This claims priority from German Application No. 10 2021 208 450.8, filed Aug. 4, 2021, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The invention relates to a cup made of paper, paperboard, or paper-like material having a fillable interior space formed by a shell and a base, wherein the base includes a skirt at the lower end of the interior space that is fastened in a substantially liquid-tight manner to the shell. A lower periphery of the skirt forms a footprint for the cup. The cup has an external shell, wherein the external shell is composed of a planar blank of paper or paper-like material. Longitudinal edges of the blank at least in portions are connected to one another in an overlap region so that the external shell forms a sleeve. The external shell, at least up to a predefined spacing from the lower end of the external shell, has a frustoconical shape having a cone angle and, with the exception of the overlap region, at least from the predefined spacing to the lower end, is configured in a single ply.
The intention of the invention is to improve a cup made of paper, paperboard, or paper-like material.
In the case of a cup according described herein, the lower region of the external shell, with the exception of the overlap region, is configured in a single ply, and the shell in the lower region, from the predefined spacing to the lower end, at least in portions, tapers more heavily than in the region above the predefined spacing. A constriction is thus provided on the external shell, at the lower end of the external shell forming a sleeve, without the lower end of the external shell being rolled in. As a result thereof, the external shell is not just easier to produce, but the external shell in the lower region thus also bears more tightly on the shell of the inner cup and, as a result, can be adhesively bonded to the shell in a simple manner, for example by hot-melt glue or hot-melt adhesive. The cup described herein is configured as a double-walled paper cup and an insulating air gap is configured between the external shell and the shell of the inner cup at least in the region where the cup is gripped. When the cup does not include rolling-in or folding-in at the lower end of the external shell, the lower end can be merely constricted and consequently tapers more heavily than the upper region of the external shell, such that a favourable ratio between the thickness of the insulation gap and a radial spacing between two stacked cups is achieved. This also facilitates the stacking of numerous cups of the same type. A substantial advantage of the cup also lies in the savings in terms of material when the lower end of the external shell is not rolled in or folded in. While the savings in terms of material in the case of each cup are only in the range of a few square centimetres, since the air-gap-insulated cups are single-use products, the cups can be produced in extremely large volumes and the cup is thus substantially more environmentally friendly than conventional cups when the lower end of the external shell is folded in or rolled in. An angle between the region of the external shell above the predefined spacing and the lower region of the external shell can be between 5° and 15°, if the lower region is configured so as to be smooth. If the upper region has an angle of 6° in relation to the central longitudinal axis, the lower region can lie at an angle of 11° to 21° in relation to the central longitudinal axis. If the constriction of the lower region is to be even more intense, indentations are required in the lower region of the external shell. The external faces of the external shell can be situated within an imaginary parallel to the shell delimiting the interior space, the parallel being placed on a largest diameter of the skirt. However, a stacking capability of a plurality of cups can also be achieved in another way.
The cup is produced from paper, paperboard or paper-like material. Such cups are usually also referred to as paper cups. A material which can be processed in a manner similar to paper or paperboard is referred to as paper-like material. Paper or paperboard comprises fibres and, consequently, can practically not be elongated and also can be compressed only to a very minor extent. Paper, paperboard or paper-like material can in particular not be deep-drawn, in general cannot be heavily deformed. Therefore, the shell, the base and the external shell have to be produced from separate, planar blanks when producing a cup from paper or paperboard. For example, a plastics material which cannot be stretched, or only to a very minor extent, is also considered a paper-like material. When producing a cup from such a paper-like plastics material, the shell, the base as well as the external shell have to be produced from planar blanks and adhesively bonded to one another in an overlap region.
The base and the shell of the cup are connected to one another in a substantially liquid-tight manner by a skirt. The term “substantially liquid-tight” here is understood to mean that the cup can be filled with cold beverages or hot beverages and then is liquid-tight for a specific time, for example for several hours. The skirt is formed, for example, such that a lower periphery of the shell is folded about a periphery of the base by 180°, and the shell and the base in the region of the skirt are then compressed and sealed to one another. The lower periphery of the base may also be folded about the lower periphery of the shell in order for the skirt to be formed.
Paper, paperboard or paper-like material which is coated on one side is normally used for producing the shell and the base. For example, paper, paperboard or paper-like material which is coated with a sealing-capable layer of plastics material on at least one side can be used. As a result, the lower periphery of the shell and the base only have to be heated and compressed when producing the skirt, with a liquid-tight sealed connection resulting in the process.
In a refinement of an embodiment of the invention, the shell in the lower region is configured so as to be frustoconical having a second cone angle, wherein the second cone angle is larger than the first cone angle.
In this way, a constriction can be designed in a very simple manner and so as to be visually appealing. In the case of paper, paperboard or paper-like material, it has to be considered here that the material has to be compressed when producing the constriction. As a result, the constriction cannot be embodied to all possible degrees if a visually appealing result is still to be achieved. The shell in the lower region, when viewed across the circumference, can also be configured so as to be frustoconical having a second cone angle only in portions. For example, when viewed in the circumferential direction, only mutually spaced-apart portions of the lower region of the external shell can bear on the shell of the inner cup, whereas other portions are disposed at a radial spacing from the shell of the inner cup.
