US3578238A

US3578238A - Container which completely encloses articles

Info

Publication number: US3578238A
Application number: US848402A
Authority: US
Inventors: Joseph F Schillinger; Thomas B Moser
Original assignee: Weyerhaeuser Co
Current assignee: Weyerhaeuser Co
Priority date: 1969-07-28
Filing date: 1969-07-28
Publication date: 1971-05-11
Anticipated expiration: 1988-05-11

Abstract

A carton or container which fully encloses the contained articles. The carton has finger holes placed along one side edge of the carton allowing one of the articles to be grasped when the carton is carried by use of the finger holes. There are no cutouts for the caps or base of the articles, so that the container tightly encloses them. The container has a design which allows the container blanks to be nested on the web prior to cutting.

Description

United States Patentlnventors Joseph F. Schillinger Chicago;

Thomas B. Moser, Glen Ellyn, Ill. 848,402

July 28, 1969 May 1 l, 1971 Weyerhaeuser Company Tacoma, Wash.

Continuation of application Ser. No.

710,120, Mar. 4, 1968, now abandoned.

Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee CONTAINER WHICH COMPLETELY ENCLOSES ARTICLES l 1 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 229/40, 206/65, 220/1 15 Int. Cl B65d 5/02, B65d 85/00 Field of Search 229/40, 52 (BC); 206/65 (C); 220/1 15 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1962 Morris 229/8 4/1965 Champlin 206/65(C) 5/1966 Pryor 229/40 FOREIGN PATENTS 5/1956 Belgium 229/40 Primary Examiner-David M. Bockenek Attorneys-Leslie G. Noller, John M. Crawford and Kenneth W. Vernon ABSTRACT: A carton or container which fully encloses the contained articles. The carton has finger holes placed along one si e edge of the carton allowing one of the articles to be grasped when the carton is carried, by use of the finger holes. There are no cutouts for the caps or base of the articles, so that the container tightly encloses them. The container has a design which allows the container blanks to be nested on the web prior to cutting.

m V Patehted May 11, 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS JOSEPH /F SCHULUNGEI? I moms 5: os/5R 44; mlz-L & fit M firomvsys are then gluedto the flanges.

l CONTAINER wiucu COMPLETELY ENCLOSES ARTICLES RELATED CASES This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 7l0,-l20 filed Mar. 4, I968, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention A container which encloses a multiplicity of similar articles.

2. Description of the Prior Art I Exemplary of the patents showing containers which fully enclose articles are Ringler U.S. Pat. No. 2,705,556; Currie U.S. Pat. No. 2,795,365; .Iaeschke U.S. Pat. No. 2,797,856; Chidsey U.S. Pat. No. 3,217,924; Graser et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,252,649; and Wood U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,723.

Ringler U.S. Pat. No. 2,705,556 discloses a container in which the bottom and sidewalls are of unitary construction and each of the end walls is formed of a pair of elements which are hingedly attached to the sidewalls. These elements are glued along a vertical line in the center of the container. When the container is opened the bottles are placed in it from the top and the upper panels are folded down over the caps of the containers.

Currie U.S. Pat. No. 2,795,365 discloses a can container in which the sidewalls and end walls are of unitary construction and, when opened, slide down over the articles. Each of the upper and lower walls is fomied of two sections. These sections are hingedly attached to the sidewalls and fold-over the upper and lower walls of the containers and are adhered Jaeschke us. Pat. No. 2,797,856 discloses a coritainer which the body section wraps around the articles. Flanges are attached to each panel of the body section; and are folded inwardly and aligned with the edge of the container. End panels Graser et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,294,280 discloses a container for fully enclosing the articles andin which the end panels are hingedly attached to the upper wall of the container by a triangular gusset section. The blank shown in FIG. 1 is complicated and costly.

Wood U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,723 discloses a container which fully encloses the articles and in which each of the end walls is in three parts.

Conrades U.S. Pat. No. 3,186,545 discloses a container for fully enclosing bottles and in whichthe container is side opening nd'side filling. The form of the container requires a complica d gusset section at the top corners.

shown at 24.

