PACKAGING

The present invention relates to packaging, and particularly packaging such as trays that comprise a product pusher. The packaging can be a product tray or box comprising such a product pusher. The present invention can also relate to a process for the assembly of said packaging, or a blank for that assembly.

The packaging can be for assisting with the proper display of items on shelves in supermarkets (or in other shops).

It is well known to provide products that are intended for sale in shops, such as in supermarkets, on shelves within the supermarket. It is also known that stacking the products towards the front of the shelf improves saleability as it maximises the ease with which consumers can identify and collect their products. Much of the time, this forward-stacking is carried out by an in-store shelf stacker, i.e. an employee, who manually moves the front-most product, and any products behind it, forwards, i.e. either to or towards the front of the shelf. However, in addition to such manual arrangement of the products on the shelf, there is an increasing occurrence of automated stacking, i.e. products that self-stack towards the front of the shelf, the tray or the box, ready for removal by the consumer. Such products often rely upon gravity for achieving this “self-stacking” function, such as by using angled racks or angled shelves—consider, for example, herb bottle dispensers, or by relying upon the biasing effect of a resilient biasing means coupled to a pusher that is located behind the products—see, for example, DE20316963 or EP1462034, and napkin holders or cup dispensers found in fast food outlets. These prior art arrangements, however, can significantly increase the production cost of the tray or box due to the reliance upon complex manufacturing processes for these solutions.

Packaging is also moving generally towards arrangements whereby the products therein may be displayed within the packaging without an initial removal therefrom, such as in a tray part thereof. Such “transport and display” packaging, or “retail ready” packaging, usually involves a tray or a box that is directly for displaying those products on the shelves within the shop in a front facing condition once an outer wrap, or a removable part of the tray or box, has been removed therefrom. The trays or boxes then serve to display the products in those trays or boxes in an aesthetic manner, and such that they can be stacked towards the front of the shelf so as to maximise the ease with which consumers can identify and collect their products.

Biasing means for these boxes are also known for auto-stacking the products to the front of the box. This can be via an elastic biasing means. See for example GB2503759. These trays and boxes are particularly useful for the retail market. It would nevertheless be desirable, however, to increase the range of options for such boxes, including finding ways to maximise the suitability of such packaging for a wider range of products and packaging shapes. In particular, narrow and deep boxes are typically found to be unsuitable for product pushing (front stacking) using an elastic biasing means as the elastic is insufficiently stretchable. It would also be desirable, therefore, to find new solutions that enable such further tray shapes to be useable.

A further problem with the prior art is the reliance on glue or staples or stitching for the attachment of the elastic biasing means onto the tray. Such approaches make recycling more inconvenient.

The present invention thus aims to offer a new arrangement of product pusher.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a blank for a tray, or a tray formed from a blank, the blank comprising a base section, two side sections, a front section and a rear section, each side section comprising at least a portion having a width exceeding 60% of the width of the base and a length of the base exceeding 300% of the width of the base and an length of elastic material attached to the blank at or towards its ends on the sides of the blank, the attachment not being present between the elastic and the sides in the region of the sides extending from the hinge line between the respective side and the base to a position spaced perpendicularly from the hinge line lying a distance of 25% of the width of the base from the hinge line. With this arrangement, the assembled tray formed from the blank will have a generally elongated lengthwise form (i.e. relative to its width) and the length of elastic material will have a non secured, or generally freely stretchable length, of at least 150% of the width of the tray.

This non secured, or generally freely stretchable length, may hereinafter be referred to as a stretchable length of the elastic. More preferably the stretchable length of the elastic is at least 160% of the width of the tray. More preferably it is between 160 and 190% of the width of the tray. It can even be at least 200% of the width of the base—e.g. for accommodating a very long and narrow tray.

Preferably the elastic is located on the blank perpendicular to the length of the base.

Preferably the elastic is spaced a distance from the leading edge of the base of the tray by a distance of at least 4 cm. More preferably it is spaced at least 25% of the width of the base from the leading edge of the base of the tray and most preferably it is spaced between 30% and 50% of the width of the base from the leading edge of the base of the tray.

Preferably the elastic has a width of at least 2 cm and more preferably a width of at least 3 cm.

Preferably the elastic has a length of at least 200 mm.

Preferably the elastic is glued to the blank. It may instead be stapled or sewn onto the blank. Another embodiment of the invention may have it secured to the blank via the grip provided by a narrow slot in the blank—the elastic being slotted into the slot.

Preferably it is attached to the blank in a generally non-tensioned condition.

Preferably it is attached to the blank in a location that gets sandwiched between at least two parts of the blank when the tray is fully assembled.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, the above blank or an alternative blank having a base, two sides, a front and a back, and an elastic material attached to the blank, may comprise forward facing flaps for the sides, each with a hinge line arranged parallel to the elastic, the forward facing flap being foldable over the elastic to sandwich the elastic between the flap and the side wall.

Preferably the flap has an angled edge thereon—angled relative to the fold line at an angle between 30° and 60°, and most preferably at an angle of about 45°, which angled edge overlies a part of the stretchable length of the elastic. The flap, and particularly the angled edge thereof, facilitates the assembly of the tray with a secure retention of the elastic. The flap also allows the elastic more readily to be stretched inside the tray without slippage or detachment from the blank. The angled edge further provided an edge over which the elastic will be stretched and folded inside the tray. By virtue of the angle, that fold will be such that the elastic will lie generally flat against the insides of the side walls. This effect is most efficiently achieved with a 45 degree angle—by virtue of the angled edge, as the elastic is folded and stretched against the side walls, the initially perpendicular arrangement of the elastic relative to the fold lines between the sides and the base becomes a parallel arrangement thereafter instead. The elastic thus will be efficiently aligned with the direction of push required therefrom against products to be horizontally stacked inside the tray.

Preferably the front of the tray folds upwards relative to the base of the tray and has its own flaps for adhering against the side walls. Preferably they attach at an area of the side walls that align with the folded flaps. The folded front, with its flaps, thus provides a reinforced structural strength to the front of the tray for resisting buckling of the material of the blank when the elastic is stretched inside the tray.

Preferably the side walls comprise a foldable flap along a substantial portion of their lengths defined by a fold line and at least one cut. This is for allowing a top portion of each side wall to be folded down and against a lower portion of the side—on the inside of the tray. This folded side then provides a stiffened side wall for the assembled tray, but additionally it provides a rear-facing ledge. This ledge is preferably positioned towards the rear end of the tray, and is preferably provided by the cut. Preferably the ledge, or at least a part thereof, is perpendicular to the hinge line between the base and the side wall.

Preferably the fold line that defines the foldable flap is parallel to the hinge line.

Preferably the cut that defines the foldable flap is straight. Preferably it is perpendicular to the hinge line.

Preferably the foldable flap does not extend all the way to the rear wall of the assembled tray. The provision of the ledge can thus be spaced from the rear of the tray. Preferably the elastic is part of a product pusher within the tray—the product pusher also comprising a back plate.

Preferably the back plate is a folded sheet of card having a rear part and two side parts. Preferably the side parts have leading edges when used within the tray that face generally towards the front of the tray. The above-mentioned ledges can then serve to provide support surfaces for the leading edges of the back plate so that the back plate can be locked there behind during loading of the tray—this then allows the packing of the tray with products while the elastic is in a stretched condition—down the sides of the tray and to the rear of the tray, inside the tray, but without having to simultaneously maintain that stretched condition with the products. Damage to the products during loading of the tray is thus less likely to occur. This could thus make manual loading more achievable or less frustrating.

Preferably the base of the tray comprises a hole that is positioned to underlie the elastic when the blank is in an unfolded or flat configuration. The hole provides an access port for a probe to allow the probe to lift the elastic during the assembly of the tray. Upon lifting the elastic, it can be more readily grasped or engaged with a stretching mechanism—one that that draws the elastic back towards the rear of the tray.

Preferably the side walls of the tray comprise a hole that is positioned to rearward of the ledge. The holes provide access ports for probes to allow probes to lift the leading surfaces of the back plate off the ledges, thus releasing the product pusher after loading—thus engaging the back plate against the products under the bias of the elastic.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a partially or fully assembled tray comprising a base, two side walls and a length of elastic, the length of elastic being stretched down the side walls back towards a rear of the tray, the elastic being associated with and restrained in its stretched condition by a back plate, the back plate having leading edges pointing generally towards a front of the tray, which leading edges are engaged against ledges formed on or in the side walls.

Preferably the ledges are formed by folded flaps of the side walls.

Preferably the back plate has grooves provided in the leading edges, which grooves align with the elastic. These grooves can reduce a degree of fouling thereagainst by the elastic compared to an ungrooved or straight leading edge. The groove also assists with the maintenance of the leading edges against the ledges of the side walls; without the grooves, the elastic may cause the sides of the back plate to bias inwardly (i.e. to narrow with respect to the width of the tray), thus releasing themselves from the ledges of the side walls.

The side walls of the tray may comprise apertures for allowing probes to initiate a release of the back plate, or a manual release of the back plate using fingers, from the ledges of the side walls.

Preferably the length of the sides of the back plate are shorter than the distance between the ledge of the side walls and the inside rear wall of the tray. The back plate can then easily sit against those ledges. However, they can be a little longer than the distance between the ledge of the side walls and the inside rear wall of the tray if needed, but then the side walls would need to be angled relative to the side walls to provide that seating on the ledge.

As with the remaining aspects of the invention, the above aspects of the invention can be combined together in any desired combination.

In place of the foldable flaps defined above, or in addition thereto, the side walls may comprise smaller ledge forming mechanisms, such as smaller folded flaps in the side walls. These smaller folded flaps may be folded inwardly and bac on themselves so as to sit flush against the inside wall of the side walls—like the foldable flaps, to define an alternative ledge formation.

