Carton and blank therefor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11780661-B2
Application number	US-202217684001-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 1, 2022
Priority date	May 16, 2018
Publication date	Oct 10, 2023
Grant date	Oct 10, 2023

Abstract

Aspects of the disclosure relate to a carrier for packaging one or more articles. The carrier is formed from a set of connected blanks each of which form a top engaging carrier, wherein the blanks are detachably connected together in a matrix fashion wherein each blank has a plurality of top-receiving apertures wherein a first distance (D 1 ) between the respective centres of two adjacent ones of the apertures of a first blank is less than a second distance (D 2 ) between the centre of a corner aperture of the first blank and the centre of the adjacent corner aperture of a second blank and wherein the first distance (D 1 ) is less than a third distance (D 3 ) between the centre of the corner aperture of the first blank and the centre of the adjacent corner aperture of a third blank.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A pair of adjacent blanks, each for forming a top engaging carrier, wherein the blanks are detachably connected together at a connected side edge of each blank and each of the blanks has a plurality of top-receiving apertures formed therein each for receiving at least a portion of an article,
wherein each of respective article engaging structures of the blanks comprises one of the plurality of apertures and a plurality of tabs formed about the periphery of each of the apertures such that a free edge of each tab is defined by the aperture,
wherein each tab has a base end opposite the free edge,
wherein a notional circle is formed around each aperture corresponding to the base ends of the plurality of tabs,
wherein an edge distance (Dy) is defined between a first side edge opposite the connected side edge and a point on the notional circle that is closest to the first side edge,
wherein a neighbor distance (Dz) is defined between respective points on the notional circles closest to the respective connected side edges of each blank, and
wherein the edge distance (Dy) is half the neighbor distance (Dz), given by the formula Dy=½Dz.

2. The set of claim 1 wherein a first distance (D 1 ) between respective centers of two adjacent ones of the apertures of one blank of the pair of blanks is less than a second distance (D 2 ) between a center of a corner aperture of the one blank and a center of an adjacent corner aperture of the other blank of the pair of blanks, and wherein the first distance (D 1 ) is generally equal to a maximum diameter (D c ) of the article.

3. The set of claim 2 wherein a corner radius (R b ) of each blank is greater than a half of the maximum diameter (D c ) of the article.

4. The set of claim 3 wherein the corner radius (R b ) is at least ⅛ inch (3.175 mm) greater than a half of the maximum diameter (D c ) of the article.

5. The set of claim 3 wherein the second distance (D 2 ) is generally equal to twice the corner radius (R b ) of each blank.

6. The set of claim 2 wherein a third distance (R s ) is defined between an outer end of each tab and a center of a respective aperture, wherein the third distance (R s ) is equal to or less than a half of the maximum diameter (D c ) of the article.

7. The set of claim 1 wherein each of the blanks comprises a pair of the article retention structures, wherein a point on each of the notional circles for the pair of article retention structures that is closest to the other of the pair of article retention structures is located at a base of a respective tab, such that a region at which portions of the pair of article retention structures are closest to each other comprises opposing tabs.

8. The set of claim 1 wherein a separation feature is disposed between two adjacent tabs of the plurality of tabs, the separation feature comprising an arcuate portion cut from the blank (½Dc).

9. A blank for forming a top engaging carrier for carrying articles, the blank comprising:
a plurality of apertures formed in a main panel, each for receiving a portion of an article, wherein a first distance (D 1 ) between centers of two adjacent ones of the apertures is greater than or equal to a maximum diameter or width (D c ) of the article; and
a handle opening provided in the main panel comprising a periphery, wherein the handle opening is located in a region disposed centrally between a first pair of article retention structures and a second pair of article retention structures, each of the article retention structures comprising one of the apertures with a respective center point, wherein the periphery of the handle opening is spaced from the respective center point of the aperture of the article retention structures by a second distance that is greater than or equal to the maximum diameter or width (D c ) of the article.

10. The blank of claim 9 wherein a corner radius (R b ) of the blank is greater than a half of the maximum diameter (D c ) of the article.

11. The blank of claim 10 wherein the corner radius (R b ) is at least ⅛ inch (3.175 mm) greater than a half of the maximum diameter (D c ) of the article (½Dc).

12. The blank of claim 9 wherein each of the article retention structures comprises one of the apertures and a plurality of tabs disposed about a periphery of the aperture such that a free edge of each tab is defined by the aperture, wherein a third distance (R s ) is defined between a center of the aperture and a base end, which is opposite the free edge, of each tab, wherein the third distance (R s ) is equal to or less than a half of the maximum diameter (D c ) of the article.

13. The blank of claim 9 wherein the maximum diameter (D a ) of each aperture is less than an upper end diameter or width (D n ) of the article.

14. The blank of claim 9 , wherein the handle opening is disposed on the blank so as to be in registry with a void between four adjacently disposed articles to be held by the carrier.

15. The blank of claim 9 , wherein each of the article retention structures comprises one of the apertures and a plurality of tabs disposed about a periphery of the aperture, wherein a separation feature is disposed between two adjacent tabs of the plurality of tabs, the separation feature comprising an arcuate portion cut from the blank.

16. The blank of claim 9 , wherein each of the article retention structures comprises one of the apertures and a plurality of tabs disposed about a periphery of the aperture such that a free edge of each tab is defined by the aperture,
wherein each tab has a base end opposite the free edge,
wherein a notional circle is formed around each aperture corresponding to the base ends of the plurality of tabs, and
wherein a point on each of the notional circles for the first pair of article retention structures that is closest to the other of the first pair of article retention structures is located at a base of a respective tab, such that a region at which portions of the first pair of article retention structures are closest to each other comprises opposing tabs.

Assignees

• Westrock Packaging Systems Llc

Inventors

• Zacherle Matthew E

Classifications

• B65D71/504 Primary

  the element being formed from a flexible sheet provided with slits or apertures intended to be stretched over the articles and adapt to the shape of the article · CPC title

• B65D71/42 Primary

  formed by folding a single blank into a single layer element · CPC title