SEPARATOR FOR CARDBOARD BOXES

Abstract: It comprises a plurality of flat strips (1) and a plurality of dividing walls (2) arranged transversally to the flat strips (1), the length of each flat strip (1) being substantially equal to one of the dimensions of the box (4), and each dividing wall (2) being set between two adjacent flat strips (1) or between one flat strip (1) and a wall of the box (4), and at least some of the dividing walls (2) having a flap (3,3a) at each end, and each of the flaps (3,3a) being glued to a flat strip (1) or to the wall of the box (4). The divider can be manufactured in a totally automated continuous process, and allows a remarkable saving of materials while its strength is not reduced.

Description: The present invention relates to a divider for cardboard boxes, of the type formed by sheets which divide the inner space of the box into compartments, which can be produced in a continuous process and involves a considerable saving of materials with respect to other known dividers such as known from DE-A-1 931 611 on which the preamble of claim 1 is based. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Known in the art, for example in Spanish patent 9400980, are dividers for foldable cardboard boxes, which are manufactured in a continuous process by overlapping and gluing a number of strips of cardboard and then cutting a suitable length from the assembly; folded dividers are thus produced, which before insertion into the boxes or when the box is unfolded for use, unfold in their turn to define the compartments into which the products, such as bottles, are to be arranged. These known dividers are practical in use because they can be manufactured by a continuous process and, if desired, stored together with their own folded box; however, due to the arrangement of the strips which form the divider, the use made of the materials of the divider is not optimum. Other known dividers which can be manufactured in continuous process are made up of strips of cardboard folded in zig-zag shape and glued to each other only by a small portion at the corners of the compartments, as in the case of US-A-3 011 672; this divider nevertheless calls for very precise fitting of the strips, and is too fragile, for it can become unglued easily. GB-A- 911 027 describes a cellular structure formed by folding along a score line a component constituted by two flat parallel strips having a plurality of dividing walls between them. The most pertinent prior art which is represented by DE-A-1 931 611 describes a divider for cardboard boxes formed from elementary modules, each module comprising two parallel flat strips and a plurality of transverse dividing walls between them, each dividing wall having flaps glued to the flat strips. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The main object of the present invention is to provide dividers for foldable cardboard boxes which can be manufactured in a continuous process and consume less materials than known dividers, without thereby detracting from the qualities of the divider. In accordance with this object, the divider of the invention for cardboard boxes is as defined in claim 1. This divider has all the advantages of the known dividers, in particular the possibility of being manufactured by a totally automated continuous process, while further permitting a considerable saving in materials without thereby being detrimental to its strength. Advantageously, said flat strips and said dividing walls present projections and incuts of complementary shape; thereby, and due to continuous-process manufacturing of the divider, materials can be saved. In the event of the divider being intended to be fitted folded into a foldable box and stored together therewith until the time of use, on two opposite sides there are dividing walls linked by one of the flaps to an intermediate flat strip, but with the other flap left free so that it can be glued to one wall of the box. The folded divider is inserted into a box and the free flaps glued to the walls of the box in such a way that when the box is unfolded for use the divider is also unfolded. If, on the other hand, the divider is to be unfolded and inserted into a box which is already open, it is provided on two opposite sides with dividing walls which are linked by one of the flaps to an intermediate flat strip and by the other flap to a flat end strip, the latter remaining in contact with one wall of the box. The divider is unfolded with the help of the end strips and is inserted into the open box; the end strips also prevent the divider from folding again. Advantageously, the flat end strips are of different material or thickness from the intermediate flat strips, since these strips do not have the function of protecting the products stored in the box. In one embodiment, the dividing walls are glued to the flat strips slightly offset from each other, so that the divider fits the box well and all compartments are of the same size. In one embodiment the divider is not attached to the box, but rather the products themselves, such as bottles, keep it in its place. This divider is particularly suitable for use on machines of the "wrap around" type, in which the bottles are first placed in a suitable arrangement and the divider is then inserted between them, and the box is formed and closed around the assembly. Materials are thereby saved, since the dividing walls do not have to reach the wall of the box because the bottles themselves prevent the divider from moving; the dividing walls and the strips adjacent to the walls of the box need only reach to approximately half of the diameter of the bottles in order to prevent two bottles from coming into contact with each other. