Easy access carton

Details Easy access carton Easy access carton

2000-11-09

2002-10-15

Elkins, Gary E. (Department: 3727)

Envelopes, wrappers, and paperboard boxes

Paperboard box

Having means to facilitate opening the box by severing box...

C206S532000, C206S535000, C206S536000, C229S940000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06464132

ABSTRACT:

TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates to a carton board container with an opening providing a maximized access to the content of the carton.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Various types of containers are formed from carton board. Typical containers made from carton board, also simply called cartons, have a substantially parallelepipedal shape with six sides and twelve edges, namely the top, bottom, back, front, left and right sides, the edges being defined by the two sides of which they are the intersection, for example the back/top edge. For definition purposes, it will be considered in the following that when the carton is upright the top and bottom sides are in the horizontal plane, the four other sides being vertical. We will consider that if the front side of the upright carton is facing an observer, the left side is on to the left of the observer and the right side on to the right of the observer, the back side being invisible for the observer.
Such cartons are usually provided with opening means which allow opening of the carton to have access to its content. In order to facilitate opening, cartons are normally provided with opening means. Typically, opening means comprise lines of weakness which will allow opening when submitted to an external force. These lines of weakness usually define at least part of the perimeter of the opening on a side of the carton which opens.
The present invention relates to a carton, the carton being a parallelepiped carton with six substantially rectangular sides, comprising top and bottom sides opposing each other, left and right sides opposing each other, and front and back sides opposing each other, whereby the front side comprises opening means, the opening means comprising two parallel lines of weakness. Such a carton is known from WO 92/06894, published on the 30
th
of April 1992.
Such cartons are usually folded and glued from a die cut. A die cut, or blank, is a flat structure which has not been folded or glued. A die cut is preferably made from a single piece for costs reasons. A die cut normally has a specific grain direction. This means that the material forming the die cut is not isotropic but has a preferred direction along which the die cut is more resistant. This direction is the grain direction. For corrugated cardboard, the equivalent of the grain direction is the direction of the corrugations.
For stiffness reasons, it is important that the grain direction is not horizontal, and preferably vertical during stacking and transport of the carton. This means that the direction of gravity should be the grain direction when the carton is stacked or transported.
The present invention relates to a die cut, the die cut comprising a substantially rectangular panel delimited by four folding lines corresponding to the edges of the rectangle, the panel further comprising opening means, the opening means comprising two parallel lines of weakness. Such a die cut is also known from WO 92/06894, published on the 30
th
of April 1992.
Among the advantages of such cartons or cartons made from such die cuts is that opening is greatly facilitated by the lines of weakness which tear open easily, thus giving access to the content of the carton through the opening formed, the opening having a width limited by the lines of weakness on each end, the width being measured perpendicularly to the lines of weakness. While having this advantage, an opening obtained by such opening means does not usually provide a maximized access to the content of the carton. Indeed, the lines of weakness are placed so that the width of the opening does not correspond to the width of the side of the carton on which the opening is made: the lines of weakness are placed somewhere on the side in between the edges of the side, so that there is a part which does not open, the part being comprised between each edge of the side parallel to the lines of weakness and the line of weakness closer to this edge. This space thus takes the form of two shoulders on each side of the opening.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to produce a carton and a die cut for a carton of the above mentioned kind which provides a maximized access to the content of the carton.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the invention, this object is accomplished in a carton of the above mentioned kind in that the first line of weakness is on the edge at the intersection of the front and left sides and the second line of weakness is on the edge at the intersection of the front and right sides.
In another aspect of the invention, this object is accomplished in a die cut of the above mentioned kind in that the first line of weakness is on a first folding line and the second line of weakness is on a second folding line, the second folding line being the folding line parallel to the first folding line.


REFERENCES:
patent: 2407865 (1946-09-01), Biskamp
patent: 3756502 (1973-09-01), Swanson et al.
patent: 4987996 (1991-01-01), Anderson
patent: 5011021 (1991-04-01), Coltrane et al.
patent: 5402886 (1995-04-01), McGlinch
patent: 1811339 (1970-06-01), None
patent: 19532968 (1997-03-01), None
patent: 610537 (1994-08-01), None
patent: 1181121 (1959-06-01), None
patent: 1568665 (1969-05-01), None

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