Package Dispenser for Wipes, Package Blank and a Method for the Production of Package Dispenser

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 18/008,741, filed Dec. 7, 2022, which is a National Stage application of PCT/SE2020/050671, filed Jun. 26, 2020, both of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety herein.

The disclosure relates to a package dispenser for containing and dispensing at least one stack of wipes, such as industrial wipes. The disclosure also relates to a blank from which the package can be made and a method for producing the package.

Disposable wipes are frequently used for heavy-duty wiping applications, in particular for object wiping and cleaning purposes in industrial environments. The wipes may be made from nonwoven materials and may include thermoplastic polymeric fibres, absorbent cellulosic fibres or combinations of thermoplastic polymeric fibres and cellulosic fibres. The wipes may be provided in the form of rolls of wiping material from which individual wipes may be torn off. Alternatively, individual wipes may be removed from a stack of folded wiping material. The wipes are commonly placed in a dispenser, which may be e.g., a roll stand or a dispensing box. For environments in which the need for wiping may arise in many different locations, it may be desirable for the dispenser to be easily moved by hand between different locations. Furthermore, it is desirable for the dispenser to be sturdy such that it can withstand repeated handling and such that it will rest in a stable and secure manner on a surface on which it is placed. Yet further requirements include the dispenser being easy to operate, allowing one-hand dispensing of one wipe at a time, and providing adequate storage and protection for the wipes until the last wipe has been dispensed. Moreover, the wipes are used in environments in which it is usually convenient if new wipes can be made immediately available as soon as a dispenser has been emptied of its contents, without having to load new unused wipes into the dispenser.

Thus, in view of the many different demands on dispensers for heavy-duty wipes, there is a need for further improvement of the currently available dispensers.

The present disclosure is based on the insight that a practical and highly functional combined package and dispenser for wipes, in particular for heavy duty wipes, such as industrial wipes, may be achieved at least in part by the features of claim. A blank for making the package dispenser is defined in claimand a method for making the package dispenser is defined in claim. Variations of the disclosure are set out in the dependent claims and in the following description.

The package dispenser as disclosed herein is a package dispenser for containing and dispensing at least one stack of wipes, the package dispenser having a bottom wall, a top wall, two opposing side walls extending in a height direction of the package dispenser and being parallel to a length direction of the package dispenser and two opposing end walls extending in the height direction of the package dispenser and being parallel to a width direction of the package dispenser, the bottom wall, the top wall, the side walls and the end walls together delimiting a storage space containing the at least one stack of wipes, wherein:

The package dispenser as disclosed herein serves both as a package for storing the one or more stacks of wipes up until they are to be used and as a dispenser for dispensing individual wipes from the stacks of interfolded wipes contained in the package dispenser. The package dispenser is easily converted by hand from the initial closed configuration in which the package dispenser offers protection for the wipes during transport and storage prior to use into the dispensing configuration in which at least one dispensing opening has been formed in the package dispenser. The at least one dispensing opening may be formed manually without using any tool, such as a knife, scissors, etc.

By the provision of a handle, the package dispenser can be lifted and moved from one location to another, as needed.

The at least one dispensing opening may comprise a dispensing opening portion which extends into a side wall of the package dispenser, the side wall of the package dispenser comprising provisions for creating the dispensing opening portion in the side wall of the package dispenser. A dispensing opening which extends from the top wall of the package dispenser into the adjacent side wall makes the wipes in the package dispenser more readily accessible for grabbing and removing from the package dispenser. When the height of a stack of wipes has been reduced after a number of wipes have been removed from the stack, the current top wipe is still easy to reach and grab as it is exposed in the dispensing opening portion in the side wall.

The provisions for creating the at least one dispensing opening may comprise or consist of one or more material weakenings which are arranged in the package dispenser.

The material weakenings may be any suitable weakenings as known in the art such as scorings, perforations, cut-outs, etc. The material weakenings may be arranged to allow a portion of the package dispenser wall to be completely torn out or punched away, or to be folded out to create the one or more dispensing openings.