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a better understanding of all that has been set out, some drawings are attached which, schematically and solely by way of non-restrictive example, show a practical case of embodiment. In said drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a divider in accordance with the present invention, totally unfolded in its use position; Figure 2 is a plan view of the divider of Figure 1, partially folded; Figure 3 is view of a detail of a particular embodiment of a divider in accordance with the invention; Figures 4a, 4b are schematic drawings which show two possible arrangements for a twelve-compartment divider; Figure 5 is a plan view of a variant of embodiment of the divider of the invention. DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the divider of the present invention comprises a number of flat strips 1 parallel to each other, two in the case shown, which will hereinafter be called longitudinal strips, solely in order to assign a geometric reference to the divider in order to facilitate description. With the strips 1 are associated a plurality of transverse dividing walls 2, shorter than the strips 1 and also parallel to each other, which have flaps 3,3a on their ends for gluing, respectively, to the strips 1 and to the walls of the box 4. In the example shown in Figures 1 and 2 there are nine transverse dividing walls 2, which as can be seen will form a total of twelve compartments 5 with the longitudinal strips 1, once the divider is placed in a box (Figure 1). The length of the flat strips 1 is equal to a dimension of the box to which the divider will be attached, while the length of each dividing wall 2, without the flaps, defines one of the dimensions of each compartment 5; the other dimension of the compartment is defined by the distance between each two dividing walls. The shown divider has essentially square compartments, though simply by altering the dimensions and position of the transverse dividing walls compartments of another shape could be formed. The strips can be of any thickness, depending on the specific needs of each case. The constructional layout described has several advantages: on the one hand, consumption of materials is minimum, since there are no double walls, while at the same time the dividing walls 2 are solidly fixed to the strips 1 by the flaps. Another advantage is that manufacturing of the divider can be carried out automatically and by a continuous process. Indeed, the divider of the invention is manufactured with a continuous process similar to that described in documents ES 9400980 and US-A-3 011 672, which can be referred to for further details: it suffices to mention here that along general lines this process consists in supplying from a number of coils several webs of cardboard of different widths (one web for each flat strip, and one web for each dividing wall), overlapping them in suitable reciprocal positions and with application of an adhesive on the zones which will correspond to the flaps, pressing the assembly and finally cutting portions thereof transversally, each cut portion constituting a folded divider ready for insertion into a box. Advantageously, prefolding or weakening lines are formed on the strips corresponding to the dividing walls 2, to facilitate subsequent unfolding of the divider. In one embodiment of the invention, which permits an even greater saving of materials, the divider has a number of complementary projections 6 and incuts 7 (see Figure 1): the pointed projections 6 lengthen the divider to a suitable height to prevent the upper parts of the products stored in the compartments 5 from knocking against each other, while at the same time a complete section of material is saved. Furthermore, for example in boxes for bottles, the pointed shape sometimes prevents the labels of the bottles from bending or tearing as they are inserted in the box. The complementary shape of the projections and incuts is due to the fact that, in production of the divider, two dividers are separated from each other with a single transverse cut which can be given the desired shape. The projections can be of any height and the incuts of any depth, depending on the product to be stored in the box and the saving of materials desired. The more pronounced the projections and incuts the greater the saving of materials. Where it is desired to achieve a maximum saving by making the cuts very pronounced, the cuts are made in positions offset from the centre of the side wall of each compartment 5, so that in spite of the depth of the cut the zone located at half-height, where the products (particularly bottles) are widest and need greatest protection, is never left open. The described divider can be inserted, folded and with lines of adhesive applied to the flaps 3a, in a cardboard box 4, and stored with the box until the time of use; when the box is unfolded the divider also unfolds automatically. The divider