SELF-CLOSING BOXES

Abstract: A box, formed by folding from a flat creased cardboard blank of thin and resilient material, is of generally polyhedral shape and has an edge (the closure line) (25) at which two faces (the closure faces) (17, 18) meet separately; pressing the vertices at the ends of that line together (at 26) splays those faces resiliently apart (at 27) along that line to allow access to the interior of the box. The closure line may be closed by temporary sealing means (e.g., peelable adhesive tape or a tear-off closure strip) (37-39). The closure faces may have an overlap (Figs. 3A-3C) for firmer closure; the overlap may be initially folded in to form a "pillow pack" (Fig. 4). A variety of shapes are possible, preferably having a flat base with the closure line lying above and parallel to the base. One basic shape is a triangular prism lying on its side (Figs. 2A and 2B); another is a rectangular base with, rising from it, four vertical sides with their top ends sloped in zig-zag fashion, and closed by two sloping triangular top faces - the side faces may be trapeziform (Fig. 5) or triangular (Fig. 6). The boxes may be nested together in partially assembled form with open bases. The boxes may be stored flat, with their bases automatically assembling when they are opened out.

Description: Self — Closing Bo. < The present invention relates to self-closing boxes, particularly though not necessarily of cardboard. Certain snack and other foods cause a considerable amount of nuisance, in entertainment establishments and elsewhere, when they are discarded unfinished, because the remains can easily spill from their containers if they are not put tidily in refuse bins Popcorn, for example, is a particular problem being light and readily spilt and also sticky with caramel, so that it readily soils carpets, etc in establishments such as cinemas The ob ect of the present invention is to provide a self-closing box which can alleviate such problems According to the invention there is provided a box of thin and resilient material and of generally polyhedral shape, characterized m that it has an edge (the closure line)- at which two faces (the closure faces meet separably such that pressing the vertexes at the ends of that line together splays those faces resili¬ ency apart along that line to allow access to the interior of the box. The box may conveniently be assembled from a flat blank of cardboard cut and creased to the appropriate shapes. . To provide greater initial security for the contents of the box, the two closure faces may initially be secured together by temporary securing means along their closure edges (the edges lying along the closure line). A strip of adhesive tape which can be peeled off can be used; alternatively, the two faces may have extensions which are initially attached together. These extensions may be tied together by a tie through matching holes in them. Alternatively, they may be defined by perforated lines so that they can be torn off the closure faces; in this case, they may be formed from a continuous portion of the card which is folded double to form a tab which protrudes beyond the two closure faces at the closure line, or may be formed separately on the two closure faces and glued together A further option for certain shapes of the box is a sepa¬ rate cap having the same shape as the top part of the box (ie the part around the closure line) and slightly larger than that part to fit snugly but remo ov<sr that part of the box. The closure edges of the two closure faces may simply abut at the clo line. To provide α firmer closure of the box, however, the closure faces have an overlap. For this, the two closure faces both project in the same d tion beyond the geometrically straight line between the two vertexes (ends) o closure line, and corne apart from the inside outwardly as the two vertexes pressed together. This construction results in the two closure faces being torted into slightly concave forms, with the tension resulting from the conc tending to hold the closure edges together A variety of shapes may be used for the bo> Conveniently, the box flat base with the closure line lying above and parallel to the base One suitable shape is a triangular pπsrn, with one rectangular face for the base of the bo--, the other two rectangular faces (side faces) forming closure 1αttb • S that the edge along, whli.li they meet, the edge opposite the terms the closure line), and the two triangular faces forming the ends of box The two closure faces may have integral extensions to provide matc overlap; alternatively, this shape may be modified by adding a lune-shaped ele to the top edge of each of the rectangular side faces to form a pair of clo faces with sliding overlap This shape can be modified by shortening the closure line* so that the closure faces become trapeziforrn This allows the boxes to be nested tog in a stack partially assembled form with open bases. The stack can be upside down, a filling poured into the top box in the stack, the base closed and the box removed from the stack. Alternati ely, the closure line ca extended, so that the two closure faces become trapeziforrn in the opposite o tation. A second suitable shape has a rectangular base with, rising from it, vertical sides with their top ends being sloped in zig-zag fashion, and close two sloping triangular top faces forming the closure faces with the closure running between the two top-most points of the side