Paper boxes and dividers

Abstract

To provide a cardboard box that can mitigate the impact on its contents from shocks applied to the bottom. [Solution] The paper box 1 comprises a paper body 20 having a bottom surface 21 and an internal space, and a paper partition placed inside the body 20 to divide the internal space into multiple storage spaces. The partition has a bottom portion 111 which forms the bottom of the storage space, and legs 51 which protrude downward from the bottom portion 111. The partition is placed inside the body 20 with the legs 51 in contact with the bottom surface 21 and with a gap between the bottom surface 21 and the bottom portion 111.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a cardboard box. The present invention also refers to an internal partition applicable to such a cardboard box or the like.

Background Art

[0002] In order to store contents in an organized state, a cardboard box provided with an internal partition is widely known. Patent Document 1 discloses an internal partition member formed by weaving a single sheet member.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Since the bottom of the internal partition member described in Patent Document 1 is flat in the assembled state, when it is placed in a container, the bottom surface of the container and the bottom are in almost contact without a gap. Therefore, when the container falls, the impact applied to the bottom surface is almost directly transmitted to the internal partition member, resulting in problems such as being easily damaged depending on the contents. In order to prevent this, measures such as arranging a cushioning material between the bottom surface of the container and the bottom may be necessary.

[0005] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a cardboard box capable of reducing the influence of an impact applied to the bottom surface on the contents.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The first aspect of the present invention is a cardboard box including a paper-made main body having a bottom surface and an internal space, and a paper-made internal partition disposed in the main body and partitioning the internal space into a plurality of storage spaces. The partition has a base that forms the bottom of the storage space and legs that protrude downward from the base. The partition is positioned inside the main body with its legs in contact with the bottom surface and with a gap between the bottom surface and the base.

[0007] A second aspect of the present invention is a paper partition that is placed inside a main body having a bottom surface and an internal space, and divides the internal space into multiple storage spaces. This partition has a base that forms the bottom of the storage space, a wall that rises upward from the periphery of the base, and legs that protrude downward from the base. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a paper box that can mitigate the impact of impacts applied to the bottom surface on the contents. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This is a perspective view showing a paper box relating to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This figure shows the blank used to form the main body of the cardboard box. [Figure 3] This diagram shows the blanks used to form the dividers inside the cardboard box. [Figure 4] This is a schematic cross-sectional view of the cardboard box. [Figure 5] This figure shows a blank for forming a partition according to a modified example of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 4. Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a paper box 1 according to this embodiment. The paper box 1 is composed of a main body 10 that defines the overall shape and outer surface, and a partition 50 arranged inside the main body 10.

[0011] The main body 10 according to this embodiment is formed by folding a blank made of a single sheet of paper, and has a main body 20 in which contents are stored, and a lid 30 connected to the main body 20. Figure 2 shows a blank 40 for forming the main body 10. The main body 20 has a rectangular base 21 and four peripheral walls 22 rising from the periphery of the base 21, and as a whole has a rectangular parallelepiped shape with the top open.

[0012] The lid portion 30 has a top surface 31 connected to the peripheral wall 22 of the main body 20 located at the rear, and three side walls 32 extending downward from the peripheral edge of the top surface. The main body 10 can be opened and closed by rotating around the connection point between the peripheral wall 22 and the top surface 31. A portion of the front side wall 32a is provided with a notch to form a tongue 33, and by inserting the tongue 33 into the slit 23 provided in the circumferential wall 22a located on the front side of the main body 20, the main body 10 can be held in a closed state.

[0013] In this embodiment, the partition 50 is placed inside the main body 20, thereby dividing the internal space of the main body 20 into six storage spaces of the same shape and size. The configuration shown in Figure 1 is merely an example, and the number, dimensions, and arrangement of the storage spaces can be appropriately determined depending on the type of contents to be stored. The partition 50, like the main body 10, is formed by folding a blank made from a single sheet of paper. There are no particular restrictions on the paper used to form the main body 10 and the partition 50; examples include cardboard, thick paper, coated paper, and corrugated cardboard. The main body 10 and the partition 50 may be formed from the same paper or from different papers.

[0014] Figure 3 shows the blank 100 for forming the partition 50. The blank 100 is composed of multiple unit shapes 110 for forming each storage space. Each unit shape 110 has two types of walls: a roughly rectangular base 111, a pair of first walls 112 connected to the longer sides of the rectangular shape of the base 111, and a pair of second walls 113 connected to the shorter sides of the rectangular shape of the base 111.

