IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO MERCHANDISE CONTAINERS

Abstract: The disclosure relates to a merchandise container formed from folded flexible sheet material to provide a box form having side/end walls (10, 11) and a top closure (13), in which the top closure comprises integral flaps (17, 19) on the side/end walls which fold with respect to each other and the walls. The end walls (13-17) being pre-formed to bow inwardly such that when the side wall flaps (17a, 17b) are folded in overlapping relation to form the top closure, the end wall flaps (19) form outwardly extending triangular wings which fold downwardly against an increasing resistance until a certain downwardly inclined angle below the horizontal is reached when the end walls bow inwardly allowing the side walls to converge to relieve the resistance and create a force tending to bias the wings downwardly into engagement with the end walls to hold the wings against the end walls and the side wall flaps of the top closure in the closed condition.

Description: IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO MERCHANDISE CONTAINERS This invention relates to merchandise containers and is applicable to both pre-packed containers and to containers intended to receive goods at "point of sale". This invention provides a merchandise container formed from folded flexible sheet material to provide a box form having side/end walls and a top closure, in which the top closure comprises integral flaps on the side/end walls which fold with respect to each other and the walls, the end walls being pre-formed to bow inwardly such that when the side wall flaps are folded in overlapping relation to form the top closure, the end wall flaps form outwardly extending triangular wings which fold downwardly against an increasing resistance until a certain downwardly inclined angle below the horizontal is reached when the end walls bow inwardly allowing the side walls to converge to relieve the resistance and create a force tending to bias the wings are then biassed downwardly into engagement with the end walls to hold the wings against the end walls and the side wall flaps of the top closure in the closed condition. Preferably the end walls of the container have crease lines to allow the walls to adopt an inwardly bowed concave formation as the wings are folded through said downwardly inclined angle thereby drawing the side walls of the upper part of the container towards one another and biassing said wing portions towards the side walls. More specifically the end walls of the container may have central crease lines extending downwardly from the upper edges of the flaps to facilitate an initial pre-bowing inwardly of the end walls prior to the forming and downward folding of said wing portions. It is preferred that said central crease lines extend to the bottoms of the end walls. It is also preferred that said central crease lines are perforated at least through the top flaps of the end walls. More specifically the central crease lines may be perforated at least part-way down the end walls. In accordance with a further feature of the invention the end walls of the container may have further crease lines extending from the lower corners thereof upwardly and inwardly to meet said central crease lines at an apex. For example said " further crease lines extend at 45° to the bottom edges of the end walls. The central crease lines may be perforated down to said apex with the further crease lines. Alternatively the central crease lines may be perforated down to a location above the apex with said further crease lines. In any of the above arrangements cut/score lines may be formed between the top flaps and end walls to weaken substantially the resistance to folding of the top flaps. Also, in any of the above arrangements the end wall flaps may be each formed with a triangle of pre-creased fold lines to facilitate formation of said triangular shaped wing portions when the side wall flaps are folded together. In accordance with a further preferred feature, notches may be cut at the corners between the uppermost side wall flap and adjacent end wall flap thereby to facilitate sliding of the upper side wall flap over the lower side wall flap and to facilitate movement of the sides of the container towards each other as the end walls of the container bow inwardly when the wing portions are folded downwardly. The flap portions may have integral tongues which project above the edges of the adjacent wing portions prior to folding of the flaps/wings, the tongues overlapping one another when the flaps are folded downwardly and inwardly to create the top closure of the container. In any of the above arrangements the sheet material of the container may be a stiff paper, card or plastic sheet. The following is a description of some specific embodiments of the invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a box form carrier bag having a top closure in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a part of the bag with the top closure in the fully open condition; Figure 3 is a similar view to Figure 2, with the top closure partly closed; Figure 4 is a