In some embodiments there is more than one folded flap—e.g. to form a pair of ledges, on each side wall. Preferably these flaps are provided so that there are at least two on each side wall, each with a fold line. These may be parallel fold lines and may be co-linear or may more likely be parallel and opposite each other. The fold lines may extend generally parallel to the fold line between the base and the side walls.

Alternatively the flaps may be folded about a fold line that is perpendicular to the fold line between the side wall and the base.

It is preferred that the ledges are formed out of the material of the blank used for the tray and as such it is preferred that they are formed from folded material of the respective side wall—folded out of the plane thereof to leave behind a hole in the side wall.

Although keeping angles generally perpendicular or parallel is preferred—due to its simplicity, the folded flaps may have hinge-lines or shapes consisting of other angles. The end result is nevertheless preferred to be one where the ledge lies generally perpendicular to the hinge line between the side wall and the base.

In various preferred embodiments there are two spaced apart flaps for providing the ledge—a two part ledge, on each side wall. A space (no ledge) can thus be provided between the two ledges of each two-part ledge. This can beneficially be positioned such that it can accommodate the elastic. The elastic then does not need to bend over the ledge. This makes the groove on the leading edge of the side walls of the back plate less important, although that groove is still preferred, especially where the sides of the back plate want to be angled relative to the side walls when they are in their blocked positions against those ledges.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a part folded tray, formed from a blank, the part folded tray comprising a base, two side walls, a front wall and an elastic member for providing a biasing force for products within the tray in the fully assembled and filled product, wherein the side walls have a front facing edge with a forwardly extending finger extending away therefrom towards the front of the tray, the finger being positioned such that it is in alignment with the elastic member when the elastic member extends between the side walls in a generally untensioned condition to provide support for the elastic member prior to tensioning the elastic member within the tray.

Preferably the tray comprises a back wall.

Preferably the front wall has two attachment tabs for attaching it to the side walls. Preferably the elastic member is attached to the two attachment tabs. Preferably the elastic member engages against the fingers when the front wall of the blank, and the two attachment tabs, are folded into their assembled locations, with the two attachment tabs being attached to the side walls.

By the provision of the fingers, as the elastic member is folded into the assembled tray, which steps tend to provide slack into the length of material the elastic member is prevented from over slackening by engaging against those fingers, thus holding it in position across the width of the tray.

Preferably the fingers are provided from cut outs within folded flaps of the side walls, such that the front facing edges of the side walls are folded edges. The folds stiffen the edges, thus making the box stronger or stiffer, or both.

Preferably the fingers have hinge lines such that they will fold back into the tray, preferably into the cut-outs where provided, during the completion of the assembly and loading of the tray—such as the elastic is drawn backwards towards the rear of the tray. The fold then provides a reinforcement of the leading edge of the side walls of the tray that support the elastic—the elastic may be sandwiched between the outside of the side walls and the inside of the then-attached attachment tabs. This then assists with the support of the elastic bias force provided by the length of elastic as it is stretched towards the rear of the tray.

Preferably holes are provided in the attachment tabs of the front wall, which holes align with the fingers when the tabs are adhered to the side walls. Probes can then be used to encourage the correct folding of the fingers.

Preferably the length of elastic is attached to the tabs towards the free ends of the tabs, but not within the first length of the tabs extending from the hinge line between the tabs and the front wall, that first length having a length of at least 25% of the width of the base.

Preferably the elastic is attached to the flaps in a position that will be sandwiched between the side wall and the tab upon attachment of the tab to the side wall.

Preferably the tabs have a length extending from the hinge line between the flap and front face exceeding 60% of the width of the base. More preferably it is between 70 and 100% of the width of the base.

Preferably the length of elastic is attached to those tabs somewhere beyond the 25% line and is unattached to the front wall and tabs between those outer attachment positions so as to be providing a stretchable length of at least 150% of the width of the tray. More preferably it is a length of more than 160%, or 170&, and preferably it is between 160 and 190%. However, as with the previous embodiments it may also be in excess of 200%, e.g. where the tray shape and product demands it.

Preferably a back plate is provided in addition to the blank and elastic. The back plate may be as described above for engaging against ledges provided by folded flaps in the side walls.

The back plate of this and the previous embodiments may have cut-outs also in the hinge lines between the sides and back of the back plate—e.g. for accommodating the elastic—thus assisting with the retention of the elastic thereagainst.

With each aspect of the present invention, a lid may be provided over the tray once the tray is assembled and filled. The lid may have a rip off front. Instead of or in addition to the front, the lid may have a rip off top. A cut out and/or perforations may be provided for facilitating that rip off.

Preferably the lid has sides that extend on the outside of the tray when applied to the tray, and a front that extends inside the tray, behind the front wall of the tray. By having the front of the lid inside the front of the tray, the biasing force of the elastic member extending behind and around the products within the tray can potentially be better resisted by the box (comprising the tray and lid) since there is then an inter-engagement of the front of the lid and the front of the tray. It is preferred that it be provided this way round in view of the fact that the front of the tray is generally of a shorter length, and thus has a shorter lever arm, than the front of the lid.

Preferably the lid has a cut out area or hole in the sides thereof, towards its rear, for allowing access to holes in the side walls of the tray. This then allows a release of the back plate from the ledges where provided, such as by folds or tabs in the side walls, even when the tray has a lid. This can be important where the lid is bonded to the tray—with a rip-off opening, whereby otherwise the engagement of the back plate from the ledges might not be achievable (if reengaged during transit).

Preferably the stretchable length of the elastic has an unstretched length of about 200 mm, or at least 200 mm.

Preferably the stretchable length of the elastic has an unstretched length of no less than a quarter of the depth of the tray, more preferably no less than a third of the depth of the tray, more preferably no less than a half of the depth of the tray and most preferably about a half of the depth of the tray, or between two fifths and three fifths of the depth of the tray.

Another approach for determining the preferred length of the stretchable length of the elastic is to add the width of the tray to twice the length of the tray (internal measurements from an assembled tray are typically used throughout this specification), with the elastic preferably having a stretchable length (at unstretched state) of between a half and a sixth of that total, and more preferably no more than between a half and a quarter of that total.

Preferably the free length of elastic for stretching within the tray is at least 160% of the width of the tray, more preferably 170% and more preferably at least 180%. Most preferably it is at least 200%. The bigger the percentage, the longer the tray can be. However, the longer the percentage, the less effective the bias will be towards the deployment of the final few products within the tray. A percentage of between 160% and 190% provides a preferred range for deep, narrow trays.

The chosen material can also have a bearing on the preferred lengths. Preferred materials resilient tapes, meshes or webs, such as those made of rubber or silicon or elastic strips. The resilient tape may be made of clear elastic or coloured elastic, and a particularly stretchable fabric would include shirring elastic, e.g. knitted shirring elastic.

The present invention also provides a layout for cutting of a corrugated sheet for cutting therefrom the blanks for the tray of the present invention, the blanks comprising a blank for a base component of the tray, a blank for the lid component of the tray and a blank for the back plate within the tray, wherein the blank for the back plate, the blank for the tray and the blank for the lid are aligned in the layout such that flutes of the corrugate extend along the length of the base of the base component, along the length of the top of the lid component and preferably along the height of the back of the back plate, wherein the back plate is located between the part of the blank for the base component that provides the front wall and attachment tabs and the front wall of the lid. This arrangement allows an efficient usage of the sheet material used to form these three blanks.

In an alternative arrangement, the three blanks are arranged such that the lid component is rotated 90° in the layout relative to the base component so as to have the corrugations of the material extending along the length of the base of the base component, along the height of the sides of the lid component and optionally along the height of the back plate. This arrangement provides a stiffer height characteristic for the completed tray (with lid).

Further arrangements might have the back plate formed separate from the base component of the tray and the lid component of the tray.

In a further embodiment, the back plate may be formed with the flutes extending across the width of the back plate so as to allow the flutes to provide bending stiffness for the back plate around which the elastic extends.

Preferably two cut outs are provided at the hinge line between the sides of the back plate and the back of the back plate for accommodating the elastic and thus locating the elastic relative to the back plate.

Preferably these cut outs align with cut outs in the leading edges of the sides of the back plate.

The present invention also provides an elastic material retention mechanism that avoids the use of glue—glue on the elastic can cause difficulties with recycling. According to the present invention, therefore, there is provided a blank for a tray or a tray made from a blank, the blank having a base, two sides, a back and a front, wherein the tray features a length of elastic, two end portions of which are entrapped within a slot that is cut into a part of the tray that sits to a side thereof in the assembled tray, wherein the hardness or stiffness of the material of blank either side of the slot provides grip for securing the entrapped portions of the length of elastic relative to the side walls of the tray in the assembled tray.

Preferably the cut is in the side walls or in attachment tabs of the front wall.

The tray need not be devoid of glue as glue may be present between attachment tabs and the sides, front or back. Preferably, however, the length of elastic is secured without any glue, staples or stitching, i.e. there is only the length of material and the blank in the mode of attachment of the elastic to the blank.

The use of these gripping slots avoids the need for the use of glue between the material of the tray and the length of elastic, thus making the elastic readily removable from the tray when the tray is to be recycled. If the elastic is instead stapled, glued or sewn onto the tray or blank, its removal therefrom is more tricky, thus making recycling of the tray more difficult. The use of the gripping slots might thus be highly beneficial in terms of the environmental impact of these trays.

Preferably the slot is arranged in a tab and the tab is arranged to fold to a side of the tray. Preferably this folding sandwiches a portion of the elastic length towards its ends between the side wall and the tab. Preferably this arrangement is such that a forward facing edge of the side wall will support the elastic as it is stretched inside the tray. This takes some pressure off the retention of the elastic by the slot as some of the tension force is taken by the effect of the sandwiching and some is taken by the engagement of the material with the forward facing edge.

