held until the adhesive sets. The invention thus also provides a method of and a machine for assembling the package of the invention in which the container and the cover in the form of a blank are relatively positioned so that the blank overlies the container, and in which a folding operation is then performed to effect securement of the cover formed from the blank to the container. Where adhesive is used to secure the side panels to each other and/or to the side wall of the container, the adhesive is of course applied to the appropriate surfaces before the folding operation begins. However embodied, it will be evident that the invention can provide for savings in the material of the cover, and for simple and consequently cost effective handling and assembly. The invention is further described below, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a partial plan view of a blank for forming a cover for a package in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a partial cross-sectional side view of a container in the shape of a tray with which the cover of Figure 1 is to be assembled; Figure 3 is a fragmentary side view of the cover of Figure 1 after assembly with the tray of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a fragmentary underneath view of the package before assembly has been completed; Figure 5 is a view similar to that of Figure 2, but after assembly; Figures 6A, 6B and 6C schematically illustrate, on a smaller scale, successive stages in the assembly of the package; and Figure 7 is a fragmentary view of a modified form of the cover of Figure 1. The package illustrated in Figures 1-6 comprises a cover 1 and a tray 2 to which, the cover is secured. The cover is formed from the blank illustrated in Figure 1 which is made of card or other suitable sheet material. The blank comprises a rectangular central panel 10 having side panels or flaps 11 extending from its longer sides, the side edges of the flaps converging away from the central panel. At least the central panel 10 will usually carry graphics material and may include a transparent central area. The blank is scored or otherwise deformed to facilitate folding of the flaps 11 along the lines 12. The shorter sides of the central panel portion also have adjoining end panels or flaps 14 provided with similar fold lines 15. The end flaps 14 extend at their sides beyond the fold lines 12 by way of extension end flap portions 16 separated from the flaps 14 by fold lines 17 which converge away from the central panel 10. Parallel perforations 20 or other lines of weakening extend at right angles from the free edge of one end flap 14, from small cut-outs at this edge which define between them a tab portion which can be pulled upwardly after the cover 1 has been assembled with the tray 2, to split the cover to permit access to the contents of the tray. One or more of such weakening lines could be continued to the opposite free edge. The tray 2 is moulded in plastics material to have a floor 25 and side and end walls 26 which diverge slightly outwardly and upwardly from the floor, to facilitate release of the tray from the mould in which it is formed. Seen in plan, the tray 2 has rounded corners 27 which are chamfered below, at 29. Hollow reinforcing ribs 30 formed along each side extend downwardly to the floor 25. The free edges of the walls 26 are formed as an out-turned rim 31. The cover 1 is assembled with the tray 2 by folding down the four flaps 11,14, with each end flap portion 16 secured as by a suitable adhesive underneath the adjacent side flap 11 , with the fold line 17 aligned with its side edge. The structure then is of an inverted open topped box of which the flaps form the side walls which converge inwardly towards each other in frusto-pyramidal shape. To assemble the cover 1 and tray 2 to form a completed package, a cover in the form of a flat printed blank, is fed from a stack 35 of such blanks, as shown in Figure 6A, so as to overlie a tray which has been filled with its contents and the open top of which has been sealed if required by a thin transparent plastics film. The position is then as appears from the underneath view of Figure 4, with the rim 31 of the tray within the rectangle defined by the fold lines 12 and 15. An appropriate quantity of a suitable adhesive is then applied to the upper surfaces of the flap end portions 16 and pressure is applied by assembly tools, as indicated by arrows 40 in Figure 6B, to fold these downwardly on the flaps- 14, as these flaps are being folded downwardly also by pressure applied in the direction of the arrows 41. The free edges of the flaps 14 engage the walls 26 of the tray at a position a little short of the floor 25, with the end flap portions 16 extending at rather less than right angles to the adjoining flaps. In the next step of the assembly process, indicated in Figure 6C, the end flaps 14 are held in place and the side flaps 11 are folded downwardly also, by assembly tools acting in the direction of the arrows 42. The lateral ends of the flaps 11 engage the adhesive carrying faces of the end flap portions 16 and locate these finally. The flaps 11 and 14 are held in these positions long enough for the adhesive to set, and the assembly tools are then withdrawn, assembly having been completed. The assembled package is then removed from operative adjacency to the assembly tools either by being conveyed laterally or by being raised above the next incoming cover blank from the stack 35 