EP1336576A1 - A container for a stack of interfolded tissue sheets - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a container for a collection of interfolded tissue-sheets,said container having a generally planar top wall (1) and a bottomwall (2) and side walls (3, 4, 5, 6) connecting said bottom wall (2) with saidtop wall (1) and an opening (10) provided in at least said top wall (1) for theremoval of said tissue-sheets from the container. The tissue-sheets areplaced in said container with a lowermost tissue-sheet placed on said bottomwall (2) and an uppermost tissue-sheet (T) placed near or in contact with thetop wall and adjacent to the opening in the top wall, which opening (10) isprovided with elongated projections extending from at least one edge of theopening (10). The projections (13, 14, 15; 16, 17, 18) are part of at least twosheets (S₁, S₂, S₃, S₄; S₅, S₆) of material attached to the outer side of the topwall (2), and at least one projection of a first sheet is arranged to overlap atleast one projection of an adjacent sheet in their inactive positions.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD
• The invention pertains to a stack of interfolded tissue-sheets packed in acontainer, said container having a generally planar bottom wall and a top walland side walls connecting the bottom wall with the top wall and an openingprovided in at least one wall for the removal of said tissue-sheets from thecontainer, said stack of interfolded tissue-sheets being placed in saidcontainer with at least the edges of a lowermost tissue-sheet placed on thebottom wall and an uppermost tissue-sheet placed near or in contact with thetop wall and adjacent to the opening in the top wall.
BACKGROUND ART
• Soft tissue sheets such as facial tissue sheets are commonly offered as astack of tissue sheets packed in a dispensing box. The dispensing box hasan opening through which the user pulls the tissue sheets. In order tofacilitate the removal of the tissue sheets from the dispensing box, the tissuesheets are interfolded, which means that the tissue sheets are folded intoone-another, so that they form a chain of tissue sheets being interconnectedby folded portions. In this manner, when removing the top tissue sheet fromthe stack of tissue sheets and pulling the tissue sheet completely through thedispensing opening in the dispensing box, the pulled-out tissue sheet willautomatically bring a portion of the next tissue sheet in the stack out throughthe opening thereby making it readily available for gripping and removingfrom the dispensing box. The praxis of interfolding tissue sheets in thismanner is a convenient way of ascertaining that all of the tissue sheets canbe easily removed from the container. There are many types of interfolding,e.g. Z-folding, but neither the type of interfolding, nor the type of tissue isimportant to the invention.
• A box of the above type, having an opening with opposed projections isknown from US 6 053 357 A. The projections described in this document arenot overlapping and will not give adequate support to a presented tissuemade from a thin material. After being pulled through the opening by apreceding tissue, the subsequent tissue will collapse on top of the box,making it difficult for a user to grip and withdraw it.
• A further box for dispensing tissues is known from EP 0 644 130 B1. Thisdocument shows an opening having a circular or other geometrical shape,provided with adjacent and opposing projections extending from the sides ofthe opening. This box also lacks overlapping projections, resulting in thesame problem with tissues that are not self-supporting and collapses undertheir own weight, as described above.
• In both the above prior art documents, the projections are part of the top wallof the box, or are provided as a pre-cut plastic film attached to the undersideof said wall.
• A problem to be solved by the invention is related to the way the knownfingers are arranged or attached to the container. If the fingers are cut from apart of the container, or attached to the underside of a top wall containing theopening, the length or extension of the fingers is determined by the width ofthe opening. The design and /or properties of the fingers, being limited to amaximum length, can only be varied by means of thickness and/or choice ofmaterials. If, for instance, a certain width is desired for achieving a particularproperty for a predetermined tissue/projection combination, the availablemaximum length may require the projection to be made with a certainthickness. The thickness may in turn be so small that the projection is nolonger self-supporting, or that it becomes too thin to support or grip a tissuein a presentation position.
• The use of multiple opposing and overlapping projections or fingers placedon either side of a longitudinal opening is known from EP Patent Applicationno. 00203753.9. According to one embodiment in this application, theopening is provided with a central opening wherein the projections on eitherside of the central opening are angled away from a plane perpendicular tothe main axis of the opening. In this way, the projections can present a flattissue while stretching in both directions away from the central opening.However, due to the sometimes long distance between the two innermostfingers, the tissue may sag in the middle in the region above the centralopening. This problem is also solved by the invention.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
• The problem of attaching projections to a container in such a way that saidprojections can be given any desired resilient property, while remaining self-supporting,is solved by an arrangement as stated inclaim 1 and itsdependent claims.
• The invention relates to a container for a collection of interfolded tissue-sheets,said container having a generally planar top wall, a bottom wall andfour side walls connecting said bottom wall with said top wall. An openingprovided in at least said top wall for the removal of said tissue sheets fromthe container. Said collection of interfolded tissue sheets is placed in saidcontainer with at least a pair of edges of a lowermost tissue sheet placed onsaid bottom wall and an uppermost tissue-sheet placed near or in contactwith the top wall and adjacent to the opening in the top wall. The opening isprovided with elongated projections extending from at least one edge of theopening.
• According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the projections arepart of at least two sheets of material attached to the top wall. The sheets arepreferably, but not necessarily, attached to the upper, or external, surface ofthe top wall. Also, the opposing or adjacent sheets are preferably, but notnecessarily, identical in shape, with respect to the outline of the sheets andthe number of projections. When attached to the top wall, the opposingsheets may be of identical or reversed shape.
