EP4029799B1 - Folding box with tamper-evident closure - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a folding box with a tamper-evident closure.

Many products are packaged in folding boxes with a first opening guarantee (originality seal). For example, packaging with a first-opening guarantee is required for prescription medications. Particularly to protect against counterfeiting, jars of creams or other beauty products are packaged in folding boxes that are covered with a transparent film that must be torn open to remove the product. In addition to foil wrappings, tamper-evident closures through gluing, special folding box cuts or sealing labels have become particularly popular. The disadvantage of the known solutions is that they are complex due to the use of additional materials or complicated cuts and result in an increased amount of plastic waste in particular.

The US 10,875,677 B2 describes a folding box with a tamper-evident closure that has a polygonal bottom wall, side walls, top dust flaps and a lid flap. The upper dust flaps are connected to the upper edge of the side walls via fold lines. The cover flap is connected at its rear edge to the upper edge of a rear side wall via a fold line. The dust flaps have upper extensions on the side of the front side wall, which are arranged next to the fold lines that connect the dust flaps to the side side walls. The cover flap is connected to a tuck-in flap at the front edge via a fold line designed as a score. The tuck-in tab is connected at the front edge to a second tuck-in tab, which is folded against the inside of the tuck-in tab and glued to it. The insertion tab can be inserted into slots between the upper edge of the front side wall and the extensions of the dust tabs so that the upper edge of the second insertion tab is held back under the extensions of the dust tabs. When the cover flap is opened, the insertion flap is separated along the scoring and the tamper-evident closure is destroyed.

The EP 3 119 684 A1 describes a folding box with a tamper-evident closure with side walls as well as lower and upper closure elements, each of which is designed as a tamper-evident closure and is resealable.

Based on this, the invention is based on the object of creating a folding box with a guarantee of first opening, which is less complex and results in less waste.

The task is solved by a folding box according to claim 1.

Advantageous embodiments of the folding box are specified in the subclaims.

• eine mehreckige Bodenwand,
• Seitenwände, die an einem unteren Rand oder an unteren Rändern über eine Faltlinie oder Faltlinien mit einem Rand oder Rändern der Bodenwand und über seitliche Faltlinien miteinander verbunden sind,
• obere Staublaschen, die über Faltlinien mit oberen Rändern von zwei seitlichen Seitenwänden verbunden sind, zwischen denen eine vordere Seitenwand angeordnet ist, deren oberer Rand eine freie Kante ist, wobei die oberen Staublaschen auf der Seite der vorderen Seitenwand neben den Faltlinien obere Verbreiterungen aufweisen,
• eine Deckellasche, die an einem vorderen Rand über eine Faltlinie mit einer oberen Einstecklasche verbunden ist und an einem gegenüberliegenden hinteren Rand über eine Faltlinie mit dem oberen Rand einer hinteren Seitenwand verbunden ist, die der vorderen Seitenwand gegenüberliegt,
• mindestens eine Ritzung an der Außenseite auf der Faltlinie zwischen Deckellasche und Einstecklasche,
• mindestens eine Gegenritzung an der Innenseite der Deckellasche und/oder der Einstecklasche, die in einem Abstand von der Ritzung verläuft,
• wobei die obere Einstecklasche beidseitig neben der mindestens einen Ritzung obere rückspringende Ränder aufweist, welche die Verbreiterungen der oberen Staublaschen untergreifen, wenn die obere Einstecklasche zwischen die oberen Staublaschen und die vordere Seitenwand eingesteckt ist. Hierdurch werden beim Öffnen des Deckels die rückspringenden Ränder an den Verbreiterungen zurückgehalten und die obere Einstecklasche entlang der Gegenritzung vor der Deckellasche abreißt.

