U.S. patent number 3,743,170 [Application Number 05/094,079] was granted by the patent office on 1973-07-03 for convertible package.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Consolidated International Chemical Co. Inc.. Invention is credited to Katherine Delia Riccio.
United States Patent |
3,743,170 |
Riccio |
July 3, 1973 |
CONVERTIBLE PACKAGE
Abstract
A box or carton having a compact closed product storage position
which is easily unfolded into an enlarged tray or pan position with
hinged side wall portions providing struts to maintain the opened
pan or tray position and to serve as a gate providing access to the
interior of the tray or pan. In the closed position, the box or
carton is a small six-sided, sealed package preferably housing a
bag of absorbent ground clay. In the open tray or pan position, the
box or carton has a flat bottom and relatively high side and end
walls so that when the clay is spread over the bottom, it will
provide a bed or substantially less thickness than the height of
the side and end walls and serving as a commode for small house
pets, such as cats and the like.
Inventors: |
Riccio; Katherine Delia
(Chicago, IL) |
Assignee: |
Consolidated International Chemical
Co. Inc. (Chicago, IL)
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Family
ID: |
26788329 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/094,079 |
Filed: |
December 1, 1970 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
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830938 |
Jun 6, 1969 |
3581975 |
Jun 1, 1971 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
229/144; 119/161;
119/173; 229/190; 119/168; 229/145 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A01K
1/0125 (20130101); B65D 5/0005 (20130101); B65D
5/6626 (20130101); A01K 1/0353 (20130101); B65D
5/6673 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65D
5/66 (20060101); B65D 5/64 (20060101); B65D
5/00 (20060101); B65D 5/355 (20060101); B65d
005/22 () |
Field of
Search: |
;229/31R,33,DIG.3,31FS,34R ;119/1 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Rothberg; Samuel B.
Assistant Examiner: Garbe; Stephen P.
Parent Case Text
RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of my application
entitled "Convertible Package," U.S. Ser. No. 830,938 filed June 6,
1969, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,581,975, issued June 1, 1971.
Claims
I claim as my invention:
1. A carton having a compact six-sided closed storage position and
an enlarged open pan use position formed from a flat rectangular
blank of carton forming board having four substantially equally
spaced transverse score lines and two longitudinal score lines
inwardly from and parallel to the side edges of the blank defining
five substantially equal width central panels and a row of end
panels of the same width on both sides of the central panels, the
middle end panels having outer end portions cut longitudinally
parallel to the side edges thereof a substantial distance inwardly
from said edges along the entire length of each middle end panel
and cut transversely inward from said side edges to the adjacent
longitudinal cut at one end of each middle end panel to provide
rectangular flaps hinged to adjacent end panels by the transverse
score lines between the end panels, the portions of each middle end
panel inwardly from said flaps having score lines diverging from
the midpoint of the outer edge thereof to the intersections of the
transverse score lines thereof with the adjacent longitudinal score
line dividing each said portion into three triangular sections,
cuts separating the corner end panels from the adjacent central end
panels, the corner end panels underlapping the adjacent outer
central panels and affixed thereto, the flaps turned inwardly, the
triangular sections being folded over each other and the central
panel sections wrapped to form the closed six-sided carton whereby
when said carton is unwrapped from said closed position the middle
three of said five central panels provide the bottom for the pan,
the two end panels of said five central panels provide vertical end
walls of the pan, the middle three of said rows of end panels
provide side walls of the pan, each flap when swung to the same
plane as the side wall on which it is hinged forming a strut
holding the carton in the open pan position and when swung out of
said plane providing a low level doorway into the pan, and said
panels of substantially equal width providing the pan with a volume
about three times the volume of the closed six-sided carton.
2. The carton of claim 1 wherein said flaps provide doorways
reducing the height of the side walls of the pan by about
one-half.
3. The carton of claim 1 wherein the outer edges of the outer
central panels and the outer edges of the middle three end panels
have tabs projecting therefrom, score lines between the tabs and
panels, and said tabs being turned on said score lines into the pan
to form downwardly opening gutters trapping discharge of material
from the pan.
4. The carton of claim 1 having at least one bag of absorbent clay
material therein of a capacity to hold two pre-allocated controlled
portions of clay with each portion being sufficient to form a bed
covering the bottom of the pan and with the entire content of the
bag being insufficient to cover the bottom of the pan to a height
of more than about one-third of the height of the side walls of the
pan.
