Folding box made of cardboard

Abstract

A folding box made of cardboard includes a blank which forms four lateral surfaces, a cover, and a base of a cuboid and which includes four main folding lines which divide the blank into four main surfaces and a securing surface. Each of the main surfaces has a main surface segment, which forms a respective lateral surface of the cuboid after the securing surface is secured to the opposite main surface, and multiple auxiliary folding lines, which run transversely to the main folding lines and each of which connects one of the main surface segments to an auxiliary surface segment. The auxiliary surface segments form the cover and the base of the cuboid. At least one of the auxiliary surface segments has a plurality of gaps between enclosed parallel webs and a folding line which runs over the auxiliary surface segment orthogonally to the webs and in which the auxiliary surface segment can be folded such that multiple receiving compartments that protrude from the base side are formed by the webs within the folding box. Accordingly, an improved folding box which is suitable for receiving, positions, and presenting goods, in particular toothbrushes in blister packs, is provided.

Claims

1. A folding box made of cardboard, comprised of a folded blank which forms four lateral surfaces and a cover and base of a cuboid, the folded blank comprising: four main folding lines which divide the blank into four main surfaces and a fastening surface, wherein each of the main surfaces comprises a main surface segment, which forms a respective lateral surface of the cuboid after fastening of the fastening surface to the opposite main surface, and multiple secondary folding lines, which run transversely to the main folding lines and each of which connects one of the main surface segments to a secondary surface segment, wherein each of one or more of the secondary surface segments forms the cover and the base of the cuboid, at least one of the secondary surface segments comprises a plurality of gaps between enclosing parallel webs and a folding line which runs over the secondary surface segment orthogonally to the webs and in which the secondary surface segment can be folded such that multiple receiving compartments that protrude from the base side are formed by the webs within the folding box, the gaps are spaced by an outer strip from an edge of the blank and by an inner strip to a secondary folding line arranged between the main surface segment and the secondary surface segment comprising the gap, the strips extend transversely to a main extension direction of the gaps and parallel to the secondary folding line, the gaps are made wider towards the outer strip and have a serpentine shape, and two auxiliary folding lines run along the connection of the strips with the webs.

2. The folding box according to claim 1, wherein the inner strip at least partially forms the base and that the outer strip rests on an inner surface of one of the main surface segments defining a receiving space within the folding box.

3. The folding box according to claim 1, wherein the folding line extends on the inner strip and the folding line divides the inner strip into a first inner strip segment and a second inner strip segment, wherein the first inner strip segment completely or partially forms the base and is wider than the second inner strip segment, which is connected, in particular glued or put together, with the first inner strip segment.

4. The folding box according to claim 1, wherein two identical secondary surface segments each comprising the plurality of gaps are formed at the base side on opposite lateral surfaces of the cuboid.

5. The folding box according to claim 1, further comprising a tear tab which is delimited by punching lines penetrating the cardboard only partially and which is provided on the main surface segments to surround the folding box.

6. The folding box according to claim 5, wherein the tear tab is widened towards the base at a narrow front face side of the folding box formed by a main surface segment.

7. The folding box according to claim 5, wherein the tear tab is formed to extend obliquely on opposite wide main surface segments interconnecting two narrower main surface segments forming the face side and the back side of the folding box, wherein a front narrower main surface segment between the base and the tear tab has a smaller extension than an opposite rear narrow main surface segment.

8. A packaging unit comprising the folding box according to claim 1 and blister packs containing toothbrushes, wherein each blister pack is received free-standingly in one of the receiving compartments of the folding box.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further details and advantages of the present invention become apparent from the following description of two embodiments of a folding box and one embodiment of a packaging unit in connection with the drawing. In this drawing,

(2) FIG. 1 shows a top view on the blank of a first embodiment of a folding box;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a perspective sectional view of the folding box formed from the blank of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a top view on a secondary surface segment of a second embodiment;

(5) FIG. 4 shows a frontal view of a blister pack held in a receiving compartment and containing two toothbrushes;

(6) FIG. 5 shows a perspective side view of an embodiment of a packaging unit composed of blister packs containing toothbrushes and of a folding box;

(7) FIG. 6 shows a top view on the packaging unit from FIG. 5 in the filled state;

(8) FIG. 7 shows a perspective side view of a packaging unit with the tear tab torn off;

