Display package

Abstract

A display package or carton formed from a single foldable paperboard, cardboard or the like blank to include a first or bottom panel with a hingedly connected end closure or manufacturer's flap, a second or front panel juxtaposed the bottom panel for adhesive attachment thereto by means of the flap, a top panel, a pair of parallel side panels, and a rear panel parallel to but spaced from the front panel. The flap forms a joint completing assembly of the carton. The blank is suitable for erection into a carton by means of automatic packaging machinery which wraps the blank around the lading and discharges the package as a sealed container. Means are provided for selectively separating said front panel adjacent said manufacturer's flap, portions of the side panels and a portion of the rear panel from the sealed container to expose the lading and render the sealed container usable thereafter as a display tray holding the lading.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to paperboard containers and more particularly to a novel display package or container capable of being formed from a single blank in automatic packaging machinery which wraps the blank around the lading and discharges same as a sealed package.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In the paperboard carton art, there are machines for folding carton blanks with the lading or contents enclosed upon completion of the folding operation and thereafter discharging the packages as sealed containers. One such blank folding machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,665,675 and 3,531,914 owned by the same assignee as this application. The folding operation described in said patents refers to a manufacturer's lap or flap of the carton blank being required to be secured to form the manufacturer's joint of the assembled container. Also, certain flaps disposed opposite to and spaced from the said joint must be secured. This folding or wrap-around operation requires mating panels or flaps of the carton blank to be pressed against one another and held in face-to-face contact until adhesive applied therebetween sets or dries. Notwithstanding the recognized problems attendant the use of such carton blanks, these carton blanks are widely used in high speed carton folding machines and are desirable because of the economics they engender for manufacturers and their customers.

To open a sealed carton of this type, it was necessary to peel back the manufacturer's lap and separate certain of the side flaps from their adhesive juncture to other parts of the carton in order to expose the contents or lading. Another method available for opening the carton was to peel back the manufacturer's lap and then physically cut or saw the top panel of the carton from the remainder of the carton to expose the contents. In this procedure, the carton was not really suitable for use as a display carton.

Cartons of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,705 which are capable of being erected and discharged as sealed cartons by means of automatic carton folding machines are highly desired in the packaging field because of the economics of this business. High volume users of such packages desire high speed carton folding machines which will enable them to package their products rapidly and efficiently with due regard that such previous cartons are regarded as disposable products. Consequently, in connection with certain products, it would be very desirable to have a carton or package capable of being formed in high speed carton folding machines of the character alluded to above which could be used as attractive display cartons or packages by retail outlets after the cartons are opened. Such retail outlets thereby would be enabled to use the same cartons in which they receive the products as display packages in full view of retail customers and obviate the need and attendant cost for a separate display tray packaged with the products. To enhance the appearance and information value with respect to the products, such cartons can be suitably imprinted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A wrap-around carton formed from a pre-scored foldable blank which includes multiple panels which can be folded by automatic carton folding machines into a sealed package containing the lading. Upon erecting the carton blank, there is provided a so-called manufacturer's flap for sealing the carton. The blank from which the carton is formed has means for selectively separating certain panels and sections of panels from the sealed carton so as to transform this sealed carton into a display package in which the lading is exposed and capable of being selectively withdrawn. In separating portions of the sealed carton from the carton, there is left a tray part capable of holding the lading safely and conveniently while still permitting withdrawal of parts of the lading selectively by customers desiring the product.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to the skilled artisan from the ensuing disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a carton blank embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the blank illustrated in FIG. 1 in partially erected condition with the lading therein.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the carton completely assembled from the blank illustrated in FIG. 1 and having portions of the manufacturer's flap broken away to show lines of perforations for separating portions of the container to render same a display package.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a portion of the package being separated from the sealed package of FIG. 3 to provide a display tray which can function as the display package.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In FIG. 1 there is illustrated a carton blank 10 which may be die cut from sheeting of paperboard, either corrugated or otherwise, by conventional automatic machinery. The blank 10 is pre-scored for folding into a sealed carton designated 12 in FIG. 3. There is provided a front panel 14, a rear panel 16 and a top panel 18 joined between said front and rear panels. Lines of fold 20 are provided to facilitate erection of the carton 12 in a well-known manner. Blank 10 includes a bottom panel 22 joined to rear panel 16 along a fold line 20 and terminates in a front flap 24, more commonly known as a manufacturer's lap or flap. Side flaps 26, 28 are joined along lines of fold to front panel 14 and side flaps 30, 32 are joined along lines of fold to rear panel 16. Top panel 18 and bottom panel 22 respectively are provided with like side flaps 34, 35 and 36, 37, as illustrated.

