PACKAGE UNIT

Abstract: The invention relates to a packaging unit (1) which is so arranged as to accommodate paper (2) in stacked form (3) intended to be loaded into a printing press. It comprises the under part of a box (4) forming a base with a frame-shaped border (7) and a load-lifting tray (5) consisting of corrugated board with a base and two mutually opposing folding side walls with lifting devices and a lid (6). The accommodated stacked (3) paper (2) is so arranged as to be supported on the load-lifting tray (5), which is capable of being lifted from the under part of the box (4) for subsequent lifting and delivery of the stack of paper.

Description: Package unit The present invention relates to a packaging unit so arranged as to accommodate paper in stacked form, which is intended to be loaded into a printing press or some other similar text and/or image transmission device. Previously disclosed is the principle of causing copy paper, for example, to be packaged in stacks of 250 or 500 sheets, each contained in a waxed outer wrapping paper inside a common cardboard box with a lid. This only permits the loading of paper in batches from a box, because the outer wrapping paper for each stack must first be removed before the loose sheets of paper can be loaded, for example into a copying machine or a printing press, etc. This is a laborious and time-consuming procedure if there is a need to load large quantities of paper, which is also costly. Also previously disclosed is the use of cardboard boxes intended for copying paper, in which the stacks, which are similarly packaged in an outer wrapping paper, are contained inside a common cardboard box, the front panel of which is so arranged as to be folded outwards as the lid is taken off to enable the stacks to removed by that route. This packaging, too, does not permit the simple and rational handling of sheets of paper, and a great deal of unnecessarily duplicated work is called for in order to be able to transfer the contents for use as a copying or printing medium. Also previously disclosed is the principle of causing items such a food or other objects to be supported on a tray which exhibits wire-shaped lifting handles; see, for example, US, 3,155,267 A and GB 2,293,367 A. It should also be possible to use an insert of this kind, albeit of a different shape, for packaging of the kind envisaged in accordance with the invention. However, wire-shaped lifting handles would surely damage sheets of paper if these were to be supported thereon. The packaging unit previously disclosed in patent publication DE 3 411 941 Al is in the form of the under part of a box and accommodated therein a load-lifting tray equipped with handles. Once the aforementioned tray is lowered into and accommodated in the under part, its lower side walls extend upwards beyond the edge of the under part of the box. It would not be. possible to place a lid over the under part, and the tray would be forced apart if a loading were to be imposed from above. The principal object of the present invention is thus, in the first instance, to make available a packaging unit so arranged as to accommodate paper in stacked form of the kind described above, although the aforementioned disadvantages are avoided and the entire content of paper can now be lifted up from the packaging with a single hand movement and placed directly in a printing press or a copying machine, etc., such that up to 1500 sheets at a time can be transferred from the packaging to the printing press, etc. The aforementioned object is achieved by means of a packaging unit in accordance with the present invention, which is characterized essentially in that it comprises the under part of a box forming a base with a frame-shaped border and a load-lifting tray consisting of corrugated board exhibiting a base and two mutually opposing folding side walls with lifting devices and a lid, and in that the lower folding side walls of the load-lifting tray exhibit a vertical extent which essentially corresponds to the height of the peripheral border around the under part of the box, in conjunction with which the accommodated stacked paper is so arranged as to be supported on the load-lifting tray, which is capable of being lifted from the under part of the box, for subsequent lifting and delivery of the stack of paper. The invention is described below as a couple of illustrative embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows an exploded view of a packaging unit in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 shows a view of a load-lifting tray included in the unit; Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of the load-lifting tray included in the unit in the folded position in which it is intended to be accommodated in the under part of the box; Fig. 4 shows the assembly of the various constituent parts of the unit; Fig. 5 shows the unit in the position ready for filling; Fig. 6 shows how a lid is placed on a filled under part of the box; Fig. 7 shows a plan view of a blank for the under part of the box; Figs. 8-9 show the raising of the blank for the under part; Figs. 10-11 show how a lid is constructed and sealed with tape; Figs. 12-14 show a variant of a packaging unit; Fig. 12 shows a plan view of a load-lifting tray with a waisted section; Fig. 13 shows the load-lifting tray in the illustrated folded position in which it is intended to be accommodated in the under part of the box; and Fig. 14 shows the waisted load-lifting tray accommodated in the under part of the box. By causing the lower folding side walls of the load-lifting tray to exhibit a vertical extent which essentially corresponds to the height of the peripheral border around the under part of the box, a packaging unit is obtained which makes it possible to withstand a high load imposed from above by additional filled packaging units stacked thereon. A packaging unit 1 in accordance with the present invention, which is so arranged as to accommodate paper 2 in stacked form 3 intended to be loaded into a printing press or some other similar text and/or image transmission device, comprises an under part of a box 4 forming a base, a load- lifting tray 5 and a lid 6. The under part of the box 4 is provided with a frame-shaped peripheral border 7 for this purpose. The load-lifting tray 5 is formed by a rigid base 11 and two mutually opposing folding side walls 8, 9 which are equipped with lifting devices 10 preferably formed by punched-out handle openings 10 with folding handle flaps 10A through the folding under part piece 12 of the formed