CARTON WITH ADVERTISING MEANS
A carton for containing a plurality of articles, such as yoghurt pots, the carton including a plurality of main panels (428, 416, 429, 430) for forming the carton top, side and bottom walls. The carton further comprises a shaped panel (418) formed from at least one (416) of the carton walls. The shaped panel (418) is defined in part by a first aperture (420) struck from the one carton wall (416) and in part by an end edge (426) of the one carton wall.
The present invention relates to a carton for containing a plurality of articles and in particular to a carton which is provided with a shaped panel to increase the advertising effect of the carton.
It is known to provide carton having apertures shaped to accommodate the articles they are intended to contain, GB 2346602 to Grimes and GB 1481559 to Von Nell and Jaekel are examples of this.
Cartons for packaging multiple articles, such as beverage or food containers are often formed from high-grade paperboard and have graphic printable surfaces, which are necessary for providing cartons with advertising printed on the carton. When using cartons constructed from a minimum amount of material the surface area available for printing such graphics may be reduced. Similarly, if low-grade paperboard material is used to construct a carton, the outer surfaces of the carton may not be printable with graphic or the quality may be poor. It is therefore desirable to provide a carton having other means of incorporating advertising and marketing material.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccording to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a carton for containing a plurality of articles, such as yoghurt pots, the carton comprising a plurality of main panels for forming the carton top, side and bottom walls, the carton further comprising a shaped panel struck from at least one of said carton walls, the shaped panel being defined in part by a first aperture struck from the one carton wall and in part by an end edge of the one carton wall wherein the shaped panel provides means for enhancing the visual impact of the carton upon an observer.
Preferably, the first aperture is struck entirely from a side wall of the carton and is defined in part by a substantially vertical straight edge extending between the top wall and the bottom wall, which substantially vertical straight edge provides a frame of reference against which a user can discern the shaped panel.
Preferably, the end edge of the one carton wall is contoured to define a first edge of the shaped panel.
Preferably, first aperture is defined in part by a contoured edge which defines a second edge of the shaped panel.
Preferably, the shaped panel is shaped similarly to an outline of an article to be contained within the carton to emulate a feature of that article on said one carton wall.
Preferably, the shaped panel contains/displays a graphical representation of an object and at least part of an outline of the object is defined by one or both of the first aperture and the cut line.
Preferably, the first aperture and said end edge are spaced from each other and do not intersect such that the shaped panel remains integral with said one wall.
Preferably, the shaped panel is shaped to enhance the visual impact upon the observer of a message to be displayed upon the carton.
Preferably, the message to be displayed may be indicative of a quality of the contents of the carton said quality for example being a health benefit provided by the contents.
Preferably, the shaped panel is shaped to enhance a trademark or trade name displayed upon the carton.
Five exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which;
A first embodiment of the present invention is illustrated
The main panel 10 will now be described in detail with specific reference to
Main panel 10 may form a complete carton wall or may only form part of a composite carton wall, when incorporated in a set up carton (such as that shown in
Returning to the main panel 10 of
The first aperture 20 is also defined by a first contoured edge 24, which edge 24 also defines an edge of the shaped panel 18. In this embodiment the shaped panel 18 has an outline shape which represents a cartoon character's head, such as a monkey or dinosaur. The shaped panel 18 is further defined by a second contoured edge provided by the end edge 26, which edge 26 is also shaped to depict a portion of the character's head. The shaped panel 18 remains integral with the graphic portion 16 by the spacing and separation between the cut edge 26 and the aperture 20.
It can be seen by referring to
In
It will further be appreciated that removal of portion of the main panel 10 to define the shaped panel 18 has the effect of exposing to view at least part of the contents of the carton 450. The location of the aperture and the contoured end edges may be selected so as to expose a specific portion of the carton contents so as to cooperate with the message enhancing quality of the shaped panel 18.
The shaped panel 18 forms a shaped panel which may serve to enhance the visual impact of the carton upon a potential purchaser. The shaped panel may highlight or enhance or otherwise represent a message which it is desired to be conveyed to the purchaser. For example the message may be that the contents of the package have some health benefit such as weight control, cholesterol reduction, immune system enhancement or intestinal health benefit. Such a message may be printed on or otherwise carried by one or more of the articles to be packaged in the carton of the invention or by the graphic portion or other portion (including the top, bottom and side walls) of the carton of the invention. Alternatively the shaped panel may be shaped to enhance a trademark, trade name or a cartoon image to be printed or otherwise displayed on one or more of the articles or on the graphic portion or other portion of the carton.
It will be appreciated that any of the embodiments shown in
In other embodiments of the invention it is envisaged that other articles may be contained within the carton and that the invention is not limited to a carton, or a blank for forming a carton, for containing yoghurt pots arranged in two tiers or 2×4 arrays. Accordingly alterations may be made to accommodate other articles.