faces. The side faces be trapeziforrn, or may have their top edges sloped right down to the bas that they are triangular. (Sloping them even further makes the two 'top faces trapeziforrn and the base hexagonal.) The box may be such that it can be stored flat in partially assembled form. The base may be of a construction which assembles automatically when such a partially assembled box is opened out. Various boxes embodying the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows a cardboard blank for a first box; Figs. 2A and 2B show the first box in the closed and open states respectively; Figs 3A to 3E show variant--, of the first box. Fig 4 shows a further variant of the first box; Figs -j and 5A, 6 and 6A, 7 and 7A, and 8 and 8A show further bixes and blanks therefor Fig. I shows a blank of cardboard from which the first box may be made. The cardboard must be stiff but resilient, and capable of being' permanently folded along fold lines. (Obviously any thin or sheet-like material with these properties may be used.) The box is assembled by creasing and folding the blank along the broken lines; all the folds are made in the same direction. The sides of the box are formed by the two rectangles 17 and 18 and the two triangles 19*and 20; a tab 21 on triangle 20 is glued to the edge region 22 of rectangle 17 to hold the shape of the box. The base is a rectangle which is assembled by folding together four flaps 10 to 13; flaps 11 and 13 are folded first, and then flaps 10 and 12 are folded together, with the tag forming part of flap 10 being inserted into the slot 14 in flap 12. This results in a box of the shape shown in Fig. 2A. In this box, the two rectangular sides 17 and 18 form the closure faces In the normal, closed, state of the box, as shown in Fig. 2A, the top edges 25A, 25B of these closure faces meet to form a single common closure line 25. If the top corners of the box at the ends of this edge 25 are pressed together manually, as shown by arrows 26 in Fig. 2B, the closure edges 25A, 25B are sprung or splayed apart, as shown by arrows 27, so allowing access to the interior of the box. If the pressure on the corners of the box is relaxed, the stiffness and resilience of the card will return the box to its closed state. When the box has been partially assembled by gluing tag 21 to region side 1 , it can be flattened by folding the sides 19 and 20 (together wit base flaps 11 and 13) along storage crease lines 30 and 31. A large numb boxes may then be stored compactly. For this, the base flaps 10 to 13 ar flat, ie not folded away from the planes of their associated sides 17, 19, 18 20 respectively. To complete the assembly of the box, the sides 19 and 20 their associated base flaps 11 and 13) are flattened out, and the base flap then folded together as described above. Instead of storing the partially assembled boxes in the completely flat they may be given a slight fold along the storage crease lines 30 and 31, nested in each other to form a stacl This allows them to present a tape to de-ntst without jamming. If the stack is then ti placed upside down, th box in the stack can then be filled t.eg with popcorn), the base assembled, an completed and filled box removed from the stack, turned the right way up, handed to a customer. Fig. 3A shows a variant closure face shape for the box of Fig. 1. In the closure face 17 has its top edge 25A curved as shown; the other closure 1.8 is similar. The closure line of the box therefore becomes curved up above the geometrically straight line 25 shown in Fig. 2A, and the top par the closure faces I 7 and 18 ar& in matching overlap when the box is cl The closure faces are forced into a slightly curved shape when the box is cl with a positive pressure between their overlapping regions near their cl edges. This variant form of the box, like the other variants using the cl face shapes of Figs. 3B to 3E, may also be desirable as having a more distin appearance. A hole 26 may be provided near the top edge of the face 17, and a co ponding hole in the face 18. A ribbon or string can then be tied throug two holes to form temporary securing means, which can be untied when acce the box is required. Fig. 3B shows a variant which is similar to the Fig. 3A variant. How the closure face 17 has a straight crease 31 across it, which is folded sli backwards The overlapping portions of the closure faces 17 and 18 then e against each other, but without forcing the main portions of those faces out of flat Fig. 3C shows a variant which is similar to the Fig. 3B variant. However, the closure face 17 has a crease 32 across it which is curved oppositely to the top edge 25A. The main use of this is with the Fig. 4 shape described below. Figs. 3D and 3E show further variants of the box of Fig. 1, in which the sides 17 and 18 are trapeziums. This results in the shape of the box being that of a horizontal triangular prism with sloping ends. If the Fig. 3E shape is suitably chosen to match that of the triangular ends, the blank from which the box is made may be straight (ie with the creases between the sides of the box and various flaps forming the base being a straight line) Fig 4 shows a further variant of the box of Fig. 1. In this variant, the closure faces 17 and 18 are of the form shown in Fig. 3C, but the fold 31 is initially made in the same sense as the other folds. The portions 17A and 18A of the faces* 17 and 18 are therefore roughly horizontal, forming inwardly facing overlapping lune shapes on those faces. (This also forces the faces 17 and 18 to be slightly curvilinear.) The result is a shape of the "pillow-pack" type, which retains its contents with considerable tenacity; in effect, the lune shapes 17A and 18A in effect form temporary initial closure means. To gain access to the interior of the box, these portions 1 A and I8A have to be pulled out to form smooth extensions of the faces 17 and 18. The box thereupon becomes in effect the Fig. 3C type box. (Obviously this variant can be combined with the variants of Figs. 3D or 3E.