GB2085405A

GB2085405A - Trays formed from blanks

Info

Publication number: GB2085405A
Application number: GB8033417A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Corrugated Products Ltd
Current assignee: Corrugated Products Ltd
Priority date: 1980-10-16
Filing date: 1980-10-16
Publication date: 1982-04-28

Abstract

A pre-assembled collapsible tray has a pair of opposed walls 16, 18 each comprising two side-by- side panels 20, 22 and an additional portion of the blank material sandwiched between the panels 20, 22 at least in each corner region of the tray, each additional portion being defined by a flap hingedly attached to the end of one of said panels 20. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to boxes or trays The invention relates to containers in the nature of boxes or trays. More particularly the invention is concerned with boxes or trays which are partly assembled from a blank during manufacture and completely assembled later by the end user. Boxes or trays of this kind will be referred to hereinafter as preassembled collapsible trays.

Pre-assembled collapsible trays are known in which at least two opposed side walls have a double thickness not only for strengthening these walls but also for enabling a plurality of trays to be stacked one on top of the other.

Such trays have not functioned with complete satisfaction in the past as not only is the height of the stack of loaded trays limited by the structural strength of the double thickness walls of the lowest tray but also the surface of a tray on which the other trays stack and which is formed at the top of the double wall is only slightly greater than the double thickness of the corrugated board from which the trays are made and this is of insufficient thickness to ensure reliable stacking. This disadvantage is aggravated by the fact that the double thickness walls, especially under load, tend to displace outwardly such that the dimension between the double walled sides of the open top of the tray become greater than the corresponding dimension of the base of the tray above to that the trays tend to nest rather than stack.

It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate these disadvantages.

According to the present invention there is provided a pre-assembled collapsible tray including at least one pair of opposed side walls each including two side-by-side panels and an additional member of the material forming the tray therebetween the additional member being an extension of one of said panels.

Preferably an additional member is provided at each end of the double wall by a flap hingedly mounted about a crease line at the end of one of the two panels making up the double wall.

Preferably the depth of the flap is such that on assembly of the tray its opposed edges about the base of the tray and a strip of material connecting the two panels of the double thickness wall on the underside thereof.

Preferably the flaps are glued or otherwise fixed to the thickness of the wall to which they are hingedly attached.

Further according to the present invention there is provided a blank for forming a preassembled collapsible tray substantially as hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

Preferably the blank is assembled into a pre-assembled collapsible tray by applying adhesive to eight separate areas thel-eof and folding the blank such that the glued areas are fixed to corresponding areas of the blank.

Preferably at least four of said areas are on said flaps on the ends of the double wall panels.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows diagrammatically a preassembled collapsible tray in its assembled state; Figure 2 shows a pre-assembled collapsible tray in its collapsed state and Figure 3 shows the blank from which the tray is assembled.

The pre-assembled collapsible tray is primarily intended for carrying fresh chickens and is illustrated in its assembled condition in Fig. 1. It comprises a base 10, two opposed end walls 1 2 and 1 4 and two opposed side walls 16, 18, the entire tray being manufactured from corrugated cardboard or any other suitable light-weight material. The side walls 16, 1 8 comprise two side-by-side panels 20, 22 interconnected at their tops by a strip 24 which, in the assembled condition, provides a horizontal surface extending inwardly from the external periphery of the box whereby a similar tray in the assembled condition may be stacked on top of the tray illustrated in the drawing with side portions of the base of the upper box resting on the strips 24.

The collapsed pre-assembled tray is supplied by the carton manufacturer to the end user in flat form and is illustrated in Fig. 2, the collapsed tray having been made up from the blank shown in Fig. 3.

The method of forming the blank and the collapsed tray from the blank follows a generally known technique and will not be described here in detail but it will be observed that the blank is folded over to form a double thickness along the lines F F (Fig. 3). Before folding glue is applied to the blank at eight separate areas G which are shown by shading in Fig. 3. Thus, after folding, the flaps 26 which are hingedly attached on the lines FF to the ends of inner panel 22 will be folded back against and firmly fixed to these inner panels.

Flaps 28 which are hingedly attached not only to the end walls 12, 14 but also to the outer side panels 20 are fixed to the outer side panels but only on one side of a diagonal crease line 30 on each flap.

To erect the collapsed pre-assembled tray to its in-use position as illustrated in Fig. 1 the end user simply hinges the panels 20 about the crease lines 32 at the junction of the panels 20 to the base 10, and in view of the fixing of the flap 28 to the inner panel 20 and the diagonal crease line 30 this movement of the inner panels causes the end walls 1 2 and 14 to hinge about the crease line 34 at their junction with the base 10 such that the end walls 12, 14 and the inner panels 20 of the side wall 16, 1 8 lie perpendicular to the base with the flap 28 folded along the diagonal crease line and lying against the inside face of the inner panels 20.

The outer panels 22 of the side walls 16, 18 can then be folded downwardly through 180 about the crease lines 36, 38, thus forming the horizontal strip 24, the inner panels being locked in their folded down position on engagement of tabs 40 on their lower edges and slots 42 formed in the base at the creases 32, this engagement of the tabs serving to retain the tray in its erected condition.

It will be reaiised that the flaps 26 fixed to the inner face of the side panels 22 together with the double thickness and the folded over flaps 28 serve to fill the space between the facing faces of the side panels 20 and 22.

Furthermore the flap 26 is so dimensioned that on erection of the tray its upper edge abuts the under-side of the strip 24 and its lower edge abuts the upper surface of the base 10, thus providing a continuous vertically orientated structural support at the corners of the tray where it is subjected to most stress when a further tray is placed on top of it. It will be realised further, by examining Fig.

3, that no extra material is required to produce this strengthening as the flaps 26 are formed from material which would normally be removed during the blank making operation.

Various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention for example stapling, stitching or any other convenient fixing techniques could be used in place of glueing. Furthermore, the dimensions of the tray could vary and the various cutouts, locking tabs, handle means etc could be modified to any suitable form.

Whilst endeavouring in the foregoing specification to draw attention to those features of the invention believed to be of particular importance it should be understood that the Applicant claims protection in respect of any patentable feature or combination of features hereinbefore referred to whether or not particular emphasis has been placed thereon.

Claims

1. A pre-assembled collapsible tray including at least one pair of opposed side walls each including two side-by-side panels and an additional member of the material forming the tray therebetween, the additional member being an extension of one of said panels.

2. A tray as claimed in claim 1, in which the additional member is provided at each end of the double wall by a flap hingedly mounted aboiii a c;rc:;lse line at each end of the two panels making up the double wall.

3. A tray as claimed in claimed in claim 2, in which the depth of the flap is such that on assembly of the tray its opposed edges about the base of the tray and a strip of material connecting the two panels of the double thickness wall.

4. A tray as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3, in which the flaps are glued or otherwise fixed to the thickness of the wall to which they are hingedly attached.

5. A tray as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, in which the material forming the tray is corrugated paper board, solid board or any other suitable sheet material.

6. A pre-assembled collapsible tray, substantially as herein before described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

7. A blank for forming a pre-assembled collapsible tray, substantially as herein before described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

8. A method of manufacturing a pre-assembled collapsible tray from a blank as claimed in claim 7, including the steps of applying adhesive to eight separate areas thereof and folding the blank such that the glued areas are fixed to corresponding areas of the blank.

9. A method as claimed in claim 7, in which at least four of said areas are on flaps on the ends of the double wall panels.

10. A method of manufacturing a preassembled collapsible tray substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.