load- lifting tray 5 consisting of corrugated board. The lid 6 is so arranged as to be capable of fully enclosing the upward- facing opening 13 of the under part of the box 4 and may consist of a separate part 6 as shown in accordance with Fig. 1, or the under part of the box 104, as shown in Fig. 11, is provided with folding lid flaps 150 projecting from its border 120, which, in the assembled position, encloses the aforementioned opening 113 in the under part of the formed unit 101, for example after narrowing. The aforementioned packaging unit 1 is so arranged that the stacked paper 2 accommodated therein is so arranged as to be supported to form a stack 3 on the load-lifting tray 5 capable of being lifted from the under part of the box 4 in order to permit the subsequent simple lifting 14 and delivery of the stack 3 of paper to a printing press, for example, simply by emptying the stack into the paper magazine in question. The folding side walls 8, 9 are in turn capable of being folded along a transverse folding notch 15, 16 so that the side walls are divided into pairs of side walls 8A, 8B and 9A, 9B. Each of the lower end walls 8A, 9A is in turn capable of being folded about a folding notch 17, 18 extending across the base 11 of the tray 5 at the pairs of side edges 11A, 11B of the base, preferably also in the form of folds. In this case the lower folding side walls 8A, 9A, i.e. the side walls situated closest to the base 11, exhibit a vertical extent H which essentially corresponds to the height L of the peripheral border 13 of the under part of the box 4, although these are preferably slightly lower than the aforementioned border 13. In this case the two side walls 8A, 9A, which are also so arranged as to extend perpendicularly upwards from the base 19 of the under part 19, are arranged as extra end walls in the packaging unit 1, as a result of which the box is not compressed as easily when it is supporting a heavy load from stacked boxes and/or when they are shrink-wrapped in plastic and/or are held together with strapping tape. The remaining two upper folding side walls 8B, 9B, which exhibit lifting devices 10, in turn have a vertical extent C such that they do not interfere with one another when they are folded in towards the centre M of the packaging perpendicular to the lower side walls 8A, 9B, for example as shown in Fig. 3. The load-bearing base plane 11C of the load-lifting tray 5, which, together with the side walls 8, 8A, 8B; 9, 9A, 9B, is produced from a common long sheet 12 of single or double corrugated board, exhibits a surface extent which essentially corresponds to the size of the base 19 of the under part of the box 4, as a result of which the aforementioned load-lifting tray 5 can be lowered into the under part of the box 4 after aligning the side walls 8, 9, 8A, 8B, 9A, 9B of the load-lifting tray 5, and paper 2 can begin to be loaded onto it, for example at a paper mill, as shown in Fig. 4. The lid, which may be in the form of a hood-shaped component 6 capable of being passed over the border 7 of the under part of the box, exhibits a height X on its peripheral side frame 20 which is slightly less than the height L of the peripheral border 7 of the under part of the box 4, so that this side frame 20 is not compressed if a loading is imposed on it from above by other packaging units 1. The under part of the box 4 may be in the form of a punched common piece of cardboard 75 with side flaps 76, 77 and sides 78, 79, which are capable of being folded along folding notches 80-89 to form a coherent under part 4 for the purpose of accommodating an aforementioned load-lifting tray 5 therein, for example as shown in Fig. 7. The variant of the packaging unit 201 shown in Figs. 12-14 comprises a load-lifting tray 205 capable of being accommodated in a base-forming under part of a box 204 with a frame-shaped border 207. The aforementioned load- lifting tray 205 exhibits a base 211 and two side walls 208, 209 attached to the aforementioned base 211, one at each end. The aforementioned base 211 exhibits a width CCB which is narrower than the width B exhibited by the aforementioned load-lifting tray 205 along the laterally situated side walls 208, 209. The aforementioned tapering base 211, which extends along its centrally located centre line 250, has a uniform width CCB. The aforementioned load-lifting tray 205 made of corrugated board also has transverse folding notches 215, 216, 217, 218 in accordance with the above and exhibits handles 210. In its operative position, the load-lifting tray 205 exhibits a height CCH which essentially corresponds to the height CCL of the peripheral border 207 of the accommodating under part of the box 204. The intention from the outset was to cause the load-lifting tray 205 to function as an insert tray for GTG printing presses and digital presses, of which between 40 COO and 50 000 are in use throughout the world. For a number of years now, a large range of variants has existed in more or less the same format, but with a printing capacity almost double the capacity of modern GTO presses. Punching the bottom sheet 211 offers the possibility of utilizing the insert tray 205 in an efficient manner for these high-speed printing presses. Punching helps to ensure that the sheet drops down onto the feed table or an existing stack of paper and facilitates the removal of the sheet of corrugated board. Perforation of the lateral flaps makes it easier at the mill to lift the insert tray 205 with its content of paper into the under part of the box 204. This new embodiment also makes it possible for the GTO printers to transfer the entire contents of the carton to the press in a single operation. The side flaps must be torn off in this case. The underlying idea for the packaging unit is thus to permit more efficient paper handling and to reduce the use of pre-packaged paper. This provides a considerable financial advantage and a major additional benefit from the point of view of the working environment. A packaging unit intended to function simply and effectively in accordance with the invention is described above. The function of the invention should have emerged from the foregoing, and more specifically from the drawings with the indicating arrows. The function thus permits up to 1500 sheets of paper 2, for example in A3 format, to be transferred from the packaging to a printing press. The invention is not restricted to what is described above and illustrated in the drawings, but may be varied within the scope of the patent claims without departing from the idea of invention.

