Patent Publication Number: US-9850061-B2

Title: Package

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION DATA 
     This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Swedish Patent Application No. 1250463-5, filed on May 7, 2012, which the entirety thereof is incorporated herein by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a package of the type that comprises two panels, one of which is included in a base part, which includes a bubble that is intended for storage purpose and projects downward from an under side of the panel and mouths in an opening in the upper side thereof, while the other panel is included in a cover, which is connected with the base part via a hinge in order to be turnable between a raised position, in which the interior of the bubble is accessible, and a lowered position, in which the panel of the cover covers the opening of the bubble. 
     TERMINOLOGY 
     To the above generally mentioned type of packages, so-called blister packs belong. Such packages have received their denomination as a consequence of they being formed with one or more “bulgings”, “blisters”, “cavities” or “bubbles”, which project from at least one side of a panel, and in which one or more comparatively small articles can be stored, usually in a state that is visible from outside and has been provided by the fact that the material in the package is transparent. Henceforth in this document, solely the concept “bubble” will be used. 
     Furthermore, in order to create conceptual clarity, the definitions characterizing different details of the invention will relate to a specific spatial location, in which the two panels of the package are horizontally oriented, and in which the cover is assumed to be lowered against the base part and sealing the package. In this assumed state, an under side of the panel of the cover abuts against an upper side of the panel included in the base part, at the same time as the bubble projects downward from the under side of the last-mentioned one. In this state, the gravitation retains the article that is positioned in the bubble, when the package is opened by the cover being raised from the base part. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The basis of the invention are problems that are connected with manufacture, distribution and handling of replaceable cutting inserts for tools for chip removing machining of above all workpieces of metal or composites, such as turning, milling, or drilling. The proper tools are usually manufactured from steel, while the chip removing cutting inserts are manufactured from a harder and more wear-resistant material, such as cemented carbide, cermet, etc., that allows the forming of utmost sharp cutting edges. In spite of their relative resistance to wear, the cutting inserts are, however, wear parts, because the same have a limited service life (at times 5-15 min) and which therefore are consumed in large quantities. Most manufacturers have in addition developed not only a large number of tool types, but also myriads of insert types; all with the purpose of optimizing the performance of the tools/cutting inserts in most varying applications. Large-scale manufacturers may accordingly provide 100-150 000 different types of cutting inserts. 
     Against the above background, the logistics between the mass-producing manufacturer and the individual machine operator using the cutting inserts is in many cases complicated and multifaceted. A factor contributing to complicate the logistics is that the buyers are differently large. Some are small and only consume few cutting inserts, while others are large or medium-sized and consume greater quantities. For instance, large workshops may have a daily total need of thousands of cutting inserts, although these are distributed in smaller and varying sets in different machines. For the machining of a certain workpiece, one turning insert, four milling inserts and two drill cutting inserts may perhaps be required. 
     A previously known and widely spread package for cutting inserts is in the form of a box that is manufactured from form-stiff plastic and includes on one hand a trough part having a plurality of individual pigeon-holes, and on the other hand a sliding lid. In a standard embodiment, such boxes include pigeon-holes distributed in two rows having five pigeon-holes in each row, i.e., in total ten individual pigeon-holes. After manufacture, the cutting inserts are filled into these pigeon-holes by an automatized process, usually by means of a picking robot. More precisely, the ten pigeon-holes are loaded with cutting inserts of one and the same type, the box being provided with information relevant to exactly this insert type. However, the practical consumption of the cutting inserts rarely or never takes place in sets of exactly ten and ten. On the contrary, the consumption most often takes place in a most varying way, irrespective of whether or not the buyer is a large-scale consumer. At times, a certain machining, e.g. a single, external turning of a workpiece, may accordingly require only one or a few cutting inserts. In such cases, the other cutting inserts in a box of ten inserts have to be handled in a particular order. In certain cases, the excess cutting inserts are repacked in provisional packages, e.g. plastic bags, or the box will simply be lying, most often without tidiness, in the surroundings of the machine. 
