U.S. patent application number 11/262630 was filed with the patent office on 2006-07-06 for shaped container and method of making.
Invention is credited to David Ours.
Application Number | 20060144742 11/262630 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35668199 |
Filed Date | 2006-07-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060144742 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ours; David |
July 6, 2006 |
Shaped container and method of making
Abstract
The invention provides a container including a front panel and a
back panel spaced from the front panel. The container also includes
first and second side panels connecting the front and back panels.
The container also includes at least one area of weakness on at
least one of the front back and side panels. The container also
includes a wrapping material extending around a portion of the
container deforming the at least one area of weakness relative to
the other of the panels. After wrapping, the container has a
predetermined shape formed by deforming the area of weakness
relative to the remainder of the container.
Inventors: |
Ours; David; (Marshall,
MI) |
Correspondence
Address: |
HOWARD & HOWARD ATTORNEYS, P.C.
THE PINEHURST OFFICE CENTER, SUITE #101
39400 WOODWARD AVENUE
BLOOMFIELD HILLS
MI
48304-5151
US
|
Family ID: |
35668199 |
Appl. No.: |
11/262630 |
Filed: |
October 31, 2005 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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60624027 |
Nov 1, 2004 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
206/497 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 77/003 20130101;
B65D 75/004 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
206/497 |
International
Class: |
B65D 65/00 20060101
B65D065/00 |
Claims
1. A container comprising: a front panel; a back panel spaced from
said front panel; first and second side panels connecting said
front and back panels; at least one area of weakness on at least
one of said front back and side panels; and a wrapping material
extending around a portion of said container deforming said at
least one area of weakness relative to the other of said panels
whereby said container has a predetermined shape formed by
deforming said area of weakness relative to the remainder of said
container.
2. The container of claim 1, wherein said container includes a top
panel and bottom panel connecting said front, back and side
panels.
3. The container of claim 1, wherein said wrapping material is a
plastic film.
4. The container of claim 1, wherein said wrapping material is
plastic shrink wrap, said shrink wrap deforming said at least one
area of weakness relative to the remainder of said container when
heat is applied to said shrink wrap.
5. The container of claim 1, wherein said area of weakness is
defined by at least one line of weakness relative to the remainder
of said container.
6. The container of claim 1, wherein said wrapping material
envelops said container.
7. The container of claim 6, wherein said wrapping material is
plastic shrink wrap, said shrink wrap deforming said at least one
area of weakness relative to the remainder of said container when
heat is applied to said shrink wrap.
8. The container of claim 1, wherein said area of weakness is
defined by a plurality of lines of weakness relative to the
remainder of said container.
9. The container of claim 1, wherein said area of weakness is
defined by at least two pair of opposed curved lines, one of said
pairs extending generally longitudinally along said front panel
closely adjacent said side panels, said other of said pairs
extending generally longitudinally along said back panel closely
adjacent said side panels, said wrapping material deforming said
area of weakness relative to the remainder of said container to
define a generally hour glass shape to said container.
10. The container of claim 9, wherein said lines are slits cut into
said container.
11. The container of claim 9, wherein said lines are perforations
formed in said container.
12. The container of claim 9, wherein said lines are deformations
formed in said container.
13. The container of claim 9, wherein said area of weakness is
defined by a plurality of closely adjacent fold lines.
14. The container of claim 13, wherein said lines are slits cut
into said container.
15. The container of claim 13, wherein said lines are perforations
formed in said container.
16. The container of claim 13, wherein said lines are deformations
formed in said container.
17. The container of claim 1, wherein said wrapping material has
information printed thereon.
18. A method for making a container comprising: providing a blank
having at least a front panel, back panel and side panels, said
side panels connecting said front and back panels; assembling said
blank by connecting said side panels; forming at least one area of
weakness on at least one of said front back or side panels;
providing a wrapping material; wrapping said wrapping material
around at least a portion of said container; and deforming said at
least one area of weakness relative to the remainder of said
container by squeezing said container with said wrapping material
whereby said container has a predetermined shape formed by
deforming said area of weakness relative to the remainder of said
container.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Patent Application Ser. No. 60/624,027 for a SHAPED CONTAINER AND
METHOD OF MAKING, filed on Nov. 19, 2004, which is hereby
incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention generally relates to shaped containers
and more specifically to a container that has areas of weakness
that are deformed relative to the remainder of the container by a
wrap material.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] In the marketing of products, it is important to quickly
catch the consumers' attention. This is particularly important in
retail marketing when numerous competing products are stacked
closely together on store shelves. Unique packaging is one method
to catch the consumer's attention. Traditionally, unique graphics
on product packaging have been employed to garner the consumer's
attention.
[0006] In addition to graphics, there have been attempts to provide
unique shapes to containers. These attempts are not believed to
have been successful for several reasons. First, shaped containers
are hard to manufacture on a commercial basis. The various shapes
can be difficult to assemble in traditional carton manufacturing
equipment. Further, shaped containers can add significant costs to
the container. Many times, these shaped containers have to be
assembled by hand, because of their unique shapes. What is needed
is a method for shaping a normal carton with a wrapping material to
get a unique shaped carton.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The invention provides a container including a front panel
and a back panel spaced from the front panel. The container also
includes first and second side panels connecting the front and back
panels. The container also includes at least one area of weakness
on at least one of the front back and side panels. The container
also includes a wrapping material extending around a portion of the
container deforming the at least one area of weakness relative to
the other of the panels. After wrapping, the container has a
predetermined shape formed by deforming the area of weakness
relative to the remainder of the container.
