Special receptacle or package – Shrink film package
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-07
2001-07-24
Foster, Jim (Department: 3728)
Special receptacle or package
Shrink film package
C053S442000, C053S557000, C229S122290
Reexamination Certificate
active
06264034
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a packaging of the cardboard-case type equipped with a shrinkable film which is secured to it, intended for packing articles to be delivered in variable numbers or volumes.
It also relates to a set of blanks which make it possible to obtain such a packaging.
It also relates to a process and device for forming packing packaging of the cardboard-case type equipped with a shrinkable film.
It applies particularly well, although not exclusively, to the field of the transportation of heavy objects, i.e. which weigh in excess of one kilogram, for example three kilograms, and have an irregular shape.
Such packing is also particularly suited to objects such as cans, bottles, medicines or various documents, taken as a group or singly, in one and the same package particularly intended for delivering to a retailer, such as a book-seller, pharmacist and, more generally, retail trade.
It is known that, when preparing their retailers' order, wholesale traders need to pack batches of articles of different types in packages which nevertheless have to withstand difficult conditions of transportation and delivery.
Given the cost of standard cases, it quickly became apparent that it was difficult to use such packages to pack batches of articles of this type, because this would require the use of ranges of packages whose storage would be costly and consequently unsuitable for this type of distribution.
A number of solutions to this type of problem are already known.
It has also long been proposed to pack batches of articles inside a case or a tray, particularly made from cardboard, covered over by a sheet of heat-shrinkable plastic connected to the inner face of the base of the case and/or to the inner face of the two opposite vertical walls.
In this way, it suffices to arrange the objects to be packaged inside a cardboard base, and to then cover them over with the plastic sheet which will ultimately be fully shrunk over the products by passing through a heating tunnel, for example, with the result that the said products are kept satisfactorily stowed in the transportation case.
Such solutions are normally very advantageous since they need only a single case with a minimum volume of cardboard, yielding substantial savings of material in addition to savings in storage of the packaging, which has been brought down to a single type.
In this connection, FR-2,426,620 discloses a packaging in which use is made of two plastic sheets which overlap at one of their ends over the load in order to be heat-welded there at the overlap zone, the other of their ends, which is not in contact with the load, being bonded to the inner face of the base or close to the base on the inner face of a side wall of a cardboard case obtained from a simple blank forming the base of the case from which extend two lateral faces which are firstly folded down over the load before the two plastic sheets which will hold the assembly together by means of welding are folded down.
However, this particular packaging suffers from the assembly's lack of mechanical strength. Indeed, the packing is linked to the resistance to detachment or to tearing-away of the joins of the plastic sheets to the base or the side walls of the cardboard case. In point of fact, it is well known that such packagings are subjected to high stresses when handled and transported, which frequently leads to the breaking of the joins of the plastic films with the cardboard base.
In this connection, other solutions have been proposed, based, this time, on the observation that the resistance to detachment or to tearing-away of the sheet-type heat-shrinkable materials during handling and/or transportation operations was improved when the join of the heat-shrinkable materials to the case was produced outside the case on at least one outer face (base or side wall) of the latter, the area of the face, which is covered over by the sheet-type heat-shrinkable material, acting as a means to oppose the stresses exerted by the weight of the load.
In this connection, several solutions have already been proposed.
French Patent FR-A-2,593,781 describes a packing case consisting of a box, for example made from cardboard, and of a sheet-type heat-shrinkable material for packaging and holding a load in position. The sheet-type heat-shrinkable material is linked by at least one of its borders to the outer surface of a wall of the box in the vicinity of the edge of the said wall and is extended outside from the said border towards the edge of the said wall then inside the box opposite the inner surface of the said wall while moving away from the latter towards the load to be packaged.
A similar solution is found in French Patent FR-A-2,589,444, according to which the heat-shrinkable sheets are inserted between the inner faces of the walls and portions of these same walls folded towards the inside of the case.
These latter solutions have the drawback either that they need a cover in the first case, or that provision has to be made at the outset for a special cutout, which is costly in terms of materials and gives rise to excess expense in terms of the stock management of such packagings. Moreover, these solutions are mechanically more complex because they require two plastic sheets, which substantially complicates the assembly operations.
Another solution has been proposed in French Patent FR-2,577,001, which describes an “American case” or the like, which uses a heat-shrinkable film made from plastic material secured to the base of the case.
The film made from plastic material is pinched between the outer flaps adjoining two parallel walls of the case, and forming the actual base of the packaging, and the inner flaps adjoining the two other walls and lining the base on the inside.
This latter solution has the advantage that it can be mechanized relatively easily since the heat-shrinkable film can be inserted continuously from a reel and, moreover, the solution does not require any bonding of the said film to the base of the case, thereby remedying the abovementioned drawbacks.
On the other hand, this further solution is unsatisfactory since it can be used only with “American cases” with a complete base, excluding, for example, cases with small flaps and also trays with exterior or interior bonded corners and jointed “American cases”, which are closed by means of an independent bonded lid.
Also known (FR-2,659,292) is a cardboard packing case for the transportation of a load, including a succession of sections forming the side walls of the case, which are joined in pairs by first joining lines which are parallel to each another, the succession of sections including two series of two principal sections which are opposite in pairs, and a first set of lateral flaps arranged on one side and joined to the principal sections by second joining lines which are perpendicular to the first joining lines, and comprising at least two first opposite flaps forming, at least partially, the base of the case.
The case also comprises a heat-shrinkable film made from plastic material intended for packaging and holding the load in position and means for fastening the film to the base of the case.
Such a case also suffers drawbacks due to the risks of tearing-away, such as those described above.
Document DE-U-81 5943 describes a packing case with one or more rigid multistage boards inserted into a tube made from heat-shrinkable plastic material.
The boards are difficult to insert in the tube and such a case allows the transportation only of small articles, such as nails or medicines or of lightweight textile articles such as shirts.
Finally, also known (FR-2,661,392) is a case with a plastic film and wedge for holding the film on the base of the case, the wedge including lateral wings provided with self-locking means on the side.
Such a case is difficult to produce owing to friction inherent in its assembly and provides unreliable locking which does not exclude tearing-away in the event of shocks.
Also known (U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,896) is a case with film in the form
Bacques Jean-Yves
Desertot Didier
Mathieu Gerard
Schuster Eric
Foster Jim
Merchant & Gould P.C.
Otor
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