COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINER

Abstract: A collapsible container (2) made from card, board or like stiff material has its openings closable by means of pairs of overlapping flaps (10, 12) projecting from the free borders of its side walls (4). In order to permit the flaps to be separated from each other, to permit the container to be flattened after having been emptied, and for the container to be reerected without the use of any additional material, such as adhesive tape, the respective surfaces of the flaps have secured to them flat two-component non-adhesive couplings (14, 16). Suitable couplings are those made from hooked- and looped-pile fabrics, such as those sold under the trademark Velcro3.

Description: COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINER This invention relates to containers, and particularly to so-called 'cardboard' containers made from either stiff card, or from cardboard. However, the invention may be applied to cubic containers made from any suitable stiff material. When such containers are designed to hold a matrix of other containers, such as for foodstuffs, the base of the container is usually made from two pairs of folded-over flaps, of which the outer pair have their adjacent borders secured together by means of strips of broad adhesive tape. After the container has been filled, it is closed by the upper flaps being folded over into overlapping contact, and their adjacent major borders are similarly secured together by adhesive tape. When the container is to be emptied, the adhesive tape is either wrenched off or cut, to enable the pairs of flaps to be folded back to give access to the contents of the outer container. After it has been emptied, if it is to be reused or recycled, the adhesive tape has to be removed, which is a messy and time-consuming operation. The present invention aims at providing outer containers of which the overlapping flaps are secured together without the use of adhesive tape, to permit an opened-up and empty container to be collapsed flat and place in a stack with like flattened containers for transport to a filling station, at which each container is reerected into its cubic shape without the use of any additional material. GB-A-2 169 587 discloses a container having a bottom and four side walls. The resultant open top is intended to be closed by causing a long flap to engage two small side flaps to hold the other long flap in place. This container uses the same type of non-adhesive couplings as do containers of the present invention. However, in this disclosure, the flaps provided with the couplings are kept spaced from each other by the thickness of the intervening flap, which militates against the mechanical integrity of the coupling. In addition, this container is inherently not collapsible, because the bottom does not use the same type of couplings to hold it together. US 4 034 909 does disclose a collapsible container, but one which uses non- adhesive couplings only on its 'top' flaps. Although its base is formed of overlapping flaps, these are intended to be held together by connectors having projecting lock tongues. The latter are intended to be pushed through aligned openings in the pairs of overlapping flaps, and their internal ends to be clinched to secure the flaps together. Dismantling the bottom of the container would be tedious and time- consuming, because it would entail straightening out each of the flattened tongues to permit the connector to be withdrawn, which is not a practicable solution. US 4333602 also uses non-adhesive couplings on just two flaps intended to close the single opening of the container. There is no disclosure of the base of the container using the same type of coupling, so that the container is inherently not collapsible and reusable. Accordingly the present invention provides a collapsible container which is as claimed in the appended claims. The present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: Figure 1 is an isometric view of one form of container of the present invention, with its flaps in an intermediate position, and Figure 2 is a similar view of another form of container of this invention. The container 2 is made from card, cardboard or suitable plastics material. It is shown in its loading position, with continuous upright sidewalls 4 and with its base 6 and top 8 being made from two pairs of overlapping flaps, consisting of a pair of inner flaps 10 and a pair of outer flaps 12. Before the container is filled, the inner flaps for the base are folded over into coplanar positions and the outer flaps are pressed against the contacting surfaces of the inner flaps to secure them together. After the container has been filled, the top 8 is closed in similar fashion. In accordance with this invention, the contacting surfaces of the overlapping flaps are held together without adhesive, by making use of two-component flat couplings, of which each component may be secured permanently to its respective flap by means of an adhesive. One suitable coupling is that sold under the trademark 'Velcro', of which each component is made from fabric. One component presents a looped pile, while the other presents a hooked pile. When the two components are pressed together, the hooks engage the loops to hold them together in a firm grip, which may be loosened and released by pulling the two components apart. They are not damaged by repeated application and separation, as long as the grip between them is less than the force by which the adhesive holds them against their supports. It is preferable for the looped components 14 to be secured to the inner flaps 10 adjacent to the hinged border of the respective flap, and for the hooked components 16 to be secured to the outer flaps 12 in matching positions close to the respective free border of the flap. When the container has been filled, the contents provide an 'anvil' against which the inner flaps can be pressed by the outer flaps to ensure that the couplings are securely engaged. When the containers of the present invention are used to hold and transport small containers ('boxes') of foodstuffs, it is usual to load each container in horizontal layers. Each layer is made up of many parallel short stacks of boxes, laid on their sides. The boxes are usually nested, so that the base of one box fits within the borders of the lid of the underlying box. When the container has been filled and closed as described above, the container is turned through 90° to its working position, so that one of its former side walls becomes the base. The side wall chosen to act as the base is related to the orientation of the stacked boxes, so that the boxes within the container are stacked vertically with their lids uppermost. In practice, many containers would themselves be stacked on a pallet for storage and transport. Changing the orientation of the filled containers means that the unsupported outer faces of the stacked containers are made of cooperating pairs of flaps coupled together by the non-adhesive fastenings. When several filled containers are stacked on top of each other, the weight of the superposed containers causes the flaps of the underlying containers to flex, applying force to the couplings to cause them to slide relatively to each other. These forces are reduced by positioning the fastening components close to the hinge lines of the respective inner flaps, and positioning the components on the outer flaps accordingly. Although Fig. 1 shows there as being two lengths of looped components 14 on each inner flap, both could be replaced by a single-piece, double length, component intended to cooperate with two hooked components 16. In that embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 2, the outer flaps 12 are intended to overlap each other, and not merely lie in the same plane. To ensure that the two flaps lie parallel to each other, the flaps are not completely identical to each other, in that of each pair, one flap 12' of the pair is designated the inner flap, while the other flap 12" is designated the outer flap, indicating the sequence in which they are folded into position. Flap 12" has its hinge line displaced by the thickness of the flap from that for flap 12'. In this way, the outer flap 12" comes to lie against inner flap 12', thus ensuring that the coupling components can engage fully. When a filled container has been emptied, it may be collapsed easily by gripping the respective outer flap and pulling it away from the inner flap with sufficient force to cause the coupling components to lose their grip on each other, but without pulling the component off its respective flap. When both 'open' ends have had their flaps separated from each other in this way, the boxes may be folded flat by causing the two pairs of side walls 4 to be flattened together, with their respective flaps lying in the same plane as the side walls. Reerection of a collapsed container is a simple matter of forming the side walls into a rectangle, and successively coupling the cooperating pairs of flaps together as already described. When the couplings are made from plastics pieces intended to be latched together, it might be desirable to ensure that one type of component is always secured to the inner flaps, and the cooperating type to the outer flaps, but whether this is necessary or not has usually to be determined by experimentation. Accordingly it will be seen that this invention provides a convenient way of ensuring that cubic containers may be reused repeatedly without the use of adhesive tape or of any connectors for holding the cooperating flaps securely together.

Claims: Claims 1 A closable collapsible container made from stiff card or like material, the container having two pairs of side walls intended to enclose a cubic space when erected, in which each side wall has projecting from it two flaps each hinged about an edge of a side wall, in which the two openings of the container formed by the side walls are intended to be securely closed by two cooperating pairs of flaps, in which the inner flaps have on their outer surfaces, near the hinge line, one part of a two-part separable non-adhesive coupling, and in which the outer flaps have on their inner surfaces the other parts of the couplings, in positions complementary to those on the inner flaps, whereby the container may be erected and collapsed repeatedly without the use of adhesive tape. 2 A container as claimed in claim 1 , in which the couplings are of the fabric type, with one part comprising a hooked pile, and with the other part comprising a looped pile. 3 A container as claimed in claim 1 , in which the couplings are made from moulded plastics material of which the two parts may be latched together. 4 A container as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the two pairs of flaps for each opening are intended to be substantially coplanar when the two pairs of flaps are coupled together. 5 A container as claimed in any of claims 1-3, in which one flap of the outer pair is sized to cover substantially the whole area of the opening, and in which the hinge line of that one flap is displaced by the thickness of the flap from the hinge line for the other flap of the same pair, so as to enable the two flaps to be parallel to each other when in their coupled positions. AMENDED CLAIMS [received by the International Bureau on 27 ϋanuary 1998 (27.01.98); original claim 5 amended; remaining claims unchanged (1 page)] 1 A closable collapsible container made from stiff card or like material, the container having two pairs of side walls intended to enclose a cubic space when erected, in which each side wall has projecting from it two flaps each hinged about an edge of a side wall, in which each of the two openings of the container formed by the side walls is intended to be securely closed by two cooperating pairs of flaps, in which the inner flaps have on their outer surfaces, near the hinge line, one part of a two-part separable non-adhesive coupling, and in which the outer flaps have on their inner surfaces the other parts of the couplings, in positions complementary to those on the inner flaps, whereby the container may be erected and collapsed repeatedly without the use of adhesive tape. 2 A container as claimed in claim 1 , in which the couplings are of the fabric type, with one part comprising a hooked pile, and with the other part comprising a looped pile. 3 A container as claimed in claim 1 , in which the couplings are made from moulded plastics material of which the two parts may be latched together. 