Furthermore, the invention concerns a packing formed from such an item and a use of the packing item.

Forming various kinds of packings from packing items is known. Thus it is well- known to form boxes and the like from folding a cardboard sheet.

According to the present invention, a solution is sought to forming a packing with a circular bottom formed from folding a packing item which may be kept and stored in plane condition.

It is the object of the present invention to indicate a new packing item which by a simple and quick folding may be used for forming a packing. This packing will pref- erably have a new application which has not previously appeared in folded items.

Thus the object has been to indicate an item which after folding form a container that for example may be used as vase, flowerpot bowl, or as packing for wine bottles and the like. There has been a primary wish to indicate a packing with a cylindric shape or with a conical shape corresponding to the conical shape of flowerpots that may be stacked.

According to the present invention, this is achieved with a packing item which is pe- culiar in that first folding lines are oriented from the centre of a circle defining the bottom of the container as they extend diagonally from said circle to the outer edge of the packing item, that second folding lines are established for folding in opposite di-

rection of the first folding lines, that the second folding lines originate from an inter- section between a connected first folding line and said circle and extend under an acute angle relative to the connected first folding line between this and an adjacent of the first folding lines outward to the outer edge.

By letting first folding lines from the centre and second folding lines originate at a distance from the centre corresponding to the radius of the circle forming the bottom, by the folding it is possible to form a packing where overlapping of the sidewall oc- curs. By establishing a suitable angle between the first and the second folding line, it may be achieved either that over the height of the overlapping area the same length occurs as the length of the circular arc appearing between two nearby folding lines in the bottom circle. Hereby a cylindric shape of the formed container is achieved. Alter- natively, the angle may be varied in order thereby to establish a slightly conical shape.

By establishing the folding lines for folding in opposite directions there is achieved a folding that may be performed in a simple way, either manually or by machine.

The folding lines may be established by folding the sheet with folding lines in oppo- site directions. Alternatively, the folding may be combined with a cutting at least in the side of the packing item intended to face outward in the finished form. In order to form a particularly secure packing that may be used as flower-vase, the inner side is preferably provided with a liquid proof coating. Out of consideration to this coating, a cutting along the folding line in the side facing inward in the container is not suitable.

However, a cutting in the side facing outward in the formed packing will ease the folding.

After the folding, there may be established a fixation of the packing in the folded state.

This may either occur by providing a third folding line extending along the edge of the item. After folding along the first second folding lines, there may occur an alternating folding outward and inward along the third folding line. Hereby a folding fixing the container in the folded state may be formed and which simultaneously serves as rein- forcement. If this edge area is intended to be bent inward into the container, the area may simultaneously support flowers or other objects standing in the container. Be-

cause of a flexible resilient it will thus be possible, by means of the folded edge, to achieve a particularly secure upright positioning of bunches of flowers even though these have an extent which only partly covers the area defined by the bottom circle of the container.

If a cylindric packing is formed, it is preferred that the first second folding lines are separated by the same mutual angle. Hereby the outer appearance of the container will appear with largely vertical edges at the folding about the first folding lines. Alterna- tively, out of consideration to decoration different angles may be used along the pe- riphery of the container. Alternatively, varying angles may be used to achieve a deco- rative effect when placing the folded edges so that they do not extend in parallel with a centre axis of the formed packing.

It is possible to make the packing item with different shape depending on the one de- sired for the finished packing. If it is desired to form a largely cylindric packing, the packing item will be circular and be made concentric with the circle defining the bot- tom. The third folding lines will also be circular in such an embodiment and be pro- vided for following the outer edge.

For establishing a particularly liquid tight container, the packing item will preferably be provided with a liquidproof coating at the side facing inward and toward the con- tainer. This liquidproof coating may be applied by laminating, spraying, or by other techniques. The side facing outward in the packing item may be provided with deco- ration depending on the intended use. Thus the decoration may, for example, be ad- justed according to colours or patterns on other tableware that may be used together with the packing. This may for example be the case if the packing as flowerpot bowl is forming a part of a set to which also belongs tablecloths, table napkins, plastic mugs, plastics plates, and the like.

