U.S. patent number 3,661,320 [Application Number 05/004,146] was granted by the patent office on 1972-05-09 for egg carton.
Invention is credited to David Donaldson.
United States Patent |
3,661,320 |
Donaldson |
May 9, 1972 |
EGG CARTON
Abstract
A one-piece egg carton formed from molded material comprising a
hollow tray member having a plurality of egg receiving pockets; a
hollow cover member having a front wall; a lock flap hinged to and
upstanding from the front edge of the tray member and adapted to be
contained within the cover member behind the front wall thereof
when the carton is in closed condition with the front surface of
the lock flap disposed against the rear surface of the cover member
front wall; the cover member front wall having a rearwardly
extending abutment received within a forwardly facing pocket
presented by the lock flap to maintain the carton in closed
condition. The lock flap has a longitudinally extending latching
bar integral therewith adapted to be received within a
longitudinally latching opening situate along intermediate portions
of the rearwardly extending abutment in the cover.
Inventors: |
Donaldson; David (Wilmington,
DE) |
Family
ID: |
21709395 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/004,146 |
Filed: |
January 19, 1970 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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705194 |
Feb 13, 1968 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
206/521.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D
85/324 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65D
85/30 (20060101); B65D 85/32 (20060101); B65d
005/66 (); B65d 001/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;229/44,45,2.5 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Marbert; James B.
Parent Case Text
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No.
705,194, filed Feb. 13, 1968 now abandoned.
Claims
I claim:
1. In a one-piece egg carton formed from molded material, the
combination of:
a. a generally rectangular, hollow tray member having a plurality
of egg receiving pockets and a peripheral upper rim having opposed
front and rear side portions and opposed end portions;
b. a generally rectangular, hollow cover member having:
i. a top wall;
ii. opposed pairs of front and rear side walls and end walls
depending from said top wall and joined at corners of the cover
member;
c. an elongated lock flap hinged to and upstanding from the tray
member rim front side portion and adapted to be contained within
the cover member when the carton is in a closed condition, with a
front surface of the lock flap disposed against a rear surface of
the cover member front side wall;
d. said lock flap having a forwardly facing pocket on the front
surface thereof;
e. said cover member front side wall having an abutment projecting
rearwardly from its rear surface which is removably receivable
within said pocket in the front surface of said lock flap to
maintain said carton in a closed condition;
f. an elongated latching opening in said abutment;
g. and a latching bar on said lock flap located adjacent said
pocket engageable with said latching opening.
Description
This invention relates to egg cartons and more particularly to a
one-piece egg carton formed from molded material such as foamed
polystyrene.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved locking
arrangement between the tray and the cover portions of the
carton.
A further object is to provide an arrangement wherein the tray of
the carton has a lock flap hinged thereto and adapted to cooperate
with the front wall of the tray cover to provide interlocking
engagement between the tray and cover.
A more specific object is the provision of a locking arrangement
between a tray lock flap and cover front wall wherein the cover
front wall has a rearwardly extending projection which is received
within a forwardly facing pocket of the lock flap to maintain the
carton in closed condition.
A yet further object is to provide a bar in the front lock flap
adapted to cooperate with a latching opening in the rearwardly
facing abutment in the cover.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an egg carton embodying features of
the invention;
FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the structure shown in FIG. 1, with
portions of the carton cover broken away; transverse vertical
sections taken on lines 3--3 and 4--4, respectively, of FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of the carton as
seen in an open condition with the lock flap and cover shown folded
away from tray so as to lie in a generally horizontal plane with
the tray;
FIG. 6 is an enlarged section of a portion of the structure shown
in FIG. 4 taken also approximately along the line 6--6 of FIG. 1
looking in the direction of the arrows;
FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating the nesting of
related portions of similar egg cartons; and
FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 6 showing details of a latching
opening in the cover and a latching bar in the lock flap.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 5, the improved carton, which is
preferably formed of molded plastic material such as polystyrene,
includes a tray member indicated generally at 10, having an
integral cover member indicated generally at 40, and a lock flap
indicated generally at 70, which is hinged to the tray member and
adapted for interlocking engagement with the cover member 40.
As seen in FIGS. 3 and 5, tray member 10, includes a plurality of
contoured pockets or cells, indicated generally at 12, adapted to
receive eggs. Each of the cells includes a generally vertically
extending, contoured side wall 14, and a preferably flat bottom
wall 16. In order to afford additional cushioning for the bottom of
the cells there may be provided a plurality of integral ribs 18, at
the junctures of the side and bottom walls of the pockets.