The folding box according to the invention with tamper-evident closure includes:

• a polygonal floor wall,
• Side walls which are connected to one another at a lower edge or edges via a fold line or fold lines with an edge or edges of the bottom wall and via side fold lines,
• upper dust flaps, which are connected via fold lines to upper edges of two side side walls, between which a front side wall is arranged, the upper edge of which is a free edge, the upper dust flaps on the side of the front side wall having upper widenings next to the fold lines,
• a cover flap connected at a front edge via a fold line to an upper tuck flap and at an opposite rear edge connected via a fold line to the upper edge of a rear side wall opposite the front side wall,
• at least one scratch on the outside on the fold line between the cover flap and the insertion flap,
• at least one counter-scoring on the inside of the cover flap and/or the insertion flap, which runs at a distance from the scoring,
• wherein the upper insertion tab has upper recessed edges on both sides next to the at least one scoring, which reach under the widenings of the upper dust flaps when the upper insertion flap is inserted between the upper dust flaps and the front side wall. As a result, when the lid is opened, the recessed edges are retained at the widenings and the upper insertion tab tears off along the counter-scoring in front of the lid tab.

In the folding box according to the invention, the upper insertion flap is locked at the recessed edges with the widenings of the upper dust flaps. As a result, the upper dust flaps hold back the upper insertion flap and provide resistance to opening the cover flap. In conventional folding boxes, which already have such a lock between the dust flaps and the insertion flap, the cover flap can often be opened with increased effort without damage and then closed again, so that no tamper-evident closure is achieved. In the folding box according to the invention, the scoring on the outside of the carton and the counter-scoring on the inside of the carton cause the upper insertion flap to tear off when comparatively small forces are exerted on the cover flap, so that the packaging is partially destroyed and no longer closed can be. Due to the scoring and counter-scoring, which at least partially run at a distance from each other, the connection between the upper insertion flap and the cover flap is so weakened that the area of the box between the scoring and the counter-scoring tears off when comparatively small opening forces are exerted. According to a preferred embodiment, more than 50%, preferably about 75%, of the cardboard material is cut through by the scoring and the counter-scoring. Between the scoring and counter-scoring, the material is only held together by a narrow area of paper layers pressed together, which can be separated using relatively low forces. By designing the scoring and counter-scoring, it can be achieved that the forces required for tearing off the insertion tab are high enough to ensure that the insertion tab is torn off when the forces are applied, which are usually specifically exerted on the cover flap to open it. Furthermore, this can ensure that the insertion tab does not tear off unintentionally due to the forces that usually occur during production, transport and handing over to the user. Since the upper insertion flap is hooked to the extensions of the upper dust flaps, it falls into the folding box after being torn off the cover flap and therefore does not form waste that has to be disposed of separately in the trash. The folding box according to the invention can be set up, filled and closed in a conventional manner by the packer and still has a tamper-evident closure. The use of additional adhesives, plastics or cardboard is not necessary.

When the upper insertion tab is torn off, some pieces of paper fiber are usually torn out from the inside from the area between the scoring and counter-scoring. If the counter-scoring is made on the inside of the closure tab, it remains with the edge of the upper one Connected to the insertion tab and fall into the folding box with this. If the counter-score is formed on the inside of the upper insertion tab, the paper fiber pieces remain at the front edge of the closure tab. According to a preferred embodiment, the counter-scoring is formed on the inside of the closure flap, so that the paper fiber pieces fall into the opened folding box with the upper insertion flap.

The lid includes the lid tab. The lid is preferably formed by the lid tab. The lid is opened by opening the lid tab. When the cover flap is opened, the recessed edges are held back by the widenings and the upper insertion flap tears off from the cover flap along the counter-scoring.

According to a further embodiment, the distance between scoring and counter-scoring is smaller at the two ends of scoring and counter-scoring than between them. When the cover flap is opened, the area between the scoring and counter-scoring tends to tear in the places where the scoring and counter-scoring come closest to each other. This allows the force to be applied to tear off the insertion tab to be controlled.

According to a further embodiment, the two ends of the counter-scoring coincide with the two ends of the scoring. This means that the insertion tab can be torn off from the cover tab using comparatively small forces.

According to a further embodiment, the counter-scoring has a trough-shaped course, with the width of the trough-shaped course decreasing as the distance from the scoring increases. This results in a controlled tearing achieved using comparatively low forces. According to another embodiment, the counter-scoring has an arcuate course.

