Patent Publication Number: US-4319680-A

Title: Packaging

Description:
This invention relates to packaging and more particularly to the packaging in a protective outer carton of a plurality of display packs such as blister packs and other packs in which merchandise is supported on or by a card so as to be visible from one or both sides of the card. 
     The term blister pack is used herein to denote a pack comprising a support card to which is secured a blister part usually of transparent or translucent material shaped to define a housing in which an article or articles of merchandise is or are housed. Usually, the support card is generally planar and the pack may be single-sided, in which case the blister part projects to one side only of the card, or double sided in which case the blister part projects to both sides of the card. In the latter case the blister part may be made up of two blister members separately formed and secured to the card and co-operating to define a single housing for the merchandise. 
     It is possible in many cases to load groups of blister packs or other display packs into a simple cardboard carton stacked side-by-side or one on top of another, but if the contents are relatively heavy or delicate it may be necessary to hold the packs away from each other by means of separate spacers between adjacent packs or pairs of packs. 
     The present invention provides a package of a plurality of display packs which is of relatively cheap and simple construction but provides for secure location of the packs to prevent them resting or impinging on each other during storage, transit display and dispensing. 
     In accordance with a feature of the invention there is provided a package comprising a plurality of display packs housed within an outer carton formed as a sleeve open at both ends, the display packs each comprising a support card having planar marginal portions, and wherein the display packs are arranged with their support cards extending transversely of the sleeve and are held in desired positions within the carton by flaps integral with the carton and turned inwardly of the carton to support the said marginal portions from both sides. 
     With this construction, the individual display packs are protected against impinging on each other in transit, and the cartons, being open at their ends, permit viewing of the respective packs adjacent the ends of the cartons, as well as reducing material costs in carton manufacture, compared with conventional cartons which are completely closed at their ends. 
     Preferably, retaining flaps are formed at both open ends of the sleeve by turning in marginal end portions of the carton so as to engage packs adjacent the respective ends of the carton. This results not only in a convenient way of forming retaining flaps at the ends of the carton, but also in mechanical reinforcement of the end portions of the carton against possible impacts during transit. 
     Further flaps turned in from side walls of the carton act as spacers between display packs within the carton and also serve to retain packs remaining in the carton when the flaps at one end of the carton have been turned out to permit removal of the display pack or packs adjacent that end. 
    
    
     Some forms of packaging in accordance with the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a part sectional side elevation of one form of package; 
     FIG. 2 is an end view of the package of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a scrap section on the line III--III of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is an end view, corresponding to FIG. 2 illustrating a modification; and 
     FIG. 5 is an end elevation of the second form of package. 
    
    
     The package shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 comprises an outer carton 1 in the form of an open ended sleeve of rectangular cross-section, to suit the profile of the blister packs 2 which it houses. Each pack comprises a flat support card 3 having secured to one face a blister part 4. The packs have planar marginal portions along all four sides to facilitate their location and support within the carton. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, the packs are arranged in pairs with their plane rear surfaces lying face-to-face. 
     The carton has various integral flaps by which the respective pairs of packs are located between the ends of the sleeve. Four flaps 6 are formed at the ends of the carton by turning in the marginal edge portions of the carton on all four sides. The narrow edges of the flaps are cut to have interlocking engagement with each other at the corners of the carton and thus to hold themselves against springing out. 
     Thus, the flaps 6 at the upper end of the carton, as viewed in FIG. 1, bear down on the planar marginal portions of the uppermost blister pack while the flaps 6 at the lower end support the margins of the lowermost blister pack. 
     Intermediate its top and bottom edges, each of the narrower side walls of the carton is formed with two pairs of integral flaps 7,7 and 8,8 which are turned in about vertical fold lines, so that their upper and lower horizontal edges engage and support the adjacent marginal portions of respective packs, which are thus all firmly located in predetermined positions between the ends of the carton. 
     A convenient way to load the carton is to turn in only the lower set of flaps 6, then load in the first (lowermost) pair of packs, then turn in the flaps 8, then load the second packs, then turn in the flaps 7, then turn down the upper edge flaps 6, and then load the uppermost pair of packs, forcing them past the flaps 6, which spring back to overlie the upper surface of the uppermost card to secure the last pair of packs. 
     Since the ends of the carton are open, the packs closest to the ends are exposed for view, and a further convenience of the package is that the holes left by turning in the flaps 7 and 8 form finger holes by which the packages can be carried. 
     In the modified form of package illustrated in FIG. 4, the outer sleeve has one side wall (at each of a pair of opposed side walls) provided with T-shaped panel, lightly shaded in the figure and bounded by lines of weakness, such as perforations, which enable the panel to be removed to facilitate use of the package as a dispenser. It will be noted that the flaps 7 and 8 are hinged about fold lines at their outer edges so that the flaps are left in place when the panel is torn away. Individual packs can then be slid out of the upper end of the carton sleeve. 
     FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative form of package particularly suited to double-sided blister packs. 
     The outer carton 11 is generally similar to that described above but each of a pair of opposed side walls has two pairs of flaps 17 at the same level, either to suit very large blister packs or, as illustrated, to allow two packs 12 to be accommodated side by side. The package illustrated thus includes four double-sided blister packs arranged in two layers. Each pack is supported on the one hand by horizontal end edges of the flaps 17 and on the other hand by the inturned end edges of the carton. 
     It will be readily understood that further layers of blister packs could be accommodated by forming a deeper sleeve with further sets of flaps 7. 
     In each of the illustrated embodiments it is sufficient to provide flaps 7,8 and 17 in two side walls only of the carton, but if more support were required because of the size or weight of the blister packs, corresponding flaps could be provided in the other side walls. 
     In each of the above described packs the flaps 7 and 8 or 17 are positioned and dimensioned to make good frictional engagement with the packs, to guard against their springing out. Alternatively the flaps may be designed to make interlocking engagement with co-operating portions of the packs. 
     The flaps 7,8 or 17 can also be arranged to fold in about horizontal fold lines. 
     With packages of the above described forms it will be seen that the endmost packs are displayed through the open ends of the carton while being held firmly in their desired locations, but that the remaining packs are held in position even after the end flaps 6 at one end of the carton are folded out and the display pack or packs at that end have been removed. 
     The invention is described above with reference to blister packs but is equally applicable to other display packs, e.g. in which the merchandise is merely mounted on a support or engaged in an aperture in the support card, or e.g. in which the merchandise and the card are enclosed in heat-shrink film.