     With the purpose of creating tidiness in the workshop and getting better control of the consumption, particular automatic machines or dispenser apparatuses have recently been installed that are loaded with individual cutting inserts, which are picked out one by one by the authorized machine operator, who can open the automatic machine by means of a magnetic card or code memory board. However, these machines require that the cutting inserts are stored individually. When a standard box with, e.g., ten cutting inserts arrives to the workshop, the same therefore has to be repacked in one-piece packages, usually in the form of plain plastic bags that are suspended on a spear in the automatic machine. Such repackings are not only time-consuming and costly, but also entails that the cutting edges of the cutting inserts are damaged. This way of opening a box of ten inserts and by hand picking over the cutting inserts into small bags or other provisional one-piece packages, also entails several other disadvantages. Among other things, the information included in the original box is lost. Often, this information is utmost important for a good machining result because it features a lot of insert data, information about origin, warning notes, etc. 
     Objects and Features of the Invention 
     The present invention aims at obviating the disadvantages of previously known insert packages and at providing a package that is particularly suitable for the storage and distribution of cutting inserts from a mass-producing manufacturer to individual buyers. Therefore, a primary object of the invention is to provide a package that is intended for the containment of only one or at most two cutting inserts and, on one hand, has a surface extension that is sufficiently large to effectively expose all the information required for allowing utilizing the cutting insert in question in an optimal way, but, on the other hand, can be piled or packed in a space-saving way. An additional object is to provide a package that allows a reliable control and guidance of most varying flows of cutting inserts from the manufacturer to the buyer. Among other things, the individual cutting insert should, by means of the package, be traceable all the way back from the machine operator (e.g. after a breakdown has occurred or an inferior work result) to the original manufacturer. The package should furthermore, when it is opened or broken, be able to convince the machine operator that the cutting insert in question originates from exactly the indicated manufacturer. 
     In order to achieve at least the primary object, the package defined by way of introduction is characterized in that the panels of the base part as well as of the cover comprises two seats, which—in the lowered position of the cover—are laterally and equidistantly separated from the storage bubble. In this way, the packages can be piled or packed close to each other without unnecessary space in the direction perpendicular to the panels being occupied. More precisely, the lower half of a protruding bubble can be inserted into an open seat when adjacent packages have been rotated in relation to each other (90° and 120°, respectively, according to the embodiment examples). 
     In a feasible embodiment, the individual seat as well as the bubble has a no circular contour shape. 
     In one embodiment, the bubble may, in addition to a bottom, include an endless wall having a rotationally symmetrical shape that extends between the bottom and the opening in the appurtenant panel. By its round shape, the bubble can be formed in a simple way because sharp corners are lacking. 
     In the last-mentioned embodiment, the endless wall may converge in the direction from the opening of the bubble toward the bottom thereof. In other words, the bubble is given—at least partly—a conical or tapering shape, which facilitates the insertion of the bubble into the individual seat and which also can be utilized to keep together adjacent packages in a bundle. 
     In one embodiment, the base part of the package is formed with two bubbles, which are mutually separated and located along a straight, first reference line, while the seats are located along a second reference line perpendicular to the same, the mutual distance between the bubbles being equal to the distance between the seats. When several packages are to be piled or packed together into a uniform set, the individual package is rotated 90° in relation to an adjacent package, the pair of bubbles fitting into the pair of seats in the adjacent package. 
     In a further embodiment, the panels of the cover and of the base part transform along peripheries into downwardly extending borders, the border of the cover of which is located on the outside of the one of the base part, when the cover is lowered. By means of these borders, the cover as well as the base part is stiffened separately, at the same time as the sealed package in its entirety obtains a good stiffness and strength. The height or depth of the borders amounts advantageously to half of the depth of the individual bubble. In such a way, the build height that arises when several packages are piled on each other is halved. 
     In the last-mentioned embodiments, the individual border along a lower boundary line may transform into a plane brim that protrudes laterally from said boundary line. Such brims contribute to stiffen the proper borders, so that these do not bend along their lower edges. In addition, the brims may be utilized to provide means for the suspension of the package as well as to provide a reliable locking of the cover in relation to the base part. 