According to a further embodiment, the folding box has exactly two arrangements of scoring and counter-scoring. Due to the two arrangements of scoring and counter-scoring, the cover flap can be connected sufficiently firmly to the insertion flap, with the insertion flap reliably tearing off when the opening forces that usually occur when opening the cover are exerted.

According to a further embodiment, there is a middle cut on the fold line between two arrangements of scoring and counter-scoring, which connects the upper insertion flap with the cover flap. This further reduces the force required to tear off the insertion tab. According to a further embodiment, the central cut extends from score to score.

According to a further embodiment, there are outer cuts on both sides of the at least one scoring between the upper insertion flap and the cover flap with respect to the fold line connecting them, which limit the recessed edges of the upper insertion flap. The outer cuts additionally reduce the force required to tear the insertion tab off the cover tab.

According to a further embodiment, the bottom wall includes lower dust tabs, a bottom tab and a lower insertion tab, which are designed corresponding to the upper dust tabs, the cover tab and the upper insertion tab. As a result, the bottom wall is also designed with a tamper-evident closure. Another embodiment differs from that described previously in that the bottom flap is connected to an adhesive flap via a fold line and the adhesive flap is glued to the inside or outside of a side wall, the bottom flap and the adhesive flap not having any scoring or counter-scoring. The bottom wall of the folding box can also be designed with another closure, in particular with an automatic closure. Additionally or instead, the lower closure can be designed as a tamper-evident closure by sticking a label to the bottom wall and at least one side wall, which label must be destroyed in order to open the bottom wall.

According to a further embodiment, the bottom flap is connected to the side wall with the free edge at the upper edge via a fold line and the side wall, which is connected to the top wall via a fold line to the top wall, has a free edge at the lower edge. This results in a particularly stable folding box.

According to a further embodiment, the folding box has exactly four side walls.

According to a further embodiment, with the exception of the fold line between the upper insertion flap and the cover flap or the lower insertion flap and the bottom flap, the fold lines are designed as score lines.

Fig. 1

einen Zuschnitt zum Bilden der Faltschachtel in einer Perspektivansicht schräg von oben auf die Außenseite;

Fig. 2

eine aus dem Zuschnitt vorgefaltete und vorgeklebte Faltschachtel flachliegend in einer Perspektivansicht schräg von oben;

Fig. 3

die Faltschachtel aufgerichtet mit geöffneten oberen und unteren Verschlüssen in einer Perspektivansicht schräg von oben und von der Seite;

Fig. 4

die Faltschachtel mit offenem oberem und geschlossenem unterem Verschluss in einer Perspektivansicht schräg von oben und von der Seite;

Fig. 5

die Faltschachtel mit geschlossenen oberen und unteren Verschlüssen in einer Perspektivansicht schräg von oben und von der Seite;

Fig. 6

die Faltschachtel beim Öffnen der Deckellasche in einer Perspektivansicht schräg von oben und von vorn;

Fig. 7

die Faltschachtel in demselben Zustand wie Fig. 6 in einer Perspektivansicht schräg von unten und von der Seite;

Fig. 8

die Faltschachtel beim Aufklappen der Deckellasche mit abgetrennter Einstecklasche in einer Perspektivansicht schräg von oben und von der Seite;

Fig. 9

die Faltschachtel mit geöffnetem oberem Verschluss in einer Perspektivansicht schräg von oben und von der Seite;

Fig. 10

die Faltschachtel mit geöffnetem oberem Verschluss und der abgetrennten Einstecklasche in einer Perspektivansicht schräg von oben und von der Seite.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings of an exemplary embodiment. Shown in the drawings:

Fig. 1

a blank for forming the folding box in a perspective view obliquely from above onto the outside;

Fig. 2

a folding box pre-folded and pre-glued from the blank lying flat in a perspective view diagonally from above;

Fig. 3

the folding box erected with the top and bottom closures open in a perspective view diagonally from above and from the side;

Fig. 4

the folding box with the top closure open and the bottom closure closed in a perspective view diagonally from above and from the side;

Fig. 5

the folding box with closed top and bottom closures in a perspective view diagonally from above and from the side;

Fig. 6

the folding box when opening the lid flap in a perspective view diagonally from above and from the front;

Fig. 7

the folding box in the same condition as Fig. 6 in a perspective view diagonally from below and from the side;

Fig. 8

the folding box when the lid flap is opened with the insertion flap separated in a perspective view diagonally from above and from the side;

Fig. 9

the folding box with the top closure open in a perspective view diagonally from above and from the side;

Fig. 10

The folding box with the top closure open and the detached insert tab in a perspective view diagonally from above and from the side.

