Patent Application
20180002087
The present disclosure relates to the field of packaging. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a package, a method of grouping articles, a method of placing articles on a shelf and a pre-formed foldable sheet.
Various types of consumer products, for example food products, personal care products, cosmetics, and the like, are sold in small containers that are placed on the shelf of grocery stores, drugstores and convenience stores. Many of these items are inexpensive and store owners are looking for ways to maintain low price points.
These products are oftentimes shipped to stores in larger packages, usually cardboard packages. Store personnel take those packages from crates, tear down the packages to empty their content and place the small containers one by one on shelves. This is a labor intensive operation that adds to the sales price of many consumer products.
Therefore, there is a need for improvements in the field of packaging that would reduce the amount of manpower required for placing articles on store shelves.
According to the present disclosure, there is provided a package comprising an enclosure and retentions. The enclosure is sized and configured for receiving a plurality of articles aligned within the enclosure. The enclosure has an opening at each of two opposite ends. At least one retention is located at each of the two opposite ends of the enclosure. At least one of the two opposite ends includes at least one retractable retention.
According to the present disclosure, there is also provided a method of grouping articles. A plurality of articles is aligned on a pre-formed foldable sheet. The pre-formed foldable sheet is folded to enclose the plurality of articles. Opposite edges of the pre-formed foldable sheet are glued together to form an enclosure about the plurality of articles. At least one retention is folded at each of the two opposite ends of the enclosure.
According to the present disclosure, there is also provided a method of placing articles on a shelf. The above described package is placed on the shelf. At least one retractable retention at a first end of the enclosure is displaced to free the plurality of articles. Pushing on the plurality of articles through a second end of the enclosure opposite from the first end allows the plurality of articles to slide onto the shelf.
The present disclosure further relates to a pre-formed foldable sheet. The foldable sheet comprises a floor panel, a pair of side panels and two top flaps. The side panels are attached at lower ends thereof on each side of the floor panel. A first top flap extends from an upper end of one of the side panels. A second top flap extends from an upper end of another one of the side panels. A first retention is positioned at a first end of the pre-formed foldable sheet on the floor panel or on the first top flap. A second retention is positioned at a second end of the pre-formed foldable sheet opposite from the first end, the second retention being positioned on the floor panel or on the first top flap.
The foregoing and other features will become more apparent upon reading of the following non-restrictive description of illustrative embodiments thereof, given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Embodiments of the disclosure will be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Like numerals represent like features on the various drawings.
Various aspects of the present disclosure generally address one or more of the problems of manpower requirements for placing articles on store shelves.
Generally speaking, the present disclosure introduces a packaging technology intended to facilitate placement of articles, for example small containers, in particular but not exclusively on store shelves. A pre-formed foldable sheet, for example made of cardboard, is shaped to form a package having an enclosure formed about a predetermined number of articles when folded. Shapes are pre-formed in the sheet so that they may form retentions at two opposite ends of the enclosure when folded to maintain the articles in position within the package. The retentions are retractable so that store personnel may free the articles from the enclosure when placing the articles on a shelf. Some of the retentions may be foldable and some retentions may be tearable. The articles are aligned within the package and can easily maintain their alignment when pushed from the package onto the shelf.
Examples illustrated in the following drawings will show that a package is adapted to contain small containers of food products. It will be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to packages adapted to the shipping of food products and is not limited to packages adapted to the shipping of containers. The present packaging technology may be adapted to holding various types of consumer articles, including without limitation household articles or small toys, that may or may not be enclosed in small boxes.
Referring now to the drawings,
Relative sizes of the floor panel 12, the side panels 14 and 16 and the top flaps 18 and 20 as shown on
A pre-formed, retractable bottom retention 24 is located at each end of the floor panel 12. In more details, each bottom retention 24 includes an opening 26 as well as scorings 28 and 30. When folding the sheet 10, folding of the scorings 28 inward of the formed enclosure defines projections 32 that will lock the bottom of articles to be held in the package. As will be illustrated in a later Figure, the scorings 30 are intended to facilitate tearing of the bottom retentions 24 for releasing the articles.
A pre-formed, retractable top retention 34 is located at each end of the top flap 20. Each top retention 34 is formed by a cut 36 that extends over a junction defined by the scorings 22 between the top flap 20 and the side panel 16. When folding the sheet 10, folding scorings 38 inward of the formed enclosure will bring the top retentions 34 inward to maintain the articles within the enclosure. As will be illustrated in a later Figure, the top retentions 34 can be pushed outward to release the articles.
To form a package, a plurality of articles is aligned on the pre-formed foldable sheet 10, more specifically on the floor panel 12. The articles are enclosed in the package by folding the sheet 10 and by gluing together the top panels 18 and 20, thereby forming an enclosure. The various retentions 24 and 24 are folded at each end of the sheet 10 to maintain the articles within the enclosure. If desired, it is possible to glue two (2) packages side-by-side.
On
As illustrated, the top flap 18 may be truncated at each of its ends 40 in order to not interfere with operation of the top retentions 34. A length L1 of the sheet 10 measured between the retentions 24 and 34 is sized to accommodate a desired number of articles aligned within the enclosure.
In one variant, foldable retentions similar to the top retentions 34 may be provided on the floor panel 12. In another variant, tearable retentions similar to the bottom retentions 24 may be provided on the top flap 20. When the sheet 10 is folded, the retentions 24 and 34 will be located in opposite corners of openings of the formed enclosures. This configuration is provided for illustration purposes and does not limit the present disclosure. Other configurations including one (1), three (3) or four (4) retentions at each opening of the enclosures are contemplated. The number, sizes and shapes of the retentions may be adapted to the need of a particular application.
The base 112 of each container 110 includes an aperture 114 so that the top 116 of a lower container 110 is inserted in the aperture 114 of an upper container 110. Referring again to
As detailed on
As shown on
The operations of
Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the description of the package, pre-formed foldable sheet, method of grouping articles and method of placing articles on a shelf are illustrative only and are not intended to be in any way limiting. Other embodiments will readily suggest themselves to such persons with ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the disclosed package, pre-formed foldable sheet and methods may be customized to offer valuable solutions to existing needs and problems related to manpower requirements for placing items on store shelves. In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations of the package, pre-formed foldable sheet and methods are shown and described.
It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation of the package, pre-formed foldable sheet and methods, numerous implementation-specific decisions may need to be made in order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with application-, system-, and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in the field of packaging having the benefit of the present disclosure.
The present disclosure has been described in the foregoing specification by means of non-restrictive illustrative embodiments provided as examples. These illustrative embodiments may be modified at will. The scope of the claims should not be limited by the embodiments set forth in the examples, but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.