• Each projection of a first sheet is arranged to overlap, or at least partiallyoverlap, a corresponding projection of an opposing or an adjacent sheet,while the projections are in their inactive positions. Each sheet can beprovided with one or more projections. A single projection may range in sizefrom a relatively narrow, thin projection, to an extended, relatively large wing-shapedprojection having a comparatively large surface area, covering partsof both the top wall of the container and a part of the opening. Alternatively, asingle projection, having a general wing-shape or similar may be replaced bya number of adjacent projections.
• The material used for said sheets and projections may be either transparentor opaque. A suitable material can be, for instance, plastic film, paper,cardboard or some other resilient material
• According to a further preferred embodiment, the opening comprises a pair ofelongated edges extending substantially parallel across the top of thecontainer. A main axis of the opening may extend substantially parallel to alongitudinal axis of the container. When a projection on one sheet isoverlapping a projection from an opposing sheet, then the projections of atleast one pair of projections on the same sheet are angled away from eachother with respect to a plane transverse to the main axis of the opening. Thisplane is preferably placed through the centre of the opening, measured alongsaid main axis. In an alternative preferred embodiment, each projection of atleast one such pair of projections is placed on either side of, and is angledaway from, a central projection placed in or parallel to said transverse plane.In the preceding case, without a central projection, the minimum number ofprojections is two on either side of the opening, while the latter case,including a central projection requires a minimum of three projections oneither side.
• The purpose of the above central projection is to solve the problem of apresented tissue sheet having a sagging central section, when supported byone or more projections on either side of a central opening between saidprojections. Projections being angled away from each other in this way willpresent a substantially flat tissue sheet, due to the downward force causedby the weight of the tissue. However, the stretching effect on the tissuecaused by the projections may not be sufficient to prevent the central sectionof the tissue sheet to sag. This problem is eliminated by a pair of opposed,overlapping central projections. The central projections may extend furtheracross the opening than the adjacent side projections and can therefore havemore overlap.
• Alternatively, the above embodiment may have one or more projections oneither side of the central projection, whereby the side projections are parallel to or placed at varying angles to the central projection. Combinations of suchparallel and angled side projections are also possible.
• According to a further embodiment, each of the above projections are madeup of individual sheets of material and attached to the container side-by-sidealong either edge of the opening. In this way, the number, angle and shapeof the individual projections can be easily varied without requiring changes ofan entire sheet.
• In order to enable projections to overlap, the tip of each projection mustextend at least past the main axis of the opening. However, the tips must notreach the opposite edge of the opening. Also, the tip of each projection mustbe in contact with the presented tissue, when the projections are raised totheir active positions.
• According to a further preferred embodiment, the opening may be circular orhave a geometrical shape made up of a polygon having three or more sides.The sides of the polygon-shaped opening are preferably, but not necessarilyequilateral, that is, of equal length. When overlapping a projection from anadjacent sheet, then each projection is angled with respect to at least oneadjacent projection. For both the alternative openings, each projection willpreferably, but not necessarily, comprise a separate sheet of material.
• For the case where the opening has a geometrical shape made up of three ormore sides, the number of projections will preferably correspond to thenumber of sides of the opening. Although higher numbers of projection andside combinations are possible, openings having more than ten sides will notbe practical due to the increased complexity of the manufacturing process .In some cases a polygonal opening can be describes as being substantiallytriangular, square or pentagonal. A triangular opening may, for instance, beshaped with cut-off corners. Such an opening would thus have three majoredges, provided with projections, and three minor edges, being substantiallyshorter than the major edges. The corners of a substantially triangularopening may also be rounded, with each corner having a relatively smallradius. In such cases, the number of major sides determines the number ofprojections.
• According to one embodiment, the main body of each individual projectionwill extend from the edge of the opening at an angle to a line perpendicular toeach individual corresponding side of the opening, which line passes throughthe centre of said side.
• According to a further embodiment, the main body of each projection willextend from the edge of the opening parallel to, and displaced from, a lineperpendicular to each associated side of the opening, which line passesthrough the centre, or the middle, of said side.
• According to a further embodiment, the main body of each projection will becurved and extend from the edge of the opening at an angle to or parallel to aline perpendicular to each associated side of the opening
• For openings having a polygonal shape, each subsequent projection willpartially overlap at least one adjacent projection, alternatively be overlappedby a preceding projection and overlap a subsequent projection.
• For the case where the opening is circular it may be provided with two ormore sheets. According to a first alternative, each projection comprises aseparate sheet of material. In this case each projection will extend into theopening at an angle to a radius of the circle, which radius passes through thecentreline of the main body of each projection at the point where thiscentreline intersects the edge of the opening. As stated above, eachsubsequent projection will partially overlap at least one adjacent projection,alternatively be overlapped by a preceding projection and overlap asubsequent projection. For this embodiment, the opening is preferablyprovided with three or more projections. According to a second alternative,the opening circular is provided with at least two sheets, whereby each sheetis provided with two or more projections. If two sheets are used, oneprojection on each sheet will partially overlap or be overlapped by, acorresponding projection on an opposing sheet. If three or more sheets areused, a first projection at one side of the sheet is overlapped by a projectionon a preceding sheet and a last projection at the other side of the sheetoverlaps a projection on a subsequent sheet.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
• In the following text, the invention will be described in detail with reference tothe attached drawings. These drawings are used for illustration only and donot in any way limit the scope of the invention. In the drawings:

