US2807403A - Triangular carton - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 24, 1957 M. J. JOSEPH TRIANGULAR CARTON F iled Dec. 15. 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. MAURICE J. JOSEPH Patented Sept. 24, 1957 TRIANGULAR CARTON Maurice J. Joseph, New York, N. Y., assignor to The Lord Baltimore Press, Incorporated, Baltimore, Md, a corporation of Maryland Application December 15, 1953, Serial No. 398,367

3 Claims. (Cl. 229-22) This invention relates to box and carton structures and more specifically to an improved elongated carton of triangular section.

While triangular cartons of themselves are not new, their fabrication and use has presented a number of difiicult problems particularly with respect to the provision of a collapsible structure. For instance, it is quite appar cut that a collapsible triangular carton must be provided with a side wall and bottom wall that can be folded in a manner to enable complete collapse of the carton for shipment. Prior structures while providing this feature have not been found to be satisfactory for the reasons that when opened they do not form a well proportioned rigid structure and when closed formed a relatively large irregular shape which not only complicated packing of groups of folded cartons for shipment but caused substantial difficulty in handling and adapting the carton to machine operations. Accordingly, it is one object of the invention to provide a sturdy collapsible carton of triangular shape that is readily adaptable to machine manufacture, occupies a small regular area in the collapsed form and opens to provide a carton of substantially uniform section throughout its height.

Another object of this invention is an improved interlocking bottom member that folds within the carton when collapsed and that when opened provides a triple layer of material that will not sag below the bottom edges of the sides and will support substantial loads in the erect position. Moreover, through an improved construction and cooperation of the flaps forming the bottom of the carton, they can be easily folded without the danger of cracking or breaking notwithstanding the thickness of the paper stock, thus facilitating its use with conventional machine operations.

'Another object of the invention is a triangular carton wherein the folded side is arranged and coordinated with the top and bottom closure members to provide a substantially flat side when the carton is erected. This feature not only adds materially to the appearance of the carton but greatly facilitates loading or insertion of articles such as bottles and like therein.

A further object of the invention is a collapsible carton formed of an integral blank wherein the parts are arranged and coordinatedjo facilitate folding of the carton into a fiat compact form. 7

Still another object of the invention is a new and improved triangular, carton.

The .above and. other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings forming part of this application.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a paper blank shaped and scored to form a carton in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the folded blank shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the bottom and portion of the side walls preparatory to gluing;

Fig. 4 is a perspective of the completed carton partially unfolded;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of the top and bottom parts of the completely unfolded carton; and

Fig. 6 is a bottom view of the unfolded carton of Fig. 5.

Broadly, the carton according to the invention provides a novel and improved structure wherein the top and bottom closure parts cooperate with the side Walls to provide a symmetrical triangular shaped carton, the closure part being foldable to collapse the carton and provide a small compact unit for ease of shipment and handling. The bottom wall is made up of flaps extending from each of the three side walls and with but two of the three flaps being scored to facilitate folding. With this structure the bottom when unfolded provides a flat, strong end member that will not sag or break even with extended use, and in addition, eliminates the danger of accidentally upsetting the carton when in an erect position.

Referring to the drawings, the carton is provided with three side wall parts 10, 11 and 12 with the wall 12 having a narrow elongated flap or tab 13 extending from the edge thereof. These wall parts are formed of a single sheet of paper board and are scored along the lines 14, 15 and 16 to facilitate folding into the form of a triangular structure. In the assembly of the box, the flap 13 is permanently glued along the inside of the outer edge of side wall 10 and the wall 12 is scored along a central longitudinal line 17 so that the assembled carton can be flattened for shipment substantially as shown in Fig. 2.

The bottom wall of the carton is formed of three separate flaps 18, 19 and 2% which extend downwardly from the walls 10, 11 and 12 respectively. These flaps are formed integrally with their associated walls and are scored along the lines 21, 22 and 23 to facilitate folding to positions overlying the walls. An important aspect in the design and formation of these bottom flaps resides in the provision of a base length slightly shorter thanthe widths of the associated walls and rounding of the root portions 24 and 25 between successive flaps. As will be shown, this arrangement facilitates bending of the flaps and eliminates undue stressing of the paper stock in the assembled carton.

The bottom flap 20 is scored along a central line 26 which bisects the apex thereof and is in alignment with the score 17., When a medium weight paper stack is employed, the score 17, as well as the scores 14, 15 and 16, are preferably 6 point scores whereas the flap score 26 is preferably a 2 point score. In line with the score 26 and adjoiningthe base of the flap 20 is an elongated circular opening 27, which, as will be shown, facilitates folding of the flap 20 along both lines 23 and 26 without crowding or straining the material which not only weakens the structure but also materially detracts from the appearance of the finished product.

4 The top closure part of the carton comprises a short flap 28 extending from the top side of the wall 12 and a'largelflap or cover 29 formed integrally with the side 11. The flap 28 is of truncated triangular section with the outer edge 39. thereof recessed as-shown at 31 to facilitate closure of the cover flap 29. Flap 28 is scored along its base 32 and vertically along the line 33 which is in alignment withthe score 17. The cover flap 29 comprises in effect a triangular part 34 and a secondary flap part 35 extending from one side thereof. This secondary flap is scored along the line 37 while the entire cover 29 is scored along the line 36 so that it may be folded relative to its wall part 11. In addition to the score 37 between the flap parts 34 and 35, a short section is completely severed or cut as shown at 38 and cooperates with 3 the edge 30 of flap 28"when the cover flap 29 is in the closed position to lock the cover and flap one" to the other.