FIG. 2 is a view of a partial section of a web showing the sidewalls and end walls nested on the web.

FIG. 3 is an isometric view with portions cut away showing the fully formed container.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the container showing the use. of the finger holes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A blank is divided by score lines 11, I2, 13 and 14 into a side panel 15, a top panel 16, a sidewall panel 17, a bottom panel 18, and a lower sidewall panel 19. Lower end wall panels are hingedly attached to bottom panel 18 by score lines 21', and upper end wall panels 22 are hingedly attached to top panel 16 by score lines 23.

In the finished container the lower edge of the side and end walls bevels outwardly to grasp the contained articles. To aid this action, score lines 23 are provided in the lower section of the sidewalls l7 and 19 and the lower end walls 20. Score lines 23 are parallel to the lower edges of the side and end walls and are spaced upwardly a slight distance from the lower edges. The edges of the side and

end walls

17, 19 and 20 bevel outwardly between the lower edge and the score line 23. This is The four upper corners of the container have a similar construction, but the additional score line has been omitted from the upper end of the container. The upper comer construction is shown at 25.

The blanks can be nested. on the web in order to obtain a a greater number of cartons from a given web size. The nesting together. The blanks also nest on the web, as is shown in FIG.

- Each of the disclosed bottle containers requires cutouts for of separate pieces when forming the container. It is of simple 3 construction and eliminates all gussets and other complicated structure, allowing the container to be formed more cheaply and easily. It has offcenter fingerholes which-allow one of the articles within the container to begrasped when carrying the container. It is tapered upwardly on all four sides to firmly grasp the articles and eliminates the need for cutouts for bottle caps. The overlapping end wall panels are in two pieces, and

the end wall panels and-sidewall panels are designed to nest on the web.

BRIEFDESCRIP'IION osrae DRAWINGS w l is a top plan view of the blank.

is shown in FIG. 2. As may be seen, the outer edge of each of the lower endpanels 20 is shaped to conform to the shape of the edge of side panel 17, and the length of lower end panels 20 is greater than the length of an upper endpanel, allowing the length of panel 20 to set the distance between blanks. In a bottle carrier, side panel 17 tapers upwardly and the outer edge of panel 20 is shaped to conform to this taper.

In forming the package, the container is wrapped around the contained articles and the lower side flapl9 is adhered to the side panel 15 along glue line 26. Lower end flaps 20 are pivoted upwardly and upper end flaps 22 are pivoted downwardly, and the end flaps are adhered along glue line 27. 3

The lower and upper edge construction pulls-the container tightly around the articles. The side edges of the side and end the bottom panel 18 allowing the container to conform to the and lower ends of the articles.

The package may be carried by use of finger holes 30. The

panels are tapered upwardly, and the top panel is smaller than finger holes are formed by an arcuate slit 31 in the top panel I 16 and side panel 15. A pair of

score lines

32 and 33 extend outwardly from a point on score line 11 to each of the outer ends of slit 31. An additional pair of score lines extend outwardly from the point to points between the ends of the slit 31. One of these latter score lines coincides withscore line 11. The outer score lines preferably are at an obtuse angle to each other and the inner score lines are at an acute angle to each other and to the outer score lines. The exact angles will depend on the overall taper of the carton. The flaps formed by the slit 31 and the score lines face outwardly and are placed on each side of a central article so that they may be bent inwardly toward the article and allow it to be grasped when the finger holes are used for carrying the container.

The container may be opened by any standard tear strip arrangement, including the tear strip 40 shown.

We claim: I. In a blank which forms an article container, finger hole construction comprising a top'panel,

a side panel, hingedly attached to said top panel forming a I hinged joint,

- a pair of arcuate slits extending across said hinge joint and into said top panel and said side panel,

a score line extending from each end of said slit to a common point on said hinge joint,

an additional pair of score lines extending from said common point to points on the interior of said arcuate slit, one of said latter score lines coinciding with the hinge joint.