> Fig. 5 shows a second form of box, which is based on a vertical square prism. This box has a base SO and four vertical sides 31-34, each vertical side being in the form of a rectangle with the top end sloped off to turn it into a trapezium. The box is closed by two sloping triangular faces 35 and 36 at the top; these two faces form the closure faces, and their common edge 37 forms the closure line of the box. This box is assembled from the blank shown in Fig. 5A. All tabs for gluing are shown in Fig. 5A; some are shown, in lightly broken lines, in Fig. 5. It will be noted that the closure line 37 of the box is shown in Fig. having a strip 38 above it. Fig. 5A, which is a blank for this box, show strip as a double strip which is joined to the faces 35 and 36 and has a c line 39 along its centre. When the box is assembled, this strip 38 is double along the line 39. Its joins to the faces 35 and 36 are defined by of perforation, as shown at 37, which will form the closure edges of the fac and 36. When the box is first assembled, it is therefore sealed by the stri which foπns a temporary seal. To gain access to the box, the strip 38 h be torn off. The box can then be opened along its closure line 37 by pre the corners at the ends of this line together, and will close again when pressure is removed. If the box of Fig. 5 is made without the sealing stri then it can be made from a "straight" blanl- in which the four main sides form a straight band. With this shape of box, an alternative temporary initial closure mean be used in the form of a large cap having the same shape as the upper pa the box and fitting snugly over the upper part of the box. Fig. 6 shows a box whose shape is a variant of that of Fig. 5, 'in whic triangular closure faces 35 and 36 extend down to the base 30. As a resul side faces 31-34 are triangular. (For con veruence, the tabs and the temp sealing strip are omitted in Fig. 6.) The shape of this second box can al varied in other ways, eg analogously to Figs. 3D and 3E. Fig. 6A shows a for this box. This shape can be partially assembled and stored flat with the base remaining to be assembled for final assembly. The shape of Fig. 5 cannot be treated in the same way, because whe three faces 31, 32, and 35 are joined they form a 3-dιmensιonal shape which not be flattened. However, for some purposes it may be acceptable to par assemble the shape of Fig. 5 is a flattenable form, leaving the joins between 31 and 32, and between 33 and 34, unmade. It is also possible to utilize the techniques of Figs. 3A to 3C with type boxes. If this is done, the temporary sealing strip can be formed w straight central crease and curved lines of perforation. Alternatively, it c formed in another way, eg by gluing together two portions, one attached to of the closure faces. The technique of Fig. 4 can also be used with box the shapes of Figs. 5 and 6, though that would require the omission o sealing strip. If desi red, a stri p of removable adhesi ve tape can be used to provide a temporary seal for the box. For a rectangular box which is stored flat, a technique is known for for¬ ming the base by gluing and folding flaps up inside the box in such a way that when the box is opened out, the base flaps are pulled down and automatically interlock in such a manner that a substantially rigid base is automatically formed Thi s technique can be applied to most of the present boxes. However, for some forms of the present box, a slight modification of thi s technique is required. The box of Fig. 7 (which is a box of the Fig. 1 type as modified by combini ng Figs. 3B and 3D) is an example. Fig. 7A is a blank for this box Thi s consists of four faces 4 1 -44, with a flap 45 which has to be glued to the outer end of face 44, plus base parts 46-53. The base parts con¬ si st of two mai n flaps 46 and 50, pl us various minor flaps and portions 47- 9 and 5 1 -53. The two portions 47 are glued together, and the two portions 5 1 are gl ued together When the box has been partial ly assembled by the gluings just noted, it can then be stored flat, with 1 80° bends down the centre lines of the end faces 42 and 44, and with the base flaps all tucked up inside the box. When the assembly of the box i s to be completed, it i s opened out by pulling the sides 4 1 -44 apart. Thi s pulls the base flap portions down from inside the box. As -6 result, the lowermost parts of the main flaps 46 and 50 form two tongues which automatical ly engage with each other (.each sliding over the adjacent part of the other flap), to form a firm and secure base. Figs. 8 and 8A show a box and a blank therefor of the same general shape as the Fig. 5 box but which is assembled in a different manner. This box has si des 55-58, top closure faces 58 and 59, and a base 60. This box can be stored flat in partially assembled form, with only tongue and groove matching requi red for completing its assembly.