As set out herein, two stacks of interfolded wipes may be arranged in the storage space of the package dispenser. The stacks may be arranged to be dispensed through a single common dispensing opening arranged in the top wall and optionally also in one or both of the side walls adjoining the top wall. Alternatively, separate dispensing openings for each of the stacks may be arranged in the top wall and optionally also in one or both of the corresponding adjoining side walls.

As set out herein, any useful number of stacks of interfolded wipes may be arranged in the storage space of the package dispenser, such as one, two, three, four, five, six, for example. The stacks may be arranged to be dispensed through a dispensing opening which is shared with one or more other stacks or may be arranged to be dispensed through a dispensing opening being dedicated to a particular stack.

The top wall may comprise two overlapping top wall portions:

The handle of the package dispenser as disclosed herein may be a two-part handle. A first handle part may be formed from an inner top panel and a second handle part may be formed from an outer top panel.

In a package dispenser as disclosed herein, each of the side walls may be formed from a side panel, and each of the end walls may be formed from overlapping panel end parts which are panel end parts of the two side panels, an inner top panel and panel end parts of a bottom panel forming the bottom wall.

When forming the package dispenser, the side panel end parts are folded in first, and thereafter the top panel end parts and the bottom panel end parts are folded in over the side panel end parts. The size of the panel end parts may be such that the side panel end parts meet along an end wall centre line extending in the height direction of the package dispenser and the bottom panel end parts meet along an end wall centre line extending in the width direction of the package dispenser. In this manner, the end wall will be made up of two layers of panel material.

The package dispenser as disclosed herein may be made from a relatively rigid and durable material which allows the package dispenser to be moved around and handled without special care. As set out herein, the package dispenser may be a cardboard package dispenser, such as a corrugated fibreboard package dispenser. As used herein, the term “cardboard package dispenser” refers to a package in which the walls of the package dispenser are made of cardboard material. Also the handle may be made from cardboard material e.g., by the handle being created from a portion of the top wall material, as set out herein. Alternatively, the handle may be separately produced and attached to the package dispenser. A separately produced handle may be made from plastic or cardboard and may have any suitable form such as a preshaped rigid grip, a flexible loop, etc.

The wipes making up the one or more stacks of interfolded wipes in the package dispenser as disclosed herein may be referred to as being reversed interfolded wipes. A stack of wipes which are reversed interfolded is configured to be dispensed from the top of the stack toward the bottom of the stack.

The stacks of interfolded wipes as disclosed herein have a generally rectangular shape and are sized to fit in the rectangular storage space defined by the walls of the package dispenser.

That the wipes are interfolded means that they are interleaved, i.e., folded into one-another, so that they form a chain of wipes being interconnected by folded portions. In this manner, when removing one wipe from the stack of wipes and pulling the wipe completely through the dispensing opening in the package dispenser, the pulled-out wipe will automatically bring a portion of the next wipe in the stack out through the opening thereby making it readily available for gripping and removing from the package dispenser. The connection between the wipes in the stacks of interfolded wipes relies on friction between contacting surfaces of the individual wipes. No other connection means such as non-broken tab portions between the individual wipes or adhesive are therefore necessary.

The interfolded wipes as disclosed herein may have a length of from 20 to 100 cm and a width of from 20 to 40 cm. The number of panels in each wipe may be from 3 to 10.

The interfolded wipes as disclosed herein may be relatively large wipes with a surface area in the range of from 0.10 mto 0.25 mand may each have dimensions in a flat, unfolded state of e.g., 42 cm×35.5 cm or 63 cm×35.5 cm.

The basis weight of the interfolded wipes as disclosed herein may be from 40 g/mto 150 g/m.

The thickness of the interfolded wipes as disclosed herein may be from 0.4 mm to 2 mm per ply.

Thickness of the wipes was measured according to EDANA's and INDA's Nonwoven Standard Procedure: NWSP 120.6.R0 (15).