In a refinement of an embodiment of the invention, the external shell in the region of the lower end thereof is connected to the external side of the shell of the inner cup, in particular sealed or adhesively bonded to the latter.
In this way, not only can a reliable fastening of the lower region of the external shell to the shell of the inner cup be achieved, but a stable composite comprising the external shell and the inner cup is produced at the same time. This is important because a filled cup is gripped on the external shell and in this case the air gap between the external shell and the inner cup in the gripping region must not be reduced to zero in the case of very hot beverages.
In a refinement of an embodiment of the invention, the external shell is connected to the shell by hot-melt glue or hot-melt adhesive.
The use of hot-melt adhesive in particular permits reliable fastening at very short cycle times. The connection between the external shell and the shell of the inner cup here can take place either in a region in which liquid is disposed in the interior space, or else in a region below the base of the inner cup, in which liquid is thus no longer disposed. Modern hot-melt adhesives are sufficiently temperature-resistant to be able to withstand the temperatures of hot liquids filled into the cup.
In a refinement of an embodiment of the invention, an adhesive bead between the external face of the shell and the internal face of the external shell is disposed at least across portions of the circumference of the shell and above the lower end of the external shell.
As a result, the adhesive bond between the external shell and the shell of the inner cup is not visible from the outside. For example, the adhesive bead is applied to the shell of the inner cup, and the external shell is then applied. The external shell here can either be pushed on as a completed sleeve from the base side of the inner cup or be wound onto the completed inner cup and only then be adhesively bonded. Moreover, the external shell can be sealed or adhesively bonded to the shell of the inner cup in a region below a mouth roll of the inner cup. The external shell at the upper end thereof can have a rolled-in formation to provide a sufficiently large air gap between the external shell and the shell of the inner cup. The inner cup may also have a recessed shoulder below the mouth roll, with the shoulder defining the air gap in this region.
In a refinement of an embodiment of the invention, the external shell in the lower region is configured so as to be corrugated, wherein the corrugation troughs, from the predefined spacing to the lower end, run so as to be perpendicular to the circumferential direction.
A constriction in the shape of a corrugation instead of a constriction which is uniform when viewed across the circumference is advantageous in the case of relatively large angles of the constriction, because the excess material arising in the constriction or taper, respectively, of the lower region of the external shell can be displaced into the corrugation peaks.
In a refinement of an embodiment of the invention, a corrugation height increases in the direction towards the lower end of the external shell.
In a refinement of an embodiment of the invention, the shell has a stacking shoulder which is recessed in the direction towards the interior space of the cup, the dimensions of the stacking shoulder correlating with the lower periphery of the skirt so that, when stacking an upper and a lower cup, the lower periphery of the skirt of an upper cup comes to bear on the stacking shoulder of the lower cup.
A very stable stacked composite of a plurality of cups can be formed in this way, so that even numerous cups, for example twenty cups or more, can be stacked on top of one another without the stacked cups jamming in one another.
In a refinement of an embodiment of the invention, the shell on the external side thereof has a reinforcement on the stacking shoulder.
This also contributes to a trouble-free stacking capability even of numerous cups.
Further features and advantages emerge from the following description of preferred embodiments in conjunction with the drawings. Individual features of the various embodiments illustrated and described here can be combined with one another in an arbitrary manner without departing from the scope of the invention. This also applies to the combination of individual features without further individual features that the former have been illustrated or described in conjunction with.
The cup 10 has an interior space 14 which is open towards the top and towards the bottom is delimited by a base 16. The base 16 has a base plate 18 and a base collar 20. The base collar 20 extends from the base plate 18 towards the bottom, so that the base 16 has the shape of an inverted pot.
The interior space 14 is furthermore formed by a shell 22. The shell 22 at the lower periphery thereof is folded about the base collar 20 by 180°. The shell 22 and the base collar 20 are mutually compressed and sealed to one another at least in a part of the folded-over region and as a result form a skirt 24 which connects in a liquid-tight manner the shell 22 and the base 16 to one another. As a result, liquids, in particular hot or cold liquids, can be filled into the interior space 14 of the cup 10.
The shell 22 is rolled in at the lower periphery thereof and as a result forms a mouth roll 26. The mouth roll 26 forms the upper end of an inner cup from the shell 22 and the base 16. The mouth roll 26 makes drinking from the cup 10 comfortable.
The cup 10 is embodied as a double-walled, air-gap-insulated cup. The cup 10 has an external shell 30 which is configured in the manner of a sleeve. The external shell 30 is connected to the shell 22 in a region 32 below the mouth roll 26 and above a shoulder 34 that is recessed into the interior space 14. A connection can be established by hot-melt adhesive, for example. As a result, an air gap 38 between the external shell 30 and the shell 22 lies below the shoulder 34 and up to a lower periphery 36 of the external shell 30. The air gap 38 ensures that the external shell 30 can still be readily held by hand even when the interior space 14 is filled with very hot liquids.
