Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D71/00—Bundles of articles held together by packaging elements for convenience of storage or transport, e.g. portable segregating carrier for plural receptacles such as beer cans or pop bottles; Bales of material
  • B65D71/40—Bundles of articles held together by packaging elements for convenience of storage or transport, e.g. portable segregating carrier for plural receptacles such as beer cans or pop bottles; Bales of material comprising a plurality of articles held together only partially by packaging elements formed by folding a blank or several blanks

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a carrier device for carrying beverage cans.
• beverage cans in the form of a "pack" for manual carrying and holding thereof by a user is known in the state of the art.
• packs are box-like and enclose a number of cans for their transport and to allow the cans to be carried easily by user.
• the "pack” is merely in the form of a carrier that engages only the tops of the cans to group them together.
• Such carriers may be in the form of e.g. plastic rings that grip upper portions of the cans or can be in the form of a planar body (e.g. formed of cardboard) that includes openings for engaging upper rims of the cans.
• flanges or tabs in the openings to aid in retention of a can therein.
• the flanges of an opening fold upwards as a can is pushed through the opening to allow passage of the can. Once the rim has been pushed past the flanges, the flanges are able to engage an underside of the rim to retain the can in the opening.
• Carriers of this type can be desirable because they are suited to being formed of readily recyclable materials (e.g. cardboard or paperboard).
• Such materials can be more susceptible to damage (e.g. tearing) and, in general, can be weaker than harder-to-recycle alternatives such as plastic. In some cases, this means that such carriers are more susceptible to dislodgement of the cans from the openings.
• Such carriers can be strengthened to counteract this issue (e.g. a thicker material can be used), but such strengthening can result in an arrangement in which it becomes difficult for a user to release a can from the carrier.
• said grouping together of beverage cans may present certain drawbacks, such as discomfort and difficulty in the manual carrying thereof, and it is particularly easy for the cans being carried to accidentally or unintentionally slip or fall out.
• the present invention has been devised according to the above considerations.
• a carrier device for beverage cans which comprises a planar body having a can-receiving opening for receipt of a beverage can, and a plurality of flanges surrounding the opening and configured to engage a can when received in the opening, wherein each flange has an inner edge defining a portion of a periphery of the opening and an opposing outer edge around which the flange can fold so as to yield out of plane with the planar body, wherein the planar body incorporates an insert that comprises an opening, said insert being arranged such that it is collapsible or foldable over the body itself with at least one opening of the insert that corresponds to an opening of the planar body, the opening of the insert also having a width that is equal to or greater than the width resulting from the opening of the body with the added flanges and less than or equal to the width of the same opening of the planar body.
• the planar body has at least one relief cut arranged adjacent to at least one flange.
• the relief cut results in resting and pressing on the insert.
• the radius of the opening of the insert is less than the distance from the centre of the opening of the body to the relief cut.
• Each flange may be separated from an adjacent flange by a radial cut extending radially from the opening.
• the term "separated” means that the flanges can be moved separately to one another (i.e. are not connected along the radial cut), but does not necessarily require the flanges to be spaced from one another at the radial cut (i.e. they may still be in contact).
• One or more of the relief cuts may be at or proximate to an outer end of a corresponding radial cut that is distal from the opening.
• Each relief cut may have a greater extent in the circumferential direction than the corresponding radial cut. In this way, each relief cut may help to distribute any force circumferentially.
• At least one relief cut may intersect with at least one radial cut, and the radius of the opening of the insert may be less than the distance from the centre of the opening of the body to the intersection between the relief cut and the radial cut.
• Each relief cut may extend in a direction that is not parallel to the corresponding radial cut.
• Each relief cut may extend perpendicularly to the corresponding radial cut (i.e. the radial cut at which the relief cut is located).
• the relief cut may present symmetry with respect to the radial cut, and has a general orientation perpendicular to the radial cut and comprises a curved section. Accordingly all of this, the relief cut may present convexity or concavity.
• the flanges have their straight sides with a geometric form of trapeze, and eventually the flanges may present an additional cut in their region of contact with the contour of the openings.