Claims: lo m- 1 A box of thin and resilient material and of generally polyhedral characterized in that it has an edge (the closure line) (25) at which two (.the closure faces) (1 , ]8) meet separably such that pressing the vertexes ends of that line together (at 26> splays those faces resiliently apart alon 7 ) that line to allow access to the interior of the box. 2 A box according to claim 1, characterized in that it is assembled from blank of cardboard <Fιg. 1> cut and creased to the appropriate shapes. 3 A box according to either previous claim, characterized by temporary s ing means attached to the closure edges (the edges lying along the closure of the two closure faces. 4 A box according to claim 3, characterized m that the temporary sec means comprise peelable adhesive tape. r > A box according to claim 3, characterized in that the temporary sec means comprise extensions (38) on the two closure faces (35, 36) whic attached together and are defined by perforated lines (37) so that they c torn off the closure faces 6 A box according to claim 3, characterized m that the temporary sec means comprise a -cap having the same shape as the box in the region of th sure line and fitting removably over that part of the box. 6 A box according to claim 5, characterized in that the extensions are f from a continuous portion of the blank 'Fig 6> which is folded double (at 3 form a tab (33 ) which protrudes beyond the two closure faces at the closure 7 , A box according to claim 5, characterized in that the extensions are f separately on the two closure faces and glued together. ■'- • • A l"-<-- ,-ιc ordι g to .-iny *>r*-vιr>us claim, characterized in that the cl faces have either a matching or a sliding overlap. 9 A box according to any previous claim, characterized in that the box has a flat base with the closure line lying above and parallel to the base. 10 A box according to claim 9, characterized m that the box is a triangular prism (Fig. 1), with one rectangular face (10-13) forming the base of the box and the other two rectangular faces (side faces ) (17, 18 ) forming the closure faces. 11 A box according to claims 8 and 10, characterized in that the two closure faces have integral extensions ''Figs. 3A-3C) to provide overlap 12 A box according to claim 11, characterized by the extensions are initially folded inwards to overlap and give a "pillow pack" shape (Fig. 4). 13 A box according to any one <>t claims 10 to 12, characterized m that the closure faces are trapeziums (Figs. 3D & 3E> 14 A box according to claim 9, characterized in that it has a rectangular base with, rising from it, four vertical sides with their top ends being sloped in zig¬ zag fashion, and closed by two sloping triangular top faces forming the closure faces (Figs 5 & 6). 15 A box according to claim 14, characterized in that the side faces are trape¬ ziums (Fig. 5) 16 A box according to claim 14, characterized in that the side" faces are trian¬ gular ( Fig fι ) 1 7 A stαcl- of boxes according to any previous claim nested in partially assem¬ bled form IS A box according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized m that it aii be stored flat in partially assembled form and its base automatically assembles when the partially assembled box is opened out. 19 Any novel and inventive feature or combination of features specifically disclosed herein within the meaning of Article 4H of the International Convention (Paris Convention).

Inventors: WOLLEN LAURA VIRGINIA, WOLLEN, LAURA, VIRGINIA
Applicants: WOLLEN BRIAN RAYMOND EDWARD, WOLLEN LAURA VIRGINIA, WOLLEN, BRIAN, RAYMOND, EDWARD, WOLLEN, LAURA, VIRGINIA
Application year: 1995
Main classification: B65D5
IPC codes: B65D5