U.S. patent number 3,595,466 [Application Number 04/842,610] was granted by the patent office on 1971-07-27 for recloseable carton.
This patent grant is currently assigned to F. N. Burt Company, Inc.. Invention is credited to Charles W. Rosenburg, Jr..
United States Patent |
3,595,466 |
Rosenburg, Jr. |
July 27, 1971 |
RECLOSEABLE CARTON
Abstract
A recloseable carton produced from a paperboard blank is
disclosed wherein the cover means includes inner and outer panels
which are overlapped and initially releasably glued together. After
being opened the carton may be reclosed by overlapping the two
panels in reverse order, the then outer panel being retained in
closed position by end flaps on the panel inserted between the ends
of the then inner panel and the end panels of the carton. When
initially glued together the panels are glued in areas of one panel
defined by a centrally located area nearly completely surrounded by
a die cut and a plurality of areas surrounded by cut scores on
opposite sides of the die-cut area, whereby upon opening, the
die-cut area is pulled out of the one panel followed by
delamination of the cut score areas of that panel.
Inventors: |
Rosenburg, Jr.; Charles W.
(North Tonawanda, NY) |
Assignee: |
F. N. Burt Company, Inc.,
(Buffalo, NY)
|
Family
ID: |
25287794 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/842,610 |
Filed: |
July 17, 1969 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
229/208; 229/122;
229/212; 229/223; 229/121; 229/154; 229/222 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D
5/5435 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65D
5/54 (20060101); B65d 005/66 () |
Field of
Search: |
;229/51RC,51SC,51WB,51D,43CE,44R,37R,38 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Leclair; Joseph R.
Assistant Examiner: Lipman; Steven E.
Claims
Having thus described the invention what I claim as new and desire
to be secured by Letters Patent is:
1. A reclosable paperboard carton comprising a parallelepiped body
enclosed on three sides by three connected rectangular wall panels,
end closure flaps extending from two opposite panels, in
overlapping secured relationship, at each end of said carton, and
dust flaps extending from the intermediate one of said three wall
panels and interconnected with said end flaps to complete five
walls of the carton; a sixth or closure wall of the carton
comprising a multilayer structure, said structure comprising a
first closure panel hinged to one of said opposite panels and a
second closure panel hinged to the other of the said opposite
panels, a dust flap hinged to each side margin of said first
closure panel, said second closure panel having a readily
detachable portion adapted to be initially adhesively secured to
the outer surface of said first closure panel when the latter is
closed first and the second closure panel folded down over the
first closure panel, all whereby upon first opening the carton the
readily detachable portion is broken away from said second closure
panel when said second closure panel is lifted and whereby the
carton may be reclosed by first folding down said second closure
panel and then folding down the first closure panel upon said
second closure panel while the dust flaps carried by said first
closure panel are inserted frictionally in between the side edges
of said second closure panel and the end closure flaps of the
carton.
2. The carton as set forth in claim 1 in which structural
modifications are provided adjacent the hinges of the dust flaps
carried by said first-named closure panel for locking the first
closure panel in reclosed position thus supplementing the
frictional retention of the dust flaps.
3. A reclosable paperboard carton comprising a parallelepiped body
enclosed on three sides by three connected rectangular wall panels,
end closure flaps extending from two opposite panels, in
overlapping secured relationship, at each end of said carton, and
dust flaps extending from the intermediate one of said three wall
panels and interconnected with said end flaps to complete five
walls of the carton; a sixth or closure wall of the carton
comprising a multilayer structure, said structure comprising a
first closure panel hinged to one of the said opposite panels and a
second closure panel hinged to the other of the said opposite
panels, said second closure panel being of greater length than the
width of the carton cross section at its closure point, the excess
length portion being reverse folded inwardly against the surface of
the principal portion thereof and adhesively secured thereto along
a portion only of such contacting surfaces, an area of said excess
length portion other than the adhesively secured portion being
readily detachable along a weakened line of separation, said
detachable portion being glued to the outer surface of the
first-closed second closure panel for initial packaging and broken
away from said second closure panel upon initial opening of the
carton.
4. The carton as set forth in claim 3 in which additional areas of
the reverse-folded excess length portion of the second closure
panel are also adhesively secured to the outer surface of said
first closure panel but said additional areas being outlined by
score lines which penetrate only part way through the thickness of
said portion, whereby the material of said portion at said
additional areas is delaminated when said second closure panel is
pulled upon the initial opening of the carton.