Figure 1

shows a perspective view of a box according to the invention;

Figure 2

shows a plan view of a box provided with butterfly-shaped sheets;

Figure 3

shows an alternative embodiment of the sheets in Fig. 2;

Figure 4

shows a further alternative embodiment of the sheets in Fig. 2;

Figure 5

shows an alternative embodiment of the sheets in Fig. 2 providedwith additional projections;

Figure 6

shows a plan view of a box provided with a circular opening;

Figure 7

shows an alternative embodiment of the opening in Fig. 6;

Figure 8

shows a plan view of a box provided with a polygonal opening;

Figure 9

shows a plan view of a box provided with a circular opening andsheets with multiple projections.

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
• Figure 1 shows a generally rectangularpaperboard dispensing box 1containing a stack of interfolded tissue-sheets (not shown). By interfolding, allthe tissue-sheets in the stack are mechanically connected to each other in acontinuous, loosely connected band of individual tissue-sheets. Thepaperboard box 1 has atop wall 2,abottom wall 3, twolong side walls 4, 5and twoshort side walls 6, 7. The stack of tissue-sheets rests with a lowermosttissue-sheet on the inner surface of thebottom wall 3 and has a heightthat substantially corresponds to the height of thebox 1, that is, to the heightof the side walls 4-7. It is to be understood, that the height of the stack oftissue-sheets is to a certain degree determined by the height of the box. Theinterfolded tissue-sheets are highly compressible and are usually, but notnecessarily, compressed before being placed in the box, so that a sufficientamount of tissue-sheets can be accommodated in the box. The figure alsoshows an uppermost tissue sheet T being held in a presentation position by anumber of projections, which will be described in detail below.
• Thebox 1 is provided with anopening 10 in thetop wall 2. Theopening 10 isarranged substantially centrally in thetop wall 2 and extends parallel to thelong side walls 4, 5. In the example of Figure 2, theopening 10 has asubstantially rectangular shape, having a wider section in its middle portionand rounded corners at its end portions. However, an opening in the shape ofa circle, an oval, a straight sided rectangle or suitable irregular shapes arecontemplated within the scope of the invention, as the exact shape of theopening is not relevant to the invention.
• Before use of the box of tissue-sheets, theopening 10 is protected by acover. Usually the protective cover is made of the same paperboard materialas the box itself. The cover is a section of material covering at least theopening and a number of attached projections, which cover comprises asection of material that can be torn away along a perforated line in thetopwall 2. However other protective devices such as separate pieces of paper,paperboard, plastic film, and the like can be envisaged. Moreover, the boxcan be provided with a permanently attached or removable regular lid that isopened to expose the opening in thetop wall 2 and which, optionally, can bere-closed.
• The box is further provided with a pair of substantially identical materialsheets attached to the top surface of thetop wall 2 at opposing sides of theopening, as shown in Figure 2. Each sheet S₁, S₂ of material is provided withprojections which extend from thetop wall 2, across anadjacent edge 11, 12of theopening 10, and at least half way across theopening 10. In thiscontext, the term "at least half way" implies that the projections are requiredto extend past a longitudinal main axis X_M of the opening. In the currentexample, the opening is positioned centrally in thetop wall 2, whereby acentral longitudinal axis X of the box coincides with the main axis X_M of theopening 10. Figure 2 shows a pair of sheets S₁, S₂ each having threeprojections 13, 14, 15; 16, 17, 18, in the shape of a pair of relatively wide,wing-shapedprojections 13, 14; 16, 17 placed on either side of a central,relatively narrowcentral projection 15;18. The central projections are taperingtowards their tips, which are rounded. Each pair ofside projections 13, 14;16, 17 are joined by a curved,rear section 19; 20, which makes up theportion of the sheet S₁, S₂ that is attached to the upper side of thetop wall 2.On both sides of the overlappingcentral projections 15, 18, between themand the adjacent side projections, there are gaps allowing a user to extract a first tissue sheet after removing the cover. The function of the opposingsideprojections 13, 16 and 14, 17 respectively, is to support a tissue sheet in itspresentation position and preventing it from falling back into the box. Thefunction of the opposingcentral projections 15 and 18 respectively, is tosupport a central portion of a presented tissue, preventing said centralportion from sagging or collapsing. Figure 1 shows the sheets S₁, S₂ withtheir respective projections in the raised, active dispensing position.