similar view to that of Figures 2 and 3 with the top closure fully closed; Figure 5 is a plan view of one of two similar blanks of sheet material from which the container of Figures 1 to 4 is formed; Figure 6 is a perspective view of a cubic form carton embodying a similar top closure to that of Figures 1 to 5; Figure 7 is a plan view of the cardboard blank from which the carton of Figure 6 is formed; Figure 8 is a perspective view of a modified form of the container of Figure 1 with its top open; Figure 9 shows a one piece blank from which the container of Figure 8 is formed; Figure 10 illustrates the container of Figure 8 with top closure partially closed; Figure 11 illustrates the container of Figure 8 with top closure of the container fully closed; Figures 12a to 12d show the sequence of operations in closing the container top; Figure 13 shows a further variant of the top closure provided with a top interlock; and Figures 14 to 27 illustrate various further arrangements. Referring firstly to Figure 1 of the drawings. there is shown a box form carrier bag of elongate rectangular section having side walls 10, end walls 11, bottom closure 12, a top closure 13 and loop form rope carrier handles 14 attached to the top wall portion for carrying the bag. The bag is formed from two sheets of card, stiff paper or plastics material having the blank form illustrated in Figure 5 creased, folded and glued to create the bag illustrated in Figure 1. In the case where the blanks are formed from paper or sheet plastics material, the portions of the blanks forming the top closure may be reinforced with card or other stiffening material. The top closure of the bag will now be described with reference to Figures 2 and 4. The upper portions of the side walls 14 are folded/creased along lines 15 to form flap portions 17 and, similarly, the upper portions of the end walls 11 are folded at 18 to form wing portions 19. The flap portions have integral tongues 20 extending above the wing portions which overlap when the flap portions are folded together as described below and the corners of the tongues are cut away at an angle as indicated at 21. The wing portions 19 are formed to fold outwardly into triangular shaped flaps by provision of creases 22 formed in the flap portions extending from the upper corners of the end walls to the centre of the upper edge of each end flap portion. Thus, when the wing portions are folded outwardly and downwardly as indicated in Figure 3, each wing forms into a double-walled triangular shape, a lower wall of which is connected to the end wall and the upper wall of which is connected to the flap portions 17. Folding the triangular shaped wing portions 19 outwardly and downwardly is met with an increasing resistance as the flap portions are drawn together to close the top of the container with the tongues 20 thereon overlapping. The resistance increases as the wing portions move through the horizontal to a point at which they are angled downwardly from the horizontal where it is a maximum and below which the resistance diminishes as the wing portions fold into engagement with the end walls of the container. The arrangement thus provides an "over-centre" action in the folding of the flaps. Once the wing portions have been folded past the point of greatest resistance or "over-centre", they are biassed automatically towards the end walls of the container and thereby resist inadvertent opening of the container. The end walls of the container are pre-formed to develop a slight concavity as the wings are folded downwardly by means of a vertical centre line crease 23 extending down the end walls to meet two divergent creases indicated at 24 on Figure 1 which extend to the bottom corners of the blank. This slight concavity receives the downwardly folded wing portions 19 so that they lie approximately in planes containing the perimeter of the end walls, that is substantially flush with the ends of the container. In the fully folded condition either edge 25 of one part of the wing 19 may tuck slightly behind the corresponding edge 25 of the opposing part to provide a further resistance against unfolding and release of the top opening. The flap portions 17 are each provided with spaced holes 26 positioned where appropriate to receive rope handles 14 as illustrated in Figure 1. The ends of the rope handles are passed through the holes and formed with stop knots to maintain the ends on the flap portion for carrying the bag. Finally, the bottom closure of the container is formed in any conventional manner with overlapping flaps on the sides and end walls inter-locked and/or glued together. It will be appreciated that the bag can be supplied for use (e.g. a point of sale location) in flat or collapsible form to be erected immediately prior to use as required. Figures 6 and 7 illustrate the application of the invention to a collapsible cubic shaped carton 27. In this case the rope handles are omitted but the arrangement is otherwise similar to that described with reference to Figures 1 to 5 above. The arrangement of the invention provides a container particularly suitable for point of sale merchandise which is