5. The carton of claim 3 wherein the tabs on the outer end edges of
the central panels have end edges mating with adjacent end edges on
the tabs of the adjacent end panels in the open pan position of the
carton to provide a continuous inturned rim around the top of the
pan.
6. A carton having a compact closed flat sided tube position with
hinged rectangular central flaps disposed on side walls thereof,
said flaps having a height less than that of said side walls, and
projecting into the carton into abutting relation with each other
from opposite side walls of the carton, said carton being unfolded
into an enlarged four-sided open top pan with said flaps
selectively acting as struts by abutting their free end edge
against an adjacent side wall edge to hold the carton in open pan
position and said flaps being swingable from the strut positions
thereof to provide doorways in the side walls of the pan giving low
level access to the pan.
7. The carton of claim 6 wherein the tube has six sides of the same
height and opens into a pan having three times the volume of the
tube.
8. A carton formed of carton paperboard having a compact closed
six-sided storage position and an enlarged four-sided open top pan
position serving as a pet commode pan, said carton having
rectangular hinged flap sections on side walls thereof, said flap
sections having a height less than that of said side walls and
turned inwardly into abutting relation with each other in the
closed position of the carton and in the pan position selectively
forming struts by abutting their free end edge against an adjacent
side wall edge to hold the pan in an open pan position and being
selectively turned inwardly from said strut positions to form
doorways giving low level access to the pan for small pets.
9. A carton having a compact closed storage position and an
enlarged open top pan use position with a bottom and upstanding end
and side walls, said end and side walls having tabs on the upper
edges thereof joined thereto by score lines, said tabs having outer
side edge portions adapted to mate with adjacent tab outer side
edge portions, and said tabs being folded into the pan to provide
downwardly opening gutters extended at an angle to said end and
side walls around the upper periphery of the pan for trapping
discharge of material within the pan.
10. The carton of claim 8 wherein the paperboard is coated with
moisture-proof material.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to a package having a small
compact closed six-sided position and a large open tray or pan
position serving as a disposable sanitary commode for pets.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Packages which open up from a closed six-sided position to an open
top tray or pan position serving as a commode for pets are known
for example, in my aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 3,581,975, and in the
Robert Sweeney U.S. Pat. No. 3,154,052 granted Oct. 27, 1964. These
prior known packages had troublesome central end panels which had
to be folded and overlapped in a very precise manner to accommodate
closing of the package. Further, in the opened tray or pan position
of the package, these folded panel sections tended to spring back
toward their folded condition thereby making it difficult to open
up and maintain the package in a flat bottomed tray or pan
position. In addition, if the side walls were sufficiently high to
prevent discharge of the clay or other contents of the pan when
used as a commode by a pet, small pets could not easily enter the
pan.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to this invention, there is provided a compact folded
six-sided closed package which opens up into an open top tray of
much larger capacity than the closed package and having upright
side walls provided with hinged gate sections forming struts
holding the pan in its fully opened position and also providing
gates and entrance doorways in the side walls to provide easy
access for small pets. A feature of the invention is the provision
of gate-like flaps in the side walls of the package which in their
closed position form struts forcing the package into a flat
bottomed tray position and also being capable of swinging to an
open position exposing a recess or doorway giving easy access to
the tray. The side walls of the open tray are relatively high to
prevent discharge of clay or the like from the tray when it is used
as a commode by pets. Preferably, the closed position of the carton
has only about one-third of the volume as the open position of the
tray so that a bag of clay stored in the carton would only fill the
tray to about one-third the height of the side walls.
In a modification of this invention, the side walls are provided
with inturned lip sections forming additional barriers against
discharge of the clay by the pet using the tray as a commode.
An object of this invention is to provide a carton which opens up
from a closed six-sided position to an open tray position having
upright peripheral walls and swingable flap sections acting as
struts to maintain the tray in an opened position and also serving
as gates giving easy access to the interior of the tray for small
pets and the like.
Another object of this invention is to provide a box which opens up
from a compact six-sided closed position to an enlarged open top
tray position providing a commode for pets and the like wherein
side flaps hold the tray in opened-up position and provide access
doors to the tray.
A still further object of this invention is to provide an
improvement in the convertible package of my aforesaid U.S. Pat.
No. 3,581,975, which does not require securing together of corner
end panels to form the tray from the closed box.
