Container

Abstract

A container comprises a product contained in a packaging, wherein the packaging comprises a paper material and the product comprises at least two substantially dimensionally stable, cuboid-shaped bodies. The packaging comprises a blister card and a cuboid-shaped blister cover arranged on the blister card, both the blister card and the blister cover being made of the paper material and the at least two bodies substantially completely filling the blister cover. The packaging may further comprise a material weakening functioning as a bend line which extends both over the blister cover and the blister card and runs in a plane lying between the at least two cuboid-shaped bodies such that the packaging can be broken open by bending the container along the bend line to remove the product from the packaging. The product contained in the packaging acts as a lever when the packaging is opened.

Claims

1. A container comprising packaging and a product contained in the packaging, wherein the packaging comprises a paper material and the product comprises at least two substantially dimensionally stable, cuboid-shaped bodies, characterized in that the packaging comprises a blister card and a cuboid-shaped blister cover arranged on the blister card, both the blister card and the blister cover being made of the paper material and the at least two bodies substantially completely filling the blister cover, wherein the packaging further comprises a material weakening functioning as a bend line which extends both over the blister cover and over the blister card and which runs in a plane lying between the at least two cuboid-shaped bodies such that the packaging can be broken open by bending the container along the bend line so that the product can be removed from the packaging, wherein the product contained in the packaging acts as a lever when the packaging is opened.

2. The container according to claim 1, wherein the product comprises four identical cuboid-shaped bodies, wherein the material weakening runs in a plane that lies between two bodies.

3. The container according to claim 1, wherein the product is hygroscopic.

4. The container according to claim 3, wherein the product is water-soluble.

5. The container according to claim 3, wherein the product comprises a surfactant.

6. The container according to claim 1, wherein the bodies are each individually wrapped in a water-soluble film.

7. The container according to claim 1, wherein a separating element is provided which is arranged within the blister cover between the bodies.

8. The container according to claim 1, wherein at least a partial portion of the material weakening is formed as a scoring which does not completely penetrate the material of the packaging.

9. The container according to claim 8, wherein the portion of the material weakening extending over the blister cover is formed as a scoring.

10. The container according to claim 9, wherein the scoring is made on the inner side of the blister cover facing the product.

11. The container according to claim 9, wherein the scoring is made on the outer side of the blister cover facing away from the product.

12. The container according to claim 9, wherein the scoring is made both on the inner side of the blister cover facing the product and on the outer side of the blister cover facing away from the product.

13. The container according to claim 1, wherein the portion of the material weakening extending over the blister card is formed as a creasing.

14. The container according to claim 1, wherein the blister cover is formed by folding a material blank.

15. The container according to claim 1, wherein the blister cover and the blister card are bonded together in a moisture-tight manner.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] In the following, the invention is explained in more detail by means of embodiment examples and with reference to the attached figures, in which:

[0023] FIG. 1 is an oblique view from the front of an embodiment of the container according to the invention;

[0024] FIG. 2 is a rear view of the container from FIG. 1;

[0025] FIG. 3 is a view of a material blank for forming a blister cover;

[0026] FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of a separating element;

[0027] FIG. 5 is an oblique view from the front of a further embodiment of the container according to the invention;

[0028] FIG. 6 is a rear view of the container from FIG. 5;

[0029] FIG. 7 is a view of a material blank for forming a blister cover;

[0030] FIG. 8 shows a further embodiment of a separating element;

[0031] FIG. 9 is a view of an opened container.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0032] FIG. 1 shows a container, designated as a whole by 1, which comprises packaging 2 and a product 3, not visible in the view of FIG. 1, contained in the packaging 2. The product 3 is a water-soluble cleaning agent comprising surfactants that can be placed into the cistern of a toilet. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the product 3 comprises two substantially dimensionally stable, cube-shaped bodies 4.

[0033] The packaging 2 comprises a blister card 5 and a cuboid-shaped blister cover 6 arranged on the blister card 5. Both the blister card 5 and the blister cover 6 are made of a cardboard material.

[0034] The two cube-shaped bodies 4, which cannot be seen in FIG. 1, are contained in the blister cover 6 and substantially fill it completely.

[0035] The packaging 2 also has a material weakening 8 functioning as a bend line 7, which extends over both the blister card 5 and the blister cover 6. The material weakening 8 runs in a plane lying between the two cube-shaped bodies 4 and orthogonal to the blister card 5. By bending the container 1 along the bend line 7, the blister cover 6 can be broken open along the material weakening 8 so that the product 3 can be removed from the packaging 2. FIG. 9, which will be discussed in more detail below, shows a further embodiment of a container 1 which has been bent along the bend line 7 and in which the blister cover 6 has been broken open. The product 3 can be removed from the packaging 2 in this state.

[0036] The product 3 contained in the packaging 2 acts as a lever when the packaging 2 is opened, such that a bending moment applied during the bending process is transferred very efficiently via the substantially dimensionally stable product 3 to the blister cover 6, which then breaks open along the material weakening 8 functioning as a predetermined breaking point. For this purpose, the product 3 substantially completely fills the blister cover 6, so that the applied bending moment substantially completely takes effect when the predetermined breaking point is separated and does not otherwise have a deforming or compressive effect on the blister cover 6.