     In a further developed embodiment, the above-mentioned brims may be extended, so that parts of the same form bottoms in the individual seats. In such a way, the individual bubble obtains a stable support, when it is inserted into the seat, at the same time as the comparatively narrow, central portion of each panel, which is present between two seats, is stiffened. 
     In yet an embodiment, the individual seat is delimited by a round wall running at an arc angle, which is greater than 180° but less than 360°, wherein the seat opens laterally. In this way, the package may be given a rectangular, elongate shape, which is distinguished by the fact that the rectangle has its greatest extension in the direction of the first reference axis, along which the bubbles are situated. 
     In one embodiment, the two panels may have a rectangular contour shape, the appurtenant borders including four corner portions, at least the two of which, which are farthest spaced apart from the hinge, include co-operating snap means having the purpose of snapping in the cover in its lowered position against the base part. By giving the panels, and thereby the package in its entirety, a rectangular basic shape, the package formed with two storage bubbles can be given a shape that, on one hand, has a sufficiently large surface area to be able to house a large number of information, but that, on the other hand, allows the packages to be piled or packed close to each other in a set having a limited volume. 
     In the last-mentioned embodiment, the material of the base part as well as of the cover may be transparent, besides which an information carrier, in the form of a sheet folded in two, is introduced between the under side of the panel included in the cover and the upper side of the panel included in the base part. In such a way, external information on the sheet can be seen from the upper side of the package as well as from its under side (at the same time as the proper cutting insert can be seen from the outside of the bubble). In addition, the sheet may carry internal information that can be read when the cover is raised. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the projection area of the individual panel may be at least three times larger than the total projection area of the two seats. In relation to the size of the stored articles and bubbles, thereby the available space for the exposure of information becomes ample. 
     In an embodiment intended for the storage of only one cutting insert, the base part of the package is formed with a solitary bubble, which is situated in a corner of an imaginary, equilateral triangle, in the two other corners of which the two seats are situated. In this case, the package can be realized in a very simple and cost-effective embodiment that allows dense packing when the individual packages have been rotated 120° in relation to each other. 
     In the last-mentioned embodiment, the seats may be through holes through the panels of the cover and of the base part, at least one of the panels no including spacer members, which have a height that amounts to one-third of the depth of the bubble. In such a way, three packages can be packed together into a pile set, the total build height of which is not more than the depth of the individual bubble. 
     In the last-mentioned embodiments, the individual spacer member may be a bulge situated in the vicinity of the individual hole. In this way, a stable three-point support is obtained for the individual packages in a piled or packed-up package set. 
     PRIOR ART 
     By, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,222 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,781, blister packs are previously known having a plurality of (more precisely seven) bubbles that project from one side of two panels foldable against each other, the bubbles being arranged so that each individual bubble on one of the panels is housed in a space between two bubbles on the other panel. In this case, however, the packages include no externally accessible seats at all in order to facilitate stapling or packing together of the sealed packages close to each other. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE APPENDED DRAWINGS 
       In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a top view showing an embodiment of a package according to 
         FIG. 2  is an analogous top view showing the same package in an opened 
         FIG. 3  is a planar view from above of the sealed package, 
         FIG. 4  is a planar view from above of the package in the opened state according to  FIG. 2 , 
         FIG. 5  is a top view of the package in an opened state without information 
         FIG. 6  is a bottom view of the same package, 
         FIG. 7  is a dimensioned planar view of the package in the opened state, 
         FIG. 8  is an exploded view of a bubble included in the package and a seat co-operating with the same in an enlarged state, 
         FIG. 9  is a further planar view of the open package as viewed from above, 
         FIG. 10  is a longitudinal section X-X in  FIG. 9 , 
         FIG. 11  is a top view showing two sealed packages about to be piled on 
         FIG. 12  is a bottom view of the packages according to  FIG. 11 , 
         FIG. 13  is a top view of an alternative embodiment of the invention, the 
         FIG. 14  is a bottom view of the package according to  FIG. 13 , 
         FIG. 15  is a top view of three sealed packages about to be piled or packed 
         FIG. 16  is a bottom view of the packages according to  FIG. 15 , 
         FIG. 17  is a planar view of the package having the cover folded out, 
         FIG. 18  is an enlarged detailed section XVIII in  FIG. 7 , 
         FIG. 19  is a detailed section XIX in  FIG. 17 , 
         FIG. 20  is a further detailed section, 
         FIG. 21  is a schematic exploded view showing three packages about to be piled on each other, and 
         FIG. 22  is a schematic planar view illustrating the situation of the lowermost package in  FIG. 21 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
     Below, two alternative embodiments of the invention will be described, reference being made to  FIGS. 1-12  and  FIGS. 13-22 , respectively. Among these, the first embodiment includes two storage bubbles, while the second one includes only one bubble. In both cases, the package is assumed to be manufactured from a comparatively thin, transparent plastic (e.g. PET), the thickness of which is selected so that the included parts obtain a semi-rigid structure, at the same time as they are partly bendable and resilient. 