Claims: P a t e n t C l a i m s l. Packaging unit (1; 201) so arranged as to accommodate paper (2) in stacked form (3) intended to be loaded into a printing press or some other similar text and/or image transmission device, characterized in that it comprises the under part of a box (4; 204) forming a base with a frame-shaped border (7; 207) and a load-lifting tray (5; 205) consisting of corrugated board exhibiting a base (11; 201) and two mutually opposing folding side walls (8, 9; 208, 209) with lifting devices (10; 210) and a lid (6), and in that the lower folding side walls (8A, 9A) of the load- lifting tray (5; 205) exhibit a vertical extent (H; CCH) which essentially corresponds to the height (L; CCL) of the peripheral border (7; 207) around the under part of the box , in conjunction with which the accommodated stacked (3) paper (2) is so arranged as to be supported on the load-lifting tray (5; 205) , which is capable of being lifted from the under part of the box for subsequent lifting (14) and delivery of the stack (3) of paper. 2. Packaging unit in accordance with Patent Claim 1, characterized in that the upper folding side walls (8B, 9B) , which exhibit lifting devices (10) , have a vertical (D) extent (C) such that they do not interfere with one another when they are folded in towards the centre (M) of the packaging unit perpendicular to the lower folding side walls (8A, 9A) . 3. Packaging unit in accordance with Patent Claim 2, characterized in that lifting devices (10) in the form of punched-out carrying handles (10A) are so arranged as to extend through the upper folding side walls (8B, 9B) . 4. Packaging unit in accordance with one or other of the foregoing Patent Claims, characterized in that the load- bearing base plane (11C) of the load-lifting tray (5) exhibits a surface extent which essentially corresponds to the base (19) of the under part of the box (4) . 5. Packaging unit in accordance with one or other of the foregoing Patent Claims, characterized in that the lid (6) is in the form of a hood-shaped component capable of being passed over the border (7) of the under part of the box (4) . 6. Packaging unit in accordance with Patent Claim 5, characterized in that the hood-shaped lid component (6) exhibits a peripheral side frame (20) , the height (x) of which is less than the height (L) of the border (7) of the under part of the box (4). 7. Packaging unit in accordance with one or other of the foregoing Patent Claims 1-4, characterized in that the lid consists of a number of folding lid flaps (150) projecting from the border (120) of the under part of the box. 8. Packaging unit in accordance with one or other of the foregoing Patent Claims, characterized in that the load- lifting tray (5) exhibits folding notches (15) along the intended folding parts (8A, 8B; 9A, 9B) of the tray. 9. Packaging unit in accordance with one or other of the foregoing Patent Claims, characterized in that the under part of the box (4) consists of a punched common piece of cardboard (75) with side flaps (76, 77) and sides (78, 79), which are capable of being folded along folding notches (80- 89) to form a coherent under part (4) for the purpose of accommodating an aforementioned load-lifting tray (5) therein; (Fig. 7). 10. Packaging unit in accordance with Patent Claim 1, characterized in that the load-lifting tray (205) exhibits a base (211) which is narrower than the side walls (208, 209) . 11. Packaging unit in accordance with Patent Claim 10, characterized in that the load-lifting tray (205) exhibits a longitudinal centrally located tapering base (211) of uniform width.

Inventors: HOLMER HAAKAN, HOLMER, HAAKAN
Applicants: HAAFRESTROEMS AB
Application year: 2000
Main classification: B65D5
IPC codes: B65D5