Another object of the invention is to eliminate troublesome folding
end panels in boxes capable of being opened up into enlarged
trays.
Other and further objects of this invention will become apparent to
those skilled in this art from the following detailed description
of the annexed sheets of drawings which, by way of preferred
examples, illustrate two embodiments of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the package or carton of this
invention in its closed six-sided compact position.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the package or carton of FIG. 1 in
its opened tray or pan position.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a sheet of fiberboard or boxboard
cut and scored to fold into the package of FIG. 1 and the pan of
FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating an initial folding of the
pan from its opened position of FIG. 2 into its closed position of
FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 4 but illustrating a
further folding from the position of FIG. 4 to form the closed box
of FIG. 1.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 2 but illustrating a
modified embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 6A is an enlarged sectional view taken along lines VIA--VIA of
FIG. 6.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the blank for forming the opened
pan of FIG. 6.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The carton or package 10 of this invention has a closed compact box
position 11 of FIG. 1 and an open enlarged or expanded tray or pan
position 12 of FIG. 2. The box position 11 of FIG. 1 is six-sided
with square end walls 13 and 14, rectangular top and bottom walls
15 and 16 and rectangular front and back walls 17 and 18. In its
closed position, the package is a closed ended tube of square
transverse section and is held closed by a strip of adhesive tear
tape 19 overlying a thumb or finger notch 20 in the front wall 17.
The box 11 preferably houses a pair of stacked plastic bags P of
absorbent granular or powdered clay material to form a bed B in the
bottom of the open pan or tray formed from the closed box.
In the opened position 12, the package 10 has a flat rectangular
bottom 21, vertical end walls 22 and 23, vertical side walls 24 and
25 and flaps or gates 26 and 27 in the central upper portions of
the side walls 24 and 25. The end walls 22 and 23 are provided from
overlapped corner panels united by adhesive, staples or the like,
so that the closed box 11 opens directly into the open-topped tray
12 without the necessity of uniting corner panels as in my
aforesaid Pat. No. 3,581,975.
As shown in FIG. 3, the carton 10 is formed from a single sheet or
blank of fibrous material 28 such as corrugated boxboard, plain
cardboard, or a plastic material or any suitable carton forming
folding material. At least one face of the blank such as the bottom
face 29 is preferably moisture proof leaving an absorbent top or
inner face 30 to augment the absorbent capacity of the clay
material.
The blank 28, as shown in FIG. 3, has four equally spaced
transverse score lines 31, 32, 33 and 34 and two longitudinal score
lines 35 and 36. All of the transverse score lines 31-34 are in
parallel relation with the end score line 31 spaced inwardly from
and parallel to the front end edge 37 of the blank 28 while the
opposite end transverse score line 34 is spaced inwardly from and
parallel to the rear end edge 38 of the blank 28. The longitudinal
score lines 35 and 36 are also parallel to each other with the
score line 35 spaced inwardly from and parallel to the front side
edge 39 and the score line 36 spaced inwardly from and parallel to
the rear end edge 38 of the blank 28.
The ends of the score lines 35 and 36 are cut through or slotted up
to the adjacent transverse score lines 31 and 34 as illustrated at
41 and 42 respectively.
Square front end and rear end panels 43-47 are thus provided at the
opposite ends of five rectangular panels 48-52.
The center end panels 45 are cut inwardly from the blank edges 39
and 40 along the score line 33 to one-half the height of the panels
45 as illustrated at 53 and are then cut parallel to the side edges
39 and 40 up to the score line 32 as illustrated at 54. This leaves
rectangular flap sections providing the gates 26 and 27 illustrated
in FIG. 2 which are hinged to the blank at the ends of the score
line 32. In addition, the inner portions of the center end panels
45 are scored along diagonal score lines 55 extending from the
intersections of the score lines 35 and 36 with the score lines 32
and 33 and extending therefrom to the centers of the outer edges of
the panel sections 45 underlying the gates 26 and 27. These score
lines 55 divide the panel sections into triangular sections 45a,
45b, and 45c.