Between each set of four pockets there is formed an integral
vertically extending corner post 20. Adjacent cells and corner
posts are interconnected by a plurality of longitudinally extending
partitions 22, and transversely extending partitions 24. At its
upper edge, tray member 10 includes an integral generally
rectangular horizontally disposed upper shelf or rim 26, having
generally similar front and rear side portions 28, and end portions
30. As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 5, end portions 30 each have a
central offset or recess 32 which provides an end opening 34
between the tray and cover members of the carton to ventilate the
same.
As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, cover member 40 includes a preferably
flat generally rectangular top wall 42, having opposed front and
rear side walls 44 and 46, and end walls 48 formed integrally with
the edges thereof and depending therefrom to form a box-like
enclosure. The side and end walls are merged together at the
corners of the carton.
As seen in FIGS. 1, 4 and 6, the cover front side wall 44 is
provided with a plurality of recessed areas 50, each of which
includes an upper portion 52 and lower portion 54 spaced from each
other to provide a latching opening 56 therebetween. Upper portion
52 has its lower edge presenting a preferably flat downwardly
facing surface 58 which is coextensive with latching opening 56
while the lower portion 54 has its upper edge provided with flat
upwardly facing surface 60 also coextensive with latching opening
56. Lower portion 54, as best seen in FIG. 6, is rounded and curves
upwardly and inwardly to present an inner camming surface 62, and
the purpose of these surfaces together with the latching opening 56
will be described later in the specification.
As seen in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5, tray and cover members 10 and 40 are
hingedly attached at their rear edges by means of a relatively
narrow rigid longitudinally extending hinge bar 64 which is hinged
at its lower edge along hinge line 66 to tray member 10 rim rear
side portion 28, and which is hinged at its upper edge along hinge
line 68 to cover member 40.
As seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, lock flap 70 includes a relatively narrow
flat elongated panel 72 hingedly attached along hinge line 73 to
the upper forward edge of tray member rim front portion 28. Panel
70 is provided with a plurality of pockets 74 with forwardly facing
openings 77 which are formed in the material from the front side
thereof to provide rearwardly projecting bosses 75 on the inside or
rear surface of lock flap 70. Flap 70 has a rear upwardly extending
surface 76, and a rear downwardly facing surface 78, the purpose of
which is hereinafter described.
As best seen in FIGS. 6, the novel configuration of the lock flap
70 and that of the cover member front side wall 44, provides not
only a means for effecting an interlocking connection between the
tray and cover member, but also transfers stress from cover member
to the tray member to provide greater strength and rigidity for the
carton, this being of importance when the carton is stacked in a
pile with similar filled cartons.
As best seen in FIG. 6, when the carton is closed by bringing the
cover member over the locking flap, the camming surfaces 62, on the
cover member front side wall, ride over the upper edge 76, of lock
flap panel 72, in a cam-like action to facilitate closure of the
carton. After the lower portion 54 rides over the latch bar 80 on
lock flap panel 72 immediately above pocket 74, lower portion 54 is
then received within pocket 74 to prevent the accidental opening of
the carton. If the cover were to be pulled up, without deflecting
the carton slightly, the upwardly facing surface 60 on lower
portion 54 would abut downwardly facing surface 82 on lip 80 to
prevent further movement of the cover member.
In addition to the locking action described the latch bar 80 moves
into the latch opening 56, further facilitating the locking action.
This is best seen with reference to FIG. 8.
Also, as best seen in FIG. 6, when the cartons are stacked, the
weight on the cover member is transmitted from the downwardly
facing surface 58, on the upper portion, to the upwardly facing
surface 76, on lock flap panel 72, and the vertical force is
thereafter transmitted from the downwardly facing surface 78 of
lock flap boss 75 to the upper surface of tray member rim 26.
In a similar manner, at the rear of the carton, the cover member
rear side wall 46 rests on the rear hinge bar 64 which in turn
rests directly on the upper surface of tray member rim 26.
Thus it will be seen, that there is provided a carton having
positive locking means between the cover and the tray, a high
degree of stacking strength because of the relationship of the
cover member to the tray member, and structural arrangement which
will permit efficient nesting of plurality of cartons when they are
in the open position, as shown in FIG. 5.
* * * * *