Abstract:
A box formed from a single piece of punched and crease-lined cardboard sheet, the box having an inviolable security seal which is broken when the closed box is opened for the first time. The closed box presents a high resistance to deformation when subjected to external stresses.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to a box formed from a single piece of cardboard sheet, the closed box having high resistance to deformation and comprising an inviolable security seal which is broken when the box is opened for the first time. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Many types of boxes are known provided with a security seal, the purpose of which is to make it evident by simple external examination that the initially closed box has already been opened for the first time, or to cause a portion of the box lid or a portion of the box itself to separate after initial opening, to prevent its reclosure. 
   DISCUSSION OF THE RELATED ART 
   Boxes of this type are described, for example, in EP 0709293 B, EP 1340684 B and in the corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 6,860,421 B, EP 1538090 A and in the publication US 2006/0124708 A1, all in the name of the present applicant. 
   All the security seals illustrated in the known patents, including the aforestated, can however be violated if the boxes are opened with great care using thin metal blades to raise and deform small portions of the box or of its lid. 
   Boxes formed from a single piece of cardboard are generally of parallelepiped shape and are closed or closable by rotatable lids, formed from the same piece of cardboard. 
   EP 1826129 A2 and the corresponding U.S. Ser. No. 11/622,724, also in the name of the present applicant, describe a box formed from a single piece of cardboard and comprising an internal supplementary wall which defines—inside the box—a supplementary pocket or cavity adjacent to that outer side wall of the box which faces or opposes that box wall from which the two box closure lids or panels project, the function of this supplementary pocket being to divide the box internal cavity into two separate parts: it is important to note that said internal supplementary wall of the box has no stiffening function (or deformation resistance increase) for the closed box structure. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   An object of the present invention is therefore to form a box, obtained from a single piece of cardboard sheet, which is provided with an inviolable security seal, i.e. such that access can be gained to the box interior (after its initial closure) only after the seal has been broken, hence making it apparent to the naked eye that the box closure lid (or lids) has/have been opened for the first time. 
   Another object is to form a box provided with an inviolable security seal in which the box has high resistance to deformation when closed and its security seal is intact. 
   These and other objects are attained by a box formed from a single piece of punched and crease-lined cardboard sheet, the box being of substantially parallelepiped shape with four outer side walls, two lids for closing two box ends and each projecting from one end of one of said side walls, and a supplementary wall inside the box close to that box side wall opposing the side wall from which said lids extend, of which at least one is divided into an end panel and into a free lip by a folding line substantially parallel to a folding line which separates the said end panel from that box side wall from which it extends, characterised in that from at least one free edge of said supplementary panel there extends at least one hook-shaped appendix the free end of which is widened, in the end panel of the box lid on the same side as said shaped appendix there being provided at least one cut close to the folding line which separates it from the respective free lip, said cut having a length less than the width of the free end of said hook-shaped appendix which passes through and extends beyond the cut when the box lid is closed, at each of the two ends of said cut in the lid panel there being provided in the cardboard a hole which extends from each end of said cut towards the outside of the cut and into the lid lip, there being provided in the cardboard at least one preferential breakage line formed from at least one cut or knurling which at least partially incises is the cardboard, said preferential breakage line being provided either on said shaped appendix or on said box lid between the respective end panel and free lip, or on both of them. 
   Preferably and advantageously, the length of the supplementary panel considered as the distance between its opposing free edges is less than the length of that outer box side wall opposite the side wall from which said lid extends. 
   By virtue of its structure the box, when its lids are closed, assumes high rigidity and deformation resistance, enabling (inter alia) the use of cardboard sheets of thickness, weight and cost less than those required to form similar boxes, but without the characteristics of the box of the present invention. 
