The present invention relates to a carton package for liquid consumables and a blank for a carton package.
A wide variety of carton packages for liquid consumables are used today to suit a multitude of different products and needs. The configuration and shape of the carton package has impact on several aspects, such as ease of use, both in terms of the handling of the package itself, and how well the properties of the package harmonize with the characteristics of different filling products. The type of product influences, for example, how the package is handled when being opened, or how the product is emptied from the package effectively. For example, remains of a highly viscous product may be more difficult to extract from the package, typically requiring more manipulation of the package itself. It may be difficult for some people with for instance motor skill injuries or elderly people having a lowered muscular capability to empty the package without leaving content in the package that goes to waste. The package is frequently also manipulated upon recycling when the product has been emptied. The shape of the carton package affects mechanical properties such as the rigidity of the package. A tradeoff is typically necessary to find a compromise between ease of handling of the package and its mechanical properties, leading to a sub-optimal overall performance for certain product categories.
It is an object of the invention to at least partly overcome one or more limitations of the prior art. It is also an object of the invention to provide a carton package and a related blank for a carton package allowing for facilitated gripping of the carton package during use.
In a first aspect of the invention, a carton package for liquid consumables is provided comprising a top panel, a bottom panel, a body extending between the top panel and the bottom panel, the body comprising a front panel, a back panel, a left panel and a right panel separated by four edges: front-left edge, front-right edge, back-left edge and back-right edge. Each of the front panel, back panel, left panel, and right panel and each of the four edges extends from the top panel to the bottom panel. The front panel is connected to the top panel along a front-top edge and is connected to the bottom panel along a front-bottom edge. At a first height, measured from the front-bottom edge, the transversal width of the front panel measured from the front-left edge to the front-right edge is larger than a length of the front-bottom edge, and larger than a length of the front-top edge. At a second height measured from the front-bottom edge, the transversal width of the front panel measured from the front-left edge to the front-right edge is smaller than the length of the front-bottom edge, and smaller than the length of the front-top edge.
In a second aspect of the invention, a carton blank for a carton package is provided, comprising a first longitudinal crease line defining a front-left edge of said carton package, a second longitudinal crease line defining a front-right edge of said carton package, a first transversal crease line defining a front-top edge, a back-top edge, a left-top edge, and a right-top edge of said carton package, a second transversal crease line defining a front-bottom edge, a back-bottom edge, a left-bottom edge, and a right-bottom edge of said carton package. The carton blank comprises a front panel section, a back panel section, a left panel section, and a right panel section. The front panel section extends between the front-left edge and the front-right edge and is connected to a top panel section along the front-top edge and is connected to a bottom panel section along the front-bottom edge. At a first height measured from the front-bottom edge, the transversal width of the front panel section measured from the front-left edge to the front-right edge is larger than a length of the front-bottom edge, and larger than a length of the front-top edge. At a second height measured from the front-bottom edge, the transversal width of the front panel section measured from the front-left edge to the front-right edge is smaller than the length of the front-bottom edge, and smaller than the length of the front-top edge.
Having a transversal width of the front panel section as described above, at the first height and at the second height, provides for an improved and intuitive location at which a user may grip the packaging container, which facilitates handling and manipulation thereof. The packaging container will be balanced in the hand of the user and the force provided by the user's hand will be more evenly distributed around the surface of the packaging container.
Further examples of the invention are defined in the dependent claims, wherein features for the first aspect may be implemented for the second aspect, and vice versa.
Still other objectives, features, aspects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following detailed description as well as from the drawings.
These and other aspects, features and advantages of which examples of the invention are capable of will be apparent and elucidated from the following description of examples of the present invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which;
Specific examples of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these examples are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. The terminology used in the detailed description of the examples illustrated in the accompanying drawings is not intended to be limiting of the invention. In the drawings, like numbers refer to like elements.
