Various boxes, packages, packing cases, and other containers are known and used in various arts, e.g., for packaging, transportation, and storage. Examples include bliss boxes, regular slotted containers (RSCs), triple slide boxes, wrap-around boxes, recessed end boxes, and others. Boxes are most commonly made from corrugated fiberboard or cardboard sheets for a variety of reasons such as good strength, low cost, and low weight.
RSCs are prevalent in many industries, such as the wine and spirit packaging industry, and favored, particularly in the United States but in other countries as well, due to their ability to maintain stacking strength and the ability to reclose after opening. This enables RSCs to be reused for other purposes after opening. It also enables the contents of an RSC to be only partially removed, e.g., one or more selected items removed from the RSC without compromising the ability of the RSC to be reclosed and restacked. Bliss boxes generally provide similar benefits as RSCs, in addition to increased stacking strength. RSCs and bliss boxes are first assembled and then loaded with a product or products and closed for transport. Oppositely, wrap-around style boxes are formed by directly wrapping and closing a blank about a load. This provides a notable material savings over RSCs and bliss boxes and additional cost savings due to increased manufacturing speed. Opening a wrap-around box, however, results in a significant loss of structural integrity to the box. Boxes made from wrap-around blanks also cannot be reclosed without the use of adhesives, tape, fasteners, etc., and are thus essentially destroyed or rendered useless after opening. Due to the various trade-offs in cost, manufacturing speed, reusability, strength, etc., many industries would well receive new and alternate package designs.
A wraparound case includes a first blank component having no more than three panels defining a closure panel including a first side section, a second, opposing side section, a first edge and a second edge, a first side panel extending from the first side section and a second side panel extending from the first side section. The closure panel includes a feature extending between the first and second edges. The closure panel is selectively separable at the feature. A second blank component includes a base panel portion having a first side portion, an opposing second side portion, a first edge portion and a second edge portion, a third side panel extending from the first side portion, a fourth side panel extending from the second side portion, a first flap extending from the third side panel and a second flap extending from the fourth side panel. The first blank component and the second blank component are directly wrapable about a load with the third side panel being joinable to the first and second side panels and the first edge of the closure panel and the fourth side panel being joinable to the first and second side panels and the second edge of the closure panel. The first flap, the second flap and the base panel portion forming exactly one reclosable face of the wraparound case.
A method of forming a packing case, including wrapping a blank directly about a load, the blank having a plurality of panels; forming a packing case containing the load from the blank, the packing case having exactly one reclosable face.
The following descriptions should not be considered limiting in any way. With reference to the accompanying drawings, like elements are numbered alike:
A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the disclosed apparatus and method are presented herein by way of exemplification and not limitation with reference to the Figures.
At the outset it is to be appreciated that any mention of the terms top, bottom, side, left, right, width, height, length, or others indicating some orientation or direction are utilized for the sake of discussion only. These terms may be used to assist in describing an illustrated embodiment or some other particularly described embodiment, are not to be considered limiting to any of the claimed embodiments.
Referring now to
In the illustrated embodiment, a flap 26 is secured to each of the panels 20 opposite from the connection of the panels 20 with the panel 18. In the illustrated embodiment, the flaps 26 at least partially form or define an openable face 28 for the case 10. As will be appreciated in view of the below disclosure, the openable face 28 is also reclosable, such that the case 10 is reusable after opening.
The blank component 14 includes a set of tabs 30 that are hingedly connected (via the connections 25) to the panel 18 at the edges of the panel 18 that are not connected to the panels 20, and a set of tabs 32 that are hingedly connected to the panels 20 at the edges of the panels 20 that are not connected to the flaps 26 or the panel 18. By folding the panels 18, 20, and 22, flaps 26, and tabs 30 and 32 at the hinged connections 25 (dashed lines in
With respect to the orientation of the embodiment illustrated in
A set of dimensions D1, D2, D3, and D4 for the blank 12 are denoted in
A face 34 of the case 10 is shown in
As shown in
Regardless of orientation, the case 10 has one face intended to be opened, i.e., the openable face 28, with the remaining five faces being unopenable or intended to remain closed and undamaged during opening the case 10. By unopenable and/or closed and undamaged during opening the case 10 it is meant that the structural integrity of the case 10 in general, or any of the unopenable faces specifically, is not compromised by the opening process. More specifically, the structural integrity is not compromised if none of the unopenable faces or the hinged connections associated with the panels of the unopenable faces are split, cut, severed, unattached, disassembled, or otherwise broken in order to open the case 10. In other words, only the panels and/or flaps forming the openable face 28 are interacted with, destroyed, damaged, or modified in order to open the case 10. In one embodiment, a strip of tape or packing adhesive is applied along the seam formed where the flaps 26 meet on the openable face 28, and the case 10 is opened by cutting, splitting, breaking, severing, or removing the tape (the five unopenable faces, and all hinged connections associated therewith, are thereby unaffected by the opening of the case 10 and the structural integrity of the case 10 is uncompromised).