The blank 28 of FIG. 3 is initially folded along the score lines 31
and 34 to provide the end walls 22 and 23 of the open tray shown in
FIG. 2 and are then folded along the score lines 35 and 36 to
provide the side walls 24 and 25 with the corner end panels 43 and
47 underlapping the panels 48 and 52 and glued thereto to form the
open-topped tray. The gates or flaps 26 and 27 are next folded
inwardly as shown in FIG. 4 and the score lines 55 are creased
inwardly to permit the triangular sections 45a, 45b, and 45c to
overlap. Then the right-hand end of the tray shown in FIG. 2 is
folded around and over the left-hand end with the end panels 46
overlapping the end panels 44 and with the rectangular panel 51
then forming the top for the carton while the end adjacent panel 52
overlies the other end panel 48. The panel 50 becomes the back wall
for the carton while the panel 49 becomes the bottom wall. FIG. 5
illustrates the progressive folding operation from FIG. 4 to end up
with the closed box of FIG. 1.
In the illustrated disclosures, the panels 48-52 are of the same
width so that the folded box 11 of FIG. 1 will have only one-third
the volume of the open pan 12 of FIG. 2 because the panels 49, 50
and 51 which form the bottom of the open pan 12, are folded so that
the panel 49 becomes the bottom wall of the closed box while the
panel 51 becomes the top wall of the closed box and at the same
time, the end panels 48 and 52 overlie each other.
It will especially be noted in FIG. 2 that the gates 26 and 27 have
their free ends abutting the edges of the adjoining panels 46.
These gates thus form struts which hold the panel sections 45a,
45b, and 45c in planar position. This, of course, maintains the
open pan 12 in a flat bottom condition and prevents the pan from
springing back toward its closed position. When the pan 12 receives
the bed B of the absorbent material on the bottom thereof, this
material will, of course, hold the bottom in a flat condition and
one or both gates 26 and 27 can be swung open either into or out of
the pan to provide a doorway so that a small pet can easily enter
and leave the confines of the pan. The open doorway reduces the
height of the central panel by one-half but the height of the gates
26 and 27 could be varied as desired so that the remaining central
panel section can be as low or as high as desired.
One bag P of absorbent material packaged in the closed box 11 will
cover the bottom 21 of the open pan 12 to provide the bed B of
substantially less height than the side walls of the pan so that
the bed material, when scratched by the cat or other pet will not
be thrown over the tops of the side walls. Since the open pan 12
has three times the volume of the closed box 11, and since one bag
of clay occupies only one-half of the closed box, the bed B formed
from this one bag will only be about one-sixth the height of the
open pan.
To further protect against discharge of the absorbent material from
the bottom of the open pan, a modified carton 10a of this invention
forms a modified four-sided open top pan 12a and is formed from a
modified blank 28a all as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Parts identical
with parts described in connection with FIGS. 1 to 5 have been
marked with the same reference numeral in FIGS. 6 and 7.
It will first be noted that tabs 60 and 61 project beyond the end
panels 48 and 52 of the blank 28a and score lines 62 and 63 are
provided between these tabs and panels. In addition, it will be
noted that tabs 64, 65, and 66 are respectively provided on the end
panels 44, the gates 26 and 27, and the end panels 46 being
connected to these panels and gates by score lines 67.
The ends of the tabs 60 and 61 extend at 45.degree. angles as shown
at 60a and 61a from the outer edges of the tabs to the corner
panels 43 and 47 respectively. Likewise, the end 64a of the tab 64
and the end 66a of the tab 66 extend at 45.degree. angles from the
outer edges of these tabs to these corner panels.
When the blank 28a is folded and glued to form the pan 12a of FIG.
6 as described in connection with FIGS. 2 and 3, the flaps 60, 61,
64, 65 and 66 are bent into the open pan at about a 45.degree.
angle and the edges 60a will mate with and abut the edges 64a while
the edges 61a will mate with and abut the edges 66a. This provides
a continuous inturned lip 68 around the periphery of the top of the
open pan, which extends at an angle to the pan walls so as to trap
the clay material that might be thrown upwardly from the bed B by
the scratching action of the pet. The lip actually provides a
downwardly opening gutter that will trap the clay material.
The pan 12a folds into the same box 11 as shown in FIG. 1 with the
flaps being folded flat against their adjoining panel so as not to
interfere with the compact folding and overlapping of the
panels.
From the above description, it will therefore be understood that
this invention provides a compact package for housing clay material
or the like which can be opened up into a large pan providing a bed
for the clay material and forming a pet commode. Flaps or gates
hold the pan in open position and also afford access to the
interior of the commode provided by the pan. The pan has relatively
high side walls and inturned lips may be provided on the upper ends
of the side walls to trap the material forming the bed of the
commode.
* * * * *