5. The carton as set forth in claim 4 in which a score line is
impressed in the outer surface of said first closure panel between
its outer edge and the areas to which the additional
adhesive-bearing areas of said second closure panel are secured, in
order to stop any delamination of the said outer surface of said
first closure panel should the delamination occur in said surface
instead of in the said outlined additional areas of the second
closure panel.
6. The carton as set forth in claim 3, in which the material of
both the main portion of the second closure panel and the
excess-length portion thereof is cut away adjacent both ends of the
line of reverse folding between said portions leaving the fold
intact centrally thereof, and the portions adjacent said central
fold free of adhesive, whereby the folded edge at that point
affords a stiff reinforced lifting tab for the fingers in rupturing
the closure in the initial instance.
Description
This invention relates to cartons and more particularly to cartons
produced from a paperboard blank, the carton having recloseable
cover means which is initially releasably sealed but which after
being opened can be closed again and retained in the closed
position.
In the merchandising of certain types of articles or commodities,
it is desirable if each of the articles is packaged in separate
sealed cartons having provision whereby the carton can be opened
without undue damage and can be reclosed with the closure panels
retained in the reclosed position. Such a carton is attractive to a
consumer, since the carton provides a convenient container for
storage of the article when it is not being used.
An object of the present invention is to provide a paperboard
carton produced from a blank wherein the cover means comprises
overlapping panels releasably secured together.
A further object of the invention is to provide a glueing
arrangement for securing together contiguous carton panels wherein
the panels may be separated without permanently deforming or unduly
damaging either of the panels.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a recloseable
paperboard carton wherein the cover means comprises a pair of
panels hinged from opposite sides of the carton which are initially
overlapped and releasably glued together, means being provided for
separation of the panels upon opening without deforming or
otherwise destroying the panels whereby the panels may be
repeatedly used to reclose the carton, they being retained in the
closed position.
Other objects and features of novelty will be apparent from the
following specification when read in connection with the
accompanying drawings in which certain embodiments of the invention
are illustrated by way of example.
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a novel one-piece blank from which a
carton embodying the principles of the invention may be
erected;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the one-piece blank shown in FIG. 1 with
the end portion of one of the flaps folded upon itself;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a partially assembled carton
produced from the one-piece blank of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a fully assembled and sealed carton
produced from the one-piece blank of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the carton of FIG. 4 following
opening of the sealed closure; and
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the carton with the flaps in
reclosed position.
Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings a novel carton blank is shown
designated by the general reference character 1. The blank is
provided with score lines 2 to form various panels and flaps
including side panels 3, 4 connected by an intervening bottom panel
5a. Connected to the ends of side panels 3 and 4 are end flaps 5,
6, 7 and 8 respectively. Also, dust flaps 9, 10 are connected to
the ends of intervening panel 5a.
Connected to side panel 3 opposite intervening panel 5 is a first
closure panel 11 which includes extensions 12 and 13 integral
therewith extending from the opposite ends thereof. Also secured to
the ends of the first closure panel are end flaps 14, 15 having
generally curved edges on the sides opposite said first closure
panel which edges extend to a position adjacent the extensions 12,
13.
A second closure panel 16 is secured to the edge of side panel 4
opposite the intervening panel 5. This panel 16 includes an extra
length or extension end portion 17 partially separated from the
remainder of the second closure panel by cutout areas 18. Glue
areas 19, 20 on end portion 17 which are defined by die cuts and
cut scores respectively are located in the side opposite that shown
in FIG. 1 and will be described in greater detail subsequently.
In assembling the carton, end portion 17 is folded along score line
2 upon itself whereby the blue areas 19 and 20 face upwardly as
shown in FIG. 2. The end portion is secured in folded position to
the remainder of the second closure panel 16 by glue in the shaded
area 21 of FIG. 1. It should be noted that the ends of the second
closure panel 16 where it is contiguous with the end portion 17 are
tapered while those parts of the ends adjacent side panel 4 are
parallel. The folded edge of the second closure panel provides a
convenient tab 22 for the consumer to grip when opening the sealed
carton and thereby insure that pressure will be applied to the
central part of the second closure panel at the time the seal is
broken and the carton opened.
The carton is then assembled in a generally conventional manner,
the two side panels 3, 4 intervening panel 5, and closure panels 11
and 16 being folded relative to each other along score lines 2 such
that the second closure panel 16 is folded over the exterior
surface of the first closure panel 11. The first and second closure
panels are glued together, care being taken to apply glue only to
the die-cut area 19 and cut-score areas 20 of the end portion 17
which is then pressed against the first closure panel 11. One end
of the partially folded carton is then closed by preferably folding
end panel 5 followed by both laps 9 and 15 and finally end panel 7.
