Blank and box for vials and packaging process

A blank in one piece for foldable boxes, comprising

• a lid portion (1,2) for opening and closing the box;
• adjacent blank sections (1–5) connected to said lid portion (2) and forming a base (4) wall and front (5) and back (3) walls of the formed box, said adjacent sections defining a major axis (B—B) of the blank;
• lateral sections (12,13;
• 12a, 13a) forming lateral walls of the formed box;
• a foldable supporting portion (6–10) that comprises a plurality of sections each having a major axis (A—A) that is substantially perpendicular to the said major axis of the blank (B—B) and that can be erected to form an internal support (S) for housing vials, ampoules, miniature bottles or similar articles (18) having a body, a neck and a head, said supporting portion (S) comprising a first section (7) having a plurality of housing holes (F7) to house the body of said articles, an intermediate section (8), a second section (9) provided with a plurality of retaining holes (F9) having such dimensions as to retain said articles in correspondence of their necks, means (9a) for temporarily and reversibly increasing the dimensions of the said holes, located on said blank around said retaining holes (F9), and said two sections (6,9) to be glued on corresponding areas (15,16) of said front wall (5) in order to secure said supporting portion to said blank;
• at least one foldable portion of said blank (8;
• 13,23)engaging with said internal support (S) to maintain it erect and square during the vial insertion step, the remaining portions of said blank being in an open position.