easily and swiftly closed to provide protection for the goods it contains. By way of example, the carrier bag form of the container would be particularly suitable for sale of shoes and the carton form of the container would be particularly suitable for the sale of food such as confectionery, horticultural products, pharmaceuticals, toiletries and the like. The boxes described above have top closures 13 formed by two identical flap portions 17 formed with respective projecting edge tongues 20 which mean that the box can be closed with either of the flaps on top. This may be replaced by a mechanism which automatically determines which flap portion 17 is to be superior to the other. This is achieved as shown in Figure 8 by enlarging the tongues 20a on the flap 17a intended to be uppermost and also adding tongues 19a to the wing portions 19 connected with the top flap 17a. To emphasise this further the tongue 20a top flap portion could be curved or formed in some identifiable way such as by the interlock 35 illustrated in Figure 13 although this would not affect the closure. Tongue 20 may be omitted from the lower flap portion 17b which would then be straight cut. Score cut creases to facilitate folding may be provided running along the wing flaps, from A to B and B to C as shown in Figure 8 to facilitate folding down of the wing portions but these may be regarded as unattractive exposing board rather than ink and could be omitted. The top flap portion 17a may also be widened at dimension E as shown on Figure 8 to increase the downward pressure of the wing flaps at the centre crease line. This has however proved not essential. The addition of two small notches 30 cut into the corners between the top flap 17 and end flaps allow the lower portion of the top wall to slide more readily under the top wall. As the wings are folded downwardly to the horizontal, the wings hold the end walls flat but as soon as they pass below the horizontal the end walls can bow inwardly allowing the side walls to be drawn towards each other at the top of the container. As a result the wings are strongly biassed downwardly against the end walls of the container . Another optional addition is to put a 4-way cut and hole 37 at the junction of the creases 24 which extend from the lower corners of the end wall to the centre line and the centre crease B to D as shown in Figure 8. This creates a cavity or recess for the triangular wing flap to be tucked into. With improvements to the creasing this may be rendered unnecessary. The crease running from B to D is perforated to improve the foldability to enable the end walls to be "cracked" by folding inwardly (as shown in Figure 12b) before the top of the container is folded down. This pre-forms the end walls to bow inwardly more readily once the wing portions have passed below the horizontal allowing the side walls of the container to converge slightly as described earlier. This perforated crease may be replaced by a score line. Furthermore, the fold A-C between each end wall and its top flap is cut/scored to reduce resistance of the wing portions to being folded downwardly. Figure 9 shows the blank from which the container is formed. Reference is now made to the illustrations of Figures 12a to 12d which show the closing of the container. In closing the top of the container, top flap 17a is stretched across the lower flap 17b which in turn is stretched across the top edges of the end walls of the container. The four walls of the cube create a rigid structure over which these layers of card have to stretch. As the triangular flaps are folded down the thickness of the card creates a tension across the length of top flap and between points A,B and C. The tension between these points creates a "spring" effect so that when the flaps are pushed down the tension is increased until the "spring" is at its most depressed. This point is approximately 45 downwardly from the horizontal. If the triangular flaps are released at this point they will automatically "spring" open. At this point the pressure is equal between points A,B and C. Once pushed past this point the perforated crease B,D will collapse inwardly. The end walls become concave and the underside of the triangular flap becomes convex so that the flaps tuck neatly into the sides of the box. As the perforated crease collapses the pressure on points A and C will relax and the energy passes to point B which snaps down into the sides of the box. The top flap slides simultaneously over the lower to accommodate this movement. In a further embodiment of the invention (not illustrated) the flaps 17 are connected to the side walls by convexly curved creases to increase tension as the flaps are folded together to form the top closure. Figures 14 and 15 show blanks for forming containers with integral handles. Figures 16 and 17 show a blank and an upper part of a corresponding container respectively in which the underside of the tongue 20 of the top flap 13 has adhesive patches 40 to adhere the top flap to the lower flap to seal the top closure of the container; Figure 18 shows a blank and Figure 19 shows a corresponding upper part of a container in which the