Preferably the slot is spaced away from the hinge line between the tab and the front wall of the tray. Preferably the spacing is at least 30 mm and for deep trays, with a long backwardly extending length relative to the front width, the length may want to be in line with the claims above, such as by being at a distance therefrom of at least 25% of the width of the tray. In non-deep trays, however, the distance can be much shorter since the elastic will not need to stretch as far when reaching the back of the tray.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a tray having a front, two sides and a back wherein in the two sides a slot is provided for accommodating an elastic member, the elastic member being a loop of elastic extending across the inside of the tray, between the two slots, and then rearwardly around the outsides of the two sides backward from those slots and around the outside of the back of the tray. This arrangement provides an easy to install elastic member. Preferably the slots are wider than the thickness of the elastic so that the elastic can freely run within the slots, thus allowing the length of the elastic to the sides and rear of the tray to provide additional elastic material for stretching purposes so as to allow products within the tray to be readily accommodated and biased by the elastic member.

Preferably the slot is provided at least 10 mm from the front of the tray.

The present invention also provides a blank for forming these trays.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tray or a tray insert comprising a front, two sides and a back and at least a partial base, wherein the two sides comprise slots for accommodating a length of elastic, wherein the slots are sized to grip the length of elastic such that two end portions thereof are entrapped within the slots, wherein the hardness or stiffness of the material of blank either side of the slot provides grip for securing the entrapped portions of the length of elastic relative to the side walls of the tray in the assembled tray.

Preferably the slots of this aspect of the invention (and the previous aspects) have a tapering outermost end to facilitate installation of the elastic therein.

Preferably the base of this tray is formed from four tabs, one on the front, one on each side and one on the back, which tabs join together to form the partial base. Preferably the base is a partial base with an opening in the middle thereof, thus reducing the amount of material needed to create the tray or tray insert.

In a further development of this aspect of the invention, the tray or tray insert may additionally comprise a lid or a partial lid. The partial lid may be formed from tabs at the front, sides and back. These tabs may be narrow so as to leave an opening in the assembled top, thus again reducing the amount of material needed. They may overlap in the corners so they can be attached together, e.g. with an adhesive or staple.

Preferably the front has a rip off portion for opening the front. Preferably the lid has rip off hinges for allowing the lid to be removed. These rip off hinges may be for allowing the removal of the whole top or for removing a part of the top.

The present invention also provides a product pusher insert for a tray, the product pusher insert comprising two separate or separable members, each attached to end portions of a length of elastic, the members having a foldable end for folding an end portion of the elastic and the member relative to the other ends thereof. The fold is preferably a 180 degree fold.

Preferably the folded end of the member has a recess formed therein.

The folded ends provide a double thickness for each member when the folded members of the pusher are inserted into a tray. This thus provides additional strength for the members which provide the sides of the pusher in use—they are located to the sides of the products being pushed.

The recesses in the folded ends are preferred as they allow the elastic member to be recessed back from the front of the tray, thus allowing a deeper tray to be accommodated by the pusher, and also allowing the final product to be removed from the tray more easily—it will be to be unrestrained by the pusher as a lower or zero pusher bias will be applied thereto at the time when it is at the front of the tray.

Preferably the pusher is formed from a single blank with a perforated tear line provided therein—preferably in its middle—for allowing the two members to be separated apart.

The present invention also provides a tray having two sides, a back and a front wherein the tray has an elastic member for providing a bias for products contained within the tray, wherein the elastic member is attached to the blank for the tray on an outside surface thereof, the sides having at least a portion having a height shorter than the front corners and the elastic folding around the outside of the tray from underneath the tray, near the front corners, over the portion with the shorter height and into the inside of the tray thereby.

Preferably the elastic extends across an angled edge of a securement tab between the front wall and the side wall near whereas it folds around the outside of the tray from underneath the tray, the angled surface allowing the elastic member to fold flush against the outside of the side wall as it changes direction around the angled edge.

The present invention also provides a tray or box comprising the above product pusher, or the above tray insert, the tray comprising a base, two side walls, a front wall and a back wall, and optionally a lid. Preferably the base extends across the full extent of the bottom of the tray or box. Likewise preferably the lid extends across the full extent of the bottom of the tray or box.

Preferably a rip-off portion is provided for providing access to products stacked in the tray. This applies to each tray of the invention.

Preferably the rip-off portion is part of the front wall. Preferably it is part of the lid. It can be both.

The length of elastic preferably is arranged to push products towards the front wall of the tray or box. Preferably the folded members extend along the inside surface of the side walls. They may have folded ends at the back wall.

Although the statements above typically have the elastic biasing products towards the front wall, the arrangement might be such that the products are instead pushed to the side, to the back or up towards the top.

The present invention also provides a method of assembling a tray as described above using an assembly machine with probes, folding members and forming arms.

These and other features of the present invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 schematically shows a perspective view of a possible blank for forming a tray with an elastic member stretched across a front wall thereof;

FIG. 2 shows a modified arrangement of the elastic on the blank of FIG. 1, it thus utilising a first aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows the arrangement of FIG. 2 folded into a tray, with the elastic pulled back;

FIGS. 4 to 8 show a process of folding for the blank of FIG. 2, with a back plate holding the elastic in its pulled back position;

FIGS. 9 to 13 show a similar arrangement to FIGS. 4 to 8, but without the back plate;

FIGS. 14 to 21 show another embodiment of blank for forming a tray, with FIGS. 15 to 18 showing folding steps, FIG. 19 showing an elastic stretching step and FIGS. 20 and 21 showing the application of a lid thereto;

FIGS. 22 to 31 show a variant of the blank of FIGS. 14 to 21;

FIG. 32 shows a further possible blank in accordance with the invention—there is a blank for a tray, with a separate blank for providing a back plate therefor;

FIG. 33 shows a further variation for the blank, this time showing a possible printing or cutting layout for a corrugator/finishing unit, the layout incorporating a blank for the tray, a blank for the back plate and a blank for a lid;

FIG. 34 shows an alternative layout, and alternative blank forms, and with the lid rotated 90 degrees relative to the tray compared to the layout of FIG. 33;

FIG. 35 shows a further variant with the back plate being laid out in a location separated from the lid and tray;

FIG. 36 shows a further variant of layout for the printing or cutting of the tray, the lid and the back plate;

FIGS. 37, 38, 40 and 42 show further variants of the arrangements for the blanks, and designs therefor;

FIGS. 39, 41, 43 and 52 show yet further variants of the tray, back plate and lid, with different arrangements for forming a ledge towards the inside and back of the tray, and each optionally with a length of elastic pre-applied (i.e. it having been applied before shipping to a customer);

FIGS. 44 to 51 show a further variant in which the back plate is released after the lid is applied (holes in the side of the lid are omitted from FIG. 50, but shown in FIG. 51);

FIGS. 53 to 59 show elements of typical blank folding, i.e. tray assembly, mechanisms adapted to assemble trays or boxes using certain blanks of the present invention, such as that of FIG. 52;

FIGS. 60 to 71 show an elastic stretching and back plate inserting mechanism used to prepare an assembled tray for loading with product;

FIGS. 72 to 76 show a tray according to a further aspect of the present invention wherein a length of elastic is attached to the tray without adhesive;

FIGS. 77 to 80 show a further embodiment of tray wherein no adhesive is used;

FIGS. 81 to 84 show an embodiment of a tray insert, or tray, comprising a product pusher, again affixed thereto with no adhesive;

FIGS. 85 to 87 show a further embodiment of tray insert utilising a product pusher attached thereto with no adhesive;

FIGS. 88 to 92 show an embodiment of a tray with a product pusher for inserting into the tray; and

FIGS. 93 to 100 show a further embodiment of the present invention in which the elastic is applied to the underside of the blank.

Referring first of all to FIG. 1, there is shown a blank 12 for a tray 30 onto which a length of elastic 10 has been applied. The blank 12 comprises a base 14, two side walls 16, a front wall 18 and a back wall 20. The length of elastic 10 is applied to attachment tabs 22 provided either side of the front wall 18 of the blank using a glue patch 24, although other modes of attachment are also possible such as staples or sewing, or even via narrow slots (as described later).

The length of the elastic between the two glue patches 24 is the provided stretchable length of elastic for use as a product pusher in the finally loaded tray.

As can be seen by the phantom (dotted) stretch line 32, the length to which that stretchable length of elastic may desirably be pulled to can be many multiples longer than the length of that stretchable length of elastic 10 before the stretching commences. A suitably stretchable material is thus required, such as knitted shirring elastic.

A more preferred arrangement is shown in FIG. 2. In this embodiment, the length of elastic 10 is moved from the attachment tabs 22 either side of the front wall 18 to a location situated at front portions 34 of the side walls 16. Furthermore, the glue patches 24 (or the like) are located spaced away from the hinge line 36 between the side walls 16 and the base 14 so as to provide an elongated stretchable length of elastic 26 compared to the example of FIG. 1. As a consequence, this stretchable length 26 is almost twice the length of that of the example of FIG. 1, and it is now positioned slightly spaced away from the front wall 18 (when assembled).

Preferably the distance of spacing 28 from the front wall 18 is a distance 28 of perhaps between 1 and 10 cm. In this example it is about 4 to 6 cm.

A consequence of these modifications is that the amount of stretching needed for accommodating products in the tray, as indicated by the phantom stretch line 32 in FIG. 2, is reduced compared to the first example—the spacing from the front wall provides a quantum change in the amount of stretching, and further the ratio of the length of stretch compared to the initial unstretched length 26 of the stretchable length of elastic is reduced compared to the first example. Therefore a wider range of materials for the length of elastic 10 can be utilised for narrow, yet long boxes.

