U.S. patent number 3,561,669 [Application Number 04/763,788] was granted by the patent office on 1971-02-09 for composite leakproof carton.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Riegel Paper Corporation. Invention is credited to Norval W. Postweiler, George Vrana.
United States Patent |
3,561,669 |
Postweiler , et al. |
February 9, 1971 |
COMPOSITE LEAKPROOF CARTON
Abstract
The disclosure relates to a composite leakproof carton
construction having a parallelepiped outer shell, a full length
tubular liner tightly fitted within the outer shell, and sealing
membranes adhered to outfolded carton end flaps of the shell and
gasketed between the liner end edges and said flaps when the flaps
are infolded. The carton is easily openable by a shell encircling
tear strip, the removal of which forms a telescopically reclosable
cover or cap member.
Inventors: |
Postweiler; Norval W.
(Maplewood, NJ), Vrana; George (Flushing, NY) |
Assignee: |
Riegel Paper Corporation (New
York, NY)
|
Family
ID: |
25068812 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/763,788 |
Filed: |
September 30, 1968 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
229/207; 229/210;
229/137; 229/235; 229/122.33 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D
5/5445 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65D
5/54 (20060101); B65d 005/54 (); B65d 005/70 () |
Field of
Search: |
;229/51ISL,51RC,14BI,14BW,37 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Bockenek; David M.
Claims
I claim:
1. A composite package structure including:
a. an outer shell member comprising;
1. first, second, third and fourth contiguous shell sidewalls,
2. a shell glue flap of predetermined width articulated to said
first wall and connecting the same to said fourth wall,
3. shell closing end flaps articulated to the opposite ends of said
sidewalls;
b. an inner tubular liner member disposed snugly within said shell
member and comprising comprising;
1. first, second, third and fourth liner sidewalls substantially
identical in size and shape to said shell sidewalls,
2. a liner glue flap of predetermined width articulated to said
first shell sidewall and connecting the same to said fourth shell
sidewall;
c. flexible sheet members adhered to inner surfaces of said end
flaps and sealing off the ends of said shell and liner;
1. portions of said sheet members being compressed between end
edges of said liner and said end flaps;
d. the combined widths of said shell glue flaps and said liner glue
flap being substantially equal to the width of said fourth shell
wall; and
e. said glue flaps being arranged in a mating nested relation with
their edges in substantial abutment.
Description
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to a new and improved composite
carton having exceptional packaging properties especially adapting
the carton for leakproof and siftproof use with all types of liquid
or pulverulent materials. Specifically, the carton of the invention
is in the shape of a parallelepiped and comprises four separate
elements, an outer carton shell, an inner open ended liner, and two
internal end sealing membranes. The outer shell includes four
contiguous side walls and internal glue flap conventionally
arranged to define a rectangular tube. Additionally, the shell has
end flaps articulated to the opposite ends of each sidewall. These
flaps are out turned into the end planes of the carton so that the
inner surfaces thereof may be used to anchor end-sealing membranes
of suitable, flexible web material, such as polyethylene coated
paper or glassine. Advantageously and in accordance with the
teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 2,795,364, the end corner junctions of
the shell may be provided with tufts of free free fibrous strands
to enhance corner sealing and anchoring of the membrane to the
flaps.
In accordance with the principles of the invention, the carton
includes a closely fitting tubular liner fabricated from a
paperboard material, laminated or otherwise, having predetermined
properties (strength, WVTR, etc.) which, in combination with the
outer carton sidewalls, will especially adapt the paperboard carton
of the invention for packaging requirements, including extended
shelf life, which heretofore were satisfied exclusively by cans,
bottles, and tubes manufactured from glass, metal, and plastic. The
length of the liner walls is chosen so that the membrane material
is effectively "gasketed" between the end edges of the liner and
the undersides of the finally infolded end flaps of the shell.
Thus, the carton of the invention has a multiplex side wall
construction defined by outer shell walls and closely fitting inner
liner walls and a multiplex end wall construction defined by the
plural end flaps and the sealing membranes.
More specifically and in accordance with the invention, the
manufacturer's joint of the liner is arranged to mate tightly with
the manufacturer's joint of the outer carton walls in a nested
relation to enhance the overall tightness and the overall rigidity
of the completed composite package. This arrangement, in which the
free or raw edge of the outer carton glue flap and the free or raw
edge of the liner are in substantial abutment, will tend to
eliminate any edge wicking of the packaged contents, as will be
understood.
As a further important aspect of the invention, a tear opening
strip of the nonleaking type generally disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.