     As may be best seen in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the embodiment according to  FIGS. 1-12  includes two panels  1 ,  2 , the first-mentioned one of which is included in a base part generally designated  3 , while the other is included in a cover generally designated  4 . The upper side of the first panel  1  is designated  5 , while the under side is designated  6 . In an analogous way, the upper and under sides of the panel  2  included in the cover  4  are designated  7 ,  8 . As previously pointed out, said definitions are based on the collapsed state of the package. In the shown, open state according to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the upper side  7  of the panel  2  is accordingly turned downward, while the under side  8  is turned upward in the drawing sheet. 
     In the base part  3 , two bulgings or bubbles  9  are included, in which cutting inserts (or other articles) can be stored. Each individual bubble projects downward from the under side  6  of the panel  1  and mouths in an opening  10  in the upper side  5  thereof. The cover  4  is connected with the base part  3  via a hinge  11 . In the embodiment shown, the base part and the cover are assumed to be made of a single, thermoformed and punched plastic piece, the hinge  11  being a simple folding indication that has been punched in the plastic material. 
     Characteristic of the invention is that the panels  1 ,  2  of the base part as well as of the cover include two seats  12   a ,  12   b  and  13   a ,  13   b , respectively, which—in the lowered position of the cover—are laterally and equidistantly separated from the individual bubble  9 , the individual seat having an available depth that amounts to half of the depth of the bubble. 
     In the shown, preferred embodiment, the individual seat  13  (and  12 , respectively) as well as the individual bubble  9  has a round basic shape, more precisely by having a circular contour shape. As may be best seen in  FIGS. 6 and 8 , the individual bubble  9  includes on one hand a bottom  14 , which in this case is plane and has a circular periphery, and on the other hand an endless wall  15  having a rotationally symmetrical shape. This wall may advantageously be at least partly conical. Thus, in the example shown, the wall  15  includes a lower portion  16  having a cylindrical shape, and an upper portion  17  having a conical shape. More precisely, said wall portion  17  converges in the direction from the opening  10  of the bubble toward the bottom  14  thereof. Imaginary, geometrical centre axes of the bubble and the seat  13 , respectively, are designated C. 
     Reference is now made to  FIG. 7 , in which it is seen that the two bubbles  9  are mutually separated and located along a first, straight reference line RL 1 , while the pairs of seats  12   a ,  12   b  and  13   a ,  13   b , respectively, are located along a second reference line RL 2  perpendicular to the same. The situation of the bubbles as well as of the seats is defined by the centre axes C, which are centres of the circles that determine the round basic shape of the seats. The distance between the centre axes C of the bubbles  9  is designated L 1 , while the corresponding distance between the centre axes C of the seats is designated L 2 . In order for the two bubbles—in connection with stapling or packing together—to fit into two seats in an adjacent package, L 1  and L 2  should be essentially equally large. 