The spacing 28 from the front wall 18 is preferred but optional, and it is useable for many different product forms without a problem in respect of the display of those products at the front of the tray (due to a loss of biasing force for that final spacing distance). This is because typically the loss of biasing force will only affect the final few products to be dispensed therefrom, which products will already be presented adequately towards the front of the tray, rather than at the back (as would be the case in the absence of the product pusher/elastic), even though that may not be entirely towards the front.

This arrangement is particularly suitable for cans or tins as they have a deeper stacking depth, and thus may even be deeper than the length of that spacing 28, whereby they will be front stacked even for the final product in the stack.

Referring next to FIG. 3, the assembled tray 30 is shown with the elastic 10 stretched to the back wall 20, and along the side walls 16. As can be seen, in this assembled tray 30, which will be described in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 4 to 13, the side walls 16 are folded upwardly to be perpendicular with respect to the base 14. Likewise the back wall 20 and front wall 18 are folded upwardly to be perpendicular to the base 14. The tray is thus formed as a generally rectangular and cuboid tray. Other shapes are possible, however, within the scope of the claims.

In this embodiment, the length of elastic 10 has been stretched to the rear of the tray 30 so as to bear against the back wall 20 (or more specifically the tabs of the side walls affixed thereto, and a folded tab 50 of the back wall 20. It may be held there by downwardly extending prongs of a stretching machine (not shown). The tray is then ready for receiving products therein.

An alternative might be to use the products for directly stretching the elastic, or by using a back plate to stretch the elastic (e.g. as per FIGS. 4 to 8, described below).

Referring therefore to FIGS. 4 to 8, the blank of FIG. 2 is again shown and preferred steps used to arrive at an assembled arrangement similar to that of FIG. 3 is shown—in this arrangement there is an added back plate 38, located within the tray 30, and holding back the elastic 10.

As can be seen in FIG. 4, the side walls 16 have a foldable flap 40 extending along the majority of the length of the side walls 16—preferably in excess of 75% thereof. The foldable flap 40 of this embodiment has been created by the provision of two cuts 42 that extend perpendicular to the edge of the side walls 16 (or perpendicular to the hinge line between the side walls 16 and the base 14) and by the provision of a hinge line 44 pressed into the blank 12 between the inside ends of those cuts 42. As such, as shown in FIG. 6, the foldable flaps 40 can be folded over to lie on top of the inside surface of the blank 12.

The hinge line 44 is preferably parallel to hinge line between the side walls 16 and the base 14.

The foldable flaps 40 have a width or size defined by the position of the hinge line 44 relative to the outside edge of the side walls 16, and as seen this is preferred to be narrower than half of the width of the side walls 16 so that the foldable flap 40 once folded, does not foul against the hinge line between the side walls 16 and the base 14.

The rear most edge of the foldable flap 40, once folded as shown in FIG. 6 against the inside of the side walls 16, provides a ledge 52 relative to the inside of the side wall 16 rearward thereof as it steps inwardly away from that inside wall of the side wall 16. The purpose of this ledge 52 is to retain a back plate 38 in a rearward position within the tray 30, as will be described in greater detail below.

In addition to the elongated foldable flap 40 extending along the length of the side walls 16, the side walls 16 further comprise a front flap 46 and a rear flap 48. The rear flaps 48 are a relatively conventional feature found in the art for corrugated trays as they are the jointing tab between the side walls 16 and the back wall 20. In this embodiment it is arranged to fold over itself over a hinge line extending perpendicular to the hinge line between the side walls and base (in the unfolded blank 12) so as to provide a double thickness for that part of the blank 12 such that when the rear flap 48 is then folded again about its second hinge line (between it and the rest of the side wall) it can conventionally be attached to the back wall 40 as a double thickness jointing tab, thus providing increased rigidity to the structure of the assembled tray. The front flap 46, however, instead has a more clever purpose.

As can be seen in FIG. 4, the front flap 46 is attached to the rest of the side wall 16 at a hinge line 54, this hinge line (in this embodiment) being perpendicular to the hinge line between the side wall 16 and the base 14. The hinge line 54, however, does not extend all the way to the hinge line between the side wall 16 and the base 14, but instead stops short thereof in light of a cut out portion 56 of the blank 12 having been removed from the blank 12. This cut out portion 56 is shown to be triangular (in this embodiment) but may have alternative shapes. Nevertheless, it preferably provides an angled surface 58, as marked in FIG. 4, for allowing the front flap 46 to best provide the function hereinafter described—smooth folding of an elastic product pusher to the sides of the tray 30.

As shown in FIG. 5, the blank of FIG. 4 has applied thereto a length of elastic 10, which length of elastic 10 is applied to front portions 34 of the side wall 16, as previously described. The front flaps 46 can then be folded about their hinge lines 54 over the top of the attachment area (herein glue patches 24). As shown in FIG. 6, this folding of the front flaps 46 results in the front flaps 46 overlying the attachment area 24 by means of which the length of elastic 10 will be attached to the blank 12 as a middle of a sandwich.

As above-mentioned, the hinge line 54 does not extend all the way to the hinge line between the side walls 16 and the base 14, and the point where it ends is preferably inward of the attachment area 24. As a consequence, the parts of the length of elastic 10 that are not covered by the front flaps 46 are all part of the stretchable length 26 of the length of elastic 10. In other words, in this embodiment, all parts of the elastic 10 that are still visible in FIG. 6 are unconnected to the blank 12, and are thus contributing to the stretchable length of the elastic 10.

The assembly of the tray 30 then involves the side walls 16 and the back wall 20 being folded up and glued or attached together using (in this embodiment) the rear flaps 48 as shown in FIG. 7.

Once that is done, the length of elastic 10 can be grasped and stretched towards the back wall 20 of the assembled tray 30 (inside the tray 30).

In this embodiment a back plate 38 is also folded and then inserted into the tray 30 to hold the elastic 10 at the back wall 20, as shown in FIG. 8. As can be seen in FIG. 3, however, that back plate 38 is optional as products themselves can hold back the elastic 10.

In the stretched condition, the length of elastic 10 folds around the angled surface 50 of the front flap 46, as clearly shown in FIG. 7. As a consequence, a flat profile for the length of elastic will readily be presented against the inside of the side walls 16 by the length of elastic 10 despite it having been folded/rotated out of its previous plane—such as the plane it occupied when originally applied to the blank, or when the side walls 16 were folded upwards (a folded plane occupied thereby between FIGS. 6 and 7). Without the angled surface, the width of the length of elastic would instead have tended to bunch up or twist unevenly, whereby it would have instead presented an undesirable appearance, or more disadvantageously a potential blockage for forward stacking of the products within the tray as they might get squeezed by a non-smooth fold.

In addition, in view of this foldable front flap 46, the attachment of the length of elastic 10 to the side walls or the tray is in a condition of being both sandwiched between two layers of the side wall and being folded around a generally forward facing edge of the side wall. This offers rigidity (for coping with the forces of the elastic) and strength of attachment (for resisting tear-off).

The height of the foldable front flap 46 (i.e. its “height” when the hinge line 54 is a “bottom” and the free end is a “top”) is also preferred to be selected to correspond with a distance between the frontmost of the two cuts 42 that form the foldable flap 40 and the hinge line 54 so that once folded its top will bear against the second ledge 60 provided by the foldable flap one it too is folded. As a consequence, despite the elastic bearing against the angled surface 58 of the front flap 46 (which inevitably presents a twisting force onto the front flap 46), movement of the front flap 46 relative to the inside surface of the side wall 16, which would cause a tearing of the hinge line 54, is resisted both by any adhesion between that front flap 46 and the inside of the side wall 16 and also by the engagement of the top thereof against that second ledge 60, whereby the front flap 46 will tend not to flex in a problematic manner. The spring bias of the elastic 10 can thus be supported by each of a) that angled surface 48, b) the attachment between the elastic and the blank, c) the sandwiching effect of the front flap 46 relative to the front portion 34 of the side wall 16, and any adhesion therebetween, d) the hinge line 54, and e) the interaction between the top of the front flap 46 and the second ledge 60.

Referring then back to the back plate 38 as shown in FIG. 7, it can be seen that back plate 38 comprises a central panel 62 and two side panels 64, which side panels 64 are folded generally perpendicular to the central panel 62 prior to locating the back plate 38 inside the tray 30. Between the side panel 64 and the central panel 62 are hinge lines which can be pre-creased into the material (blank) of the back plate 38, as shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. These creases form the hinge lines and as shown there are two such co-linear hinge lines per hinge in this embodiment. That is because cut outs 66 are present therealong—one in each hinge. These cut outs 66 are for accommodating the elastic 10 when the back plate 38 is inserted into the back of the tray 30, as can be seen in FIG. 8. The elastic is thus positively located at an elevated position relative to the bottom of the back wall 20 and as products within the tray are removed, the back plate 38 can thus retain the elastic in that condition such that the lengths thereof extending along the insides of the side wall 16 remain generally parallel to the base 14.

A final step in the assembly of the tray 30 is the folding of the front wall 18. As can be seen in FIG. 8, the front wall 18 and its two attachment tabs 22 as shown in FIG. 7 have been folded upward and backward respectively so that the front wall 18 is perpendicular to the base 14 and the attachment tabs 22 are attached to the outside walls of the front portions 34.

A hole 68 is also located in the base 14 underneath the line that the length of elastic 10 extends across when first applied to the blank 12, as shown in FIG. 5. This hole 68 allows a probe 70 to push upwardly therethrough for lifting the length of elastic 10 for assisting with its grasping by a stretching mechanism. This thus facilitates the moving of it into the stretched condition of FIG. 7.

Referring next to FIGS. 9 to 13, essentially the same blank for the tray is provided as in FIGS. 4 to 8, but no back plate 38 is provided. Due to the similarities, a further detailed description of this embodiment is not necessary as other than for the back plate's absence, it is folded and operated in the same manner as the previous embodiment.