2,608,341, are arranged in the carton sidewalls in a manner whereby
its removal easily opens the carton without destruction of the
sealing membranes while forming a reclosable telescoping cover or
end cap.
As will be appreciated, the new carton construction provides a
packager of fluid or pulverulent materials with enormous
flexibility. For example, a supply of "standard" inexpensive outer
shells manufactured from lightweight and comparatively inexpensive
paperboard may be selectively combined with liners of any
construction ranging from simple vat lined board to complex
laminates and with end sealing membranes ranging from light to
heavy gauge plastic films, thermoplastic coated glassines, or
thermoplastic coated papers or laminates to meet a specific
application. In this manner, "standard" shells having an overall
configuration adapted to be run on existing special packaging
machinery may be employed to package products ranging from
comestibles, such as frozen fruit juices and powdered milk to
industrial products such as lubricants and the like.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a more complete appreciation of the invention and its attendant
advantages, reference should be made to the following detailed
description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in
which:
FIGS. 1 and 2 are plan elevational views of the outer shell and
liner, respectively, for a composite package embodying the
inventive principles;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the package of the invention during
the final steps of manufacture;
FIG. 4 is an end elevational view of the carton of the invention;
and
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the completed composite package
with the tear strip partially removed.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
As mentioned hereinabove, the new and improved leakproof carton of
the invention generally includes an outer carton shell 10, an inner
liner 11, and end sealing membrane 12 (see FIGS. 3 and 4).
Specifically, and as shown best in FIG. 1, the outer shell 10 is
fabricated from a paperboard blank 14 which includes contiguous
side wall panels 15--18 and a glue flap panel 19 consecutively
articulated by parallel vertical score lines 20--23, respectively.
Upper end flaps 24--28 are articulated to the upper edges of the
panels 15--19, respectively, along a continuous longitudinal score
line 29. In a similar manner, bottom end flaps 30--34 are
articulated to the lower edges of the panels 15--19, respectively,
along a continuous score line 35 which is parallel to the score
line 29. Advantageously, the aforementioned end flaps 24--28 and
30--34 are separated from each other by cuts 36 which terminate
short of the parallel score lines 29, 35, in accordance with the
teachings of the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 2,795,364, for
purposes to be described in greater detail hereinafter. The
particular configurations of the end flaps, which may be designed
for heat seal, interlocking, or glue closure, form no part of the
present invention and need not be considered further.
In accordance with a specific aspect of the invention, a blank
dividing tear strip 40 extends across the blank 14 and is
cooperatively defined by a pair of closely spaced parallel cuts 41
which are impressed approximately half way through the inner
surface (in terms of the erected carton) of the board and a pair of
widely spaced cuts 42 (see FIG. 3) which are impressed
approximately half way through the outer side of the carton blank
in parallel and straddling relation with the cuts 41. As shown in
FIG. 1, the cuts 41 diverge immediately adjacent the outer edge of
the wall panel 15 at which area a tongue portion 46 is articulated
thereto along score line 47. The tongue portion 46 and divergent
portions of the strip 42 form a starting tab 48. Advantageously,
the starting tab 48 also includes a score line 49 parallel to the
score line 47 to facilitate opening of the completed composite
package, as will be described in greater detail hereinafter.
Referring now to FIG. 2, the liner member 11 is formed from a blank
60 which includes contiguous sidewall panels 61--64 and a glue flap
panel 65 which are consecutively articulated along parallel
vertical score lines 66--69. In accordance with the principles of
the invention, the width and height of each of the panels 61--64
are chosen in order to fit the liner snugly within the outer shell
10. Therefore, the dimensions of the panels 61--64 are
substantially identical to the dimensions of the shell sidewalls
15--18. Moreover, in accordance with the invention, the raw edges
70, 71 of the glue flap panels 19, 65, respectively, are adapted to
meet in abutting relationship in the erected form of the new
composite carton. Accordingly, the combined widths of the glue flap
panels 19, 65 are substantially equal to the widths of the shell
sidewall 15, as will be understood.
The new and improved composite package of the invention may be
erected on readily available packaging machinery of the so-called
"Expresso" type commercially available from the Bartelt Engineering
Company Inc. Rockford, Illinois. The sequence of package formation
is generally as follows: Collapsed outer shell carton tubes are
formed by infolding the blank 14 initially about the score line 22
and then folding the remaining portions about the score line 20.
Thereafter, the glue flap 19 is adhered to the sidewall panel 15.
Subsequently, the collapsed carton tube is squared and the bottom
flaps are outfolded, as shown generally in FIG. 4. This operation
forms tufts 77 of fibrous material at each of the carton shell
corners by tearing of the paperboard beyond the termination of the
cuts 36. As discussed in greater detail in the U.S. Pat. No.
