AU1637399A - Holder for cans or bottles - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 r

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: "HOLDER FOR CANS OR BOTTLES" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me:-

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2 "HOLDER FOR CANS OR BOTTLES" THIS INVENTION relates to a holder for holding a single can or a single bottle of consumable material inclusive of beverages having an open top and a base. The invention also relates to a packaging container for a plurality of cans or bottles wherein the packaging container has one or more blanks from which the holder may be formed.

Beverages such as soft drinks, beer and the like are ,normally sold in containers usually in the form of cans or bottles. Many 9**people drink chilled beverages out of the cans or bottles.

10 One common problem with drinking out of the cans or Sbottles is that the beverage temperature tends to increase relatively quickly, especially during warm days. The beverages then become e* unpleasant to drink. In the case of beer, it then becomes "flat" and is not palatable for most people.

Beverages that are consumed hot lose heat relatively quickly during cool days. It is desirable that they remain relatively warm 9 before the last drops are consumed.

In an effort to reduce the above problems, people have been using insulated holders for holding cans or bottles (commonly known as "coolers") for a number of years. The prior art coolers are generally formed from a relatively rigid material such as polystyrene or plastic and are usually cylindrical in shape. As a consequence, they are bulky and their transportation costs are relatively high.

It is known that a high number of the insulated holders break 3 during transportation as they can be crushed easily.

Shops selling beverages often do not carry coolers and shoppers must go to other locations if they want coolers as well.

Reference may be made to AU 26213/92 which refers to an insulating holder for bottles or cans which is made from a blank of foldable material and having complementary locking means at opposed ends and a flap extending along one edge of the blank and separated from the remainder of the blank by a foldline whereby the flap may be folded over the remainder of the blank and the complementary locking 10 means engaged to form a sleeve. This reference also discloses that the insulating holder may be provided as part of a container for bottles and ~cans and severed from the container and then configured into the sleeve.

This reference, however, does not disclose a base for the holder and the sleeve was substantially in the form of a "wrap-around" and thus the resulting sleeve was not as stable as required or as effective

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as may be desired because the required insulating properties were adversely affected because of the lack of a base.

Reference may also be made to AU 81653/94 which refers to a bottle or can holder having a side wall section and a separate base.

The side wall section was formed from a rectangular blank and the base was formed from a circular blank. Both the rectangular blank and the circular blank were incorporated as separate components in a panel of a packaging container and could be separated from the packaging container and attached to each other to form the holder by a pair of 4 opposed flaps of the circular blank engaging in mating openings of the rectangular blank. However, the task of attaching the separate base to the container body provided a three step operation in forming the final bottle or can holder which was time consuming in some circumstances.

Also, the container body only connected to the base by each flap engaging with its mating opening and thus the stability of the holder was not as effective as required.

Reference also may be made to DE 29612304 and US 3949932 which each refer to blanks for packaging containers which are 10 formed by a central web and opposed panels attached to the central web.

Neither of these references referred to holders for single cans or bottles having an open top and, for this reason, are not considered relevant to the present invention. DE 29612304 was adapted for packaging of roller skates and US 3949932 was adapted for packaging of one or more

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articles inclusive of fluorescent fixtures which also required the use of a flexible tie member.

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DT 2655538 referred to a carton for containing a number of bottles which was formed from a blank which has top and bottom end flaps formed by folding over and bonding adjacent tabs. This specification was not adapted for holding a single bottle or can and did not have any open top so that the carton could hold a partially consumed bottle or can.

Similar comments applied to DT 2655591.

GB 2276532 related to a holder for a carton having a series of hingedly connected panels and mutually engaging studs and holes for forming the panels into a carton enclosure wherein one of the panels incorporated an integral handle. This holder did not have a base and also incorporated open panels formed by peripheral frames which did not facilitate effective insulating of the carton.