It can be appreciated that various changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention, for example, the size and shape of the panels may be adjusted to accommodate articles of differing size or shape. The shaped panel may be shaped according to a variety of user requirements. Other variations may is also be made within the scope of the invention.
It will be recognised that as used herein, directional references such as “top”, “bottom”, “front”, “back”, “end”, “side”, “inner”, “outer”, “upper” and “lower” do not limit the respective panels to such orientation, but merely serve to distinguish these panels from one another. Any reference to hinged connection should not be construed as necessarily referring to a single fold line only; indeed it is envisaged that hinged connection can be formed from one or more of the following, a score line, a frangible line or a fold line without departing from the scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A carton for containing a plurality of articles, the carton comprising a top wall, a pair of side walls and a bottom wall, the carton further comprising a shaped panel formed from one of said top, side and bottom walls, said one wall having first and second opposed end edges, the shaped panel being disposed between said first end edge of said one wall and a first aperture struck at least in part from said one wall, said shaped panel being defined in part by said first end edge and in part by said first aperture, both said first end edge and said first aperture being contoured such that the shape of said shaped panel represents visual information associated with said articles.
2. A carton according to claim 1 wherein said articles carries printed information associated with said articles, and said visual information represented by the shape of said shaped panel includes at least a part of said printed information.
3. A carton according to claim 1 wherein one or more of said top, side and bottom walls carry printed information associated with said articles, and said visual information represented by the shape of said shaped panel includes at least a part of said printed information.
4. A carton according to claim 1 wherein said first aperture is defined in part by a substantially straight edge and in part by a contoured edge for defining said shaped panel, said contoured edge of said first aperture being positioned across said first aperture from said straight edge.
5. A carton according to claim 4 wherein said one wall comprises a graphic portion defined between said straight edge of said first aperture and said second end edge of said one wall.
6. A carton according to claim 5 wherein said graphic portion carries printed information associated with said articles, and said first end edge and said contoured edge are configured such that said visual information represented by said shaped panel includes at least a part of said printed information.
7. A carton according to claim 4 wherein said second end edge of said one wall is substantially straight, and said straight edge of said first aperture is disposed substantially parallel to said second end edge,
8. A carton according to claim 4 wherein said one wall is hingedly connected to along opposed side edges of said one wall to two others of said top, side and bottom walls, and said straight edge of said first aperture is disposed substantially perpendicularly to said side edges of said one wall.
9. A carton according to claim 5 wherein said first aperture is struck solely from said one wall such that said shaped panel is continuous with said graphic portion through part of said one wall.
10. A carton according to claim 4 wherein said first aperture extends entirely across said one wall such that said contoured edge of said first aperture extends between opposed side edges of said one wall that extend between said first and second end edges of said one wall.
11. A carton according to claim 1 wherein the shaped panel is shaped similarly to an outline of one of said articles.
12. A carton according to claim 1 wherein the shape of said shaped panel represents an object.
13. A carton according to claim 4 wherein said contoured edge of the first aperture is disposed closer to said first end edge than to said second end edge.
14. A blank for forming a carton for containing a plurality of articles, the blank comprising a top wall panel, a pair of side wall panels and a bottom wall panel, the blank further comprising a shaped panel formed from one of said top, side and bottom wall panels, said one wall panel having first and second opposed end edges, the shaped panel being disposed between said first end edge of said one wall panel and a first aperture struck at least in part from said one wall panel, said shaped panel being defined in part by said first end edge and in part by said first aperture both said first end edge and said first aperture being contoured such that the shape of said shaped panel represents visual information associated with said articles.
15. A carton for containing a plurality of articles, the carton comprising a top wall, a pair of side walls and a bottom wall, the carton further comprising a shaped panel formed from one of said top, side and bottom walls, said one wall having first and second opposed apertures each struck from said one wall, the shaped panel being disposed between said first and second apertures, said shaped panel being defined in part by said first aperture and in part by said second aperture, both said first and second apertures being contoured such that the shape of said shaped panel represents visual information associated with said articles.
16. A carton according to claim 15 wherein each of said first and second apertures is defined in part by a substantially arched edge and in part by a contoured edge, said contoured edge being positioned across said each aperture from said arched edge, said shaped panel being defined by said contoured edges of said first and second apertures.
17. A carton according to claim 16 wherein said one wall comprises a graphic portion defined between said arched edge of said first aperture and one of opposed end edges of said one wall.
18. A carton according to claim 17 wherein said graphic portion carries printed information associated with said articles, and said contoured edges are configured such that said visual information represented by said shaped panel includes at least a part of said printed information.
19. A carton according to claim 17 wherein said first aperture is struck solely from said one wall such that said shaped panel is continuous with said graphic portion through part of said one wall.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 21, 2006
Publication Date: Oct 1, 2009
Inventor: Philippe Lebras (Chateauroux)
Application Number: 11/912,133
International Classification: B65D 65/00 (20060101);