tongue 20 adheres to the flap below and is provided with a tear strip for holding the top part closed until released; Figure 20 shows a blank for a very narrow form of container; Figure 21 shows a blank for a tapered container; Figure 22 shows a blank for a very shallow container; and Figure 23 shows an upper end of a container in which the top wall portions 17a and 17b are fitted with interlocking tabs 38 and slots 39 respectively to assist in holding the top walls closed particularly when the container is intended to hold heavy products. Figures 24 and 25 show a slim form of container and the blank for the container; and Figures 26 and 27 show a slim form of container as shown in Figure 24 with the addition of top locking strip 42 formed integrally with one side wall of the container to extend over the top walls of the container and formed with an end tab 43 to engage in a slot 44 at the top of the opposite side wall.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A merchandise container formed from folded flexible sheet material to provide a box form having side/end walls and a top closure, in which the top closure comprises integral flaps on the side/end walls which fold with respect to each other and the walls, the end walls being pre-formed to bow inwardly such that when the side wall flaps are folded in overlapping relation to form the top closure, the end wall flaps form outwardly extending triangular wings which fold downwardly against an increasing resistance until a certain downwardly inclined angle below the horizontal is reached when the end walls bow inwardly allowing the side walls to converge to relieve the resistance and create a force tending to bias the wings downwardly into engagement with the end walls to hold the wings against the end walls and the side wall flaps of the top closure in the closed condition. 2. A container as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the end walls of the container have crease lines to allow the walls to adopt an inwardly bowed concave formation as the wings are folded through said downwardly inclined angle thereby drawing the side walls of the upper part of the container towards one another and biassing said wing portions towards the side walls. 3. A container as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the end walls of the container have central crease lines extending downwardly from the upper edges of the flaps to facilitate an initial pre-bowing inwardly of the end walls prior to the forming and downward folding of said wing portions. 4. A container as claimed in Claim 3, wherein said central crease lines extend to the bottoms of the end walls. 5. A container as claimed in Claim 4, wherein said central crease lines are also perforated at least through the top flaps of the end walls. 6. A container as claimed in Claim 5, wherein the central crease lines are perforated at least part-way down the end walls. 7. A container as claimed in any of Claims 4 to 6, wherein the end walls of the container have further crease lines extending from the lower corners thereof upwardly and inwardly to meet said central crease lines at an apex. 8. A container as claimed in Claim 7, wherein ssaaiidd ffuurrtthheerr ccrreeaassee lliinneess eexxtteeind at 45° to the bottom edges of the end walls. 9. A container as claimed in Claim 7 or Claim 8, wherein the central crease lines are perforated down to said apex with said further crease lines. 10. A container as claimed in Claim 7 or Claim 8, wherein the central crease lines are perforated down to a location above the apex with the further crease lines. 11. A container as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein cut/score lines are formed between the top flaps and end walls to weaken substantially the resistance to folding of the top flaps. 12. A container as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the end wall flaps are each formed with a triangle of pre-creased fold lines to facilitate formation of said triangular shaped wing portions when the side wall flaps are folded together. 13. A container as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein notches are cut at the corners between the uppermost side wall flap and adjacent end wall flap to facilitate sliding of the upper side wall flap over the lower side wall flap and thereby to facilitate movement of the sides of the container towards each other as the end walls of the container bow inwardly when the wing portions are folded downwardly. 14. A container as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the flap portions have integral tongues which project above the edges of the adjacent wing portions prior to folding of the flaps/wings, the tongues overlapping one another when the flaps are folded downwardly and inwardly to create the top closure of the container. 15. A container as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the sheet material of the container is a stiff paper, card or plastic sheet.

Inventors: MONEY JULIAN DAVID KYRLE, MONEY, JULIAN, DAVID, KYRLE
Applicants: M PAK LTD, MONEY JULIAN DAVID KYRLE, M-PAK LIMITED
Application year: 1993
Main classification: B65D5
IPC codes: B65D5, B65D30