There are presently many different types of packages on the market which are useful for holding a plurality of articles in a fixed orientation with respect to each other. For example, in the cigarette industry, the most common type of package which is employed is a folding carton which completely surrounds all four side walls and the two end walls of the package. Such a folding carton thereby requires a great deal of paperboard material. For example, in packaging 100 millimeter cigarettes, the blank size required to produce such a folding carton is approximately 175 square inches. However, the increasing costs of paperboard material have created a demand for a package which would accomplish the same purpose as the above-described folding carton but which would utilize substantially less paperboard material.
In addition, there are other inefficiences created by the folding-type carton presently employed in the cigarette industry. That is, after the folding carton is originally packed and sealed, during its distribution cycle, it must be reopened for further processing, such as tax stamping or price marking, and then resealed. Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide a package which also eliminated the inefficient steps of reopening and reclosing the package for tax stamping or the like, in addition to substantially reducing the paperboard material utilized.
There are also other industries which utilize inefficient and costly packages. For example, the multipacking of cans and plastic and glass containers, particularly those which have an irregular shape, is frequently accomplished through the use of a paperboard overwrap which completely surrounds the four side walls and two end walls of the package and which serves to hold the articles in a fixed orientation with respect to each other. It has been realized that there would be a great economic saving if such irregular-shaped articles could be shrink-wrapped with plastic instead of overwrapped with the more costly paperboard material. However, such irregular-shaped articles are difficult to shrink-wrap because they tend to change position and move out of alignment upon being subjected to the pressure of shrink-wrapping. Therefore, as such irregular-shaped articles are difficult to maintain in a fixed orientation with respect to each other, it has prevented such industries from taking advantage of the economic savings of shrink-wrapping. It would therefore be highly desirable to provide an inexpensive manner for maintaining such irregular-shaped articles in a fixed orientation with respect to each other so that they may be subjected to the pressure of shrink-wrapping and thereby avoid the higher costs of overwrapping the articles with paperboard material.
This problem also extends to the case-packing of irregular-shaped articles which must be maintained in a fixed orientation with respect to each other in order to be packed into a rectangular-shaped case. Typically, an outer paperboard sleeve must be utilized to hold the articles in the desired orientation for case-packing, even though the paperboard sleeve is normaly discarded when the case is unpacked for shelf stocking in stores. Again, it would also be highly desirable to provide a simple and less costly manner of maintaining the orientation of such irregular-shaped articles for case-packing which would not require the use of he more costly paperboard sleeves.
Broadly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved package which overcomes one or more of the aforesaid problems. Specifically, it is within the contemplation of the present invention to provide an improved package which is constructed from a minimum of paperboard material and still accomplishes the function of maintaining a plurality of articles, including irregular-shaped articles, in a fixed orientation with respect to each other so that such articles may be overwrapped, shrink-wrapped, case-packed, or the like.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved package which substantially reduces material and labor costs and also increases the rate of packaging.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an improved package which maintains a plurality of articles in a fixed orientation with respect to each other, but leaves the end walls of the package exposed for further processing, such as tax stamping or price marking, and thereby eliminates the need for the inefficient steps of reopening and resealing packages.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive way of maintaining a plurality of irregular-shaped articles in a fixed orientation with respect to each other so that they may be shrink-wrapped or case-packed and thereby avoid the use of more costly paperboard overwraps or sleeves for such irregular-shaped articles.