[0037] The portion of the material weakening 8 extending over the blister cover 6 is formed as a scoring 11. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the scoring 11 is made on the outer side 15 of the blister cover 6. Alternatively, the scoring 11 can also be made on the inner side 12 of the blister cover 6 facing the product 3; in this case, the outer side 15 of the blister cover 6 is intact and there is particularly good protection against environmental influences such as moisture. Finally, as already described above, the scoring can also be made on both the inner side and the outer side. In any case, the scoring 11 causes the blister cover 6 to break easily along the scoring 11 when the packaging 2 is bent along the bend line 7.

[0038] In contrast, the portion of the material weakening 8 extending over the blister card 5 is formed as a creasing 13. The creasing 13 extends over the entire length of the blister card 5, which can be seen more clearly from the rear view in FIG. 2. It therefore also runs underneath the blister cover 6 and is flush with the portion of the material weakening 8 that extends over the blister cover 6. The entirety of the material weakening 8, comprising the scoring 11 extending over the blister cover 6 and the creasing 13 extending over the blister cover 5, lies in a plane which lies between the two cube-shaped bodies 4 and orthogonal to the blister card 5. The creasing 13 substantially assists in the opening process of the packaging 2 by facilitating the bending of the packaging 2 along the bend line 7. The scoring 11, on the other hand, along which the cardboard material of the blister cover 6 is weakened to a greater extent than the cardboard material of the blister card 5 along the creasing 13, functions as a predetermined breaking point along which the blister cover 6 breaks open when a corresponding bending moment is applied.

[0039] The blister cover 6 and the blister card 5 are glued together such that substantially no moisture can penetrate into the packaging 2 via the adhesive regions. For this purpose, the blister cover 6 comprises connecting tabs 16, via which an adhesive connection is established between the blister cover 6 and the blister card 5.

[0040] FIG. 3 shows a material blank 14 made of a cardboard material from which a blister cover 6 can be formed by folding. FIG. 3 shows a view of the later inner side 12 of the blister cover 6. In the embodiment shown here, the scoring 11 is formed on the inner side 12 of the blister cover 6. In addition, the material blank 14 comprises a plurality of fold lines 18 formed as creasing, along which the material blank 14 can be folded particularly easily to form the blister cover 6. Connecting tabs 16 are formed on the edge of the material blank 14, which, as already described above, serve to connect the blister cover 6 to the blister card 5. In addition, the material blank 14 comprises connecting tabs 17, which serve to connect the side walls of the blister cover 6 to one another, for example to glue or seal them.

[0041] FIG. 4 shows a separating element 10 which is made of a cardboard material and can be arranged within the blister cover 6 to separate the two cube-shaped bodies 4. The separating element 10 comprises two projections 19, 20 arranged orthogonally to one another, wherein the bodies 4 contained in the packaging 2 are separated from one another by the cardboard projection 19. This can prevent the two bodies 4 from coming into contact with one another during storage of the container and from rubbing against one another or sticking together. The separating element 10 can also consist only of the projection 19, which can be inserted between the two bodies 4.

[0042] FIGS. 5 to 9 show a further embodiment of a container 1 according to the invention. It differs from the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 only in that four identical cube-shaped bodies 4 are contained in the packaging 2 and the blister cover 6 is correspondingly larger. The blister cover 6 can be formed from the material blank 14 shown in FIG. 7 by folding in the manner described above in connection with FIG. 3. The material weakening 8 runs such that two bodies 4 are arranged on either side of the material weakening 8. The four bodies 4 can be separated from one another within the blister cover 6 by a separating element 10, as shown in FIG. 8. The separating element 10 comprises two intersecting projections 19, 20, which are arranged on a base 21. In this way, four separate compartments are created, each of which can contain one body 4. The separating element 10 may also comprise only the two intersecting projections 19, 20, which are inserted between the four bodies 4.

[0043] FIG. 9 shows an opened container 1, which was previously bent along the bend line 7. It can be seen that the blister card 5 is only bent along the material weakening 8 formed as a creasing 13, while the blister cover 6 is broken open along the material weakening 8 formed as a scoring 11 and thus functioning as a predetermined breaking point. In this way, the product 3 contained in the blister cover 6 is immediately accessible. It can be seen from FIG. 9 that two cube-shaped bodies 4 are arranged on either side of the material weakening 8. Each individual body 4 is wrapped in a water-soluble film based on polyvinyl alcohol, which is indicated by the hatching. In addition, a cross-shaped separating element 10, as shown in FIG. 8, can be inserted between the four bodies 4. For reasons of clarity, this is not shown in the view of FIG. 9.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0044] 1 Container [0045] 2 Packaging [0046] 3 Product [0047] 4 Body [0048] 5 Blister card [0049] 6 Blister cover [0050] 7 Bend line [0051] 8 Material weakening [0052] 9 Water-soluble film [0053] 10 Separating element [0054] 11 Scoring [0055] 12 Inner side [0056] 13 Creasing [0057] 14 Material blank [0058] 15 Outer side [0059] 16 Connecting tab [0060] 17 Connecting tab [0061] 18 Fold line [0062] 19 Projection [0063] 20 Projection [0064] 21 Base