Method for the preparation of a drinking cup of board
The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a disposable board drinking cup (10) and to the cup produced by the method. The cup is manufactured by folding a board blank between the cup mantle (5) and the collar (6), by bending and seaming the folded blank into a cone, the folding point forming the cup mouth (8), and by providing the thus seamed blank with a bottom. The cup thus formed comprises both a mantle (5) and a collar (6) bent downwardly from the cup mouth (8) and acting as a grip surface, making it easier to enjoy especially a hot drink from the cup. The shape of the cup mantle (5) and the collar (6) may be conically expanding, allowing the cups to be nested. The lower edge of the collar (6) can be equipped with a projection (12) for maintaining an air slot between the collar and the cup mantle.
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The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a board drinking cup, forming the cup mantle by folding and seaming sheet-like cup blanks. The invention also relates to the board drinking cup made by the method. The invention relates specifically to disposable cups produced in mass production, which are equally suitable for holding cool drinks and hot drinks.
Disposable cups are generally made of cup paperboard, which is coated with a polymer coating at least on the side forming eventually the inner surface of the cup, in order to provide a waterproof cup. Cups may be or not equipped with a lug, and they have typically a conically expanding shape, allowing the cups to be nested with a view to packaging or to loading into automatic dispensers for dispensing one at a time.
Current disposable cups without lugs are poorly suited for hot drinks, because the cup burns the user's fingers due to the poor thermal insulation capacity of the thin cup board. Cups with lugs do not involve this problem, however, because of the limited bearing capacity of the lug, it is usable only in relatively small cups. A cup with a lug also entails more intricate manufacture, and the foldable lug results in reduced comfort of use. Additionally, a disposable cup held by the lug may have poor stability when filled to the rim.
For the reasons above, there is a need for a solution for manufacturing a lug free paperboard drinking cup by simple means and in a modified shape allowing also hot drinks to be easily enjoyed. The method of the invention, which provides the desired solution, is characterised by folding the cup blank at least partly double, so as to form in the cup both a mantle and an external collar directed downwardly from the cup mouth, with the folding point forming the cup mouth.
The collar provided by folding the blank forms a double wall construction in the area of the grip surface on the cup, this double wall construction basically providing double thermal insulation capacity of the wall construction. This already makes a cup containing a hot drink notably easier to hold. Additionally, the collar, which except for its folding point at the cup mouth, is detached from the cup mantle, leaves an inner air layer acting as supplementary thermal insulation between the collar and the mantle.
The folded collar is preferably formed as a ring encircling the cup and covering the portion of the outer surface of the cup determined by the ratio of the collar height to the cup mantle height. The annular collar is simple in design, and also enhances the solidity of the cup structure markedly. This, in turn, allows a thinner cup board thus achieving material savings.
The material of the drink cup of the invention is appropriately a polymer-coated board, which is produced as a continuous web by a board machine and can be cut into blanks, from which cups can be manufactured by folding and seaming. The collar of the invention is formed in the cup as the blank is folded.
The cup mantle is preferably conically expanding in the way disposable cups usually are, enabling the cups to be nested to save space. The collar folded in the upwardly conically expanding cup becomes similarly conically downwardly expanding. Then an air space expanding downwardly from the cup mouth is formed between the collar and the cup mantle, this air space providing efficient insulation between the user's fingers and the mantle heated by the drink. A downwardly expanding collar also hampers piling of cups minimally.
In accordance with the invention, the lower edge of the collar can be equipped with an annular projection oriented inwardly towards the cup mantle. The projection may consist of an enlargement of the cup material, having a stabilising effect on the cup as the user presses the collar against the cup mantle with his fingers. Additionally, the projection ensures a permanent air space acting as thermal insulation between the collar and the mantle. However, dimensioning of the projection should allow for a sufficient distance between the projection and the cup mantle in the normal cup state, for the projection not to interfere with piling of cups.
