Box styles
Box styles3 min readUpdated
Inserts
Loose in a box, a product slides, rubs against its neighbours and knocks into the walls. An insert stops that by giving each item its own place. A thank-you card on top counts as an insert too, though it holds nothing.
What an insert can be made of
| Insert | What it is | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Foam | EPE, EVA or PU foam with a cut-out in the product's shape | Grips the product on every side and softens knocks |
| Corrugated | Corrugated board, folded into a platform or slotted into dividers | Gives each item a cell of its own, with some give from the flutes |
| Moulded pulp | Paper pulp pressed in a mould, the way egg cartons are made | Follows the product's shape, since the mould is made for it |
| Card | Paperboard, cut and folded around each item | Keeps items in place and on show; thin board, so it softens knocks only a little |
Card and corrugatedCorrugated board A wavy sheet, the flute, glued between flat liners. Light, stiff and hard to crush: the board of shipping and mailer boxes. inserts either lie flat, with a cut-out for each item, or fold into a raised platform that holds the product above the floor. Foam inserts compares the three foams.
Dividers built into the box
Some boxes keep their contents apart with the same sheet of board, so they need no separate insert:
- Beer box. At each end of our beer box the flapsFlap A panel hinged on a crease that folds over to close an end of a box or to hold it together. of the short sides and the fins on the long sides' flaps turn down into the box and cross, like the dividersDivider A wall of board inside a box that gives each item its own cell, like the six cells of a beer box. of a bottle crate: one wall down the middle and two across, six cells. The dividers are 50 mm deep at the top and at the bottom at any size.
- Wine carriers. On the two bottle and three bottle wine carriers each bottle has its own window, and the window's cut-out folds in between the bottles as a partition.
- Open tray. An open tray can itself go into a bigger box as an insert.
Dividers from the same sheet
Open a beer box. Its end flaps and fins lock into six cells at the top and at the bottom, with glue only on the side seam.
- Cut
- Crease
The insert's own dieline
Apart from those built-in dividers, we draw the box only. A card or corrugated insert is a dieline of its own, which your box maker draws from the box's inside sizeInside dimensions A box's sizes measured inside, from crease to crease. This is what you type on our boxes, and what box makers quote.: the creaseCrease A fold line pressed into board so it bends cleanly, also called a score. Dashed green on our dielines. to crease size you typed. How much room to leave for an insert, and what to send its maker, is in Foam inserts; it works the same way for card and corrugated.
Inserts that carry a message
Thank-you cards, leaflets, instructions, coupons and warranty cards are inserts too. They don't hold anything, but they still need to fit: make the card a few millimetres smaller than the box's floor, so it drops in flat and doesn't bend at the edges.