   Moreover, by virtue of the fact that said hook-shaped appendix extends within the box, when closed, and through the cut provided in the corresponding lid end panel, and is hooked (after being passed beyond the two holes provided at the ends of the cut) onto the panel outer surface, an absolutely inviolable seal is formed which is broken (when the box is opened for the first time) along the preferential breakage lines provided in the cardboard. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     A preferred embodiment of the box is described hereinafter by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a flatly spread plan view of the punched and crease-lined cardboard piece usable for forming a box; 
     Figures from  2  to  4  show said cardboard piece in its successive folding and gluing steps to give a finished box, ready for despatch to a box user firm; 
       FIG. 5  shows, on a greatly increased scale, a portion of one of the box closure lids; 
       FIG. 6  is an enlarged perspective view of one end of a box, with the box lid and the adjacent flaps completely open, as at the moment in which an automatic machine (not represented) of a user firm is about to insert into it, through the open lid, the product which the box is intended to contain and protect; 
       FIG. 7  is similar to  FIG. 6 , from which it differs by the fact that the box flaps and the lid lip are bent towards the box interior and upwards respectively; 
       FIG. 8  shows, also in perspective view, that box portion of  FIG. 7  seen from the rear, i.e. opposite that in which the same box portion is seen in  FIG. 7 ; 
       FIG. 9  shows, on a further enlarged scale, the same box portion as Figures from  6  to  8 , but represented in a subsequent folding step, i.e. in a step immediately preceding lid closure and insertion of the lid lip into the box, to close the adjacent box end; 
       FIGS. 10 and 11  are partial representations, one in frontal view and the other perspective, of that end portion of the closed box in which the intact security seal is provided, i.e. with the box inviolated; 
       FIG. 12  shows the same box end, with its lid partially open and with one of its security seals irreparably broken; and 
       FIG. 13  is a simplified perspective view of that box end the lid of which has been completely opened, after necessarily breaking a security seal different from that of  FIG. 12 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     FIG. 1  shows in spread-out plan view a piece of punched and crease-lined cardboard comprising four main panels or walls  1 - 4  (intended to form the box outer surface) and three mutually consecutive panels  5 ,  6  and  7  projecting laterally from the main panel  1 , the panels  1 - 7  being separated from each other by longitudinal parallel crease lines (or folding lines)  8 - 13 . From each end of the panel  1  there projects a lid comprising an end panel  14  and a free lip  15 , the end panel  14  being separated from the panel  1  by a transverse folding line  16  and from the lip  15  by a folding line  17 : this latter, in the embodiment shown in the drawings, consists of two short (aligned) lengths of knurling, i.e. each formed by a succession of small cuts which pass through the entire cardboard thickness, known in the art as “knurlings”. It should however be noted that the folding lines  17  can consist of common crease lines without cuts, or can be each formed by a continuous cut line which incises the cardboard only through a part of its thickness (such as not to cause detachment of the lip  15  from the lid panel  14 ). 
   Finally it should be noted that from the opposing free ends of the panels  2  and  4  there project flaps  18  divided from such panels by folding lines or crease-lines  19  perpendicular to the lines  8 - 13 , as is usual in known boxes similar to that described herein. 
   The punched and crease-lined cardboard piece described up to this point is substantially equal to that of known boxes, for example that represented in EP 1826129 A2 and in the already aforestated corresponding US patent application. 
   To shape this cardboard piece into a box, the end panel  7  is firstly turned onto the secondary panel  6  (by rotating it about the folding line  13 ), then a glue strip  21  is applied to that surface of the panel  1  facing upwards ( FIG. 2 ). 
   The panel  5  is then rotated (about the folding line  8 ) so that it rests on the surface of the panel  1 , while the panel  6  rests partly on the said panel  1  and partly on the panel  2 , the glue strip  21  making the end panel  7  securely adhere on the panel  2  ( FIG. 3 ). 
   A glue strip  23  is then applied to the upwardly facing surface of the panel  5 , after which the panel  3  is rotated about the folding line  10 , to become superposed on the (upwardly facing) surface of the panel  6 , whereas the panel  4  becomes superposed on the panel  5 , to be fixed to it by the effect of the glue  23  ( FIG. 4 ). 
   At this point, the cardboard processing firm which has produced the box has terminated its work and stacks of boxes in the state shown in  FIG. 4  are delivered to the box user firms which, using automatic machines of known type working at high speeds, firstly exert a pressure between the longitudinal crease-lines  8  and  10 , to press them towards each other and cause the box to assume the form shown in  FIG. 6 . 
   In  FIG. 6 , the box with its left end (with respect to the figure) completely open, and its main panel or wall  1  coplanar with the end panel  14  and with the respective lip  15  of the lid, shows that the supplementary wall  6  is close to (but not in strict contact with) the box side wall  3 , i.e. that side wall  3  which opposes the side wall  1  from which the two box lids  14 ,  15  extend. To close the box, the flaps  18  are firstly folded towards the box interior and the lip  15  of the lid is rotated upwards (relative to the end panel  14 - FIGS. 7 and 8  showing the box in perspective view, seen from its side and rear respectively, i.e. from the same side as the panel  1 ). 
   The lid is then rotated about the folding line  16  ( FIG. 9 ) and the lip  15  of the lid is made to penetrate into the narrow space defined by the outer wall  3  and the supplementary panel  6  parallel to it. 
   The box structure and the characteristics described up to this point are known per se, as can be seen from the said EP 1826129 A2. 
   The new inventive characteristics of the box of the present invention will now be described. From the drawings, it will firstly be noted that from the free edge of the supplementary panel  6  there projects a hook-shaped appendix  50 , the free end of which is widened and which (preferably but not necessarily) is separated from the panel  6  by a preferential breakage line  57  (see  FIGS. 6 ,  7  and  9  in particular) which can consist of a knurling (in the sense of a succession of small cuts passing through the entire thickness of the cardboard) or a thin cut which incises only a part of the cardboard thickness: it should however be noted that this preferential breakage line  57  could also not exist. 
