GB1586160A - Creación de Inventos y Patentes con Inteligencia Artificial

GB1586160A – Packaging
– Google Patents

GB1586160A – Packaging
– Google Patents
Packaging

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Publication number
GB1586160A

GB1586160A
GB1393576A
GB1393576A
GB1586160A
GB 1586160 A
GB1586160 A
GB 1586160A
GB 1393576 A
GB1393576 A
GB 1393576A
GB 1393576 A
GB1393576 A
GB 1393576A
GB 1586160 A
GB1586160 A
GB 1586160A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
reinforcement
pack
spine
articles
pusher
Prior art date
1977-07-26
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)

Expired

Application number
GB1393576A
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)

Quaker Oats Ltd

Original Assignee
Quaker Oats Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
1977-07-26
Filing date
1977-07-26
Publication date
1981-03-18

1977-07-26
Application filed by Quaker Oats Ltd
filed
Critical
Quaker Oats Ltd

1977-07-26
Priority to GB1393576A
priority
Critical
patent/GB1586160A/en

1981-03-18
Publication of GB1586160A
publication
Critical
patent/GB1586160A/en

Status
Expired
legal-status
Critical
Current

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Classifications

B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING

B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL

B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES

B65D5/00—Rigid or semi-rigid containers of polygonal cross-section, e.g. boxes, cartons or trays, formed by folding or erecting one or more blanks made of paper

B65D5/42—Details of containers or of foldable or erectable container blanks

B65D5/44—Integral, inserted or attached portions forming internal or external fittings

B65D5/48—Partitions

B65D5/48024—Partitions inserted

B65D5/4804—Partitions inserted formed by folding strips essentially in tubes, U- or S-shape

B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING

B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL

B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING

B65B61/00—Auxiliary devices, not otherwise provided for, for operating on sheets, blanks, webs, binding material, containers or packages

B65B61/20—Auxiliary devices, not otherwise provided for, for operating on sheets, blanks, webs, binding material, containers or packages for adding cards, coupons or other inserts to package contents

B65B61/207—Auxiliary devices, not otherwise provided for, for operating on sheets, blanks, webs, binding material, containers or packages for adding cards, coupons or other inserts to package contents for inserting partitions between package contents

B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING

B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL

B65D71/00—Bundles of articles held together by packaging elements for convenience of storage or transport, e.g. portable segregating carrier for plural receptacles such as beer cans or pop bottles; Bales of material

B65D71/06—Packaging elements holding or encircling completely or almost completely the bundle of articles, e.g. wrappers

B65D71/08—Wrappers shrunk by heat or under tension, e.g. stretch films or films tensioned by compressed articles

B65D71/10—Wrappers shrunk by heat or under tension, e.g. stretch films or films tensioned by compressed articles and provided with inserts

B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING

B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL

B65D2571/00—Bundles of articles held together by packaging elements for convenience of storage or transport, e.g. portable segregating carrier for plural receptacles such as beer cans, pop bottles; Bales of material

B65D2571/00006—Palletisable loads, i.e. loads intended to be transported by means of a fork-lift truck