The external shell 30 forms a frustoconical sleeve and, from the upper periphery thereof to a predefined spacing 40 from the lower end 36, is configured to be frustoconical having a first cone angle. From the predefined spacing 40 to the lower end 36 of the external shell 30, the latter is likewise embodied to be frustoconical having a second cone angle. The second cone angle here is larger than the first cone angle.
Consequently, the external shell 30 in the lower region thereof, thus from the predefined spacing 40 to the lower end 36, has a constriction in which the external shell 30 is more heavily tapered than in the upper region from the predefined spacing 40 to the upper periphery of the external shell 30.
The external shell 30, in the lower region thereof, just above the lower end 36 thereof, is adhesively bonded to the external side of the shell 22 of the inner cup by an adhesive bead 42. As a result, the external shell 30 and the inner cup form a stable unit. It is also achieved as a result that the external shell 30, even in the filled state, is not squashed when a user grips the cup 10 by hand and the air gap 38 in terms of the width thereof is consequently also not reduced to the extent that the external shell 30 becomes too hot and the user can no longer hold the cup 10.
The cup 10 can be stacked. To this end, the skirt 24 in the lower region thereof has a widening, and a maximum diameter A of the skirt 24 is present approximately at the lower periphery of the skirt 24. Moreover, the lower periphery of the skirt also forms the footprint for the cup 10. The shell 22 is provided with a stacking shoulder 44 which is recessed into the interior space 14 and which forms a bearing for the lower periphery of the skirt 24 of a further cup. A maximum diameter B of the stacking shoulder is the same size as the maximum diameter A at the lower periphery of the skirt 24, or is slightly larger than the maximum diameter A. As a result, an upper cup in the stacked state, by way of the lower periphery thereof, can bear on the stacking shoulder 44 of the lower cup. As a result, two or even more cups 10 stacked inside one another cannot become wedged but can be stacked and unstacked again in a very simple manner. This easy stacking capability and unstacking capability is also facilitated in that the external faces of the external shell 30 are situated in an imaginary parallel 44 to the shell 22 that delimits the interior space 14. As a result, a gap between the internal side of the shell 22 of a lower cup and the external face of the external shell 30 of an upper cup is provided even in the stacked state. This gap is referred to as stacking air.
The skirt 24 of the cups 50a, 50b is only slightly widened, which can barely be seen in the illustration of
The external shell 30, to the predefined spacing 40 from the lower end 36 of the external shell 30, is also frustoconical having a first cone angle in the case of the cup 50a. In the lower region of the external shell 30, thus from the predefined spacing 40 to the lower end 36, the shell 22 is then likewise frustoconical, but has a larger cone angle than in the upper region, so that the external shell 30 is constricted in the lower region, or, in other words, tapers more heavily than in the upper region. The differences between the first cone angle and the second cone angle in the case of the cup 50a are smaller than in the case of the cup 10 of
Further to be seen in
The illustration of
As opposed to the cups 50a and 50b, the cups 60a and 60b each have an external shell 30 which is corrugated in the lower region thereof, thus from the predefined spacing 40 to the lower end 36. With the exception of the design of the lower region from the predefined spacing 40 to the lower end 36 of the external shell 30, the external shell 30 of the cup 60a is configured identically to the external shell 30 of the cup 50a and is not explained further. The cup 60b is configured identically to the cup 60a.
In the case of the cups 60a, 60b, the external shell 30 bears on the shell 22 of the inner cup only in the region of the corrugation troughs of the corrugations. Therefore, only adhesive spots or adhesive drops 62, in particular of hot-melt adhesive, are provided in the region of the corrugation troughs, with the adhesive spots or adhesive drops 62 reliably connecting the external shell 30 to the shell 22.
The corrugated configuration of the external shell 30 in the lower region thereof facilitates the configuration of the constriction in the lower region because the excess material arising in the corrugation troughs during the constriction can be displaced into the corrugation peaks.
It can be derived from
The cup according to an embodiment the invention permits the external shell 30 and the shell 22 of the inner cup to be connected by hot-melt glue or hot-melt adhesive. A substantial advantage of the cups 10, 50a, 50b, 60a, 60b according to an embodiment of the invention is that less material is required for the external shell 30 in comparison to a conventional external shell which is folded in or rolled in at the lower end.
A widening of the skirts 24 is very modestly configured in the case of the cups 70a, 70b and can barely be seen in the illustrations of
In the production of the cups 70, 100, it is possible for the corrugations or indentations 80 to be applied already prior to the production of a sleeve from a planar segment 90 (see
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102021208450.8 | Aug 2021 | DE | national |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20230040519 A1 | Feb 2023 | US |