[0008] Other applications of the present invention will become
apparent to those skilled in the art when the following description
of the best mode contemplated for practicing the invention is read
in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the container of the present
invention;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a blank of the container of FIG. 1;
[0011] FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the method of making the container
of FIG. 1;
[0012] FIG. 4 is a further embodiment of a container of the present
invention before deformation; and
[0013] FIG. 5 is the container of FIG. 4 deformed to its desired
shape.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0014] The present invention discloses a container having a front
panel, back panel and side panels, with the side panels connecting
the front and back panels. It should be understood that the
container can be of any basic design, such as for example fifth
panel cartons, bag in box, tri-seal, wrap around, horizontal,
vertical, linerless, square, rectangular, oblong, round, etc. The
container has at least one area of weakness on at least one of the
front back or side panels. Wrapping material extends around a
portion of the container deforming at least one area of weakness
relative to the remainder of the container. In this way, the
container is deformed into a predetermined shape along the area of
weakness relative to the remainder of the container.
[0015] The area of weakness in the preferred embodiment is defined
by at least two pair of opposed curved lines, one of the pairs
extending generally longitudinally along the front panel closely
adjacent the side panels, the other of the pairs extending
generally longitudinally along the back panel closely adjacent the
side panels. The wrapping material deforms the area of weakness
relative to the remainder of the container to define a generally
hour glass shape to the container.
[0016] It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art
that numerous other shapes can be obtained with the teachings of
this invention. To create a carton with a different shape merely
requires creating areas of weakness, that when deformed, will
result in the desired shape. In this way, diverse shapes such as
stars, moons, letters, numbers, characters etc. can be created. In
another embodiment by way of example, a rabbit head and body are
created using the teachings of this invention.
[0017] The areas of weakness are generally defined by one or more
lines that are formed in the container. These lines may be slits
cut into the container, perforations formed in the container, or a
plurality of lines to make an accordion like region that can fold
upon itself to form the deformed area etc. In addition, the
wrapping material can have graphics and information printed on it.
These graphics and information, can be all the information or a
portion of the containers' information which mates with the other
information on the container.
[0018] With reference to FIG. 1, the container of the present
invention is shown generally at 10. The container 10 has a front
panel 12, a back panel 14, side panels 16 and 18, a top 20 and a
bottom 22. It should be understood that the container could have
numerous variations with more or less than two sides, fronts, or
backs or any desired geometric shape. For example, the container
could have six panels, three panels etc., or be oblong, square, or
rectangular. The container could also not have a bottom or top.
[0019] With reference to figures land 2, the container 10 of FIG. 1
has two areas of weakness 24. The areas of weakness 24 are defined
by two pair of opposed curved lines 26 and 28. Line 29 is on the
side flap 18 and joins line 28 when container 10 is assembled. One
of the pairs 26 extends generally longitudinally along the front
panel 12 closely adjacent the side panels 16 and 18. The other pair
28 extends generally longitudinally along the back panel 14 closely
adjacent the side panels 16 and 18.
[0020] Wrapping material 30 deforms the area of weakness 24
relative to the remainder of the container 10 to define a generally
hour glass shape to the container 10. The wrapping material 30 can
be of any material that can be pulled together to deform the
container 10, including paper, plastic, cloth, etc. In the
preferred embodiment, plastic shrink wrap material is used.
[0021] The wrapping material 30 can be used to fully envelop the
container 10 or only wrap the area 24 to be deformed. Additionally,
the wrap material 30 can include graphics and printing that either
provide all the graphics associated with the container or mate with
graphics and printing already on the container 10.
[0022] With reference to FIG. 3, a process for making the container
10 of the present invention is illustrated. In the first step 32, a
container blank 34 is formed with the curved lines 26 and 28. The
container blank 34 is made of any common container material such as
for example, paper, cardboard, or plastic. In the preferred
embodiment, the blank is cardboard of the type used to make cereal
boxes. In the second step 36, the blank 34 is folded and glued as
is common in container manufacture. Once formed into a container,
during the third step 38 wrap material 30 is placed around the
container 10. In the disclosed embodiment, the wrap material 30 is
wrapped around the mid-portion of the container 10, but could have
enveloped the entire container if desired. Once in place, the wrap
material 30, which in this embodiment is shrink wrap material, is
heated to shrink it around the container 10 to form the desired
hour glass shape.
[0023] With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, another container 50 is
illustrated which was formed by the method of the present
invention. FIG. 4 illustrates an animal head formed in the
container 50. The container 50 has a first portion 52 that is
removed or scored so that it can fold in. Lines 54 are created to
provide the desired shape. Lines 54 can be cut through, scored or
perforated, etc. Once the wrapping material 30, in this embodiment
it would preferably be shrink wrap, squeezes the container 10, the
desired shape appears.
[0024] The foregoing invention has been described in accordance
with the relevant legal standards, thus the description is
exemplary rather than limiting in nature. Variations and
modifications to the disclosed embodiment may become apparent to
those skilled in the art and do come within the scope of the
invention. Accordingly, the scope of legal protection afforded this
invention can only be determined by studying the following
claims.
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