AU742868B2

AU742868B2 - A carrier and process for making a carrier

Info

Publication number: AU742868B2
Application number: AU68045/98A
Authority: AU
Inventors: David Johnston
Original assignee: C L JOHNSTON PACKAGING CO Pty
Current assignee: C L JOHNSTON PACKAGING CO Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1997-05-22
Filing date: 1998-05-22
Publication date: 2002-01-17
Anticipated expiration: 2018-05-22
Also published as: AU6804598A

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 C L JOHNSTON PACKAGING CO PTY LTD

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT

S.

Invention Title: A carrier and process for making a carrier The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to us:- Technical Field The present invention relates to a carrier for articles and to a method of forming such carriers from a blank.

Background Art There are numerous carriers on the market today which are used to transport articles including bottles, cans and plastic or polystyrene vessels containing beverages and/or food. Carriers exist in the form of semimanufactured carriers which can be stored and transported in a flat form and assembled prior to use. Such carriers are particularly useful when a plurality of beverage containers are obtained from a liquor retailer, take-away restaurant, food stall or similar. There exist carriers which cannot be selfassembled and which are generally sold as a form of packaging with the relevant articles in place.

Carriers of the prior art are in the form of trays having downward extending flaps with no carrying means, and carriers which incorporate a handle but which have little structural stability when not loaded with articles.

There is a need for a collapsible carrier which is capable of being stored and transported in a flat form but which is structurally stable when 20 assembled with or without being loaded with articles.

The present invention proposes a carrier in which at least one of a plurality of compartments to hold articles is formed with a structural support during its assembly.

Disclosure of the Invention o, 25 Throughout this specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will eo* be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or o: group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.

In a first aspect, the present invention provides a carrier made from a blank of sheet material which in a collapsed state can exist in a substantially flat form, said carrier having at least one article supporting section comprising:a) a base wall adapted to support at least one article, b) at least first and second substantially parallel opposed side walls hingedly connected to said base; and

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3 c) an upper wall connected to at least one side wall and defining an aperture for receiving an article, characterised in that: d) at least one flap is hingedly connected to a wall of said carrier; e) each said flap being substantially parallel to its connected wall and fully contained within the aperture when said carrier is collapsed and being movable up out of the plane of the connected wall to open the aperture when said carrier is assembled for use such that opposite edges of the flap are in contact with respective opposed walls so as to form a structural support which maintains the opposed walls spaced apart when the carrier is assembled.

The carrier according to a first aspect of the present invention has the advantage of being collapsible and space saving in its pre-assembled form and structurally stable and rigid in its assembled form. This means that the carrier can be readily stored and transported in its flat pre-assembled space saving form and easily folded into its assembled form for use as a structurally stable carrier.

It is preferred that each flap is hinged to an upper surface of the carrier and comprises sheet material which is displaced to form the aperture. A carrier according to this preferred embodiment has many advantages. Firstly, 20 it is a cost effective way of achieving the invention. The carrier may be made from a blank which is essentially rectangular in shape, and wherein the flaps defining the aperture are able to be pre-cut in the section of the blank which defines the upper surface. This in turn enables easy assembly of the carrier in both the pre-assembled and assembled form. Use of the carrier in its S 25 assembled form may be effected by simply inserting the article, into the precut flaps to form apertures without the necessity of glue or any other fixing means. The aperture formed by inserting the article into the pre-cut flaps holds the article in position while the movement of the flaps caused by insertion of the article maintain the rigidity of the carrier by forming a structural support between opposed side walls.

Preferably, the aperture formed by the flaps is square or octagonal in shape. This ensures that a flat surface of each flap comes into contact with the opposed side walls when the carrier is in use, thereby providing rigidity to the carrier.

4j) 4 In another embodiment of the invention, the flap is hingedly connected to one side wall and optionally interconnectable to an opposing side wall.

The carriers of the present invention may be made from a variety of materials including corrugated or non-corrugated cardboard which may be pearl coated for ease of adornment with advertising/promotional information and for added wet strength.

Conveniently the carrier may define a handle. The handle may define a central wall of the carrier to form a carrier with an article supporting section on either side of the handle.