Turning again to
This provides for a particularly advantageous shape of the front panel (FP), both in terms of user friendliness and from the standpoint of mechanical properties of the package 100. Having the transversal widths (w1, w2) larger and smaller, respectively, than the lengths (LB, LT) of the front-bottom edge (FBE) and the front-top edge (FTE) provides for a front panel (FP) having a first section 102 and a second section 103, the second section 103 being narrower than the first section 102. The narrow width of the second section 103 provides for an intuitive position at which the user may place his or her hand when quickly engaging to grip the package 100. The grip around the package 100 is further facilitated as the user's hand may more easily conform to the aforementioned second section 103. This also provides for distributing the force that the hand exerts upon the package 100 over a larger surface, thereby allowing for reducing any localized pressure points that may cause discomfort for some users handling heavy packages, while maintaining a sufficient frictional force between the hand and the package 100 for a secure grip. The narrow second section 103 provides also for an indentation at which compression of the package 100 may be initiated in a facilitated manner. This in turn provides for facilitated emptying of the package 100 and compression for recycling purposes. Having a first section 102 with increased width provides for maintaining a given volume and height, such as a standardized height, of the package 100 while being able to emphasize the indentation at the second section 103. The first section 102 provides for maintaining an increased stability of the package 100, while allowing the reduced width (w2) at the second section 103 to provide for facilitated gripping and manipulation of the package 100 as desired. Having a second section 103 of reduced width (w2) allows for having beveled surfaces 103′ between the front panel (FP) and the left panel (LP) and right panel (RP), and extending along the front-left edge (FLE) and the front-right edge (FRE), as schematically illustrated in
The second height (h2) may be greater than the first height (h1), as illustrated in the example of
A transversal width (w3, w′3) of the front panel (FP) may be equal to the length (LB) of the front-bottom edge (FBE) or to the length (LT) of the front-top edge (FTE) at a height (h3, h′3). This is schematically illustrated in
The back panel (BP) is connected to the top panel (T) along a back-top edge (BTE). The back panel (BP) is also connected to the bottom panel (B) along a back-bottom edge (BBE), as illustrated in
The length (LB) of the front-bottom edge (FBE) may be longer than the length (LT) of the front-top edge (FTE), as exemplified in e.g.
The front-left edge (FLE) and/or the front-right edge (FRE) may have the form of a sinus curve, as illustrated in e.g.
Also, the back-left edge (BLE) and/or the back-right edge (BRE) may have the form of a sinus curve.
The shape of the back panel (BP) may be a mirror image of the shape of the front panel (FP). The back panel (BP) may also be mirror image of the shape of the front panel (FP) which is scaled in the height dimension according to a difference in the height (hf) of the front panel (FP) and the height (hb) of the back panel (BP). The back panel (BP) may thus have a corresponding shape as the front panel (FP), but being stretched in the height dimension.
Further, the front-right edge (FRE) may be a mirror image of the front-left edge (FLE), as illustrated in e.g.
An average length of the front-bottom edge (FBE) and the front-top edge (FTE) may be denoted as wa. The ratio (w1−wa)/wa may be larger than the ratio (wa−w2)/wa. Thus, the difference in length of the width (w1) (i.e. the wider section 102) may be larger than the difference in length of the width (w2) (i.e. the narrow section 103), with reference to the average length wa.
The right panel (RP) is connected to the top panel (T) along a right-top edge (RTE) and further to the bottom panel (B) along a right-bottom edge (RBE), as illustrated in
The fifth height (h5) may be greater than the fourth height (ha), as illustrated in the example of
As described in relation to
The shape of the left panel (LP) may be a mirror image of the shape of the right panel (RP).
The blank 200 thus provides for the advantageous benefits described above with respect to the package 100 and the front panel (FP) thereof.
As further shown in
Turning to
The present invention has been described above with reference to specific examples. However, other examples than the above described are equally possible within the scope of the invention. The different features and steps of the invention may be combined in other combinations than those described. The scope of the invention is only limited by the appended patent claims.
More generally, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that all parameters, dimensions, materials, and configurations described herein are meant to be exemplary and that the actual parameters, dimensions, materials, and/or configurations will depend upon the specific application or applications for which the teachings of the present invention is/are used.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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18187432 | Aug 2018 | EP | regional |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2019/070195 | 7/26/2019 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2020/030446 | 2/13/2020 | WO | A |
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