     Along the peripheries thereof, the panels  1  and  2  (see again  FIGS. 5 and 6 ) transform into circumferential borders  18 ,  19  that extend downward from the under side  6 ,  8  of the respective panel  1 ,  2 . The border  19  of the cover  4  is somewhat wider than the border  18  of the base part  3 . In such a way, the border  19  will be located outside the border  18 , when the cover is lowered. Each one of the borders  18 ,  19  transforms along a lower boundary line  20 ,  21  into a plane brim  22 ,  23  that protrudes laterally from said boundary line. In the example, the brims  22 ,  23  are circumferential in the same way as the borders, i.e., are running continuously along the peripheries of the panels. As is seen in  FIGS. 9 and 10 , the folding indication  11  serving as a hinge is punched in a transition between the two brims  22 ,  23 . Furthermore, it is seen that the two brims  22 ,  23  are situated in a common plane or neutral plane NP, when the cover is folded out 180° in relation to the base part. In this state, the panel  2  of the cover together with the appurtenant border  19  are situated below the plane NP, while the panel  1  of the base part and the border  18  are situated above the same. Simultaneously, the bottoms of the bubbles  9  are situated in a plane in common with the panel  2  (which is parallel to the neutral plane NP). 
     The height H of the borders  18 ,  19  (see also  FIG. 8 ) amounts to half (50%) of the depth D 1  of the individual bubble  9 . In  FIG. 10 , it is seen that the lower halves of the bubbles  9  are situated below the neutral plane NP, while the upper halves are situated above the same. 
     At the ends thereof spaced apart from the hinge  11 , the above-mentioned brims  22 ,  23  are extended with material portions or tabs  24 ,  25 , which together have the purpose of securing the cover against the base part. The tab  24  includes a hole  26  that has the purpose of allowing suspension of the package, e.g. on a carrying spear. The two tabs  25  include inwardly facing tongues, which compulsorily can be laid overlapping with analogous tongues of the opposite ends of the tab  24 . In such a way, the cover and the base part can be locked in relation to each other in a way that makes more difficult or impossible to open the package unintentionally or by misadventure. 
     In the example shown, each one of the brims  22 ,  23  is formed so that parts of the same form a bottom  27  in the respective seat  12 ,  13 . In this connection, it should, however, be mentioned that one or both seats may be entirely or partly open, i.e., lack such a bottom. 
     It should furthermore be pointed out that the parts of the borders  18 ,  19  that form walls  28 ,  29  in the individual seats have a circular basic shape. However, said walls only extend along a limited arc angle that is, on one hand, less than 360° and, on the other hand, greater than 180°. In the example, the arc angle of the walls amounts to approx. 270°. This means that the seats open not only upward, but also laterally. In such a way, it has been possible to give the package a rectangular basic shape so far that the distance L between the hinge  11  and the opposite end of the package has been made somewhat greater than the width W (see  FIG. 7 ). 
     In each one of the four corners included in the border  19  of the cover  4 , snap-in members  30  are formed, which co-operate with snap-in members  31  included in the corners of the border  18  of the base part. The snap-in members  30  are of a male-like character and placed on a certain level below the under side  8  of the cover panel  2 , while the snap-in members  31  are female-like and located on the same level as the snap-in members  30 . Similar snap-in members  32  of a male-like nature are also formed on the round limiting walls  29  of the seats  13   a ,  13   b . These co-operate with female-like members  33  formed in the limiting walls  28  of the seats  12   a ,  12   b . Therefore, when the cover  4  is lowered, the same will be attached by snap action against the base part  3  in totally eight points, viz. in the four corners and in paired opposite points along the round walls of the seats. In addition to the securing lock tabs  24 ,  25 , accordingly the two package halves are held snapped together by means of said snap-in members. In practice, the cover can, when the securing flaps  24 ,  25  have been released from each other, be detached from the base part by means of a readily practicable pulling and turning operation. In this connection, it should be pointed out that the most essential snap-in action is effected by the two co-operating pairs of snap-in members  30 ,  31  that are situated farthest from the hinge  11 . 
