U.S. patent number 3,603,502 [Application Number 04/830,010] was granted by the patent office on 1971-09-07 for reclosable carton.
This patent grant is currently assigned to The Mead Corporation. Invention is credited to Kendrick E. Black, Sam B. Howard.
United States Patent |
3,603,502 |
Howard , et al. |
September 7, 1971 |
RECLOSABLE CARTON
Abstract
A container having a base portion including a bottom wall and a
plurality of sidewalls foldably joined to the side edges of the
bottom wall is provided with a cover portion which includes a top
panel and a closure panel secured to an edge of the top panel. The
closure panel when closed is affixed to one of the sidewalls of the
base portion of the container along the edge of the closure panel
remote from the top panel and a tear strip which is longitudinally
disposed in the closure panel is provided for opening the carton in
conventional fashion. A reclosing tab is formed in the upper
portion of the closure panel and cooperates with holding tabs
disposed along the side edges of a reclosing notch formed in the
adjacent side wall of the base portion of the container. The lower
edge of the reclosing tab substantially coincides with the upper
edge of the tear strip.
Inventors: |
Howard; Sam B. (Smyrna, GA),
Black; Kendrick E. (Atlanta, GA) |
Assignee: |
The Mead Corporation
(N/A)
|
Family
ID: |
25256105 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/830,010 |
Filed: |
June 3, 1969 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
229/228; 229/149;
229/192; 229/195 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D
5/546 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65D
5/54 (20060101); B65d 005/54 () |
Field of
Search: |
;229/51,51SC,45,39,51TC,51SC |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1,471,277 |
|
Dec 1967 |
|
FR |
|
279,927 |
|
Oct 1927 |
|
GB |
|
615,201 |
|
Feb 1961 |
|
CA |
|
Primary Examiner: Summer; Leonard
Claims
We claim:
1. A container comprising a base portion having a bottom wall and a
plurality of sidewalls, a cover portion having a top wall and a
closure panel secured to an edge of said top wall and arranged to
engage one sidewall of the container in substantially flat face
contacting relation when said cover portion is closed, a tear strip
formed in said closure panel and disposed in longitudinal relation
therein, means securing the edge of said closure panel remote from
said top wall to said one sidewall of the container, a reclosing
tab formed in said closure panel in the upper portion thereof and
intermediate said tear strip and said edge of said top wall to
which said closure panel is secured, the lower edge of said
reclosing tab substantially coinciding with the upper edge of said
tear strip and the side edges of said reclosing tab being defined
by downwardly converging slits separating said tab from adjacent
gripping portions of said closure panel, a holding notch having
opposed side edges formed in said one sidewall of the carton and
arranged to receive said reclosing tab upon reclosure of said cover
portion, and a pair of holding tabs formed on said edges of said
holding notch for engaging the inside surface of said reclosing tab
so as to hold the container cover closed, the gripping portions of
said upper portions of said closure panel which are disposed on
opposite sides of said reclosing tab being disposed on opposite
sides of said one wall from said reclosing tab upon reclosure of
the container.
2. A container according to claim 1 wherein the lower portions of
the side edges of said holding notch converge upwardly and wherein
downwardly diverging slits are formed in said one sidewall and are
disposed in substantial alignment with said lower portions of the
side edges of said holding notch respectively.
3. A container according to claim 1 wherein the side portions of
said reclosing tab are disposed within said downwardly diverging
slits when said cover is in reclosed position.
Description
According to the invention a reclosable carton having a closure
panel with longitudinal tear strip is provided in the upper portion
thereof with a reclosing tab which is arranged to engage a holding
notch formed along the upper edge of the adjacent face contacting
sidewall of the base portion of the container to afford easy
reclosure. For facilitating locking the carton in the reclosed
condition, the side edges of the holding notch are configured to
define a pair of inwardly extending holding tabs for engaging the
inner surface of the reclosing tab to aid in holding the container
cover closed. The lower edge of the reclosing tab preferably
coincides with the upper edge of the tear strip.
For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had
to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the
accompanying drawing in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a
container which embodies the invention; FIG. 2 is a plan view of
the blank from which the container of FIG. 1 is formed; FIG. 3 is a
fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the carton such as is
shown in FIG. 1 and which shows the closure panel disposed outside
the front wall of the base portion of the container with the tear
strip removed and which shows the reclosing tab in reclosing
position and disposed outside the holding tabs defining the side
edges of a holding notch formed in the carton front wall; and in
which FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view similar to a part of FIG. 3 but
which shows the container in reclosed condition as viewed from the
inside of the front wall.