Referring next to FIGS. 14 to 21, a further embodiment of blank is shown. It is for assembling an alternative form of tray 30. In this embodiment, rather than the length of elastic 10 being attached to the front portions 34 of the side walls 16, the length of elastic 10 is instead attached to the attachment tabs 22 extending to the sides of the front wall 18.

In this embodiment, the length of elastic 10 is glued 24 to the attachment tabs 22 in positions spaced away from the hinge line between the attachment tabs 22 and the front wall 18. Like with the previous embodiment, this extends the stretchable length of the elastic.

In addition, although front flaps 46 are again provided, in this embodiment the angled surfaces 58 are not. Instead, as an advantageous addition the front flaps 46 have a cut out therein, which cut out defines a finger 72, the function of which will be described below. Other embodiments omit this finger.

As before, the side walls 16 again have foldable flaps 40, and as seen in FIG. 15, these foldable flaps 40 are in this embodiment arranged to be taller in the assembled tray than in the previous embodiments. In this embodiment, the height of the foldable flap, and the distance of the hinge therefor from the hinge line between the side walls 16 and the base 14, are substantially the same. As a consequence the bottom edge of the foldable flap 40 (once folded) will bear against the base 14. It can thus be self-holding. It might nevertheless still be glued. A further advantage of this corresponding height, however, is that if a loading is placed onto the side wall, the foldable flap 40 can add considerably to the compressive strength, and bending strength, of that wall. This thus provides a much stronger tray.

The side walls 16 of the blank also again have the rear flap 48 which again is doubleable in the assembled tray to provide rigidity. This doubled thickness again is optional.

The initial steps in the assembly of this tray can be as shown in FIGS. 15, 16 and 17. These show a folding of the foldable flaps 40 against the insides of the side walls 16, a folding of the front flaps 46 against the front portions 34, again on the inside thereof, and a folding of the rear part of the rear flaps 48 over the front parts thereof for doubling up the thickness thereof.

Then, the side walls 16 are folded upwards as shown in FIG. 16. The rear flaps 48 are also folded—herein perpendicular to the rest of the side walls 16 so that the back wall 20 can then also be folded up to the perpendicular and glued to those rear flaps 48.

In this process, the fingers 72 remain in the general plane of the side walls 16 as they can then serve an important function as described below.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, the front wall 18 and its two attachment tabs 22 are folded into their assembled conditions by lifting up the front wall 18 into its perpendicular position relative to the base and then folding the attachment tabs 22 into their perpendicular positions relative to that front wall 18 against the outsides of the side walls 16, as shown in FIG. 19. This also then brings the elastic 10 into the inside of the tray (as it was on the top of the blank before the front wall 18 was folded upwards.

In this embodiment, holes 74 are provided in the attachment tabs 22 to allow access to the fingers 72 once the attachment tabs 22 are glued or otherwise attached to the outside of the side walls 16.

The length of elastic 10 at this time will be extending between the attachment tabs, and may have slackened, which then can allow it to droop. However, this droop is minimised by the fact that the fingers provide some support for the elastic 10—giving it a somewhat U shaped shape when viewed from above the tray.

The elastic 1 can then be stretched towards the back wall 20 of the tray 30, as shown in FIG. 19. In this process, the fingers 72 become folded back into their cut outs.

The fingers thus provide an important function—holding part of the length of elastic 10 against the inside of the attachment tabs 22, thus taking some of the slack out of the length of elastic 10. Without the fingers, the elastic 10 would instead fall into an unpredictable state.

The holes 74 are preferred as they facilitate the folding of the fingers 72—probes or a user's own fingers can be used through the holes 74 to push against the fingers 72 as the elastic is drawn towards the back wall 20 of the tray 30, thus helping the fingers 72 to fold the right way.

A further feature visible in FIG. 18 is a slot 76 in each side wall 16, a little bit rearward of the fingers—preferably a distant rearward corresponding roughly to the length of the fingers (slightly less than the length of the fingers). This slot 76 is shown to have an arcuate shape in this embodiment, although other shapes are possible. In this instance, the fingers 72 have a curved fingertip 78 which allows the finger 72 to be clicked into the slot 76 for holding it in place within its cut out. Other embodiments have a more flat tip for the fingers, as shown in some of the other Figures, and may click into the slot just as well. This then prevents the fingers 78 from sticking away from the inside wall of the sidewalls, which could otherwise create a resistance to forward sliding of products within the tray under the bias of the elastic 10. Certainly if they were instead to spring inwardly, they could act a bit like a valve or barb.

It is envisaged, and illustrated, however, that embodiments without these slots and fingertips can also be provided.

Next, referring to FIGS. 20 and 21, a lid 80 can be assembled onto the tray 30. In the illustrated embodiment, the side walls 82 of the lid 80 locate outside of the side walls 16 of the tray 30, but the front wall 84 of the lid 80 preferably locates inside the front wall 18 of the tray.

The lid 80 also preferably has a rip off front and a partial rip off at the top. These rip offs together provide a rip off section 86 that is in this embodiment assembled from folded components, as can be seen in FIG. 20, and as laid out in blank form in later embodiments.

As with the previous embodiment, the front flaps 46 are arranged to have a width such that the free edge (top) thereof will bear against the second ledge 60 of the foldable flap 40.

A first (rear) ledge 52 is also provided by that foldable flap 40.

Referring now to FIGS. 22 to 31, a slight variant to that previous embodiment will be described. In this variant, a back plate 38 is also provided, as can be seen in FIGS. 27 to 30. The front is effectively identical to the previous embodiment so it will not be described again. The rear is likewise effectively identical. However, in view of the provision of the back plate 38, there are differences as found in FIGS. 27 to 30. These will now be described.

As can be seen in FIG. 27, after stretching back the elastic 10 to the back wall 20, a folded back plate 38 that is largely similar to that of a previous embodiment is inserted into the tray, in this example from above. In addition to the cut outs 66, however, this back plate 38 has front cut outs 88 in front edges 90 of the side panels 64, which front cut outs 88 align vertically (or across the side panels 64) with the cut outs 66 and thus will again align with the width of the length of elastic 10 after insertion into the tray.

As shown in FIG. 28, upon insertion of the back plate 38 into the tray, the front edges 90 of the side panels 64, or at least a lower part of each thereof, will bear against the rear ledges 52 provided by the foldable flaps 40, as more clearly seen in FIG. 29.

As shown in FIG. 29, the width of the central panel 62 of the back plate 38 is narrower than the inside width of the tray 30. Through this sizing, the back plate can slide freely past the ledges when the pusher is pushing the products there-past. However, a consequence is that the side panels 64 of the back plate 30 will be slightly angled outwards—not folded through to the full perpendicular—so that they lie at an angle relative to the side walls 16. This allows them to readily bear against the rear ledges 52, and they are held there due to the forces of the bias of the elastic 10—little parts of which can be seen in the cut outs 66 in FIG. 29. However, as the elastic 10 also has to extend between the side panels 64 of the back plate 38, past the ledges 52 and along the inside of the side walls 16 (so as to extend from the front to around the back of the back plate 38, the elastic can create a bias against the front edges 90 of the back plate 36 that cause the front edges to fall off the rear ledges 52. This problem is countered in this embodiment by the provision of the front cut outs 88 in those front edges 90, which provide a passageway for the elastic 10 whereby that bias thereagainst can be either removed or minimised. The back plate 38 thus can bear against the ledges 52 of the foldable flaps 40 more easily, thus retaining the elastic in its stretched condition once released by its stretching mechanism.

Then, once products have been loaded into the tray (not shown), a lid can be applied to the tray as shown in FIGS. 30 and 31.

FIGS. 30 and 31 also show an additional feature which facilitates in store release of the back plate 38 from the ledges 52, which release is needed in order for the product pusher function of the elastic to be performed. For facilitating this release, the side walls 16 have cut outs 92 positioned slightly rearward of the ledge 52. Additionally, the side walls 82 of the lid 80 have cut out portions 94 which allow access to the cut outs 92 in the side walls 16 even after the lid 80 has been applied to the tray. This can be seen in FIG. 31. For releasing the side panels 64 from the ledges 52, a finger or probe is pushed through the cut outs 92 in the side wall 16, thus releasing the back plate 38 and thus activating the product pusher function of the tray.

Referring next to FIG. 32, a further embodiment similar to that of the previous embodiment is shown. In this embodiment, holes 74 are again provided. Likewise, the glue patches 24 are spaced away from the hinge line between the attachment tabs 22 and the front wall 18. Yet further, the fingers 72 are provided and the front flaps 46 of the side walls 16 are sized such that when each one is folded about its hinge line, a part of its free edge will be able to bear against the second ledge 60 provided by the foldable flap 40. At the rear of the tray, however, there are some differences wherein holes are provided in the back wall 20 and the rear flaps 48 of the side wall 16 so as to allow rear access to the back plate 38, rather than side access thereto.

Additionally, the slots 76 for the fingertips 78 are absent.

FIG. 33, however, reinstates the slots 76 albeit without the fingertips 78 with the curvature of the slots 76 instead providing a fingertip for gripping a leading edge of the finger 72.

In this embodiment, the lid is also provided with holes in the back, which holes 76 align with the upper holes 98 (which fold in half upon folding the rear flaps 48, but which yet still allow access to the back plate 38 when the lid is in situ).

In the embodiment of FIG. 33, the lid 80, the back plate 38 and the tray 30 are all made of blanks in which their layout on the master blank from which they are cut—typically a corrugated board—allows a compact and efficient material usage by having the back plate 38 positioned between the attachment tabs 22 of the front wall 18 and the front wall 84 of the lid 80.

Furthermore, the orientation of these three elements is such that the corrugations' orientation in the lid, the tray and the back plate are the same in respect of respectively the length of the base of the tray, the length of the top of the lid and the height of the central panel 62 of the back plate 38. As can be seen in later embodiments, however, these can be rotated relative to one another.