A line of perforations 38 extends laterally across the front panel 14 parallel with and spaced inwardly from the outer free edge 39 of said panel. The line of perforations 38 has extensions thereof 40 extending angularly across the flaps 26 and 28 to the lateral edge of the flap. The edge 39 is provided with an extension tab or tongue 42 designed to be engaged in the slot 44 provided in the line of fold 46 by means of which the panel 22 and the flap 24 are hingedly connected together. The construction and operation of the tongue 42 and slot 44 are described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,705. It is to be understood, however, that the carton blank 10 can be formed without the tongue 42 and slot 44.

Referring to FIG. 1, it can be seen that the dimensions of flaps 26, 28, 30 and 32 are substantially the same, as is their configuration with the exception of the rounded corner 48 of each flap 30, 32. The outer free edge 50 of each of flaps 34-37 is serpentine or S-shaped in configuration. As seen in FIG. 1, the serpentine edges 50 are alike in configuration and extend in the same descending direction from the outer free edge of each toward the manufacturer's flap 24. In this configuration, upon assembly of the package, the edges 50 of panels 34 and 35 will register along the length thereof, as will be the case with edges 50 of flaps 36 and 37, albeit with a slight space between the facing edges 50 as seen in FIG. 3. The space between said facing edges of such in registry flaps is designated 51 for purposes of clarity in FIG. 3.

Certain of the above features of the carton blank 10 generally are conventional and comprise the usual panels and flaps of a standard carton blank. Such blanks can assume a wide variety of configurations and dimensions, specifics of which generally are dictated by the size and characteristics of the items intended to be packaged. However, all such cartons include at least a top and bottom and front and rear panel, at least one of such panels being provided with a manufacturer's flap, such as hinged flap 24. As seen in FIG. 3, flap 24 abuts the front panel 14 in a face-to-face relation with adhesive, preferably, applied to those abutting surfaces so that the carton will remain assembled, as desired.

In addition, rear panel 16 has a line of perforation which is generally V-shaped and extending across the entire width of the panel 16. The V-shaped line of perforations is defined by a leg 52 which extends from the lateral edge 53 at an angle to the line of fold 20 and a second leg 54 which extends from the opposite lateral edge 53 at an angle to the line of fold 20 toward the leg 52. The legs 52 and 54 are joined by an arcuate portion 55 which is in the shape of a semi-circle located in a medial portion of the blank 16. Thus, this line of perforations divides the panel 16 into two parts 16a and 16b, with arcuate portion 55 providing a sort of finger or digital pullout part for starting the separation. It can be seen that the V-shaped line of perforations can be modified to a straight line, however, the V-shape is preferred.

The carton blank 10 may be assembled manually, or as generally will be the case, by a packaging machine, such as described in the aforementioned package machine patents. In FIG. 2, a partially assembled blank 10 is shown. The blank 10 is designed and adapted most effectively for assembly about the items intended to be packaged. That is, the items are positioned on one of the panels such as panel 18 of the blank 10 and the blank thereafter is assembled. It will be noted that the flaps 28, 32 are inwardly folded so that their free edges 56 are abutting. Front panel 14 is vertically oriented and top panel 18 is arranged normal thereto. The rear panel 16, not shown in FIG. 2, will be vertically arranged parallel to the panel 14 and the bottom panel 22, not seen will be horizontally arranged parallel to the panel 18. Areas of adhesive 61 are shown extending across the flaps 28 and 32 and a rectangular area 62 of adhesive extends across the front panel 14 contiguous the free edge thereof and reaches to the line of perforations 38. Although not seen, similar areas of adhesive will be applied to the flaps 30 and 26 on the remote side of the semi-erected carton of FIG. 2. It will be noted that the adhesive areas cover only a portion of the entire surface of the flap to which adhesive is applied to facilitate separation of the carton into two parts, as more fully described below. Further, flaps 34-37 do not have adhesive applied thereto and hence, parts of these flaps do not engage adhesive areas 61.

Referring to FIG. 3, in the final assembly operation, the flaps 35 and 37 have been folded into abutting relationship with the flaps 28 and 32 with flaps 37 overlying the area of adhesive 61 and the area of adhesive 61 below perforation line 40 and with a portion, 35a of flap 35 overlying the area of adhesive 61 above perforation line 40. Note that portion 35b of flap 35 is not adhered to flap 32. The same operation of folding will have been achieved with the opposite pair of flaps 34 and 36 on the opposited side of the blank 30. The manufacturer's flap 24 has been folded upwardly into abutting relationship with the panel 14 and adhesively secured over the area 62. It should be noted from FIG. 3, however, that the width of the flap 24 is slightly greater than the width of the area of adhesive 62 such that the free edge 66 of the manufacturer's flap 24 extends beyond the line of perforations 38 and thereby serves to cover said line of perforations 28 as seen in FIG. 3. Also, edge 66 may be crushed slightly for a short distance so as to prevent said edge from being adhered to surface 62 and thereby expedite withdrawal of flap 24. The carton 12 is shown in FIG. 3 in the upright position it will take when stored, shipped or used. However, the orientation of the carton 12 as it is formed in and ejected from the machine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,705 is one in which the manufacturer's lap is adjacent the top panel of the package.