The enlargement acting as reinforcement at the lower edge of the collar may also project from the grip surface of the collar, enabling the user to get a better hold of the collar with his fingers. Regardless of its orientation, the enlargement may consist of a wind or an overlay in the cup material. It is also possible to form an annular enlargement acting as reinforcement at the folding point in the cup mouth. Such an enlargement of the cup mouth, which is known per se in previous collar-free cups, may also serve to generate the desired true oral sensation for the user drinking from the cup. A suitable cup collar height may vary e.g. in the range 1 to 5 cm, depending basically on the cup size. In proportion to the cup height, the collar height may account for 20 to 80%, preferably about 25 to 50% of this height. However, in the extreme case, the collar height may be even equal to the cup height, and then the cup has a double wall throughout.
The board drinking cup of the invention, which can be manufactured as described above, is characterised by the cup mantle being folded from the cup mouth downwardly to form a collar providing a grip surface outside the mantle. The cup mantle may be conically expanding, allowing the cups to be piled with their mantle and collar portions partly nested.
The invention is explained in further detail below by means of examples and with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which
FIGS. 1 to 3 show the folding and bending to form a cup out from a board cup blank step by step, with
The manner of manufacturing the cup illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3 is particularly suitable for drinking cups made of board. Manufacture starts from a sheet-like blank 1 cut out from a polymer-coated cup paperboard shown in
The cup blank folded and seamed as in
Owing to their conically expanding shape, the drinking cups 10 of
In
It is obvious to those skilled in the art that the applications of the invention are not restricted to the examples above, but may vary within the scope of the accompanying claims.
Claims
1. A method for manufacturing a board drinking cup (10), characterized by the steps of
- providing a sheet-like cup blank (1) with parts for a conically expanding cup mantle (5) and a conically expanding collar (6), said areas being separated by a fold line (4),
- folding the cup blank (1) along said fold line (4),
- bending and seaming the folded cup blank (1) to produce an upwardly expanding cup mantle (5) turning at the cup mouth (8) to a downwardly expanding outer collar (6), the fold line (4) forming the cup mouth and the collar forming a grip surface outside the mantle, and
- providing the cup with a sealed bottom (11).
2. A method as defined in claim 1, characterized in that the collar (6) is formed as a ring encircling the cup (10) and covering at least part of its outer surface (5).
3. A method as defined in claim 1, characterised in that an annular projection (12, 13) oriented inwardly towards the cup mantle (5) is formed at the lower edge of the collar (6).
4. A method as defined in claim 1, characterised in that an annular enlargement (12) acting as reinforcement is formed at the lower edge of the collar (6).
5. A method as defined in claim 3, characterised in that the enlargement (12) forms a projection oriented inwardly towards the cup mantle (5).
6. A method as defined in claim 4, characterised in that the enlargement (12) forms a projection oriented outwardly from the collar (6).
7. A method as defined in any of claims 4-6, characterised in that the enlargement is a wind (12) or an overlay in the cup material.
8. A method as defined in claim 1, characterised in that an annular enlargement (14) acting as reinforcement is formed at the mantle folding point in the cup mouth (8).
9. A method as defined in claim 1, characterised in that the collar (6) has a height of 1 to 5 cm.
10. A method as defined in claim 1, characterized in that the collar (6) height accounts for 20 to 100%, preferably 25 to 50% of the cup (10) height.
11. A board drinking cup (10), which can be manufactured by a method defined in claim 1, characterized in that the cup (10) comprises an upwardly conically expanding cup mantle (5), folded at the cup mouth (8) to turn to a downwardly conically expanding collar (6), and a sealed bottom (11), the cup mantle and collar portions being nestable to allow piling of the cups and the collar forming a grip surface outside the mantle.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 7, 2003
Publication Date: Aug 11, 2005
Applicant: STORA ENSO OYJ (HELSINKI)
Inventors: Jari Rasanen (Imatra), Seppo Karine (Imatra)
Application Number: 10/504,534