It is preferred in this embodiment that the corrugations extend along the length of the base of the tray so as to give good rigidity to the tray for avoiding longitudinal bending of the base in response to the biasing force provided by the length of elastic 10.

As can be seen in FIG. 34, however, another arrangement is provided and here the direction of corrugations for the lid are rotated 90° relative to the other two elements. In this arrangement, therefore, the corrugations preferably extend vertically in the side walls of the lid so as to give the finished box (a tray with a lid) a more rigid height characteristic—for better surviving stacking.

In this embodiment, the cut out in the side wall is again reinstated, but in this embodiment it is a circular cut out, rather than an elongated cut out. It is optional though.

Referring next to FIG. 35, another arrangement is shown, now similar to that of FIG. 32, but this time with a lid. The lid, like that of FIG. 34, is rotated relative to the base of the tray.

FIG. 36 shows another embodiment wherein the cut outs 92 are again given another form. In this embodiment, they extend from a rear edge of the tray, rather than being spaced from that edge.

Referring next to FIG. 37, an alternative arrangement for the back plate is shown. In this embodiment, it is rotated on the master sheet relative to the tray such that the corrugations extend across the width of the central panel 62. This can be preferred to provide better width-wise stiffness for the central panel 62 so as to reduce width-wise flexing when loaded by the elastic, thus potentially better resisting damage to products therein. This is a preferred arrangement when the products that are being pushed by the elastic have a tendency to suffer damage when a bending force is applied thereto.

Referring next to FIG. 38, an alternative arrangement for forming the rear ledge 52—i.e. a ledge towards the rear of the side walls 16, is shown. In this embodiment, instead of the large foldable flap 40 extending along the substantive part of the length of the side walls, a smaller foldable flap 100 is provided in each side wall 16. These smaller foldable flaps 100 are formed by a cut and hinge line, the cut 102 in this embodiment being a straight cut substantially perpendicular to the hinge line between the side wall 16 and the base 14 and a further cut 104 at an end thereof that is spaced from that hinge line, which further cut 104 is perpendicular to the first cut 102. The hinge line of this foldable flap is also provided and in this embodiment is also perpendicular to the hinge line between the side wall 16 and the base 14 such that the flap 100 defined thereby can fold about the fold line 106 rearwardly inside the tray. That flap 100 can then provide an edge (corresponding to the edge provided by the first cut 102) so that the flap 100 provides the ledge 52.

This flap 100 can be glued in its folded position against the inside wall of the side wall 16.

Then, as in a previous embodiment, a cut out 92 is provided such that when the foldable flap 100 has been folded to form its ledge 52, an access hole is provided for accessing the back plate 38 when bearing thereagainst.

Again it is also shown in this embodiment that the lid 80 has cut out portions 94 in its side walls 82 again for accessing the cut outs 92 in the side walls 16 of the tray 30.

In this embodiment, the rear flaps 48 of the side walls 16 are not for doubling up, although they could be if preferred.

FIG. 39 shows a slight variant to the embodiment of FIG. 38 in which the lid 80 is rotated 90° relative to the base in the layout on the master sheet from which they are cut. Thus, the corrugations extend (as shown in the cut away triangles) vertically in the side walls 82 of the lid, longitudinally along the depth of the base of the tray, and width wise across the central panel 62 of the back plate 38.

As before, these orientations can be varied.

As also shown in FIG. 39, the blank for the tray can be pre-configured so as to have pre-glued portions so as to allow it to be provided to a customer in a flat condition while still being simple fold into a use configuration by an end user.

Referring next to FIG. 40, another variant is shown and in this example the smaller foldable flaps 100 are now replaced by foldable flaps that fold relative to a hinge line that extends parallel to the hinge line between the side walls and the base of the tray.

As such, the foldable flaps are formed by two cuts 108, each extending perpendicular to the hinge line between the base 14 and the side walls and extending from the free edges of the side wall 16 towards the hinge line between the side walls and the base. At the ends thereof, a hinge line 110 for this flap 100 is provided. In this embodiment, the foldable flap 100 is thus folded around the hinge line 110 so as to create the ledge 53 from the rearmost edge of that flap 100 (provided by the rearmost cut 108).

In this embodiment, the side walls 82 of the lid are shorter than in the previous embodiments and likewise the side walls 16 of the tray 30 are longer, whereby it is the side walls of the tray that provide vertical rigidity.

Given the fact that the side walls 82 of the lid are shorter than the previous embodiments, no cut out portion 94 is needed for accessing the cut outs 92 provided in the side walls 16 of the tray 30 for allowing access to the back plate 38.

FIG. 41 then shows a similar embodiment to that of FIG. 40 but in which the side walls 82 of the lid once again are longer and thus the cut out portions 94 are reinstated to allow access to the cut outs 92 in the side walls 16 of the tray 30.

Referring next to FIG. 42, a further variant is provided wherein once again the cut out portions 94 are provided in the side walls of the lid 80 and the foldable rear flaps 48 are reinstated for doubling up before attachment to the back wall 20.

Likewise, the foldable flaps 40 are reinstated to their substantially full length of the side walls 16. In this embodiment, however, the lid has been amended to include a stronger front, which now comprises a front wall 84 with side tabs 112 and fixture tabs 114 extending from the removable portion of the top 116 of the lid 80. This is the arrangement of the lid shown in FIG. 30. It allows an easier removal of the front and partial top of the lid for opening the tray or box.

In this assembled lid, the non attachment of the front 84 of it to the side walls 82 of it, other than at the fixture tabs 114 (which are cut away from the rest of the side walls 82), allows the insertion of the front of the lid 80 into the inside of the tray 30, despite the fact that the side walls 82 of the lid will be on the outsides of the side walls 16 of the tray 30.

FIG. 43 then shows a slight variant to the embodiment of FIG. 42 in which the lengths of the side panels 64 of the back plate 38 are slightly lengthened. A corresponding adjustment to the position or length of the foldable flaps 40 are thus made, and likewise the size or position of the cut outs 92 in the sides of the tray 30 and the cut out portions 94 in the side walls 82 of the lid 80 are modified so that the side panels 64 can still sit up against the ledges 52 and be released therefrom via the cut out portions 94 and the cut outs 92.

Additionally, in this embodiment the length of elastic 10 is pre-applied to the blank 12 for the tray 30 ready for shipping to a customer. This pre application is useful where the customer does not want to have separate machinery for applying the elastic to the blank.

Referring next to FIGS. 44 to 51, a further embodiment of the present invention is provided in which a further alternative for the foldable flap 40 is provided. In this embodiment, a front flap 46 is again provided to the front edge of each side wall 16, although in this embodiment it has neither a finger 72 nor a cut out 56 providing an angled edge 58.

As in at least one of the previous embodiments, the elastic is attached to the attachment tabs 22 to the sides of the front wall 18 using in this embodiment glue patches 24 that are spaced away from the hinge line between the attachment tabs 22 and the front wall 18. This arrangement allows the elastic to stretch to the rear of the tray without needing to be angularly folded out of the fabric's plane. It thus does not need the angled surface 58. With this arrangement, however, the fingers of at least one of the previous embodiments might be added beneficially to this embodiment if desired for supporting some of the slackening effect of folding the attachment tabs against the outside of the side walls 16 (although this is optional, and is thus not shown.

The front flaps 46 of the side walls 16 in this embodiment are designed to fold back against a second foldable flap 116 that is also provided within each side wall 16 so as to give that front flap added support. In this example the second foldable flap is provided from a cut out hole in that side wall. Alternative forms for this cut out can be provided.

The second foldable flap provides a double thickness for the wall at that portion of the side wall 16 and by gluing it to the side wall it provides a thicker and greatly stiffened area, and also the second ledge 60 for the front flap 46 to bear against. This thus provides support for that front flap 46. This is beneficial in that it provides additional stiffness and support for the forces applied to the side walls when the elastic 10 is stretched to the rear of the tray.

A benefit of this arrangement is also that the elastic is sandwiched between the attachment tabs 22 and the outside of the side wall, with the attachment tabs on the outside of the side wall whereby the elastic folds back on itself around the folded front flap 46, i.e. around a leading edge of the side wall, that edge thus then can bear the brunt of the forces of the elastic, which is a strong arrangement to provide—the sheets are stiff within their plane, and that edge being at a fold line makes it particularly stiff.

The rear end is also modified such that instead of a single ledge 52, a pair of ledges 52 are provided on each side wall 16. These pairs of ledges 52 can be particularly beneficial.

They are provided by two separate flaps. In this example they are each pushed out of a common hole.

By providing two separated ledges 52 a further benefit as described below is achieved.

In this example, the two ledges 52 in each side wall 16 are provided by separate foldable flaps 118 that are one above the other. These separate foldable flaps 118 are folded about hinge lines that are provided parallel to the hinge line between the side wall 16 and the base 14. Furthermore the flaps 118 are adhered to the inside of their respective side walls 16. Alternative arrangements can include separately formed flaps (from separate holes) or flaps folded about alternatively arranged hinge lines. The preferred result, however, is such that their rear facing edges provide pairs of ledges 52 (matching or otherwise) that will provide the surfaces against which a back plate 38 can bear when pulled to the back of the tray, such as the arrangement shown in FIG. 48.

The advantage of having two separated foldable flaps is that the separation between the two ledges formed thereby provides an interruption to the vertical extent of the ledge, whereby there is an upper ledge and a lower ledge, allows the front edges 90 of each side panel 64 of the back plate 38, or the single front edges 90 of those side panels 64 where no front cut out 88 is provided, to sit on the ledges 52 both above and below the stretched elastic 10 but with the elastic 10 not having to ride over a part of the ledge 52 in view of its absence at the portion where the elastic passes it. As a consequence, the front cut outs 88 become less important, although they can still be provided where desired to provide an even smoother passageway for the elastic—between the front edges of the back plate and the side walls of the tray further down the inside of the tray (as products are removed).