In a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of forming a carrier of the invention in a collapsed pre-assembled form comprising the steps of: providing a blank of foldable material, the blank defining a base, at least first and second side walls hingedly connected to said base and at least 0.4 one flap hingedly connected to a surface of said blank, and folding the blank to form a collapsed pre-assembled carrier, "In a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a blank for 0" forming a carrier according to the first aspect of the invention.

20 Brief Description of the Drawings A By way of example only, two preferred embodiments of the invention are now described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a carrier according to the present invention; 25 Figure 2 is a top view of the carrier of Figure 1 in its collapsed condition; Figure 3 is a perspective view of the carrier of Figure 1 when loaded "with articles; Figure 4 is a top view of the blank used to make the carrier of Figures 1 to 3; Figure 5 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the invention; and Figure 6 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of a carrier of the invention.

Preferred Mode of Carrying out the Invention A carrier of the present invention is generally depicted as 10 with article supporting sections 6.

With reference to Figures 1 and 3, each carrier 10 consists of an upright extension portion 1, a top surface 2, an outer side wall 3, a base 4 and an inner side wall 5. Portion 1 and the side wall 5 form a middle wall of the symmetrical carrier. The upper wall 2 contains three apertures which are each capable of holding an article such as a bottle or a can.

Top surface 2 is hingedly connected to side walls 3 and 5 as is bottom wall or base 4.

With reference to the carrier in its assembled form, as shown in Figs 1 and 3 display tab-shaped handle portions 9.

Figure 2 depicts the apertures of the carrier in the pre-assembled, flat form. The top surface 2 of each holding part 7 contains a total of three compartments to hold an article. Each compartment opening is octagonal in shape and consists of two flaps 8a and 8b. Each flap is hinged to the surface

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"2 only along sides 7.

Figure 3 depicts the carrier when in use. It is clear that flaps 8a. 8b are in a vertical position, being substantially perpendicular to top surface 2.

20 When the carrier is in use the walls 3 and 5 are structurally separated by virtue of their contact with flaps 8a. 8b.

Figure 5 depicts an alternative embodiment of the carrier of the present invention. Unlike the apertures of the embodiment depicted in Figures 1 to 4, the apertures of the embodiment shown in Figure 5 do not contain flaps.

25 Instead, flaps 15 which provide structural support to the carrier are located at diagonally opposed ends of each article supporting section 6. Only one flap 15 is visible in Figure 5. It will be noted that the flap 15 is interconnected to .o the middle wall 5 by means of a tab 16 inserted into a slot located in the middle wall 5. All edges of the flap 15 are able to provide structural support to the carrier by virtue of each edge contacting the opposing side walls 3 and and the top and bottom surfaces 2 and 4.

The embodiment of Figure 6 is the same as that of Fig 1 apart from the provision of the handle which in Fig 6 is in the form of a plastics strap 9 clipped to upright extension portion 1.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

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Claims

1. A collapsible carrier includes: a) a base wall adapted to support at least one article; b) at least first and second substantially parallel opposed side walls hingedly connected to said base; and c) an upper wall connected to at least one side wall and defining an aperture for receiving an article, characterised in that: d) at least one flap is hingedly connected to a wall of said carrier; e) each said flap being substantially parallel to its connected wall and fully contained within the aperture when said carrier is collapsed and being movable up out of the plane of the connected wall to open the aperture when said carrier is assembled for use such that opposite edges of the flap are in contact with respective opposed walls so as to form a structural support which maintains the opposed walls spaced apart when the carrier is 15 assembled. o o

2. A carrier as claimed in claim 1 wherein each flap is hingedly connected to the upper wall. S: 20

3. A carrier as claimed in claim 2 wherein each flap is formed by being punched or cut out of the upper wall to provide each aperture.

4. A carrier as claimed in claim 2 or 3 wherein the apertures are octagonal.

A carrier as claimed in claim 1 wherein each flap is hingedly connected to a side wall.

6. A carrier as claimed in claim 5 wherein each flap is formed by being punched or cut out of a side wall.

7. A carrier as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein a pair of article supporting sections situate either side of an upright extension.

8. .A carrier as claimed in claim 7 wherein a carrying handle is formed in the upright extension.

9. A carrier as claimed in claim 7 wherein a carrying handle is affixed to the upright extension. A carrier substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs 1-4 or Fig 5 or Fig 6 of the accompanying drawings. Dated this seventh day of November 2001 C L JOHNSTON PACKAGING CO PTY LTD Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: F B RICE CO