[0015] At the center of the long side portion of the bottom 111 where the bottom 111 and the first wall 112 are in contact, a cut 115 penetrating the blank 100 is provided. Each cut 115 has both end portions 115a extending in a direction away from the first wall 112 to be connected and an intermediate portion 115b substantially parallel to the long side portion, and has a U-shaped form that bulges toward the center of the bottom 111 in a plan view of the blank 100 shown in FIG. 3. At the center of the short side portion of the bottom 111 where the bottom 111 and the second wall 113 are in contact, a cut 116 penetrating the blank 100 is also provided. The cut 116 has both end portions 116a and an intermediate portion 116b in the same manner as the cut 115, and has a U-shaped form that bulges toward the center of the bottom 111 in a plan view of the blank 100. The cuts 115 and 116 have the same length at both end portions, and only the length of the intermediate portion is different.

[0016] As described above, the inner partition 50 of the present embodiment is configured to have six unit shapes 110 in order to form six accommodation spaces. The six unit shapes 110 are arranged in a two-dimensional matrix such that three are arranged in the direction D1 in which the short side of the bottom 111 extends and two are arranged in the direction D2 in which the long side extends. The first walls 112 of the unit shapes 110 adjacent in the direction D1 are integrally connected. Further, the second walls 113 of the unit shapes 110 adjacent in the direction D2 are also integrally connected. With such a configuration, the blank 100 can be formed by punching a single sheet of paper using a Thomson blade or the like.

[0017] When assembling the inner partition 50 from the blank 100, the periphery of each bottom 111 is bent so that the first wall 112 and the second wall 113 stand up on the front side of the paper surface in FIG. 3 (hereinafter, this folding direction is defined as "valley folding"), and the boundary between the integrally connected first wall 112 and the second wall 113 is formed into a mountain fold in the direction opposite to the valley fold. Then, the six bottoms 111 approach each other, and the boundary is in a state partitioned by the first wall 112 and the second wall 113 that are overlapped twice.

[0018] At this time, the portion enclosed by the notches 115 and 116 is not constrained by the bottom portion 111, and therefore rotates while maintaining a state parallel to the first wall 112 and the second wall 113, respectively. As a result, the portion enclosed by the notches 115 and 116 protrudes further back on the paper than the bottom portion 111, and the legs described later are formed on the partition 50.

[0019] The completed partition 50 has dimensions in plan view that are approximately the same as and slightly smaller than the main body 10, so it can be fitted into the main body 20 in a predetermined orientation. When the partition 50 is fitted, the paper box 1 of this embodiment is completed, which has six storage spaces within the main body 20 with the bottom 111 as the base. The six storage spaces are separated by the first wall 112 and the second wall 113 that rise upward from the periphery of the bottom 111.

[0020] Figure 4 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the completed cardboard box 1. Since the partition 50 has legs 51 that protrude below the bottom 111, when it is placed inside the main body 20, the legs 51 come into contact with the bottom surface 21. As a result, the bottom 111 of each storage space does not come into contact with the bottom surface 21, but is positioned roughly parallel to the bottom surface 21 with a certain gap between them. In this state, it is not necessary for all legs 51 to be in contact with the bottom surface 21, and some legs may not be in contact with the bottom surface 21.

[0021] The contents to be placed in the completed paper box 1 are arranged on the bottom 111 of each storage space. If the contents are relatively thin, such as cookies, multiple items may be stacked in one storage space.

[0022] When the cardboard box 1 containing its contents is dropped with its bottom surface 21 facing downwards, an impact is applied to the bottom surface 21. However, since the bottom 111 is positioned at a distance from the bottom surface 21, this impact does not directly act on the bottom 111. The impact is transmitted to the legs 51 of the partition 50 that are in contact with the bottom surface 21, but most of it is transmitted to the first wall 112 and the second wall 113, which are integrally connected to the legs 51. Therefore, the impact transmitted from the legs 51 to the bottom 111 is significantly attenuated. Through this mechanism, the contents are effectively protected from the aforementioned impacts, and damage to the contents can be suppressed without the need for additional cushioning materials.

