Abstract:
A container for packaging personal care articles, especially sanitary absorbent articles of personal hygiene. The package container has a hollow bottom that is spaced away from the lower end of the container. The hollow bottom is made out of a bottom flap having the size and shape generally of the cross section of the container and is held in place by a holding strip and at least one small flap.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a container for packaging personal care articles, especially sanitary absorbent articles of personal hygiene. The package container has a hollow bottom that is spaced away from the lower end of the container. The hollow bottom is made out of a bottom flap having the size and shape generally of the cross section of the container and is held in place by a holding strip and at least one small flap.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Packaging containers with oval cross-section and closed bottom are known in the art. Exemplary disclosures can be found in EP 881 151; U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,369 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,170,740. However, the containers suggested by those references have at least one drawback; their bottom is more or less flat and it has been found that such flat folded bottoms oftentimes tend to be slightly roundish, in other words they are slightly extending beyond the lower end of the sidewalls of the container in a convex manner. As a consequence, such containers may not stand very well and may fall over.  
         [0003]     Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a container with an oval cross-section and a closed bottom which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by having a more stable stand.  
         [0004]     It would also be desirable to provide such a container which is easy and cost-efficient to produce.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     The present invention provides a container comprising a wall, an upper end and a lower end, said wall having an inner and an outer surface. The container has a lower portion extending from the middle distance between said upper and lower end of said container to said lower end of said container. The lower end of the container is closed by a bottom, which is formed by a bottom flap having approximately the shape and size of said cross section of said container. The bottom flap resides in the interior of the container and is held in place by a holding strip, which is attached to the bottom flap along a line of connection, which is spaced away from the lower end of the container. The container further comprises a small flap being attached to the bottom flap approximately opposite to said line of connection.  
         [0006]     By this configuration the bottom flap is spaced away from the lower end of the container towards the upper end of the container and thus a hollow bottom is formed. Due to this the container stands on the lower edge of its circumferential wall. Thus, the problems arising from a non-flat bottom may be avoided. In one embodiment, the container is formed from one interconnected piece of carton cut-out, which is very economical and provides the possibility of forming the container on the packaging line itself. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]      FIG. 1  illustrates the interconnected cut-out from which one execution of the container of the present invention is formed.  
         [0008]      FIGS. 2 and 3  illustrate the above cut-out from alternative views  
         [0009]      FIG. 4  illustrates how an embodiment container of the present invention is formed out of the cut-out, namely by folding the two wall portions  2   a  and  2   b  upon themselves and attaching the wall connection flap  2   c  to the inside of the opposite wall portion  2   a . Further the bottom may be formed by folding the bottom flap  3  onto the three small flaps  4 .  
         [0010]      FIG. 5  illustrates a finished container  1  with closed bottom. It is visible that the bottom flap  3  is spaced away from the lower end of the container  1  by the holding strip  5  and that the folding lines  6  of the extensions of the wall  2  forming the small flaps  4  and the holding strip  5  are spaced away from the lower  8  end of the container  1 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0011]     The container  1  of the present invention may be made from any suitable material, but is generally made of rigid material, such as, for example, carton board. The term “Rigid material”, as used herein, refers to materials with at least some flexural stiffness, i.e. a significant degree to maintain their original shape. Exemplary rigid materials in the context of the present invention are carton paper, carton board, card board, enforced paper, corrugate or the like or combinations thereof. Further examples of rigid materials for use herein are plastic or rubber-like polymeric materials with a significant degree of stiffness to maintain their shape.  
         [0012]     “Lower portion of the wall” refers to the part of the wall  2  extending from the mid height the wall  2 , defined by the middle distance between the upper end  7  and lower end  8  of the container, towards the lower end  8  of the container  1 .  
         [0013]     “Interior” means the inner volume of the container volume, which is enclosed by the wall.  
         [0014]     The wall  2  of the container  1  can be made out of one or more wall portions (e.g., portions  2   a ,  2   b , and  2   c ). When the container  1  is made from a flat cut-out of material, the wall is typically closed by a wall connection flap  2   c , which is bonded to the inside of a wall portion, as illustrated in  FIG. 4 . The arrangement of the wall  2  of the container  1  defines the cross section of the container  1 . In one embodiment, the container  1  is substantially cylindrical with an essentially circular or ellipsoidal cross-section. In other embodiments, the container  1  may have a substantially square or rectangular cross-section. Generally, there is basically no limitation in cross-sectional shape of the container  1 .  
         [0015]     The hollow bottom of the container  1  is basically formed by a bottom flap  3 , which is held in place by a holding strip  5  on one side and at least one small flap  4  on the other. The bottom flap  3  resides in the interior  13  of the container  1  and is spaced away from the lower end  8  of the container. Both the holding strip  5  and the small flap  4  are either attached to the inner surface  22  of the wall  2 , the outer surface  2   e  of the wall  2 , or are interconnected extensions of the wall  2 , which are folded against the inner surface  2   d  of the wall  2  along folding lines. The folding lines can extend along the lower end  8  of the container but are preferably spaced away from the lower end towards the upper end  7 . The spacing away can be facilitated by cuts, as illustrated e.g. in  FIGS. 3, 4  and  5 .  
         [0016]     The upper end  7  of the container  1  of the present invention can be open or closed. The upper end  7  and lower end  8  of the container may have generally the same cross-sectional shape and may be coextensive. However, it is also within the scope of the present invention that the upper and lower ends of the container  1  are not co-extensive, such as in case the side walls  2  of the container have different heights, or in case one or more side walls  2  have a variable height, or in case the walls  2  have an angle other than 90° with respect to a substantially even horizontal surface the container  1  is placed on or have different angles for each wall.  
         [0017]     It is furthermore within the scope of the present invention that the cross-section of the container  1  is variable between the upper end  7  and lower end  8  of the container. In an embodiment herein the lower end  8  of the container  1  has a square shape, whereas the upper end  7  has a substantially ellipsoidal shape. Also, the reverse configuration; i.e., circular or ellipsoidal lower end  8  and square upper end  7 , are within the scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to the skilled artisan that also numerous other different configurations are possible, which will lead to a variable cross-sectional shape of the container  1 .  
         [0018]     In other embodiments, the container  1  herein is provided with windows  9 , through which its contents can be seen from outside. These windows can be provided by holes in the wall  2  of the container  1  or by zones  10  in the wall  2 , which are generally transparent.  
         [0019]     According to further embodiments herein, the container  1  according to the present invention may be provided with means for aiding collapsibility. This is beneficial for improving the disposability of the container, since it requires less space in the garbage container in collapsed state. Means for providing collapsibility are for instance cuts or weakness lines, such as perforations or score lines.  
         [0020]     All documents cited in the Detailed Description of the Invention are, in relevant part, incorporated herein by reference; the citation of any document is not to be construed as an admission that it is prior art with respect to the present invention. To the extent that any meaning or definition of a term in this written document conflicts with any meaning or definition of the term in a document incorporated by reference, the meaning or definition assigned to the term in this written document shall govern.  
         [0021]     While particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is therefore intended to cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of this invention.