which will be assembled with another tray 2 in the manner just described. In the assembled condition, shown in Figure 5, the free edges of the cover portion side walls formed by the flaps 11 and 14 engage the lower portions of the tray side walls 26, and because of the tapering of both sets of walls, the tray and cover are held securely together, without the possibility of relative movement, until the cover is torn open, as by use of the tab 22 and perforation lines 20. In an alternative arrangement, illustrated in Figure 7, a cover blank 100 although in other respects similar to the cover blank 1 has a central panel 101 with curved corners 102 corresponding to the curved corners 27 of the rim 31 of the tray 2. The central portion 101 has adjoining side flaps 104 and end flaps 105 defined by fold lines 106 and 107 respectively. The flaps 104 and 105 function similarly to the flaps 11 and 14 and have extension portions 114 and 115 which are spaced from the central panel 11 adjacent the corners 102. Fold lines separating the flaps 104 and 105 from the extension portions 114 and 115 are not provided. The cover 100 is assembled with a tray 2 in a manner similar to that described for the cover 1 , but at the position corresponding to that of Figure 6B, adhesive is applied to upper surfaces of the extension portions 115 and the flaps 105 are folded down and the extension portions are wrapped around the curved walls of the tray forming the corners 27. The side wall flaps 104 are then similarly folded down and the extension portions 114 wrapped around the curved tray corner walls, to overlie the adhesive-carrying extension portions 115. These positions of the extension portions 114 and 115, indicated in Figure 7 by broken lines 110, are maintained until the adhesive sets. The spacing of the extension portions 114 and 115 from the main panel 101 allows them to engage the container wall beneath the rim 31. In the resulting form of- package, the free edges of the cover flaps again engage the tray side walls 26 adjacent the floor 25, but the adhered flap extension portions 114,115 at each corner underlie the tray rim 31 to enhance the securement of the cover to the tray. The connection between the two extension portions 114 and 115 at the corners need not in this instance be effected by adhesive, but can be effected by interlocking tabs and slots, as the slight extension of -8- the effective length of the connected flaps af ter release of the tension- needed to effect the tab and slot connection is not obj ectionable, because of the engagement of the connected flap portions underneath the tray rim 31 . It will be understood that the invention can be embodi ed in a var iety o f way s other th an as specifically described and shown.

Claims: -SI- CLAIMS 1. A blank of- sheet material for use in packaging, the blank comprising a main panel (10;101 ) having side panels (11 ,14;104,105) extending therefrom, the side panels being arranged to be secured together, or to the side walls of a container with which the blank is to be assembled, so that the free edges of the side panels enclose an area less than that of the main panel. 2. A blank as claimed in claim 1 having at least one line (20) of perforations or other weakening extending from a free edge of one of the side panels. 3. A blank as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the main panel (10;101) has two pairs of opposed parallel edges (12,15;106,107) each with an adjoining side panel (11 ,14;104,105 ) , certain - of the side panels having extension portions (16;114,115) for connection to an adjacent side panel, or to another extension portion, by interengaging connection portions and/or by adhesive. 4. A blank as claimed in claim 3 wherein the side panels (11,14) have side edges converging in the direction from the main panel (10). 5. A blank as claimed in claim 3 wherein the main panel (101) have curved corners (102), each side flap has an extension portion (114,115) at each side. 6. A blank as claimed in claim 5 wherein the side flap extension portions (114,115) are spaced from the main panel corner portions. 7. An article of packaging comprising an open topped container (2) having a floor (25) and a side wall (26), and a cover (1;100) therefor, the container (2) having a cross-sectional area which decreases from the free edge of the side wall (26) to the floor (25), and the cover comprising a main panel (10;101 ) shaped to overlie the container top and depending side wall means (11 ,14;104,105) which taper inwardly from the main panel. 8. An article of packaging as claimed in claim 7 wherein the cover (1 ;100 ) is formed from a blank as claimed in any one of claims 1-6. 9. An article of packaging as claimed in claim 7 wherein the container has curved corners the cover is formed from a blank as claimed in claim 5 or 6 and the extension portions (114,115) are connected together to extend around the container corners. 10. An article of packaging as claimed in claim 7 wherein the container has curved corners, and an outwardly extending rim (31 ) around the free edge of its side wall, the cover is formed from a blank as claimed in claim 6, and the extension portions (114,115) extend around the container corners under the rim.

Inventors: CHAPMAN PETER, HARRISON GUY, ROWE DENNIS, CHAPMAN, PETER, HARRISON, GUY, ROWE, DENNIS
Applicants: INNOVATORS IN PACKAGING LIMITE, INNOVATORS IN PACKAGING LIMITED
Application year: 1989
Main classification: B65D77
IPC codes: B65D5, B65D77