[0023] The inventors' study on the effectiveness of the paper box according to this embodiment is described below. Using the same cardboard, the main body and the partitions that divide the internal space into six storage compartments were fabricated. The plan view dimensions of the storage compartments were 59mm x 106mm, with legs formed on all four sides of the base, with the long side length being 40mm, the short side length being 20mm, and the downward projection from the base being 6mm. Four pillow-wrapped cookies were placed in each storage compartment, for a total of 24 cookies. The lid was then closed, and the device was dropped from a height of 70 cm with the bottom facing downwards. The number of broken cookies was recorded. The process was repeated with all the cookies replaced. The number of broken cookies was 6 the first time and 7 the second time, for a total of 13. For comparison, a cardboard box (using the same cardboard) was used, with cushioning material (bubble wrap) placed on the bottom of the main body and a divider without legs placed on top. The number of dropped and broken cookies was counted in two sets. In the comparison set, the number of broken cookies was 6 in the first set and 8 in the second set, for a total of 14. From the above, it was confirmed that the paper box according to this embodiment has the same protective effect on contents as a paper box that uses a partition without legs and has cushioning material placed between the partition and the bottom surface.

[0024] The paper box according to this embodiment can be formed using only two blanks without the need for cushioning material, and yet it exhibits the same level of damage prevention as a paper box with cushioning material, making it extremely advantageous, including in terms of cost. Furthermore, since it does not require a cushioning material placement process, it has the advantage of being easily adaptable to automated operations such as assembling the blanks and filling the contents using a cartoner. In addition, it is easy to recycle after use, resulting in a small environmental impact.

[0025] Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and modifications and combinations of the configuration that do not depart from the spirit of the present invention are also included. The following are some examples of such changes, but this is not exhaustive, and other changes are possible. Furthermore, two or more of these changes can be freely combined, as long as they do not create inconsistencies or bugs.

[0026] As shown in the modified example in Figure 5, a notch 111a may be provided in the bottom 111 of the storage space, and the portion surrounded by the notch 111a may be folded to provide legs below the bottom. Such legs may be approximately perpendicular to the bottom surface, as shown in the embodiment, or they may be inclined at an angle to the bottom surface. Furthermore, the partition according to the present invention has only legs located below the bottom, and the first wall 112 and the second wall 113 do not need to have legs.

[0027] The notches for forming the legs do not necessarily have to be at both ends and in the middle; for example, they may be arc-shaped or V-shaped. This reduces the contact area between the legs and the bottom surface, and it is even possible to make it a point contact, thus reducing the impact transmitted to the bottom of the storage space.

[0028] • When legs are provided on the periphery of the bottom as in the embodiment, it is not necessary to provide legs on all peripheries. Furthermore, the position of the first or second wall on which the legs are provided may differ for each storage space. Two or more legs may be provided on a single wall by changing the manner of the cutouts described above.

[0029] • When providing legs on the periphery of the base, the notches may be convex toward the first or second wall, contrary to the configuration shown in the embodiment. However, in this case, the portion surrounded by the notches will not follow the valley fold movement of the first or second wall, and will need to be folded separately to form the legs. Therefore, the configuration shown in the embodiment is simpler to assemble and is therefore preferable.

[0030] The partition according to the present invention can also be applied to a body made of materials other than paper. For example, by placing it inside a body made of a material other than paper, such as wood, synthetic resin, or metal, the internal space can be divided into multiple storage spaces while effectively protecting the contents from impacts applied to the bottom surface of the body. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0031] 1 paper box 20 Main unit 21 Bottom 50 dividers 51 Legs 111 Bottom 112 First wall (wall part) 113 Second wall (wall part)

Claims

1. A paper body having a base and an internal space, A paper partition is placed inside the main body and divides the internal space into multiple storage spaces, Equipped with, The aforementioned partition is, The bottom of the aforementioned storage space, It has legs that protrude downward from the bottom, The partition is positioned inside the main body such that its legs are in contact with the bottom surface and there is a gap between the bottom surface and the partition. paper box.

2. The aforementioned partition is formed by folding a single sheet of paper. The paper box according to claim 1.

3. The aforementioned storage space has a wall portion that rises upward from the periphery of the bottom, At least one of the legs extends from the wall. The paper box according to claim 1.

4. The general shape of the bottom in plan view is a rectangle. The aforementioned wall section is provided in four parts, corresponding to each side of the rectangle. The legs extend from all of the aforementioned wall portions. The paper box according to claim 3.

5. A paper partition that is placed inside a main body having a bottom surface and an internal space, and divides the internal space into multiple storage spaces, The bottom of the aforementioned storage space, A wall portion rising upward from the periphery of the bottom portion, Legs protruding downward from the bottom, Having, Partition.

6. The entire structure, including the bottom, the wall, and the legs, is formed by folding a single sheet of paper. The partition according to claim 5.

7. At least one of the legs extends from the wall. The partition according to claim 5.

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