US2355729A - Container - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 15, 1944. w. H. INMAN 2,355,729

' CONTAINER Filed April 15, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheeti Aug. 15, 1944. w. H. INMAN 2,355,729

I CONTAINER Filed April 15, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 15, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTAINER William H. Inman, Newark, N. Y., assignor to Bloomer Bros. Company, Newark, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 15, 1942, Serial No. 439,074

2 Claims. (CL 229-26) This invention relates to containers, or cartons, made from a blank of cardboard, or similar material, cut, scored and folded to form an erected container adapted, for example, for holding liquid or semi-liquid materials such as ice cream, oysters, and the like. One object of the invention is to provide such containers with improved handle and closure means formed efficiently and inexpensively from the carton material itself and without separately formed attachments of metal or other relatively expensive materials.

Another object is to provide a container of the character described having flap portions capable of being raised to serve as carrying handles, or of being compactly folded down flat across the top of the container to serve as top closure flaps when the containers are stacked together for transportation, or separately transported in a paper bag.

A further object is to provide such containers with improved handle and closure locking means each arranged to operate with maximum strength independently of any pull of one against the other.

To these and other ends the invention resides in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a plan view of a blank cut and scored for making a container embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the erected container with its top closure flaps in raised or open position;

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of parts shown in Fig. 2 but with the inner closure flaps folded down;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the closed container with flap portions raised for use as handles;

Fig. 5 is a similar View but showing the flap Darts folded down;

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the container, partly in section, arranged as in Fig. 4 but with the handle portions removed;

Fig. '7 is a top plan view of the container as arranged in Fig. 5, and

Fig. 8 is a sectional elevation on the line 8a8a in Fig. 7.

The invention is embodied in the present instance, by way of illustration, in a type of container, or carton, known as a pail, and comm n employed for holding ice. cream, oysters and the like. It is preferably made from a blank such as shown in Fig. 1, out and scored for folding to form a rectangular bottom Ill and tapered side walls ll, I2, l3 and M. The adjacent side walls, at each corner of the carton, are integrally connected by'folding portions [5 and It having an interposed score line ll for folding on each other.

One pair of opposite side walls l2 and M are integrally extended'at their tops to provide inner top closure flaps l8 and I9 foldable about score lines 20 and 2|. Each of these inner flaps is preferably provided on each of its sides with relatively narrow wings, as at 22 and 23, foldable about score lines 24 and 25. The corner fold portions adjacent each of the inner flaps l8 and I9 are extended outwardly to form auxiliary top flaps 26 and 21, foldable about score lines 28 and 29, and separated by cuts from the wings 22 and 23, similar parts being provided on the opposite side of the blank adjacent the flap I9.

The other pair of side walls H and I3 are each extended outwardly to provide outer top closure flaps 30 and 3| folding about score lines 32 and 33. Each of these outer flaps has an interior portion cut out by lines of severance, as 34 and 35 having their inner ends terminating at the score line 32 and their outer ends connected by a cut 36 of appreciable width, as shown. This construction forms an outer handle section 31 and a separate, inner locking section 38. Section 38 has a cut extending transversely from its outer edge to its center line and the inner edge of the cut projects beyond the outer edge to provide a stop shoulder 40 for a purpose to be presently explained. A similar construction is employed for the opposite flap 3| with its handle section 4| and its locking section 42, except that the looking cut 43 of section 42 extends in a direction opposite to that of cut 39 of section 38. To hold the carton in erected position, side walls II and I3 are provided with glue areas as at 44 and 45 and certain of the folding corner portions have glue areas 46 and 4'! for the same purpose, as more fully explained hereafter. Each of the handle sections 31 and 4| is preferably supplied with glue as at the areas 48 and 49 shown on section 31.

In folding the above blank to erect, the carton, the side walls H to l4, inclusive, are folded upwardly as shown in Fig. 2. The folding portions l5 and I6 at each corner are folded outwardly as the side walls are erected and then folded, in overlapping relation, against the side walls II and I3 and secured in such folded position by the glue areas 44, 45- and 46. The auxiliary flaps 26 and 21, extending upwardly from the folding corner portions, are secured to the outer flaps 30 and 3| by the glue areas 48 and 49, the parts then occupying positions substantially as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, with the top flaps raised so that the contents of the carton are readily accessible.