B65D2571/00012—Bundles surrounded by a film

B65D2571/00018—Bundles surrounded by a film under tension

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN PACKAGING
(71) We, QUAKER OATS LIMITED, a
British Company, of P.O. Box No. 13,
Bridge Road, Southall, Middlesex, UB2 4AG do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement :
This invention relates to packaging.
It is commonplace to pack unit cartons or cans in cardboard boxes. There are however disadvantages in this method of packaging such as the cost and complexity of fabrication of boxes, the cost of packaging, and the risk of damage to the contents on shock-loading or by access of moisture.
Moreover, the boxes are cumbersome to recycle for repulping and have no inherent display characteristics, that is to say they must be suitably printed to indicate the nature of their contents.
Of recent years it has become common to pack unit containers in a transparent heat-sealed pack of synthetic polymeric material, usually shrunk into place around a row or stack of the articles. This has the advantage that the articles can be seen through the pack for display purposes and that the outer wrap, e.g. a shrink-wrap, is easily disposable and impervious to moisture. Such a wrap however, has no or little structural reinforcing effect upon the total pack. That is to say, the pack can easily be deformed e.g. by misuse, rough handling, or high stacking. This is particularly the case when two or more rows of articles are packed in a transparent heat-shrunk pack. Where this has hitherto been done it is generally true that the articles themselves provide the dimensional stability.In other words, cans can be shrink-wrapped fairly readily because they are inherently rigid but cartons of soft material cannot be effectively shrinkwrapped in useful numbers unless the cartons themselves are of unacceptably thick and hence expensive construction.
The present invention sets out to overcome the above disadvantages and provides a shrink-wrapped or stretch-wrapped pack which comprises: (a) a plurality of rectilinear articles in the form of a number of regular stacks, (b) a reinforcement consisting essentially of stiff but bendable cellulosic packaging material and comprising at least one spine portion of double or multiple thickness and coplanar leaf portions of single thickness integral with one end of each spine portion and extending at right angles thereto, the said leaf portions and spine portions thereby defining the limits of rectilinear spaces each holding one of the stacks of articles so as jointly to enclose the or each spine portion between adjacent stacks as an internal reinforcement within the total pack, and so as to ensure that at least one face of each article is in frictional face-toface contact with a face of the reinforcement, but that an end article of each stack, displaying its major face, is uncovered by any part of the reinforcement, and (c) a see-through polymer film stretchwrapped or shrink-wrapped over the pack to leave the said end article major faces visible while presenting the said end article major faces visible while presenting an internally reinforced pack of good dimensional stability wherein the enclosed articles are not subject to relative movement.
The single leaf portions may themselves possess integral extensions at angles to their joint plane, preferably in each case at a right angle so as to lie parallel to the spine portion.
The cellulosic packaging material can be cardboard, paperboard or the like.
Preferably the material is a corrugated cardboard with the flutes running parallel to the intersection of that plane containing a spine portion and that plane containing the leaf portions.
The spine portion is preferably a doublethickness portion, preferably with both thicknesses glued together, conveniently made by folding back on itself a length of the packaging material such as cardboard.
A first basic possible form of such a reinforcing member (also referred to herein as a » T-shaped reinforcement») made from a single length of packaging material, such as cardboard, has only one spine portion with the thicknesses glued together, formed by folding back on itself part of the length of material, and two free integral coplanar leaf portions extending at right angles to the spine portion and from one end thereof. Preferably integral extensions of the leaf portions are folded back parallel to the spine, such extensions being the same length as the spine.
A second basic possible form (also refererred to herein as a cruciform reinforcing member) consists of two identical reinforcing members as described in the preceding paragraph (i.e. with or without the integral extensions to the leaf portions) stuck together by their free leaf portions to give a cruciform member. Alternatively, a folding cruciform member could be made from a suitable integral blank.
A third basic possible form is also made from a single length of packaging material, such as cardboard and has two parallel spine portions, (preferably double thickness) each with the thicknesses glued together and formed by folding back on itself part of the length of material and three integral coplanar leaf portions extending at right angles to the spine portions and from like ends thereof, the end leaves being free and the central leaf connecting the two double-thickness portions. Once again, integral extensions can be provided at the ends of the free end leaves.
The relative dimensions of the component parts of the reinforcing member can cover a wide range. Generally speaking, the rectangular-sided volume of space occupied by the maximum dimensions of the reinforcing member has its shorter notional sides at least 0.1 of the length of its longest notional side, and preferably at least one-third thereof.
The wrapping of polymer is a shrinkwrapping e.g. where a prestressed film is placed round the pack and shrunk into place, or a stretch-wrapping where a film or sleeve is stretched over a pack and allowed to contract.
The reinforcing member extends from one face of the pack to the opposite face.
In the pack, there may be used any of the basic forms of the reinforcing member itemised above; the reinforcing member preferably extends » vertically» (e.g. in the direction of corrugations in the cardboard) to terminate flush with upper and lower faces of the pack.
A preferred method of producing the Tshaped reinforcement comprises the steps of:
(a) taking a blank with one straight central score line and two futher straight score lines parallel to the central score line and equally spaced therefrom;