The thickness was measured according to the procedure for regular nonwovens by measuring the distance between a reference plate on which the nonwoven rests and a parallel presser-foot (or plate) that exerts a specified pressure on the area under test. An apparatus used for conducting the measurements should be configured as follows. The upper plate or presser-foot shall be capable of moving vertically.

Test specimens should be taken from areas of the sample that are free of folds, wrinkles and any distortions that would make these specimens abnormal from the rest of the test material. The test specimens should be larger than the area of the presser-foot.

The samples should be conditioned in the standard atmosphere for testing nonwovens as directed in ISO 139.

Test procedure:

In a package dispenser as disclosed herein, each of the at least one stack of interfolded wipes may contain from 50 to 130 interfolded wipes, such as from 60 to 120 interfolded wipes, from 70 to 110 interfolded wipes or from 90 to 105 interfolded wipes, for example. Larger wipes will generally have a smaller number of interfolded wipes in each stack, such as 50 to 80 interfolded wipes for example, while smaller wipes may have a larger number of interfolded wipes in each stack, such as 80 to 130 interfolded wipes, for example.

The wipe material may be any suitable wiping material. In particular, the interfolded wipes may be made from nonwoven material, such as a hydroentangled material comprising cellulosic fibres.

The wipe material may be made from up to 100% staple fibres, such as regenerated cellulose fibres, thermoplastic fibres, etc. The wipe material may comprise cellulose pulp in combination with staple fibres.

The term “cellulosic staple fibres” as used herein refers to man-made and natural cellulosic fibres. Examples of man-made cellulosic fibres, also called regenerated cellulosic fibres, are lyocell and viscose. Examples of natural cellulosic fibres are seed hair fibres, e.g. cotton, kapok, and milkweed; leaf fibres, e.g. sisal, abaca, pineapple, and New Zealand hemp; or bast fibres e. g. flax, hemp, jute and kenaf.

If the cellulosic staple fibres are man-made fibres, they may be treated with spin finish and crimped. Spin finish and crimp is normally added to ease the handling of the fibres in a dry process, e.g. a card, and/or to give desired properties, e.g. hydrophilicity, to a material consisting only of these fibres,

Cutting of a fibre bundle to staple fibres is normally made to produce a single cut length, which may be altered by varying the distance between the knives of a cutting tool such as a cutting wheel. Thereby the fibre length may be set according to requirements of the continued processing of the fibres into a wiping material.

The term “cellulosic staple fibres” as used herein refers to fibres that have been cut from fibre bundles to a length being within a desired length range, as well as fibres having a natural length being within the desired length range, e.g. some of the natural cellulosic fibres mentioned above, also called staple-length fibres. The desired length may be e.g., in the range of 2-25 mm, such as within the range of 2-20 mm, 5-15 mm or 6-12 mm, for example.

The term “cellulose pulp fibres” as used herein refers to pulp fibres from chemical pulp, e.g. kraft, sulphate or sulphite, mechanical pulp, thermo-mechanical pulp, chemo-mechanical pulp and/or chemo-thermo-mechanical pulp, abbreviated as CTMP. Pulps derived from both deciduous (hardwood) and coniferous (softwood) may be used. Fibres may also come from non-wood plants e.g., cereal straws, bamboo, jute or sisal. The fibres or a portion of the fibres may be recycled fibres, which may belong to any or all of the above categories.

Furthermore, the wipes may include recycled textile fibres.

Additives such as softeners, dry-strength agents or wet-strength agents may be added in order to facilitate manufacturing of the wipe material and to adjust the properties thereof.

The package dispenser as disclosed herein may be formed from a package blank, wherein the package blank comprises:

The outer top panel may have inclined end edges, which means that the end edges need not be parallel to the end edges of the inner top wall portion of the inner top panel.

In order to facilitate and promote correct folding of the package blank, fold-lines may be arranged between panels and panel portions.