As pointed out above,.the initiaLstep in the assembly ofthe carton in accordance with the invention }is' to.ce-

ment or glue the side flap 13Textending from the wall by gluing the part 1911 of .flap 19 to the underside of,

flap 18with the score 39 coincident with a line bisecting the angle formed, by sides and 11 .(see Figs. ,4, .5 and 6); It will be: noted thatthe bottom flap 18 is not scored or bent in. any mannerandthat when the carton is collapsed, itlies fiat against the side 10 and the flap 19 'is in the folded position.

The carton is erected by pressing on, score lines 14 and, 17l Bottom forming flaps 18, 19' and automaticallytalze aposition atright angles to theside walls and form a triple thickness bottom. Thus, flap 20 will be automatically pushed against flap 18 when a productsuch as abottleis placed in the carton. When the carton is opened, the unscored flap 18 lies between the flaps 19- and 20, with the flap 20 also functioning to hold the bottom end of the scored side 12 in a flattened position.

The top flap 28 is then unfolded to completely open the,

top end of the carton for insertion of the material whereupon it is moved to a horizontal position and the cover flap is closed. In the closing operation the tab 35 on flap 29 lies against the inside of the upper end of wall 10 and the cut 38 engages the flap 28 to lock both it and the cover in the closed position.

The efiect of the curved formation of the root parts 24 and 25 between the flaps 18, 19 and 20 can be observed in Fig. 6 of the drawings. Curving the flap roots removes excess material from the corners without leaving an opening and thus prevents crowding and deformation of the corners. A similar effect is attained with the opening 27 which has been shown in somewhat enlarged form. It is placed close to the edge ofithe flap 20 and permits double folding of the flap without stretching or breaking or in any way deforming the associated side wall 12. a

The structure described above provides a readily collapsible, triangular carton adapted in both manufacture and use to machine operations and in addition opens to form a substantially symmetrical container that is automatically locked in its triangular shape. The reinforced foldable bottom part will not sag below the side walls and forms a strong completely closed bottom that will enable the carton to be safely placed in an upright position. While only one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it is apparent that changes, modifications and alterations may be made, without departing from the true scope and spirit thereof.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A triangular carton comprising three side walls connected one to the other to form a closed structure of triangular cross-section, one of said walls being scored along its length to permitit to be folded upon itself with the other walls overlying one another, an internal floor flap extending from said scored side wall, said internal floor flap being scored in alignment with the score line on said, scored side wall to permit the internal floor flap to lie against said scored side wall within said carton and be folded with said side wall along said score line, a second flap extending from each of said other walls and having portions overlapping each other, the lowermost second flap being scored along a line in the same plane as the score line on said internal floor flap to divide said lowermost second flap into attached and terminal portions, the upper surface of the terminal portion of said scored lowermost secondfiap being fastened to the under surface of the other of said second flaps wherebythe other of said second flaps is movable from an operative position perpendicular to the side walls of the carton to a folded position within the carton to lie fiat against said adjacent walls of the carton and, whereby the attached portion of said scored second flap is adapted to be moved froman operative position perpendicular to the side walls of the carton to a folded position within the carton to lie flat between a side wall thereof and said terminal portion of said flap.

2. A triangular carton comprising three side walls connected one to the other to form a closed structure. of triangular cross-section, one of said walls being scored along its length to permit it to be folded upon itself with the other walls overlying one another, an internal floor flap extending from said scored side wall, said internal floor flap being scored in alignment with the score line on said scored side wall to permit the internal floor flap to lie against said scored side wallwithin said carton and be folded with said side wall along said score line,

a second flap extending from each of said other walls,

each of said second flaps being substantially triangular in shape and of such dimension that its unattached edges lie adjacent the bottom edges of the other walls to thereby cover a substantial portion of the bottom of said carton, one of said second flaps overlying the other, the lowermost second flap being scored along a line in the same plane as the score line on said internal floor flap to divide said lowermost second flap into attached and terminal portions, the upper surface of the terminal portion of said scored lowermost second flap being fastened to the under surface of the other of said second flaps whereby the other of said second flaps is movable from an operative position perpendicular to the, side walls of the carton to a folded position within the carton to lie flat against said adjacent walls of the carton and whereby the attached portion. of said scored second flap is adapted to be moved from an operative position perpendicular to the sidewalls of the carton to a foldedrposition within the carton to lie flat between a side wall thereof and said terminal portion of said flap.

3. A carton as claimed in claim 2, wherein said scored internal floor flap has a cut-out in line with the score line thereon and contiguous with the edge of the as sociated wall and wherein said internal floor flap and said second flaps are formed with intervening rounded root parts and the base of said root parts coincident with the edges of adjoining walls, whereby folding of the flaps within the carton is facilitated.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 648,008 Wellman Apr. 24, 1890 1,240,564 Harrington Sept. 18, 1917 1,875,044 Leiper Aug. 30, 1932 2,084,106 Palmer June 15, 1937 2,327,710 Himes Aug. 24, 1943 2,361,923 Arneson Nov. 7, 1944 2,659,525 Wikstrom Nov. 17, 1953

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