(b) progressing the scored blank through a glueing station where glue is applied on one face between the said further score lines;
(c) progressing the blank through a folding station wherein the blank is displaced at the centre thereof out of its plane to fold together those two regions each defined between the centre score line and one of said further score lines while maintaining substantially in the original plane those regions outside said further score lines, the displacement being in a direction to enclose the glued area within the fold;;
(d) and progressing the fold through a compressing station to produce a glued Tshaped reinforcement member with a double thickness spine and two free integral coplanar leaf portions extending at right angles to the spine and at one end thereof.
Possibly an unscored blank is progressed as part of the above method, through an initial scoring station, although a magazine of scored blanks is usually used. Usually moreover the blank is elongate and rectangular with the score lines parallel to the shorter sides. Moreover, all of the progressing steps are preferably effected in the direction of score lines, and can be effected by using a conveyor means preferably an indexing conveyor means. Preferably also glue is applied to the underside of the blank and the centre is displaced upwards to produce the fold, which fold is then preferably passed between compression belts or rollers, vertically journalled, to effect glueing.
Production of the modified form of reinforcement with the integral extenisons of the leaves, can also be effected by a similar method.
Suitable equipment to carry out the above method essentially comprises a magazine for holding blanks, a glueing station, a folding station, and a compression station, all in combination with means to progress the blanks successively through the above stations in the order given; a scoring station is located after the magazine and before the glueing station.
The progressing means is usually two spaced parallel conveyor belts or chains, preferably indexing, passing (a) beneath the magazine, (b) above a glueing station (e.g.
one or more rotatable wheels partly immersed in a glue container) and (c) above a folding station comprising an erector leaf parallel to the belts or chains and capable of vertical movement from a level below that of the belts or chains to a level above.
Moreover, the compression station preferably comprises two vertically journalled belts in pressure contact.
The preferred method of producing the cruciform member is rather similar but involves a differently scored blank and different folding and glueing steps. For convenience it may be separately defined as follows :
(a) taking a blank with a first straight central score line, two further straight score lines parallel to the first central score line and equally spaced therefrom, and a second
straight score line at right angles to the first straight score line, the second central score line being cut through the blank along that portion of its length lying between said further score lines;
(b) progressing the scored blank through a glueing station where glue is applied on one face between the said further score lines;;
(c) progressing the blank through a folding station wherein the blank is displaced out of its plane at the centre to fold those two regions each defined between the first central score line and one of said further score lines, while maintaining substantially in the original plane those regions outside said further score lines, displacement being in a direction to enclose the glued area within the fold;
(d) progressing the fold through a compression station to produce a glued reinforcement member with a double thickness spine and two free integral coplanar leaf portions extending at right angles to the spine and at one end thereof;
(e) progressing said glued reinforcement through a second glueing station wherein glue is applied outside of both said further score lines at the faces remote from the spine;;
(f) folding the glued reinforcement back along the second central score line to open out the cut portion of the blank, and
(g) progressing the folded reinforcement thereby produced through a second compression stage to bring into glued contact the glued regions arising from the second glueing stage and thereby produce a cruciform reinforcement member.
Once again, it is possible to score and fold the blank additionally to provide integral extensions to the leaf portions.
Possibly an unscored blank is again progressed as part of the method through
an additional scoring station, although a magazine of scored blanks is usually used.
Possibly also there is a cutting station to provide the cut portion of the blank either
simultaneously with scoring or upon the
already scored blanks from the magazine.
Usually, moreover, a rectangular blank with the said further score lines parallel to the
shorter sides is used. All progressing steps
are preferably in the direction of these
further score lines, e.g. by using a conveyor means preferably an indexing conveyor means.
Preferably moreover, in each case glue is applied to the underside of the blank so that the first central score line is displaced upwards to produce the initial fold, which is preferably passed between compression belts or rollers, vertically journalled to effect glueing, while the second fold (to open out the cut) is made in a downward direction again preferably thereafter utilising compression belts or rollers to effect glueing but in this case horizontally journalled.
Suitable equipment to carry out the above method again essentially comprises a magazine for holding blanks, a glueing station, a folding station, and a compression station all in combination with means to progress the blanks successively through the above stations in the order given; and further comprises, optionally as a detachable unit, a second glueing station, a second folding station and a second compression station in combination with transfer means to pass the reinforcement member successively through said stations in the order given.
The second glueing station is again preferably at least one rotatable wheel partly immersed in a glue container. The second folding station preferably comprises a vertically reciprocable member capable of vertical movement from a level above that of the glued spine to a level below, thereby to fold down part of each reinforcement coming from the compression station. The second compression station preferably comprises two horizontally journalled belts in pressure contact.