(9) FIG. 8 shows a sectional view of the packaging unit shown in FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(10) Using FIG. 1, details of the blank 1 used for an embodiment of a folding box are explained below. This blank is divided into four main surfaces 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, which are folded at the main folding lines H2, H3, H4 at a 90° angle to each other. A fastening surface 5 is connected via a main folding line H1 to the main surface 3a, which forms a fastening tab 25 at the end side. The fastening surface 5 is also folded by 90° and glued to the edge of the main surface 3d in such a manner that four lateral surfaces of a cuboid are formed by four main surface segments 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d of the main surfaces 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d. Thus the opposite main surface segments have the same width and the same length. The main surface segments 7a, 7b, 7d are connected via secondary folding lines N1, N2, N4 to secondary surface segments 9a, 9b, 9d, which form the cover of the folding box. For this purpose, first the secondary surface segments 9b, 9d and then the secondary surface segment 9a, which is provided with the fastening tab 25, are folded by 90°. The fastening tab 25 is then pushed into the folding box past the edges of the secondary surface segments 3b, 3d. At the base side, the main surface segments 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d are connected via the secondary folding lines N5, N6, N7, N8 to a respective secondary surface segment 9e, 9f, 9g, 9h. The secondary surface segments 9e, 9g connected to the opposite wider main surface segments 7a, 7c comprise multiple gaps S in the form of perforations which are delimited by webs 11 and an inner strip 15 and an outer strip 13. The strips 13, 15 run parallel to the secondary folding lines N5, N7. The longitudinal extension of the webs 11 and the gaps S, on the other hand, is orthogonal to the secondary folding lines N5, N7.

(11) The inner strip 15 is further divided by the folding line F into a first inner strip segment 17 and a second inner strip segment 19, the first inner strip segment 17 being wider than the second inner strip segment 19. The secondary surface segments 9e, 9f, 9g, 9h are folded by 90° at the secondary folding lines N5, N6, N7, N8, whereby the secondary surface segments 9e, 9g are folded chronologically before the secondary surface segments 9f, 9h, so that the secondary surface segments 9e, 9g are superimposed on the outside by the secondary surface segments 9f, 9h. By folding by 180° in the direction of the receiving space along the folding line F and gluing the second inner strip segment 19 to the first inner strip segment 17, a plurality of receiving compartments formed by the webs are formed within the folding box. The auxiliary folding lines F1, F2, which run along the connection lines of the webs 11 with the strips 13, 15, ensure that the webs 11 remain free of kinks and that the outer strip 13 is fully in contact with the inner surface of the main surface segment 7a or 7c with a certain pretension and free of adhesive. Usually, the two secondary surface segments 9f, 9h are connected to the first two inner strip segments 17 on the outside with an adhesive tape in order to increase the stability of the base of the folding box.

(12) The gaps S are trapezoidal in shape at their end pointing towards the outer strip 13, resulting in a widening of the gaps in the direction of the outer strip 13. When the folding box is standing on the base (see FIG. 2), the gaps S form a row of receiving compartments A1, A2, A3, A4 arranged one behind the other or side by side. The receiving compartments A1, A2, A3, A4 have an insertion opening which is widening and opening upwards in vertical direction due to the widening of the gaps S, which makes it easier to insert blister packs containing at least one toothbrush. The insertion openings are formed in close proximity to the inner surface of the main surface segment 7a.

(13) The main surface segments 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d and the fastening surface 5 are provided with punching lines 21 which only partially penetrate the cardboard. These lines completely encircle the cuboid in the width direction of the main surface segments. The punching lines 21 delimit a first tear tab 23 and a second tear tab 24 between them. The tear tab 23 is provided at the main surface segment with a widening which is defined by a U-shaped loop of the lower punching line 21. The punching lines 21 run obliquely on the wider main surface segments 7a, 7c, i.e. at an angle to the secondary folding lines N5, N7. In the present embodiment, this angle is 22.5°. As a result, the distance between the punching lines 21 on the main surface segment 7d and the secondary folding line N8 is greater than the distance between the punching lines 21 on the main surface segment 7b and the secondary folding line N6. On the main surface segment 7d and the fastening surface 5, the punching lines 21 run parallel to the secondary folding line N8.