In the present application, the information "top" and "bottom" as well as information derived therefrom such as "above" and "below" and the information "front", "rear" and "side" as well as information derived therefrom such as "before" and "behind" refers to an arrangement of the closed folding box in which the side walls are aligned vertically, the lid flap is above the The bottom wall is located and the folding box is viewed from the perspective of a viewer standing upright and looking from the outside at the side wall with the free edge at the top.

According to Fig. 1 A blank 1 has four side walls 2, 3, 4, 5 connected to one another at the lateral edges via fold lines. The side wall 5 is connected to an adhesive tab 6 on a further lateral edge via a fold line. All side walls 2, 3, 4, 5 are rectangular. The side wall 3 is also the rear side wall, the side wall 5 is also the front side wall and the side walls 2, 4 are side side walls. The adhesive tab 6 is trapezoidal, with its height decreasing as the distance from the fold line that connects it to the front side wall 5 increases.

The two lateral side walls 2, 4 are connected to upper dust flaps 7, 8 at the upper edges via fold lines. The upper dust flaps 7, 8 are essentially trapezoidal and have pronounced upper widenings 9, 10 adjacent to these fold lines with the sides facing away from one another when the blank is spread out.

The rear side wall 3 is connected at its upper edge to the rear edge of a cover flap 11 via a fold line. The cover tab 11 is also rectangular. The cover flap 11 is connected at its front edge to an upper insertion flap 12 via a fold line. The upper insertion tab 12 has roundings 13, 14 at the outer corners.

The fold line between the cover flap 11 and the upper insertion flap 12 is formed by two spaced-apart notches 15, 16 in the outside of the blank. The upper one is between the two notches 15, 16 Insertion tab 12 is separated from cover tab 11 by a central cut 17 which extends from scoring 15 to scoring 16. Furthermore, the upper insertion flap 12 is separated from the cover flap 11 on both sides of the fold line defined by the scorings 15, 16 and the central cut 17 by upper outer cuts 18, 19 which are slightly offset outwards with respect to this fold line and extend up to the side edges the cover tab 11 and the upper insertion tab 12 extend.

On the inside of the cover flap 11 there are counter-scorings 20, 21, the counter-scorings 20, 21 each having a trough-shaped course, the ends of which coincide with the two ends of a scoring 15, 16. Each counter-scoring 20, 21 has two lateral sections 20.1, 20.2, 21.1, 21.2 that are inclined towards one another at an acute angle to the scoring and, in between, a central section 20.3, 21.3 running parallel to the scoring 15, 16.

The scorings 15, 16 and the counter-scorings 20, 21 each go deep into the blank about three quarters of the material thickness of the cardboard.

Lower dust tabs 22, 23, which have a substantially trapezoidal shape, are connected to the lower edges of the lateral side walls 3, 4. The lower dust flaps 22, 23 have pronounced lower widenings 24, 25 adjacent to the rear side wall 3 next to the fold lines.

The front edge of a bottom flap 26 is connected to the lower edge of the front side wall 5 via a fold line. The bottom flap 26 is essentially rectangular. The opposite rear edge of the bottom flap 26 is connected to a lower insertion flap 27 via a fold line. The lower fold line 28 is formed by a score line on both sides at a distance from the side Edges of the bottom flap and the lower insertion flap 27 ends. In addition to the two ends of this fold line, lower outer cuts 29, 30 are formed between the bottom flap 26 and the lower insertion flap 27, which delimit lower recessed edges 31, 32 of the insertion flap 27 on both sides next to the fold line.