2. The blank of claim 1 in which the slits are in the exterior edge of the flaps formed by said slits and said score lines 3. The blank of claim 2 in which said flaps are spaced from each other.

4. In a blank which forms an article container having a top panel,

a bottom panel,

a pair of side panels, and

a pair of end panels,

the improvement comprising said side panels and said end panels having score lines therein adjacent and parallel to the edges of said bottom panel.

5. The blank of claim 4 in which the side edges of said side panels and end panels taper outwardly from the edges of said bottom panel to said score line.

6. The blank of claim 4 in which one of said panels is formed by a pair of panels having a combined length greater than the length of said panel and being fixed together in said container, and one of said pair of side panels or end panels also comprises pairs of panels having a combined length greater than the length of said panel in the formed container.

7. in a blank which forms an article container having a top panel, a bottom panel,

a pair of side panels, and

a pair of end panels,

the improvement comprising the length and width of said top panel being smaller than the length and width of said bottom panel, and the side edges of said side panels and end panels tapering inwardly toward said top panel and away from said bottom panel.

8. The blank of claim 7 in which one of said panels comprises a pair of panels having a combined length greater than the length of said panel and being fixed together in said container, and one of said pair of side panels or end panels also comprises pairs of panels having a combined length greater than the length of said panel in the formed container.

9. The blank of claim 8 in which the outer edges of said pair I of panels comprising said end or side panels conform to the shape of the side edge of said undivided side or end panels whereby adjacent blanks will nest.

10. The blank of claim 7 in which said side panels and said end panels have score lines therein adjacent and parallel to the edges of said bottom panel, and the side edges of said side panels and end panels taper outwardly from the edges of said bottom panel to said score line and inwardly from said score line to said top panel. 11. The blank of claim 6 in which the outer edges of said pair of panels comprising said end or side panels conform to the shape of the side edge of said undivided side or end panels whereby adjacent blanks will nest.

Disclaimer 3,57 8,238.J0se k F. Schillinger, Chicago, and Thomas B. 1|! oser, Glen Ellyn, Ill. C(gNTAINER WHICH COMPLETELY EN OLOSES AR- TICLES. Patent dated May 11, 1971. Disclaimer filed Apr. 3, 1972, by the assignee, Weyerhaeuser Company.

Hereby enters this disclaimer to claims 7 and 8 of said patent.

[Oficz'al Gazette July 25, 1.972.]

Claims

1. In a blank which forms an article container, finger hole construction comprising a top panel, a side panel, hingedly attached to said top panel forming a hinged joint, a pair of arcuate slits extending across said hinge joint and into said top panel and said side panel, a score line extending from each end of said slit to a common point on said hinge joint, an additional pair of score lines extending from said common point to points on the interior of said arcuate slit, one of said latter score lines coinciding with the hinge joint.

2. The blank of claim 1 in which the slits are in the exterior edge of the flaps formed by said slits and said score lines.

3. The blank of claim 2 in which said flaps are spaced from each other.

4. In a blank which forms an article container having a top panel, a bottom panel, a pair of side panels, and a pair of end panels, the improvement comprising said side panels and said end panels having score lines therein adjacent and parallel to the edges of said bottom panel.

7. In a blank which forms an article container having a top panel, a bottom panel, a pair of side panels, and a pair of end panels, the improvement comprising the length and width of said top panel being smaller than the length and width of said bottom panel, and the side edges of said side panels and end panels tapering inwardly toward said top panel and away from said bottom panel.

9. The blank of claim 8 in which the outer edges of said pair of panels comprising said end or side panels conform to the shape of the side edge of said undivided side or end panels whereby adjacent blanks will nest.

10. The blank of claim 7 in which said side panels and said end panels have score lines therein adjacent and parallel to the edges of said bottom panel, and the side edges of said side panels and end panels taper outwardly from the edges of said bottom panel to said score line and inwardly from said score line to said top panel.

11. The blank of claim 6 in which the outer edges of said pair of panels comprising said end or side panels conform to the shape of the side edge of said undivided side or end panels whereby adjacent blanks will nest.