The reinforcement members and a stack of articles can be collated together in many different ways.
The T-shaped reinforcement member as described above may be stacked with articles by the steps of (a) feeding the T-shaped reinforcement member with its spine vertical and its leaf portions horizontal to a collating station along a horizontal path and in the direction of the line of intersection of the spine and the leaves; (b) feeding a plurality of said articles to the collating station in a horizontal path at right angles to the reinforcement feed direction, the articles being so dimensioned and stacked as to fit on each leaf at either side of the spine; (c) transferring within the collating zone two groups df said articles in a horizontal path and in a direction opposite to, or the same as, that of the reinforcement feed the two groups being transferred either simultaneously or consecutively, so that the groups are located each on a leaf and on either side of the spine; (d) and transferring the collated combination of reinforcement member and of articles stacked thereon at right angles to the reinforcement feed direction in the horizontal path out of the collating zone.
Such a collated combination of reinforcement member and articles can thereafter be transferred to a suitable wrapping station.
The cruciform reinforcement member may be stacked with a suitable plurality of articles by the steps of (a) feeding the reinforcement member to a collating station along a horizontal path in the direction of the intersection line of the plane arms of the cruciform member; (b) feeding a plurality of articles to the collating station along a horizontal path and in a direction at right angles to the reinforcement feed direction, such articles being dimensioned and stacked as to fit in any of the four bays defined between the arms of the reinforcement member; (c) transferring two groups of said articles along a horizontal path and in a direction opposite to, or the same as, that of the reinforcement feed, the two groups being transferred either simultaneously or consecutively so that the groups are located either in the two upper bays or in the two lower bays of the reinforcement member; (d) displacing the reinforcement member vertically; (e) again transferring two groups of the articles in a direction opposite to or the same as that of the reinforcement feed, the two groups being transferred either simultaneously or consecutively, so that the groups are located in the two remaining bays; (f) and transferring the collated combination of reinforcement member and stacked articles at right angles to the reinforcement feed direction in a horizontal path out of the collating zone.
Again, such a collated combination can thereafter be transferred to a suitable wrapping station.
Collation of the modified forms of reinforcement member, with integral angled extensions on the leaves, can be effected by generally similar methods to the above.
The invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 shows a typical T-shaped reinforcing member in place in a pack of 12 cartons;
Figures 2 and 3 show in diagrammatic form other shapes of reinforcing member possessing the same function as that shown in Figure 1;
Figure 4 shows in diagrammatic form the essentials of a machine which can be used for producing a T-shaped reinforcing member as shown in Figure 1 or a cruciform reinforcing member as shown in Figure 2;
Figure 5 shows diagrammatically steps in a method of folding a reinforcing member as shown in Figure 2;
Figure 6 shows diagrammatically a collating unit for incorporating a reinforcing member as shown in Figure 1 into a pack of articles;
Figure 7 shows diagrammatically a collating unit for incorporating a reinforcing member as shown in Figure 2 into a pack of articles;;
Figure 8 shows in perspective view a modified T-shaped reinforcing member; and
Figure 9 shows in perspective view a modified cruciform reinforcing member.
The materials of construction utilized in the specific embodiments are by way of example only and are not to be taken as limiting the above-defined invention.
In Figure 1 a reinforcing member is shown which consists of an elongated piece of cardboard 1 folded so as to exhibit a spine portion 2 of double thickness and two leaf portions 3. As shown in the drawing the cardboard is corrugated and the corrugations extend vertically i.e. parallel to the line 4 which marks the intersection of those two planes containing on the one hand the two leaf portions 3 and on the other hand the double portion 2. The two parts of the double portion 2 are glued together to form a rigid spine. This reinforcing member is located in use between two stacks, each of six cartons and referenced as 5 and 6, and extends from top to bottom of the pack.
Stack 6 is shown in dotted line so as not to obscure the depicted structure of the cardboard reinforcement.
Such an arrangement as shown in Figure 1 effectively isolates the deformability of each row or stack of cartons so that when the whole arrangement is shrink-wrapped (which is customarily effected so as to leave a heat-sealed seam as shown at 7 and a partially open end as shown at 7a3 a unitary pack of good strength is obtained while still preserving most of the low cost of a simple shrink-wrapped pack and many of the display characteristics. In other words, only one face of the pack is covered.
The pack as shown in Figure 1 is of wide applicability to carton-type containers.
Thus, it can be applied to for example relatively heavy containers of milled oats as well as to relatively light containers e.g.
of expanded breakfast cereal. It is to be noted moreover that the double portion 2 of the pack, which provides most of the mechanical strength and resistance to deformation, is located with an environment of relatively steady conditions. It is known for instance, that the outer box of certain.
packaged materials which vary in their water content is also affected in its water content by the proximity of the material and presumably therefore the concentration of water vapour. In material such as cardboard even a few percent difference in the water content maye considerable difference to the strength. However, in the present pack not only is most of the surface covered by polymer film which is impervious
to water vapour but also the main reinforcing member is in the middle of the stack of cartons and thus in a fairly constant environment.