The detail of the elastic missing the ledge is best shown in FIG. 48 where it can be seen that the two separate foldable flaps 118 are located above and below the elastic 10, rather than coincident therewith.

As shown in this embodiment, each of those separate foldable flaps is also associated with a separate cut out 92 in the side walls 16. In this instance they are all a circular hole. These cut outs as before are for allowing a finger or a probe to release the back plate 38 from its wedged position behind the ledges 52.

The cut outs 92 can be aligned with holes in the side walls of a lid, as shown in 51.

Probes 120, as shown in FIG. 1, can thus release the back plate 38.

As shown in FIG. 48, once the back plate 38 is holding the elastic 10 in its stretched condition, products can be loaded into the tray 30 as indicated by the arrow 112.

Once loaded (not shown), a lid 80 can be applied on top of the tray 30, as shown in FIG. 49, and the assembled box is thus then as shown in FIG. 50—with the front wall 84 of the lid 80 tucked in behind the front wall 18 of the tray, and the sides to the outside.

Then, once the lid is applied, the holes in the sides of the lid can allow the probes 120 to release the back plate 38 from its ledges, assuming that had not already been done before applying the lid.

Being able to release the back plate 38 once the lid is applied, however, is beneficial in any event since during transit if the box has been tilted, or otherwise jolted, the products within the tray may have themselves caused the back plate 28 to re-engage itself behind the ledges 52.

FIG. 52 shows in further detail the possible arrangement for the blanks for achieving the embodiment of FIGS. 44 to 51 and as can be seen the second foldable flap 116 and the separate foldable flaps 118 are pre-cut for pushing out of the blank of the tray.

It is of course possible for these flaps, and thus the ledges, to be formed onto the blank by using separately glued elements. However, it is generally the intention in the art to try to produce these trays using a single blank.

Referring next to FIGS. 53 to 71, possible mechanisms for a tray erector device and a pusher installation device are shown.

As can be seen in FIG. 53, the machine can comprise two units—the first being the tray erector mechanism and the second being the pusher installation part. In advance of the tray erector part, a blank feeding mechanism is also typically provided.

The blank feeding mechanism 124 can comprise rails 138 onto which blanks 12 are fed and transported towards the tray erector part.

The tray erector part 126 has rails 128 along which the fed blanks 12 are fed and erected.

Those rails 128 then can extend through to the pusher installation part 130 (which is provided to stretch the elastic and insert the back plate 38).

FIG. 54 shows the same machinery from a reversed angle, again in perspective. As can be seen, the back plates 38 are stacked in a pusher magazine 132 for removal one at a time by a robotic assembly 134. As for the tray erector part, it comprises an elastic roll magazine 136 with a roll of elastic thereon for allowing elastic 10 to be applied onto the blanks 12. The blanks 12, however, are fed from the rails 138 of a tray magazine 140 in which the unfolded blanks 12 are stacked (on their edges in this example).

Referring next to FIG. 55, a slightly varied angle for the tray erector part 126 is provided which allows the erecting device 142 to be seen. This erecting device comprises a block around which the blank 12 can be folded by standard folding mechanisms (not shown). This view also shows more clearly a cutting device 144, in this case a guillotine cutter, for cutting strips off the reel of elastic so as to provide lengths of elastic 10 for attachment to the blanks 12.

Referring next to FIG. 56, a part of the framework for this assembly line is removed for clarity. As can be seen, four stages for the blanks are shown, namely the unfolded state—as the blank is presented from the tray magazine 140, a registered location on the rails 138—in which the blank 12 has been captured onto the rail and conveyor 146, a flap folding position 148—in which the flaps cut into the blank 12 are folded (for forming e.g. the ledges 52, 60 and the folded front and rear flaps 46, 48) and then a final folding station 150—where the tray is folded around the mandrel 150.

As shown in FIG. 56, the mandrel 150 has now been lifted up from a folded tray 30.

FIG. 57 shows the flap folding position 148 in an enlarged view. As can be seen there are pushers 152 underneath the blank 12 for pushing up the flaps to start their folding process and compressors 154 above the blank 12 for pushing down the flaps 100, or in this case the separate foldable flaps 118 and the second foldable flap 116, for continuing the fold and then finally pushing them down and into attachment with the inside surface of the side walls 16.

For allowing the folded flaps to stick, an adhesive may have been applied either to the underside of the folded flap or to the relevant part of the inside surface of the side walls 16.

In addition, as can be seen in FIG. 57, the length of elastic 10 has also been applied to the two attachment tabs 22 to the sides of the front wall 18 and are pressed down to ensure good adhesion between the glue patch 24, the blank and the length of elastic 10 by further pressure pads 156.

As can be seen next in FIG. 58, the guillotine blade 158 of the elastic roll magazine 136 can be seen in side view whereas in FIG. 59 flap lifting and compressing devices are shown on the underside and topside of the blank, which in this instance is already folded such that the sides are lifted—this is only a partial view like 58. These views and figures of the assembly line are purely schematic. A skilled person in the art of cardboard post-processing will be fully familiar with the types of mechanism involved for such folding and gluing steps.

Referring then to FIGS. 60 to 71, further details of the pusher installation part 130 are provided. As can be seen, an assembled tray 30 is located within the pusher installation part 130 (the mechanisms for holding the tray are not shown for ease of reference as they are conventional in the art). The newer components for installing the pusher or back plate 38 are indicated, however, and they comprise a pusher magazine having a stack of back plates 38 therein, a robotic assembly 134 for lifting a topmost back plate 38 from the stack thereof in the pusher magazine 132 and for carrying it across to the tray 30, a back plate folding guide 160 for folding the back plate 38 as it is inserted into the tray 30 and an elastic stretching device 162 for stretching the elastic back to the rear of the tray 130 before insertion of the back plate 38. The latter uses probes for this purpose.

Referring first of all, therefore, to FIG. 61, a tray 30 is located into the pusher installation part such that distal ends 164 of the back plate folding guide 160 face into the front of the tray 30. At this point the elastic stretching device 162 is elevated relative to the tray 30. Further, at that time, the topmost back plate 38 is lifted by the robotic assembly 134 of the top of the pusher magazine 132—in this case by a suction pad gripping it. A suction head assembly 166 for this purpose is oriented relative to the back plate 38 such that it is gripping the central panel 62 of the back plate 38, with the side panels 64 of the back plate 38 extending freely from the sides thereof.

Then, in FIGS. 61 to 63, the robotic assembly 134 moves and rotates the back plate 38 by movement and rotation of the suction head assembly 166 so that the back plate 38 is advanced towards the back plate folding guide 160.

The back plate folding guide 160 has an opening or mouth for receiving the back plate 38.

At the same time the elastic stretching device 162 moves to position its elastic stretching prongs 168, which descend therefrom, also towards the front of the tray 30 as shown in FIG. 63. Then, as shown in FIG. 64, the elastic stretching prongs 168 are located in front of the elastic that extends across the front of tray 30 and the back plate 38 starts to engage the mouth of the back plate folding guide 160.

Then, as shown in FIG. 65, the elastic starts to be stretched towards the rear of the tray 30 and the back plate 38 is continued to be advanced through the back plate folding guide so as to fold the side panels 64 of the back plate 38 into their right angle configuration relative to the central panel 62 thereof.

At this stage, the back plate 38 is located above the elastic 10 and thus cannot yet engage against it.

Then, in FIG. 66, the elastic 10 continues to be stretched by the prongs 168 of the elastic stretching device 162 to the back wall 20 of the tray 30 and as those prongs are now out of the way of the suction head assembly 166, the suction head assembly 166 can then drop downwards for inserting the back plate 38 into the tray 30.

Then, referring to FIG. 67, the prongs widen to push the elastic 10 into the rear corners of the tray 30 and the back plate 38 is advanced rearwardly too.

Then, as shown in FIG. 68, in which more details of the surrounding elements are removed, the back plate 38 is positioned at the back of the tray 30 such that the side panels 64 can ride over the separate foldable flaps 118 of this embodiment of the tray 30 and then as in FIG. 69 spring outwardly to engage onto the ledges provided thereby.

For encouraging this, side panels 170 of the suction head assembly 116 pivot outwardly at their distal ends to push the back plate 38 into that rearmost position.

Then, as shown in FIG. 70, the suction head assembly 166, its panels 170 and the elastic stretching prongs 168 can be retracted and/or lifted out of the tray 30 as shown in FIG. 71 leaving the elastic trapped behind the back plate 38 and the front edges 90 of the back plate 38 bearing against the ledges 52.

Then, once the prongs and the suction head assembly 166 are removed, the prepared tray 30 can be moved to a product filling station further down the assembly line for filling and the for application of a lid when needed.

As will be appreciated by a skilled person, this is just one mode of assembly for one of the embodiments of the tray disclosed herein. Similar modes of assembly will also be applicable to the other embodiments and likewise other known methods of assembly could be utilised for assembling these trays. This includes of course manual folding and filling.

Referring next to FIGS. 70 to 76, a further aspect of the present invention will now be described. In accordance with this aspect of the present invention, a tray 30 is again provided, but rather than using glue patches 24 for attaching the elastic 10 to the tray 30, slots 170 are provided in the tray for receiving the elastic therein. These slots 170 have a tapering opening to facilitate the insertion of the elastic therein.

The slots are provided with a very narrow width so are typically single-blade cut. This is so as to ensure that the elastic located within the slots 170 is gripped tightly by the slots. Further, the material chosen for the blank used to assemble the tray 30 is preferably a relatively stiff material. Unfolded or unworked cardboard is a suitable material in this respect, including corrugated cardboard.