As alternative or as supplement for locking by means of a folded edge area, the formed packing may be provided with a locking means that may comprise an annular band. This annular band may be provided with gripping ears facilitating handling the

container by gripping this locking means. This may be an advantage if the packing is used as a drinking container, for example for hot drinks. By gripping the ears a wedg- ing effect is achieved while simultaneously it is possible to hold around the formed container without being burned if it has a hot content. The wedging effect will be greatest with a conical shape of the container, but may also be established on a cylin- dric container.

The gripping ears may also serve a decorative purpose. The annular band may be formed with cuts at opposite edges so that these cuts are intended to engage each other when placing around the container. This makes it possible to store the band in a plane state and to place it around the container with the two cuts in mutual engagement only after folding the container. The cuts may be provided with mutual distance so that a firm grip around the folded container is ensured.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention will then be explained in more detail with reference to the accompany- ing drawing, where: Figs. 1 and 2 show a plane view and a partial side view, respectively, of a first em- bodiment of a packing item according to the invention, Figs. 3 and 4 show a plane view and a partial side view, respectively, of a second em- bodiment of a packing item according to the invention, Figs. 5-7 show perspective views for illustrating a packing formed from a first packing item, and which is provided with different embodiments of locking means in the shape of annular bands, Figs. 8-9 show perspective views of two embodiments of a packing formed from an item of the kind illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, Fig. 10 a perspective view corresponding to Fig. 8 with further locking means in the shape of an annular band, Fig. 11 a perspective view for illustrating a further embodiment of a packing, and Figs. 12-13 perspective views for illustrating a partial shaping of a packing from a packing item of the kind illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

In different figures of the drawing, identical or corresponding elements will be given the same designations, and no specific explanation will be given to each single figure.

In Figs. 1 and 2 is seen a first embodiment of a packing item 1. The packing item 1 is shown with a circular shape, however, it may be furnished with other shapes depend- ing of the course of the upper edge of the packing formed from the packing item 1.

The packing item is provided with first folding lines 2 oriented out from the centre 3 of a circle 4 which defines the bottom in a cylindric container formed from the pack- ing item 1. The first folding lines extend diagonally from the centre 3 and from the said circle to the outer edge 5 of the packing item. As it appears from Fig. 2, the fold- ing lines 2 are thus oriented for folding in a first direction which in the shown em- bodiment will be upward in relation to Fig. 2.

The packing item 1 is provided with second folding lines 6. As it appears from Fig. 2, these second folding lines are thus oriented for folding in the opposite direction, which is to say downward in the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 2. The second folding lines 6 originate at an intersection 7 established between the first folding lines 2 and the circle 4 defining the bottom of the container. The second folding lines 6 extend under an acute angle 8 in relation to a connected first folding line 2. The second folding line 6 extends in the interspace between two successive first folding lines 2.

When the packing item 1 is folded according to the folding lines there is achieved a packing/container 9 of the kind illustrated in Figs. 5-7. As the packing item 1 has a circular outer edge 5 and is made with an identical angle 8 between all connected first second folding lines 2,6, a cylindric container is formed where the folding lines 6 ex- tend in parallel with a centre axis 10 through the container, the centre axis also passing through the centre 3 of the circle defining the bottom 11 of the container. The part 12 of packing item situated between the circle 4 and the outer edge 5, defines the cylin- dric wall of the container.

In order to lock the container in its folded state, there is provided locking means in the shape of an annular band 13. In the shown embodiment, the annular band is an endless band which is glued together to form a circle corresponding to the outer periphery of the container 9.

In Fig. 6 there is provided an annular band 14 differing from the annular band 13 by having an overlapping area at the joint 15. In the overlapping area there is provided two gripping ears 16. These may be folded outwards and used for gripping and lifting the container.

The embodiment shown in Fig. 7 differs from the one in Figs. 5 and 6 by having an annular band 17 which at its ends is provided with engaging means in the shape of an aperture which may interact with an arrow-shaped end part 19. The arrow-shaped end part 19 may be passed through the aperture 18 whereby the back side 20 of the arrow- shaped means engages the aperture 18 since the width of the arrow-shaped part is greater than the width of the aperture 18.