As will be seen from Figure 1, a typical pack according to the invention has good display characteristics. Figure 2, however, shows diagrammatically a reinforcing member for a pack to be shrink-wrapped in which the display characteristics of the resulting pack are identical with those of a pack which has merely been shrinkwrapped. This objective can be achieved by taking two members 1 as shown in Figure 1 as shown in Figure 1 and gluing them together by their leaves 3 to form a cruciform reinforcing member. The requisite number of cartons (usually 3, 4, 5 or 6) can be arranged in each of the four corners thereby available giving a strong internally reinforced shrink-wrapped pack.
Figure 3 shows a further variant in diagrammatic form in which the reinforcing member is provided with two doublethickness spine portions as shown. In such an instance the requisite number of cartons can be stacked in each of the three available bays prior to shrink wrapping. While it is obviously theoretically possible to increase the number of spines and thus the number of bays for holding cartons it will be found in practice that the necessary blank which is to be folded and glued tends to be unduly long and unmanageable if more than two spines are present.
It will be apparent how the pack as shown in Figure 1 optionally modified to contain reinforcing elements as shown in
Figures 2 and 13 can have various relevant dimensions of the component parts of its reinforcing member. Normally it is convenient to so dimension the reinforcing member that it provides useful reinforcement for a pack containing 12, 18 or 24 cartons. In terms of overall dimension such packs are not normally larger than say 24 inches by 18 inches by 18 inches and may be appreciably smaller.
By way of example, and with reference to Figure 1, packs have been made up from using as a reinforcing member grade 9 TBM cardboard wherein the distance A is 7″ (18 cm), the distance B is 8i» (22cm) and the distance C is 82 (22cm). Such packs have been used to stack twelve cartons of a dry pasta, six on each side of the spine as shown. The outer wrap was polyethylene, the gauge being 200. It is noteworthy that because of the internal reinforcement for a given pack a thinner and hence cheaper grade of polyethylene can be used.
In another example a pack was made up where, in the reinforcement, distance A was 15″, (38 cm) distance B was 11″, (28 cm) and distance C was 62″ (16 cm). This was used to pack two rows each of six cartons of a soft moist cat food, each carton containing four somewhat resilient foil sachets of this moist product. Once again the cardboard was TBM Grade 9 and the polythene wrap was of gauge 200.
Packs as shown are of good compressive strength in the perpendicular direction because the flutes run without any bends or score lines, and the packets are always stacked with the spines (and hence the flutes) vertical. Moreover, there is an advantage in shock-loading or damageresistant characteristics since the main reinforcement instead of being the angle of an external box (which is the first thing damaged if a case is dropped) is a protected double thickness lying within the material.
Corner damage may affect perhaps one carton in the pack according to the invention but should not lead to progressive damage to the whole case.
The packs according to the invention may be stacked with the spines vertical in accordance with pallet loading methods and to heights in accordance with normal distribution and warehousing practice.
Figure 4 shows diagrammatically equipment which can be used either to form the
reinforcement member as shown in Figure 1 (T-shaped) or that as shown in Figure 2 (cruciform).
It consists of an inclined magazine 8 containing a plurality of flat cardboard blanks 9 which are transferred by a suction pick-up arm 10 (see also 38 in Figure 6) to lie upon successive locations of an indexing carrier chain 11. Successive movements of the carrier chain transfer a blank beneath an adjustable die station 12, over a glue applicator 13 (consisting of a tank 14 containing glue and a rotatable wheel 15
dipping into the glue to provide a continuous feed of glue to the underside of the blank) and over an erector blade 16.
As described below, the above structure can be used to produce a folded and glued
T-shaped reinforcement member as shown in Figure 1 which is transferred by pusher
17 to pass between vertically journalled compression belts 18 so that the glued surfaces within the spine are firmly pressed together.
To produce a T-shaped reinforcement member a suitable blank is transferred from the magazine, and if not already scored with a central fold-line 19 and two further
fold-lines 20 (see Figure 6) is provided with
such lines e.g. at blanking die station 12.
The glue applicator 13 applies glue to the underside of the blank between the lines 20 (see Figure 6). When – the blank passes over the erector blade and this moves vertically upwards the blank becomes folded around central line 19 to bring further score lines 20 together and form a glued spine (see
Figure 6). (It will be appreciated that not all the necessary structure is shown at 16 since the drawing is diagrammatic only).
The pusher 17 pushes the glued reinforcement member onwards to pass between vertical belts 18 in order that the spine is firmly pressed together.
The further structure shown in Figure 4 consists of a glue applicator 22 again consisting of a glue tank 23 and a rotatable wheel 24. Beyond this, in the direction of travel of the reinforcement there is a kicker 25, a transfer belt 26, and horizontally journalled compression belts 27 having an inclined surface or plough 28 as a lead-in.
This further structure is concerned with the manufacture of a cruciform reinforcing member as shown for example in Figure 3.
The early stages of manufacture of this member are substantially as described above as for the T-shaped member shown in Figure 1, except that the blank is differently scored. Erection of the cruciform member can best be described with reference to Figure 5, in which the blanks 29 in the magazine have a first central score line 30, a second central score line 31 at right angles to the first, and two further score lines 32. This blank is progressed to the blanking die station 12 (Figure 4) where a central cut 33 is made along the second central score line 31 between the two further score lines 33.