   It will be apparent that just one shaped appendix or more than one shaped appendix could project from just one or from both the opposing free ends of the panel  6 . 
   It is also important to note that in the end panel  14  of the box lid (which extends from the same side of the shaped appendix  50 ) a cut  60  is provided (in practice the number of cuts  60  provided is equal to the number of shaped appendices  50 ) close to the folding line  17  which separates it from the respective free lip  15  (see  FIG. 5  in particular, which represents on an enlarged scale the end portion of a box lid), this cut  60  having a length less than the width of the free end of the shaped appendix  50 ; at each end of the cut  60  a hole  61  is provided extending partially into the lid panel  14  outwards from the cut but mainly within the lip  15  (as seen in particular in  FIG. 5 ), on which it defines a projecting appendix  80  extending (between the two holes  61 ) as far as the cut  60 . From the figures it can be seen that a short cut is provided at the two end edges of the folding line separating the end panel  14  from the respective lip  15 , to define at each end of the panel  14  a projecting appendix  14 A coplanar with the panel  14 . It is important to note that the length of the supplementary panel  6  considered as the distance between its free opposing edges is less than the length of the wall  3 , i.e. of that box outer side wall opposite the wall  1  from which the lid  14 ,  15  extends, such that the free edge of the wall  6  is set back from the free edge of the wall  3 , whereas the free end of the shaped appendix  50  projects beyond the free edge of said wall  3  which superposes it. 
   Having now described the general structure of the box, the functional characteristics will now be explained, starting for simplicity from a consideration of the figures subsequent to  FIG. 6 . 
   When the lip  15  of the lid is folded towards its panel  14  ( FIGS. 7 and 8 ), the appendix  80  of the lip remains coplanar with the lip, its edge rising away from the cut  60  to form thereat an aperture or window  90  ( FIGS. 8 and 9 ) having a width greater than the thickness of the cardboard and which—only at its parts most distant from the cut  60  (i.e. where the two holes  61  are provided)—has a length greater than the maximum width of the free end of the shaped appendix  50  (the length of this window  90 —in correspondence only of the cut  60 —being less than the maximum width of said shaped appendix). 
   It follows that, when the box lid is closed, to pass from the state of  FIGS. 7 and 8  to that of  FIG. 9  and from there (by sliding the lip  15  into the box interior between the walls  3  and  6 ) to that of  FIGS. 10 and 11 , the free end of the shaped appendix penetrates through the window  90 , to extend beyond and to the outside of the panel  14 , the shaped appendix  50  being urged (against the surface of the cut provided in the panel  14 ) by the appendix  80  which is in its turn pressed by the wall  3 , as shown clearly in  FIGS. 10 and 11 . Given the described structure, when the lid is completely closed and the lip  15  has been totally inserted into the box interior into contact with the opposing surfaces of the walls  3  and  6 , the hook-shaped part of the shaped appendix  50  rests on the outer surface of the lid panel  14  where it is retained by the appendix  80  of the lip  15  of the lid ( FIGS. 10 and 11 ), while the panel  14  rests on the adjacent free edge of the supplementary panel  6 , such that the folding line between the panel  14  and lip  15  is positioned below the free end of the panel  3  ( FIGS. 10 and 11 ). The free ends of the appendices  14 A projecting along the two outer edges of the panel  14  are also positioned below and in contact with the panel  3 . 
   When the box is closed ( FIGS. 10 and 11 ) it has a very high and surprising resistance to deformation, due mainly to the fact that the lid panel  14  is inserted, and securely retained by the shaped appendix  50 , below the panel  3 ; to the fact that the lip  15  of the lid is retained between the panels  3  and  6  and that the width of this lip  15  is such that its outer side edges are in contact with the inner surfaces of the box side panels  2  and  4 ; and finally to the fact that the narrowest portion of the shaped appendix  50  is in contact with the side edges of the window  90 , in the immediate vicinity of the cut  60 . 
   When the box is to be opened, the lid panel  14  must be rotated outwards in the direction indicated by the arrows A in  FIGS. 12 and 13 . In this manner the appendix  50  is broken along its predetermined breakage line  57  ( FIG. 12 ) or (if no breakage line  57  has been provided for the shaped appendix) along the predetermined breakage line separating the panel  14  from its lip  15  ( FIG. 13 ), this line being represented as successions of small cuts or knurlings  17  in the drawings. 
   Predetermined breakage lines can be provided only along the narrowest part of the shaped appendix  50 , or at the folding line between the panel  14  and its lip  15 . In all cases a security seal is obtained which is totally inviolable and is reliably broken when the box is opened for the first time.