To close the carton, the inner flaps l8 and 19 are foldedinwa'rdly and downwardly about the score lines 20 and 2|, with their wings 22 and 23 folded upwardly and their outer ends overlapping, substantially as shown in Fig. 3, so as to the pull applied to them is a force of the tensional character which they are best adapted to resist.

effectively close the top of the carton, the wings 22 and 23 serving to produce a tighter joint at the edges of flaps I8 and [9. If it is desired to leave the handle sections'30 and 31' raised for use in transporting the carton, the locking secone'to Weaken the other.

tions 38 and 42 are then folded inwardly and downwardly about the score lines 32 and 33 extending along the adjacent top corners'of the carton, these locking sections being thus foldable independently of the handle sections. As these locking sections are folded downwardly, they engage and fold downwardly also the wings 22 and 23 and the locking sections are brought down in overlapping relation with each other against the inner flaps I8 and H]. In approaching this position the rounded outer end of one looking section, as 38, is inserted through the transverse-cut, as 43, in the opposite section until shoulder 40 is stopped by engagement with the inner end of the out 43, when the oppositely extending cuts interengage each other, as best shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8, and the sections are securely interlocked with each other across the inner flaps l8 and [9 so as to hold them tightly closed.

In the arrangement just described, the handle sections 30 and 3| will remain erect, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and may be folded about score lines 32 and 33, so as to extend in a substantially straight line inwardly and upwardly from their bases at the carton corners, into proximity with each other at their outer ends, to serve as handles for the carton, as shown in Fig. 4. In this arrangement, it will be noted that the handle sections are independent of the looking sections, so that the weight of the carton on the handle sections has no tendency to increase the tensionon the locking sections nor to disengage nor tear them. At the same time, each of the handle sections extends in a substantially straight line from the top of the adjacent reinforced side wall to the top of the other'section and the point at which they are grasped, thus applying the pull on the sections, not as a shearing but as a tensile stress. As the material of the blank is strongest in resistance to tensile pull, the handle sections, attached to their reinforced side walls, are adapted to afford a particularly strong and rugged construction, which is fully adequate to resist any usage to which the handles are likely to be subjected, while the top' closure remains securely closed and locked. I

In case it is desired to compactly stack a quantity of the cartons in a crate for transportation,

or to carry the cartons separately in paper bags, as sometimes desired, the handle sections may be folded down and secured flat against theinner closure flaps I8 and I9, soas to form outer and additional closurev flaps. In this arrangement, Figs. 5 and 7, the handle sections 31 and ;are folded down, in overlapping relation with each other, against the inner flaps l8 and!!! and the locking sections 38 and 42 are then folded inwardly and downwardly over the outer flaps 31 76 The handle sections and locking sections are foldable and perform their functions independently of each other,'s o that there is no tendency of a pull on The ingenious arrangement of the parts enables the top of the carton to be closed and locked with the handle sections either raised for use in carrying the carton, or else compactly folded across the carton top under the locking section so as to serve as outer and additional closure flaps. These advantageous features are furnished, furthermore, by integral portions of the material of the blank itself, formed economically as the blank is died out of the stock, thereby eliminating the necessity for separately formed and attached handle or fastening means formed of metal or other relatively expensive materials.

While the invention is herein disclosed in a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that such disclosure is intended in an illustrative rather than a limiting sense, as it is contemplated that various modifications in the construction and arrangement of the parts will occur to those skilled in the art within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A carton made from a one-piece blank of foldable sheet material and having a bottom and four side walls, folded integrally upwardly therefrom and integrally connected with each other by corner portions folded outwardly in overlapping pairs and glued to a pair of opposite side walls to reinforce the same, the other side walls having flaps at their tops folded inwardly to form inner top closure flaps provided at their opposite sides with upwardly and inwardly folded wings, said opposite side walls having outer flaps integrally folded from the tops thereof along the adjacent corners of the carton, said blank being imperforate below the tops of said side walls, each of said outer flaps comprising a handle section and a locking section separate from each other at all points above said corner fold line, said handle sections being each of less width than the top of the carton and adapted either for inclination inwardly and upwardly adjacent each other at their outerends to serve as handles for the carton, or for folding downwardly in overlapping relation against said inner flaps to serve as closure flaps, said. handle sections being formed of material extending integrally-round said first pair of side walls and bottom to provide strong support for said carton; and'said locking sections being adapted to be folded inwardly either over said inner flaps or over said handle sections when folded downwardly and =being provided with means forinterlocking engagement with each other to secure said flaps in closed position.

29A carton made from foldable sheet material and" having a bottom and four side walls, folded integrally upwardly therefrom adjacent sid wallsbeingintegrally connected at each corner therebetween by outwardly folded portions secured in overlapping pairs against opposite side walls, inner top closure flap means on the other side walls, said opposite side walls being integrally extended at their tops to provid outer flanges folded inwardly at the tops of said walls.

along the corners of the carton, said blank being imperforate below the tops of said side walls, each of said outer flaps having an interior portion cut out by severance lines terminating at said carton corners to form an outer handle section and a separately foldable, inner locking section, said handle sections being foldabl to x tend in a substantially straight line inwardly and upwardly from said carton corners into proximity with each other at their outer ends to serve as carton handles, and flaps on said folded portions attached to said handle sections to secure

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