The end is sealed with glue, care being taken to insure that no
glue comes into contact with either surface of end flap 15.
The carton assembled thus far appears as in FIG. 3, and
conveniently at this stage the article to be contained therein is
inserted through the open end. Subsequently to complete
construction of the carton the open end is closed by folding
preferably first end panel 6 followed by both flaps 10 and 14 and
finally end panel 8, care again being taken when sealing to insure
that no glue comes into contact with either surface of end flap 14.
The finally assembled carton appears as in FIG. 4.
FIG. 5 shows the sealed carton of FIG. 4 just after it has been
opened. To fully understand the mechanics of opening the sealed
carton a description of the glue areas 19 and 20 is necessary. The
elongated centrally located area 19 is defined by a die cut 23 (see
FIG. 2), the cut being completely through the thickness of the
paperboard except for intermittent areas or bridges along the
die-cut line. The bridges retain the die-cut glue area 19 in place
in panel 16 but offer little resistance to tearing. The areas 20
which extend from the opposite sides of the die-cut area 19 in
generally parallel relationship are defined by cut scores 24 which
are continuous without interruption and not cut in depth much
beyond the surface of the paperboard. When the carton is opened as
shown in FIG. 5 the consumer lifts tab 22 with his thumb or finger.
Since the glue areas 19 and 20 are some distance from the tab 22,
the consumer's thumb or finger will enter and start to raise the
edge of the second closure panel 16 which has not been affixed with
adhesive. As this panel is raised, the die-cut area 19 which
remains glued to the first closure panel 11 is pulled out of the
end portion 17. Subsequently, as the second closure panel is raised
further, the surfaces of cut-scored areas 20 will remain glued to
panel 11 and thus will be delaminated from end portion 17. The
delamination is confined to the areas within the cut score lines 24
since these scores eliminate any connection between the surface of
the glue areas 20 and the remaining surface of the end portion 17.
Since the tab 22 is centrally located with respect to the ends of
the closure panel 16, this will insure that during opening the
die-cut area 19 will be pulled away first thus eliminating any
resistance to further tearing within the center of the closure
panel 16.
In some instances while opening the carton, the exterior surface of
the first closure panel 11 will be caused to delaminate rather than
the cut score areas 20 in end portion 17. To avoid unnecessary
destruction of the surface of the closure panel 11 in such
instances, an elongated cut score 25 is provided in closure panel
11 generally parallel to and adjacent the die-cut and cut score
areas 19 and 20 when the carton is sealed. If delamination occurs
in the surface of closure panel 11 as the carton is opened, it will
be stopped when the delamination reaches the elongated cut score 25
since this score breaks the connection in the surface of closure
panel 11 on opposite sides of the score line 25.
Following the opening of closure panel 16 the consumer pulls open
the first closure panel 11 by conveniently gripping the cutout 26.
As panel 11 is pivoted downwardly, end flaps 14 and 15 will be
drawn out of the ends of the carton, after which the contents of
the carton may be removed.
When the consumer replaces the article in the carton for storage,
the second closure panel 16 is first brought down to close the
opening after which the first closure panel 11 is folded upwardly
over the second closure panel. As the first closure panel 11 is so
moved, end flaps 14 and 15 are caused to enter the opposite ends of
the carton at the same locations as they were before being opened.
In this instance, however, when the carton is being closed, the end
flaps enter the carton between the opposite ends of the second
closure panel 16 and the opposite ends of the carton; and when the
first closure panel 11 reaches the fully closed position, it is
retained in this position by notches formed in the edges of the
flaps adjacent the first closure panel 11 which receive the
parallel ends of the second closure panel adjacent the top panel 4.
This locking action is assured by the tapered portions of the ends
of the second closure panel which avoid interference with the entry
of the parallel end portions into the notches of the flaps. The
notches in the edges of the flaps 14 and 15 become apparent when
the flaps are folded to a position perpendicular to the first
closure panel 11 and are the areas of the flaps 14 and 15 from
which extensions 12 and 13 are cut out.
It will be readily appreciated that a recloseable carton is
provided which is easily opened without permanently deforming the
closure panels and without unduly disfiguring their surfaces,
thereby making the carton attractive for continued use after being
opened. It will also be appreciated that the releaseable sealing
means including the die-cut area 19 and the cut score areas 20
provide a strong package for shipping purposes and yet because of
the relative location of these glue areas they offer an easy,
never-fail opening device.
It is understood that various changes and modifications may be made
in the embodiments illustrated and described herein without
departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the
following claims.
* * * * *