• the body may present added holes suitable for the passage of the user's fingers.
• the body may have four sides, wherein each pair of adjacent sides define a corner therebetween.
• the corners may be rounded.
• the body may be laminar and comprise cardboard.
• the body may be substantially entirely formed of cardboard.
• the cardboard may be compact cardboard.
• the cardboard may be Kraft type cardboard (known by the following nomenclatures: SUS, GN4, CNK and UUK).
• the carrier device may have fewer than 21 flanges surrounding the opening of the planar body.
• the opening of the planar body may be fully surrounded by flanges. That is, the entire periphery of the opening may be defined by flanges (and thus, the periphery may not include any gaps).
• Each opening may have a diameter of between 45 and 50 mm, e.g. about 47 mm.
• the diameter of the opening may be taken as the distance between the inner edges of diametrically opposed flanges surrounding the opening.
• Each flange may have a flange height (distance between the inner and outer edges of the flange) of between 3 and 5 mm, e.g. about 4 mm.
• Figures 1 and 2 illustrate a carrier device 10 for beverage cans 3 (i.e. of the type having an upper rim 31).
• the carrier device 10 comprises a square-shaped planar body 1 (formed of compact cardboard) with rounded corners.
• the same planar body 1 has at least one opening 2 for receipt of a beverage can 3.
• the body 1 includes four circular can-receiving openings 2 (arranged at corners of the body 1), each sized and shaped for receipt of a beverage can 3 as it is showed at figure 2 .
• the planar body 1 includes a plurality of flanges 4 or flanges surrounding the opening 2 and configured to engage a can 3 when received in the opening 2, such as it is showed at figure 2 .
• Each flange 4 has an inner edge 4a defining a portion of a periphery of the opening 2 and an opposing outer edge 4b around which the flange 4 can fold so as to yield out of plane with the body 1.
• a total of 20 flanges 4 fully surround each opening 2 for engaging a can when received in the respective opening 2.
• the body 1 incorporates an insert 11 having openings 112, said insert 11 being arranged such that it is collapsible or foldable or hingeable over the body 1 itself, wherein the openings 112 of the insert 11 coincide with the openings 2 of the body 1.
• the body 1 and the insert 11 are laminar, have a rectangular geometry, and are arranged symmetrically with respect to one another, such that in the folding of the insert 11 over the body 1, the openings 112 of the insert 11 coincide with the openings 2 of the body 1.
• the insert 11 can be joined to the body 1 by gluing.
• the openings 112 of the insert 11 have a width or radius R which is greater than the width or useful radius of the openings 2 of the body 1 taking into account the added flanges 4 and the inner edges 4a, and at the same time, the width or radius R of the openings 112 of the insert 11 is less than the width or radius of the same openings 2 of the body 1 without taking into account the added flanges 4.
• each flange 4 is separated from an adjacent flange 4 by a radial cut 41 extending radially from the respective opening 2.
• a plurality of the radial cuts 41 correspond to relief cuts 42, which are arranged at distal ends of the corresponding radial cuts 41.
• Each relief cut 42 is linear and may be straight and/or curved and symmetric and perpendicular in relation to the corresponding radial cut 41 thereof (so as to extend in a circumferential direction).
• the radius of the opening 112 of the insert 11 is also less than the distance from the centre of the opening 2 to the relief cut 42.
• the relief cut 42 is concave with respect to the opening 2 of the body 1.
• the relief cut 42 could be convex.
• the curve section of the relief cut 42 may be the graphic result of an elliptic, circumferential, parabolic or hyperbolic geometry, or another mathematical equation or polynomic, exponential or trigonometrical expression for example.
• the flanges 4 have a trapezoidal geometry, with straight sides.
• the body 1 furthermore has some added holes 5 suitable for the passage of the user's fingers, and thus allowing the manual carrying thereof.
• FIG. 1 An embodiment depicted in figures 1 and 2 is showed in more detail in figures 3 , 4 and 5 from which the use and advantages of the carrier device of the invention can be understood easily. This embodiment has important advantages.
• the relief cuts 42 help to reduce and/or avoid stress concentrations, and to prevent tearing of radial cuts 41 in the outer direction (i.e. away from the openings 2).
• Each opening 2 has a diameter (defined as the distance between the inner edges 4a of two diametrically opposed flanges 4) of about 48 mm.
• Each flange 4 has a height (defined as the distance between inner 4a and outer 4b edges of the flange 4) of about 4 mm.
• the width of the body 1 (in both axes) is about 133 mm.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=85477877

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Family Cites Families (6)

• 2023
  • 2023-02-02 EP EP23709237.4A patent/EP4660102A1/fr active Pending
  • 2023-02-02 WO PCT/ES2023/070054 patent/WO2024161050A1/fr not_active Ceased
• 2025
  • 2025-07-31 MX MX2025009010A patent/MX2025009010A/es unknown

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