As can be seen in FIG. 72, and then 73 and 74, the slots 170 of this embodiment are provided in attachment tabs 22 that extend to the sides of the front wall 18. As a consequence, when the attachment tabs in the front wall are folded into their final positions, the length of elastic, which is fitted to the inside surface of the front wall, and extends out to the outside wall of the attachment tabs 22 after passing through the slots 170, the length of elastic 10 between the two slots 170 becomes located inside the front of the tray 30, as clearly seen in FIGS. 73 and 74. Furthermore, the elastic is positioned such that it will bend around the front edge 172 of the side walls 16 of the tray 30 such that as it is stretched around the inside of the tray 30, that front edge of each side wall supports the biasing force resulting from the stretching of the elastic 10. This further assists the gripping of the elastic. With the attachment of the attachment tabs 22 to the outsides of the side walls 16 then sandwiching the elastic, this arrangement provides adequate support for the slots' grip on the elastic 10 to hold fast.

With this arrangement, therefore, no adhesive is used in the attachment of the elastic to the blank and the tray, whereby the elastic can easily be removed from the tray or blank, with no remnants of the elastic beings left behind in light of adhesive, whereby recycling of the tray becomes more straightforward.

Referring then to FIG. 75, a similar same tray is again shown, this time with the elastic pre-applied into the slots 170. The tapering of the entrance to the slots 170 is also more clear in this Figure.

Referring then to FIG. 76, a lid for this tray is shown. Many varieties of lid can be provided. This lid, however, is designed to be stuck to the outer side walls of the tray.

Referring then to FIGS. 77 to 80, a further embodiment of the present invention is provided. In this embodiment, rather than using slots that grip the elastic, wider slots are provided, which wider slots 174 are most clearly shown in FIG. 80. These wider slots 174 have a width that is greater than the thickness of the elastic 10 and therefore, the elastic is free to slide therethrough when stretched.

In this embodiment, the tray 30 has two sides, a back and a front (as is conventional) and it also has a base (as is also conventional). However, with the slots 174 in the side walls, a loop of elastic 10 can be applied thereto by slotting it through the two wider slots 174 so as to extend a portion thereof across the front area of the tray, and then the rest of the loop of elastic 10 can be looped around the outside of the sides 16 and back 20 of the tray.

Because the slots 174 are spaced slightly rearwardly from the front 18 of the tray, the elastic extending across the front of the tray is also slightly recessed rearwardly from that front 18.

With this looped arrangement, as the elastic 10 is stretched towards the rear of the tray 30, the length of elastic 10 extending around the outside of the tray can contribute towards the stretch of the elastic, thus allowing the elastic 10 to be stretched easily to the back of the tray 30. Deeper trays can thus be accommodated as well, like with the first aspect of the present invention.

Referring then to FIG. 79, a lid for this tray is shown. Again this is designed to be stuck around the outside of the tray around the top edges thereof, with the front flap that may be positioned inside the tray.

Although we have disclosed tucking the front of the lid inside the tray, the invention also encompasses lids with the front external of the tray.

Referring next to FIGS. 81 to 84, a variant of the tray of FIGS. 72 to 76 is shown in which instead of a tray, a tray insert is provided—there is no continuous base, although this can also serve as a tray if needed as the products may not need a solid base. This tray insert has a rip off front 176, as seen in FIG. 84, and a lid, as shown in FIG. 83. The lid is separate to the insert. The insert has slots 170 that are adapted to receive the length of elastic 10 without any adhesive, as per the previous embodiment of FIG. 72. The stiffness of the material of the tray insert's blank thus provides the grip for the elastic.

For providing an effective grip on the elastic, it is preferred that the axes of the corrugations of the blank used to form the insert are arranged to extend horizontally along the sides of the assembled insert, or such that the axes extend perpendicular to the slots 170. This provides the most stiffness for the material of the slots for gripping the elastic, although it is option—as shown by FIG. 72, where the corrugations are arranged parallel to the slot 170. For the latter, however, the additional grip providing mechanisms of the sandwiching of the elastic and the folding of the elastic around the front edge of the sides help to reinforce the grip of the elastic—if needed.

For the base, as it is an insert, a full base is not provided but instead short flaps are provided which can overlap and be glued together as appropriate in the corners. A full base, however, may instead be preferred, such as that provided by conventional flap arrangements, particularly in the event that this is to be a tray rather than a tray insert.

It will also be appreciated, however, that even as a tray insert this can function as a tray as it will have adequate stability to be free standing on its own without being inserted in a tray. A more common use of the illustrated embodiment, however, would be within a separate tray or box.

Referring next to FIGS. 85 to 87, a variant of the previous embodiment is shown wherein instead of a separate lid, lid flaps are integrated into the blank for the insert. These thus can overlap as shown in FIGS. 85 and 86 and thus attach together at the corners.

Rip off perforations may also be provided for the hinge lines for the integrated lid whereby the top can be pulled off if desired. The perforations can also facilitate collapse of the tray or insert after use—again to facilitate recycling—or flat stacking for baling after use.

In this embodiment, a narrow slot 170 is again provided for gripping the elastic 10.

Referring next to FIGS. 88 to 92, a further embodiment of the present invention is disclosed in which a product pusher insert is provided, for example for a standard tray. As can be seen in FIG. 91, this product pusher insert can be formed from a single blank having a perforation therein to allow it to be broken in two. However, it may instead be formed as two separate components.

As with the other embodiments, this is typically formed from a corrugated material, such a corrugated cardboard.

The tray insert comprises two portions 178, each having attached thereto an end of a length of elastic 10, each portion 178 having a folded end at end where the elastic 10 is attached. This folded end provides additional stiffness to the portion 178 at the location of attachment of the elastic 10 such that when the product pusher is inserted into a tray 30, as seen in FIG. 90, a double thickness of the material from which the portion 178 are made provides resistance to bending of the portions 178 of the product pusher insert.

The two portions in use are located in the tray to the sides—alongside the inside surfaces of the side walls 16. Products located within the tray will then hold the portions 178 upright within the tray.

The length of each portion 178 is similar to the inside length of the side wall 16 such that the proximal or rear edges 180 of those portions 178 will sit against the rear or back wall 20 of the tray 30. As such, when products are loaded in front of the elastic 10, thus stretching the elastic to the rear of the tray 30, the biasing force will keep the rear edges 180 of the portions 178 tight against the back wall 20 of the tray 30. The pusher will thus in kind push the products towards the front of the tray.

In a further preferred aspect of this insert, where the folds occur at the fronts of the portions 178, a recess 182 is provided as shown. This recess allows the length of elastic 10 to be displaced slightly rearward from the front wall 18 of the tray once the product pusher insert has been inserted into the tray 30. This slightly reduces the amount of stretching needed for the elastic 10 when it is stretched at the rear of the tray 30.

Referring then to FIG. 92, three elements for a preferred box that utilises this arrangement are shown—a blank for a tray, a blank for a lid and a blank for the product pusher insert. As can be seen, the flutes of the blank for the product pusher insert extend along the lengths of the two portions 178 and the perforations for snapping apart of the single blank therefor into the two portions 178 extend perpendicular to the flutes. Having the flutes extend along the lengths of the portions 178 ensures that there is a good stiffness characteristic for those portions as they lie alongside the inside of the side walls, thus providing adequate stiffness therefor for resisting any bending that may be caused by the bias of the elastic 10 as it wraps around the products.

Referring finally to FIGS. 93 to 100, a final embodiment of the present invention is disclosed. In this embodiment, a blank for a tray is provided, again with a length of elastic 10 but in this case the length of elastic 10 is applied to the surface of the blank that will provide the underside of the tray 30. As can be seen, the front wall 18 of the tray is provided of a foldable flap with attachment tabs 22, which attachment tabs 22 comprise a cut out portion 56 of a similar shape in this embodiment to that of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 13, although in this case the angled surface 58 faces the opposite direction.

As the attachment tabs 22 are folded to the sides of the tray upon securing the front wall 18 in its upright position to the upright side walls 16, the angled surfaces 58 adopt a position facing towards the outside, lower, front corner of the side walls 16 with the angled surface, and the cut out portion 56 cutting the corner.

As the elastic 56 was attached to the underside of the blank on the front portions 34 of the sidewalls (before folding up of the side walls 16), as seen in FIG. 94, the elastic 10 now extends under the front edge of the base 14 of the tray and upwardly and outside the front portions 34 of the side walls 16. This is because the elastic was attached to the front portions 34 of the side walls 16, rather than to the attachment tabs for the front wall. In this condition, the elastic is kept out of the inside of the tray 30, as can be seen in FIG. 94. Products can thus easily be loaded into the tray, as shown in FIG. 95. Then the elastic is grasped from underneath and pulled around the outside of the products either under or over the tray such that it then extends to the sides of the tray, folding around the angled surfaces 58 so as to extend to the back of the products. For this purpose it transfers over the sidewalls and into the tray.

As can be seen in FIG. 97, in this embodiment an upstanding tab 184 is optionally provided for the back wall 20 and the elastic 10 extends between it and the products 186.

For this embodiment, the side walls need to have a low profile at at least one point near the front of the tray so that the elastic can pass thereover and into the inside of the tray 30 so as to wrap around the products 186.

The lower part of the side can theoretically extend for only a partial length of the side walls, towards the front end thereof, such as behind the front portions 34 to which the elastic was attached, as once the elastic is passed inside, it is free to travel without fouling the side walls 16.

Then, as shown in FIG. 98, a lid 80 can be applied onto the tray 30 for closing it.

Then, for releasing the products therefrom, as shown in FIG. 99 a tear off portion of the lid 80 can be removed leaving the tray open as in FIG. 100, wherein the products 186 can be removed therefrom.

The various features of each of the above-described, and illustrated, embodiments can be used together with features of the other embodiments.

The present invention has therefore been described above purely by way of specific embodiments and examples. Modifications in detail may be made to the invention and these embodiments within the scope of the claims and statements invention enclosed herein.

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