Referring to FIG. 4, it will be seen that the panel 14 can be separated along the line of perforations 38 and the panel 28 can be separated along the line of perforation 40. This permits the portion 35b of flap 35 to be removed from its position adjacent flap 32, i.e., from the position adjacent an adhesive-free area 60' of the flap 32 as seen in FIG. 4. Finally, rear panel 16 can be separated along the line of perforations 52, 54 and 55 so that the separated portion of panel 14, entire panel 18 and separated portion of panel 16 can be removed as a body designated 10a in FIG. 4, leaving a tray portion. The lading or contents of the package, although not shown will be understood to remain on the tray part, with the upstanding flap 24 and remaining front wall portion 14a secured together to provide a short front wall for the display tray.

As seen in FIG. 4, the display tray is formed of front wall 24, 14a, flaps 37, 32 and part of flap 28, rear wall section 16b and flaps 30, 36 and part of 26a of flap 26, with parts 26a and the part of flap 28 being adhesively secured respectively to flaps 36 and 37.

It is to be understood that the invention contemplates implementation thereof in connection with other than the specific configuration and size of carton 10 shown by way of example.

Claims

What is desired to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A carton formed from a one-piece paperboard blank, said carton having four side panels defining top, bottom, front and back walls of said carton and having opposite end walls defined by overlapping secured flaps, each of said flaps forming part of the end wall being hingedly connected to one of said wall forming panels, a front bottom flap hingedly connected to said bottom wall forming panel and overlapping and being secured to a minor portion of said front wall forming panel, said front wall having a line of weakened strength extending generally parallel to said bottom wall at a short distance from said bottom wall, the area between said line and said bottom wall defining said minor portion of said front wall to which said front bottom flap is secured, said line of weakened strength extending into and across said front flaps connected to said front wall, the area of each said front flap between said weakened line extensions and said bottom wall defining said front flap portions, said bottom wall, said minor portion of said front wall adjacent said bottom wall which has said front flap secured thereto, a major portion of said back wall and portions of certain of said end wall forming flaps being separable from the remainder of said carton to form a display tray, said end wall forming flaps being configured and secured together so as to enable such separation and to provide a tray having end walls each defined by a bottom flap which extends upwardly from said bottom wall and which has a rear section secured to a back flap extending forwardly from said back wall and a front section secured to at least a portion of a front flap extending rearwardly from said minor portion of said front wall at each end of said carton, said rear section extending further upwardly from said bottom wall than said front section to thereby form stepped end walls.

2. A sealed carton formed from a one-piece paperboard blank comprising, a front panel having a first flap adhesively secured substantially along its entire length to the outer face thereof, a top panel hingedly connected to said front panel, a rear panel hingedly connected to said top panel and a bottom panel hingedly connected to the rear panel and having said first flap hingedly connected thereto, said panels each having a pair of flaps foldably connected along opposite edges of the panel to form together side panels of the carton, said front and rear panels having perforation means extending thereacross to enable separation of parts thereof one from the other, said perforation means on the front panel extending generally parallel to said bottom panel at a short distance therefrom and extending into and across the pair of flaps connected thereto, to permit separation of portions of said last mentioned flaps, said sealed carton being capable of being opened upon separation of said designated parts to provide a display tray including said bottom wall, said parts of the rear panel and side walls and said first flap, said tray having a short front wall comprised of said first flap and a part of said front panel, said short front wall being shorter than said separated part of the rear wall forming part of said tray and the end walls of said tray being stepped.

3. A carton as claimed in claim 2 in which certain of said pairs of flaps are substantially similar in configuration and dimensions.

4. A carton as claimed in claim 2 in which certain pairs of flaps are substantially identical in configuration, and each such flap has a serpentine-shaped outer edge arranged in substantial registry with a like outer edge of the second flap of the pair.

5. A carton as described in claim 2 in which said weakened line is a line of perforations of generally V-shape.

6. The carton according to claim 1 wherein, on each end of said carton, a top flap extends downwardly from said top wall to an edge thereof which is generally in registry with the opposing edge of said bottom flap, each said top flap having a rear section situated above said rear section of said bottom flap and extending adjacent to but not secured to said back flap, and a front section which extends further downwardly from said top wall than said rear section, which is situated above said front section of said bottom flap, and which is secured to said front flap above said weakened line extension.

7. The carton according to claim 6 wherein each said top flap and adjacent bottom flap are substantially identical and each has a serpentine-shaped outer edge arranged in substantial registry with a like outer edge of the adjacent flap.

8. The carton according to claim 1 wherein said rear section of each said bottom flap extends further upwardly from said bottom wall then said front section thereby to form stepped end walls.