• As can be seen from Figure 2, showing the projections in their flat, inactivepositions, each pair of opposing projections overlap to a certain degree. Theproperties of the material sheet and amount of overlap is determined by boththe properties of the tissue sheet and the function of the respectiveprojection. A thicker, heavier tissue sheet will require a thicker or stiffermaterial in the material sheets S₁, S₂ and relatively less overlap for theprojections. A thin and flimsy tissue sheet, on the other hand, will requirethinner or more flexible material sheets S₁, S₂ and relatively more overlap.Also, in order to provide sufficient support for the central portion of the tissue,thecentral projections 15, 18 will have a larger overlap than thesideprojections 13, 16 and 14, 17. When in their upwardly flexed, active positionsthe tips of the projections must be in contact with the presented tissue sheet.The length, and hence the overlap, of the pairs of opposing projections musttherefore be chosen accordingly.
• The properties of the material sheets S₁, S₂ can also be controlled by theirattachment to thetop wall 2. As the material sheets S₁, S₂ are attached to theupper surface of thetop wall 2 at one or more positions spaced from theedge of the opening, the sheets will flex from a line or point of attachment tothe tips of their associated projections. According to one embodiment thesheets S₁, S₂ have been attached with a straight line or band of adhesive,whereby the sheets S₁, S₂ will flex along a line parallel to the line ofadhesive. This arrangement can be used for the embodiment of Figure 2.
• According to a further embodiment the sheets have been attached withadhesive applied at a number of points, whereby the sheets will flex along astraight line connecting a pair of such points located closest to the main axisof the opening. This arrangement is used for the embodiment shown in Figure 3. This figure shows a pair of material sheets S₃, S₄, provided withcorresponding opposed and overlappingside projections 23, 24; 26, 27 andcentral projections 25; 28. The material sheets S₃, S₄ are attached to thetopwall 2 of a box on either side of anopening 10, as described in connectionwith Figure 2. However, instead of a curved section connecting the sideprojections on each sheet, each rear section is provided with two further,rearprojections 21, 22; 29,30. Theside projections 23, 24; 26, 27 and therearprojections 21, 22; 29,30 are all angled away from a transverse axis Ycoinciding with the main axis Y_M of thecentral projections 25; 28, giving thematerial sheets S₃, S₄ a general butterfly shape.
• Attaching the material sheets S₃, S₄ shown in Figure 3 by means of a straightline of adhesive is possible, but may not be practical. If applied onto thetopwall 2 the adhesive may not be entirely covered by the rear projections, and ifapplied to therear projections 21, 22; 29,30, beads of surplus adhesive mayform at the edges of said projections. In this case, a preferred solution is toattach the material sheets S₃, S₄ by applying adhesive at a number ofdiscrete points on either the top wall or the rear projections. When theprojections are raised upwards to their active positions, the sheet will flexparallel a straight line connecting the two discrete attachment points locatedclosest to the main axis X_M of theopening 10. Depending on the materialused in the sheets S₃, S₄ and the shape of the sheet, other flexing lines canoccur. The flexing line can be influenced by the depth of the cut-out notchesbetween the rear projections and their adjacent side projection. If the notchesare sufficiently deep and/or the material of the sheet S₃, S₄ sufficiently thin,the sheets may flex along a line connecting the inner sections of saidnotches. Also, a similar effect may occur along a line connecting the innersections of the notches between the rear projection and an adjacent sideprojection, with the inner sections of the notches between said side projectionand the central projection. Such a flexing line will give each of the sideprojections a main axis angled away from the axis Y_M of the central projectionwhen raised to their active positions. These outwardly angled main axes, incombination with a twisting movement of the side projections as they areraised upwards, will cause the opposed pairs of side projections to impart astretching force to the presented tissue sheet.
• By selecting an appropriate material and thickness for the sheet S₃, S₄ andcombining this with a suitable shape of the wing shaped projections, it is thuspossible to impart any of the above supporting and/or stretching functions tothe tissue sheet to be presented.