4 A container as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the two flaps of each pair of flaps are intended to be substantially coplanar when the respective two pairs of flaps are coupled together. 5 A container as claimed in claim 4, in which the hinge lines for each outer pair of flaps are displaced by the thickness of the flap from the hinge lines for each inner pair of flaps, and in which each outer pair of flaps have their free ends virtually abutting when the respective pairs of flaps are in their fully-closed positions. Statement under Article 19 The original claims 1-4 have been maintained, because I believe that the search examiner has misunderstood the disclosures of the two most-relevant citations, i.e. GB 2 169 587 and US 4 333602. While it is admitted that both these citations show the use of two-part fasteners of the type sold under the trademark 'Velcro', such fasteners are shown as being applied to the flaps at only one end of the box. In other words, both the known boxes are shown as having only one end open, with the clear implication that the other end is permanently closed, as by having the respective flaps either glued or taped together. Thus neither citation relates to collapsible containers, in the sense in which this term is used in the specification of this application. This is because the known containers (boxes) have to be either thrown away after one use, or damaged to such an extent, in order to collapse them for transport to a recycling depot, that they would be unacceptable for reuse, particularly if they were originally used to hold foodstuffs. By contrast, the containers of this invention are intended to be reused many times before being discarded. To achieve this, the flaps at both 'ends' are able to be separated from each other when desired, to allow the other four walls to be flattened, so that the container is reduced to the thickness of several plies of card or like material from which the container is made. This enables the containers of this invention to be reused many times, thus saving materials and reducing costs, in that a stack of collapsed containers occupies far less volume than the erected boxes, and the flattened boxes can be conveniently transported back to the original filling station after having been emptied and collapsed. Even if the examiner were to allege that it would be obvious to apply the Velcro strips to the flaps at both ends of the known boxes, such modified boxes would not solve the problem solved by this invention. The boxes of this invention are intended to be stacked vertically, with their flaps forming two opposite side walls of the stack, so that access to the contents of each box may be achieved while the boxes are still stacked. To allow for this, the invention provides a way of securing the flaps together so as to resist the static force exerted on the flaps by the contents of each box, particularly when the box is bearing the weight of several superimposed full boxes. The couplings between the flaps of the box of the '587 patent would not have the necessary strength. This patent shows clearly that one outer flap does not have any component of a two-part coupling secured to it, but is held in place by having part of its long edge overlapped by the opposite, outermost, flap. This outermost flap is secured to the adjacent small flaps by the detachable couplings. However, the coupling components on the small flaps are exposed to those on the large flap through cuts-out in the inner of the large flaps. Thus each strip of the coupling member on the small flaps has two of its contiguous borders closely spaced from the edge faces of the cuts-out. Thus, when the outer large flap is to be secured to the two small flaps, its contact with the inner large flap prevents the two parts of each coupling from being pressed together with as much force as is necessary to ensure that they grip each other with maximum force. Thus the boxes of the '587 patent would inherently not have the strength necessary to function as substitutes for the boxes of this invention. The boxes of the '602 patent suffer from similar weaknesses. As can be clearly seen, even if the reclosable flaps were on two opposite 'open' ends of the box, neither of the two small flaps is secured in any way to either flap of the outer pair, so that only the two large flaps are secured together. The inherent mechanical weakness of this construction is increased by the fact that the coupling strips on the outermost flap are positioned at the outer comers of the inner surface of the flap, and are separated from the main body of the flap by lines of weakness, intended to facilitate each triangular corner being pivoted about the respective line of weakness to separate the two coupling strips from each other. When the contents of the box apply outwards force to the flaps, the inner flaps simply transfer this force to the outer flaps. The larger outer flap would tend to bulge outwardly, with its outer triangular corners initially remaining coupled to the smaller outer flap by bending inwardly about the lines of weakness, until the couplings separate completely, to allow the box to burst open. I therefore submit that the invention as originally claimed in claim 1 , and as shown in Fig. 1 , is neither disclosed in either of the two most-relevant citations nor deprived of inventive step by them. It is intended, at the first opportunity to do so, to amend the specification by deleting Fig. 2 and the related description, which is why this former embodiment of the invention is no longer claimed.

Inventors: MCGEEHIN ROBERT, MCGEEHIN, ROBERT
Applicants: MCGEEHIN ROBERT, REXAM PLASTIC PACKAGING LTD, MCGEEHIN, ROBERT, REXAM PLASTIC PACKAGING LIMITED
Application year: 1997
Main classification: B65D5
IPC codes: B65D5