(14) FIG. 2 shows a perspective sectional view of the folding box formed from the blank according to FIG. 1. The outer strip 13 is fully in contact with the inner surface of the main surface segment 7a. The second inner strip segment 19 is folded by 180° at the folding line F and glued on the inside of the first inner strip segment 17 to said segment. Just as well, the two inner strip segments 17, 19 can also be put together instead of being glued. The putting together can be performed in the usual way, e.g. by way of a receiving slot in the one inner strip segment in which a tab formed by the other strip segment engages. The webs 11 run by bridging the secondary folding line N5 along an oblique connection line which connects the base of the folding box to the inner surface of the main surface segment 7a. One receiving compartment A1, A2, A3, A4 each is formed by one of the gaps S.

(15) FIG. 3 shows a top view on a secondary surface segment 9e, 9f of a second embodiment. In this embodiment, the gaps S1, S2, S3, S4 also have a trapezoidal widening at their end in the direction of the inner strip 15. The webs 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d, 11e have an outer contour K1, K2 in the form of a segment of a circle on both sides at the height of their center. The curvature of the outer contour K1 is negative (concave) and the curvature of the outer contour K2 is positive (convex). This means that the contour K1 forms an indentation in the web S1 and the contour K2 forms a bulge in the web S1. In terms of amount, the curvature of the contour K1 is greater than that of the contour K2. The contours K1, K2 of the webs are here matched to each other in such a way that the gaps S1, S2, S3, S4 form an annular section in longitudinal direction at the height of their center. The gaps S1, S2, S3, S4 thus have a serpentine shape, whereby the blister pack inserted into a receiving compartment is carried at at least three points and the holding effect is intensified. With this embodiment, the gaps S1, S2, S3, S4 are designed in such a way that a blister pack inserted with its sealing edge 27 into one of the gaps S1, S2, S3, S4 can be held free-standing in a receiving compartment A1, A2, A3, A4.

(16) FIG. 4 shows a frontal view of a blister pack held in a receiving compartment A1, A2, A3, A4 according to the first embodiment. The blister pack comprises a plastic molding 29 which fixes two toothbrushes 31 to a cardboard back wall. A sealing edge 27, on which the plastic molding 29 is pressed onto the cardboard back wall, seals the toothbrushes 31. The connection line V runs over the plastic molding 29 and the sealing edge 27.

(17) FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show an embodiment of a packaging unit formed by inserting a row of toothbrushes 31 into the folding box 33. The insertion takes place in an automated manner from top to bottom through the open cover of the folding box 33. The top view of FIG. 6 with the cover of the filled folding box 33 in the open state shows that the individual toothbrushes 31 are held free-standing in the folding box 33.

(18) FIG. 7 shows the packaging unit with the tear tab 23 torn off. The toothbrushes 31 remain in the base-side part 35 of the two parts created by tearing off the tear tab 23. The part of the folding box 33 on the cover side has been removed. The packaging unit is intended to be placed on a sales shelf after tearing off the tear tab 23 and removing the part on the cover side. The back side of the base-side part is higher than the face side 37. The face side 37 is arranged on the visible side of the shelf so that a customer standing in front of the shelf can clearly see the toothbrushes 31. The blister packs are placed in the receiving compartments with the plastic molding 29 pointing in the direction of the face side 37.

(19) FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the packaging unit shown in FIG. 7. The webs 11 run on the base of the folding box in two rows, whereby one row at a time encloses one of the two lower corners of the blister packs. The one row bridges the secondary folding line N5 and the other row bridges the secondary folding line N7.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

(20) 1 blank 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d main surfaces 5 fastening surface 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d main surface segment 9a, 9b, 9d, 9e, 9f, 9g, 9h secondary surface segment 11, 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d, 11e web 13 outer strip 15 inner strip 17 first inner strip segment 19 second inner strip segment 21 punching line 23 first tear tab 24 second tear tab 25 fastening tab 27 sealing edge 29 plastic molding 30 blister pack 31 toothbrush 33 folding box 35 base-side part 37 face side A1, A2, A3, A4 receiving compartment H1, H2, H3, H4 main folding line N1, N2, N4, N5, N6, N7, N8 secondary folding line F1 folding line F1, F2 auxiliary folding line S, S1, S2, S3, S4 gap V connection line