In the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the bottom wall of the
base portion of the container. Sidewalls 2, 3, 4 and 5 are foldably
joined respectively to the edges of bottom wall 1 along fold lines
6, 7, 8 and 9 respectively.
For the purpose of forming the corners of the container, flaps 10,
11, 12 and 13 are foldably joined respectively to end edges 14, 15,
16 and 17 of sidewalls 5 and 3. Flaps 10-13 are provided with
locking tabs 17a, 18, 19 and 20 respectively. These locking tabs
17a, 18-20 are inserted into the irregularly configured adjacent
slits 21-24 respectively formed in sidewall panels 2 and 4 to form
the base portion of the container.
Corner sealing flaps 25-28 are foldably joined to the end edges
29-32 of the sidewalls 2 and 4 and function in known manner to aid
in forming a secure corner for the base portion of the container.
For example, corner flap 25 ordinarily occupies a position of flat
face contacting relation with the inner surface of the end portion
of sidewall 5. The remaining corner sealing flaps are similarly
disposed.
The base portion of the container is provided with a cover portion
comprising top panel 33 which is foldably joined to sidewall 5
along fold line 34. The opposite edge 35 of the top panel 33 is
foldably joined to closure panel 36 in which a conventional tear
strip 37 is formed and defined by a pair of weakened severance
lines designated generally by the numerals 38 and 39.
The closure panel 36 is affixed to sidewall 3 by any suitable means
such as by an application of glue indicated by stippling in FIG. 2
or by suitable heat responsive plastic sealing material.
As is apparent for example from FIG. 3, removal of tear strip 37
results in an appearance as indicated in FIG. 3 wherein the upper
portion 40 of closure panel 36 is detached from sidewall 3 whereas
the lower portion remote from fold line 35 and indicated by the
numeral 41 remains affixed to sidewall 3 after the tear strip 37 is
removed.
According to this invention, reclosing tab 42 is formed in the
upper portion 40 of closure panel 36 and the side edges thereof are
defined by a pair of longitudinally spaced downwardly converging
slits 43 and 44 which separate the tab 42 from the adjacent
gripping portions of closure panel 36. The lower edge of tab 42
coincides with the weakened severance line 39 and is defined by a
horizontal slit 45 which interconnects the lower ends of slits 43
and 44.
For cooperating with the reclosing tab 42, a holding notch 46 is
formed in the upper edge portion of sidewall 3. This holding notch
46 is defined at its ends by a pair of inwardly protruding
horizontally spaced holding tabs 47 and 48. Tab 47 is defined by a
pair of inwardly converging edges 47a and 47b while tab 48 is
defined by a pair of inwardly converging edges 48a and 48b. A pair
of downwardly diverging slits 49 and 50 are formed in sidewall 3
and are disposed in substantial alignment with the lower side
portions of holding notch 46 and of holding tabs 47 and 48
respectively.
After the container is initially opened and a portion of the
contents used, it ordinarily is desirable to reclose the container.
Thus with the tear strip 37 removed, the upper portion 40 of
closure panel 36 is disposed in flat face contacting relationship
with and outside the side wall 3. The reclosing operation requires
that the reclosing tab 42 be disposed outside the holding tabs 47
and 48 as shown for example in FIGS. 3 and 4. When the container is
fully reclosed, the slit 43 is disposed in angular gripping
relation with slit 49 and slit 44 is similarly disposed in slit 50.
The "fight" of the material and the frictional relationship of the
engaged slits serve to aid in holding the cover closed. Of course
the cutaway holding notch 46 facilitates the guiding of the
reclosing tab 42 into the locking position as shown in FIGS. 3 and
4. The reclosing and holding tabs as shown in the drawings appear
in the front wall and in the front closure panel of the base and
cover portions of the container. Of course the holding notch and
tabs could be formed in the end walls such as 2 and 4 and a
reclosing tab could be formed in end closure panels foldably joined
to the ends of top wall panel 33 and the term "sidewall"
contemplates either of the walls such as 2, 3 or 4. Of course the
reclosing feature may be used on the closure panels of end loaded
tubular style containers and on the overlapping end flaps of such
containers and when so applied the term "sidewall" in the claims
denotes the inner end flaps.
The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or
privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
* * * * *