The package dispenser as disclosed herein may be formed by a method of forming a package dispenser containing at least one stack of interfolded wipes, the method comprising the steps of:

Adhesive may be applied between overlapping portions of the package blank during folding of the package blank to keep the resulting package dispenser in the folded configuration with the one or more stacks of interfolded wipes contained in the package. Alternatively or in addition to using adhesive for attaching the package parts to each other, adhesive tape, staples, etc. may be used, as known in the art.

Different aspects of the present disclosure will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the drawings. The package dispenser as disclosed herein can be realized in many different forms within the scope of the appended claims and should not be construed as being limited to the aspects set forth herein.

shows a package dispenserfor containing and dispensing two stacksof wipes. As set out herein, the number of stacks in the package dispenser may be one, two, or even a higher number such as three, four, for example.

The package dispenseras shown inhas a bottom wall, a top wall, two opposing side walls,extending in a height direction H of the package dispenserand parallel to a length direction L of the package dispenser, and two opposing end walls,extending in the height direction H of the package dispenserand parallel to a width direction W of the package dispenser. The bottom wall, the top wall, the side walls,and the end walls,jointly delimit a storage spacewhich contains the two stacksof interfolded wipes. The package dispensermay be made from any suitable material having an appropriate combination of shape stability and flexibility. Particularly suitable materials may be cardboard materials, such as corrugated fibreboard. Such materials are made from readily available renewable raw materials, are relatively low-cost, and are well suited for post-use treatment in existing waste recovery systems.

A handleis shown to be arranged on the top wall. In the package dispensershown in, the top wallis formed by an inner top wall portion′ and an outer top wall portion″, the outer top wall portion″ overlying and being supported by the inner top wall portion′. The handleis a two-part handle, with a first handle part′ being formed from the inner top wall portion′ and a second handle part″ being formed from the outer top wall portion″. The first handle part′ has been formed from the material in the inner top wall portion′ by partial separation of a handle portion of the inner top wall portion′ along separation lines provided in the inner top wall portion material. The separation lines may be provided as weakenings of the top panel material e.g., by means of scoring, perforating, cutting, etc. After separation of the handle portion of the inner top wall portion′, the first handle part′ can be folded up into the configuration shown in. For the second handle part″ as shown in, no separation step is needed, as the second handle part is formed by a handle-shaped portion of an edge of the outer top wall portion″ which can simply be folded up into the configuration shown into create the two part handle.

The top walland the side walls,further comprise provisions′,″ for creating a dispensing opening′,″ on each side of the handle. The provisions′,″ are constituted by intermittent cuts and perforations made in the material in the top wall and in the side walls,along a contour of each of the dispensing openings′,″. In the package dispenserin, the provisions′ which are arranged in the outer top wall portion″ and in the side wallwhich is visible inare made up of two major parts. An upper partof the provisions′ has a generally oval or circular outline which wraps over an upper edgeof the side walland a lower partof the provisions′ has a generally rectangular outline. Each of the upper and lower parts,of the provisions′ comprises a grip portion,that can be used to create a first small grip opening at an edge of the corresponding upper or lower part,of the provisions′ by pushing in or folding out the grip portion,. Thereafter, the grip opening can be used to facilitate removal of the full upper or lower part,of the provisions″ for creating a dispensing opening. Generally, when first opening the package dispenser, only the upper partof the provisions′ for creating a dispensing opening are employed, such that the dispensing opening′ initially has the shape and size of the material which is removed inside the upper partof the provisions′. The material inside the lower partof the provisions′ may then remain as a support and protection for the lower part of the stackof interfolded wipes. As wipesare successively removed from the package dispenserthrough the dispensing opening′, the height of the stackof interfolded wipeswill gradually decrease until it reaches down to where the lower partof the provisions′ are located. In order to facilitate dispensing of the remaining wipes, the lower partof the provisions′ may then be employed to increase the size of the dispensing opening′ by extending it further down along the side wall.