In Figs. 3 and 4 there is shown a second embodiment of a packing item 21. The pack- ing item 21 differs from the packing item 1 by a third folding line 22 being provided along the edge 5 of the item for folding an edge area 23 after folding about the first second folding lines 2,6. The folding line 22 is arranged for folding in alternating op- posite directions between subsequent first folding lines 2 and second folding lines 6.

By using the packing item 1, there may be formed a container 24 or a container 25 which are illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9. These two containers 24,25 differ in that the edge area 23 is folded inwards into the container and folded outwards, respectively. At the folding of the edge area 23 about the third folding line 22 after folding about the first and second folding lines 2,6, there is achieved an automatic locking of the con- tainer 24,25 in the folded state.

The folded edge area 23 may thus be said to constitute a locking means for keeping the container 24,25 in its folded state. This folding of the edge area 23 renders super-

fluous the use of locking means in the shape of an annular band corresponding to the bands 13,14 and 17. For security reasons, however, it may be preferred to use such an annular band even though the edge area 23 is folded. Such an embodiment is illus- trated in Fig. 10 where an annular band 14 has been provided. The annular band may, however, have another embodiment and, for example, correspond to the band 13 or the band 17 which are shown in Fig. 5 and Fig. 9, respectively.

Common to the folding lines in the packing item and the containers according to any of the Figures 1-10 is a design with a circular outer edge 5 which is concentric with the circle 4 defining the bottom 11, and that the third folding lines 22 are also circular and extend concentrically with the bottom and the outer edge. If one desires to change the course of the upper edge in the formed container, it is possible alternatively to make the third folding line with another course.

The packing items and the containers shown in Figs. 1-10 have a peculiarity in com- mon by the angle 8 between a first and a second folding line 2,6 being selected so that the periphery of the formed container at any point over the height of the container cor- respond to the corresponding length of the arc of the circle in the bottom in order thereby to establish a cylindric container.

In Fig. 11 there is illustrated a container 26 differing from the containers in Figs. 5-10 as it is provided with a conical shape. The container 26 is provided with a slightly conical shape so that it is possible to perform a stacking of several containers in a folded state. Furthermore, the conical form will make it possible to accommodate the container as container or packing for conical objects. The container 26 has a folded edge area 23, but is additionally provided with an annular band 27 for keeping the container in the folded state. The band 27 is provided with locking ears 28 that may be used when gripping the container. If the container 26 is used as decorative packing around a flowerpot, the folded edge area 23 will either be at the outer side or the inner side of the edge of the flowerpot and, in addition, a foil covering will make the need for a saucer unnecessary.

Common to all containers/packings described is the possibility of application to dif- ferent purposes. Traditionally, the packing items may be made of a cardboard product in the form of paper or cardboard. Alternatively, the product may be made of plastic.

If the container is provided with a liquidtight coating (not shown) at the inward facing surface, it will be possible to use the formed container for liquid contents. A container may thus be used as flower-vase or as flowerpot bowl. Alternatively, a container may be used a drinking cup. If the container has a locking means where the annular band has gripping ears, the container may also be used for containing hot drinks as the user then avoids to burn the fingers.

By using a container where the edge area 23 is bent inward, for example as shown in Fig. 8, there is achieved a particularly advantageous application as flower-vase. Thus cut flowers placed in the container 24 will be supported by the inward bent edge area 23 and thereby appear with aesthetically more attractive presentation of the flowers in the vase. By dimensioning the width of the edge area 23 there is achieved possibility of a greater or lesser penetration of the edge area 23 into the container after folding about the third folding line.

A packing item according to the invention will preferably form a part of a set and be for sale together with party articles in the form of cardboard plates, plastic cups and the like. Where one thus may buy flowerpot bowls, flower-vases and the like which matches tablecloths, plates, etc. The packing items may be bought in flat condition and are folded to form a number of containers as the need determines in each situation.

Folding of the containers takes place very simply due to the pre-formed folding lines.

In Figs. 12 and 13 there is illustrated a partial folding showing how a con- tainer/packing is folded in a simple way by starting with a partial folding at a part of the periphery of the packing item and to perform a folding herefrom and to fold con- tinually along the circumference of the packing item until the container/packing has been formed. If a securing is to be performed with an annular band, this may also be provided in a plane condition and is joined around the folded item, for example as shown in Fig. 7.