     Reference is now made to  FIG. 8 , in which it is seen that the individual package also includes an additional snap-in action that has the purpose of keeping together two adjacent packages of a bundle or pile. In  FIG. 8 , it is seen that an individual seat  13 , in addition to the plane bottom  27 , is delimited by a round wall  29  having a cylindrical shape. In other words, the wall  29  is assumed to be generated by a generatrix parallel to the centre axis C. In  FIG. 8 , the depth of the bubble  9  is designated D 1 . This depth is the level difference between the panel  1  and the bottom  14  of the bubble. The depth of the seat  13  is analogously calculated as the level difference between the panel  2  and the bottom  27  of the seat. This depth is determined by the height H of the border  19  and border wall  29 . According to the invention, D 1  is twice as large as H. In  FIG. 8 , it is furthermore seen that the conical upper part of the wall  15 , which connects to the panel  1 , has a greater depth D 3  than the lower cylindrical part  16 , which connects to the bottom  14  of the bubble  9 . The depth D 3  of the cone part  17  is greater than the depth of the seat, i.e., the height H of the border wall  29 . In practice, D 3  may amount to approx. 75% of D 1 . The cylinder part  16  of the bubble has an outer diameter that essentially corresponds with the inner diameter of the seat  13 . When the bubble of a package is inserted into a seat  13  in an adjacent package, the cylinder part  16  will therefore be insertable essentially unresistingly into the seat, but as soon as the conical part  17  approaches the panel  2 , said part will be deformed by being compressed radially and exert a light pressure against the interior of the seat. In practice, said pressure may be selected so that the packages are kept together, at the same time as the same can be detached from each other without considerable resistance, more precisely by the bubble being pulled out of the seat in connection with the cover being opened. 
     Reference is now made to  FIGS. 1-4 , and in particular to  FIG. 2 , in which it is seen that the package includes an information carrier  34 , which in the example is in the form of a sheet of a suitable material, such as board, laminate or another relatively stiff material, on which information can be printed or applied. Via a folding line (not visible), the sheet is folded into two halves  35 ,  36  having approximately the same rectangular contour shape as the panels  1 ,  2  of the package. In each sheet half, round recesses  37  are recessed, in which the round cavities forming the seats  12 ,  13  can be housed. The individual sheet half has an outside  38  and an inside  39 . One of the sheet halves, viz. the sheet half  36 , has a projection area that is somewhat larger than the projection area of the other sheet half  35 . This means that edge portions of the sheet half  36  will project in relation to the corresponding edge portions of the sheet half  35 . In such a way, the sheet half  36  can be applied with its outside to the under side of the panel  2  of the cover, the four corners of the sheet half being housed and held in place between the male-like snap-in members  30  and the under side  8  of the panel  2 . On the contrary, the edges of the somewhat smaller sheet half  35  clear from said snap-in members. In practice, this means that the sheet half  36  is retained against the under side of the cover, at the same time as the other sheet half  35  can be turned up to the position shown in  FIG. 2 . 
     Each sheet half can be provided with information on the inside  39  as well as the outside  38 . This means that the outsides of the information carrier become visible from outside in the sealed state of the package (provided that the material is transparent). As soon as the package has been opened, the information on the insides  39  of the sheet halves is also readable. 
     As further seen in  FIG. 2 , two cutting inserts  40  are placed in the two bubbles  9  of the base part  3 . These two cutting inserts are visible from outside at the same time as the information on the outside  38  of the sheet half  35  can be read by the observer. 
     The projection areas of the two panels  1 ,  2  and sheet halves  35 ,  36  are advantageously considerably larger than the total projection area of the two seats  13  and recesses  37 , respectively. In practice, the first-mentioned projection surfaces should be at least three times larger than the last-mentioned ones. In the shown, preferred embodiment, the respective seat  13  has a projection area of approx. 4 cm 2 , while the panels  1 ,  2  have a length of 63 mm and a width of 53 mm. In other words, the information-carrying projection area of the panel  2  amounts to 33 cm 2 −2×4 cm 2 =25 cm 2 , the quotient amounting to 25/8=3.1. 