2,886,231, these tufts enhance sealing of the end of the carton
with a flexible membrane 12. The membrane 12, which may be suitably
coated glassine, polyethylene or other flexible sheet material, is
appropriately sized to cover the entire end opening of the carton,
as shown in FIG. 4, and is adhered by conventional techniques such
as heat sealing, gluing, or the like to the underlying portions of
the flaps 31--34. Thereafter, the bottom end of the new package is
completed by consecutively infolding the flaps 30, 32; the flap 31;
and the flap 33.
The next step in the completion of the package of the invention is
the insertion of the liner 11 in the shell 10. The liner may be
first formed as a collapsed tube by infolding the panel 61 about
the score line 66 and then infolding the panels 64, 65 about the
panel 68 before adhering the glue flap 65 to the outer surface of
the panel 61, as will be understood. The tubular liner 11 is
squared into rectangular form and snugly fitted into the squared
carton shell, as shown in FIG. 3, in a manner whereby the edges 70,
71 are in substantial abutment. Alternatively, the collapsed
tubular liner and collapsed carton shell may be preassembled and
squared together if that is deemed desireable or necessary.
At this stage, the contents, typically, a fluid or pulverulent
material, may be poured into the open end of the carton until the
desired degree of filling is reached. Then the upper end is sealed
in a manner identical to that used to seal the bottom end.
Accordingly, the end flaps 24--27 are first outfolded; a sealing
membrane is adhered thereover; and finally the flaps 24--27 are
infolded. The flaps 27 and 33 are appropriately adhered to the
flaps 24 and 30 to maintain the package in a closed relationship,
as should be apparent from FIG. 5.
As an important aspect of the invention, the composite package
possesses substantial universality. That is to say, the outer shell
10 may be "standardized" and fabricated from comparatively
lightweight and inexpensive material, while by appropriately
selecting an adequate membrane material and the material from which
the liner element 11 is fabricated, the final package can be
individually customized to provide any requisite packaging property
such as strength, moisture vapor transmission resistance (WVTR),
stiffness and the like. The ultimate degree of protection will, of
course, be the result of the combination of the materials selected
for the shell, the liner, and the membranes.
As a further specific important aspect of the invention, with the
height of the liner walls chosen to be substantially equal to the
height of the shell walls, the membrane 12 will be firmly
compressed or "gasketed" between the edges 75 of the liner and the
infolded end flaps, thereby enhancing the leakproofness of the
container and extending the shelf life of the packaged
contents.
In use, when access to the packaged contents is desired, it is
necessary only to remove the tear strip 40 by grasping the tab 48
and pulling it away from the carton body, as shown in FIG. 5. As is
known in the art, the illustrated and described type of tear strip
will have a T-shaped cross section and will tear in intermediate
planes of the paperboard in the areas between the partial cuts 41,
42. In the area where the tear strip overlaps itself, that is, the
area of the manufacturer's joint formed by the adhesion of the
panels 15, 19, the tear strip is provided with a rectangular
breakaway portion 78 defined by partial cuts 79 (FIGS. 1 and 5)
which are impressed on the opposite side of the blank from the cuts
41. Accordingly, when the forward end of the tear strip (i.e., the
starting end having the tab 48) is torn from the carton body, a
layer of underlying board, the breakaway portion 78, from the
rearmost end of the tear strip will be carried along, as shown best
in FIG. 5. As will be appreciated, when the tear strip 40 is
completely removed, an independent end cap 76 is formed, which cap
may be removed from the end of the carton to open the same. If all
of the contents are not consumed in a single use, the carton may be
closed simply by telescopically placing the end cap 76 over the
projecting end of the liner 11. Advantageously, in applications
requiring the carton itself to be used as a volumetric measure
equal to the original volume of the carton (such as in the
packaging of concentrated frozen fruit juices), the construction of
the invention ensures that the volume of the container is
maintained, in spite of the fact that the outer shell of the
container is opened and divided by the removal of a substantial
portion of its walls.
It should be understood that the specific package herein
illustrated and described is intended to be representative only, as
certain changes may be made therein without departing from the
clear teachings of the disclosure. For example, a hinged
"chest-type" cover may be used in lieu of the completely removable
end cap 76 illustrated herein. In this alternative embodiment, a
modified tear strip of leakproof construction extends through three
contiguous walls to a hinge across the fourth wall. The removal of
the modified strip would form and free a telescopically recloseable
cover for pivoting movement about the hinge at the fourth wall of
the carton. Accordingly, reference should be made to the following
appended claims in determining the full scope of the invention.
* * * * *