Envelopes – wrappers – and paperboard boxes – Paperboard box – Including a polygonal – nonrectangular wall
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-16
2001-02-06
Elkins, Gary E. (Department: 3727)
Envelopes, wrappers, and paperboard boxes
Paperboard box
Including a polygonal, nonrectangular wall
C206S806000, C229S117230, C229S117240, C229S117300, C229S125150, C229S125420, C229S137000, C229S138000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06182887
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a package having a closure disposed thereon. More specifically, the present invention relates to a package with an extended top panel for pronounced positioning of a closure on the top panel, and a blank therefor.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A preferred package for milk and juice is the gable-top package. The gable-top package is usually composed of a paperboard material coated on its exterior and interior surfaces with a thermoplastic material such as polyethylene. The package is formed from a blank that has a plurality of crease lines for proper folding of the blank into the desired package shape.
The unconstructed form, or blank has a plurality of side panels (usually four) and corresponding top panels and bottom panels. The four side panels define the front, rear and side walls of the package while the top panels form the well-known gable-top. Known gable-top packages have two equal and opposite top panels meeting at the top fin of the gable-top. The other two top panels are folded under these two opposing top panels. The aesthetically pleasing gable-top design has a functional aspect that leads to its structure and design. That function is to provide an integrated spout for accessing the product contained with the gable-top package. The integrated closure is formed by unsealing one of the folded-under top panels and pulling it outward to form the integrated spout.
In order to allow a consumer to unseal the top panel, it is sometimes necessary to provide an abhesive, or to lessen the top seal in some other manner. This has created problems for products that require tight seals to prevent oxygen transmission that could otherwise degrade the product. Also, after initially opening the package, the resealing of the package is not as tight as desired by some consumers.
The packaging industry responded to this problem by providing plastic closures (also referred to as fitments) that allow for a tight reseal after initial access of the product. The closure is attached to the carton either through an aperture in a top panel prior to filling, or on the exterior of the carton over an aperture prior to filling or after top sealing. Various attachment methods have been used to apply the closure to the carton, such as ultrasonic sealing, hot melt, induction sealing and the like. Thus, the only modification to the traditional gable-top package has been the attachment of the closure to one of the opposing top panels.
The gable-top package with the closure on one of the opposing top panels has come to dominate the packaging of juice, and is a favorite for milk and milk related products such as coffee creamers. The closure can be a screw-cap closure or a flip-cap closure, both of which are resealable, and can be attached through the aforementioned application methods. Pourability of the product from the package through the closure is acceptable; however, product does not pour as well as from the older designs that include an integrated spout, because of the placement of the closure in the center of the top panel. In addition, the closure is usually a predetermined size that corresponds to the surface area of the top panel, which restricts or limits alterations to the closure and new closure designs.
These restraints on the closure are created, in part, by the development of the closure for the established gable-top package. These closures have been adapted to the structure and design of the gable-top package. This included the fabrication process of the gable-top package from a carton on a form, fill and seal packaging machine, such as a TETRA REX® packaging machine available from Tetra Pak Incorporated of Chicago, Ill.
Accordingly, there is a need for a package that can accommodate a variety of closure types and designs. Desirably, such a package will accommodate closures configured for enhanced product pourability. Most desirably, such a package can be used with, i.e., constructed and sealed on, currently known and operated packaging machines.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A package includes an extended top panel, a closure, a front wall, a rear wall and parallel side walls. The extended top panel can be formed with an aperture therethrough for accommodating a closure. The front wall engages the extended top panel at a first edge and has a length. The rear wall is opposite the front wall and has a length. In a preferred embodiment, the rear wall length is greater than the length of the front wall. The first and second parallel side walls engage the front wall at front edges and the rear wall at rear edges. The extended top panel is sealed to the rear wall or a lesser top panel at a sealing region. A vertical plane through the sealing region is spaced from (non-coplanar with) a vertical plane through the center of the package.
For purposes of the present disclosure, three “forms” of the present package will be referred to herein. A first form, in which the package is fully or partially constructed, with the side seal in place and with the top and bottom panels sealed is referred to as a “package”. This is the gable-top package commonly known by consumers and recognized from retailer's and marketer's shelves and displays. A “carton” is that form of the package that has a tubular form. That is, the side seal has been made, but the top and bottom panels are yet unconstructed (unfolded and/or unsealed). Thus, this form has a tubular shape, and is commonly known by paper or stock suppliers and packagers. A “blank” is that form in which the stock material is laid flat, with no seals yet made. That is, the material has been cut, and the creases made in the stock material, but the material is unfolded and unsealed.
The extended top panel can extend from the rear wall to the front wall and have an angle less than ninety degrees to the rear wall. The package can include a second top panel that meets the extended top panel at a top fin of the package. The top fin is coextensive with the sealing region. Preferably, the second top panel has a surface area less than a surface area of the extended top panel. The first and second side walls can have slanted top edges parallel to one another. A preferred angle of the extended top panel to the rear wall is about forty-five degrees to about eighty degrees. In such an arrangement, the top fin of the package is off-center. The present package can use a closure having a cap with a diameter greater than a diameter of the aperture formed in the package to receive the pour spout.
The package can also include a handle attached to the package, preferably at the top fin. A multiple of packages can be attached to a single handle to facilitate carrying the packages. The handle can be formed with an unattached section and an attached section with the unattached section foldable over the attached section to facilitate pouring the contents from the container.
Another aspect of the present invention is a blank for a package with an extended top panel. The blank includes an extended top panel, a rear wall panel, a first side wall panel, a front wall panel and a second side wall panel. In a preferred embodiment, the rear wall panel has a length greater than the length of the front wall panel. A plurality of vertical score lines partition each of the panels from adjacent panels. The extended top panel is adjacent the front wall panel and is partitioned from the front wall panel by a first horizontal score line. The extended top panel can have an aperture therethrough for receiving an optional pour spout.
The blank can include a plurality of slanted top panels. The rear wall of the blank can be formed without a top panel. The first side wall panel of the blank can be partitioned from a corresponding slanted top panel by a first slanted score line, and the second side wall panel partitioned from a corresponding slanted top panel by a second slanted score line. The rear wall of the blank has a corresponding top panel partitioned therefrom by a horizontal score line. The corresponding top panel of the rear wall panel
Ljunström Tommy
Moss Sheila
Elkins Gary E.
Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance SA
Welsh & Katz Ltd.
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