To form the folding box, the adhesive tab 6 is folded against the inside of the front side wall 5 and the side side wall 4 is folded around the common fold line with the rear side wall 3 against the inside, with the adhesive tab 6 coming into contact with the lateral edge of the side side wall 2 and is glued to it. In this pre-folded and pre-glued state, the folding box is 33 in Fig. 2 shown. A large number of such flat folding boxes 33 can be stacked on top of one another and transported from the folding box manufacturer to the packer.

According to Fig. 3 individual folding boxes 33 are from the configuration of Fig. 2 erected by slightly compressing them on the two outer side fold lines until the side walls 2, 3, 4, 5 are in the configuration of Fig. 3 are pushed apart. The erected folding box 33 has an open upper opening 34 and an open lower opening 35.

In a further step, the lower opening 35 can be closed by first folding the lower dust flaps 22, 23 into the lower opening 35 and then folding the bottom flap 26 against the underside of the lower dust flaps 22, 23 and the lower insertion flap 27 into the slot between the rear edges of the lower dust tabs 22, 23 and the lower edge of the rear side wall 3 forming a lower free edge 36. Here, the lower recessed edges 31, 32 lock above the lower widenings 24, 25 of the lower dust tabs 22, 23. For additional security, the lower insertion tab 27 can be glued to the inside of the rear side wall 3. In this condition the folding box is 33 in Fig. 4 shown.

Alternatively or additionally, the bottom flap can be secured in the closed position by a label glued to the bottom wall and at least one side wall. It is also possible to design the lower closure as a tamper-evident closure in the same way as the upper closure.

A product can be filled into the folding box 33 through the upper opening 34. The folding box 33 is then closed by folding the upper dust flaps 7, 8 into the upper opening 34, then folding the cover flap 11 closed and the upper insertion flap 12 between the front edges of the upper dust flaps 7, 8 and the upper one forming an upper free edge 37 Edge of the front side wall 5 is inserted until the upper recessed edges 38, 39 of the upper insertion tab 12, delimited by the outer slots 18, 19, lock with the upper extensions 9, 10.

When closed, the folding box is 33 in Fig. 5 shown.

To open the folding box 33, the front edge of the lid flap 11 is pushed up slightly, preferably in the middle, where the middle cut 17 is located, so that the lid flap 11 can be easily lifted there. Here, pieces of paper fiber 40, 41 between the scorings 15, 16 and the counter scorings 20, 21 tear off the underside of the cover tab 11 and remain attached to the upper insertion tab 12. The Fig. 6 and 7 show the upper insertion tab 12 which has been partially torn off from the cover tab 11.

According to Fig. 8 the upper insertion tab 12 has already been completely torn off when the cover flap 11 is folded further up, with the paper fiber pieces 40, 41 separated from the underside of the cover flap corresponding to the trapezoidal counter-scorings 20, 21 remaining at the upper edge of the upper insertion flap 12.

In Fig. 9 the cover tab 11 is folded up vertically so that the tear-out points 42, 43 between the counter-scorings 20, 21 are visible on the inside. The torn insertion tab 12 has fallen into the folding box 33.

In Fig. 10 the torn insertion tab 12 is shown again separately from the rest of the folding box 33. The folding box 33 is particularly suitable for products that are removed after opening the folding box 33 and are no longer returned to it.

Reference symbol list

1

Cutting

2

side side wall

3

rear side wall

4

side side wall

5

front side wall

6

Adhesive tab

7, 8

top dust flap

9, 10

upper extension

11

Lid tab

12

top tuck tab

13, 14

rounding

15, 16

Carving

17

inner cut

18, 19

upper outer cut

20, 21

Counter-scoring

20.1, 20.2, 21.1, 21.2

lateral section

20.3, 21.3

middle section

22, 23

Dust tab

24, 25

lower widening

26

Bottom tab

27

lower tuck tab

28

bottom fold line

29, 30

lower outer cut

31, 32

lower recessed edge

33

folding box

34

top opening

35

lower opening

36

lower free edge

37

upper free edge

38, 39

upper recessed edge

40, 41

Piece of paper fiber

42.43

Breakaway point

Claims (14)