• According to a further embodiment, the sheets S₁, S₂ shown in Figure 2 canbe attached using any of the above methods, whereby an embossed line (notshown) on said sheets in vicinity of theedges 11, 12 of theopening 10 isused to control where flexing is to occur. By using an embossed line it ispossible to make each projection flex in any predetermined direction. In thecase of Figure 2, it would be possible to use a combination of embossedlines and suitable attachment points to make the side projections flex at anangle away from the main axis Y_M of the central projection. This would givethe embodiment of Figure 2 the same tissue-stretching properties asdescribed in connection with the embodiment of Figure 3.
• Figure 4 shows an alternative embodiment of that shown in Figure 3. In thisembodiment, the material sheets S₃, S₄ are provided with substantially thesame side projections 23, 24; 26, 27 andrear projections 21, 22; 29, 30, buthave modifiedcentral projections 31; 32. Saidcentral projections 31; 32 areprovided with anarrow portion 33 between the base and the tip, combinedwith a split, or forked,tip 34. In some cases, a wider tip section is required togive the central portion of a presented tissue sheet sufficient support. Thesplit tip 34 shown in Figure 4 supports the tissue at two points, rather thanalong a straight line. The resulting point contact between the spaced, splittips of the opposedcentral projections 31; 32 will give additional support for atissue in a presentation position, especially for thinner kinds of tissue sheets.When widening the tip section, a tapering projection of the type shown inFigure 3 may be to stiff to function as intended. In order to maintain apredetermined stiffness in combination with a widened tip, eachprojection31; 32 is provided with anarrow section 33 between tip and base. Preferably,the narrowest part of said section is positioned closer to the base than to thetip. In this application, the term 'base' is defined as a straight line betweenthe inner ends of a pair of cut-out notches, or a such a cut-out notch and anestimated inner end of a cut-out notch, on either side of a projection.
• Figure 5 shows a further alternative embodiment of the material sheetsdescribed in connection with Figure 2. According to this embodiment, each ofthe relatively large wing-shaped side projections shown in Figure 2 havebeen replaced by a pair ofindividual projections 35, 36; 37, 38; 40, 41; 42,43placed on either side of acentral projection 39; 44. In their inactive positions,the overlapping pairs of opposing projections extend across a major part ofthe width of the opening 10 from oneedge 11 and 12 respectively, towardsbut not reaching theopposite edge 12 and 11 respectively. As in the aboveembodiment of Figure 2, the length of the projections is determined by thedesired properties of the projections, such as stiffness, and the type of tissuesheet to be supported. Also, theside projections 35, 36; 37, 38; 40, 41; 42,43each have a main axis extending at an angle α to the main axis Y_M of thecentral projections. In this particular embodiment, the angle of eachsuccessive projection 35, 36; 37, 38; 40, 41; 42,43 increases in a directionaway from thecentral projections 39; 44. The projections are all slightlytapering towards their tips, which are rounded.
• Although the above preferred embodiment shows increasing angles for eachsuccessive projection it is of course possible to maintain a constant angle αfor all projections, or to vary the respective angles of each projection.
• As in the case of Figure 2, each outer pair ofside projections 35, 38 and 40,43 respectively, are joined by a curved,rear section 45, 46, which makes upthe portion of each sheet S₅, S₆ that is attached to thetop wall 2. In thecurrent example the curvature of the curvedrear section 45, 46 isconsiderably greater than that of Figure 2, making it more suitable forattachment by means of a straight line of adhesive. The curved rear sectionof the material sheets S₅ and S₆ will appear to have a projection at eitherend, which is caused by the cut-out notches removed to form the added sideprojections. However, the width of the rear sections shown in Figure 2 and 5are substantially the same. Due to the relatively small width of the projectionscompared to the width of the rear section in the vicinity of the line ofattachment, each projection will flex at a line through each individual base.
• According to a further embodiment (not shown), each of the aboveprojections are made up of individual sheets of material and attached to the container side-by-side along either edge of the opening. In this way, thenumber, angle, length and shape of the individual projections can be easilyvaried without requiring changes of an entire sheet.