GB 1469884 referred to a cardboard wrapping or holder for products of a simple geometric shape, such as milk cartons, which comprised an open ended sleeve. The disclosure was limited to a holder for a plurality of milk cartons and the holder was formed from a rectangular blank having a series of panels which, after folding at right 10 angles to each other, may form the required holder. Such a holder was not adapted for holding a single can or bottle which was partially consumed.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a holder for a single can or bottle that may alleviate, at least to some extent, the aforementioned problems of the prior art.

It is also a further objective of the invention to provide a 4 packaging container which includes one or more blanks which may be used to form the holder of the invention.

The holder of the invention has an open top, base and continuous side wall and is formed from a blank of foldable material having a first section having an engagement means, a second section having a complementary engagement means which is arranged opposite the first section and an integral web interconnecting the first and second sections.

6 In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a packaging container which incorporates one or more of the blanks which are preferably located in a respective panel.

The holder of the invention may be formed by bending the first and second sections about the integral web towards each other and then engaging the engagement means with the complementary engagement means.

A foldline can be arranged between the integral web and ~each of the first and second sections for easy and accurate folding.

It is desired that each of the first and second sections has S• one or more foldlines which are arranged so that when the engagement means and the complementary engagement means are in engagement, the hollow body so formed is in a desired shape.

The hollow body may have a circular or polygonal crosssection and the base may have a corresponding shape.

In preference, the engagement means has one or more tabs and the complementary engagement means has a slit or slot for receiving the or each of the tabs. However, the reverse arrangement could be adopted if required.

The or each tab is typically integrally formed with the rest of the first section and foldlines or crease lines are provided for separating the or each tab from said rest of the first section.

Advantageously, the or each complementary engagement means has an enlarged opening for allowing easy insertion of the or each

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7 tab. In one example, the openings are V-shaped for guiding the tabs into the complementary engagement means.

The packaging container of the invention can be in the form of a carton or a carrier.

The consumable material can be food or a drink which is normally chilled or heated before consumption. Typically said consumable material is carbonated soft drink, juice beer or wine.

The foldable material can be cardboard, corrugated i. fibreboard, plastic or the like.

10 In order that the present invention can be more easily understood and put into practical effect, the description will now be made in reference to the following drawings which illustrate non-limiting preferred embodiments of the invention and wherein:- FIG. 1 is a view of a blank of foldable corrugated fibreboard for assembling into a holder according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of the blank shown in FIG. 1 which is in the process of assembling into the holder according to the present invention; FIG. 3 is an end perspective view of the holder shown in FIG. 2; FIG. 4 shows the holder of FIG. 2 with a beverage can therein; FIG. 5 shows the holder of FIG. 4 being grasped manually by a user; 8 FIG. 6 shows a carrier type packaging for beverage bottles and blanks for the holder of the present invention incorporated in sides of the carrier; FIG. 7 shows a carton type packaging for cans or bottles and blanks for the holder of the present invention incorporated in the sides of the carton; and FIG. 8 shows the carton of FIG. 7 with one of the blanks separated from the carton.

Referring initially to FIG. 1, there is shown a blank 10 of 10 corrugated fibreboard. The blank 10 has a first section 12, second section •14 and an integral web 16.

In this embodiment, the first section 12 is substantially rectangular in shape, the second section substantially rectangular in shape and the integral web 16 substantially octagonal in shape.

p The first section has 12 has two tabs 18 and 20 formed on its opposed sides. The tabs 18 and 20 are partially separated by slits 22 and 24 which extend partway into the blank Sections 12 and 14 are integrally formed with the integral web 16. Foldlines 26, 28 are respectively arranged along opposed sides between the integral web 16 and the sections 12 and 14 so that the sections 12 and 14 can be easily and accurately folded about the foldlines 26 and 28.

The sections 14 also have tabs 18A and 18B on opposed sides and V-shaped openings 30 and 32 joined to respective slits 34 and 36.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 to 5, the blank 10, as shown, has its sections 12 and 14 folded upwardly about the respective foldlines 26 and 28 and the tabs 18 and 20 are guided by the V-shaped openings and 32 into the respective slits 34 and 36.