The combination of glueing station 13 and erector blade 16 (shown in Figure 4) produces a folded member shown generally at 34 by the method as described above.
Intermittent operation of the kicker 25 as each such member 34 passes beneath it pushes down the front part of the member i.e. in such a direction as to open out the cut 33. This pressed-down portion of the member then catches on the plough or inclined surface 28 (Figure 4) so that the intermediate shape shown at 35 becomes transformed to a cruciform member36.
This is passed with its horizontal arms between two pairs of compression belts as shown at 27 which glue together the internal surfaces of the horizontal arms to which glue has earlier been applied by glueing station 22 (see Figure 4).
Figure 6 shows how a T-shaped member as shown in Figure 1 can be collated with a suitable stack of articles prior to wrappmg, for example shrink wrapping.
For clarity not all of the structure of
Figure 4 is shown in Figure 6 but it will be appreciated that the blanks from magazine 37 are transferred by suction pick-up arms 38 to lie upon the indexing chain 39 and eventually to be transformed into a
T-shaped reinforcing member 40 equivalent to that shown in Figure 1.
This T-shaped member passes in a direction of the line formed by the intersection of the spine 41 and leaves 42 into a collating station generally indicated at 43. The collating station consists essentially of a first pusher 44, a second pusher 45, a third pusher 46, a stop plate 47, and a product feed 48. Elevator mechanism 49 collates the articles one above the other as shown in stacks 51 and 52.
Additional structure shown in Figure 6 includes conveyor belts 50 to transfer the collated combination of the reinforcement member 40 and the stack of articles 51 and 52 into an over-wrap station 53 in which a suitable material shown at 54 is heat shrunk or wrapped around the collated combination.
In operation of this equipment the reinforcement member 40 arrives at the collating station. Stack 51 of articles, which has previously been chosen to fit with the dimensions of the reinforcement member arrives at gate 47 and is pushed in a direction against that of reinforcement feed onto one leaf of the reinforcement by the first pusher 44. First pusher 44 defines with one of its faces a second stop location 44a, and a second stack of articles 52 arrives at this stop location 44a from which it is transferred, again in a direction opposite to that of reinforcement feed, by second pusher 45. Thus two stacks of articles are located on the reinforcement member so that by operation of the third pusher 46 the combination can be transferred between conveyor belts 50 and thence onward, picking up a wrapping of film 54, into the wrapping station 53.
Figure 7 shows a somewhat similar but more complex collating station for use with a cruciform reinforcement member.
In Figure 7 a cruciform reinforcement member 55 is fed by horizontally journalled conveyor belts 56 with at least one vertical leaf held in a guide rail 57 until it arrives at the collating station. This collating station comprises essentially a first pusher 58, a second pusher 59, a third pusher 60, z fourth pusher 61, and a product-in-feed 62. Also provided is a de-elevator unit 63 (whose function will be described in more detail below) and vertically journalled conveyor belts 64 for transferring the collated combination of cruciform reinforcement and stacked articles through a film 65 into a wrapping station 66.
The collating station of Figure 7 operates as follows. When the cruciform member is fed to the collating station, that is to say into a position shown at 55′, a product infeed 62 of articles conveys a stack of articles 67 of predetermined number and dimension to fit within one of the bays of the cruciform reinfdrcement member 55 into the path of the first pusher. The first pusher pushes these articles all the way to a stop plate 58a in a direction at right angles to that of reinforcement feed, and at this location the second pusher 59 transfers these articles against the direction of reinforcement feed into one of the two bottom bays of the reinforcement member.
In doing this the second pusher defines by its face 59a, a second stop position, at which a second stack of articles arrives and whereat it is acted upon by the third pusher 60 to be transferred against the direction of reinforcement feed into the other lower bay of the reinforcement member.
When both lower bays are filled the deelevator unit 63 is operated so that the partially filled reinforcement member is pushed downwards by an extent equal to the length of one of the arms. At this juncture the second pusher and third pusher are again consecutively operated to fill the two remaining bays in the reinforcement. The reinforcement member is com- pletely filled with articles and at this stage is acted upon by the fourth pusher 61 into the space between conveyor belts 64 by which it is transferred to pick upi a layer of wrapping 65 and into the wrapping station 66.
Various modifications may be made within the scope of the present invention and to the equipment and methods shown in the above drawings. For instance, the man skilled in the art will appreciate how the reinforcement device shown in Figure 3 can be folded, glued, and collated with a suitable stack of articles using equipment generally similar to that shown but with a different sequence of folding steps and a differently scored blank as a starting member.
Figure 8, which uses in part the same reference numerals as Figure 1, shows how a T-shaped reinforcing member can be modified, and further strengthened, by the additional incorporation of integral extensions 3a to the leaf portions 3. These extensions run parallel to the spine, are the same length and height, and can be folded into place by a simple modification of the equipment shown in Figure 4, i.e.
with additional erector leaves and guides to keep the extensions 3a erect prior to collation. Collation as shown in Figure 6 can be used unchanged with the reinforcing member of Figure 8.
Figure 9 shows a similar modification to a cruciform reinforcement, with integral extensions 3a to the leaf portions 3 (as»in Figure 2). Once again, the equipment of
Figure 4 can be easily modified (a) to provide a cut-out portion between the eventual extensions and (b) to provide an erector or «fold-out» device to fold the extensions away from each other. Collation is generally unchanged from the method described in relation to Figure 7.
WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. A shrink-wrapped or stretch-wrapped pack which comprises: (a) a plurality of rectilinear articles in the form of a number of regular stacks, (b) a reinforcement consisting essentially of stiff but bendable cellulosic packaging material and comprising at least one spine portion of double or multiple thickness and coplanar leaf portions of single thickness integral with one end of each spine portion and extending at right angles thereto, the said leaf portions and spine portions thereby defining the limits of rectilinear spaces each holding one of the stacks of articles so as jointly to enclose the or each spine portion between adjacent stacks as an internal reinforcement within the total pack, and so as to ensure that at least one face of each article is in frictional face-toface contact with a face of the reinforcement, but that an end article of each stack, displaying its major face, is uncovered by any part of the reinforcement, and (c) a see-through polymer film stretchwrapped or shrink-wrapped over the pack to leave the said end article major faces visible while presenting an internally reinforced pack of good dimensional stability wherein the enclosed articles are not subject to relative movement.
2. A pack as claimed in claim 1 in which the single leaf portions themselves possess integral extensions at right angles to their joint plane so as to lie parallel to the spine portion.
3. A pack as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which the packaging material is cardboard.
4. A pack as claimed in claim 3 in which the packaging material is corrugated cardboard with the flutes running parallel to the intersection of that plane containing a spine portion and that plane containing the leaf portions.
5. A pack as claimed in claim 4 in which the or each spine portion is a gluedtogether double thickness portion made by folding back on itself a length of the fluted cardboard, and the leaf portions are integral continuations one of each thickness of cardboard in the spine portion.
6. A pack as claimed in claim 5 having a reinforcement made from a single length of cardboard, with one spine portion only, of double thickness, and two free integral coplanar leaf portions extending at right angles to the spine portion and from one end thereof.
**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (14)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. infeed 62 of articles conveys a stack of articles 67 of predetermined number and dimension to fit within one of the bays of the cruciform reinfdrcement member 55 into the path of the first pusher. The first pusher pushes these articles all the way to a stop plate 58a in a direction at right angles to that of reinforcement feed, and at this location the second pusher 59 transfers these articles against the direction of reinforcement feed into one of the two bottom bays of the reinforcement member. In doing this the second pusher defines by its face 59a, a second stop position, at which a second stack of articles arrives and whereat it is acted upon by the third pusher 60 to be transferred against the direction of reinforcement feed into the other lower bay of the reinforcement member. When both lower bays are filled the deelevator unit 63 is operated so that the partially filled reinforcement member is pushed downwards by an extent equal to the length of one of the arms. At this juncture the second pusher and third pusher are again consecutively operated to fill the two remaining bays in the reinforcement. The reinforcement member is com- pletely filled with articles and at this stage is acted upon by the fourth pusher 61 into the space between conveyor belts 64 by which it is transferred to pick upi a layer of wrapping 65 and into the wrapping station 66. Various modifications may be made within the scope of the present invention and to the equipment and methods shown in the above drawings. For instance, the man skilled in the art will appreciate how the reinforcement device shown in Figure 3 can be folded, glued, and collated with a suitable stack of articles using equipment generally similar to that shown but with a different sequence of folding steps and a differently scored blank as a starting member. Figure 8, which uses in part the same reference numerals as Figure 1, shows how a T-shaped reinforcing member can be modified, and further strengthened, by the additional incorporation of integral extensions 3a to the leaf portions 3. These extensions run parallel to the spine, are the same length and height, and can be folded into place by a simple modification of the equipment shown in Figure 4, i.e. with additional erector leaves and guides to keep the extensions 3a erect prior to collation. Collation as shown in Figure 6 can be used unchanged with the reinforcing member of Figure 8. Figure 9 shows a similar modification to a cruciform reinforcement, with integral extensions 3a to the leaf portions 3 (as»in Figure 2). Once again, the equipment of Figure 4 can be easily modified (a) to provide a cut-out portion between the eventual extensions and (b) to provide an erector or «fold-out» device to fold the extensions away from each other. Collation is generally unchanged from the method described in relation to Figure 7. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1. A shrink-wrapped or stretch-wrapped pack which comprises: (a) a plurality of rectilinear articles in the form of a number of regular stacks, (b) a reinforcement consisting essentially of stiff but bendable cellulosic packaging material and comprising at least one spine portion of double or multiple thickness and coplanar leaf portions of single thickness integral with one end of each spine portion and extending at right angles thereto, the said leaf portions and spine portions thereby defining the limits of rectilinear spaces each holding one of the stacks of articles so as jointly to enclose the or each spine portion between adjacent stacks as an internal reinforcement within the total pack, and so as to ensure that at least one face of each article is in frictional face-toface contact with a face of the reinforcement, but that an end article of each stack, displaying its major face, is uncovered by any part of the reinforcement, and (c) a see-through polymer film stretchwrapped or shrink-wrapped over the pack to leave the said end article major faces visible while presenting an internally reinforced pack of good dimensional stability wherein the enclosed articles are not subject to relative movement.