• Figure 6 shows an embodiment with acircular opening 50 placed in thetopwall 2 of the box. In the example, theopening 50 is shown placed at a centralposition on the top wall with respect to the longitudinal and transverse axesX; Y of the box. It may, however be placed at any position on the top wall,provided that the entire opening is located above the stack of tissues, andthat there is sufficient space between the opening and the edge for theindividual projections described below.
• According to this embodiment, theopening 50 is provided with four individualprojections, wherein each projection has arear section 51, 52, 53, 54 and afront section ortip 55, 56, 57, 58. The projections are made as separatesheets of material, and are attached to the upper side of thetop wall 2 of thebox at theirrear sections 51, 52, 53, 54. In this embodiment, each rearsection has its main extension in a direction substantially parallel to a tangentto the edge of the opening at the point where the main axis of each projectioncrosses the edge of saidopening 50. The exact shape of the rear sections isnot relevant to the invention, but it should have a sufficiently large surfacearea to allow application of a line, or a number of points of adhesive.
• In their inactive, flat positions thetips 55, 56, 57, 58 extend across theopening a predetermined distance, but without crossing the edge of theopening again. Each tip is partially overlapped by a preceding tip, whilepartially overlapping a subsequent tip. This is achieved by arranging eachsubsequent main axis X₁, X₂, X₃, X₄ of the respective projections at rightangles to the main axis of the next projection, i.e. at an angle β of 90°between adjacent axes. In this embodiment, the edges of the tip section ofthe projections are substantially parallel, with a generally rounded tip.However, the length and width of the projections may be varied within theabove limitations, provided that a gap G is arranged between the projectionsat the centre of the opening, allowing a user to withdraw a first tissue sheet.When a first tissue sheet is withdrawn, the projections are raised upwards and the subsequent tissue will be held in a presentation position by agripping force between the interlocking projections.
• Although the above example discloses an embodiment with four projections,other alternatives are also possible. The above example will also work forthree, five and six projections, having each subsequent main axis arranged atangles β of 120°, 72° and 60° respectively.
• According to a further embodiment, as shown in Figure 7, the projections asdescribed in connection with Figure 6 may have main axes with apredetermined curvature. Each of thecurved projections 61, 62, 63, 64 havemain axes C₁, C₂, C₃, C₄ with a curvature and a width that decreases towardsthe tip. However, the above limitations still apply, and the angle β betweentwo tangents at two identical positions on a pair of adjacent main axes wouldstill be 90°. It is of course possible to use projections having a constantcurvature or width, or a combination of varying and constant values thereof.
• According to a further embodiment, shown in Figure 8, the opening itself maybe an equilateral polygon having the same number of edges and projections.Hence a square opening would have four projections, as described inconnection with Figure 6 above. The embodiment shown in Figure 8discloses apentagonal opening 70 with oneprojection 71, 72, 73, 74, 75arranged at each side thereof. As described in connection with Figure 7, theprojections have curved main axes, wherein both the curvature and taper isreduced towards the tips.
• Figure 9 shows a further embodiment, wherein acircular opening 80 isprovided with a number of material sheets with multiple projections attachedto thetop wall 2. According to this embodiment, the opening has fourindividual material sheets, each having twoprojections 81, 82; 83, 84; 85, 86;87, 88. Similar to the embodiment of Figure 6, afirst projection 81, 83, 85, 87on each sheet overlaps a projection on a subsequent sheet, while asecondprojection 82, 84, 86, 88 is overlapped by a projection on a preceding sheet.
• As in the previous embodiments, arear section 89, 90, 91, 92 of each sheetextends a distance out from theopening 80 to allow it to be attached to the upper surface of thetop wall 2 by means of an adhesive. Because adjacentrear sections overlap in this embodiment, it is important to apply lines orpoints of adhesive so that adjacent material sheets do not prevent each otherfrom flexing when the projections are raised to their active positions.