can nevertheless also be stored separately and inserted into a box once the box is unfolded, at the time of use; in this case, in order to facilitate unfolding of the divider and prevent it from folding again when it is left inside the box, two additional flat end strips 8 (shown in broken lines in Figure 2) can be glued onto the flaps 3a of the dividing walls 2; in the previous case these flaps were glued directly to the box. The end strips 8 do not have to exercise any protective function, for which reason they do not need the same features as the intermediate flat strips 1 or the dividing walls 2, so they can be manufactured from cardboard of lower quality or density, so as not to make the product more expensive, or they can be made thinner. Moreover, adding them does not pose any difficulties in the manufacturing procedure. In principle, the dividing walls 2 are attached to the flat strips 1 in such a way as to be aligned with each other. In some cases, however, especially where the strips 1 and the dividing walls 2 are relatively thick, it happens that the divider remains aligned only towards one side of the box, while at the other side some free space is left, and the compartments 5 beside one the walls are then slightly smaller, and the compartments 5 beside the opposite wall are slightly larger; this is due to the effect of the thicknesses of the strips and dividing walls, which makes the dimension of the divider different when folded and when unfolded. In order to prevent this small difference, the dividing walls can be glued to the strips slightly offset with a distance d from one dividing wall to the next, as shown in Figure 3. Figures 4a,4b show two different arrangements of the strips and the dividing walls for making a twelve-compartment divider; Figure 4a corresponds to the embodiment shown in the previous figures, while Figure 4b is an alternative which is also possible. Figure 5 shows a variant of embodiment, also included in the present invention. In this figure, the divider is shown inserted into a box 4 with a dozen bottles B. In this variant, the dividing walls 2' left between one strip 1 and the wall of the box have only one flap 3, with which they adhere to the corresponding strip, and they are shorter than the dividing walls 2 fitted between two strips. The strips 1 are also shorter than in the embodiments described above, and do not reach the walls of the box 4. The divider of Figure 5 is not attached to the box; it is used with "wrap around" machines, in which the twelve bottles (or pertinent number) are first placed one beside the other according to the layout they will finally have in the box, and the divider is then fitted between them. Since the divider is inserted with the bottles already in position, it cannot fold or move, and it is not necessary to attach it to the box. It is clear that the divider could be manufactured with any number of compartments, depending on the requirements of each specific case, and that cardboard or similar materials of any thickness and type could be used for the strips and dividing walls. A six-compartment divider, for example, could be manufactured with a single flat sheet and four dividing walls, two on either side of the sheet.

Claims: A divider for cardboard boxes, of the type formed by strips which divide the inner space of the box (4) into n rows of compartments (5), each row having m compartments, said divider comprising a plurality of parallel flat strips (1) and a plurality of dividing walls (2,2') arranged transversally to said flat strips (1), parallel and equally spaced apart from each other, each dividing wall (2,2') being set between two adjacent flat strips (1) or between one flat strip (1) and the adjacent wall of the box (4), each of the dividing walls (2) that are set between two adjacent flat strips having flaps (3) foldable connected at its two opposite ends , and glued to the flat strips (1), and each of the dividing walls (2,2') that are set between one flat strip and the adjacent wall of the box having either two flaps (3), one at each opposite end, one glued to the adjacent flat strip and the other glued to the adjacent wall of the box, or only one flap(3), opposite the adjacent flat strip and glued thereto, characterized in that it is formed by n -1 of said flat strips, all of which are straight in all their length and have a length equal to or smaller than the length of one side of the box, and by n •( m -1) of said dividing walls, said flat strips (1) being all spaced apart from each other such that each strip (1) separates one row of compartments from an adjacent row and has a flap (3) of at least one dividing wall (2,2') glued to one side thereof and a flap (3) of at least another dividing wall (2,2') glued to the other side thereof. A divider as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said flat strips (1) and said dividing walls (2) present projections (6) and incuts (7) of complementary shape. A divider as claimed in any of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the dividing walls (2) of a adjacent rows of the strips are glued to the flat strips (1) slightly offset a distance (d) from each other.

Inventors: PLANAS XAPELLI MARIA JOSEFA, PLANAS XAPELLI, MARIA JOSEFA
Applicants: VIDECART SA, VIDECART, S.A.
Application year: 1997
Main classification: B65D5
IPC codes: B65D5