     Reference is now made to  FIGS. 11 and 12 , which illustrate how several packages can be packed together into a bundle or pile containing an arbitrary number of packages. In the figures, it is seen how an upper package, after rotation 90° in relation to a lower one, can be connected with the last-mentioned one by the two bubbles  9  of the upper package being brought down into the two seats  13   a ,  13   b  of the lower package. When the individual bubble bottoms in the appurtenant seat, the conical, upper part  17  of the bubble will—as described above—be compressed radially and abut against the surrounding limiting wall of the seat by a light pressure. Although the pressure is moderate—to facilitate separation of the packages—the same is fully sufficient to keep together the packages in a united set or bundle. 
     In  FIGS. 13-22 , an alternative embodiment of the invention is shown. In this case, the package has a three-cornered or trigonal shape and includes only one bubble  9  included in the base part  3  of the package. Said bubble  9  projects downward from the under side  6  of the panel  1 , and is placed in the vicinity of a hinge  11  that connects the cover  4  with the base part  3 . In each panel  1 ,  2 , here, two seats  12   a ,  12   b ;  13   a ,  13   b  are also included. In this embodiment, said seats have the shape of through, circular holes, in which a likewise circular bubble  9  of an adjacent package can be inserted. The bubble  9  is located in a corner of an imaginary, equilateral triangle, in the two other corners of which the holes  12   a ,  12   b  are situated. 
     Characteristic of this embodiment is that the panel  1  of the base part  3  includes spacer members that project downward from the under side  6  of the panel. In the example, said spacer members have the shape of ring-shaped or arched bulges  41  formed adjacent to the respective hole. As may be best seen in  FIGS. 17-20 , the individual bulge  41  is a depression that is formed or coined in the plastic panel and opens upward and extends along an arc angle less than 360°. An analogous, although shorter bulge  42  is coined in the panel  2  of the cover, more precisely in the immediate vicinity of the hole  13 . When the cover  4  is lowered against the base part  3 , the bulges  42  (see  FIG. 20 ) snap into the bulges  41  and lock the cover in a closed state. 
     Reference is now made to  FIGS. 21 and 22 , which schematically illustrate three packages, which are sealed and turned upside-down, i.e., the bubbles  9  and the bulges  41  are turned upward. As previously pointed out, the bulges  41  have a depth or a height H that amounts to one-third of the depth D 1  of the bubble  9 . The situation of the bubble  9  and bulges  41  in the lower package P 1  is seen in  FIG. 22 . When the package P 2  is to be piled on the package P 1 , the same is rotated 120° so that the its bubble  9  is located in the lower, left corner of the equilateral triangle according to  FIG. 22 . In doing so, the bubble  9  of the package P 1  can be led up through the coinciding holes in the two collapsed panels of the package P 2 , at the same time as the last-mentioned ones come to rest against the two bulges  41  of the package P 1 , which in this respect serve as spacer members for the package P 2 . ⅔ of the bubble  9  of the package P 1  will then protrude above the bulge  41  included in the package P 2 . When the third package P 3  is to be piled on the package P 2 , the same is rotated additionally by 120° and is brought to rest against the two bulges  41  of the package P 2 , at the same time as the bubble  9  of the last-mentioned one is brought up through the left bulge  41  of the package P 3  according to  FIG. 21 . 
     In the completed pile, the individual package will obtain a three-point support. In an arbitrarily large pile, each set of three packages will require a build height that does not exceed the depth of the individual bubble. In other words, also this package will be space-saving, when it is piled or packed. 
     Feasible Modifications of the Invention 
     The invention is not limited only to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings. Thus, the shape of the storage bubble as well as of the seat (or hole) may deviate from the round or rotationally symmetrical shape shown in the drawings. Neither need the bubble and the seat have the same, mating shape. Thus, the essential is that the seat allows the bubble to be inserted into the same. Furthermore, the snap means, which have the purpose of detachably locking the cover in relation to the base part as well as keeping together packed-up packages, may be formed in miscellaneous ways that deviate from the embodiment examples. Also, the basic shape of the two alternative packages may deviate from the exemplified quadrangular and three-cornered ones, respectively. Furthermore, the hinge between the cover and the base part may be realized in another way than in the form of a punched folding indication. Although it is preferred to make the package in one piece of plastic, it is even feasible to manufacture the base part and the cover individually and then connect the same via the hinge.