It is to be further appreciated that advantageously each of the five unopenable faces is formed by essentially a single one of the panels 18, 20, or 24. That is, each of the five unopenable faces shares the dimensions of a single one of the panels 18, 20, or 24. Alternatively stated, the dimensions of each of the unopenable faces of the case 10 is defined by a single one of the panels 18, 20, or 24. For example, the dimensions of the faces of the box in the illustrated embodiment will be shared and/or defined by the dimensions D1, D2, and D3 of the panels 18, 20, and 24 discussed above. This differs, for example, from traditional wraparound boxes, which have at least one pair of side panels that are formed from multiple flaps or panels, which generally meet at a seam down the middle of the face. The face 34, discussed above, includes the tabs 30 and 32, but these tabs overlap the panel 24 such that the face 34 is still defined by the panel 24 and shares the dimensions of the panel 24. Similarly, the bottom face of an RSC is formed by two to four flaps that generally meet at or near the middle of the bottom face. As a result, the bottom face, which must support the weight of the load in the box, is an openable face that is relatively weaker than the side faces and must be provided with a means for holding the bottom face closed, e.g., tape, adhesives, fasteners, etc.
In one embodiment, the blank components 14 and 16 each have at least one axis of symmetry. In the illustrated embodiment of
In the embodiment shown in
As previously noted, a goal of the case 10 and other embodiments discussed herein is to provide the benefits of a bliss box or RSC as well as that of a wraparound box. As discussed above, the arrangement of the case 10 enables the case 10 to be reopened, reclosed, and/or reused (e.g., the case 10 is reclosable and/or exhibits reclosability). Advantageously, the blank 12 is also uniquely arranged to be wrapped directly about a load in order to manufacture the case 10 and close or seal the case 10 about a load simultaneously. In other words, the blank 12 is a wraparound blank and the case 10 is a wraparound container for its initial load.
A method of directly wrapping the blank 12 about a load 44 and closing or sealing the blank 12 about the load 44 to form the case 10 can be better appreciated in view of
Regardless of the order of placement, once arranged as shown in
It is to be recognized that the case 10 and other cases according to the embodiments discussed herein provide a wrap-around case that exhibits reclosability, e.g., is reusable. These cases have very little waste, and can be manufactured at higher rates than RSCs, bliss boxes, or other reusable boxes. For example, the automated manufacture and loading of RSC boxes is currently limited to a speed of less than about seventy five boxes per minute, while wrap-around cases, including the cases discussed herein, are able to be manufactured and fully loaded at rates exceeding seventy five cases per minute. Other benefits of the cases disclosed herein include that the panel opposite from the openable face, e.g., the bottom panel, is flat and includes no steps, as would be present in traditional RSCs (a filler sheet typically is required to give an RSC an internally flat bottom). The addition of the panel 22 along with the flaps 26 and the opposing panel 18 results in there being three layers of material in the stacking direction, as opposed to traditional wrap-arounds that only have two layers, thereby providing enhanced protection of packed items when multiple cases are stacked atop each other. When directly wrapped around a load, the dimensions of the blank 12 can be set to closely match those of the load in order to tightly contain the load within the case. In this way, the cases discussed herein do not require internal dividers between individual items or products, even if the products or items are fragile, e.g., glass bottles.
While the invention has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiment or embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the claims. Also, in the drawings and the description, there have been disclosed exemplary embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms may have been employed, they are unless otherwise stated used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention therefore not being so limited. Moreover, the use of the terms first, second, etc. do not denote any order or importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another. Furthermore, the use of the terms a, an, etc. do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item.
The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/826,004 filed on Mar. 14, 2013, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2082677 | Belsinger | Jun 1937 | A |
2124409 | Andrews | Jul 1938 | A |
3246744 | Marnon | Apr 1966 | A |
3434648 | Du, Jr. | Mar 1969 | A |
3744700 | Stegmann | Jul 1973 | A |
3817018 | Vickers | Jun 1974 | A |
3910483 | Ritter | Oct 1975 | A |
4133474 | Hall | Jan 1979 | A |
4275828 | De Franco | Jun 1981 | A |
4471870 | Uhlig | Sep 1984 | A |
4871067 | Valenti | Oct 1989 | A |
5495943 | Bienaime | Mar 1996 | A |
6283363 | Focke | Sep 2001 | B1 |
7066379 | McLeod et al. | Jun 2006 | B2 |
7837089 | Pacheco | Nov 2010 | B2 |
20060272961 | Justice et al. | Dec 2006 | A1 |
20080257942 | Lebras | Oct 2008 | A1 |
20100314436 | Tao | Dec 2010 | A1 |
20110049226 | Moreau et al. | Mar 2011 | A1 |
20140260106 | Weaver et al. | Sep 2014 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
922280 | Mar 1973 | CA |
29501690 | Mar 1995 | DE |
0409366 | Jan 1991 | EP |
547523 | Sep 1942 | GB |
929805 | Jun 1963 | GB |
2005219792 | Aug 2005 | JP |
Entry |
---|
Extended European Search Report and Written Opinion for EP Patent Application No. 15190019.8, dated Jan. 20, 2016, pp. 1-10. |
International Preliminary Report of Patentability for PCT Application No. PCT/US2014/021829, dated Sep. 15, 2015, pp. 1-10. |
International Search Report and Written Opinion for PCT Application No. PCT/US2014/021829, dated Jun. 20, 2014, pp. 1-14. |
Extended Search Report and Written Opinion dated Dec. 9, 2016 in related EP Patent Application No. 14772945, 8 pages. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20170008682 A1 | Jan 2017 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 13826004 | Mar 2013 | US |
Child | 15270345 | US |