Claims (17)

1. A container for a collection of interfolded tissue-sheets, said containerhaving a generally planar top wall (1) and a bottom wall (2) and side walls (3,4, 5, 6) connecting said bottom wall (2) with said top wall (1) and an opening(10) provided in at least said top wall (1) for the removal of said tissue-sheetsfrom the container, said collection of interfolded tissue-sheets being placed insaid container with at least a pair of edges of a lowermost tissue-sheetplaced on said bottom wall (2) and an uppermost tissue-sheet (T) placednear or in contact with the top wall and adjacent to the opening in the topwall, which opening (10) is provided with elongated projections extendingfrom at least one edge (from opposing edges) of the opening (10),characterized inthat the projections (13, 14, 15; 16, 17, 18) are part of at least two sheets (S₁,S₂, S₃, S₄; S₅, S₆) of material attached to the outer side of the top wall (2),and
   that at least one projection of a first sheet is arranged to overlap at least oneprojection of an adjacent sheet in their inactive positions.
2. Container according to claim 1,characterized in that
   each sheet (S₁, S₂) of material is substantially identical.
3. Container according to claim 1,characterized in that
   a pair of opposing sheets is substantially identical and reversed.
4. A container according to claim 1,characterized in that theopening (70) has a geometrical shape in the form of a substantiallyequilateral polygon.
5. A container according to claim 4,characterized in that thepolygon is made up of three or more sides.
6. A container according to claim 4,characterized in that eachprojection (71, 72, 73, 74, 75) comprises a separate sheet of material.
7. A container according to claim 6,characterized in that thenumber of projections correspond to the number of sides of the opening.
8. A container according to claim 1,characterized in that theopening (50, 60, 80) is circular.
9. A container according to claim 8,characterized in that theopening is provided with two or more sheets of material.
10. A container according to claim 9,characterized in that eachsheet is provided with two or more projections (81, 82; 83, 84; 85, 86; 87,88).
11. A container according to claim 8,characterized in that eachprojection (55, 56, 67, 58; 61, 62, 63, 64) comprises a separate sheet ofmaterial.
12. A container according to claim 11,characterized in that theopening is provided with three or more projections.
13. A container according to claim 1,characterized in that theopening (10) has two opposing sides (11, 12) extending substantially in thedirection of a longitudinal axis (X) of the top wall (2).
14. A container according to claim 13,characterized in that eachsheet is provided with two or more projections (13, 14, 15; 16, 17, 18).
15. A container according to claim 14,characterized in that eachsheet has a first pair of projections (13, 14; 16, 17) positioned angled awayfrom each other, relative to a plane through the centre of and at right anglesto the longitudinal axis (X_M) of the opening (10).
16. A container according to claim 15,characterized in that eachsheet has a central projection (15, 18) positioned between said first pair ofprojections (13, 14; 16, 17) and at right angles to the longitudinal axis (X_M)through the opening (10).
17. A container according to claim 16,characterized in that eachsheet (S5, S6) has at least one further pair of opposing and overlappingprojections (35, 38; 40, 43) arranged on either side of said first pair ofprojections (36, 37; 41, 42).

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