The tabs, 18, 18A, 20 and 20A are then turned inwardly as shown in FIG. 4 so that the sections 12 and 14 are integrated.

this embodiment, the tabs 18 and 20 are on the outside of the section 14. In an alternative arrangement, the tabs 18 and 20 can be 10 positioned over respective tabs 10A and 20A so that they are inside the °section 14.

When the sections 12 and 14 are engaged, the blank forms a holder having a hollow body and a base as clearly shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 and a beverage can 38 or a bottle 40 (see FIG. 5) can be inserted into the hollow body.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the respective bottom edges of tabs 18 and 20 have angled cut portions for facilitating insertion into the openings 20 and 32 and the slits 34 and 36.

Referring now to FIG. 6, there is shown a carrier type packaging 50 having two major sides 52 and 54 each formed with a blank as described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. A shown, the blank 10 is integrally formed with the rest of the packaging 50. Perforations 54 along the periphery of the blank 10 allow easy separation of the blank FIG. 7 shows a carton type packaging 60 having a blank in each of its major sides 62 and 64 (not shown).

FIG. 8 shows the blank 10 separated from the side 12 of the packaging Whilst FIGS. 7 and 8 show the blanks 10 on major sides of the packaging 60, other blanks for the holder of the present invention can be formed on minor sides or top and bottom panels of the packaging It will also be appreciated from the foregoing that the holder of the invention is stable in use having an integral base and an open top and a continuous side wall which surrounds the can or bottle to provide effective insulation thereto so that the can or bottle may be retained in a •cold or warm temperature as may be required.

It will also be appreciated in relation to the packaging container of the invention that it only requires removal of the blank from the packaging container and (ii) attachment of the first section to the o°0° second section in the manner illustrated that the holder of the invention may be formed quickly and efficiently in a one step operation without any bonding or glueing required. Use of ancillary fasteners, such as flexible ties, are also not required.

Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative example of the present invention, many variations and modifications thereto will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the broad ambit and scope of the invention as herein set forth.

Claims (11)

1. A holder for a single can or bottle having an open top, base and continuous side wall which is formed from a blank of foldable material having a first section having an engaging means, a second section having a complementary engagement means which second section is arranged opposite the first section and an integral web interconnecting the first and second sections.

2. A holder as claimed in Claim 1 wherein a foldline is S °oo. arranged between the integral web and each of the first and second S sections.

3. A holder as claimed in Claim 1 or 2 wherein the first and second sections have one or a plurality of foldlines so that when the engagement means and the complementary engagement means are in engagement, a hollow body is formed having a desired shape.

4. A holder as claimed in Claim 3 wherein the hollow body has a circular or polygonal cross section and the base has a corresponding shape.

A holder as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the engagement means has one or more tabs and the complementary engagement means has a slit or slot for receiving the or each of the tabs.

6. A holder as claimed in Claim 5 wherein the or each tab is integrally formed with the first section.

7. A holder as claimed in Claim 6 wherein there is provided foldline(s) or creaseline(s) for separating the or each tab from the first I 12 section.

8. A holder as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the complementary engagement means has an enlarged opening facilitating easy insertion of the or each tab.

9. A holder as claimed in Claim 8 wherein the enlarged opening is V-shaped.

A holder for a single can or bottle substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 0 i 99

11. A packaging container which incorporates one or more 9 10 blanks which are separable from the packaging container wherein the or •each blank has a first section having engagement means, a second section having a complementary engagement means which first section is arranged opposite the first section and an integral web interconnecting the first and second sections whereby upon separation of the or each 0 blank from the packaging container, a holder for a single can or bottle having an open top, base and continuous side wall may be formed. 9 DATED this tenth day of February 1999. SEAN KEITH RALPH, by his Patent Attorneys, FISHER ADAMS KELLY. I