Wedge shaped container and method for making a wedge shaped container

Abstract

A wedge shaped container formed from a folded web of flexible material. The container comprises a base (1), a rear wall (2) connected to the base, and a pair of upstanding side walls decreasing in height from the rear wall to the opposite end of the base. Each side wall is formed of two side wall panels (4, 6) connected at an edge of the base and connected by a hinge joint. From a fold-flat configuration, folding of the rear wall (2) away from the base (1) causes the side wall panels (4, 6) to be folded inwardly into the erected configuration. The container may have an integral lid (8). The invention also extends to a method of making a blank using a sequence of cuts to create unsupported file regions.

1 - 13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . A method of forming a wedge shaped container, the container formed from a folded web of flexible material and comprising a base, a rear wall connected at a first edge of the base via a first fold line, and a pair of upstanding side walls, one on each side of the base, each side wall decreasing in height from the rear wall to the opposite end of the base such that in an erected configuration the base, rear wall, and side walls form a wedge shape, each side wall being formed of a first side wall panel extending along and connected at an edge of the base via a second fold line transverse to the first fold line, and a second side wall panel extending along and connected at an edge of the rear wall via a third fold line transverse to the first fold line, wherein the side wall panels of a respective side wall are connected together by a hinge joint, so that, from a fold-flat configuration, in which the rear wall overlies the base, folding of the rear wall about the first fold line away from the base causes the respective side wall panels to be folded inwardly about the second and third fold lines into the erected configuration in which the first and second side wall panels form the upstanding side walls to form the wedge shaped container, the method comprising:
 forming a blank from a web of flexible material, the blank comprising the base, rear wall and sidewall panels;   folding the blank about the first fold line to position the respective first and second sidewall panels of each side wall on top of one another; and   bonding the respective first and second side panels to one another to form the hinge joint.   
     
     
         15 . A method according to  claim 14 , wherein each side panel is at least partially formed of the laminate, and wherein at least one of the side panels is formed of two laminated side panels sections, one extending transversely from a lateral edge of the front face and the other extending transversely from a lateral edge of the rear face, one of the panels being narrower than the other in the transverse direction such that the second unsupported film region extends from the longitudinal edge of the narrower panel, and wherein the side panel sections of a side panel are configured to overlap one another in the erected configuration, and, optionally, wherein the wedge shaped container further comprises an integral lid formed at an upper edge of the front face, back face, or side panels so as to be capable of closing the opening, the method comprising, for each respective sidewall, bonding the flap of unsupported film on one of the first and second side panels to a film on the other of the first and second side panels. 
     
     
         16 . A method according to  claim 14 , wherein each side panel is at least partially formed of the laminate, and wherein at least one of the side panels is formed of two laminated side panels sections, one extending transversely from a lateral edge of the front face and the other extending transversely from a lateral edge of the rear face, one of the panels being narrower than the other in the transverse direction such that the second unsupported film region extends from the longitudinal edge of the narrower panel, and wherein the side panel sections of a side panel are configured to overlap one another in the erected configuration, the method further comprising the steps of:
 providing a web of card;   making a first cut in the card to form some of the features of the blank; subsequently laminating the card with a plastic film; and   making a second cut to the laminate to release the laminate from the surrounding web.   
     
     
         17 . A method of forming a container in a fold flat configuration, the method comprising the following steps;
 providing a web of card;   in a first cutting stage, making a number of through cuts to form a number of features of the container in the web of card;   laminating the web of card with a film to form a laminate web;   in a second cutting stage, making second cuts through the laminate web;   the first and second cutting stages making cuts which are offset so as to leave at least one flap of film without underlying card in a region running along a side wall of the container;   in a folding stage folding the laminate so that the film of a first folded part is folded onto the film of a second part such that the flap of film is positioned adjacent to a part of the film of the laminate of the adjacent part of the container;   heating the film in the vicinity of the flap of film to bond it to the film of the laminate on the other part;   and, in a third cutting stage, making an outline cut around the folded the container to cut the container from the web.   
     
     
         18 . A method according to  claim 17 , wherein the container has a pair of sidewalls extending away from a base, and a flap of film without underlying card is provided running along each of the sidewalls. 
     
     
         19 . A method according to  claim 17 , wherein the first and second parts of the container have different shapes and/or sizes. 
     
     
         20 . A method according to  claim 19 , wherein score lines and/or perforations are formed in the first cutting stage. 
     
     
         21 . A method according to  claim 17 , wherein in the first cutting stage, at least one flange cut is made in the card at location between adjacent flanges in the finished container and, in subsequent cutting stages, the flange is cut out while the film remains uncut across the flange cut. 
     
     
         22 . A method according to  claim 17 , wherein in the first cutting stage, at least one window is formed in the card. 
     
     
         23 . A method according to  claim 17 , wherein the folding stage comprises folding the container and not the surrounding laminate. 
     
     
         24 . A method according to  claim 17 , wherein the laminate is folded about a single fold line. 
     
     
         25 . A method according to  claim 17 , wherein in the folding stage, the laminate is folded about a first fold line in one direction and two additional fold lines on either side of the first fold line in an opposite direction to create a base region bounded by the two additional fold lines with the first fold line along its center.