2. A pack as claimed in claim 1 in which the single leaf portions themselves possess integral extensions at right angles to their joint plane so as to lie parallel to the spine portion.

3. A pack as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which the packaging material is cardboard.

4. A pack as claimed in claim 3 in which the packaging material is corrugated cardboard with the flutes running parallel to the intersection of that plane containing a spine portion and that plane containing the leaf portions.

5. A pack as claimed in claim 4 in which the or each spine portion is a gluedtogether double thickness portion made by folding back on itself a length of the fluted cardboard, and the leaf portions are integral continuations one of each thickness of cardboard in the spine portion.

6. A pack as claimed in claim 5 having a reinforcement made from a single length of cardboard, with one spine portion only, of double thickness, and two free integral coplanar leaf portions extending at right angles to the spine portion and from one end thereof.

7. A pack as claimed in claim 6 the
reinforcement having integral extensions of the leaf portions folded back parallel to, and of the same length as, the spine.

8. A pack having a reinforcement of cruciform shape consisting of two identical reinforcing members as claimed in claim 6 or 7 stuck together by their free leaf portions.

9. A pack having a reinforcement of cruciform shape as claimed in claim 8 when dependent on claim 6, modified in that it consists of a single, folded integral blank.

10. A pack as claimed in claim 5 having a reinforcement made from a single length of cardboard, having two parallel spine portions, of double thickness, and three integral coplanar leaf portions extending at right angles to the spine portions and from like ends theroef, the end leaves being free and the central leaf connecting the two double thickness spine portions.

11. A pack as claimed in claim 10 having a reinforcement having integral extensions of the free end leaf portions folded back parallel to, and of the same length as, the spine portions.

12. A pack as claimed in any one preceding claim in which the rectangular-sided volume of space occupied by the maximum dimensions of the reinforcement has its shorter notional sides at least 0.1 of the length of its longest notional side.

13. A pack as claimed in claim 12 wherein the said ratio is at least one-third.

14. A pack as claimed in claim 1 and substantially as described with reference to, and as illustrated in, Figure 1, 2 or 3 of the accompanying drawings.

GB1393576A
1977-07-26
1977-07-26
Packaging

Expired

GB1586160A
(en)

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GB1586160A
(en)

1977-07-26
1977-07-26
Packaging

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Priority Date
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GB1393576A

GB1586160A
(en)

1977-07-26
1977-07-26
Packaging

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GB1586160A
(en)

1981-03-18

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GB1393576A
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(en)

1977-07-26
1977-07-26
Packaging

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Priority date
Publication date
Assignee
Title

US4512469A
(en)

1983-06-06
1985-04-23
West Chester R
Storage receptacle for electronic storage media

NL1001591C2
(en)

1995-11-07
1997-05-13
Wim Van Duivenbooden
Combined transport and display container for flowers

DE102008051207A1
(en)

2008-10-14
2010-04-15
Khs Ag
Method for producing packing unit, involves inserting separating element between products, where separating element is placed such that product information maintains their predetermined dimensional stability

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1977

1977-07-26
GB
GB1393576A
patent/GB1586160A/en
not_active
Expired

Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party

Publication number
Priority date
Publication date
Assignee
Title

US4512469A
(en)

1983-06-06
1985-04-23
West Chester R
Storage receptacle for electronic storage media

NL1001591C2
(en)

1995-11-07
1997-05-13
Wim Van Duivenbooden
Combined transport and display container for flowers

DE102008051207A1
(en)

ITPD20110232A1
(en)

2011-07-06
2013-01-07
Luigi Scantamburlo

MACHINE FOR THE PACKAGING OF A MULTI-PURPOSE OF PRODUCTS INSIDE A BOX, AND FOLDING FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A HARVEST DIVIDER TO BE USED WITH THIS MACHINE

CN103612797A
(en)

2013-11-22
2014-03-05
杭州中亚机械股份有限公司
Automatic integrated paperboard forming and boxing machine

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2013-11-22
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Integral type cardboard automatic forming packing machine

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2015-08-30
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Paper inserting device of cake cutting machine

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