1. A folding box with a tamper-evident closure, comprising:

   • a polygonal bottom wall (26),

   • side walls (2, 3, 4, 5) that are connected at a lower boundary or at lower boundaries to a boundary or boundaries of the bottom wall via a folding line or folding lines and to each other via lateral folding lines,

   • upper dust flaps (7, 8) that are connected via folding lines to upper boundaries of two lateral side walls (2, 4), between which a front side wall (5) is arranged, the upper boundary of which is a free edge, wherein the upper dust flaps have upper enlargements (9, 10) on the side of the front side wall next to the folding lines,

   • a top flap (11) that is connected, at a boundary, to an upper insertion flap (12) via a folding line and is connected, at an opposite rear boundary, via a folding line to the upper boundary of a rear side wall, (3), which is opposite the front side wall (5),

   • at least one scoring (15, 16) on the outside on the folding line between the top flap (11) and the upper insertion flap (12),

   • at least one counterscoring (20, 21) on the inside of the top flap (11) and/or the upper insertion flap (12) that runs at least partially at a distance from the scoring (15, 16),

   • wherein the upper insertion flap (12) has upper recessing boundaries (38, 39) on both sides, which are next to the at least one scoring (15, 16) and which engage under the upper enlargements (9, 10) of the upper dust flaps (7, 8) when the upper insertion flap (12) is inserted between the upper dust flaps and the front side wall.
2. The folding box according to claim 1, in which the distance between the scoring (15, 16) and the counterscoring (20, 21) on the two ends of the scoring and counterscoring is in each case smaller than between them.
3. The folding box according to claim 1 or 2, in which each of the two ends of the counterscoring (20, 21) coincides with one of the two ends of the scoring (15, 16).
4. The folding box according to one of claims 1 to 3, in which the counterscoring (20, 21) has a trough-shaped or arc-shaped curve, wherein the width of the trough-shaped or arc-shaped curve decreases as the distance from the scoring (15, 16) increases.
5. The folding box according to one of claims 1 to 4, which has exactly two arrangements consisting of scoring (15, 16) and counterscoring (20, 21).
6. The folding box according to one of claims 1 to 5, in which, between two arrangements consisting of scoring (15, 16) and counterscoring (20, 21), an inner cut (17) is present on the folding line connecting the upper insertion flap (12) to the top flap (11).
7. The folding box according to claim 6, in which the inner cut (17) extends from scoring (15, 16) to scoring.
8. The folding box according to one of claims 1 to 7, in which, outer cuts (18, 19), which are offset to the outside relative to the folding line connecting the flaps and which delimit the upper recessing boundaries (38, 39) of the upper insertion flap (12), are present between the upper insertion flap (12) and the top flap (11) on both sides of the at least one scoring (15, 16).
9. The folding box according to one of claims 1 to 8, in which the bottom wall (26) comprises lower dust flaps (22, 23), a bottom flap (26), and a lower insertion flap (27), which are designed to correspond with the upper dust flaps (7, 8), the top flap (11), and the upper insertion flap (12).
10. The folding box according to one of claims 1 to 9, in which the bottom flap (26) is connected via a folding line to the side wall (5) with the upper free edge (37) at the upper boundary, and the side wall (3) connected at the upper boundary to the lid wall (11) via a folding line has a lower free edge (36) on the lower boundary.
11. The folding box according to one of claims 1 to 10, in which the bottom wall (26) comprises lower dust flaps (22, 23), a bottom flap (26), and a lower insertion flap (27), which is glued to a side wall (3).
12. The folding box according to one of claims 1 to 11, in which a label is glued to the bottom wall (26) and at least one side wall (2, 3, 4, 5) so that the bottom wall can be opened after the label is destroyed.
13. The folding box according to one of claims 1 to 12, which has exactly four side walls (2, 3, 4, 5).
14. The folding box according to one of claims 1 to 13, in which the folding lines are creasing lines.

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